The History of Poweshiek County, Iowa : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, &c.,., Part 65

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Des Moines : Union Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1004

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This unenviable hero of our story was as handsome and prepossessing in his personal appearance as he was shiftless and indolent in his habits, and depraved in his moral character. He was, however, not without religious pretentions, for he had recently been converted to membership in the Bap- tist Church, and at the time of which we write held the position of teacher in the village sabbath-school.

A certain young lady, the belle of the town, and a most beautiful little miss of scarce sixteen summers, a school-teacher, and the daughter of wealthy and respected parentage, fell desperately in love with this good- looking compound of hypocrisy and vagrancy. Their stolen private inter- views were fruitful of pledges of reciprocal attachment and fidelity, and in- genious schemes for the accomplishment of their tender desires. As is usual in such cases, the stern opposition of the girl's father only added fuel to the flame, intensified their already too passionate love, and made deter- mination on the part of the lovers more determined, and consequently elopement was conceived and mutually agreed to.

Conceiving no easier method of obtaining the requisite funds for defray- ing the necessary expenses of such an enterprise, Neal concluded to enter, temporarily, the profession of horse-stealing. Whether with the consent of his beloved cannot be ascertained, but he quietly took possession of one of Mr. George Cox's horses and another from the farm of G. M. Hollings- worth, with which he started for Washington, where he evidently intended converting them into cash.

On the way, late in the night, he lost his bearings, and stopped at a farm- house to inquire for the necessary directions to guide him upon his noc- turnal journey. Here, the lateness of the hour, combined with the confused manner of the traveler, excited suspicion, and the farmer invited him to tarry until morning. Neal at first declined, but was finally induced to accept the proffered hospitality, by a promise on the part of the entertainer to purchase one, and perhaps both, of his horses. It so happened that the Baptist minister, who had but a few months before received both Neal and his feminine admirer into his church at Dresden, was sojourning at the same

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house, and knowing him well, upon their meeting in the morning, recog- nized Neal, and familiarly addressed him by his name. Upon his arrival during the night Neal had given a fictitious name, and claimed to be the son of a well known merchant in Washington. The witless and embarrassed effort of the horse-thief to deny his identity more than confirmed the first suspicions of the host, and he was at once arrested, and the horses returned to their respective owners, neither of whom, up to that time had missed his property.

Neal was given into the official custody of Joseph Crone, then justice of the peace in Deep River township, who, under a mistaken impression of his duty under the circumstances, turned his prisoner over to the charge of one George Parker, a furloughed soldier. Parker, whose sympathies were with the criminal, on the score of army-fellowship, in the entire absence of legal responsibility in the case, set him at liberty, and Neal thus escaped justice.

Efforts were made for his re-arrest, but no trace of his whereabouts could be ascertained, and it was generally supposed that he had left the neigh- borhood, until about two weeks later, when word was received by the father of the young schoolmiss, from the gentleman with whom she was board- ing, to the effect that she and Neal were indulging in cladestine meet- ings.

In the meantime secret preparations were quietly obtaining between the lovers and their allies for the consummation of their designs. Every ex- ternal arrangement being complete, the young lady attended to the interior department of the plot with a promptitude and fidelity of detail worthy of an older head and a better cause.

Unfortunately, however, for them, fragments of letters were found in her school-room, which, when placed together so that their purport could be ascertained, proved a complete revelation of their plans, and were sent to her father.

Upon receiving this intelligence, on the very day of the intended elope- ment, the father armed himself with a shot-gun, and in company with a friend, repaired to the vicinity of the lady's place of boarding. This was about seven o'clock in the evening. They had laid in waiting for about three hours when a low, shrill whistle, proceeding from an adjacent strip of timber, was heard. To this the party in ambush made a decoying an- swer, and shortly afterward a horseman emerged from the woods. He was promptly challenged by the father, who demanded:

" Who comes here?"

"Tom Neal," was boldly replied.

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" What do you want?"

" I want M -. "

" You can't have her to-night," rejoined her father.

" Then there will be bloodshed, for I am desperate," Neal answered, de- fiantly, drawing a revolver from its place of concealment.

The father, now thoroughly aroused, anticipated the murderous intent of this latter movement, and quickly leveled his weapon at Neal's head; but the gun missed fire, and Neal, in turn, drew a deadly bead upon his antag- onist and fired. The shot would evidently have proved fatal in its effect, had not a timely stroke from a club in the hand of the father's companion, against the barrel of the pistol, turned the ball from its course. Taking in the situation at a glance, the disappointed lover abruptly turned his horse's head and took to the timber, where, for the second time, he made good his escape.

