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H I 8 T O E Y 
 
 T 
 
 POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, 
 
 ¥¥7 
 
 IOWA. ^TS^ 
 
 Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical, 
 
 geological, physical and climatic features ; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc. ; giving 
 
 an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer 
 
 incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County, 
 
 the judicial history, the business and industries, churches, 
 
 schools, etc. ; Biographical Sketches ; Portraits of 
 
 iome of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, etc. 
 
 ILaLaUSTRATRD. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, 
 
 Lakeside Building. 
 
 1883. 
 
 Historical Sociei?. 
 

PREFACE 
 
 AFTER several months of laborious research a-jd persistent toil, the history of Pottawat- 
 tamie County is complete, and it is our hope and belief that no subject of general 
 importance or interest has been overlooked or omitted, and even minor facts, when of sufficient 
 note to be worthy of record, have been faithfully chronicled. In short, where protracted 
 investigation promised results commensurate with the undertaking, matters not only of 
 undoubted record but legendary lore, have been brought into requisition. We are well aware of 
 the fact that it is next to impossible to furnish a perfect history from the meager resources at 
 the command of the historian under ordinary' circumstances, but claim to have prepared a work 
 fully up to the standard of our engagements. Through the courtesy and assistance generously 
 atfordeil, we have been enabled to trace out and put into systematic shape the greater portions 
 of the events that have transpired in the county up to the present time, and we feel assured 
 that all thoughtful persons interested in the matter will recognize and appreciate the importance 
 of the work and its permanent value. A drj' statement of facts has been avoided, so far as it 
 was possible to do so, and anecdote and incident have been interwoven with plain recital and 
 statistics, thereby forming a narrative at once instructive and entertaining. 
 
 We are indebted to Col. John H. Keatley for furnishing us with the histor}- of Council 
 Blutfs and some of the township histor}' ; also to Hon. D. C. Bloomer for the material assistance 
 he rendered in the compilation of the work b3' the aid of his valuable and accurate notes in the 
 '• Annals of Iowa " published by the Historical Society of the State. And to the many resi- 
 dents of Pottawattamie who furnished our historians, Messrs. W. T. Giles and Frank M. Wright. 
 with the facts and data for their portion of the work, we acknowledge thanks. 
 
 Janu.^rv, 1SS3. THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 HISTORICAL. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER I.— Introductory — Organization of the County- 
 Early Life in Pottawattamie — Topography — Richness of 
 the Soil — The Famous "Bluffa" — Origin of the Name — 
 Indian Traders — Origin of some Indian Names — Lively 
 Indian Scenes — The Pottawattamies — Early Indian Wars, 
 etc 11 
 
 CHAPTER II.— Growth of the County— Early Settlers— Cath- 
 olic ilis-^ ion arias— The Old Block-House— Old Mill— De- 
 parture of the Pottawattamies — Kanesville — Settlement 
 of the Mormons — Their Organization and Influence — 
 Their part in the Mexican War — Their Enterprise, etc. — 
 Decline of their Supremacy and Departure for Utah — 
 Early Politics — Organization of the County, etc 18 
 
 CHAPTER III.— Establishment of the Land Office— First En- 
 tries, etc, — Its Discontinuance — Water-courses of the 
 County— Timber— Stone — Coal Prospects^^Jlimate — Cat- 
 tle-Raising — Great Productiveness of the Soil, etc 26 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— The Missouri River— Steamboating— Remin- 
 iscences of Capt. La Barge — Interesting Details — A War- 
 like Outrage — Floating Palaces — Railroads — Sharp Con- 
 test for Routes — Keokuk's Indifference and Consequent 
 Loss of a Great Road — The Great Trunk Lines to the 
 •* Bluffs," etc 31 
 
 CHAPTER V. — Early and Present Religious Organizations 
 and Societies — Secret and Benevolent Fraternities, 
 Orders and Societies — Schools — The Press — Increase and 
 Progress, etc 37 
 
 CHAPTER VI.— Organization of the County — Organization 
 
 of and Division into Townships — Officers — Patriotism, etc. 41 
 
 CHAPTER VII.— Iowa; Origin of the Name— Her Future- 
 Land Speculators and their Peculiar Methods of " Doing " 
 Purchasers— Early Events— Financial Matters — Agricult- 
 nral Association — Deaf and Dumb Asylum — SeTere 
 Winter — Early Settlers — An Exciting Election, etc 55 
 
 CHAPTER VIII.— Council Bluffs— Its First Era— The Site 
 F fly Years Ago — American Fur Company and Trappers 
 — La Salle's Exploration — Sacs and Foxes and Sioux 
 Bands — Sale of Louisiana — Treaty of St. Ildefonso^Lewia 
 and Clark's Explorations — Discovery of the Columbia 
 River 69 
 
 CHAPTER IX.— Council Bluffs— The Missiouri Valley— Frank 
 Guittar — The Pawnees, Otoes and Omahas — William Men- 
 ary, the Canadian — The Pottawattamies — Iowa Indian 
 Raids — Fight at Otter River — Col. Hardin as Indian 
 Agent 72 
 
 CHAPTER X.— Council Bluffs— Oregon Route— John Charles 
 Fremont — Kit Carson — Survey of 1S43 — Richard and M. 
 D. Hardin— Maj. English 76 
 
 CHAPTER XI.— Council Blufe— Its Second Era— The Mor- 
 mon Movement — Prophet Joseph Smith — Bishop Pratt 
 — Sidney Rigdon — Brigham Young — Driven from Mis- 
 souri — Establishment of Nauvoo— The Legion — Death of 
 the Prophet — Exodus to Salt Lake Valley — Stop at 
 Council Bluffs— The Mormon Battalion 77 
 
 CHAPTER XII.— Council Bluffs- Its Third Era— Movement 
 from Iowa City— Terrible Sufferings En Route — Kanes- 
 ville — Sketch of Col. Kane — First Appearance of Council 
 Bluffs— First Store— The first Gemile Inhabitant- First 
 Voting — Danite Band — First Prohibition 85 
 
 CHAPTER XIII.— Council Bluffs— First Probate Case— Gold 
 in California — Character of the Emigrants — Joseph 
 Tootle and James A. Jackson — Gambling Hells — Drs. 
 Shelly, Williams and McMahon — County Administra- 
 tion — Fraudulent Practices — Stutsman and Powers' 
 Loup Fork Ferry , 88 
 
 CHAPTER XIV.— Council Bluffs— Judge Sloan— First Term 
 of Court — First Bar — First Case Tried — State against 
 Robert and Margaret Keys — Humorous Scene in the 
 Trial— Unique Charge to the Jury 92 
 
 CHAPTER XV.— Council Bluffs— Pawnee and Omaha Indiana 
 — Trail to Fort Des Moines — A Ten Days' Jonrney^ — Post 
 OfBce Established — Judge James and Contempt of Court 
 — Ocean Wave Saloon — First Legislative Representative 
 — First Newspaper — Thomas H. Benton, Jr. — First Gen- 
 tile Preacher, Moses F.Shinn 94 
 
 CHAPTER XVI.— Council Bluffs— First School— Francis A. 
 Brown, First Teacher — James B. Rue — First Public 
 Schools — Origin of Name of Council Bluffs — The City 
 Incorporated— City Government Suspended — BaylissPark 
 Litigation — First Brick House — The Samuels Murder — 
 Lynch Law — Fred Lord Murder 97 
 
 CHAPTER XVII.— Council Bluffs— Judge S. H. Riddle's Elec- 
 tion — No Lawyer, but a good Judge — Laud Office Opened 
 — Street and Ballard appointed — Sketch of Ballard — Nom- 
 inates Ivirkwood — Dr. Enos Lowe and L. W. Babbitt — First 
 Fire in 1853 — Tom Neeley the Davy Crockett— Opening 
 of the Pacific House — Judge Douglass — Lite and Char- 
 acter 104 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII.— Council Bluffs— Gen. Curtis and J. D. Teat 
 —Sketch of Judge Frank Street— Patrick Murphy— Test, 
 Johnson and Casady — A. V. Larimer's Sketch — Fort Cal- 
 houn Claim Fight — Death of Sherman Goss — H. C. Purple 
 Wounded — A. J. Poppleton of Omaha — Lost St. Mary's... 108 
 
COXTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX.— Council Blufla— Sketch of Judge James— 
 His Handicraft — Winter of 1853-54 — Death of James 
 McMillan — Title of Lots Acquired — James W. Grimes — 
 Curtis', Ramsay's and Grimes' x\.ddition8 — Sketch of Gen. 
 Samuel Ryan Curtis — His Death at Council Bluffs 114 
 
 CHAPTER XX— Council Bluffs— Incipient Duel — Marshall 
 Turley — An Eccentric Character — The Underground 
 Railway — Galesburg Addition — Philadelphia, Fort Wayne 
 & Platte V;illey Railway —The Air Line— John T. Bald- 
 win's Fortune— Odd Fellows Organized — First Banking 
 House — The Ferry Company Organized 122 
 
 CHAPTER XXI.— Council Bluffs— Nebraska Territory Organ- 
 ized^The Mob atBellevue — Hadley Johnson, Territorial 
 Delegate — Senator A. C. Dodge's Plan — Squatter Sover- 
 eignty — "Chronotype" Established — Dr. Seth Craig's Ar- 
 rival and Sketch — Council Bluffs Temperance — Indian 
 Habits— Against Prohibition 125 
 
 CHAPTER XXIL— Council Bluffs— Gen. G. M. Dodge— Sketch 
 — His Birthplace — Father and Mother — Graduates — Mil- 
 itary Training — Surveys the Mississippi & Missonri Road 
 — Pacific Railway Explorations — Settles in Council Bluffs 
 —Outbreak of The War — Pea Ridge — Atlanta Campaign 
 — Indian Hostilities 128 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII.— Council Biufls— W. H. M. Pusey— Banker 
 and Politician — Birthplace and Education — State Senator 
 — Delegate to Charlesttn Convention of 18G0 — Elected to 
 Congress, 1882 143 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV.— Council Bluffs— Election of 1856— D. W. 
 Price chosen member ol the Constitutional Convention — 
 Loan of 8lOO,nou — Missi-sippi & Missouri Celebration — 
 Palmer'ts Block— Benedict Haag— Charles Bock — West- 
 ern Stage Company — H. P. Warren — K*^okuk and Wa- 
 pello — Anecdote of John C. Breckinridge — Charter 
 Amended — Judge Baldwin 146 
 
 CHAPTER XX v.— Council Bluffs— Crescent City a Rival- 
 Joseph E. Johnson — The " Clariou " and the "Press" — 
 Bonds in Aid of Mississippi &, Missouri Railroad — Pres- 
 byterian Church Incorporated — Building Commt.'nced — 
 Episcopal Church — Rial Estate Speculations— Concert 
 Hall— Crash of 1S57— Indian Creek Channel Changed 152 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI.— Council Bluffs— St. Joseph Railroad Meet- 
 ing—Company Organized — Elections of 1S58— Curtis and 
 Trimble for Congress — First County Fair — Babbitt's Cher- 
 okee — Discovery of Gold in Colorado — "Nonpariel" Ad- 
 vertises it — Pike's Peak Emigration — Greeley and Rich- 
 ardson— D. C. Bloomer — Birthplace and Career — Free 
 Public Library 159 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII.— Council Bluffs— Election of 1859- 
 Amount of Bonded Debt— Overflow of the Missouri- 
 Judge Sherman Indicted and Convicted— Haskell, the 
 Showman and Preacher — Abraham Lincoln's Visit in 
 1S59 — Makes an Address — Judge Cole and Henry Clay 
 Dean — Ground Broken for St. Joe Railroad — Swamp Land 
 Transfers 165 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII.— Council Bluffs— Kidnaping of Negroes 
 — Escape of Prisoners — Hanging of McGuire — Miller, 
 the Horsethief, Lynched — State Bank Organized — Iron 
 Foundry Established— Little Giant and Wide-Awake 
 Clubs — Boards of Supervisors — Turner's Defalcation — 
 Latter-Day Saints— M. E. Couference— Military Affairs... 168 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX.— Council Bluffs— Fourth Iowa Infantry- — 
 Roll of Honor — Second Iowa Battery — Vic Keller's Gum 
 Wood Mortars— Col. W. H. Kinsman's Death — Death of 
 Adjt. Tuttle— Fischer, the Fifer-Boy- Twenty-ninth 
 Iowa — 3Ibj. Lyman and Comrades — The Draft — Sixth 
 Iowa Cavalry — An Ovation 175 
 
 CHAPTER XXX,— Council Bluffs— Soldiers' Bounties— First 
 School Buildiug — Fairview Cemetery — George Francis 
 Train — Cift;us Calamity — William Marble killed by In- 
 dians — Lincoln's Assjissination — Presbyterian Church 
 Building — Lynching of a Robber — Union Pacific Begun.. 1:^1 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI.— Council Bluff;-— St. Joe Railroad Revived 
 — Congressional Fight of 18S0 — New Court House — Rt-v. 
 Clark Scandal — Narrow Escape at Burhop's Hall — M. E. 
 Church Edifice — Completion of the Northwestern Jubilee 
 — Sketch of the "Nonpareil" and the '■ Bugle" 185 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII.— Knox Township— First Settlers— First 
 Marriage — First Wheat Sown — Missionary Work — Avoca 
 — Origin of Name — Railroads — Churches — Societies — The 
 Press — Bnsiness Interests, etc 240 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII.— Laytou Township— Organization— Natu- 
 ral Advantages — Boundary — First St-ttlers — Rapid Im- 
 provement of the Settlement — Ruads and Bridges— Gov- 
 ernment — Population — Mills--New8papers — (-hurches — 
 Schools — Secret Societies '.;52 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV.— Pleasant Township— Boundaries— Or- 
 ganization — Fine Soil — Timber — Fruit — Streams — Old 
 Settlers — Schools — Township Officers — Murder, Suicide 
 and Accidents 256 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV.— Minden Town -hip— Origin of the Name 
 — First Election — Soil — Boundary — Drainage — Minden 
 Station — Roads — Timber Laud — Schools — Churches — 
 Business Industries — Incidents 260 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI.— Neola Township— Introductory-Organi- 
 zation — Drainage — Early Settlers — Roads — Bridges — 
 First Railroad- Schools. Post Office— Gnin Elevators- 
 Business Industries — Secret Societies — Churches 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII.— Boomer Township— Organization— Ori- 
 gin of Name — Early Settlers— Adam Heageny's "Dug- 
 Out"— An Early Trial, etc 273 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII.— Rockford Township— One of the Orig- 
 inal Three Townships of the County— First Mormon Set- 
 tlers—Other Settlers— Organization of Public Schools- 
 First Death — Two Murder Cases— Lovelaud aud Honey 
 Creek, etc 276 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX.— Crescent Township— Origin of Name— 
 The Indians — First Settlers — Organization — First Road 
 — Fii-st Bridge— Fii-st Mill— Schools— First Post Office- 
 Mutual Protection Society— Crescent City— The Press — 
 Indian Incident — Early Justice, etc 285 
 
 CHAPTER XL.— Hazel Dell Township — Separation from Cres- 
 cent Township — Schools — Organization and Officers 292 
 
 CHAPTER XLI.— Norwalk Township— Introductory— Natural 
 Advantages — Boundaries — Drainage — Early Settlers — 
 Mills- Koadsand Bridges— Schools — Downsville — Under- 
 wood 293 
 
 CHAPTER XLIL— York Township — Description — First Set- 
 tiers— Earlv Industries- First Schools and Teachers 3i'0 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII.— J.imes Township— Boundaries— Soil— Tim- 
 ber — Early Settlers — Religious, etc 30i 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV.— Valley Township — Organization —First 
 Election — Old Settlere — Religious Matters — Societies — 
 Hancock — Its Busine*? Interests, Churches and Societies. 304 
 
 CHAPTER XLV.— Lincoln Tom- d ship— First Election- Schools 
 
 -Early Settlers 308 
 
 CHAPTER XLVL— Wright Township— Organization— Lay of 
 the Land— First House — First Death— First Marriage- 
 Religious — Schools, etc 309 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII.— Center Township— Its Separation from 
 Knox — Earliest Settlers— First Justice of the Peace — 
 Home Guards of 1S61— First Mill— Fourth of July in 
 lt^57— Prospective Railroad 311 
 
 CHAPTERXLVIII.—Bflknap Township— The First Settler- 
 First Marriage- First Death— First Birth— First House 
 —Vest Murder Case — Railroads — Oakland, and Its Busi- - 
 ness and Other Interests — Big Grove, etc 317 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX— Washington Township— Organization- 
 First Election— An Old Stage Station— Scbools—Churchea 
 —A Tragedy 323 
 
 CHAPTER L. — Hardin Township— Introductory — Drainage — 
 First Families—*' Old Dick Hardin "—Roads and Bridges 
 — Churches and Schools-;Rapid Increase of Population — 324 
 
 CHAPTER LI.— Garner Township— The Mormon Settlers— 
 Cartervill^The Old Indian Mill— Other Mills— Organi- 
 zation of the Township — Origin of Its Kame — Timber, 
 Streams, Surface — First Sale of Real Estate in the County 
 — Early Schools — Railroads 328 
 
 CHAPTER LII.— Lewis Township— Its Separation from Kane 
 Township — Boundaries — Origin of Name — Railroads — 
 Deaf and Dumb Institute — Plumer Settlement, etc 336 
 
 CHAPTER LIIL— Keg Creek Township— Organization— First 
 
 Officers — Origin of the Xame~Ear]y Settlers, etc 338 
 
 CHAPTER LIV.— Silver Creek Township— First Settlement by 
 the Mormons— First Settlers — Separution from Kane 
 Township- Township Officers — A Terrible Tragedy- 
 Schools, Religious, etc 340 
 
 CHAPTER LV.— Macedonia Township — Organization — First 
 Settler — Early Privations — Mills — Old Macedonia — Car- 
 son — New Macedonia — Churches — Schools — Societies — 
 Business Interests- The Fire of 1SS2— The Cyclone, etc. 343 
 
 CHAPTER LVI.— Grove Township— Introductory— Boundaries 
 —Drainage — " Old Mormon Trail "—First Settlers- Mills, 
 Roads and Bridges— Schools and Churches — The Great 
 Cj-clone 348 
 
 CHAPTER LVII.— Waveland Township— Organization— Town- 
 ship Officers — Streams— Churches — Schools — A Tragic 
 Aflfair 359 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII.— Appendix— School Statistics of Pottawat- 
 tamie County for the Tear 1882... 362 
 
 PART II. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Page. 
 Council Bluffs 3 
 
 Belknap Township 62 ' 
 
 Boomer Township 79 
 
 Center Township 83 
 
 Crescent Township 87 
 
 Garner Township 93 
 
 Grove Township „ 99 
 
 Hardin Township 107 
 
 Hazel Dell Township II5 
 
 James Township Jig 
 
 Keg Creek Township 126 
 
 Knox Towns'hip 132 
 
 Lay ton Township 140 
 
 Lewis Township '. 145 
 
 Lincoln Township 149 
 
 Macedonia Township 152 
 
 Minden Township 172 
 
 Neola Township 183 
 
 Norwalk Township 198 
 
 Pleasant Township 207 
 
 Rockfurd Township 222 
 
 Silver Creek Township 230 
 
 Valley ToMnship 238 
 
 Washington Township 252 
 
 Waveland Township 254 
 
 Wright Township....! 260 
 
 York Township 26S 
 
 PORTRAITS. 
 
 Bond, N. J 117 
 
 Bresee, P. F 171 
 
 Bryant, A. S 63 
 
 Cdsady,J. P 45 
 
 Clayton, Eli 261 
 
 Clayton, B. F 99 
 
 Dodge, G. M 27 
 
 Jackson, J. A 135 
 
 Keller, John 297 
 
 Knotts, Joseph -. 225 
 
 Macrae, D 153 
 
 Wright, George F 81 
 
 VIEWS. 
 
 "Nonpareil" Building 189 
 
 Residence of William Clark 351 
 
PART I. 
 
 History OF Pottawattamie County, 
 
 CHAPTEK 1.' 
 
 INTRODUCTORY— ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY— EARLY LIFE IN POTTAWATTAMIE— TOPOGRA- 
 PHY'- RICHNESS OF THE SOIL— THE FAMOUS " BLUFFS'— ORIGIN OF THE NAME- 
 INDIAN TRADERS— ORIGIN OF SOME INDIAN NAMES — LIVELY INDIAN 
 SCENES— THE POTTAWATOMIES— EARLY INDIAN WARS, ETC 
 
 IN entering upon the work of writing up the 
 history of a count}- of the vast, rich and now 
 populous State of Iowa, a State that begins to 
 take a front rank with the first States of the 
 grandest nation on earth, we are fully im- 
 pressed with the responsibility of the undertak- 
 ing. Iowa is in the mouth of every one, and 
 all are looking forward to her great future with 
 anxictj', and it is important that Pottawatta- 
 mie County, one of the largest, richest and 
 most productive in the State, should have its 
 place in history ; and to this end the work has 
 been undertaken. The history of this county 
 is of a varied character — religious, political 
 and otherwise. It has passed through many 
 peculiar changes, and now presents a most 
 prosperous condition. 
 
 This county was organized September 21, 
 184S, with A. H, Perkins, David D. Yearsley 
 and George D. Coulter as the first Countj- 
 
 'By W. T. Giles, 
 
 Commissioners, These Commissioners held 
 their first session at the house of Hiram Clark, 
 in Kanesville, T, Burdiek acted as the Clerk 
 for the Board at this meeting. 
 
 The writer hereof was for the first time in 
 Council Bluffs in the fall of 1854, just at the 
 beginning of Omaha, Neb., and the new life 
 given to this iiew city. At that date, Council 
 Bluffs, the county seat of Pottawattamie, was 
 not of any very extended size, and red men 
 were scattered in and about the city in large 
 numbers, and several Indian traders occupied 
 tents and small trading-posts. As late as this 
 day, the life in this section was ver}- much like 
 the life on the plains, or that of early Califor- 
 nia, To trace the changes and to collect the 
 historic facts transpiring here in these many 
 years, is a vast job, one that will require time, 
 labor and patience, and then we cannot expect 
 to satisf}' every person. Our aim will be to 
 give the most perfect hi.story that extraordinary 
 
12 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 effort will enable us to do. Of course, we will 
 refer to the notes of Hon. D. C. Bloomer, in 
 tlie Annals of Iowa, and to old settlers and all 
 records that can be obtained, for facts to make 
 up this history, and in doing this, we will select 
 only the important facts connected with the 
 growth and prosperity of the county. Potta- 
 wattamie is one of the very largest, as well 
 as one of the most important, counties in the 
 State of Iowa, and it should become the busi- 
 ness and duty of every citizen to aid the writer 
 in perpetuating her history'. If errors shall 
 appear in this history, they will, in the greatest 
 measure, be chargeable to the sources from 
 whence the}' will be collected, for in relation to 
 dates and detailed statements we will rely 
 strictly upon the records as made. 
 
 In 1854, this county was without a railroad 
 — it was but very thinly settled — the red men 
 made the city of Council Bluffs their home, but 
 to-day this citj* numbers 20,000 inhabitants, 
 railroads cover its surface, large hotels, stores, 
 mills and machine-shops are found everywhere, 
 and the changes have been indescribably great 
 and grand. It would give us pleasure to here 
 write a few pages upou the progress and beauty 
 of Council Bluffs, but this will appear elsewhere 
 in this work, and we will proceed to record 
 some of the history of tiie county. 
 
 Pottawattamie is not only one of the largest, 
 but it is one of the richest counties in the State 
 of Iowa, being forty-four miles from east to 
 west, and possessing a width of about twenty- 
 four miles from north to south. The soil is 
 generalh" a black, rich loam, and yields abun- 
 dant crops of all kinds of grain. This county 
 contains twenty-four full congressional town- 
 ships, six miles square each, and seven frac- 
 tional townships, containing 960 square miles, 
 or 614,400 acres of land. 
 
