USA > South Dakota > Jerauld County > A history of Jerauld county, South Dakota > Part 8
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The affairs of the county now reached a condition where it was necessary that the various county offices should be filled and on the 18th of January the following appointments were announced:
Surveyor-J. A. McFarlane.
Treasurer-W. J. Williams.
Assessor-L. G. Wilson.
Probate Judge-H. M. Rice.
Register of Deeds-T. L. Blank.
For surveyor the appointee, Mr. McFarlane, was not a candidate and declined to qualify.
At this meeting a bill for $6.25, express charges on the supplies re- ceived from Perkins Bros., ordered Nov. 10, 1883, was presented by C. W. McDonald and allowed. For this bill warrant No. I was issued. It was cashed by Mr. Melcher at par and was paid and cancelled a few weeks later and is now in the possession of Mr. McDonald.
The county seat propositions by the various parties was combined and presented to the board as follows, under date of January 18, 1884:
The commissioners' record was published in the Wessington Springs Herald is as follows.
"On motion the combined proposition of Mrs. R. J. Smart and A. B. Smart and D. A. Scott on the part of the townsite proprietors and Hiram: Blowers and George Bateman was accepted," but the acceptance does not appear of record.
On motion the county attorney was instructed to draw the necessary paper in reference to the combined proposition.
COMBINED PROPOSITION.
Hiram Blowers offers to give two lots to the county to be selected by the commissioners and another to be selected by himself. George Bate- man offers to give one acre on one of the two corners nearest the town- site, or anywhere along the west line of the NW quarter NE quarter section 18, township 107, range 64, to be selected by the commissioners.
Proposition of Smart and Scott-The blocks and lots to be given are to be platted and numbered so as to make block A as the court house block located north of black 2, SW of equal size with it the south part and block 4 and block 5 in the townsite of Wessington Springs to be given by the townsite proprietors and the north part of block C together
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with block I and three on the SE quarter SE quarter section 12, town- ship 107, range 65 as designated by the plats shown in connection with the proposition offered, the stone with which to build the buildings, granite, limestone, sandstone, to be given by A. B. Smart and Mrs. R. J. Smart, all this property used only for the purpose of providing the county with a proper set of county buildings. These buildings to be built as soon as practicable in the judgment of the commissioners.
Provided, that if any part of the above specified gifts are ever used for the purpose of buying, selling, manufacturing or using intoxicants as a beverage or in any way helping the same, then, in that case, such part shall revert to the original donor.
January 26th the board estimated that the cost of running the county one year would be between $500 and $1000, and instructed the chairman and clerk to see what arrangements could be made to get banks or indi- viduals to cash warrants for current expenses. Though no arrangement was perfected, it is probable that the effort kept the county warrants at a reasonable discount.
The board now began to look about for a building to be used by the register of deeds for an office, and for general county purposes. The chairman was authorized to receive sealed bids for the construction of a building 12x20 feet in size, with 8 foot ceiling.
On Feb. 4th the first petition for civil township organization was presented by a number of the voters of township 108-65. The petition was filed and never heard of again.
An order made by the commissioners on the 5th day of February established the road districts of the county to correspond in size and number with the school townships and appointed road overseers for the different districts as follows :
No. 1-J. M. Corbin.
No. 2-E. S. Waterbury.
No. 3-Wm. Niemeyer.
No 4-Jeff Sickler.
No. 5-Mark Williams.
No. 6-Elliott L. Sawyer.
No 7-C. W. Hill. No. 8-H. Blowers. No. 9-T. K. Ford.
No. 10-Isaac Pearce.
No. 11-Sever Starkey.
No. 12-Nicholas Steichen,
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As the time for the school township election approached the matter of providing for it occupied the attention of the board. Twelve ballot boxes were ordered made and distributed to the various precincts. Bal- lots also were ordered printed and paid for by the county. No one seemed to think but that the county having ordered the election and furnished the boxes, was logically bound to provide the ballots. So McDonald & Bateman were paid five dollars to print 1000 ballots 3x4 inches in size containing the following printed form:
For Name
For Director
For Clerk
For Treasurer
They had no thought that they were applying the fundamental prin- ciple of a system that in a few years would be in use throughout the nation.
