USA > Iowa > Keokuk County > The history of Keokuk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. : a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 50
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Still other causes worked disastrously to the enterprise. The board of trade of St. Louis had promised that the citizens of that place would put in dollar for dollar to the extent of the amount subscribed along the line in Iowa. The citizens of St. Louis did not put a dollar into the enterprise. The North Missouri Railroad Company promised in the beginning to aid and foster the enterprise, but about one year after the movement was com-
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400
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
menced instead of continuing their line north, temporarily abandoned their line north and turned their attention to the construction of a road to Kan- sas City. Thus matters stood in 1870. During the latter part of this year and the former part of 1871, there was a new departure. The high hopes which were then entertained are portrayed in the following local item which appeared in the columns of the local press:
" The long talked of forward movement all along the line of the railroad, between this place and Ottumwa, commenced on Monday, of this week. Skirmishing has been going on for the last two or three weeks, but the state of the weather has greatly retarded the operations. The work is now going on in earnest, and we are assured will be prosecuted with the greatest vigor. The completion of the road to this point by August, seems to be fully determined on. The good time coming is almost here." The good time coming was, however, much farther off than was anticipated.
In October, the president of the company started to New York, to deliver the bonds of the railroad company, and order foward iron for the track. Just at this time occurred the great Chicago fire. When he arrived at New York, the president of the company wrote to the friends of the enter- prise, here, as follows:
" When I arrived at New York, panic was written on the face of every denizen of Wall Street to such an extent as to be almost ridiculous, to an outsider. The result to our enterprise, however, presented nothing ludi- crous. All but one of our associates in New York and Philadelphia promptly telegraphed me withdrawing from the syndicate. I stayed a week and tried to get them to reconsider their action, but to no avail. The commission merchant sold the iron to other parties, and I went home feel- ing very blue."
The Rock Island Railroad extending their road, shortly afterward, to Sigourney, all interest in the Ottumwa road died out. Persons who had invested money in the enterprise lost all they put into it, and some were financially ruined thereby. Mr. Sanders, who had invested heavily, and devoted years of labor upon the road, settled up his affairs as well as he was able to do, and removed to Chicago. The road-bed fell into the hands of private individuals, and a large portion of it has reverted to its former uses, and in the production of corn and potatoes yields a better return than it ever has done as a commercial thoroughfare. The road- bed and right-of way, however, is too valuable to be always devoted to agricul- tural purposes. Even at the present time, November, 1879, measures are being taken which promise, at no far distant day, to result in the comple- tion of the road already costing so many years of toil, and the expenditure of so many hundreds of hard earned dollars.
Certain gentlemen, having the matter in charge, have recently visited Sigourney, and various points along the route between the latter place and Ottumwa. Quite an interest is being awakened, and the preliminary steps have been taken for calling an election in the various townships through which the road is to extend.
THE C., R. I. & P. RAILROAD.
The next railroad enterprise in the county was the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. £ This company had, for a number of years, been operating a road to Washington, in the adjoining county, and repeated overtures were
401
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
made, from time to time, to induce the said company to extend the line to the county-seat of Keokuk county. In the fall of 1870, Ebenezer Cook, vice-president of this company, made a proposition to build the road by the first of December, 1871, provided the people of the county would raise by subscriptions the sum of fifty thousand dollars, secure the right-of-way from the Washington county line, and provide suitable depot grounds in Sigourney. The committee to whom the people had delegated the man- agement of this matter consisted of J. P. Yerger, J. H. Shawhan and George D. Woodin. This committee, on canvassing the matter, wrote to Mr. Cook, stating that his proposition would be accepted, but they preferred to raise part of the subsidy by taxation, in several townships, under the laws of Iowa, instead of by subscription. To that the Rock Is- land Company assented, agreeing to take the amount assessed as a part of the fifty thousand dollars; but as a delay had been occasioned by these ne- gotiations, thus preventing any work being done till the following spring, the time for completion was extended to July 1, 1872.
