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 54
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Thus matters stood during the winter of 1845 and '46. The Territorial Legislature was then in session, and both parties to the county seat contest were anxious to have the county organized and have the seat of justice lo- cated. Both parties were represented in the lobby at Iowa City. In ac- cordance with the desire of both parties, the Legislature enacted a law, which has already been referred to, for the organization of the county and appoint- ing commissioners to locate the county seat. Thus far neither party had secured any decided advantage, and the Brooklyn lobby returned home. The Fort Des Moines lobby were more persistent, and after their rivals were gone they secured the passage of the following supplementary bill:
" AN Acr supplemental to an act to establish new counties and define their boundaries-Jasper, Polk and Dallas. Approved January 17, 1846.
"SECTION 2. The following shall be the boundaries of Polk county, to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of township 81 north, of range 22 west; thence west to the northwest corner of township 81 north, of range 25 west; thence south to the southwest corner of township 77 north, of range 22 west; thence east to the southeast corner of township 77 north, of range 22 west; thence north to the place of beginning."
This additional legislation seemed to bear on its surface no features which favored either party to the county seat controversy, but away down under the surface it was full of meaning, and meant the success of the Fort Des Moines party. The great objection to the Fort was that it lay south and west of the geographical center of the county. In order, therefore to obvi- ate this difficulty and eliminate from the discussion one of the most potent arguments of the Brooklyn party, the emissaries at Iowa City from Fort Des Moines secured the passage of this supplemental bill whereby another
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
tier of congressional townships was attached to the south of the county, thus throwing Fort Des Moines very nearly in the geographical center of the county. But before speaking of action of the Commissioners in se- lecting Fort Des Moines as the seat of justice, let us note the subsequent detatchment, after it had served the purpose of Des Moines, of the " strip" and its attachment to Warren county, where it rightfully belonged. .
Polk county was organized before Warren, and it was some years after the division of the " strip" before an effort was made to wrest the wrong- fully-taken territory from Polk county. An attempt was made in the Leg- islature of 1850 and failed. In the Fourth General Assembly, which met at Iowa City in December, 1852, P. Gad Bryan was the representative from Warren county. The agitation was begun in the county and on the "strip." It had not entered into the contest for the election of Representative, but no better man could have been chosen by the people of Warren county to champion their rights than Mr. Bryan. Petitions were circulated on the " strip," Col. Henderson, Z. H. Hackett, John S. Mckinney, James E. Williamson and others, all of Warren county, interesting themselves in the matter.
They finally secured a majority of the voters residing on the disputed territory, and sent the petition to the Legislature, then in session. The con- test had been a warm one in both Polk and Warren counties, since the former was as much interested in keeping as the latter was in regaining this one hundred and forty-four square miles of land, constituting, as it did as fine if not the finest section in either county.
The bill was in charge of Mr. Bryan in the House, and passed that body, restoring the entire " strip." The opposition was led by Dr. A. Y. Hull, Senator from Polk county, and father of J. A. T. Hull, present Secretary of State, who lived on the " strip," and on the north side of the Des Moines river. He was, therefore, more immediately interested in not being legis- lated out of office than were his constituents in reclaiming the territory. Mr. Bryan thereupon consented to an amendment of the bill in its passage through the Senate, by which that portion of the disputed territory which lay north of the Des Moines river should remain a part of Polk county. The bill was passed and became chapter 18 of the laws of the Fourth Gen- eral Assembly, and was as follows:
" AN ACT to change the boundaries of Warren county.
" SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa, That the following shall be the boundaries of Warren county, to- wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of Marion county, thence west along the line dividing townships 77 and 78 to the northwest corner of township 77 north, of range 25 west; thence south to the southwest corner of township 74 north, of range 25 west; thence east to the southwest cor- ner of Marion county; thence north to the place of beginning. Provided, that all that part of township 77 north, of range 22 west, which lies north of the Des Moines river, shall remain as a part of Polk county.
" SEC. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the 1st day of March, 1853.
" Approved January 14, 1853."
