Biographical and historical record of Greene and Carroll counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state and a concise history of the two counties and their cities and villages, Part 10

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 728

USA > Ohio > Greene County > Biographical and historical record of Greene and Carroll counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state and a concise history of the two counties and their cities and villages > Part 10
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > Biographical and historical record of Greene and Carroll counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state and a concise history of the two counties and their cities and villages > Part 10

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Cleveland, who was distinguished as a writer and member of the Connecticut Legislature) was Grover Cleveland's grand- father. William Cleveland became a silver- smith in Norwich, Connecticut. He ac- quired by industry some property and sent his son, Richard Cleveland, the father of Grover Cleveland, to Yale College, where he graduated in 1824. During a year spent in teaching at Baltimore, Maryland, after graduation, he met and fell in love with a Miss Annie Neale, daughter of a wealthy Baltimore book publisher, of Irish birth. He was earning his own way in the world at the time and was unable to marry; but in three years he completed a course of preparation for the ministry, secured a church in Windham, Connecticut, and married Annie Neale. Subsequently he moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he preached for nearly two years, when he was summoned to Caldwell, New Jersey, where was born Grover Cleveland.

When he was three years old the family moved to Fayetteville, Onondaga County, New York. Here Grover Cleveland lived until he was fourteen years old, the rugged, healthful life of a country boy. His frank, generous manner made him a favorite among his companions, and their respect was won by the good qualities in the germ which his manhood developed. He at- tended the district school of the village and

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was for a short time at the academy. His father, however, believed that boys should be taught to labor at an early age, and be- fore he had completed the course of study at the academy he began to work in the village store at $50 for the first year, and the promise of $1oo for the second year. His work was well done and the promised in- crease of pay was granted the second year.

Meanwhile his father and family had moved to Clinton, the seat of Hamilton College, where his father acted as agent to the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, preaching in the churches of the vicinity. Hither Grover came at his father's request shortly after the beginning of his second year at the Fayetteville store, and resumed his studies at the Clinton Academy. After three years spent in this town, the Rev. Richard Cleveland was called to the vil- lage church of Holland Patent. He had preached here only a month when he was suddenly stricken down and died without an hour's warning. The death of the father left the family in straitened circumstances, as Richard Cleveland had spent all his salary of $1,000 per year, which was not required for the necessary expenses of liv- ing, upon the education of his children, of whom there were nine, Grover being the fifth. Grover was hoping to enter Hamil- ton College, but the death of his father made it necessary for him to earn his own livelihood. For the first year (1853-'4) he acted as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in the Institution for the Blind in New York City, of which the late Augustus Schell was for many years the patron. In the winter of 1854 he returned to Holland Patent where the generous people of that place, Fayetteville and Clinton, had purchased a home for his mother, and in the following spring, borrowing $25, he set out for the West to earn his living.

Reaching Buffalo he paid a hasty visit to an uncle, Lewis F. Allen, a well-known

stock farmer, living at Black Rock, a few miles distant. He communicated his plans to Mr. Allen, who discouraged the idea of the West, and finally induced the enthusi- astic boy of seventeen to remain with him and help him prepare a catalogue of blooded short-horn cattle, known as " Allen's Amer- ican Herd Book," a publication familiar to all breeders of cattle. In August, 1855, he entered the law office of Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, at Buffalo, and after serving a few months without pay, was paid $4 a week-an amount barely sufficient to meet the necessary expenses of his board in the family of a fellow-student in Buffalo, with whom he took lodgings. Life at this time with Grover Cleveland was a stern battle with the world. He took his breakfast by candle-light with the drovers, and went at once to the office where the whole day was spent in work and study. Usually he re- turned again at night to resume reading which had been interrupted by the duties of the day. Gradually his employers came to recognize the ability, trustworthiness and capacity for hard work in their young employe, and by the time he was admitted to the bar (1859) he stood high in their con- fidence. A year later he was made confi- dential and managing clerk, and in the course of three years more his salary had been raised to $1,000. In 1863 he was ap- pointed assistant district attorney of Erie County by the district attorney, the Hon. C. C. Torrance.

