USA > Iowa > Iowa County > The history of Iowa County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 82
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Upon one occasion when he cut a bee-tree on the bank of the creek, the tree broke as it fell and the honey poured out into the water, much of the comb floating down the stream. From this incident of sweetening the water with honey the creek and afterward the township was called "Honey Creek."
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HONEY CREEK TOWNSHIP.
TECHNICAL POSITION.
Honey Creek township is bounded north by Benton county and Cono township having Iowa River for the dividing line, on the east by Marengo township, on the south by Hartford and on the west by Jefferson township, in Poweshiek county. The Iowa River cuts off a large portion of its north- east corner, hence it is in the form of geometrical trapezoid. It comprises the width of one section and a half on the west side of that part of town- ship 81, range 11, lying south of Iowa River, and all of that part of town- ship 81, range 12, lying south of Iowa River. Its area is a fraction of a sec- tion more than the regular congressional sized township, containing a little more than thirty-six square miles. Honey Creek is well settled, though during the past decade its population has increased less than a score. On the 2d day of November, 1880, there were cast 237 votes for president.
The real estate in the township is valued at $323,074, and the personal property at $75,968. .
The township is divided into eleven road districts; the rate of road tax is four mills on the dollar, which amounts to $1,596 yearly.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The Iowa River forms the northeast boundary for a distance of eight miles, and this vicinity produces considerable good timber. The bottom lands are wide, and where cultivated produce the most luxuriant crops. The upland or prairie is not many feet above that bordering on the river and Honey Creek, and in some places the eye can scarcely detect the line which divides these two features of the surface. Honey Creek consists of the waters of two smaller streams which unite in section twenty-eight, one taking its rise to the northwest and the other to the southwest in Powe- shiek county. From the confluence of these two streams Honey Creek pursues a northeasterly course and discharges its waters into Iowa River, in section twelve, a short distance below the bridge which crosses the river north of Koszta. The surface is not broken, nor yet level, but what is properly termed rolling.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Lewis F. Wilson, Lewis Lanning, Anderson Meacham, William Taylor, Eli Chase, Abner Wright, William Hench and many others came to Honey Creek in an early day.
Lewis F. Wilson came to this section in 1843, and first settled in Jeffer- son township, Poweshiek county, but not liking the place, the next year settled near Koszta.
William Taylor was widely known and being one of the first settlers, his peculiarities were frequently the subject of conversation in every house- hold. As has been stated, he was fond of hunting bees. On one occasion he went with Mr. E. Trueblood to hunt bees. They found a colony in a large burr oak; not being disposed to cut the tree, Mr. Taylor climbed it and while standing on a limb high up, cut a large hole with his ax and then calmly took out the honey and let it down in a bucket, by means of a rope, to Mr. Trueblood, who stood upon the ground.
Abner Wright, better known as "Grizzly " Wright, on account of his fondness for telling of thrilling adventures with grizzly bears, was certainly
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a peculiar character. He had a large scar on the side of his head, which he received while fighting in a hand to hand combat with a wild grizzly in the mountains of California.
Samuel Huston and William Hench have for many years been, and still are, prominent citizens of this neighborhood .. Samuel Huston came in an early day, and has since been an active and enterprising resident of Koszta. He laid out the town of Koszta, built the bridge over the Iowa River and made other improvements.
William Hench was born in Pennsylvania in 1801. He came to Iowa, Johnson county, in the fall of 1842. In March, 1846, he came to Iowa county, and settled near where he now resides, in section 14, township 81, range 12. He immediately erected three log houses in the east part of what is now the town Koszta. He has been a prominent man in the county and has held many important trusts both as a county officer and officer of his own township.
The first breaking of land was by Lewis Wilson and those coming with him.
The first marriage was J. H. Richardson to Alvira Lanning in the year 1848, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Johnson.
The first girl born was in 1846, daughter of Elijah Trueblood.
George Meacham, son of Andrew Meacham, was the first one buried in the township. He was buried on the Meacham farm in the year 1847.
The first school was taught by Josephus Talbott in a school-house built on the Lanning farm. He had an attendance of twelve scholars. This school-house was built by volunteer labor of the residents, and cost one hundred and fifty dollars.
The first religious services were conducted by Rev. Nichols, a Methodist Episcopal minister, in the kitchen of Mr. Lanning.
Dr. E. P. Miller was the first physician. He came in 1857, lived here four years and died and was buried in the Koszta cemetery.
CEMETERY.
The cemetery is situated a little southeast of the village of Koszta, on high ground, and is a very neat and well kept ground for the resting place of the departed. The first to be buried in the township was a son of An- drew Meacham, then his wife. These were buried on their own farm, but subsequently were removed to the Koszta cemetery.
