USA > Iowa > Henry County > The history of Henry county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 42
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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
In the winter of 1834-35, Learnear B. Stateler, of the Missouri M. E. Con- ference, whose mission was on the Des Moines River, preached in Burlington once every four weeks. In the spring of 1835, Andrew Monroe, Presiding Elder of the Missouri Conference, accompanied by some others, went to Bur- lington and held a quarterly meeting. In the fall of 1835, the Missouri Con- ference formed the Burlington Circuit and appointed John H. Ruble preacher in charge. The circuit included all of the territory south of Rock Island to the Missouri line, and west to the Missouri River. In May, 1836, Mr. Ruble died, and Peter Bovin preached his funeral sermon. Wilson Pitner then sup- plied the charge for a brief time. In the fall of that year, the Illinois Con- ference took charge of the Burlington Church, as Peter Cartwright asserted that the Missouri Conference had "jumped his claim." The Illinois Confer- ence made all of Iowa one District, with Henry Summers Presiding Elder, and Norris Hobart preacher at Burlington. In the fall of 1837, Mr. Ross went to Jacksonville, Ill., where the Annual Conference was in session, to procure a stationed minister for Burlington, and by the aid of Peter Cartwright and Jesse L. Green, who introduced him to Bishop Soule, he obtained Nicholas S. Bastion. The next year, the station was given up. Mr. McMurtry had charge of the circuit in 1838. In 1839, Asa West was in charge ; in 1840, Joel Arrington was the preacher. In 1841, Burlington was again made a station and supplied by Isaac I. Stewart. A portion of the year 1841, Mr. Whitford was in charge. In the winter of 1842-43, there was a revival under his direction which lasted three weeks. One hundred and sixty members were added to the Church.
At a camp-meeting held at New London, Henry County, under the charge of Henry Summers, Presiding Elder, there was an accession to the Church of upward of one hundred.
In the spring of 1834, Mr. Ross wrote to Hon. William T. Barry, Post- master General, asking that a post office be established at Burlington (Flint Hills). The request was granted and Mr. Ross was commissioned Postmaster and mail-carrier, with a route from " Flint Hills, Ill., to Shokokon Post Office, seven miles southeast of Burlington, once a week." The mails were to be car- ried on horseback, and the compensation was the proceeds of the office, until a regular route was established. Mr. Ross carried the mails for six months, at his own expense. He relates the following: "When I called for the blanks, saddle-bags, etc., that pertained to the office, Col. Redman, Postmaster at Sho- kokon, would not deliver them up as it would be ' malfeasance in office to send the mail out of the United States,' he said. I offered him a bond of $3,000 and agreed to turn over the proceeds of the office to him, but he would not deliver up the articles until the Postmaster General threatened to remove him from office unless he complied."
In the year 1834, this region was attached to Michigan Territory, for judi- cial purposes, and, in the spring of 1834, instructions were sent to Mr. Ross, from Detroit, to organize Des Moines County. The new county was composed of the territory south of Rock Island to the mouth of the Des Moines River, and thence west along the Missouri line for fifty miles. The tract was fifty miles wide. The necessary laws and documents were received by Mr. Ross, and, as organizing officer, he gave notice of the impending election by advertis- ing in suitable manner. The first officers chosen at the first election were as follows : Col. William Morgan was elected Supreme Judge, and Henry Walker and Young L. Hughes, Assistants, of Circuit Court, which was the highest Court in Iowa at that time ; Col. W. H. Chapman was Prosecuting Attorney ; W. R. Ross, Clerk ; Solomon Perkins, Sheriff; John Barker, Justice of the
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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
Peace ; W. R. Ross, Treasurer and Recorder ; John Whitaker, Probate Judge; Leonard Olney, Superior Judge; John Barker and Richard Land, Justices of the Peace, the latter appointed by the Governor of Michigan Territory.
