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 47
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On the 1st of July, the Board " Ordered, that in addition to an order author- izing citizens to improve town lots in the town of Fairfield, that persons mak- ing selection of lots in said town will be required to reasonably progress with a building on said lot, or otherwise said lot, together with all the labor, if any be done, shall be forfeited."
On the 21st of July, it was further " Ordered, that the order authorizing persons to build on lots in the town of Fairfield, shall be amended by saying that Lots 1, 3, 5 and 8, in Block 4, will be subject to settling according to the order on the 8th of June, 1839."
Another order for $200 was directed to issue to William Olney, Court House contractor, payable on or before the 15th day of November.
THE FIRST ROAD.
July 29, 1839, the first road survey was ordered in these words:
Ordered, That there be a road surveyed and laid out in the county of Jefferson, commencing at the town of Fairfield, in said county ; thence the nearest and best route to John J. Smith's ford, on Big Cedar; from thence the nearest direct route to Frederick Fisher's ; from thence the most eligible route to the county line on the direction to Iowaville or Keokuk's old village, on the Des Moines River. And that George W. Troy, James L. Scott and John Morgan are hereby appointed Commissioners to review and establish said road-the Commissioners to meet at the town of Fairfield, and proceed to lay out said road as the law directs.
The time when the Commissioners should meet was not quoted-an oversight, perhaps, in the Clerk.
At the same date with the above order, a second sale of lots in Fairfield was ordered to be held on the 10th day of "September next, which will be contin- ued from day to day, if the Commissioners think it necessary ; the condition of said sale to be the same as the first sale, or the sale on the 15th day of May last." And
Ordered, That Alexander Kirk be paid $2 for crying the sale of lots on the 15th day of May last.
The old journal shows that a meeting of the Commissioners was held on the 3d of August, 1839, at which session the Board made some changes in the Judges of Elections, as previously appointed, and audited and allowed sundry accounts. Daniel Sears, one of the Commissioners, was allowed $28 for official services; B. F. Chastain was allowed $12, and the Clerk was allowed $25 for services as Clerk of the Board, $4.84 for recording town plat, etc., and $5 for extra services in the District Court. John Payton was allowed $1.50 for services in laying out the town of Fairfield. These several sums were ordered to be paid "on or before the 15th day of December next."
401
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
This was the last session previous to the regular election. Ad interim, licenses were granted to John W. Edwards for vending merchandise for the term of two months from the 4th day of August, and to Sullivan S. Ross for the same business for the term of six months from the same date. A peddler's license was issued at the same time to David Switzer for the term of four months. There are no entries or figures to show the amount of revenue accruing to the county from this source. Unquestionably, there was a price fixed, but from some cause the Clerk and Commissioners failed to make a record of the same. Among others licensed to keep " grocery " in the early days of Fairfield, was U. S. Senator Nesmith, of Oregon, who was then a young man, ambitious, but rather verdant.
FIRST REGULAR AND GENERAL ELECTION.
The first regular and general election held in Jefferson County, was under provisions of an act entitled " An act providing for and regulating General Elections in this Territory," approved January 25, 1839. Section 1 provided that an election for members of the House of Representatives and for county officers, should take place on the first Monday in that and each succeed- ing year, and that an election for Delegate to Congress, for members of the Council and County Recorder should take place on the first Monday in August, 1840, and on the same day in every second year thereafter.
Two of the old Board of County Commissioners-John J. Smith and Daniel Sears-held over. William . Hueston was elected to succeed B. F. Chas- tain. Section 2 of an act entitled " An act organizing a Board of County Commisssioners in each County in the Territory of Iowa," approved December 14, 1838, provided that the person having the highest number of votes should serve three years ; that the person having the next highest number of votes should serve two years, and the person having the next highest number of votes should serve one year. From the fact that Mr. Hueston come to succeed Mr. Chastain, it would seem evident that he had received the lowest number of votes at the first election, and that he was only entitled to serve until the next general election.
The new Board met and organized on the 19th of August. After the organ- ization, the Board adjourned until the first Monday in September. The old journal shows that the business of this session was conducted by the old Board -John J. Smith, Daniel Sears and B. F. Chastain. Whether the Clerk made a mistake in attaching the signatures of the Commissioners, or whether it was found that the term of Mr. Chastain had not expired, is a proposition that we will not attempt to determine. We simply present the facts.
