USA > Iowa > Lee County > The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 24
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At a special session of the General Assembly of Iowa, by act approved July 14, 1856, the grant was accepted and the lands were granted by the State to the several railroad companies named, provided that the lines of their respective roads should be definitely fixed and located before April 1, 1857; and pro- vided further, that if either of said companies should fail to have seventy-five miles of road completed and equipped by the 1st day of December, 1859, and its entire road completed by December 1, 1865, it should be competent for the State of Iowa to resume all rights to lands remaining undisposed of by the company so failing.
The railroad companies, with the single exception of the Iowa Central Air Line, accepted the several grants in accordance with the provisions of the above act, located their respective roads and selected their lands. The grant to the Iowa Central was again granted to the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad Company, which accepted them.
By act, approved April 7, 1862, the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Com- pany was required to execute a release to the State of certain swamp and school lands, included within the limits of its grant, in compensation for an extension of the time fixed for the completion of its road.
A careful examination of the act of Congress does not reveal any special reference to railroad companies. The lands were granted to the State, and the act evidently contemplate the sale of them by the State, and the appropriation of the proceeds to aid in the construction of certain lines of railroad within its.
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
limits. Section 4 of the act clearly defines the authority of the State in dis- posing of the lands.
Lists of all the lands embraced by the grant were made, and certified to the State by the proper authorities. Under an act of Congress approved August 3, 1854, entitled "An act to vest in the several States and Territories the title in fee of the lands which have been or may be certified to them," these certified lists, the originals of which are filed in the General Land Office, conveyed to the State " the fee simple title to all the lands embraced in such lists that are of the char- acter contemplated " by the terms of the act making the grant, and "intended to be granted thereby; but where lands embraced in such lists are not of the character embraced by such act of Congress, and were not intended to be granted thereby, said lists, so far as these lands are concerned, shall be perfectly null and void; and no right, title, claim or interest shall be conveyed thereby." Those certified lists made under the act of May 15, 1856, were forty-three in number, viz .: For the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, nine; for the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad, 11; for the Iowa Central Air Line, thirteen ; and for the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad, ten. The lands thus approved to the State were as follows :
Burlington & Missouri River R. R 287,095.34 acres.
Mississippi & Missouri River R. R. 774,674.36 4
Cedar Rapids & Missouri River R. R 775,454.19
Dubuque & Sioux City R. R. 1,226,558.32
A portion of these had been selected as swamp lands by the State, under the act of September 28, 1850, and these, by the terms of the act of August 3, 1854, could not be turned over to the railroads unless the claim of the State to them as swamp was first rejected. It was not possible to determine from the records of the State Land Office the extent of the conflicting claims arising under the two grants, as copies of the swamp land selections in some of the counties were not filed of record. The Commissioner of the General Land Office, however, prepared lists of the lands claimed by the State as swamp under act of September 28, 1850, and also elaimed by the railroad companies under act of May 15, 1856, amounting to 553,293.33 acres, the claim to which as swamp had been rejected by the Department. These were consequently certified to the State as railroad lands. There was no mode other than the act of July, 1856, prescribed for transferring the title to these lands from the State to the companies. The courts had decided that, for the purposes of the grant, the lands belonged to the State, and to her the companies should look for their titles. It was generally accepted that the act of the Legislature of July, 1856, was all that was neces- sary to complete the transfer of title. It was assumed that all the rights and powers conferred upon the State by the act of Congress of May 14, 1856, were by the act of the General Assembly transferred to the companies; in other words, that it was designed to put the companies in the place of the State as the grantees from Congress-and, therefore, that which perfected the title thereto to the State perfected the title to the companies by virtue of the act of July, 1856. One of the companies, however, the Burlington & Missouri River Rail- road Company, was not entirely satisfied with this construction. Its managers thought that some further and specific action of the State authorities in addition to the act of the Legislature was necessary to complete their title. This indneed Gov. Lowe to attach to the certified lists his official certificate, under the broad seal of the State. On the 9th of November, 1859, the Governor thus certified to them (commencing at the Missouri River) 187,207.44 acres, and December 27th, 43.775.70 acres, an aggregate of 231,073.14 acres. These were the only
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
lands under the grant that were certified by the State authorities with any design of perfecting the title already vested in the company by the act of July, 1856. The lists which were afterward furnished to the company were simply certified by the Governor as being correct copies of the lists received by the State from the United States General Land Office. These subsequent lists embraced lands that had been claimed by the State under the Swamp Land Grant.
