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 50
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7. Resolved, That we will sustain and uphold such committee in their decisions, and in the discharge of all their duties as defined in the foregoing resolutions.
8. Resolved, That all persons be invited to sign the foregoing resolutions, and that the signers pledge themselves to be governed by, and to aid in sustaining the same.
"' The above resolutions were unanimously adopted.
"' On motion, the following named gentlemen were appointed a commit- tee to adjust claims: J. B. Scott, John Saylor, P. B. Fagan, Thomas Mitchell and Thomas Henderson.
"' On motion, the meeting adjourned.
"'W. H. MEACHEM. Chairman.
""'L. D. WINCHESTER, Secretary.'"
The resolutions were signed by the following named persons:
W. H. MEACHEM.
J. B. SCOTT.
P. B. FAGAN.
JOHN MOMAHAN.
T. HENDERSON.
WM. HUGHES.
T. CRABTREE.
A. L. DEAN.
W. A. SCOTT.
P. WEAR.
W. WEAR.
E. KEELER.
JOHN MYERS.
JAMES ANDERSON.
T. McCALL.
J. CHURCH.
J. THOMPSON.
H. EVERLY.
WM. BRADFORD.
C. B. MYERS.
N. BALL. J. BUNDRUIN. JOSEPH DEFORD.
D. L. JEWETT.
DAVID NORRIS.
WM. BUSIC, JR.
J. M. KIRKBRIDE.
CHAS. KURVEY.
JOHN SAYLOR.
R. A. HARBAN.
J. D. MOGLOTHLIN. WM. LOWER.
JACOB BAYCUS.
SOLOMON BALES.
GEO. DAILY.
L. GARRETT.
D. S. COCKERHAM. BENJ. BENNETT.
J. T. THOMPSON.
A. N. HAYES. G. W. LACY.
JOHN HAYES. J. H. FINCH. P. NEWCOMER. DAYTON HARRIS. JOHN BENNETT.
N. REEVES. WM. COOPER.
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
GEORGE KNOOP.
T. K. BROOKS.
JOSEPH MYERS.
ASA FLEMMING. THOS. GILPIN. JOHN MILLER.
J. TRIBEE.
J. G. TUTTLE.
B. PERKINS.
D. S. BOWMAN. CHARLES MURROW.
JACOB WINTER.
ROBT. HOPKINS.
D. HAWORTH.
JOSEPH KEENEY.
S. W. McCALL.
JAMES PHILLIPS.
MONTGOMERY MCCALL.
L. D. WINCHESTER.
A. W. HOBSON.
JOHN SAYLOR. T. MITCHELL.
WM. BUSIC, SR.
BENJ. SAYLOR.
E. COMPTON.
H. D. HENDRICKS.
JOHN WILDY.
T. CAMPBELL.
J. HARRIS.
G. MAGINNISS.
H. HUNTINGTON.
J. C. JONES.
JOHN BAIRD.
J. FREDERICK.
W. B. BINTE.
R. W. SYPHER.
B. J. SAYLOR.
SAML. KELLOGG.
GEORGE KRYSHER.
WM. GARRETT.
C. STUTSMAN.
W. F. AYERS.
D. S. MEARTS.
JOHN S. DEAN. ELI KEELER.
C. S. EVANS.
DAVID MILLER.
GEORGE OGLEVIE.
JAMES MCROBERTS.
WM. KUREN.
FRANKLIN NAGLE.
Several other meetings followed this first one throughout the summer of 1848, and the last one was held during the same year just a short time before the land sales began at Iowa City. This meeting was an immense affair, its chief object being to elect a bidder to attend the sales.
R. L. Tidrick was elected bidder, and a platoon of men were selected from the club whose duty it was to thoroughly arm themselves and accom- pany the bidder in the capacity of an escort. Mr. Tidrick and his body- guard attended the sales, and such a formidable array did they present that the rights of the settlers were not interfered with. The claims were ulti- mately secured at the minimum price of $1.25 per acre, and the matter was as a general thing finally adjusted amicably.
There were, however, a few instances in which difficulties sprung up that were not so amicably adjusted. We reproduce two incidents of this charac- ter as related by Mr. Turrell in his reminiscences.
