USA > Iowa > Black Hawk County > The history of Black Hawk County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion > Part 51
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It is hardly likely that the town can regain its former thrift, owing to the fact that Cedar Falls has ample room to spread out on the south side of the river, and it will remain only as another little landmark of the restless energy of 1856, that marked out town plats all over the West, where town lots would not sell to amplify their projectors' bank accounts.
GILBERTVILLE.
This town was located on Sections 22, 23 and 27, Township 88, Range 12, in Poyner Township, John Chamboud and John Felton, proprietors. The county records show that it was platted in 1856, but it seems probable that it was laid out at least a year or two prior to that date. In a sketch of this town, published in the Iowa State Reporter in 1875, it is stated that in 1854 John Chamboud and John Felton came into the township and founded the city of Gilbertville. As Rome was called the " seven-hilled city," Gilbertville might be called the " sand-hill city," provided it ever assumed such proportions. The question has often been asked, why a town was laid out on such a barren place. The only reason to be given is that the good land had been entered before this, and the rock bottom and fall in the river made it a suitable place for a mill, which was much needed. A mill was built on the west bank and run by steam for two or three years. Arrangements were also in progress for the building of a dam and ferry, when the accidental death of John Felton, by drowning, put a stop to the work. Felton and two other men were out in a boat stretch- ing a cable across the river for the ferry, when in some manner the boat was caught by the rope, upset and all thrown into the water. Two of the men were rescued, but Felton was unable to swim and was drowned before assistance could be given him.
Messrs. Chamboud and Felton were well calculated to carry out the plans which they had made together, the former possessing good planning talent, and the latter great executive ability. One was theoretical and the other prac- tical, and working well together, but neither calculated to do much alone.
The city was a magnificent one-on paper. It was extensively laid out in blocks, lots, streets and avenues on both sides of the Cedar River. There were seventy-eight blocks subdivided into 714 lots on the east side, and 120 blocks on the west side. The plat represented a beautiful city possessing unequaled natural advantages. It showed a large public square in the center, a beautiful lake in the center of the square, a nice pleasure boat in the center of the lake, with a party of pleasure seekers on board the boat enjoying a sail. Such a magnificent plat was well calculated to give one an exalted opinion of the place ; but, says the writer of the sketch above alluded to, "I must confess I was
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somewhat disappointed when I came to visit it for the first time. June 10, 1856. I drove into town with three yoke of heavy cattle to a light loaded wagon. I had crossed many sloughs without getting sloughed, but in Gilbertville I got sanded-stuck in the deep sand. I had to put my shoulder to the wheel and call on Hercules to help and whip the cattle.
Mr. Chambond, the projector of this magnificent enterprise, took his plat and went to Dubuque to sell lots and to induce emigration to his new city. Christopher Kelley was pleased with the glittering prospect. He sold his pos- sessions in Dubuque and invested the proceeds in seven lots in the "sand-hill city " of the Cedar. On his arrival, however, Kelley's wrath was righteously kindled, and there was some pretty loud and pretty hard talk; but he was in for it: he had invested his all in lots in a paper city ; his hopes and his money were all sunk together, and he was obliged to remain to watch the spot where they had disappeared. Nicholas Bowden also invested in town lots after a careful examination of the plat ; but when he came to examine his Gilbertville property it is said that he gave free vent to his rage without being very fastidious in his language. John Fagan was very cautious ; he didn't want to invest until he had seen the spot. He did not place implicit reliance in Chamboud's plat, and with Joseph Mathews he came out to see. They were in a hurry (perhaps be- ing fearful that the lots would be all sold before they could get back) and made the journey from Dubuque to Gilbertville in a day and a half, Mr. Fagan com- ing on foot and Mathews on horseback. They came, saw and returned to Dubnque, but concluded not to invest.
For a few years, the city grew rapidly. Chamboud, Kammon & Felton opened a store with a general assortment, well adapted to the wants of the country. Nicholas Bowden also opened a small store, but did not continue long. John Snyder had the first blacksmith shop, in 1855, and the first in the town- ship. John Eickelberg, now a resident of Waterloo, started a wagon shop soon after.
