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 41
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BENTON COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
To Stone Masons : Sealed proposals will be received at my office in Vinton, until the 15th day of September, 1855, for building the foundation of the Court House. The work is to be completed by the 1st day of December next. For terms, specifications, the manner of doing the work, etc., apply to the undersigned. A moderate portion will be advanced as the work pro- gresses, and undoubted security will be required from the person to whom the work is granted. Vinton, September 5, 1855. SAM DOUGLASS, County Judge.
The contract appears to have been awarded to John Tyler, for on the 21st of November following, The Eagle records the completion of the job by that gentleman. The next Spring, active work was commenced on the building It is understood that no contracts were let, but Judge Douglass employe. workmen by the day, and personally superintended the work. The corn er
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
stone was laid July 13, 1856, by the Masonic fraternity. Addresses were made by Messrs. Evans and Root, and a brass band from Marion furnished music for the important occasion.
The lower or first floor was finished in 1856, and the upper story so far completed that on Christmas Eve it was occupied for a grand ball and supper, given by the citizens of Vinton and vicinity. On the memorable occasion, the bill of fare included oyster soup, ornamented cold dishes, boiled dishes, hot reliefs, cold side dished, hot side dishes, small dishes, cold relishes, buffalo and elk meat, wild turkey, prairie chicken, quail, pastry, confectionery and dessert. The Court House was used as the dancing hall, and numerous dancers attended from Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Picaway and Benton City.
The Court House is a substantial two-story brick structure, some 40x60 feet square, and situated in the Public Square near the business portion of the town. The grounds are handsomely laid out, studded with shrubs, evergreens, and the different varieties of ornamental trees, forming a very attractive place of resort during the heat of Summer. The second story is devoted to court and jury rooms, which are conveniently arranged and airy, while the first story is occupied by the different county officers, fire-proof vaults for the records, etc.
Its cost was about $13,000.
William Martin, a young man about 23 years of age, was drowned in the Cedar River, about two miles below Vinton, on Friday, June 29, 1855, while bathing. Several others were with him at the time, but he was too far out, was taken with cramps and sank before they could reach him.
LE ROY TOWNSHIP.
The first settler in this township (Town 82, Range 11) was Asa P. Pasco, in 1851, followed by S. II. Lee, in 1852, James Athey, in 1853, and I. G. Burnet, in 1854.
The first marriage was that of Luther Skellenger to Romento Pasco, in 1854.
The first birth was that of Pomeroy Davidson, September 8, 1854; and the first death, that of Maguire Davidson, on the 25th of December in the same year.
The township was organized in 1856, S. H. Lee being elected Justice of the Peace, and Brittain O. Clark, Township Clerk. Those who voted at this election were : James Brien, S. A. Bentley, Isaiah Morris. S. H. Lee, Levy Bunden, Jerry Morfit, Asa P. Pasco, Thomas Miner, I. G. Burnet, S. S. Benttie, Brittain O. Clark, James Rineurd and Samuel Rineurd.
The first school house was built on Section 23, in 1857, and the first teacher was Eunice Ralsted, who taught in the Summer or Fall of that year.
The first mill was built on Prairie Creek, by W. Young and George Bos- ley, within the present limits of Blairstown.
The first sermon was preached at Lee's Grove, by Rev. A. Dwight, in 1857.
The Chicago & Northwestern Road was built through the township in 1861.
There are now ten school houses in the township.
The present officers are: I. G. Burnet, P. H. Lynch, J. M. Furnence, Justices ; W. M. Abbott, A. Sherin, Constables ; George Felt. R. Fur- nence, Geo. Shoemaker, Trustees; W. H. Ehred, Clerk : H. D. Moeller, Assessor.
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
HOSPITALITY TO A PREACHER.
About nightfall, in the Autumn of 1856, a wayfaring man, on horseback, stopped before the door of a well-known pioneer of Kane Township, and craved hospitality. This was accorded, as a matter of course; but when the stranger asked his host to care for his horse, and gave minute directions as to feed, water and bedding, Mr. Stocker felt a little cross, owing, probably, to his having just ended a hard day's work. He cared for the horse as if it was his own, however, and returned to the house.
The stranger introduced himself as a minister, and took occasion during the evening to do all the missionary work he could. 9 o'clock came, and Mr. Stocker suggested that he would be glad to usher his reverend guest to bed. The stranger mildly proposed that it was his custom to preside at family prayers wherever he stayed. Mr. Stocker produced the family Bible, which, it is safe to say, he was not much in the habit of reading, and his wife's mother laid an Episcopal prayer book by its side. The latter was pushed aside by the stran- ger, with a contemptuous gesture, who read a chapter, offered prayer and retired.
