USA > Iowa > Van Buren County > The history of Van Buren 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, general and local statistics history of the Northwest, history of Iowa &c > Part 42
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Circuit Court Judge .- In 1868, the Circuit Court was established, and Hon. Robert Sloan was chosen to the Bench. He has been re-elected twice since then, and is still filling the office.
District Clerks .- 1838, Henry G. Stewart ; 1840, Frye B. Hazeltine; 1841, Elisha Cutler, Jr .; 1846, D. C. Bonney ; 1848-50, Seth Millington ; 1852, Charles Baldwin ; 1854-56, Alexander Burns; 1857, William J. Johnson ; 1858-60, L. D. Morris ; 1861-66, John A. Miller; 1868-70. J. W. Latham ; 1872-74, Russell Johnston ; 1876, W. A. Gebhardt; 1878, James Gilles- pie.
Prosecuting Attorneys .- 1846, George G. Wright ; 1848, Henry M. Shelby ; 1850, Henry M. Shelby ; 1852, Charles C. Nourse ; 1854, Samuel M. Mills ; 1856. H. C. Caldwell.
The office of District Attorney was instituted in 1856-57, which took the place of the Prosecuting Attorney. The list ran :
District Attorneys .- 1858, Amos Harris; 1862, Amos Harris ; 1866, James B. Weaver ; 1870, Maston H. Jones; 1874, Thomas M. Fee; 1878, R. B. Townsend.
County Judges .- 1851-55, Emanuel Mayne; 1857, Thomas Rankin ; 1859, Joshua S. Sloan : 1861-65, H. Strickling ; 1867, Alexander Brown.
The County Judge system was superseded by the election of Auditor.
Auditors .- 1868-73. Alexander Brown : 1875-77. Bernard F. Reh- koph.
Assessors .- 1839. Obediah Selby ; 1840, S. S. Carpenter; 1857, Cranston Allen.
Sheriffs .- The first Sheriff of Van Buren County was a Mr. Knowles. He was appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin. The year is not certain, but he served until 1838, when Henry Hefflemen was appointed, and served from 1838 to 1840. J. H. Bonney was in office from 1840 to 1842. Alfred M. Lyon was in office from 1842 to 1844, after which, by an act of Congress, the
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
office of Sheriff became an elective one. The list of names from that time until the present was as follows :
1844-46, J. H. Bonney ; 1846-48, James Johnston ; 1848-50, Seth St. James ; 1850-52, Benjamin B. Marlow ; 1852-54, Thomas Christy ; 1854-56, James M. Tuttle; 1856-58, Joseph Barker; 1858-60, Robert B. Rutledge ; 1860-62, Robert B. Rutledge; 1862-63, John T. Stuart; 1863-65, John T. Stuart; 1865-67, J. C. McCrary; 1867-69, George W. Sommerville ; 1869-71, John W. Shane; 1871-73, John W. Shane; 1873-75, John W. Shane; 1875-77, John W. Shane; 1877-79, Francis Johnston.
Recorders .- 1839, Jacob Lane; 1841, Jacob Lane; 1850, Edwin R. Cut- ter; 1851, George Parker ; 1853-55, Thomas Rankin; 1857-59, James M. Tuttle ; 1861-63, Joshua S. Sloan ; 1864, Edwin Goddard ; 1868-70, Russell Johnston ; 1872-78, D. K. Kittle.
Surveyors-1841, Ira Claflin ; 1851, Nathaniel Myer ; 1852, William Munroe ; 1853, Ira Claflin ; 1854-55, Isaac Connelly ; 1857, Seth Milling- ton ; 1858, Erastus Hoskins ; 1859, George R. Graves ; 1861, W. C. Black- stone ; 1862-67, Ira Claflin ; 1869-71, E. B. Kirkendall; 1873, George R. Graves ; 1875-77, Ira Claflin.
County Treasurers .- 1857, Roger N. Cresap; 1838-41, James H. Jen- kins ; 1842, Edward R. Tyler; 1843, Philip Hartzell; 1844-48, Gideon B. Alexander ; 1849-50, Edwin R. Cutter; 1851, George Parker; 1853-55, Thomas Rankin ; 1857-59, James M. Tuttle; 1861-69, Joshua S. Sloan ; 1871-77, Robert L. Clark.
