The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 60

Author: Western historical co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 898

USA > Iowa > Lee County > The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 60

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Let us journey on now to the westward in search of further marks of civili- zation. By the side of an Indian pathway, in Sugar Creek bottom (Se-se- pawk-wah) we see the skeletons of a few wick-e-ups (wigwams), which assure us that man has been here (although a savage in these wilds) before us. But now all is lovely. Not even an alimo (Indian dog, half wolf ) has remained behind to gnaw the bones thrown from his master's camp-kettle. Onward we move, and arrive upon the verge of a bluff (near Sargent's, now), and behold the Des Moines River in the distance, with Sand Prairie intervening, bedecked in nature's garb, with thousands of flowers of different hues and tints, such as lan- guage fails to describe. We arrive upon the banks of the river, and enter the humble domicile of John Tolman, situated opposite St. Francisville, in Missouri. If this old house was upon its former foundation, you would find it about three hundred feet southeast of Mr. Noah Bailey's residence, in Des Moines Town- ship. This completes the description of all the landmarks of civilization in Lee County in 1831, excepting at Montrose, where grew the sour apple trees, which bore the first fruit of any kind I ever tasted. My uncles, Alexander and Hugh White, used to cross the river from where we lived opposite in Illi- nois, and gather these half-ripened apples when I can first remember.

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

I have no doubt that some of you here to-day would be pleased for me to describe the personal appearance of some of these pioneers, which is no easy task to do, even when the individual is before us, and still harder to do when one has not seen them for thirty years. If in attempting this description I commit an error, I offer an apology now, and will speak of them as I first remember them.

Col. Russell Farnham, who seemed to be the representative man of the American Fur Company, was of medium size, inclined to corpulency. He was fearless and fond of amusement, strictly honorable, and paid a bill of $500 contracted at a gaming-table several years before, only a short time before his death.

Mark Aldrich was a small man in stature, stoop-shouldered, dark com- plexion, black, piercing eyes, brimful of vivacity, and always ready to participate in the amusements of the day. The Indians called him Petete-ah-kah-kah- kaw-Little Black Sparrow.

All that I can remember of Moses Stillwater is that he was a tall man, that he usually wore a plug hat, and, at times, did not seem to care whether " school kept" or not.

Dr. Samuel C. Muir was a man of medium size, light complexion, pale blue eyes, temperate in his habits and precise in business. He was the first victim of cholera in 1832. After he was shrouded, I observed lighted candles at his head and feet-a custom I had never witnessed before.

Joshua Palean, a. native of New York, from whom one of the streets in Keokuk derived its name, was an Indian trader. He was of medium stature, and what we would term a chunky man, inclined to corpulency. He was fond of dress, wore ruffled shirts and sported a gold watch. He held three slaves, and, after his death they sued and obtained their freedom. He died of cholera in 1833. His daughter became the wife of Henry J. Campbell, the founder of Democracy in Lee County.

Edward Bushnell, or Musco-Cheese, as the Indians called him, was a Portage des Sioux Frenchman. He was in the employ of the Fur Company, and after their departure he remained and entered into various branches of business.

Paul Bessette, Baptist Neddo, John Shook, trappers, hunters and fishermen, complete the list of men in 1831.

I fear that my narrative of the men has grown tedious, so I will now refer to my boyhood companions. Thomas Connolly was the largest boy, and made the sleds upon which we rode down hill. James Muir and Michael For- syth were the best shots with bow and arrow at a 5-cent piece. William and Charles Thorn excelled at robbing bird's nests. These boys were all half-breeds, and I was very much aggrieved at my father for causing them to be sent away from home to attend Richard M. Johnson's school in Kentucky. I had but one congenial associate left, and he was a full-blooded Indian of the name of Peace-O-Tuck. He could eat more corn-bread and drink more buttermilk than any human being I ever met. I supplied his wants hourly, for it was only on these terms he would remain. If I did not keep him constantly eating, he would not haul drift-wood nor skin catfish worth a cent.

There was one more boy here who was not any more of a mixture than myself. He claimed to be a full-blooded Anglo Saxon, and you could not have doubted his origin if you could have seen him when he was a boy as I saw him. His hair resembled carrots ; his face was freckled ; his nose was red and exceedingly active in its secretions, and his coat-sleeve was often brought into requisition, as bandana handkerchiefs were too expensive for every-day use.