In the morning, the stranger manifested the same consideration for his horse, but did not offer to assist. As soon as breakfast was over, Mr. Stocker began to bustle about, preparatory to going to the field, when he was stopped by the preacher, who suggested the propriety of another prayer. This over, the stran- ger asked to have his horse brought round. As he was about to mount, he inquired if there would be anything to pay. Mr. Stocker thought this too good an opportunity to lose, and suggested the sum of seventy-five cents as a satisfactory remuneration. The preacher's eyes involuntarily assumed a dreamy, contemplative cast, but he drew his wallet, like a man. He examined its con- tents, and after extracting all he could find, exposed the total on his open palm, which amounted to sixty-five cents, saying that was all he had, and asking if Mr. Stocker would be satisfied with that sum. The latter nodded a cheerful acquiescence, dropped the coins into his pocket, holding himself in as best he could until the preacher was out of hearing, when he relieved his feelings by the best laugh he had had for years.
April 8, 1856, a ferry license was granted to James L. Parsley to run a ferry across the Cedar River, at Vinton.
NEW TOWNSHIPS.
Although the orders of court creating townships in Benton County were not recorded, the following order indicates that the townships named were created and organized in the Spring of 1856 :
April 9, 1856.
It is this day ordered by the court that the following persons be allowed the sums attached to their names, for services rendered in organizing townships, to wit:
Thomas Ridge, Jackson Township. $4 00
J. M. Inman, Eden Township. 4 00
George Buchan, Bruce Township 4 00
V. Vanice, Big Grove Township 4 00
BIG GROVE TOWNSHIP.
This township (Town 84, Range 11) was organized in 1856, by order of the County Court. The first Township Trustees were : E. Doan, John Ruffcorn and George Bergen ; and James Shultz and H. S. Bailey were first Justices of the Peace.
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
The first settlers were : James F. Young, his brother, Robert Young, and Connolly, who settled in 1849; although previous to that time, a log cabin had been built by - Adams and others, squatters, and used as a sort of rendezvous or station by the horse-thieving gentry.
In 1850, Elias Doan, Dennis Kennedy and John P. Chinn settled in the township. Mr. Kennedy settled on the east part of Section 4. At that time, there were thirty or forty Indians in that vicinity. These Indians were accused of committing some depredations on the settlers; but Mr. Kennedy thinks they were actually committed "by some white scalawags, who wanted to shield them- selves by laying it off on to the Indians."
In 1854, the settlers moved the old log cabin of Adams', which was built on Section 10, to another part of the section, and fitted it up for a school house, in which Miss Margaret Connolly (now Mrs. Jonas Wood, of Traer), taught the first school, in the same Summer.
The first sermon was preached in the house of Mr. J. F. Young, by Rev. Williston Jones, a Presbyterian clergyman, in 1850. He was followed, soon after, by Rev. N. C. Robinson.
RESIGNATIONS.
April 21, 1856, David Robb resigned the office of Clerk of the District Court, and Judge Samuel Douglass appointed W. C. Stanbury to fill the vacancy.
May 1, 1856, Newell Colby resigned the office of County Surveyor, and Wesley Whipple was appointed to fill the vacancy.
TOLL BRIDGE.
January 5, 1857, a license was granted to the Vinton Bridge Company, J. C. Traer, President, to erect a toll bridge across the Cedar River, at the north end of Main street.
The company was organized in November, 1856, composed of J. C. Traer, J. E. Palmer, J. W. Filkins, John Mason, J. S. Hunt and others. The bridge was built by Kelley & McCoy, and cost $8,500. Its entire length was 462 feet, and the superstructure rested on eight piers, each composed of sixteen piles driven twelve feet into the bed of the river. These piers were protected by slowly constructed " breakers." The transverse floor timbers were twenty feet long, giving a clear passage-way of sixteen feet.
The first team crossed this bridge June 27, 1857 ; and it was continued as a toll bridge until 1862, when it was sold to the county.
In 1865, one span of the bridge was swept away by high water, and soon after, it was taken down and the material removed. It is said that at low water some vestiges of this first bridge can be seen.
A NOVEL MARRIAGE LICENSE AND CERTIFICATE.
