USA > Iowa > Washington County > The history of Washington 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, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 49
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" We further find that the superintendent and matron were at all times careful and competent in the discharge of their duties, and did all in their power, on the day of the fire, to save the inmates.
" We find nothing to warrant particular censure of the managers, con- tractors, or mechanics, but attribute the calamity to a mistake of building a cheap and insufficient structure for such important use.
" We further find that the board of supervisors used good judgment in expending the limited amount of money voted for the erection of said poor- house.
"WILLIAM JOHNSON, " J. M. DENNY, " B. M. McCOY, " Jurors.
"Attest: WILLIAM WILSON, JR., Coroner."
As soon as the board of supervisors could get together, a suitable build- ing was procured in the east part of town, where the steward, with his fam- ily and such of the inmates of the infirmary as could be cared for, removed. Some of the more unmanageable were placed temporarily in the jail until arrangements could be made to take them elsewhere; and in a short time some were taken to Mt. Pleasant and the rest to Davenport. The project of rebuilding on a larger scale was immediately canvassed, and at a meeting of the board, January 29, 1879, it was ordered that the question of rebuild- ing the county poor-house, at an expense not to exceed $15,000, and that the board of supervisors be authorized to levy a tax not to exceed 2 inills, necessary to raise $11,000; and that said board be authorized to use, in con- nection therewith, the $4,100 received from the insurance companies on the former poor-house, be submitted to the legal voters of the county at a special election to be held on the 4th day of March, 1879, and those in favor of the proposition will write or have printed on their ballots: "For the rebuilding of the county poor-house, Yes;" those opposed to the proposition will write or have printed: "For the rebuilding of the county poor-house, No."
The election occurred, as ordered, on the 4th of March, 1879, and re- sulted as follows : For the proposition, 1,246; against, 421.
Even before the vote was taken the board employed an architect to make plans for the new building, and as soon as the result of the election was known the contract was let and the work rapidly pushed forward. At the present time (January, 1880,) the building is about finished, and it is pre- sumed that it will be ready for occupation by March.
The building is one of the best of the kind in the State, and will not only be secure, but is ample for all emergencies for many years to come. It is understood to be the intention of the authorities to bring all the county's insane from the asylum at Mt. Pleasant and have them treated and cared for at home. It is believed that this can be done as effectually and much
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
393
more economically here than abroad. The following is a brief description of the building, and it will be readily seen that it is a structure which re- fleets great credit on the judgment of the board as well as the liberality of the people who authorized its construction. The front is 110 feet, extreme depth 82 feet, two stories high, basement under all, built of brick and heated by steam generated in the cellar, while every room, halls, etc., will have a flue to serve in case the steam gives out. The entrance is the south front.
Entrance.
Hall.
Inmate wing.
Office.
Stairs.
Pant'y
Officers' dwelling.
Hall 12 feet wide.
Dining room.
Open court.
Entrance.
Stairs.
Hall.
Insane wing.
-
Four of the twelve insane cells are 82x12, and eight are 10x12, and seven sitting and bed-rooms for ditto 13x22. Dining-room 20x30 on first floor entered from hall by two doors from foot of stairs, and connecting with kitchen 16x18. with store-room 9x16 attached. Dining-room, second floor, same size. If not needed as such can be used as a hospital. Room for hired help, 16x18. Four rooms for superintendent and matron, 15x15, two on each floor, so located that a few steps give them a view of all the halls; office, 14x22; washi-room in cellar. The sound from the insane department can be shut off by sliding doors at the hall. Ample closets, pantry, etc.
The inmates at present accommodated at the temporary county-house at Washington, number twelve. They are as follows:
Melissa Brown, aged 27. She is an imbecile from Marion township and was admitted when the infirmary was first opened, July 13th, 1874.
