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 45
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[Here follows an entry showing the organization of a grand jury as well on the part of the United States as the Territory of Iowa. The names of the jurors appear in the Court records in this volume.]
" Thus we have, on the 18th day of September, 1844, a District Court opened, both on the part of the Territory of Iowa, to administer the laws of the Territory, and on the part of the United States to administer the laws of Congress.
" This court was opened and held in a log house situated on the lot where the First National Bank of Ottumwa now stands. The first judicial act which the court did after its organization had been completed, as shown by the record, is the following :
Josiah Smart, Agent, who sues for the use of S. S. Phelps vs. Elias Orton, assumpsit. Damages, $500. And now, on this day, this case came up for hearing. Whereupon, by the con- sent of parties, it is ordered by the court here that this case be dismissed at the cost of defend- ant, taxed at $7.52}.
" I find, on looking over the record, the first jury trial had in the court was in the case of James Woody vs. Demps Griggsby ; verdict for defendant. This record also shows, on the 19th of September, 1844, John Wall and George Wall, subjects of Queen Victoria, were naturalized, being the first naturaliza- tion in the county, and the only ones at this term of the court.
" So far as this record shows, the grand jury reported but one indictment, it being for larceny, and, as the final result in the case is not known, I with-
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hold the name of the defendant. I do not remember now who he was, where he lived or what became of him.
"J. C. Hall, of Burlington ; I. W. Lewis and James H. Cowles, of Keo- sauqua ; George May and W. H. Galbraith, of Ottumwa, are shown to have been in attendance as attorneys of the court. On the last day of the term, I presented to the court my resignation in writing of the office of Clerk, and thereupon John W. Ross, Esq .. was appointed. The law, as it then stood, con- ferred upon the Judge of the court the power to appoint his own Clerk. Judge Mason had conferred the appointment upon me, but with the express under- standing that an election should be held, and that the candidate receiving the highest number of votes should have the office. Mr. Ross, the father of the amiable and accomplished Mrs. Whitla, of Ottumwa. succeeded under the Judge's rule in the clerkship, and all who knew him knew that he was one of the best Clerks Wapello County ever had. He was kind, competent and prompt, and at all times agreeable and gentlemanly.
" It may be a matter of interest to know who preached the first sermon in the county. I have sought in vain to ascertain this fact with certainty. The honor lies between J. H. D. Street, Joseph H. Flint, Silas Garrison, T. M. Kirkpatrick, Milton Jamison, B. A. Spaulding and Joel Arrington. I think, however, that the palm must be borne off by T. M. Kirkpatrick, of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, who, as I am informed by Seth Ogg, preached on the Keokuk prairie, on the south side of the river, just below Ottumwa, in an Indian wigwam, made of bark, early in 1843-just at what time Mr. Ogg could not inform me. I know that B. A. Spaulding, of the Congregational Church, a good citizen, kind neighbor, honest man, able preacher and most exemplary Christian, preached in 1843 at Agency City and Ottumwa, but at what time I have not ascertained. He, however, preached in a log cabin, where Union Block now stands, and Kirkpatrick preached in an Indian wigwam made of bark. I think the presumption is in favor of Rev. Mr. Kirkpatrick, of the wigwam.
[Mr. Spaulding came in November, 1843. Mr. Kirkpatrick preached the first sermon .- EDITOR. ]
" I have endeavored to ascertain who taught the first school in the county. The credit lies between Ezekiel Rush, now living on the south side of the river, and Mr. Tansey, who taught a school at Dahlonega, with the presumption in favor of Mr. Rush.
" Sabbath schools were organized at an early day at Agency City, Eddy- ville, Ottumwa, Dahlonega and some other points. I think, from the most reliable information received, that the one organized at the house of Rev. W. A. Nye, near where Chillicothe now stands, in June. 1845, mainly through the efforts of G. F. Myers, was the first Sabbath school organized in the county. There was one organized in Dahlonega, in 1846, with J. W. Hedrick as Super- intendent, assisted by N. H. Gates and J. H. Given.
