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 43
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John Goodell, the interpreter of Hardfish's band, was the next to move toward Monroe County. Ile improved a farm not far from the line between Wapello and-Monroe, known as the Ogden place, located some four miles below Eddy's post.
" In 1843," says Dr. Ross, "I visited the country as far up as where Eddy- ville now stands, at that time an Indian village called Hardfisher. J. P. Eddy was located there as a trader with the Indians. I found a few old friends, who had made claims on both sides of the river; among them, John B. Gray, who had located about three miles west, on Gray's Creek, in Kishkekosh County."
THE FIRST SETTLERS.
The carly history of Wapello differs from nearly all other counties in this State in one important feature, which is this : It had no first settler. This ap- parent anachronism is accounted for by the fact that scores of pioneers were impatiently awaiting the arrival of the day when they could legally lay claim to the lands beyond the Indian boundary line.
It is often said by orators who expatiate upon the marvelous progress of this nation, that the United States sprang into being in a day, like Minerva from the head of Jove, powerful, matured, commanding. This figure of speech, which the license of the rostrum permits, finds nearly a literal fulfillment in the crea- tion of Wapello County.
By the terms of the Indian treaty of 1842, the territory now embraced in the limits of Wapello County was ceded to the United States. It was not opened to claimants at once, however, but was reserved against settlers until the 1st day of May, 1843. Long before the dawn of that morning, hundreds of anxious families had congregated upon the line of the imaginary boundary, and were preparing to rush, American fashion, at the stroke of the bell, upon the new possessions. It would be taxing the credulity of our readers to assert that no violations of the spirit of the law were made by these pioneers, and, in fact, the necessity of maintaining troops of dragoons on the border clearly shows that the parent Government did not believe that the conditions of the treaty would be voluntarily observed. A considerable military force was stationed for weeks upon the border, solely for the purpose of preventing the too rapid advancement of the whites. In spite of this police regulation. it is known that many settlers surreptitiously surveyed the promised land, and even penetrated westward as far
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as what is now Monroe County. The existence of a trading-post at Eddyville served as a pretext for a preliminary movement, and the first permanent settler of Monroe, John B. Gray, who was afterward a Commissioner of this county while Monroe (or Kishkekoshi, as it was then called) was attached to Wapello, made a selection in that county as early as September, 1842. The great mass, however, did not succeed in gaining even transient access to the region beyond the line, and if any man did really drive a secret claim-stake in Wapello soil, his name is unknown.
The night of April 30, 1843, was illumed with camp-fires along the bound- ary, and sleep forsook the eyelids of the progressive hosts. When the midnight hour arrived and the morning of May Ist was ushered in, the groves and hills rang with shouts and the sharp reports of fire-arms. A mighty army of fully two thousand persons pressed onward along the entire line. Of this number, Wapello received her full share, but it is past finding out who came and who actually composed the pioneer throng.
Many persons were doubtless drawn into the movement through the sense of conquest or invasion which the act implied. The love of adventure is strong in the hearts of Americans, and controlled a large proportion of the band, no doubt, but did not tend to permanently benefit the country. Others came with honest intent to remain and improve the claims thus taken up without money or hindrance. So excited was the crowd that those who came did not realize who were their companions, and never knew whether they were first or last in the disordered scramble for place.
It must be remembered that the people did not come in solid phalanx, but were scattered over a wide area. Thus it will be seen that those who entered, for instance, near the southern line of the county had no way of determining who had chosen the northern part. It may be true that some had secreted them- selves during the hours preceding midnight, on the lands they desired to claim, and were prepared to drive the claimant's stake at the earliest flush of the 1st.
Under such circumstances it would be unfair to record the name of any in- dividual as the first man to settle in the county. The temptation to perpetrate- a Hibernianism is too strong to be resisted, and we settle the vexed question of priority by declaring that the first man to settle in Wapello County was a crowd of people.
A PIONEER MINISTER'S IMPRESSIONS.
