USA > Iowa > Washington County > The history of Washington County, Iowa, its cities, towns, and c., a biographical directory of its citizens > Part 68
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563
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
Fathers McCormack, Sullivan, Hannan, Mitchell, and Emmonds, now of Iowa City, visited the families of the Catholic faith in the vicinity of Wash- ington and administered the rites of the holy communion.
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH.
This body of Christians was organized in 1859. A neat frame church- building was erected shortly after at a cost a of about one thousand dollars. Among the original members Wm. G. Stewart and wife, Nelson Stewart, Henry Lease, Washington Poland, Michael Nelson and William Baker and Rev. R. Thrasher were the leading ones. The church was dedicated by Bishop Markwood, who presided at two sessions of the Annual Conference held in the building subsequently. Revs. Messrs. Hott, Shiftlett, Pal- mer, Davis and Thrasher, were pastors at different times. Mr. Stewart, one of the most prosperous farmers in the vicinity, and a very estimable citizen, was the chief support of this Church. After his death and the re- moval from the city of several other leading members, the Church went down, and services are no longer held there.
OTHER CHURCHES.
The Congregationalist Church was organized in 1855; after flourishing for a number of years, it finally began to go down, and on the 20th of July, 1877, the congregation disbanded.
In 1868 there was organized a church called the Church of God. This society purchased the old frame church previously occupied by the congre- gation of the First United Presbyterian Church. Owing to financial em- barrassment this organization disbanded in 1870.
The Episcopal Church was organized in Washington at an early day and in 1856 measures were taken to erect a new church edifice. The founda- tion was laid and on May 12th, 1856, the corner-stone was put in place with imposing ceremonies, Bishop Lee officiating. The structure was not completed, and at present no regnlar organization exists,
The African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1866. It is at present in a flourishing condition, and the congregation has a very com- fortable place of worship in the southwest part of town.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The Presbyterian Church is at present under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. White, a young man who recently graduated from the Alleghaney Theological Seminary, and whose pastorate gives great promise of future usefulness. Some of the facts with regard to the history of this Church are gleaned from an article written for the "Press" by one of the first pastors.
" The Church was organized on the 23d day of September, 1843, by Rev. L. G. Bell, who was acting as missionary at the time and who was the first minister of the denomination in the State. The meeting at which the or- ganization took place was held in the old court-house. The persons who united in this organization on certificate, were Samuel Culbertson and his wife Mary Ann, John Hawthorn and his wife Rachel, C. B. Campbell and his wife Adaline, Benj. P. Baldwin, Sarah Ross, Patrick C. McKinnie and
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
George Brokaw. The latter joined on examination, and immediately after the organization Mrs. Nancy McKinnie united on a profession of her faith, making in all eleven members. Messrs. Culbertson and Campbell were very unanimously elected to the office of ruling elder, the latter having filled that office very acceptably in the church of Shiloh, from whence he came. * * * But one member now remains in the Church who was present at the time of the organization, namely, B. P. Baldwin. For twenty-three years of his life he has not only watched the movements and changes of the Church, but has participated in all her discouragements, her labors, her hindrances and her progress. And to-day he looks with in- creased anxiety for increased prosperity. Mr. C. B. Campbell, at whose in- stignation Father Bell visited the place and gathered the few scattered sheep into one fold, was a native of Pennsylvania. He passed through the then late war under General Harrison; was in the battle of Lundy Lane and promoted to the rank of major, which he held when the war closed. And as an evidence of his higli appreciation by the citizens of his adopted State, he was elected a member of the first convention which met in Iowa to form a State Constitution. He was a man of great suavity of manners, and wherever he lived, in his native State, Ohio, Indiana or Iowa, he always made friends. He was what every man onght to be, a po- lite, Christian gentleman; and with his heart set on the promotion of his Redeemer's kingdom; he was a leader and a worker. Whatever he could do to promote the best interests of the little Church he had been partly in- strumental in starting, he did cheerfully and promptly. He sustained his full share in purchasing a lot and building a meeting-house. His name will ever stand associated with the history of the Church, as the first clerk of session, which office he held for ten years. The pioneer spirit, how- ever, by which he was influenced, would not suffer him to make this his permanent home. In 1853, regretted by all, he removed to Sidney, in this State, and from there to Kansas, where in the hope of a blessed immor- tality, he died in 1863.