Coroners .- 1851, John W. Gale; 1852, L. H. Riley ; 1853, George C. Allender ; 1855, Cranston Allen ; 1857-59, George C. Allender ; 1861, John Barnes ; 1863-67, L. W. Thornburg; 1869, Silas Tolman; 1871, George Stidger ; 1873, Robert Hunter; 1875, W. P. L. Muir ; 1877, Dr. D. W. Stutsman.
School Fund Commissioners .- 1847, Samuel Clayton ; 1852, Henry Whe- len ; 1854, Henry Whelen ; 1856, Lorenzo Dow Morris.
Superintendents of Schools .- 1858, Anderson MePherrin; 1859, M. H. Cooley ; 1861-65, D. G. Perkins ; 1866-69, George B. Walker ; 1871, Fran- cis Miller ; 1873, Archie McDonald ; 1875-77, John W. Rowley.
Road Supervisors .- 1851, George Whitall ; 1852, Madison Dagger.
Supervisors .- The following is a complete list of the names of County Su- pervisors since the organization of the Board in 1837, then termed Board of Commissioners :
1837-John Bending, Isham Keith, Enoch P. Blackburn.
1838-Isham Keith, John Whitaker, Enoch P. Blackburn.
1839-John Carnes, Charles Davis, John Sailor (or Maryland Jones, the record contains both names).
1840-John Whitaker, James McCrary, Joseph Miles.
1841-William Whitaker, David Ferguson, Frye B. Hazeltine.
1842-David Ferguson, W. S. Whitaker, Jesse Wright.
1843-David Ferguson, W. S. Whitaker, Jesse Wright.
1844-Robert Meek, John Alexander, David Ferguson. 1845-John Alexander, Rezin B. Willoughby, Robert Meek.
1846-John Alexander, Ira Claflin, Robert Meek.
1847-John Alexander, Obadiah S. Freeman, Ira Claflin.
1848-John D. Woodworth, Obadiah S. Freeman, Ira Claflin.
1849-Ira Claflin, Obadiah S. Freeman, Robert Green.
1850-Ira Claflin, Joel Knight, Robert Green.
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
In 1851, the "Judge system " was made to prevail over that of County Commissioners. This system ran until 1861. The last meeting of the Board of Commissioners was held July 29, 1851. The last official act was to assign each member $5 for fees. An adjournment was then taken sine die. The first Judge elected was E. Mayne. His first official act was to approve the bond of B. B. Marlow, as Sheriff. This, August 18, 1851. Judge Mayne served until 1857, and on August 12 of that year, Judge Thomas Rankin succeeded him. His time expired the latter part of 1859, and on January 3, 1860, Judge Joshua S. Sloan took his seat. He served until 1861, when a new twist of the law threw the county again under the control of a Board of Supervisors, one from each township. The appended list is official.
1861-John D. Baker, Matthew Creswell, Lorenzo Ellis, Seth Fordyce, Erastus Hoskin, J. A. Hughes, L. J. Mason. E. Mayne, J. G. Newbold, John Perry, Joseph Rabb, Harvey Robb, Jacob Silvers.
1862-George C. Allender, W. H. Alexander, J. D. Baker, C. L. Bonney, J. D. Elbert, Lorenzo Ellis, William Huber, Onias Hale, Joseph Kean, L. J. Mason, S. M. Morris, John Perry, William J. Parker.
1863-George C. Allender, William H. Alexander, C. L. Bonney, John D. Elbert, L. Ellis, William Huber, Onias Hale, J. A. Kean, L. J. Mason, A. Mccullough, W. J. Parker, E. B. Sample, W. H. Turton.
1864-W. H. Alexander, C. L. Bonney, Lorenzo Ellis, Onias Hale, L. J. Mason, A. Mccullough, R. N. McLeland, B. F. Miller. Uriel Neal, W. J. Parker, E. B. Sample, W. H. Turton, Joseph Warren.
