The pioneer history of Pocahontas County, Iowa, from the time of its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 21

Author: Flickinger, Robert Elliott, b. 1846
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Fonda, Iowa, G. Sanborn
Number of Pages: 1058

USA > Iowa > Pocahontas County > The pioneer history of Pocahontas County, Iowa, from the time of its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 21

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who seems to have made his entry January 2, 1858, and renewed it July Smith and D. W. Hunt, were residents of the county only for a short time.

Smith had each selected a pre-emption claim on section 36, in what is now Des Moines township, and had built a

In selecting claims, Mr. Hait chose shanty on the line between them; and the southeast quarter of section 2, A. J. E. Craig had built a little cabin on H. Malcolm the NW}, Guernsey another claim located on section 26. Smith the NE} of the same section But none of these persons were occu- and Robert Struthers the NE# Sec. 12. pying their claims at thistime. Ben- Mr. Struthers during the summer jamin Evans and a trapper by the secured the breaking of considerable name of Weeks, both living in Hum- prairie and the next year the erection boldt county, were the nearest actual of a shanty, into which he moved with

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PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA.

his family in December, 1858. Messrs. lumber for it was hauled by teams A. H. Malcolm and Guernsey Smith from Nevada, Story county, at which erecting their shanties, began to oc- place the price paid was, for shingles, cupy them at once. They were some- $7.00 a thousand; flooring, $70.00 and what familiar with this section of finishing material $90.00 a thousand country, having passed through it feet. during the months of March and April of that year, while on the way to and from Spirit Lake, where they went as members of the Relief Expe- dition from Fort Dodge at the time of the Indian massacre that occurred March 8-11, 1857 .*

During the summer of that same year (1857) a man named Bates, located with his family on section 36. About the same time Samuel N. Harris and Edward Hammond arrived with their families, but both located for a year or two just across the line in Hum- boldt county.

Only two of those who located in the Des Moines settlement in May, Hait, in the fall of 1860, and when 1857, are still residents of the county, namely, W. H. Hait and A. H. Mal- colm.

"Only wild beasts, and men as wild, Were known to this fair valley then, But Nature in her beauty smiled, To greet another race of men."

William H. Hait is at present the owner and occupant of 280 acres on the St Sec. 26, Des Moines township. He has been the owner of his present farm for forty years and a resident of the township and county for forty- two years. Only Mr. and Mrs. Michael Walsh, Mrs. Charles Kelley, Mrs. Philip Russell, Mrs. Patrick Forey and M. T. Collins, of the Lizard set- tlement, and A. H. Malcolm, can tell of a residence in the county so long. The first house Mr. Hait erected on this farm in 1859, was of logs from the native timber and is still in ex- istence as a relic of the past. The large and comfortable house he now occupies was built in 1867, and the

Mr. Hait is a native of Ulster county, N. Y., where he remained in the home of his parents until he had attained the age of twenty-two years and, aft- er one year spent in Wisconsin, he came to Pocahontas county. In 1868, he married Helen M. Harvey, daugh- ter of Ora and Eliza Harvey, of Clin- ton township.

Miss Harvey, who at this date be- came his wife, had the honor to be the first school teacher in Pocahontas county and was also the first one to teach school in the first schoolhouse erected in the county. Her first term was taught in the log house of Mr.

the brick schoolhouse at Old Rolfe was built the year following, she taught the first term in it. Miss Har- vey had inherited a high degree of culture and refinement and had re- ceived a thorough academic education before coming to the frontier. It was but a natural sequence of these special qualifications that her work was very highly appreciated both by her pupils and patrons. She died December 27, 1887, and her remains were interred at Humboldt, where they lie beside those of her parents and of her only sister, Jennie S., who became the wife of Oscar F. Avery.

In the early history of this county, Mr. Hait was a leader in thought and action, and throughout his official career proved himself strictly honest and upright, or as another has ex- pressed it, "one of the best men who . ever held public office in Pocahontas county. "

At the first election, held March 15, 1859, for the organization of the county, he was elected Treasurer and Recorder of the county and performed

*Through the courtesy of the editors of the Reveille, Mr. Malcolm's own account of their thrilling experiences on this occasion, may be found on page 35.