In 1857, Peter Felton started a steam saw-mill on the Cedar bottom, under the bluff, on some vacant lots. In the Summer of 1858, the top of the smoke- stack was visible above the water of the Cedar. The next season he moved it out of the bottom and set it in the center of the public square, and where the lake was represented to be on the plat, and then had to dig a well twelve feet deep right in the middle of the lake to get water to supply the engine.
Many people who owned land in the vicinity built in town, but finding it inconvenient they removed the buildings to their farms.
In the early settlement of the place, it supported a small brewery and tan- nery, but they soon ceased operations. A few years after, two small distilleries existed for a short time. In 1856, a small Catholic Church was erected and used until 1868, when a larger one was built, which was destroyed by wind in 1874. Another church was built and dedicated early in 1875.
In 1875, Gilbertville had two stores, three saloons, a post office, one black- smith shop, and the main street was solid, containing nineteen families and ninety-eight inhabitants. In 1878, there is a blacksmith shop, a saloon or two and a store.
RAYMOND.
This is a small village and station on the Illinois Central Railroad (origi- nally Dubuque & Pacific). It is situated on the northwest quarter of the north- west quarter of Section 2, and the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter
ยท
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY.
of Section 3, Township 88, Range 12, and is about in the center of Poyner Township. It was surveyed by John Ball, County Surveyor, for Edward E. McStay, proprietor, April 11, 1866 ; plat filed for record Jan. 14, 1867, at 10 o'clock A. M. Edmund Miller built a house and an elevator in 1860, the first building in the place. Porter M. Chaffee built and opened the first store in 1865. In 1875, it had one elevator, one dry goods and grocery, and one drug store, depot, telegraph and post office, and one blacksmith shop and one hotel.
In 1878, there are one store, one blacksmith shop, one hotel, depot and post office, elevator, two churches, one school house.
The school house was built in the Fall of 1866. It is a small frame school house, and it is not remembered who taught the first school in it.
The Church of Christ (Advent) was organized December, 1873, by Rev. J. W. Burroughs, editor of Burroughs' Journal, with forty-one members. In- corporated in 1874. and bought one-half of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Dr. B. Banton, C. L. Shaw and William Wheeler are the Trustees. Rev. Mr. Burroughs is Pastor.
Raymond Circuit M. E. Church .-. The region occupied by the Raymond Circuit of the M. E. Church has long enjoyed the preaching of the Methodist itinerant ; but in the year 1869 it was formed into a charge by itself, under the labors of Rev. W. O. Glassner, then a supernumerary member of Upper Iowa Conference.
It was formed from parts of Jessup and Brandon Circuits, taking Raymond and Pleasant Valley appointments from the former, and Mount Pleasant Church and society in Spring Creek Township from the latter. Indian Creek appoint- ment was afterward added. The whole had a membership of about one hundred.
Its name first appears in the minutes of the Upper Iowa Annual Confer- ence for the year 1870.
The following have been appointed its Pastors : 1870-71, W. S. R. Bur- nett ; 1872, S. N. Howard ; 1873, A. Critchfield ; 1874, Joseph Cook ; 1875, Geo. W. Rogers ; 1876-77, B. D. Alden ; 1878, -.
Under the energetic labors of Rev. W. S. R. Burnett, a convenient parson- age was built in Raymond in 1871.
Under the administration of Rev. S. N. Howard, the neat church edifice oc- cupied by the society in Raymond was erected and dedicated Aug. 10, 1873. The present membership of the charge is 133.
HUDSON.
This little rural hamlet was surveyed and platted by George W. Miller, June 15, 1857, John L. Alline and Asaph Sergeant, proprietors. It was located on the west half of Section 26, Township 88, Range 14 (Black Hawk), on the south- east side of Black Hawk Creek, eight miles southwest of Waterloo.
Through it passed the Waterloo and Eldora road, a great wagon thoroughfare, over which mail stages made semi-weekly trips.
About the time this line was projected, which was probably before the plat was made or recorded, speculation was rife and everybody wanted all the land they could see.
