USA > Iowa > Clinton County > The history of Clinton County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns &c., biographical sketches of citizens > Part 36
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under
Produets
proved
proved
Culti-
No. of
No. of
of Farm
Land.
Land.
vation
No. of
Aeres.
Bushels
No. of
Harv't'd
Acres.
Bushels
No. of
No. of
Bushels
No. of
No. of
in
in 1874.
Harv't'd'
Acres.
Harv't'd
Aeres.
Bushels
Harv't'd
Dollars.
Appanoose.
161059
Alamakee.
134:67
161083
125188
9606
77789
937639
1019
10838
64871
2385243
21146
156921
23819
109388
61880
· 89235
181
1964
21325
13756
12776
387346
$1611937
159S6
9225
905920
442829
6876
394655
788
33233
1415769
Audubon.
10
97
184153
Adams
65159
83182
43735
54352
17947
281376
7
174
25174
969717
Adair
55680
66265
27550
435014
50
3500
30860
3951
141293
695318
Buena Vista
33118
29:518
3,031
53911
27010
239408
15514
162737
1402428
228231
4455
159739
828171
Benton.
156937
99 106
32505
1343666
7888
3328921
2791
67069
207828
105612
429257
7
250
83244
15190
445070
Boone.
71810
11
84
46151
1595752
124877
10101
404620
2664995
Butler.
149493
58908
57907
779167
20
700
38685
1270878
13827
421719
1018453
1209785
Bremer
145067
Black llawk
213025
47001
104510
181256
48878
644795
1108024
28:54
1026641
150981
89361
56592
1939590
14259
16804
518571
538196
1144620
Buchanan.
19036
71418
157210
61291
812342
48831
1811250
1431
556209
1898424
Clay.
39919
33375
153159
2615949
37059
Cherokee
17481
8797
180120
98766
54C38
28974
45412
40150;
9459
315215
4436
123343
31693
3545
115595
35019
Cass.
110864
Crawford
58038
45304
92785
1901062
283414
15262
40123
40582
9079
248869
41417
166185
21000
676209
40167
321894
176281
1284899
Cedar
640511
415163
26
295
17957
648638
2815921
2902
78224
20243
99158
483357
Cerro Gordo.
529 0
300595
4S618
28199
212291
9512
1305125
1247
21030
265413
Clayton
173622
3:918
1471263
7199
675837
228097
2606149
591617
293855
151908
86SS3
20021
Clinton
57337
68683
1010345
12
74104
128
89297
3061338
669895
514279
23701
702059
2081793
3019019
Chickasaw
96304
94112
40162
643519
3
63
16821
Carroll
53065
39159
26756
550041
11741.
446300
894656
303744
3
20
16014
3238
Clarke
93691
50187
75503
17968
310161
217090
1580260
107577
7
55
39066
103631
351120
12337
367643
451365
Calhoun
26618
7051987
26996
11010
10
2993
73182
Davis
15035
115:51
116003
131597
87172
9:275
5378
53' 9
150
10656
62127
2115569
221618
30993
56405
13643
345707
Decatur
1603090
Dubuque
187831
98561
8211
7169
817
12:39
50484
1763140
10555
344551
1024541
146244
49240
634135
67118
25115
Des Moines
143665
1'20
1702391
643322
472029
58165
9:618
1636132
62305
10615
11339G
71725
8688
1173 0
102924
230;938
9212
287392
172992
Delaware
Diekinson
157.0
29850
161357
60401
5
50
56150
1690 35
20577
632113
1693314
Dallas
132135
11961
111625
5701
25822
44455
2403
51,65
29236
445845
3183
7
186
57652
2484S08
9937
37282
335124
45334
Eminet
9989
23556
8387
3911
1510
2197
14273
3241
1502047
15244
14:009
1519
Floyd
179:01
32130
110708
620G
26462
612418
15461
Fayerte.