Judge Douglass was not a lawyer, but took much pride in keeping his record. His first official act was, like that of his predecessor, the issuing of a marriage license. He was married. November 25. 1855, at New Philadelphia, Ohio, to Mrs. N. Straun ; and when, a year later, another county official desired to enter the state of matrimony, the Judge made the following entry :
Be it Remembered, That on the 18th day of December, 1856, a license was issued to John W. Filkins, County Recorder and Treasurer, and Margaret M. Cupid, authorizing the marriage of the same to be solemnized this evening by Samuel Douglass, County Judge of said county.
And now, to wit : On this same evening, at the house of John Bishop. Esq., at precisely 7 o'clock P. M., appeared the said John W. Filkins, in his own proper person, and also the said
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
Margaret M. Cupid, parties in said cause, whereupon the court proceeded to try said cause, and the court being fully satisfied that issue should be joined, and that they were both of lawful age and in all other respeets, legally as well as morally and physically, qualified to enter upon the rights and privileges of the married state, it is therefore ordered. adjudged and decreed that the said J. W. Filkins, Recorder and Treasurer of Benton County, and Margaret M. Cupid be held and firmly bound in the holy bonds of matrimony, and that this decree be final, firm and forever; and it is further ordered and adjudged that the said J. W. Filkins pay the cost tax of $6.35.
CEDAR VALLEY BRANCH RAILROAD.
March 2, A. D. 1857, the County Court ordered that the question of aiding the construction of the Cedar Valley Branch of the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad, by subscribing for $150,000 of the stock of said company, and issuing therefor the bonds of the county, payable in twenty years, bearing 10 per cent. interest, in payment of the same, be submitted to the qualified voters of the county, at an election to be held on the 6th of April, 1857.
The election resulted in favor of the proposition, by a vote of 698 to 467. Although the measure was carried by what was then considered a very large majority, it was asserted by those who were opposed to saddling such an enor- mous debt upon the county that misrepresentations had been made, and that many citizens voted for it under a misapprehension of facts. Before the bonds could be prepared, Mr. A. D. Stephens, who was sagacious enough to foresee the magnitude of the self- imposed burden and how much it would cost the peo- ple, filed a petition in the District Court at Iowa City for a writ of injunction to restrain the county authorities from issuing 'the bonds. He was successful, and thus saved the county from a debt which, but for his energy and foresight, would have been a serious drawback to the prosperity of the county. Fifteen thousand dollars interest, paid annually for twenty years, would have amounted to $300,000 in 1877, and then the principal, $150,000, would have been due. If any citizen of Benton County has a curiosity to see the amount of the burden which the people laid upon themselves in 1857, and from which they were relieved by the action of Mr. Stephens, let him calculate the amount of the interest to be paid, compounded at ten per cent. and he will be surprised. The county owes a debt to Mr. Stephens that has not been repaid, as he paid the expenses of securing the injunction from his own private funds.
A license was granted to James L. Panley to run a ferry across Cedar River at Vinton, to be in force from April 1, 1859, for ten years ; said ferry to run from the north end of Washington street.
INCORPORATED-ALMOST.
Now, to wit, March 2, 1857: It being the March term of said County Court, and the first Monday of said month, the following petition was presented to the County Court, to wit :
To the County Court of Benton County, in the State of Iowa : Yonr petitioners, residents of Vinton, Grand Gulf, Tilford's Vinton ; Smith, Traer & Tilford's Addition to the town of Vinton : East Vinton ; Beckett's Addition to Fremont ; Webb's Addition to the town of Vinton; Thomas S. Palmer's Addition to the town of Vinton ; John E. Palmer's Addition to the town of Vinton ; South Vinton ; Sells' Addition to the town of Vinton ; College Square ; Hamilton Place ; Martel's Addition to the town of Vinton, and New Vinton, in said county, would respectfully represent to your Honor that said villages lie adjacent to each other and in compaet form, that neither of them has any municipal organization, and that it would be of great advantage to and for the interest of all coneerned that they should be united and organized into a municipal incorpora- tion, together with sneh lands adjacent as, by the consent of the proprietors thereof and the citizens of said villages, may be included ; that, combined. they contain a population of more than one thousand permanent inhabitants. Therefore your petitioners respectfully ask your Honor to direct the question to be submitted to the legal voters of said villages whether they will have a city corporation or not.