Thomas Haner, aged 24. He was also admitted whem the home was first opened, and is one of the most helpless, miserable and forbidding speci- mens of humanity we ever beheld. It is doubtful whether in any of the hospitals or asylums in America or Europe it would be possible to find an- other individual so unfortunate, so repulsive, and who by accident or disease has come to resemble so little a human being. For eight years he has been unable to walk, stand or sit. For eight years he has been compelled to lie continually upon his right side. His sternum and vital organs have been pressed entirely out of sliape, and there is not a movable joint in his body. His disease is a combination of rheumatism and scrofula, and beside being entirely helpless he is deaf, blind and the extremities of his hands and feet
25
394
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
have literally rotted off. Notwithstanding he probably would not weigh more than forty or fifty pounds his appetite is good and he craves contin- ually such food as fat pork and strong coffee.
Sarah Allbrite, aged 25. Is an imbecile and was admitted from Dutch Creek township in 1875.
Oliver H. Andis, aged 34. Was sunstruck while in the army and is inca- pable of doing any kind of manual labor except as he is directed. He is a native of America and was well educated. Was admitted from Washing- ton township in 1876.
Alice A. Cox, aged 32. Brought from the asylum at Mt. Pleasant, No- vember, 1876, and was originally from Crawford township.
Cynthia Robinson, aged 62. Poor and sick. Was admitted from Ore- gon township, May, 1877.
Lucy Harter, aged 33. Poor and sick. Was admitted from English River township, April, 1877.
Lucinda Sampson, aged 73. She is a very intelligent lady and impresses one as being a person who in her time has moved in good society. She was admitted from Lime Creek township, October, 1879, and at that time was greatly afflicted with the rheumatism and since then has apparently been growing worse. At the time she was brought to the asylum she had a son living in Lime Creek township who has since gone to Missouri.
William Wilson, aged 60. Is poor and blind. Was admitted from English River township, December, 1879.
William Hamilton, aged 22. Admitted October, 1878, from Brighton township.
Benedict Albin, aged 60. Admitted in 1874, from Lime Creek town- ship.
C. Garber, aged 70. Is crazy and formerly lived in English River town .. ship, whence he came to the home in 1875.
None of these inmates are able to do any work except Sarah Allbrite, Oliver Andis, Melissa Brown and William Hamilton, and these only at times and closely watched.
Mr. Robertson has had charge of the farm and infirmary ever since it was first opened, and his wife, a most patient and cheerful lady, seems to have become so used to her very unpleasant position that she rather enjoys it. Beside waiting on the 'helpless she is a physician to the sick, and so well has she become acquainted with their wants and ailments that a phy- sician is seldom summoned.
Mr. Robertson gives all his time; the county furnishes all the help ex- cept such as is rendered by the steward's family; all the furniture except for one room, and all the teams and farming inplements; the steward's com- pensation is $800 per annum.
There have been ninety inmates taken care of at different times since the asylum was first opened, not including innumerable tramps who have been temporarily entertained.
As before remarked the elegant and commodious new building will be ready for occupancy soon, and with such facilities as the county will then have for taking care of the poor and helpless it will be right and expedient that parties requiring aid from the county be removed to that place just as soon as possible, and that in all possible cases the payment of money to out- door paupers should cease. There may be certain cases in which it may be proper to pay a weekly sum to an individual or family for support, but
395
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
these cases are very few. This is especially the case when the county-house lias facilities for accommodating a much larger number of inmates. Town- ship trustees should see that the poor fund is not depleted by such heavy payment, as in times past, to those outside of the county-house. Economy demands this, and in most cases humanity also, for it cannot but be ad- mitted that persons in want or insane can be much better accommodated on a county farin than in private residences. This is a question that lies with the township trustees, and almost beyond control of the board of supervis- ors. The funds for the support of the inmates of the county-house have been exhausted largely by the heavy draughts for assistance to persons out- side of the county-house; but the abundant crops on the farm will do much toward sustaining the whole concern during the year.
Mr. Robertson keeps his books on a scientific basis, showing cost of every item, as also revenue from each and every source itemized. This is setting a good example, one which might well be followed by many farmers on their own account.
The above statements show that the affairs of the farm are managed with care and good judgment. . "Over the hills to the poor-house" is a sad story at best, but there is one far sadder. A painting at the Centennial portrayed an aged Indian squaw left to perish on the plains, while those of her own tribe-her own family and children even, were wending their way ont of sight, followed by the despairing, worn out, deserted old woman. Such is life among those who know nothing of charity.
RAILROADS.