" On the 15th day of March, 1854, marriage licenses were issued to Dr. C. W. Phelps and Miss Lizzie Weaver, sister of Gen. Weaver, of Bloomfield; and also, on the same day, to Andrew Crawford, a minor, and Miss Mary Ann Montgomery, also a minor. Consent was given by the father of Crawford, and Peter Walker (father of our esteemed fellow-citizen, M. B. Walker), as guard- dian of Miss Montgomery. The records do not show which marriage was solemnized first, but they do show that young Crawford and Miss Montgomery were married on the same 15th of March. This does not amount to a very strong circumstance, for no man wants to buy a marriage license and put it in his pocket.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
" The first death in the county of which I have an account was that of Miss Mary Ann Hall, who died in the summer of 1843; and the first birth was that of Mary Ann Smith, daughter of David P. Smith, early in 1843. [This is correct as far as it relates to the actual settlers. On the authority of Maj. Beach, we give the first death as that of Gen. Street, and the first birth as that William Street Beach, son of the Major. See preceding pages .- EDITOR.]
" The first young lady who settled in Ottumwa was Samantha Shaffer, in honor of whom the street of that name in Ottumwa was called. She was not, however, the first young lady who came to the county, as I can myself aver and prove ; for I know that James Weir, Paul C. Jeffries, William Brim, James B. Wright and Joseph McIntire brought a bevy of interesting daughters with them to the county in May, 1843, or very soon thereafter.
" The first instrument of any kind recorded in the county is a lease from Charles F. Harrow to his son-in-law, Jesse Brookshire, of the Baker farm, one mile east of Agency, in consideration of $79.50, and that the family of said Harrow should live with and form a part of said Brookshire's family, and be supported by him until December 20, 1844. This paper was acknowledged before Green B. Savery, Justice of the Peace, witnessed by George May, and is dated April 29, 1844.
" The first mortgage which appears on record, is one from Joseph McMullen to J. P. Eddy & Co., on a half-section of land lying on Gray's Run, in Kish- kekosh County, now Monroe This mortgage was given to secure the pay- ment of $50, in one year, and contained the usual covenants of warranty. It would seem that lands, in those days, were not esteemed very valuable, when a mortgage was required on a half-section to secure $50. The only interest which McMullen could then have had in the land was a claim right, although he warranted the title.
" The book of original entries shows that the persons who first acquired titles to lands from the United States, in the county, were James Longshore, who purchased, September 16, 1844, Lots 6, 7 and 8, and the northeast quar- ter of the northeast quarter of Section 4, Township 71, Range 13, and John Caldwell, who purchased on the same day, the east half of the northeast quar- ter of Section 25, Township 72, Range 13,
"There is one other matter of record to which I will refer, and copy, to wit:
TERRITORY OF IOWA, 2
COUNTY OF WAPELLO.
And now on this day, to wit: August 28, 1844, came Thomas M. Kirkpatrick and filed and had recorded in my office, the following license, to wit: "Know all men by these presents, that. I, Thomas A. Morris, one of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the United States of America, under the protection of Almighty God, and with a single eye to His glory, by the impositions of my hands and prayers (being assisted by the Elders present), have this day set apart Thomas M. Kirkpatrick for the office of an Elder in the said Methodist Episcopal Church, a man who, in the judgment of the Rock River Conference, is well qualified for that work ; and he is hereby recommended, to all whom it may concern, as a proper person to admin- ister the sacrament and ordinances, and to feed the flock of Christ so long as his spirit and prac- tice are such as become the Gospel of Christ, and he continueth to hold fast the form of sound words, according to the doctrine of the Gospel.
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 29th day of August, A. THOMAS A. MORRIS. [SEAL. ] D. 1841.
PLATTSVILLE, W. T.
"Bishop Morris, venerable in years and noted for piety, died a few days
ago. This license is to the same T. M. Kirkpatrick, who preached in the wig- wam in Mr. Ogg's neighborhood.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
" The first physician who settled in the county, was either Dr. C. C. War- den, Dr. F. W. Taylor or Dr. C. W. Phelps. My impression is that Dr. War- den may justly claim that distinction. He came in 1843. Though young, he was skillful and attentive, and he is now honorable and fair as a merchant in Ottumwa.
"The first lawyer who settled in the county was William H. Galbraith. Dewey, Burkhalter, May and Chapman were close after Galbraith. Then, very soon, came Ives, Baker, Allison and myself. Then Jones, Col. Summers, Brumfield, Lane and Devin. Dewey, Galbraith, Burkhalter, Ives, Lane and Allison are dead ; Baker is living in Missouri-has been on the Supreme Bench of that State; Jones is practicing law in Keosauqua ; Brumfield is in one of the Western Territories or States ; May is afloat ; Summers and Devin are yet here : and I am glad to report myself among you to-day as a citizen of this good county of Wapello.