As the men then approached the boarding-house, it is believed that the muffled wheels of a carriage were heard rapidly receding from them; which had, presumably, been in waiting to convey the enamored couple-where?

The father entered the house, and immediately proceeded to the cham- ber of his daughter, and there found her in full dress, stretched upon her bed in pretended sleep.

The next morning she was taken to his village home, where a strict watch was kept upon all her movements for the next fortnight. But, despite the vigilance of the girl's family, and their diligent efforts to intercept letters and prevent correspondence, the lovers were evidently in uninterrupted communication through some secret agency, and were quietly maturing plans which were destined to prove effectual.

One evening the young lady, who had not been permitted to leave the residence of her father unattended, obtained permission to spend the night at the home of her grandfather, which was situated near to and diagonally across the street from that of her father. When the evening had advanced the parents, who had accompanied her, took their leave; but they had been gone only a few minutes when, upon the pretext of having to study her sabbath-school lesson, she expressed a wish to return home, with the cun- ning request that her grandfather would go with her. To this he con- sented, and they had gained the middle of the street, when she turned to him and said:

"Now, grandfather, you needn't go any further, but stand here until I get safely in the gate, and then you can go back."

The unsuspicious old gentleman fell readily in with this suggestion, and after hearing, as he supposed, the gate close upon her, and the soft, sweet

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good night of his granddaughter, he trotted back to his dwelling, and re- ported what had occurred to his widowed daughter, who at the time was keeping house for him. More suspicious than he, she at once took alarm, and immediately proceeded to the girl's home, to find that her apprehen- sions were not unfounded-the cunning bird had indeed flown.

Instead of entering the house, M- bent her steps rapidly toward the home of her beloved, walking, or rather running and jumping, alone and in the darkness, through the corn-fields and over fences, for more than a mile into the country. Gaining the rural home of her lover, she was soon secreted, without undressing, in bed with Mrs. Neal.

The parents were soon aroused, and a vain pursuit commenced. Excite- ment ran wild, and the usually quiet little village was in a few minutes in a whirl of tumult. The citizens swarmed like bees in clusters about the street corners, and gossip and conjecture flew hither and thither, like leaves upon the autumn winds.

Parties were readily organized, and a thorough search instituted; every house in the town was visited; every nook and corner ransacked-and the adjacent fields were scoured. One party, headed by the enraged father, proceeded to the home of Neal, where they were met by his father (who happened to be home from the army on a furlough), with manifestations of surprise. He professed profound sympathy for the alarmed father of the girl, and indignation at the conduct of his son. He freely invited the party into his house, and offered personally to facilitate their search over his premises in every way within his power. Then began a search through every room, chamber and closet in the house, as elaborate as it was fruitless. The yard, sheds, barn and out-houses received the same thorough overhaul- ng, with the same ineffectual results.

All this time Mrs. Neal laid quietly in her bed, looking innocent enough, as she watched the excited searchers rushing too and fro, and M- laid huddled up at her side, completely hidden from view by the covering of the bed, listening to their hurried and disconnected snatches of conversation. Either prompted by a delicate politeness toward the retired lady, or owing to the entire absence of any suspicion in that direction, the real hiding place was overlooked, and the girl's whereabouts became an unsolved and profound mystery.

For the next week, with unflagging energy the futile quest was continued, but diligence went unrewarded.

In the course of time, the day for threshing upon the farm occupied by the Neals arrived. The machine was hauled through the barn-yard and placed in position just behind a handsome stack of wheat, for the summer

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had been a fruitful one, and the sons of toil had been richly repaid that year for their labors. The hands gathered in to help from neighboring farms, and the noisy separator began its buzzing, accompaniment to the loud talk and jolly laughter of the busy workmen.

The man stationed upon the top of the stack to pitch down the sheaves, was dreaming of his own harvest, and singing a love song when he suddenly disappeared.

The boasting and mirth gave place to intelligent expressions of astonish- ment, as the men ceased their work, and gazed questioningly into each others puzzled faces. The horses were stopped, and preparations about to commence for solving the mysterious vanishment, when a voice was heard coming from the bowels of the stack, in the most frightened and sup- plicating tones, begging to be taken out.

