USA > Iowa > Des Moines County > The history of Des Moines county, Iowa, containing a history of the country, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers > Part 42
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HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
title. A substantial two-story stone house, the first in Hancock County, Ill., was erected by Capt. White, on the point near Ferry Landing, from Montrose. This building he gave free use of to the county, for a Court House, as no selec- tion had then been made for county seat, and after the Black Hawk war had commenced, settlers far and near resorted to this house as a safe place of refuge. It may be of some interest to you to hear the names of some of the first settlers at Nauvoo, the most of whom have gone to the bourn whence no traveler returns. " White, Willson, Waggonner, Williams, Whitney, Gouge, Dunn, Coon, Dewey, Shoebridge, Hilderbrand, Rev. Mr. Robinson (among the first to preach the Gospel), Mr. Hibbard and Mr. Miller, who erceted the first mill, which manufactured coarse meal, at the rate of three bushels per hour, its motive- power 'one horse.' Messrs. Forrest and Robinson were the first to teach the young prodigies their A B's.
"While residing here, I formed my first acquaintance with Black Hawk, the Mus-quaw-ka (or Sac Brave ), by agreeing with him to erect a stone wall for the sum of $8, around the remains of his daughter, buried near my house, and the compliance with this contract, upon my part, engendered a feeling of friendship for me which I reciprocated. It resulted, finally, in the strongest ties of friendship, and lasted until the day of his death. I have now many relies presented to me by him, which I hold sacred and dear-one memento in particular-a buckskin purse, made and given to me by him, the day before his death.
" This renowned warrior possessed many sterling qualities, which could only be appreciated by those who knew him as intimately as myself. He never had but one wife, being opposed, personally, to the custom of polygamy, although never interfering with others of his tribe who approved and practiced this evil. His Met-a-mo (old woman) was a good housewife. The arrange- ment of the interior wigwam was systematic and clean, and the burnished camp- kettle her greatest pride.
"I tried hard to dissuade him from the war-path in 1831, but he persisted in his determination, and paid dearly for refusing to profit by my counsel. On his return after his captivity, he paid me a visit, acknowledged his error, and pledged me never again to refuse good advice, which he observed the remainder of his life. His days were ended (1838) on the east bank of the Des Moines River, at Stump Town, a point where the railroad diverges from the river be- low Iowaville, now Independent.
"Our commerce, from 1821 to 1832, did not increase in tonnage to any extent. I made several trips during this time on keelboats, from St. Louis to Galena. Ill. A number of these boats were owned by Capt. White, and navi- gated by him, as freighters, on the Upper Mississippi.
"Capt. James White informed me that his first voyage up the Mississippi was on the steamboat Mandan, being forty days en route from New Orleans to the foot of the Rapids, which she attempted to ascend, but could get no higher than Filly Rock, on account of heavy draught and the want of a correct knowledge of the channel by the pilot. He informed me that the Indians, at several localities above St. Louis, were badly frightened, running in every direction when the boat first hove in sight. As they had never witnessed the like before, many of them thought this aquatic monster was the Man-i-tou-ke- suth (evil spirit or devil), coming to call them for a final reckoning. The next steamer that succeeded in ascending the Rapids was the Pike, which by many, has been considered the first steamboat that traversed the Upper Mississippi, which is correct so far being the first to go above the Des Moines Rapids."
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HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
The county of Des Moines is one of the most widely-known regions in the West, among scientists, because of its remarkable richness in fossils of a certain character. Palæontologists have been attracted to Burlington, and the city now claims, as a resident, the most eminent authority on the subject of paleozoic crinoiden in America, if not in the world. The fossils abound in the vicinity of Burlington more profusely than in any other locality in the world. Out of a possible number of about eleven hundred, some four hundred varieties have already been discovered here. The gentleman who has distingushed himself by devoting nearly a quarter of a century to the study of the subject, Mr. Charles Wachsmuth, has made several collections of these fossils, the most complete one consisting of eight hundred varieties. The cabinet now in process of comple- tion, consists of many hundred specimens, from this locality and other portions of the world. The ,original collection was disposed of to Prof. Agassiz. for 86,000, some time before the Professor's death, and was arranged by Mr. Wachsmuth, at Cambridge. at the personal solicitation of Prof. Agassiz.