133758
911439
487729
1367377
98156
60.79
86.6:0
968
37001
1296480
20770
704407
1503127
Franklin
69359
115337
43 46
65590
31096
16
24066
758983
9532
328679
Fremont
198332
103039
13229
45509
206301
841
16625
73815
1703085
5419
179645
777106
Grundy
1460 9
47326
135108
67381
1482582
104G066
Green
59J10
976657
49838
53323
19391
27199
25%.00
2
40175
783021
11186
401948
120948
1593977
620905
Guthrie
783037
4227
87259
129331
4,220
76592
393544
22
44
$60
39002
1669134
4145
153505
792461
Hardin
Humboldt
29114
399 10
91:65
27013
88164
497251
41304
1379961
10982
9908
3974
356915
1066627
36006
12016;
20902
297381
90944
200001
Howard
113933
171018
61871
86115
593803
9916
307912
10210
310268
734409
Harrison
94818
33.151
7287
23918
143:01
84
1200
44720
1620192
3462
Hancock
10162
69140
Hamilton
341615
786647
63966
39935
4889
51899
89405
52030
20516
70006
2067
1353
291682
20411
5108
48816
670:31
50219
110831
62672
2415670
52762
Henry
182030
15026
180220
9041
113203
168262
13393
358221
1765670
Ida .
7292
191011
9194
6514
3109
Iowa
89351
48415
6.02:7
1080
2301
108:65
455
2710830
14060
159188
36
€2518
319071
7482211
Jackson
193200
48410
11756
211021
142401
71257
11:101
43515
550000
491
7912
1274
53962
23652
2005049
6662,9
77112
1665518
3158178
11700
521156
522197
1750091
Johnson
2447875
Jasper
2,8881
193019
45006
100
179:52
21"919
79926
63198
11071:0
45258 9
15267
532239)
Jones
140681
3600
462178
31
409
100217
63 123
1900524
18260
2916838
1596416
Jefferson
16:339
208125
66979
Keokuk
125530
1623%
161904
6192
66:39
1695510
464824
55061
14005
#16128
1530140
31550
98939
149672
83278
368728
148
1363
Kossuth.
29835
1.0
75697
3327292
15582
447603
Lee
183832
49793
27857
1919:28
78692
1337S0
10798
13199
200407
9:81
119777
5143
10 31
15400
105306
72624
59563
2190306
279069
Lucas.
108052
59757
88857
13054
150587
31
Lyon.
318811
76;12
329
47022
11817
1902530
12665
342164
1631518
158.2
281118
12756
8132
54
2615
10396
3477
13789
1030554
32651
Linn.
62649
151007
175035
52179
656597
12
160
91773
3439923
22670
585648
2590052
Louisa
20176
19 64
189909
1388
126381
52922
10 066
16267
49642
2181638
6792
Mitehell.
232399
65531
11078
175755
542662
1€65739
Mahaska
122190
9 1133
1039811
199369
150 68
395332
112:4
411961
1591878
31.62
2697
3768209
2195785
Marion
153214
205
141512
82779
45186
183
53001
520663
2:12
83775
8835063
1€646
10937
496248
90837
24385
84630
335746
2181346
Mills
Madison
161998
32
102215
193709
137079
312961
543
535 13
15339.6
6528
232639
1003509
Monroe
78206
91:30
3,553
6283141
25
263
484
69194
2953630
8743
285103
1709030
11638
101413
5584
45575
1739916
11512
211081
2808256
13611
465245
938362
Marshall
223735
52212
41552
56278
11:303
39311
69797
1125382
2368278
178915
48 32
129099
15"31
21
200
67699
Monona,
183811
21577
819338
2304
66475
405562
447665
Muscatine.
104633
32375
410471
63
629
54760
1715973
13287
1747906
Montgomery.
33626
50607
32070
86026
13SI
551509
8
166
39251
1441467
5322
201635
1072127
O'Brien
26:31
31.106
14904
151526
63.9
106052
3107
53931
191542
Oseeola ..
18190
26829
69581
Polk
201689
74757
17279
56811
14651
1390
140150
8.69
21
2510
37636
3272010
12188
431841
2140023
Pochahontas
21928
35572
19219
334
77197
121630
7434
563389
30774
8931
229263
2541
40494
112666
Pottawattomie
20S989
419189
906:9
33.169
5889,1
63
475
47258
1750038
5278
168081
1252629
Powesheik.
