USA > Iowa > Boone County > The history of Boone County, Iowa, containing biographical sketches war records of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of the Northwest, history of Iowa, map of Boone county etc. > Part 44
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" Know all men by these presents that I, John Redpath, of the county of Boone, and State of Iowa, in consideration of the sum of seventy-five dol- lars to me in hand paid by P. K. Detrick, of the county and State afore- said, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged-have granted, bargained and sold, and by these presents do grant, bargain and sell unto the said P. K. Detrick all my claim and appartenances therennto belonging, lying in section (35) thirty-five, being the east quarter of the southwest quarter, and the south half of the northeast quarter, and the southeast quarter of said section (35) thirty-five, in township (85) eighty-five north, and range (27) twenty-seven west; to have and to hold all' and singular the said claim and appurtenances thereunto belonging unto the said P. K. Detrick, his administrators, executors and assigns forever. Provided, nevertheless, that if I, the said John Redpath, my administrators, executors.and assigns, or either of them do and shall well and truly pay, or cause to be paid to the said P. K. Detrick, his executors, administrators or assigns the sum of seventy-five dollars on or before the twentieth day of December next, then these presents, and every article, clause and thing herein contained shall be void; otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.
" In witness whereof the said John Redpath hath hereunto set his hand and seal this the third day of May, A. D. 1851.
"JOHN REDPATH.
"Signed and sealed in presence of: "JONATHAN W. ALDRIDGE. "JOHN C. WILLIAMS "
The following warranty deed, before referred to, being the first convey- ance executed, will be of interest to the reader. The land in question had been entered by Mr. Everly, a Des Moines speculator, but a short time previous, and, perhaps, from the consideration named, there could not have been much profit in the transaction. The Delanders were from Sweden, and the land in question is now the present site of Swede Point.
" Know all men by these presents that we, Henry Everly and Huldah
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
Everly, of the county of Polk, in the State of Iowa, in consideration of the sum of one hundred and thirty dollars in hand paid by Eric Delander, Peter Delander and Swain Delander, of Boone county, Iowa, have bargained and sold, and do hereby grant, bargain and sell and convey unto the said Eric Delander, Peter Delander and Swain Delander, their heirs and assigns forever, the following premises, situated in Boone connty, Iowa, and bounded and described as follows: Being the northeast quarter of section No. (35) thirty-five, in township No. (82) eighty-two north, of range No. (26) twenty-six west, fifth principal meridian, according to the United States Survey, containing one hundred and sixty acres, according to said survey; to have and to hold said premises with the appurtenances thereof unto the said Eric Delander, Peter Delander and Swain Delander, their heirs and assigns forever. And the said Henry Everly, for himself and heirs, doth covenant with the said parties of the second part, their heirs and assigns, that he will forever warrant and defend the same with the appartenances unto the said Eric Delander, Peter Delander and Swain Delander, their heirs and assigns against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever, and the said Huldah Everly, his wife, hereby relinquishes all right and claim of dower to and in said premises. In testimony whereof the said Henry Everly and Hnldah Everly, his wife, have hereunto set their hands and seals, this thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
"HENRY EVERLY. "HULDAH EVERLY."
"STATE OF IOWA, WA,}ss:
" POLK COUNTY.
" Before me personally appeared the above named Henry Everly and Huldah Everly, his wife, personally known to me to be the persons whose names are subscribed to the aforesaid deed, and the said Huldah Everly being at the same time examined by me separate and apart from her hus- band, and the contents of the said conveyance made known to her by me, she then declared that she did freely execute, sign and seal the same, and relinquish her dower in said premises, without compulsion or nndne in- fluence of her husband, and that she is still satisfied therewith, this thirty- first day of March, A. D., 1849.
" AEMELEUS T. REYNOLDS,
" Deputy Clerk of the District Court, Polk County, Iowa."
The sports and customs of the early settlers were not so numerous and varied as at present, but they were no less enjoyable and interesting.
Hunters now-a-days would be only too glad to be able to find and enjoy their favorable opportunities for hunting and fishing; and even travel hun- dreds of miles sometimes, counting it rare pleasure to spend a few weeks among the lakes and on the wild prairies and woodlands in hunt and chase and fishing frolics, where not half so good hunting and fishing sport are furnished as was in this vicinity twenty-five or thirty years ago. There were a good many excellent hunters here at an early day, too, who enjoyed the sport as well as any can at the present.
Wild animals of various kinds were found here in abundance during the time of the early settlement. The prairies, and woods, and streams, and various bodies of water, were all thickly inhabited before the white mnan, and even for some time after the white man came.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
Serpents were to be found in such large numbers and of such immense size that some stories told by the early settlers would be incredible were it not for the large array of concurrent testimony which is to be had from the most authentic sources.
