USA > Iowa > Benton County > The history of Benton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics > Part 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
309
HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
in the section known as the " drift region," as granite bowlders of all sizes are found scattered over its surface, although not quite so plentifully as in some of the counties further north.
The banks of the Cedar River are full of fossils, and fossil corals, shells. etc., abound in the rock.
The elevations of a few places in Benton County above the level of the sea are given herewith : Norway Station. 780 feet; Blairstown, 850 feet ; summit east of Buckeye Creek, 913 fect : Buckeye Creek at C. & N. W. crossing, 820 feet ; Belle Plaine Station, 831 feet ; water in Cedar at Vinton, about 790 feet.
THE COUNTY SURVEYED.
Township 82, Range 9, was surveyed by A. L. Brown. Deputy U. S. Sur- veyor, in 1843. Townships numbered 83. 84, 85 and 86, in Ranges 9, 10 and 11 west, were also surveyed in 1843, by Isaac N. Higbee, Deputy Surveyor. Townships 82-10 and 82-11 were surveyed by A. L. Brown, in 1844. Town- ships 82, 83, 84, 85 and 86, Range 12, were surveyed in 1845, by James Fan- ning.
CIVIL DIVISIONS.
Benton County contains twenty Congressional Townships, viz .: Townships 82, 83, 84, 85 and 86 north of Ranges 9, 10, 11 and 12 west.
In 1878, there were 21 civil or political townships in the county, viz .: Florence (82-9); St. Clair (82-10); Le Roy (82-11); Iowa (82-12) ; Fremont (83-9); Eldorado (83-10); Union (83-11); Kane (83-12) ; Canton (84-9); Eden (84-10); Big Grove (84-11); Homer (84-12) ; Benton (85-9) ; Taylor (that part of 85-10 not embraced within the cor- porate limits of the city of Vinton) ; Vinton, (the territory embraced by the corporation of Vinton City) ; Jackson (85-11) ; Monroe (85-12); Polk (86-9); Harrison (86-10); Cedar (86-11), and Bruce (86-12).
It has been stated that an election was held in Benton County, in 1843, at which the settlers voted for Linn County affairs. If there was such, no records were preserved, and the Auditor of Linn County, under date of July 25, 1878. certifies that " I have examined the records as desired, and find nothing what- ever pertaining to Benton County officers ; if Benton County was ever a part of Linn County, there is no record disclosing the fact. The fact that the county was not open to settlement until the 1st of May, 1843. squatters here prior to that time being trespassers upon Indian domain, would seem to indicate that there could not have been an election held in the county as early as the August following. It is more probable that a Justice of the Peace might have been appointed by the Governor of the Territory, and the appointment of Con- stables by him might have given rise to the tradition of an election."
COUNTY BOUNDARIES DEFINED.
Section 9 of an act of the Territorial Legislature of Iowa, entitled "An act to establish new counties and define their boundaries in the late cession from the Sac and Fox Indians, and for other purposes," approved February 17, 1843, pro- vided " That the following boundaries shall constitute a new county and be called Benton, to wit : beginning at the northwest corner of Linn County, thence west to Range (13) thirteen west ; thence south on said line to the corner of Townships (81) eighty-one and (82) eighty-two, of Range (13) thirteen and (14) fourteen west ; thence east to southwest corner of Linn County, thence north to the place of beginning."
310
HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
Tama County was established at the same time, and Benton and Tama and the territory west were attached to Linn County for judicial, revenue and elec- tion purposes.
Section 12 of the above act provided as follows :
That so soon as the treaty made by Governor Chambers with the Sac and Fox Indians shall have been ratified by the United States Senate, and the Indians removed from the late purchase the Board of County Commissioners of each organized county to which any of the new counties is attached, for judicial or other purposes, shall have the boundaries of any of the new counties surveyed and marked out as near as may be to correspond with the spirit and meaning of this act ; which boundaries shall remain as the county boundaries until the county is surveyed by the United States, and that the township lines shall remain and be the county boundaries thereafter.
The Governor of the Territory was authorized by Section 13 of the same act, to appoint as many Justices of the Peace as he deemed expedient, in any of the new counties established by the act, and elsewhere within the boundaries of the Territory of Iowa, except in organized counties. Such Justices were appointed for two years, and each Justice so appointed was empowered to appoint two Constables.
The treaty with the Sacs and Foxes was made by Governor Chambers, October 11, 1842, and ratified by the United States Senate, March 23, 1843. The Indians were to retain possession of the ceded lands until May 1, 1843, and the territory west of a line drawn north and south through Redrock, until October 11, 1845. (See page 179).