It was urged against the claim of the Companies that the effect of the act of the Legislature was simply to substitute them for the State as parties to the grant. Ist. That the lands were granted to the State to be held in trust for the accomplishment of a specific purpose, and therefore the State could not part with the title until that purpose should have been accomplished. 2d. That it was not the intention of the act of July 14, 1856, to deprive the State of the con- trol of the lands, but on the contrary that she should retain supervision of them and the right to withdraw all rights and powers and resume the title condition- ally conferred by that act upon the companies in the event of their failure to complete their part of the contract. 3d. That the certified lists from the Gen- eral Land Office vested the title in the State only by virtue of the act of Con- gress approved August 3, 1854. The State Land Office held that the proper construction of the act of July 14, 1856, when accepted by the companies, was that it became a conditional contract that might ripen into a positive sale of the lands as from time to time the work should progress, and as the State thereby became authorized by the express terms of the grant to sell them.
This appears to have been the correct construction of the act, but by a sub- sequent act of Congress, approved June 2, 1864, amending the act of 1856, the terms of the grant were changed, and numerous controversies arose between the companies and the State.
The ostensible purpose of this additional act was to allow the Davenport & Council Bluffs Railroad " to modify or change the location of the uncompleted portion of its line," to run through the town of Newton, Jasper County, or as nearly as practicable to that point. The original grant had been made to the State to aid in the construction of railroads within its limits and not to the com- panies, but Congress, in 1864, appears to have been utterly ignorant of what had been done under the act of 1856, or, if not, to have utterly disregarded it. The State had accepted the original grant. The Secretary of the Interior had already certified to the State all the lands intended to be included in the grant within fifteen miles of the lines of the several railroads. It will be remembered that Section 4, of the act of May 15, 1856, specifies the manner of sale of these lands from time to time as work on the railroads should progress, and also provided that "if any of said roads are not completed within ten years, no fur- ther sale shall be made, and the lands unsold shall revert to the United States." Having vested the title to these lands in trust, in the State of Iowa, it is plain that until the expiration of the ten years there could be no reversion, and the State, not the United States, must control them until the grant should expire by limitation. The United States authorities could not rightfully require the Secretary of the Interior to certify directly to the companies any portion of the lands already certified to the State. And yet Congress, by its act of June 2, 1864, provided that whenever the Davenport & Council Bluffs Railroad Com- pany should file in the General Land Office at Washington a map definitely showing such new location, the Secretary of the Interior should cause to be cer- tified and conveyed to said Company, from time to time, as the road progressed, out of any of the lands belonging to the United States, not sold, reserved, or
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
otherwise disposed of, or to which a pre-emption claim or right of homestead had not attached, and on which a bona fide settlement and improvement had not been made under color of title derived from the United States or from the State of Iowa, within six miles of such newly located line, an amount of land per mile equal to that originally authorized to be granted to aid in the construction of said road by the act to which this was an amendment.
The term "out of any lands belonging to the United States, not sold, re- served or otherwise disposed of, etc.," would seem to indicate that Congress did intend to grant lands already granted, but when it declared that the Company should have an amount per mile equal to that originally authorized to be granted, it is plain that the framers of the bill were ignorant of the real terms of the original grant, or that they designed that the United States should resume the title it had already parted with two years before the lands could revert to the United States under the original act, which was not repealed.
A similar change was made in relation to the Cedar Rapids & Missouri Railroad, and dictated the conveyance of lands in a similar manner.
Like provision was made for the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad, and the Company was permitted to change the location of its line between Fort Dodge and Sioux City, so as to secure the best route between those points; but this change of location was not to impair the right to the land granted in the orig- inal act, nor did it change the location of those lands.
By the same act, the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad Company was author- ized to transfer and assign all or any part of the grant to any other company or person, "if, in the opinion of said Company, the construction of said railroad across the State of Iowa would be thereby sooner and more satisfactorily com- pleted ; but such assignee should not in any case be released from the liabilities and conditions accompanying this grant, nor acquire perfect title in any other manner than the same would have been acquired by the original grantee."
Still further, the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad was not forgotten, and was, by the same act, empowered to receive an amount of land per mile equal to that mentioned in the original act, and if that could not be found within the limits of six miles from the line of said road, then such selection might be made along such line within twenty miles thereof out of any public lands belonging to the United States, not sold, reserved or otherwise disposed of, or to which a pre-emption claim or right of homestead had not attached.
Those acts of Congress, which evidently originated in the "lobby," occa- sioned much controversy and trouble. The Department of the Interior, how- ever, recognizing the fact that when the Secretary had certified the lands to the State, under the act of 1856, that act divested the United States of title, under the vesting act of August, 1854, refused to review its action, and also refused to order any and all investigations for establishing adverse claims (except in pre-emption cases), on the ground that the United States had parted with the title, and, therefore, could exercise no control over the land.
