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 51
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Kirke W. Wheeler was admitted in New York in 1859, and in Iowa in 1860. He located at De Witt, and is now a resident there.
A. T. Wheeler was admitted in Wisconsin in 1851, and in Iowa in 1860. He located at Lyons, and is still residing there.
H. W. Smith was admitted in Illinois in 1860, and in Iowa in 1865. Located at Camanche, and has been a resident there since.
Judson N. Cross was admitted in 1864. He located in Lyons, where he remained until about 1875, when he removed to Minneapolis, where he now resides.
Wickliffe A. Cotton was admitted in 1867. He has been a resident of De Witt since 1844.
George B. Young was admitted in 1862. He was then a resident of Camanche. He subsequently removed to De Witt, and then to Clinton, where he now resides.
H. S. Hyatt was admitted in 1866. He then resided at Clinton, where he remained until 1872, when he removed to St. Louis.
William W. Stevens was admitted in New Hampshire in 1861, in New York in 1864, and in Iowa in 1866, when he located at Clinton, and is now a resident there.
William H. H. Hart was admitted in 1869. He located at De Witt, where he remained until about 1875, when he removed to California.
J. S. Darling was admitted in Jackson County in 1854. He located at Andrew, and, subsequently, in 1870, removed to Clinton, where he now resides.
Albert L. Levi was admitted in 1866. He located at De Witt, subse- quently removed to Clinton, and, in 1874, went to Minnesota.
John F. McGuire was admitted in Iowa in 1868. Located at Wheatland, came to Clinton in 1869; now resides at Lyons, though keeping his office still at Clinton.
J. W. Brown, admitted in 1867. Located at De Witt, but subsequently removed to Des Moines, and still resides there.
Ivers Monroe, admitted in New York in 1849, and, in 1868, in Iowa. Located in Fremont County in 1868, and, in 1870, removed to Clinton, where he now resides.
Charles M. Nye, admitted in Missouri in 1858. Soon after located at De Witt, where he now resides.
P. B. Wolfe was admitted in 1870. Located at De Witt, and has ever since resided there.
J. C. S. Tate, was admitted in 1871. Located at Charlotte ; subsequently removed to Clinton, and, in 1879, went to Nebraska.
John J. Flournoy was admitted in 1871. Was a resident of Clinton, and still resides there.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
W. C. Grohe was admitted in 1871. Located in Lyons, and still resides there.
R. J. Crouch was admitted in 1871. Located at De Witt, and is now a resident there.
E. C. Foster, admitted in Michigan in 1867, in Iowa in 1869, at which date he located in Clinton, and is still resident there.
Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, admitted in 1874. Resident of Clinton. Mrs. F. is the first woman admitted in Iowa or any other State to practice in the Supreme Courts.
C. M. Bice was admitted in Michigan in 1872, and in Iowa same year. Located in Clinton, where he still resides.
Andrew Howat, admitted in 1870. Located at De Witt, and is still a resi- dent there.
A. H. Paddock was admitted in 1875. Resident of Clinton.
I. R. Andrews, admitted in 1872, and a resident of Clinton.
J. H. Walliker, admitted in 1871. Has resided in Clinton from boyhood.
A. R. McCoy. admitted in Illinois in 1869, and in Iowa in 1873. Resided at Fulton until 1875, when he removed to Clinton, where he now resides.
William Lake was admitted in 1871. Was then a resident of Clinton, and still resides there.
W. Bruce Leffingwell was admitted in 1872. Located at De Witt ; removed to Clinton in 1874, and now resides there.
Charles A. Smith, admitted in 1874. Was a resident of Clinton, and still resides there.
John I. Mullany, admitted at Dubuque in 1872. Removed to Clinton in 1876, and now resides there.
E. R. Sayles, admitted in 1876. Located at Lyons, where he now resides.
E. T. Taubman, admitted in 1878. Located at Delmar.
Aylett L. Pascal, admitted in 1877. Located at De Witt.
Henry F. Bowers, admitted in 1877. Resident of Clinton, and still resides there.
C. C. Van Kuran, admitted in 1877. Resident of Clinton.
PROVISION FOR INSANE AND POOR.
