USA > Iowa > Delaware County > The history of Delaware county, Iowa, containing a history of its county, its cities, towns &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers > Part 40
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The number of scholars in Delaware, in 1849, was 515; and the several townships received school money as follows : Colony, $48.03; Eads' Grove, $25.44; North Fork, $37.77 ; Delhi, $22.74.
At the general election. August 6, 1849, the vote for State Treasurer was returned as follows :
GILLASPIE.
STEWART.
Delhi.
34
29
Coldwater
14
16
York
3
Colony
38
47
North Fork
13
13
South Fork
11
28
Total
110
136
379
HISTORY OF DELTWARE COUNTY.
The first threshing machine brought into the county was owned and operated by Daniel B. Noble, who then lived near Yankee Settlement, in 1849.
The population of the county in 1840, was only 168, in 1850, it had in- creased to 1,759.
Twelve marriages were recorded during this year, among them, that of John Bliss and Mary Martin.
October 8, 1850. A. K. Eaton resigned as Judge of Probate and Zina A. Wellman was appointed to fill the vacancy. Eaton had been elected a Repre- sentative to the Legislature.
The Grand Jury of 1850 was composed of Samuel Kelly, James Phillips, D. H. Brown, O. Cronk, T. Marks, A. Ruggles, W. H. Martin, D. Mason, Silas Gilmore, S. R. Reynolds, Jacob Lamer, D. Crown, S. Ellis, J. A. Ginger, A. A. Wilson and William Turner.
THE NEW COURT HOUSE AND JAIL.
The necessity for a jail and new Court House was now pressing upon the people of Delaware, but how to build them was a serious question for the con- sideration of the Commissioners. The county had no money ; its credit was not then good as it since became ; county bonds could not be negotiated and county orders were hawked about, a drug on the market, at fifty per cent. dis- count. Delhi town lots, the only available real estate owned by the county, were worth only five dollars apiece. The first official records of the action of the Commissioners in relation to the matter begin April 9, 1850, when the Board resolved to advertise in the Dubuque Tribune for " proposals to build a Court House." Judge Doolittle states that when he and Mr. Price returned to Delhi, in the Spring of 1850, there was " nothing doing," and they induced the Commissioners to give them the contract for getting out the timber for a new Court House, at five cents per running foot. It is probable that the Commissioners determined upon the size and general plan of the building at this time, and decided to provide for a jail in the basement of the building. Judge Doolittle states that neither himself nor Mr. Price had ever hewed a stick of timber in their lives, but having obtained the contract, they concluded that if others could hew timber, they could, obtained some axes, borrowed a broad-axe, and in the Summer of 1850, among the mosquitoes, sand flies and rattlesnakes, hewed the timber required to erect the contemplated building.
October 8, the Board "ordered that William Price be paid forty-four dollars and forty-five cents for jail timber furnished." "Ordered that F. B. Doolittle be paid three dollars and twenty-one cents for jail timber furnished." Judge Doolittle states that he took his pay mostly in Delhi town lots, at five dollars apiece. "These," says the Judge, "were legal tender to any one who would take them, at that time, at that price." The county had nothing else to pay with. It seems to be fortunate for the county, and particularly for Delhi, that Mr. Doolittle came about that time. His indomitable energy and deter- mination appears to have given the county seat a start, and for several years it increased rapidly, but at this time, those log cabins, built in 1846-7, were yet the only buildings there. Clark had sold his store, or rather the few goods in it, to Thomas C. Helm, but was still " keeping tavern " in his log house by the "Big Spring."
In 1850, several of the adventurous spirits who had been among the first to settle in Delaware County, became infected with the gold fever and organized
380
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
a party to cross the plains to California. Among them were Joel Bailey, Lewis Crozier, Elder Blanchard, William Robinson, Wm. H. Whiteside, William Phillips, Roland Aubrey, Missouri Dickson and others. Dickson died in Cal- ifornia. Bailey and Aubrey returned the next year.
NEW TOWNSHIPS.
January 6, 1851, the County Commissioners created several new town- ships by the following orders, viz. :
Ordered, That Cold Water Township. in Delaware County, be divided and a new township set off, with the following boundaries, viz. :
Beginning at the southeast corner of Section 18, in Township 89 north, and Range 5 west, thence west to the southwest corner of Section 18, in Township 89 north, and Range 6 west, thence north to the northwest corner of Section 6, Township 90 north, and Range 6 west, thence east to the northeast corner of Section 6, in Township 90 north, and Range 5 west, and thence south to the place of beginning, and that said township be known by the name of Richland Township. Voting place, the house of Stephen R. Reynolds.