Mr. Ross was not idle in those days, for, beside the above offices, he was at the time Acting Postmaster in the only post office in the Territory, and was the only practicing physician in that part of the Territory, meanwhile carrying- on a dry goods and drug store. In addition to this, Mr. Ross inclosed, in 1834, 160 acres of prairie land with a stake-and-rider fence, grew eighty acres of corn on another claim, and improved still another forty acres back of Burling- ton. He also improved some twenty acres and erected buildings for a private. residence.
The first court ever held in Southern Iowa convened at the house of Mr. Ross, on the block immediately east of the public square, in the spring of 1835. Judges presiding : William Morgan, Henry Walker and Young R. Hughes. Resident lawyers : W. W. Chapman, Robert Williams, Isaac Leffler, Joseph B. Teas. Visiting lawyers : Mr. Little, of Carthage, Ill., and James W. Woods, usually called "Old Timber." Mr. Ross owned the only law library then in Burlington, and that was a small one. In the spring of 1836, David Rover began the practice of law ; in 1836-37, M. D. Browning and J. W. Grimes, also.
In 1835, Maj. Joseph B. Teas and Jeremiah Smith, Jr., were selected by the representative men to meet at Green Bay, in the winter of 1835-36, to organize Wisconsin Territory. The first Legislature of that Territory met at. Belmont in the winter of 1836-37. The members chosen to represent Des Moines County were Col. Arthur Ingraham, Joseph B. Teas and Jeremiah Smith, Jr., Councilmen, and Thomas Blair, David R. Chance, John Box, George W. Teas and W. L. Jenkins, Representatives. William R. Ross was Enrolling Clerk.
In the winter of 1837-38, the first Legislature of Iowa Territory was held in Old Zion Church, Burlington. The Representatives from Henry County were: Council, Jesse D. Payne, L. B. Hughes ; House, William G. Coop, William H. Wallace, Asbury B. Porter.
In the spring of 1838, Charles Mason moved to Burlington and began the practice of law. There was an exodus of lawyers from that place about then. J. C. Hall, William Thompson, J. B. and G. W. Teas and Van Allen located at Mt. Pleasant ; Thomas & Springer, at Wapello, Louisa County ; Daniel Miller and Rich, at Fort Madison.
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.
The tide of civilization was gradually crowded westward from the Missis- sippi River. The regular chain of progress in this particular region, or rather this line of latitude, has been shown, and now we stand upon the confines of Henry County, viewing the first white man, as he slowly forces his way into the unbroken wilderness. Venturesome spirits pushed bravely ahead of the advanced posts, claiming rights to unsurveyed territory, in anticipation of independence and fortune. The story of these pioneers' lives is interesting, rather because of the hardy endurance and sturdy perseverance manifested, than because of incident, perhaps ; but the recital of those narratives always insures patient listeners. Many of the first settlers have gone to their long homes, but others still remain to testify to the marvelous changes that have
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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
transpired since the early days. Such are reaping the reward of their cour- ageous work. As the years roll on decreasing the list of living pioneers, these pages, on which are recorded the facts relative to primitive life, will grow in value.
Turning to the evidence of causes which led to the settlement of Henry County, we find that the men who claimed lands near the river were allowed by custom to take large tracts. The great influx of 1833-34 compelled those who desired homes on the Black Hawk Purchase to go west. Hence, the selection of the beautiful region near Mount Pleasant.
"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 transcribed 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 here 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 Henry County to its present condition within the life-time of our little company, would have been ample grounds 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 us."
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 Henry County is gathered.
The history of a county is usually little more than a 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 Henry 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.
Henry 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
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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
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.
THE FIRST SETTLER.
It is conceded that the first man to settle in the territory which afterward became Henry County, was James Dawson. He staked out a claim about one and a half miles west of the site of Mount Pleasant, in the spring of 1834.
In the fall of that year, Presley Saunders made claim to the land whereon Mount Pleasant stands, and shortly thereafter moved his family to this place.
In December following, Z. Wilbourne made a claim near Big Creek, in Marion Township, and has lived in that vicinity ever since. Mr. Wilbourne erected the
FIRST GRIST-MILL
in the county. It was a primitive affair, run by horse-power, and the buhrs were made of granite found near the spot. The stones were dressed into shape by Mr. Wilbourne. It was merely a home-made concern, but was a great con- venience to the people for many miles around. After the settlement of Linn County, men came from even that distance to get their grists ground. In respect to milling facilities, this county was more fortunate than many of the western and northern ones, for several years usually elapsed before so crude a. mill as a " corn-cracker," even, was put up.
