USA > Iowa > Jefferson County > The history of Jefferson County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war records of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 42
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The Burlington land sales of November, 1838, constituted an cpoch in the history of this country, and was one of extraordinary interest to two classes of people. . First, to the settlers who wanted homes, and had braved the exposures incident to frontier life to secure them ; and second, to the "money-sharks " and "land-grabbers." The latter class, as soulless as the managers of a Chicago savings-bank, were always ready to take advantage of the poverty of a settler, and either loan him money at "50 per cent," or buy his home from under him.
In other pages of this book, reference is made to the manner in which the settlers protected themselves and each other in their legitimate rights. It was also stated that a record was kept of every claim made in the several townships. After this register or record was completed, the Claim Association in each town- ship elected a bidder to attend the land sales and "bid in" for the occupant each particular claim, as the description of the land was called by the land-office authorities. In this way, every bona-fide settler was protected in his rights. The law never did and never will protect the people in all their rights so fully and so completely as the early settlers of Iowa protected themselves by these claim organizations. They secured justice to all, and, at the same time, fully paid the Government for the lands occupied by them, and who, by their pru- dence and industry laid the foundations of that economy that has made the commonwealth of the "Beautiful Land" the garden-spot and granary of the world.
"Squatters and Speculators at the First Land Sales," is the title of an article written by Hawkins Taylor, Esq., and published in the July (1870) num- ber of the "Annals of Iowa." Athough the paper relates more particularly to Lee County. it describes so accurately the scenes considered here, that a few paragraphs are transferred to this history of Jefferson County :
"The land officers at Burlington, Gen. Van Antwerp and Gen. Dodge, most heartily entered into the spirit and interests of the settlers at the land sales, in securing them their lands, for which the early settlers honored Gen. Dodge, politically, as few men were ever trusted by any people. Gen. Van Antwerp, fortunately or unfortunately for himself as a politician, never went to the people for office ; he was of the old Knickerbocker chivalry-was edu- cated at West Point, and always wore a 'boiled shirt' and starched collar. He was full of grit, always true, but never of the masses. God bless, as He will surely do, the 'Old Settlers,' generally and collectively, of that day.
" Strange as it may seem to people at this day of free lands to all who will settle upon them, at that day, the settlers on public lands were held as ' squat- ters' without any rights to be respected by the Government, or land specu- lators. Many amusing incidents happened at the land sales, one of which I will relate :
"' There were thousands of settlers at the sale at Burlington, in the fall of 1838. The officers could sell but one or two townships each day, and when the land in any one township was offered, the settlers of that township constituted the army on duty for that day, and surrounded the office for their own protec-
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tion. with all the other settlers as a reserve force, if needed. The hotels were full of speculators of all kinds, from the money-loaner, who would accommo- date the settler at 50 per cent, that is, he would enter the settler's land in his (the speculator's) own name, and file a bond for a deed at the end of two years, by the settler's paying him double the amount the land cost. At these rates, Dr. Barrett, of Springfield, Ill., and Louis Benedict, of Albany, N. Y., loaned out $100,000 each, and Lync Sterling and others, at least an equal amount, at the same, or higher rates of interest. The men who come to Iowa now cannot realize what the early settlers had to encounter. The hotels were full of this and a worse class of money-sharks. There was a numerous class who wanted to rob the settlers of their lands and improvements entirely, holding that the settler was a squatter and a trespasser, and should be driven from the lands. You would hear much of this sort of talk about the hotels, but none about the settlers' camps. Amongst the loudest talkers of this kind was an F. F. V., a class that has now about 'give out.' This valiant gentleman was going to invest his money as he pleased, without reference to settlers' claims. When the township of West Point was sold, it was a wet, rainy day. I was bidder, and the officers let me go inside of the office. Just when I went into the office, 'Squire John Judy, who lived on Section 32 or 33, whispered to me that he had been disap- pointed in getting his money, at the last moment, and asked me to pass over his tract and not bid it off. I did so, but the Virginian bid it off. I was inside and could not communicate with any one until the sale was through, and, as I did not bid on the tract the outsiders supposed it was not claimed by a settler, and the moment the bid was made, the bidder left for his hotel. As soon as I could get out, which was in a few minutes, and make known that Judy's land had been bid off by a speculator, within five minutes' time not less than fifteen hundred of as desperate and determined a set of men as ever wanted homes, started for the bold bidder. Prominent in the lead was John G. Kennedy, of Fort Madison, who enjoyed such sport. Col. Patterson, now of Keokuk, a Virginian by birth, but a noble, true-hearted friend of the settler, and who had been intimate with the Virginian, made a run across lots and reached the hotel before Kennedy and his army. The Colonel informed the bidder of the condition of affairs, and advised him at once to abandon his bid, which he did, or, rather, he authorized the Colonel to do it for him. . The Colonel went out and announced to the crowd that the bid was withdrawn, and that the bidder had also withdrawn himself. Both offers were accepted, but the latter was bitterly objected to, and only acquiesced in when it was found that the party had escaped the back way, and could not be found. This was the last outside bid given dur- ing the sale, and you heard no more talk about outside bidding around the hotel. The squatters' rights were respected at that sale.'
