USA > Iowa > Polk County > The history of Polk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131
" Gentleman I retire feeling that I haved tryed to do my duty; and if I have errered, it is not a falt of the heart, it is an error of the Hed, and as for your deliberations whilst working in your official capacity I am now well satisfied with for which you have my best wishes.
"J. M. Thrift Mayor
"In a retiring position.
"March 1868."
Summing up, we have the garrison of Fort Des Moines consisting of one hundred or a hundred and twenty soldiers, Kinsay, the sutler; Worthing- ton & Baker, blacksmiths; Dr. Griffin, the surgeon; Thrift, the tailor; the Scott, Lamb and Turner families; and on the East Side, Beach and his in- terpreter; the Ewings; Sturtevant & Drake, gunsmiths; Phelps & Co., fur dealers, and Benjamin Bryant, who was also located on the East Side. Such was Fort Des Moines at the close of 1843 and such was Polk county as far as civilization was concerned. South of Des Moines, on the river, was Eddyville, which was first settled in June the same year, and had probably a dozen families at the close of the year. Ottumwa was settled about the same time, and excepting the garrison, had probably a larger population at the close of 1843 than Des Moines. Between Eddyville and the Fort there were no settlements, the whole country being an unbroken wilderness.
Such was Fort Des Moines and such was the condition of the territory, now known as Polk county, in 1843, and such they virtually remained till the fall of 1845. Notwithstanding the fact, however, that no settlements, according to the terms of the treaty could be made till October, 1845, there were some who by special permit and for specific reasons were allowed to settle. It will be proper to notice such before we enter upon the history of the first settlements proper. First among the number, both in point of time and importance, was Peter Newcomer. Whoever has long resided within the bounds of Polk county has heard of this gentleman; whoever has trav- eled southeast of Des Moines on the Winterset branch of the Rock Island Railroad has doubtless heard of Newcomer's Point, and whoever has passed Newcomer's Point, a narrow space between the high bluffs and the river barely wide enough for a railroad track, has been in the vicinity of the residence of one of Polk county's most worthy pioneers, and one of the first improvements in Polk county, outside of Fort Des Moines.
From Mr. Newcomer's own account of himself he was born in Washing- ton county, Maryland, August 29, 1812, and in 1837 moved to Wayne county, Indiana. From Indiana he moved to Ohio, and then again back to Indiana and then to Jefferson county, Iowa. He says that he came from Jefferson county to this place in. 1843, but it was not till the following Feb- ruary that he obtained permission of Captain Allen to take and improve a
311
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
claim. During the fall of 1843 a military road had been laid out from Fort Des Moines to Tool's Point, now Monroe, in Jasper county; at the point where this road crossed Four Mile Creek it was impassable during a large part of the year. Realizing the importance of a bridge, and there then being no board of county supervisors with a large bridge fund at com- mand, before whom the Captain could appear and petition for a bridge, he did the next best thing; he contracted with Mr. Newcomer to erect the much needed bridge, the latter to receive as consideration for his work, a government permit to take a claim of three hundred and twenty acres of land. It seems that in this contract Mr. Newcomer was not required.to se- lect his claim at any particular locality but had his choice of the whole country.
The bridge which Mr. Newcomer erected was located very near the point where the Rock Island Railroad crosses Four Mile, but instead of selecting his claim there, he went about two and a half miles southwest and began to establish a home on the banks of the Des Moines. The land which he preempted in accordance with the contract with Capt. Allen, and which ever since the summer of 1844, has been his home, is in section 18, town- ship 78, range 23, and is now within the bounds of Grant township. As soon as he constructed his cabin he removed into it with his young wife, whom he had married about a year and a half previous in Jefferson county. Mrs. Newcomer was a native of Wayne county, Indiana, and her maiden name was Rosa Lamb. The hard work and privations of pioneer life were no new thing to either Mr. Newcomer or his wife and, although all alone and cut off from the conveniences of civilized neighbors, they had a pros- perous and happy time of it.