Early in the spring and summer of 1844, Rev. B. A. Spalding began a cor- respondence from Agency City with the Home Missionary Society, under whose direction he was located there, and, owing to his faculty for intelligent obser- vation, his communications are of value, as showing the material and moral con- dition of the country at that period, from a Christian stand-point. He says :
We went to the Indian Agency in Wapello County, on the New Purchase. On our way to that place, we passed through a part of the country which had been settled but two or three months. It was literally a new country. Many of the settlers had not struck a furrow or erected a fence. All that reminded us that we were in a settled country, was the occasional sight of an uncom- pleted cabin, in which we found families staying rather than living. They were not only desti- tute of conveniences, but were so open that the family could be seen about as well from the out- side as by going into the door, or rather the hole that was left for a door. llow those families were to be kept comfortable, and how they were to be supplied with provisions during the in- clement season, were questions that often occurred to us. We found but few inhabitants at the Agency. A few were anxious to have the Gospel preached to them at that place, and expressed a strong desire to have one of our number settle amongst them. It will probably be a thickly settled place within a few years. A town has been laid out near the Agency house, and such is the character of the land and the facilities for procuring timber, that settlers will soon be induced to come in. A good, faithful, persevering minister might, in the course of a few years, build up a flourishing church there. We visited the grave of Gen. Street, the late Indian Agent, and
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also the grave of Wapello, an Indian chief, which are side by side. The tribe of which Wapello was chief was devotedly attached to Gen. Street and his family, and, as an expression of their friendship, they presented him with a section of land containing 640 acres, which is now in the possession of his widow.
A few weeks since, I visited " Raccoon River Agency," nearly one hundred miles from this place, and thirty or forty miles from the line which divides this from the country at present occu- pied by the Indians. Connected with the Agency is the Indian Agent, the interpreter, two gun- smiths, two blacksmiths, with their families and servants
Nearly a mile from this, on the point between the Raccoon and Des Moines, is a garrison, consisting of about one hundred soldiers and five commissioned officers. Along the banks of the Des Moines, between it and the Agency, are several farms and trading-posts, so that the whole population in the settlement is not far from two hundred. On the Sabbath, I preached to as many of these as could be crowded in the single room-officers, soldiers, merchants, mechanics, farmers, gentlemen, ladies, children and servants, both black and white. There has been a good deal of sickness in the settlement during the summer, and, more recently, a few deaths ; and there was considerable seriousness prevailing in some families. I should visit this place fre- quently if other engagements would permit. It has been visited, in one or two instances, by a Methodist preacher.
On the Des Moines, in sight of the Agency, is a village containing two or three hundred Indians. The huge bark buildings present a fine appearance in the distance, at twilight but on nearer approach, by day, they seem rather the haunts of beasts than the abodes of men. Not a tree nor a shrub, a garden nor a well. nor the slightest mark of beauty or of com- fort, was anywhere to be seen ; even the wild grass had been beaten by the continual tramping, till not a blade nor a root was left ; and, as the savages were away on a hunting expedition, the stillness of death reigned over their desolate homes. There are several other villages on this and the neighboring rivers, containing in all about two thousand two hundred persons-all that is left of the Sacs and Foxes, those warlike tribes who filled the whole frontier with terror during the Black Hawk war. These are to be removed, in less than a year, to a region beyond the Missouri River. If, by this removal, they were placed forever beyond the reach of whisky smugglers and other vicious white men, it would be a blessing to them instead of a curse.