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Now, this good-natured boy thought himself too big to associate with a little fellow like me, and what do you suppose was the cause of his pride ? I will tell von. His brother-in-law owned a yoke of cattle-old Buck and Brandy. Que day, this big boy (in his own imagination) had driven these cattle up the shore with a keelboat in tow to Nashville. He had bought a pair of store-shoes, and wore a long-tailed white blanket-coat, and from this fact thought himself a little more of a man than I, who wore a roundabout, went barefooted, and did noth- ing but catch catfish and drift-logs. Shall I expose this boy of forty-four years ago by calling him by name ? Yes, I will do it, for " revenge is sweet." It is our veteran poineer, Valencourt Vanansdol, a man of whom any country might be proud, because of his honesty, upright principles and true integrity.

Our seventeen log cabins and their forty pioneers of 1830, are phantoms of the past.

The tidal wave of civilization has rolled over our land and left our pioneer bark stranded on the shore behind. We now have 6,000 houses and a popula- tion of 36,000 happy and industrious people. Our wild prairies have become fertile fields. We hear at early dawn in every forest the distant notes of chanticleer, and in the evening time, from the hillsides and valleys, the sound of tinkling bells and the lowing of domestic herds.

Now, the fagots of Pos-o-qua no longer replenish the camp-fire, and the painted post on the wayside, denoting her lonely grave, has fallen into decay, and a marble slab supplies its place. The curling smoke from the Indian wig- wam that arose from many a valley : the howl of the prairie-wolf heard o'er many a plain, and the shrill sereech of the green-headed paroquet, as they flew through the wild forests, will never be heard or seen by us here again. The tomahawk and scalping-knife, the pioneers' dread, have been converted into cul- tivators and reapers, the white man's emblems of peace.

Pioneers and Old Settlers, many changes have taken place here since we adopted this pleasant land for our homes. Thousands of our cotemporaries have played their parts and passed from the stage of life's action. While we still remain before the scene, let us be thankful, for our pilgrimage here must shortly eud. The springtime and summer of life with us has come and gone, and antumn is now upon us. Soon the cold frosts of winter will close around us, and we will be here no more, but while we remain let us meet oftener together and talk of the good old times gone by, when mothers and sisters welcomed the stranger to our log-cabin homes, and the latch-string hung from the outside of every man's door.

"OLD TIMES COME AGAIN."

The sixth annual gathering of the Old Settlers' Association was held in the upper park in Fort Madison, on Thursday, the 24th day of August, 1876, and was the most interesting of any of their meetings held up to that period. This park is naturally a beautiful square of ground, and has been carefully trained by the people of Fort Madison. Large trees have been grown within it, and no effort has been spared to make it an attractive place of resort during the hot months of summer. For this meeting of the patriarchal fathers and mothers of Lee County, it had been especially trimmed up and decorated.

A regular old-fashioned log cabin had been erected in the southwest corner of the square. The logs had been out in the woods and hauled to the park, where they were saddled and notched as the cabin was raised. Then came the old-fashioned roof, ribs, clapboards, knees, weight-poles and all, the puncheon floor, and the door with its wooden latch and the latch-string out, a sign of welcome and hospitality characteristic of the people who came to plant the

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standards of civilization in the Iowa wilds. An old-fashioned chimney, with earthen hearth and fire-place, was built at one end. Over the door, resting in forks cut and fitted for the purpose, was an old flint-lock musket, a relic of the war of 1812. Dried pumpkins, string beans, roots and herbs, hung from the joists. The looking-glass and brush hung against the wall. The old-fashioned spinning-wheel and reel stood in the places they were accustomed to occupy when the mothers spun and wove the material of which the family garments were made, and the flax-hatchel was in convenient reach. The cornmeal sack, from which the Indian pones, johnny-cakes and corn-dodgers were made, had a convenient place. Old-style splint or bark bottomed chairs had been resurrected and brought out from their long-time hiding-places, and made to do service once more. Cupboard-ware, in the pride and glory of blue pictures, adorned the shelves that rested on pins driven into auger-holes bored into the logs of one corner of the cabin. Dried gourds, and turkey-wing brushes, seed onions and corn selected for the next years' planting, strings of red-pepper, were seen here and there. Coon and wolf skins, cured and ready for a buyer, hung behind the door, while others were stretched and curing against the out- side. Within, everything was arranged just as the mothers of forty-six years before were wont to arrange the inside of their cabins. For this day, Mrs. Sena Alley, the mother of Mayor Alley, of Fort Madison, kept house and dispensed hospitality as she did for several years after her husband, Hosea Alley, settled in what is now Green Bay Township, in 1839. To this pleasing duty she had been assigned by the Committee of Arrangements, and the honor was well-merited. Hour after hour, old men and old women gathered around the cabin to look upon the scenes and arrangements that were once so familiar tothem, but long since abandoned for those of more modern sur- roundings.

