USA > Iowa > Dubuque County > The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. > Part 41
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The following are the names of those who contributed to build the Meth- odist Church : John Johnson, Woodbury Massey, Ezekiel Lockwood, Jacob Slever, M. Morgan, Mr. Gloeckler. -- Sheen, Charles Miller, M. L. Atchi- son, William Hillery, M. L. Prentice, John Levi, Simeon Clark, Thomas Child, F. Weigle, William Vaughn, Caroline Boody, L. Everett, John Wharton, Walton Baker, Samuel Walsh, George Peacock, J. Duval, David Sleater, John Smoker, J. B. Webber, William Mattox, J. L. Young, J. Richardson, M.
& Langwor Thy. DUBUQUE.
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Hinkley, Warner Lewis, H. T. Camp, D. Green, J. B. Stoddard, H. Pfotzer, W. Lockwood, P. O'Mara, S. E. Jackson, W. Gilbert, G. W. Jordan, Mrs. Jordan, L. Wheeler, J. Stoddard, G. S. Booth, Lewis Blean, N. Morgan, J. P. Cobb, A. Wilson, F. Whitesides, Baker & Cox, Mr. Shadwick, Fanny Ragan, - Wier, Hardin Nowlin, Orrin Smith, J. B. Smith and others.
On October 20, the Rev. Nicholas S. Bastian reached the settlement on the steamer Wisconsin, to act as minister, and on Sunday, November 2, preached his first sermon.
In May, a meeting of citizens was held opposite Lorimier & Gratiot's store, on Main street, at which, rumor has it, the town was formally named. But there are a number of old citizens who assert that this alleged historical fact is fiction. The town was always known as Dubuque, they say, and required no formal act to confirm its title.
At the same meeting, a committee was appointed, consisting of P. A. Lor- imier, J. M. Harrison, Hosea T. Camp, James L. Langworthy, and Ezra Will- iams, to select ten acres (on part of which the court house now is) for a pub- lic square. This was attended to, but, the act of Congress providing for the survey of Dubuque and its division into lots failing to include a " public square " in its enactments, the subject was not further agitated.
In June, the first marriage ever celebrated in Dubuque County occurred. Mary Arnold was solemnly pledged to James McCabe, of Galena, Father Fitz- maurice officiating. The ceremony took place at Nicholas Carroll's tavern, southwest of Peru, and is now included in what is known as the "Powers farm." After the benediction was pronounced, the company went to dancing, to the music of a string band, led by Charles La Point, which was kept up until daylight the next morning. Among those participating was a niece of Father Fitzmaurice, who insisted upon remaining and engaging in the festivi- ties, notwithstanding the objections of the Padre, who strenuously protested against the same. "She remained," observed one of the witnesses, "and danced all night, too, in spite of her uncle's admonitions."
The observance of July 4, 1834, was held at Carroll's, when the Stars and Stripes were first raised in Iowa, though, as will be remembered, that claim is made for a party of gentlemen and ladies from Galena, who passed the national holiday of 1828 at the mouth of the Catfish.
From 1821, when Missouri was admitted into the Union as a State, Iowa was left, for the time being, as a " political orphan," until attached to Michi- gan Territory, which important accession was made in June, 1834. Directly after this, the Governor appointed a meeting of the Territorial Legislature at Green Bay. It was accordingly thought best to elect Representatives, a Sheriff, etc., by the citizens of Dubuque County, though no official election had been ordered. Dr. A. Hill and Capt. John Parker were thereupon chosen to the Council, and Lucius H. Langworthy was elected Sheriff. Owing, how- ever. to some informality, a want of legal notice, etc., none of them were ever qualified, and the meeting was not convened.
Among the new settlers who came to Dubuque this year were Dr. S. Lang- worthy, L. Litton, J. Morgan, Jonathan and Roger Houps, Dr. John B. Stod- dard, the younger, who took up his quarters in a log house at the corner of Locust and Fourth streets, on the ground occupied by L. D. Randall's residence ; Mrs. A. B. Phillips, W. A. B. Jones, J. M. Emerson, Mr. and Mrs. George' Brown, James Sloan, R. Bonson, S. Clark and wife, Mrs. J. Taylor, Mrs. H. Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs. W. Myers, John Fern, R. Spensley, D. M. Buie, J. D. Graffort, Dr. F. Andros and wife, Mrs. Richard Walker,
a
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
W. Hogan, J. Spensley, Mrs. J. Glew, Sr., Jonathan Morgan and family, Alexander Young and others.
The material interests of the town were in a high state of advancement. Mining was prosecuted with renewed diligence, and proportionately satisfactory results. Building was generally active; huts, and in some instances pre- tentious cabins, were erected, and the increasing demand for commodities gave birth to a number of new stores.
