USA > Iowa > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &t., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics history of the Northwest etc > Part 40
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Dr. and Mrs. Bardwell came to Marion in the Fall of 1840, to attend the wedding of Sheriff Hosea W. Gray, and were so well pleased with the country that they decided to locate here permanently. This resolution they carried out in March, 1841. Mrs. Bardwell was an earnest worker in the Methodist Church, and united with the infant society at once after coming here. Her name is found associated with the early history of the Methodist movement. After some years' residence in the village, Dr. Bardwell made a claim west of town, about ten miles, and located his family there. The '40's were not years of the greatest comfort on the prairies, if we judge by the present standard of neces- sity. The nearest neighbor was usually at what would be a day's journey for a modern belle, and wolves were common enough to make a timidly-inclined per- son pray for thicker settlements. As an illustration of the courage of a pioneer's wife, we relate an anecdote of Mrs. Bardwell. One Winter day, she came to Marion in her sleigh, to make necessary purchases and obtain a spinning-wheel which belonged to her-for in those days the women knew how to use that relic now deemed so ornamental by fashionable ladies. When Mrs. Bardwell started for her long drive homeward, she had her wheel, a quarter of beef, a large cask filled with meat, and other articles, making in all a bulky load. She was com- pelled to hold the cask steady with her feet, while she managed her horses with both hands, for the day was cold. She had not gone two miles when the sleigh
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ran against something concealed in the snow, and split straight across. Instead of losing courage at this mishap, Mrs. Bardwell repaired damages as well as she could, and drove to a neighboring house. Being well acquainted there, she asked for hammer and nails to make good her vehicle; but the woman protested against Mrs. Bardwell's continuing her journey in such a fashion. The neigh- bor urged her to seek some other means of getting home, but Mrs. Bardwell persisted in going on as she was. "But," said her friend, "suppose the wolves follow you?" "Then I shall throw out my meat and drive on as fast as possible," replied the brave woman. "Suppose your sleigh breaks again ?" " Then I shall mount my horse." "But how can you get on a horse in the prairie ? " pursued the cautious friend. "Why," replied Mrs. Bardwell, "I shall stand on my spinning-wheel !" With such a spirit to combat, the friend saw the uselessness of further argument, and let Mrs. Bardwell go on toward home, where she arrived long after dark, but in safety.
One week the doctor was off on professional duties, having with him the family horse. The season was Winter and the roads were in bad condition. The breadstuffs were getting low, and, to cap the climax, along came the Meth- odist circuit rider. The minister's horse had to be cared for as well as the par- son himself, and fate seemed to compel Mrs. Bardwell to use her wits pretty actively. A storm set in, and the worthy visitor's appetite began to tell on the flour barrel. At last the bread was entirely gone and some substitute had to be secured. The minister's horse had eaten what corn there was in the barn, and Mrs. B. was left no alternative but to go three-quarters of a mile to the nearest neighbor's and there borrow as much corn as she could carry. Instead of making the minister stir his bones and partially repair the disaster he had worked, the hostess said never a word about her project, and manifested a pride about the accidental condition of the larder that was as natural as it was amus- ing. The first intimation the family had of a change in the cuisine was the introduction of a large dish of home-made hominy, the handiwork of the woman who was equal to almost any emergency. Those " hominy-days " will never be forgotten by the children of that thrifty housewife.
" A LITTLE MORE SQUASH."
As an illustration of the difficulties under which the pioneers labored in the first years of residence, is given a leaf from the history of Robert Ellis, Philip Hull and O. S. Bowling. These men set about making hay on the flats near the river, the Summer of '38. Hull had managed to raise a few Summer squashes in the little garden near his cabin, but not another thing was there for these strong men to eat. They secured twenty tons of hay on squash diet -baked, boiled, fried and roasted. Squash for breakfast, dinner and supper: then more squash for lunch. Mr. Bowling became exhausted from the hard work and limited bill of fare, and to this day he has not learned to appreciate the delicate flavor of Summer squash.
In the Fall, a party of young men, of whom Ellis was one, started for the Mississippi River for provisions. As they passed William Abbe's house, on the creek of that name, Mr. A. gave them $15 and said :
" Make that go as far as you can, boys, for it is all I have got in the world. When that is gone, God only knows what will become of my family !"