While much of the larger part of Benton County was in the possession of the Sac and Fox Indians until May, 1843, a small portion of the territory now included in the county was included in the 1,250,000 acres purchased of the Indians in 1837. (See treaty of 1837, page 162.) The west line of this purchase crossed the Cedar River near the west line of Benton Township, and in- cluded very nearly one tier of townships on the east side of the county. Town- ship 86, Range 9, was included in this purchase, and the earliest settlers, in 1839-40, were very near the Indian line.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Early in 1839, George Wright and John Smith, two young men, located on Section 24, in Township 84, Range 9 (Canton): built a cabin and broke some prairie. This was probably the first cabin built by white men in Benton County. About the same time, James Scott came in and built a cabin. A little later in the same year, Samuel M. Lockhart, with his family, settled in the north- east part of the county, on Section 34, Township 86, Range 9. Shortly after- ward, probably in 1840-1, James Downs, Thomas Way, Thomas Kendrick and Price Kendrick settled near Lockhart, and the little pioneer hamlet was called " Hoosier Point" until, in 1847, a town was laid out and called Marysville. Beal Dorsey came with Wright, Smith and Scott, but settled first, it is said, in Linn County. Charles Hinkley is supposed to have been a squatter in Benton County as early as 1839.
In 1840, Samuel K. Parker settled in Township 84, Range 9, near a grove since called Parker's Grove. Jacob Bonsall settled in the county in 1840, but after two or three years moved away. Gilman Clark located in the same year about a mile and a half southeast of the present village of Shellsburg. Stedman Penrose came in the same year: also A. D. Stephens, J. W. Filkins, Joseph Remington, and perhaps others.
It has been said that Reuben Buskirk settled here in 1840, east of Vinton, near the county line; that he died October 10, 1842, being the first death in the county ; that there was no lumber with which to make a coffin, and the few
311
HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
settlers felled a linn tree, cut a log of the proper length, split it and laid one-half of it in the grave, and on this the body of the deceased Buskirk was laid, suit- able blocks placed at his head and feet, and the other half of the log laid over him and the grave filled, and that there were five men and three women at the funeral. Mr. Lyman D. Bordwell, who was one of the five men present at the funeral, states that this is all correct, except that Buskirk settled just across the line, in Linn County.
In April, 1842, Jacob Cantonwine settled and built a cabin on the site of the future village of Shellsburg. Mrs. Bordwell came with his family. Sep- tember 13, 1842, Lyman D. Bordwell, familiarly known as " Black King,"* arrived at the frontier settlements in Benton County, purchased the claim and improvements of Wright and Smith, settled and lived there until 1849, when he removed to Sections 21 and 22, Township 85, Range 10, where he still resides. James Rice settled in 1849.
John Mason, George Sanders, John Royal and others came about 1842-3.
For eight or ten years after these first settlements, the population of the county increased very slowly, but it is to be noted that nearly all who came became permanent settlers. No records show the dates of settlement, and it is hardly possible to be literally correct, as men's memories of events that occurred thirty-five years ago are not always accurate. Below will be found the names of a few of the pioneers who came to Benton County between 1843 and 1851. with the date of their arrival as nearly as can be ascertained : Hyrcanus Guinn, Hugh Brody, F. Bryson, Stephen Brody, Joseph Bryson, William Mitchell, Jesse Brody, Josiah Helm. Joseph C. Rouse, 1843; S. R. Price, George McCoy, 1844: J. R. Pratt, David S. Pratt, L. W. Hayes, Chauncy Leverich. Stephen Holcomb, all in 1845: John Alexander, 1846-7; A. H. Johnson, 1846; David Jewell, John Renfrew, 1846; George Sanders, 1847 ; James Leverich, 1845-6; Daniel Harris and John S. Epperson, 1847; Elijah Evans, 1847 ; Charles N. Moberly, 1847 ; C. C. Charles, 1848; J. S. Forsythe, 1848 ; John C. Traer, 1851: Russell Jones, 1850; James Harmely, Martin Webb, Amos Anderson, James Pooley, Thomas Mahin, Samuel Rosebury, Alexander Moody. Elias Doan, John Leard, Abel Cox, Aaron Webb, James F. Beckett, D. S. Brubacher, James Chapin, W. C. Stanbury, John R. Speak, William Riley, David Fonts. Dr. C. W. Baffum, G. B. White, M. D. L. Webb, Francis San- ders and six sons; Caleb Chapin, Stephen Chapin, James Wood, W. O. Sanders. William Bell, William Cline, I. D. Simison, J. F. Young, James Crow, Thos. Beckett.