For many years after the settlement of the county, pauperism was practi- cally unknown. None were rich and none were dependent, except in case of especial " bad luck," upon their neighbors for favors freely granted and recip- rocated. Among the real pioneers were none shiftless or " feckless " enough to become a charge upon the community. But as the county began to fill up and the pinch of 1857 began to be felt, it became evident that the inevitable provision of civilized communities for the indigent would have to be promptly made. Accordingly in 1857. a " poor farm" of 200 acres, at $20 per acre. located in Waterford and Washington Townships, besides sixty additional acres of timber were purchased. John McElhatton was appointed Superintendent, and held the position till succeeded four years ago by the present incumbent. John Blessington. At first, for some time, four or five was the average num- ber of inmates of the Poorhouse, and nine were considered an extraordinary crowd. But since the war pauperism has in this county, as elsewhere, rapidly increased, till the average number maintained at the county charge is about thirty, and no less than forty-six have at some times been boarded at the poor-farm. The healthful site, energetic yet considerate management and careful supervision have maintained the institution on a basis, both from a humanitarian and business
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
point of view, eminently creditable to Clinton County, especially when compared with the inhuman and unhealthy surroundings of many poorhouses. The increase of insanity has necessitated additional provision for the county's incurable lunatics. They are no longer received at the State Asylum at Mount Pleasant, and in the absence of proper local accommodation, have hitherto been maintained in Mercy Hospital, at Davenport, at a cost much above the actual expense of keeping them in suitable local quarters. Hence, the present Board, Supervisors Ruus, Lake and Svendsen, wisely determined to build an insane asylum suitable for the present and future needs of the county, as a measure of both humanity and economy. It is now under construction and will be completed during 1879. W. W. Sanborn furnished the plans, embody- ing the results of the most recent investigations in both this country and Europe, as to the proper economic and sanitary arrangement of buildings occupied by imbeciles or defectives. The asylum will be three stories high. solidly built of brick and stone, and costing about $5,000. It admirably com- bines the features of a hospital, dwelling and prison. A large yard for the inmates' exercise-ground surrounds it. The rooms and cells contain twenty- five persons, and, at the present rate of increase of such unfortunates, it will probably not be long before it will be crowded to its utmost capacity, as some time ago fifteen incurables were, by the change in the Mount Pleasant system. thrown back upon the county's charge. For some time the pernicious custom of allowing children to be associated with the idle and depraved at the county house, has been practically abandoned. Those who would formerly have nat- urally been contaminated by association with paupers, are now paternally cared for by Supt. Pierce at the beneficent Orphans' Home, at Davenport, where they are trained to become useful men and women. If, under the charitable spirit of the nineteenth century, a community's civilization is measured by the judicious care taken of its defectives and paupers, Clinton County need not hesitate to invite comparison with any similar commonwealth. The contract system of boarding paupers has been replaced by the better one of paying the Steward a fixed salary. Recently the propriety of adding a needed hospital to the other county buildings has been agitated.
THE PIONEER DETECTIVES.
It would be singular, did it not illustrate the persistence in human nature of the primitive man's instinct to acquire property by plunder, how many men in a new country take to horse-stealing. It seems as if there must have been some fascination about it, aside from its possible profits. For, in a virgin country like Iowa, where it was difficult to avoid naturally and honestly accumulating wealth, one cannot now otherwise understand why so many sought to gain a little pelf at the cost of tranquil existence, and at the hazard of losing liberty and even life at the hands of their justly incensed neighbors. Freebooters never became so troublesome in Clinton County as in the settle- ments above and below on the river and also further West. This was partly due to the prompt and severe repressive measures of the Regulators along the Mississippi and the " Wapsie Rangers" in the western part of Clinton and Scott Counties.
