USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > The history of Appanoose County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 41
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HISTORY OF APPANOOSE COUNTY.
ESTRAY COW.
The following is placed in evidence to show that stock would go astray in Appanoose :
Personally appeared Walter G. Perry before me, William B. Packard a Justice of the Peace of precinct No. one of Appanoose County Iowa Territory and after being duly sworn deposeth and saith that on or about the 12th of November, 1846, he took up an estray cow of the follow- ing description markt with two square crops with white back and hips and belly her sides spotted with red brindle and white head and neck mixt with brindle and red and supposd to be four years ould last spring and that he has not alterd any brands or marks on her and further the deponent saith not.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 23d of November, 1846.
WALTER G. PERRY.
WM. B. PACKARD, J. P.
EARLY SCHOOL MATTERS.
There is some difficulty in stating which was the first school ever taught in Appanoose. The first school ever opened in the northern part of the county was at J. F. Stratton's house, on Cooper Creek, and the six or seven pupils were taught by Mrs. J. F. Stratton. This was in 1847. The children of George Perkins and Benjamin Spooner attended this school, and a little daugh- ter of Christian Zuck boarded in the Stratton family and studied with the rest.
It is stated that a young man named Thomas Holloway taught in one of Col. Wells' buildings during the same summer.
In the winter of 1847-48, a school was taught, in a small log building owned by J. F. Stratton, by Henry Allen. This building was near Chariton River, and was on the line between Sections 35 and 36, Township 70, Range 18. This building was about fourteen feet square, had a chimney, and its floor and furniture were made of puncheons. The families sending to this school were Henry Allen, Jesse Buck, Noah Nash, Mr. Gable, Mr. Stanley and J. F. Stratton. The term was not completed, owing to the building being nearly wrecked by a flood in the spring.
The first schoolhouse built in the county was at Centerville, in 1848, near the present residence of Hon. M. M. Walden. This was a hewed-log edifice, about 18x24 feet in size, with a stone chimney inside, and its furniture may be classed as ornate for thirty years ago. Amos Harris taught the first school, in the winter of 1848-49, and several spelling-schools were held during the winter.
The school at Hibbsville was taught in 1850, Polly Stratton being the first teacher.
The roll of pioneer teachers, as given by J. F. Stratton, Esq., is as follows : Judge Tannehill, William Manson, Mrs. J. F. Stratton, Mrs. B. C. Spooner, Malinda Cafferty, Jane Elliott, Miss Tibbets, G. W. Taylor, Sr., Henry Allen, Arch. Callen, John McKim, R. E. Chandler, Thomas Underwood.
SCHOOL MONEY.
Only one school district appears to have been formed in 1849. March 1, in that year, C. H. Howell, Inspector for Center Township, receipted to Daniel P. Sparks for $8.69, the apportionment made by the latter as School Fund Commissioner.
The following was the apportionment for 1850 : District No. 1, Center, Will- iam Pewthers, Treasurer, $18.78; District No. 1, Caldwell, Michael Caldwell, Treasurer, $38.87 ; District No. 1, Wells, William Wells, Treasurer, $16.59; District No. 1, Center, Thomas Wilson, Treasurer, $13,53; District No. 3, Union, W. C. Baldridge, Treasurer, $66.46.
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HISTORY OF APPANOOSE COUNTY.
The apportionment in 1851 was as follows: No. 1, Chariton, $54.69; No. 3, Center, $60.21; No. 7, Center, $19.21; No. 1, Taylor, $62.51.
The first loan made by the School Fund Commissioner was to Shubael Ful- ler, March 4, 1851, for $300.
INCIDENTS OF PIONEER LIFE.
Having cleared away the details connected with organizing the county and the management of its affairs for nearly four years, it is proper now to return to the events of a personal nature-matters affecting the daily life of the sparsely settled region. Every frontier settlement has its record of dangers patiently endured and bravely overcome, and sometimes acts of lawlessness have occurred. Again, a gleam of fun passes through the community. But in no two settle- ments are these incidents identical. The manifestations of human nature are as shifting as the brilliant hues exhibited in the kaleidoscope. Let us arrange the pictures and begin the exhibition.
THE FIRST STORE-KEEPING CHRISTMAS.
