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 41
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SEC. 12. That James A. Galliher, of the county of Jefferson ; E. S. Rand, of the county of Van Buren, and Israel Kister, of the county of Davis, be and they are hereby appointed Com- missioners to locate and establish the seat of justice of said county of Kishkekosh. Said Commissioners, or any two of them, shall meet at the house of W. G. Clark, Esquire, in said county, on the first Monday in July next, or at such other time within one month thereafter as a majority of said Commissioners may agree upon, in pursuance of their duties under this act.
SEC. 13. Said Commissioners shall first take and subscribe the following oath, to wit : " We do solemnly swear (or affirm) that we (or either of us) have no personal interest, either directly or indirectly, in the location of the seat of justice for Kishkekosh County, and that we will faithfully and impartially examine the situation of said county, taking into consideration the future as well as the present population of said county ; also to pay strict regard to the geographical center of said county, and locate the seat of justice as near the center as an eligible situation can be obtained ;" which oath shall be administered by the Clerk of the District Court or Justice of the Peace of the county of Kishkekosh; and the officer administering the same shall certify and file the same in the office of the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners of said county, whose duty it shall be to receive the samc.
SEC. 14, Said Commissioners, when met and qualified under the provisions of this act, shall proceed to locate the seat of justice of said county ; and as soon as they shall have come to a determination they shall commit to writing the place so selected, with such name as they may see proper, and a particular description thereof, signed by the said Commissioners and filed with the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners in which such seat of justice is located, whose duty it shall be to record the same, and forever keep it on file in his office, and the place thus designated shall be the seat of justice of said county.
SEC. 15. Said Commissioners shall each receive the sum of two dollars per day while necessarily employed in the duties enjoined upon them by this act, which shall be paid by the county out of the first funds arising from the sale of town lots in the said seat of justice.
SEC. 16. That the territory west of said county be and the same is hereby attached to the county of Kishkekosh for election, revenue and judicial purposes.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY.
SEC. 17. The Judge of the first Judicial District may appoint such time for holding court in said county as he shall deem proper and convenient.
SEC. 18. This act to take effect ind be in force from and after its passage. Approved June 11, 1845.
In accordance with the foregoing aet, Israel Kister and James A. Galliher proceeded to select a location for a county seat. The oath required by the act was subscribed to by them on the 5th day of August, 1345. After a proper examination of the several proposed sites. the Commissioners chose that where Albia now stands, and formally named the embryo city "Princeton."
Meanwhile, Sheriff Joseph Hayne, of Wapello, had performed the duties incumbent upon him, and called an election to be held on the 4th day of August.
The election was held as ordered, and resulted in the choice of W. G. Clark for Probate Judge ; James Hilton for Clerk of the District Court ; Jeremiah Miller for Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners; T. Templeton for Treasurer ; John Clark for Sheriff, and Joseph McMullin, Moses H. Clark and J. S. Bradley for County Commissioners.
W. G. Clark still retains the ballot-box used at his precinct at this election. It is made in elliptical form, of oak, with lynn cover which shuts down with a rim, and is large enough to hold about a quart. A small slit was cut in the top through which to push the ballots.
The first meeting of the Board was held August 9th, and is here transcribed from the original records :
TERRITORY OF IOWA, KISHKEKOSH COUNTY, SS .- Saturday, August 9, 1845. At an extra session of the Board of Commissioners of said county for the purpose of doing county business, on the 9th day of August, A. D. 1845, at the house of W. G. Clark in said county : present Joseph McMullin, James S. Bradley and Moses H. Clark, Commissioners of Kishkekosh County ; Jere- miah Miller, Clerk.
It is ordered by the Board that Israel Kister be allowed $14 for services rendered in locating the seat of Justice for Kishkekosh County.
It is ordered by the Board that James A. Galliher be allowed the sum of $18 for services rendered in locating the seat of Justice for Kishkekosh County.
It is ordered by the Board that they adjourn to meet at the house of W. G. Clark on the 18th day of August, 1845.
JAMES S. BRADLEY, MOSE+ H. CLARK. JOSEPH MCMULLIN, Commissioners.
JEREMIAH MILLER, Clerk.