THE FIRST BIRTH
occurred near the site of Lowell, in Baltimore Township, in December, 1835. The claimant of this honor was T. S. Box.
THE FIRST MARRIAGE
was that of Presley Saunders and Huldah Bowen.
William Lusk was one of the very first settlers to reach this region and make it his home. His eye looked longingly on the site of Mount Pleasant, but he was too poor take a claim away from the timber, where he could have an opportunity to cut rails for less. fortunate men. So fortune decreed that Pres- ley Saunders should become the owner of the location now the seat of justice, and that Mr. Lusk should go further west. A place some three miles from
1
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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
Mount Pleasant was made his home, and there he still resides, rich in lands, for. his homestead is a thousand acres, and his other property is extensive. Mr. Lusk is the second oldest resident now in the county, dating from time of actual settlement.
THE FIRST DEATH
was undoubtedly the result of accident. A man named Pullman was found dead near the site of the Hospital for the Insane, in 1835, with his rifle by his side. He was from Indiana, and had been in this section but two or three months.
During the years 1836 and 1837, the influx of settlers was great, but no- census was taken until 1838. At that time the enumeration showed a popula- tion of no less than 3,058 ; and subsequent thereto the growth was very rapid. In 1840, there were 3,784 inhabitants ; in 1844, 6,017, and in 1846, 6,875 .. When the State was admitted to the Union, in 1847, the county contained 6,759, a slight decrease from the preceding census. But from that time on the increase has been steady.
THE SELECTION OF MOUNT PLEASANT.
The fame of the region opened up to settlement by the cession of the Black Hawk territory, soon spread over the older portions of the country. Scores of venturesome men were ready to strike out for new lands to subdue, and fort- unes were considered within the grasp of all who but held their hands open to receive the gifts. The tendency to seek fresh fields still exists in the natures of genuine Americans, for it is an inherited disposition, born into the being from the old graft of the pioneer spirit which first took root on the bleak shores of New England or upon the more inviting bank of the James. Westward the star of empire journeyed then and still journeys. But open to the grasp of white men the farthest outposts of the land, and with a rush the tide of emi- gration floods hill and plain. Men tire of the old and seek the new with an avidity derived from innate proneness to change and fostered by the marvelous tales of sudden wealth which sometimes result therefrom.
Among the participants in the Black Hawk war, on the side of the Govern- ment, was Presley Saunders. He had located near Springfield, Ill., after- leaving his native State, Kentucky, and was not pleased with the prospect offered him by continuous residence there. So, when the Scott Purchase was made, he thought seriously of becoming one of the band of emigrants which was moving westward. But the stories told of how the early pioneers were treated by the troops, because of the existence of that clause in the treaty which provided for the Indians retaining their lands until June 1, 1833, caused him to wait until the field was clear.
In 1834, he, in company with Joseph Moore, Bartlett Williams, a Mr. Wal- ters and son, came West. The company was in search of a suitable place on which to locate. Mr. Saunders desired to make a claim near the Mississippi, but his inclination was overcome by fear of ague, which had given him a hearty shake in Illinois, and which he feared lurked near the river. On that account he moved on, intending to locate near the center of what would inevitably become the next county to Des Moines. Fortune favored his undertaking. Although the Indians had made two trails over the site of Mount Pleasant, the little company did not follow either of them, but came directly across the prairie.
The view which greeted the eyes of the prospectors was a lovely one when. they ascended the hillocks on which Mount Pleasant stands. A gradual ascent.
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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
from all sides terminated in a beautiful elevation, upon one portion of which a grove was seen. The landscape was such as to arrest the attention of the most matter-of-fact man ; what, then, must it have appeared to those who were searching for a delightful home ?
