USA > Iowa > Wapello County > The history of Wapello 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 > Part 42
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" According to his own story. he was out for just a pastime drive up the ridge, without much motive or object of any kind ; but he had a scythe to cut grass, a good lot of oats and shelled corn in sacks, an extra wagon sheet that would have improvised a comfortable tent in short order, a plentiful supply of ' grub' for himself and a boy he had with him, thirteen or fourteen years old, and a forty gallon empty barrel, all suggestive of a contemplated raid upon the bee-trees. After some parley, the Lieutenant turned him over to the Sergeant, who had in the mean time come up with his men, who, in turn, placed him with a file of troopers, as a guard of honor, between the two baggage-wagons. The old fellow soon got the hang of what was up from the soldiers, and, as misery loves company, he shortly seemed to lose sight of his own disgust in contemplating that of the inmates of the two squatters' cabins we had yet to visit. We soon reached the nearest one and found it abandoned, though very recently, as all signs proved. Stopping long enough to burn the cabin, we then kept on our way to the only remaining trespasser, who had put up his cabin in a grove on the Des Moines River side of the ridge we had been all day descending. As we turned off to cross the ridge, our former captive, whom we now released, seemed, for a while, as if disposed to relieve himself from the enjoyment of our society as soon as possible. But, in a short time, he changed his mind, for long before he had traveled the half-mile across the ridge, we saw that he had also turned off and was in pursuit of us. He reached the house almost as soon as did the troops, and in full time to say to the Lieutenant and myself what could not have been less than an unpleasant feeling of personal sympathy for the fam- ily we were about to dislodge. As in several previous instances, the man had gone off, leaving the woman to give reasons and offer excuses for his absence. It was very near night, and not less than five miles to the nearest house in the direction the woman wished to go ; she had several children, of whom not the largest, even, was yet of an age to be other than an incumbrance at such a time ; nor was there team, wagon or other means of transportation to be seen. While she was bitterly complaining of her cruel fate in thus being turned out of her house to see it consumed, with herself, children and chattels all night under the open heavens, our lately-made acquaintance came to a halt among us, the ex-
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
pression of his features indicating a much more enjoyable expectation of wit- nessing the scene ahead than was ever felt by any among us, whose duty it was to bring it into action.
" We accordingly concluded to press him into the service, soothing, by that proposal, much of the distress of mater familias, who appeared to be a person rather superior to the ordinary grade of squatters. The soldiers set about removing her property from the house, and loading into the old fellow's wagon such portions of it as she was least disposed to abandon for the night, and, com- fortably stowing herself and children upon the load, we started him off as soon as she was ready to leave, after having placed the rest of her effects in as secure a condition as we could. To guard against any possible treachery on the part of the old bee-hunter, as well as in view of any break-down before he could strike the smoother road, the Lieutenant took the precaution to detach a Cor- poral with a half-dozen men, to act as escort over the three miles or so to the Indian boundary, beyond which our jurisdiction ceased.
" The house, with its combustible appendages, having been set on fire, we continued our march to a point a mile or two within the civilized part of Iowa Territory, where a well-fixed, thrifty settler supplied our commissariat, as well as our forage department, with sundry items that a three-days expedition through the brush had made acceptable, if not actually needful. Night had fairly set in. The Corporal had rejoined the command, and reported the bee-hunter and his cargo to be making satisfactory and apparently friendly progress at the point he was ordered to leave them. Our camp-fires were soon blazing, and the tents pitched, and, in a short time, a good supper increased the contentment which the Lieutenant and Agent could not fail to enjoy over the final conclusion of a most unpleas- ant duty. An early reveille, and the next mid-day found us at the Agency.
