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 38
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These people were shrewd, cunning and secret in their business maneuvers. To their immediate neighbors they were obliging, kind, and charitable where charity was needed. They wore an outward garb of respectability, and so hedged themselves as to escape detection and exposure for many years.
Nor was this bold and illegal organization of recent date, nor was it born on Iowa soil. During the Revolutionary war the lion-hearted colonists had not only to contend with the forces of George III and his Hessian mercenaries, but with a class of craven spirits at home who fought on the side of the King, and were called Tories. These were seldom met in open field, but their work was robbing, plundering and murdering the unprotected families of the patriot soldiers under Washington. Full of intense hatred against their rebel neigh- bors who were fighting for liberty and a government of their own, when the war ended and this became a free and independent nation, these Tories and guerrillas of Virginia and Pennsylvania sought refuge on the frontiers west of the Alleghanies, became outlaws and thieves, perfected an organization, and from that day until the present they and their descendants have gradually retired before the Westward march of civilization, preying upon the industries of the pioneers of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska in turn. About eighty years ago, a party of them removed to the frontiers of Ohio, and estab- lished their stations from the southeastern part of that State to Indiana; nor did the gang become extinct there until about 1848.
About fifty years ago, John Brody, Bill Driscoll and others, driven at last from the Clear Fork of the Mohican River, in Richland (now Ashland) County, Ohio, about 1830-2, sought refuge in Steuben County, Indiana. In two or three years, however, they, in connection with others of the gang, became so notorious as to arouse the entire country against them, and they were again forced to leave a region that had become too warm for them, and flee Westward. About 1835 they found their way to the Rock River country, in Illinois, and Brody settled in a grove since and still known as Brody's Grove, in Dement Township, Ogle County, Ill. For a time that entire region was completely under the control of the gang. They elected Justices of the Peace and Cons- tables, and generally had supreme control of affairs. One of them, Charles
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
Oliver, came very near being elected Justice of the Peace in Rockford, and in 1843, the same Charles Oliver was one of a party that robbed the store of Da- vid Bierer, in Colesburg, Delaware County, Iowa.
At last, however, the honest settlers organized themselves as Regulators or Vigilantes, determined to rid themselves of the gang. Two of the Driscolls were tried, condemned and shot by about 500 infuriated settlers, and Brody and other suspected members of the brood were warned to leave the county. They left at once, and, true to their instincts, they came west across the Mississippi and settled in the valley of the Cedar, establishing their stations in almost every settlement in the Territory. Brody and his sons, John, Stephen, Will- iam and Hugh, as stated in the History of Cedar County, "were among the first settlers in Linn County, in 1839, where their houses became refuges and hiding places for their accomplices in crime and villainy." In 1843, Stephen, Jesse and Hugh Brody and David Wilson, whose brother (a member of the gang) was shot by a party of settlers on the prairie in the southwestern part of Delaware County, and some others established themselves in Benton County. Of the Brody family who settled in Benton, Hugh alone had the reputation of being a decent citizen. "The principal thing against him," says an old settler. familiar with the history of the county, " was that he would sometimes go bail for his brothers when they were caught." But this was only natural.
In Cedar County, Squires, Conlogue, Stoutenberg (alias Case) and Gove were members of the band; and in Linn, Joel Leverich was one of the leading spirits. Chancy Leverich, who built the first cabin on the present site of Vinten, was also generally supposed to be intimately connected with it.
This gang operated over a large scope of country, and with so many mem- bers located in Cedar, Linn, Benton and other counties, such secure hiding places, and so many of the gang coming and going, it is but little wonder that the people came to live in constant fear and dread. But the villains worked so cautiously and secretly as to be almost past finding out. Horse stealing became so common that a man who owned a good horse never presumed to leave him over-night in an unlocked stable, and, in many instances, farmers and horse owners slept in their stables with their rifles by their sides.
These outlaws, systematically engaged in horse stealing and other illicit occupations generally indulged in by frontier banditti, acquired such power and influence in the county, as, for a time, to force a suspension of all law and judicial proceedings. The three or four years prior to 1851 are generally referred to by old settlers of Benton County as the "dark ages."
