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 40
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As has been stated, Iowa was embraced in what was known as the Louisiana Purchase, was a part of the District of Louisiana in 1804; in 1807, was
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
included in the Territory of Illinois, and, in 1812, in the Territory of Missouri until the admission of the State in 1821 ; was unattached to any organized Ter- ritory until 1834, when it became a part of Michigan Territory, and, in 1836, became a part of Wisconsin Territory : in 1838, was established as the Terri- tory of Iowa.
On the 11th of January. 1840, the Territorial Legislature, by enactment, organized the county of Clinton, the law to take effect March 1, 1840, and making Camanche, which, it was stated, had polled more votes than all the bal- ance of the county, the seat of justice.
The act of organization declares that three County Commissioners and other officers shall be elected on the first Monday in April, 1840. No record, however, exists of any proceedings of the Commissioners until January 5, 1841. We have verbal statements of old settlers which place it almost beyond doubt that there were meetings held during the year 1840, and that Elijah Buel, George Griswold and Robert C. Bourne were the first Commissioners, and it appears that the next election was held in August, 1840. The act organizing Clinton County also provided that the Commissioners of Scott County should select the names of persons resident in Clinton County to serve as grand jurors. The following names were returned in accordance therewith : Peter HI. Groat, James Claborne, Richard Crawshaw. Robert Thomas, Samuel Doolittle, John C. Holbrook, Frederick Hess, John Emory. Shubel Coy, Benjamin Baker, Oliver A. Crary, Alfred Brown, Otis Bennett, Daniel Smith, Richard H. Daw- son, Eldad Beard, David H. Brown. Henry Strickler, Robert C. Bourne, Philip D. Bradley. Eli Goddard, Alanson Dickerman and Arthur Smith.
Of these, there appeared at the opening of the Court. October 12, 1840, James Claborne, Benjamin Baker, Otis Bennett, Richard H. Dawson, Eldad Beard, Henry Strickler, Robert C. Bourne. Alanson Dickerman and Arthur Smith. The Court selected Samuel N. Bedford, George W. Harlan, John Welsh and Absalom Dennis as talesmen to complete the required number, and the first grand jury of Clinton County was sworn in, with Richard H. Daw- son as foreman. James D. Bourne had been appointed Sheriff by Governor Dodge, and Martin Dunning held appointment as Clerk of the Court. Thomas S. Wilson was the Judge. and William J. A. Bradford, District Prosecuting Attorney.
At the election for county officers, Robert C. Bourne, Eli Goddard and Elijah Buel were elected County Commissioners. Mr. Bourne, having the highest number of votes, was declared elected for three years. There was a tie between Messrs. Goddard and Buel, and the Clerk cut the Gordian knot by declaring Mr. Goddard to be the two years' man, and Mr. Buel elected for one year.
James D. Bourne was elected Sheriff ; Richard H. Dawson, County Asses- sor ; Shubel Coy, Treasurer ; - Gardner, Recorder.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. EXPLANATORY.
From the organization of the county. in the spring of 1840, to August, 1851, the management of county affairs was vested in a Board of three Com- missioners, chosen by the people, and were recognized and known as a Board of County Commissioners. This system of county management originated with Virginia, whose early settlers soon became large landed proprietors, aris- tocratic in feeling, living apart in almost baronial magnificence on their own estates, and owning the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials
351
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
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 direct, 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 organized in Virginia, 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.
In 1851, a County Court was created (see Code of Iowa, 1851, Chap. 15). The act creating that Court gave the County Judge jurisdiction of probate affairs, and clothed him with all the powers previously exercised by the Board of County Commissioners. In short, it legislated the Commissioners out of existence.
