USA > Iowa > Lee County > The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
" From some cause-it is said from having charge of Government funds in paper which became depreciated and left him a defaulter-Roberts was dis- missed from the service, but tendered his services to the Government at the breaking-out of the Mexican war, and was made Captain of a company of Mounted Rifles. He was subsequently restored to his full rank with arrears of pay from the date of his dismissal, and promoted in the line of his rank the same as if he had remained in the service all the time.
" While he was out of the service he practiced law at Fort Madison, and was a Justice of the Peace. At one time, he wanted to transfer a town lot to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Sperry. He made out the deed, which was signed by himself and wife, and then certified as Justice of the Peace to the acknowledg- ment before himself, which is still preserved among the county records.
" At the close of the Mexican war, having a lawsuit in the Court at Fort Madison, involving the validity of the decree title, in which suit in chancery he claimed an interest in the Half-Breed Tract, not admitted in the decree, he came into court in full dress uniform as a Captain, with his blue coat and pants and brass buttons, with belt, sword and epaulets to make an argument and create an impression, which he did, as the New York Company compromised with him and paid him over $3,000 to quit."
" While in the service on the plains, he got thrown from his horse and severely injured, in consequence of which he lost his voice for some time and could only speak in a whisper. He got leave of absence and went to Washing- ton to look after a soft place, and while there kept interviewing Old Marcy. then Secretary of War, till one day the Secretary said to a friend ' he had got
884
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
tired of hearing that whispering. It followed him every place he went. for . Benny ' was persevering. So he sent him to command a post on the frontiers in New Mexico, just what he wanted. for if he could not be in Washington. . Benny.' who loved a little authority, no matter how brief, was satisfied, and went to his post. Here he set to work and in a short time captured a lot of Mexican thieves and outlaws who had been making raids into our territory, and created a big sensation by hanging them all. It was a summary proceeding, and there is no doubt he served them right : for if they did not deserve to be hanged for the offenses with which they were charged. they did deserve it upon general principles, and as amusements were at that remote quarter very scarce, it made a good time and a publie day for the soldiers."
FIRST IOWA COUNTIES.
Under an act of Congress approved June 28. 1834, the Black Hawk Pur- chase, and all the territory west of the Mississippi River, and north of Mis- souri, was attached to Michigan Territory. In September following, during the Sixth Session of the Legislative Conneil of Michigan Territory, the " Forty- Mile Strip" was divided into two counties-Dubuque and Des Moines. Dubuque was declared to be the county seat of Dubuque County, and Burling- ton of Des Moines County. John King. of Ohio, was appointed to be Chief Justice of Dubuque County, and Isaac Letfler. of Des Moines County. When King went to Dubuque he took with him a newspaper outfit, and had the honor to print and publish the first newspaper west of the Mississippi River and north of Missouri.
FIRST ELECTION.
The first election in Southern Iowa was for the choice of officers for Des Moines County as above established, and was held in the fall of 1834. William Mor- gan was elected as Presiding Judge : Henry Walker and Young L. Hughes, Associate Judges of the District Court : W. W. Chapman. Prosecuting Attor- ney : W. R. Ross. Clerk. Recorder and Assessor : Solomon Perkins, Sheritt: and John Whitaker (then of Angusta, but now living in Fort Madison), Judge of Probate. There were only two voting-places in the county-at Burlington and Fort Madison.
John Barker and Richard Land were appointed and commissioned as Jus- tices of the Peace, by the Governor of Michigan Territory, in 1884, and were the first Justices.
THE FIRST COURT.
The first court ever held in Southern Towa convened at the house of Mr. Ross, on the block immediately cast of the public square, at Burlington, in the spring of 1885. Judges presiding: William Morgan, Henry Walker and Young L. Hughes. ' Resident lawyers : W. W. Chapman. Robert Williams. Isaac LetHer. Joseph B. Teas. Visiting lawyers : Mr. Little. of Carthage. Ill .. and James W. Woods, usually called " Old Timber."
Some soldiers from Fort Des Moines (Montrose) were tried for some mis- demeanor at this first term of the court, and were defeuded by (then) Captain Browne, who paid their fines.
Isaac Leffler succeeded Morgan as Presiding Judge in 1836. The County Courts in those days were composed of one presiding and two associate justices or judges.
385
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
SETTLERS OF 1835 AND 1836.
