USA > Iowa > Fayette County > The history of Fayette County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 46
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THE FIRST BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
On the same day, Jan. 7, 1861, the first Board of Supervisors assembled at the Court House as follows :
Hiram W. Earll, Auburn ; Matthew Armstrong, Banks ; Samuel Crawford, Center ; Charles Sawyer, Clermont ; H. B. Hoyt, Dover ; George Burnside, Eden ; C. D. Shambaugh, Fairfield; H. W. Zimmerman, Fremont ; J. B. Kingsbury, Harlan ; William Morras, Illyria (Henry Gibson, Jefferson, was not present at first meeting) ; O. C. Kent, Oran ; J. B. Stephenson, Pleasant Valley ; J. L. Bruce, Putnam ; Ira Burbank, Richland; S. C. Crosby, Scott ; E. Demott, Smithfield ; C. A. Newcomb, West Union ; and William Holliday, Windsor.
Samuel Crawford was elected Chairman ; Joseph Hobson was Clerk.
January 8, the Board proceeded to elect a County Judge to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Rogers. H. W. Earll and J. B. Stephenson were appointed tellers, and on informal ballot, H. W. Hawkins had 11, W. B. Lakin 7, B. Lakin 1, and blank 1. The Board then voted to proceed to an election, and the ballot resulted as follows : W. B. Lakin had 11 votes, and H. N. Hawkins had 9 votes, and W. B. Lakin was declared elected. On the 9th, a communication was received from Mr. Lakin declining the office, and the Board proceeded to ballot again for County Judge, which resulted as fol- lows : H. N. Hawkins received 20 votes, was declared elected, and his bond fixed at $1,000.
On the 11th, on motion of Mr. Zimmerman, the Fayette County Review was designated as the official paper of the county for the ensuing year.
The Board directed the Clerk to notify the Trustees of Auburn and Dover, that Sections 1, 12 and 13 were set back to Auburn Township for all purposes.
AID FOR KANSAS SUFFERERS.
March 9, 1861, the citizens of Fayette County held a meeting at the Court to make arrangements for receiving and forwarding donations in aid of the suf- fering citizens of Kansas. Winslow Stearns, Chairman ; E. Z. Stowe, Secretary.
E. Z. Stowe, Jerome Boswell and Rev. Reuben Ricker were appointed a Central Committee, to confer with citizens of the various towns, and to receive and forward donations.
Local committees to solicit donations were appointed as follows :
J. E. Robinson, H. B. Budlong and Charles Towrode, Fayette.
Wm. Larrabee, O. F. Buttles and S. F. Palmer, Clermont.
James Austin, James Boale and Thomas Earll, Auburn.
In April, 1861, the rebellious spirit of the South culminated, and the most stupendous civil war of modern times was inaugurated when the rebels opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston (S. C.) harbor. Fayette County did her full share in furnishing the sinews of war, as will be more fully seen in “ The War Record " of the county in another part of this work.
396
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
At the June session of the Board of Supervisors, Dr. Levi Fuller was elected a member of the Board for West Union, Carmon A. Newcomb having enlisted in the service of the United States and resigned his seat.
On motion of William Morras, $650 as appropriated for defraying the expenses of fitting out and clothing the Fayette County Volunteers.
June 7, a vacancy was reported in the office of County Surveyor, by a com- mittee appointed to investigate the matter, and Charles Hoyt was elected by the Board to fill the vacancy.
The Board appropriated :
For bridge at Clermont. $1,000
For bridge at Clermont .. 200
For bridge across the Volga 100
For bridge at Auburn 250
For bridge at West Auburn 150
300
For bridge at Waudena.
For bridge at Oran 250
For bridge at Eden 50
and ordered a tax of one mill on the dollar to raise said amount.
The Committee on Public Buildings reported that, in their opinion, the Court House needed a new roof; that an appropriation not to exceed $800, or so much of that sum as should be found necessary, to put a substantial roof of pine shingles on the building, under the supervision of Charles Sawyer, Levi Fuller and H. B. Hoyt; they to let the contract to the lowest responsible bid- der. The contractor to be paid one-fourth the amount when the contract is made, one-fourth when the work is half done and the balance when the work is completed. The report was accepted and adopted.
October 14, Clark Newcomb, member from Westfield Township, resigned, and Thomas Douglas was appointed to fill the vacancy.