The Township System .- On the 22d of March, 1860, the Legislature passed an act entitled " An Act creating a Board of Supervisors, and defining their duties." (See Revision of Iowa, p. 48). This law went into effect July 4, 1860, and provided for the election of one Supervisor from each civil town- ship. When assembled together for the transaction of county business, these town representatives were known as the Board of County Supervisors. The township system had its origin in Massachusetts, and dates back to 1635. The first legal enactment concerning this system provided that, whereas " particu- lar towns have many things which concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of business in their own town," therefore " the freemen of every town, or the major part of them, shall only have power to dispose of their own lands and woods, with all the appurtenances of said towns, 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 estab- lished by the General Court." They might also 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, which was composed of the Governor and a Coun- cil selected from among the most influential inhabitants, and possessed and exercised both legislative and judicial powers, hardly limited-in fact, did all the public business of a colony-of a mass of municipal details, without any danger to the powers 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.
Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the first Constitution of Connecticut, adopted in 1639, and the plan of township organ- ization became universal throughout New England, and came westward with the emigrants from New England into New York, Ohio and other Western States, including the northern part of Illinois ; and, there being a large New England element among the population of Iowa, it is fair to presume that their influence secured the adoption of this system in Iowa, as created in the act already quoted.
It seems, however, that the township system did not continue in general favor with the people of the State. Objections were made that the body was unwieldy and expensive, and that the populous townships wielded an undue
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
proportion of voting power in the Board to the disadvantage of the less thickly populated townships, and, in 1871, the system was abolished or modified, so as to vest the powers of the former Board of Township Supervisors in a Board of three County Supervisors. (See Code of Iowa, Title IV, Chapter 2). From the time of this law going into effect, the affairs of the county have been under the control of a Board of Supervisors, consisting of three members, one of whom is annually elected at the general election, for a term of three years.
RESUME.
The first meeting of the Board of County Commissioners was held at the house of Samuel Doolittle, who kept a pioneer hotel, in the town of Camanche, on Tuesday, January 5, 1841. Martin Dunning was appointed Clerk of the Board. Richard H. Dawson having failed to qualify, George W. Harlan was appointed by the Board to be Assessor for Clinton County, and took the neces- sary oath and filed his bond.
William J. A. Bradford was allowed $25 as his compensation as the Pros- ecuting Attorney at the October term of the District Court. A very modest sum as compared with the allowances of the present day.
The Recorder was furnished with an outfit of the necessary books for his office, and Reuben Root was allowed the sum of $7.35 in payment for the same.
David Smith, Milton McIntire, Oliver A. Crary, David Hess, Robert Smith, George W. Parker, Oliver Alger, John Homer, John D. Simmons, Joseph Miller, Reuben Root, James Claborne and John C. Holbrook were each allowed $1, and Eli Goddard $4.50, and Phillip D. Bradley $2.70 as Judges of Election at the October election.
The following persons were also allowed $1 each as Clerks of the Elec- tion : Otis Bennett, John Emory, George Goddard, William Lawton, Anson Weed, Philip Deeds, R. R. Benedict, John Thomas, Thomas Watts, Simeon Gardner.
The following were selected from which to draw the grand jury for the next term of the District Court: James Hall, Charles Burgoon. David H. Brown, H. B. Shaff, Eli G. Boice, Otis Bennett, Isaac Ramsay, John A. Kernan, John Brophy, David Hess, Leroy Dutton, Robert Smith, Oliver Alger, A. F. Bedford, Samuel Doolittle, J. R. Pierce, John D. Simmons, John R. Boyd, William Hogan, Lyman Evans, William Lawton, F. K. Peck and Charles Harrison.
The petit jurors selected were : M. A. Harrington, Frederick Fordham, William D. Follett, Samuel Lawring, John Peck, Norman Evans, Reuben Root, Absalom Dennis, David W. Fisher, Joseph Loveland, Seth Sands, John Laughray, Adoniram Kindall, Shelton Summers, Amos Holoway, Robert Thomas, George W. Harlan, William Welch, Charles Bovard, F. W. Rowe, David Cass and William Knight.
The rate of taxation was fixed for the year 1841, as follows : Poll Tax, as established by Territorial statute, $1. "First-rate lands shall be $3 per acre ; second-rate lands shall be $2.50 per acre ; third-rate lands shall be $2 per acre. Ad valorem tax on all property, as valued and returned by the Assessor, five mills on the dollar."