Prof. Charles White also formed a collection, which is now at Ann Arbor, Mich. Among others who have prosecuted like work are Rev. William H. Barris and Dr. Otto Thieme. Messrs. Frank Springer and James Love have gathered cabinets, the former's being a very fine one. The beauty of these fossils lies chiefly in the marvelous state of preservation in which they are found. Even the digestive system of the animal is, in many cases, plainly defined.
There are also found six heds of fish fossils, two in each of the three groups -Kinderhook. Burlington and Keokuk formations of limestone.
In a region so famous as this, a paper on the geologic formations would be worthless, unless it were purely scientific The popular character of our work precludes the possibility of entering into such an investigation or treatment of the topic. Those who desire to inform themselves upon the subject, are referred to the several works on geology by Profs. Owen and White, and the more exhaustive works of Mr. Wachsmuth.
Des Moines lies in the second tier of counties, from the south, and is bounded on the north by Louisa County : on the east by the Mississippi River, on the south by Lee County, with Skunk River as the dividing line, and on the west by Henry County.
There are twelve civil townships, as follows :
Huron, fractional Town 72 north, Range 1 west, and the four eastern tiers of sections in Town 72, Range 2.
Yellow Springs Township. the two western tiers of Town 72, Range 2, and Town 72, Range 3.
Washington Township, Town 72. Range 4.
Pleasant Grove Township, Town 71, Range 4.
Franklin Township, Town 71. Range 3.
Benton Township. Town 71, Range 2.
Jackson Township, fractional Town 71, Range 1.
Burlington Township, fractional Towns 69 and 70, Range 2, and islands at month of Skunk River.
Flint River Township, Town 70, Range 3.
Danville Township. Town 70. Range 4.
Angusta Township, fractional part of Town 69, Range 5, which lies north of Skunk River, and fractional Town 69, Range 4.
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HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
Union Township, fractional Town 69, Range 3, with fractional Town 68, which lies north of Skunk River.
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.
INTRODUCTORY.
The original settlement of Des Moines County and the settlement of Bur- lington are synonymous expressions. The first efforts to improve the lands of the Black Hawk Purchase were made on the site or in the vicinity of the metropolis of Southern Iowa. It is a matter for congratulation, by both the writer and the reader, that the events attending the pioneer movement in this region are so well preserved, in authentic written form, and also in the minds of the survivors of the days when Iowa was but a wilderness.
The prosperity of Burlington was foreshadowed by the class of men who formed the advance army which invaded this section of the West. It is usually the case that the original locaters of new lands are from the " floating popula- tion " of the nation-a class indispensable in the social economy of a Repub- lic, but, nevertheless, an element noted rather for its attempts than for its accomplishments. It is not expected that the more refined and cultured people of the older regions will relinquish the comforts of society and voluntarily enter upon the laborious task of building up new centers of civilization. The van- guard of progress is ordinarily in harmony with the variety of work it is expected to perform. The operations of a natural social law govern this, nor does it detract one iota from the merit of the deed. That the work may be well done, it is necessary to place laborers in the field who are able to endure the heat and burden of the day.
But Burlington's history offers a striking exception to the general rule. The first small colony which made the primal stroke in this region was com- posed of men of moral and intellectual strength, and no weightier argument need be used in support of this statement than the Scriptural test, "by their fruits shall ye know them."
Burlington has furnished to the State and nation a most liberal quota of distinguished men. In fact, we may include the region west of this county in the vindication of the theory herein advanced; for from the germs planted on the western shores of the great river, has grown up a powerful community of men, wise as legislators, brave as warriors and vigorous as thinkers and doers in the many vocations of life.