Of course, the moral atmosphere of the vicinity, notwithstanding the pres- ence of churches and the labors of the ministry, was decidedly odorous with misdemeanor and crime. And, though the country seemed to be transformed as if by magic from a lonely wilderness into a flourishing community, the major composition of that community was, to use an expressive metaphor, "some- what off." There were but very few men in the whole country who did not indulge in drinking and gambling. Poker and brag were more regular than Sabbath services, and occupied the attention and ambition of all classes. Balls: and parties were also common, and it was not an unfrequent occurrence for one to treat his partner at the bar. Hon. Charles Augustus Murray, a somewhat celebrated Englishman, traveled over North America at an early day, and visited Dubuque when the site of the present city was little more than a howling wilderness. In his account of the Key City, he says :
" I reached Dubuque without accident, and proceeded to the only tavern of which it can boast, with the landlord of which I was acquainted, having met him on a Mississippi boat. The bar-room, which was, indeed, the only public sitting-room, was crowded with a parcel of blackguard, noisy miners, from whom the most experienced blasphemers of Portsmouth and Wapping might have taken a lesson ; and I felt more than ever annoyed by that absurd custom, so prevalent in America, of forcing travelers of quiet and respectable habits into the society of ruffians by giving them no alternative but sitting in the bar- room or walking the street. It is doubtless true that the bar of a small village tavern in England may be crowded with guests little, if at all, more refined or orderly than Dubuque miners ; but I never found a tavern in England so small or mean that I could not have the comfort of a little room all to myself, where I might read, write or follow my own pursuits without annoyance.
" I sat by the fireside, watching the strange-looking characters, when a voice in the door, asking the landlord whether accommodations for the night were to be had, struck my ear as familiar. I arose to look at the speaker, when I recognized Dr. M., of the United States Army, who is a relative of the Com- mander-in-Chief.
Their dormitory was a large room occupying the whole of the first floor, and containing about eight or nine beds ; the Doctor selected one on the center of the wall, next to the door. I chose one next to him, and the nearest one to me was given to an officer who accom- panied the Doctor. The Doctor, his friend and I refused to admit any partner into our beds, and, notwithstanding the noise and oaths in the bar-room, fell asleep. I was awakened by voices close to my bedside, and turned round to listen to the following dialogue :
" Doctor (to a drunken fellow who was taking off his coat close to the Doctor's bed)-' Hello ! Where the devil are you coming to ?'
" Drunkard-' To bed, to be shure.'
" Doctor-' Where ?'
"Drunkard-' Why, with you.'
" Doctor (raising his voice angrily)-' I'll be damned if you come into this bed.'
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
" Drunkard (walking off with an air of dignity)-' Well, you needn't be so damned particular. I'm as particular as you, I assure you,' and walked off.
" I spent the following day in examining the mines at Dubuque, which are not generally so rich in lead as those hitherto found on the opposite shore toward Galena. However, the whole country in the neighborhood contains mineral, and I have no doubt that diggings a little distance from the town will be productive of great profits; at all events, it will be, in my opinion, a greater and more populous town than Galena will ever become.
" The next day being Sunday, I attended religious services, which were per- formed in a small, low room, scarcely capable of containing a hundred per- sons. The minister was a pale, ascetic, sallow-looking man, who delivered a lecture dull and somber as his countenance. However, it was pleasant to see even this small assemblage, who thought of divine worship in such a place as Dubuque. In the evening, there was more noise and drunkenness about the bar, and one young man was pointed out to me as the 'bully' par excellence. He was a tall, stout fellow, on whose countenance the evil passions had already set their indelible seal. He was said to be a great boxer, and had stabbed two or three men with his dirk during the last ten days. He had two companions with him, who acted as myrmidons, I suppose, in his travels. When he first entered, I was sitting in the bar, reading ; he desired me, in a harsh, impera- tive tone, to move out of the way, as he wanted to get something to drink. There was plenty of room for him to go round the chair, without disturbing me ; so I told him to go round, if he wished a dram. He looked somewhat surprised, but went round, and I resumed my book."