According to the best information now available, it appears that the first birth in the county was that of William Penrose, son of Stedman Penrose, who was born in August, 1841. The next, Mary North, daughter of Loyal F. North, January 8. 1843; and the next, Lucinda, daughter of Lyman D. Bord- well. July 5, 1844.
The records of Linn County indicate that the first couple married in the territory of Benton County was Charles Hinkley, aged 30 years, and Mary Helm, aged 45 years, by Perry Oliphant, in 1839. Oliphant made two trips to Marion for the license. They were married about midnight. in a log house. with no witnesses except the officiating Justice. Afterward. Henkley had one leg amputated by Dr. S. H. Tryon, and in 1848 was convicted of arson. She petitioned for divorce. John Alexander was her attorney, and succeeded in procuring a decree, with the assistance of some of the boys. with whom. how-
* Mr. Bordwell says that in early days, in some difficulty he had with Mr. Holcomb, he told that gentlemen that he (Bordwell) would show him that he ( Bordwell) was " King of the Prairie." I. D. Simison, who was presen thereupon called him the " Black King."
312
HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
ever, he refused to divide his fees. As Benton County was not created until 1843, it is a little doubtful whether this marriage should be credited to it.
The first marriage license, after the organization of the county. appears to have been issued by David S. Pratt, Deputy Clerk of the District Court, to Joseph Onstott and Miss Sarah Patch, aged about 42 years, respectively. These parties were married June 20, 1847, by Lyman D. Bordwell, Justice of the Peace.
The first death was that of Christian Kensinger, Mrs. Bordwell's father, who came to the county in the Fall of 1843, and died May 5, 1844.
The first school house erected in the county. so far as can now be ascer- tained, was built of logs on Section 25, Township 86, Range 9, and known to the early settlers as the " Johnson School House." It was built in 1845-6, and the first school in the county was taught in it in 1846-7, by Francis James Rigaud, who was an educated man who " wrote a magnificent hand." Rigaud lived in a little log cabin near the present site of Wilmington. He died in 1847-8.
FIRST ENTRIES.
Polk Township (86-9), Abner N. Spencer, part of Sections 2, 10 and 11, September 27, 1848; Malinda Lockhart, southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 24, May 1, 1846; Barney D. Springer, south half of the southeast quarter of Section 26, June 15, 1846; Josephi Remington, west half of the northeast quarter of Section 34, April 7, 1846; William Mitchell, part of Section 34, June 19, 1846 ; Jacob Remington, October 3, 1846; Caleb S. Hendrys, southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 36, November 3, 1845; Samuel M. Lockhart, west half of the northwest quarter of Section 36, November 17, 1845.
Harrison Township (86-10), William Hendrickson, northeast quarter of Section 28, June 13, 1849.
Cedar Township (86-11), John Houx, southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 25, July 16, 1851 ; Stephen King, part of Section 25, August 2, 1852.
Bruce Township (86-12), Lewis M. Carlisle, parts of Sections 31 and 32, June 29, 1853.
Benton Township (85-9), George W. Brice, part of Section 1, May 6, 1846 ; Hugh Brawdy, June 26, 1846; Edwin B. Spencer, part of Section 7, November 1, 1845; Charles Cantonwine, part of Section 31. December 10, 1845.
Taylor Township (85-10), William A. Bryson, part of Section 1, June 20, 1846 ; Samuel Morse, part of Section 10, March 10, 1846 ; John Renshaw, Samuel K. Parker, Joseph R. Strawn and Gideon B. White entered in 1846.
Jackson Township (85-11), William Helmes, part of Section 15, June 26, 1848 ; Sarah Harris, part of Section 12, October 11, 1848; Ebenezer Mul- linick, part of Section 29, June 26, 1848.
Monroe Township (85-12), Grenville C. Slader, part of Section 15, June 30, 1851.
Canton Township (84-9), Daniel Ousted, part of Section 3. April 20, 1846; Charles A. Belnap, part of Section 11, May 13, 1846 ; Loyal F. North, part of Section 12, February 7, 1846; Stedman Penrose, Edward Karlsback, part of Section 12, December 30, 1845.
Eden Township (84-10), Elias Doan, part of Section 7, May 31, 1849.
Big Grove Township (84-11), Hans Hanson, part of Section 11, April 11, 1848.