" At the accession of Gen. Harrison to the Presidency, in March, 1840, Mr. John Chambers, ex-Congressman of Kentucky, was appointed to replace Gov. Lucas as Governor of our then Territory, which office included within its commission that of Superintendent over the Indians and their Agencies. For several months previous, some feelings of antagonism had existed between the old Black Hawk party, whose chief was Hardfish, and the other bands, which was excited mostly and kept up by the traders, influenced by their rival inter- ests, and the characteristic obstinacy of Gov. Lucas, who leaned to the Hardfish band. Upon the arrival of Gov. Chambers at Burlington, it was, of course, an object with Keokuk to gain his favor, or at least to have him committed to a strictly impartial course; while the Hardfish effort would be to induce him to follow in the track of his predecessor. Keokuk at once requested the Agent to obtain the Governor's consent for him and his chief men to visit him at Burling- ton. It was the wish, however, of the Indian Department to discountenance and prevent such pilgrimages of the Indians through the settlements, and the Agent promised Keokuk that he would inform the new Governor of his desire, and that, perhaps, he would prefer to make his acquaintance and receive his congratulations here at the Agency. The Hardfish band-or rather their insti- gators, Eddy and his satellites-less patient, and ignoring their proper channel of communication through the Agent with the Superintendency, hastened to Burlington in a large body, and having encamped a short way from town, sent in a written notice of their arrival and its purpose, with a request that the Gov- ernor would cause the needed supplies of food, etc., to be provided for them. Under the late Lucas regime, an order on Eddy's Burlington store would have soon satisfied this want. But Gov. Chambers sent them word that when he sent for any of them to come and see him, he would, of course, be prepared to
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
have them fed; that he had no intention of converting his exeentive head- quarters in Burlington into a council-ground for his red children, and that it was his purpose to visit them in their own country at a very early day. Hard- fish came home with a large flea in his ear ; and the Agent received a commu- nication from the Governor informing him of the facts, and instructing him to use all means in his power to prevent the intrusions of his charge upon the set- tlements, and that he should visit the Agency in a very short time, notice of which should be seasonably served.
"The Governor at length set his time, the bands were all informed, the Governor arrived, and on the next day, at a specified hour, a grand council would be opened. Meanwhile, all the Indians, except the Iowa River Foxes, indisposed to. come so far, had been gathering, and were encamped about the Agency, the Keokuk side covering the ground along the branch behind the mills, which was then full of plum, hazel and erab-apple thickets; while the Hardfishes were along the edge of the river timber south of the Agency, and where the writer now lives (August, 1874). Long before the appointed hour, the Ilardfish party, arrayed in full toggery, had all arrived, themselves and their ponies caparisoned in their richest styles of ornament; and, having gone through the equestrian performances usual on such occasions, had dismounted, secured their ponies, and, forming on foot, had marched into the Agency yard, where the Governor was to receive them, and where was quite a gathering of whites, and Hardfish with some of his leading men, having taken the Govern- or's hand and said a few words of courtesy, had sat down upon the grass.
" Now, it was a sacred duty with the Governor to cherish the memory of his dear and lately dead friend, Gen. Harrison. He had been Aid-de-camp to the General in the war of 1812, and rumor told that their mutual sentiments were more those of father and son than of simple friends. Keokuk had been apprised of this, and, as it proved, knew how to 'make it tell.' The appointed hour had been a long time passed, but as yet he made no sign of putting in an appearance, and at last the Governor began to grow impatient and to use some expressions approbatory of the Hardfish promptitude.
" At length the first faint sounds of Keokuk's music came floating through the thickets, which grew more audible as it neared, but never swelled up to the full tone of their more joyous notes ; and as the front of their procession wound slowly into view, their lances and staves, instead of being decked with gaudy ribbons and feathers to flutter in the breeze, were wrapped round with wilted grass. No sound of bells responded to the tramp of their ponies ; and their own persons, instead of being painted in vermilion and dressed in bright colors, bore the usual funeral substitutes of clay and somber hues. In fact, all the paraphernalia of woe betokened some sad affliction. The Agent, after a hur- ried word with the interpreter, told the Governor that this was a funeral march, and that some one of their leading men must have died in the night, and lay probably yet unburied in the camp. The Hardfishes seemed as much at a loss as anybody, wondering who could have died without their knowing it.
" The solemn dirge ceased, and dismounting, the several hundred savages, forming on foot with Keokuk leading, marched into the yard and toward the Governor, who advanced a step or two to meet him, when Keokuk, ordering a halt, signed the interpreter and said : . Say to our new Father that before I take his hand I will explain to him what all this means. We were told not long ago that our Great Father was dead. We have heard of him as a great war- chief. who had passed much of his life among the red men and knew their wants, and we believed we would always have friendship and justice at his
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
hands. His death has made us very sad, and, as this is our first opportunity, we thought it would be wrong if we did not use it to show that the hearts of his red children, as well as his white, know how to mourn over their great loss, and we have had to keep our Father waiting while we performed that part of our mourning that we must always attend to before we leave our lodges with our dead.'
