USA > Iowa > Iowa County > The history of Iowa County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 45
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In pursuance of his duty in the premises, Judge Williams appointed John Linderman, who proceeded to act as executive officer in carrying out the provisions of the legislative act. He selected the 4th day of August, 1845, the day upon which the general election occurred, as the day upon which to elect the first county officers. Two places were appointed for voting: one at the house of Edward R. Ricord in what he termed Old Man's Creek precinct; the other at the old trading house, in what he termed Iowa precinct.
For Old Man's Creek precinct James McKray, Edward R. Ricord and Erastus Convers were appointed judges, and Michael Roup and Reuben Smith were selected as clerks of election.
For Iowa precinct H. Foster, Lewis Lanning and Robert M. Hutchinson were appointed judges, and M. T. Cleveland and John Hull were selected as clerks of election.
The result of this election, as well as the names of the voters will be found in the following copy of the poll-books:
POLL-BOOK OF FIRST ELECTION.
"Poll-book for an election held at the house of Edward Ricord, in the south part of Iowa county, Iowa Territory, on the first Monday, the 4th day of August, A. D. 1845, for the purpose of electing the following named officers; to-wit., one delegate to Congress, three county commis- sioners, one sheriff, one coroner, one judge of probate, one assessor, one surveyor, one recorder of deeds, etc., one treasurer, one clerk of the board of county commissioners, three justices of the peace, and five constables in and for said county, and to receive votes for and against the constitution of the State of Iowa. Number of votes received, twelve.
"Names of persons voting at the election held at E. Ricord's:
1. Charles Jones.
8. Edward R. Ricord.
2. Edward Spratt.
9. Michael Roup.
3. John Convey.
10. James McKray.
4. Michael Duffey.
11. Reuben Smith.
5. Elisha Ricord.
12. Erastus Convers.
6. Henry Starry.
13. Stephen Hanson.
7. Jacob Ricord.
14. Thomas Hanson.
"For delegate to Congress, Augustus C. Dodge received eight votes; Ralph P. Lowe, four.
" For county commissioners, Robert M. Hutchinson received eight votes; Edward R. Ricord, eight; James McKray, four; Anderson Meacham, four.
"For county sheriff, A. P. Kitchens received eight votes.
" For assessor, Jacob Ricord received seven votes; Reuben Smith, four,
" For county surveyor, James Price received three votes.
" For county treasurer, Lewis Lanning received one vote.
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
" For clerk of board of commissioners, George W. Kitchens received eight votes.
"For justice of the peace, Nelson Dowd received eight votes; Henry Starry, nine.
"For constable Matthew Cleveland received seven votes; Edward Spratt, nine; J. Kitchens, eight.
"For the constitution, ten votes were received.
" Against the constitution, four votes were received.
"We, the undersigned, do certify that the judges and clerks of this election met and were duly sworn.
" JAMES McKRAY, " ERASTUS CONVERS, " EDWARD R. RICORD, Judges of Election.
" MICHAEL ROUP,
" REUBEN SMITH,
Clerks of Election."
" Poll-book of an election held at the house of Robert Hutchinson (old trading house) in Iowa county, Iowa Territory, on Monday the 4th day of August, 1845, for Territorial and county officers; to wit; one delegate to Congress, three county commissioners, one sheriff, one coroner, one judge of probate, one assessor, one surveyer, one treasurer, one clerk of the board of county commissioners, one recorder of deeds, etc., three justi- ces of the peace and five constables in and for said county and also to re- ceive votes for and against the constitution of the State of Iowa.
" Names of persons voting at the election held at R. Hutchinson's:
1. Lewis F. Wilson.
12. Benjamin Hutchinson.
2. John Linderman.
13. Anderson Meacham.
3. William Taylor.
14. Lewis Lanning.
5. Edward Trotter.
16. R. M. Hutchinson.
7. N. W. Dowd.
8. William McCorkle.
9. Abraham Price.
20. George W. Kitchens.
21. P. Hull.
10. Isaac Clark. 11. M. T. Cleveland. 22. Wm. Burget.
" Tally papers of the election held at the house of Robert M. Hutchinson in Iowa county, Iowa Territory, on the first Monday of August, A. D. 1845.
" At an election held at the house of Robert M. Hutchinson, in the county of Iowa and Territory of Iowa on the 4th day of August, A. D. 1845, the following named persons received the number of votes annexed to their re- spective names for the following described offices; to wit.,
" Augustus Dodge had nine votes for delegate for Congress.