It was here, and shortly after he had fully established himself in his new log cabin that he manufactured the famous churn, which has become his- torical. One account of the churn is to the effect that it was constructed out of a hollow log, but Mr. Newcomer assures us that such was not the case; according to his own statement the churn was made of hickory bark, peeled from a green tree. No matter how the churn was constructed it did good service and Mr. Newcomer would have done well to preserve it, both for his own satisfaction in old age and to exhibit to his children's children, who doubtless have much better accommodations than their grandparents had.
Mr. Newcomer says that for some time he was compelled to travel one hundred and forty miles to mill, and then sometimes had to wait many days before he could have his grist ground. Though a modest and unas- suming man Mr. Newcomer has much to congratulate himself upon, and now in his old days can look back upon a life of more than ordinary use- fulness.
Shortly after Mr. Newcomer settled on his claim on the Des Moines river two other gentlemen came from Jefferson county, Iowa, and settled in the east part of the county on Camp Creek; they were Henry B. Mitchell and Thomas Mitchell. The latter, more prominently and for a longer time, has been identified with the interests of Polk county than any other man. The settlement was made in April, 1844. At that time there was constant com- munication between Fort Des Moines and Keokuk. As river communica- tion with the latter point was impossible during a large portion of the year and very uncertain at any time, the Indian agent, the Indian traders and the garrison had to depend very largely for their supplies on wagon
312
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
transportation. The route generally traveled passed almost directly east through this county, and where the road crossed Camp Creek was, at certain times, well nigh impass. ble. Thus it was, that when the Mitchells pro- posed to locate at that point and erect a bridge, Major Beach, the Indian agent, very cheerfully gave his permission.
The place where Thomas Mitchell erected his cabin and installed his fam- ily, consisting of a wife and two children, was some distance south of the present town of Mitchellville, and was by him named Apple Grove, on ac- count of the large number of wild apple trees, which he found growing there. For three months after locating at Apple Grove Mrs. Mitchell did not see a white woman, except a girl, who was an adopted member of the family. The principal trading point was at Fairfield, one hundred miles distant. Mr. Mitchell had brought a plentiful supply of provisions with him, but these soon gave out on account of the hospitable nature of the tenant, and he was soon compelled to visit Keokuk for a new supply. East- ward from Mr. Mitchell's cabin there was a wide stretch of country wholly unoccupied, there being no settlement nearer than Bear Grove, near the present site of Marengo; westward there was no stopping place nearer than Fort Des Moines; consequently, people traveling over the route very fre- quently drove up to Mr. Mitchell's cabin and applied for refreshments and lodging. Both because he was of an accommodating disposition and be- cause he had the sagacity to see in it a lucrative business, Mr. Mitchell opened up his house for the entertainment of the public. The Mitchell House consisted of a double log cabin, constructed of green timber, with puncheon floors and pole bedsteads; here the weary traveler could lodge over night for twenty-five cents and any one could get a good square meal of corn bread, bacon and milk for the same price.
Here Mr. Mitchell lived and prospered and although these were days of self-denial and hardship, he here laid the foundation for his future popu- larity and a career of more than ordinary distinction and usefulness. Be- side filling several offices of honor and trust, he has, as a private individ- ual, done much to aid in the development of the material resources of the county, while in a social point of viewv he has exercised a very prominent if not the highest influence of any mar in the county. In the promotion of good morals and the support of schools, his enterprise and liberality have done much to place Polk county where it now stands-in the front rank of progress.
An unmarried man by the name of G. B. Clark received permission to make a claim in 1844. He erected two cabins on his claim south of the Des Moines river, in what is now Allen township. In 1846 he disposed of his claim to a gentleman whom we shall presently speak of, entered into partnership with William Lowry, who had begun the improvement of a claim near by. Mr. Clark boarded with Lowry, and the two cultivated the claim in common. One morning during the spring of 1847 Mr. Clark was drowned in the Des Moines river, near Newcomer's Point. He had started on horseback for the residence of Mr. Lamb, for the purpose of procuring seed corn; he did not return, and on searching for him, the horse was found, with the saddle, bridle and corn sack; the missing man, however, was never after heard of, and his body was never found.