 The Missouri River meanders along its west- 
 ern border, only touching the bluffs at a single 
 point in the county, leaving wide bottom lands 
 on its eastern bank. The valley is from two to 
 
 ten miles in width, its narrowest point being 
 near Council Bluffs, and the widest point near 
 the northwest corner of the county. This val- 
 ley cannot be excelled for grass or heavy crops 
 of gi'ain. The soil is very deep and almost in- 
 exhaustible. 
 
 The far-famed bluffs skirt the valley, and 
 rise to a height of from 50 to 300 feet, and are 
 generally' composed of clay and sand, with only 
 a few exceptions, where stones are found. 
 These bluffs are piled up in every conceivable 
 shape, frequently giving a pleasant view to the 
 e^'e, and are often compared to distinguished 
 spots in other countries. Imagination points 
 these to represent things living and dead, and 
 often in the summer, when the green grass cov- 
 ers their surface, the traveler is heard to ex- 
 press joj' at the " beauty of the bluffs." From 
 their tops the wondering man can iiave a grand 
 view of the valleys and farms for miles around. 
 The country for a few miles on the east of 
 the bluffs is very irregular and broken, after 
 which it becomes beautifully rolling, having an 
 excellent drainage, and being susceptible of 
 easy cultivation. Numerous streams flow 
 through these beautiful prairies, generally in a 
 southwesterly direction, emptying into the 
 grand old Missouri River. The soil of this sec- 
 tion is very much like that of the other river 
 valleys, and extensive crops are taken from it, 
 while the climate is invigorating and healthful. 
 The people who settled here years ago, and 
 were compelled to remain because they could 
 not sell, are now rejoicing over their 'large for- 
 tunes, and enjoying beautiful homes, surrounded 
 by every comfort that wealth and a rich soil 
 can give to man. 
 
 Tile lands that but a few years ago were of- 
 fered, and some sold, for $2.50 an acre, cannot 
 now be bought for $50 or even $100 an acre in 
 some cases. The settlement and advancement 
 in Pottawattamie County have been constant 
 and rapid, and still the progress goes right 
 along. Even in our days, in this section, we 
 
HISTORY OF POT^TAAVATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 13 
 
 have noticed wonderful changes, such as the 
 most hopeful for this county could scarcely 
 have anticipated. We find those who came 
 liere at an early day and got lands, and let them 
 pass away at small prices, regretting how little 
 they could see of the future, while others re- 
 joice that they could not sell when thc3' were 
 anxious to do so. The recent fine crops and 
 high prices have given great prosperitj- to the 
 people of the AVest and this count}'. 
 
 It is not the intention of the writer to ex- 
 tend his remarks in a description of the count}', 
 but he will proceed to note down some of the 
 incidents and lacts connected with tlie early 
 histor}', which extend far bacli of any written 
 memorials. Pottawattamie County, like other 
 prairie counties, had been traveled over long 
 before any arrivals from the Old World, by the 
 natives or red men, who were found here bj 
 the earliest white settlers. These natives lived 
 upon the wild game, fish, etc., which abounded 
 here in abundance. It is not to be wondered at 
 that the Indians became alarmed and discon- 
 tented when the whites began to pour into their 
 countf}', to kill and drive away their game, and 
 to take up their lands. They could not under- 
 stand why the}' should be disturbed, or tell by 
 what authority any other people should be al- 
 lowed to settle upon their undisputed territory. 
 
 The white people are constantly " on the 
 make," and learning at a very early day that 
 buffalo and other game were abundant upon 
 the prairies of this section, a number of them 
 came here to seek the furs and skins that were 
 taken by the Indians, and these whites extend- 
 ed their search for game and furs, as far West 
 as the Kocky Mountains. It is supposed that 
 the Missouri River was traversed as early as 
 the last century by whites, even to its head. 
 In 1804, the Government first organized an ex- 
 pedition, commanded by Lewis and Clark, to 
 explore these extensive prairies and investigate 
 the condition and length of the rivers coursing 
 through them. This expedition started from 
 
 St. Louis, and passed up the Missouri River to 
 its source, after which they crossed the moun- 
 tains dividing it from Oregon, and thence pro- 
 ceeded to the Pacific coast. 
 
 History informs us that the Indians flocked 
 from every direction to examine the boats and 
 equipments, and also to solicit presents. Fre- 
 quent assemblages and talks were held by 
 the commanders of the expedition with 
 the Indians, and one of these friendly meet- 
 ings took place at a point near the north- 
 western corner of Pottawattamie County, 
 causing that spot to be called Council 
 Bluffs. In time, a fort was erected at or near 
 this spot, by the United States C-overnment, 
 and it was designated on all the maps of the 
 northwest territory, for fifty years, a.s " Coun- 
 cil Bluffs." In 1853, the citizens of this county 
 seat, by a special act of the General Assembly 
 of this State, adopted the name, and now Coun- 
 cil Bluffs stands among the great cities of the 
 Northwest, and is the terminus of the Union 
 Pacific Railway. 
 
 The dealers in furs and hides of various 
 kinds, continued in their hazardous and profit- 
 able business, and for the first half of the pres- 
 ent century, their agents, many of them French, 
 or descendants of Frenchmen by Indian women, 
 labored incessantly in propelling their loaded 
 boats or canoes up the rapid ^lissouri River, 
 where they traded with the Indians for furs, 
 etc., and then loaded the same boats, and float- 
 ed back to St. Louis. This was the constant 
 work of many persons for years. Some of the 
 old traders are still living in this county, and 
 they can give many interesting facts in relation 
 to the early trials and adventures of the border 
 people. Mr. Francis Guittar, who was a trader 
 among the Indians, relates the circumstance of 
 his encampment under the bluffs, when on a 
 trading expedition, in 1827, fifty-five years ago. 
 He still lives in Council Bluffs, and is in the 
 enjoyment of excellent health, and presents the 
 appearance of a man of flft}- or fifty-five years. 
 
14 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 The traders had their regular camps, or trad- 
 ing points, along the Missouri River, and the 
 Indians usually understood when to be at their 
 stopping points, and would be on band with 
 their furs and pelts, to trade for such articles 
 as they wanted. One of these stations was 
 situated at what was Icnown as Hart's Bluffs, 
 in 1824, but is at present known as Mj-nster's 
 Springs, where an abundance of water gushes 
 from the bluffs at tbat point. It is also stated 
 that farther down tlie river, and near the south- 
 western corner of the countj', was another cele- 
 brated post for Indians and traders to meet, 
 known as Traders' Point, where Peter A. Sarpy, 
 a noted character in all these regions in the 
 early days, had his headquarters, and accumu- 
 lated a fortune. Mr. Sarp}-, like many other 
 Frenchmen, married an Indian woman. 
 
 It is impossible for any writer, however well 
 posted in relation to names, events, dates or 
 discoveries, to satisfy all classes as to the facts. 
 Speculations have always existed and will exist 
 to the end of time as to the derivation of In- 
 dian names, etc. Each writer has his own 
 speculation or the speculation of some one 
 who professes to be posted in I'elation to tlie 
 meaning of the Indian names, and in a recent 
 article in the St. Louis Gluhe- Democrat, we 
 find the name of Iowa discussed at some 
 length. It cannot fail to be interesting to the 
 people of this county and tlie State, to here 
 transcribe some of the speculations of the 
 writer of this commuication, in relation to the 
 meaning and the derivation of the name "Iowa." 
 Indian tribes generally' have their own ideas 
 and meanings in relation to all names, and they 
 generally give things names to represent objects 
 either imaginarj- or real, but as frequently 
 imaginar)-. In early days, on the plains, hun- 
 dreds of Indians would assemble at some 
 point, and there have a dance in worship to 
 the God of game particularly when game was 
 plentj'. The}- named the rivers and streams 
 in accordance with some of their crude ideas 
 
 of deity. The writer has had many a conver- 
 sation with various tribes, and he found that 
 all had some vague idea of a great Ruler, or 
 Rulers, for most the tribes have various gods. 
 The}- have the god of fowls and fisiies; the 
 god of buffalo, elk and deer, etc. They wor- 
 ship these separately, and in their season, and 
 on occasions of this kind they dance, race and 
 feast in a style that would put to shame most 
 of the jubilees gotten up by the more civilized 
 races, for their enjoyments seem to be com- 
 plete. No bickering is found in the camp, but 
 each and all make the best of the occasion. 
 
 A writer to the Glohe-Democrat gives as the 
 derivation of the name "Iowa," •• Ah-hee-oo-ba," 
 meaning " sleepers." But another correspond- 
 ent to the same paper, who claims to be post- 
 ed in relation to the tribes of Iowa Indians, 
 and signs himself " L. F.," says : "It is well 
 settled and understood that the State was named 
 from the River Iowa, and that tlie river derived 
 its name from the Indian tribe of that name. 
 The Indian word was Kiowa, and so it is print- 
 ed on the early maps of the Territory. Two 
 traditions exist in relation to this tribe. One 
 comes from the Omahas, who called them the 
 ' Gray-Snows,' from the fact that tiiey left the 
 parent tribe in the far north or the Superior 
 country during a snow storm, and the snow 
 falling and mingling with the sand, gave it a 
 gray appearance, hence the term ' Graj- Snows,' 
 or those who went off' in the ' graj'-snow.' We 
 are here informed that the Indian word was 
 ' Pj'-ho-ja,' which was corrupted by traders to 
 ' Py-hoo-ia,' and then Anglicized to Iowa. 
 The writer is of opinion tliat this version is 
 quite mythical, if not verj- questionable." 
 
 But we will now follow the second and more 
 reasonable tradition, as given by this corre- 
 I spondeut. The history is very interesting, and 
 will bear being repeated here. The writer says : 
 •■ The [M'obable correct tradition is that these 
 Indians came from the upper lake region. 
 Thev were originallv called the ' Pan-hoo- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 15 
 
 chees.' Nearly two hundred years ago, a large 
 body of the tribe started ofl' southwestward 
 with their chief, Man-han-gaw. They crossed 
 the Mississippi River, moved southward, and 
 settled on the west bank of the Kiowa River. 
 They established a village, which they named 
 Ne-o-ho-nee, and became prosperous, and this 
 excited the jealousj- of the marauding Sioux 
 on the north. Thej' were strong and powerful. 
 The question arose, how to destroy their head, 
 and the Sioux, with their traditional deceit and 
 treacherj', sent a deputation to Man-han-gaw 
 to invite him to join with the Sioux in a dog- 
 feast. They presented him with a pipe of peace, 
 and smoked it with him as an earnest of their 
 good faith. After a long consultation and 
 earnest entreat}, Man-han-gaw accepted. He 
 paid the penalty of his trust by being assassin- 
 ated, an act of treachery which was never for- 
 given or forgotten. Slan-han-gaw was suc- 
 ceeded as ciiief bj' Mahaska, or White Cloud, 
 Or direct descendent. He was a noted warrior, 
 and tradition saj-s, led his braves successfully 
 tlirougli eighteen battles with the Sioux. He 
 was never beaten, but in consequence of his 
 success, was betra3'ed and assassinated. He 
 was succeeded by his son, Ma-has-ka, from 
 whom tlie county of JIahaska derived its name. 
 Continuous wars reduced the tribe so that in 
 1824, when the old Fox chief, Black Hawk, in 
 his triumphal march westward, came upon them, 
 they were completel}' destroyed as a tribe and 
 fled across the Missouri River, or were scat- 
 tered over the territory. Subse(iuently, wiien 
 the Foxes, under Black Hawk and Sacs, were 
 defeated and conquered by the whites, they 
 formed a part of the confederation of the rem- 
 nants of the conquered tribes in the territory of 
 which were Foxes, Sacs, Pottawatomies and 
 Kiowas. Tins confederated bodj' was called 
 Musquakie, a small remnant of whom still ex- 
 ists in Tama Count}-.' 
 
 Again we are told, on the autiiorit}- of one 
 " wlio had much to do with the Fox and Sac 
 
 Indians, who was personally familiar with 
 their traditions, and was personally acquainted 
 with Powesiiiek, Wapello. Kenesaw, Keokuk, 
 ^lahaska and other prominent chiefs, and who 
 often sought out the traditions of the tribes, 
 that the word ' Kiowa ' always meant ' cross- 
 ing over,' whether used Isy Fox, Sac or Potta- 
 watomie. This meaning is in consonance with 
 later history. The Musquakies of to-daj- use 
 the same word in the same sense. So when 
 the otTshoot of the Pan-hoochees crossed over 
 the river, they called the river Kiowa, or the 
 river they crossed over. Tribes eastward called 
 them Kiowas, or the Indians who crossed the 
 river. When Black Hawk, in his march, entered 
 the territory west of the Mississippi, he called 
 it Kiowa, or where he crossed over. When the 
 earliest white people came to the territory, in 
 advance of settlements, at the trading-posts, 
 when the bands of the several chiefs came in, 
 and were asked where they came from, the 
 reply was, ' Kiowa Chedapa,' or across Skunk 
 River, Kiowa meaning over or across, and Chi- 
 caqua Skunk or Stinking River, so called from 
 the wild onions found in profusion along its 
 banks. Perhaps they would say ' Ne-ko-ma- 
 puk-a-chee keo-sau-qua-sepo-kiou,' meaning 
 their ponies had run away across the dark 
 river. Ne-ko-ma, pony ; puk-a-chee, run away ; 
 keo-sauqua, dark, inky ; sepo, river ; and kiou, 
 over. In whatever connection the Indians 
 used the word ' Kiowa,' it signified over, or 
 the act of crossing. It had no other meaning, 
 and every tribe in Iowa so used it." 
 
 This writer to the Glohe- Democrat further 
 says : " There is no poetry in it. Every one 
 familiar with Indian history knows their vo- 
 cabulary was formed from events. Words 
 took rise from circumstances, and one word was 
 frequently used to express many things, or was 
 interpreted, together with some sign, gesture or 
 incident, to var}' its signification. From Ma- 
 haska I, down to this time, Kiowa has signified 
 crossing over, and that antedates Black Hawk's 
 
16 
 
 HISTORY OF POTT AAV ATT A MIE COD NT Y. 
 
 expedition across the Mississippi. It may be 
 well here to remark that the Indians from the 
 south to the north called the Des Moines River 
 (Keo-sau-qua Sepo), or dark. ink\', rolling river, 
 from the black color of the water in the spring 
 and fall, the result of the washings of the 
 burned-out prairies along the banks." 
 
 It may be interesting to man^y of the readers 
 of this histor}' to know the derivation of some 
 of the Indian words, and for this reason, we 
 will quote the following from a writer who 
 claims to be versed in the Indian language. 
 He gives a number of words in Indian with 
 the translations, as follows : 
 
 Indian. English. 
 
 Miss-sisk, Grass. 
 
 Mis-sis-ke-kon. Weeds. 
 
 Mis-is-que, Medicine herbs. 
 
 Mis-sis-ke-wa-keck, Field of luxuriant herbage. 
 Mis-ku-tak, Meadow. 
 
 The writer interprets this last word as being 
 " derived from miss, prairie, and Shu-tak, fire, 
 literally meaning grass fire, an idea apparent 
 to all conversant with burning prairies." It 
 was from these names that the Mississippi 
 River was so called, as will be shown by this 
 quotatioiis from the same writer, who says : 
 " The meadows or broad-grass lands along the 
 river were called Mis-ke-tak, and the Indians 
 who occupied the adjoining lands on either side, 
 were called ' Mis-she-ten,' or 'Meadow Indians.' 
 The river was called ■ Mis-sis-wa-keek,' sepo, or 
 literallj', Meadow River, or river of Meadows 
 or grass." 
 
 Here we will give the French rule as it ap- 
 pears in history. It is stated that Marquette, 
 in 1673, recorded the name Mississipy ; Claude 
 Dablon, in 1671, had it Mississippo ; Francia 
 LeMercieu, in 1666, wrote it Messipi; Hen- 
 nipin, in 1680, wrote Mechaspi, and D. Coxe, in 
 1689, Meschasabe. 
 
 This will show that the writers attempted to 
 enunciate the articulate sounds of the Indian 
 speech. The same sound in the above quota- 
 
 tions are attempted to be given in similar 
 character in English. 
 
 Some of the Indians here described, came 
 to this countrj' with the Pottawatomies, and 
 remained here until their removal from this 
 section to Kansas. The red men have always, 
 and in every country, given way to the sturdy, 
 industrious white people, and the same results 
 will continue until the whites will hold every 
 foot of land in the United States. 
 
 As late as 1856 and 1857, the Indians, we 
 are informed by Hon. C. D. Bloomer in the 
 Annals of Iowa, had free access to the streets 
 of Council Bluffs, and traversed many sections 
 of this count}'. At this time the Omahas and 
 Pawnees predominated, the Pottawatomies 
 having removed farther south. These red- 
 skins did not stand upon any ceremony when 
 they desired to visit the houses of the whites, 
 but came and left at pleasure and without in- 
 vitation. We are here told. " they would open 
 doors and walk into a house with the most 
 astonishing coolness, and when they could not 
 do this, they would plant themselves before the 
 windows and watch the movements of the in- 
 mates." At about this time, " Mr. Francis 
 Guittar, kept an Indian grocery store, on the 
 corner of Broadway and Main streets, and here 
 the Indians assembled in large numbers, when 
 shooting at dimes, jumping, running, dancing 
 and singing were indulged in, and enjoj'ed b}- 
 the crowd. Mr. Guittar having passed many 
 years among them as a fur-trader, could speak 
 their language readily," and could explain to 
 the assembled audiences the meaning of the red 
 people, and also their wants. 
 
 The same writer describes a lively scene that 
 took place in this city in 1855, on the occasion 
 of the Indians receiving their annual payment 
 from the Government in gold. He says : 
 " Very soon the intelligence spread abroad that 
 the Indians would arrive to buj' horses, and in 
 a short time nearly ever}' horse and pony in 
 the place were on the streets for sale. The red 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 17 
 
 men were quite good on a bargain wlien horse 
 flesh was to be bought, and trading went on 
 actively all that daj-. Horses and ponies were 
 flying in ever}' direction, red or white riders 
 showing them to the crowd. Gold was the 
 only medium of exchange that passed current, 
 and eagles were traded for horses and ponies 
 in large numbers, and when night came the 
 Indians retired to the bottoms with their ani- 
 mals, while their former owners were engaged 
 in counting up their gold." Those who have 
 seen one of these gatherings, can understand 
 what a lively time it makes. Many of the In- 
 dians get on ■' high horses," while some of the 
 whites take a jubilee over their gains. 
 
 But we will again recur to the Pottawato- 
 mie Indians, from whom this county takes its 
 name, and in referring to history we find that 
 this tribe lived in Indiana, the southern part of 
 Michigan and eastern part of Illinois, before 
 removing to Iowa. We are told " their early 
 history was very obscure," and yet we learn 
 that the " United States has had more business 
 transactions with them than with any other In- 
 dians." It is stated that they were received 
 into the friendship and protection of the Gov- 
 ernment, by a treat}', as early as the 9th of 
 January, 1789 ; and since that time, and pre- 
 vious to their removal to Iowa, the Govern- 
 ment held tbirty-five treaties with this nation." 
 
 In history, it is stated that, '-in 1755, the 
 French, Pottawatomies and other Indians of 
 the West, were combined in a war against Eng- 
 land, which caused a gloomy prospect for the 
 future growth of the colonies, and the emigra- 
 tion to the West, for a time, was nearly cut 
 ofl'." The " British determined to retrieve their 
 possessions in the West, and for this purpose 
 sent out two regiments of veteran soldiers, un- 
 der command of Gen. Edward Braddock, who 
 had learned the art of war on the battle- fields 
 of Europe, but had little idea of Indian war- 
 fare. He landed at Alexandria with much pomp 
 and show, and being clothed with the fullest 
 
 power of the King, he was treated with the 
 greatest attention by the Governors and 
 officers of the colonies, and the expectation of 
 success reached the highest pitch. With the 
 skill of an experienced General, Braddock soon 
 had everything in readiness, and with unusual 
 dispatch, marched with his army across the 
 Alleghanies, and was descending the Mononga- 
 hela, when, on the 9th of July, they met with 
 the combined force of the enemy, who were 
 concealed in ambush. In almost an incredibly 
 short time, seven hundred men and their offi- 
 cers lay dead on the field, and the advance col- 
 umn, panic-stricken, commenced a flight which 
 nothing could check. The General himself 
 fell, and that proud army, which in the early 
 morning had crossed the Monongahela, in gal- 
 lant array, with drums beating and banners 
 flying, fled like sheep before wolves — aban- 
 doning their cannon, amunition and their 
 wounded to the unmerciful foe. Prominent 
 among the red men of the West, who achieved 
 this signal victorj', were the Pottawatomies." 
 
 We find that in " the war carried on against 
 the English, after Great Britain and France had 
 made peace, under the lead of Pontiac, the Pot- 
 tawatomies were the first to join the confeder- 
 acy, and took a prominent part in the siege. 
 In the summer of 1 790, hostile demonstrations 
 were apprehended from the Indians of the AVa- 
 bash Valley, and Col. Hammer was directed to 
 advance into that country and endeavor to 
 bring them to terms." On the " 30th of Sep- 
 tember, he left for duty, with 1,000 men, but 
 when he arrived near the Miami of the Lakes, 
 he met the combined force of Pottawatomies 
 Shawnees and Miamis, and was forced to make 
 a disorderly retreat, with a loss of nearly one- 
 third of his men." 
 
 " This invasion of their country by Col. Ham- 
 mer was considered b}- the Indians as a decla- 
 ration of war, and the Pottawatomies, notwith- 
 standing they had been received into the friend- 
 ship of the United States Government, joined 
 
18 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 the Miamis and other hostile tribes against the 
 whites. 
 
 It will be observed, by this history, that the 
 Pottawatomies, long before removing to Iowa, 
 figured extensively in the battles of this 
 country. They occupied the position of friends 
 to our Government until they supposed their 
 country was to be taken from them, and when 
 this time came, they were read}' for battle. In 
 whatever place we find this tribe of Indians, 
 they appear to have held important posts — 
 seemed to be leaders. In 1812, they are found, 
 
 after some hesitancy, taking sides with Tecum- 
 seh and the British, and during the war 
 they remained, on that side, but after the 
 treaty of Ghent, they again returned and 
 placed themselves under the protection of the 
 United States Government, and an agreement 
 was entered into between them and the 
 Government to mutually forgive and forget 
 past difficulties. Pottawattamie County, lilce 
 these Indians, will occupy a prominent place 
 in the history of the State of Iowa and the 
 nation. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GROWTH OF THE COUNTY— EARLV SBTrLERS—C.A.THOLIC MISSIONARIES— THE OLD BLOCK-HOUSE 
 
 —OLD MILL— DEPARTURE OF THE POTTAWATOMIES — KANESVILLE—SETTLE.MENT 
 
 OF THE MORMONS— THEIR ORGANIZ.ITION AND INFLUENCE— THEIR PART 
 
 IN THE MEXICAN WAR— THEIR ENTERPRISE, ETC.— DECLINE OF 
 
 THEIR SUPREMAGV AND DEPARTURE FOR UTAH— EARLY 
 
 POLITICS— ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY, ETC. 
 
 This same history informs us that in 1839, 
 two companies of United States troops landed 
 here, having come up the Missouri River on a 
 steamboat. The}" at once proceeded to erect a 
 fort or block-house, on what is now the eastern 
 part of Council Bluffs. At about the same 
 period, two Catholic missionaries came to the 
 same point, and at once established a mission 
 among the Indians. These missionaries were 
 permitted to use the block-house for religious 
 meetings, and they erected a log cabin for their 
 own accommodations. As late as 1855, the 
 block-house was still standing, and it was sur- 
 mounted by a rude cross, emblematic of the 
 faith and zeal of these pious pioneers in this 
 region of country. These Catholics also estab- 
 lished a burying-ground in the" vicinity of 
 the fort, where the dead received a Christian 
 burial. 
 