The cattle industry of the county had by this time become so ini- portant that the stockgrowers desired the appointment of a branding com- mittee. The board named R. S. Vessey, Joseph O'Brien and the register of deeds, who' entered upon their duties at once.
During this day's session, Feb. 5th, the first negative vote by a mem- ber of the board was cast by the chairman on the proposition to instruct the deputy register of deeds to transcribe records of the commissioners' proceedings into the book procured by the county for that purpose. The motion carried by the vote of the other members of the board.
At this time there was located on the ground now occupied by the Oliver hotel, a small building, about 14x20 feet in size, built by private subscription in the summer of 1883 for school purposes. This building was offered to the county at cost by the builders on the 5th day of February, 1884. On the 6th the commisioners closed a deal for the structure and the school which was then in progress was moved to the residence of Hiram Blowers, a short distance northeast of town. This was the first building owned by Jerauld county and since then no rent has been paid for court room, or offices for public officials.
On the same day a resolution introduced by Mr. Melcher was adopted unanimously that no saloon license should be issued during the existence of that board. The same policy was pursued by each succeed- ing board until 1887, and has been the general policy of the county ever since. The prevailing sentiment of this people has been that any com- munity that depends for its prosperity upon the establishment of resorts of vice and crime, has something inately wrong in its make-up.
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Chapter 6.
The register of deeds moved into the school hhouse immediately after its purshace by the commissioners and on the 19th day af February, 1884, the board held its first meeting there. This meeting was a special one called by the county clerk for the purpose of appointing a surveyor, Mr. McFarlane having declined the position.
The next day, the 20th, on the motion of Mr. Melcher, H. J. Wallace was given the appointment.
The next meeting of the board was on March 5th for the purpose of canvassing the returns of the elections held in the various townships on the 23rd of February. The following is the result in the various town- ships :
No. I .-- Director, W. S. Scofield ; clerk, J. M. Corbin ; treasurer, Am- brose Baker. All the officers were elected without opposition. Name, Marlar, 13; Rock, 8. The township was named in honor of Wm. Marlar, one of the first settlers in the township.
No. 2 .- (The board made the following minutes) : The election was declared void on account of returns, showing that Henry E. Merwin had served both as judge and clerk of election; also the returns show that, there is a tie in the choice of name for the township and by affidavits received at this office the clerk elect in township No. 2 was not eligible. Therefore the board desires that the people settle these questions.
No. 3 .- J. A. Riegal and D. B. Paddock each received five votes, but Paddock declined and Riegal qualified as director; clerk, H. A. Frick ; treasurer, J. Long. Name, Lake ,5; May, 2; Alexander, 2; Banner, I ; - Freemont, I.
No. 4 .- Director, O. O. England; clerk, Wm. Murphy ; treasurer, C. G. Smith. Name, Harmony, 12; Richland, 5; Clyde, I. The name was proposed by J. H. Shepard, who at that time had a pre-emption resi- dence on the northwest quarter of section ten of that township (108- 66). Quite a little friction had developed among the settlers of that precinct in which lived a good many Quakers. The name "Harmony" appealed to their love of peace and good will and most of them cast their votes accordingly. It was afterward learned that Mr. Shepard had proposed the name in honor of his home postoffice in Chautauqua county, New York.
No. 5 .- Director, I. Byam; clerk, B. R. Shimp; treasurer, Samuel Marlenee. Name, Pleasant Valley, 15; Maud, 10; Minnie Todd, 3; Todd, 1; Minnie, I; Columbia, I ; Excelsior, I. The township was named "Pleasant Valley" because of the fact that it lies across one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys in the whole territory. The territorial
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auditor, when the name was certified to him, rejected it as too long, and the board struck off the word "Valley" and christened the township "Pleasant," by which name it has since been officially known.
No. 6 .- Director, Joseph O'Brien ; clerk, B. F. Jones; treasurer, Z. S. Moulton. Name, Custer, 23; Crow Lake, 15.
No. 7 .- Director, W. T. Hay; clerk, G. W. Bartow; treasurer, E. W. Chapman. Name, Dale, 29; Chery, 14. The name was suggested by Andrew Mercer, who with several other settlers had met at the residence of H. J. Wallace on the morning of the election to talk mat- ters over. During the talk a little boy in knee pants was playing about the house. Mercer inquired the name of the boy. Being informed that it was "Dale" he remarked, "Boys, that's a good name for our town- ship," and the name was adopted. The boy was Dale C. Wallace, after- ward treasurer and still a resident of Jerauld county.