From the time of the assembling of the last court in 1848 until the first court in 1851, the horse thieves were in the ascendency, and threatened summary ven- geance on any and all persons who should dare to assist in any attempt to recover stolen property, and boldly asserted that no officer dared to enforce the law against them. They were found on the juries, they sometimes elected Justices of the Peace and Constables, and generally had their own way. Their open and bold defiance of law and their numerous depredations at last aroused the people. who, convinced that the law was powerless to protect them against the depredations of the gang, determined to protect themselves. Meetings were held in many of the counties, and in the counties of Clayton, Delaware, Bu- chanan, Linn and Benton, an organization was perfceted called the Regulators, or Vigilance Committee. This, for a time, put some check upon the move- ments of the horse thieves; but even this was soon defied. especially in Benton County, where there were but few members of the organization, and the con- dition of the people became deplorable indeed. There were no courts in the
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
county for three years, and some of the leading men were doing all they could to deter Judge Carleton from coming to the county to hold court. The horse thieves defied law and Regulators, or "lynchers," as they came to be called, and the Regulators defied the horse thieves and took the law into their own hands. Every person visiting the county was spotted and watched. If he called at the cabin of any of the gang, or if suspected of sympathziing with them, he was promptly dealt with. The Vigilance Committee was organized for the purpose of aiding in the arrest and conviction of offenders; but it was soon found that while it was easy to arrest them, they almost invariably escaped the just penalty of their crimes. Consequently, the Regulators soon wearied of the farce, took the law into their own hands, and inflicted swift, summary, and not always deserved, punishment.
During the "dark ages," the Sheriff of Linn County would frequently attempt to make arrests of desperadoes having their headquarters in this county, and numerous encounters, affrays and knock-downs are related. On one occa- sion it is related that the Sheriff had arrested one of them, who submitted quietly, but asked permission to go to his brother's house for some clothes. The Sheriff, who seems to have been childlike in his confidence and unsus- picious of danger, granted the request, and accompanied the prisoner to the house ; but no sooner had he entered than the prisoner grasped a skillet-handle, with which the confiding Sheriff was knocked down and beaten nearly to death, after which the brothers coolly saddled their horses and rode off.
But statements of this character very soon lose their original truthfulness, and the careful historian, in sifting them, always finds more or less of additional tradition mingled with them.
After a time, it came to be that between the horse thieves and robbers on the one side, and the self-styled " Regulators " or "Vigilance Committees " on the other, no peaceable, law-abiding citizen was safe from molestation. For three years, courts were not held in the county, and some of the officials were suspected of being in sympathy with the thieves and robbers, while others were known to be active members of the "Regulators." For a time, it was un- certain which party was the most damaging to the county, as both of them often prevented the peaceable administration of the law, and under one pretext or another postponed the holding of courts and the performance of other official duties by the regularly elected officers of the county. While many of the best men were connected with and active members of the " Regulators," yet a num- ber of the thieving gang joined them, the better to conceal their operations, and to obtain an opportunity of wreaking vengeance upon the heads of some innocent party who had thwarted them in their plans.
At last, the better class of people, who had brooded long over their wrongs and sufferings, determined to submit no longer. They held secret meetings, which finally resulted in the adoption of resolutions declaring themselves no longer bound by the Regulators, and publicly announced a meeting for the purpose of organizing a society for the protection of person and property, and for the furtherance of equity and justice. At this meeting, the date of which unfortunately has not been preserved, a society was organized and called
THE IOWA PROTECTION COMPANY,
under the operation of which, society was much improved, although afterward it is said that acts were committed under the name of the association that could hardly bear the light of legal investigation. But it must be remembered that
James Watson
BANKER VINTON
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IIISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
the laws hardly reached Benton County at that time, and something must be pardoned to the spirit of the times.
As the constitution of this organization is a somewhat curious and impor- tant document, pertaining to the early history of Benton County, the historian has thought best to reproduce it with the names of the originators and members in this county.
The document reads as follows :
This Society shall be called the Iowa Protection Company.
ARTICLE I. The object of this Society shall be to protect the property of the members of this company, and particularly their horses, from the depredations of robbers and thieves, and also to trace out the perpetrators of thefts, rescue and restore property stolen, and assist in a due and faithful administration of law and justice.