Since his first vote had been cast in 1858 he had been a staunch Democrat, and until he was chosen Governor he always made it his duty, rain or shine, to stand at the polls and give out ballots to Democratic voters. During the first year of his term as assistant district attorney, the Democrats desired especially to carry the Board of Su- pervisors. The old Second Ward in which he lived was Republican ordinarily by 250 majority, but at the urgent request of the

GROVER CLEVELAND.

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party Grover Cleveland consented to be the Democratic candidate for Supervisor, and came within thirteen votes of an elec- tion. The three years spent in the district attorney's office were devoted to assiduous labor and the extension of his professional attainments. He then formed a law part- nership with the late Isaac V. Vanderpoel, ex-State Treasurer, under the firm namc of Vanderpoel & Cleveland. Here the bulk of the work devolved on Cleveland's shoul- ders, and he soon won a good standing at the bar of Erie County. In 1869 Mr. Cleveland formed a partnership with ex- Senator A. P. Laning and ex-Assistant United States District Attorney Oscar Fol- som, under the firm name of Laning, Cleve- land & Folsom. During these years he began to earn a moderate professional in- come; but the larger portion of it was sent to his mother and sisters at Holland Patent to whose support he had contributed ever since 1860. He served as sheriff of Erie County, 1870-'4, and then resumed the practice of law, associating himself with the Hon. Lyman K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell.

The firm was strong and popular, and soon commanded a large and lucrative practice. Ill health forced the retirement of Mr. Bass in 1879, and the firm became Cleveland & Bissell. In 1881 Mr. George J. Sicard was added to the firm.

In the autumn election of 1881 he was elected mayor of Buffalo by a majority of over 3,500-the largest majority ever given a candidate for mayor-and the Democratic city ticket was successful, although the Republicans carried Buffalo by over 1,000 majority for their State ticket. Grover Cleveland's administration as mayor fully justified the confidence reposed in him by the people of Buffalo, evidenced by the great vote he received.

The Democratic State Convention met at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, and nomi. nated Grover Cleveland for Governor on the third ballot and Cleveland was elected by 192,000 majority. In the fall of 1884 he was elected President of the United States by about 1,000 popular majority, in New York State, and he was accordingly inaugurated the 4th of March following.

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HISTORY OF IOWA.

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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTON ENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS. ـــفـــ

IOWA STATE HOUSE AT DES MOINES

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HISTORY OF IOWA

History of lowa.

ABORIGINAL.

HE race or races who occupied this beau- tiful prairie country before the advent of the whites from Eu- rope had no litera- ture, and therefore have left us no history of themselves. Not even tra- ditions, to any extent, have been handed down to us. Hence, about all we know of the Indians, previous to explorations by the whites, is derived from mounds and a few simple relics.

The mounds were erected by a people generally denominated Mound Builders, but whether they were a distinct race from the Indians is an unsettled ques- tion. Prof. Alex. Winchell, of the Michigan State University, as well as a number of other investigators, is of the opinion that those who built mounds, mined copper and iron, made elaborate implements of war, agriculture and domestic economy, and built houses and substantial villages, etc., were no other than the ancestors of the present Indians, who, like the ancient Greeks and Romans, were more skilled in 10

the arts of life than their successors during the middle ages. Most people have their periods of decline, as well as those of prog- ress. The Persians, Hindoos and Chinese, although so long in existence as distinct nations, have been for ages in a state of de- cay. Spain and Italy do not improve, while Germany, Russia and the United States have now their turn in enjoying a rapid rise. Similarly, the Indians have long been on the decline in the practical arts of life. Even since the recent days of Feni- more Cooper, the " noble " red men have degenerated into savages, despite the close contact of the highest order of civilization.

Nearly all modern authorities unite in the opinion that the. American continent was first peopled from Eastern Asia, either by immigration across Behring's Strait or by shipwrecks of sailors from the Kamt- schatkan and Japanese coast. If mankind originated at the north pole, and subsc- quently occupied an Atlantic continent, now submerged, it is possible that the American Indians are relics of polar or Atlantic races.

The ancient race which built the towns and citics of Mexico and the Western United States is called the Aztec, and even of them is scarcely anything known save

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HISTORY OF IOWA.

what can be learned from their buried structures. The few inscriptions that are found seem to be meaningless.