" It is fitting that in mentioning the early immigrants to the county, I should not forget the Ottumwa Courier and Des Moines Republic. The Cou- rier was the first newspaper published in the county. The first number is dated August 8, 1848, and it was then called The Des Moines Courier, and was pub- lished by Jos. H. D. Street and R. H. Warden, the latter now associated with it. If there is one paper in this whole country that has, more than any other, advocated Whig and Republican principles, the Courier is that paper. Whether under the control of its founders, Street & Warden, or under the control of that veteran, J. W. Norris, or Gen. Hedrick and, Maj. Hamilton, or Hamilton & Warden, we always know where to find the Courier on political issues. Through the reverses of Whiggery and Republicanism, and in the triumph of its party in county, State and nation, it has always been able to get out the very biggest rooster in the land. At all times, and under all its proprietors, it has wielded an influence in the State of no mean proportions. The opposition always felt its blows.
"The Des Moines Republic was started by James Baker, but just what time I do not know; not, however, until some years after the Courier. The Republic was merged into the' Democratic Mercury, E. L. & S. HI. Burton proprietors, the former being editor. The forcible and spicy pen of the Mer- cury's editor, Mr. E. L. Burton, made that paper one of the best in Southern Iowa.
" The Mercury was succeeded by the Copperhead, which passed under the control of S. B. Evans, and is now published and edited by him under the old name of Democrat. The able pen of Mr. Evans has placed his paper as one of the best in the State. Other papers have been and still are published in the county, but as it is not my purpose to speak of modern things, I will not refer to them. I will, however, state that no county in the State has better papers than Wapello.
"It may be thought that I should say something of the early history of the towns of the county ; the location of the county seat; the organization of the State government; its first Senators and Representatives in Congress and in the Territorial and State Legislatures: but I have already occupied so much more of your time than I expected to, that I cannot refer to these matters.
" I love to think and talk of the olden times, when you and I were young ; but before doing so, let me say in behalf of you aged men of the olden days, you men who are not yet old, but, like myself, only advanced in life, that we especially honor and revere these old men and women who are yet among us, standing on the verge of the grave and just ready to step over on the other side.
Jenny Wilson. C OTTUMWA
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
Let us say to them in their feebleness and decrepitude, that we will continue to watch their tottering steps and support their feeble frames to the end that their last days may be as peaceful and calm as their earlier ones have been honorable, enterprising and kind. And to you, young men, who have been born and reared in our midst, and who are with us and of us to-day, let me exhort you to stand erect and firm in all that makes the man. That as we, who are on the side of the setting sun of life, pass off the stage of action, you may with honor and fitness take our places, and protect the fair name of Wapello down to posterity as you may receive it from us.
" I desire here to acknowledge my obligations to Peter Kitterman, Seth Ogg, J. W. Hedrick, D. H. Michael, Richard Butcher. S. M. Wright, Wm. C. McIntire, G. F. Myers, W. A. Nye, Maj. John Beach, James Hill and others, from whom I have obtained many of the facts presented to-day.
" Mr. President, I see among us to-day, Clay Caldwell. I must be par- doned if I detain you a few minutes while I speak of Clay. I remember the first time I ever saw him; it was thirty-odd years ago. I saw him playing in the dust of the road out in front of his father's house, near the line of our county, and in the corner of Davis County. He was then. of course, a little fellow, but manly looking, withal ; you could tell from the eye and erect form that there was a latent man. His hair looked like a bunch of flax in disorder, and how do you suppose Clay was dressed when I first saw him ? I will tell you. The only garment he had on to elothe his manly form was a straight tow slip buttoned close around his neck. That seems but a few years ago. Many of you remember Mr. Caldwell after that as one of the ablest lawyers in the Des Moines Valley. He now ranks as one of the best Federal Judges in the United States, being United States District Judge for Arkansas. We are glad to have him with us to-day."
HOW PIONEERS LIVED.