1865-W. H. Alexander, C. L. Bonney, Milton Chalfaut, Lorenzo Ellis, Onias Hale, R. N. McLeland, A. Mccullough, B. F. Miller, Alexander New- bold, Uriel Neal, Joseph Warren, Jacob Wagner.
1866-W. H. Alexander, C. L. Bonney, Milton Chalfaut, Jonathan Ferris, William Huber, Onias Hale, L. J. Mason, Andrew Mccullough, R. N. Mc- Leland, Uriel Neal, Ralph Peterson, Jacob Wagner.
1867-W. H. Alexander, Milton Chalfant, Jonathan Ferris, William Huber, Onias Hale, L. J. Mason, R. N. McLeland, W. S. Mayne, J. H. Mc Veigh, Uriel Neal, Isaac Nelson, Ralph Peterson, Jacob Wagner.
1868-0. B. Brown, John Brooks, James Elerick, Thomas H. Hopkins. S. S. Henry, Edmund Hilles, Onias Hale, James H. Mcveigh, B. F. Miller, W. S. Mayne, Isaac Nelson, John T. Stewart, Jacob Wagner.
1869-John Brooks, James Elerick, James Green, Onias Hale, S. S. Henry, Thomas H. Hopkins, Edmund Hilles, J. H. Mcveigh, B. F. Miller, John A. Miller, John T. Stewart, John Perry, Samuel Whitten.
1870-John Brooks, W. W. Byers, Harrison Blackledge, Matthew Cres- well, James Green, Onias Hale, S. S. Henry, Thomas H. Hopkins, J. H. Mc- Veigh, J. S. Miller, John A. Miller, John Perry, Samuel Whitten, W. P. L. Muir. .
Again, in 1871, was the law changed, and the "legislative system " driven out to give place to the Board of three members. The latter system prevails at present. Those who have served may be found after :
1871-Onias Hale, Isaiah Meek, Erastus Pitkin.
1872-Onias Hale, Isaiah Meek. Erastus Pitkin.
1873-Onias Hale, Thomas Christy, Erastus Pitkin.
1874-Samuel Nixon, Benjamin Wagner, Erastus Pitkin.
EARLY POLITICS.
" Prior to 1840, but little attention was paid to the political preferences of candidates," observes Judge Wright, "as witness the election of Esq. Keith
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
and Gen. Swazey to the first Council, both Whigs, while Bailey and Barker, in the House, were both Democrats, and their colleague, Hall, a Whig. It was in 1840 that our Democratic friends in the county were called upon to rally by that man of irrepressible and versatile genius, John Carnes, known then and somewhat since as 'Pious John ;' and rally they did. An organization was effected, and soon those figuring lived to enjoy the fruits; and others, I remember, as, for instance, the so-called ' Union Year' of 1842, when Bailey and Whittaker were defeated for the Council by Elbert and Jenkins ; Bonney by Lyon, for Sheriff, to say nothing of others, who were occasionally led to realize that a dominant party is not always successful under the most vigorous party drill. That year of 1842, by the way, was about my first active recol- lection of a political contest. It was peculiar, it will be remembered by the voters, some of whom I see here to-day, as having a so-called religious element in it. Dr. Bailey, Capt. Bonney, Ezra M. Jones, and their colleagues on the Democratic ticket, we hungry Whigs styled the infidel party. Many amusing incidents might be related. I remember one in connection with A. J. Davis, who was known as a most indefatigable worker in politics, as in everything else. While talking with John Workman, a Democrat and a Methodist, who lived on the place where ' Uncle' Isaac Barker lived so long, Davis warned Barker of the danger to the cause of holiness if such infidels were elected, and finally concluded by saying that ' he'd be damned if our holy religion was not in danger if the Democrats succeeded.' "
REMINISCENCES.