" Then, amid the murmur of approbation from his people, he stepped forward and extended his hand. The hearty grasp with which the Governor seized and chung to it, showed he had touched the right spot, and the Hardfishes must be content, thereafter, to take a back seat. When, years after, the writer was enjoying a day of the Governor's hospitality at Maysville, Ky., and the incident coming up in conversation, the Governor was told that he must not credit Keokuk with the paternity of the entire . plot,' but that his ingenuity was put into requisition only to manage the details, the kind old gentleman seemed greatly amused."
WAPELLO'S DEATH.
An editorial in the Ottumwa Courier of September 13, 1876, is here repro- duced, because of its permanent value as an authentic sketch :
"The name of our county-Wapello-should be pronounced as though spelled Wapellaw. At any rate, that is the way the Chief Wapello pronouced it, and he ought to have known.
" The old chief died at the forks of the Skunk River, March 15, 1842, and his remains were brought to the Indian Agency, near where Agency City is now located, in an ox-wagon, and buried toward evening of the same day, with the customary Indian ceremonies, At his own request, he was buried by the side of Gen. Street, in the garden of the Agency. Gen. Street had been an Indian Agent at Prairie du Chien and at Rock Island. He came to the Ageney of the Sacs and Foxes here in April, 1838, by assignment of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs, Judge Crawford, and died May 5, 1840. He was for many years in the Indian service, and, although always a strong Whig, he was yet a man of such experience and sterling integrity that he remained in office to the day of his death, in spite of his politics and the changes in adminis- tration. He was very popular with the Indians, and hence the desire of Wapello to be laid by the side of his honest pale-faced friend, which wish was gratified. Gen. Street left numerous children and grandchildren, none of whom reside here now.
" Keokuk, Appanoose and nearly all of the leading men among the Indians, were present at Wapello's funeral. The dead chief was the successor of Black Hawk in rank. If Wapello's name is translated into English, we are unac- quainted with the fact. He was chief of the Foxes as well as of the confeder- ated tribes of Saes and Foxes, composed of the bands of Keokuk, Appanoose, Hardfish, Poweshiek and his own; Poweshiek succeeded him as the senior chief of the confederated tribes, while Poweshiek's tribe-leadership fell to Pashe- shamore (Pa-she-sha-more), who, from all accounts, was a good sort of an Indian. He went to the Indian Territory with the Saes and Foxes, where the remnants of this dejected race still subsist upon the bounty of the Govern- ment."
FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN THE COUNTY.
The first white child born in the county was William Street Beach, son of Major John Beach, son-in-law and successor to Gen. Street. The child was born at Agency, August, 1841, and died September, 1859.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
THE FIRST DEATH.
Gen. Street's death, as heretofore mentioned, was the first event of that kind that occurred among the whites at that Agency, and consequently his death may be put down as the first one which occurred within the present limits of Wapello County. In July, 1841, Phelps' trading-house at the Agency took fire in the night and a large quantity of powder was exploded, killing one white man, whose name was not preserved. This was probably the second death in the county. An Indian was killed by the explosion. The first white woman who died in the county was a relative, perhaps a sister, of Col. Cogs- well, at the Agency. The name and date of death are not preserved.
THE FIRST MARRIAGE
was between Harvey Sturdevant, a gunsmith of the post, and a widow, a rela- tive of C. H. Withington, blacksmith of the post ; but tradition does not trans- mit her name. This matrimonial event occurred in 1841, and the happy couple were united by the chaplain of the post.
THE FIRST GRIST-MILL
was erected on Sugar Creek, just below where the Agency road now crosses it, and about where Quince Wood's residence now stands. It was built in 1839, by Jeremiah Smith, millwright, under direction of Gen. Street, during a wet time, when the creek was a large mill-stream, and on the assurance of the Indians that the stream was fifty miles long. About the time they got the mill ready to run, the water gave out, whereupon Gen. Street and Jerry Smith, with an exploring party, traced their water-power into the ground four miles distant ! That was the first practical joke played on the whites, and it was, surely, a good one for poor Lo.
The first regular merchant, disconnected from the Government, who did business in Wapello County, was Shaphat Dwire, who established himself at the village of Agency City in 1843, about the time it was laid out. He came from Canton, Ill. He built, that year, a good one-story frame store, and for several years he was the leading merchant in the county. Dwire sold out to W. B. and Alexander Street, about 1849, and returned to Illinois. He used to buy oats of the pioneers at 10 cents per bushel in exchange for calico at 25 cents per yard.