The transactions of the Board Monday the 18th, were brief. The records read :
At an extra sesson of the Board of Commissioners of said county, at the house of W. G. Clark, on the 18th day of August, A. D. 1845, for doing county business ; present Moses H. Clark, James S. Bradley, Joseph McMullin, Commissioners, and Jeremiah Miller, Clerk :
It is ordered by said Board that the town of Princeton be surveyed as follows, to wit : the streets shall run due east and west, and north and south, said streets to be sixty-six feet wide. Each block shall contain eight lots, except the four blocks fronting on the public square. The front half of said blocks to be divided into eight lots each, and to be thirty-three feet in front, and 132 feet back from the street. And the remainder of said blocks fronting on the public square, with the remaining blocks contained in said town, to be laid out sixty-six feet in front and 132 feet back from the street. And said blocks to be divided into four squares-two lots contained in each square-said blocks to be divided by two alleys sixteen and a half feet wide, running due east and west, and north and south through the middle of the blocks.
Board adjourned until 9 o'clock to-morrow.
PRINCETON.
The county seat was duly surveyed by John N. Massey, in the Summer of 1845. It was found that John Stevenson had claimed a portion of the site chosen by the locating Commissioners. The validity of the claim was rendered questionable by the power vested in the Commissioners to select and the County
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY.
Commissioners to enter at the land office, in the name of the county. The fol- lowing allusion to the matter is made on the records, August 19 :
Ordered, By the Board of Commissioners of said county, that Jolin Stevenson be permitted to cultivate and have to his use all the ground that is in cultivation, and all property which he may put upon it, on the northwest quarter of Section 22, Township 72 north, Range 17 west, for one year from the 1st of August inst. to the first Monday in August, A. D. 1846.
At this meeting, it was also ordered by the Board that eleven of the blocks of Princeton be surveyed by John N. Massey, according to a preliminary plat submitted by him.
The matter between the county and Stevenson was finally settled by arbi- tration.
THE ORIGINAL VILLAGE SURVEY.
The following information, which may be of interest hereafter, in regard to the original plat of Albia is given in the Republican of February 3, 1858, in response to a correspondent who was discussing the location of the new Court House :
" This is the order made by the Board of Commissioners in regard to the plat of Albia, then Princeton :
''It is ordered by said Board that the town of Princeton be surveyed as follows : The streets shall run due east and west and north and south. Said streets to be sixty feet wide. Each block shall contain eight lots, except the four blocks fronting on the public square, which shall be half the size of the other lots.'
" By the above, it will be seen that there was a public square reserved in the town of Albia. By the following, it will appear that the surveyor was ordered to survey Princeton in accordance with the order above named, to wit :
"'Ordered, By the Board of Commissioners of said county, that eleven of the blocks of Princeton be surveyed by John N. Massey, County Surveyor of said county, according to the plat given by the Board to said Surveyor.'
"The records of the county show that the plat was acknowledged before George Deay, Jus- tice of the Peace. There is no written evidence of the fact of the plat being recorded, but there is partial evidence that it was recorded, and the record book was. lost."
At the meeting, August 19, there was transacted the following business :
Ordered, By the Board, that Township No. 72, Range 16 west, be and the same is hereby organized into a township, with all the privileges of such organized townships, said township to be named and called, from and after this time, Mantua Township, and that the election in said township be held at the house of Job Rogers.
Marshall S. Tyrrell was then appointed Supervisor of the Board in Mantua Township until the next April election, and Eben Judson was appointed Justice of the Peace for the same town- ship.
Ordered, By the Board, that Township 73 north and Range 16 west, cast half of Township 73 north, Range 17 west, be organized into one election township, and to be named Pleasant Township, and that the election in said township be held at the house of William Miller.
John B. Gray was appointed Supervisor of Roads for Pleasant Township.
Ordered, By the Board, that Township 73 north, Range 18 west, and the remaining one half of Township 73 north and Range 17 west be organized according to law, to be called Davis Town- ship, and all west of said township in said county be attached to the above-described township.
HI. H. Harrison was appointed Supervisor of Roads in Davis Township, and William H. McBride was appointed Constable in Pleasant Township.
Board adjourned until 9 o'clock.
At the session of the Commissioners held on the 20th of August, the Board ordered a tax of 5 mills upon all taxable property in Kishkekosh County; a tax of } mill for Territorial purposes, subject to the order of the Legislature of the Territory, and also a poll tax of 50 cents upon every male person in the county subject to poll tax.