May 12, 1864, before the passage of the amendatory act above described, Congress granted to the State of Iowa, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Mc Gregor to Sioux City, and for the benefit of the McGregor Western Railroad Company, every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, for ten sections in width on each side of the proposed road, reserving the right to substitute other lands whenever it was found that the grant infringed upon pre-empted lands, or on lands that had been reserved or disposed of for any other purpose. In such cases, the Secretary of the Interior was instructed to select, in lieu, lands belonging to the United States lying nearest to the limits specified.
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
X .- AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AND FARM LANDS.
An Agricultural College and Model Farm was established by act of the General Assembly, approved March 22, 1858. By the eleventh section of the, act, the proceeds of the five-section grant made for the purpose of aiding in the erection of public buildings was appropriated, subject to the approval of Con- gress, together with all lands that Congress might thereafter grant to the State for the purpose, for the benefit of the institution. On the 23d of March, by joint resolution, the Legislature asked the consent of Congress to the proposed transfer. By act approved July 11, 1862, Congress removed the restrictions imposed in the " five-section grant," and authorized the General Assembly to make such disposition of the lands as should be deemed best for the interests of the State. By these several acts, the five sections of land in Jasper County certified to the State to aid in the erection of public buildings under the act of March 3, 1845, entitled " An act supplemental to the act for the admission of the States of Iowa and Florida into the Union," were fully appropriated for the benefit of the Iowa Agricultural College and Farm. The institution is located in Story County. Seven hundred and twenty-one acres in that and two hundred in Boone County were donated to it by individuals interested in the success of the enterprise.
By act of Congress approved July 2, 1862, an appropriation was made to each State and Territory of 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress, to which, by the apportionment under the census of 1860, they were respectively entitled. This grant was made for the purpose of endowing colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts.
Iowa accepted this grant by an act passed at an extra session of its Legis- lature, approved September 11, 1862, entitled "An act to accept of the grant, and carry into execution the trust conferred upon the State of Iowa by an act of Congress entitled 'An act granting public lands to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts,' approved July 2, 1862." This act made it the duty of the Governor to appoint an agent to select and locate the lands, and provided that none should be selected that were claimed by any county as swamp lands. The agent was required to make report of his doings to the Governor, who was instructed to submit the list of selections to the Board of Trustees of the Agricultural College for their approval. One thousand dollars were appro- priated to carry the law into effect. The State, having two Senators and six Representatives in Congress, was entitled to 240,000 acres of land under this grant, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining an Agricultural College. Peter Melendy, Esq., of Black Hawk County, was appointed to make the selec- tions, and during August, September and December, 1863, located them in the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Sioux City Land Districts. December 8, 1864, these selections were certified by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and were approved to the State by the Secretary of the Interior December 13, 1864. The title to these lands was vested in the State in fee simple, and con- flicted with no other claims under other grants.
The agricultural lands were approved to the State as 240,000.96 acres; but as 35,691.66 acres were located within railroad limits, which were computed at the rate of two acres for one, the actual amount of land approved to the State under this grant was only 204,309.30 acres, located as follows :
In Des Moines Land District.
6,804.96 acres.
In Sioux City Land District,
59,025.37
In Fort Dodge Land District.
138,478.97
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
By act of the General Assembly, approved March 29, 1864, entitled, " An act authorizing the Trustees of the Iowa State Agricultural College and Farm to sell all lands acquired, granted, donated or appropriated for the benefit of said college, and to make an investment of the proceeds thereof," all these lands were granted to the Agricultural College and Farm, and the Trustees were au- thorized to take possession, and sell or lease them. They were then, under the control of the Trustees, lands as follows :
Under the act of July 2, 1852.
204,309.30 acres.
Of the five-section grant.
3,200.00
Lands donated in Story County.
721.00
Lands donated in Boone County
200.00 66
Total.
208,430.30 acres.
The Trustees opened an office at Fort Dodge, and appointed Hon. G. W. Bassett their agent for the sale of these lands.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The germ of the free public school system of Iowa, which now ranks sec- ond to none in the United States, was planted by the first settlers. They had migrated to the " The Beautiful Land " from other and older States, where the common school system had been tested by many years' experience, bringing with them some knowledge of its advantages, which they determined should be enjoyed by the children of the land of their adoption. The system thus planted was expanded and improved in the broad fields of the West, until now it is justly considered one of the most complete, comprehensive and liberal in the country.