THE FIRST POSTOFFICE
in Agency was kept at his store, and Dwire was Postmaster, at the munificent income of $12 per year. Letter postage was then 25 cents per letter. Dwire subsequently became involved in business matters and committed suicide at the Virginia Hotel, St. Louis, in 1860.
[The first post office is claimed for Ottumwa, and we have modified the above statement accordingly .- EDITOR].
IOWA AS IT WAS.
Dr. William R. Ross, an old and highly esteemed pioneer of the State, who came to this section when the country was without political division into even a Territory, furnished the following valuable papers to the Albia Union in 1869- 70. The information contained in his letters is unquestionably reliable.
" It may not be uninteresting," observes the Doctor, "to give some of the names of those who first explored Southern Iowa, in 1832, prior to making a permanent settlement in 1833. First, among others, were Maj. Joseph B. Teas
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
and Joseph Morgan, afterward citizens of Albia; Col. William Morgan, William Stewart, John Ward, Isaac Canterberg, Lewis Watters, Isaac Cranshaw, Ben- jamin Tucker, Ezekiel Smith and sons Paris and Lineas, John Bullard, Richard Sand, Thomas Dovrell, David Tethro, S. S. White, M. M. McCar- ver, Berryman Jenkins, William Wright, John Harris and Charles Teas, with others that were in Iowa when I came in July, 1833. Mrs. Sarah Hilleary, wife of Alexander Hilleary, near Burlington, came with her father, Col. Will- iam Morgan, in February, 1832, to do the domestic work while her father was improving his claim and building a house, preparatory to moving his family, and was one of the families driven on the big island just below Burlington, by soldiers from Rock Island, as the Indian title had not yet been extinguished.
"The title remained in the Indians until June, 1833. At this time, Richard Chaney resided at Fort Madison, and Dr. Garland and Mr. Campbell and perhaps a few other on the half-breed tract. After June 1, 1833, the country was settled very rapidly, as every one then had the liberty of taking to themselves a claim of half a section of land, one-quarter of timber and one of prairie, and the right to purchase as many claims as he had the money for. This rule occasioned much disturbance by new immigrants coming into the country and finding one man holding more than one claim. It drove them back into the new region against their will. In the winter of 1833-34, we were attached to Michigan Territory for judicial purposes, and the laws, with instructions, were sent me by the Legislature of Michigan to organize Des Moines County, by appointing special elections to be held to elect officers to discharge the duties of an organized county. Col. William Morgan was elected Superior Judge, and Henry Walker and Young L. Hughes, Assistants, of Circuit Court, which was the highest court we had in Iowa at that time. Col. W. H. Chapman was Prosecuting Attorney; W. R. Ross, Clerk ; Solomon Perkins, Sheriff; John Barker, Justice of the Peace ; W. R. Ross, Treasurer and Recorder, and, at the time, Acting Postmaster in the only postoffice in the Territory. IIe was the only practicing physician in that part of the Territory, meanwhile carrying on a dry goods and drug store. In addition to this, Mr. Ross inclosed, in 1834, one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land with a stake and rider fence, grew eighty acres of corn on another claim, and improved still another forty acres back of Burlington. He also improved some twenty acres, and erected buildings for a private residence.
" There was a settlement from near the mouth of Long Creek, northeast of Augusta, made by six or seven families from Indiana, in July, 1833, eight miles west of Burlington.
" In regard to public improvements, in the fall of 1833, Mr. Ross built the first school house, on his claim just back of the public square, at his own expense, and in the spring of 1834, Z. C. Ingraham was employed to teach. Mr. Ross boarded him free of cost. This was the first English school taught in Iowa. In 1834, Mr. Ross organized the first Sunday school in Iowa, fur- nishing a library from Cincinnati, at a cost of $12.50, and taught the school himself. As the population increased, a new library was needed ; the old one was donated to Mount Pleasant, where a school had been organized, and a new lot of books, costing $25, was put in. Of those denominations who joined in the work of maintaining the school, Mr. Ross remembers : Mr. and Mrs J. Edwards, W. H. Starr (then a lawyer), of the Congregational faith ; George Partridge (who became a wholesale merchant of St. Louis), of the Unitarian faith ; David Rover, of the Presbyterian faith ; John B. Gray, of the Baptist faith. Mr. Newhall and Dr. John Campbell are warmly spoken of in this con- nection, also.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
"The day school was taught by Mrs. Shelton and Mrs. Mayfield; and after the old Zion Methodist Episcopal Church was built, Rev. E. M. Scott, the tallest man in the neighborhood, lived in the basement of the church and taught school therein. Afterward, a man named Townsend taught.