"In the Spring of 1849 occurred what was called the Flemming and Perkins difficulties which, arising from a subject particularly relating to the settlers, threatened for a time to prove very serious. The difficulty at first sprung from a contention about land. Asa Flemming had made a claim a few miles below Des Moines, and B. Perkins, a neighbor, endeavored to preempt it, and had actually filed his intention to that effect. Perkins' fraudulent scheme being discovered caused a great excitement in the vicin- ity, and many and dire were the imprecations invoked upon his head. It was also rumored that one Holland had been a partner of Perkins in the movement, and was to furnish the money with which to obtain the patent
B. F. FREDERICK.
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
from the United States, but the truth of this report was never fully sub- stantiated.
"Perkins and Flemming were both members of the claim club, whose rules and regulations have already been given, and this circumstance prov- ing fully the perfidious character of the former, enlisted an additional hatred against him. Non-residents and strangers, the settlers expected, would encroach upon their rights. Such they were vigorously watching, and were prepared to counteract and resist any innovations from such sources; but that one of their own citizens-one who was a member of an organization for the mutual protection of all-who had bound himself to abide by the club laws, and whose interests if jeopardized would have been amply guarded from danger would prove recreant to every sentiment of integ- rity, justice and honor, was unthought of, unexpected, and therefore the more condemned and detested. Under the circumstances Flemming easily suc- ceeded in effecting a combination of the settlers residing near him for the protection of his claim, and to administer exemplary punishment to Per- kins. The members of the claim club were all ready to assist, for the interests of one were the interests of the whole community. If Perkins should succeed in his plans others would follow his example; a claim would soon be of no value, and a general disturbance arose throughout the whole country.
"Mr. Perkins being found one day in the vicinity of the claim in dispute, the settlers, led by Flemming, resolved to wreak their vengeance upon him, and armed and equipped themselves for that purpose. Perkins, however, became aware of their plans before they could secure him, and on their ap- proach 'stood not upon the order of his going,' but mounted a horse and fled at once. Several shots were fired at him without effect, and the terri- fied fugitive flying for his life,
'Stayed not for brake, and he stopped not for stone,'
until he arrived at Fort Des Moines. With a horse covered with sweat and trembling with fatigue, himself without a hat or coat and almost frantic with the delusion that his pursuers were close upon him, he reached the Raccoon ferry, and eagerly besought the ferryman, Alex. Scott, to lose not a moment in crossing him over the ferry into town, where he hoped to find a secure asylum from his bloodthirsty enemies.
"Safely ensconced in Fort Des Moines, Perkins in a few days recovered from his recent fright, and growing valorous at the abuse of his foes, and the distance from danger, contrary to the advice of his friends, swore out a warrant for the arrest of Flemming, whom only he could identify, charging him with shooting with intent to kill. Flemming was subsequently arrested by George Michael, a constable, and brought before Benj. Luce, Esq., for examination. Luce's office was in a building formerly a part of the Fort, situated near the Point. Its site is at present occupied by a German gro- cery.
"While Flemming was upon his trial a mob of his friends armed to the teeth, surrounded and broke into the office, carrying away the prisoner by main force and bidding defiance to the authorities. Resistance to this mob was not for a moment thought of. Probably the unfavorable opinion en- tertained for Perkins by the citizens of Fort Des Moines led them to look more leniently upon so dangerous a proceeding; but it is more likely that
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
the absence of force on the side of the law and the suddenness of the attack rendered any opposition unavailing, and, therefore, was not attempted. Flemming, rescued from the bonds of the law, was triumphantly escorted to his home with every demonstration of success and exultation.
"He was afterward re-arrested, and again did the mob endeavor to rescue him, but their presence was expected. When some eighty of these were seen on the other side of the Raccoon river, brandishing their weapons and loudly calling for the ferryboat to take them over, the good people of Des Moines grew nervous with excitement, and nothing less than a battle was expected. James Phillips, then coroner, but in the delirium of the excit. ing crisis, and doubtless over-stimulated by a few extra potations of brandy, styling himself a major in the army of the United States, proclaimed mar- tial law in the town, and went around to all the stores, commanding the proprietors to lock up their houses in order to save their goods from pil- lage, arm themselves and be ready to act under orders. Many of them did so. A large crowd collected at the 'Point' where the band of insurgents could be plainly seen, endeavoring to gain passage over the stream, and could be heard uttering loud threats against every power, judicial, execu- tive and military in Fort Des Moines.