ORGANIZATION.
By an order given under authority of Iowa county court February 18, 1856, Honey Creek township was organized, embracing all its present ter- ritory and also that part of Cono which lies directly north of it. Another order was made March 3, 1856, and fixed the boundaries of Cono. The first election in Honey Creek township, organized as it now is, was held in the village of Koszta on the 7th day of April, 1856, and the following offi- cers were elected: Trustees, E. C. Cole, Alexander Patterson and William Hench, Sr .; assessor, S. Middlesworth; clerk, J. M. Richardson.
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HONEY CREEK TOWNSHIP.
The present township officers are:
Trustees-James Chandler, C. D. Walter, C. A. Gates.
Justices-H. F. Randolph, J. L. Tanner.
Constables-C. H. Dodd, J. S. Mitchell.
Assessor-C. M. Rich.
Clerk-J. A. White.
CHURCHES.
There are two good Methodist Episcopal churches in this township, one at Koszta and the other on section 29, in the southwest part of the town- ship.
Koszta Methodist Episcopal Church-Was organized in the year 1845 with the following named persons among its original members: Lewis Lanning, Alvira Lanning, Josephus Lanning, Mary Lanning, Anderson Meacham, Lucinda Meacham, Alfred Meacham, Lewis F. Wilson, Malinda Wilson, Mary Shoemaker, Matilda Meacham. Lewis F. Wilson was the first class-leader. The church was built in the year 1860. It was a frame structure and cost the sum of $2,200, and was dedicated the same year of its construction by Revs. John Harris and T. E. Corkhill. The following are among the pastors who have served the church. Revs. Nichols, E. W. Twining, I. G. H. Armistead, A. Collins, Joseph Mayon, S. Brooks, J. Jamison, S. Dunton, C. Woolsey, G. Bamford, J. Hestwood, J. R. Cary, J. T. Simons, S. H. Thomas, A. C. Barnhart, C. Morey, J. Elrod, J. Rankin, D. C. Smith, D. C. Beven, R. J. Kenyon, R. A. Carnine, D. A. Watters and John Potter, the present worthy pastor. The number of the . present membership is 80. Koszta was made the head of the circuit in the year 1872, and a parsonage was built. Koszta has been noted for headquarters of camp meetings for many years. Their grounds are in a grove just in the edge of town on the farm of I. N. Lanning. The property of the as- sociation amounts to over $1,000. The Sunday-school, which meets in con- nection with other church services every Sabbath, numbers, in average at- tendance, 75. Mr. I. N. Lanning is superintendent and F. Wilkinson sec- retary.
Summit Church-The M. E. Church, known as the Summit Church, was organized in 1877. The following are among the prominent members: C. D. Walters, John Steffy, S. B. Walters, Julian Greenlee, James McMil- lan, William Hench, Jr. and wife, Levi Brace, E. Tuttle, J. W. Johnson, Isaac Hakeman. The present neat frame structure was built in 1877, at a cost of $1,400, and was dedicated the same year by Rev. G. N. Power, of Muscatine. The church is 30x44 and will comfortably seat 200 persons. William Hench, Jr., was the first class-leader. Theffirst pastor was R. J. Kenyon. The present pastor is John Potter of Koszta, it being one of the churches in his circuit. The number of present membership is 66.
SCHOOLS.
Honey Creek township is well supplied with good schools, having a larger number than any other in the county with the same population. Eleven good school-houses adorn the hills and valleys of Honey Creek township. There is an average of seven months school and during last year six males and thirteen females were employed as teachers, at an aver-
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age salary of $25.00 per month. There are of school age 224 males and 175 females, and of these there has been an average attendance at school of 258. The cost of tuition per month for each pupil is $1.60. All the school- houses are neat frame structures and their aggregate value is $3,900, with apparatus valued at $220. The following are among those now engaged in teaching in Honey Creek township: J. C. Beem, Lizzie McMurphy, Mary Randolph, Mary Guthrie, Jennie Mitchell, Royal Tucker, Mary E. Thomp- son.
KOSZTA.
Samuel Huston laid out this town about two months after the first town- ship election in Honey Creek, and named it Koszta, in honor, it is said, of a Polish nobleman of the same name. The original plat was in the north- east quarter of section 14, township S1, range 12, and was officially ac- knowledged June 12, 1856. Theodore Hench made an addition just south of this, April 21, 1857, and it is now known as Hench's Addition. When the post-office was established William Hench was appointed postmaster. N. M. Adams was the next, and then A. T. Fields and D. L. Stick.
DOVER.