In April, 1845, John Saylor settled on the east side of the Des Moines river, some distance above the Fort. The conditions of his permit to settle there before the expiration of the Indian title, were that he should furnish
313
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
hay and other provisions to the garrison. To Mr. Saylor belongs the credit of making the first settlement in the Des Moines valley, north of Fort Des Moines. The claim which he selected was a very valuable one, there being a beautiful grove near by, good water was easily obtained and the land was of the best quality. He must have seen something peculiarly attractive in the locality to be induced to endure the privations which he could not help knowing were in store for him. Moreover, both Mr. Saylor and his wife were persons of brave and persevering disposition, and they cheerfully en- dured present ills in hope of certain future good. It is said that Mrs. Saylor remained alone on the claim for six weeks, while her husband went to Van Buren county to transact some business. The wolves were numer- ous and fierce, and she has remarked that they would chase the house dog past the door of the cabin and stare at her with their fiery eyes as she sat down to her sewing.
It appears also that Mr. Newcomer, in manufacturing his wonderful churn, was not alone in his experiments for supplying a lack of home comforts; Mr. Saylor, too, had experiences of the same kind. His better half had no tray or bread bowl in which to prepare the staff of life; he soon found a way to supply the want; he hollowed out a log, and doubtless the bread, which was mixed in that rude and readily improvised tray, tasted as well and was fully as nourishing as if the tray had been manufactured by the most skilled workman, and had been fashioned after the most approved pattern.
At one time a party of Indians, intoxicated, came to Saylor's cabin and demanded his meat; he was not frightened, neither did he surrender the supply of food which he had laid up for a rainy day. Instead of acting the part of a coward, which would have been bad for himself and would have encouraged the savages in the commission of other depredations, he assumed a bold attitude, grasped a club and after prostrating four or five of the number, informed the remainder that the soldiers were coming. At an- other time a couple of half-drunken Sacs came to the cabin when Mr. Saylor was away; they asked for whisky and offered to trade their mocca- sins for the coveted drink; Mrs. Saylor did not know what to do, but in her extremity, a small boy, who had doubtless witnessed the efficacious treatment administered. to the savages a short time previous by his father, caught up a bean pole and administered several blows on the heads of the Indians, who thereupon quickly took their departure.
In August, 1845, about two months prior to the time that the county was properly opened for settlement, a gentleman appeared on Four Mile, east of the Saylor settlement, and although he had no authority to make a claim, and was trespassing to even so much as prospect through the coun- try, yet he remained in the vicinity and probably had everything in readi- ness for the eventful night of October 11th. The gentleman referred to was Isaac Cooper, afterward a very successful and prominent citizen of Des Moines.
It is thought that Mr. Cooper made the first chair manufactured in the county. The body of the chair was of the most approved quality of tim- ber-black walnut-while the seat was constructed from the bark of that good, substantial, Democratic tree, the hickory. The chair was still in the possession of the family when Mr. Cooper resided in the capital city, and formed quite a contrast with the rest of the furniture. The writer cannot say whether or not Mr. Cooper conveyed the heirloom to his more recent
314
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
far Western home, but it would have been creditable to his taste and judg- ment for him to have done so. In their haste to grow rich, and by reason of their restless, active, practical lives, the people of Iowa give too little attention to the preservation of relics and mementoes. There was, in former years, very little opportunity for the settler of Polk county to ac- cumulate relics or devote his attention to the realm of the ideal; but with the conveniences, luxuries and wealth of the present day, there are many whose duty it is to devote a certain portion of their time and money to the collection and preservation of relics, and what few souvenirs of early days remain should be carefully hoarded.
The persons already mentioned include in number nearly all the set- tlers who came prior to October, 1845, when the Indian title expired. There may have been some whose advent to the county dates as far back as 1843, or 1844, whom we have not mentioned; but if so, they were con- nected in some way with the garrison at the fort, or their coming into the county was clandestine, and their presence was unknown.