" Mr. Samuel Culbertson, the other elder, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and moved to this State the year before the organization of the Church. He was a modest, diffident man, but at the same time a man of energy and good business habits. He kept a public house and small store in what is now called the Iowa House. And never at any time, on the authority of a competent judge, have wayfarers been better accommo- dated. As an evidence of his respectable standing he filled the office of county judge. He was deeply interested in the prosperity of the Church, and labored earnestly for her advancement. He moved from this place in 1848 to West Union, Kentucky, where he settled and retained the same Christian character up to the time of his death, which occurred the 10th of * *
April, 1866. * * John Hawthorn and Rachel his wife, have removed from the place, are still in the county, but so far as known are not connected with any branch of the church."
The first church edifice was erected in 1846, on lot at the corner of Main and Green streets. An addition was afterward put to this building. This house becoming unsuitable as a place of worship, together with the lot upon which it stood, were sold for $1,200, and a new location was selected on Washington street. This was in 1865. The same year a new church building was erected at a cost of $3,000. The building is a frame, in size 38x60 feet.
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
It may be here remarked that the Presbyterian church formerly stood apon the lot where is now situated the residence of A. W. Chilcote, prob- ably one of the finest residences in the city.
Among the pastors of this Church may be mentioned the following: Rev. Mr. Bell, a stated supply; Rev. McWilson, for six months; Rev. T. H. Dinsmore, for one year; Rev. Mr. Porterfield for a short time; Rev. Mr. Shearer, for five years; Rev. T. D. Wallace, for ten years.
Washington is well supplied with churches and they are all well at- tended. There is no city in this State where the church accommodations are more elaborate, or where the people inore generally go to church.
BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP.
Brighton township is composed of a part of township 74, range 8. In 1875 it had a population of 1,230, over half of which belonged to the town of Brighton. In the first division of the county into precincts, in 1839, that portion of country now composing Brighton township was a part of two precincts: that part south of Skunk river belonged to Skunk river pre- cinct, and that part north belonged to Walnut creek precinct. When the county was first sub-divided into civil townships, in January, 1844, Brighton township consisted of the entire territory comprised in congres- sional township 74, range 8.
This township was among the first in the county to be settled and has always played an important part in the history of the county. In early days it was considered the most favored part of the county, owing to the abundance of stone and timber; also on account of the river, which fur- nished good water-power, and afforded a much needed, though precarious communication with Burlington.
The efforts made in early times to navigate this stream were partially suc- cessful, and the town of Brighton became quite a trading point for that whole region of country. A brief description of these early adventures in navigating Skunk river is given in another part of the work. The mill lo- cated at Brighton also did much to afford a business and reputation in this section. From all parts of this as well as other counties to the sonth and west, people came with their grists, and as there was scarcely ever a time but that the stage of water in the river made grinding possible, it may be said that Pickerell's mill was busy the year round. This helped the retail business of the town and facilitated the settlement of the surrounding country.
Among the first settlers of this township were James Miller, Morgan Hart, Silas Washburn, and Seneca Beach. John Smart, an Indian trader, had a trading-post near the present site of Brighton for many years.