Flour was worth $20 per barrel, corn $1.25 per bushel, and tolled at the rate of one in six. Provisions of all sorts were as high as they could well be without growing dizzy, and the outlook was far from cheering. Still, the pioneers prospered, for there seemed to be a special providence overlooking their affairs.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
At one time, Ellis, Abbe and Young went up the Cedar in search of honey. They had with them a wagon filled with barrels standing on end. The trip was very successful, seventeen or eighteen trees being found. The barrels were filled with strained honey. Mrs. Abbe placed one of these barrels, with the end open, in her cabin, and the honey " candied " so solidly that it was used in lieu of sugar.
" VIENNA."
In 1838, Andrew J. McKean and several of his friends conceived the idea of making a town. They did not think that the trade and commerce of the country really demanded the erection of a city ; but they had nothing else on their minds just then, and concluded that a city would be a capital thing to have in the family. So they started out in search of a suitable locality, for, no mat- ter how intensely one may desire a town, the longing therefor cannot be grati- fied without the discovery of a site. The party reached a point east of where Lisbon now stands, and there beheld the promised land of their dreams. They formally took possession of the place by and with the consent of the owner, and instituted solemn proceedings, with the one grand end in view. They drove stakes, and christened the place Vienna. After that awe-inspiring ceremony, each of the party agreed to build a house upon the plat within a reasonable period of time. Those events transpired nearly forty years ago, and that " reasonable period of time " is still jogging along, for not a house was erected nor a stroke of improvement made. One of the party wanted to name the town Jackson, in honor of Mr. McKean, whose name is Andrew Jackson ; but that gentleman raised objections and suggested Vienna, and that title was adopted. Mr. McKean regards his escape as almost miraculous.
THE BUCKSKIN SCHOOL.
In the Big Woods neighborhood, in the vicinity of what is now Viola, was taught, about 1840, the " Buckskin school." The teacher, George C. Perkins, was clothed in the suit most common then, and every one of his male pupils patterned after the "professor." It was, like many a later day fashion, first established from necessity. There were no means of getting clothing, except by first killing the deer and then dressing the hide. Clothed in the primitive garb of the red man, the teacher and pupils pursued the even tenor of their ways, and " learned and conned by rote " the simple studies of the times.
There was a school established in 1842, in the Bassitt-Lucore neighborhood, with Caroline M. Keyes as teacher, but there were few pupils.
EAR MARK.
The first "ear mark " for cattle was recorded September 25, 1840, by Prior Scott. He claimed the following title : "Smooth crop of the right ear and two splits in the same." S. H. Tryon was Recorder at the time.
DANGERS OF WINTER TRAVEL.
During the Winter of 1841-42, Porter W. Earl took a load of wheat from Marion to Maquoketa, to be ground. It was necessary, in those days, to drive that long distance to get flouring done because of the lack of grist-mills in Linn County.
While crossing the prairie, which stretched away for more than a dozen miles, Mr. Earl was overtaken by a blinding storm. The snow fell in a cease- less cloud, and the wind moaned and shrieked, piercing one to the vitals with
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its icy chill. About midway on the desolate waste, Mr. Earl came upon a party which had given itself up as lost. Two women, Mrs. Abbe, wife of the pioneer for whom Abbe's Creek was named, her sister, afterward Mrs. Durham, and a boy had attempted to cross the prairie on their way east, when their horse had fallen dead, leaving them miles away from any shelter, in the midst of that fearful storm. Mr. Earl transferred the women and the contents of the sleigh to his own lumber sled, fastened the cutter to his conveyance and carried the whole party to a place of safety. Upon arriving at Maquoketa, Mr. Earl ascertained that he could not get his milling done for three days. Thereupon, he obtained a horse and drove Mrs. Abbe back to her home in Linn Township. He returned to Maquoketa, loaded up his sled and arrived home in Marion after just one week's absence.
