USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics &c > Part 55
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445
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY ..
- JOHN M. LAVERTY.
Mr. John M. Laverty, one of the pioneers of this county, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of December, 1792, and was the youngest of seven children, but one of whom survived him: His father died in his boyhood, and his mother removed overland to Pick- away connty, Ohio. During the war of 1812, he twice entered the Fed- eral service, first during the spring of 1813, as a conscript, for six months, and afterward as a volunteer. During this service he was stationed at. Sandusky, Detroit, and at some of the principal military stations in Can- ada. At the expiration of his term of volunteer service he returned to Pickaway county, where he continued to reside with and care for his mother. Her residence was near the present city of Columbus, the capi- tal of Ohio, then a desolate region, without a building or other visible mark of civilization. In 1818 he removed to Indiana, and assisted in erecting one of the first frame buildings in the city of Terre Haute. About this he was married to Miss Nancy McNutt, an estimable christian woman, with whom he lived happily until 1860, when she departed this life, after a brief but painful illness. He continued to reside in Indiana until. 1848, when he removed to this county and settled on a farm about five miles northeast of Indianola, where he resided until near the time of his death, spending the last year of his life with his adopted daughter, Mrs. Dr. Fisk, of Indianola. In 1861 he married. again, his second wife being Mrs. Electa Miller, of Palmyra, this county.
Mr. Laverty was a man of great public spirit, and was identified with many of the important events in the early history of these Western States, in which it was his good fortune to live, and he always related reminiscences of this portion of his life with great zest. His religions life was deep and settled, though quiet. . He was for forty years a member of the Methodist church. His religion was of an affirmative, positive type-nothing nega- tive. In the private walks of life his religious character was most strongly marked. He was charitable in his dealings with all, both in money and in his methods of looking upon the faults of others.
He was a man of good education, principally gained in that school of life and experience so beneficial to pioneers of the West. He gave little attention. to public affairs and none to the seeking of office, and, though possessing the qualifications in an eminent degree, held only the office of county surveyor-the first to fill the position.
He was .one of those men to whom this county owes its present posi- tion, as he contributed to put its affairs on that solid, enduring basis which has made it what it now is.
He died in Indianola, on the 1st day of January, 1872, in the 80th year of his age. His only child was James Laverty, yet an honored citizen of the county.
SAMUEL HAWORTH
Was one of the early settlers, and who contributed very much to the early settlement and improvement of the county.
He was born in Greene county, Tennessee, on March 19, 1797, and, with his parents, moved to Ohio in 1803, and settled in Clinton county, Ohio, near Todd's Fork, not far from Wilmington. Here he lived and grew to manhood, with but limited opportunities of acquiring an education.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
On July 4, 1821, was married to Hannah Haines, and to them were born six children, who grew to manhood and womanhood, and all but one now living in Warren county.
He removed to Edgar county, Illinois, in October, 1852, and started anew in a new country, with his little family. Here he lived until 1846, when, with the family yet at home, came to Warren county, arriving here June 11, 1846. He made his claim, and settled on the land where he lived until he died. His cabin was raised on July 5, 1846, two years before the and was surveyed, and moved into it on Angust 9, 1846, and almost on the same spot, in after years, when more prosperous; he built his comforta- ble farm house, in which he lived until his deatlı.
He was the only school fund commissioner ever elected in the county. Was also a county commissioner during all the time the commissioner sys- tem was the form of county government, and after the creation of the board of supervisors was elected to, and for number of years was a member.
He died at his residence, on April 7, 1867.
Samnel Haworth was a man of value to the community in which he dived, always active, and laboring for the interests of his people. Known everywhere for his strict integrity, faithful to every trust, and of generous and noble principles. He was a farmer of progressive ideas, and during his active life carried on his farm and operated a mill, and was reasonably successful, leaving a good. estate for his widow and children. He was a Quaker, consistent in his devotions, and in his later years a regular attend- ant upon all the services of his society.