For two years, the little village of Hudson had flattering prospects. During that time, there were erected seven dwellings-one brick, one log and five frame ; two hotels, one brick and one frame: one frame store, on the corner of Fifth and Washington streets, Asaph Sergeant, proprietor, and one blacksmith shop.
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY.
The town has had within its limits two hotels, two shoe shops, general assort- ment store, post office, blacksmith shop, cabinet maker's shop, Methodist parson- age, a shingle machine, and a milliner's shop in every house. There is a saw- mill one-quarter of a mile distant, built by Tewksbury Bros., in 1857-8. The mill-dam was made of logs and brush. This was afterward converted into a flouring-mill, which was run successfully.
Extra brick were made on the Worthington farm, two miles north. The brick used in the erection of the two building in Hudson, were made on this farm. Some of Black Hawk Township brick are in Waterloo edifices.
On the 4th of July, 1857, the first celebration was held in the village of Hudson, " not on Bunker Hill," but on the Public Square, where the good flag of our Union boldly wafted in the gentle breeze and bid defiance to the red men.
The city fathers were extremely wise, were, never humbugged by a light- ning rod company, street railway company, nor even by a gas company. There never were any bank suspensions in the town.
The town has now nearly as many buildings as it had in its palmier days. There are two blacksmith shops and a machine for making barbed wire fencing, which is run by horse power. A store is now being built in town by Deacon H. A. Lane, of Waterloo, who expects to open it with a stock of goods required by farmers, in August, 1878. There are seven families living in the town. About half a mile away is a tavern.
"Jockey Town," is the name given, by Mr. Bonesteel, to a little cluster of houses about a mile northeast of Hudson, while he was trading horses with the residents.
BARCLAY.
A small village located on Camp Creek, about twelve miles northeast of Waterloo. It was laid out on the northwest quarter of Section 13, Township 89, Range 11, Barclay Township, August 8, 1854, by James Barclay. In 1865, it contained two stores, a saw-mill, a large tavern and about 100 inhabitants ; but with the advent of railroads, which attracted business to other points, this little village, like many another in the West, dwindled away, until now there are only a blacksmith shop and a post office there. The ruins of the old steam saw-mill are yet to be seen.
JANESVILLE.
This town is mainly in Bremer County, but a town plat was made on the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 2, Township 90, Range 14, in 1855, by Mary Ann and Hiram Fairbrother.
FINCHFORD.
In Union Township, a small hamlet containing a good flouring-mill, two or three stores, a hotel, blacksmith shop and school house. It is a mile and a half from Finchford Station, on the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad, where there is another school house.
The town was laid out on Section 7, Township 90, Range 14, by Lewis Go- ings, in 1872.
WAR HISTORY.
The people of the Northern States have just reason to be proud of the glo- rious record they made during the dark and bloody days when crimson-handed rebellion threatened the life of the nation. When war was forced upon the country by rebels in arms against the Government, the people were quietly pur- suing the even tenor of their way, doing whatever their hands found to do- working the mines, making farms or cultivating those already made, erecting homes, building shops, founding cities and towns, building mills and factories- in short, the country was alive with industry and hopes for the future. The people were just recovering from the depression and losses incident to the finan- cial panic of 1857. The future looked bright and promising, and the indus- trious and patriotic sons and daughters of the Free States were buoyant with hope, looking forward to the perfecting of new plans for the ensurement of comfort and competence in their declining years ; they little heeded the mut- terings and threatenings of treason's children, in the Slave States of the South. True sons and descendants of the heroes of the "times that tried men's souls " -the struggle for American independence-they never dreamed that there was even one so base as to dare attempt the destruction of the Union of their fathers -a government baptized with the best blood the world ever knew. While immediately surrounded with peace and tranquillity, they paid but little atten- tion to the rumored plots and plans of those who lived and grew rich from the sweat and toil, blood and flesh of others-aye, even trafficked in the offspring of their own loins. Nevertheless, the war came, with all its attendant horrors.