The following brief account of a few of the first settlers of Brighton township, referred to in a former part of the work, will be appropriate at this place:
Silas Washburn was one of the first men who arrived in the Brighton neighborhood. He was a native of Massachusetts. He came on foot and alone, arriving early in 1837. Upon the claim which he took is now lo- cated the Brighton mill. This claim he afterward sold for $200. He and Morgan Hart, before mentioned, lived together in a little shanty situated on the road leading from Brighton mill, about a quarter of a mile from the mill-site, and here the two passed the winter of 1837-38. Their bed was
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
made of prairie hay, and they no bed-clothes except their day clothes. How- ever they had plenty of timber for fuel and managed to spend the winter pleasantly. In April, the following year, a relative of Mr. Wasburn, by. the name of Seneca Beach, arrived, bringing with him his own family and that of Mr. Washburn. A short time prior to the coming of Mr. Beach, a man by the name of John Beers came and was at this time engaged in erecting a cabin. He being without a family and not particularly needing the cabin, Washburn and Beach procured the use of it for their families until they could erect suitable buildings of their own. These two families were the first families which lived in that neighborhood. They built houses that season, Washburn's house being located a little northeast of the lot where now stands the Brighton national bank. The honse was a one story house, built of logs, covered with clapboards and had a sod chim- ney, the dimensions being 18x18. That summer some young men came from Massachusetts, who built another house in the vicinity. In 1839, John Brier, a native of Ohio, settled in the vicinity of Brighton, on the east side of Skunk river, near what was then known as Sandy Hook. His claim was near the Indian village and he had several hundred of the sava- ges for near neighbors a short time. John Brier, Sr., the father of the former, came at the same time; he had considerable money which he loaned Mr. Pickerell, the man who erected the first mill at Brighton, for many years known throughout this and adjoining counties as Pickerell's mill. Af- ter the mill was completed it caught fire and burned down. This was a severe loss to Mr. Pickerell who was now unable to build and was not in a condition to pay back the money he had already borrowed. The only way out of his difficulties was to make a journey to the East and endeavor to borrow some money from his friends there. He made the trip, was suc- cessful and returning about midnight went to the residence of Mr. Brier and awoke him in order to pay him back his money. The mill was rebuilt and formed quite an important factor in the problem of early settlement. John Brier, Sr., died in the vicinity of Brighton some twenty years ago. John Brier, Jr., still lives at Brighton, and owns a part of the claim he first took, forty years ago. He, in 1839, hauled the stock of goods which composed the first mercantile establishment of Brighton from Burlington. The proprietor of the store was John Lewis. The store building was a one story log, 16x20. About the same time a man by the name of Jeff Gordon opened a grocery in the vicinity of Brighton; his customers were princi- pally Indians, and his goods consisted chiefly of whisky. In 1838 George Ferrior settled in the present bounds of Brighton township; he has since died, and his wife, Rebecca Ferrior, still resides there. Among others the following came prior to 1840: Wm. Spencer, John W. Stone, James S. Erwin, L. J. Washburn, Ed. Deeds, Robert C. Riste, S. O. Kirkpatrick, W. D. Hoagland. Seneca Beach was the first justice of the peace, he having received his commission from Gov. Lucas, September, 1839; he died many years ago and his wife, Mrs. Edna Beach, died July 22, 1878, after having lived in the county for more than thirty-eight years. The first mar- riage at Brighton was that of Orson Kinsman to Hannalı Dinsmore. The first birth was that of Philo Dray. The first Fourth of July celebration . was held at Brighton, 1839, at which time there was a public dinner free to all. Celebration was held a little south of where the national bank now stands. A Mr. Collins was the orator and Dr. Horace Carley read the dec-
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
laration. Dr. Carley died the same year and was the first person buried at Brighton.
In those early days when markets were so far away and the roads so bad that they were exceedingly hard to reach, home manufactories were quite an important item and, no matter how humble, are worthy of mention. The first weaving of cloth which we have any account of in Brighton township was by Mrs. John Brier in 1838. The loom used was made by her husband and all the tools he had to work with was a broad-ax.
The first marriage in this township was that of Orson Kinsman to Han- nah Dinsmore, in 1839. It was at the house of this gentleman that elec- tions were first held.
The first birth, as far as known, of a male child, the son of Thompson Dray, born in 1840: prior to this in 1838, a female child named Virtue A. Milton was born.
The first death was that of Horace Carley, already alluded to, who died in the fall of 1839, and was the first person buried in the Brigliton ceme- tery.
The first regular practicing physician who located in the township was Dr. Mallet, who came from South Bend, Indiana. He afterward left the coun- ty and located in Keokuk.
The first religious services were held at the residence of Seneca Beach, in the year 1839, by Rev. Mr. Crill, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The log house where these services were held probably was located just across the line in what is now Clay .township. .
All accounts, as far as we have been able to learn, agree in accrediting to one Eldridge Reed the honor of teaching the first school ever organized in the township. It was held in a log house standing upon one of the lots in the east part of Brighton, in the year 1840. The first school-house was erected the following year. It was located just west of the present town of Brighton. It cost nothing as the whole neighborhood turned out and erected it for the public good.