A Sac wigwam, a cross-looking squaw, and a papoose strapped to a board and propped up against the entrance, stood a little north of the cabin. A Sioux tepee was occupied by two frontier hunters, with their dogs, traps, rifles, etc. Their hunting canoe was near by.

An old pioneer wagon, one of the kind in use a half a century ago, with great big hubs and dished wheels, loaded with old-fashioned household furni- ture. drawn by two gaunt horses and driven by N. B. Miller, drove up and halted in front of the cabin for safety, for the Indians were coming. Behind the wagon were two girls riding on horse-back, but without saddles. The Indians came in all the hideousness of dirty blankets, red paint, and all the other paraphernalia of a party of blood-thirsty red devils on the war-path. Whooping and yelling, they raced their ponies around the square, and finally halted in front of the cabin, and, Indian-like, demanded something to eat. Everything had been arranged with a view of presenting to the children, grand- children and great-grandchildren, in a lifelike manner, the scenes, incidents and terrors to which the pioneers were exposed who came to plant the standard of civilization in the land of the Iowas. ~

The orator of the day was Charles Negus, Esq., of Fairfield, now deceased, and no man was better qualified for the duty. Mr. Negus came to Iowa in early times, when he was. but a young man, and had devoted much time and thought to the history of the country, its growth and development, and, before his death, in 1877, was recognized as Iowa's best historian. His address on this occasion was one of the master efforts of his life, and one that will be remembered till the last one of the thousands who heard it has paid the final debt of nature.

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

Dr. A. C. Roberts, of the Democrat, had prepared quarters for the accom- modation of the press representatives, and was honored with the presence of a large number of that fraternity. Among those who sat down to dinner with him on that day were the following : Col. Wilson, for a number of years the editor of the Fort Madison Plaindealer, and Mr. - Pratt, his successor ; Frank Phelps, Chicago Times : H. W. Clendenin, Keokuk Constitution ; F. H. Semple, Gate City : Thomas Gregg. Rural Messenger, Hamilton, Ill. : Henry Lohmer, representing the Van Buren Democrat, and Frank Hatton, of the Hawk-Eye. Ex-editors: Dr. Charles Beardsley, formerly of the Hawk-Eye, and R. W. Albright, who established the Fort Madison Courier, in 1841. Col. J. C. Stone and Hon. W. C. Hobbs, opposing candidates for member of Congress from this district in 1876, were also present, and sat vis a vi's at Dr. Roberts' profusely-supplied dinner-table.

Soon after dinner, came the annual election of officers. President, G. G. Hamilton, of Montrose: Vice Presidents, David Bell, of Cedar Township: Rev. Mr. S. Pickard, Charleston : Nicholas Sargent, Des Moines : Alexander Cruickshank, Franklin ; John Morgan, Green Bay ; E. McCullough, Harri- son ; William Skinner, Jefferson : Valencourt Vanausdol, Jackson; N. B. Miller, Madison ; Elias Overton, Marion (Montrose was not filled); George Berry, Pleasant Ridge: John Herron, Van Buren : Leonard Eoff, Washing- ton. R. W. Pitman, Secretary.

Said the Democrat of August 30, in concluding its report of this gathering : " The old settlers formed themselves in a circle, commencing with the old- est members, and coming up to those of the most recent date which allows a man or woman to claim a membership in the Association. Then, hand in hand, those old men and women pledged to each other friendship to last so long as their lives should continue. This was the most interesting ceremony of the day. Then came the leave-taking, which was one of the most affecting scenes we ever witnessed. The old patriarchs and pioneers, with voices trembling and glistening drops in their eyes, took their farewell of each other, for they real- ized that this was probably the last time many of them would meet on this green earth, and as they stood with hand clasped in hand, one could see that the grief expressed in their whole mien was too deep for utterance, and when the final leave was taken, many an old man fairly broke down and shed bitter tears.