Mr. Spaulding then gives a sketch of Oskaloosa, as a part of his missionary jurisdiction :
This "divide" is a long, narrow prairie, extending from the Mississippi in a northwesterly direction between the two rivers, skirted ou both sides by broken country from two to four miles wide, generally covered with timber. The town is nearly one hundred miles from the Mississippi, and about six from the Des Moines. It has grown up since the spring opened, and chiefly during the summer and fall. A year ago I passed over its site ; the fire had been before me, consuming every appearance of vegetation except a few scattering stalks, leaving a vast black surface. It seemed the most bleak and dreary place I ever saw-the very picture of desolation. But its riches were hid in the soil, and in its forests and rivers. Now, the same spot presents a cluster of newly-made buildings to a view of eight or ten miles distant on the opposite sides. It contains a population of not less than fifty, perhaps one hundred or more, for it increases so fast as to be scarcely two days alike, and is constant hardly long enough to be counted. There are already four stores (and a grocery) embracing a respectable amount of capital affording "a large assortment of such goods as are usually sold in the Western country," and " offering great bargains." Each of these will. of course, sell as cheap as the other, and all "cheaper than the cheapest." There are mechanics of various trades, and gentlemen of different professions, especially the law. Two saw-mills on different streams, on opposite sides of the town, each about five miles distant, have been in operation for some months-one for more than a year, and it is expected that a flouring-mill will start soon.
Again, speaking of Agency City, he says :
On the 27th of October, a Congregational Church was formed in this town, consisting of six members, three males and three females. There were, however, seven other candidates for admission, who were unable to be present. Meetings held on Friday and Saturday nights and on Sunday during the day and at night were large and interesting. On the next Sabbath, a Methodist class was formed, consisting of six. Still a week later, a Cumberland Presbyterian Church was formed, embracing about twenty. A County Bible Society has been formed in this place, and also at Ottumwa, the county scat of Wapello. In each county about eight dollars were raised for the Bible cause, besides several subscriptions not yet paid, although all the effort in both counties was made by the agent in a few days.
Under date of October, 1844, Mr. Spaulding writes :
There has been a good degree of religious feeling in the circle in which I have labored, with some interesting cases of revival in individual hearts, both of professors and non-professors. A small Congregational Church has been formed in this place (Agency City), and the prospect is
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that it will be considerably increased within a few weeks, chiefly, however, by those who are already professors of religion. There has also been considerable interest among the Methodists and Baptists, and several additions to their churches. There is also a Sabbath school connected with the Methodist Church in the southern part of the county. What number of scholars it contains, I do not know. Prayer meetings have been held occasionally in various places. The population, however, is so scattered that it is much more difficult to sustain a prayer meeting here than in the East, though I cannot say with certainty that the moral or spiritual difficulty, judging from the very small number that I have sometimes scen assembled in populous villages, is any greater. Books and tracts received from the Tract Society and various Sabbath schools and benevolent societies in Massachusetts, through the Mass. S. S. Society, have afforded inval- uable aid in promoting the great objects which your instructions have urged upon my attention.
In February of 1845, he writes again, giving a lengthy account of his labors up to that time, including a visit to Eddyville, Oskaloosa and Raccoon Forks.
A year since my arrival in this place, and the first one of my labors in the ministry was com- pleted on the 10th of November. It has been the most interesting year of my life. I have preached in about thirty different places, from one to one hundred and fifty miles from each other. Six of these were under the charge of some of my brethren, one in the Indian country, and the remainder in the limits assigned to my care. At some of these places I have preached but once, at some twice, at others none, and at some eight or ten times each. At some of them, there has been no other preaching; at some, the Methodists have preached regularly ; the Baptists occasionally, and a few have been visited by Cumberland Presbyterians, United Brethren, and varions others. Within these limits, two Congregational Churches have been formed (neither of which, I am sorry to say, was in a vicinity of less than fifteen miles, and one scarcely less than fifty, of a Presbyterian Church of any school or order whatever). I have traveled, according to an average account, about fifty miles each week, or about two thousand five hundred miles during the year, chiefly on horseback. I have been in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness and painfulness, in hunger and thirst, and in cold. But in all this I joy and rejoice and give glory.