In 1851, David Powers discovered in the Skunk river bottom about one and a half miles below Brighton the remains of a mastodon. It was a part of the fore leg of a representative of this mammoth species which in pre- historic times were supposed to have inhabited this country. The fossil found was abont three and a half feet long, fourteen inches wide at the larger end and weighs eighty-three pounds. The bone was in a good state. of preservaion and the marks of the joints were as plain and natural as though the animal of which the bone had formed a part had but recently died.
Several years ago there was a coal bank discovered on section 5, which was opened and operated for a number of years. The coal, however, was of an inferior quality and was not found in sufficient quantities to be re- numerative. Building stone is found in abundance but is not so plenty nor of as good a quality as in Clay township.
The present township officers are:
Trustees-John W. Prizer, Uriah Smith and G. M. Zearing.
Clerk-J. H. Auld.
Assessor-W. H. Stout.
Justices of the Peace-A. Moore and E. Compton.
There are four independent school districts and five road districts. The assessed valuation of the real estate of the township for the year 1879 was
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
$190,899; of personalty $83,256; for road purposes there was levied the sum of $658.70; the whole amount of tax levied for all purposes aggre- gated the sum of $61,439.
THE TOWN OF BRIGHTON.
The original town of Brighton was laid out in 1840, by Orson Kinsman and Thompson Dray, and is situated on section 31, township 74, range 8; Kinsman owning the east half and Dray the west half. October, 1848, the first addition to the town of Brighton was made by Gilbert W. Tnel, Isaac H. Friend and Charles Burnham, which was located on the north half of section 31, township 74, range 8. Other additions have since been made and the town has had, in common with all other towns of the State, its periods of prosperity and adversity. It has enjoyed postal privileges for a long time, probably since 1839, the mail at first being carried semi-monthly from Mt. Pleasant. John Lewis was the first postmaster.
The town's greatest prosperity probably dated from the time of the com- pletion of the railroad from Washington to Fairfield. However the im- portance of the town at that time was somewhat overrated and the inevi- table reaction set in. The town has now recovered from the disastrous results which follow in the wake of railroad excitement and is firmly es- tablished on a basis of enduring prosperity.
Outside of Washington it contains the only banking institution and newspapers in the county and next after the county seat is the metropolis of the county.
BAPTIST CHURCH.
The Brighton Baptist Church was organized February 9, 1850. Among the original members composing this religious organization were the fol- lowing: Abijah Fisher, Sarah Fisher, Lewis Fisher, Anna Fisher, Hannah Fisher, Gilbert Fisher, Isaac Arnold, Wm. Mount and wife, Elizabeth Par- shall, James Warren, and Mary Warren. A brick church edifice was erected in 1863 at a cost of $1,400. It was dedicated in November of the same year by Elder Gunn, of Mt. Pleasant. Elders Wm. Elliott, Mitchell, Rev. J. C. Burkholder, David Morse, H. H. Parks, J. G. Johnson, N. H. Daily have been pastors during the past. Elder E. A. Spring is the pres- ent pastor. The membership at present numbers thirty, and the average attendance at the Sunday-school is fifty.
CONGREGATIONALIST OHUROH.
This Church was organized in July, 1841. Among the persons chiefly instrumental in bringing about this organization and who became the first members were the following: John Ingham, Sarah Ingham, Harvey Ing+ ham, Bradford Ingham, Seneca Beach, Edna Beach, Eldridge Reed, Jonah Reed, Elizabeth Washburn, and Margret Lyon. A frame church building was erected in 1858 at a cost of $1,500. Rev. Charles Burnham was the first pastor. The present membership is twenty-eight. This church organi- zation is one of the oldest of the county and was founded by the above mentioned persons, who came from the birthplace of Congregationalism in America, viz .: New England.
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
CHURCH OF CHRIST.
This religious organization was formed in October, 1848. The men and women who first associated themselves together in this society were as fol- lows: Wm. Israel, Sr., Elizabeth Israel, Nathan Horner, Reuben Israel, Maria Israel, Jane P. Gooderel, Elizabeth A. Israel; Elenor M. Israel, Nancy Tracy, Mary McCollough, Joseph Frederick, Phebe Garrett, and Wm. G. Israel. A brick church building was erected in 1850 at a cost of $1,300. It was dedicated the same year by Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller was the first pastor and Rev. T. C. Wilson the present one. There are at present connected with this Church ninety-seven members. Since the organization of the Church there has been a Sunday-school in connection with it. James H. Auld is the present superintendent, and B. A. Israel, secretary. The school now has an average attendance of sixty.