The Board then proceeded to canvass the election returns, with the following results for county officers : County Judge, H. N. Hawkins ; Treasurer and Recorder, F. G. Walbridge; Sheriff, Charles Sawyer ; County Superintendent of Schools, S. W. Cole; Surveyor, W. Stearns.
The action of the Board in relation to a County Poor Farm will be found in a separate chapter in this work.
March 4, 1861, the Republican voters of West Union voted for a candidate for Postmaster. P. F. Crane received 174 votes and his four competitors 166.
RELIEF FOR VOLUNTEERS.
October 14, Charles Sawyer presented a petition from John Hasford and others, praying relief for families of volunteers. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
October 15, the Board made each Supervisor a Committee of One, in his respective township, whose duty it was to search out and report to a Central Committee, consisting of Levi Fuller, H. B. Hoyt and Thomas Douglas, the names of all families of volunteers who were in destitute circumstances caused by their lawful protectors having entered the service of the United States, and, upon such report being made, the Central Committee provided for their relief and support. Upon vote, it was decided that the several committees in this matter work without compensation from the county.
THE OSTRANDER MURDER.
In October, 1861, for the first time since Fayette County had an independ- ent political existence, its people were startled and shocked with one of the most fiendish, cold blooded murders ever recorded in the annals of crime.
397
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
George Ostrander with his family, consisting of his wife and several chil- dren, were living in Auburn, very near the southwest corner of the township. It is said that there were domestic difficulties and that Ostrander was badly troubled with jealousy. It is also said that he had been married before and that his first wife was still living ; that fearing, lest wife No. 1 might make a demand for a portion of his property, he had deeded to wife No. 2 land; that he had seen a woman he wanted to make wife No. 3, and wanted No. 2 to divide with him and leave, which she refused to do. Whatever the cause, it appears that she unhappy pair had frequent bickerings and quarrels.
On one occasion, Charles Sawyer, Esq., a near neighbor, had interfered and made peace between the parties, as he thought. Shortly after, on Sunday night, October 20, 1861, as Mr. Sawyer was preparing to retire, Ostrander came to his house and informed him that Mrs. Ostrander had been killed by a cow while she was milking. Sawyer, comprehending the situation, exclaimed, " George, you -, you have murdered her," seized him and sent for the Con- stable, - - Howe, living near by, and then, accompanied by the Constable and the prisoner, hurried to the scene of the murder; several other neighbors having been alarmed by Ostrander's little boy, who it seems had been sent to them by his father, arrived about the same time.
They found the murdered woman lying on the bed in the house, with her infant child trying to nurse from its dead mother's breast. Her skull had been crushed by a heavy blow with the pole of an axe, and the right side of her face, over the right eye, crushed to a jelly and the eye protruding from its socket, a ghastly and sickening spectacle. In the yard near by was found a bloody axe and a pool of blood.
The little boy stated that his mother was in the yard milking, when his father came up behind her and struck her on the head with the axe and she fell. The lad cried out, " Pa, you have killed Mamma." Ostrander appeared sur- prised, as he evidently had not been aware that the boy was near, but he at once told the little fellow to hurry to the neighbors and tell them that his mother had been terribly hurt by the cow. It is probable that the second blow on the side of the face was then struck, to give the appearance that the unfortunate woman had been kicked by the cow. The fiend then bore the body of his murdered wife to the house, laid it on the bed and hurried to Sawyer's as above stated, the blood of his victim on his coat sleeve making a crimson stain on the door as he entered his neighbor's house.
A messenger was at once despatched to West Union, eight miles distant, to summon the Sheriff and the Coroner. The Sheriff, J. J. Welsh, at once started for the scene of the tragedy and arrested the murderer, who had been tied with ropes by Sawyer and the neighbors. Welsh at once untied him and put on the irons. " As they clicked to their places," says Mr. Welsh, " a woman sitting near screamed out 'Oh-h-h;' when Sawyer coolly remarked, 'if that hurts your feelings, go look on the bed and see some of his work.'" The Sheriff started at once with his prisoner.
The Coroner, Dr. Lake, it is said, arrived soon after and summoned a jury. of inquest who returned the following verdict :
The deceased came to her death by blows inflicted on her head by some heavy instrument in the hands of George Ostrander, on the 20th day of October, 1861, said injury being inflicted by said George Ostrander with felonious intent.