In January, 1871, elections were held in the several townships of the county which would be immediately benefited by the building of the pro- posed road. These townships were Lafayette, German, Sigourney and Van Buren. The vote in all these townships was in favor of the tax, and through the energetic efforts of the committee the right-of-way was soon secured. The depot at Sigourney was located on the farm of Messrs. Woodin and Clark in the north part of town. Having agreed to assist in purchasing the right-of-way for the road and depot grounds at Sigourney, these gentlemen furnished the land free of cost as a means of discharg- ing their share of the obligation. The donation was a liberal one and went far toward lessening the expense to those who signed the bond for the right-of-way. Work was commenced on the road in the summer of 1871 and was completed some time in advance of that specified in the contract; trains were running into Sigourney by the 9th of April following. The promptness which characterizes this company in all of its enterprises when it once determines to act was manifest in this instance and presents a marked contrast with the long years of vascillation and uncertainty which characterized the movements of the north and south road already described.
The road once completed proved to be a good investment both for the people of the county and the company which built it. The following tables show the shipments of produce and manufactured articles from Sigour- ney station for the years 1875 and 1878. These tables were carefully com- piled by Mr. J. C. Baird, agent of the C., R. I. & P. railroad, at Sigourney, and not only show the business of the road but furnish a good basis from which to make an estimate of the resources of the county :
402
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
1865.
ARTICLES.
CARS.
POUNDS.
BUSHELS.
VALUE.
Barley
22
462,000|
9,625|$
7,281.75
Butter
28,760
4,845.00
Cattle
151
2,718,000
135.900.00-
Corn
665 13,965,000 249,375
14,962.50
Coal
10
200,000
25,000
250.00
Cheese
900,610
1,201.20
Clover seed.
5,245
87
524.50
Dry hides.
1,560
234.00
Dressed hogs
8,345
584.15.
Eggs
63,745
3,187.30
Flour
5
100,000
2.500.00
Green hides
40,485
2.839.95
Hogs
275
3,712,500
185,625.00
Horses
11
220,000
11,275.00
Millet seed.
3,160
70
52.50
Oats .
158
3,318,000 103,685
46.658.25,
Potatoes
15
304,945
5,085
3,551.00.
Poultry
16,840
1,012.20-
Pelts
1,480
89.60
Rye
11
231,000
5,135
3,337.75.
Rags
20,085
300.25%
Sheep
12
108,000
5,440.00
Stone .
6
120,000
126.00
Stalk cutters.
2
40,000
2,565.00
Timothy seed.
8
182,635
4,058
9,130.50
Tallow
7.340
513.80-
Wheat
158
3,318,000
55,300
38,710.00
Wool and woolen goods
2,200
. .
1,650.00+
Total
1,509 29.218,965 457,420 $484,278.25
The shipments for the year 1875 as given furnish a good basis for estima- ting the business of the road and also the resources of the county. From the following statement for the year 1878 it will be seen that there was quite. a falling off. This resulted from the partial failure of crops and the exten- sion of the road westward, much shipping heretofore done at Sigourney now being done from stations further west.
403
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
1878.
ARTICLES.
CARS.
POUNDS.
BUSHELS.
VALUE.
Apples .
7,050
125 |$
62.50
Butter.
42,395
4,239.50
Beeswax.
450
22.50
Barley.
2
40,000
850
255.00
Brick
2
40,000
30.00
Cheese
12,455
622.75
Corn.
7
140,000
425.00.
Cattle.
125
1,900,000
57,000.00
Eggs (15,390 dozens).
1,599.00
Flour.
100,000
3,000.00
Clover
365
62
248.00
Feathers
470
115.00
Hides.
34,245
1,712.25.
Hogs
212 3,180,000
79,500.00
Horses
8
10,880.00
Oats.
15
300,000
9,375|
1,171.85
Poultry
17
340,000
6,071
1,821.30
Sheep
4
36,000
900.00
Syrup (210 gallons).
84.00
Tallow
10,424
521.25.
Timothy seed
6
120,000
2,666
2,399.40
Wool goods.
15,430
12,354.00
Wheat.
61
1,220,000
12,199.80€
Total.
534,7,421,285
19,149|$136,693.10.
In the summer of 1875 Mr. Riddle, the superintendent of the C., R. I. & P. Railroad, proposed to the citizens of Oskaloosa that the company would immediately extend their road from Sigourney if the citizens would raise the sum of $20,000 and furnish the right-of-way. At the same time J. P. Yerger, of Sigourney, was employed to secure the right-of-way from. Sigourney to the Mahaska county line. The citizens of Oskaloosa raised the required subsidy by local subscription, and Mr. Yerger secured the. right-of-way to the Mahaska county line. The road was finished to Oska- loosa in February, 1876, and now extends to Knoxville, in Marion county ..