313
HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
Homer Township (84-12), Benjamin Knukle, part of Section 29, October 23, 1854.
Florence Township (82-9), John Ure, part of Section 14, April 1, 1846 ; Hiram Usher, part of Section 18, February 14, 1846 ; William Thomas, part of Section 22, February 19. 1846.
Fremont Township (83-9), Edward Connolly, part of Section 32, March 12, 1853.
St. Clair Township (82-10), William T. Scott, part of Section 26, October 18, 1852.
Eldorado Township (83-10), James S. Easley, part of Section 26, Septem- ber 8, 1854. Nearly all of this township was entered in the Fall of 1854.
Le Roy Township (82-11), George Titter, part of Section 26, October 24. 1850.
Union Township (83-11), Sarah Ann Matsinger, part of Section 32, Octo- ber 27, 1851.
Iowa Township (82-12), Hyreanus Guinn, part of Seetion 27, September 3, 1851; Samuel Yeomans, part of Section 21, September 13, 1851.
Kane Township (83-12). Levi Marsh, part of Section 32, September 20 1853.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
There appears to have been no uniform rule or custom in the Territory or State of Iowa for the organization of counties, the boundaries of which were previously established by statute. Benton County was declared to be organized by act of the Territorial Legislature ; and as these statutes are rare, the act may be valuable for reference if inserted here, as follows :
AN ACT FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF BENTON COUNTY.
SECTION 1 .- Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa That the county of Benton be : nd the same is hereby organized from and after the 1st day of March next, and the inhabitants of said county shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges to which, by law, the inhabitants of other organized counties of this Territory are entitled ; and said county shall constitute a part of the Third Judicial District of this Territory.
SEC. 2 .- That there shall be a special election held on the first Monday in the month of April next, at which time the county officers for said county shall be elected, and also such number of Justices of the Peace and Constables for said county as may be ordered by the Clerk of the Dis- trict Court for said county.
SEC. 3 .- That it shall be the duty of the Clerk of the District Court in and for said county to give at least ten days' previous notice of the time and place of holding such special election in said county, grant certificates of election, and in all respects discharge the duties required by law to be performed by Clerks of the Boards of County Commissioners, in relation to elections. until a Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners may be elected and qualified.
SEC. 4 .- That it shall be the duty of the Clerk of the District Court in said county to dis- charge all the duties required by law to be performed by Sheriff's, in relation to elections, until a Sheriff for said county may be elected and qualified.
SEC. 5 .- That the county officers, Justices of the Peace and Constables elected under thte provisions of this act shall hold their offices until the first Monday in August, 1846, and unil heir successors are elected and qualified.
SEC. 6 .- That the Clerk of the District Court in and for said county of Benton may be appointed and qualified at any time after the passage of this act.
SEC. 7 .- That all actions at law or equity in the District Court for the county of Linn, com- menced prior to the organization of said county of Benton. when the parties or either of them reside in said county of Benton, shall be prosecuted to final judgment, order or decree, as fully and etfeetually as if this act had not been passed.
SEC. 8 -That it shall be the duty of all Justices of the Peace residing within said county of Benton to return all books and papers in their hands, pertaining to said office, to the next near- est Justice of the Peace who may be elected and qualified in and for said county under the provisions of this act ; and all suits at law or other official business which may be in the hands of such Justice of the Peace, and unfinished. shall be prosecuted and completed by the Justice of the Peace to whom such business or papers may have been returned, as aforesaid.
314
HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
SEC. 9 .- That the judicial authorities of Linn County shall have cognizance of all crimes or violations of the criminal laws of this Territory committed within the limits of said county of Benton prior to the 1st day of March next; Provided, prosecutions be commenced under the judi- cial authorities of said Linn County prior to the said 1st day of March next.
SEC. 10 .- That said county of Benton shall have cognizance and jurisdiction of all crimes or violations of the criminal laws of this Territory, committed prior to the 1st day of March next, in cases where prosecutions shall not have been commenced under the judicial anthorities of Linn County.
SEC. 11 .- That the county of Tama and the counties lying west of said county of Tama be and the same are hereby attached to the county of Benton, for election, revenue and judicial pur- poses.
SEC. 12 .- That the Clerk of the District Court in and for the county of Benton may keep his office at any place within said county, until the county seat thereof may be located.
SEC. 13 .- That Joseph A. Se. rest, of Jones County. Lyman Dillon, of Dubuque County, and . Joseph A. Downing, of t'edar County, be and they are hereby appointed Commissioners to locate and establish the county seat of the county of Benton.