This gentleman tarried long enough in Dubuque to familiarize himself with the deficiencies he describes in part, and returned to scenes less exciting.
Yet, amidst all this there were occasional gleams of moral sunshine break- ing through the clouds of immoral dissipation, and promising a brighter future; but not until the establishment of courts, first under the jurisdiction of Michi- gan, and then under that of Wisconsin Territory, did matters assume a more peaceful and orderly aspect. Even then there were troubles, quarrels and bloodshed, growing out of disputed lands and claims. The absence of these adjuncts to civilization necessitated, or rather entailed, proceedings on the part of the miners, which were not only what modern legal ethics would denounce as " summary," but in many instances so devoid of equity as to partake some- what of criminality. If an interloper made himself obnoxious to the majority, excuse was made for his trial and exile, if he escaped with his neck, or the cheerful accompaniment of tar and feathers.
The first case of tar and feathers in town was that of an unfortunate jack- leg miner, named Oliver Wheeler, who had been guilty of betraying a trust confided to his care, under the following circumstances :
During the winter of 1833-34, a man named Davis came to Dubuque from Missouri, to engage in such occupations as opportunity or necessity persuaded him to accept. He was reported to be the son of a farmer, who had provided him with a " running mare " and a modest outfit of money, which latter he soon exhausted in the several resorts accessible to inexperienced voyageurs. Early in the spring, Davis fell sick and lay at Herman Shadwick's house, corner of First and Locust streets, penniless, friendless and wrestling with the tortures of delirium.
When the news of his unfortunate condition was brought to the knowledge of the miners, it created a feeling of sympathy characteristic of the men, who speedily employed means to relieve his immediate necessities, and provided for
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his convalesence. But his recovery was soon regarded as a question of chance rather than possibility, though he occasionally enjoyed a brief release from mental troubles. When the apparent hopelessness of recovery was confirmed by medical diagnosis, it was decided to raise a subscription and send him home. Accordingly, $175 was obtained from the charitably disposed ; his "running mare " was exchanged for a work-horse, owned by M. Ham; a sleigh with all that was necessary to contribute to his comfort was provided, and Wheeler, with one. Stoner, an equally unscrupulous comrade, was hired to accompany and care for him on the way. The party passed through Illinois, Davis being repre- sented as an object of charity, for whose support en route contributions on the residents were levied, and when he reached home, as was subsequently ascer- tained, the last stage of his disease was worse than the first. By some inscruta- ble means the treatment of. Davis was hinted at in Dubuque, and W. A. Warren, E. Lockwood and W. Massey, comprising the committee under whose directions the charity had been solicited and expended, addressed a communication to the invalid's father, making inquiry as to the truth of the facts alleged against Wheeler & Co. Meantime, the first-named returned to Dubuque, and, when the father wrote in response to the inquiries that the charges were true, the com- mittee met, and directed the arrest of the unfaithful steward. William Smith was chairman of the meeting, and, after the matter had been freely canvassed, it was decided to arrest Wheeler and ornament his exterior with a coat of tar and feathers. Accordingly, W. A. Warren, the first Constable, was deputed to arrest Wheeler, who was reported as then being at McGary's Landing, a low saloon near the present location of the plow factory, and produce him before the committee in session opposite the Bell tavern. Mr. Warren visited McGary's, accompanied by A. B. Harrison and Willis Cassady, where he found the object of his search, who was captured after some resistance, and escorted to the tribunal in waiting to receive him. When opposite the Bell tavern, he escaped from his cus- todian and attempted flight through the hallway of that edifice, but Jacob Pate, who was among the crowd, intercepted his retreat and halted him before he was able to reach the slough. This was about 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and the crowd had moved up Main street to a point opposite H. T. Camp's house, then occupied by Col. Calvin Roberts. Here his coat and shirt were removed, and the epidermis of his back plentifully smeared with tar, supplemented by feathers from a pillow taken from the house of Woodbury Massey by Frank Massey, while his brother and family were absent at church. At the conclu- sion of the services, Wheeler found refuge in the saloon of Pat O'Mara, north of where the Opera House now stands, where he succeeded in ridding himself of his adornments, and was put across the river.