Ordered, That a new Township be set off in Delaware County, with the following boundaries, to wit : commencing at the southeast corner of Section 36, in Township 89 north, Range 5 west, thence west to the southwest corner of Section 31, Township 89 north of Range 6 west, thence north to the northwest corner of Section 7, Township 89 north of Range 6 west, thence east to the northeast corner of Section 12, Township 89 north of Range 5 west, thence south to the place of beginning; and that said township, be known by the name of Delaware Township. The place of holding elections in said township shall be at Delaware Center (near where Quaker Mills now stand). It is further ordered that all that part of Richland Township, as heretofore described in the preceding order, and all parts of any other township in said county included within the bounds of Delaware Township, as herein described, shall hereafter be included in said Delaware Township.
April 13. Ordered, That Sections 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, in Township 89, north of Range 5 west of the 5th Principal Meridian, which by a late order of this Court defining the boundary of Delaware Township formed a part of said township, be and the same are hereby attached to the Township of Coldwater, and shall hereafter form a part of said Township of Cold water for all purposes.
Ordered, That South Fork Township, in Delaware County, be divided, and a new township set off consisting of all that part of said township, as the boundar.es have heretofore been established, lying on the southwest side of the Maquoketa River, said township to be known by the name of Buck Creek Township. The first election in said township shall be held at the school house near Aaron Blanchard's.
July 28, Ordered, That the southern boundary line of Colony Township be changed as follows : Commencing at a point on the Dubuque & Fort Atkinson Road where saiu road crosses the line running north and south through the center of Township 90 north of Range 3 west of the Fifth Principal Meridian ; thence south to the southeast corner of Section 16, Township 89, Range 3: thence west to the southeast of Section 16, Township 89, Range 4; thence north till it strikes the said Dubuque & Fort Atkinson Road; and all lands lying on the north side of this line shall hereafter form a part of the said Colony Township.
THE COURT HOUSE.
It would seem that some progress was made in the construction of the Court House in 1850, for, on the 7th of January, 1851, claims arising from con- struetion account were allowed, as follows: Samuel Bird, labor, $7.87; Z. A. Wellman, eash paid, $12.80; Joseph Mitehell, boarding hands, $7; Simeon Ellis, timber. $28; Jasper Seward, labor, $6.87; Henry Crawford, labor, $4.87 : H. A. Carter, $45.25; Chas. Cousins, labor, $5.73; John Benson, lum- ber, $58.77; G. W. Gregg, labor, $2.37 ; Simeon Ellis, timber, $7. Next day-John W. Clark, lumber (to be delivered), $25. Probably some work was done on excavating for the basement, but there are no records to show what was done.
April 16, the following additional claims were allowed : Simeon Ellis, labor, 80 cents. October 6 : T. R. Mason, labor, $3; H. A. Carter (as Commissioner and services on Court House, $23.50.)
381
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Judge Doolittle states that in the Spring of 1851, the timber hewed by himself and Mr. Price was hauled to the site selected on the public square, and the work of excavating for the basement commenced partly by contract, though on this subject the records are silent.
Payments for work were made with town lots at $5 each, and in county orders at 50 per cent discount. Under the direction of the Commissioners, succeeded in August by County Judge Benson, the foundations were laid, the walls of the basement or jail built, and the frame of the Court House "raised " during the Fall, and thus it stood until the next year.
The only other recorded action of either the Board of Commissioners or the County Court, in relation to the Court House to be found, is the following order of the Court, December 30, 1851, from which it would seem that the frame was not raised until quite late in the season :
It is hereby ordered that Chester C. Cousens be paid thirteen dollars for furnishing supper at the raising the Court House, boarding Payten, and the balance due said Cousens for work done on the Court House to this date. JOHN BENSON,
County Judge.
The Town of Colony, near the center of Section 4, Township 90 north, Range 3 west, immediately south of Colesburgh, was laid out in March, 1851. It was laid out in two streets, crossing each other at right angles. David More- land, Proprietor ; James Cole, Surveyor. Plat recorded May 6, 1851.
Hopkinton was laid out on the southeast quarter, Section 13, Township 87 north, Range 4 west, in 1851. Henry A. Carter, Leroy Jackson and Jerusha M. Jackson, Proprietors ; John W. Clark, Surveyor. Plat recorded December 29, 1851.
