USA > Iowa > Monroe County > The history of Monroe County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion > Part 40
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The next important business was to build a house. Until this was done, some had to camp on the ground or live in their wagons, perhaps the only shel- ter they had known for weeks. So the prospect for a house, which was also to be home, was one that gave courage to the rough toil, and added a zest to the heavy labors. The style of the home entered very little into their thoughts- it was shelter they wanted, and protection from stress of weather and wearing exposures. The poor settler had neither the money nor the mechanical appli- ances for building himself a house. He was content, in most instances, to have a mere cabin or hut. Some of the most primitive constructions of this kind were half-faced, or as they were sometimes called " cat-faced " sheds or " wike- ups," the Indian term for house or tent. It is true, a claim cabin was a little more in the shape of a human habitation, made, as it was, of round logs light enough for two or three men to lay up, about fourteen feet square-perhaps a little larger or smaller-roofed with bark or clapboards, and sometimes with the sods of the prairie ; and floored with puncheons (logs split once in two, and the flat sides laid up), or with earth. For a fire-place, a wall of stone and earth- frequently the latter only, when stone was not convenient-was made in the best practicable shape for the purpose, in an opening in one end of the build- ing, extending outward, and planked on the outside by bolts of wood notched together to stay it. Frequently a fire place of this kind was made so capa- cious as to occupy nearly the whole width of the house. In cold weather, when a great deal of fuel was needed to keep the atmosphere above freezing point-for this wide-mouthed fire place was a huge ventilator-large logs were piled into this yawning space. To protect the crumbling back wall against the effects of fire, two back logs were placed against it, one upon the other. Some- times these back logs were so large that they could not be got in in any other way than to hitch a horse to them, drive him in at one door, unfasten the log before the fire place, from whence it was put in proper position, and then drive him out at the other door. For a chimney, any contrivance that would conduct the smoke up the chimney would do. Some were made of sods, plastered upon the inside with clay ; others-the more common, perhaps-were of the kind we occasionally see in use now, clay and sticks, or "cat in clay," as they were
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sometimes called. Imagine of a Winter's night, when the storm was having its own wild way over this almost uninhabited land, and when the wind was roar- ing like a cataract of cold over the broad wilderness, and the settler had to do his best to keep warm, what a royal fire this double-back-logged and well-filled fire-place would hold ! It must have been a cozy place to smoke, provided the settler had any tobacco ; or for the wife to sit knitting before, provided she had needles and yarn. At any rate it must have given something of cheer to the conversation, which very likely was upon the home and friends they had left be- hind when they started out on this bold venture of seeking fortunes in a new land.
For doors and windows, the most simple contrivances that would serve the purposes were brought into requisition. The door was not always immediately provided with a shutter, and a blanket often did duty in guarding the entrance. But as soon as convenient, some boards were split and put together, hung upon wooden hinges, and held shut by a wooden pin inserted in an auger hole. As substitute for window glass, greased paper, pasted over sticks crossed in the shape of a sash, was sometimes used. This admitted the light and excluded the air, but of course lacked transparency.
In regard to the furniture of such a cabin, of course it varied in proportion to the ingenuity of its occupants, unless it was where settlers brought with them their old household supply, which, owing to the distance most of them had come, was very seldom. It was easy enough to improvise tables and chairs ; the for- mer could be made of split logs-and there were instances where the door would be taken from its hinges and used at meals, after which it would be rehung- and the latter were designed after the three-legged stool pattern, or benches served their purpose. A bedstead was a very important item in the domestic comfort of the family, and this was the fashion of improvising them : A forked stake was driven into the ground diagonally from the corner of the room, and at a proper distance. upon which poles reaching from each wall were laid. The wall ends of the poles either rested in the openings between the logs or were driven into auger holes. Barks or boards were used as a substitute for cords. Upon this the tidy housewife spread her straw tick, and if she had a home-made feather bed, she piled it up into a luxurious mound and covered it with her whitest drapery. Some sheets hung behind it, for tapestry, added to the cozi- ness of the resting place. This was generally called a " prairie bedstead." and by some the " prairie rascal." In design it is surely quite equal to the famous Eastlake models, being about as primitive and severe, in an artistic sense, as one could wish.
The house thus far along, it was left to the deft devices of the wife to com- plete its comforts, and the father of the family was free to superintend out-of- door affairs. If it was in season, his first important duty was to prepare some ground for planting, and to plant what he could. This was generally done in the edge of the timber, where most of the very earliest settlers located. Here the sod was easily broken, not requiring the heavy teams and plows needed to break the prairie sod. Moreover, the nearness to timber offered greater conven- iences for fuel and building. And still another reason for this was, that the groves afforded protection from the terrible conflagrations that occasionally swept across the prairies. Though they passed through the patches of timber, yet it was not with the same destructive force with which they rushed over the prairies. Yet by these fires much of the young timber was killed from time to time, and the forests kept thin and shrubless.