" Ralph P. Lowe had twelve votes for delegate for Congress.
" For county commissioners-Robert M. Hutchinson had thirteen, An- drew Meacham had twenty, J. McKray had ten, E. R. Ricord eleven, and William Foster nine.
" For sheriff-Absalom P. Kitchens had ten, William Foster nine, and Alford Meacham had one.
4. Stephen Chase.
15. William Foster.
6. Lineas Niles.
17. A. P. Kitchens.
18. Amos Crocker.
19. John Hull.
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
"For coroner- Lewis Lanning had three and E. Trotter had ten.
"For judge of probate-A. D. Stephens had thirteen ..
." For assessor-R. Smith had seven and Jacob Ricord had five.
"For surveyor-James M. Price had eighteen.
"For treasurer and collector-Lewis Lanning had nineteen.
"For recorder-G. W. Kitchens had sixteen and John Linderman had two.
" For clerk of the board of county commissioners -- G. W. Kitchens had sixteen and John Linderman had four.
" For justice of peace-Lewis F. Wilson had nineteen, William Foster had fourteen, Henry Starry had thirteen and A. Price had three.
" For constables-Isaac Clark had nine, J. T. Holt had five, J. M. Kitch-
ens had. twelve, Ab: Meacham had six, William Taylor had ten, E. Spratt had twelve.
"For constitution, nine (9); against constitution, thirteen (13).
"Certified by us.
"W. FOSTER, " LEWIS LANNING, " R. M. HUTCHINSON, "Judges of Election.
" Attest:
" M. T. CLEVELAND,
" JOHN HULL,
" Clerks of Election.
" I, Robert M. Hutchinson, certify that I administered the requisite oath to W. Foster, judge of election.
" ROBERT M. HUTCHINSON.
"I, William Foster, judge of election, certify that I administered the re- quisite oath of the judges and the clerks of the election.
"W. FOSTER, Judge of Election."
SELECTION OF THE COUNTY SEAT.
With reference to the second measure essential to the organization of the county, action was taken on the 16th day of August, 1845. Thomas Henderson, Luman M. Strong and Stephen B. Gardner, respectively from Keokuk, Linn and Johnson counties, were the persons appointed by the legislative act to select the seat of justice. These met as ordered by the act of the Legislature, at the house of James M. Price, and proceeded to view the county. When they arrived at the vicinity of the present town of Marengo, they found Robert McKee mowing grass. It is said that they had in the wagon with them a jug filled with " ague medicine." Gardner, who had not only taken a dose sufficient to protect him from the effects of the malarious atmosphere, but enough more to arouse great exuberance of spirits-Gardner having been aided to gain and hold a standing position on the end-gate of the wagon so as to get a look at the country above the tall grass took in the situation at once, and shouted at the top of his voice:
"This place henceforth, by jingo, Shall be called Marengo!"
The other commissioners coinciding with Gardner, it was officially decided that this place should be the seat of justice, and that it should be called
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
Marengo. The name was suggested by what the commissioners supposed to be a strong resemblance between the valley of the Iowa River here and the plain of Marengo in Italy, where Napoleon Bonaparte gained his cele- brated victory over the Austrians. It is said that McKee generously gave a strip from the rear end of his under garment, which was fastened to a pole, and upon which was written with a piece of red keel the name " Marengo."
R. B. Groff says that when he first visited the place he saw the pole standing near the northwest corner of the public square, with a few threads of canvass bearing the marks of red keel. He remarks further: "I then thought it was a beautiful location on the south bank of a 'navigable stream'; what a place to found a city."
Before entering upon the business of selecting the seat of justice, the commissioners took an oath which was put on record, the same being filed with the official papers of the county.
The record is as follows:
"TERRITORY OF IOWA,
ss. - . "IOWA COUNTY.
" Be it remembered that on this day; to-wit., the 12th day of August, A. D. 1845, before me, the undersigned, clerk of the District Court in and for said county, personally came Luman M. Strong, Stephen B. Gardner and Thomas Henderson, the commissioners appointed by law to locate the seat of justice for Iowa county, and took and subscribed the following oath; to-wit,
"We do solemnly swear that we have no personal interest directly or in- directly in the location of the seat of justice of the county of Iowa, and that we will faithfully and impartially locate the same according to the best interests of said county, taking into consideration the future as well as the present population of said county.
