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 43
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The amount specified to be raised (by subscription or otherwise), before the appropriation could be made available, was not provided, and after waiting a year, on the 8th of January, 1866, the resolution adopted September 6, 1865, appropriating $2,000 for a bridge at Vinton, was rescinded, and the following question submitted to a vote of the people, to be held on the second Tuesday in October, 1866 : "Shall the Board of Supervisors of the County of Benton, in the State of Iowa, build, erect and construct, on the most approved plan, a free bridge across the Cedar River at or near the town of Vinton, in said
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county, and appropriate of the funds of said county, the sum of $12,000 for the same."
The election resulted in a vote of 1243 for, and 811 against the proposition, and, on Jan. 9, 1867, the following resolution was passed :
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by this Board, three of whom shall be mem- hers thereof, and the other two citizens of Vinton, to superintend, plan, direct and let the job of building and completing a good and substantial bridge across the Cedar River at Vinton, at a cost to Benton County not exceeding $13,500.
Under the above resolution, Messrs. Traer, Chenowith and Bergen were ap- pointed on the part of the Board, and Messrs. J. F. Young and Paul Correll, on the part of the citizens of Vinton.
January 15, 1867, the bridge was located to cross the river at the head of Beckett street. The bridge was erected during the season of 1867, by Spaul- ding, contractor, and was finished in January, 1868.
October 17, 1865, by order of the Board of Supervisors, the name of the town of Norway was changed to Florence; but the railroad station, at that point, is still called and known as Norway. (See Florence.)
In October. 1867, James Seeley was appointed jailer; but the order was rescinded in January, 1868.
CIRCUIT COURT.
" An Act establishing Circuit and General Term Courts, and to define the powers and jurisdiction thereof," approved April 3, 1868, ended the County Probate Judge system and made a radical and, many think, an unwise change in the mode of conducting important public business. By the terms of the act. Circuit Judges were to be elected at the election in October, 1868, and enter upon their duties on the 1st day of January, 1869. The act gave to the Circuit Court the exclusive jurisdiction of all probate business and also of all appeals and writs of error from Justice Courts, Mayors' Courts and all other inferior tribunals, either in civil or criminal cases. Benton County was included in the First Circuit of the Eighth Judicial District. and after the Judges were elected, terms of the court for Benton County were ordered on the first Monday in January, the first Monday in May, the third Monday in August and the first Monday in November. The first term was adjourned from the first Monday to the 19th of January, 1869, by order of the Circuit Judge, Hon. William E. Miller, and was duly opened on that day. Present, William E. Miller. Judge; Henry M. Wilson, Sheriff: and B. R. Sherman, Clerk. Judge Miller was succeeded by George R. Struble in 1871, who soon resigned, and William J. Haddock filled the vacancy. The present Judge, Hon. John McKcan, assumed the duties of his office in 1872.
COUNTY AUDITOR.
The establishment of the Circuit Court terminated the office of County Judge as such January 1, 1869, but on the 7th day of April, 1868, an act, entitled " An act to provide for the election of County Auditors, and to define their powers and duties, and making County Judges ex officio County Audit- ors," was approved, which provided that at the general election preceding the expiration of the term of office of the present County Judge in any county, and every two years thereafter, there should be clected in each organized county in the State, a County Auditor, whose term of office should commence on the first Monday in January following his election, and who should hold his office for the term of two years. By this act the office of County Judge, as such, ceased on the 1st day of January, 1869; but the incumbent of the office at that
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time was made ex officio County Auditor after that date until an Auditor should be elected and qualified. The Anditor was made Clerk of the Board of Super- visors, and was required to perform all the duties in relation to the school fund and school lands, until then performed by the Clerk of the District Court. The Clerk of the District Court and the County Recorder were eligible to the office of Auditor, and the election of that officer was fixed in the odd-numbered years.
On the 1st day of January, 1869, George M. Gilchrist was County Judge, and became ex officio the first Auditor of Benton County ; but he resigned in January, 1869, and was succeeded by J. L. Geddes. At the election in October, 1869, Edward M. Evans was elected County Auditor, who entered upon the duties of the office on the first Monday in January, 1870. Auditor Evans was an efficient officer, and the people of the county have testified their appreciation by re-electing him his own successor four times, and he still fills the office.
COUNTY SUPERVISORSHIP ESTABLISHED.