As soon as the " roads settled " and navigation opened in the spring of 1835, home-seekers and claim-hunters began to come in pretty numerously. Sometimes the " head of the family " came first and selected a location, and then went back and brought on the family. In other cases, the entire family came on at one time-sometimes coming all the way from the old homes in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania or New York in wagons, and some- times hy boats down the Ohio and then up the Mississippi.
Among others who came this year, the names of the following men and women are found on the Old Settlers' Record. In some instances the date of arrival and nativity are recorded ; in other cases, that information is not given :
On the 2d day of April, 1835, Lewis Pitman and his family, from Ken- tucky, arrived on the east side of the Mississippi River, were ferried over and landed opposite the present site of the Penitentiary. The family consisted of Mr. Pitman, his wife and seven children-Lindsey G., Granville W., Lewis G., Richard W., Mary E., Martha A. and Stephen B. Pitman selected a claim and settled in what are now Sections 2 and 3 and 10 and 11, in West Point Township. . There were no township or section lines established at that time, and he selected his claim at random. When the lines were established, it was found that his claim took in a part of each of the sections named. The old Pitman farm is now owned by Richard W., Lewis G. and Granville W. Pitman -three sons of Lewis Pitman-who grew to manhood and middle age and usefulness on the "old claim." The father died in February, 1862, and the mother in March, 1875.
Stephen Perkins, the father of the first Mrs. Alexander Cruickshank. and his son George, came from Illinois. The elder Perkins located the claim now covered by the farm of Arch Courtright, adjoining Clay Grove, in Harrison Township. He subsequently removed to Missouri.
Edley Me Vey and Miles Driscoll, says Mr. Alexander Cruickshank, came with Stephen Perkins and located claims near the present site of Dover. McVey's claim was about one and a half miles east of Dover. Mc Vey and Driscoll were brothers-in-law, and came from Southern Illinois. Me Vey and Driscoll subse- quently removed to Jefferson County. where Mc Vey died, and where Driscoll is still living.
Joshua Owens, the first Sheriff of Lee County (by appointment), made a claim and settled in the near neighborhood of the present Lost Creek Christian Church. Isaac Briggs settled in the same vicinity.
Dr. Campbell Gilmer, the first disciple of .Esculapins to commence the practice of medicine in the vicinity, settled three miles northwest of Fort Madison, where he continued to reside until his death, on the 9th of July, 1865, Ilis birth occurred on the 8th day of the month. At the time of his death he was living with his second wife. Each of his marriages had been solemnized on the 8th, and in his last illness, he conceived the idea that his death would occur on the 8th, but he was spared till the 9th. The claim upon which he settled remained in the possession of the family until 1876, when the farm was sold to Gotfred Beuchel. At the time of his settlement there, Dr. Gilmer's family consisted of his wife and four children-Robert, Rufus, Ellen and Juliet. The two former are in California. Ellen married William Malcomb, and died in the winter of 1873. Juliet married Bowen Hunt, and after his death, re- married, and is now the wife of John Beans, and is living in Van Buren County.
386
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
Mrs. Gilmer (the second) died in Fort Madison on the 15th of June. 1877. Will S. Gilmer, the youngest son, who was born on the old claim, is the only one of the family remaining in the county.
At the time Dr. Gilmer settled here. there was not a practicing physician in this part of the county, and his practice extended many miles in all direc- tions . And his neighbors who survive him tell it, to his credit and honor, that he never refused to visit the sick and the suffering, no matter what the condition of the weather, nor at what hour of the night the call came. He never stopped to inquire whether the patient was able to pay, but went as readily and quickly to the bedside of the poor and impoverished as to the rich. If he ever made any difference, it was in favor of the poor. He was a large-hearted, generous. noble man, and no one was ever allowed to languish and suffer to whom he could administer relief.
Samuel Paschal, a native of Tennesee, after a ten-years residence in Illinois, settled in what is now Marion Township, in the fall. Mr. Paschal is still living ; his wife died in the early summer of this year.
E. S. Mccullough, another Tennessean. made a claim in what is now Har- rison Township.
P. Philander Jones. is a native of New York, and came to what is now Washington Township, where he still lives, about the 15th of April.
William M. May came with his mother from Illinois. His father died on the way, but with the grit of a " woman when she says she will, she will, you may depend on't ; and when she says she won't, she won't, and that's the end on't, " came on to the new purchase. and settled near William May's pres- ent residence, in Marion Township.