 The United States Government erected a 
 mill on Musketo Creek, about two miles from 
 
 WHEN you look at the present growth 
 and condition of Council Bluffs and 
 Pottamattamie County, you will be astonished 
 to learn how recently tlie red men of the forests 
 occupied this territory. The writer finds re- 
 corded in the Annals of Iowa, that "in 1838, 
 the Government of the United States removed 
 the Pottawatomie Indians from the Platte pur- 
 chase in Missouri, to the Southwestern part of 
 Iowa, with their headquarters in Pottawatta- 
 mie County, where Council Bluffs now stands." 
 A number of agents, mechanics and employes 
 accompanied the Indians to their new home, 
 among whom was David Hardin, who was sent 
 by the Government to instruct the red men in 
 the art of farming. Mr. Hardin landed at 
 Traders' Point, with his family, consisting of 
 his wife and seven sons, two of whom, Richard 
 and Martin D., are still residents, and among 
 the oldest white inhabitants of Western Iowa. 
 
 *By W.T.Giles. 
 
HISTOKY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 19 
 
 the iMissouri Valley, with Mr. S. E. Wicks as 
 niiller for the Indians. 
 
 The history of the Pottawatomies while in 
 Iowa, is the f'story of most Indians to the 
 present time. It is said of them, " they did not 
 make any rapid progress in the arts of civiliza- 
 tion." Their squaws cultivated some small 
 pat<;lie3 of corn, while the men and boys spent 
 nearly all their time in hunting and fishing, 
 (rame was plenty, even buffalo and elk were 
 found east of the Missouri River. The Indians 
 remained here till 1841) and 1847, when they 
 sold their possessions to the Government, by 
 treaty, on June 5, 1846, and removed to Kan- 
 sas, where, what are left of them still remain. 
 
 The sale and departure of the Pottawatomies 
 from this section of country, left it open for 
 tlie settlement of the followers of Joseph Smith, 
 who was killed while in prison, in Nauvoo, 111. 
 These people were called Latter Day Saints, 
 and were very deluded on the subject of re- 
 ligion. It was generally supposed that Joseph 
 Smith, like Brigham Young, was a polygamist 
 but some of the followers of Joseph, who still 
 live in this county, deny this, and contend 
 that such was not in accord with that supposed 
 saints teachings. His death occurred in 1844, 
 and in a 3'car or two after, the Mormons, head- 
 ed by Brigham Young, turned their faces west- 
 ward, crossed Iowa and landed on the borders 
 of the Missouri River. In 184G, Young and 
 his followers again changed their location, and 
 this time settled at what wiis known as Winter 
 Quarters, on the west side of the Missouri Riv- 
 er, where they remained until the following 
 spring, when the saints arose and marched to 
 Salt Lake City, arriving there on the 24th day 
 of July, 1847. Of course, all the Mormons did 
 not go to Salt Lake in this season, for many 
 remained in Winter Quarters, to await the news 
 from those who had gone. These people con- 
 tinued to emigrate for Salt Lake, as the news 
 of the beauty of the country was sounded afar 
 by those who had settled there. The climate 
 
 was also excellent, and it was not long till Win- 
 ter Quarters was almost deserted, for many of 
 these people who did not go to Salt Lake, 
 moved into Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and 
 some of them are among its most wealthy and 
 respected citizens of to-day. 
 
 In 184G, many of the Mormons arrived in this 
 county from Nauvoo in time to plant and 
 secure crops for the season, and many more 
 arrived the following season. They scattered 
 over the county, and many went to the adjoin- 
 ing counties, selecting localities in the groves 
 and near the beautiful little streams and springs 
 of pure waters. It wa§ not long till the timber 
 covering the blufl's and skirting the water 
 courses, was cut down and converted into cab- 
 ins and barns by these new settlers. In many 
 cases where timber was scarce, caves were made 
 in hillsides, and were occupied as places of 
 shelter to protect these families from the wild 
 storms that frequently visit these prairies. 
 
 A history of this county would be very im- 
 perfect unless it would give an extended his- 
 tory of the early settlement of the Latter Day 
 Saints here ; and that we may be enabled to 
 more perfectly do this, we will again recur to 
 a statement made by Mr. Bloomer, in the An- 
 nals of Iowa, in which he says : " The valley of 
 Indian Creek, with the adjacent bluffs and the 
 high tablo-lands stretching westward to the 
 Missouri River, were, from the first, the center 
 and headquarters of this new community. 
 Here a village of log cabins speeflily arose, 
 numbering its population by the thousands, 
 and here a mammoth tabernacle was erected , 
 of logs, capable of accommodating one thou- 
 sand worshipers. Orson Hvde, priest, editor, 
 writer and lawyer, was installed as President 
 of the quorum of the select twelve, and here 
 his people dwelt for many months, unmolested 
 and undisturbed by the surgings and strifes of 
 the outside world. The wild whistle of the 
 locomotive did not disturb the dreams of these 
 people ; even the echo of the stage driver's 
 
20 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 horn was not heard in these valleys, for the 
 Western Stage Company had not extended their 
 lines thus far. These " Saints" had to depend 
 upon private enterprise for all letters and news 
 from the outside world, the only post ofHce 
 being in Missouri, and one hundred miles 
 away. 
 
 This new village was given the name of 
 Kanesville, in honor of Col. Kane, of Peinisyl- 
 vania, who visited the Mormons in their early 
 settlement, and who then and in subsequent 
 years proved to be their true friend. The 
 location and limits of this village were identical 
 with the territorial limits of Council Bluffs. 
 
 Over four years Kanesville and the entire 
 county of Pottawattamie, with some of the ter- 
 ritory of other counties, remained under the 
 exclusive control of the Mormons. They made 
 public sentiment, controlled elections and filled 
 all the public offices. Representatives of their 
 faith sat in two General Assemblies, and it is 
 reported that their influence was the cause of 
 the peculiar provision in the code of Iowa, in 
 relation to prosecution for adultery. At any 
 rate, it is certain that their ideas in relation to 
 a plurality of wives were, in a measure, prac- 
 ticed by not a few of the Jlormon leaders with 
 impunity while living in Iowa. 
 
 It has been charged that these people were 
 hostile to the United States Government ; but 
 it is stated, in the Annals of Iowa, that " when 
 they were appealed to in 1846 to raise a bat- 
 talion for service in the Mexican war, the}' 
 promptlj' responded, and marched 500 strong, 
 under the command of Col. Clark, through the 
 Northern States of Mexico, taking part in sev- 
 eral battles, and finally closing their campaign 
 in California, where many of them engaged in 
 mining, and secured large fortunes. Among 
 the latter number was Mr. William Garner, who 
 returned to Kanesville, and still resides in the 
 count}', where he is known as one of its most 
 wealthy and public-spirited citizens. It is 
 claimed, with a reasonable show of evidence. 
 
 that the first discovery of gold in the banks 
 and waters of the Sacramento was made by one 
 or more members of this battalion. 
 
 It is further stated that the ^Jorraon popula- 
 tion of the county was larger in 1848 than at 
 any subsequent period, but the State census of 
 1849, after many had left for Utah, showed it 
 to have been, at that time, 6,552, and in IS.iO 
 the census gave 7,828. The limits of the 
 county, at that time, were much larger than at 
 present. It had acquired separate organization 
 in September, 1848. The first Clerk was James 
 Sloan ; the first County Commissioners were 
 A. H. Perkins, David D. Yearsley ajid George 
 Coulson ; and its first County Judge, elected 
 in 1851, was T. Burdick. The first term of the 
 District Court was held on the 5th day of May, 
 1851. James Sloan presided as the District 
 Judge ; Evan M. Green was Clerk, and Alex- 
 ander M'Rae, Sheriff. Mr. Green, Clerk, seemed 
 to have conceived the idea that he was required 
 to keep a full proceedings of all that transpired 
 in court, including the testimony of witnesses 
 and the arguments of the lawyers, as well as 
 the charge of the Judge. Judge Sloan was a 
 native of Ireland, and it is stated that he was 
 full of eccentricities and anecdotes, and many 
 stories are told of his conduct on the bench 
 that are quite refreshing. In religion, he pro- 
 fessed to be a Mormon, in common with all the 
 oflBcials. After holding the oflBce for a year. 
 Judge Sloan resigned, when the Governor of 
 Iowa appointed Judge Bradford to the place 
 This gentleman presided until the people 
 elected S. H. Riddle, who did not reach the 
 bench until the Mormon rule was passing away. 
 It is stated that Orson Hyde was one of the 
 first attorneys admittod to practice law before 
 Judge Sloan. 
 
 In 1848, I]van M. Green was appointed the 
 first Postmaster in Kanesville, but it was some- 
 time before a regular mail route was estab- 
 lished between this point and the nearest post 
 office in Missouri, and four or five years before 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 21 
 
 regular mails began to arrive from the East 
 over Iowa. 
 
 Orson Hyde established the Frontier Guar- 
 dian, in 1848, which paper was published till 
 1852. It was edited by Hyde and A. C. Ford, 
 and advocated the Mormon religion. This 
 paper, in politics, was Whig, and yet it is 
 stated that the political feelings of Hyde and 
 Ford did not seriously interfere with their ac- 
 tions, for their votes were cast wherever and for 
 whatever party they supposed would favor 
 tliem most. 
 
 The politicians who always discover the 
 points to be made among a people who have 
 no decided politics, frequentl}' made a pilgrim- 
 age across the State of Iowa to secure the Mor- 
 mon'vote, which could change the result of the 
 election. Riglit in this connection, it was re- 
 ported that Orson Hyde was appointed to the 
 office of Guardian, for securing very nearly a 
 unanimous vote for a particular candidate for 
 Congress, in 1848, but the poll books were not 
 to be found when the Canvassing Board assem- 
 bled to make their returns. In the Southern 
 States, in later days, returning boards did not 
 need books. 
 
 . It is recorded that the first Representative 
 to the General Assembly of Iowa, from this 
 section, was Henry Miller, and the second, 
 Archibald Bryant; and Hadley D. Johnson 
 was elected to the State Senate in 1852. 
 
 In 1849, the first great rush to California 
 began, and soon Council Blufts became a noted 
 out-fitting point, where hundreds of teams and 
 thousands of people assembled to lay in feed 
 and provisions for the perilous trip. This tide 
 of emigration continued for a few years, and 
 many merchants reaped large rewards from the 
 passing people. The feny business became 
 very profitable, and a number of persons went 
 into the enterprise, and all were kept busy dui'- 
 ing the springs of the years that the people 
 rushed to to the California mines, where thou- 
 sands of fortunes were made and lost. 
 
 The Mormons were as quick to see a dollar as 
 the rest of mankind, and they settled along the 
 routes to California and established ranches 
 and trading posts, and made much money. 
 Some of the gold seekers who had not the ut- 
 most regard for any religion, frequently made 
 light of the professions of the Mormons, and 
 in fact caused some of the adherents of the 
 cause to forget their professions. Kanesville 
 became a general rendezvous of all the gold- 
 hunting people who crossed Iowa, and this 
 caused the place to grow rapidly. Many who 
 had started for California sold their teams and 
 remained here to make their fortunes, and some 
 of the.se succeeded beyond their own expecta- 
 tion.s. The valley along the Missouri River 
 was covered with canvas- covered wagons and 
 oxen, mules and horses, while the streets of the 
 town were thronged by as hardy a lot of men 
 as ever entered upon a frontier life, and some 
 of these were as rough as thej' were hardy and 
 daring. Among them were all manner of men, 
 traders, gamblers, horse thieves, murderers and 
 desperadoes of every description, and soon 
 every conceivable crime was pi-acticed here. The 
 gambler applied himiself to his occupation at 
 every corner of the streets of the village, 
 and drinking was common at every shop. The 
 Sabbath was almost entirely forgotten, and ex- 
 cept at the Mormon Tabernacle, where Hyde 
 presided, no word of God or religion was heard. 
 At this early day more than one'poor fellow 
 was strung up by the neck to the most conven- 
 ient tree, bj- a self-constituted vigilance com- 
 mittee. The return of miners from California, 
 I who had accumulated lots of gold, did not 
 I abate these crimes, but gambling and drinking 
 ' seemed to increase, particularly among the 
 Gentiles, who had so sadly demoralized the 
 early settlers." 
 
 We will again return to the Annals of Iowa, 
 and transcribe therefrom a chapter on the de- 
 parture of the Latter Day Saints from Potta- 
 wattamie County. It says : " The time had 
 
22 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 now fully come for the Mormons to follow their 
 great leader to the happj' valley among the 
 mountains of Utah. Many had already taken 
 their departure for the land of promise, while 
 fresh trains of newly-converted disciples from 
 the Old and New World were pressing their way 
 to the dominions of Brigham Young. While 
 Hyde's followers in AV^estern Iowa had been 
 gradually diminishinsi in numbers, those of 
 Young, at Salt Lake, had rapidly increased. In 
 1852, an order came and was given to all of 
 the Mormons, that all true believers in the 
 creed of Joseph Smith, as taught b_v his Vice- 
 gerent, Brigham Young, should assemble 
 around the great central temple in Utah. Now 
 came the harvest for the Gentiles. They 
 swarmed into Kanesville, and into all the set- 
 tlements of the faithful throughout the country. 
 Farms were sold to them for a few hundred 
 dollars ; claims were bargained away for a 
 span of horses and a wagon ; lots in Kanesville 
 were traded for a yoke of oxen, and cabins and 
 store rooms were exchanged for furniture and 
 a few articles for the journej-. During all the 
 spring and summer of 1852, the work of sell- 
 ing out and removing went forward. Long 
 trains of the pilgrims covered all tlie roads up 
 the Platte Vallej', and across the Laramie 
 plains, as tliej' wended their way to the Cit^' 
 of the Saints. This migration continued with 
 diminished volume during several succeeding 
 years, until all the believers in the Mormon 
 faith who were willing to acknowledge Brigham 
 Young as the true successor of their first 
 prophet and leader had departed from this 
 countrj'. 
 
 Man}' of these people have since occupied 
 prominent positions in the Mormon hierarchy, 
 and one of Brigham's favorite concubines, was 
 formerly a well-known citizen of Council Bluffs, 
 and was highly esteemed for her beaut}' and 
 accomplishments. A few of the prominent 
 citizens of this county who were once num- 
 bered among Hyde's desciples, renounced the 
 
 faith altogether, and are now among the most 
 respected citizens ; while others, refusing to 
 recognize Brigham Young as their prophet, 
 have adhered to the fortunes of Joseph Smith, 
 Jr. These latter have rather increased than di- 
 minished in numbers, during the last few years, 
 and they now have a regular religious organiza- 
 tion in several of the western counties of this 
 State, and a church in Council Bluffs. These 
 people repudiate the doctrine of the plurality 
 of wives, and believe much in doctrines similar 
 to those taught by the Baptists. They are 
 among the most industrious and respectable 
 citizens. 
 
 In 1852 and 1853. the Mormon predominance 
 in Pottawattamie County practically ceased, 
 and within a year or two thereafter the "•Gen- 
 tiles," by which name all othes than Mormons 
 were known, acquired entire control of its 
 destinies. In closing the subject of the Mor- 
 mons in this county, it may be necessary to 
 refer to this matter and people again, for they 
 figured extensivel}' in the early settlement of 
 the count}-, and in fact, were prett}- much all 
 of the early settlement, leaving out the 
 Indians. 
 
 It may be well to give a little of the early 
 political history of the State and county, and to 
 do so we will refer to some facts found in the 
 Annals of Iowa as presented by Charles Negus. 
 It is here stated that " in 1848, there were two 
 elections — one in August, at which there were 
 to be elected two members of Congress, the 
 State officers and members of the Legislature ; 
 and in November, for the first time, the electors 
 of Iowa had an opportunity to take part in a 
 Presidential election. Lewis Cass was the Dem- 
 ocratic candidate, and Zacharj' Taylor the 
 Whig nominee, and the political excitement ran 
 high, and greater efforts were made b}' both par- 
 ties than were ever made befure in Iowa. For the 
 August election, the Democrats nominated all 
 the old State otiicers, with the exception of Cut- 
 ler, the Secretary of State, who, from his course 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 23 
 
 pursued towards Harlan, or for some other rea- 
 son, had become unpopuhir with the people, 
 Josiah Bonney, of Van Buren County, was nom- 
 inated in his place. A. C. Dodge, Lincoln 
 Clark, John Selmon and Joseph Williams were 
 nominated by the Democrats for Presidential 
 electors ; and Fitz Henry Warren, William H. 
 Wallace, Jesse Bowen and Thomas I, McKean 
 were nominated as the Whig electors." Here, 
 again. ' the Mormons who had settled on the 
 western slope of the State, and had become 
 quite nnmerouR. became important factors to 
 both political parties, and it was a question 
 with each party how best to manage this large 
 vote. It was discovered by the Democrats 
 that Orson Hyde, who was the Presiding Elder 
 over the Mormons in Iowa, and had the super- 
 intendence of this part of the church, visited 
 Burlington earlj- in the season, and had a long 
 interview with Warren, one of the Whig candi- 
 dates for elector, and it was currently circulated 
 that he had received some personal favors from 
 and had pledged himself to Warren that the 
 Mormon vote should be cast for the Whigs at 
 the coming election, if thev were permitted to 
 vote. At this period, it was supposed there 
 were from 8,000 to 10,000 Mormons in the 
 western part of the State, and that they would 
 at least cast 800 or 1,000 votes, if they were 
 ail brought to the polls, a vote which would 
 probably carry the election in the First Con- 
 gressional District, if not the State, and elect 
 the Whig candidates in the western districts to 
 the Legislature, When it became understood 
 that these peo))le, at the coming election, would 
 vote the Whig ticket, tliere was great anxiety, 
 on the part of the leading Democrats, to coun- 
 teract the influence of this vote. Judge Carlton, 
 whose duty it had been made by law to appoint 
 a Sheriff for the purpose of organizing Potta- 
 wattamie County, whenever he should think the 
 public good required it, had appointed William 
 S, Townsend, a Democrat, Organizing Sherifl", 
 and had ordered that an election should be 
 
 held on the first Monday in April, 1848, But 
 when it was ascertained that the Mormons 
 would probably vote with the Whigs, Town- 
 send declined to act, and consequently the 
 count}' was not organized, and without an or- 
 ganization of some kind they could not vote at 
 the coming election. After the Mormons found 
 out that Townsend was not going to organize 
 the county, they petitioned the County Com- 
 missioners of Monroe County to " grant them a 
 township for the purpose of electing two Jus- 
 tices of the Peace and Constables, as thej' la- 
 bored under much disadvantage for the want 
 of legal authority among them, and that the 
 election might be held at the council house in 
 Kanesville (now Council Bluffs City,) 
 
 On the 3d of July, the Board of Commis- 
 sioners of Monroe County ordered, " That 
 that portion of the country called Pottawatta- 
 mie County, which lies due west- of Monroe 
 County (at that time it was supposed tiiat 
 Kanesville was due west of Monroe County), 
 be organized into a township, and that Kanes- 
 ville be a precinct for election purposes in said 
 township, and that the boundaries of said town- 
 ship extend east as far as the East Nishnabot- 
 na; " and they also ordered, " That that por- 
 tion of the country called Clark Count}-, lying 
 immediately west of Lucas County, to what is 
 called East Nishnabotna, be organized into a 
 precinct for election and judicial purposes," 
 
 The organization of these precincts became 
 a matter of much concern to the Democrats; 
 and the securing or defeating the Mormon vote 
 was a matter of vital interest to both parties. 
 After the election was over, about the time it 
 was supposed the poll-books would be returned 
 to the Clerk's office in Jlonroe County from 
 Kanesville precinct, quite a number of active 
 politicians from both parties assembled at Al- 
 bia, the county seat of Monroe County. Among 
 those most active, were James B. Howell, the 
 editor of the Whig paper at Keokuk, on the 
 Whig side, and L C. Hall in behalf of the Demo. 
 
24 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 crats. James Sloan, one of the Clerks, brought 
 the poll-books of the Kanesville precinct to 
 Albia, where there arose quite a spirited dis- 
 cussion about the Clerk's receiving them. 
 Howell contended that they ought to be re- 
 ceived and counted b}' the Clerk, and Hall 
 opposed it. Sloan, in bis deposition, taken 
 afterward, in relation to this matter, in speak- 
 ing of the Clerk, said : " He (the Clerk) re- 
 ceived the poll-books bj' reaching out his hand 
 and taking them. I informed him what it was. 
 He looked at the parcel on both sides, and 
 reached out his hand to return it to me. I 
 declined accepting it. He afterward went par- 
 tially around the table and put it under some 
 newspapers, where lay some books, close by 
 where a gentleman sat, who, I was informed, 
 was Dr. Flint, with his left arm resting on the 
 table. I requested the Clerk to endorse the 
 poll-books, stating who had brought them, and 
 how far I bad come. He declined doing so. I 
 told him I was bound to deliver the poll-books ; 
 that I had understood there was a heav^' pen- 
 alty if I neglected to do it, and that I now 
 wished to get my pay ; also, that I had per- 
 formed my dutj', and I would not carry them 
 back or receive them, and told the Clerk that 
 we had no use for them. Mr. Hall told the 
 Clerk he might sweep them into the street (in 
 repl^' to a question as to what should be done 
 with them), and I replied he might for aught I 
 cared, as it did not concern me ; I had done 
 my duty." 
 
 The Clerk refused to receive the Kanesville 
 poll-books on the ground that the County Com- 
 missioners of Monroe County had no right to 
 organize the township, and the Mormon vote 
 was not counted in canvassing the votes. The 
 room where the parties had assembled was a 
 log house, with the floor laid down with loose 
 boards, and while the contest was going on 
 about what was to be done with the poll-books, 
 they fell down from the table on the floor, and 
 probably, by the aid of some one's foot, got 
 
 through a crack in the floor, and were missing. 
 After the crowd had dispersed, Israel Keister, 
 learning where the poll-books were, went and 
 got them from under the floor and put them 
 into Hall's carpet-sack. Hall, on his waj' home, 
 found the poll-books in his possession, and did 
 not make it public, and there were many sur- 
 mises for a long time, as to what had become 
 of them. 
 
 The official returns for Congressman for 
 the First District gave William Thompson, 
 Democrat, 6,477 votes, and Daniel F. Miller, 
 Whig, 6,091 votes. The Kanesville Precinct, 
 which was not counted in this result, gave 
 Thompson thirty' votes, and Miller 493 votes. 
 If the Mormon votes had been counted, it 
 would have elected Miller by a small majority, 
 but as it was not counted, he was defeated by 
 almost 400 votes. Mr. Miller concluded to 
 contest the election of Thompson, and during 
 the contest, the Kanesville poll-books were 
 found in Judge Mason's ofBce, but the Judge 
 refused to tell how they came there, only say- 
 ing "they came into m}- hands honestly." The 
 Whigs made a great handle of the discovery, 
 and the Whig papers were full of bitter denun- 
 ciations of the Democratic party in relation to 
 •' the stolen poll-books." 
 
 When the Whigs ascertained how the Mor- 
 mons voted at the August election, they thought 
 if all the settlements on the western slope were 
 organized into preeints, so that all could easily 
 get to the polls, that with the Mormon vote 
 they would be able to carry the State at the 
 November election, and there was a great 
 anxiety on the part of the Whigs to have 
 Pottawattamie County organized. Fitz Henry 
 Warren, who was regarded as one of the best 
 managers in the State, had been made Chair- 
 man of the Whig Executive Committee of 
 Iowa, and had been entrusted with the funds 
 raised to defray the expense of the campaign. 
 He undertook to have Pottawattamie County 
 organized and laid ofl' into suitable precincts, 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 35 
 
 so as to have thf vote of ever}- voter. Warren 
 found in the person of one William Pyckett, 
 whose family were living in Kanesville, as he 
 thought, a suitable person to organize the 
 country purchased from the Pottawatomie 
 Indians, into a county, as provided for by the 
 Legislature ; and as an inducement for him to 
 undertake it, he gave him $140 from the Whig 
 funds in his hands, which he was to receive for 
 his services, over the fees allowed bj* law. 
 
