USA > Iowa > Jackson County > The history of Jackson County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion history of the Northwest, history of Iowa miscellaneous matters, &c > Part 38
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When Linn, Jones and Jackson Counties were organized by the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin, Bellevue was made the county seat of all three coun- ties. Here the first courts were held, and here was the place of meeting of the County Commissioners for several years.
April 12, 1841, we find the following entry upon the County Commission- ers' book :
Jesse Yount, Thomas S. Denson and Eli Goddard (Commissioners appointed to re locate the seat of justice of this county) appeared and took the oath prescribed by law, preparatory to entering upon their duties.
April 15, 1841, these Commissioners made the following report :
The undersigned Commissioners, appointed to re-locate the county seat of Jackson County, Territory of Iowa, in accordance with an act to amend an act entitled an act to re-locate said county seat, have selected the southeast quarter of Section 22, Township 85 north, of Range 3 east of the Fifth Principal Meridian, and have named said county seat Andrew.
THOMAS S. DENSON, ELI GODDARD, JESSE YOUNT, Commissioners.
It seems that it was necessary to have this choice ratified by a vote of the citizens of Jackson County, and, in an election held on the last Monday of May, 1841, Andrew had 208 votes, Bellevue 111 votes, and Center 1 vote, there being a majority of 96 votes in favor of Andrew.
On the 5th of July, 1842, the town of Andrew was put up at auction and sold to the highest bidder. In this way, it came into the possession of Ansel Briggs and John Francis, upon the following terms : The public square to be reserved, the Court House and Jail to be held by the Commissioners for twenty years, according to a certain lien given by Briggs and Francis, to pay two cer- tain notes then in the hands of the Commissioners, to assume certain other obligations of the Commissioners' Court, and to pay John G. McDonald for his services in surveying said town of Andrew.
June 4, 1847, a substantial stone jail was contracted for, to be built by one Peter Mullen, whose mother has been elsewhere mentioned, as owning the only
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house between Maquoketa and Dubuque in 1838. This jail was to be on the northeast corner of the public square in Andrew, to be built 31 by 35 feet, containing two good cells, each ten feet square, and also apartments for the accommodation of the jailer. The contract figure was $1,450, to be paid by certain county bonds, bearing 6 per cent interest, due in 1860 or sooner, at the option of the county. This jail was finished in 1848.
Scarcely was it finished when the voice of the people changed the county seat back to Bellevue. October, 1848, the records show the County Commis- sioners in session at the latter place. The Court House at Andrew was rented January 1, 1849, and the county officers ordered to remove their books, etc., to Bellevue on that date, the citizens of the latter place having previously given bond to furnish suitable offices for the accommodation of the county officials.
The Sheriff was authorized to rent a suitable jail in Bellevue, to be leased for a term of not less than five years.
An effort was made, in March, 1857, to remove the county seat to Center- ville. A petition of 1,632 legal voters was presented to the County Judge, requesting that the question be submitted to a vote of the people. This vote was taken at the regular April election following, which left the county seat at Bellevue.
In the next September, a second petition was presented for a vote on the question whether or not the seat of justice should be removed to Fulton. This vote failed of its purpose in April, 1858.
A petition was next presented, in May, 1858, for a vote on the question of removing again to Andrew. This vote was ordered to be taken in April, 1859, at the general election, in case there should be one. But the law as to the time of elections was changed in the mean time, and the question was ruled out of a vote.
During the year 1861, those who were in favor of Andrew as a county seat secured the requisite number of names to a petition to secure a vote on the matter. The citizens of Andrew proposed to furnish a Court House gratuitously for the term of five years, and the measure was carried. This Court House at Andrew, which cost some six thousand dollars, was, in 1866, sold to the Board of Supervisors of Jackson County, for $2,000.
An effort was made, in 1868, to get the county seat back to Bellevue. Defeated in the November election by a majority of 1,094.
The last removal of the county seat was in 1873, when it was changed to Maquoketa. This was the occasion of a strong and bitter contest. The citizens of Maquoketa believed that in order to secure a victory it would be necessary to risk building a Court House in advance of the election. But the City Council could not legally build a county building, so it was resolved to build a City Hall, which might be leased to the county for a term of ninety-nine years.