48697
156:82
171583
5:312
22359
7629.6
85748
35:1105
11416
333565
2393022
Page.
Plymouth
59233
175171
519 2
115194
41379
33629
353792
1220
20235
442706
71386
22390!3
9758
346507
1293463
18517
82225
10
160
10097
175778
4161
2979
120437
434123
Palo Alto.
16679
8606
325
6611
142057
46859
96616
Ringgold
18100
58329
235515
503:3
23208
78351
9118
255007
1115782
Scott
148649
19123
43874
185742
10026
125
35613
1145937
762315
1762
993ST
47698
40
59071
2226346
15915
528868
3041873
Story.
618
1033743
Shelby
53180
39326
11273
343265
47230
26C58
330:97
8
20
51273
1783477
573026
Sioux.
33324
36+391
33515
22020
317944
17674
2254
251286
689536
71676
22093
6780
32038
279716
4591
3035
45096
6599
166980
Sac ...
3133G
47201
24179
79142
11056
110004
10
8662
238880
Taylor.
102861
255182
233515
90222
214911
151:6
206813
2414
3068
48260
1419680
908476
Tama
9:013
1437807
73:51
2842859
8718
269657
13574
334469
2316405
Union
57005
33216
45826
105SG
141183
53
960
24063
1130930
6127
187748
6242€0
Van Buren
153674
99528
147766
113263
7155
58808
10928
121854
50211
1823622
12596
353698
1439586
Wayne ..
66795
117689
103:5
763:6
143
1236
65625
2405187
13242
367396
1361376
Warren ...
Winnesheik
191265
167178
159737
246140
259 169
42175
80280
8991
131670
112175
654679
1813465
61
910
21185
3561365
281510
2208392
977316
24307
8216508
2265252
Woodbury
44179
57097
33007
218975
490371
3072
91647
298209
Worth
4892.
45957
32157
15243
23092
410187
14647
3530
122291
4445
161557
396506
Washington
Wehster
225176
97238
55"52
15.884
41616
61744
469879
70910
391051
1439
14193
73265
2832211
15701
453320
2035264
Winnebago.
17389
30625
12121
30354
162281
5
270
28:13
1374
917911
733342
11
52425
7491
207493
1327
45109
140219
Wright
Wapello.
35516
32387
289:57
8939
150203
13629
196166
135173
157535
1617
10089
281821
4134
135176
288685
63491
1736S
16159
57035
2143791
11570
293590
1455319
Totals
12627850 8410435
93549051 3690711
42669731
69189
759277
4700176 |136284542 982994
29144352 $131536747
Elyjech Bull
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
BY L. P. ALLEN.
PREFATORY.
" Upon the world's great battle-field the brave Struggle, and win and fall. They proudly go, Some to unnoticed graves, and some to stand With earth's bright catalogue of great and good."
Less than half a century has passed since the extinguishment of the Indian title and the pioneer entrance of the white man to these fertile lands, now bearing the rich fruits of civilization. Less than a half-century has witnessed the wonderful transformation of a vast area, redeemed from a " howling waste," over which a few savages roamed, into a populous and wealthy State, environed and bisected with railways, teeming with an intelligent, industrious and thriv- ing population, dotted with prosperous cities and villages and with a future outlook that can only promise as rapid and wonderful a growth in wealth and population for the next half century. Measured by the historian's work, whose chapters record meridian lines of time by cycles, and whose ranges are eentu- ries, and who writes of the rise and downfall of nations ; whose story is of con- quests and " feats of broil and battle," the compiler of the history of a peaceful conquest of a single county in a State in the line of civilization where " Westward the course of Empire takes its way," may seem to be an humble task. Nevertheless, the faithful gathering of the facts connected with the early settlement of this county, and the dangers, privations and hardships encoun- tered by the hardy pioneers who advanced the standards of civilization across the " Father of Waters" is a work that is worthy of attention, and one which, we trust, will meet with a cordial reception. If this work is ever to be done, the time is opportune. A true history can only be written from "actual facts." The preserved facts are meager and not easily found. The pioneers are rapidly passing away, and the few yet remaining must soon be "gathered to their fathers." The difficulties to be overcome in the preparation of the work have been beyond the anticipation of the compiler, as "forty years " have warped the memories of the " Old Settlers " who remain. Effort has, however, been made to verify dates and statements by such records as are obtainable, and to corroborate by cumulative testimony. Errors will doubtless be found, but we believe that, in the main, the history will be found to be accurate and authentic.