JOHN D. HARTMAN
Was born in Canton, Ohio, February 14, 1811; was married to Margaret Parker November 6, 1832, in Portage county, Ohio. Lived in Ohio until 1841, when he moved to Boonville, Missouri, where he resided for about two years, when he returned to Ohio. In 1844 moved to Illinois, thence to Iowa in 1846. Came to Des Moines in 1845, but did not move here with his family until Angnst, 1846, when he settled near where Hartford is now sitnated, the Indians being more numerons at that time than the " pale faces." He first engaged in farming and mercantile business, having an extensive business with the Indians, in trading goods for furs. He en- tered the land where Hartford is situated, and was the proprietor of that town. He continned in mercantile business for several years when he sold his store to Charles Mckay, now of Indianola, and soon after built a steam mill at Hartford, and subsequently two others. The first and one of the other two burned, and were again rebuilt by him. Disposing of his mill interests, he again engaged in the mercantile business until 1858, when he again sold, and accompanied by his youngest son, David, went to Cali- fornia, by way of New York. Returned in the fall of 1858, by the Sonth- ern overland mail route, traveling that distance by stage. In March, 1874, he again went to California, this time by rail, remained a few months and returned. Went again, in 1875, accompanied by his wife. Remained about eighteen months, when they again returned to Iowa. Went again in the fall of 1877, and returned again in the spring of 1878, on business, expecting to go back to California the following fall. Was taken sick and died at the residence of his son, E. W. Hartman, in Indianola, on the 5th day of October, 1878, after a severe illness of only a few days duration.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
He was burried in the Odd Fellows' cemetery, with the honors of that Order, of which fraternity he had been a member since its early establishment in Des Moines, having his membership at Carlisle at the time of his death.
.He was a man of unnsnal energy and drive in business matters, and did much for the early development of the county. Was always ready and willing to give, with an unsparing hand, of the means he accumulated by. energy and close attention to business, in aid of those who were in more destitute circumstances. Was a member of the Baptist church, from his early manhood.
He raised a family of three sons: E. W. Hartman, of Indianola; Wm. H. Hartman, of Carlisle; David Hartman, of Iron Mountain, Missonri; and two daughters: Mrs. T. J. Drakin, and Mrs. J. E. Drakin, of Van- dalia, Iowa, all of whom, with his widow, now survive him.
THE "CODE " IN WARREN COUNTY.
The number of counties in Iowa which can boast of a duel in their bor- ders is, no doubt, small, but among them, Warren county is one. In the fall of 1854 Edd. R. McKee, then a boy of only twelve years, now one of the best and most prominent citizens of the county, fought a duel with Addison Hunt, son of Eleazer Hunt, one among the first settlers of the county. They were returning home in the afternoon from gathering hick- ory nuts from the trees at the grove, on the Van Pelt farm, northwest of . Indianola, when, from some boyish cause, they got to quarreling. It finally became fierce and noisy, and Mal. Bryan, who was the oldest of the crowd, perhaps eighteen or twenty years of age, and who was the leader besides, suggested that there was no other way to settle it except according to the " code." They had all been reading what corresponded to the yellow- backed literature of the present day, where the hero was always engaged in such adventures, and they, therefore, readily accepted the suggestion of this method of settlement as the only one. Bryan was Hunt's second, and a boy by the name of Almeda Kennedy performed the same dnty for Mc- Kee. Bryan therefore stepped off twenty paces. Bows and arrows were the weapons chosen for the contest, and they were to shoot at a drop of a hat from the hands of Harvey Kight. Everything ready the contestants took their places, with their bows and arrows in position for the com- mand of "fire." At the drop of the hat both fired, and McKee, who was one of the best shots in the county, with a bow and ar- row, drove his arrow a center shot to Hunt's forehead, while Hunt, less fortunate as a shot, but more fortunate for the comfort of his opponent, only grazed McKee's left ear. Hunt was seriously injured, and the boys in fear for what they had done, carried him home, where he lay uncon- scious for several days, but finally recovered entirely. Many of the old settlers seriously blamed Bryan for his course, and talked of having him arrested, but with the recovery of Hunt, it passed 'off, and nothing more was done about it. About a year later young Hunt sickened and died, after he had been a party to the only duel ever fought in the county, and from the injuries of which he had completely recovered.