Less than half a century has elapsed since the first cabin was erected in Des Moines County, and many of the settlers who came during the first decade of its existence still live to tell of the events of those days. But even now, at this comparatively early period, some conflicts of statement occur. It is a recog- nized fact, that witnesses of the same scene will not relate the occurrence exactly alike, if called upon to do so. Like the blind men of the East, in the fable, who attempted to describe the elephant by feeling of him, each tells part of the story aright, while each differs from the others through some mistaken sense of the whole subject. Besides, memory at best is treacherous, and incidents are oftentimes confused with more recent matters, until men are willing to state positively as truth what others are equally ready to pronounce erroneous. It is, therefore, impossible for a writer to satisfy all who contribute to his fund of information. In the preparation of these pages one rule, above all others, has been adhered to, and that is to give authorities for statements in dispute, and to
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express opinions only on the side of the preponderance of evidence. Facts are given as such, when substantiated by unquestionable records ; reminiscences are related on the strength of reliable recitals, and mooted questions are presented with the differing opinions of those who raise the doubt.
As becomes the character of this work, which will hereafter form the stand- ard of historic fact in this county, more care has been given to the obtaining and compilation of data than in any previous work. Several brief sketches have been published, which were more or less accurate, but none of them agree fully with the information gathered by the writer and given in order here. All possible sources of knowledge bearing upon the history of the county have been sought after, and liberal use, with ample credit, has been made of them.
No effort has been made to please all. for such an attempt would prove futile ; but a decided effort has been put forth to make this an accurate work of future reference ; a readable work for present enjoyment, and a standard work of the history of Des Moines County.
"Had we realized, in those early days," remarked one of the pioneers to the writer, " that we were making history, a detailed record of events would have been transcripted from week to week. But what incentive had we for such a task ? There were no startling incidents in our daily lives. Many of us came liere supposing this would prove to be but a temporary abiding-place. It was a struggle for existence. For one of us to have predicted the develop- ment of Des Moines County to its present condition within the life-time of our little company, would have been ample ground for writing him down as either a silly dreamer or a positive lunatic. We began on so small a scale that the idea of preserving our movements in the form of a record never entered our minds.
. Had we the same experience to go through with again, we would profit by our mistakes of the past, and be able to produce reliable data for the historians who should come after ns."
Fortunately for the purposes of history, there still live within accessible range of the writer many of the first settlers, and from them the unwritten part of the history of Des Moines County is gathered.
The history of a county is usually little more than the compilation of im- perfect records, partial traditions and vague legends. Very few of the counties have preserved with proper care the archives of the earliest days of their exist- ence. Society was crude, and men were unsuited by experience to places of official responsibility. No one thought that the careless transcripts of primary meetings would one day form the staple of history. The duty of scribe was irksome to the pioneers, when necessity compelled some written evidence of organizing transactions ; and brief, indeed, were the minutes of almost every public assembly.
History is but a record of the present when time has made it the past. Each act in one's life may be a topic of importance in the pages yet to be writ- ten. Nothing is too trivial or uninteresting in the routine affairs of those who mingle with public men, to be unworthy of a place in the diary of the local recorder of events. Some minor matter may serve to corroborate and affirm the time and method of a far mightier occurrence.
The history of Des Moines County, however, differs from the general rule in this important particular. Instead of being dependent upon crippled records or unstable traditions, the story is composed of original statements, gathered expressly for this work, from those principal participants in the thrilling scenes of the past who still live within the county, in the enjoyment of the blessings which accrue from lives of enterprising industry.
371
HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
Des Moines County is yet in its infancy so far as years are concerned ; but by its prosperity it holds a commanding place among the counties of the State. The brevity of its political life is not only favorable to the historian, affording him ample opportunities for communion with the original pioneers, but it is also significant in a material sense, inasmuch as it foreshadows a grander devel- opment of its inexhaustible resources within the life-time of those who are now partaking of the fruits of their labors here. If but a generation, estimated by the popular standard, is required to redeem the wilderness from a primeval state, clothe the prairies with richest crops and dot them with modern dwelling- houses, may we not reasonably anticipate a far more rapid advancement toward wealth during the quarter of a century yet to come ?