The early history must necessarily be largely narrative of a personal or biographical character, as the history of a few individuals is the history of the county at that date. The records of the county, of cities and towns, have been consulted, as well as the early records of churches, societies and incorporations. The files of newspapers in existence have been pored over, and the " Old Set- tlers " have been interviewed and diligent effort made to glean all possible facts.
A
324
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
NAME.
Clinton County was named in honor of De Witt Clinton. a most worthy namesake, a prominent literary and public man in the State of New York, and one of the prime movers and most efficient advocates of the scheme for build- ing the Erie Canal. He was twice Governor of that State, held many offices of public trust, and was a proficient classical and belles-lettres scholar, a man of incorruptible integrity and stainless purity of character. He died in 1828, at the age of 59 years.
DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY.
Clinton County embraces an area of about seven hundred and fifty square miles, composed of Congressional Townships 80 north, Ranges 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 east ; 81 north, Ranges 1. 2. 3, 4, 5. 6 and 7 east ; 82 north, Ranges 1, 2. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 east, and 83 north, Ranges 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 east, and is bounded north by Jackson County, east by the Mississippi River, south by the Wapsipinieon River and Township 80 north, Range 2 east, being the boundary line between Clinton and Scott Counties, and west by Cedar and Jones Counties.
The county is about thirty-six miles long, east and west, by about eighteen miles north and south. Being in a latitude where the heat of sum- mer is modified by the cool breezes from the north, and vet far enough south to escape the rigor of the extreme northern winters, its location is healthful and desirable.
The Mississippi River forms the eastern boundary line, and flows in a bend sweeping around toward the cast, nearly midway on the eastern boundary of the State. Being due west from Chicago, it is the nearest point in the State between that great commercial entrepot and the Mississippi. Thus, geographical position made it the gate to the interior, and the initial point for the first railroad enterprises which were projected westward to reach the Mis- souri River. Its western boundary is the Fifth Principal Meridian of the Sur- vey of the State, which is 91° W. longitude, and extreme eastern point 90° 35' W. Its approximate latitude is 41° 50' to 42° 05' N. The 42d degree of N. latitude divides the northern tier of townships from the tier to the southward.
*GEOLOGY.
The rock underlying the soil or drift deposit of Clinton County is the Niag- ara limestone. In some earlier geological epoch, it was either deposited at a uniform level with the surface of the sea, or the water receded from it, leaving it dry. It was never greatly disturbed by earthquakes or upheavals, so that it now remains in nearly horizontal strata. Its chemical composition is a car- bonate of lime and magnesia, with a small amount of silica and alumina, col- ored yellow by the hydrated oxide of iron. At a later period, it was submerged and then cut and worn into an uneven surface, by deep channels and fissures, through which numerous streams found their way, oftentimes cutting entirely through the formation.
The Niagara limestone belongs to the upper part of the Silurian of the English geologist. It has a wide range in this country, covering a large part of Wisconsin, the upper part of Illinois, and extending east to Western New York, being prominent at Niagara Falls, from which it is named.
In this county, it is very rich in fossils, which, owing to the softness of the rock, are generally preserved as casts, and only occasionally found in per- fection.
*The Ilistorian is indebted to Prof. P. J. Farnsworth, M. D., for the chapter on Geology, and for other valuable scientific data.
325
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
Certain strata appearing at the river at Lyons, and in places in the north- ern part of the county, are almost entirely made up of casts of the pentamer- ous ; in other strata, encrinites or sea-lilies are abundant. Othoceritites are found everywhere, and many specimens of trilobites and fragments of them appear, some of them being of large dimensions. Also, corals of many varie- ties are found, characteristic of the formation.