Accordingly, June 12, 1873, there was passed an ordinance by the City Council appropriating from the city treasury, in bonds of the city of Maquo- keta, the sum of $8,000, for the purchase of a lot, and the erection thereon of a City Hall.
On the 3d day of June had been presented to the Board of Supervisors, of Jackson County, a petition of John E. Goodenow and 2,692 other petitioners for the relocation of the county seat. The census of 1873 had shown 4,625 voters in the county, and this petition containing a majority of names of the legal voters of the county, an election was ordered at the general election in October following, and due notices ordered to be given by publication in the newspapers and the posting of bills by Constables in different townships.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
Meantime the work of building the Court House in Maquoketa was pushed forward with marvelous rapidity. In just ninety days from the day of break- ing ground the roof and cornice were on this new, elegant and substantial build- ing, and photographs of the same were scattered over the county for the pur- pose of influencing voters. A cut of the new building appeared in the Sentinel of September 25. This was thought by many in the northern part of the county to be a " canard." It was claimed by the enemies of Maquoketa to be the picture of some other building, and scores of people came from distant parts of the county to verify the reports they had heard about the new Court House.
The following is a brief description of the building : The basement walls are two feet thick, ten feet in the clear, and built of dressed stone. This basement has been fitted up as a temporary county jail and city calaboose. The walls of the first story are sixteen inches, and the height fourteen feet. This is set apart for county offices, and affords large and comfortable headquarters for the county officials. The second-story walls are same thickness as the first, but twenty feet in height, forming an excellent court room, 40x65 feet. The entire building is 45x81 feet, forty-seven feet from the ground to the eaves, and cost the city of Maquoketa upward of $14,000.
At the meeting of the Maquoketa City Council August 25, 1873, the fol- lowing petition of 439 citizens was presented :
To the Honorable, the Council of the City of Maquoketa :
The undersigned citizens and voters residing in the city of Maquoketa would respectfully request your honorable body to lease to Jackson County, State of Iowa, such portion of the new City Hall, when completed, as may be needed by said county for County Court and other public purposes of the like character ; said lease to be conditioned upon the removal of the county seat 10 Maquoketa in 1873, and to continue ninety-nine years, or so long as Maquokela shall remain such county seat.
On motion, the prayer of the petitioners was granted unanimously.
The lease for the consideration of one dollar, and the further consideration that the county of Jackson occupy this building as a court room, and for county offices ; grants to said county this building and grounds for the term of ninety- nine years, the city reserving the exclusive right to occupy the eastern half of the basement rooms, and also to use the upper story when the same is unoccu- pied, for court or county purposes, "Provided, that when Jackson County shall fail to occupy and use said premises as its county offices and Court House, then this shall terminate."
Then was presented to the Council a guarantee signed by D. M. Hubbell, and twenty-five others, citizens and tax-payers of Maquoketa, pledging that in case the county .seat was removed to Maquoketa, that all removal of records, offices and furniture, shall be made without expense to Jackson County. This guarantee was ordered filed with the County Auditor.
The result of the election was a majority in favor of Maquoketa of 179.
To take charge of the removal of the county seat, James Dunne, the Presi- dent of the Board of Supervisors, was appointed. By him was delegated the general superintendency of the movement to John Holroyd and Myron Collins ; of the Treasurer's office, George C. Heberling was appointed Marshal; of the Clerk's office, L. W. Stuart ; of the Auditor's office, T. E. Cannell ; of the Recorder's office, P. Mitchell ; of the Sheriff's office, James Hixon.
The work of removal was performed, without incident or accident, November 9, 1873. About seventy-five farmers with their teams assisted in the labor gratu- itously.
In the fall of 1876, quite an excitement was occasioned by a determined effort on the part of the friends of Andrew to have another vote on the
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relocation of the oft-located county seat. Petitions, remonstrances and re-remon- strances were circulated, and a total of some 6,400 names were secured. After a long and laborious canvass on the part of the Board of Supervisors, the prayer of the petitioners was denied, there being two names more on the remon- strance than on the petition.