" Alone and deserted the park looks now at sunset. The merry people who have been here all day, to the number of five or six thousand, have left, and only the watchman who guards the wigwams, tents, cabins and tables is left to look over the ground which was so clean and fresh in the morning, and that is now strewn with papers and crumbs, the only thing left to show how many restless feet had trod the green grass during the day.

Two other gatherings of the old settlers have since been held in the same pleasant place in 1877 and 1878. The log cabin is kept intact, and will be the center of attraction at each recurring gathering.

In 1877, Mrs. Sena Alley again presided as mistress of the cabin, assisted by Mrs. Susan Fox. The interior and exterior arrangements, furniture, trappings, etc., were about the same as in the years previous. The general order of exercises were marked by the same features as those of previous meetings of the Association, so that to attempt a detailed review of the programme would be a repetition of what has already been written.

On the occasion of this meeting, Mayor Alley delivered an address of wel- come, glowing with eloquence, to the many thousands who came to spend a day with the old settlers as they lived over again one day of the past. R. W. Pit-

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man, who took an active part in the organization of the Association, and who has carefully guarded its every interest, was the orator of the day, and deliv- ered a very happy and appropriate address. In the course of his address, Mr. Pitman said : " The first sermon preached in Lee County was in July, 1835, by a man named Joseph Howard, a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. The services were held in the cabin of William Hunter, a little east of the site of West Point. The next sermon was preached by Rev. Chauncy Hobart, a Methodist minister from Illinois. He was out bee-hunting, and, stopping at my father's cabin, Mr. Hobart informed him of his double calling. I was immediately put on horse-back and started out to inform all the brethren that the Word would be expounded at my father's house on the following Sabbath. My mother paid him for his sermon by cleansing his linen. The first Sabbath school in Lee County was organized at my father's house in 1836."

Chauncy Hobart here mentioned, was a pioneer missionary of the Meth- odist Church to the Black Hawk Purchase. In 1836, he was assigned to duty in Cedar and adjoining Counties, and remained there some two years, when he was assigned to other parts of the country. When Minnesota began to settle up, he was sent up there as a missionary, where he has ever since remained in the harness. He is now an old man, and a resident. of Red Wing, Goodhue County, where the writer met him in August, 1878. Incapacitated by old age from active and continuous work, he is held in reserve for urgent calls. He was elected Chaplain to the Legislature during the session commencing in Jan- uary, 1878. He is remarkably well preserved, and as full of mental vigor as he was when he came bee-hunting to the Lee County wilderness in 1836.

After Mr. Pitman's address, Gen. A. C. Dodge, who was present, was introduced to the congregated thousands, and made a few well-timed and pleasant remarks.

The following song composed by Kate Harrington (Mrs. James Pollard) was sung by the Glee Club, which was composed of Doctor and Mrs. Rix and others, the old settlers joining in the chorus with hearty voices :

OLD SETTLERS' SONG. TUNE-Old Folks at Home.

Right here, where Indian fires were lighted, Long, long ago ; Where dusky forms, by rum incited, Danced wildly to and fro ;

Where birch canoes, like arrows darting, Swift o'er the waves, Showed but a gleam of water paiting, Cleft by the oars of the braves.

Chorus -We, old settlers, come to greet you, Proffer heart and hand; Breathe, too, a fervent prayer to meet you, Yonder in the spirit land.

Old Black-Hawk with his chiefs about him, Once gathered here ;

Never a warrior dared to doubt him- " Pale-face," too, learned to fear.

But scalping-knives and belts have vanished ; Fires blaze no more ; While like to Arab tents are banished, Camps from the further shore.

Chorus .- Still, Old Settlers, come to greet you, Proffer heart and hand ; Breathe, too, a fervent prayer to meet you, Yonder in the spirit land.

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O. brothers! there are dear old faces Hid 'neath the mold :

Forms missing from their wonted places, Hands we have clasped still and cold.

While all the vanished years behind us, Leave few to come ; And missing links on earth remind us Scores have been gathered home.

Chorus -Where, with welcome shouts, they'll greet us, When we reach heaven's strand ;

Fling wide the golden gates and meet us. Brothers in the promised land.

The last gathering of the Old Settlers' Association was held in the park on Thursday, the 23d day of August, 1878. If anything, this gathering was the grandest and most successful of any ever held. Col. J. C. Parrott, presided. The preparations for the reception and entertainment of the guests made by the Committee of Arrangements and the citizens of Fort Madison, were on a grander and larger scale than ever before undertaken. The Democrat estimated that 12,000 people were in attendance. The address of welcome was extended by Hon. J. M. Casey. and, as the Judge is of Kentucky parentage, it is enough to say that his welcoming words were not only a credit to his Iowa education, but to the State of his birth, whose chivalry, generosity and hospitality are known and appreciated throughout the civilized world.