The examination and allowance of accounts, the granting of road views, the appointment of Viewers, management and disposition of town lots, etc., etc., occupied most of the subsequent sessions of that year, and arc of no special historic interest, hence no attempt has been made to give the " orders " of the Board in detail. Suffice to say that the first and second Boards were gov- erned by a commendable spirit of economy in all their official transactions. The following order would indicate that an " unpleasantness" of some nature came up between the Board and its Clerk :
Ordered, That Samuel Shuffleton be appointed Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, in place of John A. Pitzer, removed.
But the order does not reveal the cause of the removal. . Shuffleton was sworn and entered upon the duties of the office.
402
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
November 29, at a special meeting of the Board, it was " Ordered that the town of Fairfield be and the same is hereby constituted a precinct for election purposes." John T. Moberly, L. W. Saunders and William Olney were appointed to be Judges of Election.
At the same meeting, Samuel Shuffleton was appointed agent to manage the sale of town lots, receive money therefor, etc.
At a special meeting, on the 21st day of December, 1839, present, John J. Smith and Daniel Sears, the Board " proceeded to examine the Court House, and find that the county is indebted for the building, painting and extra work on said house, $195.50." Of this amount, the sum of $113.13} was garnished at the instance of Augustus Jackson, a creditor of Olney's. Judgment was rendered against the Commissioners for that amount, which left a balance due Mr. Olney of $82.36}, which was allowed and ordered to be paid.
COURT HOUSE FURNITURE, ETC.
At the January meeting, 1840, the Commissioners directed the Clerk to "issue notices of the letting of the following work, to be done by the 20th of March : The making of one bench for the Judge of Court, eight and one-half feet in length and four feet wide, paneled front ; two jury-seats, each eight feet long, well backed ; one seat, eight feet long, to be placed opposite the Judge's bench. Also, a rough plank partition, eight by twenty feet ; also the erection of one flight of stairs, ten feet high, with good and sufficient railing ; said stairs to be erected and an entrance made for the same in the northwest corner of the Court House, and the entrance now opened in the southwest corner to be closed." Such were the "finishings" and furniture of the pioneer Court House. The contract for the above work was awarded to Gilbert M. Fox : price, $175. The lathing and plastering of the Court House was awarded to Thomas D. Jones, at 45 cents per square yard. This contract was awarded at the regular July meeting, 1840.
FIRST TAX-RECEIPT AND FIRST FINANCIAL EXHIBIT.
For reasons already stated-the absence of many of the early records from the proper offices, there is no means of presenting the amount of the first tax- assessment. Unless some one of the few surviving tax-payers and settlers of 1839, have the total amount of the tax-levy for that year in their heads, as also the total appraised value of the taxable property, the facts are completely and effectually lost.
John Huff has carefully preserved the following tax-receipt, which is be- lieved (although not stated as a positive fact), to be the first tax-receipt issued from the Treasurer's office of Jefferson County. If such is the fact, he has the honor of paying the first taxes in Jefferson County. The receipt, as the reader will observe, does not give the day or the month when the taxes were paid :
Received of John Huff, one dollar and forty-eight and one-half cents, being his tax in full for the year A. D. 1839, Jefferson County, I. T. JAMES L. SCOTT, Sheriff.
The first financial exhibit was entered of record under date of January o, 1840, and is in the words and figures following, to wit .:
Dr. To amount of receipts of taxes, fines, etc. $540 89
borrowed of proceeds of town lots. 112 69-$653 58
Cr. by amount paid expenses of courts, officers, elections, etc. (estimated). 653 58
403
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Receipts and Expenditures appertaining to Town Lots, etc.
Dr. To amount of cash received for town lots .. notes for lots, due 10th March, 1840. 453 40
$1,309 08
=
66 15th May, 1840. 1,910 51
60 66 .. " 10th September, 1840 .. 919 00
66
66 " 15th November, 1840 . 393 76-$4,985 75
Cr. By amount of expenses of locating county seat, build- ing Court House, etc. $1,102 90
66
balance now due for lots. 3,882 85-$4,985 75
A third sale of town lots was ordered to be held on the 20th day of April, and was ordered to be continued from day to day "so long as the Commission- ers might deem necessary." No detailed statement of the sale appears of record, hence the writer, as well as the people of Jefferson County, is "left in the dark " as to the number of lots sold or the amount realized.