The first year's farming consisted mainly of a " truck patch," planted in corn, potatoes, turnips, etc. Generally, the first year's crop fell far short of
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supplying even the most rigid economy of food. Many of the settlers brought with them small stores of such things as seemed indispensable to frugal living, such as flour, bacon, coffee and tea. But these supplies were not inexhaustible, and once used, were not easily replaced. A long Winter must come and go before another crop could be raised. If game was plentiful, it helped to eke out their limited supplies.
But even when corn was plentiful, the preparation of it was the next diffi- culty in the way. The mills for grinding it were at such long distances that every other device was resorted to for reducing it to meal. Some grated it on an implement made by punching small holes through a piece of tin or sheet iron, and fastening it upon a board in concave shape, with the rough side out. Upon this the ear was rubbed to produce the meal. But grating could not be done when the corn became so dry as to shell off when rubbed. Some used a coffee mill for grinding it. And a very common substitute for bread was hominy, a palatable and wholesome diet, made by boiling corn in weak lye till the hull or bran peels off, after which it was well washed, to cleanse it of the lye. It was then boiled again to soften it, when it was ready for use as occa- sion required, by frying and seasoning it to the taste. Another mode of preparing hominy was by pestling.
A mortar was made by burning a bowl-shaped cavity in the even end of an upright block of wood. After thoroughly clearing it of the charcoal, the corn could be put in, hot water turned upon it, when it was subjected to a severe pestling by a club of sufficient length and thickness, in the large end of which was inserted an iron wedge, banded to keep it there. The hot water would soften the corn and loosen the hull, while the pestle would crush it.
When breadstuffs were needed, they had to be obtained from long distances. Owing to the lack of proper means for threshing and cleaning wheat, it was more or less mixed with foreign substances, such as smut, dirt and oats. And as the time may come when the settlers' methods of threshing and cleaning may be forgotten, it may be well to preserve a brief account of them here. The plan was to clean off a space of ground of sufficient size, and if the earth was dry, to dampen it and beat it so as to render it somewhat compact. Then the sheaves were unbound and spread in a circle, so that the heads would be uppermost, leaving room in the center for the person whose business it was to stir and turn the straw in the process of threshing. Then as many horses or oxen were brought as could conveniently swing round the circle, and these were kept moving until the wheat was well trodden out. After several "floorings " or layers were threshed the straw was carefully raked off, and the wheat shoveled into a heap to be cleaned. This cleaning was sometimes done by waving a sheet up and down to fan out the chaff as the grain was dropped before it ; but this trouble was frequently obviated when the strong winds of Autumn were all that was needed to blow out the chaff from the grain.
This mode of preparing the grain for flouring was so imperfect that it is not to be wondered at that a considerable amount of black soil got mixed with it, and unavoidably got into the bread. This, with the addition of smut, often rendered it so dark as to have less the appearance of bread than of mud; yet upon such diet, the people were compelled to subsist for want of a better.
Not the least among the pioneers' tribulations, during the first few years of settlement, was the going to mill. The slow mode of travel by ox-teams was made still slower by the almost total absence of roads and bridges, while such a thing as a ferry was hardly even dreamed of. The distance to be traversed was often as far as sixty or ninety miles. In dry weather, common sloughs and
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creeks offered little impediment to the teamsters ; but during floods, and the breaking-up of Winter, they proved exceedingly troublesome and dangerous. To get stuck in a slough, and thus be delayed for many hours, was no uncom- mon occurrence, and that, too, when time was an item of grave import to the comfort and sometimes even to the lives of the settlers' families. Often, a swollen stream would blockade the way, seeming to threaten destruction to whoever should attempt to ford it.
With regard to roads, there was nothing of the kind worthy of the name. Indian trails were common, but they were unfit to travel on with vehicles. They are described as mere paths about two feet wide ; all that was required to accommodate the single-file manner of Indian traveling.
An interesting theory respecting the origin of the routes now pursued by many of our public highways is given in a speech by Thomas Benton many years ago. He says the buffaloes were the first road engineers, and the paths trodden by them were, as a matter of convenience, followed by the Indians, and lastly by the whites, with such improvements and changes as were found neces- sary for civilized modes of travel. It is but reasonable to suppose that the buffaloes would instinctively choose the most practicable routes and fords in their migrations from one pasture to another. Then, the Indians following, possessed of about the same instinct as the buffaloes, strove to make no improve- ments, and were finally driven from the track by those who would.