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FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY.

the duties of these two public offices And he lives most who thinks most, during the first three years of the Feels the noblest and acts the best." county's history, 1859 to 1861. During Augustus H. Malcolm, who came to this county in 1857 with Mr. Hait and others, is now the owner and occu- .pant of the SE} Sec. 1, Clinton town- ship. On Sept. 9, 1859, he entered his pre-emption claim for lots 8 and 9, and SWł NWł Sec. 2, 93-31, (Des Moines township) 149 acres, receiving the patent for it Nov. 1, 1860. On these same dates his neighbor and friend, Guernsey Smith, entered and received the patent for lots 5 and 7, and SW} NE}, 149 acres, of the same section. the early part of this period there liv- ed in his home Oscar F. Avery, who on March 20, 1860, was appointed Superintendent of Public Schools, and thus became the first one to serve in that capacity in this county. On May 6, 1861, Mr. Avery having moved to his own farm just across the line in Humboldt county, Mr. Hait was appointed his successor and, as the second incumbent in the county, held the office of county superintendent un- til April 22, 1862, when he resigned, and Ora Harvey (father of Helen M.) was appointed his successor.

In the fall of 1864, Mr. Hait was elected Clerk of the District Court, but after appointing Philip Rus- sell, the previous incumbent, his dep- uty, a few months later he resigned the office in his favor. The next fall he was again elected County Treasurer. and served in that capacity during the four years, 1866 to 1869, making a period of seven years that he filled that office. At the first election, held March 15, 1859, Mr. Hait was elected township clerk, and on April 19th fol- lowing, he was appointed Assessor for the township which, during that year

for both of these offices, embraced the entire county. On October 12th, the same year, he qualified as a Jus- tice of the Peace. In Des Moines township he has rendered faithful service in all of the various offices, except those of constable and road su- pervisor. During the period of the war, 1862 to 1864, he served as deputy provost marshal of the 6th congression- al district which, extending from Black Hawk on the east and Carroll on the south, embraced thirty-three counties of Northwestern Iowa.

Mr. Hait has been one of those who He served five years as Clerk of Clinton believe

"We live in deeds, not years; In thoughts, not breaths;

On September 14, 1861, Mr. Malcolm married Mary A. Townsend, whose mother lived south of Fort Dodge. On August 23d, previous, he had en- listed at Old Rolfe, and a few days after his marriage he went to the army. At the time he was mustered in at Dubuque, Sept. 20, (1861) he was appointed Corporal, and later, Ser- geant of Co. A, 11th Reg. of Penn. Volunteer Cavalry, under command of Col. Samuel P. Spear, which formed a part of the 18th Corps of the Army of the Potomac, under Gen. McClellan. He continued in the military service of his country three years, or until Sept. 20, 1864, and participated in more than a dozen battles.

Mr. Malcolm took an active part in the organization of this county in 1859, and at the first election was chosen Clerk of the District Court, but did not qualify. On May 6, 1861, at the third session of the Board of County Supervisors, he was appointed Clerk of the Board and served in that ca- pacity until September 2d, following, when he went to the army. After his return he was elected and served as Clerk of the District Court of Poca- hontas county during the year 1866. township, and during 1869 and 1870 was a member of the Board of County Supervisors. Ora P. Malcolm, his

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PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA.

eldest son, is at present and for several McEwen, a sister of Wm. D. McEwen, years has been deputy Treasurer, and Esq. Their home at this time was in Fred A. Malcolm, the second, was a timber country, fifty miles south- County Surveyor during the four west of Montreal. Here his mother, years, 1894 to 1897.

Ellen Watson, died when he was seven

During his absence in the army his years of age, and his father, Andrew wife went to his friends in New York Struthers, in June, 1858; their family state, and after his discharge they having consisted of four sons-Robert, spent one year in Ohio. Making the who was the eldest; James, who lo- journey from Ohio to Old Rolfe by cated near West Bend, after seven team in the fall of 1865, they located years spent in Australia; Andrew, who on their present farm. on section 1, went to Nebraska, and William, who Clinton township. They have raised also became a resident of Des Moines a family of seven children, all of township, this county.