 Pyckett, having been known for some time 
 previous as a Democrat, and professing to be 
 desirous for the success of the Democratic 
 party, and claiming he could induce the Mor- 
 mons to vote the ticket, and it not being known 
 that he was in the paj- of Warren, succeeded 
 in getting some influential Democrats to recom- 
 mend the organizing of the western slope of 
 Iowa into a county, and Pyckett as a suitable 
 person to do it, and upon this recommendation 
 he received the appointment. Pyckett did not 
 have the prudence to keep these matters to 
 liiraself, but on his waj- back, while at Burling- 
 ton, told that he had received a commission 
 from Judge Carleton to organize Pottawatta- 
 mie Count}-, and that Warren had given him 
 $140. When it w-as discovered he was working 
 under the pay of Warren, some of the Demo- 
 crats who had signed his recommendation 
 were very much chagrined, and the leading 
 Democrats about Burlington determined to de- 
 feat his undertaking, if possible. 
 
 The law authorizing the appointment of an 
 Organizing Sheriff, required that the person 
 appointed, before he should be qualified to enter 
 upon the discharge of the duties of his office, 
 should file his bond and oath of office in the 
 • Clerk's office of the District Court of Polk 
 County. I. C. Hall was dispatched to go forth 
 with to Polk County and get the Clerk to resign, 
 80 that the appointed Organizing Sheriff could 
 not qualify. Pyckett. not suspecting any at- 
 tempt to defeat him in his undertaking, and 
 
 not being in a hurry, took things so leisurely 
 that when he got to Polk County, he found that 
 Hall had Iieen there two or three days previous 
 to his arrival, and by this maneuver, Pottawat- 
 tamie County was not organized in time for 
 the settlers on the western slope to vote at the 
 Presidential election. 
 
 With the exception of Thompson, the Demo- 
 crats this j-ear were triumphant, both at tlie 
 August and November elections, and elected 
 the congressional, State and electoral tickets by 
 decided majorities, and also had the ascendency 
 in both branches of the Legislature, and in 
 joint ballot a majoritj' of nineteen. This es- 
 tablished the fact that the Democrats could 
 elect two United States Senators and Supreme 
 Judges, and these offices elicited much interest 
 among the politicians, and at the convening of 
 the Legislature there were a great number of 
 the leading Democrats, from all parts of the 
 State, assembled at Iowa City, each using his 
 best efforts to get himself or his particular 
 friend elected to the United States Senate or as 
 Judge of the Supreme Court. 
 
 It was not long after the organization of the 
 Legislature till the Democrats held a caucus, 
 and nominated Gen. A. C. Dodge and George 
 W. Jones as candidates for the United States 
 Senate, and then adjourned till nest day, to 
 nominate candidates for Supreme Judges. As 
 soon as the result for Senators was known, 
 shouts of joy went forth, and a large number 
 of the friends of the candidates repaired to a 
 saloon, where there was a general time of re- 
 joicing. Oysters, wines and other liquors were 
 dealt out with profusion, for which the candi- 
 dates paid $300, an extraordinar}- treat for 
 Iowa in those daj-s. On the following day, the 
 Democratic caucus put in nomination, Joseph 
 Williams for Chief Justice, George Green and 
 John F. Kinnej- for Associate Justices. Thus 
 ended the political and Mormon conflict for the 
 time. 
 
26 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LAND OFFICE— FIRST ENTRIES, ETC.— ITS DISCONTINUANCI^— WATER- 
 COURSES OF THE COUNTY— TIMBER — STONE— COAL PROSFECTS— CLIMATE— 
 CATTLE-RAISING— GREAT PRODUCTIVENESS OF THE SOIL, ETC. 
 
 THE United States Land Office was estab- 
 lished in Council Bluffs, in the spring of 
 1853, with Joseph H. D. Street, Register, and 
 Dr. S. jM. Ballard, Receiver. These gentlemen 
 only held the offices until June, when they were 
 superseded by Lysander \V. Babbitt, as Regis- 
 ter, and Enos Lowe, as Receiver. The office 
 was first held in a log building on Broadwaj^, 
 and the first entry was made. March 12, 1853, 
 by Joseph I). Lane, and the fourth by Maria 
 Mynster, being the section on which her lime- 
 kiln is located. At that time, the Receiver 
 was required to deposit the public monej' 
 in Dubuque, and the journey there and back 
 generally occupied two or three weeks. At a 
 later period, St. Louis was made the deposit- 
 ing point, and the gold and silver collected by 
 the Receiver were conve3'ed to this point on 
 board the steamboats running on the Missouri 
 River. 
 
 The first pul:)lic sale of (xovernment lands 
 took place on the 7th day of June, 1853. The 
 office continued open for private entry until the 
 31st day of May, 185G, when it was closed on 
 account of the passage of the law granting public 
 lands to Iowa railroads, and from this time until 
 the 23d of Pebruar3', 1858, entries were onl}' 
 made under the pre-emption law. On the last- 
 named duj-, a second public sale took place, which 
 sale called together a large crowd of people, who 
 bought large tracts of land. Nearly a million 
 of acres were entered by the end of the year. 
 
 In 1857, new officers were appointed. James 
 Pollard became Register, and A. H. Palmer 
 
 *By W. T. Giles. 
 
 Receiver. Mr. Pollard resigned the Register's 
 office in 1858, and Lewis S. Hill was appointed 
 to fill the place. Mr. Hill had been a clerk in 
 the office for several years before his appoint- 
 ment as Register. The next change in the 
 office was made May 20, 1861, after the election 
 of President Lincoln, when Frank Street became 
 Register, and D. C. Bloomer was made Receiver. 
 At this time, nearly all the public lands in this 
 vicinity had been sold. In 1862, the new 
 homestead law passed, and the first entr}- un- 
 der it was made Januarj- 1, 1863. 
 
 Up to the close of the office in Council Bluffs, 
 in May, 1873, the whole number of homestead 
 entries was 648. Of this number, 194 were 
 '•proved up." In the spring of 1869, Mr. Syl- 
 vanus Dodge was appointed Register. He re- 
 mained in the office until his death, in January, 
 1871, and in Januarj-, 1872, Mr. Nehemiah 
 Baldwin was appointed Register, and held the 
 office until its removal to Des Moines. Hon. 
 D. C. Bloomer remained Receiver of the Land 
 Office for over twelve years. The whole num- 
 ber of cash entries made at this office during 
 its existence was 13,049, and the whole number 
 of land warrants located was 18,647. 
 
 The 600,000 acres of land in Pottawattamie 
 County are well watered by the Missouri River 
 and numerous other streams, and it is bounded 
 on ttie north by Harrison and Shelby- Counties, 
 and on the east l)j' Cass Couutj-, and on the 
 south b}' Montgomery and Mills Counties, and 
 on the west by the Missouri River. The Bo3'er 
 River, in the northwest corner, enters from 
 Harrison County, and meanders down the Mis- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 29 
 
 souri bottom about fifteen miles, where it joins 
 that great father of waters about ten miles 
 above Council Bluffs. The next stream east- 
 ward is Houej- Creek, a tributary of Boyer 
 River. This stream rises in Harrison Countj', 
 and runs in a southwest course for about 
 twelve miles through Pottawattamie County, 
 and enters the Boyer about three miles north- 
 west of Crescent City. In its course it passes 
 through what is known as Honey Creek Lake, 
 a small lake containing about eighty acres. It 
 is supposed that at one time this was a portion 
 of the channel of the Missouri River. 
 
 Big Pigeon Creek comes next, on the east. 
 It enters from Harrison Countj', about fifteen 
 miles east of the Missouri, and runs in a south- 
 west course to a junction with said river, about 
 ten miles above Council Bluffs. Along this 
 stream, it is said, some of the finest farming 
 land in Iowa is to be found. The Big Pigeon 
 affords some fine mill privileges, with two or 
 three mills already in operation on it. 
 
 The Mosquito Creek also enters from Harri- 
 son County, about twenty miles east of the 
 Missouri River. It runs in a southwest course 
 entirely across the county, touching the cit}- 
 limits of Council Bluffs, and enters the Mis- 
 souri Valley a short distance below the citj'. 
 This stream affords some good mill sites, and 
 one mill, valued at $20,000, is already in opera- 
 tion on it. About six miles above this citj-, 
 on the same stream, can be found an excellent 
 woolen mill. The valley of this creek contains 
 some of the very best of farming lands. The 
 Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad enters 
 this valley four miles south of the north line of 
 Pottawattamie Count}', and follows it, nearly 
 on a direct line, to Council Bluffs. 
 
 The nest stream east is Keg Creek. It also 
 enters from Harrison Countj-, twenty-five miles 
 east of the Missouri River, and runs in a south- 
 westerly course, and affords sufficient fall and 
 water for small mills. 
 
 Silver Creek has its head in Shelby County, 
 
 and enters Pottawattamie about thirty miles 
 east of the Missouri River, and runs in a south- 
 west direction. Middle Silver Creek is a trib- 
 utary which rises in the north part of the county, 
 and runs nearly south to its junction with the 
 main stream on the west side. 
 
 The West Nishnabotna River enters from 
 Shelby County, about thirtj'-four miles east of 
 the Missouri River. It also has a branch two 
 miles farther east. These two streams form a 
 junction four miles south of the county line, 
 and flow in nearly- a south course across the 
 county. This is a good mill stream, and sev- 
 eral grist and saw mills are in operation along 
 its banks. The rich and beautiful valley of 
 the West Nishnabotna contains some of the 
 finest farms in the State, mauj' of which are 
 highly improved. 
 
 Jordan Creek rises in the northeast part of 
 the count}-, and flows in a southwest direction. 
 This stream has several small tributaries, the 
 largest being Mud Creek. 
 
 Walnut Creek rises in a small lake near the 
 northeast corner of the count}-, and runs nearly 
 south across its limit. The next stream is the 
 East Nishnabotna, which flows about seven 
 miles through the county, across the south- 
 east corner of the same. 
 
 , To the streams mentioned above can be 
 added numerous other small tributaries, such 
 as Pony Creek, Little Silver, Little Mosquito 
 Indian Creek, etc. These streams are well dis- 
 tributed at regular intervals, and afford an 
 abundance of water to every section of the 
 county. Many springs of pure, cold water flow 
 from the bluffs and along most of the streams 
 in the county. The wells are not generally 
 deep, and thej' give excellent water. 
 
 TIMBER. 
 
 It may be well enough in writing up this 
 history to state that, while timber is not abun- 
 dant in Pottawattamie County, it is to be found 
 in such quantities as to answer all necessary use, 
 
30 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 if properly husbanded. The largest bodies to 
 be found are the eottonwood groves along the 
 Missouri, but there are also some excellent 
 bodies of various kinds, on West Nishnabotna, 
 Honey Creek, Pigeon and Musquito Creeks. 
 
 Two varieties of eottonwood are to be found 
 on the Missouri River, known as white and 
 yellow. Among the other varieties of timber 
 found are burr oak, black oak, red oak, walnut, 
 white elm, red elm, ash, soft maple, linn, honey 
 locust, hickory, etc. Nearl}' all the streams 
 herein mentioned are skirted by groves of tim- 
 ber of greater or less magnitude, but in quanti- 
 ties for fuel, convenient to all parts of the coun- 
 ty. The largest suppl3' of timber will be found 
 in the western part of the county. If the 
 prairie fires could be prevented for ten or fifteen 
 years, timber would be abundant in everj' sec- 
 tion of this and other counties in Iowa. 
 
 WILD FRUIT. 
 
 It is a well-established fact, that some very 
 delicious wild fruit is to be found in this coun- 
 ty, particularly along the Missouri slope. Here 
 you will find plums of good quality and vari- 
 ous kinds ; grapes, raspberries, gooseberries, 
 strawberries and crab apples, all growing lux- 
 uriantly. 
 
 STONE. 
 
 It was generally supposed that stone, in 
 this county, was not to be found, but upon in- 
 vestigation, the facts show an abundance of lime 
 stone and some sandstone. These can be ob- 
 tained in large quantities whenever the vari- 
 ous quarries in Pottawattamie shall be opened 
 up properlj-. Limestone can be found on Sec- 
 tion 36, Township 75, Range 38, and on vari- 
 ous other adjoining sections. In the south 
 part, on West Nishnabotna, limestone suitable 
 for building purposes can be obtained. North 
 of Council Bluffs, two and a half and four 
 miles, on Mosquito Creek and along the Mis- 
 souri River, are to be seen exposures of lime- 
 stone. In Township 74, Range 40, an excellent 
 
 quality of stone for burning lime is to be had. 
 At various points along the Missouri Bhift's are 
 " masses of coarse sandstone and conglomer- 
 ate, formed by the percolation of lime water 
 through the beds of sand and bebbles belonging 
 to the drift deposits." These beds of sand and 
 pebbles having been deposited in layers, and 
 being cemented in that position, present in 
 many places the appearance of a rocky ledge. 
 The best of brick can be manufactured in 
 the bluffs and all parts of the county, where 
 the best of sand and clay are obtainable for the 
 purpose. Many of the sidewalks made of these 
 bricks have endured for many years. 
 
 COAL. 
 
 Some years ago it was stated that coal had 
 been discovered a few miles up the Missouri 
 River, in the bluffs, but up to the present 
 writing no such discover}- has proven correct. 
 Coal is abundant in some parts of Iowa, and 
 may in time, b}' deep boring, be discovered in 
 this count}'. If this article of fuel should be- 
 come a commodit}' of this section, it would be 
 a great blessing to those who have but little 
 timber, and in fact, it would be beneficial to all 
 classes. Coal is one of the cheapest and best 
 heating substances yet discovered, and its im- 
 portance to the public can scarcely be calcu- 
 lated by dollars and cents, for it has a value 
 beyond the money that is in it. Many of the 
 citizens of Pottawattamie Count}' seem confi- 
 dent that coal will yet be found in the vicinity 
 of Council Bluffs. 
 
 The climate of the Missouri slope is salubri- 
 ous and bracing, and in consequence of this 
 fact, many persons have located in the city of 
 Council Bluffs and the County of Pottawatta- 
 mie. At one time the idea prevailed that 
 much of the Missouri River bottom would 
 prove too wet for agricultural purposes, but 
 this idea has long since been dispelled, for 
 these lands are of the very richest in the 
 county, and yield the most abundant corn. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 31 
 
 grass and other crops. Here cattle and stock 
 growers find the very richest spots on earth for 
 their business. The luxuriant growth of grass 
 on these bottom lands causes cattle men to 
 drive their stock for manj- miles for the feed 
 that is to be found from earl}- spring till late 
 fall. Thousands of head arc fed and fattened 
 here for the market with but very little other 
 feed than the grass they find upon this land. 
 Often cattle are driven from these pastures 
 directly to the slaughter house, where they are 
 killed for the market. 
 
 Nearly ever}- acre of this bottom land is 
 susceptible of excellent drainage, and when 
 reduced to cultivation, it presents a moist, 
 loamy surface, easy of tillage and is unsur- 
 passed for productive qualities. The uplands 
 arc also rich, and the best of healtli prevails 
 among the settlers. All the climatic conditions 
 of this county are such as to attract special 
 attention from persons who are uaturall}' weak 
 or debilitated. Here man\- have gone out upon 
 
 these prairies, and have become strong and 
 health}', and are now among the most prosper- 
 ous people of the county. Persons seeking 
 homes for health and rich soil, have found thera 
 in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and with but 
 few exceptions, are satisfied to remain. 
 
 In 1804, when Lewis and Clarke were hold- 
 ing their first council with red men of the for- 
 est, no such grand things as have occurred 
 could have been hoped for this country. But 
 the time has arrived when e^'erything can be 
 hoped and looked for, and man}- things not 
 now expected will be seen. The da}' for doubt- 
 ing the hcalthfuluess, the productiveness and the 
 prosperity of this large and extensive county 
 has passed. No one any longer seems to have 
 fears or doubts as to the future greatness and 
 growth of Pottawattamie, for these are inevita- 
 ble, and her increase and prosperity only de- 
 pend upon a little time. Climate, water, soil, a 
 navigable river and railroads all combine to 
 complete the grandeur long since begun. 
 
 CHAPTER IV.* 
 
 THE MISSOURI RIVER— STEAMBOATING — REMINISCENCES OF CAPT. LA BARGE— INTERESTING 
 
 DETAILS— A WARLIKE OUTRAGE— FLOATING PALACES— RAILROADS— SHARP CONTEST 
 
 FOR ROUTES— KEOKUK'S INDIFFERENCE AND CONSEQUENT LOSS OF A GREAT 
 
 ROAD — THE GREAT TRUNK LINES TO THE "BLUFFS," ETC. 
 
 THE following interesting account of the 
 Missouri River, its early navigation and 
 navigators, is to be found in the Omaha Bee, as 
 gathered from Capt. La Barge, at one time 
 owner and Captain of the steamer •' John 
 Chambers." The Bee says : '-Capt. Joseph La 
 Barge has been steamboating on the Missouri 
 River since the year 1832, a longer period than 
 any other steamboat man was ever engaged on 
 this stream. In 1832, Captain La Barge, then 
 but seventeen years of age, was running on the 
 Mississippi, and was present at the Indian bat- 
 
 *Bj- W, T. Giles. 
 
 tie of Bad Ax, Wis. During the same year, he 
 came to the Missouri, and began learning the 
 river preparatory to becoming a pilot. 
 
 His first trip up the Missouri River was on 
 the " Yellowstone," which was built in Pitts- 
 burgh, in 1827, and was the first steamboat to 
 engage in the Upper Missouri trade. She was 
 built and owned by the American Fur Com- 
 pany, and was commanded by Capt. Young. 
 She was laden with miscellaneous merchandise, 
 designed for trading purposes. This boat went 
 up the river as far as the mouth of the Yellow- 
 stone, the trip taking all summer. 
 
33 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 The " Yellowstone " continued to run on the 
 Missouri during the jears 1832 and 1833, and 
 in 1834 the American Fur Compan}- sold her 
 and built a new boat, called the " Assiniboine," 
 named after an Indian tribe, to take her place. 
 This new boat was commanded by Captain, 
 now General. Pratt. She made her first suc- 
 cessful trip, but in 1835 she was burned, about 
 three miles below where now stands Fort Abra- 
 ham Lincoln. 
 
 Capt. La Barge was put in charge of the 
 company's boats, and continued as pilot for them 
 for thirty 3-ear8. He never lost a boat during 
 his forty-six 3'ears' experience. He also built 
 a number of boats for the Missouri River, be- 
 ginning in 1839. "The steamer " Chambers" 
 was the fifteenth boat built by him, and was 
 the first stern wheeler that he ever constructed 
 and owned. He thinks a stern wheeler is bet- 
 ter adapted to the Missouri River than any 
 other kind of boat, and it is especially adapted 
 for the navigation of the Yellowstone. 
 
 " It is wonderful," said Capt. La Barge, " to 
 see the remarkable changes that have taken 
 place since then. Little did I think that I 
 would ever live to witness them, and 1 can 
 hardly realize it. In 1831, there was, at the 
 spot where Bellevue now is, a noted trading 
 establishment. It was the rendezvous for the 
 tribes of tlie Rocky Mountains, and was under 
 the control of Fontenelle and Dripps, and after- 
 ward became the property of David Sarpy. 
 The Omahas were here, where the city of 
 Omaha now stands. Just above where Flor- 
 ence now is, Cabanne had his trading post. All 
 of these points along the river, in this vicinit}', 
 were quite important trading posts, the trading 
 being done with the Omaiias, the Otoes and 
 the Pawnees. These trading posts, as well as 
 others, were outfitted by 'the American Fur 
 Company. Their next post up the river was 
 just below the mouth of the Vermillion, and 
 twenty miles above Sioux City. It was a large 
 establishment. 
 
 " I remember many interesting incidents 
 that transpired in this vicinity," said Capt. La 
 Barge, " and one in particular, which proved 
 to be quite an important event before the end 
 was reached. It was in 1833. One Le Clair, 
 who had been in the employ of the American 
 Fur Compan}' for some time, and had saved up 
 several thousand dollars, went to St. Louis and 
 purchased a keel boat, loaded it with merchan- 
 dise, and started up the Missouri River with 
 the craft, intending to trade with the Indians 
 on his own account. Henry Shaw, of St. Louis, 
 and the proprietor of ' Shaw's Gardens,' was 
 heavily interested with him in the enterprise. 
 Le Clair had a slow trip of it, as it was tedious 
 work to cordelle the boat up the river. The 
 American Fur Company had the only steam- 
 boat for this trade. Steamboats were both 
 scarce and expensive then, while keel boats 
 were, of course, cheaper and more numerous. 
 The onl}' way to get them up stream was to 
 pull them by a tow line along the bank of the 
 river. 
 
 " When Le Clair was approaching this point, 
 the American Fur Companj- gave orders to 
 watch him closely, and at the first good oppor- 
 tunity to capture the whole outfit, as they 
 would not allow any opposition. At that time 
 there was a long bend in the river, opposite 
 where Florence now is, and where Cabanne's 
 trading post was. It was ten miles around 
 and two miles across the bend at this point, 
 where Cabanne had six large buildings. 
 
 '• As the boat was going around this bend, 
 old Col. Peter Sarpy mustered out the Fur 
 Company's employes, to the number of about 
 eighteen men, all armed, and marched across 
 the neck of land at Cabanne's, and there took 
 station, and planted a cannon about three feet 
 long. When Le Clair's boat came within hail- 
 ing distance, Col. Sarp3' commanded Le Clair to 
 surrender or he would blow the boat out of the 
 water with his cannon. Le Clair was forced to 
 obej-. If he had not done so, old Sarpj- would 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 33 
 
 certainlj- have carried his threat out. The Fur 
 Company tooli possession of the boat and 
 goods. It was nothing more or less than high- 
 way- robbery, and the afl'air created considera- 
 ble commotion, almost resulting in a movement 
 that might have ended in forcing the company 
 to leave the country. 
 
 " Le Clair returned to St. Louis financially 
 ruined ; he never got over it. A big lawsuit 
 followed, but Le Clair never got anything out of 
 it, although the company settled with Shaw. 
 
 " The Missouri River in those days ran over 
 by the lake above Council Bluffs, and continued 
 there for several j-ears, and when that cut-off 
 was made, it was called ' Heart Cut-off.' I 
 rememljer the river formerly ran along where 
 the smelting works now stands, striking the 
 bluffs just below there. Little did I ever sup- 
 pose that such a large town as Omaha would 
 be located there. In 1854, town sites were 
 laid out all along the Missouri River, wherever 
 there was a steamboat landing. Steamboating 
 was very profitable in those days, much more 
 so than it has been for several years back. The 
 passenger boats on the Missouri River, from 
 1856 to 1869, were the finest and most substan- 
 tial ever built, and cost from SI 10,000 to 
 $125,000 each. The people demanded floating 
 palaces, and would not travel on ordinary 
 boats." 
 
 Capt. La Barge said, " I find you are mis- 
 taken in relation to the name of Kanesville, 
 now Council Bluffs. It was not called Kanes- 
 ville in honor of a Jlormon Elder, as j'ou have 
 stated, but in honor of Dr. Kane, the celebrated 
 Arctic explorer. I brought Dr. Kane up here 
 on a steamljoat. He came up as Government 
 Commissioner to investigate the Mormons, and 
 not finding them as bad as they had been rep- 
 resented, he made a verj- favorable report on 
 his return, and the Mormons, who thought con- 
 siderable of him on that account, changed the 
 name of the place from Miller's Hill to Kanes- 
 ville. 
 
 RAILROADS. 
 