At the same meeting, the following named Judges and Clerks of Election were allowed $1.00 each for their services : Judges-Thomas G. Forrest, John Hammer, N. Hendrix, William Miller, Jeremiah Wilson, Charles Ander- son, Archibald Dorothy, William Billsley, James McIntyre, W. G. Clark,
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY.
John Sower, William Sower : Clerks-William H. H. Davis, Michael Hittle, Charles Bates, Wesley Cain, Luzerne Bradley, Andrew Gillespie, James Hil- ton, O. P. Rowles.
The economy of the Board was manifested at this early day by their careful scrutiny of the account presented by the Sheriff of Wapello, Joseph Hayne. They cut his bill down as follows : Putting up twelve notices and mileage, charged $7.50, deducted, $3.00; on poll books, $2.00; on Constitution, $2.00 ; instructions, $1.75; stationery, $1.50 ; from traveling fees to Jefferson County, $2.00; whole amount deducted by said Board. $8.65; amount allowed by the Board, $17.35.
The same day the Board on the same day appointed Michael Sower County Agent for Kish-ke-kosh County, and authorized him to select a lot for persons wishing to donate labor for the use of the county.
Prior to the October session of the Board of Commissioners, the following petition was drawn up and presented at that meeting :
To the Honorable Board of County Commissioners of Kishkekosh County, Territory of Iowa :
We, the undersigned citizens of Township seventy-two (72), north of Range seventeen (17) west, desirous of having our township organized, do therefore ask your honorable body, at your October term, to organize us under the organization law, and give our said township the name of Troy, and that this, our petition, be heard, we, your petitioners, do pray.
Joseph Lundry, James R. Boggs, Elijah W. Gunter, Josiah C. Boggs. George W. Bethards, William Scott, L. M. Boggs, John Sower, William Bachman, Jacob Boulbrette, David Bowles, Oliver P. Rowles, Thornton F. Chapman, Israel Green, William Olney, William Sower, J. N. Massey, Abiatha Newton.
At the session of the Commissioners' Court held October 7th, the Board erected the township of Troy, with the following description : "That to Town- ship 72 north, Range 17 west, be attached Township 71 north, Range 17 west, excepting the east tier of sections ranging north and south, and also all west of of said township shall be attached; and that the place of holding election in this township shall be at the house of W. G. Clark.
At the session of Oct. 8, 1845, the Board allowed $5.00 each to Joseph McMullin and Moses H. Clark for their services as Commissioners : $3.00 to John Clark for his services as Sheriff at the time of Commissioners' Court; $18.75 to Joseph Hayne for services at a general election held in said county, and $7.50 to Jeremiah Miller for services as Clerk at the time of the session of said Board.
They also ordered that the town plat of Princeton, as surveyed by John N. Massey, be received by the Board.
At the January term of the Court, 1846, Joseph McMullin, one of the Commissioners, was employed to go to Iowa City, to obtain from the proper authorities the number of the copies of the laws allotted to Kish-ke-kosh County. For this service he was paid $8-$3 of it being paid in advance. At the same time he was employed to purchase blank books and stationery for the use of the county. At this same meeting, Jeremiah Miller was allowed $1.64 for making out the tax list and for stationery.
The Board engaged from John Clark a suitable room for holding the Cir- cuit Court of Kishkekosh County, for the April term, "free of charge."
At this same session it was ordered that the election in McIntyre's precinct be held at the house of James McIntyre, and that Thomas Williamson, James McIntyre and Samuel Harbour be appointed Judges of Election at the next April election.
MANTUA TOWNSHIP.
Mantua Township was organized on the 19th of August, 1845, by the election of Job Rogers as Justice of the Peace, and other subordinate officers.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY.
Through the Summer of that year the Revs. Mr. Wright and Hare dispensed old-fashioned Methodism in the few cabins on the prairie about Princeton, and were quite effective preachers. There was a nucleus of a Methodist Church formed here and in the neighborhood of McIntyre's Precinct. A powerful camp meeting was held in that vicinity in August of this year, and every Methodist within a circuit of fifty miles came to worship in "God's first tem- ples." The woods had been full of deer the Winter previous, and though somewhat startled and shy of the noisy devotees, they still lingered in the neighborhood.