CLAY TOWNSHIP.
In the first formation of voting precincts of the county in 1839, Skunk river precinct included all that portion of the county south of Skunk river. This included the territory now included in the bounds of Clay township, and the place of voting was at the house of Orson Kinsman. In April, 1840, there was a re-arrangement of the precinct whereby all south of Skunk river and east of Honey creek belonged to Brighton precinct, and all south of Skunk river and west.of Honey creek belonged to Richland precinct, part of which territory now belongs to Keokuk county. It will be seen from this that then Clay township was partly in Brighton precinct and partly in Richland precinct. When the county was divided into civil townships, in January, 1844, Clay township was forined and was composed of congressional township 74, range 9. This included a portion of country north of Skunk river which was subsequently detatched and included in the township of Dutch creek.
As before remarked, Clay township is the smallest in the county. It is also smallest in point of population, containing in 1875, according to the census of that year, a population of six hundred and ninety. Among the first settlers of this township were the following: Ellis Walters came in February, 1839; Moses Haskins came in April, 1839; Richard Disney came in October, 1839; Moses Haskins, Jr., came in August, 1839; Robert McCarty, came in September, 1839; H. T. Pringle came in April, 1839.
The first marriage was that of Ellis Walters to Elizabeth J. Edwards, July 1, 1840, Orson Kinsman, Esq., officiating. The first birth was that of William Disberry, a son of Richard and Mary A. Disberry, on September 25, 1840. The first deatlı was that of a Mr. Mitchell, who was buried at the Blue Point graveyard in Keokuk county. The first physician practicing medicine in Clay township was Dr. Van Pelt, who came from Indiana. He is now dead.
The first religious meetings were held by Rev. Mr. Crill, of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, in 1839. In 1841 Rev. Mr. Burnham, of the Con- gregational Church, preached in the bounds of the township. According to reporte, Ralph Dewey, formerly from Ohio, and now of Washington, taught the first school in the township, at a school-house about one mile west ot the east line of the township. In 1848 a school-house was erected at the first cross-roads west of Brighton, which cost the sum of $300. The
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
first cloth woven in the township was by the family of Robert Pringle. Clarissa Vance, now the wife of Dr. Yeoman, taught school in this town- ship at an early day. She received $1.50 per week for her services, and boarded around; she had at her first school 25 pupils; the school-house was located on the southwest corner of section 35. The present officers of the township are as follows:
Trustee-R. McCarty. Clerk-M. C. Atkinson. Assessor-J. R. Alter.
Justices of the Peace-Peter Whitmer and T. H. Smith.
A post-office by the name of Clay is located in this township on section 29. Brighton post-office is also accessible to all the southeast part of the township, and Valley post-office located at Paris, in Dutch Creek township, is easy of access to the people in the northwest part of the township.
CONGREGATIONALIST CHURCH.
The Congregationalist Church of Clay township was organized in July, 1842. M. B. Mills, Roswell S. Mills, John M. Waters, Margaret Waters, Samuel Cooper, Jane Cooper, and Margaret Edwards were the persons who first composed this organization. Marcellus Mcacham, who is now dead, was for many years a deacon of the Church, and it was probably due to his exertion and liberality more than to any cause that the church gained such a sure foothold on the township. This Church has furnished two young men to the ministry of the Congregationalist Church, viz., Harlow Mills and Win. Woodmansee. N. A. Woodford and David Draper are at present deacons, and A. P. Meacham, clerk. Rev. Charles Burnham, F. A. Arm- strong, Bennett Roberts, Robert Hunter, J. R. Kennedy, T. H. Holmes, D. B. Ells, Harvey Robinson, James Barnett, and William Bradford have been pastors of this Church in times past. Rev. M. M. Thompson is at present the pastor.
Ever since the organization of the Church there has been a Sunday-school in connection with it, which has prospered and exerted a mighty moral force in the whole surrounding country. The church membership numbers eighty-one. The church building is a frame structure.
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