ART. 2. The officers of this Society shall consist of a President, Secretary and Treasurer, to be chosen viva voce at any stated meeting, and to hold their offices during good behavior.
ART. 3. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all regular meetings of the So- ciety, and, in his absence, the Society may choose a President pro tem .; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to record all the proceedings of the Society, and preserve the same ; and it shall be the duty of each member to pay to the Treasurer such sums of money from time to time as the Society shall dictate. He shall keep a correct book in which he shall enter the amount received and expended, and the purpose for which it was expended.
ART. 4. The Society shall appoint such committees as may be necessary to carry out the objects of the Society.
ART. 5. Each and every member shall sign the constitution and hold themselves subject to its provisions, and on revealing its proceedings in any respect, shall be excluded from its benefits.
ART. 6. This Society shall be convened at any time by notice from the President.
ART. 7. No person shall be entitled to vote unless a member of the Society.
ART. 8. This constitution may be altered or amended at any regular meeting, by a two-thirds vote of the members present.
ART. 9. No person shall be admitted a member of this Society who is under suspicion of horse stealing or any other theft, or for harboring thieves or robbers.
ART. 10. The regular meeting of this Society shall be the Saturday before the full of the moon, at such place as may be designated
J. S. Epperson, W. W. Hopkins, Robt. Osborn, John S. Vanclave, John D. Vanclave, Alex. Wood, Joseph Remington, Abel Cox, S. M. Lockhart, Wm. Bells, Elijah Evans, Harrison Berry, Jacob Remington, Sanford Moberley, A. H. Johnson, Albert Johnson, Jacob Fouts, John McCoy, J. M. Broad, C. M. Moberley, Joel W. Miller, Thomas G. Lockhart, Groty Osborn, Elmyrrh How- ard, John Osborn, Charles Stewart. John Sauks, Wm. A. Bryson, Hiram Ro- selle, Wm. A. Griffin, Wm. Riley, Spencer Johnson, James Downs, Charles Epperson, Alex. Johnson, David Jewell, George McCoy, John R. Speak, Lewis W. Bryson, Stephen D. Jewell, Davis Fouts, John C. Rouse, Martin Johnson, Lanslot Johnson, Edwin C. Hall, James Johnson, Hiram T. Epperson, and A. Taylor. The organization was perfected by the election of J. S. Forsythe as President, Elijah Evans, Secretary, and George McCoy, Treasurer.
From the organization of this company, the condition of the county began to improve. Many of the gang that had been so prominent, left the county for scenes of operation farther West, while those that remained generally abandoned their old habits and became respectable citizens. The "Lynchers " too, find- ing their occupation gone, quietly subsided and attended to their business.
RESUMPTION OF JUDICIAL AUTHORITY.
There is no record of any attempt to hold court in Benton County from September, 1848, until a term was appointed to be held in the Court House at Fremont on the second Monday after the fourth Monday in March, which was the 7th day of April, 1851, when court was duly opened by the Sheriff, Cyrus C. Charles ; but the Judge was not present, and he adjourned until the next
c
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
day, when, Judge Carleton still being absent, in obedience to a written order from His Honor, the Sheriff adjourned the court until the first Wednesday after the first Monday in June (June 4th), 1851.
RESIGNATION OF BUFFUM.
"It was a difficult matter," says Mr. Rice, " to secure a competent person for Clerk of the Court in early times. Under the old County Commissioner system, then in vogue, it was of the utmost importance that the office of the Clerk of the District Court should be filled, as by a permanent vacancy in that office the county organization might be lost. Although there had been no court held in the county for several years, and it had been distracted by the lawless acts of both horse thieves and lynchers, the better class of the citizens looked anxiously forward to the time when civil authority should be resumed and honest men be called to the front, and they were anxious to maintain the county organization." Under these circumstances, Dr. Buffum had been elected Clerk of the District Court, in August, 1850, and James Rice, County Com- missioner, C. C. Charles, Sheriff, and John Royal had become his sureties. But during the following Winter, Buffum became dissipated, and, becoming dissatis- fied with his course, his sureties informed him that he must resign, which he finally did in March, 1851, only a few days before the time appointed for a term of court. But before he left the office, a large number of papers disap- peared, among them indictments and other processes against some of the faithless Clerk's friends.