By "An act to amend Article 11 of Chapter 22 of the Revision of 1860, approved April 14, 1870, the Board of Supervisors was reduced from one for each civil township to twenty in the county, and three to be elected by the people of the county in October. These were to serve respectively one, two and three years, and after the first election, one Supervisor was to be elected annually, to serve three years.
In October, 1870, James McQuinn, Isaac N. Chenoweth and John Knapp. were elected. These gentlemen met at the Court House, in Vinton, January 2. 1871, organized by choice of James McQuinn, Chairman, and the unwieldy and expensive system of Township Supervisor was ended.
The law provided that the number of County Supervisors might be increased to five or seven by a popular vote. The question, " Shall the number of Super- visors be increased to seven ? " was submitted to the people and wisely nega- tived by a vote of 2,085 noes to 770 ayes.
INSURANCE.
The Eden Township Mutual Insurance Company was organized January 27, 1872, with J. M. Inman as President ; S. Potter, Vice President ; S. H. Dixson, Secretary. Directors : R. M. Wilson, D. Beller, Eden ; James Dick- son, Sr., Big Grove ; Paul Correll, Taylor ; J. L. Budd, Canton ; A. L. Wyman, Homer.
In March, 1876, the company had 114 members, and the amount at risk was $153,532.
THE FIRST MURDER TRIAL.
The first trial for murder committed in this county was in October, 1875. although very early in its history there was a trial on change of venue from Linn County, and about 1867 another from Tama. It is also said that an Irishman named Howard was indicted some years ago for the murder of another Irishman in a drunken frolic at Blairstown; but before he could be arrested he was tried for a brutal murder in Des Moines, and after conviction was hanged to a lamp-post by an indignant populace.
In the Spring of 1873, Mrs. Julia Burk, of Norway, died under suspicious circumstances, and her husband was indicted for causing her death by brutally beating and kicking the poor woman. But, in the expressive language of a Benton County official, "he skinned out," and was never brought to trial.
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
September 10, 1875, Claus Seick was shot and killed at a dance in a saloon at Watkins. Circumstances pointed to Austin Thoman as the perpe- trator of the foul murder. He had borrowed a pistol shortly before ; the same pistol was found near the scene of the murder, and Thoman was there also. He was arrested, and at the October term was indicted for the murder. On the 8th day of October he was arraigned, and pleaded " not guilty." On the 13th a jury was impaneled, and the prisoner appeared for trial by I. M. Preston. W. A. Tewksbury and John Van Meter, his counsel. The prosecu- tion was conducted by M. P. Smith, District Attorney. The evidence was circumstantial, but after two days' hearing, the case was submitted to the jury, who returned a verdict of "guilty of murder in the second degree," October 15th. On the 16th, the defense moved for a new trial, which was overruled by the court, Judge Rothrock presiding, by whom the prisoner was sentenced to fifteen years in the penitentiary, and to pay the costs of prosecution, taxed at $448.19. Thoman was committed to the penitentiary at Anamosa, and after- ward made an attempt to escape, but was shot and killed by the guard while swimming the river.
January 5, 1869, the name of Grand Gulf Addition to Vinton was changed to Alexander's Addition to Vinton.
April 6, 1876, It was ordered by the Board that the Auditor be "directed to purchase of the city of Vinton, for Benton County, Iowa, Lot 8. Block 6, original town of Fremont, now called Vinton ; said lot to be used for a jail site ; also, that the sum of $600 be appropriated and placed in the Auditor's hands to pay for said lot when the title shall be shown as perfect." Pursuant to the above order, the Auditor purchased said lot April 18, 1876, for the amount specified, $600. The county now owns a site for a jail, if the people shall vote the necessary appropriation to build it.
THE IRON BRIDGE.
The wooden bridge at Vinton, built in 1867, had become unsafe for travel in 1876. When built, the appropriation was insufficient for building stone abut- ments, and the ends of the bridge rested on piles, which had become weakened by decay. On the 7th of April, 1876, the Board of Supervisors made a contract with M. Donlan for the construction of north and south abutments under the Cedar River bridge. These were built, but the superstructure was pronounced unsafe, and a contract was made with the Clinton Bridge Company for the con- struction of a superstructure of iron, at a contract price of $14,200, and the bridge was completed in that year. An additional pier was built, and the bridge cost, including that and the abutments, about $20,000.