As this would make the annual tax on 160 acres of "first-rate lands " $2.40, we cannot include among the hardships of the early settlers, the burden of excessive taxation. It would, however, be accurate history, very probably, if it was here stated that there were tax grumblers then the same as now, so prone is mankind to fault-finding.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
The Clerk was directed to give notice of a special election to be held on the first Monday in April, 1841, to elect a Judge of Probate, a Recorder, and a Coroner.
The whisky question came up early in the history of the county, and we find that the final action of the first meeting of the Board was as follows :
Ordered-That the Clerk of this Board be authorized to issue permits to sell spirituous liquors, or for other purposes, as the law may require ; Provided, that in all cases, whenever he shall grant such permit, or license, during vacation, he shall render an account of the same to this Board at their next session.
The next meeting of the Board was commenced April 5, 1841, at the house of Samuel Doolittle in Camanche, but it being the day of election, the Board adjourned until the following day. W. A. Warren, A. F. Russell and William Miller were allowed their bills for their services as Commissioners to re-locate the county seat.
The re-location of the county seat was done in response to a petition of the citizens of the county to the Territorial Legislature, which petition was drawn and circulated by George Griswold, and was induced by the usual jealousy and spirit of rivalry which arises between various localities.
In response to the petition, the Legislature passed an act January 14, 1841. from which we extract.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Council and the House of Representatives of the Territory of lowa, that William Miller, of Cedar County, Andrew Russell, of Scott County, William A. Warren, of Jacksou County, be, and are hereby appointed Commissioners to re-locate the seat of justice of Clinton County.
SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of said Commissioners to meet at the house of Abram Folcks, in Clear Creek Precinct, in said county, on some day within six months from the date of this act, and proceed to locate said seat of justice as near the geographical center of said county as a good and suitable situation, convenient to wood and water, can be found, having reference to the present and future population of the county.
SEC. 3. The Commissioners aforesaid, shall, before entering upon their duties as Commissioners, take and subscribe before some Justice of the Peace, the following oath or affirmation. [Here follows the oath that they shall faithfully and justly perform their duty, etc. ].
SEC. 4. That so soon as said Commissioners shall have determined upon the place where said seat of justice shall be located, it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to name it by some name, as they may think proper and agreeable to the people of said county ; and they shall forthwith commit their proceedings to writing, and sign the same, and file them in the office of the Clerk of the District Court of said county, whose duty it shall be to record the same in the record book.
The remaining sections of the act are the usual provisions of taking effect, notice, etc., etc.
In compliance with this act the Commissioners made their report to the Dis- trict Court in vacation April 16, 1841 :
TERRITORY OF IOWA, ss.
Clinton County.
We, the Commissioners to locate the seat of justice of Clinton County, do solemnly swear that we will perform the duties imposed on us by our appointment, honestly and faithfully and according to the best of our abilities and according to the law relative to locating said seat of justice, and we do further swear that we are not directly or indirectly interested in said loca- tion, and that, in locating said seat of justice, we will act without the slightest partiality toward any person or persons, without bias from fear, favor or recompense, or the hope of any gain or advantage to ourselves in any respect whatever. WILLIAM MILLER, ANDREW RUSSELL, WILLIAM A. WARREN.
Sworn to and subscribed this 18th day of March, 1841, before me,
ROBERT SMITH, Justice of the Peace.
We, the Commissioners appointed by an act of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa, having met at the house of Abraham Folk, in Clear Creek Precinct, in Clinton County, and having taken and subscribed the oath prescribed by said act (as above) proceeded to the performance of our duties, and located the seat of justice of said county by setting the stake in or near the center of the north half of Section Eighteen, Township Eighty-one (81) north, Range
354
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
four east of the Fifth Principal Meridian ; and by naming the said seat of justice, as the law pre- scribes, being in accordance with the will of the people, as near as we could ascertain the same, VANDENBURG.
WILLIAM MILLER, [Seal. ] Witness our hands and seals this eighteenth day of March, A. D. eighteen hundred and forty-one.
ANDREW F. RUSSELL, [Seal. ]
WILLIAM A. WARREN, [Seal.]