THE FIRST POST OFFICE.
January 14, 1846, Hon. A. C. Dodge, then Delegate in Congress from the Territory of Iowa, received notification that a post office had that day been established at "Clarksville, in Kishkekosh County, Territory of Iowa," and that Levi Dungan had been named the Postmaster at that point. The Clarks carried the mail, free of charge, from Eddyville.
CHANGE OF NAME.
January 19, 1846, the Legislature passed a bill, or rather a bill was approved that day, changing the difficult name of the county of Kishkekosh to the pleasanter one of MONROE.
The following joint resolution was approved two days before that time :
JOINT RESOLUTION providing for a full set seals for the counties of Kishkekosh and Appanoose. Resolved by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa, That William G. Coop be and he is hereby authorized to contract with some person to furnish a full set of seals for the counties of Kishkekosh and Appanoose, for which they shall receive such compen- sation out of the Territorial Treasury, as the Legislature may hereafter direct.
Approved Jan. 17, 18.16.
EARLY EXPRESSIONS OF OPINION.
The following stray papers are taken from a dusty file and here recorded merely because of their age, and to awaken in the minds of the survivors of lists of signers a memory of the past. There is no record of the acceptance of either document by the Board of Commissioners, nor is there evidence of any such roads on the minute book. The two documents relate to distinct matters, but chance to be an affirmative and a negative expression of opinion. To the Honorable, the Commissioners of Kishkekosh County, Iowa Territory:
The petition of the undersigned represents that their interests and convenience require the location of a road commencing at, or near, the bridge across Gray's Creek, near William Murphy's, on the road leading from Eddyville to Greenman's Mill, to run thence in a south- ward direction to intersect the road that leads from Ottumwa to the center of Kishkekosh County, on the best and most convenient route at or near where said road crosses the South Avery Creek, and to continue to the south line of the county. And we, your petitioners, pray that the proper and legal steps may be taken to authorize the location and establishment of said road, and will soon pray, &c.
Dated, Kishkekosh County, Iowa Territory, Aug. 1, 1845.
Charles Bates,
Andrew Barber,
Horace J. Tyrrell,
Lewis Judson,
Wm. McBride.
Smith Judson,
Orrin Judson,
Oliver H. Tyrrell, T. Healy,
Daniel Judson,
Josiah Edmonds,
Wn. V. Beadle,
Harry Miller,
Peter Miller,
T. G. Templeton,
Eben Judson, Job Rogers,
James Anderson,
Daniel Judson,
Laurel Tyrrell,
F. F. Tibbles,
Gershom Judson,
Philander L. Tyrrell,
Charles Anderson,
Marshall S. Tyrrell,
B. F. B. Bates, Philander Tyrrell,
Aaron Pickerel, Adolphus D. Templeton.
To the Honorable Board of Commissioners of Kishkekosh County :
We, the undersigned, have reason to believe that there will be a petition laid before the next Board for a grant for a road commencing at the south end of Main street, in the town of
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY.
Princeton ; thence south to the northwest corner of D. Role's cornfield ; thence along said field to the sonthwest corner of the same ; thence to the southwest corner of Section 2 in Township 71. Range 17; thence to the south line of said county, as near the center east and west as good road can be had, in the direction of the center of Appanoose County.
We. the undersigned, remonstrate against said petition, as said road will run through some of our claims, and will be of great damage. We, the undersigned, pray this honorable Board not to grant said petition, as it is for the accommodation of but very few, and is of great disad- vantage to many. We have reason to believe that Your Honor can see how they have run round for their accommodation. We will in future lay a petition before your honor, that shall have general respect. We, the aggrieved, hereunto set our names September 9, 1845.
Thornton F. Chapman, Wmn. Bailey,
Thomas W. Arnold,
James Hilton,
John Bailey,
Jacob Scott,
George Deay,
Jacob Bonebreak,
John Milton,
James Gordon,
Win. Buchanan,
Wm. Rocords,
John Stephenson,
Reuben Mack,
James Stephenson.
THE COUNTY SEAT CONTEST.
When Princeton was chosen as the county seat, Clarksville was fully as promising a locality. Both places could boast of three or four houses, and both were backed by energetic men.