VINTON TOWNSHIP.
In Board of Supervisors, June 7, 1878, the following resolution was read and adopted :
WHEREAS, A petition has been presented to the Board asking that the township of Taylor be divided so that that part outside of the incorporated city of Vinton shall constitute one township, and that part inside said corporate limits another ; and,
WHEREAS, It appears to the Board that the law governing such cases has been complied with ; therefore, be it
Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioners be granted, and that the territory lying within the lines described as follows, viz .: Commencing at the southeast corner of Section No. (16) Six- teen, Township (85) Eighty-five north, Range No. (10) Ten west of the Fifth Principal Meridian, thence north to the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of said section. in said township and range ; thence west to the center of Cedar River; thence up and along the center of the said Cedar River to a point directly east of the center of Section No. (17) Seventeen, in said
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township and range; thence west to the center of said Section No. (17) Seventeen ; thence sonth to the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of the sontheast quarter of Section No. (20) Twenty, in said township and range; thence east to the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section No. (21) Twenty-one, in said township and range ; thence north to the place of beginning, shall be known as the township of Vinton ; and all of said Taylor Township outside of said boundary line be known as Taylor Township. Also, that the next general election for said township of Vinton shall be held at the Court House in Vinton, and the next general election for said Taylor Township shall be held at the Fair Grounds south of Vinton.
A FIENDISH MURDER.
In November, 1874, Carl Allers, a farmer living in Kane Township, Benton County, suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. Search was made for him at the time, but no traces of the missing man could be discovered. Mean- while, his nephew, Fred. Allers, remained on the farm, and after the search was abandoned, quietly settled down to work.
More than three years passed, until in the Spring of 1878, a brother of the missing man employed a detective to ascertain his fate, if possible. The detect- ive, A. H. Shoemaker, arrived, and quietly commenced work. He soon dis- covered circumstances that pointed strongly to the nephew as the murderer of his uncle. He was arrested, brought to Vinton and committed to the city cala- boose for examination, which was set for Thursday, June 6, 1878, before W. B. Reynolds, Sr., Justice of the Peace.
Between the time of the arrest and the day set for examination, the Ger- man citizens in Allers' neighborhood worked themselves to a degree of excite- ment that threatened mischief to the accused. This excitement seemed to be much increased by the discovery of several forgeries, said to have been committed burgleries, in addition to the foul murder of which the Germans in that section were satisfied he was guilty. Some time in the night of Wednesday they came to Vinton, a hundred strong, more or less, with the purpose, there seems to be no doubt, of meting out swift and condign punishment upon the culprit. Sheriff Smith, however, was advised of the movements, prepared for it, and there were no outward demonstrations. At the preliminary examination, Nichols & Cooper appeared for the State, and Traer & Bunham and Tewksbury & Worthen for the defense. Sheriff Smith, the first witness, testified, in substance, that the prisoner, Fred. Allers, came to his office with A. H. Shoemaker, May, 28, 1878, and said he wanted to talk to him (the Sheriff) about his Uncle Carle. He said he killed his uncle at his stable, early in the morning of November 25, three years ago last Fall, by striking him on the head with a hammer ; that he covered the body with straw, near a straw-stack, a short distance from the house ; that he then went to Belle Plaine with a load of wheat; that on his return, about 1 o'clock, he dug a hole near where the body had been concealed, and buried it, together with his clothing, except a pair of boots, which he (Fred) afterward wore out. The motive for killing his uncle he stated to be, that he owed him money, above $200, which he could not pay.
W. L. Parmater, Deputy Sheriff, testified that on the morning of May 29, he was one of a party who went to the premises of Allers, in Kane Township ; that he examined the ground indicated by Allers as the place where the body of his uncle was buried ; that on digging a few inches from the surface he first discovered a small piece of bone ; next, fragments of clothing; on further dig- ging, a part of a satchel, clothing, a watch, scraps of leather, bones, etc., were found.
Dr. C. C. Griffin, one of the party in search of the body, testified to the finding of the articles mentioned by the former witness ; he testified also that the bones were those of a human being ; among them were the breast bone, collar
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bone, bones of one arm, bones of the wrist, shoulder-blade and vertebræ; also a part of a thigh bone.