The first railroad projected through Washington county was the cele- brated " Ram's Horn " of early days, which became the laughing stock of the State, owing to its attempted performance of an impossibility. That this was true is established by the fact that this company sought to connect every county-seat then in the state by rail, if not all prospective seats of justice, as well as every farmer's barn. This county, however, was then too young to take much interest in this wild and visionary scheme.
The next railroad projected through the county was the Iowa Western Railroad, which began at Muscatine and ran through this county near the northern boundary. This was in 1857, and as nothing came of it except the expenditure of much grandiloquent, gushing and congratulatory garru- lity, this short-lived corporation, together with its long-lined stretch of ephemeral railroad iron, whose road-bed stretched away through the realın of imagination, and whose station-house's were castles in the air, will be dis- missed with the statement that a branch of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern railroad now extends across the county along substantially the same proposed route.
The next projected railroad was the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne and Platte Valley Air Line railroad. This was a high-sounding name to give to the proposed road, and one likely to take with the people; part of the name at least was appropriate, for it was, is and most likely forever is destined to be and remain literally and solely an air line. Some grading was done on the east end of this proposed line, and the county issued bonds to the amount of five thousand dollars in aid of the road.
So elaborate were the plans and so far advanced the paper-work of this
396
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
road at the time the enterprise collapsed that it is deemed proper to give some further account of it.
The proposed route lay through the counties of Muscatine, Washington, Keokuk, and thence due west to Council Bluffs. In this enterprise were entisted the leading men from every county-seat of that tier of counties be- tween Muscatine and Council Bluffs. Without the aid of any other corpo- ration these men proposed to build a road across the State, and although it was a tremendous undertaking it probably would have finally been carried to a succesful termination had it not been for the early completion of other trunk lines across the State which rendered this road less necessary, and as a consequence less feasible.
The agitation of this railroad enterprise was at fever heat in Jannary, 1868, when a mammoth convention was held at Oskaloosa. Delegates were present from Muscatine, Washington, Keokuk, Mahaska, Marion, Warren, Madison, Adair, Cass and Pottawattamie counties. G. E. Griffiths, of War- ren, was chosen chairman and each county had a vice-president. There was a corporation formed with sixty-six incorporators. There were fourteen arti- cles of incorporation. A committee consisting of ten persons was appointed to nominate directors. There were fifteen persons nominated for directors, and the persons nominated had the honor to be elected. The board of di- rectors thereupon held a meeting for the purpose of electing officers. A president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, executive committee and at- torneys were elected. A gentleman of this county had the honor of elec- tion to a place on the executive committee.
The convention adjourned, and the delegates went home to gladden the hearts of their constituents with the assurance of a speedy completion of the road. The corporation was doubtless large enough to have built, and the officers numerous enough to have operated, a road twice the length of the proposed one, together with feeders and branch lines; but there proved not to be enough money, or enough credit, or sufficient pluck, to grade across a county or lay a mile of track. Upon the return of the delegates rousing meetings were held at the county-seats of all the counties along the proposed lines; eloquent speeches were made, subscription books passed around and the meetings adjourned to afford the people an opportunity to discharge the pressing duty of selecting depot sites. In a county-seat town west of this the people did in fact agree upon a depot site, and on the plat of that town at the present time is a block termed "Philadelphia, Fort Wayne and Platte Valley railroad depot gronds."
But alas for the vanity of human hopes and expectations when inspired by the flattering unction of a railroad; the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne and Platte Valley railroad, and many other railroads of high-sounding and far- reaching names, never became a railroad only on paper, and, like the relics of the mound-builders and the fossils of the mastodon, will be unearthed at future times to paint the antiquarian's moral and adorn the historian's tale.
About the time the P., Ft. W. & P V. R R. was first agitated, the Mis- sissippi and Missouri railroad company was organized, and after some severe struggles succeeded in completing a line to Washington. The history of these last two' mentioned roads, so far as they relate to Washington county, are somewhat blended, and we therefore give the facts in their chronological order.