Deer, turkeys, ducks, geese, and various other kinds of choice game, were plentiful, affording freely, and at the expense of killing, what are now considered the choice and costly dishes in the restaurants. The fur animals also, were abundant; such as the otter, beaver, mink, muskrat, raccoon, panther, fox, wolf, wild-cat and bear.
Deer and elk were quite numerous on these prairies for some time after the first settlements were made. These various kinds of game afforded not only pleasure, but profit for those among the early settlers who were lovers of hunt and chase; and skillful hunters were not scarce in those days in proportion to the number of inhabitants. Many interesting incidents and daring adventures occurred in connection with these hunting excursions, which the old settlers who still remain seem never tired of relating.
In speaking of trapping and hunting, we again refer to certain letters written by Mr. Holcomb. In one dated 1855 we find the following:
" I am in the region of furs here. Mink, otter and beaver are plenty in their season. Possibly I may be able to bring some home with me. I wish you would give me the prices that I may rely upon getting for mink, otter and beaver. I know too little of furs to venture much in that line. I was talking with an old trapper here, who said he sold a silver gray fox skin last year for $1, but that he had heard they were worth $3 now; hadn't trapped much the last winter, as furs didn't sell well; that otter and beaver didn't sell, etc."
Again, in a letter written in May, 1856, was the following, showing con- clusively that there was quite a trade in furs and pelts, and that the busi- ness of hunting and trapping must have been very remunerative. In speaking so frequently of deer skins, we conclude that the supply of veni- son was abundant:
" Of furs, I have not been able to do anything worth speaking of. The winter has been so excessively severe in this region, that the trappers could do nothing, and no furs of any importance have, so far as I can learn, been taken anywhere here. The stores here have had none brought in. The winter held on until the middle of March, and the spring rains came on, and the roads have been in an almost impassable state ever since, and the streams, from the melting of the snows north, and rains, have been so high that crossing any otherwise than by swimming was out of the question, and we had here only about six inches of snow this winter, and that was blown into piles. The ground froze to the depth of four feet, and when the spring rains came on, the mud was of the tallest kind. Traveling with loads was out of the question. Mails have much of the time been carried on horseback, the carrier riding one, and leading another with the mail bags on.
" The operation here in deer skin was a grand one, had I known when I came what I know now. I bought of one of the stores here a lot of about one hundred and sixty pounds, to send home as a sample, at fifteen cents a pound, and took them home; it was during the coldest of the weather. I found, on their thawing out, that they would have to be trimmed and dried more before they would do to pack and send home. Soon after, a man,who had been accustomed to come from below to buy the skins from the store,
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
wanted them. I was satisfied at twenty-five cents a pound at weights. I purchased them quite as good as I could expect to do with them, taking into consideration the loss in weight by drying and trimming and expense of sending home. I offered them to him at that price, and he finally took them. My profits on them were $15.
" I have a young merchant, who just came to this town and opened a store, now boarding with me. He has been two years in Iowa City in trade there. He told me he made $150 there last winter buying deer skins there, as they were brought into the city, at eighteen cents per pound, and selling at thirty-one cents. Most of the deer skins here were bought up by steamers going to Keokuk at twelve and a half cents, and sold in Keo- kuk for eighteen cents. I now know what I can do in the fall."
But it was not only valuable animals which were hunted; there were many noxious animals whose incursions to the barnyard or cultivated fields of the settler played havoc generally.
Wolves were very numerous and troublesome. It was impossible to raise sheep, and hogs as well as larger animals were not safe from the at- tacks of these gaunt and ferocions wild beasts. On account of their many and persistent depredations, as well as the fact that the State offered a pre- minm on their scalps, systematic and continued efforts were made by cer- tain individuals to capture them. In some instances poison was used, in other cases steel traps, and others had resort to their dogs and guns.
The official act of the State legislature naming Boone county, and defin- ing its boundaries, was approved February, 1849. The first settlement was made in January, 1846. It will therefore appear that the county of Boone was not named and its boundaries defined until about three years after the first settlement. The Indians had left, and the whites had not yet appeared in large numbers. Although the county contained but few citizens, yet the white man had marked it for his own.
During these years the county was in an undefined state of existence, or
ยท non-existence. In one sense it was a county, in another it was not. So that there was a region of territory described as Boone county, in the then organized State of Iowa, as early as January, 1847. There was no county organization proper, no county government, and not even many citi- zens, for several months. In a few months, however, the new county gained citizens, but in other respects it continued for some time in the same unde- fined state.
The work of organization was only begun when the county was named and laid out. It remained to hold an election, and organize a county gov- ernment,
Thus the early settlers were for a time in a peculiar situation. They dwelt in, but were not properly citizens of, Boone county, since there were no county courts or other authority to control their actions, and they were still, in these respects, under the discipline of another county.