William E. Leffingwell was President of the Senate, and James Grant was Speaker of the House; Stephen Hempstead was Governor, and George W. McCrary was Secretary of State at the time.
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
ยท But to return to the final decision in the county seat case: In May, 1846, M. L. Williams, of Mahaska county, and Giles M. Pinneo, of Scott county, two of the Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to locate the seat of justice in Polk county, appeared on the ground and proceeded to decide the contest. They were eight days in investigating the claims of the various towns. Polk City, in the north part of the county, and Dudley, Uncle Jerry Church's town in the south part of the county, were examined as well as Brooklyn and Fort Des Moines. When they finally, on the 25th of May, decided in favor of Fort Des Moines, the people of this last named place gave themselves over to unrestrained manifestations of joy. Log cannons were fired, bonfires burned, and, to add to the festive demonstra- tions of glee, there was an ample board spread with the choicest delicacies at Col. Tom Baker's, and the best of music, consisting of two fiddles, fur- nished music for the further entertainment of the happy guests.
: For their services as Commissioners in locating the county seat, M. L. Williams received an order on the Treasurer of the county for the sum of twenty-eight dollars, and Giles M. Pinneo received an order for sixty-two dollars.
To return to the second session of the County Commissioners, which was held on the 25th day of May, 1846, we find that the session was a short one, no business having been transacted except the order to pay the locat- ing Commissioners for their services, and an order granting to William Lamb license to keep grocery in Polk county for three months on payment of the customary fee of six dollars. The reader will recollect that the term " grocery " had specific meaning in those days, and any one disposing of the character of goods comprehended in the term groceries, without a li- cense, was as liable to be indicted as is a druggist at the present day for selling whisky. But two members of the Board were present at this meet- ing, Benjamin Saylor and E. W. Fouts. They adjourned, after transacting the items of business enumerated, till June 1.
The county seat now having been located at Fort Des Moines, the people could devote their attention, which was previously taken up chiefly with the discussion of this question, to the improvement of their claims, and it now remained for the County Commissioners to lay out the town which had been chosen. As long as the place was continued as a military post, a re- serve of a square mile around the fort was maintained by the government. In June, 1846, the last of the government troops were removed, when one hundred and sixty acres of this reserve, including all the government build- ings belonging to the fort, was ceded by Congress to Polk county. As will be seen hereafter, these government buildings furnished the county with various public offices for a number of years. It was in one of these gov- ernment buildings that the first session of the Board of County Commission- ers was held, and there it was the Board, or at least two of the members- W. H. Meacham and Benjamin Saylor-met on June 1st for the purpose of adopting measures for the surveying of the town and disposal of lots. The first order bearing on this survey and sale, the first beginnings of the capi- tal city, was an order made by the aforenamed County Commissioners, in- structing the County Surveyor to lay off the town.
As we are not to despise the day of small things, and as it will certainly be a matter of interest, we copy the order in full, as follows:
Ordered, That A. D. Jones, County Surveyor, proceed as soon as practicable to lay off a town at the site selected for the county seat of Polk county.
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
Ordered, That a notice of sale of lots in Fort Des Moines on the fifteenth day of July, 1846, be published for three successive weeks in the Iowa Capital Reporter at Iowa City, the Burlington Hawkeye, and the lowa Democrat at Keosauqua, Iowa. Terms of sale of town lots, one-sixth cash in hand and the balance in three equal installments, one in six months, one in twelve months, and the balance in eighteen months.
There are many queer features suggested to one who, at the present time, reviews these old official orders made by the Commissioner's Court, relative to the early management of county affairs, but the idea of adver- tising Des Moines lots in a Keosauqua paper, was not so novel a one as at the present time it would seem to be. The Des Moines real estate dealer of to-day, who would seek out in the old dilapidated, railroad neglected and almost inaccessible town of Keosauqua a medium for advertising bargains, would certainly be regarded as unwise, and should any of the county offi- cials select such a medium for county advertising, that fact alone would be regarded as final in establishing his incompetency for an office. It was not so, however, twenty-five years ago; then Van Buren county was one of the most populous, wealthy and enterprising counties in the State, and Keo- sauqua, the county seat, was a most important business point and the home of the most illustrious men, representing every kind of business and both political parties. Outside of the river towns, the Keosauqua Democrat had the largest circulation in the Territory, and as an advertising medium it was regarded as the best west of the Mississippi river.