Ostrander was brought to West Union by the Sheriff, where he was exam- ined before P. F. Crane, Justice of the Peace, assisted by Judge Hawkins, by whom he was held to answer for the murder of his wife, at the next term of the
398
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
District Court, and taken to the Dubuque County Jail, for safe keeping, by Sheriff Welsh.
The Pioneer, of October 28, 1861, says :
This is, perhaps, the first murder that was ever committed in Fayette County ; though old settlers do say that, at an early day, say some fifteen years ago, a man settled on the Volga, not far from Fayette, who traded with the Indians, and, having incurred the displeasure of the sav- ages, they took his life. It is said that the stones used in his hearth and chimney, still mark the spot where the fatal deed was done.
This was all that was known of the "Tegarder Massacre " by the press of Fayette in 1861.
Ostrander was kept in jail until the June term (1862) of the District Court. June 10, the grand jury brought into court an indictment, accusing George Ostrander of the crime of murder.
June 12, Ostrander was arraigned; a motion to quash the indictment was overruled ; prisoner pleaded not guilty, and case continued until nextterm, pris- oner being remanded, for safe keeping, to the jail of Dubuque County.
October 6, the parties were not ready for trial, and the case was continued ..
October 20, 1863, the case was tried-Milo McGlathery, assisted by Reu- ben Noble, on behalf of the State of Iowa; and the accused was defended by William McClintock and S. S. Ainsworth.
On the 21st, the jury was impaneled as follows : J. B. Walls, David Bea- mer, M. C. Sperry, Henry Beamer, Ellis Billmeyer, Nathaniel Burr, Harrison Butler, W. H. Green, James Stone, Joseph W. Murphy, Edwin Smith and John F. Dunham. The trial continued until the morning of the 24th, when the jury were sent out to deliberate. On the same day, at 5.15 P. M., the jury returned; and, being called, each juror answering to his name, they returned into court the following verdict : "We, the jurors, find the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree."
. The counsel for defendant asked that the jury might be polled, which was done ; each juror answered affirmatively to the verdict. Defendant's counsel moved for a new trial; overruled ; and at 11 o'clock P. M. of the 24th, the prisoner was called for sentence, and the Court ordered that he be taken to the Penitentiary of the State of Iowa, and be there confined for life.
It is said that Ostrander was one of the most refractory and unmanageable convicts ever sent to the Iowa Penitentiary. He died in prison, several years ago.
SWAMP LANDS, ETC.
January 6, 1862, William Morras, from Special Committee on Swamp Lands, presented the following report :
To the Hon. Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Fayette County, Iowa :
We, your Committee, to whom was referred the consideration of appointing an agent to pro vide the necessary proofs to secure to the county of Fayette the swamp lands that have been selected within said county, and of making a final settlement with the General Government in relation to the same, beg leave to report that we have given the subject due consideration, and find that Mr. William Baker, who proposes to prosecute the claims of this county, has had considerable expe- rience in procuring proof and in preparing swamp land claims for other counties, comes to us well recommended by his excellency, Gov. Kirkwood, A. B. Miller, Register of State Land Office, and others, as being a man in every respect competent to transact business of that nature.
Mr. Baker has made two propositions, the first of which the Board is already acquainted with. The second is, that he will transact the business for twelve and one-half per cent., and ask no advance, and take scrip, at the rate of $1.25 per acre, for that portion of the land that we receive scrip for, or has been entered by land warrants. We find that P. L. Hinkley, in the year 1854, selected swamps and overflowing lands in this county to the amount of 12,720 acres.
399
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
From a list of swamp lands received from A. B. Miller, Register State Land Office, we find 11,746,9& acres, of which 6,894-80 acres were entered by cash, and 4,852,18 acres entered by land warrants.
For those lands which were entered by cash since the passage of the act, in 1850, Fayette County is entitled to have the cash refunded by the General Government; and for those lands entered by warrants, scrip will be issued.
We, your Committee, would therefore recommend that the Board appoint Mr. Baker to pros- ecute the claims of this county, as we are of the opinion that the county will be benefited thereby.
WILLIAM MORRAS, H. W. ZIMMERMAN, A. H. Fox,
Committee.
The Board then appointed Mr. Baker as Swamp Land Agent, and Mr. Morras submitted the following contract to be entered into between the county and Mr. Baker, which was adopted :
Said Baker to take all proof requisite and prosecute to final success the claims of this county for swamp lands, and said Baker to receive therefor twelve and one-half per cent. on the whole amount recovered, the said per cent. to be paid to said Baker in kind-that is to say, for that part received in scrip, his percentage to be paid in scrip; that part received in cash, his per- centage to be paid in cash. Provided, always, that no compensation shall be paid until proper vouchers are produced before the county authorities that the work has been satisfactorily per- formed.