" But by the coolness and intrepedity of Alex. Scott, the ferryman, their riotous project was completely frustrated. He calmly and firmly refused to take them over unless they unarmed themselves. They stormed, cursed, threatened, but not an inch would he let the boat go until they stacked their arıns, and laid aside every offensive weapon. Unmoved by their threats and unprovoked by their maledictions, Scott resolutely adhered to his purpose, and finally the mob sullenly stacked their arms, and then, and not till then, were they ferried across the Raccoon.
" Armed intervention was no longer practicable, and Flemming was ex- amined, the charge found true and he was obliged to give bonds for his ap- pearance at the next term of the district court. However, he finally escaped as the grand jury failed to indict him. Perkins found his conduct, in refer- ence to preempting Flemming's land, so universally condemned, and him- self an object of such general detestation, that he was glad to execute to Flemming a bond, in which it was stipulated that the latter should have a warranty deed for the claim in dispute, so soon as a patent could be pro- cured from the government, upon paying to Perkins the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. The execution of this bond ended all perse- cution, suits and riots in the case, but Perkins was but little esteemed ever afterward."
The account of the Holland difficulty as related by Mr. Turrell is as fol- lows:
" Holland was trading through the country, stopping at various places where his business demanded, and among the rest at Fort Des Moines. While here some malicious person reported that he was a speculator, and was engaged in selecting choice claims, which he intended to purchase. He was also suspected of being connected with Perkins in his attempted frauds. These statements, although false as far as is known, being spread far and wide among the settlers, caused no little excitement, and their exasperation soon raised to that pitch that a crowd of them resolved to give Mr. Holland a sample of pioneer justice, in the prompt application of that notorious branch of jurisprudence which Judge Lynch has the merit of introducing. Holland was made aware of the inhospitable intention, but he took it very
1
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
coolly, manifesting no uneasiness whatever. He cared not a whit for the mob, whether they were many or few, or however they were armed or in- furiated. He was a match for them and would meet them, and had no doubt they would go away faster than they came. They probably would not come near him at all, and if they did it was all right. He knew how to fix them; and so he did.
" However, they came, a mob of fierce, determined, bloodthirsty men, bent on taking the most signal and exemplary vengeance. The infuriated crew numbered about thirty. Their oaths and threats loaded the air with their pestilential burden. Surrounding Holland's house with a guard of armed men, to prevent the possibility of his escape, the ringleader ordered him to come forth and meet his doom, the doom of all men who should tamper with the interests of Polk county by fraudulent schemes. As called for, Holland appeared, told the mob he was willing to submit to their will if they would first allow him to make a speech. None could deny permis- sion though some viewed it with impatience, and Holland mounting a box that stood near, and gazing with calm, unmoving eye into the faces of his hostile auditory commenced his vindication.
" He was an orator and accustomed to sway at will the minds of an au- dience and direct the feelings of his hearers into any channel he chose. With a voice whose deep, impressive and skillfully inflected tones arrested and held spellbound the most careless listener, with language, if imagina- ative, which clothed every thought with the most fascinating garb, and, if argumentative, in an impregnable armor and the mysterious, undefinable spirit of eloquence, permeating through and rendering irresistibly powerful every tone, word and gesture, he stirred the hearts of the murderous crowd, impatient for his blood, and turned their sympathies enthusiastically in his favor. Their faces, before distorted with rage, were wreathed with smiles, not only of friendship but of admiration. Their hands, which lately had clinched with angry grasp the most deadly weapon, were frankly extended toward him with all the kindness of intimacy and respect. At the con- clusion of his speech they all asked his pardon for the wrong they had done in the impetuosity of their passion, conceived and nearly accomplished, and, having assured Holland of their unfaltering attachment, they withdrew in the very best of humor to the nearest grocery where each drank a glass of whisky in commemoration of the occasion, the expense of which Hol- land, who accompanied them, generously defrayed."
Numerous other incidents might be related growing out of these claim difficulties, some of which were even more serious than the ones related, and others which are amusing rather than pathetic.
In an adjoining county the claim club, having taken possession of two claim jumpers, were escorting them to a calm, sequestered spot, where the tar and feathers could be administered in the most approved method, when one of the prisoners, overcome with a sense of his guilt and excited to the point of desperation by a feeling of the great disgrace which was to be heaped upon him, stabbed himself and soon after died from the effects of the wound.
In one of the first papers published in the State we find the following ac- count of a claim difficulty. While it is not very amusing it is not pathetic, but, as it well illustrates the determination as well as the forbearance of the early settlers, we copy it. It is entitled
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
"A BORDER SKETCH.