No witnesses were introduced by the defense, no argument made, and the fiend was committed to await trial.
JAIL WANTED.
June 8, 1878, the Board of Supervisors, deeply impressed with the impor- tance of building a substantial jail building on the lot purchased for that purpose, adopted the following preamble and resolution :
WHEREAS, There is no jail in Benton County or belonging to said county, in which persons accused or convicted of crime can be safely kept ; and
WHEREAS, It is highly important that a good and substantial jail building should be located and built at Vinton for the use of the county for the purpose aforesaid, therefore, be it
Resolved, That a proposition therefor be submitted to the qualified electors of said county at the general election for the year 1878, authorizing and empowering the Board of Supervisors of said county to contract for and build a jail for the use of said county, to be located at Vinton in said county, the cost of building not to exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars ; and also to levy a tax, not to exceed two mills on the dollar on the taxable property of said county, in addition to the usual levy of taxes, at the next annual period for levying taxes after said proposition has been submitted, to pay for the erection of said jail building, and that the whole question, includ- ing the sum to be raised and the amount of tax to be levied, be published in the manner provided by law, prior to said general election. The proposition printed on ballots shall be as follows, to wit :
Those voting in favor of the proposition, "For the Jail Proposition and Tax."
Those voting against the proposition. " Against the Jail Proposition and Tax."
THE EGYPT OF BENTON COUNTY.
It has been said that the reign of anarchy, confusion and utter disregard of law which prevailed in Benton County thirty years ago practically ceased about 1854. That is true, in the main, save in one little spot, where, if the fire did not fiercely blaze, it smoldered in the embers, and the old-time spirit was never entirely obliterated. Strange as it may seem, here, in 1878, history repeats itself, and the lawlessness of 1848 is not only repeated, but intensified. This little spot, from which the clouds of the " dark ages " have never been entirely lifted, is a portion of the eastern part of Benton Township, about three miles east of the ancient town of Benton City, and about the same distance north of Shellsburg, near the county line. Here, in the dense timber, has always been a favorite resort and refuge of a class of disreputable characters, thieves and outlaws. It has never been freed from their presence since the first settlement of the country, and it may be called the Egypt of Benton County. The extensive tract of timber in that region renders it almost impossible for an offi- cer of the law to find and arrest an offender.
But for many years after the reign of the horse thieves and Regulators was ended, about 1854, but little was known or heard of this neighborhood. The smoldering fires of lawlessness would occasionally break into a flame, and the community would be startled by some reckless act, until, about ten years ago, there seems to have been trouble among the denizens of that locality, and since that time there have been two parties ; and now there are the Regulators. or Vig- ilantes, who are watching for the others, whom they call thieves. while the thieves are watching for the Regulators. Between them, as, thirty years ago. was the case between the Regulators and horse thieves, there is constant war. fare ; and as then, there is a complete disregard for law and civil authority.
BURNING AND SHOOTING.
In 1848, it was lynching and flogging. Men suspected of connection with. thieves were compelled to "hug trees" while their bare backs were exposed to
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the pitiless blows of the whip, or hickory withe ; but in more modern days, burn- ing and shooting have been the order of the day. Scenes of fire and bloodshed have been enacted that were a disgrace to civilization. For several years, one William Hicks and a family named Jones, had been held in bad repute, and suspected of being connected with much of the mischief and petty thieving that had been going on in that neighborhood for years. Unlike the outlaws of thirty years ago, whose principal occupation was stealing horses and passing counter- feit money, their successors were in the habit of stealing anything they could get their hands upon. Having tried the law as a remedy for these petty outrages, and failed, the Regulators determined to take the law into their own hands. Anonymous letters were sent to Hicks and Jones, warning them to flee from the wrath to come, and leave the country ; but without effect. The suspected parties continued to live in the neighborhood, and still the petty depredations continued, until on Monday night, June 10. 1878, a squad of persons unknown visited Ilicks' premises and set on fire his two stables and a small frame build- ing near the cabin in which he lived. Aroused by the fire, Hicks came out and was greeted with a volley of musketry. He was wounded in the head and right leg and foot, but "broke" for the brush and made his escape. The Vigilantes then visited Jones' and fired several volleys at the house, but failing to bring any body out, they dispersed. Since that time several suspected persons and fami- lies have left.