No. 8 .- Director, J. N. Cross ; clerk, Geo. R. Bateman ; treasurer, Wm. Hawthorne. Name, Wessington Springs, 39; Springs, I.
The name was derived from the famous springs that flow from the foot of the hills. Who named the springs is not known. Wessington was a trapper who visited the hills and was killed in 1862 by the Indians in the grove by the big spring. Mr. Cross, after qualifying resigned and on the 24th of April Mr. Hazard appointed K. S. Starkey in his place.
No. 9 .- Director, Samuel Moore; clerk, Wm. R. Day; treasurer, Chas. Walters. Name, Viola, 22; Butler, 19; Sabrina, I. The name adopted was in honor of Mrs. Viola Moss, a sister of Rev. J. N. Smith.
No. 10 .- Director, Walt Suerth; clerk, Rueben J. Eastman ; treasurer, L. N. Loomis. Name, Alpena, 51; Newside, 3; Newark, I. The town- ship was named from the village located there.
No. II .- Director, Joseph Doctor ; clerk, David M. Black ; treasurer, W. P. Pierce. Name, Franklin, 27. The name is in honor of Mr. L. E. Franklin, one of the early settlers.
No. 12 .- Director, A. I. Churchill ; clerk, O. A. Knudtson ; treasurer, Joseph Steichen. Name, Lincoln, 51; Washington, 2; Black, I.
After completing the canvass of the returns the board of commis- sioners ordered a new election for district No. 2, to be held on the 18th of March, 1884, but made no appointment of officers of election. Polling place again designated as Herring & Rice's store in the town of Wa- terbury.
Another special session of the board was held on the 27th day of March for the purpose of settling with C. J. Anderson, register of Aurora county, who had been employed by the board to transcribe the records of Jerauld county property from the books of Aurora county
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into the Jerauld county books. The work was accepted and Mr. Ander- son was given a warrant for $440.85.
By April 8th five separate petitions had been received by the register of deeds, from people in the eastern part of the county, asking for re- organization of their school townships on the lines of congressional town- ships. It was apparent that the plan adopted by the board was not at all satisfactory and so the petitions were granted and the following order was made:
"The nine school townships east of the line between ranges 65 and 66 be made into nine school townships, according to congressional lines, except 8 and 14, and numbered as follows :
No. 13 shall be township 108-65.
No. 14 shall be 107-65 less the part given to 8.
No. 15 shall be 106-65.
The other six townships east will retain their names and numbers and the superintendent will fill the vacancies according to law, as they may occur.
No. 8 shall also include the east half of sections 1, 12 and 13 of 107-65."
A special school township election was ordered for No. 13, 14 and 15, to be held April 26th, 1884, to elect officers and select names.
The following judges were appointed for these special elections :
No. 13-C. W. Hill, P. B. Davis and H. J. Wallace. Polling place. residence of W. N. Hill.
No. 14 .- Conway Thompson, B. G. Cummings, and Charles Hanson. Polling place, residence of Charles Beach.
No. 15 .- O. F. Kellogg, N. E. Williams and Gordon McDonald. Polling place, residence of Don C. Needham.
On the same day, April 8th, it being found necessary to fix the salary of the county superintendent, an order was made giving that officer a salary of $200 per year and paying him for work that he should do. besides.
The returns from the second special election in school township No. 2, held on March 18th, having been received, the board counted the votes and declared the following result :
Director, Henry Herring; clerk, Wm. Austin; treasurer. W. F. Ponsford. Name, Crow, 21; Buffalo, 4: Waterbuy, 3; Spring Vale. I : Pleasant Vale, I.
The name was derived from the creek that flows across the township.
Probably because of some possible error in the election, all of the above named officers were appointed to their positions by the county superintendent, May 27th, 1884.
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Chapter 7.
The county organization had now been in existence three months and the machinery was in fair working order. Nearly all the officers had been appointed and qualified. On April 9th J. O. Gray, J. P., residing in Alpena township, made the first quarterly report one case, and a fine of $1.00 collected. This was the only money collected in court for dis- obedience of the law, that year, and in fact the justices of the peace of the county have not in all the 25 years of the county's existence imposed fines enough payable to the county to pay for the books bought for their use by the county, during its first year.