whom but two, have gone forth from

Robert Struthers, during the first the parental roof to found comfortable three years after his marriage was en- gaged in building railroad bridges in the Province of Ontario. At this pe- riod, which was but a few years be- fore the outbreak of the war of the rebellion, and about as many subse- quent to the transition from a terri- torial to a state government in Iowa, the attention of those seeking new

homes of their own. Mr. Malcolm has rendered honorable and faithful serv- ice to his country, both in the time of war and peace; and he has lived to see the desolate wilderness traversed by him and others with unspeakable hardships in the spring of 1857, trans- formed into a beautiful Eden, with fruitful fields conveniently connected homes was directed to the rich and with a network of magnificent rail- ways and dotted with numerous rap- idly growing towns and cities, and thousands of comfortable homes.

fertile but unoccupied prairies of this newly organized state. When the tide of emigration had reached the north central part of the state, Mr. "What hath he seen of change-this aged one --- and Mrs. Struthers decided to leave the associations of home and kindred As days unfolded and the years swept and seek their fortunes as pioneers of on?

First the prairie schooners On emigration's trail,

Then rough-hewn huts of settlers Besprinkling hill and dale;

The felling and the clearing,

The stretch of smiling farms; The tilling and the sowing,

The gathering into barns;

The schooling of the children,

The rising of church spires,

And the smoke of many fires."

this new and as they verily believed "better country." Accordingly, in January, 1857, they came to the Unit- ed States and began the journey to their frontier home in the West, in- tending to proceed direct to Fort Dodge; but owing to the severity of the winter and unusual drifts of snow, they stopped at Aurora, Ill., until the month of April, and then leaving there his wife and one child-William E .- Mr. Struthers passed to Dubuque (the terminus of the Illinois Central) by rail, and from thence to Fort Dodge by stage, paying for the latter form of transportation at the rate of seven cents a mile for the first 100 miles and

Robert Struthers, who in May, 1857, selected a pre-emption claim on Sec. 12, 93-31, (Des Moines township) was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, where he was born, Dec. 26, 1829. In April, 1831, he came with his parents to Chat eau gay' (Shat-o-gay') county, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, where nine cents for the second 100 miles. on March 19, 1853, he married Susan The amount of baggage carried' free

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FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY.

of charge was limited to forty pounds built that year on their claim in Des and all excess of that amount was Moines township. This shanty, 16x16 charged at the regular passenger rate feet, which was one of the first half- on an estimate of 150 pounds to the dozen in the settlement, and served as passenger. On this occasion there the family residence for fifteen years, were nine passengers in the stage and in 1873 was replaced by a fine, large they arrived at Fort Dodge on the 4th dwelling house that now stands, not day of May. The day of their arrival upon the wild, open prairie, but upon was one of public sale of government one of the most beautiful, highly im- lands in Hancock and Winnebago proved and best cultivated farms in counties. There were only a few the country. Here a sturdy family of buildings on the site of the present three sons and four daughters grew city of Fort Dodge and they were al- up around them, or went forth from ready filled to their utmost capacity, the parental roof to found new homes so that Mr. Struthers had to go a of their own. They continued to re- half-mile out of town to find a lodg- side here until 1893, when the vener- ing place. On that day he bought a able patriarch, accompanied by his quarter-section of land in Bingham wife and two members of the family, township, Hancock county, that he moved to Rolfe to spend the remain- continued to own as long as he lived. der of his days. The decease of his The sale on that day was called from faithful wife occurred in her 70th an open window and the street was year, June 9, 1897, and his own noble filled with a dense crowd of people for career was ended in his 69th year, a considerable distance around it. . Sabbath evening, September 18, 1898.

When he arrived at Cedar Falls he Mr. Struthers bought more land as received his first intelligence of the he was able but did not sell an acre, Spirit Lake massacre that had oc- and at the time of his decease in ad- curred two months before. At this dition to the home in Rolfe, was the place he encountered a number of covered wagons moving east, that were filled with frightened people who expected the Indians would soon raid the entire northwest part of the Price, on section 3, and Andrew J. state.

owner of 1240 acres of land most of which was located in Des Moines township, where two of his sons still reside; William E. married to Alice married to Etta Parkins, at the old

After locating his claim in Des home on section 12. The entry for Moines township and doing some work the 120 acres on the NE} of this sec- of improvement upon it, Mr. Struth- tion which he claimed as a home by ers bought a lot in Fort Dodge and right of pre-emption in May, 1857, erected a small house on it. Then, seems not to have been made until about the latter part of June, with a Nov. 16, 1866, and the patent for it mule team he returned to Dubuque was issued Nov. 20, 1883. His daugh- where he awaited the arrival of his ter Ellen, wife of Richard S. Mathers, family and household effects and load- who lives one mile east of Rolfe, was ing them in his wagon brought them the first white child born (January 1, thus to Fort Dodge. About two 1859) in the north part of the county. weeks were occupied in this trip Susan, married to Col. J. B. Kent; across the country and they were for- Grace, married to James McClure; tunate in having beautiful weather Maggie J. and Robert A. all reside at and good roads. After a residence of Rolfe.