He was next heard of in Missouri, where a marriage between himself and the daughter of a wealthy farmer was indefinitely postponed, owing to the intervention of a horse-jockey, who had witnessed his scourging in Dubuque and promulgated the facts to his prospective bride, who withdrew her consent, being thereunto persuaded by her father, the parent aiding in relieving the country of his presence.
The capital penalty was also inaugurated in Iowa this year, by the hanging of Patrick O'Connor. Eliphalet Price, an old settler, familiar with the facts, furnishes the following account, which is appropriated :
" In giving a detailed account of the trial and execution of Patrick O'Con- nor at the Dubuque mines, the writer is aware of the fact that there are many persons still living who participated in bringing about a consummation of jus- tice on that occasion.
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
" Up to the date of the treaty between the Sac and Fox Indians at Rock Island in 1832, no judicial tribunals existed in the country, except those created by the people for special purposes. Difficulties of a civil character were inves- tigated and settled by arbitrators, while those of a criminal character were settled by a jury of twelve men, and, when condemnation was agreed upon, the verdict of guilty was accompanied by sentence. Such was the judicial charac- ter of the courts held at that time, in what was known as the ' Black Hawk purchase.'
"Patrick O'Connor was born in the county of Cork, Ireland, in 1797; came to the United States in 1826, arriving at Galena, Ill., where he embarked in mining operations. Having fractured his leg in the fall of 1828, on board of a steamboat on Fever River, it was found necessary to amputate the limb, which was done by Dr. Phileoa, of Galena. In this position O'Connor became an object of charity. The citizens of Galena and the miners in that vicinity came promptly forward and subscribed liberal sums of money for his support and medical attendance, and, in the course of time, he was enabled to get about with the assistance of a wooden leg, when he began to display a brawling and quarrelsome disposition, which soon rendered him no longer an object of public sympathy. In this situation, he endeavored to awaken a renewal of public charity in aid of his support, by setting fire to his cabin in Galena, which came near destroying contiguous property of great value. This incendiary act, and the object for which it was designed, was traced to O'Connor and exposed by John Brophy, a respectable merchant of Galena. O'Connor soon after, while passing the store of Mr. Brophy, in the evening, fired the contents of a loaded gun through the door, with a view of killing the proprietor. Failing to accom- plish his object, and being threatened with lynch law, he left Galena and came to the Dubuque mines in the fall of 1833, where he entered into a mining partnership with George O'Keaf, also a native of Ireland. They erected a cabin on the bank of the Mississippi River, about two miles south of Dubuque, and conducted their mining operations in the immediate vicinity.
" On the 9th of May, 1834, O'Keaf visited Dubuque and purchased some provisions, returning to his cabin about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied by an acquaintance. Upon arriving at the cabin and finding the door fastened upon the inside, he called upon O'Connor to open it.
""" Don't be in a hurry ; I'll open it when I get ready,' O'Connor replied. " O'Keaf waited a few minutes, when he again called to O'Connor : 'It is beginning to rain, open the door, quick !'
" To this O'Connor made no reply, when O'Keaf, who had a bundle in one arm and a ham of bacon in the other, placed his shoulder against the door and forced it open. As he was in the act of stepping into the house, O'Con- nor, who was sitting upon a bench on the opposite side of the room in front of the door, immediately leveled a musket and fired at O'Keaf, who fell dead. The young man who had accompanied the deceased fled to the smelting furnace of Wilson & Hulett, about a mile distant, and gave information of what had trans- pired. In a short time, a large concourse of miners were assembled around the cabin, and, upon asking O'Connor why he had shot O'Keaf, replied 'That is my business,' and proceeded to give directions as to the disposition of the body. Some person present suggested that he be hung immediately to a tree in front of the cabin, and a rope was procured for the purpose. But the more discreet and reflecting portion of the bystanders insisted that he should be taken to Dubuque, and the matter be there fully and freely investigated. Accord- ingly, O'Connor was taken to Dubuque, and, on the 20th of May, 1834, the
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first trial for murder in what is now known as the State of Iowa was held in the open air, beneath the wide-spreading branches of a large elm tree, directly opposite the dwelling then occupied by Samuel Clifton. A large assemblage of people congregated and stood quietly gazing at the prisoner, when, upon motion, Capt. White was appointed prosecuting attorney. O'Connor, upon being directed to select counsel, replied, ' Faith, and I'll tind to me own bus- iness,' appearing perfectly indifferent to the critical position in which he had placed himself. At length he selected Capt. Bates, of Galena, who happened to be present, and in whose employ the defendant had been formerly engaged. He then selected the following-named jurors (two of the panel being strangers whose names cannot be obtained), and the trial proceeded : Woodbury Massey, Hosea T. Camp, James McKenzie, Milo H. Prentice, Jas. Smith, Jesse M. Harri- son, Thomas McCable, Thomas McCraney, Nicholas Carroll, James S. Smith and Antoine Loire. The jury being seated upon some logs, O'Connor was asked if he was satisfied with the jury, to which he responded, ' I have no objec- tion to any of them ; ye have no laws in the country, and ye cannot try me,' replying in similar terms when called upon to plead.