Judge Edward Johnstone was then introduced as the orator of the day, and delivered an address full of eloquence and sublimity. He dwelt largely upon the past, and the scenes and incidents pertinent to pioneer times. Judge Johnstone came to Fort Madison in July. 1837, since when he has maintained a continuous residence in Lee County. At that time, the country was just beginning to show signs of advanced civilization, and, of close observation and an excellent memory, no man was better calculated to call up the affairs of the past. Added to his natural ability, Judge Johnstone has filled several places of public trust, and from the day of his arrival to the present, has been closely identified with the public affairs of the county. He knew all the pioneers personally, and had seen the cabins and corn-patches of many of them give way to fine houses and well-improved farms. He had seen their children grow up to manhood and womanhood and given in marriage. He followed the remains of some of the patriarchal pioneers to their last resting-place, and after forty-one years had passed, he came to talk to those of them that still remained, their children. grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and their thousands of guests of the olden time. His address received the closest atten- tion, sometimes interrupted with sobs and tears, sometimes by tokens of applause.

Judge Johnstone was followed by R. W. Pitman, Secretary of the Associa- tion with a few brief and pertinent remarks.

" I look around in vain to-day," said Mr. Pitman, " for the familiar forms and faces, and the genial smiles of a Pritchett. Sawyer, Lindemuth, Mrs. John Scott, Alexander Gilmore, Mrs. John Burns, William G. Pitman, James T. Blair, John Van Dyke. Ed. Kilbourne, old Father Wycoff, D. S. Bell, John C. Herring, Mrs. Chinowith, Mrs. Paschal, Mrs. J. W. Smith, Mrs. Kempker and others who have heretofore greeted us on occasions like this ; and I thank Heaven for the gift of memory, for, though lost to our sight, they live in our hearts. They have finished their work. To know how well they have done it, we may look abroad over the fertile fields and pleasant homes of this land of plenty. But not there alone do we look for the fruit of their labor and devo-

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tion. Look into the hearts of their children and associates, and see if the noble, unselfish example of the departed pioneers has not created there a pur- pose to follow in their foot-tracks and make their lives likewise noble and unselfish. Thank Heaven, too, we still have some noble, living examples among us. Yet, we cannot but see that our ranks are rapidly thinning. Each year, the circle grows smaller. Each re-union, there are fewer hands to clasp. The hoary heads and bending forms of many here to-day tell plainer than words can do that soon, very soon, the pioneers of Lee County will live only in the hearts of those whose benefactors they have been. But their memory will be faithfully enshrined. The good they have done will live after them. And, while we grieve to see links of our golden chain disappear, one by one, yet we know they are not lost, but that, brightened and burnished by the Father's hand, they are forming a chain whose links shall never be severed."

PRESENT OFFICERS.

President, Hon. Edward Johnstone, of Keokuk.

Vice Presidents : O. Cutler, of Madison Township ; Charles Fields, Wash- ington ; John Morgan, Green Bay : William G. Pitman, Sr., West Point; Philip James, Denmark ; Robert Barr, Pleasant Ridge; Alexander Bullard, Jeffer- son ; D. G. Hamilton, Montrose; Amos Hinkle, Van Buren ; Nicholas Sar- gent, Des Moines ; Alexander Cruickshank, Franklin ; John McGreer, Har- rison ; J. C. Parrott, Jackson ; G. Ramsey, Charleston ; Elias Overton, Marion ; James Mc Donald, Cedar.

Secretary, W. G. Albright, Fort Madison ; Corresponding Secretary, Robert Mc Farland, Fort Madison ; Treasurer, I. Hale, Fort Madison ; Marshal, - -

One by one, the links are dropping out of the circular chain the old settlers of Lee County are accustomed to form at their annual gatherings. Year after year, the friendship that binds them brings them closer together; and it will not be long until the chain will only be a bright memory in the hearts of their descendants. All will have gone

" Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, Their Savior and brethren transported to greet ; While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, And the smile of the Lord is the joy of the soul."

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The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 60

Author: Western historical co., Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company Number of Pages: 898

Author: Western historical co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago, Western historical company
Number of Pages: 898