And the Court being fully satisfied that the villages in said petition mentioned contain a population of one thousand permanent inhabitants, and that said petition is signed by at least one-fourth of the legal voters of said villages, do order the prayer of said petitioners granted ;
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
and it is further ordered by the Court that the question be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of said villages on the 14th day of March, 1857, between the hours of 9 o'clock A. M. and 4 o'clock P. M .. whether the said villages will adopt a city incorporation, as prayed for in said petition, or not : and it is further ordered that those in favor of said incorporation shall write or print on their ballots " For Incorporation," and those opposed to said incorporation shall write or print on their ballots " Against Incorporation." It is further ordered by the Court that W. (. Smith, Elijah Evans and Harmon Stanton be and are hereby appointed Judges of said election, and that S. E. Keith and John F. Pyne be and are hereby appointed Clerks of said election, who shall severally take the oath of office, and make returns according to law, of said election ; and that said election shall be held in the store room lately occupied by Elijah Evans, in the village of Vinton, in said county of Benton, and that nine days' notice of said clection be posted up in three of the most public places in said village. SAMUEL DOUGLASS, County Judge.
An order of the court, dated March 25, 1857, shows " that a majority of all the votes cast at said election were in favor of said incorporation," but does not give the vote. (It was 72.) The court ordered another election, to be conducted by the same officers and held at the same place, to choose three per- sons to draft articles of incorporation.
There is no further mention of this matter in the records. Mr. Pyne states, however, that the "ridiculousness of the scheme forced itself upon the people, after the first election, so strongly that it was abandoned, and the second election went by default."
SAD ACCIDENT.
April 5, 1857. Jesse Brody desired to cross the river to Vinton, with his wife and child. The wind was blowing so violently that J. L. Pauley, the ferryman, decided to carry them over in a skiff instead of in the large boat. About midway, the skiff capsized. Pauley caught the child and placed it on the inverted boat. Mrs. Brody sank, but the men clung to the koat and were drawn to shore by a line sent out for the purpose. When the boat was turned over, Mrs. Brody was found beneath it. Every effort was made to restore her, but without avail.
STEAMBOAT ON THE CEDAR.
In June, 1858, the Valley Times, published at Cedar Rapids, announced that a steamboat was being built at that place, by F. Smith & Co., to ply the Upper Cedar. The boat was to be one hundred feet long, nineteen feet beam and two and a half feet hold. The engine was sixty horse-power, three-feet stroke and nine-inch cylinders ; the boiler twelve feet long, containing twenty- four flues : the wheel, twelve feet in diameter. It was to be completed by the middle of July. During the time of building the boat, a notice was served on the Vinton Bridge Company, requiring that corporation either to construct a suitable draw or to abate the bridge.
The boat, which was named the " Export," reached Vinton October 5, with sixty tons of freight on board, part of which was discharged on the bank. Her arrival was welcomed by an anvil salute. At one of the discharges. a ring, which had been placed between the anvil, flew out, struck A. K. Webb and inflicted serious injury.
The second trip up stream was made on the 20th. The first trip had been a somewhat tedious one, as the pilot had to learn the channel
During the Winter, the boat was overhauled and re-painted, and her name changed to " Black Hawk." Her first trip in 1859 began from Cedar Rapids March 16, with J. J. Snouffer, Master and Clerk : W. D. Watrous, Mate ; Thomas Stanley. Engineer : W. Vance, Pilot. There being several cargoes awaiting shipment from Vinton, the boat did not visit Waterloo until the accu- mulation had been removed.
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
ANOTHER COUNTY OFFICIAL MADE HAPPY.
Be it remembered, That on this first day of June, A. D. 1859, James Chapin, Clerk of the District Court, made application for a marriage license to permit him to unite in the holy bonds of matrimony with Mary D. Butler, of the County and State aforesaid, and the Court, having taken into consideration said application, and being fully convinced that the said James is per- fectly justified in possessing the object long desired by him, it is therefore adjudged that said license be duly granted. SAM. DOUGLASS, County Judge.
THE COUNTY JUDGE SYSTEM ABOLISHED.