As the true situation became gradually comprehended, the general amaze- ment gave way to an amused wonderment, which, in turn, was followed by a shout-a perfect yell of laughter, as the men began tearing down the stack.

It was soon discovered that the sheaves had been carefully removed from the interior of the stack, and a large roomy cavity, somewhat like the cham- ber of a cave, had thus been formed. The roof of this ingeniously impro- vised room, becoming weakened by the removal of the upper layers of wheat, had suddenly caved in, and thus the farmer's abrupt passing out of sight was explained.

Upon clearing away the loose fallen sheaves, a floor was reached near the bottom of the stack, over which were scattered chicken bones, scraps of bread and other remnants of food-and another mysterious diappearance began to unravel. Some one found a pair of drawers with one leg missing.

" And what is this," asked one of the men, stooping to pick up some- thing from between a couple of sheaves, " a pair of scissors, as sure as you'r born! "

"And this," " and this?" came from a second, and a third, almost simulta- neously, as at the same time they took up, respectively, a silver thimble and a gold necklace.

The latter article had been a gift from M's grandmother-the tale was fully told.

It was afterward admitted by the confessed confederates of the runaway pair, that the lovers had been concealed together in this cunningly devised chamber of straw, and were fed through an aperture in one side, which could be opened or closed at pleasure, by the removal or insertion of a few sheaves of wheat. The fact was also subsequently revealed, that here the

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plucky couple had lived in waiting for their opportunity for a whole week, when they finally escaped to Missouri, where they were united in marriage.

The statements of this remarkable incident in the pioneer life of Deep River township, together with the sequel, are in every particular, true. And to the silly and enthralled young reader of inflammable novels hereby hangs a wholesome

Moral!

Two years later, and, deserted by her unprincipled husband, the foolish child-heroine of this real romance, returned penitently to her father's home, a sadder and wiser woman. The parent heart opened wide with welcome and forgiveness, and she was freely and fully reinstalled in the old love and favor.

It is believed, upon conclusive evidence, that Neal subsequently com- mitted suicide in the city of Des Moines; and the lady is now the mistress of a substantial home and the happy wife of a respectable citizen.

LINCOLN TOWNSHIP.

This township is situated on the Iowa county line, and is considered one of the best in the county. It was one of the very last to be organized. For a long time its northern half belonged to Warren and southern half belonged to Deep River, but it was organized with its present boundaries in the year 1863. North English River flows east through the center of the township. The township has good roads, and there is considerable honest pride of the citizens in their well kept farms. The church and bury- ing-ground are near the center, and although they have no railroad or post- office within their borders, yet the people possess many advantages far in advance of many older settled townships. The peaceful, intelligent and industrious farmers are prosperous and happy. Here is a class of citizens that appreciate education and the advantages of schools, and they have spared no pains to accomplish this. There is very little waste land, and many of the farmers have become independent in circumstances. The pop- ulation, according to the census of 1880, was 889 and there were 147 votes cast at the last general election. The principal railroad market is Brooklyn, though some from the east side find it more convenient at Victor.

The first general election was held on second Tuesday of October, 1863, at a private house on section 28. Geo. Forby was chairman and G. L. Bramer, J. H. Forby and Wm. Welch judges of election, D. J. Wherry and J. H. Wherry were clerks of election.

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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.

The township officers elected were as follows:

G. L. Bramer, J. H. Forby, Wm. Welch, trustees; J. H. Forby, assessor; D. J. Wherry, clerk.

Settlements began as early as 1854.

Milo Morgan came into the township in the year 1853, and broke prai- rie in section 36, and in the spring of 1854, moved from Lee county, Ill- inois, and made permanent settlement.

J. B. Robertson came from Ohio, and in the year 1854, settled on section 23. He now lives near Iowa City.

J. B. Forby, formerly from Albany, New York, came in the spring of 1855.

G. L. Bramer, formerly from New York State, came and settled on sec- tion 9, in September, 1855.

James Barker came from Ohio in October, 1855, and took a farm from section 35.

James Hillman came in the spring of 1855, and bought a farm in sec- tion 35, and has since lived there. He came from Illinois, but formerly lived in New York State.

Mr. Harkelrode is said to have built the first house in the township. He built it of logs, probably as early as 1850, on section 21.

Chas. Phillips came in the spring of 1856, from New York.