 Early in 1848, the older and more thickly 
 settled portions of Iowa began to clamor for 
 railroads, and petitions were sent to Congress 
 asking grants of land for building railroads in 
 the State, but no proposed routes had been 
 mentioned in the petitions, and the committee to 
 whom said petitions were referred reported 
 against them on these grounds. When these 
 olijections were made known, the Dubuque 
 and Keokuk Company immediately went to 
 work to get their stock taken in their pro- 
 proposed road, and to organize. The or- 
 ganization was completed in the month 
 of December, 1848, at Iowa City, with Lucius 
 Langworthy as President. The President was 
 a citizen of Dubuque. P. R. Skinner, of 
 Anamosa, was chosen Secretarj-, and J. H. 
 Fisher, of Iowa City, appointed Treasurer. A 
 Board of Directors were elected. Maj. Thomas 
 J. McKean was selected as Engineer. He made 
 a cursory surve}- of the route, and reported the 
 distance to the Board of Directors. This re- 
 port was laid before the Legislature, and was 
 accepted and adopted by that body, when 
 another memorial was sent to the United States 
 Senators and members of Congress, asking 
 grants of lands for this road. Another me- 
 morial was also sent, asking a grant of land to 
 aid in constructing a road '■ from Davenport by 
 Muscatine, Iowa City and Fort Des Moines, to 
 some suitable point near Council Bluffs, on the 
 Missouri River." These proposed routes began 
 to assume a character of importance, and 
 the people of the various counties and towns 
 began to make a hot contest as to the locations 
 of the roads. Davenport and Iowa City could 
 not see the proprict}' of making a road west 
 via Muscatine to the Missouri River. These 
 two cities contended for a straight line, and this 
 produced ill feeling among the citizens of Mus- 
 catine in relation to the other two places, and 
 the battle became quite warm. On the Du- 
 buque and Keokuk line; in the north, Cedar and 
 
u 
 
 HISTOKY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY 
 
 Liun were rivals, and in the south, Henry and 
 Jefferson Counties, each of which counties 
 contended liotly for the location of the road. 
 
 Soon after the meeting of the Legislature, in 
 1850, the Dubuque and Keokuk road attracted 
 special attention, and a large number of promi- 
 nent men from along the line of this road as- 
 sembled at the capital and effected a new or- 
 ganization, with two sets of officers ; one set 
 were to control the business south, and the 
 other north, of Iowa Cit\-, and were known as 
 the north aud south divisions. In the articles 
 of incorporation, and in the memorial passed 
 bj the Legislature that winter, asking for a 
 grant of laud, the towns of Cascade, Anamosa, 
 Marion, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Citj-, Washington, 
 Fairfield. Glasgow. Salem and West Point were 
 made points on the road. At that time this 
 had every appearance of lieing the first road 
 that would be built in the State, and if proper 
 efforts had been made, probably would have 
 been. 
 
 Along the line of the road, particularly in 
 Jefferson County, there were liberal subscrip- 
 tions made, and hopes were entertained of ob- 
 taining a grant of land for its aid at the next 
 Congress. At that time no road had reached 
 the Mississippi from the East, and nearly all 
 the trade from Iowa sought an eastern outlet 
 by going down the river. The citizens of Keo- 
 kuk, who, as a matter of fact, were to be bene- 
 fited the most by the enterprise, thinking they 
 were, by their location, "The Gate" through 
 which most of the trade of the back country 
 must pass, whether the road was made or not, 
 took but little interest in the enterprise. With- 
 out the aid of Keokuk, where the road was to 
 commence, those north of the city, particularly 
 Jefferson Count}-, did not feel like engaging in 
 the enterprise, aud the public mind was look- 
 ing to Keokuk with much anxiety to see what 
 her people would do. 
 
 A meeting of the citizens of Keokuk was 
 held, and the railroad question agitated, when 
 
 it was decided to make a plank road up the 
 divide toward Des Moines, leaving Fairfield on 
 one side. When this result was understood by 
 the citizens of Fairfield, public sentiment in the 
 county soon changed, and notwithstanding the 
 wedded feeling formerly entertained for Keo- 
 kuk, the sentiment was transferred in favor of 
 Burlington. This cit}- treasured the advantage 
 gained, and the citizens went to work in ear- 
 nest to get the road, and urged the people of 
 Jeflerson County to aid them. The}- raised a 
 fund, and sent a person to Washington to lobby 
 against the grant of land by Congress to the 
 Dubuque and Keokuk road. The papers of 
 Burlington attacked the project with fierceness. 
 particularly the Telegraph, edited by James 
 Morgan, who gave the road the name of 'The 
 Kam's Horn Eailroad," on accountof its crook- 
 edness. The ridicule thrown out by Burling- 
 ton against the road, defeated the land grant, 
 and blasted the hopes of the road. Keokuk, 
 like many other towns in Iowa, ruined her own 
 prospect for the first road in the State, and 
 thereby destroyed her chances to become the 
 first and best city of Iowa. 
 ly' At a verj- early day, Pottawattamie County 
 was marked out as the great railroad center for 
 the Missouri Slope in Iowa, and Council Bluffs, 
 the county seat, having long been the starting- 
 point for the plains, was, necessarily, to become 
 the great city of railroads. But when this was 
 discovered by Omaha and other points, in 1866 
 and 1867, a strong fight was made against this 
 city, aud every effort was made to divert the 
 great railway center from this point. The citi- 
 zens of Council Bluffs, seeing the necessit}- of 
 speedy action to hold the ground already gained, 
 held meetings aud appointed committees to 
 act for the city and county, with the authorities 
 in the State at Washington, and also with the 
 railroad meu. The greatest battle arose be- 
 tween Omaha and the Bluffs as to the eastern 
 terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad, and 
 the location of the bridare over the Missouri 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 35 
 
 River. This conflict grew earnest and liot, and 
 the citizens of either city became bitter and 
 fierce in the advocacj' of their special city. 
 While spealiiug on this point, permit the writer 
 to refer to a statement found in a history and 
 directory published bj- Messrs. Hawley & Street 
 ,for 1880-81, wherein it is stated that "in Au- 
 gust, 1859, Abraham Lincoln visited Council 
 Bluffs and old acquaintances in the citj'. During 
 his stay here, he delivered an address at Con- 
 cert Hall, and made our situation a special 
 study, which resulted in a decided action in 
 our favor on his part when he became Presi- 
 dent, a few 3-ears afterward. We now refer to 
 his proclamation establishing the eastern ter- 
 minus of the Union Pacific Railroad, a duty 
 'imposed upon him bj- the Act of Congress 
 chartering the enterprise. At the time of his 
 visit, we were without any railroad facilities, but 
 were looking anxiousl}' for the approach of those 
 whose tendency was westward across the State." 
 The designation of the eastern terminus by 
 the charter and signature of President Lincoln 
 did not appease the wrath of the citizens of 
 Omaha, and thej' determined to set the whole 
 matter aside — went into Congress and then to 
 the courts to accomplish this work, but the cit- 
 izens of Council Bluffs followed them closely-, 
 and after many long and warm legal and other 
 controversies. Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie 
 gained the day, and to-day an extensive trans- 
 fer depot stands in this city as a monument of 
 the victory obtained over Omaha. 
 
 A company was organized to build the road 
 known as the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph, 
 Mo., Railroad, down the Missouri River Vallej-. 
 This company was officered and urged by the 
 citizens of Council Blufl's, and the city, by its 
 officers, subscribed to the stock. This act, on 
 the part of the officers of the city, was declared 
 invalid bj' the Supreme Court of Iowa, on a 
 case made to restrain the collection of taxes to 
 pay interest on the bonds so issued. But the 
 road proceeded, and on the 9th of November, 
 
 1859, ground was broken for the building of 
 the road, on which occasion appropriate ceremo- 
 nies were had. At this time, the county of Pot- 
 tawattamie donated $40,000 of the proceeds of 
 swamp-lands granted by the United States Gov- 
 ernment. The completion of this road, through 
 disturbing causes, was delayed until 1868, since 
 when it has been a prosperous railroad. It 
 was continued under the original name for four 
 years, but when the railway S3'stem in Mis- 
 souri, under the influence of peace, expanded, 
 and Kansas Citj- became an important point, a 
 consolidation of the line between that city and 
 Council Bluffs was made, and the corporation 
 is now known as the Kansas Citj', St. Joseph 
 and Council Bluffs Railway. It is a trunk line 
 to the east and south, and as such is growing 
 into public favor. It traverses one of the 
 most beautiful and rich valleys to be discov- 
 ered in the country. Its agricultural resources 
 are unlimited, and this gives the road an ex- 
 tensive local traffic. The trains began running 
 to this city December 17, 1867. 
 
 The Sioux City & Pacific Railway has regu- 
 lar trains running from Council Bluffs to St. 
 Paul, via Sioux Cit3\ over a very rich and 
 beautiful country. This road does a large 
 business, and is growing into popularity under 
 the management of Maj. J. H. O'Brien, who has 
 his headquarters in Council Bluffs. This road 
 began making regular trips to thiscitj- in 1874. 
 
 In August, 1882, Major O'Brien received a 
 new appointment, and early in this month de- 
 parted from Council Bluffs for Illinois, where 
 he entered upon duty. 
 
 The Chicago & North- Western Railroad was 
 the first road to reach Council Bluffs, on Janu- 
 ary 22, 1871, and upon the arrival ot cars in 
 this city, a grand demonstration took place. 
 The citizens, as well as the railroad men, were 
 jubilant over the completion of the extensive 
 work. The road crosses the entire State, from 
 east to west, through a rich and thickly settled 
 countrj-, and its traffic is exceedingly heavy, 
 
36 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 and is constautl}- on the increase. This being 
 the first line completed to this cit^', the people 
 here have more than an ordinarj' desire to see 
 it prosper. Manj' settlers along this line of 
 railway have become quite independent in 
 world}' goods. J. T. Clark is General Agent 
 in Council Blufis ; J. W. McKenzie is the 
 Local Passenger and Freight Agent. 
 
 The Chicago, Kock Island & Pacific Railway 
 is one of the leading lines touching and hav- 
 ing a terminus in Council Bluffs. It crosses 
 Iowa from Davenport, passing through Iowa 
 City, Des Moines and other important points 
 where coal is found in large quantities and rich 
 fields yield abundant harvests, and give to the 
 road a verj' extensive traflSc. Here this line 
 connects with the Union Pacific, and, there- 
 fore, it enjoys a through thoroughfare from 
 Chicago to San Francisco, Cal. It also 
 passes southwest from Davenport to Kansas 
 City, a distance of 300 miles, where it makes a 
 connection with all the West and Southwestern 
 railroads. This railway was completed to 
 Council Bluffs, May 12, 1869. S. S. Stevens, 
 is the popular General Western Agent, 
 
 The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
 is one of the leading roads passing through 
 a large portion of Pottawattamie Count}', and 
 having a center in Council Bluffs. It passes 
 through a I'ich and populous portion of Iowa, 
 and is doing a heav}' freight and passenger 
 business. D. W. Hitchcock is the General 
 Western Agent, and has his headquarters at 
 St. Joseph, Mo. This road first entered Coun- 
 cil Bluffs in 1869. 
 
 Along about the 1st of July, 1882, the Chi- 
 cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Compan}' 
 entered Council Bluffs with their construction 
 train. This road has bBanches extending all 
 over the country, east and west, north and 
 south. Its regular trains began to arrive in 
 Council Bluffs in the fall of 1882. 
 
 The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific is one of 
 the ver}' important railway lines reaching and 
 
 having a western terminus in the city of Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. It has innumerable branches, which 
 pass through Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois 
 and Iowa, as well as Northern Missouri. This 
 is a direct line to St. Louis from this city, and 
 it is doing an extensive passenger and freight 
 business. Trains on this road began running 
 to Council Bluffs in the fall of 1879. J. B. 
 Gault, General Agent, resides in this city. 
 
 We are informed that as early as 1853, Gen. 
 G. M. Dodge, then a resident of Iowa Citj', and 
 who had been employed as an engineer in the 
 construction of a railroad from Chicago to 
 Rock Island, surveyed a line for a railroad 
 across the State of Iowa from Davenport to 
 Council Bluffs. This line was called the Mis- 
 sissippi & Missouri, and was the one adopted 
 generally in the construction of the road be- 
 tween the two points mentioned. Gen. Dodge 
 extended his surveys across the Missouri River 
 and up the Platte Valley, on what is now the 
 line of the Union Pacific Railroad. He figured 
 extensivel}' in the construction of this line as 
 engineer, and as its friend in Congress. In 
 1854, he brought his family to Council Bluffs, 
 and was soon followed by his father and family, 
 who located on the Elkhorn River, Neb., for a 
 few years, and then located here. 
 
 In the fall of 1853, Hon. Samuel R. Curtis 
 traced a railroad line across the State of Iowa, 
 called the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne & Platte 
 Valley Railroad, which, in after years, was called 
 the "Air Line " road. S. S. Bayliss, who was 
 always noted for his liberality to every object 
 calculated to build up Council Bluffs, made a 
 contract with Gen. Curtis for depot grounds in 
 the event that the road should be built to the 
 Missouri River. This road was never made. 
 Gen. Curtis, in after years, took a great interest 
 in the Union Pacific Railroad and the develop- 
 ment of Pottawattamie County. During his 
 life, he frequently visited this section, and, in 
 in fact, died at the residence of Col. Nutt, in 
 this city, when on a visit, in 1867. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 37 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EARLY AND PRESENT RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIETIES — SECRET AND BENEVOLENT 
 FRATERNITIES, ORDERS AND SOCIETIES— SCHOOLS— THE PRESS- 
 INCREASE AND PROGRESS, ETC. 
 
 IN every age and in everj- clime, religion has 
 marched along with cn'ilization, and, in- 
 deed, without the Christianizing influence, it is 
 doubtful if the progress in civilization would 
 have been so rapid, or could have been main- 
 tained. Wherever religion is entirelj- ignored, 
 society becomes rough, and all civilizing influ- 
 ences appear to depart. All protection to re- 
 finement is gone, and people cannot feel secure, 
 and the result is, that the best men and women 
 will not settle in such community. Even the 
 non-believer prefers to take his family into a 
 settlement where religion is practiced, and has 
 its civilizing and refining influence. If you 
 will go with us to some of the mining camps in 
 the mountains, where religion has not penetrat- 
 ed, we can show you that the civilization pre- 
 vailing there is of a low order, and the once 
 refined gentleman has forgotten his early train- 
 ing and onl}- because of the abandonment of 
 the religious practices of earlj- life. And, 
 again, where religion is entirely abandoned, 
 education is neglected and all refinement is 
 lost. It is because of these prevailing reasons 
 that religion and civilization travel together, 
 and benevolent, self-sacrificing people are found 
 marching " in the wilderness, preaching to all." 
 It is but right that in this history the churches, 
 schools and societies should have a place. 
 
 In referring to the early religious organiza- 
 tion, we find that the Catholics were the first 
 to plant missionaries. They were here before 
 the settlements by the whites, and labored 
 among the Indians. It was in 1839 that Rev. 
 
 »By W. T. GileB. 
 
 Fathers DeSmith and Veright established a 
 Catholic Mission here. In September, 1870, 
 Rev. Father B. P. McMenomy, Pastor of the 
 Catholic Church in this citj', opened a school 
 for girls, and this school is in charge of the 
 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 It is stated that Rev. William Rector, of 
 Fremont Count}-, preached the first orthodox 
 sermon in this citj'. 
 
 In 1850, Rev. William Simpson organized 
 the first Methodist Episcopal Church in Potta- 
 wattamie County. At this writing, numerous 
 churches are scattered over the county, and 
 this people have become very strong and nu- 
 merous. 
 
 On June 12, 1853, a Congregational organi- 
 zation was perfected, and the foundation of a 
 church building laid, August 9, 1854. It was 
 completed and dedicated July 6, 1856. 
 
 In April, 1856, the Episcopalians organized 
 a society, and in August, 1857, Bishop Lee 
 laid the corner-stone of the St. Paul Episcopal 
 Church. It remained in this condition until 
 1860, when a frame church was erected and 
 consecrated by Bishop Lee. 
 
 The first Presbyterian organization was made 
 October 12, 1856, and the society has a fine 
 brick church. The organization is verj' large 
 at present. 
 
 The first Baptist society was organized in 
 Council Blufls, Pottawattamie County, in Jan- 
 uary, 1868, with nine members. G. T. John- 
 son, D. v., afterwards of Philadelphia, Penn., 
 preached the first sermon, and Rev. T. F. 
 Thickstun became the local minister. The new 
 
38 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 temple of this societj- was completed aud dedi- 
 cated to the worship of God on Juue 15, 1878. 
 
 The Grerraan Lutherans have a large society' 
 in the city of Council Bluffs, and are organized 
 in other portions of the countj-. 
 
 The United Brethren have formed a society 
 here, and have a comfortable frame building in 
 which they worship. 
 
 Other religious organizations are in success- 
 ful operation, among which are the Spiritualists. 
 They have their own hall, and meet regularlj- 
 every Sunday. 
 
 It is impossible to visit any portion of Pot- 
 tawattamie County, where any settlement of 
 note exists, without finding churches, schools, 
 and other benevolent organizations, and wher- 
 evei these institutions abound you will find 
 refinement and the very best of societ}'. The 
 farmers appear more intelligent and prosperous, 
 and, in fact, the stranger approaching such dis- 
 tricts, feels perfectlj- safe. 
 
 SOCIETIES. 
 
 The church has not been able to rescue suf- 
 fering humanit3-, and therefore secret benevolent 
 societies have been formed in all sections of 
 the world, and Pottawattamie County is not 
 without her fair proportion of these societies. 
 The Odd Fellows, standing upon the principles 
 of religion and charity, were the first to organ- 
 ize ill Council Bluffs. This organization dates 
 back to 1853, and the lodge was No. 49. In 
 1855, the Masonic order established a lodge, 
 and held their first meeting in Odd Fellows 
 Hall. This order has several different organi- 
 zations at the present time, and all are in a 
 flourishing condition. Every town of any im- 
 portance in the county has its lodge. 
 
 The American Order United Workmen is of 
 more recent date, and it is also growing into 
 public favor. It is based upon an insurance 
 plan, and in many cases has resulted in good 
 to the families of destitute men who have been 
 called to their eternal homes. Like other in- 
 
 stitutions of this kind, it finds a home in every 
 place in the county where the population is 
 sufficient to establish a lodge. 
 
 The lawyers, doctors and other professional 
 men have each their respective organization. 
 
 Several German lodges and societies are in 
 full operation, and our German citizens appear 
 to be making as rapid progress in this line as 
 other citizens. It is also a fact that their asso- 
 ciations are generall}' well conducted and are 
 financial successes. 
 
 The farmers also formed themselves into se- 
 cret organizations for their better protection 
 from extortions. 
 
 These orders have grown so rapidi}-, and so 
 manj' new orders are springing up, that it is 
 almost impossible to keep pace with them. 
 But a few j-ears ago this count}' was without 
 any of these organizations, and for a long time 
 the}' had so few members that it made the ex- 
 pense heavy upon each, but now the orders 
 number by the score, and the members 
 by the hundreds. The increase can scarce- 
 ly be told at the present time. Go where 
 j'ou will. Odd Fellows, Masons, Working Men 
 associations of every description are to be 
 found. These societies appear to iiave a good 
 influence over the people where they prevail, 
 in more waj's than is generally supposed, and 
 yet they have their opponents in men who 
 know little or nothing about their teachings. 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 We look back upon our early educational 
 advantages with astonishment when looking at 
 the schools of to-daj-, and even wonder how 
 our people of the primitive times obtained so 
 much information. The small log cabin has 
 given place to the fine, large brick or frame 
 building — the old books have been surrendered 
 for new ones, and eveiything has been simpli- 
 fied and perfected. Xow it is a comfort to visit 
 the schoolroom and behold the children well 
 seated and enjoying fine, airy rooms. The con- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 89 
 
 trast is so great that it seems as if children 
 should make more progress than thej' do. 
 
 In this city, much of the grand result in our 
 common schools can be attributed to the efforts 
 made M- Hon. D. C. Bloomer, who devoted his 
 time and energies to building them up. In 
 Crescent Township, we learn, David Dunkle, 
 Esq., was one of the leading spirits in the ad- 
 vocacy of free schools and good school build- 
 ings. Many others ought to be mentioned in 
 this county who were strong advocates of our 
 free school system, and improved educational 
 advantages. They can look back to their la- 
 bors with joy, for their efforts have been 
 crowned with wonderful success, even exceed- 
 ing their greatest expectations. But few coun- 
 ties in Iowa can boast of better schools and 
 school buildings than are to be found in Potta- 
 wattamie. Go where you will, and the large 
 school building rises above all others. Gen- 
 erally, care is taken in the selection of teachers, 
 and our schools are the boast of our people. 
 A few days since, we met a gentleman from the 
 countrj', and his first remarks were in relation 
 to the schools in his section, and he remarked 
 " how different are our schools to what thej' 
 were when I was jouug." He thought that 
 children ought to take delight in going to the 
 places of learning, for, said he. " thej- are pal- 
 aces compared with where we were edu- 
 cated." 
 
 In the earlj' days of this count}, saj' twentj^- 
 five years ago, but few children were here, but 
 look at the thousands of scholars that fill our 
 large buildings of to-day, and yet we have not 
 school room enough. Council Bluffs alone has 
 more school children now than the whole county 
 had twenty or twenty- five years ago. It is to 
 be hoped that our educational advantages will 
 keep pace with the increase of our population. 
 If our people will guard well the education of 
 the children, the liberties of the American citi- 
 zens will ever be safe. Our free institutions 
 can only be secure in accordance with our in- 
 
 telligence, and this, in a measure, must depend 
 upon our educational advantages. 
 
 A statement in relation to the increase of 
 school buildings and number of schools in 
 Council Bluffs alone will, in a measure, show 
 the increase in the county, for all portions of 
 the country have increased proportionately as 
 they have increased in population. It is stated 
 that twelve buildings, and mostly large ones, 
 are filled with scholars, and a contract has been 
 made for the building of another schoolhouse, 
 to cost $8,000 or .$10,000. Then we find that 
 the Catholics maintain one or two schools. Be- 
 sides these, several private institutions are do 
 ing excellent work in the way of educating our 
 }oung people and fitting them for life's battle. 
 What is true of this city is true of our whole 
 county, and the educational interests of all 
 classes are being well protected. 
 
 THE PRESS. 
 
 The first paper published in the county of 
 Pottawattamie was the Frontier Guardian. It 
 was first published in the summer of 1848, 
 with Orson Hyde as editor, and Mr. Pj'ckett as 
 publisher. A. C. Ford was assistant editor for 
 some time. It was an organ of the Whig part}-, 
 and was discontinued in the spring of 1853. 
 
 The Council Bluffs Bugle, a Democratic pa- 
 per, was started in the spring of 1850 by A. 
 W. Babbitt, who remained as editor and pub- 
 lisher between two and three j-ears. It was 
 then sold to Joseph E. Johnson, who conducted 
 it about two years, when the proprietorship 
 changed to Johnson «& Carpenter. From 1856 
 to 1864, it was published by Babbitt & Car- 
 penter, The senior member of this firm was ' 
 Hon. L. W. Babbitt, but no relation of A. W. 
 Babbitt, the first editor. From 1864 to 1866, 
 the publishers were Babbitt & Son. In Jan- 
 uary, 1866, W. T. Giles bought the Bugle of L. 
 W. Babbitt, and became the editor and pub- 
 lisher till October, 1867. Mr. Giles also pub- 
 lished a daily Bugle for several months. 
 