It has many outcrops, especially along the streams. The bank of the Mississippi, from Lyons to the northern line of the county, is a precipitous bluff, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the river. At the base of the cliff another and lower formation is exposed, called the Cincinnati group or formation, consisting of a bluish clay shale, and thin beds of fossiliferous limestone. This stratum is impervious to water and its junction is marked by a line of springs, some of them quite large. It has an exposure of from ten to twenty feet. As we go north, the Niagara has been entirely eroded, or washed away, and this formation caps the bluffs at Dubuque, beneath which lies the galena or lead-bearing rocks of Iowa. In places, there, it has a thickness of from sixty to eighty fect, so that only a small portion of it is exposed in this county. From Clinton, the river bears to the west, and the bluffs trend to the southwest, and are rounded and covered with soil, and raise more gradually to the prairie level. Some of the strata furnish excellent lime, and a very fair quality of building stone, but it is not very durable, being soft and porous, and disintegrates under the influence of air and moisture. It makes a very poor material for roadways, as it soon slacks and falls to pieces when exposed to moist- ure and wear. Streets macadamized with it show nothing but mud or dust in a year's time.
Over this uneven surface, in a later epoch, was again deposited, at a uni- form level, the drift, or the soil and subsoil of the prairie. When the water again receded, it cut numerous channels, sometimes coinciding with those in the bed-rock, at other times not. These great floods have left their marks, so that the surface of the county, especially in its eastern portion, is very uneven. The material of the drift is the same as that over the greater part of the eastern slope of the State and of Illinois. A stratum of clay rests on the rock, then a sandy loam and clay, then the stratum composed of clay and sand, and the accumulated vegetable matter of long ages, making a soil surpassed in depth and fertility by none in the world.
It contains bowlders and gravel of granite, quartz and other primitive rocks, with an occasional module of native copper, showing that the material came from the upper part of Dakota and the lower part of Lake Superior. In many places in the limestone there are found large caves, or pockets, filled with fire-clay, containing carbonaceous materials. This clay is white and pure. unless colored by vegetable matter. These caves are always connected with openings at the surface of the rock, and must have been filled during the period when the water swept over them and vegetation flourished elsewhere, but prior to the " Drift Period," as they are covered by that deposit, and hold nothing in common with it.
The lower bluffs, along the Mississippi, are another formation, called the " modified drift," which is made up of materials that have been dissolved from the original drift and redeposited. These deposits are left on the banks of the present river, at a height of from eighty to a hundred feet, showing that at some not very remote geological period the river flowed at a much higher level, through which it cut its present channel. In these bluffs of " modified drift" are found pieces of wood, land shells and bones of extinct land animals,
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demonstrating that, at some time after the prairies became dry land, the river was obstructed and its bed filled up. Geologists refer to this as the "Glacial" or ice period, when this northern hemisphere had a climate like that of Green- land.
No mineral deposits have ever been found in this county. The Niagara limestone generally shows no indications of such. Another formation of eighty feet or more separates it from the "Galena," which contains the lead. Silver, iron or copper have never been found in such rock. The occasional pieces of lead ore. native copper, iron, and perhaps silver, found in the soil, have been brought from a long distance by the ice and currents, that deposited the other materials of the drift. It is evident that the bed-rock came to the surface, or was in a very shallow sea, for a long time, while the vegetable mat- ter was deposited to form the coal in the lower part of the State; and there are occasional basins, where the carboniferous formation rests on this rock. So that it is not impossible that indications of coal may be found, but there is no probability of anything more, as. generally, the bed-rock is near the surface, and no coal ever existed below that.
We have no space to discuss the question of the origin of treeless prairies. There is no doubt, however, but that the annual fires prevented the growth, or spread of forests. Along the alluvial bottoms of the rivers, trees flourished, and on the then clay soil of some of the bluffs, a hardy race of trees existed. The soil everywhere bears forest and fruit trees luxuriantly, when planted, and protected from fires. Most, or all of the prairie is now cultivated, but many of the old settlers can remember when annual fires swept over the uncultivated land. Oak openings, or groves of thinly-scattered trees of a hardy kind, existed in many places on the clayey knolls, which did not produce much grass. On the moist alluvial bottoms, a thick growth of silver maples, white birch, ash and elms flourished, together with willows, water-oaks and black walnuts. Next to the precipitous banks, especially of the Mississippi, a high, rocky soil was formed, where the hard or sugar maples are found, and a Flora common to high, stony land.