" Three or four witnesses were examined, when Capt. White addressed the jury for a few minutes and was followed by Capt. Bates, who endeavored to influence the jury to send the criminal to Illinois, where he would be tried by a legal tribunal. Capt. White replied that offenders had been sent to Illinois for that purpose and had been released on a habeas corpus, that State having no jurisdiction over offenses committed on the west side of the Mississippi River. After this, the jury retired, and, having deliberated about an hour, returned the following verdict, through Woodbury Massey, the foreman :
We, the undersigned, residents of the Dubuque Lead Mincs, having been chosen by Patrick O'Connor. and impaneled as a jury to try the matter wherein Patrick O'Connor is charged with the murder of George O'Keaf, do find the said Patrick O'Connor guilty of murder in the first degree, and ought to be, and is by us sentenced to be, hung by the neck until he is dead, which sentence shall take effect on Tuesday the 20th day of June, 1834, at 1 o'clock, P. M.
[Signed by all the jurors, each in his own handwriting ]
" There was a unanimous expression of all the bystanders in favor of the decision of the jury. No dissenting voice was heard until a short time before the execution, when the Rev. Mr. Fitzmaurice, a Catholic priest from Galena, visited O'Connor and inveighed against the act of the people, denouncing it as being illegal and unjust. Immediately the Catholic portion of the Irish people became quiet on the subject, and it was evident they intended to take no further part in the matter.
" Up to this time, it was not believed that O'Connor would be executed. It was in the power of the Rev. Mr. Fitzmaurice to save him, and he was anxious to do so. Had he appealed to the people in a courteous manner, and solicited his pardon upon the condition that he would leave the country, it is confidently believed that the people would have consented to do so; but he imprudently sought to alienate the feelings of the Irish from the support of an act of public justice, which they, in common with the people of the mines, had been endeav- oring to consummate. This had the effect of closing the avenues to any pardon that the people might previously have been willing to grant. They, however, up to this time, would have recognized any pardon from the Governor of Mis- souri, or President of the United States. Application was made to the Governor of Missouri to pardon him, but he replied that he had no jurisdiction over the country, and referred the applicants to the President of the United States. President Jackson replied to an application that had been made to him, that the laws of the United States had not been extended to the newly
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acquired purchase, and that he had no authority to act in the matter, and observed that, as this was an extraordinary case, he thought the pardoning power was vested in the power that condemned. A few days before the execu- tion, a rumor got afloat that a body of 200 Irishmen were on their way from Mineral Point, intending to rescue O'Connor on the day of execution. Al- though this report proved to be unfounded, it had the effect of placing the fate of O'Connor beyond the pardoning control of any power but force. Runners were immediately dispatched to the mines to summon the people to arms, and on the morning of June 20, 1834, 163 men, with loaded rifles, formed in line on Main street, in front of the 'Old Bell Tavern,' where they elected Loring Wheeler Captain of the company, and W. I. Madden, Woodbury Massey, Thomas R. Brasher, John Smith and Milo H. Prentice Marshals of the Day. The company, being formed six abreast, marched slowly, by a circuitous route, to the house where O'Connor was confined, while a fife breathed in lengthened strains the solemn air of the 'Dead March,' accompanied by the long roll of muffled drums. The stores, shops and groceries had closed up their doors, and life no longer manifested itself through the bustling hum of worldly pursuits. All was silent as a Sunday morn, save the mournful tolling of the village bell. Men whispered as they passed each other, while every countenance denoted the solemnity and importance of the occasion. Two steamers had arrived that morning from Galena and Prairie du Chien, with passengers to witness the execution. The concourse of spectators could not have been less than one thousand persons.
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