After adopting the order before alluded to, the Board adjourned till the next day, but not until they had licensed another grocery. At these early meetings of the County Commissioners they licensed groceries just as regularly as they ordered the reading of the minutes. This time the lucky person was Madison Wear, who, upon paying the sum of six dollars, was authorized to sell " groceries " to the thirsty settlers for the space of three months.
Mr. A. D. Jones began the survey of the town according to instructions on June 4th, 1846, and completed the laying out of the town soon after; he was assisted in the work by Dr. Fagan. It afterward transpired that the same Dr. Fagan owned a portion of the ground upon which the original town site was located, and the County Commissioners purchased of him, for the sum of three hundred and five dollars, so much of the northeast quarter of section 9, township 78, range 24, as lay within the limits of the original town site.
The sale of lots came off according to advertisement, and quite a num. ber were disposed of. Although the prices received were considerably be- low the present valuation, enough was realized to fill up the heretofore empty county treasury and lay the foundation of a fund for the payment of current expenses. In the history of Iowa counties it will be found that the first county fund was derived from the sale of lots in the county seat, Polk county furnishes no exception to the general rule, and this lot fund, supplemented by a fund derived from license, which was usually kept separate from the lot fund, was the only revenue the county had till taxes could be levied and collected.
In his reminiscences of Des Moines, published in 1857, Mr. Turrell gives the terms at which several of the lots were sold, and the estimated valua- tion of the same at that time. He adds that he does this "that the reader may judge of the advance in real property within ten years, although it
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
must be borne in mind that the proportionate rise has been greater within. the last two or three years than previously."
Lot 5, in block 31, was sold for $35, and the valuation in 1857 was $5,- 000; lot 1, in block 31, corner Walnut and Third streets, sold for $18, valuation in 1857 $5,000; lot 1, in block 20, corner Court Avenue and the Public Square, brought $52, and in 1857 was worth $4,500; lot 1, in block 44, corner of Court Avenue and Second, sold for $30 and was valued at $5,000, when Mr. Turrell wrote; lot 7, in block 34, corner of Vine and Water streets, sold for $50 and in 1857 was worth $4,- 000; lot 5, in block 35, on Second between Vine and Court Avenue, sold for $25 and, according to Mr. Turrell, was the most valuable lot in the city in 1857, it being worth $5,200. The lot which brought the most money at the sale was lot 8, in block 28, corner Market and Second streets, the price "being $106, in 1857 it was valued at $4,000. The advantage offered to purchasers in paying for lots in four installments was generally profited by; from the records, however, we find that one Mc- Ilvane, of Wapello county, purchased lot 8, in block 30, and received a deed for it, he having paid $27.50, the purchase price, in cash. He having been a non-resident and paying cash for the lot, gives rise to the suspicion that he was a speculator, a land-grabber and a capitalist. The writer is unable to determine whether he removed to the town and improved his lot or whether he simply held it for speculation, but whatever became of the lot, and whether it and the purchaser were long identified or not, the fact. remains that to him belongs the credit of having received the first war- ranty deed on the records of Polk county. One remarkable feature of this matter is that of the seven or eight lots before referred to, the one which originally brought the highest price, is now probably worth the least, while the lot on the corner of Walnut and Third, which was originally sold for eighteen dollars, is now probably worth more than any in the list. One cause of the change of relative value of lots doubtless arose from the fact that originally Des Moines was viewed in the light of a county seat town, and now it is viewed in the light of a business town. So long as the county seat feature was the leading feature of the place, property on Court Ave- nue was the most valuable, but when the business feature began to pre- dominate, Walnut street, which, in the meantime had, by reason of the exorbitant prices demanded on Court Avenue, became the leading business thoroughfare, and property along it rapidly advanced till it became the most valuable in the city.