April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina, Maj. Ander- son, U. S. A., Commandant, was fired upon by rebels in arms. Although basest treason, this first act in the bloody reality that followed was looked upon as the mere bravado of a few hot-heads-the act of a few fire-eaters whose sectional bias and freedom and hatred was crazed by the excessive indulgence in intoxi- cating potations. When, a day later, the news was borne along the telegraph wires that Maj. Anderson had been forced to surrender to what had first been regarded as a drunken mob, the patriotic people of the North were startled from their dreams of the future, from undertakings half completed, and made to real- ize that behind that mob there was a dark, deep and well-organized purpose to destroy the Government, rend the Union in twain, and out of its ruins erect a slave oligarchy, wherein no one would dare question their right to hold in bond- age the sons and daughters of men whose skins were black, or who, perchance, through practices of lustful natures, were half or quarter removed from the color that God, for His own purposes, had given them. But they " reckoned without their host." Their dreams of the future, their plans for the establish- ment of an independent confederacy, were doomed from their inception to sad and bitter disappointment.
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY.
Immediately upon the surrender of Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln- America's martyr President, who, but a few short weeks before, had taken the oath of office as the nation's Chief Executive, issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers for three months. The last word had scarcely been taken from the electric wires before the call was filled. Men and money were counted out by hundreds and thousands. The people who loved their whole Govern-
ment could not give enough. Patriotism thrilled and vibrated and pulsated through every heart. The farm, the workshop, the office, the pulpit, the bar, the bench, the college, the school house, every calling offered its best men, their lives and fortunes in defense of the Government's honor and unity. Party lines were for the time ignored. Bitter words, spoken in moments of political heat, were forgotten and forgiven, and, joining hands in a common cause, they repeated the oath of America's soldier-statesman : " By the great Eternal, the Union must and shall be preserved !"
Seventy-five thousand men were not enough to subdue the rebellion. Nor were ten times that number. The war went on, and call followed call. until it began to look as if there would not be men enough in all the Free States to crush out and subdue the monstrous war traitors had inaugurated. But to every call for either men or money, there was a willing and ready response. And it is a boast of the people that, had the supply of men fallen short, there were women brave enough, daring enough, patriotic enough, to have offered themselves as sacrifices on their country's altar. Such were the impulses, motives and actions of the patriotic men of the North, among whom the sons of Black Hawk County made a conspicuous and praiseworthy record. ' Of the offerings made by these people during the great and final struggle between free- dom and slavery it is the purpose now to write.
April 14, A. D. 1861, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, issued the following :
PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, The laws of the United States have been and now are violently opposed in several States, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed in the ordinary way ; I therefore call for the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, to suppress said combinations and execute the laws. I appeal to all loyal citizens to facilitate and aid in this effort to maintain the laws and the integrity of the perpetuity of the popular govern- ment, and redress wrongs long enough endured. The first service assigned to the forces, probably, will be to repossess the forts, places and property which have been seized from the Union Let the utmost care be taken, consistent with the object, to avoid devastation, destruc- tion, interference with the property of peaceful citizens in any part of the country ; and I hereby command persons composing the aforesaid combination to disperse within twenty days from date.
I hereby convene both Houses of Congress for the 4th day of July next, to determine upon measures for public safety which the interest of the subject demansd.
WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States.
The gauntlet thrown down by the traitors of the South was accepted-not, however, in the spirit with which insolence meets insolence-but with a firm, determined spirit of patriotism and love of country. The duty of the President was plain, under the Constitution and the laws, and above and beyond all, the people, from whom political power is derived, demanded the suppression of the rebellion, and stood ready to sustain the authority of their representatives and executive officers.
The absence of the files of newspapers in Waterloo, from 1861 to 1864, renders it impossible for the historian to do full justice to the spirit and patriot- ism of this people in the early days of America's gigantic and bloody struggle against rebellion, and their liberal contributions to maintain the integrity of this
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glorious Union. It is a proud record, for from their midst went out brave sol diers, to aid in the grand struggle for the maintenance and perpetuity of Republican institutions.
A union of lakes, a union of lands, A union that none can sever ; A union of hearts, a union of hands- The American Union forever.
Never before in the world's history was witnessed such an uprising of the masses, such unanimity of sentiment, such willingness to sacrifice life and money on the altar of patriotism.