TAX LEVY FOR 1840-TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION-VOTE ORDERED.
July 7, 1840, it was " Ordered, that a tax of four-tenths of one per cent be levied on all the taxable property in the county, and a poll-tax of 50 cents on each person liable by law to pay said poll tax."
The Clerk was also directed to give notice that a vote would be taken at the next general election to be held in the county to test the matter whether or not the county should be organized into townships.
At the same meeting of the Board, it was
Ordered, That Blue Point Precinct shall embrace Township 73 north, Range 10 west, and Township 73 north, Range 11 west (Black Hawk and Polk).
From a subsequent entry, under date of January 5, 1841, it seems that a majority of the voters cast their ballots in favor of township organization, for on that day it was ordered that the following should be the boundaries of the different townships :
That Township Seventy-one, Range Eight west, shall constitute a township for township pur- poses, to be known as Round Prairie Township. The election to be held at the town of Glasgow.
That Township Seventy-two, Range Eight west, and the east half of Township Seventy-nine west, shall constitute a township, to be known as Lockridge Township. The election to be held at the house of David Keltner.
That Township Seventy-three, Range Eight west, shall constitute a township, to be known as Walnut Township. The election to be held at the house of John Pheasant.
That Township Seventy-one, Range Nine west, shall constitute a township, to be known as Cedar Township. The election to be held at the house of Joseph Parker.
That Township Seventy-three, Range Nine west, shall constitute a township, to be known as Penn Township. The election to be held at the house of Joseph Dillon.
That Township Seventy-one, Range Ten west, shall constitute a township, to be known as Liberty Township. The election to be held at the house of Seaton L. Harness.
That the west half of Township Seventy-two, Range Nine west, and two-thirds of the east of Township Seventy-two, Range Ten west, shall constitute a township, to be called Fairfield Township. The election to be held at the Court House.
That Township Seventy-two, Range Eleven west, and the west one-third of Township Sev- enty-two, Range Ten west, shall constitute a township, to be known as Locust Grove Township. The election to be held at the house of William Vincent.
That Township Seventy-three, Range Ten, and Township Seventy-three, Range Eleven west, shall be known as Black Hawk Township. The election to be held at the house of Jesse Reigles.
That Township Seventy-one, Range Eleven west, shall constitute a township, to be known as Des Moines Township. The election to be held at the house of Messrs. Cutting and Gordon.
At a special session of the Board of County Commissioners, held on the 28th day of January, 1845, it was
Ordered, That Township Seventy-three, Range Eleven west, shall constitute a township, to be known as the township of l'olk. The election to be held at the house of George Emerick.
404
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Town 72, Range 9 west, was set off from Fairfield and Lockridge in 1856, and organized as an independent township, and called Buchanan.
MORALS OF THE PIONEERS .- THE FIRST JAIL.
The first settlers of many of the counties in Illinois and Iowa, and, in fact. of nearly every other State in the great Northwest, were annoyed by a class of disreputable and outlawed characters, who preyed upon the property of the honest, industrious pioneer with reckless and daring impunity. In Ogle County, Ill., this class of human vultures was so numerous as to control the affairs of that county for many years. They laughed at jails and mocked the courts. The gang-for there was a well-organized gang-was under the direction of keen, shrewd, far-seeing fellows, who so managed their affairs as to secure the election of some of their number to the offices of Justices of the Peace and Constables in nearly all the different townships ; and by some sort of manip- ulation that no honest man could find out, they always secured the presence of more or less of their number on the grand juries. If any of them happened to fall into the clutches of the law and were brought to trial, a jury was demanded : and such juries were almost invariably corrupted with the presence of some of the defendant's friends. If this did not happen to be the case, and sufficient evidence was found to hold the prisoner to the higher courts, bail was always ready to secure his freedom from imprisonment. Some of the members of the ugly fraternity, many of them, in truth, were wealthy, and as they were sworn to stand by and defend each other, their oaths were always kept.
In Ogle County, Ill., they carried things so far as to burn the first Court House erected there, just as it was completed and ready for a session of court. At last, they became so bold that the honest settlers banded themselves together as vigilantes and commenced a war of extermination.