McKee's " honor " was satisfied, and he has since been one of the most peaceable citizens of the county, and no provocation has been sufficient to draw him into a challenge to mutual combat, or to attempt him to flee to an outside State or Canada to engage in such an affair.
448
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
DEEDS OF VIOLENCE.
We have had occasion to refer often, thus far, in the course of this work, to the surprising degree of freedom of Warren county in its early history, from those grave crimes which usually mark the same period in most counties. It generally happens that the unsettled condition of society, which belongs to a new county, is conducive to murders and crimes of the most revolting order. It has been a peculiarity of all our frontier history in the West that many men kept themselves always on the outside limits of civilization. Usually a few desperate characters who have left some other region for its good, or who have decamped to escape the clutches of the law, make their way into new settlements where the reign of law is not yet se- curely established, and there give free scope to their evil propensities Too often peaceful and industrious settlers are vexed for years by such characters. Endurance in many cases ceases to be a virtue, and in this way that pecn- liar institution of pioncer life, the vigilance committee, found its way into life and useful activity.
But the early history of this county contains no such. plagne spots, and life was held in even greater sanctity in those days than in the later ones which have come upon the county since 1876. The days of pioneer life passed peacefully along, the settlers busying themselves in the upbuilding of their future prosperity. Differences arose and antagonisms were developed of course, but they did not extend to that point of shedding human blood. Assaults and assault and battery were common offenses in those days, and the court records are crowded with them, but no blood of no man was shed by his fellow-man within the limits of the county until 1863, twenty years after the opening of its history.
THE FOUTS CASE.
The first trial for murder in the courts of this county, was for the of- fense of murder in the neighboring county of Polk. It has, as a murder no interest for the people of this county, but as the first trial in the courts of this county for this offense, it possesses great interest. It was for wife murder, perhaps the gravest offense known to the law.
The case was that of Pleasant Fouts, who was charged with having killed his wife, Ruth Fouts. The indictment alleges that Pleasant Fouts, "did wil- fully, felonionsly, unlawfully and with malice aforethought, with force and arms, and with a certain knife made of iron and steel, in his right hand, then and there held, which knife has been destroyed or withheld by the said Fouts, and connot be found, made an assault npon one Ruth Fouts, then and there being in the peace of the State, and then and there wil- fully, feloniously, unlawfully and with malice aforethought, with the knife in his right hand, then and there held, did strike, and thrust, cut and stab her, the said Ruth Fouts upon the neck and throat; and the said Pleasant Fouts, with the knife aforesaid, by striking, thrusting, cutting and stabbing aforesaid upon the neck of her, the said Ruth Fonts, did then and there give unto her, the said Ruth Fouts, several, to-wit: two mortal wounds, one of the length of three inches, and of the depth of two inches upon the neck and throat of her, the said Ruth Fonts, of which mortal wounds she, the said Ruth Fouts, then and there in the county of Polk aforesaid, and in the township of Jefferson in said county, on the 9th day of August, in the year
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
of our Lord 1854, did immediately die. And so the grand jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid, do say that the said Pleasant Fouts, did her, the said Ruth Fouts, at the time and place aforesaid, in the manner and by the means aforesaid, wilfully, feloniously and unlawfully, and with his malice aforethought, kill and murder, against the peace and dignity of the State of Iowa, contrary to the statute in such case made and provided."
Fouts and his wife had had some trouble, and after consultation to- gether, they concluded to separate, and that he should go to the extreme West, where large numbers of people were then emigrating. He went, and remained some time, but finally, becoming dissatisfied, returned to his home in Polk county, and begged his wife to again live with him. With the yielding disposition of a woman's nature she consented. Before going West he had rented his house, and must wait some time after his return to secure its possession again, and in the meantime he and his wife were camp- ing out near by, and close to a house. Shortly after his return, one night, shortly after dark, he steathily approached where his wife was seated before the camp fire performing her domestic duties, and seized and stabbed her. The wound was not necessarily a fatal one, and she jumped up and ran to the nearest house, ran against the door with her whole weight and fell into the house in the arms of the woman of the house. In a few moments Fouts appeared, attracted thither, he said, by the cries of his wife and pro- fessing to come for her defense, and upon these representations was ad- mitted to the house. He was covered with her blood, and held the knife in his hands. No sooner liad he gained admission than he renewed the at- tack upon her, and again cut her throat, this time completing his work, and his wife died by his hand in the arms of the neighbor woman.