" Traveling, last summer, through the frontier counties of Iowa, and one day becoming somewhat weary, I put up a short time before night at the principal inn of a little town, which, for the present incident, I shall call Cambridge. Supper not yet being ready, and finding my hotel somewhat deserted, I concluded to take a stroll through the village, and seeing quite a crowd collected about a common covered wagon which stood in the direc- tion I had taken, I soon mingled among them, hoping to gain some infor- mation, or, perchance, to see some familiar face. My acquaintance, how- ever, did not embrace any of the crowd, though I cannot say I did not receive some information.
" The wagon contained two men ; one a regular-looking out-and-out front- iersman; the other a merry son of Erin, who seemed to enjoy everything and rejoiced that he lived, which, perhaps, was the result of himself and his companion being fully ' half-seas over.'
" They were on their way, or, rather, intended to proceed to the land of- fice at Fairfield to secure the title of some government land, and, as is some- times the case with men in their condition, were very independent citizens; plenty of money, whisky, good span of horses and a wagon, they felt them- selves a little above the ordinary, and, of course, only condescended to hear what some of the crowd had to communicate to them.
"It seems, as I learned from a good natured Hoosier who stood looking on, that the team had just been stopped by the good citizens to 'argue the question ' as to the propriety of entering a tract of land, for which pur- pose they had started, upon the ground that the claim belonged to another person.
" Through the influence of this other person, the citizens" generally had given judgment in his favor; and if Judge Lynch was not presiding, it was because the 'committee' were not present to order summary justice to be done, all governments, I believe, taking measures to prevent the commis- sion of offenses as well as to punish the offender.
" Our teamsters were quietly requested to return and abandon their pur- pose, expostulated with and even threatened with subsequent punishment if they persisted in and accomplished their design, but all to no purpose; go they would, and as yet they had done nothing more than declare their intention, it was deemed sufficient to administer to them but light speci- mens of retributive justice.
" Accordingly, some half dozen began quite a pleasant conversation with our patrons of the liquor-dealer at the front end of the wagon, while the hinder wheels, through the quiet efforts of some half dozen more, were un- dergoing the process of losing their linch-pins.
" This being accomplished, they were permitted to proceed in the even tenor of their way.
" Nature seems, and wisely too, to have constituted all men differently, and, allowing the 'claim jumpers' to have been 'tenants in common ' and alike partakers in the contents of the jug, the effect produced upon them fully justified that, even in this case, there was no exception to the rule-the one being in his opinion much more intelligent, wealthy, gener- ous and capable than the other, and in consequence of thus being the tighter, as a matter of course insisting in his ability, took command of the
395
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
team, and they thus proceeded on their ' winding way' anxiously watched by a number of urchins and ' big boys' to witness their discomfiture.
"Now it so chanced that when they had driven about a mile the horses seemed inclined to take a right-hand road which diverged from the right one, slightly at first, but finally led off and was lost in the bottom timber, such as is very common in that region, and which more than once betrayed me, ere I knew it, into a settlement of stumps.
"They proceeded on their wood-road out of sight without any disaster, much to the chagrin of many of the watchers, and after a short walk I re- turned to the hotel.
"About sunset my attention was arrested by a shout of boys, and stepping to the door, I discovered, in the same direction it had come in the after- noon, the wagon-minus, however, both hinder wheels, by reason of which the axles were doing ample justice in the moist earth.
"The wagon being again surrounded, the soberer inmate recognized a face among the crowd.
" 'Hallo, Young,' said he, 'is that you?'
""'Aye, aye,' replied Young.
" 'How long have you been here ?'
" 'Do you mean since I came here?'
"'Thunder! yes.'
"'About three years.'
" 'Thunder, Young! you needn't think I am drunk. Didn't I see you in Cambridge to-day?'
"'You did. I think you must have made a quick trip to Fairfield.'
" 'To Fairfield! Why, Young, you must be drunk. Ain't we in Fair- field ?'
"'Fairfield! No, sir; you are in Cambridge.'
"'Cambridge-the devil! Why, Young, you know there's no hillside like this in Cambridge-no sirree! I'm not that drunk yet, Young.'
"'Indeed, sir,' said Young, 'your hind wheels are gone; you are on the level ground-it's only your wagon-bed.'
"'Oh, Young, don't be trying to fool a feller this way? That cuss didn't get you to come here to keep us from entering that land!'
"'Just stick your head outside that wagon-cover and satisfy yourself where you are,' replied Mr. Young.