January 7th, the Chairman appointed A. H. Fox, H. B. Hoyt and William Holliday as Central Committee on Relief of Volunteers' Families.
June 2, 1862, E. Z. Stowe was appointed Supervisor of West Union, in place of A. H. Fox, resigned.
Swamp Land Agent's Report .- At the June session of the Board of Super- visors, William Baker, the Swamp Land Agent, made a partial report of his transactions under the contract, and asking for further instructions :
To the Honorable Board of Supervisors of Fayette County, Iowa:
The subscriber would beg leave to make the following report, as Swamp Land Agent of your county. I regret very much that I am unable to make a full report, for the reason that I have not been able to procure the necessary proofs. I have traveled through all the townships where selections of swamp lands have been made; but, in many instances, have found parties, from whom I expected to obtain proof, absent from home, and the great depth of snow, in February, prevented me from reaching other parties, otherwise the proofs would have all been taken. There are 500 or 600 acres in the list not proved, for a part of which I shall be able to procure the necessary proof, while another portion thereof cannot be proved to be swamp lands. There is considerable swamp land in Township 92, Range 10, not selected, which can be proved ; also in Township 91, Range 10, and Township 93, Range 10. I have taken proof of some lands in those townships, not embraced in the Selecting Agent's list, and some in other townships. The whole number of acres on which proof has been taken, up to this time, is 13,664.67, of which amount, 5 065.76 acres were land warrant entries and 8,598.91 acres were cash entries. I will return to your county next week and complete the proofs and forward them to the department for examination ; and I have no doubt but there will be a speedy response to the claim, as there is now a movement in the right direction for the final settlement of those claims.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM BAKER.
I would make a proposition, in view of a certain fee that has to be paid, that has come to my knowledge since the taking of the job in hand. I find that there is a fee charged by the Register of the United States Land Office at Des Moines of $1.00 for each certificate, which was wholly unknown to me at the time of contracting with you. Said fee will amount to about $300 for this county, and, in view of that fact, if you will now advance the 2 per cent., as proposed. by me in the original proposition, I will take the 10 per cent., as first proposed, and release you from the 2} per cent. which was added for making the advances, which amount will be, on what proof is now taken, $427.00, and the advance asked on the same amount of proof is $341.60, which amount is to be deducted from the 10 per cent., and the county will save that amount and something over, as, when the proof is all taken, it will, probably, amount to $450.00, and the advance asked, viz., 2 per cent., to about $380.00, when the necessary proofs are all taken.
.W. BAKER, Swamp Land Agent.
400
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
To the Honorable Board of Supervisors of Fayette County :
I would like the Board to take some action in relation to Swamp Lands in Township 91,
Range 10, Township 92. Range 10, and Township 93, Range 10, that have not been selected. I think there are some that might be secured to the county, but do not feel authorized to go further in the matter than I have done without instructions. There are a few pieces in other townships, but not many. WILLIAM BAKER.
These reports were accepted.
June 2, 1862, a communication was read from the State Auditor, notifying the Board that the certificate of the Superintendent of the Iowa Hospital for the Insane showed the indebtedness of the county, for the board of fifteen insane persons, amounting to $324.46.
June 4, the report of the Relief Committee showed that $132.00 had been appropriated for the relief of soldiers' families.
ADMITTED TO THE BAR.
January 12, 1862, at the June term of the District Court, James L. Camp- bell was admitted to the bar ; and, October 6th, Henry W. Harman was exam- ined and admitted to practice.
A FATAL WELL.
On Wednesday, July 30, 1862, a young man named Waterworth attempted to go down into a well, at Elgin, but after descending a short distance, he sud- denly fell into the water from the effects of carbonic acid gas. Samuel Hallet, another citizen of Elgin, attempted to rescue him, but was suffocated by the foul air and fell. Mr. Waterworth, father of the first victim, made an effort to descend, but he also was hurled headlong and lifeless into the water below. A fourth man undertook to descend, but, before he had descended far, those who were attending to the rope discovered that his life was in danger, and drew him to the surface just in time to save him.
BOUNTY TO VOLUNTEERS.