He fled, but was soon arrested, and given into custody of the sheriff of Polk county. At that time this office was occupied by Mr. W. H. Mc- Henry, now judge of the fifth judicial district. He was confined in the old jail at Des Moines and carefully guarded. When indicted and ar- raigned, he asked for a change of venue, which was granted, and the case sent to Jasper county for trial. There he asked for another change of venue, which was again granted, and the case sent to this connty. He was accordingly brought here by Mr. McHenry, and arraigned on the 30th of October, 1854. His attorneys were Isaac Parish, Curtis Bates and D. O. Finch. The State was represented by Barlow Granger, prosecuting attor- ney, assisted by Lewis Todhunter. A jury was impannelled, composed of the following persons: Levi Chandler, Amos B. Main, G. W. Scott, Jacob Beaman, Elisha Labertew, Josiah Mooers, Francis Whited, James Bryan, Thos. W. Stradley, Michael R. Richesson, John A. Smith, and Jacob Fox. On the 3d of November, the following verdict was rendered : "We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.",
The sentence was pronounced by Judge Townsend on the 4th of No- vember, 1854, after he had overruled the motion for a new trial, and it was to the effect that "the said defendant, Pleasant Fouts, be hung by the neck until he is dead, and that the execution of the said defendant take place at some public and convenient place, within one mile of the town of Indian- ola, within this county, on the fifteenth day of December, A. D. 1854, at one o'clock P. M. of said day. It being made to appear to the satisfaction of this court that the jail of this county is not sufficiently secure for the safe keeping of said defendant, it is further ordered that the sheriff of this county, deliver the said. Pleasant. Fonts into the custody of the sheriff of
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HISTORY OF WARREN OOUNTY.
Polk county, in this State, to be safely and securely confined in irons, until he delivers him into the hands of the sheriff of this county for execution, in pursuance of the above judgment."
He was, therefore, remanded to Judge McHenry's care, and his case brought before the Supreme Court on a writ of error, and the court decided that under the indictment the defendant could not be convicted of murder in the first degree. The decision of the court below was reversed as to several points, but the court pronounced his offense murder in the second degree and the sentence imprisonment for life. .
Judge McHenry had charge of Fouts almost constantly from the time of his arrest until his final incarceration in the penitentiary, at Ft. Madi- son. He took him, he says, by coach, from Des Moines to Iowa City, and in all that distance, in no kind of discussion, at no pleasantry indulged in by the passengers, did he even so much as smile or relax from his solemnity. He was then in doubt as to his fate, and in fact expected to suffer death for. his crimes. But when the Supreme Court had reversed the verdict of the court below and had commuted his sentence to imprisonment for life, he was from that time forth the jolliest passenger on the coach from Iowa City to Ft. Madison. In his extremity he recalled the features and the memory of the woman whom he had promised to love, honor and protect, but who, instead, had been brutally murdered by his own hand. When the shadow of death passed from him, when life was again assured, though it was with the disgrace of imprisonment and the certain prospects of hard labor during the remainder of his days, then he forgot the enormity of his crime, and conld recall himself to the world. Is not this the strongest of evidence as to what the criminal dreads most, and that he deems the loss of life the great, the only, punishment which his crime deserves?
Recurring to Fonts' sentence, Judge McHenry says, in speaking of it:
" After Judge Williams, who was chief justice, and a gray-headed man, with a long, white beard, had told the defendant, Fouts, to stand up, and made some preliminary remarks, he addressed him in the following words: 'The prosecuting attorney, undoubtedly, intended to draw an indictment against you, charging you with murder of the first degree, but we find that he has not done so, but, sir, we have not a doubt bnt what you have com- mitted the highest crime known to the law, and, but for this accident, or mistake, of the prosecuting attorney, long ere this time you would have expiated your crime upon the gallows. We, therefore, sentence you to the penitentiary of this State, there to be kept at hard labor for, and during the term of your natural life, and the sheriff of Polk county will see that this judgment of this court is executed.'"