Mr. Spaulding gives an interesting account of the condition of the New Purchase, and of the whole region from Sac and Fox Agency to the Raccoon Forks. He says :
But if there is want of encouragement in particular cases, the general aspect of things is rather cheering. The attendance on our meetings has been constantly increasing, both in num- bers and uniformity. Congregations are attentive and seem serious. Our little Church, consist- ing of bnt six members, enjoyed its first communion season September 15. Several sermons were preached on Saturday and on the Sabbath. Brother Reed. of Fairfield, and Rev. Mr. Dashiel, formerly an Episcopal Rector in Baltimore, were present. For the first time, our meet- ing house was crowded to overflowing with a deeply interested andience. Some were present who had not been with us before; others for the first time seemed to listen in earnest. It was decidedly the most interesting meeting that I have seen in the New Purchase, and, although I do not know that a single conversion has been the result, I have reason to hope that impressions were made which will not soon be effaced. It may be interesting to know that this meeting was held in the "Old Council Honse," a building erected for the special purpose of accommodating the Indians when assembled in their negotiations with the anthorities of the United States. Here, less than two years ago, savages were sitting or lying upon the floor, smoking their pipes and singing their songs; but now a congregation of Christians are celebrating the dying love of their Lord and Master.
But the heathen, where are they ? Dwindling away before the light of civilization as dark- ness flies before the rising sun, till soon echo only shall answer, where are they ? What Christian can fail, sometimes, to weep at the mercenary cruelty of the conquered ? Preying upon the property of others, which has been purchased at a value merely nominal, lets loose the lawless rapacity of avarice, till it soon learns to bid defiance to restraint from any quarter, and can only be checked by Him who turns the hearts of men as the rivers of water are turned. It is this which countenances, or at least overlooks, profligacy of every kind, and opposes the most formid- able obstacle to any improvement in piety or morals. Still, there is that in the human cou- science which must respect the claims of the divine law or the eternal principles of truth and justice. Hence the humblest individual who advocates those principles always secures a degree of respect, and, if faithful, a powerful influence. A professor of religion in a place where I had preached but a few times told me that he could see a marked difference in the whole com- munity from the time that my appointments commenced, and urged me to continue them and make them as frequent as possible. IIe was anxious to have a religious meeting of some kind in town every Sabbath, for the bare fact that if there was such a meeting it would operate as a check upon those who did not attend and took no interest in it.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
JUDGE HENDERSHOTT'S ADDRESS.
[In 1874, Hon. H. B. Hendershott was invited to prepare and read an his- torical sketch of Wapello County, by the Old Settlers' Association-a society which was organized, the Judge informs us, in 1873. The Association no longer maintains regular meetings, but its work was a most satisfactory one, since it embraced the production of a paper which, for comprehensiveness, ac- curacy and general interest, is the most complete address of the kind we have been fortunate enough to obtain in any county. We herewith reproduce the address entire .- EDITOR. ]
" One who settled in Wapello County at a very early day would be cold- hearted indeed not to be rejoiced to meet here and to get a genial shake of the hand and a warm ' How do you do?' from the many noble-hearted, cordial friends of the olden times. The only thought which impairs the joy of this occasion with me is a consciousness on my part that I shall be unable to say what ought to be said on this happy day and on this joyous occasion-to re- count the many and interesting events of thirty years ago.
" And yet, when I call to mind the fact that, on all former occasions, when I have been called upon to discharge any duty among you, your sympathy and forgiveness have overlooked those things in which I have fallen short of your expectations, I know you will overlook any want of fitness in what I may say, as well as forgive me for leaving unsaid some things that ought to be said. Relying upon that same generous confidence on your part that has gladdened my heart in the past, I will at once proceed to the duty assigned me.
" An address to an 'Old Settlers' Association,' of course, must needs be historic. The mind must go back to the beginning, and hunt out and dig up the neglected, not to say forgotten, facts of the past. It shall be my purpose, old settlers and new, as far as I have the ability to do so, to take you back to the time when the country was first settled, and to enable you to realize the circumstances by which the early settlers of the county were surrounded-the trials through which we passed, on the one hand, and the pleasures which ac- companied us on the other.