During the time of the excitement and canvass, special policemen were placed inside the Court House by the city authorities to watch over the county records by night. On the night of September 14, one of the police, hearing a noise at the outside door, as of some one prying for entrance, suddenly opened it, and met in the darkness an unknown party who commenced assault, but who was brought to terms by a brick in the hands of the officer, and was locked up. A couple of hours later two more men came to the door in the same manner and were captured. These three parties were citizens of Andrew, and, upon trial, were discharged, except the first mentioned, who was fined for resisting an officer. What their object was in attempting to enter the Court House by night is only a matter of conjecture, their explanation being that they were there for the purpose of guarding their petition in the Auditor's safe, and hearing a noise inside were endeavoring to get in to surprise the supposed thieves.
This incident, at least, will go to show that, in the opinion of the citizens of both Maquoketa and Andrew, those of "the other side" were capable of using other than fair means to carry their point.
Since the removal of the county seat to Maquoketa there has been mani- fested on the part of the citizens of Prairie Springs and Tete des Morts Town- ships a decided anxiety to be detached from Jackson and attached to Dubuque County. A reference to the map will clearly show that they geographically belong to Dubuque, and, in fact, their incorporation into Jackson was a purely political measure. The northern boundary of Tete des Morts is only from six to eight miles from Dubuque, while it is more than four times that from Maquo- keta. The transfer of townships will probably one day be made.
COUNTY SUPERVISORS.
Among the acts of the County Supervisors, as we glean from their records, have been several transactions of interest, which do not properly come under any of the departments above treated of; we give them as pot-pourri.
A committee of the Board was appointed in 1865 to examine into the mat- ter of predatory animals, the number killed, the bounty paid, and the damage they caused. This report gave as the number of wolves killed by citizens during the preceding years as 122, on which a bounty of $5 per scalp, or $610, had been paid. Of wildcats, there were slaughtered 78, and a bounty of $3 each drew out of the treasury $234.
On the other side of the ledger is the following entry : "Value of sheep killed by wolves, $3,289, while the dogs are represented to have caused the death of sheep to the value of $1,179."
As the result of this report, the bounty on predatory animals remained the same, while the Legislature was petitioned for a tax of from $1 to $4 per head on dogs.
AN INDIGNANT MEMBER.
One of the most active members of the Board of Supervisors, and one who has served some dozen years, Mr. James Dunne, at the January meeting, 1868, following upon the Fenian troubles, offered the accompanying resolution, which was unanimously adopted by the Board, which then consisted of eighteen
Detroit
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members. This resolution will go far to show that the county was not named in vain for the "hero of New Orleans," and that her sons do not forget how he whipped the British :
WHEREAS, The American Colonies declared their independence, in 1776, of the British king and his tyrannical government, and compelled by the sword his acknowledgment, in 1783, of their sovereignty and independence as one of the sovereign nations of the world, under the name of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, In 1812, the United States of America found it necessary again to declare war against the British king and his government, to protect the persons of naturalized American citizens upon the high seas from the tyrannical and arbitrary assumptions by the British govern- ment of the right to search American vessels for, and to seize the persons of, naturalized citizens, and compel them to bear arms to protect and defend what they despised-British tyranny-which terminated in a glorious victory and a complete triumph of the American arms at New Orleans, Jan- uary 8, 1815, under the great statesman, patriot and hero, Old Hickory, himself of Irish parentage ; and
WHEREAS, The British government now claim and put in force the right to hang naturalized American citizens of Irish birth, having recently executed as traitors, a large number for acts done and language spoken upon American soil ; therefore be it
Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States Government to signify to the English authorities that expatriation is the natural and inherent right of every person, and that such right is fully recognized by this Government; that this Government also recognizes to the fullest extent the right of every person to renounce his allegiance to any government of which he may be a subject or citizen, and become the subject or citizen of any other government, being sub- ject to all the rights and privileges thereof, thus completely severing his connection with the for- mer and annulling any and all claims which it may have had upon him.
Resolved, That this Board forward a copy of the above to our Senator and Representatives in the Legislature, asking that Congress be memorialized upon the subject.