In 1846, Spencer F. Wadlington erected a cabin a little northeast of where Centerville now stands, and proceeded to " keep store " in the wilderness. It is stated that the first year's sales of our pioneer merchant were a dozen pairs of coarse shoes, half a dozen calico dress patterns, as many bolts of brown mus- lin and a few coarse casinets. These, with a sack of coffee and a few other groceries, constituted his stock in trade. In order to reduce his expenses to the measure of his profits, he did his own cooking. Most of the settlers at this early day were without families. Mr. Wadlington slept on a bed made of deer and bear skins, with a bundle of coon skins for a pillow. He subsequently became an extensive farmer and stock dealer. He was the first Mayor of Cen- terville, and has also been Probate Judge, Justice of the Peace and Deputy Clerk.
On the afternoon of Christmas, 1847, a party of the " boys " living in the northeast part of the county, some of them belonging in the vicinity of Union- ville, agreed that it would hardly be right to let the day pass without a suitable observance. They accordingly wended their way to the county seat, and to Wadlington's store-who had transferred his place of business to Chaldea- arriving at the store about dark. They began their celebration with an internal application of "su'thin'," and, to neutralize any subsequent bad effect, took another horn. These potations were repeated at suitable intervals till midnight. The young pioneers indulged in various amusements during their hours of cel- ebration. They would frequently issue from the store door, whoop loud enough to scare the wolf cubs in their dens between the forks of the Chariton, and then return to warm their throats. The first half of the night was quite warm, as a damp snow was falling, and, the store having no floor yet, their heavy boots tramped the interior of the cabin into considerable of a mud-hole. About mid- night, the " sperits " had done their perfect work, and each fellow selected a buffalo-robe or deer-skin and lay down to rest on the natural floor, damp as it was, though it is more than likely that Wadlington tucked them in as they became insensible. The weather turned very frosty toward morning. Shortly after daylight, Mr. Stratton, who was the nearest neighbor, visited the store to learn the cause of the noises heard by him, and found each reveler snugly frozen to his earthern bed, and the edges of the skins frozen tight, also. It was an
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HISTORY OF APPANOOSE COUNTY.
amusing spectacle, and a modern teetotaler could hardly have avoided a shout of laughter at their situation. They were thawed out after an hour or two, and returned to their homes none the worse for their night's frolic.
PIONEER AMUSEMENTS.
Most of the early settlers of Appanoose were from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and Indiana, and, of course, had all the love of the Virginians and their descendants for the rifle and the horse. In addition to the love of hunt- ing, alluded to elsewhere, the pioneers of Appanoose were equally fond of target practice and horse-racing. The first race-track in the county, according to F. A. Stevens, a settler in Wells Township, in 1841, was on the land now owned by Hon. E. J. Gault. Here the settlers frequently met, at a very early day, to indulge in target-shooting and horse-racing. Having previously exchanged furs, deer-skins or beeswax at some Mississippi town for a half-barrel of whisky, the settlers would collect early in the morning from every corner of the county, shoot at a mark, bet on their favorite nags and exhaust their supply of whisky along toward sundown, and then return to their scattered cabins quite sober. Of course, disputes would sometimes arise, but they were usually quieted, and in these meetings fisticuffs were rarely resorted to.
One of the first shooting-matches in the county occurred at Centerville, probably in 1847, in this wise: J. F. Stratton stood indebted to S. F. Wad- lington for sundry articles of merchandise, for $5 or $6. The latter was pre- paring for his semi-annual visit to St. Louis, and wanted the money. Stratton had neither gold, silver nor "fiats," but offered to turn out a cow, valued at about $15. Wadlington did not want her, but offered to get up a shooting- match. The match was advertised "by sending round word," and a good- sized crowd assembled to participate in the sport. The shooting began, and so vigorous was the competition that the sum realized was somewhat in excess of the value of the animal. Wadlington thus secured his pay, and the remainder was left with him as a call loan, to be paid in goods.
ANOTHER MORMON REMOVAL.
On a preceding page are given some particulars regarding the settlement of the Mormons in Missouri, and their expulsion therefrom in 1839-40. The village of Nauvoo was instituted by the fugitive " Saints " as a haven of refuge, and at that point a powerful organization was effected. The history of the development of the sect in that place is remarkable because of its speed in assuming immense proportions. The public are familiar with the later veents of the Morinon work there. Smith and his brother Hyrum were shot and killed, and the band broken up, through the improper conduct of the leader. .