Indian mounds are found throughout the United States cast of the Rocky Mountains, but are far more abundant in some places than others. In this State they abound near the principal rivers. They vary in size from a few to hundreds of feet in diameter, and from three to fifteen or more feet in height. They are generally round, or nearly so, but in a few notable exceptions they bear a rude resemblance in their outline to the figure of some animal. Their contents are limited, both in quantity and variety, and consist mainly of human bones, stone implements, tobacco pipes, beads, etc. The stone implements are axes, skinning knives, pestles and mortars, arrow points, etc. The human bones are often found in a mass as if a number of corpses had been buried together, and indicate that their possessors were interred in a sitting posture. Judge Samuel Murdock, of Elkader, this State, who has made this subject a special study for many years, is of the opinion that these remains are not of subjects who were inhumed as corpses, but of persons who, under the influence of a savage religion, voluntarily sacrificed themselves by under- going a burial when alive.

CAUCASIAN.

The first member of this race to discover the Mississippi River was Ferdinand De Soto, a Spaniard, who explored the region of the Lower Mississippi in 1541, but came no farther north than the 35th parallel. He founded no settlements, nor was he ever followed by others of his country to make settlements, and hence Spain lost her title to the country which she had earned by discovery through her subject, De Soto. At a subsequent period a Frenchman re- discovered the realm, took possession of it in the name of France, and his fellow

countrymen soon followed and effected actual settlements. Accordingly, in 1682, France claimed the country, and, accord- ing to the usage of European nations, earned a proper title to the same. The re- sult was a collision between those two na- tions, success finally crowning the efforts of France.

In a grand council of Indians, on the shore of Lake Superior, they told the Frenchmen glowing stories of the " Father oi Waters" and of the adjacent country, and in 1669 Jacques Marquette, a zealous and shrewd Jesuit missionary, became in- spired with the idea of visiting this re- gion, in the interests of civilization. After studying the language and customs of the Illinois Indians until 1673, he made prep- arations for the journey, in which he was to be accompanied by Louis Joliet, an agent of the French Government. The Indians, who had gathered in large numbers to wit- ness his departure, endeavored to dissuade him from the undertaking, representing that the Indians of the Mississippi Valley were cruel and bloodthirsty. The great river itself, they said, was the abode of terrible monsters which could swallow men, canoes and all. But the shrewd missionary, already aware of Indian extravagance in descrip- tion, set out upon the contemplated jour- ney May 13. With the aid of two Miami guides he proceeded to the Wisconsin River, and down that stream to the Mis- sissippi. Floating down the latter he dis- covered, on the 25th of June, traces of Indians on the west bank, and landed. This was at a point a little above the mouth of the Des Moines River, and thus a Euro- pean first trod the soil of Iowa. After re. maining a short time and becoming ac- quainted with the red man as he then and there exhibited himself, he proceeded down to the mouth of the Illinois, thence up that river and by Lake Michigan to the French settlements.

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HISTORY OF IOWA.

Nine years later, in 1682, Rene Robert Cavelier La Salle descended the Missis- sippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and in the name of the King of France took formal posses- sion of all the Mississippi Valley, naming it Louisiana, in honor of his king, Louis XIV. The river itself he named Colbert, in honor of the French minister. Soon afterward the Government of France began to en- courage the establishment of a line of trad- ing posts and missionary stations through- out the West from Canada to Louisiana, and this policy was maintained with par- tial success for about seventy-five years. Christian zeal animated both France and England in missionary enterprise, the former in the interests of Catholicism and the latter in favor of Protestantism. Hence their haste to pre-occupy the land and prosc- lyte the aborigines; but this ugly rivalry dis- gusted the Indians and they refused to be converted to either branch of Christianity. The traders also persisted in importing whisky, which canceled nearly every civ. ilizing influence that could be brought to bear upon the savages. Another character- istic of Indian nature was to listen atten- tively to all that the missionary said, pre- tending to believe all he preached, and then offer in turn his theory of the world, of re- ligion, etc .; and, not being listened to with the same degree of attention and pretense of belief, would depart from the white man's presence in disgust. This was his idea of the golden rule.