This little town, laid out by Adam Hall June 6, 1857, is situated on the sw qr of sw qr section 6, and nw qr of nw qr section 7, township 81, range 12. It is within one mile of Benton county line, and one quarter of Poweshiek county line. At one time there was a post-office and store here, but now there is nothing of the kind ..
BRIDGES.
There are several good bridges in this township, five across Honey Creek and two over the Iowa River. The one just a mile north of Koszta has been destroyed by floods and again replaced. It is near where the section line between 11 and 12 crosses Iowa River. The bridge is 170 feet long, 15 feet above low water and cost $3,000. Horatio Stanley was the builder. Another bridge spans the Iowa River near the place where the section line between 5 and 6 crosses the river, one mile east of the Poweshiek county line. The township is provided with one large general store at Koszta, kept by the firm of Stick & Marcellus, blacksmith shop by G. H. Rossman, wagon shop by James Fisher, grist inill and saw-mill by Robert Thompson & Son, hotel by Mrs. S. D. Cagwin, shoemaker's shop by Mark Coats, physician C. H. Dodd. Other markets are Marengo, Belle Plaine, Luzerne, Ladora and Victor.
LOOKING AHEAD.
The future prospects of Honey Creek township are bright. Most of the farmers are already in independent circumstances; their farms are a source of good income; the diversity of surface and soil enables them to produce cattle, crops and hogs, while the supply of timber and never-failing water gives them the benefits accruing from both.
FIRE.
The barn and stable belonging to the Koszta House, at Koszta, were
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HONEY CREEK TOWNSHIP.
burned October 10, 1858. Four horses, fifteen tons of hay in the barn and several large stacks near by were also entirely destroyed. The fire was sup- posed to be the work of an incendiary and a man was arrested for the crime, but nothing sufficient to convict him could be proven.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
B EEM, JOHN C .- Deceased. One of the early settlers of this county. Was born December 12, 1824, in Jackson county, Indiana. Was a farmer by occupation. Removed to Iowa and located in Marengo, March 18, 1852, as a merchant and in 1853 removed to farm in Honey Creek township, on which he lived until January, 1860, when he took the office of treasurer and recorder of Iowa county, which he held for three years and resigned. In 1863 he was a candidate against Hon. M. E. Cutts for State Senator. The " home vote" elected him, but the "soldier vote " resulted in Cutts choice. In 1871 he was a candidate for Representative in the As- sembly of Iowa, but was defeated. He moved to Kansas in 1872 and bought a farm there. He died at Marion, Iowa, August 17, 1876. He was married in Jackson county, Indiana, to Margaret A. Tanner, who was born April 25, 1824, and died February 24, 1876. To them were born: Mary A. (June 22, 1848, now Patterson), Richard L. (July 26, 1850, now dead), Joseph T. (October 22, 1852), William D. (December 9, 1854), John C., Jr. (April 15, 1858), Charles L. (April 22, 1860, since deceased), Sarah R. (January 26, 1863), Carroll M. (January 14, 1866) and Marshall T. (March 20, 1868). All reside in Iowa county.
BEEM, WILLIAM D .- Sec. 17, P. O. Marengo. Was born in Marengo, December 9, 1854. His parents came to Iowa county in the spring of 1852 and settled in Marengo, and were among the founders of that town. They purchased the farm now known as the Sherman farm in 1853 and lands adjacent, where they lived until the winter of 1872, when his father sold a part of the land and went to Kansas; his mother remained in Iowa and lived on the farm on which the subject of this sketch is now living, and with whom he was living at that time. In 1876 his mother died, and soon after his father, when on a visit from Kansas, came to an untimely death by his own hand. It is thought he was insane at the time, as there was no cause for the deed. He was a man that stood high in the community and was twice elected treasurer of Iowa county. In 1879 he Married Lissa Meenack, who was born in Ohio and came to Iowa when she was eleven years old. He is Democratic in poli- tics. His wife is a member of the Christian Church. J. C. Beem, Jr., his brother who is now making his home with him, was born in Honey Creek township in April, 1858. He is a graduate of the high-school in Marion, Iowa, and is now a teacher.
BRADFORD, JAMES B .- Sec. 9, P. O. Koszta. Was born in 1843 in Buncombe county, North Carolina; when he was two years old his father went to Tennessee and four years after to Illinois, coming to Benton county, Iowa, in 1855. In 1864, at the age of twenty-one, he went to the Rocky Mountains in quest of gold, returning in 1869 and settled in Tama county, where he lived until 1873, when he came to Iowa county and settled near Koszta. In April of 1864 he married Emeline Guinn, by whom he has two children: Lester and Walter. Mr. Bradford has never had the advan- tage even of a common-school education, but has acquired, by application
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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.
and study, a fair business education and by hard work he has accumulated means enough to purchase a farm of 240 acres all under cultivation ..