The marriage of Milo Morgan to Susan Robinson in the winter of 1856, was the first.

The death of John Morrison was the first in the township. It occurred December 31, 1858.

The first public religious services were conducted by the Rev. John Miles, a Baptist minister from Deep River, in school-house No. 1.

M. E. CHURCH.

It is situated on the line between Warren and Lincoln, on the northeast corner of section 4. Most of the present membership is from Warren township. The church was organized in No. 7 school-house in Warren in the year 1873. Among those who formed the organization were J. T. Ports, S. B. Wheeler, John R. Wheeler and wife, Josiah Bimson. The

conference has always sent earnest men, and this Zion is prosperous. The present membership is 50, many of the prominent farmers finding here their spiritual home. The present imposing church edifice was built in 1879, at a cost of $1,650, and dedicated on the 26th day of October, 1879. The church will seat about 200.

The sabbath-school meets every sabbath with an average of 50. Mr. Thomas G. Wheeler is Superintendent and W. F. Wiley, Secretary.

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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.

NORTH ENGLISH UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CONGRAGATION.

By request, the Rev. Alexander Pattison secured by personal solicitation a petition to the Des Moines Presbytery in August, 1865, by which body the community was then supplied with preaching, and the church was organized in the Green school-house, Dec. 1, 1866, by Rev. J. K. Black, with the following membership: George E. Sanders and Maria (his wife), James E. Sanders, George E. Sanders (deceased May 20, 1869), David J. Wherry and Martha (his wife), John H. Wherry and Margaret (his wife), Obadiah Wherry and Nancy (his wife), Joseph R. Wherry and Maria (his wife, deceased July 29, 1870), and Mary J. Sanders. The following ruling elders were elected: Geo. E. Sanders (formerly a ruling elder in Rich- mond, Ohio), and David J. Wherry. Mr. Sanders was installed December 14, 1866, and Mr. Wherry was ordained and installed July 9, 1867, by Rev. Joseph McKee. The first sacrament of the Lord's Supper was celebrated December 16, 1866, and the congregation continued to be supplied until April, 1872, when Rev. John A. Burns was called and ordained and in- stalled pastor November 8, 1872. He served for four years at a salary of seven hundred dollars per year, and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. James B. Gowdy, who was installed July 6, 1880. During the lapse of time between the resignation of the first and the installation of the sec- ond pastor, the church was again supplied by the Des Moines Presbytery. In the summer of 1872 the congregation built their present house of wor- ship at a cost of $3,250. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Dr. Young, then a member of the faculty of Monmouth (Ill.) Theological Sem- inary. At that time provision was made for the indebtedness of the church, which has since been entirely discharged, and the church is free of all in- cumbrance. This church has enjoyed unusual prosperity; has now a mem- bership of seventy-five communicants, and is remarkable for never having passed a sabbath during its existence without appointment for service. In the yard of this church is the first regular cemetery of the township, which was platted on May 20, 1869. The first burial being that of the remains of Geo. E. Sanders, Jr., on the same day.

SCHOOLS.

The first school-house was built on section 4, in the year 1859, at a cost of $250, and Miss Emma Chapman, the present wife of Leander Cardell, of Malcom, was the first teacher. She " boarded 'round," had about fifteen dollars per month, and about fifteen scholars.

There are nine schools, and all taught in an approved manner. The present teachers are: No. 1, W. H. Davidson; No. 2, Maggie McKinne;

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No. 3, J. O. Smith; No. 4, Kate Meyers; No. 5, Lottie Stodard; No. 6, Emma Bramer; No. 7, Mary L. Schultz; No. 8, Celia Bigler; No. 9, Zitilla M. Talbott.

INCIDENTS.

Henry Shrader, a boy about twelve years of age, who then lived on sec- tion 25, was riding a horse, in the fall of 1872, when he and his horse were instantly killed by lightning.

Daniel Coan, a young man of nineteen, was shot dead by Thomas Mc- Cabe at No. 3 school-house, in February, 1870. McCabe was about fifty years of age.

Mrs. John Morrison's barn and granary was burned in the spring of 1859. The fire was communicated to a hay-stack, and thence to the barn, from a wild fire on the prairie. Mrs. Morrison's husband died the previous autumn, and now she was called to sustain the loss of a portion of the property which was her only support.

William Shrader's stable and two valuable horses were destroyed by fire in 1874.