In choosing his home the pioneer usually had an eye mainly to its location, and for that reason settlers were oftener than not very solitary creatures, with- out neighbors and remote from even the common conveniences of life. A desir- able region was sure to have plenty of inhabitants in time, but it was the advance guard that suffered the privation of isolation. People within a score of miles of each other were neighbors, and the natural social tendencies of man- kind asserted themselves even in the wilderness by efforts to keep up communi- cation with even these remote families.
The first business of a settler on reaching the place where he intended to fix his residence, was to select his claim and mark it off as nearly as he could without a compass. This was done by stepping and staking or blazing the lines as he went. The absence of section lines rendered it necessary to take the sun at noon and at evening as a guide by which to run these claim lines. So many steps each way counted three hundred and twenty acres, more or less, the then legal area of a claim. It may be readily supposed that these lines were far from correct, but they answered all necessary claim purposes, for it was under- stood among the settlers that when the lands came to be surveyed and entered, all inequalities should be righted. Thus, if a surveyed line should happen to run between adjoining claims, cutting off more or less of the other, the fraction was to be added to whichever lot required equalizing, yet without robbing the one from which it was taken, for an equal amount would be added to it in another place.
The next important business was to build a house. Until this was done, some had to camp on the ground or live in their wagons, perhaps the only shel-
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
ter they had known for weeks. So the prospect for a house, which was also to. be home, was one that gave courage to the rough toil, and added a zest to the heavy labors. The style of the home entered very little into their thoughts- it was shelter they wanted, and protection from stress of weather and wearing exposures. The poor settler had neither the money nor the mechanical appli- ances for building himself a house. He was content, in most instances, to have a mere cabin or hut. Some of the most primitive constructions of this kind were half-faced, or as they were sometimes called "cat-faced " sheds or " wike- ups," the Indian term for house or tent. It is true, a claim cabin was a little more in the shape of a human habitation, made, as it was, of round logs light ยท enough for two or three men to lay up, about fourteen feet square-perhaps a little larger or smaller-roofed with bark or elapboards, and sometimes with the sods of the prairie; and floored with puncheons (logs split once in two, and the flat sides laid up), or with earth. For a fire-place, a wall of stone and earth- frequently the latter only, when stone was not convenient-was made in the best practicable shape for the purpose, in an opening in one end of the build- ing, extending outward, and planked on the outside by bolts of wood notched together to stay it. Frequently a fire-place of this kind was made so capa- cious as to occupy nearly the whole width of the house. In cold weather, when a great deal of fuel was needed to keep the atmosphere above freezing point-for this wide-mouthed fire-place was a huge ventilator-large logs were piled into this yawning space. To protect the crumbling back wall against the effects of fire, two back logs were placed against it, one upon the other. Some- times these back logs were so large that they could not be got in in any other way than to hiteh a horse to them, drive him in at one door, unfasten the log before the fire place, from whence it was put in proper position, and then drive him out at the other door. For a chimney, any contrivance that would conduct the smoke up the chimney would do. Some were made of sods, plastered upon the inside with clay ; others-the more common, perhaps-were of the kind we occasionally see in use now, clay and sticks, or "cat in clay," as they were sometimes called. Imagine of a winter's night, when the storm was having its own wild way over this almost uninhabited land, and when the wind was roar- ing like a cataract of cold over the broad wilderness, and the settler had to do his best to keep warm, what a royal fire this double-back-logged and weil-filled fire-place would hold ! It must have been a cozy place to smoke, provided the settler had any tobacco ; or for the wife to sit knitting before, provided she had needles and yarn. At any rate it must have given something of cheer to the conversation, which very likely was upon the home and friends they had left be- hind when they started out on this bold venture of seeking fortunes in a new land.
For doors and windows, the most simple contrivances that would serve the purposes were brought into requisition. The door was not always immediately provided with a shutter, and a blanket often did duty in guarding the entrance. But as soon as convenient, some boards were split and put together, hung upon wooden hinges, and held shut by a wooden pin inserted in an anger hole. As substitute for window glass, greased paper, pasted over sticks crossed in the shape of a sash, was sometimes used. This admitted the light and exeluded the air, but of course lacked transparency.