" Some renegade white man," says Turrill, " had penetrated into the re- serve, sold whisky to the Indians, and, after gaining their acquaintance and friendship, abused it by stealing their horses. Incidents of this kind caused Captain Allen to send out a detachment of dragoons to capture the thieves and restore the stolen horses to their legal owners.
" This was a difficult task, the illimitable wilderness around affording an ample retreat for the miscreants. But finally one of them was captured and brought into the fort. This was Jonas Carsner, since notorious in the criminal records of this and other counties, for felonies of every description. He was tried by the officers of the Fort, and, although there was no doubt of his guilt, no direct proof of it could be obtained. Captain Allen, there- fore, thought it not best to sentence him under the civil law; but, knowing the culprit was certainly deserving of punishment, he delivered him over to the Indians (some say white men disguised as Indians). They took him out, tied him to a tree, and gave him an unmerciful whipping. This cer- tainly should have had some beneficial effect, but subsequent events proved otherwise. One of the horses stolen by Carsner had been found. The same night Carsner was rewarded with the cat-o'-nine-tails two horses were stolen from a man by the name of Fish, who was bringing supplies to the Fort, and had encamped for the night a few miles from the settlement. The Indians kindly lent Mr. Fish the horse which they had just reclaimed and he started to search for his own. But while following their trail through a lonesome strip of timber, suddenly Jonas Carsner appeared, mounted on one of Fish's horses, and riding abruptly up, he dexterously cut the saddle girth with a huge knife, hurled Fish to the ground and bore away, at full speed, the twice-captured horse.
" The discomfited man now felt ' like a Fish out of water.' No recourse was left him but to trudge doggedly back to his Indian friends, whose curses-when they fully comprehended Carsner's last coup d'etat-may be imagined, but not recorded."
There is one name which we have thus far omitted to mention-the name of John D. Parmelee. He was in all probability the first white man to visit Polk county. His name has not been introduced in the previous account of the first settlement, in and around the Fort, because he was not properly a permanent settler of the county; yet, in two particulars he was one of the first settlers, and in this regard should be named permanently
315
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
in the history of the first settlement of Polk county. First, he did per- manently locate at a point which formerly was within the bounds of Polk county; and, second, he visited the present site of the city of Des Moines, even before Captain Allen, or any of the persons heretofore named, set foot upon the sacred soil of 'Coon Point.
Mr. Parmelee was a native of Vermont. Early in life he became dis- satisfied with the conditions surrounding him in his native New England village, and he determined to take a series of "new departures." He made the journey by degrees. The first year he went to Massachusetts; the next year he went to New York City; then South, then to Indiana, where he remained one year; leaving Indiana, he came to Iowa in 1840, as the agent of a fur trading company. His first location, as we learn from a letter written in 1841 while on a business visit to St. Louis, was on the Des Moines river, about one hundred and fifty miles from its mouth, in what is now known as Wapello county. In describing it, he says:
" It is one of the most pleasant countries that can be found in the world, and I think very healthy. The Des Moines river is the most beautiful stream that ever flowed. It is about as wide as the Connecticut river, but shallow, with high banks, with gravel or rock bottom, and as clear as the streams that tumble from the mountains of Vermont. The country is well divided into timber and prairie for the convenience of the farmer."
Writing to his friends some time later, he said:
"It is certain I should be glad to live in the neighborhood of my friends, but the prospects for a young man are so much better in this country that I have almost come to the conclusion that I shall spend my days, let them be few or many, in this country. On the banks of the lovely Des Moines, if I had my friends around me, then would I bid a long adieu to old Ver- mont; but there is something that makes the name of old Vermont sweet to me: it is the home of all that are dear to me."
On the 27th of March, 1843, he writes again, dating his letter River Des Moines, Iowa. The letter had reference to a change of location which he had then recently made from his work in Wapello county; he had in the mean- time become connected with some Indian traders, and in the interest of the firm with which he was connected was visiting the point which is now the capital of the State. In the letter referred to he says:
"The Indians have sold their whole country, but retain one half of it for three years more. This will cause us to move our trading post one hundred miles up the river, by the first of May, and there remain for three years."