The greater number of Mormons, under the direction of Brigham Young, emigrated, in 1846-48, to Salt Lake, and established themselves there.
As in Missouri, the Mormons incurred the animosity of the people of Illi- nois, and they were driven across the Mississippi, to seek a home where they could practice their peculiar rites in security. It was a forced exodus on their part-Illinois and Missouri were too hot to hold them. Their leaders doubted the advisability of settling in Iowa, for this Territory was being rapidly filled up by a class who would soon become numerous enough to drive them out again. Accordingly, a party of observation had been sent West at the beginning of the trouble in Illinois, who had discovered a region west of the Rocky Mountains, walled on the east and south by almost insurmountable hills, and ap-
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HISTORY OF APPANOOSE COUNTY.
proachable on the northeast through a narrow valley that could be easily defended.
Accordingly, the task of removal began in the fall of 1846. The main body encamped near Council Bluffs during that winter, and another considera- ble party wintered in Marshall County. Large numbers followed the roads from the river towns west through Van Buren and Davis Counties to Union- ville, where the trail divided, many following the old dragoon trail of 1832 by way of Cincinnati into Missouri, with the intention of wintering in that State, if possible. But their former enemies had by no means forgotten them, and they were forced to recross the boundary into Decatur County.
The main body of the southern division passed through Unionville, Moravia and Iconium, selecting that route, Mr. Wadlington says, to avoid the numerous streams and muddy bottoms with which the country abounds. The advance parties of the two bodies moving through Appanoose met in Union County, in July, 1846.
Finding it too late in the season for venturing across the great plains that intervened between them and their destination, about two thousand of the "Saints" pitched their tents at a place which they called Mount Pisgah, situ- ated some five miles north of the present county seat. They were under the leadership of Bishop Huntington, who died, and was buried at Mount Pisgah. He was the first white person who is known to have died in the county. Another prominent man among them was Elder Morley, former of Hancock County, Ill. Being compelled, during the winter, to live in tents and wagons, their records show 160 deaths within the first six months. Their settlement, ·or improvement, embraced about fifteen hundred acres, which they broke up and cultivated in patches. Being unable to break up the prairie sod with their light teams, composed mostly of cows, they went into the timber on Grand River, and girdled, or deadened, hundreds of acres of the best timber to be found there, and plowed up the light bottom soil for their crops. In this way they raised a plentiful crop of corn during the season of 1847. They were obliged to remain until the spring of 1850, and some of them until the spring of 1851, in order to raise cattle to enable them to resume their journey. They were very poor. Their prophet, Joe Smith, had once told them at Nauvoo that there were three kinds of poor-God's poor, the devil's poor, and poor devils, and that most of them surely belonged to the last-named class. They are represented, however, as being industrious and frugal while they sojourned on Grand River.
The organization of the fugitives was essentially a military one. Several persons in Appanoose County, finding that the people were poor, and likely to be a year or more on their journey, offered them employment. No promise could be obtained from the men with whom they chaffered, but within a day or two the number of igen wanted would appear ready for work, who had been deputed by their Captain for the purpose. One settler, in the southeastern part of the county, contracted with a Mormon leader to have ten acres of brush land grubbed and fenced, expecting that the job would take six weeks. A large party repaired to the spot, and the contract was completed in about a week. Another pioneer had forty acres of prairie broken up by a party of Mormons. Mr. Wadlington, who communicates these two circumstances, says that others would work singly here and there in the county where labor could be had, and says that they were remarkably efficient and industrious, and never failed to give satisfaction.
It is stated that, toward the latter part of the migration, while a party were encamped in the vicinity of Unionville, one of the number went over into the
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HISTORY OF APPANOOSE COUNTY.
western part of Davis County and stole a steer. He had not driven the animal' very far when he was met by a young man, now a resident of Appanoose County, who recognized the steer as one owned by his father. He very naturally inquired of the follower of Joseph what he was doing with his father's property. The "Saint" answered that he had a "revelation " to go and get the bovine. The young man started to drive the steer back, when a collision ensued, in which the youngster had a sudden "revelation" to hit the thief with an iron wedge which he was carrying. The blow killed the Mormon, and the young man drove home his property.