At this session D. W. Spaulding of Brule county, presented his bill for transcribing the records from that county for the part of Buffalo that had been annexed to Jerauld. The amount was only $15.75. The records were now all "at home," but unprotected against fire. The commis- sioners realized the necessity for a safe place in which to store the records. A safe was purchased and Commissioner Smart employed to bring it to Wessington Springs from Huron. The board was urged to select a permanent location for the county buildings and proceed with the erection of a court house with vaults at once. Numerous proposals had been received and more offers were made. In one case the county was offered land to the amount of five thousand dollars if the court house should be located on the tract offered. Of course, the commis- sioner scould do nothing about a final location of the buildings until after the November election. at which time the county seat would be permanently fixed.
Four candidates for the location of the county seat were before the people, Wessington Springs, Templeton, Waterbury and Crow Lake. Mr. Ingham, who had purchased Mr. Dunham's interest in the Jerauld County News, moved the paper to the Templeton postoffice and began urging that location for the seat of county government.
In the spring Mr. Ingham sold the paper to J. E. McNamara, of Rock Rapids, Iowa, a man of considerable ability as a writer. The greatest drawback to the Templeton candidacy was the want of water. All the water for use at the postoffice, store, and dwelling had to be drawn nearly a mile from a well near the south line of the section on M. D. Crow's homesetad. Mr. J. N. Cross, the owner of the Templeton quarter section-the NE of 7-107-65, made almost frantic efforts to find water. D. O. Hewitt, who owned a well augur, bored several holes a hundred feet deep and Wm. Skinner and Joe Collier, with carefully selected twigs, "witched" for water, but of no avail. All the holes were dry.
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As a last resort the advocates of Templeton for county seat abandoned that place and had a town surveyed on the SW of 24 in township 107 - 66, which they named Lyndale, in honor of the man who permitted them to offer his farm for county honors. The Jerauld County News was moved to the new location and Mr. H. A. Robinson of Logan town- ship, put up a store building and opened a small dry goods and grocery store. The people were small in numbers but great in enthusiasm. Had the people of the west side been united the result might have been dif- ferent, but with three candidates in the two west tiers of townships the contest could hardly be a successful one.
In view of all the county seat agitation it was idle to think of locating the county buildings until after the people had decided the matter.
In the meantime the commissioners and the newly appointed officers went ahead with the county affairs.
The two officers upon whom fell the most arduous labors were the assessor and school superintindent. The latter was untiring in his efforts to perfect the school system of the county. The townships had to be organized, the officers instructed in their duties, under a system new to them, as well as to the county superintendent, bonds were issued, school houses built, teachers examined, schools supplied and opened and a thousand unmentioned little things that enter into the duties of that office, even in normal condition, multiplied incessantly in the establishment of an entirely new system. Add to all this the many neighborhoor quarrels over school locations and the employment of teachers that were sure to bring upon him the censure of all but one faction, if he interfered, and of all, if he did not, the criticisms of political rivals and factions-for politics was "red hot" in those days-and only the experienced can even imagine the trials Mr. Hazard encountered.
· During the fore part of May, 1884, Mr. Wilson appointed as deputy assessors, B. F. Gough, of 106-64; M. D. Crow of Media, and George G. Strong, of 107-66. Every quarter section was visited, all improve- ments inspected, town lots examined and a valuation, necessarily arbi- trary, placed upon all. The work was done and the records of the equali- zation board show less of complaints than any other assessment in the life of the county.
At the April session, 1884, the board fixed the compensation of the register of deeds for performing the duties of county clerk, now called county auditor, at $200 per year.
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Chapter 8.
One of the greatest troubles of all countries, new or old, is the roads and of this the first board of Jerauld county commissioners had their share. It was the desire of this body of men to plan and carry out a system of highways. Mr. Smart remarked that all roads should "lead to Rome." Mr. Melcher responded that "Crow Lake is as much Rome as Wessington Springs." The result of this undercurrent of strife be- tween the two commissioners was that two systems were started, having two central points in the county. Mr. Fischer was satisfied if he could get a road near his farm in 107-63. This satisfied Mr. Smart, for it made Wessington Springs the west end of that road. The only town in Mr. Fischer's part of the county was left to get on as best it could without official representation on the county board.