397
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
The usual blowing, speech making, subscribing of stock by individuals, and other necessary preliminaries to railroad building occurred, but we seek to give here the action of the county in its connection with railroad matters. In the early days of railroading in Iowa the companies seemed to be actuated by a desire to secure from the several counties through which they designed to build roads, every dollar possible both from the citizens individually and from the counties in their corporate capacity. Nearly all . the counties so situated did take stock or loaned their credit for the purpose of constructing roads, and Washington was not an exception.
On the 17th of October, 1853, the county judge, Hon. Enoch Ross, issued his proclamation ordering an election to be held November 21st, 1853, in answer to a resolution passed at a public meeting held on the 8th of October, to submit a proposition for the subscription by the county of $100,000 stock in the Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne and Platte Valley Railroad, to aid in its con- struction, in the shape of bonds payable in twenty years, bearing not more than six per cent interest, and five mills, if necessary, tax to pay the said interest; after fifteen years to be increased to one per cent, to continue from year to year till principal and interest are paid.
The vote upon this proposition was as follows:
TOWNSHIPS.
FOR BONDS.
AGAINST BONDS.
Washington
201
Marion .
53
U
Crawford
104
4
Oregon.
45
4
Iowa.
6
63
Lime Creek.
7
59
Cedar
55
4
Dutch Creek.
39
6
Clay
2
64
Brighton .
55
95
English River
37
106
Total
609
405
On the second day of January, 1854, the sheriff, William Perry Organ, as required by law, posted notices in the several townships proclaiming the foregoing result.
In June, 1854, the county judge having been petitioned by several hun- dred voters of the county, submitted by proclamation, dated June 30th, a proposition to rescind $50,000 of the stock voted in November, 1853, to the Philadelphia, Ft. W. and Platte Valley Railroad, and subscribe the same amount to the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad, and ordering the election to be held on the 7th of August, 1854. The bonds were to be the same as the first, except that they should bear ten per cent interest and shall not be issued except said railroad company receive them at their par value in pay- ment for stock in said railroad, and then only as fast as the work progresses toward completion within the limits of the county. The vote was as follows:
398
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
AGAINST
Washington
208
7
Oregon .
57
0
Highland.
8
0
Iowa
11
63
English River
39.
89
Lime Creek.
12
76
Jackson.
22
14
Cedar
47
0
Dutch Creek
74
0
Clay . .
18
55
Franklin
54
=
Brighton
32
96
Marion.
75
0
Crawford
33
0
Total.
690
400
A notice of this result was published for four weeks in the Washington "Argus," as appears by the oath of Lewis F. Waldon, the publisher.
In 1856 a respectable number of the voters of the county petitioned that a proposition be submitted to take $50,000 additional stock in the railroad company that first builded a road from the Mississippi river to the town of Washington, and in pursuance thereof the county judge, John T. Burris, on the 2d day of July, 1856, issued a proclamation ordering an election on the 4th of August. These bonds were to bear eight per cent interest and issued when the road shall be finished and the rolling stock furnished thereon to a point not exceeding three quarters of a mile from the court-house; and provided that the bonds be taken at par and the road completed and finishe i by the first day of December, 1857. This proposition was defeated. The vote cast being as follows:
TOWNSHIPS.
Washington
FOR. 308
33
Clay
8
116
Brighton .
23
196
Marion
41
30
Crawford
2
180
Oregon .
34
45
Franklin.
63
10
Dutch Creek.
107
14
Seventy-six
12
14
Cedar
55
33
Jackson
23
39
Highland
19
24
Iowa
3
106
English River
18
159
Lime Creek.
10
122
Total.
726
1,121
In the same year several hundred voters of the county petitioned for the submission of a proposition to subscribe one hundred thousand dollars to the capital stock of the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company, to con-
AGAINRT.
TOWNSHIPS.
FOR.
399
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
struct a railroad from Muscatine to Oskaloosa by way of Washington in said Washington county, and accordingly the county judge issued a proclamation on the 10th of November, 1856, ordering an election for that purpose on the 11th of December, 1856. These bonds were to bear eight per cent interest. payable twenty years after date, to be issued upon the completion of the road from Muscatine to Washington by the first day of December, 1857. The vote resulted as follows:
TOWNSHIPS.
FOR.
AGAINST.
Clay.
24
47
Brighton
28
123
Marion .