SEC. 14 .- That said . ommissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the office of the Clerk of the District Court of the county of Benton, on the first. Monday of May next, or at such other time, not exceeding thirty days thereafter, as a majority of them may agree.
SEC. 15 -Said Commissioners shall first take and subscribe to the following oath, to wit : " We do solemnly swear (or affirm) that we have no personal interest, either directly or indirectly, in the location of the seat of justice of the county of Benton, and that we will faithfully and im- partially locate the same, according to the best interests of said county, taking into consideration the future as well as the present population of said county;" which oath shall be administered by the Clerk of the District Court, or any other officer authorized by law to administer oaths within the county of Benton : and the officer administering said oath shall certify and file the same in the office of the Clerk of the District Court of said county, whose duty it shall be to record the same.
SEC. 16 .- Said Commissioners, when met and qualified under the provisions of this act. shall proceed to locate the seat of justice of said county of Benton ; and as soon as they shall have come to a determination, the same shall be committed to writing, signed by the said Com- missioners and filed with the Clerk of the District Court of said county, whose duty it shall be to record the same and forever keep it on file in his office ; and the place thus designated shall be the seat of justice of said county.
SEC. 17 .- Said Commissioners shall each be entitled to receive the sum of $2 per day while necessarily employed in the said location, and the sum of $2 for every twenty miles' travel to and from the said county seat, which shall be paid by said Benton County out of the first funds arising from the sale of lots in such seat of justice.
SEC. 18 .- The county of Black Hawk is hereby attached to said county of Benton for elec- tion, judicial and revenue purposes.
SEC. 19 .- This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Approved. January 17. 1846.
THE FIRST ELECTION.
It has been stated that there was an election in Benton County in 1843, on the first Monday in August, at which the settlers voted for Linn County offi- cers. While the closest inquiry fails to substantiate the fact, it would seem that there must have been elections of some sort held prior to 1846, or the conclusion must be adopted that Justices of the Peace were appointed by the Governor, as it seems to be almost certain that the county had some Justices before its organization as an independent county.
Under the act organizing the county of Benton, the appointment of a Clerk of the District Court was provided for, presumably by the Judge of the Dis- triet Court, but there are no records to show such appointment, or authenticate the statement that at the first election there was but one voting precinct in the county, and the only voting place was at Parker's Grove, although it is prob- able that among the heterogeneous mass of papers in the vaults of the Court House, some record might be found. It is here to be remarked that the county of Benton owes it to itself to collect, revise and place in suitable condition the old papers alluded to, and record such as should be recorded. While the rec- ords and papers of the county for the last fifteen or twenty years, or since 1863, are well arranged and well kept, prior to that time the archives of the
315
HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
county are in a lamentably and inexcusably chaotic state. Many of the rec- ords are utterly lost, while numerous papers, many of them doubtless valuable, are scattered in a state of almost inextricable confusion in the "great vault." The County Commissioners' records are all lost, unless they shall be found by a thorough re-examination and arrangement of the documents. If these remarks shall produce the needed reform, the historian will not have labored in vain.
Permitted by the county officers to rummage among these ancient documents, he found a package marked "Omnium Gatherum : old papers." In this dusty package, securely hidden in a musty pigeon-hole among a lot of wolf bounty certificates of 1846-7, he found the original abstracts of the elections from April, 1846, to 1851, which are nowhere on record. Also the certificates of election, from which it appears that William J. Berry was the first District Clerk of Benton County appointed according to law. He also found one leaf (two pages) of the carly Commissioners' records, and some other valuable historical documents.
It is said that the first election was held at Parker's Grove, and that Beal Dorsey. Stedman Penrose and Lyman D. Bordwell were the Judges, and David S. Pratt and John Royal were the Clerks. This is probably true.
ABSTRACT OF AN ELECTION
held on the first Monday in April, A. D. 1846, in the county of Benton, Territory of Iowa, for the purpose of electing three County Commissioners, one Sheriff, one Commissioners' Clerk, one Coroner, one Recorder. one Surveyor, one Judge of Probate, one Collector and Treasurer, one Inspector of Weights and Measures, one Assessor, three Justices of the Peace and three Con- stables :
For County Commissioners-Edwin B. Spencer had 35 votes : Samuel M. Lockhart, 22 : Stedman Penrose. 35 ; Samuel K. Parker, 33.
For Sheriff-John Royal had 33 votes ; Lewis W. Bryson, 22.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.