Those who entered upon the work of converting the wild lands into civil- ized abodes, began with no other assistance than strong hands and stout hearts. The patient ox, the sharp ax, the primitive hoe, the cradle and the scythe were man's only dependence. Mechanic art was then in its swaddling-clothes. Cumbersome mechanism had been applied to the planting and harvesting of crops, but those who favored the innovation on time-honored customs were tabooed and looked upon with pitiful astonishment.
But more than all else, the pioneers who made the first bold strokes for homes in the lovely land of Iowa were poor, almost without exception. Had there been unlimited numbers of improved appliances for agriculture at their very doors, they could not have availed themselves of the opportunities from lack of means. And therein lies. the pith and marrow of the credit due the noble vanguards of the West. From nothing but that which nature lavishly supplied, they builded strong and well. They labored with the energy of . · heroes, and deserve the reward of veterans.
But half a century has passed since the Indians exercised high dominion over these broad prairies and shady groves. Here their feasts were celebrated, their lodges established, their councils held, their dead buried, and, within that time, also, the painted bands of warriors have disappeared on their forced march westward, while the setting sun-typical of the waning glory of their race --- threw grotesque shadows of their trains on the crude farms of the venturesome white man.
Brief indeed, have been the days between the era of savagery and the era of civilization. But, short as that intervening space has been, it was ample for the sowing of seeds which will, beyond peradventure, bear marvelous fruitage. The hand of intelligent man was laid upon this region, as it were, but yester- day. To-day, one beholds the finest farms, the best tilled acres, the richest orchards, the most substantial buildings and the newest implements of hus- bandry that can be met with throughout the length and breadth of " Beautiful Iowa."
Where once the fierce blasts of winter howled with increasing monotony over unobstructed plains, the dense grove now stands a barrier between man and the elements, in silent protest against the forces of the air. Where once the single camp-fire of the lonely hunter wreathed its slender spire of smoke as he reposed, solitary and silent, near the beaten path of the deer, there now ascend the choking fumes of many furnaces, as they glow and roar in the busy centers of manufacture. Churches and schoolhouses-those edifices which pro- claim the moral development of a country and represent the two greatest factors in the problem of civilization-dot the prairie on every hand. At the centers of trade these institutions stand, eloquent evidences of the intelligence of the populace, and point to a still grander outcome.
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HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
Wealth has succeeded poverty, and privation has given way to comfort. The children of the pioneers have grown up, surrounded by refining influences, and bear the stamp of training in a broader school than their parents were privileged to attend. Books and music have their appropriate places in the farmhonses, and social intercourse is no longer restricted to the range of ox-cart communication. The finest horses, the choicest animals, the largest herds graze in rich pasture-lands. It is no longer necessary to " turn the cattle into the big lot," as a pioneer expressed his carly method of caring for his patient oxen. Fences mark the boundaries of farms and subdivisions of farms. As vear succeeds year, the flocks increase in numbers and condition, and the markets of the East find profit in choosing the cattle from a thousand hillocks.
Railroads stretch across the county, affording the facilities for transportation so much desired a quarter of a century ago. Villages have sprung up along these lines of traffic and added to the market value of lands in their vicinity. Timber, which was so highly prized when first the region was sought out, now ranks far below the open prairie lands in point of value. Modern inventive genins has found a way to meet the requirements of the day for fences, and coal is rapidly becoming an article of general use as fuel. Hence, it is found that groves are prized more for the sake of their protective qualities than for the intrinsic worth of their products.