Comparatively few Indians were perma- nently located within the present bounds of the State of Iowa. Favorite hunting grounds were resorted to by certain bands for a time, and afterward by others, subject to the varying fortunes of their little wars. The tribes were principally the Illinois, Iowas, Dakotas, Sioux, Pottawatomies and finally the Sacs and Foxes.

In 1765 the Miami confederacy was com- posed of four tribes, whose total number

of warriors was estimated at only 1,050 men. Of these about 250 were Twightwees, or Miamis proper; 300 Weas, or Oniate- nons; 300 Piankeshaws and 200 Shockeys; but their headquarters were along the Maumec River, in Indiana and Ohio.

From 1688 to 1697 the wars in which France and England were engaged re- tarded the growth of their American colo- nies. The efforts made by France to connect Canada and the Gulf of Mexicoby a chain of trading posts and colonies nat- urally excited the jealousy of England and gradually laid the foundation for a struggle at arms. The crisis came and the contest obtained the name of the French and Indian war, the French and Indians combining against the English. The war was termi- nated in 1763 by a treaty at Paris, by which France ceded to Great Britain all of North America cast of the Mississippi, except the island on which New Orleans is situated. The preceding autumn France ceded to Spain all the country west of that river.

In 1765 the total number of French fami- hes within the limits of the Northwest Ter- ritory did not probably exceed 600. These were in settlements about Detroit, along the river Wabash and the neighborhood of Fort Chartres on the Mississippi. The colonial policy of the British Government opposed any measures which might strengthen settlements in the interior of this country, lest they should become self- supporting and consequently independent of the mother country. Hence the settle- ment of the Northwest was still further retarded. That short-sighted policy con- sisted mainly in holding the lands in the possession of the Government, and not allowing it to be subdivided and sold to those who would become settlers. After the establishment of American indepen- dence, and especially under the administra- tion of Thomas Jefferson, both as Governor of Virginia and President of the United

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the

States, subdivision of land and giving it to actual settlers rapidly peopled this portion of the Union, so that the Northwest Terri- tory was formed and even subdivided into other Territories and States before the year 1820.

For more than 100 years after Marquette and Joliet trod the virgin soil of Iowa and admired its fertile plains, not a single settle- ment was made or attempted ; not even a trading-post was established. During this time the Illinois Indians, once a powerful tribe, gave up the entire possession of this " Beautiful Land," as Iowa was then called, to the Sacs and Foxes. In 1803, when Louisiana was purchased by the United States, the Sacs, Foxes and lowas pos- sessed this entire State, and the two for- mer tribes occupied also most of the State of Illinois. The four most important towns of the Sacs were along the Mississippi, two on the east side, one near the mouth of the Upper Iowa and one at the head of the Des Moines Rapids, near the present site of Montrose. Those of the Foxes were- one on the west side of the Mississippi just above Davenport, one about twelve miles from the river back of the Dubuque lead mines and one on Turkey River. The principal village of the Iowas was on the Des Moines River, in Van Buren County, where Iowaville now stands. Here the last great battle between the Sacs and Foxes and the Iowas was fought, in which Black Hawk, then a young man, commanded the attacking forces.

The Sioux had the northern portion of this State and Southern Minnesota. They were a fierce and war-like nation, who often disputed possessions with their rivals in savage and bloody warfare; but finally a boundary line was established between them by the Government of the United States, in a treaty held at Prairie du Chien in 1825. This, however, became the occa- sion of an increased number of quarrels be-

tween the tribes, as each trespassed, or was thought to trespass, upon the other's side of the line. In 1830, therefore, the Govern- ment created a forty-mile neutral strip of land between them, which policy proved to be more successful in the interests of peace.

Soon after the acquisition of Louisiana by our Government, the latter adopted meas- ures for the exploration of the new terri- tory, having in view the conciliation of the numerous tribes of Indians by whom it was possessed, and also the selection of proper sites for military posts and trading stations.