The stations on the road in Keokuk county are Keota, Harper, Sigourney,. and Delta.
The length of the road belonging to the company in Keokuk county is shown in the following proceedings of the board of supervisors:
In accordance with chapter 5, section 1321, Code of 1873, the board of supervisors of Keokuk county make the following division of railroad lines. in Keokuk county, Iowa:
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RAILWAY.
TOWNSHIPS
MILES. TOWNSHIPS
MILES:
Lafayette
6.23
Sigourney
6.90
German .
6.32
Warren.
6.19
Total length of road
25.64
32,000
1,600.00
Rye.
404
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
LESSER DIVISIONS.
Sub-district No. 7, Lafayette township, one mile, and pays a tax of $67.70.
Sub-district No. 8, Lafayette township, two miles, pays a tax of $154.00. Sub-district No. 9, Lafayette township, 2.25 miles, pays a tax of $173.27. Independent district of Keota, 0.75 miles, and pays a tax of $90.76.
Sub-district No. 10, Lafayette township, 0.25 miles, and pays a tax of $27.51.
Sub-district No. 7, German township, 2.10 miles, pays a tax of $167.47. Sub-district No. 8, German township, 2.05 miles, pays a tax of $163.50. Sub-district No. 9, German township, 2.17 miles, pay a tax of $173.06. Sub-district No. 1, Sigourney township, 2.95 miles, pay a tax of $251.49. Sub-district No. 3, Sigourney township, 3.95 miles, pays a tax of $423.64. Independent district of Delta, 1.05 miles, and pays a tax of $138.61.
Sub-districts Nos. 1 and 2, Warren township, 2.27 miles, pays a tax of $299.65.
Sub-district No. 3, Warren township, 2.87 miles, pays a tax of $189.43.
The valuation of the road is $5,500 per mile, and in addition to the taxes enumerated pays a special railroad commissioners' tax amounting to $210.32.
I. & W. RAILROAD.
The next railroad enterprise was the Iowa City & Western, which is a branch of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern. This latter named corporation, although it has had for years quite an extensive line, was un- able to get coal without trouble and expense, as its line at no' point passed through any extensive coal fields. Some two years since the company pro- jected a road to Iowa City with a view ultimately to reach the coal fields of Keokuk or Mahaska county.
Early in 1878 there was talk of extending the road southwest into Keokuk county, several lines were surveyed, the enterprise extensively agitated and the question of subsidies canvassed. Finally a proposition was made to the northern tier of townships to build the line through that part of the coun- ty if the required tax should be voted. Liberty township refused to vote the tax. August 20, 1878, English River township voted on the tax; Adams voted July 20, same year; Prairie voted August 29 and Washing- ton August 28, in all of which there was a majority in favor of the tax.
The result of the elections being favorable, and the other conditions be- ing satisfactorily arranged, the company began to make preparations to build the road. The work of grading began early in 1879 and has been energetically pushed forward till the present time. The grading is about finished and the work of track-laying approaches completion. The present terminus of the road is What Cheer, in Washington township. This point is in the most productive part of the coal field of Keokuk county, while the entire line in the county passes through the most fertile region of the State. Owing to the diversity of resources of the county and the distance from other lines of communication this part of the county will be greatly benefited by the road, while the company building it will reap large returns for its investment in the heavy amount of traffic which it will undoubtedly receive.
405
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
The stations so far established along the line of the road in Keokuk county are Kinross, South English, Webster, Keswick, Thornburg and What Cheer.
Beside the roads already mentioned there were several other roads pro- jected across the county. Some of these were surveyed, of others the pro- posed lines were simply prospected on horseback, while still others were only talked of and prospected from the counting-rooms and offices of Eastern capitalists. The Iowa City & Southwestern, commonly known as the Kirkwood road, was to have followed, in part, the same direction as the Iowa City and Western, with the exception that its general course was south of the latter line and its terminus was to have been Ottumwa. The Burling- ton & Northwestern was to have started from Burlington and having passed through Louisa, Washington and Keokuk counties reach out for any prize which offered the greatest temptation in the way of subsidies and traffic. The Muscatine, Oskaloosa & Council Bluffs railroad was an en- terprise much talked of. It was in fact but a resurrection of the old Fort Wayne & Platte River Air Line road. The proposed route lay through the counties of Muscatine, Washington, Keokuk and thence due west to Council Bluffs. In this enterprise were enlisted the leading men from every county-seat of that tier of counties between Muscatine and Council Bluffs. Without the aid of any other corporation these men proposed to build a road across the State and although it was a tremendous undertaking it probably would have finally been carried to a successful termination had it not been for the early completion of other trunk lines across the State which rendered this road less necessary, and as a consequence less feasible.