When the early settlers were compelled to make those long and difficult trips to mill, if the country was prairie over which they passed, they found it com- paratively easy to do in Summer, when grass was plentiful. By traveling until night, and then camping out to feed the teams, they got along without much difficulty. But in Winter, such a journey was attended with no little danger. The utmost economy of time was, of course, necessary. When the goal was reached, after a week or more of toilsome travel, with many exposures and risks, and the poor man was impatient to immediately return with the desired staff of life, he was often shocked and disheartened with the information that his turn would come in a week. Then he must look about for some means to pay expenses, and he was lucky who could find some employment by the day or job. Then, when his turn came, he had to be on hand to bolt his own flour, as in those days, the bolting machine was not an attached part of the other mill machinery. This done, the anxious soul was ready to en- dure the trials of a return trip, his heart more or less concerned about the affairs of home.
These milling trips often occupied from three weeks to more than a month each, and were attended with an expense, in one way or another, that rendered the cost of breadstuffs extremely high. If made in the Winter, when more or less grain feed was required for the team, the load would be found to be so con- siderably reduced on reaching home that the cost of what was left, adding other expenses, would make their grain reach the high cost figure of from three to five dollars per bushel. And these trips could not always be made at the most favorable season for traveling. In Spring and Summer, so much time could hardly be spared from other essential labor ; yet, for a large family it was almost impossible to avoid making three or four trips during the year.
Among other things calculated to annoy and distress the pioneer, was the prevalence of wild beasts of prey, the most numerous and troublesome of which was the wolf. While it was true in a figurative sense that it required the ut- most care and exertion to "keep the wolf from the door," it was almost as true in a literal sense.
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There were two species of these animals-the large, black timber wolf, and the smaller gray wolf, that usually inhabited the prairie. At first, it was next to impossible for a settler to keep small stock of any kind that would serve as a prey to these ravenous beasts. Sheep were not deemed safe property until years after, when their enemies were supposed to be nearly exterminated. Large numbers of wolves were destroyed during the early years of settlement -as many as fifty in a day in a regular wolf hunt. When they were hungry, which was not uncommon, particularly during the Winter, they were too indis- creet for their own safety, and would often approach within easy shot of the settlers' dwellings. At certain seasons, their wild, plaintive yelp or bark could be heard in all directions, at all hours of the night, creating in- tense excitement among the dogs, whose howling would add to the dismal melody.
It has been found, by experiment, that but one of the canine species, the hound, has both the fleetness and courage to cope with his savage cousin, the wolf. Attempts were often made to capture him with the common cur; but this animal, as a rule, proved himself wholly unreliable for such a service. So long as the wolf would run, the cur would follow ; but the wolf, being appar- rently acquainted with the character of his pursuer, would either turn and place himself in a combative attitude, or else act upon the principle that " discretion is the better part of valor," and throw himself upon his back, in token of sur- render. This strategic performance would make instant peace between these two scions of the same house ; and not infrequently, dogs and wolves have been seen playing together like puppies. But the hound was never known to recog- nize a flag of truce ; his baying seemed to signify "no quarter," or at least so the terrified wolf understood it.
Smaller animals, such as panthers, lynxes, wildcats, catamounts and pole- cats, were also sufficiently numerous to be troublesome. And an exceeding source of annoyance were the swarms of mosquitoes which aggravated the trials of the settler in the most exasperating degree. Persons have been driven from the labors of the field by their unmerciful assaults.
URBANA TOWNSHIP.
The first settlement was made in this township in 1844. A few log cabins were built and small tracts of land plowed. These claimants, however, were here only temporarily, in the true sense of the term. They were "squatters," going in advance of civilization, and waiting their opportunity to sell their claims to immigrants.
The permanent settlement and development of the township began in 1846. In that year, the Government survey was made, the Indians retired, and in December, land was subject to private entry. The citizens were generally small property holders, striving to gain for themselves cheap homes, which might in time grow in value, and willing to endure suffering and privation in order to gain that end.
Club laws were at first framed to protect the settlers, but were soon aban- doned, as the laws of the State were sufficiently remedial.
The first election was held in August, 1847. Whisky was freely drank, though without rioting. This phase of election day was in contrast with the present, when nothing of the kind is used among her 175 voters.
Both Methodists and Baptists began early to preach among the people, but without marked success, as the ministers were usually backwoodsmen, without special calling for their work. But when, in the course of events, a better class
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of religious instructors came to the township, they met with intelligen recep- tion and their labors were crowned with success.
In 1871, Elder Walden, of the Disciples' Church, organized a congrega- tion of fifty-six members, which chose Elders and Deacons. They still exist as an organization, though without regular preaching. Elder G. R. Robinson endeavors to hold them together, in hopes that better times and co-operation may yet build them up.
The " Christian Union " Baptist Brethren and the Methodists have each a small organization.
The first public school was taught in 1849, in Sub-District No. 3. There are at present nine public schools, with a yearly expenditure of $2,000, and with 300 pupils in regular attendance.