40 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 It was W. T. Giles who started a German 
 Democratic paper in 1867, and he employed 
 Weubone & Worden to edit and publish it. 
 This paper was called the Council Bluffs 
 Presse. In 1867, after the October election, 
 which went Democratic, Mr. Giles then sold the 
 Bugle back to Hon. L. AV. Babbitt and his 
 German type to Messrs. Wenbone & Worden, 
 who ran the Presse for some months, and fail- 
 ing to paj' Giles, he then sold the establishment 
 to Herman Wagner, who also failed to pay for 
 it, and the original owner was compelled to take 
 the material back, at a considerable loss to 
 himself 
 
 In 1857, Col. Babbitt started the Daily Bu- 
 gle, and continued the daily for about six 
 months. The Bugle office passed through two 
 fires, the first being November 14, 1853, and 
 the last November 14, 1854. These were the 
 worst fires ever experienced in Council Bluffs, 
 the first being estimated at a loss of $180,000 
 and the last $130,000. In the first fire, the 
 Bvgle was nearly all destroyed, while in the 
 last, two presses and a large amount of other 
 material were destroyed. 
 
 In 1854, Jeremiah Folsom commenced the 
 publication of the Council Bluffs Chmnotype, 
 with W. W. Maynard as editor. It was pub- 
 lished as a Whig paper till 1857. It was 
 changed into a Democratic organ this year, 
 but onl}' continued for a short time, and was 
 edited by A. P. Bentley, and called the Demo- 
 cratic Clarion. 
 
 In 1859, J. E. Johnson started a paper 
 called the Council Bluffs Press. It was a 
 Democratic organ, but did not last long. Pre- 
 vious to this time, Mr. Johnson published a 
 paper at Crescent City, called the Crescent 
 City Oracle. It was Democratic, but was 
 principally devoted to the interest of the new 
 town where it was published. 
 
 The Council Bluffs Xonpareil was started in 
 the spring of 1857, as a Republican sheet, by 
 W. W. Maynard and A. D. Long. In 1862, 
 
 W. S. Burke bought Mr. Mayuard's interest in 
 the establishment, and soon after started the 
 Daily Konparcil. Mr. Burke was at one time 
 the entire owner of this paper, we believe, and 
 sold to Chapman & Maynard, and Mr. May- 
 nard sold his interest to Mr. Walker, and for a 
 time the firm stood Chapman & Walker. 
 Several other changes have taken place in later 
 years in the management and ownership of the 
 Nonpareil, but at this time it is published by 
 the Xonpareil Printing Compan3-, and is iu a 
 very prosperous condition. John W. Chap- 
 man, who is United States Marshal for the 
 State of Iowa, is one of the largest stock 
 owners in the companj-. He is energetic, and 
 takes pride in making the Nonpareil a very 
 excellent newspaper, while it is strongly- Re- 
 publican, 
 
 The Council Bluffs Democrat made its ap- 
 pearance as a dailj- and weeklj- paper on May 
 3, 1868, with Alf S. Kierolf & Co., as pub- 
 lishers, Iu about three weeks the name was 
 changed, and it was called the Council Bluffs 
 Democrat and Sentinel on the Border. In about 
 a month the extention was dropped, and the 
 paper again became the Council Bluffs Demo- 
 crat. In September of this jear, the office was 
 purchased b}- Hon, B, F. Montgomerj-, but on 
 the 1st of October, 1868, Alf S, Kierolf, again 
 assumed charge of the paper. On the 31st of 
 October, the last issue of the paper was sent 
 out, and this issue appeared as "Red Hot," and 
 contained some very bitter and denunciatorj- 
 articles. On December 12th, the press and 
 material were sold under a chattel mortgage, 
 and M, M. Pomeroy, of the LaCrosse Democrat, 
 became the purchaser. 
 
 In 1878, Col. John H, Keatly, bought the 
 Bugle, and edited and published it weekly for 
 about two years. Col. Keatlj- is a fine writer, 
 and has been at the head of some of the other 
 papers of the city as the principal editor. 
 
 The Globe, a Democratic paper, was estab- 
 lished in November, 1873, by S. W. Morehead, 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 41 
 
 and in February, the following year, Jacob 
 Williams became the purchaser and editor. In 
 June, 1875, J. C. Morgan bought a half inter- 
 est in the paper and became an active part- 
 ner. In May, 1879, Mr. Morgan purchased 
 the half interest in the Globe owned by Mr. 
 Williams, and the paper is now published 
 daily and weekl}' by J. C. Morgan. The daily 
 is an evening publication. 
 
 The Freie Presse is a German paper, claiming 
 to be independent in politics. It was estab- 
 lished in August, 1875, by R. P. Riegel, who 
 continued its publication until December, 1878, 
 when Messrs. Matthai, Faul & Betz, became 
 owners. Mr. Betz retired from the paper 
 July 1, 1880, and Messrs. Matthai & Faul re- 
 tired August 1, 1880, when F. G. Pfeiffer be- 
 came publisher and editor. It is now Demo- 
 cratic, 
 
 The Macedonia Tribune was established in the 
 town of Macedonia, by W, A. Spencer, in 
 1880, and is published weekly, and is Repub- 
 lican in politics. 
 
 The Fairdealer is the name of a paper pub- 
 
 lished weekl}', at Carson, this county, by J. G. 
 Jullian. 
 
 The Northwestern Odd Fellow, a monthly 
 paper of sixteen pages, devoted to the inter- 
 ests of Odd Fellowship, was commenced by W. 
 R. Vaughn, with Hon, D, C, Bloomer as editor, 
 in January, 1871, and continued for two years 
 in Council Bluffs, 
 
 The press has been a powerful lever in push- 
 ing forward the great reforms of the world, 
 and it has also done much to settle up and 
 civilize the great West. Without the aid of 
 the press, the American people, in a measure, 
 would be in darkness and ignorance, and yet, 
 many who should stand by it are frequently its 
 bitterest enemies, simpl3- because the press is so 
 powerful, and because, when left free, it ex- 
 poses false ideas, sophistry and h3-pocrisy. 
 
 In Jauuar}-, 1871, the Avoca Delta, a weekly 
 paper, was first published in the town of Avoca, 
 by C, V. Gardner and T. Ledwich. It was 
 Republican in politics. Before the end of the 
 year, this paper passed into the hands of J. C. 
 Adams. 
 
 CHAPTER VI.* 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTV- 
 
 -OKGANIZATION OF AND DIVISION INTO TOWNSHIPS- 
 — PATRIOTISM, ETO. 
 
 -OFFICERS 
 
 THE county of Pottawattamie was organized 
 on September 21, 1848, with onlj' two or 
 three voting precincts, which have been divided 
 up into twentj'-seven townships, and several 
 wards in the city of Council Bluffs. But few 
 of the early settlers of this county had any 
 idea of what would follow in the short time 
 that has passed. They did not dream of the 
 railroads and triumphs that now astonish their 
 vision. The growth aud advancement of this 
 section of countrj' have been very much more 
 rapid and extensive than could be foreseen by 
 
 ♦By W. T. Giles, 
 
 the most observing or experienced in the early 
 settlement of countries. It may well be re- 
 peated, the change has been so vast and 
 rapid as to " astonish the oldest inhabitant," 
 Many stand amazed, and frequently express 
 surprise that thej' should have lived to see the 
 grand changes that have taken place. The red 
 men who were here have departed, and given 
 place to a sturdy, energetic and progressive 
 white race, who allow no obstacle to retard 
 their onward march. The)- are determined to 
 recover every •' lost art,'' and improve upon 
 everj' invention, and herein lies the cause of 
 
42 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAAVATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 the triumphs made and the progress developed 
 in the new settlements of the great American 
 continent. Every new discover}' seems to sur- 
 pass its former attainments, and one surprise is 
 left to astonish the other, until surprises will 
 become obsolete in the way of developments in 
 our new countries and settlements. Even now, 
 this section, of but a few years, is becoming 
 too old for many of the earlj' settlers, and they 
 are talking of the " West,'' as if they were on 
 the extreme of the Bast, and were too circum- 
 scribed to enjoy life. These restless spirits 
 have been the pioneers of every new country, 
 and to them much of our wonderful success is 
 due. It was this spirit that caused the discov- 
 ery of America by Columbus — that sent Lewis 
 and Clark to explore this section and the 
 Rocky Mountains ; and in fact, it was this 
 spirit that settled and caused Pottawattamie 
 County to bloom and blossom. 
 
 In the earlj' organization of Pottawattamie 
 County, James Sloan was selected as the first 
 District Judge. The county was formed in the 
 usual waj", from a survey- made b}' the agents 
 of the United States Government, embracing a 
 large territory. In 1852, Thomas Burdick 
 acted as first County Judge ; Even Green, 
 County Clerk and Auditor ; Luke Johnson, 
 County Treasurer ; Alexander McRae, Sheriff, 
 and Dr. E. Aylesworth, Coroner. 
 
 The county, at this time, was in its incipient 
 state of formation, and just emerging from wide 
 scattered settlements, and establishing local 
 authorities for the protection of its people. 
 The town site of Kanesville (now Council 
 Bluffs), having long been a garrisoned fort of 
 the Government, established for the protection 
 of the earl\- pioneers seeking homes here, was 
 naturally selected as the county seat, and here 
 the largest body of settlers accumulated by col- 
 onization, under the Kgis of a religious belief 
 known as Mormonism. The leaders of these 
 people exercised a great control over their ad- 
 herents, and this contributed largely- to good 
 
 government, peaceful relations, and the opening 
 up of the count}' to speedy settlement. In 
 1853, Franklin Street, as County Judge, was 
 authorized by the United States Government 
 to execute deeds to those who had settled upon 
 the public domain under what was commonlj- 
 known as a " squatter's claim." The order is- 
 sued in 1853, and the deeds were generally 
 given in 1854. Hons. J. P. Cassady and AV. 
 C. James were acting as Notaries Public, the 
 acknowledgments of deeds being made before 
 David De Vol and David Lindley, Justices of 
 the Peace. The divisions of the county into 
 townships began back as long ago as its organ- 
 ization, and divisions have continued until re- 
 cently. 
 
 In August, 1853, Rockford Township was 
 organized, and in 1880 the census showed that 
 it contained a population of 930. This town- 
 ship occupies a prominent place in the historj- 
 of the count}', as it was one of the first town- 
 ships organized. Some of the old settlers here 
 are in a prosperous condition, and own well- 
 improved and well-stocked farms, where they 
 are surrounded by peace and plenty. 
 
 The organization of 'Wright Township took 
 place in September, 1873, and the report of the 
 census in 1880 showed the population of the 
 township to be 683. This portion of the county 
 contains some excellent farms, many of which 
 are under a good state of improvement and cul- 
 tivation, and their owners are growing inde- 
 pendent. 
 
 In September, 1858, the township of Silver 
 Creek was organized, and in 1880, the popula- 
 tion numbered 634, with many fine and well- 
 improved farms. Many of the settlers are en- 
 terprising, and are growing some fine blooded 
 stock. 
 
 Layton Township dates its organization back 
 to June, 1878. It is located on a high, rich, 
 rolling prairie country, and is quite a wealthy 
 portion of Pottawattamie County. Walnut, a 
 thriving town and good grain maiket, on the 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 43 
 
 Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, in 
 1880, contained about one thousand of a popu- 
 lation, and the township, in addition to the 
 town, 488, making the population of Layton 
 Township, complete, 1,488. Here man}- of the 
 best farms are to be found, and best farmers in 
 the county reside, and many of them are inde- 
 pendent — have good improvements and fine 
 stock. 
 
 On June 6, 1870, Washington Township was 
 organized, and became one of the important 
 divisions of the countj' of Pottawattamie. In 
 the 3-ear 1880, the population of this township 
 was 519. A large proportion of this popula- 
 tion are well-to-do farmers, who are surrounded 
 with good improvements, including most of 
 the late farm implements, and possess some 
 fine stock. The soil of this section of countr}' 
 is generally excellent. 
 
 Lincoln Township was organized on April 5, 
 187G, and the census report of 1880 showed a 
 population of 628, mostly composed of thrifty, 
 prosperous farmers, some of whom are growing 
 fine stock. This township is rapidly growing 
 into favor, as one of the best sections of the 
 county. At the present rate of growth, it will 
 soon be one among the most populous in the 
 count}-. 
 
 Keg Creek Township was organized in Jan- 
 uary, 1873, and the population in 1880 was 
 given at 692, many of these persons being 
 among the most independent and oldest set- 
 tlers of the county. Among the early settlers 
 in Keg Creek Township are Rasmus Campbell, 
 wife and family of four children (Mr. Camp- 
 bell has officiated in several of the offices of 
 the township), Morrison M. Fay, William Orr, 
 S. G. Underwood and others. Sir. Underwood 
 came to this county in 1854, and is now one of 
 the most prosperous farmers in his township, 
 possessing 1,000 acres of that rich and pro- 
 ductive soil. 
 
 In June, 1878, Valley Township was organ- 
 ized, and is now one of the most important 
 
 townships in the county. The population of 
 this organization was given in the census of 
 1880 at 965. This section is rapidly filling up, 
 and ere long it promises to become one of the 
 most desirable townships in Pottawattamie. 
 The farmers are taking a deep interest in their 
 improvements, as well as in stock-growing. The 
 yield of crops is generally good and remunera- 
 tive. 
 
 In August, 1857, Macedonia Township, one 
 of the most populous in this county, was or- 
 ganized. The census of 1880 showed a popu- 
 lation of 1,064. It is about twenty-five miles 
 southeast of Council Bluffs, situated on the 
 rich and fertile soil of the West Nishnabotna, 
 which land, for productiveness, is equal to any 
 in the State of Iowa. It is fine for grazing 
 purposes also, and therefore a great deal of 
 fine stock is grown and sent to the markets 
 from this section. Here we find a good mill, 
 an excellent elevator, stores, hotel and other 
 public buildings of interest. The town of 
 Macedonia also contains a bank and printing 
 office, and it is a very good point for trade. 
 The country is rolling and beautiful, and is 
 attracting the attention of men of capital. 
 Here blue limestone is found in large quanti- 
 ties, but the quarries are just being utilized. 
 Hon. B. F. Clayton, R. H. and T. J. Wood- 
 mancy, F. J. Potter, Sylvester Dye and Mr. 
 Lane are solid men and enterprising citizens. 
 We are told this township is third in the State 
 for stock-growing. 
 
 In addition to the town of Macedonia, we 
 find the enterprising town of Carson in this 
 township, with elevator, stores, hotel and the 
 Carson FairJealer, edited and published bj' 
 Messrs. Jullian and McManima. This town is- 
 at the junction of the Chicago, Rock Island & 
 Pacific and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 Railroads. These two towns give to the citi- 
 zens of Macedonia Township excellent markets 
 for all they have for sale. 
 
 Wavelaud Township, formerly Walnut Creek, 
 
44 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 was organized in Januar3', 1857, and its popu- 
 lation in 1880 was 776. Here are some of the 
 finest and most inviting lands to be found in 
 the count}'. The improvements are generally 
 of a good character, and in some cases, many 
 of these are ver}- costly. Much fine stock is 
 to be seen in this township, and the farmers 
 are generally growing rich. 
 
 On June 10, 1876, Lewis township was or- 
 ganized, and the census report in 1880 gave 
 the population at 977. The land and improve- 
 ments in this township will compare ver}' favor- 
 ably with any other section of the county, and 
 the farmers here are making good progress in 
 the growth of fine stock. Some of the old set- 
 tlers are nicely fixed, and are in a condition to 
 enjoy their hard-earned homes. 
 
 James Township was organized in Septem- 
 ber, 1858, and the population in 1880 was 570. 
 The citizens of this township have battled 
 along manfully, and now many of them are en- 
 joying fine homes and handsome farms. Thej' 
 also grow a great deal of good stock, and are 
 well prepared to battle with life's difficulties. 
 JIany of these individuals passed through se- 
 vere trials and great difficulties in the early 
 daj's of the settlement of this count}", and are 
 entitled to the pleasures they find in their nice 
 homes and on their well-stocked farms. 
 
 On June 9, 1873, Norwalk Township was or- 
 ganized, and in 1880 the population was 618. 
 This township is possessed of some very 
 valuable lands, as well as many well-improved 
 farms. Most of the citizens of this section, 
 after many struggles, are enjoying peace, plenty 
 and prosperity. They possess good houses, 
 and some of the best stock in the State, show- 
 ing what time and industry will accomplish. 
 The population of this township is increasing 
 with commendable rapidit}', and soon the pop- 
 ulation will be double that of 1880. 
 
 It appears, from the records of the county, 
 that the township of York was organized on 
 the National birthday, July 4, 1856. The pop- 
 
 ulation of this township in 1880 was 526. The 
 farmers here, like in the other townships, had 
 to undergo many privations in the earl}- days 
 of the settlement, but now the}' are enjoy- 
 ing good buildings, orchards, well-cultivated 
 places, with a large amount of excellent stock 
 of every kind. 
 
 Center Township was organized in June, 
 1856, and the population in 1880 was 1,075. 
 Oakland, formerly called Big Grove, is located 
 on the east bank of the West Nishnabotna, 
 in Center Township, in the center of a rich and 
 extensive country. It is a leading point on the 
 Avoea & Southwestern Railroad. It is a pict- 
 uresque place, being a natural forest town. At 
 this section of the Nishnabotna Valley are 
 found forests of oak, walnut, hickory and other 
 trees of hard wood. Not many years ago the 
 hunter found wild game, such as deer, turkey, 
 prairie chickens and other game in abundance. 
 Oakland is near the center of one of these ex- 
 tensive forests, where the belt of timber extends 
 for some distance east of the town. This town 
 was founded by Hon. John T. Baldwin, of 
 Council Bluffs. It is supposed that at some 
 day not far distant, Oakland will be the seat of 
 a new county. Center Township is put down 
 as one of the best stock growing townships in 
 the State of Iowa, and that portion of it is un- 
 rivaled for grain. 
 
 Pleasant Township was organized April 7, 
 1873, and in 1880, contained a population of 
 654. This township is filling up fast with solid 
 farmers, who are making the lands bloom and 
 blossom. They are also raising some very fine 
 stock, and making substantial improvements. 
 It will be, as the name indicates, a pleasant 
 section of country to dwell in. 
 
 The township of Belknap was organized in 
 September, 1872, and we find that the census 
 report for 1880 gave the population at that 
 time at 583. This township contains fine lands, 
 and is becoming one of the popular sections of 
 the county. The old settlers who are now en- 
 
 J .L 
 
c 
 
 iv*. 
 
 C(--^^ 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 47 
 
 joying life had to pass through mau3- trials and 
 difficulties, but at this time thej" have their 
 railroad stations, and are in the midst of good 
 markets, where they tind ready sales for their 
 grain and fine stock. .Many of the improve- 
 ments in this township will compare favorably 
 with the improvements in other portions of the 
 county. Considerable timber will be found in 
 portions of this country. 
 
 Boomer Township was organized as earlj- as 
 1858, in June, and, of course, it has changed 
 very materially in the 3'ears that have elapsed 
 since. The population of this township in 
 1880 was 870. Here jou will find well-im- 
 proved, beautiful farms, where in 1856 nothing 
 but the wild prairie was to be seen. The early 
 settlers toiled along for j-ears with commenda- 
 ble energy, and the}' are now enjoying their 
 hard-earned homes of plenty. Here you will 
 find schools, churches and all the advance- 
 ments of civilization. 
 
 It is recorded that Minden Township was or- 
 ganized in September, 1876, and the population 
 in 1880 was 700. The village of Minden is 
 located on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 
 Railroad. It contains about three hundred in- 
 habitants, mostly Germans. This is the place 
 where most of the business of the township is 
 transacted. Here you will find merchants and 
 grain buyers, and men carrying on the various 
 avocations of life. James Crow, a Justice of 
 the Peace, is an American by birth, and is en- 
 terprising. This township is making good pro- 
 gi'ess, and the old settlers who went there when 
 everything was wild, are enjoying the fruits of 
 some of the best farms in the county of Pot- 
 tawattamie. 
 
 Either because of neglect or slow growth of 
 population, some of the townships of this 
 county are of recent date ; we find that Xeola, 
 with a population in 1880 of 681, forming an 
 organization in June, 1872. While this town- 
 ship was slow in organizing, it has been pro- 
 gressing in improvements, and contains some 
 
 very excellent farms, flue stock and many fruit 
 trees, schools, churches, etc. The early settlers 
 are generally well fixed, and have good markets 
 within short distances. 
 
 Knox Township, containing the largest popu- 
 lation of anj- township in the county, except- 
 ing Kane, was organized in January, 1855, and 
 in 1880, contained 2,237 of a population. The 
 town of Avoca is near the center of this town- 
 ship, and it has grown into a place of con- 
 siderable importance, contains schoolhouses, 
 churches, hotels, stores, two newspapers, rail- 
 road and grain depots, etc. The town was 
 platted in the spring of 1869, but it did not 
 take much of a start till 1871. Mr. Jules 
 Priester is said to have erected the first house. 
 The first building of any note was the hotel, 
 known as the New England House. The 
 Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad 
 reached the town in April, 1869. The name 
 first given the town was Pacific, then Botna, 
 and in June of the same year, the name was 
 again changed to Avoca by some ladies who 
 were there on a railroad excursion, and this 
 name still remains. In 1873, Avoca put on 
 the mantle of a city, and the citizens elected 
 the following persons as officers : H. W. Wil- 
 son, Mayor ; Fred G. Hetzel, Clerk ; Edward 
 Davis, Treasurer ; R. S. Heart, Charles Nor- 
 ton, George Phall, James Hipsley, Nat. Acker 
 and Samuel Temple, Aldermen. 
 
 The Catholic, Presbyterian, Congregational 
 and Methodist denominations each have an 
 organization. The public schools were at- 
 tended by 400 pupils. 
 
 This township is probablj- one of the best 
 improved in several counties, and contains a 
 large amount of wealth. The early settlers are 
 mostly independent, and in a condition to en- 
 joj- life. Their farms, in many cases, are per- 
 fect gardens, and they are surrounded by an 
 abundance of good stock. 
 
 Grove Township was organized in August. 
 1859, and its population in 1880 amounted to 
 
48 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 958. This township was so called because of 
 the numerous groves in it. Wheeler's Grove 
 is one of the principal post ofBces, at which a 
 large proportion of its citizens get their mail 
 matter. The land in this township is generally 
 rolling, rich and beautiful. Here some of the 
 finest homes in the count}- are found. The old 
 settlers of this section would not exchange 
 lands with the farmers of any other section. 
 Thej- have taken great pains with their homes 
 in many cases, and have beautified their lands 
 until they are ver^' attractive. This people 
 have considerable fruit and are very advanced 
 in all the impi'ovements of the times. i 
 
 In 1869, Hardin Township was organized and 
 took an independent position in the county of 
 Pottawattamie, and in 1880 the population, ac- 
 cording to the census of that jear, was 549. 
 The old settlers of this township have some of : 
 the best lands and neatest homes in Iowa. 
 The}' appreciate their situation, and surrounded 
 by good stock and all the conveniences of the 
 day are enjoying life as becomes the Christian. 
 They find ready markets for all they have for 
 sale, and their pleasures are so complete as to 
 cause them to forget their early trials and trib- 
 ulations. The traveler passing over this town- 
 ship now could scarcely be made to believe that 
 many of the settlers had passed through half 
 the hardships they were compelled to undergo 
 in its early organization. 
 