* *
"I will give one case of hundreds and thousands that could be given, of the hardships of the early settlers : Alexander Cruickshank, a Norwegian sailor, and one of the noblest works of God, an honest man in all things, settled a few miles west of West Point, in Lee County, in 1831, and by hard work made him a large farm. When the sale of his land was ordered by the Government, he went to Western New York and borrowed $400 of his brother, to enter his land. This was when Martin Van Buren's specie circular was in force, and certain desig- nated banks were made Government depositories. Cruickshank, to be certain that his money would be 'land-office money' when he got home, paid a premiun of three per cent, in New York, to get the bills of a city bank that was a Government-deposit bank. His brother gave him $34 to pay his expenses
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home. At that time there were no railroads. Alexander walked to Pitts- burgh, and there took a boat to St. Louis. When he got to New Albany, Ind., the Ohio River was so low that there was no certainty of getting to St. Louis in time to get home by the day of the sale of his land, and he had no money to spare to go by stage. So he crossed Indiana and Illinois on foot, reaching home the Friday before the sale on Monday. When he went to Burlington le found that his New York money would not be taken by the land office, and he had to shave off his money that he had already paid a premium for to get 'land- office money' for 'land-office money,' and pay another premium of 12} per cent, reducing his $400 to $350. To make up this $50, he had to sell off a part of his scanty stock at less than one-fifth of what the same kind of stock would sell for now. I remember the day Alexander started to New York to borrow the money to enter his land, and of asking him what he would do if he failed. His answer was, 'I will come home and try to borrow at the sale ; but if I fail, and lose my land, I will eross the Rocky Mountains but what I will have and own my own land.' Of such stuff were the old settlers. Why should not the State be great and noble now ?"
The squatters, in what is now Jefferson County, attended the land sales in force. James L. Scott was the bidder for the settlers in Township 71 north, Range 9 west (Cedar), and Frank Gilmer for the settlers in Township 71 north, Range 8 west (Round Prairie). They went to Burlington in wagons and on foot-any way to get there and be present at the opening of the sale. They went prepared for a campaign of several days, taking with them cooking utensils, quilts, blankets, etc., fully equipped to " camp out " and wait till every settler had secured his claim. They went with a determined purpose, and bound together "like a band of brothers," ready to stand by each other to the last. It was a dangerous undertaking for any " land-grabber " to attempt to bid against any of the hardy, honest squatters, a fact the sharks were not long in finding out. They governed themselves accordingly, and took good care not to give the despised squatters occasion for helping them away from the vicinity of the land office.