Rich deposits of coal are found, though but little worked. Keokuk lime- stone and a soft sandstone are found along the margins of the streams, but not in sufficient quantities for building purposes.
Pure water is found at a depth of twenty to thirty feet below the sur- face.
There are no manufactories save a grist and saw mill. The people are wholly occupied in farming. There are no towns and villages, and no pau- pers.
ORGANIZATION.
The settlement of the county had so far progressed by the Spring of 1845 that independent organization was decided upon. The locality known as Clark's Point was designed by the proprietor as the county seat. It was near the geographical center of the county, and was suited naturally for the devel- opment of a town. Rival influences were at work from the earliest moments to effect the selection of another site. It is better to let unpleasant by-gones rest in undisturbed peace in their graves, and for that reason merely the recorded facts and incidents relative to the brief but bitter contest are here preserved. It will do no good to drag personal animosities into the recital of the story.
In every county some feeling has been manifested over the choice of the seat of justice. In certain counties, it has risen to the proportions of civil in- surrection, involving years in the struggle. In others, the question was settled at once, as in Kishkekosh. No effort has ever been made to relocate the seat, except that which was the natural outgrowth of the original selection, and that effort proved unavailing.
Herewith is given a transcript of the act organizing this county and pro- viding for the location of the county seat :
An Act to organize the County of KishkeKosh, and to provide for the location of the Seat of Justice thereof.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa, That the county of Kishkekosh be and the same is hereby organized, from and after the first day of July next ; and the inhabitants of said county shall be entitled to all the privileges to which, by law, the inhabitants of other organized counties of this Territory are entitled, and the said county shall constitute a part of the First Judicial District of this Territory.
SEC. 2. That, for the purpose of organizing said county, it is hereby made the duty of the Clerk of the District Court of said county, and in case there should be no such Clerk appointed and qualified, or for any cause such office should become vacant on or before the tenth day of July next, then it shall be the duty of the Sheriff of Wapello County, to proceed immediately after the tenth day of July to order an election in said county for the purpose of electing three County Commissioners, one Judge of Probate, one County Treasurer, one Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, one Surveyor, one County Assessor, one Sheriff, one Coroner, one County Recorder, and such number of Justices of the Peace and Constables as may be directed by the
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officer ordering such election ; the officer having due regard to the convenience of the people ; which election shall be on the first Monday in the month of August next. And that the officer ordering such election shall appoint as many places for holding elections in said county as the convenience of the people may require, and shall appoint three Judges of Election for each place of holding elections in said county ; and issue tickets to said Judges for their appointment. And the officer ordering said election shall give at least fifteen days' notice of the time and place of holding such election, by at least three printed or written advertisements, which shall be posted up at three or more of the most public places in the neighborhood where each of the polls shall be opened as aforesaid.
SEC. 3. That the officer ordering the elections aforesaid shall receive and canvass the polls, and grant certificates to the persons selected to fill the several offices mentioned in this act, and in all cases not provided for by this act. The officer ordering said election shall discharge the duties of a Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, until there shall be a Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners elected and qualified for said county under the provisions of this act.
SEC. 4. Said election shall, in all cases not provided for by this act, be conducted accord- ing to the laws of this Territory regulating general elections.
SEC. 5. The officers elected under the provisions of this act shall hold their offices until the next general election, and until their successors are elected and qualified.
SEC. 6. The officer ordering the election in said county shall return all the books and papers which may come into his hands by virtue of this act to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners of said county, forthwith after said Clerk shall be elected and qualified.
SEC. 7. That the officer conducting said election shall be allowed the same fees for services rendered by him under the provisions of this act that are allowed by law for similar services performed by the Sheriff in similar cases.
SEC. 8. That the Clerk. of the District Court for said county of Kishkekosh may be appointed by the Judge of said district, and qualified at any time after the passage of this act ; but shall not enter upon the discharge of the duties of said office prior to the first day of July next.
SEC. 9. That all actions at law in the District Court for the county of Wapello, commencing prior to the organization of said county of Kishkekosh, when the parties, or either of them, reside in said county of Kislikekosh, shall be prosecuted to final judgment, order or decree, as fully and effectually as if this act had not been passed.
SEC. 10. That it shall be the duty of all Justices of the Peace residing within said county, to return all books and papers in their hands appertaining to said office, to the nearest Justice of the Peace which may be elected and qualified for said county under the provisions of this act. And all suits at law, or other official business which may be in the hands of such Justices of the Peace, and unfinished, shall be completed or prosecuted to final judgment by the Justices of the Peace to whom such business or papers may have been returned as aforesaid.
SEC. 11. That the Connty Assessor elected under the provisions of this act for said county, shall assess the said county in the same manner, and be under the same obligations and liabili- ties as are now or may hereafter be provided by law in relation to Township Assessors.
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