For judicial and other purposes the new county was still a part of another county and so continued until its formal organization was completed. It does not appear that there was much call for the exercise of this authority, or that the loose and ill-defined county government produced any bad re- salts. "The laws are for those who need them," and the early settlers dwelt together in harmony that did not call for the interference of sheriff or judge. This is a somewhat remarkable feature of Boone county, and contrasts vividly with the early experience of some other counties.
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
The county seems to have prospered well during this period of loose, half- formed organization. The settlers were too busy with their own affairs to intermeddle with those of others, and so had little occasion to call for the authority of the law. But it was soon apparent that the business affairs of the community called for a county organization. Roads should be laid out, a county seat located, and other preparations made for a thriving and pros- perous future. So in 1849 the county was formally organized in the man- ner spoken of more fully under the head of "organization."
The people in the county at the time of the organization were mostly Swedes or native-born Americans, and from that time to the present the population has been mostly of that character. The county filled up steadily and rapidly. Nearly always the new-comers were poor in purse. Few men of means came to Boone county in the early days. But, although they came almost without exception poor in pocket, they brought with them industry, economy and intelligence, so that, in the course of years wealth has been the result. The growth of the county has never slackened or come to a stand-still, except for a very short time, but continued steadily year by year. The brunt of the pioneer battle was borne by the very early set- tlers, for within a few years the great hardships of pioneer life had disap- peared, and the people lived in comfort.
At the time of organization in 1849, there were about 400 inhabitants in the county. In 1850, there were 756; in 1852, there were 1,024; in 1856, there were 3,518, and, when the county had completed its first decade, counting from date of organization, it contained a population of 4,018 souls. The population of the county up to the present time, given at stated intervals, was as follows: 1860, 4,232; 1863, 4,607; 1865, 5,236; 1867, 9,861; 1869, 13,912; 1870, 14,584; 1873, 15,167; 1875, 17,351. The number of inhabitants at the present time, 1880, will aggregate about 19,000. Thus from the very first the history of the county shows a steady career of thriving, prosperous growth. The following table of important events shows the general landmarks of the county's career and history from the beginning to the present time :.
First settler, Charles W. Gaston, January, 1846.
County named and boundaries defined, February, 1847.
Boonesboro located, July 9, 1851.
County formally organized, 1849.
First white child born, Henry Hull, 1848.
First marriage, Henry Holcomb to Mary J. Hull, 1848.
First term of court, October 6, 1851.
First land entered, Matthias Hoffman, October, 1848.
First land transfer, Henry Everly to Eric Delander, March, 1849.
First mortgage executed, John Redpath to P. K. Detrick, May, 1851.
First mill erected, 1848-49.
First newspaper published, spring of 1857.
First mail received at Boonesboro, 1851.
Boone laid out March 24th, 1865.
Court-house built, 1867.
Railroad completed to Boone, July 17, 1865.
First coal mine opened, 1866.
This brief table represents a large amount of history, and will be very in- structive to those who may " ponder it fittingly."
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
Speaking generally, the growth of the county has been steady and con- tinuous, although there have been, of course, times of ebb and flow. The first period of the county's growth was one of much hardship and priva- tion. The California emigration, however, brought golden days to tlie county, and prosperity continued in high tide until the panic a few years before the war. These were evil days for Boone county; there was very general discontent, and many business men in the county were ruined. A slow recovery followed and introduced the war-period. From the close of the war up to the panic in 1873, Boone was again in a prosperous condi- tion. The county did not suffer in this directly so much as indirectly, in the general derangement of the business of the country. But the experi- ence was much the same as that in . the former period of high times. Property depreciated and become unsalable, and general discontent and un- easiness spread among the people. There has been nothing peculiar to Boone county in this experience-it has been that of the country in gen- eral. At the present time the country is fairly started again on a career of prosperity.
So, in Boone county, good times have followed close upon evil times, and vice versa all through the period of its growth. It would seem that the old sage's thought would be a good thing to keep ever in mind, both in prosperity and distress: "Even this shall pass away." Such a lesson is taught by the experience of the county, from the organization to the present time.
Having thus definitely, and as fully as the records permit, noted the early settlements and the development of the county in its first stages, we come to the matter of county organization.
CHAPTER VI.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
County and Township Organization-Their Origin-Condition of Territory Before Organ- ization-Act for Organization of Pottawattamie and Other Counties-S. B. McCall Commissioned Sheriff-First Election-Proceedings of Commissioners' Court-Act Ap- pointing Commissioners to Locate Seat of Justice-Report of said Commissioners- County Judge System-First Court-First Voting Precincts-Ferries-First Jail-Or- ganization of Townships-First Court-house-The Township Board-Early Officers and Finances-Public Highways-Official Directory-Public Buildings.