The pioneer settlers of the Forty-Mile Strip, and especially of that part of it whose history is under consideration, were a class peculiar to themselves. They possessed a keen sense of honor, and a steadfastness of principle and of purpose that admitted of no criticism. To the people of the present age it may seem a little remarkable, but it is a fact nevertheless, that but few disputes ever arose among the settlers about the boundaries of their claims. At that time, there were no laws to govern them except the rules adopted by claim associa- tions. In almost every instance the people were a law unto themselves. The laws of honor prevailed to a much greater extent in those days than at present. Men regarded their individual word as good as their bond. When, perchance, disputes would arise, instead of seeking their adjustment in the courts of law, they were submitted to referees. This was notably so as regarded claim disputes, and the decision of the referees was final. No one thought of appeal- ing from their judgment. The pioneers had all subscribed to the rules adopted by claim associations, and, be it said to their credit, they almost invariably kept their faith. As a case in point, the following report of the rulings of a " Claim Court " is contributed by W. B. Frame, a citizen of Round Prairie Township, who was familiar with the facts :
" The first settlers were very anxious to secure an abundance of timber. In a certain locality a Mr. Jones had ' blazed ' out a claim of eighty acres of tim- ber. which a Mr. Smith also claimed. As a consequence, a dispute arose
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between them. The Claim Committee was notified, and a day was appointed to meet the parties interested and their witnesses. The weather was cold and the ground covered with a deep snow. The ' Court' met in the timber, where a huge log-heap fire was started. When the preliminary arrangements were completed, the parties were notified that the Committee had decided that the first thing to be done was to procure a jug of whisky, to be paid for by the contest- ants. The whisky was soon provided, and when the jug had twice made the circuit of the fire, the case was opened and the parties and their witnesses patiently heard. When the evidence was all in, the Committee retired to a fallen tree some distance from the fire, swept the snow from the log, and sat down to deliberate upon their judgment. After a brief consultation, they returned to the fire and declared themselves ready to report. The report was in the words fallowing :
" ' We find that, aside from this eighty-acre lot, Mr. Jones has claimed all the timber land he needs, and Mr. Smith has claimed all he can possibly pur- chase at the approaching land sale : therefore, we decide that Mr. Brown, who lately settled among us, and who holds a prairie claim, has no timber, and that. as he can get none within a reasonable distance, he shall have this eighty acres of timber.'
" This finding of the Committee was final, and gave the claim to a good man who did not claim to have even the shadow of a claim to it. The contestants did not appeal, but paid the fees allowed the Committee by the rules of the Claim Association, as well as for the whisky. The jug again went around, and all present joined in a 'parting pull,' the ' Court adjourned,' and the settlers departed for their homes, fully satisfied there ' was many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.' "
SOCIETY, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, ETC.
Rough and rude though the surroundings may have been, the pioneers were none the less honest, sincere, hospitable and kind in their social rela- tions. It is true, as a rule, that there is a greater degree of real humanity among pioneers of any country than there is when the country becomes older and richer. If there is an absence of refinement, that absence is more than compensated for in the presence of generous hearts and truthful lives. They are bold, courageous, industrious, enterprising and energetic. Generally speak- ing, they are earnest thinkers and possessed of a diversified fund of useful, prac- tical information. They are void of hypocrisy themselves and despise it in others. They hate cowardice and shams of every kind, and above all things, falsehood and deception, and maintain and cultivate a sterling integrity and fixedness of purpose that seldom permits them to prostitute themselves to any narrow policy of imposture or artifice.
Such were the characteristics of the men and women who pioneered the way to the country of Cedar Creek and Skunk River. Those who visited them in their cabins in a social capacity, or settled among them as real occupants of the soil, were always welcome as long as they proved themselves true men or women. The stranger who came among them and claimed shelter, food and a place to sleep, was made as welcome as one of the household. To tender them pay in return for their hospitality, was only to insult the better feelings of their natures. If a neighbor fell sick and needed care and attention, the whole neigh- borhood was interested. If a cabin was to be raised, every man " turned out, " and oftentimes the women, too, and while the men piled up the logs that fashioned the primitive dwelling place, the women prepared the dinner. Some- times it was cooked by big log fires at the site where the cabin was building
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
In other cases, the meal was prepared at a cabin near by, and at the proper hour was carried to where the men were at work. If one neighbor killed a beef, a pig, or a deer, every other family in the neighborhood was sure to receive a piece of it, and a welcome remembrance it often proved. One of the few remaining pioneer settlers of 1836-37 remarked : "In those days we were neighborly in a true sense. We were all on an equality. Aristocratic feelings were unknown and would not have been tolerated. What one had, we all had, and that was the happiest period of my life. But to-day, if you lean against a neighbor's shade-tree, he will charge you for it. If you are poor and happen to fall sick, you may lie and suffer almost unattended or go to the poorhouse, and just as like as not the man who would report you to the authorities as a sub- ject of county care, would charge the county for making the report." This declaration was made, not because the facts exist as he put them, but to show the contrast between the feeling and practices of the pioneers of forty years ago, and the people of the present.