Another incident is related, illustrative of the dangers of Winter travel over the prairies. Henry Higley started West about the Winter of '45, with a train of ten wagons, which were filled with supplies for an outlying post. The com- pany he was with decided to go on wheels because there was no snow near this point ; but before many miles were traveled, a blinding snow storm set in, and the wagons were with great difficulty dragged along. While on an open stretch of thirty-five miles, night settled down and the way became invisible. Far ahead, there suddenly gleamed forth the faint flicker of a solitary lamp. In a lone settler's cabin a light was burning. By this beacon the little party of half-perished men was guided. The undulations of the prairie now hid, now revealed the light. As they plunged into a hollow, they took the bearings and steered straight for the cabin, as they supposed, but in almost every instance they found themselves going far away from the house, upon ascending the next hill. In this irregular and wearisome way, the night was almost spent before the cabin was reached. At last, the band was safely housed. It was then discovered that the light which had saved their lives was burning from the accidental cause of sickness in the pioneer's family, and was placed in the win- dow for the first time that Winter.
Mr. Higley owned the stage line from Dubuque to Iowa City late in the forties, and many an incident is told of his experience on the road, which prove the marvelous changes in transportation during the last twenty-five years. More than once he drove through blinding storms and freezing winds, at the actual peril of life.
Even as late as 1856-57, the discomforts of stage travel were great. R. D. Stephens once piloted a lost stage through a drifting snow storm, with the mercury at 15 degrees below zero, over a trackless prairie. All night long he marched ahead, with a lantern in his hand, treading down the snow and making sure of the absence of pit-holes in the track.
These few facts are given as specimen pages from the experience of every early settler in the times when one could ride all day through the country with- out encountering a white man. Pullman palace cars did not then run over the country, at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, and " tire people to death " as they reclined on luxurious cushions.
FOURTH OF JULY, 1839.
The patriotism of the early times was equal to that of later days. When the anniversary of Independence Day arrived, it found the people ready and will- ing to participate in festivities of a character commensurate with the occasion. Under the marshalship of Sheriff Gray, the clans were mustered from far and near; beyond the frontier of the county and in adjoining settlements. West-
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
port was chosen as the proper place for holding the celebration, and Judge Mit- chell was invited to deliver an oration. Down came the people in full force and entered heartily into the spirit of the occasion. There were probably two hun- dred persons present. A supper was provided, at which toasts were drank and speeches made. In the evening, a ball was given, with Andrew J. McKean, H. W. Gray and Wm. H. Smith as managers. The company did not break up until morning.
IVANHOE.
In 1839, Anson Cowles located a claim for a village site on the banks of the Cedar River, at a point where afterward the old military road crossed the stream. Judge Greene built a small house at this point, on his arrival in 1839, but sub- sequently abandoned the location for Cedar Rapids. The survey of the military road to this point necessitated the establishment of the first ferry in the county. which was authorized and provided for by the County Commissioners in 1840. The place never became a popular one for settlement, and was deserted. No survey or record of it was made at the County Recorder's office.
MARION.
The county seat became the destination of many people shortly after its location in the year 1839. An incidental mention of this fact will suffice here, inasmuch as the detailed history of both Marion and
CEDAR RAPIDS,
which followed close in order of survey, are given in their proper places. The chronological record of the first two years is complete, and the development of the county, as indicated by the towns and villages, is fully set forth in the latter pages of this work.
Porter W. Earl, who is referred to in an earlier part of this record, finally came to Linn to reside in 1840, reaching here in the month of November. Marion was the point at which he first settled. The following year, he removed to the Rapids, and lived in a house on the river bank. He aided in the survey of the town. He succeeded John C. Berry as Commissioners' Clerk, and in that capacity held the school moneys. There were $127 in his possession for such uses, and he naturally desired to see a portion of the amount devoted to the conduct of a school in the Rapids. He made strenuous efforts to induce the people there to put up a building, as Marion was the nearest point at which a school was then taught. By dividing the money, a school might have been sustained for six months at both places. In the failure to take advantage of the opportunity, Cedar Rapids lost its possible share of the money and all of it was devoted to the school at Marion. In 1842, Mr. Earl removed to Marion and later became Recorder of the county. He now resides in Cedar Rapids. From him the writer obtained much valuable information.