After the sale of lots, buildings began to be rapidly erected, and as Mr. Turrell terms it: "The incipient town transferred itself from paper plats to an actual terraqueous existence. The growth of dense hazel bushes, which covered large portions of the town site, was attacked on all sides and soon disappeared."
The following bill, which the Commissioners allowed, shows what it cost the county to lay out the original town of Fort Des Moines:
H. H. Lewis, chain bearer $ 8.75
William Flynn, chain bearer 7.50
William Frazee, stake driver 2 50
William Thorp, stake driver 75
: 34
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
Thos. Morris, team . $ 5.25
Thos. McMullin, flag bearer 11.25
Thos. McMullin, stakes 9.00
William McKay, drawing. 7.50
A. D. Jones, surveying and platting 89.50
Perry L. Crossman, acknowledgment 3.00
Total $145.00
This bill will not impress the reader as being very exorbitant; on the contrary, the sum of one hundred and forty-five dollars, paid to nine differ- ent men, for the work of laying out a county seat town was very reason- able. It should be remembered, however, that money was scarce even in the county treasury, and it behooved the Commissioners to hoard it care- fully. William McKay, who was paid seven dollars and fifty cents, for drawing, afterward became Judge of the District Court.
The first tax levy was made by the board of County Commissioners at their session of July 7, 1846. The amount of the levy is shown by the three fol- lowing orders:
Ordered. That a tax of fifty centy cents on every one hundred dollars in property returned by G. B. Clark, assessor, shall be assessed for county purposes for the year 1846, and collected by the collector.
Ordered, That a tax be levied of three-fourths of one mill, per cent as above, for Territorial purposes for the year 1846.
Ordered, That a poll tax of fifty cents shall be assessed upon each male person over twenty- one years.
The county was at first assessed by one man, who was elected at the reg- ular county election, just as the County Treasurer or the Sheriff. The first county assessor, G. B. Clark, received the sum of thirty dollars for assessing the entire conuty.
As before remarked, the officers elected in April, 1846, were to serve only till the regular county election in August following. There were no civil townships at that time and the election machinery was all in the hands of the County Commissioners. They could change the number and boun- daries of the precincts and appoint whom they pleased for judges and clerks of election. Perry L. Crossman, who by virtue of his appointment by Judge Williams as Clerk of the District Court for Polk county, had prescribed the number and place of voting precincts, and appointed the judges and clerks of the April or organizing election. It appears that in providing for the August election the County Commissioners did not interfere with the three precincts which had already been established by the Clerk of the Dis- trict Court; these were Camp Creek precinct, Allen's Mill precinct and Fort Des Moines precinct. The country along the Des Moines river and its tributaries north of Des Moines having, in the meantime, been occupied by quite a number of new settlers, it was thought advisable to establish a new precinct in that region, which was accordingly done, the place of vot- ing designated being the house of John Saylor. There were, therefore, at the regular State and county election in Polk county, four voting places.
James Stewart, William Stewart and Stephen Cooper were appointed to act as judges of the election in Camp Creek precinct; the place of voting was at the house of Thomas Mitchell.
James Mount, James White and James McRoberts were appointed judges
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
of the election in the Allen's Mill precinct; the place of voting was at the house of J. D. Parmelee.
William Lamb, Thomas Morris and William Ritchey were appointed judges of the election in Fort Des Moines precinct; the place of voting was at one of the old government buildings down on 'Coon Row.
John Saylor, James Bradley and James Thornton were appointed judges of the election in Saylor precinct; the place of voting was at the house of John Saylor.
It does not appear from the records what were the prescribed boundaries of the several precincts, and it is most probable that there were no clearly defined boundaries. There was probably an understanding that the settlers should vote at the most accessible polling place, and as everybody in the county knew everybody else there would not have been much show for re- peating and ballot-box stuffing, even had there been persons so inclined, which is not very probable. Those living south of Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, probably voted at Allen's Mill, and of that precinct now remains Bloomfield and Allen township.
Those living east of Four Mile probably voted at Thomas Mitchell's; and Camp, Beaver and Four Mile townships have grown out of the old Camp Creek precinct. Lee and Des Moines townships, the south part of Saylor and Valley, together with Grant and a portion of Delaware, originally constituted Fort Des Moines precinct, while the whole country north constituted Saylor precinct.