On Sunday morning, July 7, 1878, John Mason, who has long sustained a bad character, and well known to the officers of the law, was on his way from Cedar Rapids to the house of his sister, in Benton Township; when near Mills Creek, he became alarmed by something suspicious in the brush, and leaped from the buggy ; he was fired upon by a party concealed in the woods, and fell mor- tally wounded in the hip before he could reach the shelter of the woods. It is said that Millard F. Tracy was about to fire at the fallen man again after he fell, but was prevented by Henry Fisher, and Mason was taken to Fisher's house where his wounds were dressed, and then he was started off in a wagon to Tracy's house, accompanied by G. F. McCoy and Charles Hanover. Be- tween twelve and one o'clock, Sunday afternoon, the wounded man was lying on a bed in the southwest corner of the south room in Tracy's dwelling. Han- over was sitting on the east side of the room. Tracy and MeCoy, it is said, were seated at a table on the north side of the north room. At this time a party of ruffians, numbering six or seven, it is said, disguised by wearing hoods drawn over their heads, and coats turned inside out, appeared at the door of the house, which was at the west side of the north room. Tracy and McCoy testified that the assassins fired a volley at them as they sat at the table, but did not injure them. However this may be, and their testimony is not received with implicit credence. the murderers passed into the south room to the bedside of Mason, and perforated his body with bullets. Five wounds, at least, any one of which would have proved fatal, were found by Dr. Langstroth. of Vinton.
Information that a man had been murdered in Benton Township, as above stated, was brought to Vinton in the afternoon, when Sheriff Smith, Coroner Kirkpatrick, Dr. Langstroth, and others started for the scene of blood, and found the dead body of the man lying where he had been murdered. The re- mains were brought to Vinton, arriving about midnight, and an inquest was held in the morning (Monday July 8), the verdict of the Coroner's jury being, substantially, that the deceased came to his death at the hands of a party of masked men, by wounds inflicted by bullets discharged from revolvers.
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY.
The body lay exposed to public view on a table in the Court House yard for a time, and presented a most horrible and ghastly spectacle.
It is stated that Mason had several hundred dollars in money in his wallet, and a watch in his vest ; the money he took out of the vest pocket and put un- der his pillow when he lay down in the bed in Tracy's house ; but after his murder, no vest, money or watch could be found.
For cowardly brutality and cold blooded atrocity, this murder of Mason has seldom been equaled in the annals of crime. It was a startling culmina- tion of a long-continued carnival of lawlessness, and awakened the citizens of the county to the necessity of prompt and energetic measures for the termina- tion forever of this terrible state of affairs that has been so long a disgrace to the county. Nothing in the history of Indian warfare can exceed in savage ferocity this cold-blooded murder of Mason. The following extract from the comments of the newspapers on this horrible affair, will make a fitting close for this the latest chapter of Benton county history.
The good name of Benton County is involved in this matter. Every well- disposed citizen is interested in having all concerned in this great crime de- tected and punished. It matters not what was the character of Mason ; he was as much entitled to the protection of the law as any man in the community. It matters not what the character, standing or number of his assassins ; justice demands that they be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Mobs and mob executions can under no circumstances be encouraged or tolerated. Let no pains or expense be spared to apprehend and bring to punishment these great offenders against law and order.
THE ECLIPSE OF 1869.
Every inhabitant of Benton County, save those deprived by misfortune of sight. had ample opportunity to observe the startling phenomena attending the total eclipse of the sun on the afternoon of Aug. 7, 1869, the whole of the county being within the line of the totality, or within the belt 156 miles in breadth in which the body of the moon completely hid the sun from view. In the absence of any local description of the sublime spectacle, recourse is had to an account written by the well-known astronomer and graphic writer, E. Colbert, who was one of the observers from the station at Des Moines. Nothing was specially noticeable during the encroaching motion of the moon, until only a slender crescent of sunlight remained, except a diminution of light, giving a pallid cast to objects in the far horizon. When the disk of the sun was almost covered and the light began to diminish sensibly, a chilliness crept into the air, not like the coolness of a Summer evening, but like the biting fingers of a Winter storm. This reduction in temperature was almost awful in its swift approach. Birds and domestic fowls sought their roosts, dogs and horses manifested much uneasiness and in some instances positive terror, and even cattle huddled together in fear at the swiftly approaching darkness.
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