The gang that reigned in terror over the people of the Rock River Valley for so many years, followed the settlers to Cedar and Linn Counties, in Iowa Terri- tory. They became almost as bold and daring in those counties as in Illinois ; and, for a number of years, the settlers lived in a constant state of dread and fear. And it was not until the people rose in their might and scourged the vil - lains from the country that there was safety for valuable property of any kind.
Jefferson County appears to have been always remarkably free from the blighting influence of such lawless characters ; and, if the court records are to be taken in evidence, it may be stated as a fact that the moral character of the people, from the date of the first settlement, in 1836, to the present time, is unsurpassed by any other county in the State. There have been crimes, but, as a rule, they have been of the minor grades. So generally law-abiding were the people, that two years passed after the county was organized before any steps were taken to secure the erection of a jail. Nor do the records show any expenditures for keeping prisoners in other county prisons, nor for guarding prisoners at home. One of two facts is apparent : either there were no lawless characters within the county, or else they were so shrewd and cunning as to be past finding out.
January 7, 1841, " plans and specifications were received from sundry per- sons for the building of a jail, agreeable to advertisements by the Clerk, where- upon it was ordered that a jail be built, of the following description, and the same be let at public outcry to the lowest bidder, and that the Clerk give notice thereof.
" Description .- To be built of logs, twenty-four by eighteen feet, double wall; first story with a space between said double walls of seven inches ;
405
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
eighteen feet high ; two lower floors to be of square timbers one foot thick ; flooring-plank on top of lower floor to be spiked in such manner as to prevent boring through the ceiling for upper story."
On the 13th of February, the contract was let at "public outcry." Differ- ent parts of the work were let to different individuals, who were required to give bonds for a faithful performance of the work.
On the 25th of March, it was " Ordered, that the Jail be built on Lot No. 4 in Block No. 23." The lot is now occupied by the residence of D. B. Wilson. That old log Jail continued to serve the purposes of a county prison until the erection of the present brick structure, in 1858. When the new Jail was completed, the old log structure was sold to Daniel Mendenhall, who tore it down, hauled the logs away, and such of them as could be sawed, were made into different kinds of stuff, and some of them were cut into fire-wood.
FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTY JANUARY 3, 1842.
" James L. Scott reported to the Commissioners that he had collected taxes for the year 1841 to the amount of $1,083.33." Receipts from licences during the year, $202.50 ; fines, $15. Total receipts, $1,300.83. The total amount of expenditures for the same period was $1,573.76, leaving a balance against the county of $262.93. In those days, it appears that the closest economy was practiced by the county authorities. There was no source of revenue except from the tax assessed against personal property, licenses collected from mer- chants, grocers, etc., and fines for misdeeds. The latter were small, amounting to only $15 for the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1841.
LAST MEETING UNDER TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION.
The last meeting of the Commissioners under Territorial jurisdiction was held on the 3d day of November, 1846. The following were their last official orders previous to the admission of Iowa Territory into the Union as a sovereign and independent State :
Ordered, That the Treasurer pay William Brown $10 for four days' services as County Commissioner.
Ordered, That the Treasurer pay Albert L. Connable $10 for four days' services as County Commissioner.
Ordered, That the Treasurer pay Smith Ball $10 for four days' services as County Commis- sioner.
Ordered, That the Treasurer pay John Shields, Commissioners' Clerk, $22, as per hill on file. Ordered, That Court adjourn until the first Monday in January, 1847. (Signed)
WILLIAM BROWN. ALBERT L. CONNABLE. SMITH BALL.
The transition from Territorial dependency to State independency was easy, and involved no change in the management of county affairs. The Janu- ary session was governed by the same rules, and everything went along as smoothly as if " nothing had happened." Wolf-hunters were present in force, and the most of the first day was devoted to the examination of prairie-wolf scalps and the allowance of premiums for the taking thereof. Two full pages of the old journal are taken up with orders, of which the following two are ver- batim copies :
1170. Ordered, That the Treasurer pay HI. C. Ross $I for one prairie-wolf sculp, as per certificate on file.
1174. Ordered, That the Treasurer pay W. L. Hamilton, assinee of Joseph Scott, $3 for three prairie-wolf sculps, as per certificate on file.
406
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Forty-five dollars were " ordered " paid for this branch of hunters' industry, and it hadn't been a very good season for wolf-sculping, either.