The foregoing sketches are not given for the sake of bringing the parties mentioned more prominently before the reader than many other settlers should be shown, but simply to serve as a connecting link in the general chain of history be- tween the years 1837 and 1840. Such items have been gathered as could be obtained by personal interviews, but in nearly every instance the writer came unannounced upon the pioneers, and found them unprepared to give full statements of their early lives. It is purposed here to give representative names and char- acteristic incidents, to the end that a clearer idea of those years may be impressed upon the minds of the readers.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
The trials and privations of the early settlers were innumerable; but those who came here were of a class to face discomfort bravely and defy the adverse fate which seemed to encompass them. Comfort and happiness is always com- parative. For example, the descendants of the pioneers feel irritated to-day if, through some accident, the prompt delivery of the daily mail is rendered impos- sible. In those earlier days, the mails were almost unheard-of luxuries. Weeks would frequently elapse before a letter could reach its destination after it was posted ; and even in Marion, in 1839-40, it was no uncommon thing for a letter to remain in the post office for several weeks after its arrival, because of the charges thereon. It then cost 25 cents to transport a letter from the nearest office to the county seat of this county, and few of the settlers had spare quar- ters to devote to such uses. Everything in the way of business was conducted on the " dicker " plan, and Uncle Sam did not recognize deer skins or corn as legal tender.
Mr. Addison Daniels was the first Postmaster, and many a cordial word is still spoken of him for the favors he so frequently conferred on early settlers. Such kindness is never forgotten.
Lawyers rode the circuit in company with the Judges, and turned an honest penny by a much more laborious system of professional work than our present legal gentlemen could endure with good grace. The early bar of Linn was one of the best in the district, but traveling practitioners frequently came to this county.
The social world was primitive, but enjoyable in spite of the lack of button- hole bouquets and croquet. The fair sex were willing to "sit up" with the gallants who came in uncouth attire and leaned their rifles in the corner of the one room before making their formal addresses. The topics of conversation were different from those of to-day, but men found phrases in which to tell their willing listeners the old though never wearisome tale of love. Marriages were solemnized in simple form, and happy homes built up on the broad prairies. The children's children now visit the scene where grandfather performed his marvelous deeds of marksmanship, and grandmother toiled long but cheerfully for the protection and improvement of her family.
There are memories clustering about the old homesteads that make them sacred in the eyes of all who are related to the pioneers. From more than one of those whose simple stories go to form this volume comes the earnest testi- mony that the old days were good days, despite the absence of latter-time necessaries. The recital of these narratives proves that happiness is compara- tive, and that the training in younger years prepares one for the channel in which one's measure of contentment is full.
To the youth of this generation the labor incident to pioneer life seems appalling; but it is the verdict of those whose heads are white with honorable years, that the burdens of 1840 were less onerous to them than many of the social restrictions are now.
" We enjoyed ourselves a hundred times better then than folks do now," said one cordial representative of the county, and he was sincere in his utter- ance. " We did not always have a supply of delicacies, but we had enough to eat. When meat was wanted, all we had to do was to step out in the edges of the grove and shoot a deer. Sometimes we ran out of flour, and then we ate potatoes, or pounded corn in a home-made wooden mortar with an iron wedge fastened in a long stick. We used to grind corn in coffee mills until our arms ached. For coffee we used browned corn, and for tea we steeped up such herbs as we could gather in our fields. We seldom went hungry, for there was no need
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of that while shooting was plenty. Prairie chickens were to be had without limit, and larger game ran by our cabins constantly."
The ride over the trackless prairie, which had to be accomplished before the "claim" of the new-comers was reached, would to-day kill the average city- bred woman. But the mothers and daughters of the precursors of Iowa's farm- er-capitalists were built of sterner stuff. They endured the slow transporta- tion with remarkable fortitude of body and spirit. It is no weak sentiment to accredit those women with attributes of a noble nature, for surely they pos- sessed them. The manner of speaking solely of the men who came first is far too customary. Women came as well as men, and women figure in the creation of this State co-equal in all respects with the stronger sex. The loyalty to country, the devotion to principle, the heroism in the presence of danger, man- ifested by Iowa sons during the rebellion, show that Iowa mothers were made after a grand model.
Mr. Horace N. Brown relates that it was customary in those days of which we write, to accept whatever was of value in the way of "dicker," in lieu of cash, for taxes as well as for private dues.