This occurrence, as well as others of a like character, created a violent prejudice against the Mormons, and they were given the cold shoulder in the eastern counties. Thus Mrs. Morrison, of Udell Township, relates that in Davis County herself and husband were refused entertainment because they were suspected of being Mormons, and says that on the night in question the only shelter they could obtain was an empty corn-pen.
THE CLAIM SOCIETY.
As in nearly all the older counties of Iowa, Appanoose County had a Claim Protection Society, organized for the purpose of protecting settlers from the avaricious intentions of those who had money and might see fit to enter lands from those occupying in good faith. The first settlers in the new counties usually took their lands before they were surveyed, and of course would only make a rough approximation as to the limits of their claims, the lines of which were run by guess. Whenever anybody was inclined to locate close to a claim already taken, his movements were regarded with a jealous eye, unless he first had a conference with the neighbors to ascertain the understood limits of their claims before making his own. History must record that a good many "first settlers " were extremely liberal toward themselves in establishing the bounds of their claims, and also that claim troubles were as likely to arise from the greed of the pioneers as from the covetousness of subsequent claimants.
The Society referred to above was organized in 1845, or the following year ;. with James Wright as President, and with a branch organization in each pre- cinct. The workings of the Society were substantially as follows : A record was prepared in each precinct of the claims already taken, and their bounds. When a new-comer wanted to make a claim, it was expected that he would apply to the local Secretary to ascertain what lands were already claimed, in order to avoid infringing upon the rights of others. Any land abandoned for an understood time, or not yet taken, could be selected ; but if he laid claim to land already held, and was pertinacious, a meeting of the Society would be held. A compromise was usually effected, and, if this could not be reached, summary measures would be resorted to. To the credit of Appanoose, be it said that very few disputes arose, and these were entirely bloodless.
A few instances are given here of the operations of the Society. The first case occurred in 1847. A man named Duncan had built a cabin on land claimed by another settler named Coffman, but with whom the equities rested is now forgotten. Coffman notified the officers of the Society, and a meeting was held, presided over by W. S. Manson. The crowd proceeded to Duncan's cabin with the intention of tearing it down; but that worthy was at home, and threatened to shoot the first man who came near the house. The destruction of the cabin was accordingly deferred.
Not long afterward, Coffman and Duncan met at a house-raising in the neighborhood, and at noon the two men entered into an altercation over the
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HISTORY OF APPANOOSE COUNTY.
disputed claim. Both got fighting mad, and Coffman seized his rifle to settle the dispute ; but as he aimed, Duncan dodged round the corner of the half- finished building, and so escaped.
At the first session of the District Court, as stated by James Hughes, Esq., Duncan appeared before the grand jury, which was composed of the same men named elsewhere as the petit jury (the same men serving in both capacities, by order of the Judge), and sought to have Coffman indicted for assault with intent to kill. Mr. Hughes, who was on the panel, says that the jury repaired to his shop, and that the Clerk pre-empted his bellows as a writing-desk. To his great surprise, for he had just come from Indiana, where the forms of law were carefully observed, the foreman sent out for a bottle of whisky, and every juror took a drink before proceeding to business. Duncan and one or two others appeared and gave their testimony in regard to Coffman's threatened shooting- match. The main witness, it was understood, was one Bratton, who was at the grocery, and a bailiff, who had been drinking regularly from the jury's bottle, was sent for him. The bailiff was gone some time, but at last appeared, walk- ing arm in arm with Bratton, and both drunk as owls. Hughes removed the iron bar which had been propped against the door, and both officer and witness nearly fell headlong as they entered into the presence of the "bulwark of our free institutions." Bratton was allowed to sit down, and succeeded in giving his evidence very clearly, in spite of his condition. Most of the jurors ques- tioned him, and his answers were given in precise, straightforward fashion. He had several times described the flight of Duncan and himself around the cabin when Coffman raised his rifle, when Edward Bryant, one of the jurors, asked him if Coffman could have hit Duncan. This was too much for Bratton, who, probably, wanted to get back to the grocery for another drink. “ Hit h-1 and d-nation !" he exclaimed, "didn't I tell you Duncan and me was around the corner of the house !" The complaint was ignored, and the trouble did not long continue. Both parties saw that the case had taken a practical turn, and were wise enough to drop the matter.