From the date of the first meeting of the County Commissioners at the town of Lockridge, on the 8th day of April, A. D. 1839, to the present-a period of thirty-nine years-the business of the county has gone smoothly along. The county increased in population and wealth from year to year, until now it is among the foremost counties in the State in all that goes to make a people proud, prosperous and happy. The economy commenced by the early Commissioners has been rigidly enforced, and, as a result, the credit of the county is as " good as gold.'
Commencing with the first presence of white men in the territory now included in Jefferson County in August, 1835, the history of its settlement and development down to the organization of the county, in 1839, was as carefully and accurately traced as possible. The incidents occurring previous to that date, and which are made to form a part of these pages, were gathered from such of the old settlers as have been spared to the present. That some errors will be detected by critical readers, the writer has no doubt. But the cause of the errors, if errors there be, does not rest with either the writer or his author- ity. The incidents are all quoted from the memory of such of the surviving settlers as could be seen. Not one of them had ever been committed to paper, and to treasure and preserve such a multiplicity of events, dates, names, etc., intact and unbroken, and recall them in regular order after the lapse of nearly half a century, without written data, is beyond the power of man.
The history of the organization of the county, and the modus operandi of starting the county machinery and of its political economy, is gathered from such of the county records as have been preserved. It was not the purpose to follow in detail and transfer to these pages the entire proceedings of the Board of County Commissioners, County Judge and Board of County Supervisors, but only to quote sufficiently therefrom to preserve the history of the first pub- lic acts and establish the economy of the early county authorities. Having accomplished this purpose, we leave the general details of county management and will only note a few of the more important events, such as the building of the present Jail, the Court House, the railroad enterprises, Poor-Farm, war record, Agricultural Society, etc.
SECOND COURT HOUSE AND SECOND JAIL.
At the January session (1848), the Commissioners directed the Clerk to "insert a notice in the Iowa Sentinel, offering a premium of $25 for the best plan and specifications for a Court House, to be 40x70 feet, to be built of brick, with good stone foundations, to be received until the 22d instant, at which time they will be opened."
From some cause, not explained on the journal, the Commissioners did not " open and examine the plans and specifications " on the day designated. No further mention is made of "plans and specifications," but under date of the 22d of January, the Clerk was ordered to advertise in the Iowa Sentinel and Burlington Gazette for proposals for the " erection of a Court House on the public square, in the town of Fairfield, according to the plans and specifications on file in the Commissioners' office, to be let to the lowest and most responsible bidder."
SATURDAY, March 26 .- This being the day appointed for the opening of proposals for build- ing a Court House in the town of Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson, when, upon opening and examining the said bids, it was decided by the Board that the same be let to -
.407
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Right there the entry stops, and no further mention is made of the contract or the building until October, 1849. It is stated, however, by George Craine, that the lowest bid was made by a man named Seman, but that James Thomp- son and Joseph Knott entered into an arrangement with Seman, by which, for a consideration, he withdrew or released his bid to Thompson and Knott, and that they became the recognized contractors. When several months had passed, Thompson and Knott sublet the contract to John Shields, Thompson retaining an interest. Shields and Thompson got some of the material on the ground, and the foundation walls nearly completed, but they finally relinquished the contract to the Commissioners. Daniel Mendenhall, one of the County Com- sioners, on behalf of the Board, entered into a verbal agreement with George Craine to complete the building and take in part payment the old Court House and the lot of ground on which it stood, at $600. Craine was making arrange- ments to commence operations. when Mendenhall advised him that he could not have the contract, but that he himself had determined to build the Court House. Mendenhall then advertised (but not according to law, so it is said) the old Court House and grounds for sale, and did sell it for about $300-one- half less than Craine had agreed to give for it and take it in part payment for building a new Court House. Mendenhall soon found, however, that he could not go on with the erection of the building, and tendered the contract to Craine, which the latter gentleman, through the intercession of a Whig friend, finally accepted at an advance of $100 over his first " bid," and, on the 27th of October, 1849, a contract was entered into between the Commissioners, on the part of the county, and George Crame, by which the latter gentleman agreed to complete the Court House for $7,500. The contract specified that he was to take the materials on the ground, and the work already done at the prices paid, and deduct the same from the contract price; "also, the amount to be paid for liaul- ing the brick from Shelton's, and for stone furnished and to be furnished by John G. Lembarger, and also to pay D. Mendenhall $25 for his services as Building Superintendent up to date," etc.
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