At a special election held April 26th following, Irwin D. Simison was elected Clerk of the Courts, and George W. Vandaman Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners.
On Wednesday, June 4, 1851, the District Court was opened in due form by Sheriff Charles in the Court House in Fremont, but Judge Carleton was absent, and by his written order the court was again adjourned to June 18th.
When the Clerk of the District Court resigned, in March, 1851, he left the county records, bonds and public papers in a house then vacant, from which they were afterward stolen, and disappeared a short time before court was to meet. Judge Carleton had made several unsuccessful attempts to reach Benton County. The citizens had heard of the loss of the county papers, and determined to recover them and inflict summary vengeance on the guilty parties if they could discover them. Subsequently, the docket was found, but minus all the pages that had any reference to the recognizance of bonds in any manner in which the Clerk was interested ; but the perpetrators of the deed had carefully concealed all traces of their guilt, and consequently were never apprehended and made to answer to the law. The citizens, actuated by one common impulse, assembled at a place called " Hoosier Point " (Marysville) and, after several speeches had been made, it was unanimously voted that a letter should be addressed to Judge Carleton. setting forth their grievances and their forbearance, and praying him to use his authority and influence in their behalf. The letter is of historical value, worthy of preservation as indicating the temper of the people, and is herewith produced :
To the IIon. James Carleton, Judge of the Fourth Judicial District of the State of Iowa :
We, the undersigned, citizens of Benton County, would beg leave to inform you of our pres- ent situation, which is anything but enviable, owing to the management of some of our citizens. We have not, as you know, had any court here for nearly three years, and the officers who would do their duty cannot. If a judgment is rendered, it is taken to the District Court, there to remain for years. And, to cap all, ten days before court was to have been held in Benton County, the Clerk resigned without having the cases docketed, and left the docket and papers so that the
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
most important part have been stolen and concealed or destroyed. and when we attempt to inquire into the matter, we are answered with taunts. We are completely without law. Honest men are kept out of their just rights. Besides that, there are acts of the basest character perpe- trated with impunity, and the guilty parties cannot be brought to justice. We have done all that we could do to have a better state of affairs. We have hoped for the better. We have borne it with all the patience we were masters of. But there is a point beyond which forbearance ceases to be a virtue, and we are conscious that we have reached that point. We are a law-abiding people. We love our country and love to sustain the laws ; but we are as a branch cut off from the vine, and must wither without nourishment. We know of none to apply to but yourself. We call on you by all that is good, by all that binds man to his fellow-men, to,assist us if it is in your power ; if not, to inform us where we can get our grievances redressed If we are left as we are, we know not what may be the result. It may lead to mob violence, which we detest.
Signed by J. S. Forsyth and many others.
The next mail brought letters from Judge Carleton, in which he assured the people that he would be in Benton County on the 18th of June, and requested the citizens to meet him at the Court House on that day, to assist in reorganiz- ing the county. This time the people were not disappointed. Judge Carleton came, although it is said he came near losing his life while crossing Prairie Creek. With him came I. M. Preston, of Marion, W. Smith and N. W. Isbel, attorneys, and on the day appointed, for the first time in three years, there was a
COURT IN BENTON COUNTY.
The people had assembled ; Sheriff Charles was present ; but there was no Clerk. Simison, who had been elected in April, intimidated. it is said. by sundry mysterious threats, had not qualified. He was induced to accept the office, however, was sworn, and entered at once upon the discharge of his duties. The county was destitute of a Prosecuting Attorney, and the Court appointed Newman W. Isbell to act for the time. A grand jury was called and sworn, consisting of James Rice, foreman, David S. Brubaker, Lyman D. Bordwell, Abraham Garrison, Charles Epperson, Albert Johnson. H. Mahan, James F. Young, John Royal. James Johnson, Thomas Dudgon, Samuel Osborn, Charles N. Moberly, Samuel Alexander, Joseph Remington. James M. Mickle, Elijah Evans and Fleming Sanders.