It is said that the name " VANDENBURG" was the family name of the " sweetheart " of Commissioner Warren, in whose honor it was given.
We have digressed from the record of the County Commissioners' proceed- ings to give this history of the removal of the county seat, and now resume the proceedings at their April session in 1841.
The boundaries of the several precincts or townships had been somewhat vaguely defined, and, at this session, the Board ordered that their boundaries be spread upon the records.
At this time there were but six precincts or townships in the county- Camanche, Lyons, Elk River, Deep Creek, Clear Creek and Liberty.
They were described as having boundaries as follows :
" The Township of Camanche-Commencing at the Mississippi River, on the south line of the second tier of sections in fractional township cighty-one north, range seven east : thence in a direct west course until it arrives at the southeast corner of section nine, in range four east ; thence south to the Wau- besepinicon River : thence to the Mississippi River, being the south line, and the Mississippi River being the east line." This township began at the head of Beaver Island, and extended due west to near where the city of DeWitt now is. and south to the Wapsie, which also formed the county line. It included the present township of Camanche, part of Clinton and Lincoln, nearly all of Eden and a part of De Witt Townships, as they now exist.
" Township of Lyons-Commencing at the Mississippi River, on the south line of the second tier of sections in fractional township eighty-two north, range seven east ; thence in a direct line west to the east line of range four east ; thence south to the line dividing Camanche from Lyons ; thence on said line to the Mississippi." This township was bounded on the south by the Camanche line and extended west to the present line between Washington and Center, and north to the south line of the second tier of sections in Center Township and east to the Mississippi River. It included in its boundaries all but the two north tiers of sections of Lyons. Hampshire and Center, and nearly all of Clin- ton and Lincoln Townships as they now exist.
" Elk River Township-Includes all north of Lyons in Clinton County, as far west as the east line of range five east." The boundaries of Elk River included its present territory and two tiers of sections on the south across the present townships of Lyons and Hampshire.
"Deep Creek Township-Includes township eighty-three north, range five east." The boundaries of Deep Creek Township were a Congressional Town- ship and have not been changed.
" Clear Creek Township-Commencing at the southeast corner of section nine, township eighty-two north, range four east ; thence west and north, includ- ing the west half of township eighty-one north, and range four east, and town- ship eighty-one north, range two and three east, and township eighty-two north, range two and three east, together with the fractional townships eighty north, range two and three east." This township included in its boundaries the major part of the present township of DeWitt and all of Orange, Olive, Welton and Berlin, as now mapped.
355
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
" Liberty Township-Includes townships eighty-one and eighty-two north, range one east." This township included the present townships of Liberty and Spring Rock.
The territory which now comprises the townships of Washington, Waterford, Bloomfield, Brookfield and Sharon were as yet unorganized.
The next business of the Board was to lay out Road Districts and appoint Supervisors for the same.
The record of surveyed roads shows that the following Territorial Roads had been established and were all the lawful roads then in existence in the county.
By act of Legislature, James Ross, A. C. Sutleff and Stephen Tripp, were appointed, in July, 1840, Commissioners to locate a Territorial road from Lyons to Iowa City, which was duly established, January 21, 1841.
This road commenced at the center of Main street (Sixth street), in Lyons, running through the middle of Sixth street to its termination. It then ran in a southwesterly direction a distance of thirty-eight miles, in Clinton County, and eighty miles to Iowa City.
Road No. 2 was a Territorial road from Davenport to Bellevue. The Com- missioners to lay out this road, appointed by the Legislature November 27, 1840, were W. Barrows, Simeon Gardner and Charles Swan. The two latter resigned, and Otis Bennett and Daniel H. Pearce were appointed by the County Commis- sioners to fill the vacancy. They made their final report October 4, 1841.
No. 3 was a Territorial road from Lyons to Tipton, but no plat or proceed- ings are of record concerning it. It was established by legislative act January 10, 1842.
Road No. 4 was a Territorial road from Denson's Ferry to Dubuque, estab- lished by act of the Legislature July 7, 1842. No record exists of its having ever been laid out or used.