The following unique marriage certificate appears of record :
I hereby certify that on the 20th day of February, A. D. 1851, at the house of William Digh- ton, in Delhi Township, Delaware County, lowa, in the presence of the above named William Dighton and his wife, his father, two brothers, two sisters, one brother-in-law, one sister-in-law, three step-children, several of his own children, nephews and nieces, friends and acquaintances, neighbors, etc., I joined in the holy bonds of matrimony Mr. Anthony McGarvey, of Scott County, Iowa, aged 24 years, and Miss Mary Ann Morgan, step-daughter to the above mentioned William Dighton, of this county, aged 18 years.
Given under my hand this 20th day of February, A. D. 1851.
THEODORE MARKS,
Justice of the Peace, South Fork Township, Delaware County, Iowa.
P. S .- The streams being up very high, everybody could not attend. The undersigned had to travel sixteen miles extra to get home. T. M.
THE COUNTY JUDGE SYSTEM.
By chapter 15 of the Code of Iowa, approved February 5, 1851, County Commissioners' Courts were abolished, and the office of County Judge created. By this law, the County Judge was invested " with the usual power and juris- diction of County Commissioners and of Judge of Probate, and to be elected at the first election holden in August after the statutes had been in force thirty days."
Accordingly, at the election in August, John Benson was elected County Judge ; William Price, Clerk of County Court ; and the Board of County Com- missioners ceased to exist.
In the Fall, James Wood, Alfred Harris and Wilson arrived at Delhi, with their families, and, having no place to stop, erected a rough shanty in the basement of the new Court House, and lived there until they could build cabins.
382
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
During the Summer, Mr. Daniel Baker arrived at Delhi. on his way to Independence, whither he was going with the view of building a hotel. He was taken sick with Cholera while at Delhi, and when he became convalescent, Mr. Doolittle, who had learned his business, proposed to him that if he would remain and build a hotel at Delhi, he (Doolittle) would give him a deed of a lot. Baker accepted the offer and built the old Iowa House, 20x30, 12 stories high, on Lot 9, Block 4, on the north side of the main street. It was considered a very fine house at that time. Doolittle evidently knew how to start a town, for in the same season he gave Charles Harding (who had bought Helms' store) a lot on the opposite side of the street, if he would build a store on it, which he did, building what is now known as the " Blue Store," on Lot 3, Block 9. This gave an impetus to the town, and the price of lots advanced. It was not necessary to " give away " any more of them.
THE GREAT FLOOD.
1851 is memorable for the great flood that occurred in that year. June 7, rain fell in enormous quantities. Mr. Moulton, of Monticello, is authority for the statement that the rain-guage at that place indicated 3.75 inches. The " windows of heaven were opened " indeed. At Henry Baker's, the waters of the creek rose until it overflowed the floor of his house (his original log cabin, since burned), and he lost several sheep and hogs, and his fences were swept away.
At Ead's Grove, the old Bennett Mill was swept away, and Mrs. Alaway, who lived near it, was drowned.
The prairie, where Manchester now stands, was entirely submerged, the water, where the Clarence House now is, being several feet deep. The cause of this appears to have been that at that time the Maquoketa at this point was narrow and the current set to the right bank. The high banks operated as wing dams, when the water was so high, and it must overflow the prairie.
At Bailey's, the water rose to the floor of his cabin, and he lost about two miles of fence.
At Benson's Mill, which had been built the previous year, all the logs and lumber were swept away, and the mill itself was only saved by being cabled. Only a small portion of the roof was above water.