William M. Davis, of Ohio, settled on a claim in what is now Washington Township. Mr. and Mrs. Davis died within six months of each other in 1876.
John R. and Robert Herring were boys when their parents came from Ohio and settled in what is Washington Township. The sons here named have always lived in the neighborhood of the claim their father selected. except a few years they spent in California.
The brothers. William and Isham Burton, came from Indiana and made claims in the neighborhood of the present village of West Point. These brothers are still living in the county. They have the honor of making the bricks that were used in the erection of the old Presbyterian Church at West Point, which is believed to have been the first church edifice erected in what is now the State of Iowa. The building was torn down in later years. and part of the old material was used in the walls of the present Presbyterian Church edifice at that place. Gen. A. C. Dodge, the first delegate elected to Congress from Iowa Territory, made the opening speech of the campaign in this old church.
John O. Smith, of North Carolina, settled in the neighborhood of what is now Denmark in April, has resided in that vicinity ever since. and is now Postmaster at that enterprising and thrifty Yankee village.
J. E. Pedigo was a single man, and came from Tennessee. The record does not show where he settled. He married Elizabeth Hayes on the 17th day of February, A. D. 1840.
Mrs. Emily Stewart and her two children. Martha (the wife of Dr. Joel C. Walker), and Joseph B. Stewart, now of Des Moines, came up from Hannibal, Mo., and settled on a claim three miles north of Fort Madison.
The Old Settlers' record bears the name of Almeda A. Douglass, who makes this statement : "I was born in Chester. Orange Co., N. Y., August 28. 1813 ; I left Penn Yan, Yates Co., N. Y., with my husband, Joseph S. Doug-
387
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
lass, my son George, and little daughter Mary, on the 25th of August, 1835, for the ' Far West." We arrived at Fort Madison (then in Michigan Territory), on the 9th day of October, 1835, having been over six weeks on the way. During the trip, our little daughter, then thirteen months old, sickened and died, and was buried eighteen miles this side of Chicago. We came all the way in our own conveyance.
" My mother, Mrs. Harriet Knapp, my sister Elizabeth, afterward Mrs. Eno, and two brothers, Jonas S. and John, came in company with us. My father, Gen. John H. Knapp, preceded us in the summer of 1833-over two years before we came-and was one of the first who laid out the town of Fort. Madison."
These parties last named, all settled at Fort Madison.
In 1834, a young man named Whitaker located a claim on the land upon which the village of West Point is now situated, but was never considered a " settler." "He was a young man of fine education," says Mr. Cruickshank, " an excellent surveyor, but was of a roving disposition, and had wandered to Texas before the rebellion against Mexico." In 1835, Whitaker sold his claim to a person named Howell, from Illinois.
Zedekiah Cleveland, from Washington County, N. Y., settled about two miles west of West Point.
It is fair to presume that there were a large number of other settlers, this year, who scattered themselves about in different parts of the county. Some of them, perhaps, are still living on the lands upon which they filed their claims, which were perfected by deeds from Uncle Sam. And there is no doubt that many others. in a few years, when settlements got too thick for their notions of ease, comfort and freedom, sold out their possessions, "pulled up stakes," and moved on after the Indians. Others, again, no doubt, paid the debt of nature and found a last resting-place near the homes they founded in the wilderness. And thus, one by one, of those who were well known when they first came, dropped out of sight and out of memory, except the more prominent ones who were spared to make their mark in their respective neigh- borhoods, or write their names in the Old Settlers' record. It is not to be sup- posed that. in the absence of written records, every one who was here in 1835, nearly half a century ago, can be identified and located by the few survivors of that period. It would be a remarkable memory that could do this-that could keep pace with the changes that forty-three years bring in the history of any community, particularly in a pioneer community, many of whom are of a restless, roving, discontented nature.
West of the "Father of Waters," when the first settlers found their way out toward West Point, Denmark and other parts of the Skunk River Valley, there were no roads. When once a pioneer crossed the great river, he left behind, if we may except the few miners' and traders' cabins that sprang up at Dubuque and elsewhere, all evidences of the civilizing influences and surround- ings of white people. 3 A pocket compass or the north star was the only
guide. Hundreds of the first pioneers to the " Forty-Mile Strip" of Iowa had no definite point of settlement in view when they left their old homes to found new ones in the Far West beyond the Mississippi : but, bold, fearless, determined and resolute, they pushed on and on until they found a locality to suit their fancy, and then pitched their tents or lived in their wagons-those great, schooner-like concerns of the Conestoga (Pennsylvania) kind.(that would hold about as much as an ordinary canal-boat), brush-tents, deserted Indian wigwams or rail pens, protected with quilts, blankets and coverlets.