IT was not long after the first settlement of Boone county before the necessity of county organization in the interest of good government, good roads and the proper management of other local affairs was fully appre- ciated and agitated. Indeed, steps were taken toward organization during the year 1848, but were not fully carried out for some time thereafter.
With regard to the origin of dividing individual States into connty and township organizations, which, in an important measure, should have the power and opportunity of transacting their own business and governing themselves, under the approval of, and subject to, the State and general government of which they each formed a part, we quote from Elijah M. Haines, who is considered good authority on the subject.
In his "Laws of Illinois, Relative to Township Organizations," he says: " The county system originated with Virginia, whose early settlers soon became large landed proprietors, aristocratic in feeling, living apart in al-
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
most baronial magnificence on their own estates, and owning the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials for a town were not at hand, the voters being thinly distributed over a great area.
"The county organization, where a few influential men managed the whole business of the community, retaining their places almost at their pleas- ure, scarcely responsible at all, except in name, and permitted to conduct the county concerns as their ideas or wishes might dircct, was moreover consonant with their recollections or traditions of the judicial and social dignities of the landed aristocracy of England, in descent from whom the Virginia gentlemen felt so much pride. In 1834 eight counties were or- ganized in Virgina, and the system, extending throughout the State, spread into all the Southern States, and some of the Northern States; unless we except the nearly similar division into 'districts' in South Carolina, and that into 'parishes' in Louisiana, from the French laws.
"Illinois, which, with its vast additional territory, became a county of Virginia, on its conquest by General George Rogers Clark, retained the county organization, which was formerly extended over the State by the constitution of 1818, and continued in exclusive use until the constitution of 1848.
" Under this system, as in other States adopting it, most local business was transacted by those commissioners in each county, who constituted a county court, with quarterly sessions.
" During the period ending with the constitution of 1847, a large portion of the State had become filled up with a population of New England birth or character, daily growing more and more compact and dissatisfied with the comparatively arbitrary and inefficient county system. It was main- tained by the people that the heavily populated districts would always control the election of the commissioners to the disadvantage of the more thinly populated sections-in short that under, that system 'equal and exact justice' to all parts of the county could not be secured.
"The township system had its origin in Massachusetts, and dates back to 1635.
" The first legal enactment concerning this system provided that, whereas, 'particular townships have many things which concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of business in their own town,' therefore, 'the freeman of every township, or a majority part of them shall only have power to dispose of their own lands and woods, with all the appurtenances of said town, to grant lots, and to make such orders as may concern the well-ordering of their own towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders established by the general court.'
"They might also, (says Mr. Haines), impose fines of not more than twenty shillings, and 'choose their own particular officers, as constables, surveyors for the highways and the like.'
"Evidently this enactment relieved the general court of a mass of mu- nicipal details, without any danger to the power of that body in controlling general measures of public policy.
" Probably also a demand from the freemen of the towns was felt for the control of their own home concerns.
" The New England colonies were first governed by a 'general court,' or legislature, composed of a governor and a small council, which court con- sisted of the most influential inhabitants, and possessed and exercised both
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legislative and judicial powers, which were limited only by the wisdom of the holders.
" They made laws, ordered their execution by officers, tried and decided civil and criminal causes, enacted all manner of municipal regulations, and, in fact, did all the public business of the colony.
"Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the first constitution of Connecticut, adopted in 1639; and the plan of township organization, as experience proved its remarkable economy, efficiency and adaptation to the requirements of a free and intelligent people, became uni- versal throughout New England, and went westward with the emigrants from New England into New York, Ohio, and other Western States.
Thus we find that the valuable system of county, township and town organizations had been thoroughly tried and proven long before there was need of adopting it in Iowa, or any of the broad region west of the Missis- sippi river. But as the new country soon began to be opened, and as east- ern people continued to move westward across the mighty river, and form thick settlements along its western shore, the Territory, and State, and county, and township and town organizations soon followed in quick suc- cession, and those different systems became more or less modified and im- proved, accordingly as deemed necessary by the experience and judgment and demands of the people, until they have arrived at the present stage of advancement and efficiency.
In the settlement of the Territory of Iowa the legislature began by or- ganizing counties on the Mississippi. As each new county was formed it was made to include, under legal jurisdiction, all the country bordering west of it, and required to grant to the occidental settlers electoral privi- leges and an equal share in the county government with those who prop- erly lived in the geographical limit of the county. The counties first organized along the eastern border of this State were given, for a short time, jurisdiction over the lands and settlements adjoining each on the west, until these different localities became sufficiently settled to support organi- zations of their own; and finally, at the first session of the legislature, after the Indians sold out, the newly acquired territory, including all northwestern Iowa, was laid off into counties, provisions were made for their respective organizations when the proper time should arrive, and these were severally named.
In the case of Boone county, the progress of settlements was from the south, and that territory, together with all the country to the north and west, was attached to Polk county for judicial and revenue purposes.
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