The agitation of this railroad enterprise was at fever heat in January, 1868, when a mammoth convention was held at Oskaloosa. Delegates were present from Muscatine, Washington, Keokuk, Mahaska, Marion,. Warren, Madison, Adair, Cass and Pottawattamie counties. The delegates. present from Keokuk county were J. C. Johnson, J. H. Sanders, L. McCoy, J. W. Havens, J. H. Shawhan, L. Hollingsworth, W. M. Rogers, M. C. Boswell, S. Rogers, B. A. Haycock, A. C. Romig, S. T. Street, C. H. Smith and B. F. Crocker. G. E. Griffiths, of Warren, was chosen chairman and each county had a vice-president; J. C. Johnston had the honor of being- the vice-president from Keokuk county. There was a corporation formed with sixty-six incorporators. There were fourteen articles of incorpora- tion. A committee consisting of ten persons was appointed to nominate directors. B. A. Haycock and L. McCoy had the honor to serve on the said committe from Keokuk county. There were fifteen persons nomina- ted for directors and the persons nominated liad the honor to be elected. The persons elected from Keokuk county were J. H. Sanders and B. A. Haycock. The Board of Directors thereupon held a meeting for the pur- pose of electing officers. A President, Vice-President, Secretary. Treasurer, Executive Committee and Attorneys were elected. B. A. Haycock, of. Keokuk county, had the honor of election to a place on the executive committee.
The convention adjourned, and the delegates went home to gladden the hearts of their constituents with the assurance of a speedy completion of the road. The corporation was doubtless large enough to have built, and the officers numerous enough to have operated, a road twice the length of the proposed one, together with feeders and branch lines; but there proved not to be enough money, or enough credit, or sufficient pluck, to grade across
406
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
a county or lay a mile of track. Upon the return of the delegates rousing meetings were held at the county-seats of all the counties along the pro- posed lines ; eloquent speeches were made, subscription books passed around and the meetings adjourned to afford the people an opportunity to discharge the pressing duty of selecting depot sites. In a county-seat town west of this the people did in fact agree upon a depot site and on the plat of that town at the present time is a block termed "Muscatine, Oskaloosa and "Council Bluffs Railroad Depot Grounds."
But alas for the vanity of human hopes and expectations when inspired 'by the flattering unction of a railroad; the Muscatine, Oskaloosa & Coun- cil Bluffs Railroad like the Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne & Platte Valley Railroad and many other railroads of high-sounding and far-reaching names. never became a railroad only on paper and like the relics of the mound-builders and the fossils of the mastadon will be unearthed at future times to paint the antiquarian's moral and adorn the historian's tail.
POLITICAL.
There is perhaps not another county in Iowa whose political experience has been more varied. When the county was first organized the great im- pending question in American politics was that growing out of slavery, and from whatever State in the Union the early settlers had come they were as a rule opposed to the extension of the peculiar institution of the South into the territory yet unpolluted by it. There was, of course, a difference of opinion as to the best methods to be adopted for this end, but all were agreed that any movement toward the abolition of slavery would result in a dis- ruption of the Union. There were few, if any, abolitionists in the county during the first years of its history. There were the Whig and Democratic parties, but while they were separated on questions of finance, tariff and banking, they were agreed that slavery should not be molested in the States where it existed. From the organization of the county until 1856, when the question of abolition became the dividing line in politics, the Demo- cratic party controlled the county and unless there were local questions to modify the condition, a Democratic nomination was equivalent to an elec- tion.
The exciting contest between A. C. Dodge and Gen. Lowe for the office .of territorial delegate will be remembered by the first settlers of the county and also the contest in which Richard Quinton was elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
The contest between J. B. Whisler, the Democratic nominee, and San- ford Harned, the Whig candidate, has already been alluded to in the ac- count of the county-seat controversy. Although the Democratic party was largely in the majority, and Whisler was the nominee, he was defeated 'by Harned by reason of the popularity of the Whig candidate, and because of the modifying influence of the county-seat war, Mr. Whisler being the leader of the Lancaster party.