388
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
1836 .- This year there was a very material increase in the population by immigration over that reported at the close of 1835. In fact the rush was so great during the summer season, says Judge Whitaker and others, that the small ferry-boat at Fort Madison was kept busy almost day and night, crossing those who came by land. Besides, large numbers came by the river, landing at either Fort Madison or Keokuk. Every visitor and prospector to the new pur- chase-every one who made a claim-was so well pleased with the country that the golden stories they conveyed to their friends at the old homes excited admi- ration and a desire to come and possess some part of the land that needed to be stirred with the plow and tickled with the hoe, to render ample and remunera- tive returns to tillers of the soil. Those who came in time to plow and plant in 1835, raised good crops in 1836, and prosperity began to hover over and around the settlers on the Black Hawk Purchase.
The following are named among the settlers who came in this year. With these we abandon the effort to " keep track " of the arrivals :
R. F. Warnock, a Kentuckian, landed at Keokuk. on the 3d day of April.
John G. Kennedy, a native of Granville County, N. C., removed with his parents, when quite young, to Tennessee. In later years, he emigrated to Illi- nois, and came from Illinois to Fort Madison, landing there on the 12th day of April, where he has ever since remained.
Jacob Cutler arrived first from Illinois in the fall of 1835, about the time lots commenced selling in Fort Madison. He purchased a building-site on the river-bank, nearly in front of the present site of McConn's Mill. The frame of a building occupied the ground at the time of purchase. Soon after the pur- chase, Mr. Cutler went to St. Louis, where he secured lumber to complete the building, and at the same time purchased a general stock of merchandise, which he opened to sale as soon as the building was in readiness. Then contracting for the erection of a cabin for a dwelling-place for his family. he left his store in charge of Enoch Gilbert, and returned to Illinois,. where he spent the winter. In April, 1836, he moved his family to their new home. The family consisted of Mrs. Cutler, and four children-Otway, the oldest, and still a resident of the county ; Thomas, who studied medicine, and emigrated to California, in 1849, where he died in January, 1850; Rebecca. now Mrs. Espy, still living in Fort Madison, and Charlotte, the youngest, who died the same season, when between three and four years of age. The same building in which Mr. Cutler com- menced selling goods is still standing at the corner of Broadway and Front street, and is occupied by Charles Frank, grocer. Mr. Cutler died in March, 1863, and Mrs. Cutler in 1875.
James Bullard and family came from Illinois in April. The Bullard family settled on what is now the H. A. Richardson farm, about two miles west of Fort Madison.
Abraham Henkle settled in what is now Van Buren Township in June. His son Amos still lives there. Eliza Jane Henkle, daughter of Z. Henkle, and grand-daughter of Abraham Henkle, was born in 1836, and was the first birth in that then remote settlement.
William Patterson and family came from Virginia. They arrived at Fort Madison in May, and settled at West Point. After remaining there a number of years, they removed to Keokuk, where they still reside.
R. P. Creel, of Kentucky, came in June, and settled near the present site of West Point. He now lives at Keokuk.
Peter Miller and his family, natives of Maryland, arrived at Fort Madison on the 22d day of September. Their first residence was an old shell of a house
Truly Pittman
391
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
that had been deserted, and, doorless, had afforded a retreat for cattle, etc. The cattle were driven out, the house was cleaned out and Peter and his family moved in. Miller soon after commenced merchandising, in which he was suc- cessful. He afterward became prominently identified with the public affairs of the city and county, and filled the office of County Commissioner, County Treasurer, Sheriff, etc. He still remains in Fort Madison, where he is engaged in milling, etc.
James Foggy and Margaret Damon, of Virginia, also arrived in August and settled in what is now Pleasant Ridge Township.
Aaron Johnson, of Illinois, came in September, and settled in Fort Madi- son, and has lived in the county ever since, except about eighteen months that he spent in California.