He then proceeds to explain where the new fort was located, and in describing it says:
" You can see where I have located our next trading post by looking at your map of the United States. We shall be on the north side of the Des Moines river, directly opposite to the mouth of the Raccoon river, which is a little more than one hundred miles above where we now are. The winter has been remarkably cold, with an immense fall of snow, from one and a half to two feet deep. Since the twelfth of this month I have been to Rac- coon river, and have taken men and provisions for building our post on the ice. It is still cold winter weather, very good sleighing, and ice from twelve to eighteen inches thick on the river. It is equal to old Vermont. Its parallel was never known in this country."
In the same letter he announces that he was married about a month before. Thus it appears that John D. Paremlee was the first man to visit
ยท
316
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
the location of Des Moines city, with a view of establishing himself there as a permanent settler.
In May, probably about the time that the government forces arrived, Mr. Parmelee returned to the mouth of the Raccoon river, but remained only for a short time. His employers failed to pay him his salary for some time, and there was then due him five hundred dollars, a sum which in those days was regarded as a small fortune, and which indeed was a fortune, and a large one, too, if properly used. He quit the service of his employers in June, 1843, and took the place of Moses Barlow, as a partner of Capt. James Allen, in building and operating a saw mill. The mill in question was located on Middle river not far from Carilsle. The site of the mill was for many years within the bounds of Polk county, but now is in Warren. The change of boundaries whereby Polk county lost a tier of counties, will be fully treated of in another place. This mill referred to was the first one erected in this whole section of country, and people came to it from all the surrounding counties to have their grists ground. Indeed this mill figures extensively in the history of the first settlements of Warren, Madison, Dallas, and Boone counties, and we shall speak more definitely of it in our chapter on " Pioneer Times"; for the present we design simply to refer to the first settlement of Parmelee in the vicinity of the mill-site. The mill was located on Indian territory and of course Parmelee or no other person had any right to settle there without special permission from the government authorities. As Capt. Allen, the commander of the garrison, had an interest in the mill, and the enterprise had been begun before Parmelee became identified with it, it is very reasonable to suppose he authorized Parmelee to begin a settlement there, and this he did, not as a partner of Parmelee, but as the representative of the United States, and as party to the treaty whose provisions it was his duty to enforce. In authorizing settlement at the place specified he was acting in the interests of the government, while probably he expected to reap some advantage himself. The building of the government buildings then in course of construction required the use of considerable lumber, and it was for the purpose of manufacturing this lum- ber that Capt. Allen took such an active part in the erection of the mill. The circumstances attending Parmelee's location on Middle river can be best understood from his own language, as used in a letter written to his friends in Vermont some years after. He says:
"The work at that time was just commenced. I took charge of the work, completed the saw mill that winter and furnished lumber to build Fort Des Moines and since that time have added to the building sufficiently for a grist mill with four run of burs, one of which we have in operation-all of the best quality-and shall put in more as the country settles and requires it. Our frame is 45x35 and three stories high-as fine a building as any of that size that you can see in Vermont. * * * *
Capt. Allen was an officer in the First regiment United States Dragoons and was promoted last spring, at the commencement of the Mexican War, to be lieutenant-colonel of volunteers, and ordered to California, but was taken sick just at the time he was to start, and died at Fort Leavenworth. It has been very expensive work, and it was done at a time when this was an In- dian country, and of course hands and provisions were hard to get. But it is in the flower of Iowa and the garden of the world. I have a farm ad- joining, with eighty acres in cultivation and about one hundred and forty under fence, but this I will have to pay Uncle Sam for when it comes into
/
319
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
market at $1.25 per acre, though my claim includes three hundred and twenty acres, half timber and the rest bottom prairie, all lying on the banks of the Des Moines river, one of the prettiest rivers that flows, and only ten miles below Fort Des Moines, the probable place of our future seat of government, it being within eighteen miles of the center. The com- missioners are at this time in the county for the purpose of locating."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.