The road district overseers that had been appointed on the 5th of February had done nothing because of a misconception of the law then existing, that section lines were not highways until so declared by the county commissioners. By the time the board met in April the melting snow, full-running streams and numerous water holes over the county, caused a deluge of petitions for established roads and bridges.
The bridge authorized on the second day of the first session of the board, Nov. 10, 1883, had been built and short approaches made, but it was found that in that case as in nearly all others the building of a bridge, while essential, is but a small part of the work necessary to a good crossing of a stream. A high hill, or bank, on the east side of the Fire- steel creek must be cut down and a long stretch of turnpike made on the west side.
On the 8th day of April, 1884, the commissioners appointed Wm. Hawthorne, Elza J. Meutzer and J. M. Corbin viewers to report on the most practicable route for a road from Wessington Springs to Water- bury. The county surveyor was ordered to find the most practicable place for a crossing of the Firesteel creek. The next day Messrs. Mel- cher and Fischer, with Surveyor Wallace, Sheriff Spears, Postmaster Barrett, E. B. Orr and Silas Kinney went to the Firesteel and examined the section line between sections 14 and 23, where bridge No. I had already been constructed. There they met Messrs. Nave, Haven and Rumberger, from the Woonsocket board of trade. They found bridge No. I surrounded with water, but unapproachable because of the soft condition of the water-soaked approaches. After floundering through the mud and water on this line they examined the one a mile further north. This looked as bad as the other and they decided to do nothing until the surveyor had submitted his report.
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The next day the surveyor was ordered to survey crossings on Sand Creek on the line leading to Alpena from the west between section I and 12-108-64, also the crossing on the line between 26 and 27-108-63, also the crossing of Long Slough between sections 10 and 3-108-63. He was also instructed to go to 106-66 (Crow Lake) and survey a crossing of Smith creek between sections 26 and 27.
On May Ist the surveyor reported on the first three of the crossings. He said the crossing between sections I and 12-108-64 required a bridge 64 feet long and would cost about $275. That the bridge be- tween sections 26 and 27-108-63 should be 60 feet long and would cost about the same. He reported that in the long slough the citizens had already put up a bridge twenty feet in length, but that 890 cubic yards of grading was needed.
The 3rd of June the board had another meeting at which on motion of Mr. Melcher, Messrs. Smart and Fischer were appointed a committee to examine the proposed Sand creek crossings, and intermediate points, to report at the July meeting. There is no record of any report having been made, except to number the bridge between 10 and II-108-63 as No. 8. On July Ioth O. F. Woodruff, who owned a farm on the south side of Sand creek, appeared before the board and urged the immediate construction of the bridges across that stream in accordance with the numerous petitions that had been filed.
A few days later, July 16th, Commissioner Fischer was authorized to build two bridges across Sand creek, one between sections I and 12- 108-64 to cost not to exceed $100, and one on the line between sections 20 and 21 to cost not to exceed $150. He was also authorized to put in a bridge across the Firesteel on the line between sections 26 and 35- 106-64, to cost not over $100.
The greater part of the July session was devoted to the subject of roads and bridges. Many section lines were declared . highways and some were vacated, some of the "legal advisers" of whom the board had many, contending that all section lines had been made highways by acts of congress and the territorial legislature. In 106-67 (Logan) the fol- lowing lines were vacated: Commencing at the quarter stake between sections 33 and 34 running north one and one-half mile to the northwest corner of section 27 ; also commencing at the southwest corner of section 28, running east one and one-quarter miles. In lieu of the highway so vacated a new one was established as follows: Commencing at the south- east corner of section 33, running north one-half mile to the quarter stake between sections 33 and 34, thence east one-quarter mile, thence north on the 80 rod line and one and one-half miles to the intersection with the east and west road.
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With reference to the highways in township 106-66 it was ordered that "all roads leading from Crow Lake shall start at low water mark."
On the 16th of July the viewers of the Waterbury road having re- ported, the following record was made: "On motion the report of the road viewers on road from Wessington Springs to Waterbury was ac- cepted and a road, 66 feet in width, ordered established." This does not seem to have settled the matter, however, for a year later, July 9th, 1885, we find the county commissioners again considering the best route for a road over the Wessington hills.
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