A PREACHER IN THE WILDERNESS.
" You raised these hallowed walls; the desert smiled, And paradise was opened in these wilds."-Pope.
The first religous services (preaching) were held in the winter of 1837-38, and were conducted by Rev. Mr. Kirkpatrick, who came here as missionary under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Conference of Rock River, Ill .- probably from the vicinity of Galesburg, in that State, although it is not stated as a fact that he came from that particular locality. Our informant had lost her reckoning on that point; but from the fact that, as early as 1836-37, that Conference sent missionaries to Cedar and other counties in that part of Iowa, it is fair to presume that Mr. Kirkpatrick held his commission from the same organized body. Be that as it may, it is certain that the services were of the Methodist order. But there is nothing strange about this, for that people are noted the civilized world over for their zeal and energy in prosecuting religious works. Wherever mankind has gone, the Methodists have gone-first as mis- sionaries to spy out the land, next as circuit-riders, with Bible and hymn-book, and an energy, industry, perseverance and faith that never " give up." Sing- ing their songs of praise, chanting choruses of glory to the great Head of the Church, and shouting defiance at the archenemy and tempter of mankind, they not only followed close on the heels of the pioneers to every part of the " Great West," but have gone wherever humanity has existed that it was possible to reach-to the islands of the sea-
" From Greenland's icy mountains, To India's coral strand "-
wherever the Master's work was needed to be done, there have the truths of this branch of the Christian Church been carried. And so came Rev. Mr. Kirkpatrick to the " flowery plains " of Iowa at the date mentioned.
The cabin of James Westfall, who lived on the place now owned by Perry B. Hulse, was improvised as a meeting-house. There were not more than a dozen people present, and they were there without regard to fashion or display. Some of them walked from their houses to the place of meeting ; some of them rode there in ox-wagons, and some rode there on horse-back-two of them, especially the women, on one horse. The services were held on a Wednesday. The preacher occupied a place behind a common table, in one corner of the room. There was neither organ nor organized choir to add vocal melody to the
1
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
occasion. The preacher gave out the hymn, two lines at a time, something after the following manner :
" Before Jehovah's awful throne, Ye nations bow with sacred joy ; "
then, raising his voice, the preacher led in singing. When these two lines were rendered, he lined the next two-
" Know that the Lord is God alone, He can create, and He destroy ; "
and resuming the last measure of the tune, completed the stanza, and so on, to the end of the hymn.
At that meeting, the seeds of Methodism were planted in Jefferson County ; the planting, carefully and industriously cultivated, ripened into the fullness of a plentiful harvest.
After preaching, a class was formed, consisting of the following-named per- sons : James Westfall and wife, James O. Kirkpatrick and wife, and Eli Jones and wife. Eli Jones was appointed to be Class-Leader. There may have been two or three others, but if there were, their names have escaped the memory of our informant.
Of these pioneer representatives of Jefferson County Methodism, James Westfall and wife and Mrs. Kirkpatrick have gone
" Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet Their Savior and brethren transported to greet ; While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, And the smile of the Lord is the life of the soul."
James Kirkpatrick lives in Brighton, Washington County, and Eli Jones and wife were living in Allamakee County at last accounts. The Rev. Mr. Kirkpatrick, the preacher of the occasion, subsequently returned to Illinois.
In later years and until church buildings were erected, meetings were held at the house of Mr. Lambirth.