In 1870, a debt of the county fund having accumulated to the amount of $17,000, and the price of county warrants being depressed in consequence, it became necessary to take some measures to fill up the treasury. The law at that time did not allow a levy of more than 4 mills per annum for the county fund, and with this tax the fund was continually getting behind. This debt was funded by the issue of county bonds for the amount of $17,000. A report of the Treasurer, in April, 1873, showed that of these bonds at that date, all save $3,700 had been redeemed, and another set of $15,000 was issued. These are all now recalled.
EMBEZZLEMENTS.
Frederick Scarborough had been Clerk of the District Court for a number of years previous to 1865. At that time, the salary of the Clerk was paid by allowing him a certain salary, a part of which would come from the fees of his office, and the deficit was to be made up from the county treasury. Under this plan, if the Clerk failed to report a fee, it was that much more added to the amount necessary to make up his salary. At the time of Scarborough's retirement from office, in 1865, it was discovered that a large amount of fees had never been reported. A committee was appointed to examine his books. As well try to trace the path of a ship which had become smooth by a night of calm, as to look up clerk-fees running back over a term of years. The com- mittee found a deficit of $5,532.48, which they reported at the June meeting, 1865. How much more might have been appropriated could never be known. The suit brought by the county against the sureties of Scarborough ran along for some two years. Judgment was secured before Judge Cotton in September, 1867, for $2,442.98 and costs. This was finally compromised still further by the release of the bondsmen upon the payment of about $2,000 into the county treasury.
In 1873, on the Monday morning following the vote which changed the county seat from Andrew to Maquoketa, the front door of the Court House was
B
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
found standing open, the Treasurer's office in a disordered condition, the Treas- ury safe open, and papers scattered about the floor. A robbery was reported. A card was found near the safe containing the figures which formed the com- bination by which the safe was locked, and the dial-plate on the inner doors had been removed, on the inside of which were the characters which were the "open sesame " to the money box itself ..
The Treasurer gave out that the safe had been robbed of about $20,000. His own report made out a few days later showed a deficit of near $41,000. The burglary story then ceased to be credible, if any credence had ever been placed in it.
The defaulter had been Treasurer for six years. His books were examined by a committee appointed for that purpose, who found them a labyrinth whose depths they were unable fully to explore. A shortage of $51,000 was reported.
The ex-Treasurer made an assignment of his real estate, etc., to T. E. Can- nell, Esq., of Maquoketa, and under the bankruptcy law a settlement of his estate was made for the benefit of his creditors, Jackson County being by far the largest claimant. From this was realized a dividend of some 25 per cent.
Suit was brought against the defaulter's bondsmen for the balance of the indebtedness. A change of venue was taken to Clinton County July 12, 1875 ; judgment was rendered in the sum of $25,000. The matter was allowed to run along for months. Some $1,400 had been placed to the credit of his sureties, who presented a petition signed by more than one-half the voters of the county praying that the bondsmen be released upon paying $5,000 into the treasury.
The Board finally settled with the sureties for a little more than this amount, the basis of settlement being that the bondsmen should pay a sum sufficient to make (with the dividend realized from the Treasurer's assignee) good to the county all balances due from the defaulter to subcorporations.
Criminal proceedings were commenced against the embezzler, who took a change of venue to Clinton County. He was sentenced to three years in the State Penitentiary, and to pay a fine of $41,000. The latter was remitted, and his term in prison was shortened by executive clemency, which set him free in October, 1876.
BRIDGES.
Crossed by the forks and the main stream of the Maquoketa, Jackson County has been called upon for a heavy expenditure in the building of bridges, and to this enterprise her citizens have lent willing hands and liberal contribu- tions, both by taxes and private subscriptions.
Crossing the North Fork of the Maquoketa are bridges at the following points : Ozark, Edward's Mills, Sutton's Ford, Slipper's Mills, Fulton and Tubbs' Mills.
South Fork is bridged at Canton, Cheneworth's Ford and Maquoketa.
Maquoketa River is bridged at Bridgeport, Mann's Ferry, Dunham's Ferry and Clark's Ferry.
The bridge at Sutton's is now out of repair aud condemned, but will proba- bly be replaced.