By act of the General Assembly, approved March 26, 1860, the County Judge system, under what was termed the "Blue Laws of Iowa," which had been tried for ten years, was abolished. It was a singular experiment to be tried by a free people. Almost absolute power was vested in a single man to rule the affairs of the county. The County Judge was elected for four years : and while it was safe, perhaps, to entrust the management of the affairs of a county to a single man, if he was capable and honest, it was disastrous if the people were disappointed in their selection. Benton County was peculiarly fortunate in this respect, however. From one extreme, however, the General Assembly went to the opposite, and created, by the above-named act, a cum- brous and expensive County Legislature, called a County Board of Supervisors, consisting of one Supervisor for each civil township, to be elected in October, and to assume the duties of their office on the first Monday in January follow- ing. The act went into force July 4, 1860, and in October following, the several townships in Benton County elected a
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
as follows : James McQuin, Cue Township; James Rice, Benton; J. M. Inman, Eden ; G. L. Palmer, Big Grove; H. Guinn, Iowa ; S. G. Livermore, Fremont ; S. Miskimin, Monroe; G. Treanor, Bruce; S. Lamosee, Le Roy : E. W. Stocker, Kane; W. F. Kirkpatrick, Taylor; Martin Mickey, Union ; R. R. Dwigans, Canton ; John Slattery, Polk; J. Austin, Cedar ; J. R. Christie, Jackson ; J. S. Forsyth, Harrison ; D. A. Robinson, Eldorado; W. C. Smith, Homer ; J. Springer, St. Clair.
On the 7th of January, 1861, these gentlemen assembled at the Court House and duly organized by the election of James McQuin, Chairman, and the county entered upon another epoch in its history.
After determining the term of office of each member (as ton of them were to hold two years and the other ten only one), the first action of the Board was to "vote that the Chair appoint a committee to see to the immediate removal of the snow from the roof of the Court House," and W. C. Smith was appointed to perform that duty.
January 10, the following entry appears :
" And now a communication is presented to the Chair and read, being an invitation to the Hon. Board to partake of an oyster supper at Mrs. Loree's saloon at 8 o'clock this evening.
Whereupon it was unanimously voted to accept, and that without debate. The record is silent in regard to the name or names of the generous individual or individuals who extended the invitation ; but, of course, there were no axes to grind.
The vote of Benton County for Governor in 1861 was as follows : S. J. Kirkwood had 641; W. H. Merritt had 514; B. M. Samuels had 88.
During the year 1860, seventy-four marriage licenses were issued by the County Judge ; seventy-one were issued in 1861.
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
SCHOOL FUND INVESTIGATION.
The office of School Fund Commissioner terminated in 1858. The citizens of the county were much dissatified with the manner in which the school funds had been managed, but many of them felt that a portion of the blame rested with themselves in not exercising sufficient care in the selection of proper officers.
In 1857, Gov. Grimes was instructed by the General Assembly to appoint agents in the several counties to investigate the condition of the fund, and report their doings. Dr. J. C. Traer was appointed in Benton County, but the labor of the investigation was performed by William Stoughton and approved by the agent. The report was not printed in either the Eagle or the Democrat, then published here, nor were the people in any way informed of the condition of the fund intrusted to their charge. In 1858-9, when Judge Douglass was about mak- ing an effort to settle with the Commissioner, he applied to the State Auditor for a copy of Traer's report, and was informed that then it was not to be found in the Auditor's office. When Judge Treanor made inquiry again for the document, at Des Moines in 1860, and was told that it had never come to light. The reports of other county agents were there, and the fact that Benton was missing, is pretty conclusive evidence that it was abstracted from the archives by some party or parties interested in suppressing something it contained.
In October, 1859, when the County Judge and the County Treasurer, Mr. Filkins, endeavored to settle with the Commissioner, as required by law, it was discovered that his bond, given after his re-election, was missing. His first bond was on file, but the sureties were worthless. It was said that the County Judge, Douglass, had directed the Clerk of the Court, W. C. Stanberry, to require additional securities to the second bond, and that it was given to the Commissioner to have it made sufficient, but it was never returned. There was no evidence to indicate the names of the sureties who had signed the bond. The Commissioner was permitted to do business without filing any bond, and to handle and control over $40,000 of the public money with no guarantee other than his oath that the trust would be faithfully maintained. This indicates a flagrant dereliction of duty on the part of some officials.
After some weeks of wrangling, the books were balanced after a fashion : but nobody was satisfied. The Commissioner declared that his papers showed credits which were not allowed. On the other hand, the Judge and Treasurer doubted the correctness or justice of the settlement, on the ground that the Commissioner refused to produce a certain memorandum book said to contain a full statement of the interest accrued and paid, which the Commissioner insisted was private property which he had kept for his own private use. In the settlement, the difficulty had been to arrive at the amount of interest that had been paid to the Commissioner.
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