John Saville and wife came in the fall. After the death of Mr. Saville, his widow married John Herron.
John Sawyer, a son of the old " Bay State" (Massachusetts), arrived in Oc- tober, and made a claim in Washington Township, where he built a cabin of hickory logs.
Frederick Haffner was born in Bavaria and came to Lee County in Octo- ber. He first settled on Sugar Creek. He now lives in Franklin Township.
Alfred Roberts' father came from the Buckeye State in the fall, and settled at the foot of "Nigger Bend," on the rapids, about one and a half miles below Sandusky. A few years ago, Mr. Roberts moved to Texas, where he died in the spring of 1878 ..
Dr. Joel C. Walker was born in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, and set- tled at Fort Madison on the 28th of December, and has resided there ever since.
Henry and Jacob Abel, natives of Germany, came during the year and set- tled west of Fort Madison, near Franklin.
Curtis Shedd, Lewis Epps and Timothy Fox and their families, and Sam- uel Houston, came from New Hampshire and settled at the present site of the village of Denmark. William Brown and family, of Massachusetts, came soon after and settled at the same place.
Elias and James Overton, Solomon Jackson, Luke Alphin and Joseph Car- mack settled in the immediate vicinity of Alexander Cruickshank.
James Scott, Levi Jackson and David Driscoll and their families settled in the West Point neighborhood.
Isaac McDaniel, of North Carolina, located in what is now Cedar Township, where he is still living. Nathaniel Anderson, William Warren and family, Ben Warren and Paul Bratton, all from Illinois, were his neighbors.
D. T. Mccullough, a Sonth Carolinian, settled in what is now Harrison . Township.
E. S. McCulloch, a Tennessean, settled on the site of his present farm in Harrison Township, when there were but three families in that neighborhood. In 1841 (March 25), he married Miss Mary Ann Paisley, daughter of William Paisley. Mr. McCulloch became a useful and influential citizen. He repre- sented Lee County in the Territorial Legislature in 1841, 1842 and 1843. He was elected to the State Senate in 1854, and served four years. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1860, and returned to the State Senate in 1869. He died about 1876. Mrs. McCulloch died February 7, 1873.
David Davis, New Hampshire, located in the Denmark settlement.
Green Casey, the father, and John Allen Casey, the brother of Hon. Joseph M. Casey, came from Illinois after a three-years residence in that State, from
E
392
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
Kentucky, and bought a claim and built a cabin adjoining West Point. Mr. Casey then returned to Illinois and remained over winter. In the late summer or early fall of the next year, he came back to look after his claim interests, with the intention of bringing his family in the spring of 1838. He returned home to Illinois in December, where he died during the winter. Mrs. Casey arranged to carry out the plans of her deceased husband, and in May, 1838. moved from Illinois and occupied the claim her husband purchased in 1836. At the time of their settlement at West Point. John Allen was twenty-three years of age and Joseph M. about eleven.
John Billips, Charles Stearns, Samuel Hearn and James Allen settled in what is now Des Moines Township, and were the first settlers in that part of the county. Johnson Meek settled there about the same time, or soon after. James, a member of the Billips family, died in December of that year, and was the first death in that settlement. Mary Billips was born on the 23d of March, 1837. and was the first birth. Robert Meek and Mary Ann Allen were mar- ried in 1838, which was the first marriage.
GERMAN PIONEER SETTLERS.
Henry Helman and his family settled in what is now Pleasant Ridge Town- ship in 1834. Joseph Helman, one of the four sons, who has lived in Fort Madison almost continuously since that time, says the family of John Rump, and the two brothers Mittendorf (unmarried), were the only other Germans in the country at that time of which he had any knowledge. Soon after his father settled in Pleasant Ridge. Joseph secured employment in Fort Madison, and is entitled to be regarded as the pioneer representative of the German nation in a city that presents so many evidences of the thrift, economy and enterprise of his countrymen.
H. M. Salmon and his wife landed from a steamboat at Fort Madison on the 5th day of August, 1886. Mr. Salmon soon after commenced what was known as the Good Samaritan Drug Store, a name by which it is still known. and which he conducted until his death, on the 17th of November. 1873. This was among the first drug stores to be established in any part of Iowa. It is still continued by his son J. F. Salmon. The widow of H. M. Salmon remains a resident of Fort Madison, is well preserved mentally and physically and is one of the honored mothers of the city.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.