"LUMAN M. STRONG. "STEPHEN B. GARDNER. "THOMAS HENDERSON.
"I, John Linderman, clerk of the District Court of said county do hereby certify that the above oath was taken and subscribed before me on the day and date above written.
"JOHN LINDERMAN,
Clerk of the District Court of Iowa county, Iowa Territory."
After agreeing upon a site for the seat of justice, the commissioners made a written report which was also filed with the other county records. The report was as follows:
"We the undersigned, commissioners heretofore appointed by the legisla- tive assembly of the Territory of Iowa, to locate the seat of justice of the county of Iowa, did on the thirteenth day of August, A. D. 1845, meet in said county of Iowa, and and first being duly sworn by the clerk of the District Court of said county, agreeable to the provisions of 'An act for the organization of the county of Iowa,' proceeded to locate the same and after a satisfactory examination of said county, and taking into considera- tion the interests, present and future prospects of the same, have deter- mined that the county seat shall be and is hereby located on the northeast
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
quarter of section No. twenty-five (25) in township No. eighty-one (81) north, of range No. eleven west of the fifth principal meridian, and the county seat so located shall be known by the name of Marengo. In testi- mony whereof we have hereunto set our hands at Iowa county this 14th day of August, A. D. 1845.
"THOS. HENDERSON. "LUMAN M. STRONG. "STEPHEN B. GARDNER."
THE FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS.
From an examination of the poll book of the first election it will be seen that the first county officials were as follows:
County Commissioners-Robert M. Hutchinson, Edward R. Ricord and Anderson Meacheam. Commissioners' Clerk-George W. Kitchens. Sheriff -Absolom P. Kitchens. Assessor-Jacob Ricord. Surveyor-James M. Price. Treasurer-Lewis Lanning. Recorder-George W. Kitchens. Probate Judge-A. D. Stephens. Coroner-E. Trotter.
These officers were qualified and entered upon their duties immediately after the election. It will be seen by comparing the poll-books with cer- tain facts given in the chapter on the early settlements of the county, that .the commissioners were selected so as to have the principal settlements of of the county represented on the board. Ricord was from Old Man's Creek, Hutchinson from the old trading house and Meacham from Honey Creek.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONERS.
For the first five years after the organization of the county, the official history consists chiefly in the proceedings of the county commissioners. The board of commissioners audited all bills, organized the first civil town- ships, located the first roads, laid out the county seat and sold the lots, licensed ferries, and in short was the executive head of county affairs, hence an abstract of the proceedings of the board will afford a very accu- rate account of the official history of the county during the first five years.
We begin by producing a synopsis of the minutes of the first session of the board, which was termed an extra session, and was held on the 14th day of September, 1845.
The board of county commissioners of Iowa county, Iowa Territory, met after having been duly qualified, and proceeded to business. George W. Kitchens produced his official bond and was accepted as clerk of the board of commissioners. Edward Spratt produced his bond as constable, and it was accepted. Jacob Ricord, assessor elect, produced his official bond and it was accepted. Lewis Lanning, collector and treasurer elect, produced his bond and it was accepted. Joseph M. Kitchens, constable elect, pro- duced his bond and it was accepted.
Ordered, By the board that the judges and clerks of the election held on the 4th day of August, 1835, in Iowa county, Iowa Territory, be allowed one dollar each.
Ordered, That the name of the county seat shall be " Valley Forge."
Ordered, That the county seat quarter be purchased at the rate of thirty per cent if it can- not be done for less.
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
Two statements in the foregoing extracts from the minutes of the com- missioners need some explanation.
The name which the locating commissioners had given to the county seat was unsatisfactory to many of the settlers, and the county commis- sioners thinking that they had full authority to change the name, ordered that it should be Valley Forge instead of Marengo. The people afterward ascertained that neither they nor the county commissioners had any author- ity to make a change. The locating commissioners, acting under the authority and direction of the Legislature had named the place Marengo, . it was therefore in law the action of the Legislature, and the Legislature alone could make a change. The Legislature was then petitioned by the people of the county to change the name from Marengo to Valley Forge, but there being considerable opposition the change was not authorized, and the name of the town remained Marengo.