At the first session of the Territorial Legislature following the location of the county seat at Princeton, the friends of Clarksville made desperate efforts to induce the passage of a bill authorizing the re-location of the seat of justice. A petition was circulated by W. G. Clark, during the latter part of 1845, for the purpose of influencing the members. A remonstrance was also sent through the county by David Rowles, in opposition to the proposed change. These two papers are still extant, faded and time-stained. From them it is safe to esti- mate who were present in the county in the Fall and Winter of 1845, for probably every voter signed cither one or the other of these documents. Many of the signatures are so dimmed with age as to be almost illegible; but the transcript here made is nearly, if not quite, correct. The papers are repro- dueed in full, and serve here rather as a census report than a record of a local conflict. The pioneers will read the petition and remonstrance with interest, as it revives the days that are gone.
The matter is prefaced with the following certificate, which is a specimen of the many documents circulated through the county, as aids in the work of change :
KISHKEKOSHI COUNTY, Iowa, Dec. 23d, 1845.
I hereby certify that I reside upon Cedar, about five miles southwest of Clark's Point ; that I have lived upon the Creek about nine months ; that I have explored the country south and west of my residence, and that there are fine borders of elegant timber, beautiful prairie and rock, and good spring water in every direction ; and that the county will admit of a fine settlement, and will compare with, if not excel, any other portion of Kish ke kosh County ; and if any per- son will come to my residence, I will show them that the above stated facts are true to the letter. JOHN BAILEY.
PETITION.
To the Honorable Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa :
Your petitioners, citizens of Kishkekosh County, ask of your honorable body the adoption of a bill referring the re-location of the seat of justice of the county to the people, at the coming election in April, 1846.
Your petitioners ask of your honorable body that the citizens of said county may be priv- ilged to vote for Princeton or Clarksville as the future seat of justice of said county.
Your petitioners would repectfully represent to your honorable body, that the location of the seat of justice of said county, by Commissioners appointed by your honorable body, has re- sulted much to the dissatisfaction of a large majority of the inhabitants of said county.
Your petitioners believe that it is for the interests of the present, and will also be for the interest of the future population of said county, that its seat of justice should be re-located.
Your petitioners would respectfully represent to your honorable body, that the quarter section on which the town of Princeton is located, is three miles east from the geographical center of said county to its nearest point ; that it is fifteen miles from the west line of said county, and
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY.
eight and one-half from the east line of said county ; that the geographical section upon which the town of Clarksville is located is one mile north and one and one-half miles east of the geo- graphical center of said county ; that it is a handsome, eligible town site, and is situated upon the main divide running diagonally through the county from the southeast corner to the north west corner of the county. And it is far superior as a central point for natural divide roads, and is one and a half miles from two good mill seats on Cedar River, with good ridge roads running to the same, and good bodies of building timber convenient to said mill seats ; that the town of Princeton is situated four and one-half miles from a good mill seat, and a road cannot be obtained nearer on suitable ground.
Your petitioners would respectfully say to your honorable body, that two only of the Com- missioners officiated in the selection of the present site (Princeton), and that they commenced their labors on Tuesday evening at about four o'clock, on the 5th day of August, ultimo, and finished on Friday following, examining the county, as such, not to exceed two and a half days, mainly without roads, and when the exuberance of vegetation would necessarily retard their examination.
Now your petitioners firmly believe that no Commissioners ean, in so short a time, sufficiently examine this county, and that in this hasty examination, great injustice has been done our county.
Your petitioners would respectfully represent to your honorable body, that there were polled at the present August election in said county, one hundred and thirty-two votes for Congressional Representative, and the same number for and against the Constitution, and that the number of voters in the county will not materially swell the above number at the present time; and that while the population is small, and before any expense shall have been incurred by the improve- ment of the said town of Princeton, the question of selection should be referred to the people. Your petitioners fully believe that if the town of Princeton is suffered to remain the seat of jus- tice of said county, that it will ever be a subject of contention between the citizens of the county. And that an inland county, like the present Kishkekosh, should have as central a location as could be selected.
Your petitioners would further suggest that they believe that that portion of the county west of a line, drawn central, running north and south through said county, will sustain as many if not more population than that portion of said county lying east of said line.
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