At a special session of the Board of Supervisors, August 12, 1862, a bounty of $60 was provided for volunteers (see War Record), and the Board voted that its services at that session should be gratuitous. In- September following, a Bounty Fund was created, and a tax of five mills levied.
October 10, Joseph Hobser was elected Clerk of the District Court.
October 24, 1862, the Board voted to request the Governor to commission William Baker as Swamp Land Agent for Fayette County.
Tuesday evening, November 18, 1862, a Scriptural discussion between Revs. R. Swearingen and M. E. Cornell, commenced at the Court House. The ques- tion was: "Do the Scriptures teach that man possesses an immortal, conscious principle ?" Mr. Swearingen took the affirmative, and Mr. Cornell the nega- tive. The discussion closed on Wednesday evening, December 26th, both hav- ing won the victory.
At the session of the Board June 1, 1863, E. R. Miller was appointed to fill the vacancy from Scott Township, caused by the resignation of S. C. Crosby.
BOUNTY SUSPENDED.
June 3d, the Board, after directing the Clerk to draw orders for bounty to those entitled to it up to that date, suspended all further action in relation to bounty.
401
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
BOUNTY ON WOLVES.
To the Board of Supervisors of Fayette County :
Your Committee, to whom was referred a petition of sundry citizens of Fayette County, praying for a bounty on wolf scalp», have had the same under consideration, and beg leave to report that they deem the matter therein contained of vital interest to the people of this State, and particularly the county of Fayette, which is infested with those deadly foes, the most hateful of the whole canine race. At the hour of midnight, when the senses of the shepherd are locked in deep sleep, the wolf rushes from the bog and glen upon those neighboring sheepfolds, com- mitting dreadful havoc upon those meek and lowly animals, as well as upon the junior members of the swinish multitude.
Your Committee are therefore of the opinion that, should the Board adopt the following resolution, the chivalric sons of Fayette would not cease until, like Gen. Putnam, the distin- guished hero of Ticonderoga, they have dragged the last wolf from his hiding place.
The wolf, the enemy of sheep, Prowls about when we're asleep, And, despite of faithful dogs, They kill our sheep and junior hogs ; Which robs us of our wool and bacon By one of the imps of old Satan. Hence I pray this Board, in session, To pass an order to meet the question,
And by a unanimous vote, Make his scalp a county note.
Therefore, be it
Resolved, That an extra bounty of one dollar be allowed by this Board, to be paid out of the county fund, for each wolf scalp, if it can be done according to law.
D. B. HERRIMAN, H. B. HOYT, E. R. MILLER, Committee.
Notwithstanding the above poetical effusion, the resolution was lost when put to vote.
June 4th, the Board instructed the Clerk to dispose of the old safe belong- ing to the county at the best terms he could.
June 8, 1863, William H. Austin was duly examined and admitted to prac- tice in the courts of Iowa.
October 19, 1863, F. H. Chapman, of Illyria, and Harrison Augir, of Center, became members of the Board of Supervisors, vice Herriman and Brunson, resigned.
At the October election, 1863, the question of whether Fayette County should build a jail or no, appears to have been submitted to the people, as the Board of Supervisors canvassed the vote, and recorded 1,597 votes cast, of which 727 were for and 870 against.
TOWNSHIP COLLECTORSHIP.
October 21, 1863, the Supervisors expressed themselves strongly in favor of the adoption of a system of township collections of taxes, and passed the fol- lowing resolutions :
Resolved, That this Board are in favor of the inauguration of a system of township collec- tors instead of the present system of paying taxes at the county seat.
Be it further resolved, That the Clerk of this . Board be instructed to prepare suitable peti- tions, having for their object the praying to our honorable Senators and Representatives for the above change in our system of county government, and to send said petition into all the towns of Fayette County, to the care of their respective Supervisors as soon as they can be conveniently prepared.
Be it further resolred, That each Supervisor be requested to see that said petitions are thoroughly circulated in their respective towns, and that they are forwarded to our Senators and Representatives before the opening of the coming session of the Legislature.
402
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
January 6. 1864, the Board received a communication asking a donation for the Soldiers' Home at Dubuque, which was referred to a special committee con- sisting of Messrs. Goodrich, Stowe and Marr. The committee reported next day to the effect that they did not think it practicable to appropriate public funds for that purpose, in which the Board concurred.
The resolution postponing or suspending the resolution to take the matter of supplying soldiers' families out of the hands of township trustees and placing it in the hands of the Supervisors, was rescinded.
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