Where formerly the settlers were compelled to traverse the country for flour and provisions-consuming days in the tedious journey-are now busy mills, which supply the local needs of the communities. Nor is it longer necessary to rely upon the uncertain visits of friends to a distant post office for unfrequent mails: for the system of postal delivery reaches to the farthest limits of the country, and the rapid transit of news matter is an established affair, accepted withont surprise, or even a second thought. Thirty years ago. there were few papers received by the settlers, and these few came from other and older localities, while now the press of Des Moines ranks high among the hosts of publications in the State and nation. Daily and weekly issues are scattered broadcast over the region, carrying news from the earth's four quarters, and enabling the pioneers, even, to read the transactions of Church and State simultaneously with the denizens of the great cities of the land. The telegraphic wires bring to their doors tidings from commercial marts, and tell them when and how to dispose of the enormous products of factory and farm. Banking institutions of solid worth exist, and monetary matters are conducted on as large a scale as in many an Eastern city. Social clubs and amusement societies relieve the routine of bus- iness after the approved methods of cosmopolitans. Secret societies flourish and celebrate their mystic rites in richly-appointed lodge-rooms, and hold hon- ored rank among the general bodies of their respective crafts.
The social world is as brilliant in its state and as cultured in its character as that which graces the salons of the capitals of the East. Wealth and refine- ment are evidenced in the bearing of the people. The honest housewife of the olden time may look with distrust upon the grander display at civil ceremonies, but cannot stay the tide as it sets toward the obliteration of simple habits. There may be much truth in the often-repeated assurance, that " girls were worth more in the early days." if the estimate of excellence be based upon physical prowess and domestic " faculty ;" but it must be remembered that cach generation plays its separate part in the drama of life. As the poet writes of individuals,
* " All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players ;
They have they exits and their entrances,
And one man, in his time, plays many paris,"
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HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
so is society constructed upon a plan that places each succeeding division in a role different from that which preceded it. The standard by which to measure woman's might to-day is not that which tests her qualities as a pioneer, but rather that which proves the use she has made of the advantages of the present. It would be as just to condemn the young man of to-day because he is not drilled in woodcraft and able to read the marks of Nature like the red man. The fathers who paved the way for the introduction of modern ideas needed, perforce, to know the signs by which the Indian chief governed the warriors of his band; but those symbols are obsolete now, and would lumber the mind with useless information.
The man whose genius introduced the principles of mechanics into the working of farms, signed the last pages of the first volume of the history of the pioneers, and inaugurated a new era from which the present power of man must be calculated. The farmer who tills a thousand acres now is surely no weaker than he whose limits were a hundred in the " good old days." Yet the muscu- lar development has not increased during the half-century past. It is mind, not matter, which governs, and the tendency of this age, which is truly termed the mechanical is to produce maximum results from minimum forces. The laborious method of planting and harvesting by hand has given way to the more admir- able plan of employing mechanical devices in the work.
Des Moines County ranks her neighboring counties in just the degree that her intelligence has progressed. The end is far away, for the improvements over the original settlement are insignificant compared with the capabilities of her men and the possibilities of her resources. Nature has lavished abundant wealth upon her, and it remains for man to extract it from the earth. The farms are inexhaustible in productive qualities, if rightly cultivated. The future promises much more marked changes in every branch of trade and commerce, and there remains for her inhabitants an enviable harvest of results.
Pleasant for situation, rich in material wealth, peopled by intelligent men and abounding in an atmosphere of mental health, the county of Des Moines is destined to become a leading one in the Northwest, as it is to-day a leading one in the State. The responsibility of developing it is intrusted to good men and true, and the dawn of the twentieth century will behold in this fair region a source of constant pride.
THE ORIGINAL SETTLERS' CLAIMS.
The entire county of Des Moines was within the limits of the Black Hawk Purchase, the nature and cause of which cession is fully treated elsewhere in this work. The Indian title to the lands did not expire until June 1, 1833, and the United States troops stationed at Rock Island, were instructed to expel all white men who made an attempt to secure claims prior to that date.
The region was, of course, unsurveyed and no private purchases could be made from the Government for several years after the formal occupancy of the domain by the United States. The only method of securing lands was by actual residence thereon, and the "blazing," or marking with blows of an ax, of timber, and the setting of stakes, with name and marks of claimant written upon them, as an indication of the boundary of the claim. An unenacted code existed among early settlers defining the rights of priority to such claims, and woe to the man who violated them, or became a "claim-jumper."
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