Mr. Lawson A. Roe, an esteemed citizen of the county, relates an interest- ing incident of this flood, in substance as follows : Mr. William Roe, with his two sons, Lawson A. and Charles and his nephew, came to this county in 1851, on a tour of observation. Arriving at Delhi, they were informed that the Ma- quoketa was so high that they could not cross it at Bailey's Ford. Accord- ingly, they went below and crossed it at Benson's Mill, then traveled up the river on the west side until they reached a point opposite Bailey's at night, on the 7th of June. Here they encamped on the bottom near the bank of the stream, thirty or forty rods a little south of west of Bailey's house. The water was high, but was some six feet below the top of the bank. Here they hitched their horses and pitched their tent. During the night it rained heavily and in the morning they found the river bankful, and, although the water had not vet reached their tent, it was two feet deep where the horses stood. They thought it best to move as soon as possible, but they soon discovered that they were on an island, from which it was impossible to escape without swimming. They drove a stake at the edge of the water and soon found that it was not rising : they were still on terra-firma. and anticipated no further trouble except
Andrew Store DELHI
385
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
delay. It was not long, however, before they were dismayed by the discovery that the water was rising again very rapidly, and was very muddy, indicating that the mill-dams at Turner's and Acers' had probably been swept away. They immediately prepared for the emergency. With portions of the harness, they fastened the wagon-box to the bolsters and staked the wagon so it could not float away. When the water had risen around the wagon, Mr. R. Eddy, afterward Sheriff, swam to them and took the horses off, none too soon, for, says Mr. Roe, " the water rose eleven feet in about three hours and a half, com- pelling us to take refuge in a tree. Meanwhile, Mr. Eddy and two others (names not remembered) made active preparations to rescue the four men "up a tree." The boats had all been swept away by the flood, but Mr. Eddy and his companions obtained a new wagon-box, caulked it as well as they could, and, with this novel craft, after three trials, they succeeded in reaching the Roes and took them to the shore.
Rev. E. B. Turner was Pastor of the church at Colesburgh ; Rev. John Martindale, at Eads' Grove, and religious services were conducted elsewhere by Revs. George Larkin and D. Mason.
In December, the estate of Mr. Enoch Perkins was admitted to probate.
The county register shows seventeen marriages during 1851. Among them were Jesse B. Bailey and Margaret Moreland ; W. B. Hutson and Emmeline Blanchard, and D. B. Noble and Clara Reese.
Mr. Bailey afterward served for many years in the County Board of Super- visors.
The valuation of 1851 was as follows :
Land with improvements
$213,122
Town lots ...
7,865
Personal property.
76,879
Total
$297,866
Number of Polls 497
Asa C. Bowen entered warrants for several thousand acres on the prairie since called Bowen's Prairie, which included nearly all the present town of Sand Spring, in 1851, and, in 1856, erected a cabin near the Sand Spring, directly on the railroad track as afterward surveyed and located.
The records of 1852 are of minor interest, and transactions unimportant ; but the tide of immigration was setting strongly to Delaware, and the county was rapidly filling up with enterprising and intelligent settlers.
March 15, the County Court granted the prayer of a petition for a road from Richland (Forestville) via Acersville (Delaware Center) to Delhi.
In March, a burglary was committed in Delhi. The stores of Charles Harding and Clark & Eaton were broken into and robbed. Michael Ken- nedy was arrested for the offense, examined before Judge Benson and com- mitted.
Coldwater Township was divided, and the north part made a new township named York.
In April, Judge Benson, Recorder Phillips and William Price, Clerk, held a meeting to ascertain whether the fees received by them were sufficient to pay their official salaries. "Figuring up " their receipts, they ascertained that the sum total for seven months was $223.95. Their salaries amounted to $125 each. They decided to divide the money equally, and took orders on the empty treas- ury for the balance, probably at the rate of two dollars for one, as that was the standard price of county order at that time.
D
386
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
It is related that, during Mr. William Phillips' term as Recorder, the town of Delhi was seriously threatened with destruction from prairie fires. The record of deeds at that time was all contained in one little book ; the Recorder's office was not supplied with a safe, and if the town burned, that valuable book of records would be destroyed. Mr. Phillips determined that, come what would, that book " must and should be preserved," and improvised a very safe recep- tacle for it by digging a hole in the ground near his house, in which he deposited his record book and buried it.
THE COURT HOUSE.
Some progress was made on the new Court House in 1852. The frame was covered, the roof put on and some of the inside work was done. But as the county had only town lots and its depreciated orders with which to pay for labor and material, Judge Benson evidently found it slow work. The records are silent.
" In the Spring of 1852," says Judge Doolittle, " potatoes were exceedingly scarce in this country. The potato crop the previous year was almost an entire failure, and, when Spring opened, seed potatoes were difficult to obtain and very high. Our farmers paid $1.50 a bushel and hauled them from Dubuque. One of the Delhi farmers had secured some, and, to make them 'go' as far as possi- ble, was planting them in Eastern style-in rows about four feet apart and about the same distance apart in the row. A neighbor, happening along, noticed the fact, and said, ' What makes you plant your potatoes so far apart ? you're fool-
ish to waste land in that way.' The potato planter paused in his work, looked at his neighbor a moment and exclaimed, ' Waste land ? H-11 ! what's the use to talk about wasting land at $1.25 an acre when potatoes are $1.50 a bushel ?'"