At the election in August, 1846, a Board of County Commissioners, con- sisting of Edward Martin, Thomas Black and James Mount, all new men, was elected. Lewis Whitten was elected Clerk in place of William McKay. This new Board held its first meeting on the 17th day of August. One of the first acts of the new Board was to subdivide the county into election pre- cincts and define the boundaries of each.
Dallas county, which was then attached to Polk county for election, judi- cial and revenue purposes, was made to consist, together with all the coun- try north and west, of one precinct, to be known as Dallas precinct and the place of holding elections was ordered to be at the house of Mr. Stump. This was certainly a very extensive region of country for one election pre- cinct, but the settlements were so few that when "Dallas county, proper with all the country north and west," got together the vote they polled did not materally affect the result of the election.
Skunk precinct consisted of all the country bounded on the north by a line indefinite; east by a line running immediately south of the house of Thomas Mitchell, and on the west by Four Mile Creek. The house of Eli Trulinger was designated as the place of holding election.
The country bounded on the north by a line running immediately south of the house of Thomas Mitchell, on the east by the east line of Polk county, on the south by the south line of said county, and on the west by a line running north and south from the house of Wm. Lower, was made to constitute Democrat precinct. The house of William S. Wallace was desig- nated as the place for holding elections.
Three Rivers precinct consisted of all the country bounded on the north by a line running due west from the house of William Lower, on the east by a line running due sonth from the house of said Lower, on the south by the south line of Polk county, and on the west by a line indefinite. The house of Matthew Spurlock was designated as the place of holding elections.
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
All the country bounded on the north by a line indefinite, and a line run- ning due west from the house of Thomas Mitchell, due west to the Des Moines river, on the east by the Des Moines river and a line running due north from the house of William Lower to the line running west from the house of Thomas Mitchell, on the south by a line running due west from the house of the said Lower, and on the west by the west line of Polk county was made to constitute Fort Des Moines precinct. The town of Fort Des Moines was designated as the place for holding elections.
Clay precinct consisted of all the country bounded on the north by a line indefinite, on the east by Four Mile Creek and a line running due north from the source of said creek, on the south by a line running due west from the house of Thomas Mitchell, and west by the Des Moines river. The house of John Saylor was designated as the place for holding elections.
William S. Wallace, Creth Renfro and J. W. Deacon were appointed judges of election in Democrat precinct.
Matthew Spurlock, James McRoberts and D. K. Harris were appointed judges of election in the Three Rivers precinct.
Mr. Stump, Thomas Corbell and Samuel Miller were appointed judges of election in Dallas precinct.
Henry Birge, Mr. Jennings and Eli Trulinger were appointed judges in Skunk precinct.
On the 7th of October the Board allowed Thomas Mitchell fifty dollars for services as Sheriff. Thomas Baker was allowed two hundred dollars for services as Prosecuting Attorney during the year 1846, and Perry L. Cross- man was allowed fifty dollars for organizing Polk county; a settlement was also made with William F. Ayers, County Treasurer.
When William McKay turned over the office of Commissioner's Clerk to Lewis Whitten, the latter also succeeded the former as the county's real estate agent for the sale of town lots. In order to show what were the duties and qualifications of this officer, we copy the order of his appoint- ment.
"TERRITORY OF IOWA, } "POLK COUNTY.
" Be it known that Lewis Whitten of said county, is hereby appointed an agent to sell and dispose of real estate belonging to said county, in such manner as may be ordered by the Board of County Commissioners of said county, and also to rent the public buildings at Fort Des Moines or any part of them, and to collect all rents arising from said public buildings for the use and benefit of said county, in such manner as may be ordered by said Board of County Commissioners, provided that he the said Whitten shall take the oath required by the second section of an act entitled, an act to authorize Boards of County Commissioners to appoint agents to dispose of real estate. Approved Feb. 17, 1842. And shall give bond with approved security payable to said Board of Commissioners in the penal sum of two thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of his several duties as such agent. October 31, 1846."
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