Nor is this to be wondered at when it is remembered humble log school houses were built almost as soon as the log cabin of the earliest settlers were occupied by their brave builders. In the lead mining regions of the State, the first to be occupied by the white race, the hardy pioneers provided the means for the education of their children even before they had comfortable dwellings for their families. School teachers were among the first immigrants to Iowa. Wherever a little settlement was made, the school house was the first united public act of the settlers; and the rude, primitive structures of the early time only disappeared when the communities had increased in population and wealth, and were able to replace them with more commodious and comfortable buildings. Perhaps in no single instance has the magnificent progress of the State of Iowa been more marked and rapid than in her common school system and in her school houses, which, long since, superseded the log cabins of the first settlers. To- day, the school houses which everywhere dot the broad and fertile prairies of Iowa are unsurpassed by those of any other State in the great Union. More especially is this true in all her cities and villages, where liberal and lavish appropriations have been voted, by a generous people, for the erection of large, commodious and elegant buildings, furnished with all the modern improvements, and costing from $10,000 to $60,000 each. The people of the State have ex- pended more than $10,000,000 for the erection of public school buildings.
The first house erected in Iowa was a log cabin at Dubuque, built by James L. Langworthy and a few other miners, in the Autumn of 1833. When it was completed, George Cabbage was employed as teacher during the Winter of 1833-4, and thirty-five pupils attended his school. Barrett Whittemore taught the second term with twenty-five pupils in attendance. Mrs. Caroline Dexter
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
commenced teaching in Dubuque in March, 1836. She was the first female teacher there, and probably the first in Iowa. In 1839, Thomas H. Benton, Jr., afterward for ten years Superintendent of Public Instruction, opened an English and classical school in Dubuque. The first tax for the support of schools at Dubuque was levied in 1840.
Among the first buildings erected at Burlington was a commodious log school house in 1834, in which Mr. Johnson Pierson taught the first school in the Winter of 1834-5.
The first school in Muscatine County was taught by George Bumgardner, in the Spring of 1837, and in 1839, a log school house was erected in Musca- tine, which served for a long time for school house, church and public hall. The first school in Davenport was taught in 1838. In Fairfield, Miss Clarissa Sawyer, James F. Chambers and Mrs. Reed taught school in 1839.
When the site of Iowa City was selected as the capital of the Territory of Iowa, in May, 1839, it was a perfect wilderness. The first sale of lots took place August 18, 1839, and before January 1, 1840, about twenty families had settled within the limits of the town; and during the same year, Mr. Jesse Berry opened a school in a small frame building he had erected, on what is now College street.
The first settlement in Monroe County was made in 1843, by Mr. John R. Gray, about two miles from the present site of Eddyville; and in the Summer of 1844, a log school house was built by Gray, William V. Beedle, C. Renfro, Joseph McMullen and Willoughby Randolph, and the first school was opened by Miss Urania Adams. The building was occupied for school purposes for nearly ten years. About a year after the first cabin was built at Oskaloosa, a log school house was built, in which school was opened by Samuel W. Caldwell in 1844.
At Fort Des Moines, now the capital of the State, the first school was taught by Lewis Whitten, Clerk of the District Court in the Winter of 1846-7, in one of the rooms on " Coon Row," built for barracks.
The first school in Pottawattomie County was opened by George Green, a Mormon, at Council Point, prior to 1849; and until about 1854, nearly, if not quite, all the teachers in that vicinity were Mormons.
The first school in Decorah was taught in 1853, by T. W. Burdick, then a young man of seventeen. In Osceola, the first school was opened by Mr. D. W. Scoville. The first school at Fort Dodge was taught in 1855, by Cyrus C. Carpenter, since Governor of the State. In Crawford County, the first school house was built in Mason's Grove, in 1856, and Morris McHenry first occupied it as teacher.
During the first twenty years of the history of Iowa, the log school house pre- vailed, and in 1861, there were 893 of these primitive structures in use for school purposes in the State. Since that time they have been gradually dis- appearing. In 1865, there were 796; in 1870, 336, and in 1875, 121.
Iowa Territory was created July 3, 1838. January 1, 1839, the Territorial Legislature passed an act providing that " there shall be established a common school, or schools in each of the counties in this Territory, which shall be- open and free for every class of white citizens between the ages of five and twenty-one years." The second section of the act provided that " the County Board shall, from time to time, form such districts in their respective counties whenever a petition may be presented for the purpose by a majority of the voters resident within such contemplated district." These districts were gov- erned by boards of trustees, usually of three persons ; each district was required
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
to maintain school at least three months in every year; and later, laws were enacted providing for county school taxes for the payment of teachers, and that whatever additional sum might be required should be assessed upon the parents sending, in proportion to the length of time sent.
When Iowa Territory became a State, in 1846, with a population of 100,- 000, and with 20,000 scholars within its limits, about four hundred school dis- tricts had been organized. In 1850, there were 1,200, and in 1857, the number had increased to 3,265.
In March, 1858, upon the recommendation of Hon. M. L. Fisher, then Su- perintendent of Public Instruction, the Seventh General Assembly enacted that " each civil township is declared a school district," and provided that these should be divided into sub-districts. This law went into force March 20, 1858, and reduced the number of school districts from about 3,500 to less than 900.
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