The Army of the West, General Wilkin- son commanding, had its headquarters at St. Louis. From this post Captains Lewis and Clarke, in 1805, were detailed with a sufficient force to explore the Missouri River to its source, and Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike to ascend to the head of the Missis- sippi. August zo the latter arrived within the present limits of Iowa, at the foot of the Des Moines Rapids, where he met William Ewing, who had just been appointed Indian Agent at this point, a French interpreter, four chiefs and fifteen Sac and Fox war- riors. At the head of the rapids, where Montrose now is, Pike held a council with the Indians, merely for the purpose of stat- ing to them that the President of the United States wished to inquire into the needs of the red man, with a view of suggesting remedies.

On the 23d he reached what is supposed from his description to be the site of Bur- lington, which place he designated for a post; but the station, probably by some mistake, was afterward placed at Fort Madi- son. After accidentally separating from his men and losing his way, suffering at one time for six days for want of food, and after many other mishaps Lieutenant Pike over- took the remainder of the party at the point now occupied by Dubuque, who had gone on up the river hoping to overtake him. At that point Pike was cordially received by

ANVEWUAAAM ...

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HISTORY OF IOWA.

Julien Dubuque, a Frenchman who held a mining claim under a grant from Spain, but was not disposed to publish the wealth of his possessions. Having an old field-piece with him, however, he fired a salute in honor of the first visit of an agent from the United States to that part of the country, and Pike pursued his way up the river.

At what was afterward Fort Snelling, Minnesota, Lieutenant Pike held a council with the Sioux September 23, and obtained from them a grant of 100,000 acres of land. January 8 following (1806) he arrived at a trading post on Lake De Sable, belonging to the Northwestern Fur Company, whose field of operations at that time included this State. Pike returned to St. Louis the fol- lowing spring, after making a successful expedition.

Before this country could be opened for settlement by the whites, it was necessary that Indian title should be extinguished and the aboriginal owners removed. When the Government assumed control of the country by virtue of the Louisiana purchase, nearly the whole State was in possession of the Sacs and Foxes, at whose head stood the rising Black Hawk. November 3, 1804, a treaty was concluded with these tribes by which they ceded to the United States the Illinois side of the great river, in consider- ation of $2,234 worth of goods then de- livered, and an annuity of $1,000 to be paid in goods at cost ; but Black Hawk always maintained that the chiefs who entered into that compact acted without authority, and that therefore the treaty was not binding.

The first fort erected on Iowa soil was at Fort Madison. A short time previously a military post was fixed at what is now Warsaw, Illinois, and named Fort Edwards. These enterprises caused mistrust among the Indians. Indeed, Fort Madison was located in violation of the treaty of 1804. The Indians sent delegations to the whites at these forts to learn what they were do-

ing, and what they intended. On being "informed" that those structures were merely trading-posts, they were incredu- lous and became more and more suspicious. Black Hawk therefore led a party to the vicinity of Fort Madison and attempted its destruction, but a premature attack by him caused his failure.

In 1812, when war was declared between this country and Great Britain, Black Hawk and his band allied themselves to the British, partly because they were dazzled by their specious promises, but mostly, perhaps, be- cause they had been deceived by the Amer- icans. Black Hawk said plainly that the latter fact was the cause. A portion of the Sacs and Foxes, however, headed by Keo- kuk (" watchful fox"), could not be per- suaded into hostilities against the United States, being disposed to abide by the treaty of 1804. The Indians were there- fore divided into the "war" and the " peace " parties. Black Hawk says he was informed, after he had gone to the war, that his people, left on the west side of the river, would be defenseless against the United States forces in case they were at- tacked; and, having all the old men, the women and the children on their hands to provide for, a council was held, and it was determined to have the latter go to St. Louis and place themselves under the "American" chief stationed there. Ac- cordingly they went down, and were re- ceived as the " friendly band " of Sacs and Foxes, and were provided for and sent up the Missouri River.

On Black Hawk's return from the British army, he says that Keokuk was introduced to him as the war chief of the braves then in the village. On inquiry as to how he became chief, there were given him the particulars of his having killed a Sioux in battle, which fact placed him among the warriors, and of his having headed an ex- pedition in defense of their village at Peoria,

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In person Keokuk was tall and of portly bearing, and in speech he was an orator. He did not master the English language, however, and his interpreters were never able to do him justice. Ile was a friend of our Government, and always endeavorcd to persuade the Indians that it was useless to attack a nation so powerful as that of the United States.

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Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 728

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 728