At the age of 21 years, Mr. Brown was elected Justice of the Peace, and was retained in office for a considerable period of time. In 1845, he took charge of the finances of the county, at the will of the people, and was com- pelled to travel extensively in the labor of collecting the assessments. The law provided that, in default of payment by a certain time, the Treasurer should visit the delinquents and urge prompt settlement.
Money at those times was as scarce as angels' visits, and every possible expedient was resorted to to create a circulating medium. Among the methods adopted was that of hunting the prairie and gray wolf and obtaining its scalp, for the presentation of which a reward or bounty was offered by the County Commissioners. A common wolf was valued at $1.00 for the young and $2.00 for the old; while the gray wolf, from its more dangerous character, naturally rated higher, and commanded $2.00 and $5.00 respectively. A certificate of the death of the wolf at the hands of the applicant for bounty, and within the limits of the county, was required. Such certificates Mr. Brown, as Justice of the Peace, was empowered to issue; and when the taxpayers could not raise money for their assessments, he would swear the property-holder, according to law, and accept wolf scalps, at the values named.
For many years, a large share of the taxes of Benton County, then a part of this county for legal purposes, was paid in wolf scalps. This system of pay- ment aided the settlers very materially, but it did not fill the treasury of the county to an overpowering degree.
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE.
But four decades have passed since the Indians celebrated the " Dog Feast," by the side of the Mosk-wah-wak-wah and exercised high dominion over the broad prairies and shady groves. In the presence of men still living in the vigor of advanced manhood, the solemn festival was observed, with such wierd and fan- tastic accompaniments as to impress the scene in lasting lines upon the tablets of memory. Here, too, the youthful brave was laid to rest, while his soul took flight toward the happy hunting ground, amid the lamentations of his tribe.
Still less is the period of time which marks the disappearance of the last painted band of warriors on their forced march westward, while the setting sun -typical of the waning glory of their race-threw grotesque shadows of their train on the crude farms of the venturesome white man.
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY.
Brief indeed have been the days between the era of savagery and the era of civilization. But short as that intervening space has been, it was ample for the sowing of seeds which will, beyond peradventure, bear marvelous fruitage. The hand of intelligent man was laid upon this region, as it were, but yester- day. To-day one beholds the finest farms, the best tilled acres, the richest orchards, the most substantial buildings and the newest implements of husbandry that can be met with throughout the length and breadth of " Beautiful Iowa."
Where once the fierce blasts of Winter howled with unceasing monotony over unobstructed plains, the dense grove now stands a barrier between man and the elements, in silent protest against the forces of the air. Where once the single camp fire of the lonely hunter wreathed its slender spire of smoke, as he reposed, solitary and silent, near the beaten path of the deer, there now ascend the choking fumes of many furnaces, as they glow and grumble in the busy centers of manufacture. Where once the Indian hunter carved his rude arrows by the river bank, now whirl the wheels of mammoth factories. Where once the deer-slayer leveled his deadly rifle at his noble game, there stands to- day an industry fourth of its kind in magnitude in all the wide world.
Churches and school houses, those edifices which proclaim the moral develop- ment of a country, and represent the two greatest factors in the problem of civilization, dot the prairie on every hand. At the centers of trade these insti- tutions stand, eloquent evidences of the intelligence of the populace, and point to a still grander outcome.
Wealth has succeeded poverty, and privation has given way to comfort. The children of the pioneers have grown up surrounded by refining influences, and bear the stamp of training in a broader school than their parents were privi- leged to attend. Books and music have their appropriate place in the farm houses of Linn, and social intercourse is no longer restricted to the range of ox- cart communication. The finest horses, the choicest animals and the largest herds graze in rich pasture lands. It is no longer necessary to " turn the cattle. into the big lot," as a pioneer expressed his early method of caring for his patient oxen. Fences mark the boundaries of farms and subdivisions of farms. As year succeeds year, the flocks increase in number and condition, and the markets of the East find profit in choosing the cattle from Linn's thousand hill- ocks. The dairies of the county supply the choicest table butter and cheese. and rank in size and excellence among the foremost of the West.
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