" But, first of all, perhaps I should speak of the country itself, giving a very brief history of it. In 1803, the country covered by Iowa was ceded to the United States by France, and was then called Louisiana. In a year or two afterward-I think in 1804-this territory was divided into the governments of Orleans and Louisiana. In 1812, Louisiana was admitted as one of the States of the Union, and the country north of it was then called Missouri Territory. From 1812 to 1834, that region of country now embraced in Iowa was a part of the Missouri Territory. In this year (1834), Iowa was placed under the jurisdiction of Michigan, and was known as a part of Michigan Ter- ritory. In 1837, Michigan was admitted into the Union. This led to the the organization of a new Territory-Wisconsin. Iowa was then a part of Wisconsin.
" In 1833, a treaty was made with the Sac and Fox tribes of Indians, by the terms of which the country lying west of the Mississippi River, and east of the west line of Jefferson County, was ceded to the United States ; for it must be borne in mind that, up to 1833, Iowa was Indian country. On the 11th of October, 1842, a second treaty was made with the same tribes, by which the balance of Iowa was ceded. Under this latter treaty, the whites were not per- mitted to settle within what are now the boundaries of Wapello County until the 1st day of May, 1843.
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" Before night of this day, there were not less than two thousand persons actually inhabiting the county. The most of these had been squatted along the line of the county, in Jefferson County, preparatory to passing into Wapello as soon as midnight arrived.
"The greater part of these early settlers were engaged the last half of the night of the 30th of April and the 1st of May, 1843, in marking out their claims. This was done by setting stakes in the prairie and blazing trees in the timber. These claims embraced from eighty to three hundred and twenty acres.
"As might be expected, the work of locating and defining these claims, much of it being done in the night, was very inartistically done. Many of the boundary lines were crooked, disjointed, and encroached the one upon the other. This inevitably led to many disturbances called " Claim Difficulties." It must be quite apparent that these difficulties must find some peaceable means of adjustment. To meet this necessity the earlier inhabitants organized what were called 'Claim Committees." A claim, when bona fide made and held, was as sacredly protected as are homes and lands of the present inhabitants. The judgment of these crudely organized though necessary tribunals were enforced by summary process. This process was generally a plain, written statement of the opinion of the 'Claim Committee,' setting forth the right of the injured party and the wrong complained of, and an order to the wrong-doer to abide by and submit to the judgment of the Court, in default of which, the power of the county was invoked to carry out and enforce, on the spot, the judgment. From the judgment of these ' Claim Committees' there was no appeal or stay of exe- cution. It was well understood that when the Committee reported, it meant business, and generally, like Scott's coon, the erring brother came down. Oc- casionally, however, these judgments were met by insubordination, and where this did occur, it resulted in a war on the spot, without any formal decla- ration.
" As an example of one of these wars I may give an account of the ‘Dah- lonega war.' This war was brought on in this way : James Woody, who came from near Dahlonega, Lumpkin Co., Ga., and who was one of the very first settlers of the county, made a claim, now the farm of Enos King, near Dah- lonega. This claim he sold to Martin Koontz for $200 in gold, and received the money. Conceiving that he had sold too cheap, and that the county seat of the county must be located very near this claim, Woody 'jumped' the claim, that is, went on it again, and took steps to pre-empt the land under the act of Congress. He accordingly erected on the claim a cabin. As soon as this fact was known, Woody was warned off; failing to go, the action of the Claim Committee was invoked, and that being in favor of Koontz, Woody was ordered off and to surrender to the claimant Koontz, which he refused to do. This, of course, was the signal to arms.
" Capt. Jehu Moore, who led the Koontz forces-about sixty well armed men-some of whom-Peter Kitterman, N. D. Earl, Joseph Kite and Elias Kitterman-moved on the enemy's works. Among the Woody men were William, Alexander and Thomas Crawford, with a few others. I think William Crawford was the leader of the Woody men. The friends of Koontz repaired to the cabin which had been erected by Woody, and, finding him in it, tore it down over his head and drove him off the claim. This brought the contending armies together, and thereupon a most desperate fight ensued, resulting in the death of Thomas Crawford.
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