No. 5 was a county road. The petitioners were R. R. Bedford and others. of Clear Creek Township, praying for a road from the Wapsipinicon, in Range 4 east, thence through the township of De Witt ; thence north, to terminate and intersect the Territorial road from Davenport to Dubuque, at or near Negro Grove. Ashbel F. Bedford, Thomas W. Clark and Absalom Dennis were appointed Commissioners to establish this road. The location of this road is uncertain.
No. 6 was a county road. The petitioners were Jonas M. Oaks and others, who asked for a road from De Witt via Wright's Grove to the north line of Clinton County, at or near Levi Decker's house. The petition was dated July 3, 1843, and the same day the following persons were appointed Commis- sioners to locate it : James M. Kirtley, Absalom Dennis and S. A. Bedford. The location of this road is uncertain.
No. 7 was a Territorial road from Camanche to Iowa City. This appears to. be the same road as No. 1, from Camanche to Iowa City, while the Davenport and Dubuque road (No. 2) was the continuation of No. 1, from Camanche northward. This road terminated in this county at the Wapsipinicon, in Town- ship 80, Range 2 east, in what is now Olive Township, at Alger's Ferry, run- ning through Camanche, Eden, De Witt, Orange and Olive.
Shubel Coy was appointed Supervisor of Road District No. 1, but the boundaries of his empire do not seem to have been stated in the record.
Benjamin Baker was appointed Supervisor of the highway in Lyons Town- ship, commencing at Congressional Township 82 and 83 north, Range 7 east, thence south to the northeast corner of Section 30, which was from the present. town line between Elk River and Hampshire, south to Lyons City.
356
HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
Oliver P. Ackerman was appointed Supervisor of the district from the termination of Baker's district south to Riverside, at the town line of Camanche.
Daniel Pearce was given the highway in Lyon's Township, commencing at north line of fractional Township 81 north, Range 7 east, thence southwesterly to the west line of Township 81 north, Range 7 east.
Franklin K. Peck had the district in the township of Camanche from the west line of fractional Township 81 north, Range 7 east, southerly to the south side of Mill Creek.
Richard Crawshaw superintended the district in Camanche from the south side of Mill Creek southwesterly to the southwest side of Spring Creek.
Heman B. Shaff's district was from the southwest side of Spring Creek southwesterly to the Waubesepinicon River.
John Brophy's district was from his own house. in the township of Camanche, west to the west line of said township.
Trails across the prairie must have been the principal thoroughfares of travel in those days, when eight road districts represented the whole of the public highway upon which the revenues of the county were expended. How much the aggregate of the road fund was we have had no means of ascertaining, but as we give immediately following a statement of the total revenue of the county for the previous year, the reader can make the estimates to suit his own ideas of the needs of this branch of county expenditures.
The next business which engrossed the attention of the Commissioners was a settlement with James D. Bourne, who. in addition to his duties as Sheriff, Postmaster, etc., was also the Collector of the county revenue.
We here insert in full the Collector's first report of tax collections, being the revenue for the year 1840 :
JAMES D. BOURNE, in account with Clinton County.
DR.
To Tax-list for 1840 ..
$377.55
Order to balance. 58
Total
$378.13
CR.
By delinquent tax
$ 31.16}
Excessive tax. 24,50
Treasurer's receipts 299.933
Per cent for collecting. 22.53
Total $378.13
The amount of the tax-list for the year 1878. for Clinton County, levied and returned to the Treasurer and receipted for by him to the Auditor, is $319,402.58.
No more striking statement could be made to show, by comparison, the wonderful increase in population and wealth that has been made during the thirty-eight years past.
We here insert the names of the Judges of Election as selected by the Com- missioners, among which will be many which are to-day familiar names, as men of prominence in their respective communities, and whose early struggles have met with the recompense of pecuniary comfort in their declining years. and who have maintained the confidence and respect of their fellow-citizens. Many, however, have removed, or " passed beyond :"
Samuel Doolittle, F. K. Peck, H. B. Shaff, for Camanche ; Robert Smith, Jr., George W. Parker, Charles Burgoon. for Liberty : John R. Boyd. Oliver
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