29
8
Crawford .
16
130
Oregon
65
4
Washington
448
8
Franklin.
83
1
Dutch Creek
117
1
Seventy-six
16
13
Cedar
76
11
Jackson .
34
7
Highland.
19
20
Iowa.
1
81
English River
36
109
Lime Creek
21
105
Total.
1,013
668
In 1858 a respectable number of the voters of the county petitioned the county judge to submit for said county to take $100,000 additional stock in the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company, and accordingly on the 1st of March, 1858, a proclamation was made ordering an election for that pur- pose to take place on the 5th day of April, 1858. These bonds were to bear ten per cent interest, payable twenty years from date, but not to be issued until said company gave said county good and sufficient security, approved by the county judge, in the sum of $200,000, conditional that said road he completed and in good running order to the town of Washington in said county by the first day of September, 1858, and that a depot be permanently established not more than one half mile from the court-house in said town of Washington. The vote resulted as follows: TOWNSHIPS. AGAINST.
Washington
FOR. 550
7
Clay.
42
84
Brighton
52
123
Marion .
66
20
Crawford.
44
146
Oregon
116
16
Franklin.
82
4
Dutch Creek
189
8
Seventy-six
26
12
Cedar.
102
23
Jackson .
81
7
Highland
20
36
Iowa ..
1
140
English River
62
144
Lime Creek
38
108
Total.
1,471
883
400
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
On the 26th of July, 1858, Henry Farnam, agent for the Mississippi and Missouri railroad made a demand for these bonds, which were issued bearing this date and made payable at the Corn Exchange Bank, of New York, in sums of one thousand dollars each, with thirty-six coupons of fifty dollars each attached. The bond of the railroad company required by the proclamation was executed, and is on record in the recorder's office, in book D, page 438, and is as follows:
" Know all men by these presents, that the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company are held and firmly bound unto the county of Washing- ton, State of Iowa, in the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, lawful money of the United States of America, to be paid to the said county of Washington, State of Iowa, for which payment well and truly to be made the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company firmly bind themselves by these presents, sealed with their seal and dated this twenty-sixth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. The condition of the above obligation is such that if the above bounden Mississippi and Mis- souri Railroad Company shall cause their road to be completed and in good running order to the town of Washington in said county and State, by the first day of September, one thousand eight hundred and fifty eight, and that a depot be permanently established not more than one-half mile from the court-house in said town of Washington, according to the tenor of a proclamation issued by S. P. Young, county judge of Washington county, State of Iowa, on the first day of March last passed, then this obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in in full force and virtue.
[SEAL.]
"JOHN A. DIX,
"President Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Co."
What security this document is it will no doubt puzzle the reader to de- termine, but the judge deemed it sufficient. Its defects were part of the facts in the suits which afterward came up between the bondholders and the taxpayers of the county.
The following certificate of stock was given the county for the bonds:
" Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company. No. 252. 1,000 shares. This certifies that Washington county, Iowa, is entitled to 1,000 shares of one hundred dollars each in the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company, transferable by person or attorney, on the books of the company at the office of the treasurer in the city of New York, or at any transfer agency established by the company, only on the surrender of this certificate. In- terest at the rate of ten per cent per annum will be allowed on all full paid stock until this division is completed, payable in stock.
" In witness whereof, etc.
"JOHN A. DIX, President.
"A. C. FLAGG, Treasurer."
On the 7th day of June, 1858, John A. Dix, president of the company, made a demand for $50,000 of the bonds of the county, as had been voted on the 7th of August, 1854, and the county judge, S. P. Young, issued them accordingly, these being the same as the first bonds except that they were for $500 each and the coupons for $25 each, the bonds bearing date of June 19, 1858. A certificate for 500 shares, numbered 249, was issued and delivered to the county, dated June 14, 1858.
401
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
On the 16th of February, 1859, a certificate for seventy-five shares was issued and delivered to the county as payment of the interest due on the 1st of January, 1859, on the capital stock subscribed by the county.
Of the bonds voted to the Philadelphia. Ft. Wayne and Platte Valley Air Line Railroad, $5,000 were issued, but upon what terms it is impossi- ble now to determine.
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