From the speech of Mr. A. H. McCrary, we quote the following descrip- tion of the days of 1836 :
When I first stood on the bank of the Des Moines River, in the fall of 1836, the spot where we are now assembled was covered with the foliage of forest-trees ; and down on the bank of the river, very near to where Mr. Manning's store is now situated, there were two or three small build- ings being erected. Immediately above the then projected town was Father Purdom's cabin, and a few acres of ground cleared. Father Purdom's was a kind of headquarters and boarding-house for all who came along. The next cabin above was David Ely's, whose name that ford still bears. With Mr. Ely lived a brother-in-law, John Goodin. John was a fine, jovial young man, large and handsomely formed, and Father Purdom had some very excellent daughters. John was then very much like the young men are now, and while Father P. was very much opposed to young gentlemen decoying his daughters away from his humble cottage, John, not always having the fear of that good old gentleman before his eyes, wooed and gained the hand of Miss Purdom, and marriage-pledges were doubtless exchanged. But Father P., not having all the con- fidence in John that was necessary to give his consent, therefore most positively refused, waxing wrathy. At this, John's ambition became somewhat aroused, and so began to plot treason against the old gentleman's rights, and, in order to carry out his treasonable purpose, he hired Aaron W. Harlan, the hero of the Des Moines, to assist him. Aaron was an Aaron of old. Mighty in words, and still more powerful in deeds, he procured an Indian canoe, and, just as the moon was showing her broad face in the east, it was quietly landed at a suitable landing, and, while the unsuspecting father was quietly reposing, naughty John and crafty Aaron were stealthily assisting Miss P. to get her necessary apparel and herself safely conveyed to the land- ing. All safely on board, Aaron loosed the cable, and, there being no dams in the river (and the old gentleman being too pious to use any of the other kind), they glided smoothly down to the town of Sweet Home, in Missouri, where Esq. Beedle officiated, making the late Miss Pur- dom Mrs. Goodin. Subsequently, other young gentlemen, being encouraged by John's success, made raids upon the old gentleman's household, until he was compelled to succumb and submit to an inglorious defeat. This old gentleman's cabin was one of the most public places in the county at that time. Besides its being the home of his family, it was used as publie boarding- house, church, and I am not sure but it was sometimes used as a Court House. While old Father Purdom may have had traits in his character peculiar to himself, he was one of God's noblemen, an honest man, and he has long since gone to his reward.
In looking back to the early settling, I regard the winter of 1837-38 as the hardest times we ever endured. Crowds of people had located during the summer, and many were in very uncomfortable cabins when winter came on. Some had raised a little corn, but there were no
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
mills in the country nearer than Waterloo, Mo., to grind it, and a very severe winter upon us. For weeks, many of us subsisted on boiled corn or beat meal bread. That beating process could be endured for the sake of a change, but very soon we would fall back to hominy again. Those mortars, in which we would beat the corn into meal, were worked by hand, and were called " Armstrong's mill." In some localities, horse-mills were erected. That class of machinery was only temporary, and I consider a description of them more tedious than profitable : and yet they afforded a temporary relief, and were regarded an improvement on the beating or hominy proc- ess. About the year 1837, William Duncan commenced the erection of a mill on the Des Moines River, just where Kinnersly's mill now stand ; and, about the same time, William Meek & Sons commenced building a mill at Bonaparte. Duncan threw out a wing-dam about half-way across the river, and constructed a singular kind of wheel, which was called a screw wheel. The rushing of the water through the wheel gave it motion, to which the machinery was attached. While its likeness was never seen before or since, yet, by wallowing in water, we were able to get our corn ground, and we were so highly elated that I believe some of us tried to send Mr. Duncan to the Legislature. But I believe we failed.