In reference to the last order copied from the minutes of the board some explanation is necessary. When the county seat was located it was sup- posed to be government land and such it was. All that would have been necessary for the commissioners to do then would have been to borrow two hundred dollars and send an agent to the land office and enter the quarter section; the town site then would have been the property of the county and as such could be laid out into lots and disposed of. The funds arising from the sale of lots could be used in repaying the borrowed money. This would have been a very simple transaction had the first board of commissioners acted promptly; but the board being somewhat tardy in the matter, a man named Lyon got the description of the land and quietly repaired to the land office and entered it. Notwithstanding the locating commissioners had designated the quarter section as the site for the county seat, the gen- eral government owned the land and had a right to sell it to the first man who applied. Mr. Lyon had a perfect right to buy the land and once hav- ing bought it he could make his own terms with the county. Thus it was that the commissioners suddenly found themselves in a predicament; a certain piece of land is selected for the site of the seat of justice; they have no authority to establish the seat of justice anywhere else, and the only place where the seat of justice can be located is owned by a speculator who demands the most exorbitant price for the land.
The language of the order is somewhat ambiguous but we interpret it to mean that the commissioners offered to pay an advance of thirty per cent above the government price of $1.25 per acre, which Mr. Lyon had paid. Further on it will apper that Mr. Lyon refused the offer. It was some time before the matter was adjusted and in the mean time the town site was not surveyed, no lots were sold and nothing whatever could be done toward im- proving the place.
The second session of the board of commissioners was held in January, 1846. The following is a synopsis of the proceedings:
At a meeting of the board of commissioners of Iowa county held on the fifth day of January, 1845; present, Robert M. Hutchinson and Edward R. Ricord, Absalom P. Kitchens, sheriff, and George W. Kitchens, clerk.
Ordered, That Stephen B. Gardner be allowed eight dollars for four days' service in locating the county seat of Iowa county; that Luman M. Strong be allowed twelve dollars for six days' service in locating the county seat of Iowa county; that Thomas Henderson be allowed ten dollars for five days' service in locating the county seat of Iowa county.
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
On motion of E. R. Ricord it was agreed that all the portion of Iowa county that lies south of the township line dividing townships seventy- eight and seventy-nine be and the same shall constitute Old Man's Creek precinct for election purposes, and the same a road district and elections shall be held at the house of Edward R. Ricord.
Ordered, That all that part of Iowa county which lies north of the township line di- viding township seventy-eight and seventy-nine shall constitute an election precinct and road district, and that said precinct shall be called Iowa and that elections shall be held at the old trading house.
In thus officially subdividing the county into two precincts the commis- sioners simply affirmed the action of the clerk of the District Court in or- dering the first election. This action, unimportant in itself, was the be- ginning of the work of organizing civil townships and from these two or- ganized precincts have grown the sixteen civil townships of the county. The name Old Man's Creek has been dropped, but Iowa precinct is still preserved in part, the southeast corner of Iowa precinct now constituting Iowa township.
The next session of the board was held the following April. The follow- ing is from the minutes:
At a meeting of the board of county commissioners of Iowa county, held at the old trading house on the thirteenth day of April, 1846, the Hon. Anderson Meacham, Edward R. Ricord and Robert M. Hutchinson, commissioners present; A. P. Kitchens sheriff, and G. W. Kitchens clerk.
Ordered, That Nelson H. Dowd be allowed one dollar for killing one prairie wolf, and that James D. Beeby be allowed two dollars for killing wolves.
Ordered, That John Hall be allowed two dollars for killing two prairie wolves, and that Erastus Convers be allowed two dollars for killing two prairie wolves.
Ordered, That Matthew T. Cleveland, Nelson H.Dowd and Lewis F. Wilson are appointed viewers, and James M. Price surveyor, to view and survey a road from the east line of Iowa county, on the north side of Iowa River, at the termination of a road from Iowa City, thence westward via. Mineral Point to the north line of Iowa county near the residence of A. Steph- ens; said viewers to meet near the residence of Joseph Brown on May 15, 1846.
Ordered, That Thomas Hanson, Stephen Hanson and Michael Duffey be appointed viewers and James M. Price surveyor, to view and locate a road leading from the south bluff of the north bend of Old Man's Creek, to the north side of Edward R. Ricord's farm; thence to where the Johnson county road leading from Iowa City to the old boundary line crosses the John- son and Iowa county line near Old Man's Creek; viewers to meet at Henry Starry's on the eighteenth of May, 1846.