Mr. Saunders declared that but one thing was needed to complete the desir- ability of the location, and that was a spring of living water. If he could dis- cover such an advantage, he would go no further. He had scarcely expressed his intention to remain when he reached the spring near the grove. His wish was answered.
Of the subsequent development of Mr. Saunders' plan to erect a town upon his claim, and of his success in securing the county seat thereat, we speak in detail elsewhere.
THE FIRST ELECTION.
The first balloting ever done in this region was in the fall of 1835. In the winter of 1833-34, the Black Hawk Purchase, among other portions of the West, was attached to Michigan Territory for judicial purposes, and the county of Des Moines was created as a precinct.
The steps toward independence were rapid after that date. In 1835, the in- crease of population in the country west of the lake and west of the Mississippi as well, was so marked that it was deemed essential to organize a new Territory. In anticipation of the success of this venture, nominations were made for the office of Delegate to Congress from the proposed Territory of Wisconsin. The election consisted of a choice of Representatives in the first Legislature and also of a delegate. The candidates for the latter office were Hon. George W. Jones and Hon. Duane Doty, subsequently a leading man in Wisconsin and at one time Governor. Mr. Jones naturally desired the support of the people of this sec- tion, and, in order to secure their votes, he was free to make promises of aid whenever they should call upon him. Mr. Saunders had a personal interview with Mr. Jones, and in response to the latter's inquiry, replied that all the people of Henry County asked of him in consideration of their support was the establishment of a post office at Mount Pleasant, with the necessary postal route from Burlington. Mr. Jones made ample pledges concerning the matter, as was perfectly proper. He asked for an election to an office whose first duty was the observance of his constituents' welfare. An office was needed at Mount Pleas- ant, and he could honorably agree to see that it was created. On the strength of the pledges thus made, Mr. Saunders used his influence with the people of this section, and when election-day arrived the feeling was unanimously in favor of Mr. Jones. There were sixty votes, or about that number, cast at the elec- tion, all of which were given for George W. Jones.
Mr. Jones was elected to Congress as Territorial Delegate. The Territory of Wisconsin was duly established, and Mr. Jones took his seat. A petition was at once presented to him, calling for the creation of an office at Mount Pleas- ant, but no attention was paid to it, either through some neglect on the part of the Delegate, or through some misapprehension on the part of the Postmaster General. Finally, as a compromise, evidently, an office was established between Burlington and Mount Pleasant. and called " Richland." No such place existed, and nobody wanted such an office. There was no route there, and the Mount Pleasant folks were as badly off as before.
The lines were not drawn very closely at the first election. Mr. Saunders remarks now that he believes all who came to the polls were allowed to vote. The precinct extended indefinitely, so far as the residence of voters was con- cerned.
P. C. Tiffany MT. PLEASANT
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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
The county of Henry was legally established at the first session of the Wis- consin Territorial Legislature, but it was not until the Territory of Iowa was established that a post office was opened at its county seat. During the years prior to 1838, the mail for this section was sent on, occasionally, by Postmaster Ross, of Burlington, in accordance with an agreement made with him. When the post office was finally located at Mount Pleasant, Alvin Saunders was com- missioned Postmaster. The experience of all new towns was repeated here. The pioneers were poor and money was exceedingly scarce. The postage on letters was not necessarily paid in advance, and the usual fee was 25 cents. Time and time again the scanty mail for the people here remained unclaimed for weeks, because of the inability of the party to whom it was addressed to pay the postage.
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 fruit- age. The hand of intelligent man was laid upon this region, as it were, but yesterday. To-day, one beholds the finest farms, the best tilled acres, the rich- est orchards, the most substantial buildings and the newest implements of husbandry that can be met with throughout the length and breadth of " Beau- tiful 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 proclaim 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.
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 farmhouses of Henry, and social intercourse is no longer restricted to the range of ox-cart communication. . The finest horses, the choicest animals and 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 early method of caring for his patient oxen. Fences mark the boundaries of farms and subdivisions of farms. As year succeeds year, the flocks increase in numbers and condition, and the markets of the East find profit in choosing the cattle from Henry's thousand hillocks.
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