one year in Fort Dodge, in the fall of During the first forty years of this 1858, they moved to the log shanty county's history this noble-minded

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PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA.

man was a conspicuous and influential ously. While serving in this capacity factor. He was a man whom neither he performed the first marriage cere- Indians, blizzards, grasshoppers nor mony in the north part of the county. even hard times could frighten from This wedding occurred July 18, 1861, his purpose "to found a home in the at the home of Samuel N. Harris, and west and grow up with the coun- the contracting parties were his daugh- try." He was a man of public spirit ter Elizabeth Harris and W. S. Fea- and rendered service in his own town- gels, a trapper, who later homesteaded ship and county in an official capacity, the SE} SE} Sec. 13, Des Moines for a longer period of years than any township.

other man in the county except pos-

Robert Struthers was the first per- sibly W. H. Hait. In 1859, at the son to receive a certificate of natural- time of the county's organization, he ization in this county and it was is- sued to him Jan. 3, 1860, at Highland City, (later Old Rolfe) by Samuel N. Harris, Clerk of the District Court. This certificate was recorded and reads as follows: was chosen one of the justices of the peace for the township which then embraced the county, and at the time of his decease in 1898, he was mayor of the city of Rolfe and a justice of the peace for Clinton township; and there

"Robert Struthers, a native of Scot- was not an intervening year he did not land, having resided five full years in

have some official duties to perform.

In the fall of 1859 he was elected county surveyor; for this office he was the first one to qualify and was the only incumbent of it during the next ten years. In 1865 and '66 he served two years as County Recorder.

In 1872-3 he had the honor to serve as the first representative from this county in the legislature of Iowa. The district then embraced Kossuth, Palo Alto, Pocahontas and Calhoun counties, and his election was secured without any opposition from an op- posing candidate. This legislature was distinguished by the fact it held two sessions. At the first session in 1872, there was adopted the present mode in Iowa of assessing and taxing the property of the railroads and Wm. B. Allison was elected to the U. S. senate. At the special session held in 1873, the Code of Iowa was arranged and prepared for publication later that same year.

the United States and one full year in the state of Iowa, immediately pre- ceding this date, and having made proof of being a man of good moral character and well disposed towards the institutions of this country, and having declared on oath that he has absolutely and entirely sundered and abjured all allegiance to any foreign king, prince, potentate, state or sov- ereignty whatsoever, and particularly to the Queen of Great Britain, of whom he was late a subject, and on oath declares that he will support the constitution and laws of the United States and the constitution of the State of Iowa, it was ordered that the said Robert Struthers be admit- ted a citizen of the United States of America."

In the spring of 1860, when the first school election was held, Mr. Struth- ers was chosen one of the three mem- bers of the first board of directors of the Des Moines district, which then embraced all of the county except what was included in the Lizard dis- trict. His intelligence and energy as a member of this board, enabled him

For fifteen years in succession, to exert such an influence that there 1878-1892, he was Assessor of Des has been accorded to him the honor Moines township; and from its organ- of being "The father of Pocahontas ization in 1859 to 1893, the year of his county's school system, and that it removal to Rolfe, he held the office of has become a worthy monument to Justice of the Peace almost continu- the memory of its founder."

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FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE COUNTY.

He had the honor to serve as chair- republican in politics while he resided man of the first republican conven- in Ontario in 1855, when that party tion held in this county; was chair- was organized in Philadelphia and man of the county central committee framed a platform in regard to slavery many years in succession in the early and the protection of American in- days and, with a single exception, at- dustries that received his hearty en- tended every republican county con- dorsement. His political principles vention held previous to 1881.

When the Pocahontas County Bible harmonize as nearly as possible with Society was organized at Old Rolfe the teachings of divine revelation, in 1867, he became a loyal supporter of and when he cast his ballot it was for it and served as president of that or- the support of the principles of truth, ganization from that year until the justice, honor and righteousness. time of his decease, a period of thirty- Such a man resents with scorn the one years.