 The township of Crescent was organized on 
 March 2, 1857, and the first election was held 
 on the 19th of June following, when 109 votes 
 were polled. The Mormons originally settled 
 this township. In 1848, immediately south of 
 the bottom land skirting Pigeon Creek Valley, 
 in Township 76, Range 44, they erected a large 
 tabernacle of logs, capable of holding 500 per- 
 sons. A mill was erected near this point and 
 a number of farms were opened. In 1852-53, 
 when the Mormons left for Salt Lake, they 
 were succeeded by a number of families from 
 Indiana, among whom were William A. Reel 
 
 and family in 1852. Mr. Reel erected a large 
 frame dwelling in one of the most beautiful lo- 
 calities in the northern part of the township. 
 He also built a saw-mill and laid out a town 
 site, which place he called Americus. Here a 
 number of Gentiles settled, among whom were 
 Edmund Latham, Joseph Boulden, D.avid Dun- 
 kle and Elkanah Hall. After the location of 
 the Mississippi & Missouri River Railroad and 
 the alleged discovery of rock bottom on the 
 Missouri, at Florence, in Nebraska, which point 
 is just east of Crescent Township, much excite- 
 ment was created. It was supposed that the 
 line of railroad, instead of following the valley, 
 would incline westward in the northern part of 
 the county, and run down the valley of Pigeon 
 Creek and across the Missouri at Florence. This 
 created a furor, and soon some speculative per- 
 sons located a town site and called it Crescent 
 City. This was on Sections 24 and 25, in Town- 
 ship 76, Range 43. J. E. Johnson, the wide- 
 awake editor of the Council Bluffs Bugh, had 
 a farm a short distance from the new city, and 
 he at once established a paper there to advo- 
 cate the interests of the town. The paper was 
 called the Crescent City Oracle, and it lived 
 two years. During the years of 1856-57, the 
 new town grew rapidly. Stores and shops were 
 opened. A steam grist and saw mill were 
 erected. A schoolhouse was put up and a 
 school opened. Early in 1857, a post office 
 was established, with Lewis J. Goddard as 
 Postmaster. Samuel Eggleston followed Mr. 
 Goddard in this office, and he only remained in 
 it for a short time, when David Dunkle became 
 Postmaster. The principal business men in 
 the town were Johnson & Blake, Reel & Dut- 
 row, Samuel Eggleston, William Meury, Allison 
 & Nutting. The financial crash of 1857, and 
 the knowledge that the railroad mentioned 
 would continue its line to Council Bluffs, caused 
 a check to fall upon the growth of the new 
 town. In 1858, Mr. Johnson removed his press 
 to the county seat. Many of the best buildings 
 
HISTORY OF rOTTAAVATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 49 
 
 were removed to Coiinuil Blutt's or to farms. 
 The North Western Railroad crosses this town- 
 ship from north to south. This is a fine farm- 
 ing district. It is ■n-ell supplied with water and 
 considerable timber. The population, as given 
 b}- the census of 1880, was 575. 
 
 It is stated that the township of Garner, 
 called so for William Garner, one of the best 
 citizens in the county, was organized in April, 
 1877, and in 18S0, the population was 908. 
 This township, without doubt, contains a num- 
 ber of the ver3- finest farms in Western Iowa, 
 and man}- of the citizens of this section are en- 
 terprising, industrious and energetic, and after 
 toiling man\- years, are in the enjoyment of 
 peace, plenty and prosperity. They are also 
 very hospitable, and entertain in the olden stj'le, 
 with a freedom that makes the visitor feel at 
 home. Here, too, they have taken great pains 
 to get and grow fine blooded stock, and in 
 man}- cases some of the finest cattle, horses 
 and hogs can be seen. 
 
 Hazel Dell Township was organized in June, 
 1873. The population, as given in the census 
 of 1880, was 960. Many of the oldest settlers 
 in the county are comfortably located in this 
 township. William J. Cook, a native of En- 
 gland, settled in this county in 1857 ; Mrs. 
 Lucy A. F. Hall, a native of Kentucky ; Capt. 
 Robert Frost, a native of England, came to 
 this county in 1855 ; Joshua A. Gregg, a na- 
 tive of Ohio, came to Pottawattamie in 1856, 
 and all are well rewarded for their staj- in the 
 count}- and their early settlement in Hazel 
 Dell Township. It is true, in the early settle- 
 ment of this township, the pleasures and ad- 
 vantages were few, but now schools and 
 churches abound, and every convenience that 
 is to be found has its locality here. The peo- 
 ple are progressive and show it in their way of 
 living. 
 
 First District and County Officers. — James 
 Sloan was first District Judge; Thomas Bur- 
 dick was County Judge ; Even Green was first 
 
 County Clerk and Auditor ; Luke Johnson 
 was first County Treasurer ; Alexander McRae, 
 Sheriff ; E. Aylesworth, Coroner. 
 
 Present Dis'rict and County Officers. — J. R. 
 Reed, District Judge ; C. F. Loofbourow. Cir- 
 cuit Judge ; J. P. Conner, District Attorney ; 
 S. D. Street, County Clerk ; T. A. Kirkland, 
 County Auditor ; John Bennett, County Treas- 
 urer ; Theodore Guittar, Sheriff; Samuel Den- 
 ton, County Surveyor ; Bradbury W. Hight, 
 County Attorney ; Henry Faul, Coroner. 
 
 Board of Siqxrvisors. — Eli Clayton, Chair- 
 man ; S. B. Frum, S. Dye, J. M. Phillips and S. 
 J. Underwood. 
 
 City Organization. — It is stated in the An- 
 nals of Iowa, that " in April, 1854, Congress 
 passed an act authorizing the Judge of Potta- 
 wattamie County to enter 610 acres of laud 
 for the benefit of the owners and occupants of 
 claims. STudge Street, accordingly, on the 10th 
 day of May, 1854, entered, under the law, 
 eighty acres in Section 30, and eighty acres in 
 Section 31, Township 75, Range 43 ; and 
 240 acres in Section 25, and 240 acres 
 in Section 36, Township 75, Range 44 — form- 
 ing a square mile, and comprising within its 
 limits nearly all of the village of Kauesville." 
 
 We are told that it was a difficult matter to 
 divide this land to give satisfaction, in all 
 cases, to the claimants. It frequently happened 
 that two parties claimed the same lot. In the 
 spring of this year. Judge Street employed 
 Thomas Tostevin to survey the land entered 
 by him, and Mr. Tostevin performed his work 
 with care, when a large majority of the owners 
 of claims became satisfied, and in all subse- 
 quent conveyances, the original survey stood 
 as the guide. Many suits grew out of the dis- 
 puted claims, and took much of the time of 
 the courts, for some years. The additions of 
 S. S. Bayliss, Mynster, Jackson, Stutsman and 
 Mills were within the limits of the one mile 
 square entered by the County Judge. In the 
 fall of 1854, other lots were surveyed, and new 
 
50 
 
 HISTORY OF rOTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 additions made to the town. Among these 
 additions were tlie names of Grimes, Curtis, 
 Hall and Beers. 
 
 The exchange of lots, and other business, went 
 along finel3- till the panic in the State, and, in 
 fact, all over the countrj-, in 1857, when failure 
 after failure followed each other, and carried 
 down some of the leading houses of the coun- 
 try', and among them the banking house of 
 Col. Thomas H. Benton, Jr., in Council Bluffs. 
 This panic, for a short time, appeared to check 
 the sale of lots and land, and the people gener- 
 ally began to complain of hard times. But, 
 fortunately for this new State and county, these 
 distressed times did not continue long, and 
 speculation in land and lots began, and re- 
 mained livel}- for some time, when the city and 
 count}- began to settle rapidlj- with a thrift}' 
 people. The early settlers began to make bet- 
 ter improvements, and business wore a new 
 and more smiling face. The progress on the 
 part of the early settlers encouraged the new- 
 comers, and they also entered into improving 
 lots and farms, and money began to assume its 
 natural channel. This prosperity- continued 
 for some time, and until this country and the 
 people were more al)le to stand the extremes 
 and results of a panic. 
 
 It is true, Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie 
 County have passed through many a tr^-ing 
 time since the year herein mentioned, but ap- 
 pear to have come out the brighter for the 
 reverses. Both the city and the county are 
 now upon a solid basis, where they can defy 
 panics and reverses in trade. The soil of the 
 countrj' is rich and deep, and will jield an 
 abundant harvest for all, and what does not 
 sell to-day will sell to-morrow. So, now, panics 
 of short duration can have but a slight effect 
 upon the growth of the country or prosperity 
 of the people. The spirit of progress is now 
 fairly alive, and must continue to work great 
 results for both country and citj'. The one is 
 dependent upou the other, and the people of 
 
 each should go hand in hand to bring about 
 the greatest prosperity. The city must afford 
 the market, while the farmers must produce the 
 articles to suppl}- it ; and thus united, nothing 
 but a visitation of wrath from God, and the 
 entire destruction of crops can ever prevail 
 against this section of countr}' and this people. 
 
 The first settlers of this county laid a solid 
 foundation for those who were to come after 
 them to build upon, and now the result begins 
 to prove that their ideas were correct. Their 
 sons and daughters, in many cases, are enjoying 
 large harvests and rich rewards, while the pa- 
 rents who remain point back to their early 
 times here with pleasure and pride. It is de- 
 cidedly interesting to sit down and listen to a 
 recitation of these people of their trials, priva- 
 tions, ups and downs, and the manj- wa\-s they 
 had to manage to live and maintain large and 
 growing families, such as you do not often see 
 at the present time. But few persons would 
 now undertake the same difficulties for all that 
 the future promises. 
 
 We are informed that on the 5th da}- of Feb- 
 ruary, 1855, under the charter granted bj- the 
 Legislature of the State in 1853, the first elec- 
 tion for city officers was held. No election took 
 place in 1854. At the election held, the follow- 
 ing persons were elected to fill the offices : C. 
 E. Stone, Mayor ; C. W. Boyers, Recorder ; B. 
 R. Pegram, Treasurer ; A. F. Thompson. Mar- 
 shal ; and G. A. Robinson, Assessor. The first 
 council consisted of the following gentlemen : 
 First Ward — J. B. Stutsman, J. B. Lewis, and 
 AV. Hepner ; Second Ward— J. P. Casady, E. 
 P. Snow and S. S. Bayliss; Third Ward— J. A. 
 Jackson, Milton Rogers and W. J. Cooper. 
 Messrs. Suow and Hepner declined to serve, 
 when J. D. Test and J. E. Johnson were ap- 
 pointed to fill the vacancies. At a meeting of 
 the council the following-named gentlemen 
 were appointed to fill the offices named : R. L. 
 Douglass, City Attorney : Thomas Tosteviu, 
 City Surveyor, and H. D. Harl, City Supervisor 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 51 
 
 A tax of five mills was levied for cit}' pur- 
 poses. The Maj-or recommended that a sys- 
 tem of improvements should commence early 
 in the year, and that the bonds of the city should 
 be issued to pay the expense of such public 
 improvements as might be made in the wisdom 
 of the authorities. The Mayor was allowed 
 SI 00 as his salary for one year. A Board of 
 Health was created, and the following gentle- 
 men were appointed to fill the place : Drs. 
 Honn, Malcolm and Shoemaker. 
 
 No startling developments were made dur- 
 ing this year, but the Mayor and Council, and 
 in fact, all the officers, discharged their duties 
 well during this term. 
 
 These organizations established evidence of 
 the rapid increase of population in the few 
 years of the existence of the county. But 
 beyond this, the growth of wealth has been 
 wonderful, and now we find Pottawattamie 
 numbered among the wealthiest counties in the 
 State. With the present advantages possessed 
 by this people, nothing can stop the increase 
 of population or retard the growth of wealth 
 and prosperity. Eveiything is combined to 
 continue Council Blufls as the gi'eat western 
 railroad center of Iowa, while the rich and 
 productive soil of the countrj- around will pro- 
 duce abundant harvests and sustain large herds 
 of stock. In the next ten years, the popula- 
 tion will be double its present number, while the 
 wealth will more than double. 
 
 pottavtatt.\mie's war record. 
 
 In a country like this, filled with people 
 from every section, patriotism is always above 
 par, and ready for action, as was proven when 
 our country called for help. The call was 
 scarcely out till hundreds of the brave men of 
 Pottawattamie County responded. They did 
 not stand upon the manner of going, but went 
 at once to the front to defend this Nation 
 against disruption and division. Those who 
 left here to do battle for their country, made 
 
 records for themselves that will stand as living 
 monuments to their memories as long as our 
 country and time last. Their noble deeds are 
 recorded upon the memory of every patriotic 
 citizen in this county, and in all time to come 
 blessings will be invoked upon their heads. It 
 is said •' to be noble to die for your country," and 
 it is noble to live and defend it. Those who 
 have been through our difficulties, and now 
 live to enjoj- the peace and prosperity of homes, 
 can enjoy them with an appreciation that others 
 know nothing about. In speaking of the pa- 
 triotic acts of the brave men of this couatv, 
 we do not confine our remarks to the recent 
 war, but also to the noble men who endured 
 the earlier wars in vindication of the honor and 
 liberties of the people of the United States. 
 History informs us that at an early day many 
 a brave soldier left this country for Mexico in 
 vindication of our rights and honor, among 
 whom was William Garner, who is still an. 
 honored citizen, and is in the possession of 
 peace and plenty, but we are sorry to say, is 
 not in good health. During the later war, citi- 
 zens of this count}- rushed to the. front of the 
 battle fields by the hundreds, and many never 
 returned to enjoy the results of their labors, 
 but were cut down in the thick of the battle. 
 Our citizens, of course, revere their memories 
 and honor their graves. 
 
 The people of this country are full of pa- 
 triotism, and therefore allow themselves to be 
 imposed upon b}- cunning politicians, as has 
 ever been the case. All men who went into 
 the army did not go in upon the simple idea of 
 doing service for the country, but many had 
 selfishness in every step they took, and have 
 been making political c.npital out of it ever 
 since, and this class are not entitled to any 
 great credit for their acts. But the true patriot 
 is entitled to the lasting blessing and prayers 
 of the American people. His aims and am- 
 bitions were all for his and our common country. 
 He had no other or higher ambition, and was 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 always found at his post ou all tiyiug occasions. 
 These are the men and memories we shall hold 
 sacred. To honor them is to express a love of 
 countr}'. This large and fertile countrj- sent 
 manj- such men to the battle fields of their coun- 
 try, and they did noble service on many occasions. 
 
 It must be said to the honor of our people 
 they did not allow a draft to be made, but the 
 citizens freely volunteered and the demand on 
 this county was constantly satisfied with one ex- 
 ception. The Democrats and Republicans 
 went forward at every call, shoulder to shoulder, 
 many folliug side by side in the bloody con- 
 flicts. The recruiting and organizing were 
 mostly done in the citj-, and of course, the 
 particulars of sending forward the men will be 
 given in this portion of the histor}'. But 
 while this is true, we cannot refrain from men- 
 tioning a few of the brave men, and some of 
 the incidents connected with the war. The 
 first companj- raised was the Council Bluff's 
 Guards, consisting of fifty men. Ou the 11th 
 of April, 1861, G. M. Dodge was elected cap- 
 tain ; John F. Hopper and C. C. Rice, chosen 
 First and Second Lieutenants, and Ira Hotl'man 
 was appointed Ortierly Sergeant. 
 
 The Council Blutls Union Cavalry was the 
 second organized companj-. On the 14th daj' 
 of April, 1861, the following gentlemen were 
 chosen for the officers: S. H. Craig, Captain ; 
 J. T. Oliver and P. A. Wheeler, Lieutenants, 
 and F. M. Davenport, Orderly Sergeant. 
 
 In a short time after the above organization, 
 a company of flying artillery, consisting of about 
 forty men, was formed and elected Samuel 
 Clinton Captain. In May, William H. Kins- 
 man went to the capital to procure arms. He 
 was in a measure successful, and returned on the 
 6th of June with a six-pound brass cannon 
 sabers and other implements. The cannon 
 arrived about midnight, when Mr. Kinsman 
 settled it on Broadwa_y, and aroused the natives 
 by firing a salute, which bursted a number of 
 windows. 
 
 It was not long until steps were taken for 
 the organization of a regiment in Western Iowa. 
 This city was made headquarters for all the 
 companies. Company A, of Mills County, with 
 William A. English, as Captain, was marched 
 into camp. Compauj- B, of Pottawattamie 
 County, with S. H. Craig, Captain ; P. A. 
 Wheeler and William H. Kinsman, Lieutenants, 
 next arrived. As Companj' B was mostly com- 
 posed of citizens of Council BlufiEs, the ladies 
 of the citj- presented the company with a flag 
 before thej- left for active service, and it can be 
 said to the honor of the members of the com- 
 pany, thej- never allowed that banner to be dis- 
 graced. This companj- was commanded suc- 
 cessivelj- by Capts. Craig, Kinsman and George 
 E. Ford. In 1864, the Fourth Regiment was 
 re-organized, and the following veterans of Com- 
 pany B were found upon the rolls ; George E. 
 Ford, George W. Lloj'd, Christian Weirich, 
 Henrj^ Bradshaw, C. A. D. Clarke, Lawrence 
 Doren, Levi Jones, Heurj- C. Clayton, James 
 D. Lewis, John W. Nesbitt, Curtis O'Neil, 
 George W. Tucker, Jonathan West, Isaac Y. 
 Maynard. It is reported that of this companj- 
 two were killed and twenty-one wounded, and 
 four captured and died in Andersonville prison, 
 viz.: Maynard, Reed, Jones and Ennes. 
 
 This regiment was recruited in the follow- 
 ing counties : Pottawattamie, Mills, Guthrie, 
 Decatur, Polk, Madison, Waj-ne, Page, Ringgold 
 and Adams, with G. M. Dodge as Colonel. On 
 the 9th of Julj-, 1864, Col. Dodge returned 
 home, and was escorted to his residence bj- 
 Companies A, B and the Flying Artillerj-, 
 when he returned thanks for the honor con- 
 ferred upon him, and spoke in high terms of 
 the noble bearing of the companies. 
 
 In a short time the headquarters of the army 
 were removed to an elevated spot of land, one 
 or two miles from the citj-. This point became 
 quite attractive, as it was placed under strict 
 militarj- discipline, and the men were regularly- 
 drilled everv daj-. Col. Dodge was anxious to 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 53 
 
 have this regiment well advanced when it should 
 enter upon the field of duty. 
 
 A detachment of twenty-five men from each 
 company were called out on the '30th of July to 
 make a forced march to the Missouri line, where 
 it was reported the rebels were assembling, but 
 were not found. In the early part of August 
 the regiment left camp for Jefiersou Barracks, 
 Mo., where on the 15th day of this month, the 
 regiment was mustered into the service of the 
 United States. 
 
 The regiment took an active part in all the 
 stirring battles of the West, and won honors 
 under the command of Gen. Curtis, at Pea 
 Ridge, under Gen. Grant at Chickasaw Baj-ou, 
 and through the entire campaign at Vicksburg, 
 and marched thence to Chattanooga, fighting at 
 Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge and Ring- 
 gold. Then they marched under Gen. Sher- 
 man, through the Atlanta campaign to the sea, 
 and tlience to Washington, and after being in 
 thirty hotly contested conflicts, were honorably 
 mustered out of service at Louisville, Ky., on 
 the 24:th of July, 1865. The records show a 
 heavy fatality ; 119 were killed or died of 
 wounds ; 240 died of disease, and the dis- 
 charged only numbered 309. 
 
 July 4, 1861, the Second Iowa Battery Light 
 Artillery went into camp at Camp Kirkwood, 
 and was mustered into the United States service 
 on the 8th and 31st of July ; its last section left 
 this county with two companies of the Fourth 
 Infantry on the 27th of the month, under Capt. 
 Craig. The officers of the battery were. Nel- 
 son T. Spoor, Captain, and Charles T. Reed, 
 Second Lieutenant, of Council Bluflfs ; Joseph 
 R. Reed, of Dallas County, Iowa, and David 
 Watling, of Cincinnati, 0., were Senior and 
 Junior Lieutenants. This batter}- did good serv- 
 ice during the war. Nineteen of these men 
 were from Pottawattamie County. The batter}- 
 was honorabl}' discharged at Davenport, on 
 August 5, 1865. 
 
 D. B. Clark enlisted in Company H, of the 
 
 Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, at Council Bluflis, in 
 the fall of 1861. The officers of the company 
 were elected in November, and were as follows: 
 D. B. Clark, Captain; Stephen W. King, First 
 Lieutenant, both of Pottawattamie County; 
 and John A. Danielson, Second Lieutenant, of 
 Harrison County. Twenty-four of the men 
 and non-commissioned officers were enlisted in 
 this county. The company suflered severely 
 at Shiloh, a large portion of the officers and 
 men being wounded or killed. Before the 
 close of the battle, owing to the sickness or 
 disability of the other officers. Sergeant Ed- 
 wards had to assume command, and was soon 
 after commissioned Captain. When the time 
 of the enlistment expired, the following persons 
 of Compan}- H re-enlisted and became vet- 
 erans: N. W. Edwai'ds, E. W. Crawley, Joshua 
 Gilbert, A. Heaghney, Otto C. Hoffman, Levi 
 J. Laflesh, William Moorehead, Benton T. H. 
 Marshall, Frank N. Martin, John D. Slocum, 
 Amos A. Van Winkle and Joseph Whaloy. 
 The records show four killed and thirteen 
 wounded of this company. 
 
 In the winter of 1861-62, William S. Burke 
 enlisted eighteen men in this county for com- 
 pany- H, Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, and he 
 was afterwards commissioned First Lieuten- 
 ant. 
 
 In the summer of 1862, John C. Lininger, a 
 school teacher, enlisted twentj'-five men, all of 
 this county, for Company E, Twenty-third 
 Regiment. Mr. Liniger was chosen Captain. 
 William H. Kinsman, of Council Bluffs, was 
 made Lieutenant Colonel of this regiment, on 
 August 2, 1862, and Colonel on Septem- 
 ber 19, 1862, and remained at the head 
 of his men until he was stricken down at the 
 battle of Black River Bridge. The Colonel 
 died from his wounds, on the 23d daj- of May, 
 1863, after having made a fine record for him- 
 self 
 
 We are told that Company E, of the Sixth 
 Cavalry, was principally recruited by William 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 G. Crawford, but ill health prevented him from 
 entering the service. Twenty-five men of this 
 compau}' were from Pottawattamie County, 
 and Daniel F. Eicher, was chosen Captain, and 
 commanded the company during their term of 
 service. Joseph C. De Haven was elected First 
 Lieutenant, and made an excellent officer. The 
 company went into service in January, 1863. 
 
 The Twentj'-ninth Regiment camped at Coun- 
 cil Bluffs early in August, 1862, and remained 
 in Camp Dodge till December. The officers 
 were : Thomas H. Benton, Colonel ; William 
 S. Grimes, Surgeon ; William W. Wilson, Quar- 
 termaster, and Joseph Lyman, Adjutant ; all 
 of this county. The other field and staff offi- 
 cers were generally from Western Iowa. Com- 
 panj' A, of this regiment, contained 108 men 
 and officers, residents of this county. The offi- 
 cers of this company were ; John P. Williams, 
 Captain ; George A. Haj-nes, K. K. Kirkpat- 
 rick. Lieutenants. Capt. Williams was Sheriff, 
 and resigned to recruit the compau3- and enter 
 the service. His health would not allow him 
 to remain with the regiment, and in the sum- 
 mer of 1863, C. V. Gardner was chosen Cap- 
 tain, and remained in command till the end of 
 the war. The regiment was in battles at Ar- 
 kansas Post, Helena and Mobile, and performed 
 service in Texas, and was discharged in New 
 Orleans on August 10, 1865. The records show 
 that thirtj- men were killed or died of wounds ; 
 253 died of disease, and 134 were discharged 
 for disabilitj'. 
 
 On the 5th of November, 1864, 109 men were 
 drafted, and this was the only draft ever made 
 in Pottawattamie County. 
 
 It is recorded that Caleb Baldwin, a promi- 
 nent lawyer of Council Bluffs, acted as aide to 
 Gov. Kirkwood in the early part of the war, 
 and was succeeded b}- Henr}' C. Nutt, who re- 
 mained in the field to the close of the war, act- 
 ing as aide to Gov. Kirkwood and Gov. Stone. 
 H. H. Field was Provost Marshal and Deputy 
 United States Marshal for Pottaw^attamie County 
 
 The Board of Supervisors and citizens of the 
 county contributed liberally for the support of 
 the families of the soldiers who had enlisted. 
 Early in 1861, the ladies of Council Bluffs and 
 the count}' formed aid societies, and raised 
 considerable funds for the relief of soldiers' 
 families. The record of this county during the 
 war was a most glorious and brilliant one, and 
 will remain green in the memory of those who 
 may come after the present generation. We 
 must add here, the press of the county did 
 much to aid those engaged in recruiting. 
 