Ordered, That Anderson Meacham be allowed four dollars for services rendered as county commissioner; that Robert M. Hutchinson be allowed six dollars for three days' services as commissioner; and Edward R. Ricord be allowed six dollars for three days' services.
Ordered, That George W. Kitchens be allowed six dollars for services during term time.
Ordered, That the clerk levy a tax of five mills on the dollar worth, according to the asses- ment now on file, and make out the duplicate for collection of the same.
It will be seen from the foregoing that the first movement for the loca- tion of county roads was made at this session of the board, and that at the same meeting was made the first tax levy of the county. The business heretofore referred to is about all which was transacted by the first board of commissioners. It does not appear that the board held another meeting prior to August, 1846, at which time occurred another election, and the members of the new board entered upon the duties of their office.
The persons elected in August, 1846, as members of the new board of county commissioners were, Lewis F. Wilson, William Crawford and Thomas Dedmore. The latter was a new-comer into the Miller settle-
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
ment on English River; he was elected without his consent and did not accept. The board then consisted, for the time being, of two members, Wilson and Crawford.
The new board, upon entering on the duties of their office, proceeded to levy the taxes for the year 1846. The levy was five mills on the dollar for county purposes, three mills on the dollar for school purposes and for Ter- ritorial purposes as the law directs.
A. P. Kitchens was allowed the sum of twelve dollars for assessing the county.
It will be remembered that in early times there was a county assessor instead of township assessors.
At the time the new board of county commissioners went into office Mr. Lyon still owned the ground where the county seat was located, and noth- ing had yet been done to lay out the town and dispose of the lots. The first matter then which demanded the attention of the commissioners was to secure for the county the title to the land upon which the seat of justice was located. Mr. Wilson addressed himself energetically to this task, and finally succeeded in bringing the obdurate Lyon to terms. He informed him that the commissioners, as well as the tax-payers of the county, were fully advised of his plans to obtain an exorbitant price for the land, and that they had irrevocably resolved not to submit to his demands. The best and last offer of the commissioners was government prices for the land with ten per cent interest on the money from the time that it had been en- tered.
Finding that the commissioners were immovable and the people felt out- raged at his conduct, Mr. Lyon accepted the offer. The offer being ac- cepted Mr. Wilson set about the task of raising the cash; he finally suc- ceeded in borrowing fifty dollars of William Hench, and forty-five dollars of William Taylor, and picked up the rest in small sums wherever he could get it.
The following orders, made October 6, 1846, will show how Messrs. Hench and Taylor were to be repaid :
Ordered, That William Hench be allowed fifty dollars for money loaned to the county to purchase the county seat, to be paid out of the money arising from the sale of lots in the county seat, with interest at the rate of ten per cent till paid.
Ordered, That William Taylor be allowed forty-five dollars and fifty-eight cents, with in- terest at the rate of ten per cent per annum till paid, which sum is to be paid out of the money arising from the sale of lots in the county seat.
The money thus secured was merely sufficient to purchase eighty acres, and R. B. Groff was induced to buy the other eighty acres, which he after- ward deeded to the county and took his pay in town lots. Mr. Hench also was finally reimbursed in lots.
Having come into the possession of the land, the next measure was to survey it and lay out the town site into blocks, lots, streets and alleys.
With reference to the survey of the town sites, Mr. R. B. Groff says:
" Dr. J. Lyman Frost was the first man to attempt to make a survey of the town. He had no compass, but thought he could arrange the blocks, squares and alleys with stakes; he succeeded in making two range but not three. So Cyrus Sanders was called up from Iowa City to complete the job."
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
The survey having been finally made the board adopted the following order:
Ordered, That the sale of lots in the town of Marengo shall take place on Monday the sec- ond day of October, A. D. 1846.
At the next session of the board the following orders were made in refer- ence to paying sundry expenses arising from the survey of the town sites.
Ordered, That Horace H. Hull be allowed twelve and a half cents for carrying the chain three days and six hours in surveying the county seat, to be paid out of the money arising from the sale of lots in the county seat,
Ordered, That A. P. Kitchens be allowed three dollars and twenty-five cents of the fund arising from the sale of lots in the county seat.
Ordered, That Dunham Sprague be allowed two dollars and fifty cents from the fund aris- ing from the sale of lots in the county seat.
Ordered, That George W. Kitchens be allowed seven dollars and fifty cents from the fund arising from the sale of lots in the county seat.
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