In 1851, horse-thefts in the Camanche and De Witt settlements were brought to an abrupt termination. Previously they had been annoyed by losing good horses in a most mysterious and inexplicable manner. These thefts were cotem- poraneous with the appearance of a family answering to the name of Jacques, who located on the edge of the bluff, about two miles from Camanche, toward
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
De Witt. They seemed to be not at all anxious to improve their claim, and. at. the same time, kept a sufficient number of horses and cattle to do considerable farming if they had so desired. Adjacent were the places of Robert Welsh, who held the office of Constable, and Capt. R. A. Lyons, now of Elvira, who, after many years plowing the seas, was now making furrows in the more stable prairie. Capt. L .. having brought from Mexico a very swift horse that could not be caught except by a lasso. was, one day when sweeping the wide prairie with a powerful marine telescope, somewhat interested by seeing his precious neighbors in the distance endeavoring to catch the horse with a halter, in which they naturally failed. This, together with the frequent absence of the male members of the family and clumsily-explained borrowings of saddles, aroused the suspicions of Messrs. Lyons and Welsh, so that they, it being before the days of detective bureaus. determined to see what they could accomplish them- selves in the way of ascertaining the bottom facts as to whether the horse-trad- ing done by the family came within the domain of legitimate transactions.
They concluded, that by exciting the women. the latter might be led to involuntarily betray the "true inwardness" of their status as to honesty. Accordingly, Welsh repaired to the yard where the women were milking, about sundown, and engaging them in conversation, adroitly and casually introduced the subject of horse-stealing. mentioning. also, that the regulators were on the lookout, and that it would go hard with detected culprits. While this dialogue was going on, Lyons had, unperceived, approached through the tall grass, keeping on the other side of the house. entered it through a window, and snugly ensconced himself under a bed, in quarters, that to most landsmen would have been too contracted for comfort. but an old sailor. who had often slept in a narrow berth or hammock. could endure the position for a few hours without grumbling. though in some respects it was like Falstaff's in the buck-basket. After Welsh had detained the women till dark by his alarming, but seemingly neighborly and friendly discourse. the agitated women sat down without a light in the cabin, and in conversation lasting till midnight, fully disclosed to the keen-eared amateur detective, the dark secrets of the gang, their method of working, accomplices, haunts and routes of travel. As soon as they were asleep, Lyons quietly slipped out. artistically replacing the bar at the door. and, at daybreak, awaking Welsh and telling him to watch the lair. harnessed up and drove toward De Witt. Beyond Brophy Creek, as he expected, he met one of the Jacques, riding a remarkably fine steed, which, in response to Lyons' inquiry, he claimed to have bought at Dubuque. His rascally assur- ance so enraged the Captain as to attract Jacques' notice. and prompt the question : " What makes you so pale ?" Lyons answered that he was not feeling very well that morning, and rode on to Brown's cabin on Ames Creek. where he quickly unharnessed and followed Jacques' trail toward the timber belt upon Brophy Creek. On the way, he notified the Cannons-father and sons --- who at once gave chase (the old man on horseback, and the boys out- stripping him on foot), joining in the pursuit of the common enemy. Lyons succeeded in keeping his quarry in sight, notwithstanding the latter's efforts to elude him as they traversed the timber, and once on the open prairie rode straight at the fugitive, and after a short headlong chase and desperate resist- ance, overhauled and, single-handed, overpowered and tied the desperado before the Cannons, the fleet-footed boys still leading their mounted sire, came up. The culprit was taken to Camanche. and soon after escorted by a numerous and distinguished delegation to Swan Island, just below the city. There, by an inquisitorial process in vogue during those days, in which a rope materially
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assisted the memory, but a process much less harmful than the Spanish inqui- sition, and also less tedious than a Congressional investigation, the prisoner. previously sullen and silent, suddenly concluded to expose all he knew of the gang. Subsequently, he was regularly tried and sent to the penitentiary.
Acting on the information thus extorted, a posse at once set out for Dubuque, where another Jacques was found, enjoying himself in carnal com- pany among wassailers of low degree. They politely waited for him to finish his dance, then brought him via Maquoketa to Clinton County, where, in a convenient grove near Welton, was held a special meeting of the Holy Broth- erhood, which also resulted in the noose procuring a satisfactory confession. That resulted in the trip of a still larger party to Farmersburg, Clayton County, where a regular robber's roost was surrounded and captured, together with a whole caballa of horses and arsenal of weapons. The rascals escaped, but the gang was effectually dispersed. When the Regulators returned to Dubuque, their formidable and disciplined appearance and numerous trophies attracted general attention and approval, and horses were thereafter safer along the lower Wapsie bottom.
THE HANGING OF WARREN.