J. E. Hillman, a boy of nineteen, hung himself with a log-chain to the limb of a tree on the prairie, just east of his father's house, on section 35, August 5, 1876.

Owen Cannon, a lunatic, killed his mother with a club in 1879.

Mr. J. C. Morgan, who now resides on section 36, while a lad of thirteen, one day in the month of September, 1855, stood near the workmen as they were building James Hillman's house, on section 35, and counted sixty-five deer running over the prairie.

The present officers of the township are:

Trustees-J. H. Atherton, John Kirker, John Wenger.

Justices of Peace-Ira B. Crane, G. W. Miller.

Constable-J. W. Thompson.

Assessor-Geo. L. Bramer.

Clerk-J. C. Morgan.

THE LOYAL ORANGE LODGE OF LINCOLN TOWNSHIP.

This lodge was organized in the year 1876, in the Dublin school-house, with the following charter members:

Daniel Swain, Thomas Johnson, John Hill, Joseph Johnson, William Mayne, Jno. Ferguson, Simon Ferguson. They meet once a month. There is now a membership of about forty.

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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.

WARREN TOWNSHIP.

This township is one of the most wealthy and populous of the county, having, according to the census of 1880, a population of 1,073. Since its first organization it has been reduced from nine miles north and south by six east and west, to the regular congressional township size. It is some- what broken through the center, on Bear Creek, but elsewhere it is smooth and excellent farming land. The bottom lands along Bear Creek have an exceedingly deep and productive soil. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pa- cific Railroad runs along Bear Creek, very near the center of the township, and although there is no depot within its borders, yet Victor and Brooklyn are so near, the former on the east and the latter on the west, that those benefited by a railroad have here all that reason can ask. In the north the people have a fine church, good school-houses, and well cultivated farms. In the south the land is gently rolling, and well adapted for stock-raising and crops. Some of the dwellings here are elegant, furnished with adorn- ment of shade trees and cultivated flowers. There are two churches near the township line, one a Methodist and the other a Moravian Church. Schools are so situated that every family possesses advantages unsurpassed for receiving an education. Three churches and ten school-houses attest the growth and prosperity of the citizens. In the fall of 1879 there were 203 votes cast for the State ticket. Besides vast amounts of corn and grain raised last year, the farmers had on hand 2,659 swine, 685 horses, 20 mules, and 1,869 cattle.

The character and thrift of the farmers in Warren township is worthy the imitation of all.

The first settler in Warren township was Henry Snook, who settled on section 22. He went to Texas, and is now dead. Among the other earliest settlers were, Wm. Scott, William O. Melvin-who came from Ohio, and in the spring of 1850 settled on section 8-Mr. Melvin died in March, 1855. Jesse Gwin, Edward Griswold, Robert Manatt, Jr., Austin Felton, J. A. King, Samuel Drummond, R. C. Shimer, Thos. Fry, John Gwin, and John Manatt, were other early settlers.

* The first public religious services were held in the house of Edward Griswold, in the winter of 1852, on section 28, and was conducted by Rev. Strange Brooks, a Methodist minister.

Mrs. S. Brock did the first weaving of carpets about 1854.

The first school-house was built by Reuben Scholes, on section 22. It was a frame building, and cost about $300.

James Goodnough, a boy of fifteen, on January 19, 1863, accidentally shot and killed his younger brother of two years, while fixing his gun. The

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little child stood by his mother's knee when it received the contents of the gun in its side. The husband of the heart-stricken mother was at the front in the Union army.

It will be seen from the following order of court, that Warren formerly contained one-half of Lincoln.

" STATE OF IOWA, " POWESHIEK COUNTY. County Court, March Term, 1855.

" WHEREAS, at a county court held at the court-house in the town of Montezuma, on Monday, the 5th day of March, 1855, Warren township was ordered to be organized, embracing the following described territory: Commencing at the northeast corner of township No. 80 north, range No. 13 west, and running thence west on said township line to the northwest corner, thence south to the southwest corner of section No. 18, in township No. 79 north, range 13 west, thence east to county line between counties of Poweshiek and Iowa, thence north along said county line to the place of starting. And it was further ordered by the court, that the first election in said township be held at the school-house on the land of A. S. Ross, on the first Monday in April next.

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The History of Poweshiek County, Iowa : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, &c.,., Part 65

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Des Moines : Union Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1004

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Des Moines : Union Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1004