Hon. James F. Wilson, late U. S. stable reeds by the political winds senator from Iowa, addressing a pub- that blow from one direction today lic meeting held in this county, at and from another tomorrow.

which he was presiding, paid him the compliment that like others of his countrymen, "Robert Struthers was a hardy son of toil, raised on oatmeal and the Shorter Catechism."

Dr. Johnson, the well-known Eng- of marked intelligence, affable, hos- lish writer, referring to this plain diet pitable, had a good memory that re- of his neighbors once rather wittily tained with distinctness the incidents described oats as, "In Scotland food of early days and no one stood as his for Scotchmen, but in England food superior in honesty of purpose and in- for horses." He was well answered tegrity of character. When called however, by the indignant Scotchman upon to decide matters between who replied, "Yes, and where can neighbors, a circumstance of frequent you find such men as in Scotland or occurrence, his decisions were always such horses as in England."

Mr. Struthers was a man of very positive convictions in matters relat- ing to religion, morality and politics. He was a firm believer in the inspira- struggle for a start in life. tion and authority of the Bible as the

His estimable wife, who shared Word of God, and both in business with him the privations and trials of and politics, forced the question, "Is frontier life, shared also with him this right or is it wrong?" He was a the noble sentiments that animated total abstainer from the use of all in- his life and to which he gave the toxicating liquors, (the first it has more public utterance, "She was a been said, in the county) and believ- true wife to true husband, clothing ing it to be the duty of the state to herself afresh to his heart as her prohibit the traffic in them wherever beauty faded, with a new beauty that it was possible, he was always ready was to be appreciated rather than both to defend and advocate the cause seen."

of legal suasion. He was a man of practical ideas and methods. Accord- ing to his own statement he became a

were subordinated to and made to

idea that he can be swayed like un-

Few such men are to be found in any country. He was an uncut dia- mond without the polish of a finished education or skill in the convention- alities of this life, yet he was a man

tempered with justice. And as a friend to the young he has left his memory indelibly stamped on all who came in contact with him in their

Fearless they lived, fearless they died, Battling always for truth and right- eousness;

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PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA.

Building monuments of worthy deeds, to Summit county, Ohio-later to Fortune upon them graciously smiled, And domestic bliss was also vouch- safed.

1858 AND 1859.

During the two years 1858 and 1859, a number of new families located in the Des Moines settlement, among whom were David Slosson, John A. James, Perry Nowlen, Henry and William Jarvis, Ora Harvey, O. F. Avery, James Edelman, Hank Brown and John Straight.

David Slosson, in May, 1858, came to Pocahontas county, with a family con- sisting of his wife, Esther Vaughan, who died in 1875, three sons-Oscar, Orlando and Edmond-all of whom were young men, and one daughter, Ann, who became the wife of Romeyn B. Fish and is still a resident of the county. On his arrival, David Slos- son located on section 26, and on Sep- tember 28, 1858, entered his pre- emption claim for lots 1 and 2 and the Wł NE} of that section, containing 158 acres. His eldest son, Oscar SIos- son, December 8, 1860, entered as a pre-emption the SE Sec. 24, 160 acres, same township, and received the pat- ent for it June 1, 1861; and Orlando, the second son, on January 18, 1868, entered as a homestead the NW} Sec. 26, 160 acres, same township and re- ceived the patent for it September 1, 1869.

His administration of the affairs of this county, though limited to a peri- od less than one year, was unusually eventful and has been rendered mem- David Slosson was the son of David and Esther (Vaughan) Slosson, his fa- ther being of Welsh and his mother of English descent. He was a native of Vermont, where he was born March 11, 1811, near Grand Isle. He received orable by three important contracts that were concluded by him in behalf of the county. These contracts re- lated to the erection of the first court house at Old Rolfe, the construction of the first bridge over the Des Moines a good common school education, and river and the special survey of the when quite young moved to New York state, where he learned the shoemakers' trade.

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The pioneer history of Pocahontas County, Iowa, from the time of its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 21

Author: Flickinger, Robert Elliott, b. 1846 Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Fonda, Iowa, G. Sanborn Number of Pages: 1058

Author: Flickinger, Robert Elliott, b. 1846
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Fonda, Iowa, G. Sanborn
Number of Pages: 1058