HANDLER, JAMES-Sec. 36, P. O. Ladora. . Was born in Grafton county, New Hampshire, September 5, 1834, where he lived until he reached his majority. When eighteen he taught the first term of school. In 1857 he graduated from the scientific department of Dartmouth Col- lege, New Hampshire, and came to Illinois in the same year, and taught one year in the graded schools of Rock Island. He also taught one year as principal in the Third Ward school of Racine, Wisconsin. In 1859 he returned to his native State, where he engaged in farming until 1869. In the spring of 1861 he married Levira K. Bickford, of Oxford, New Hamp- shire. In 1870 he went to Cambridge, Illinois, where he pursued the avo- cation of farming until 1876, when he came to Iowa and settled in Iowa county, where he now lives. His farm consists of 200 acres all improved excepting 40 acres. He has eight children: Minnie J., Charles T., Henry J., Earle F., Lillian M., John E., Perley B. and Fred. Mr. and Mrs. Chand- ler are members of the Presbyterian Church at Ladora.
CRAYNE, DANIEL-Sec. 19, P. O. Belle Plaine. Was born in Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania, July 25, 1823. His father dying when he was only sixteen years of age threw him on his own resources to gain a livelihood. He worked as a farm hand. until 1854, when having accumu- lated about seven hundred dollars, he started for the West, arriving in this county in February of that year. In the following June he entered a quar- ter section of land and at once began to improve it, his mother being his housekeeper. In 1860 he married Rebecca Goodwin. They have four children: Anna, Allen, Mary and Rachel. He is a Democrat in politics and has held many positions in his township.
CROFT, JOHN-Sec. 20, P. O. Belle Plaine. Was born at Kittering, Northamtonshire, England, May 25, 1830. He lived with his parents un- til sixteen years old, when he left them and came to the United States. arriving in New York City May 1, 1846, and went to Utica where he lived four years, then going to Sycamore, De Kalb county, Illinois. From there to Iowa and after living in Benton and Tama counties, permanently settled in Iowa county in 1872. In September, 1861, he married Penelope J. Guinn. When Mr. Croft came to Iowa, Benton, Iowa and Tama counties were very new. Not being blessed with the means to purchase a farm, he worked his father-in-law's land for all he could raise on it by breaking up the land, which he did by exchanging work with his neighbors. Not being satisfied with working land for others he first purchased a farm in Tama county, which he sold after living on it four years and came to Honey Creek township, in Iowa county, and purchased the farm on which he now lives, consisting of 120 acres all improved. He has three children: William D., John McC. and Arthur L. W., all living at home. Mrs. Croft is a native of Tennessee, coming to Iowa when very young, with her par- ents, and settling on the prairie where Belle Plaine now is. She has seen that thriving city grow from two log cabins to its present size. Mr. and Mrs. Croft have experienced all the vicissitudes of a life in a new set- tlement, and by misfortunes and sickness have had a sad experience; yet they have succeeded in securing a home, and are free from pressing want.
D ODD, CRANSTON H .- Physician and surgeon, Koszta. Was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, February 26, 1849, and received but a common school education. He left the homestead in Indiana in 1872,
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HONEY CREEK TOWNSHIP.
and came to Iowa and purchased a farm in this county near Marengo. In 1878 he sold his farm and entered upon the study of medicine, attending lectures during the winter of 1878 and 1879, at the Iowa State University at Iowa City. He settled at Koszta in the summer of 1879, where he is- building up a good practice. Has been twice married. First to Judith A: Litton, in 1867. She died in 1873, leaving two children: Ulysses and Oscar. In the same year he married Sarah J. Litton, by whom he has had tive children, all of whom are dead, being the victims of diptheria and dying in a short space of time.
G ATES, ARAD-Sec. 24, P. O. Koszta. Was born in Ashburnham,
Worcester county, Massachusetts, August 12, 1804. In 1811 he went with his parents to the State of New York where he lived in different localities until the spring of 1865, when he came to Iowa county and pur- chased the farm that his son, Alonzo E, now owns, and with whom he now lives. He has been twice married. His first wife was Ann Abell, whom he married in 1837. She died the next year. In 1839 he married Char- lotte P. Abell, by whom he had four children: Alonzo E., Charles A., Ed- ward L. and Francis. The first two are farmers and own farms near Koszta .. The third is a farmer and lives in Taylor county, Iowa. The fourth died in infancy. His second wife died in 1862. He is a Republican in politics, and is proud of the war record of his two eldest sons. He is a hale old gentleman, a member of the M. E. Church, and lives up to the principles, inculcated in his boyhood of being true to himself and his fellow-men! With his children and grandchildren around him he is now enjoying his- declining days.