From the speech of Mr. Edwin Manning we quote the following concise and admirable record of his experiences from 1837 :
In the winter of 1837, I was sojourning in Missouri, and fell in with Capt. Hall, Fairman and Carnes, all looking for homes in the West. The Captain and myself engineered a jumper- ride on the Des Moines River from St. Francisville to the rapids, in January, 1837 (now Mr. Kinnersly's famous water-power). How we were delighted, first with our ride up the river on the smooth ice, blanketed with pure snow, and next with the little water-fall that we imagined was an embryo fortune for some ingenious Yankee to develop into hydraulic powers. Hence the location of the county town here. But this was not all of our sight-seeing. Mr. Fairman and I made a trip across the half-breed tract to Fort Madison, and on our way we visited old Black Hawk in his camp, then located on Devil Creek, just below Fort Madison. I shall never forget the peculiar look and air of the old fallen chief. He received us kindly, but was extremely reticent, and would not encourage conversation to much extent. The country, at this time, was nearly all vacant, the settlements being confined to the streams. Claims had been made along and up the "Demoin" for nearly one hundred miles, or as far west as the first purchase reached. My first trade in Iowa was for a " half-breed " claim. This consisted of several hundred acres of land and some twenty-five town lots in Keokuk, costing me some $500. I then left the country, and returned in 1838, and attended the first land sale held in Burling- ton, in November, 1838. In the spring of 1839, I opened out the best stock of goods in the val- ley. I continued my business prosperously, and, in 1841, I contracted to supply the Government fort at the Raccoon Forks with provisions. This I did by chartering @ steamboat at St. Louis and delivering my goods by steam. The upper country in and about Raccoon Forks was then peopled wholly by the red men. In honor of my bringing a boat from St. Louis, and giving the officers and Indian chiefs a free ride upon the river, Capt. Allen sent his couriers to the head men of the nation to come and pay their respects to us and give us a war-dance. This was done on a magnificent scale. Not less than three hundred of the best braves, Sacs and Foxes, assem- bled and gave one of their best performances, with all their paraphernalia, bells, feathers and paint. Altogether, it was the greatest feat I had ever witnessed in my Western life, thus far. Soon after this, the fort was moved further west, and the Indians went to their new home south of the Missouri. In 1843, the country was opened up for white settlement on the new purchase, and great and rapid emigration commenced from all parts of the Western States, and many from the East.
The navigation of the river was obstructed by occasional mill-dams, and the steamboat men of those days were too timid to risk their fortunes on the Des Moines to fight mill-dams. The next great era in enterprise in the valley was flatboating, and in this particular vocation, per- haps, your speaker was one of the most successful men in advancing and practically demonstrat- ing the Des Moines River to be a natural channel for commerce.
Other operators in the valley followed in quick pursuit, and soon the river navigation was fully appreciated. My peculiar forte was to build but few, but those were good and seaworthy crafts. In this I was successful, but nevertheless my fate was to sink one boat two times-first, at Bentonsport dam, and next at Croton-and finally got it into market and realized more money for it than it could have brought if it had reached the market without delay. The moral of this act teaches " help yourselves, and good surely follows." Such was the experience of your speaker. Now, to give you another page of this history, transpiring at the same time, illustrates more fully the subject in question. My neighbor embarked in the same enterprise. He built cheap and frail boats, and hired men to run them, and out of a dozen or more started for market but one single craft lived through the voyage, and that was lost in damages. Thus, you see, what I inaugurated as a good enterprise my neighbor destroyed. This ended all flat- boating on the beautiful Des Moines. Finally, the navigation was suspended until 1857. At this period, the valley had become rich in cereals, and a great demand came for navigation. It was not forgotten that, in 1841, Manning reached Raccoon Forks with a steamer, and hence why
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not again ? This was the cry, "Out with the dams." This was the alarm sounded through the valley. Your speaker was not hard to understand what was most needed in the carrying-on of trade in the valley. Accordingly, he canvassed the matter with due consideration, and ventured upon another commercial enterprise. I proceeded to St. Louis, contracted with Capt. Allen at once to load the " Jennie Lind " and barge for Keosauqua and Eddyville. Arriving at Keokuk in due time, and having favorable water, my ambition was up to fever heat. But, to my utter astonishment, the Captain had learned through the skillful boatmen at Keokuk that they could not navigate the beautiful Des Moines. This brought dismay and trouble for a short time; but my perseverance and indomitable will-power to make the effort a success, if possible, overcame the embarrassment. The Captain was an old and good waterman. He became convinced that my heart was in the enterprise, and the more we argued the case the better he liked my logic. We became familiar boating companions for the trip, and finally we cast off the lines and set our face for the "Diamond Navigation." Arriving at Farmington in a few hours, our steam and whistle made the village alive, and in a few minutes the whole town was on the bank of the river admiring the beautiful "Jennie Lind." All was sunshine and glory to everybody except the mill-owners. Here again came the tug of war. It was fight or die. It would never do to stop here. The gates were closed, and apparently there was no entrance possible, being too old and weak to open ; hence the trouble.