" Crawling up to the end-gate and taking a view, he began to realize the truth, drunk as he was, that they had only been winding about through the timber, and were no further advanced now than in the middle of the after- noon.
" Turning to his companion: 'Patrick!' shouted he, 'we've played the devil! Here we are in Cambridge yet, and the hind wheels gone-stir up here!'
" Patrick, however, who had some time before released the reins, was close bordering on dreamland, and only muttered out to 'dhrive on, and don't be a-jawin' thravelers.'
"Patrick's companion, finding himself called upon to exercise some judg- ment to extricate themselves, signified his intention to return on the track of his axles in search of his wheels.'
" Sundry remarks from the crowd that they, the men of the two-wheeled wagon, were puppies, dogs, cowards, etc., had the effect of bringing Pat-
32
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
rick's companion on terra firma, and there, divesting himself of coat and hat, very unsolemnly made oath that he could whip any man who said such things of them, and thereupon elevating both feet from the ground at the same time, made an effort to smack his feet together.
"Finding that no one would brave the danger of making any of the charges to his face, he gathered his apparel and started in search of his wheels.
" Tracing in the dust, and by the aid of a friendly moon till he could no longer observe the marks, he set about a search for the wheels, and after a fruitless search of an hour or more, returned to town to find his wagon up- set and Patrick still in it and occupying the bows for a pillow; he seemed, however, to be slightly opposed to the inverse plan of bedding, for on the reappearance of his companion with a 'Hallo, Patrick,' he only stammered out something about a 'long trip' and 'rough roads.'
" The truth is, that when some of the boys found that the wheels were to be looked for they made a forced march, found the wheels and hid them away in the grass so that a sober man, in day time, would have been ex- cused for not finding them.
"To cut short the facts of the incident, for facts they are, the two teamsters were taken to a convenient branch and there threatened with immediate immersion if they did not renounce their intentions, which they unhesitat- ingly did. Patrick, however, was scarcely responsible for his promise on the occasion, even taking the duress out of the question, for on going to the branch, on which he required a 'right and left scene supporter,' he com- plained that there was 'a divilish crowd wanten land.'
"Having, however, obtained their solemn promise not to meddle with the " claim,' they were conducted to my hotel and provided with comfortable quarters.
" Next morning they were duly sober, wagon top undermost, two wheels gone, horses missing and jug broken.
" The same men who but yesterday had helped to do all this, now assisted to restore everything that could be done by them, and the horses having strayed home, the real owner of the 'claim '-who had been about all the time-actually lent them his horse and procured another from mine host, who, by the way, took no small part in effecting a reconciliation of the par- ties. They rigged again their team, and claim-owner and claim jumpers, side by side, started to their several homes."
SURVEYS.
The reader is doubtless aware that the original subdivision of land into townships and sections was made under the direction of the general gov- ernment, and was entirely independent of county organization. The sub- division of territory into counties was done by the direction and authority of the Territorial or State Legislature; the subdivision of counties into voting precints or civil townships was by the direction and authority of the Board of County Commissioners or Supervisors, but the subdivision of land into congressional townships and sections was entirely independent of all State or county authority, done by deputy surveyors appointed by the Surveyor-General and generally completed before the county was organized.
The system of land surveys provides for the division of the country into small, square portions of uniform size, varying from that shape only when
397
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
large rivers, lakes or sea borders make it necessary. To begin such a di- vision of land there must of necessity be some fixed points to measure from. The first lines starting from such points are of two kinds: Principal Me- ridians, running north and south, and Base Lines, running east and west. The surveys, of course, began in the eastern part of the United States where the country was first settled, and the first line established was called the First Principal Meridian. As the surveys extended further west other Principal Meridians were established. The land surveys of Polk county are reckoned from the Fifth Principal Meridian. The -point which fixes the location of this line is the mouth of the Arkansas river; it runs due north through Missouri and the eastern part of Iowa and ends at the bank of the Mississippi river at the boundary line between Clayton and Dubuque counties. At a distance of six miles west of this line extends another line parallel to the principal meridian, and all the land lying be- tween these two parallel lines is called Range One, West. At a distance of six miles from this second line extends another parallel line, and all the land lying between these two lines is called Range Two, West. And so on are these ranges numbered till we come to Polk county, the eastern boundary of which is the twenty second line drawn parallel with the prin- cipal meridian; six miles west of this extends another line and all the land lying between the two is called Range Twenty-two, West.
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