In 1849, James Shields entered some land claimed by H. H. Foster, who laid his trouble before the claim society. A large meeting was held, and a com- mittee was sent to confer with Shields for the purpose of getting him to relin- quish the land. Shields offered to give a deed immediately, provided Foster would refund the purchase money, and pay a pretty stiff rate of interest. This was the only offer that Shields could be induced to make; upon which Foster decided to take another claim rather than pay the interest asked, which ended the matter. James Wright presided over the meeting on this occasion.
A case occurred in Center Township in 1850, in which a settler complained to the society that Alfred Coatney, in taking his claim, had encroached on land held by the complainant. Considerable talk was made about calling a society meeting, but Coatney, who was a fair-minded, honorable man, investigated his neighbor's presumptive boundaries, and being convinced that he had gone too far in that direction, altered his lines correspondingly.
A case arose in Udell Township, in which a crowd assembled and tore the roof off a man's cabin, he having "jumped " a claim held by another citizen.
The life of the Claim Society may be said to have ended in 1853. Joshua Miller, Jonathan Reuger, Harrison Johnson and William D. Weir were then living in Lincoln Township, and had incurred the ill-will of John W. Brinkley by showing some eligible tracts of land in that vicinity to some friends who were visiting the neighborhood. Brinkley complained of them to the society, and a meeting was called, which was attended by two hundred men and four
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HISTORY OF APPANOOSE COUNTY.
gallons of whisky. Joseph Jump, Sr., was appointed as a committee of one to wait upon the four men named above. He informed them that they must secure the return of the land to the claimants, or the society would resort to violence. They replied that they had in no case interfered with the just claim of any set- tler, and did not intend to, but when they knew that parties were claiming more than a quarter of a section, and a reasonable amount of timber, they would not hesitate to point out the surplus to any inquirer who might want it. As for violence, they claimed to be peaceable citizens, but that they could defend themselves if necessary. Jump reported the result of his embassy to the assem- blage, and, it is thought, suggested that the matter had better end there and then. It is barely possible that the whisky had become exhausted, and that the crowd adjourned to obtain a fresh supply.
A QUESTION OF ONE DOLLAR.
In the spring of 1848, Treasurer Manson had some State revenue in his hands, which he handed to Judge Olney, to be paid to the State Treasurer, as appears below :
CENTERVILLE, Appanoose Co., Iowa., April 24, 1848.
Received of Thomas G. Manson, Treasurer and Collector of said county, $22.42, to be paid over by me to the State Treasurer, it being State revenue collected in said county for the year 1847.
CYRUS OLNEY.
The Judge only discharged his trust in part, as is seen by the following : $21.42. No. 111.
TREASURER'S OFFICE, IOWA, IOWA CITY, June 28, 1848.
Received of Jesse Wood, Treasurer of Appanoose County, $21.42, on account of State revenue in and for said county for the year 1847. M. RENO, State Treasurer.
When the Treasurer's receipt came to Centerville, the discrepancy was noticed, and Mr. Manson apprised Judge Olney of the mistake. The Judge was somewhat dilatory in his reply, which is as follows :
MR. STRATTON : In the spring of 1848, Mr Manson, Treasurer of your county, gave me $22.42, State revenue, to be paid to the State Treasurer. As the money was due to me for salary, I retained it, and had the State Treasurer give Mr. Manson a receipt for it. I had no memoran- dum of the amount, and it seems that I gave Mr. Reno the wrong sum, by which Mr. Manson lost one dollar-so that I am indebted to him in that amount. About the same time, or perhaps the next fall, I furnished to you, for your county, some printed blanks, and perhaps some printed rules of court. I do not remember exactly what or to what amount, though I have the memo- randum at home. I paid the money for them to the printer, and I have no recollection of having received anything for it from your county. If I am correct in this, I wish you would immediately look to the matter, and get the money and pay Mr. Manson. The other counties paid the money back which I paid the printer for them, instead of giving me a county order worth less than its face. The amount furnished your county, in order to get the court business started, was small, and I should not have mentioned it but for this mistake with Mr. Manson. If your county paid me for it, and it has slipped my memory, please inform me by letter, and I will forward the the dollar to Mr. Manson immediately. Yours truly,
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