GATES, JAMES D .-- Sec. 18, P. O. Koszta. Was born at West Mon- roe, Oswego county, New York, in September, 1838, and lived on the farm with his parents until he was twenty years of age. In 1858 he married Eliza Slover, by whom he had three children, two of whom are dead; Al- ton, the oldest, is living at home. In 1866 he, with his family, started for lowa, stopping in Wisconsin on account of the poor health of his wife, and while there she died. He arrived in Iowa county in the fall of that year, and lived with his father at Koszta, until 1871, when he married Carrie. Tucker, by whom he has three children: Ernest, Leroy and Hattie. His farm consists of 230 acres. All that he owns he has acquired by hard la- bor, and he is one of the first farmers of the county. He is Republican in politics. Mrs. Gates being left an orphan when she was nine years old and. with her a younger brother, has been buffeted around by the world. Her- self and brother were placed in the orphans' asylum at Buffalo, New York,. where she remained a little over one year when she went to Niagara Falls; from there to St. Louis, Missouri, and then to Pennsylvania, where she- learned she had relatives living in Iowa county, Iowa, and started for the West soon after. The orphan brother, placed in the asylum with her, she. has never seen or heard from since she left him.
GATES, ALONZO E .- Sec. 19, P. O. Koszta. Was born at New Lon- don, Onedia county, New York, March 12, 1840. At the age of twenty- one he went to Dodge county, Wisconsin, where he enlisted in the Tenth. Wisconsin infantry, and served three years, and was in the battles of Perry- ville and Bridgeport. After the war he returned to Wisconsin. In 1865. he married Balinda Sullivan, by whom he has four children: Frank E ... Eugene, Merritt and Lottie May. He came to Iowa county in the same-
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year that he was married, and lived on his father's farm, which he now owns, and his father is spending his declining days with him.
GATES, CHARLES A .- Sec. 24, P. O. Koszta. Was born in 1844, at West Monroe, Oswego county, New York. When the war of the Rebell- ion broke out he was among the first to give his services to defend his country against those who would destroy it, enlisting at the age of nine- teen, in company B, of the First New York light artillery, and served dur- ing the war, participating in twenty-seven battles, the most important be- ing the second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Get- tysburg, Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court-house, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Five Forks, and Appamattox Court-house, being wounded at Savage Station. He was mustered out in June, 1865, and soon after discharged he made a short visit at the home of his boyhood, and then came to Iowa, where his parents had preceded him a few months, and lo- cated in Iowa county near Koszta. Having secured a farm he married Hannah M. Marcellus, April 25, 1867. They have four children: George L., Clarence A., William T., and Alonzo M. Mr. Gates has abandoned his log house, now used for a stable, and occupies one of the first residences in the county, surrouned by a healthy, happy family of children, enjoying the prosperity of a prudent and industrious man.
GRAY, J. R .- Sec. 28, P. O. Koszta. When he first came to Iowa he was only sixteen years of age, being sent out by his father, James A. Gray, of Wheeling, Virginia, to attend to some business for him, he being a large land owner in the State. It was not his intention to settle perman- ently in the State, but making many trips back and forth, and seeing the .country developing so rapidly, he finally concluded to make Iowa his fu- ture home. He was born in Wheeling, Virginia, in 1843. In early life he was generously supplied with money by his father. In his school-boy days he attended the Vermillion Institute in Ohio, and is a graduate of Duff's Mercantile College of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When reaching his majority, instead of relying on his father, he preferred to depend upon his own efforts, and began life as a teacher, and taught in several districts in Iowa county, his first school being what is now known as number six, in the Gates' neighborhood. In 1865 he married Rebecca Lanning, and the same year settled permanently in Iowa county, Honey Creek township, on the same farm where he is now living. Being a clerk while with his father, and afterward a teacher, he had no practical knowledge of farming and had to learn, from sad experience, how to be a successful farmer. His first enterprise was the sheep business, which proved a total failure, losing his investment, and was involved to the amount of two thousand dollars. Discouragement, however, was unknown to him, and relying on his business reputation he entered the field of speculation, and keeping up appearances as well as possible, he finally succeeded in squaring himself with the world. He now owns a farm of 460 acres of improved prairie land and forty acres of timber, with a neat and convenient house and barn, they alone costing $6,000. He has two bright little girls: Minnie (aged thirteen), and Jessie (aged five years). Mr. and Mrs. Gray are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church.
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