Fonts remained in the penitentiary until a year or two ago, when death relieved him of his punishment, after an incarceration of over twenty- three years. His two daughters were living in Kansas, and after his death, applied to Mr. McHenry as their attorney for settling up his estate, which had been, during all these years, in the hands of William Ashworth, an old-time resident of this county, and that gentleman proceeded to the work, and forwarded the proceeds to them.
THE MURDER OF JOHN CONNER.
John Conner was an old settler of the western part of Warren county, having came here from Kentucky in 1847. He was Southern by birth and
M. G. Shook
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
education, and when the war came on he was said to be in sympathy with the course of the South. About the beginning of the war he removed into the edge of Clarke county, and in some conflicts-dignified by the name of the "Goble war"-which several citizens of that county had with some stay-at-homes, who talked loyally, and some returned soldiers, who had learned nothing of war but its excesses, John Conner was one night killed. They came to his house in the dead of night, and finding the doors guarded and barricaded, they broke them open and shot John Conner in his bed in cold blood, and fled, They were not even tried, though many of them were known. He was not a bad man, but these superserviceable gentry had conceived a prejudice against him, and he must die. It was universally condemned as cowardly and cold-blooded, but public sentiment was not yet strong enough to arrest and punish them as they deserved.
THE NEELEY-CASSIDY MURDER.
The first case of murder which occurred in the county was that of Pat- rick Cassidy by James Neeley, in Linn township, on the first day of August, 1864. The trouble between them arose from the depredations of Neeley's stock in Cassidy's fields, and as Cassidy had dogged them se- verely already, Neeley told him that he would shoot the dogs. He went down to the field where the dog was after his hogs with this purpose, and about the same time Cassidy started out for the same place. Both were armed, the former with a large smooth-bore musket and the latter with a small squirrel rifle. Both tired about the same time, and Neeley's shot hit Cassidy about the eleventh rib and passed entirely through his body, kill- ing him instantly, while Neeley was only slightly wounded in the left hand.
Necley gave himself up, and at his preliminary examination by a jus- tice of the peace, was bound over to the next term of the district court.
On the 22d of September, 1864, he was arraigned before the court, having been indicted for murder in the second degree, and was admitted to bail in the sum of five thousand dollars, with Thomas Neeley, Lewis Johnson, William C. Simmons, Daniel R. Perkins, and William N. James.
At the March term of 1865, he applied for a change of venue, which was granted, and his case sent to Polk county for trial, and was again admit- ted to bail in the same sum with Thomas Neeley; William N. James and Casper Weil as his sureties. On the third day of the same term Casper Weil surrendered Neeley to the sheriff, and was released from his bond.
The application for a change of venue alleged that, "by reason of ex- citement and prejudice against him in said Warren county, your petitioner, James Neeley, cannot have a fair and impartial trial on said indictment; and this defendant, therefore, prays for a change of venue in said cause from said county of Warren to some other county in this judicial district."
B. F. Murray was the prosecutor at the time of his indictment, but before the case came on for trial his term had expired, and H. W. Maxwell had become his successor, and J. S. Polk, of Des Moines, assisted the pros- ecutor in the trial of the case. Judge Byron Rice, of Des Moines, was attorney for Neeley in all the trials.
The trial was a long and tedious one; the jury visited the ground on which the tragedy occurred, and finally brought in a verdict of guilty of
28
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
manslaughter. Judge J. H. Gray, who presided in the trial, then sentenced Neeley to fifteen years at hard labor in the penitentiary, where he remained nntil about 1878, when he was pardoned out by Governor Kirkwood.
He had conducted himself well while in that institution, and won the confidence of all connected with its management. He is now living near Redfield, Dallas county, working at the trade of a cooper, which he learned while confined in the penitentiary. He has also a good farm and a fine orchard, and is doing well in a material point of view. He has joined the Methodist church, being converted while in the penitentiary, and has become a class-leader. He is a respected citizen, who is showing by indns- try and good conduct his sorrow for an act committed in anger, and thus trying to correct the wrong he has done society.
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