1
"Dr. Crawford, from Brooke County, Va., settled in Burlington in 1833. He practiced during the winter, and then moved to Texas. In the spring of 1834, Drs. Shuff, of Kentucky, and Center, of Indiana, located in Burlington, and formed a partnership. Center died within the year, and Shuff returned to Kentucky. Dr. Teas practiced in 1835. Dr. W. D. Hickock, of New York, located there in 1835, and remained until his death. Dr. S. S. Ransom, of Vermont, settled there about the same date. Dr. E. Lowe, of Indiana, came in 1836. He afterward removed to Omaha.
"The first court ever held in Southern Iowa, convened at the house of Mr. Ross, on the block immediately east of the public square, in the spring of 1835. Judges presiding: William Morgan, Henry Walker and Young R. Hughes. Resident lawyers: W. W. Chapman, Robert Williams, Isaac Leffler, Joseph B. Teas. Visiting lawyers: Mr. Little, of Carthage, Illinois, and James W. Woods, usually called 'Old Timber.' Mr. Ross owned the only law library then in Burlington, and that was a small one. In the spring of 1836, David Rover began the practice of law; in 1836-7, M. D. Browning and J. W. Grimes, also. In 1836-7, Joseph B. Teas and Jeremiah Smith, Jr., repre- sented Des Moines at the Legislature which organized the Territory of Iowa. In the spring of 1838, Charles Mason moved to Burlington and began the practice of law. There was an exodus of lawyers from that place about then. J. C. Hall, William Thompson, J. B. and G. W. Teas and Van Allen located at Mt. Pleasant ; Thomas and Springer, at Wapello, Louisa County; Daniel Miller and Rich at Ft. Madison.
"In 1837-8, the Territory was established, and Burlington made the capital. The first session was held in the old Zion Church.
"In March, 1834, Barton H. Cartright preached in Burlington. Asa Mc Murtry preached for two weeks, shortly after. W. D. R. Trotter followed. In May, 1834, Peter Cartright held two days' camp-meeting near the public square. In the winter of 1834-5, Seamen B. Stateter, of the Missouri Con- ference, formed the Burlington Circuit, and appointed John H. Ruble, preacher in charge. This circuit included all the territory south of Rock Island to the southern boundary, and west to the Missouri River. In 1835-6, Andrew Monroe held quarterly meeting. In May, Mr. Ruble died, and Peter Brown, of Quincy, Ill., preached his funeral sermon. Wilson Pitner supplied the place for a short time. Nicholas S. Barton next preached, and in 1837, Moses MeMurtry had charge. In 1839, Asa West followed, and in 1840, J. Arving- ton, as preachers on the circuit. Isaac S. Stewart was located preacher in charge of the Burlington Church."
In 1838, Gen. Joseph Street was transferred from the Agency of the Win- nebagoes at Prairie du Chien, Wis., to Iowa, for the purpose of establishing a military outpost for the protection of the general interests of the Government. He made a barrack at Agency City, in Wapello County, and may be esteemed the first white man to open the onward march of the pale-faces toward Monroe County.
In a dense wilderness he built up for himself a home of as comfortable a character as the times and circumstances would permit. He improved a farm and availed himself of such opportunities as lay within his reach. Joseph Smart, the interpreter, and a man named Baker, who was a blacksmith by
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
trade, were the only white persons, beside the garrison, in the settlement. A trading-post was soon established by Messrs. Ewings & Phelps, near the Agency.
In 1841, J. P. Eddy, from St. Louis, opened a trading-post where Eddy- ville now stands, near the northeast corner of Monroe County. He at once secured the friendship of the Indians.
Wabekeishiek, the prophet of the Sacs and Foxes, built his village on the right bank of the Des Moines, a mile above Eddy's post. The Indians grew corrupt after the passage by Congress of the bill granting annuities, growing out of the Black Hawk treaty of peace. They would not hunt or fish, and subsisted on their grants from the Great Father. The Indians became so demoralized by the freedom from labor thus secured that the mortality of the tribe was greatly increased. The prophet told them that the cause of all their woes arose from the relinquishment of their lands to the Government. There is something sad in the spectacle of a once powerful race of men thus driven to the extremity of extinction. In 1845, the Indians were removed entirely from the State to reservations in Kansas.
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