Among the thrilling episodes connected with the history of this county is the summary taking-off, by the Regulators, of Bennett Warren. Warren, with his family. lived on Section 36, in Liberty Township. He owned a farm there, and also kept a house of entertainment for travelers. During the days of horse- thieving and counterfeit money-issuing, it had become notorious that his house was a stopping-place for those engaged in these unlawful practices. It was also believed that he was aiding and abetting these criminals by secreting them and their stolen horses, and assisting them in running them off. No sufficient evidence could be obtained, however, to convict him of active participation in these crimes. He had been indicted once for stealing the traps and peltry of a trapper who came here from the East, but was acquitted upon the trial. The impossibility, almost, of securing a conviction in consequence of the difficulty in empaneling a jury which had not some friend to the criminal upon it, had incensed the people whose horses were being constantly stolen, beyond forbear- ance.
On the 24th of June, 1857, the vigilantes, to the number of about two hun- dred, left their rendezvous at Big Rock, having with them two prisoners whom they had taken in Cedar County, and crossed over into Clinton County.
Upon reaching Warren's house and finding him at home, they took him with them to a small grove near by, where the tragedy was to take place. There was no riotous proceedings, nor semblance to a mob. Everything was done with a kind of rude decorum and gravity befitting the occasion. No one was masked, or in any manner concealed his identity. Upon their arrival at the place, the "Captain" or "Chairman," whatever his title was, and whose authority was recognized by all, called the meeting to order, a jury of twelve of the number was selected by nomination, and took their places. Witnesses were sworn, and testified. The jury then deliberated and returned into this court their verdict "That Bennett Warren was guilty of harboring horse-thieves, knowing them to be such ; of keeping and secreting stolen horses, knowing them to be such; and of habitually passing counterfeit money, knowing it to be such." The jury passed no sentence, but upon the rendition of this verdict, the Captain called for an expression of all upon the following question : "Shall he be pun- ished ?" In taking this vote, those who wished to vote in the affirmative were
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
to step to one side of a road which passed through the grove, and those voting in the negative, to the other side of the road. The vote was unanimous, or nearly so, for punishing the man. The next question put was, "Shall the pun- ishment be whipping or hanging ?" and the vote was taken the same way as the previous one. At the first, the majority was largely in favor of the milder punishment ; but now took place a running desultory argument, pro and con. Those who favored the extreme measure said, "What satisfaction will there be in whipping an old, gray-headed man ?" "What good will come of it ?" "We are here to make an example that will protect our property and deter others from these crimes." As the arguments progressed, one by one, or in knots of twos and threes, the people passed over this road, so fateful a one to the doomed man, who was a witness to all these proceedings, until a clear majority stood for the death sentence. The Captain called for a rope, which was soon forth- coming. It was placed around Warren's neck. and he was informed that his time was short, and opportunity given him to say anything he desired. If his executioners expected any confession or appeal for mercy, they were disap- pointed, for the man was brave and died unblanched. His only reply was, "I am an old man and you can't cheat me out of many years." Men in numbers enough to run him up, grasped the rope which had been thrown over the pro- jecting limb of a convenient tree. Amid silence that was awe-inspiring, the signal was given, and Bennett Warren was ushered into eternity. He was taken down, carried to his house, where the men who had executed him prepared him for burial and quietly dispersed. But one arrest was made, and no proceedings taken against any of those engaged in this transaction.
The wife of Mr. Warren, it is said, she being his second wife, was the widow of one of the three Thavers who were hung at Buffalo for the murder of a peddler, and she was thus twice widowed by the draw of the rope. The head- quarters for this organized body of Regulators was at Big Rock, a place near where the lines of Scott, Cedar and Clinton Counties corner, and the members were drawn from all these counties. Upon the other hand. these freebooters who made free with the horses of the settlers and who flooded the country with counterfeit money, were scattered through all these counties, with an apparent organization. At the same time of the hanging of Warren, the party also captured in Cedar County two men named Charles Clute and Jacob A. Warner, who were under suspicion of being engaged in stealing horses. They were taken into custody and informed that a warrant was in the hands of the leader to bring them before Justice Gates, at Big Rock. The Justice was not there, and the party kept on until the residence of Warren was reached. After his trial and execution had taken place. Warner was tried and acquitted on condi- tion that he leave the county within ninety days and bring no suits against his captors. Clute was then arraigned and acquitted and given thirty days in which to leave the country. After these proceedings, the "court returned to Big Rock, where Clute and Warner were kept over night at Goddard's tavern." and, the next morning, were permitted to depart unmolested. Clute decided to leave the country and find a new home elsewhere. Warner gave him a new set of bench tools, Clute being a carpenter by trade, and he left. The tools were found soon after in Van Tuyle's store in Davenport, but no explanation is given how they got there, but, from that day, the family of Clute have never had any tidings from him. His family incline to the belief that he never got out of the country alive : but others, and among them the best citizens of Cedar, do not believe that he was in any way hindered in his departure, but that he deserted his family voluntarily.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
Mr. Warner failed to obey the mandate of the vigilantes, but removed to Tipton with his family, and, after a year or more, returned to the Denson place, where he has since resided a respected citizen.