The organization of this court was the commencement of a new era in Ben- ton County. Justice was about resuming sway, and the reign of disorder, law- lessness and violence that had rendered Benton County a by-word and a reproach, and prevented its settlement and development, was practically ended. Judge Carleton had been importuned to hold court at Marysville, and had been informed that there were no honest men on the west side of the river; that the county officers were in league with outlaws and thieves, and that it was useless to attempt to hold court there ; but that at Marysville. the headquarters of the Regulators, there could be some hope of obtaining an honest jury. Disregard- ing these efforts, Judge Carleton determined to hold court at the county seat, and energetically commenced the work of cleansing the Augean stable of Benton County. In this he was ably and earnestly seconded by Mr. Rice, foreman, and the other members of the grand jury, who found a large number of bills, notwithstanding the destruction of papers and mutilation of the docket. Among the indictments was one against "Uncle Tom" Way* for selling liquor
* Way appears to have been a "character" in the early history of Benton County, and fell under the ban of the lynchers, who suspected him of complicity with horse thieves ; but this suspicion appears to have been without founda- tion, farther than that one of his sons (Berry , was a horse thief and desperado, and that in his generous hospitality he treated all alike. Ilis table and his jug were free, and he would entertain a Methodist minister or a horse thief with the same large-hearted liberality, never asking or caring what the occupation of his guests might be; and when any pioneer came, looking for land, he was always ready and willing to go with and show him the best land in the vicinity. He had no connection with the gang of outlaws who infested this region. Like many other carly pioneers, he sold whisky to Indians and whites alike, for both were equally fond of the intoxicating fluid. "But," says MIr. Rice, his old neighbor, "he was one of the most charitable, open-hearted, generous men I ever knew."
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
to the Indians. This indictment appears to have been the result of an incident of the election in 1849. At that time, Berry Way had an old grudge against Tom Kendrick, and was only prevented from pounding him by his father. When Tom started for home, the vengeful Berry followed, overtook him near David Way's cabin, and flogged him severely -- might have killed him but for Mrs. Way, David's wife, who interfered. For this aggravated assault, the pugnacious Berry was arrested, and was to be taken before Justice Forsyth, at Marysville; but Uncle Tom made an arrangement with another Magistrate, 'Square Cox, by which, if the case could be brought before him, Berry would plead guilty and be fined $5.00 and costs. This was accordingly done, and when the sentence had been pronounced the prisoner asked the Magistrate if he would receive county warrants, at their face, in payment. Fines were paid into the school fund at that time, and the accommodating 'Squire, supposing that he could turn over the warrants to the Commissioners, readily consented, although county warrants . were worth only twenty-five or thirty cents on the dollar. The warrants were obtained, paid over, and the prisoner dis- charged.
But when 'Squire Cox went to pay the fine to the School Fund Commis- sioner, then E. H. Keyes, the worthy Magistrate was very much disgusted when the county official refused to take the warrants and demanded payment in gold. He paid it, but he was angry, and waited for revenge until this term of court, when he procured Thomas Way's indictment as above. Way was arrested, of course, and several of his neighbors readily became his bail. Before the day fixed for the trial, the next year, Way had decided to go to Cali- fornia, and his family had already started. Uncle Tom remained to await the trial ; but his friends, feeling satisfied that if he remained he would be con- victed, persuaded him to go, assuring him that they would pay the bail if it came to that. He started; but judge the susprise of his friends when, on the day fixed for the trial, they saw Uncle Tom ride up and dismount. In answer to queries, he said he could not go and leave anybody bound for him ; he had come back to be tried, and he should be acquitted. On the trial, the principal witness appeared to have lost his memory, and the first jury disagreed. James Harlan, who was Prosecuting Attorney, became convinced that there was not sufficient evidence to convict, and suggested to Judge Forsyth that it would be better to let him go, if he would pay the cost. The proposition was then made to Way, that if he would pay the costs, amounting to $25 or $30, he might go free, and he finally concluded to do so. As he mounted his horse his old friends and neighbors gathered around him, bade him good-by, and he rode away, never more to be seen in Benton County.
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