Finally, says I to Capt. Allen : " I brought you here to do my work ; my order is that you at once remove these gates, at my risk and expense, and go ahead. ' No sooner said than all hands laid hold and demolished the gates and sent them floating down stream. This brave act of Capt. Allen at an opportune time opened up commerce throughout the valley, and it was never closed until superseded by rail. In this little enterprise, I was more than compensated in my own limited business, and what it did for me it did for the whole valley. I did not stop to calculate its importance, uor did I realize it fully till its development almost overwhelmed us, of such value was commerce brought to our doors by this great natural channel.
Our next great hope was the Des Moines improvement. In this we all expected to be enriched and made happy for the rest of our days. The great river grant was procured through Gen. Dodge, a veteran pioneer and popular politician in the State in those palmy days of Bour- bon Democracy. With this munificent land grant for a great and good special object, the State accepted, but finally limited, and failed to aid and foster the enterprise. The magnitude of the work contemplated State indorsement; failing to obtain this, the work languished, and was finally abandoned as being behind the age and progress of the times at that period. In approx- imating its final adjustment with contracting parties, your speaker occupied a responsible posi- tion, having been appointed by Gov. Grimes, and subsequently elected, Commissioner of the Improvement. I was let into the secret of fat internal improvement contracts. It was not. unfashionable in those days to carry a good supply of old Bourbon, and when the wheels got slow to use a little for propelling power. It so happened, in one of my sittings, criticising the accounts of Improvement expenditures, we all become very jolly ; but it was a habit of mine not to sign papers without understanding their full import. This kind of sharp practice had been indulged in of occasionally asking a Commissioner to certify lands before they were fully paid for, and it was considered quite courteous to obtain an accommodation of this kind ; but I was always so slow to understand such things that they did not get my name as often as they wanted it to such papers.
But in one grand levee we hield over a settlement, the Company limbered up with Bourbon, and gave me the snug little sum of $75,000 discount on their regularly-entered charges against the State improvement. This was an eye-opener to all the people. The State at once proceeded to make a final settlement with the New York company. Subsequently, the remaining lands of the grant were negotiated for by the Valley Railroad. Thus ended the great farce of the first land grant to the Des Moines Valley.
From the speech of Mr. Charles Baldwin, we quote:
In coming to this new country, we came poor, most of us. We came to better our condi- tion, to make homes which we were too poor to do in the older States. In making these homes, we had to struggle with the hardships of a new country, as well as with poverty. With good Inck, it took eight or ten days to get a load of provisions. The great river could only be crossed by row-boat. If the river or wind was high, the poor settler had to wait often for days before he could cross. In the mean time, the good wife and the little ones were alone, nestled in the little cabin behind some far-off point of timber, hourly, hungrily scanning the wide prairie as far as the eye could reach, anxiously looking for husband and father with something to eat. Brave wives, noble mothers ! right well have you earned your homes. May you long live to enjoy them.
Mark the contrast of to-day. Over the same routes we then traveled, we now send food for thousands upon thousands of hungry people. And we can go to Illinois and back in as many hours as it then took ns days, crossing the great river on strong iron bridges that defy wind and waves, ice and floods. In the same time that it then took us to reach the banks of the Mississippi on Nature's roads, we can now reach the shores of the Atlantic Ocean on the one hand, or repose in the shade of the Rocky Mountains, capped with eternal snow, on the other.
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In those days, too, we had a weekly mail, if the season and the roads were good, bringing us newspapers and letters from our friends. Perhaps they had been weeks on the way, but they were always fresh. For the coveted letters we had to pay 25 cents postage, and it was freely given. Now for 1 cent we send our letters to Maine or Georgia, or the far-off States of the Pacific ; and we are not satisfied unless we have mail twice a day. If impatient of this delay, we can, by the magic wire, talk with our friends thousands of miles away, almost as if we were face to face.
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