The levy of taxes for 1852 was as follows: State, 1} mills; county, 6 mills ; for roads, 1 mill ; for schools, 1 mill, and a poll tax of $2.50.
Zina A. Wellman was appointed Prosecuting Attorney by the County Court.
The amount of school money for distribution among the several districts in the county, in 1852, was $550.58. Three estates were admitted to probate, viz. : Those of N. P. Dillon, William Siston and Convill.
In November, 1852, occurred the third Presidential election since the organization of the county ; but of the preceding elections no record was kept; at least none are now to be found. At the election on the 5th of April, Joel Bailey was elected School Fund Commissioner, over John Benson, by a vote of 263 to 126-total vote, 389. At the election, Buck Creek Township returned 33 votes. At the November election, the following returns were made :
WINFIELD SCOTT.
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
J. P. HALE.
Colony
68
44
North Fork.
23
21
Delhi
89
67
10
South Fork.
30
17
York
10
3
5
Union
28
8
Delaware
8
19
Coldwater
14
10
Richland
13
15
233
204
18
Total vote, 455.
387
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
January 3, 1853, the County Court, Judge Benson, provided for the pay- ment in full of the money borrowed of Lawrence McNamee in 1846, with which to enter the county seat.
TOWNSHIP BOUNDARIES.
February 26th, the County Court established the boundaries of the civil townships in the county as follows :
It being deemed necessary to make a general alteration in the boundaries of the townships of Delaware County, for the reason that the Assessors could not know what land to assess along the lines where creeks and roads were the boundaries, therefore, under the present arrange- ments, it (is) Ordered, that
Colony Township shall consist of Congressional Township No. 90 north of Range 3 west, and the north half of Township 89 north, Range 3 west.
York Township is composed of the north half of Township 90 north of Range 5 west.
Coldwater is composed of the south half of Township 90, and Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, n Township 89 north of Range 5 west.
Richland is composed of Township 90 north of Range 6 west
Delaware is composed of Township 89 north of Range 6, and Township 89, Range 5 west, except Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, which are attached to Coldwater.
North Fork is composed of Township 88, and the south half of Township 89 north of Range 3 west.
South Fork is composed of Township 87, Range 3, and Sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and 26, in ownship 87 north of Range 4 west.
Union Township is composed of Township 87, Range 6 west; Township 87, Range 5 and ownship 87, Range 4, except Sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and 36, which are attached to South ork.
Delhi Township is composed of Township 88, Range 4; Township 88, Range 5; Township 8, Range 6; and the south half of Township 89 north of Range 4 west.
At the April election, 1853, the whole number of votes polled in the county was 382. The people voted to allow sheep and swine to run at large by a large majority.
In November, Thomas Green, a pauper likely to become a public charge, was allowed $25 to enable him to return to Pennsylvania.
During this year, the first newspaper in the county was established at Delhi by Datus E. Coon, of which further mention is made elsewhere.
COURT HOUSE COMPLETED.
During 1853, the new Court House and jail building was completed, it is said without the necessity of a tax levy, being paid for with town lots and county orders. The payment of the latter, however, when made, was by the tax- payers of the county. One term of court was held in the stone basement of Hook's building, before the new house was ready for occupation.
The old log Court House was now sold. It had served a good purpose ; had been used for court purposes, as a school house, church, and for all the various purposes of a community having no other building for public purposes ; and. besides, it frequently furnished a temporary home for immigrants, until they could build their cabins. It should have been preserved, as long as it would stand, as a monument of the early history of the county ; at least, when it was removed, some sort of a monument should have been placed on the spot where the first court in the county was held, where the people erected it themselves, without tax, by voluntary contributions of labor, precisely as they built their cabins, by helping each other. But in 1857, J. M. Noble, the then owner, sold it to Joel Bailey, for $25.00, who used it for a stable for several years, until
-
388
HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
about 1861, when he received $10.00 for it, from W. A. Heath, who found the dry hickory logs of which it was built made excellent fire-wood ; and now, 1878. not a vestige of it remains.
The entire absence of the poll books, and various other valuable records. prior to the ocenpation of the new Court House, leads to the inference that they were boxed up and stowed away, and forgotten ; or, what is more probable, de- stroved.
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