In regard to the furniture of such a cabin, of course it varied in proportion to the ingenuity of its occupants, unless it was where settlers brought with them their old household supply, which, owing to the distance most of them had come. was very seldom. It was easy enough to improvise tables and chairs ; the for- mer could be made of split logs-and there were instances where the door would
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
be taken from its hinges and used at meals, after which it would be rehung- and the latter were designed after the three-legged stool pattern, or benches served their purpose. A bedstead was a very important item in the domestic comfort of the family, and this was the fashion of improvising them : A forked stake was driven into the ground diagonally from the corner of the room, and at a proper distance, upon which poles reaching from each wall were laid. The wall ends of the poles either rested in the openings between the logs or were driven into auger holes. Barks or boards were used as a substitute for cords. Upon this the tidy housewife spread her straw tick, and if she had a home-made feather bed, she piled it up into a luxurious mound and covered it with her whitest drapery. Some sheets hung behind it, for tapestry, added to the cozi- ness of the resting-place. This was generally called a " prairie bedstead," and by some the " prairie rascal." In design it is surely quite equal to the famous Eastlake models, being about as primitive and severe, in an artistic sense, as one could wish.
The house thus far along, it was left to the deft devices of the wife to com- plete its comforts, and the father of the family was free to superintend out-of- door affairs. If it was in season, his first important duty was to prepare some ground for planting, and to plant what he could. This was generally done in the edge of the timber, where most of the very earliest settlers located. Here the sod was casily broken, not requiring the heavy teams and plows needed to break the prairie sod. Moreover, the nearness to timber offered greater conven- iences for fuel and building. And still another reason for this was, that the groves afforded protection from the terrible conflagrations that occasionally swept across the prairies. Though they passed through the patches of timber, yet it was not with the same destructive force with which they rushed over the prairies. Yet by these fires much of the young timber was killed from time to time, and the forests kept thin and shrubless.
The first year's farming consisted mainly of a " truck patch," planted in corn, potatoes, turnips, etc. Generally, the first year's crop fell far short of supplying even the most rigid economy of food. Many of the settlers brought with them small stores of such things as seemed indispensable to frugal living, such as flour, bacon, coffee and tea. But these supplies were not inexhaustible, and once used, were not easily replaced. A long winter must come and go before another crop could be raised. If game was plentiful, it helped to eke out their limited supplies.
But even when corn was plentiful, the preparation of it was the next diffi- enlty in the way. The mills for grinding it were at such long distances that every other device was resorted to for reducing it to meal. Some grated it on an implement made by punching small holes through a piece of tin or sheet iron, and fastening it upon a board in concave shape, with the rough side out. Upon this the ear was rubbed to produce the meal. But grating could not be done when the corn became so dry as to shell off when rubbed. Some used a coffee-mill for grinding it. And a very common substitute for bread was hominy, a palatable and wholesome diet, made by boiling corn in weak lye till the hull or bran peels off, after which it was well washed, to cleanse it of the lye. It was then boiled again to soften it, when it was ready for use as occa- sion required, by frying and seasoning it to the taste. Another mode of preparing hominy was by pestling.
A mortar was made by burning a bowl-shaped cavity in the even end of an upright block of wood. After thoroughly elcaring it of the charcoal, the corn could be put in, hot water turned upon it, when it was subjected to a severe
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
pestling by a club of sufficient length and thickness, in the large end of which was inserted an iron wedge, banded to keep it there. The hot water would soften the corn and loosen the hull, while the pestle would crush it.
When breadstuffs were needed, they had to be obtained from long distances. Owing to the lack of proper means for threshing and cleaning wheat, it was more or less mixed with foreign substances, such as smut, dirt and oats. And as the time may come when the settlers' methods of threshing and cleaning may be forgotten, it may be well to preserve a brief account of them here. The plan was to clean off a space of ground of sufficient size, and if the earth was dry, to dampen it and beat it so as to render it somewhat compact. Then the sheaves were unbound and spread in a circle, so that the heads would be uppermost, leaving room in the center for the person whose business it was to stir and turn the straw in the process of threshing. Then as many horses or oxen were brought as could conveniently swing round the circle, and these were kept moving until the wheat was well trodden out. After several ." floorings " or layers were threshed the straw was carefully raked off, and the wheat shoveled into a heap to be cleaned. This cleaning was sometimes done by waving a sheet up and down to fan out the chaff as the grain was dropped before it ; but this trouble was frequently obviated when the strong winds of autumn were all that was needed to blow out the chaff from the grain.
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