A PRIMITIVE SCHOOLHOUSE-"TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA HOW TO SHOOT."
When the settlers came to the wilds of the "Forty-Mile Strip," they brought with them that love of education which seems to be a part of every true Ameri- can; and as early as the spring of 1837, they made arrangements for a school for the summer and winter of that year. There was no schoolhouse, as a mat- ter of course, nor school districts, nor school money. Educational affairs were in chaos-without form or organization-and the pioneer fathers were left to their own resources and management.
A central location, as to the convenience of the neighborhood, was selected out on the prairie, now included in the farm of B. F. Bower, where a log build- ing was erected for a schoolhouse. Each settler who had children large enough to "go to school," volunteered a certain amount of work toward its erection. It was neither large nor pretentious. There was one window in each side of the structure, and a door in one end. The furniture was of the most primitive kind. The floor was made from puncheons-at least, it was commenced with puncheons, but school "took up " before it was finished. The seats were made of the same kind of stuff, or, may be, from a suitably-sized tree cut in suitable lengths, and then "halved," i. e., split in two. The split sides were dressed down with a broad-ax. Holes were bored near the ends of the rounded sides, with an inch-and-a-half or two-inch auger, and pins driven in for supports. Writing "benches " or desks were made by boring slanting holes in the logs, in
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
which supports or arms were driven, and on which a wide plank or puncheon, with the upper side dressed smooth, was laid, and held in place by a. shoulder that was cut on the lower ends of the supports. This completed the furniture, unless, perhaps, an old splint-bottomed chair was added as a seat for the teacher.
The school was attended by about eighteen scholars, and was continued three months. The teacher was not very particular about the kind of books, other than as to the character of their contents; and, even if he had been some- what imperious and exacting in this regard, it would have been a waste of desire to arrange his scholars in classes to economize time and labor, for there is a probability that the parents had not the means to buy such books as were necessary to the formation of classes. They used such books as they had, teachers, pupils and parents bowing in submission to circumstances and exigen- cies that surrounded them, and glad to have a school if every individual scholar had a different book. The principal books used in that first school were the English Reader (the best reader ever used in American schools), Daboll's arithmetic, Kirkham's grammar (the author of which fell a victim to intemper- ance and died in a state of intoxication in a Cincinnati still-house) Olney's geography and Webster's elementary spelling-took; hence, the course of study was orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and geography.
Orthography was the first great principle of education, for the people in those days were of the opinion that no one could ever become a good reader or a good scholar unless he was a good speller, and, as a consequence, children who were ambitious to become good scholars and noted and honorable men and women, were ambitious to become good spellers; and no higher honor could be bestowed upon a girl or boy than than to say they were the best spellers in the neighborhood. Spelling-schools, or spelling-matches-who of us don't remem- ber them ?- were frequent. But why distress old fogy minds by recalling those happy days, when they used to meet at the old log schoolhouses, choose their captains (the best spellers), who would toss up the "master's ruler" for "first choice," and then "choose up" their lieutenants, commencing with the ones they they regarded as the best spellers, more likely the prettiest girl, and so on until all the boys and girls were arranged on benches on opposite sides of the house ? Then the fun commenced. The "master" "gave out" the words from side to side. How quick a "missed" word would be caught up! Those were happy days, and days that are sacred in the memory of the gray-haired fathers and mothers who took part in their exercises. It would be a pleasing reflection to them if their children, their children's children, and the children of their neighbors were per- mitted by the modern system of education to indulge in the same kind of old- fashioned orthographical exercises.
The school system of the spelling-school period, and even up until within a few years ago, in many localities, was fully described in the backwoods vernac- ular of "Pete Jones," in Eggleston's Hoosier Schoolmaster, "lickin' and larnin', " the "lickin' " being the indispensable requisite. The perfect or ideal. teacher of those days was a man of strong muscular development, with an impe- rious frown, a sonorous voice charged with terror, punctual in bringing "hick- ories " into the schoolroom, and endowed with a liberal disposition to frequently use them as back applications.
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