During the same year, Alonzo Gleason and Edward Soper, the former of whom had no recognized habitation, and the latter residing three miles south- east of Tipton, with three accomplices, had made several successful raids upon the horses of that neighborhood and had run them out of the country and sold them. Their movements became so bold and open as to bring them under suspicion, and, in July, 1857, they were arrested by the civil authorities and conveyed to Tipton, where they were held in custody by Sheriff John Birely, who placed over them a guard of about twenty men. About midnight. the vigilantes, to the number of about forty men, overpowered (!) the guards, took the prisoners and marched to a grove near Louden and there tried them accord- ing to the forms of this court. They were given every latitude, the right to challenge any juror, to cross-examine witnesses, etc. The people around, num- bering about two hundred, were cool and deliberate. The captives appreciated the situation and made a full confession of their guilt. The verdict, of course, was " Guilty." The question whether they should be at once hanged to death was submitted to the two hundred, and all but four voted in the affimative. A wagon was drawn under the projecting limb of an oak tree, the fated men placed in it, the rope thrown over the limb and securely fastened. Gleason. with a profane imprecation, jumped from the wagon into eternity. When life was extinct, a grave was dug beneath the gallows, and, uncoffined and unwashed, they were buried where they died. Soper was, however, exhumed by his friends a few days after and buried in the old grave-yard in Tipton.
In the fall of the same year-1857-Hi Roberts, who really lived in Jones County, but who was much of the time operating in and about Cedar, Scott and Clinton Counties, and whose specialty was counterfeit money, having heard some threats from the vigilantes, in a bravado spirit, sent them an invitation to come and take him. He was then stopping at James W. Hanlin's, four miles northwest of Tipton. They accepted his invitation. He was taken from Han- lin's across the county line into Jones County, to the barn of George Saum, and there tried and hanged. Warrants were issued for the arrest of several per- sons implicated in this transaction. and the officers of Jones County came over into Cedar to make the arrests. No resistance was offered, and under advice of Judge Tuthill, bonds were given for their appearance before a Jones County Justice of the Peace for a preliminary examination. Their bonds were signed by one hundred or more of the most stable citizens of Cedar County. At the appointed time they appeared in Jones County, accompanied by nearly two hundred citizens of Cedar and Jones, but no indictment was found against them for want of testimony-no witnesses appearing. Whatever may be thought by people of this day of the irregular and severe measures then adopted, it is certain that the grievances of these men were deep, and the results of their summary punishments corrected an abuse that had defied the established forms for protection to property, and completely broke up a band of lawless men, who had subsisted by levying upon the property of their industrious fellow- citizens, and rid this section of their presence.
While upon one of their marches, the vigilantes overtook Col. J. Van Deventer, who was then a stranger here. He was well mounted, and was riding alone into the west end of this county. on business connected with the railroad. They accosted him, and made many inquiries as to his identity, his point of departure, his destination, etc. To these inquiries, he gave courteous answers,
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
and they then informed him that it would be necessary, as he was a stranger, to report to the "Captain," and they desired him to accompany them-a request which he very readily complied with. They soon met that official, who, after a moment's conference, informed his followers that the gentleman was "all right," and that he was at liberty to depart, accompanying his remarks with profuse apologies for the detention. Mr. Van Deventer says, that he continued his journey with them for several miles, their routes being the same, and that they were very companionable and gentlemanly men.
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