Of the bridges mentioned, those at Canton, Ozark, Tubb's Mills, Bridge- port, Mann's Ferry and Clark's Ferry are substantial iron structures. The others are of wood, or wood and iron.
Previous to 1867, there were no bridges on the main river below the forks, as that had been declared a navigable stream by Congress. In June of that year, a petition was sent through the State Legislature, asking that the Ma- quoketa River be declared not navigable, as it had practically become so, and
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
it was the desire of the county to bridge it without the expense of a draw- bridge.
July 13, 1868, Congress approved the following resolution :
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representative of the United States, in Congress assen- bled, that the assent of Congress is given to the construction of bridges across the Maquoketa River in the State of Iowa, with or without draws, as may be provided by the laws of the State of Iowa. Sec. 2.
Then followed a memorial to the Iowa Legislature, requesting authority from the State, which was finally granted.
The bridges at Fulton and Slipper's were built in 1865, mostly by private subscriptions, and at but slight expense to the county. The former received an appropriation from the public treasury of $400, the latter, $300. The first has been rebuilt.
The bridge at Tubbs' Mills was built in 1871, at a cost for the superstruct- ure of $25 per lineal foot. It was built in one span, 104 feet in length, by the Cleveland Bridge Co. It is a wrought-iron, tubular, arch-truss bridge.
Mann's Ferry was spanned by a bridge in 1872, consisting of two spans. Its total length was 215 feet. The contract for the superstructure was taken by the Ohio Bridge Co. for $4,945, who put in a wrought-iron tubular, arch patent. The stone and trestle work of this bridge was done by Palmer & Reed, contractors, and cost $4,605.
The bridge at Fulton was repaired in 1872, by W. P. Ward.
The bridge at Slipper's Mill was built in 1873, by Strasser & Schlect. Contract price, $2,100.
Cheneworth's Ford was bridged about the same time and by same contractors, at a cost of $1,950.
The bridge at Dunham's was built in 1873.
An iron bridge 212 feet long was put across the river at Canton, in 1874, by Z. King & Son, for $3,968. The abutments were put in by George Kelsall at a cost of $1,140.
The Clark's Ferry bridge was built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Co., of Canton, Ohio, in 1874, for $3,500.
During the same year, the wooden bridge across South Fork, near Maquo- keta, was built by the county and city conjointly.
The Ozark bridge was made by the Canton Wrought Iron Bridge Co., in 1875. The stone-work was done by Lematen & Luke.
The river was again bridged at Fulton, in 1877, by the Clinton Bridge Co. The finest bridge in Jackson County crosses the river at Bridgeport, and was completed in 1877, at a cost of near $20,000, all told. The superstructure, a wrought-iron bridge, was erected by the Clinton Bridge Co.
The other smaller streams throughout the county are well bridged. But further mention would be tedious. The work of building bridges is suspended for the present, until the outstanding warrants against the bridge fund have been liquidated. The good work will be continued, in the substantial manner in which it has previously been carried on, as soon as the condition of the county treasury will justify it.
COUNTY POOR FARM.
The County Poor Farm originally consisted of 160 acres, purchased in June, 1858, by Joseph Kelso, as County Judge, from Carmel Cotton. Pre- vious to this date, the paupers of the county had been kept by private parties, and their keeping paid for out of the public funds. The Farm, as originally purchased, cost $6,000.
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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
The County Farm of 1879 comprises 309 acres, as follows: The southeast quarter of Section 4; east half of southwest quarter of Section 4, and the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 4, all in Town- ship 85, Range 3 east, known as Perry Township, and twenty-eight acres of timber located in Richland Township.
The east half of the southwest quarter of Section 4 was purchased in 1871, of B. Linneman, for $1,700.
The Wardens of the Poor Farm since its purchase have been as follows :
Lester Cotton June, 1858, to November, 1858.
William Huff November, 1858, to November, 1859.
Jonas Smith. .November, 1859, to March, 1, 1863.
J. B. Duley. March 1, 1863, to March 1, 1867, at $500 per year.
George Hooker. March 1, 1867, to March I, 1868, at $450 per year.
James Buchanan March 1, 1868, to March 1, 1870, at $400 per year.
A. J. Miller. March I, 1870, to March 1, 1872, at $500 per year.
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