One of the most exciting elections of early times was the contest for representative in 1846. Upon the members of the legislature was to de- volve the duty of electing two United States Senators for the new State just to be adınitted into the Union. The Whig candidate was Nelson King
407
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
while the Democrats were so unfortunate as to have two candidates, L. B. Hughes and William Webb. Mr. King, of course, was elected and for years afterward he was accustomed to boast about the result, saying: beat two Democratic opponents and believe I could have whipped a half dozen of them."
Upon the assembling of the legislature, in the following November, King was in attendance, and before the adjourninent of that body he had achieved a notoriety throughout the State. The circumstances were as follows:
Owing to a complication of circumstances, the Democrats, who really were in a large majority in the State, failed to organize the House, and so evenly were the two parties balanced upon holding a joint session of the House and Senate, that it was exceedingly doubtful whether they would be able to elect their candidates to the United States Senate. Dodge, of Bur- lington, and Jones, of Dubuque, were the Democratic nominees for the Senate, and their friends spared no effort to secure their election. One vote gained by the Democrats would make a tie, and prevent an election, while two votes would enable them to elect their men.
King having been elected by a plurality vote over his two Democratic op- ponents, and representing a county largely Democratic, was thought by some to be a proper subject to operate upon; and as a first inducement a paper was gotten up and circulated through the county and signed by a majority of all the voters in the county, instructing him to vote for a Dem- ocrat. This move being known by the Whigs, and they fearing that King might be influenced by such instructions, caused them to watch him very closely and show him special attention; and for a while King commanded more attention from both parties than any other man in the State.
S. T. Marshall, of Lee county, having previously been well acquainted with King as a citizen of his own county, and having been employed by him as an attorney to defend him in a case in which he had been arrested, in his attempts to influence King in his votes made a little too free with his old client while under the guardianship of the Whig politicians.
On the afternoon of the 9th of December, the legislature then having been in session ten days, and the members thus far having almost entirely been engaged in canvassing and electioneering, as soon as the house was called to order, King, with a hurried step approached the clerk's desk and laid upon it a five dollar bill and two pieces of paper, and said he wished to make a statement.
These movements surprised most of the members of the House, and not knowing what the conduct of King meant, and from a curiosity to hear, unanimous consent was given for him to proceed. He said that he had been approached by several members relative to the casting of his vote for United States Senator, and several distinct propositions had been made to him. He stated further, that S. T. Marshall gave him a five dollar note on the State Bank of Ohio and promised him one hundred dollars additional if he would vote for Dodge. That he also gave him two receipts of indebt- edness.
The following is a correct copy of the receipts which King laid upon the clerk's desk, and which he claimed was a part of the bribe offered by Mar- shall :
408
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
"WEST POINT, NOV. 26, 1846.
"MR. NELSON KING-Sir :- Please to pay S. T. Marshall or bearer ten dollars and fifty cents on my account, and oblige,
"WILLIAM STOTTS." "Received payment. "S. T. MARSHALL."
"I, S. T. Marshall, hereby release and relieve all my right, title and claim or claims which I may have against Nelson King for legal services done heretofore, and this shall be his receipt.
"S. T. MARSHALL."
Upon this statement by King, and the evidence of the receipts, the house immediately appointed a committee to investigate the charges of bribery, and authorized the speaker to issue his warrant for the arrest of Marshall.
The committee continued in session and prosecuted their investigations till February. There was a large number of witnesses called on behalf of the prosecution, and, as an effort was made to injure the character of King, he, too, had witnesses summoned. It was claimed by the Democrats that King had stolen bacon when living in Lee county, and that this was the- offense for which Marshall had defended him. A. H. Palmer, editor of the " Capital Reporter," had published this charge, and King, meeting him afterward, made an assault upon him, and gave him a severe beating. Mr. Crocker and S. A. James, from this county, were at the capital at this. time for the purpose of laboring with their representative, and King took advantage of their presence to have them subpoenaed as witnesses to estab- lish his character.
The committee finally made a report, which consisted of only the testi- mony taken, without any recommendation; the report was laid on the table, and this ended the whole affair.
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