The geology of the county furnishes an interesting study of considerable variety, as we have briefly indicated. There is no promise of mineral wealth, but a deep, rich soil abounds, capable of bringing to perfection fruit and forest trees, and all the grains and vegetables of the latitude.
METEOROLOGY.
From railway surveys, it has been pretty accurately determined that low water in the Mississippi, at Clinton, is 587 feet above the sea level. It is fifty- nine feet higher than at Davenport, forty miles below. The level portions of Clinton and Lyons are from fifteen to twenty feet above low water, and from 150 to 200 feet lower than the prairie, so that the greater part of the county is from 600 to 700 feet above the level of the sea.
From meteorological records kept at Lyons and Clinton, since 1857, the mean yearly temperature of three daily observations, is a little over 45.5 degrees Fah., varying from 45.5° to 45.75°. The lowest recorded temperature was during the last days of December and the first weeks of January, when, for three of the years observed, the mercury fell from twenty-four to thirty degrees below zero, Fah. These were exceptional years, usually 10°, and often zero is the lowest mark noted. July is the warmest month, and in several seasons the thermometer has reached 96°, or even higher. Many thermometers have recorded temperature various degrees above 100°; but, of course, they were
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either cheap and unreliable instruments, or so located that they were valueless for scientific purposes. Many seasons, the July heat has not ranged above 85°. The daily mean recorded from 1860 to 1872, for January, was 21°, for July, 72.6°. Several points of coincident low temperature have been observed dur- ing a period of fifteen years. One occurs about the middle of May; another, usually producing frost, happens during the last days of August, or the first of September. In 1863, the corn was greatly injured by this latter cold snap. Since then, there has not been one so severe. Snow makes its first appear ance in the week of the 20th of October. It disappears, and is followed by a long period of " Indian summer," sometimes lasting into December. Ice forms in the Mississippi in some seasons by the 10th of November, but only in a few sea- sons has it been frozen across before December, when it is almost always frozen over ; sometimes, however, to again open and re-close during the cold days above mentioned, of the last of December and first of January. The Mississippi generally opens by the first of March. Some seasons it has scarcely closed, and in a few the ice has remained until the first of April. The latest frost noted, was May 26, the earliest September 1, except in 1863, when frost occurred in every month of the year, except July.
Generally the climate is warmer than in the same latitudes in the Eastern States, and also more equable. For about half the time observed, March was a fine spring month, the others were cold and blustering. December has about the same record. For some seasons, the fall of snow was very slight. In 1862, 1864 and 1870, the fall was only from seven to ten inches. In other years is has been as much as sixty inches, but it rarely remains long, so that sleighing it quite uncertain. In only two of the years noted did it last for one hundred days. The rainfall, including melted snow, ranges from twenty-eight to forty- eight inches. At Iowa City, 74.49 inches of water are reported to have fallen in 1851, and, in 1854, but 23.35 inches. Probably the amount of rainfall in Clinton County did not vary greatly from the above record during those years. The heaviest rainfalls on record were in August, 1866, and July, 1879, when fully three inches of rain fell in as many hours.
The proximity of the county to the Great Lakes modifies its climate and prevailing winds, as well as the rainfall. It has been shown that the isothermal line passes in a southwesterly direction across the county. While it is on the parallel of Chicago, the easterly winds and storms came from the direction of Milwaukee or Racine. An atmosphere charged with moisture comes with a north-of-east wind, which is precipitated by a cool northwest current. East
winds bear moisture ; northwest winds are dry. Violent winds and rain-storms with tornadoes, come from the southwest, changing to west and northwest. Northwest winds, after the moisture is condensed by them and precipitated as rain, are dry and oftentimes cool. The lowest temperature of winter is usually ushered in by a fierce northwest wind, blowing from one to three days, and called an Iowa "blizzard." There are occasional periods of drought during the latter part of summer. when it is noticed that the upper current of air blows constantly from the northwest. This wind is healthful and stimulating to the human system, and during its prevalence there is always a marked improve- ment in the public health.
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