When the first companies were being raised, measures were inaugurated and carried out to raise money by subscription for the support of the families of the volunteers. But there were so many calls for men, and the number and needs of these families whose providers had gone to defend the life of the nation, that it became an impossibility for private purses, however willing their holders, to supply all the demand, and the county authorities made frequent and liberal appropriations from the public treasury for that purpose. Private liberality still continued. This money was raised in the midst of the excitement of war. when the exigencies of the times demanded it, and the generous people never thought to inquire how much was given. Aside from the sums appropriated by county authority, no account was ever kept. Had there been, the sum would now seem almost fabulous.
A volunteer military company was organized at Cedar Falls in February, 1861, with J. B. Smith as Captain ; C. D. Billings, First Lieutenant; W. Francis, Second Lieutenant ; F. Sessions, C. H. Mullarky, W. Hamel, F. H. Cooper, Sergeants ; William McCoy, John Brown, George Leland, J. Rosen- baum, Corporals. The company bore on its roster sixty names. The name adopted was " Pioneer Grays."
Late in April, 1861, the Pioneer Grays began to prepare for marching to the front, under the following order :
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, IOWA CITY, April 18, 1861. J. B. Smith, Captain of the Pioneer Grays :
SIR-The President of the United States has made a requisition upon lowa for a regiment of volunteers, to defend the Government against traitors and rebels in arms.
The Governor has directed me to call on you, and to request you to fill up your ranks to the number of not less than seventy-eight men, including officers; and if that number should be exceeded, there will be no objection to it. When your number is completed, your company will proceed to elect a Captain and two Lieutenants, and transmit the result to this office, when the officers will be immediately commissioned.
As soon as your company is organized and officers are elected, unless you get other orders from the Governor, let the men go home, holding themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning. They must be at the rendezvous by the 20th of May, at the farthest, and may be called sooner at the proper time. You will be notified when and where to meet to be mustered into the service, and will be furnished with funds for all expenses from that time until received by the United States officers.
The United States will furnish arms and accouterments for the use of the regiment.
I am very respectfully your obedient servant,
J. BOWEN
Adjutant General of the Militia of Iowa.
The company met at their armory on the evening of the 20th, and adopted the following resolutions by a vote of fifty to three :
WHEREAS, The Government of the United States, in the peaceful exercise of its rights, has been threatened by rebellion and insurrection in some of the States, by armed mobs seizing the Government property and holding it in defiance of law; in refusing in those States to execute the laws of Congress, made under and by virtue of the Constitution of the United States ; attacking their army when peacefully occupying their forts and other property, and destroying the same ; therefore,
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY.
Resolved, 1st, That we condemn in the severest terms the actions of those engaged in the insurrection, and all who sympathize with them, as unpatriotic, disloyal and traitorous to the country.
Resolved, 2d, That the General Government ought to be sustained by every true and loyal citizen, and that we hereby pledge ourselves as a company to rally to the support of the Star Spangled Banner at any and all times when the country shall need our services.
Resolved, 3d, That we cheerfully tender to the Governor of Iowa the services of the Pioneer Grays, at such times as he shall deem it expedient to demand our aid, and earnestly entreat him to accept the same.
Resolved, 4th, That the Secretary be requested to forward a certified copy of these resolu- tions to the Hon. Samuel J. Kirkwood, Governor of the State, and that they be published in the Cedar Falls Gazette.
A large national flag, bearing the motto, "Our Flag ; We will Defend It," was then hanging across the street by a cord passing from the Carter House to the Overman Block. When the resolutions had been adopted, the boys marched out, formed a square under the flag and gave three cheers for the banner, followed by three more for their country. A piece of music was played by the Cornet Band, after which the crowd gave three cheers for the Grays- the offering of Cedar Falls on their country's altar.
The resolutions given above were transmitted to the Governor, and in response the following was received :
DAVENPORT, April 24, 1861.
J. Jay Layman, Esq., Cedar Falls :
DEAR SIR-The Governor has received a copy of the proceedings of your Company, the sentiments of which, he instructs me to say, he highly approves. The regiment called for by the Government has already been filled up and accepted. He requests me to say that you should report to the Adjutant General's office a roll of your Company and to hold your Company in readiness for a future call.
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