 POOR FARM, CENSUS, ETC. 
 
 During the early part of 1857, Judge D. S 
 Nye purchased a tract of land for a Poor Farm, 
 and the price paid for it was supposed to be 
 exhorbitant, and his act was considered illegal ; 
 but the Legistature was in session at the time, 
 and an act was immediately passed by that 
 body confirming the action of the Judge in the 
 purchase. Public sentiment in the couuty was 
 strongly against this act, and some of the 
 Judge's sureties withdrew from his official 
 bond, and in May, 1858, he resigned, and the 
 duties of the office fell upon J. H. Sherman, 
 County Prosecuting Attorney. The latter, 
 soon after taking the office, issued an order 
 directing the Drainage Commissioner to drain 
 the swamp and overflowed the lands of the 
 countj^ A large sum of money was spent in 
 this work during this and the following 
 year. 
 
 The Poor Farm has grown into quite an i m- 
 portant institution, and it no doubt saves much 
 to the count}' in the way of supporting the un- 
 fortunate class who have to be sustained by 
 the public. It would now 3-ield a good profit 
 over the price paid when it was considered so 
 extremely high as to call down vengeance upon 
 the head of the County Judge because of the 
 purchase. 
 
 The State census, taken in 1869, showed the 
 total population of Pottawattamie Count}' to 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 55 
 
 be 10,977, divided among the different town- 
 ships as follows : Boomer, 394 ; Center, 410 ; 
 Crescent, 918 ; Rockford, 596 ; Grove, 292 ; 
 James, 286 ; Knox, 560; Macedonia, 223 ; Sil- 
 ver Creek, 144 ; Walnut Creek, 252 ; York, 
 148 ; Kane (outside of Council Bluffs), 1,038 ; 
 Council Bluffs, First Ward, 908 ; Second Ward, 
 1,605 ; Third Ward, 927 ; Fourth Ward, 1,804 ; 
 
 Fifth Ward, 547 ; total number in the city, 
 5,793. The number of dwelling houses in the 
 county, was 2,083 — 1.153 were within the lim- 
 its of Council Bluffs. The amount of grain 
 produced this year was, corn, 345,081 bushels ; 
 wheat, 35,967 ; oats, 48,702, and potatoes, 42,- 
 854. This year the farmers made 12,065 gal- 
 lons of sorghum. 
 
 CHAPTER VII.* 
 
 IOWA: ORIGIN OF THE NAME — HER FUTURE — LAND SPECULATORS AND THEIR PECULIAR 
 METHODS OF "DOING" PURCHASERS — EARLY EVENTS — FINANCIAL MATTERS- 
 AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION— DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM— SEVERE 
 WINTER— EARLY SETTLERS— AN EXCITING ELECTION, ETC. 
 
 IOWA is interpreted to mean, " this is the 
 place," so stated in the Annals of Iowa, in a 
 story of an " Indian tribe who came from the 
 West and crossed the Missouri into this State, 
 because of an unfavorable season for game, 
 trapping and hunting, and after several days 
 of weary, tired trampiug, hungry and heart- 
 sick, its members came unexpectedly, at night- 
 fall, to the shore of a beautiful lake. Groves 
 of shade surrounded it, plums, wild apples and 
 berries were found upon ever}' hand, on ovcr- 
 ladened trees and vines; fowls swam upon and 
 flew over the lake in great swarms, and fishes 
 glided and swam in the beautiful waters. Tlie 
 tired ponies drank from the cool fountain, and 
 the squaws plucked the fruit with avidity and 
 began to prepare for the evening meal. The 
 chief who had taken in at a glance the whole 
 prospect, wiselj- said, " Iowa! " (this is the 
 place). 
 
 Hundreds and thousands, like the Indian 
 chief, think Iowa is " the place," and they find 
 here the best of lands and comfortable houses. 
 Within a few ^-ears more, every acre of land 
 will be in the possession of actual settlers, 
 when this State will loom up with greater 
 
 •By W. T. Giles. 
 
 rapidity and more prosperity than was ever 
 achieved by any State before. The eyes of men 
 of wealth are already- turned in this direction, 
 and here they find profitable investments, and 
 in many cases make excellent improvements 
 upon their purchases for their sons and sons- 
 in-law. But in the years to come, the progress 
 will go forward with much greater speed, and 
 all Iowa will be made to bloom. This will be 
 particularly true of this section, where so many 
 natural and improved advantages abound. 
 The county of Pottawattamie is certainly 
 blessed with a fine location, beauty and variety 
 of soil, and the best of markets, and of course, 
 those seeking good homes cannot fail to dis- 
 cover these facts, and seeing them they will 
 act upon them. While Iowa must very soon 
 become one of the most populous States in 
 the Union, this county will become one of 
 the most populous in the State. In the past 
 ten j'ears the increase in population in Iowa 
 has been extensive, but in the ten years to 
 come the increase will double the past ten 
 years. Larger rewards will be paid to those 
 who may hold to their little homes, and those 
 who have scarcely been living will be among 
 those who are independent. These are the pre- 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 dictions for the future Iowa and Pottawattamie 
 Countj- as viewed from the past. What has 
 been will return again, and as the advantages 
 have improved so will the future growth be- 
 come that much more speedy. In the twenty 
 past years our march has seemed slow, and in 
 a manner it was, for we had not the facilities 
 for filling up the country and improving it that 
 we now have. Railroads were not dotted all 
 over the State, lumber and building materials 
 were scarce and hard to get, but now railroads 
 abound in everj' direction, and building mate- 
 rials can be secured without much delaj' and 
 with but little trouble. The story seems al- 
 most like a romance, and yet it is as true as 
 the needle to the pole, and even without ex- 
 aggeration in any particular. In the earl}- days 
 of this county, men and women toiled unceas- 
 ingly, and only lived, and no wonder man}' be- 
 came discontented and left it, but to-day the 
 story is reversed, and all who have homes live 
 independently and enjoy bountifully of God's 
 good things, and seem to be lords of the land. 
 All these changes have come over this land 
 within a few years, and they cheer the young 
 and rising generation on to making new homes 
 in the new Territories, where wealth will pile up 
 in much less time than it was produced here, 
 simply because of the railroads and additional 
 advantages. 
 
 LAND SPECULATORS. 
 
 In giving a history of this count}-, it may be 
 interesting to many who may hereafter read 
 it to know of some of the early speculations — 
 how the}- were made, etc. It will not do to 
 set all the early settlers of any coimtry down 
 as men of genuine labor, or men without any 
 speculative ideas, for in all ages and commimi- 
 ties you will find the energetic and speculative 
 genius, who is ready to sell or be sold, but gen- 
 erally does the selling. It was so here in the 
 early days of Pottawattamie County, it is so 
 now in Dakota and all new counties. We have 
 briefly herein given some of the ways prac- 
 
 ticed by the early settlers upon his newly 
 arrived friend. No section of country was 
 without the class below described in this short 
 sketch of the early settlers in this and other 
 counties. 
 
 It was peculiar how many land speculators were 
 found in every section of the country. E\ery 
 man you would meet claimed to own or have 
 the agency of every foot of land within miles 
 of the land office, and frequently combinations 
 existed, and if you would talk to one of the 
 combination, and he could not make a sale, you 
 were turned over to the other, and such instruc- 
 tions given as to price, etc., as would be likely 
 to take you in. These parties would not own a 
 foot of the land, but they kept themselves 
 posted as to the entries, and whenever they 
 could get enough above the entry or a price 
 above the owner's selling price, they would go 
 to the land office or to the owner of the prop- 
 erty and make their acts known, and the entry 
 or deed was given just as if these outsiders 
 had had nothing to do with the sale, but slill 
 they drew their per ceutage all the same. We 
 remember buying some lots in 1854, from one 
 of these sharpers. He claimed to own certain 
 lots; we looked at them, bargained for them, 
 and when the deed was made he did not sign it, 
 and we asked, how is this — you do not give the 
 deed? '• Oh, said he, I am agent for this gentle- 
 man, and the deed is all right." We found the 
 title all right, but we had to pay quite a sum 
 to the agent that we could have saved by buy- 
 ing directly from the owner. The same game 
 was played in relation to Government land 
 often, unless those who were seeking to enter 
 land were posted and would refuse to pay 
 these officious, self-constituted agents. The 
 early settlers were as wide awake as the men 
 of to-day, and they made money in many and 
 peculiar ways. While we consider the people 
 of the present time sharp, the early settlers, in 
 many cases, were far in advance of them, and 
 could drive more cunning bargains than are 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 57 
 
 now dreamed of. Even to-day it does not paj' 
 to tackle the frontiersman witli tlie idea of 
 getting the advantage of him in a trade. The 
 only mistake he is likel} to make is that he 
 will sell too soon, when he should hold his 
 land and lots for a time. Years ago at every 
 land office, you could find surveyors or men 
 who would show you lands for a consideration, 
 and many of these persons were sharp, and if 
 you bought your plats — took these agents out 
 and paid them for showing you land, if after 
 passing over it, thej- found it to be more valu- 
 able than they had suspected, they would go to 
 the land speculators and report to them the 
 facts, and when you would come to enter your 
 selections they would be gone — entered by 
 this paid agent's instructions, and often he 
 would come and ofl'er to sell you the land you 
 had paid him to first show you. This way of 
 doing business was very common on the part 
 of a certain class. In one or two cases we paid 
 an agent who sold us out, and then had the 
 impudence to come and ofler to sell us the land 
 we had paid him to show us. We often met 
 men who had been sold in Iowa in the fall 
 of 1854. It was very common for men who 
 did not own a lot or an acre of land, to show 
 buyers hundreds of lots or acres of land, and 
 would offer the one or the other at prices that 
 would pa}- them a large percentage, and if the 
 purchasers would agree to take the lot or land, 
 tiie deed was given by the owner. 
 
 EARLY EVENTS. 
 
 The records inform us that at the first gen- 
 eral election after the organization of the 
 county, Henry Miller, one of the saints (Mor- 
 mons), was elected to the State Legislature of 
 the State of Iowa. He attended the session of 
 that honorable body, and discharged his duties 
 like the other honorable members, and returned 
 to his home with all the honors attached to the 
 office. 
 
 In 1852, another election came, and it was 
 
 again made the duty of the people to choose a 
 Representative. At this election Judge A. S. 
 Brj-ant was the gentleman selected to crown 
 with the honor, probably because of his Mor- 
 mon affinities, for he informs us that the Mor- 
 mans elected him on this occasion. He went 
 to Iowa City and drew his pay as any other 
 honorable member of the Legislature should do, 
 and he tells us now that nothing of importance 
 transpired during all the session of that term 
 of this honorable body. While this illustrates 
 the early daj-s and legislation of Iowa, the 
 same can be said of other new States and Leg- 
 islatures. Judge Brj'ant, in sa3ing nothing of 
 importance transpired, is only honest enough 
 to admit what our present legislators will not 
 do, that much of the legislation is to establish 
 political capital. Judge Bryant is still living, 
 and is in his eightj'-first year, and goes forward 
 with energy to accumulate a fortune, as he did 
 in early times. Mr. and Mrs. Bryant have 
 lived to see more j'ears together than were re- 
 quired for the golden wedding, and they will 
 leave this world crowned with an abundance of 
 means, but without a direct descendent. All 
 will say they were good citizens and saved 
 their accumulations. 
 
 In 1859, the official conduct of John H. 
 Sherman, County Judge, excited discussion by 
 the people and through the press. On Febru- 
 ary 18th of this 3'ear, the Grand Jury presented 
 Judge Sherman to the District Court, charged 
 gross mismanagement of the fiscal affairs of 
 the county; with illegally issuing county orders, 
 and with issuing orders payable to himself, 
 and that they found the books and papers of 
 the office in a very deranged and disorderly 
 condition, and asked that he should be sus- 
 pended from office until a full and impartial 
 investigation could be made. A summons 
 was issued by the court, but Sherman refused 
 to answer at this term, as he was entitled to 
 ten days notice before the commencement of 
 the term. The case went over to the August 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 term. The people were dissatisfied witLi the 
 delay, and called a meeting in Council Blufls, 
 on February 26, at which a variety of reports 
 were made, and resolutions adopted looking to 
 an investigation of the County Judge's office. 
 An investigation was made by a committee ap- 
 .pointed bj- the people, and the report showed 
 clearly that the charges against Mr. Sherman 
 were sustained bj- his own books and papers, 
 and in fact, most of the charges were admitted 
 to be true ]>y himself During the brief period 
 of nine months he had issued bonds for over 
 833,000. The swamp land and school funds 
 were found to be in a bad condition. In Au- 
 gust, Judge Shermon was tried in the District 
 Court, and found guilty of the charges pre- 
 sented against him, and was removed from 
 office. Upon the removal of Shei'man, the du- 
 ties of the office fell upon C. P. Kellogg, Clerk 
 of the District Court, who performed the duties 
 until October, when Hon. J. P. Casady was 
 elected to fill the vacanc3'. During Sherman's 
 official actions countj- orders were sold as low 
 as 35, 30 and even 25 cents on the dollar. The 
 interest on the school and swamp land fund was 
 not paid, and man3- of the securities for these 
 loans were found to be worthless. Judge Cas- 
 ady upon assuming the duties of the office, 
 endeavored to introduce a more economical 
 system in the management of the affairs of the 
 county, but it was some years before things 
 were righted and the count}- was restored to 
 good credit. Mr. Casady discharged the duties 
 of the office to the fullest satisfaction of the 
 people. 
 
 In the summer of 1S57, the following bank- 
 ing firms existed in Council Bluffs: Messrs. 
 Officer & Pusey; Messrs. Green, Weare & 
 Benton; Messrs. Baldwin & Dodge; Messrs. S. 
 H. Riddel & Co.; Messrs. J. JI. Palmer & Co. 
 All of these banks, except the first named firm, 
 dealt more or less extensively in Nebraska 
 currenc}-, of which large quantities were in cir- 
 culation in this communit}'. Col. Benton was 
 
 President of the American Exchange Bank, of 
 Omaha, and also of a similar institution in 
 Bellevue, Nebraska. The failure of these 
 banks, earl}' in the autumn, led to the closing of 
 Mr. Benton's banking house in Council Bhiffs, 
 on the 25th day of September, 1857, inflicting 
 heavy losses upon a number of depositors. It 
 is stated that Col. Benton made earnest and 
 persistent efforts to meet Ids obligations, but 
 many of his banking loans were nearly or 
 quite worthless, and after surrendering all tliese 
 to meet his liabilities, together with his home- 
 stead, a large amount remained unpaid. His 
 failure was the beginning of a financial distress 
 along the whole Missouri slope. 
 
 From this forward, mone}' became scarce in 
 Nebraska and Western Iowa for some time. 
 The Nebraska banks, one after another, went 
 by the board, and their bills became worthless, 
 and speculation was severely crippled. Town 
 lots rapidly depreciated in value, and real estate 
 dealers grew blue over their depressed busi- 
 ness. Lots that sold in Council Bluffs in 1856 
 and 1857 for from $3,000 to $4,000, at the end 
 of four years, could scarcely' be sold for one- 
 fourth these sums. Resident property in the 
 financial crash of 1857, never depreciated as 
 did the business portion, probably because of 
 the scarcity of homes. 
 
 The first exhibition of the Pottawattamie 
 County Agricultural Society was held at Coun- 
 cil Bluffs on October 13 and 14, 1858. The 
 number of entries was large, and the display 
 of stock and agricultural productions quite 
 encouraging. Caleb Baldwin was chosen Pres- 
 ident, and W. H. Kinsman, Seeretarj' of the so- 
 ciety. Among the largest exhibitors and most 
 active in promotmg its object were, L. W. 
 Babbitt, D. B. Clark, William Garner, H. A. 
 Terr}', J. E. Johnson, M. Turley and others^ 
 Col. Babbitt's famous horse, Cherokee, received 
 the first premium, which was $8. The ladies' 
 tournament on the second day created a gi'eat 
 deal of interest, and on this occasion two fine 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 59 
 
 saddles were awarded to the best riders. The 
 persons contesting for the saddles were: Mrs. 
 Gough, Miss Josephine Biggs, Mrs. Wright, 
 Miss Amy White, Mrs. Milton, Mrs. Robinson, 
 and Miss Delia Jackson. It is stated that on 
 all such occasions a dance followed, and on the 
 evening of the second day a dance was held, 
 and it was largely attended by the citizens. 
 The enjoyment was complete, and the refresh- 
 ments were discussed for da3"s after, as exceed- 
 ing anything ever before presented at a public 
 ball in the city of Council Bluffs. On October 
 27, 1864, a county fair was held in the midst 
 of a severe snow storm. The frost came earl^- 
 this fall, and injured the crops extensivel3', and 
 at the end of the year corn sold at $1 per 
 bushel, oats SO cents, and wheat $1. Butter 
 sold at 40 cents a pound, while hard wood went 
 up to $10 a cord. At this time the poor peo- 
 ple had great ditticultj' to provide for their fam- 
 ilies, for wages did not advance proportionately 
 with other things. 
 
 In 1SG9, the farmers were generally well re- 
 warded with excellent crops. Heav}- rains fell 
 in the early part of the season, and ceased 
 about the time for harvesting and securing the 
 crops. The yield this season was perfectly 
 astonishing, in fact, so much so as to cause 
 many of the farmers to measure their grounds 
 and then the productions, to get the average 
 per acre. We here give the result of several 
 farmers, in different localities, as follows: J. 
 W. Anderson, of Silver Creek Township, re- 
 ceived 1,500 bushels of wheat from sevent^'- 
 five acres; R. H. Woodmancy. of Macedonia 
 Township, 480 bushels on twenty acres; J. S. 
 Goss, of Rockford Township, 450 bushels on 
 thirty acres; Josiah True, of Knox Township, 
 raised 6,500 bushels of corn on 130 acres; J. 
 W. Story, of Center Township, grew 2,035 
 bushels of corn on forty-five acres; and Jlr. 
 Woodmancy, grew 1,052 bushels of corn on 
 fifteen and one-half acres. The oats crop was 
 placed on an average at about fifty bushels to 
 
 the acre. The prices paid this year in Council 
 Blufl's were, for wheat, from fifty to sixty cents; 
 corn, fifty cents, and oats thirtj- cents, per 
 bushel. 
 
 In 1866, the Legislature of the State of Iowa 
 decided upon the removal of the Deaf and 
 Dumb Asj'lum from Iowa City, and a com- 
 mittee was appointed by that bodj' to select a 
 site for the new building. The committee 
 visited various portions of the State to select 
 the spot for the institution, and when the gen- 
 tlemen composing the committee arrived in 
 Council Blufl's, the citizens interested them- 
 selves iu the matter, and showed the officials 
 around, pointing out several locations, and of- 
 fered the grounds to the State in the event that 
 the buildings should be located in this county 
 at a point that would be satisfactory to the cit- 
 izens of this cit}'. The selection was made, 
 and the people of Council Blufl's paid for the 
 grounds. The Commissioners who were ap- 
 pointed to decide upon the plan of the build- 
 ing did so in the fall of 1868, and let the con- 
 tract for erecting the structure to William R. 
 Craig, of Nebraska City, for $121,500. The 
 first Commissioners were Caleb Baldwin, 
 Thomas Officer and E. Honn. Dr. Honn died 
 in 1869, when G. M. Dodge was appointed to 
 fill the vacancy in the Board of Commissioners. 
 The plan decided upon was authorized by the 
 Legislature, when the work on the main build- 
 ing and one wing was begun. The foundation 
 stones were laid in the fall of 1868, under the 
 supervision of William Ward, who was the 
 architect and Superintendent. In 1869, the 
 building reached the second story. The con- 
 tractor made his brick upon the ground pur- 
 chased b}' our citizens for the building. The 
 asylum is finely located on the edge of the 
 Missouri Valle}', and about a quarter of a mile 
 from the Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. A 
 projecting blufl' hides a part of this city, and 
 still the site commands an extensive view over 
 the surrounding country. Musquito Creek 
 
60 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 crosses the north corner of the ninety acres 
 upon which the asylum is located, and fur- 
 nishes an abundant quantitj' of water. 
 
 The main building is 200x65 feet, five stories 
 high, with two wings. In Februarj-, 1877, the 
 east wing was destroj-ed by fire, without injury 
 to the inmates. Immediatel}' after the fire, the 
 construction of the west wing was entered upon 
 and soon completed. In August of this year, 
 a severe wind storm unroofed and blew down 
 the upper story of the west wing. This build- 
 ing seemed fated, but the ruin was repaired as 
 rapidly as possible, and by January, 1878, this 
 wing was again ready for occupancy. The 
 building is heated by steam, and liglited by 
 gas manufactured in the institution. Hot and 
 cold water baths are furnished to the pupils 
 when required. The asylum grows most of the 
 vegetables used by the inmates. The officers 
 of the institution utilize the land and have a 
 large garden eiiUivated. Following is a list of 
 the officers of the institution : 
 
 Super in tenden t — A . Rogers. 
 
 Educational DejMrtmenf. — J. A. Kennedy, B. 
 D., teacher; C. S. Zorbaugh, teacher; Edwin 
 Southwick, teacher; F. W. Booth, B. S., teacher; 
 C. Sprint, teacher; Miss Helen E. White, teacher; 
 Miss Cora Van Dorin. teacher; Miss Virginia 
 Cowden, teacher; Miss Jennie C.Cramer, teacher; 
 Miss Alice Christie, teacher; Miss Mary Gallup, 
 teacher; Miss Jean Van Tassell, articulation 
 teacher; Miss Florence Clement, art teacher. 
 
 Instructors in Industries. — Moses Folsom, 
 printing; W. W. Winter, carpentering; George 
 W. Kamsey, shoe - making ; D. Rickabaugh, 
 broom-making. 
 
 Dvmcstic Department. — Mrs. Retta Harle, ma- 
 tron; Mrs. M. J. Erwin, girls' supervisor; Mrs. 
 Rosetta Fuller, boj's' supervisor. 
 
 C. A. Weinstrand, clerk; Peter West, steward; 
 W. S. Wilkins, engineer. 
 
 The grasshoppers first made their appearance 
 in vast numbers in 1867, and did a very con- 
 siderable damage to gardens, and in many in- 
 
 stances ruined fields of grain. They caused 
 considerable alarm among the people of the 
 Missouri slope. Frequently these insects would 
 collect in heaps like bees in a hive, and it was 
 feared they would continue with us and destro}' 
 the crops of the country, but such was not the 
 case. They left for a few years and then re- 
 turned to do more damage than on their first 
 visit, and again departed, since which time this 
 country has been free from all their ravages. 
 No fears of grasshoppers have crossed the 
 minds of this people for several years, and the 
 crops have grown without interference from in- 
 sects. To see the grasshoppers go through a 
 field of grain and lay it low was cause for the 
 people to become alarmed. 
 
 It is stated in the Annals of Iowa that, in the 
 earlj' part of Januar}-, 1872, the first public 
 meeting to promote the division of the county' 
 of Pottawattamie was held at Bird's school- 
 house, in James Township. J. A. T. Bates 
 was Chairman, and J.B. Harrod and David Hunt, 
 Secretaries. Addresses were delivered by A. M. 
 Battelle, J. C. Layton, C. V. Gardner, J. L. Pet- 
 ler and Josiah True. Strong resolutions were 
 passed in favor of the division, and a memorial 
 was sent to the Legislature in favor of the meas- 
 ure. It was proposed that the new count}' 
 should comprise a strip of land eighteen miles 
 in width, from east to west, taken from the 
 eastern part of Pottawattamie County, and to 
 contain in length, from north to south, twelve 
 government townships, or twenty-four miles. 
 A bill for the erection of the new county, to be 
 called Belknap, was introduced in the General 
 Assembly of Iowa in 1872, but it was defeated. 
 In 1874, a bill was enacted by the Legislature 
 to submit the question of division to the whole 
 of the county at an election to be held for the 
 purpose in October of the same year. The vote 
 was taken, and the measure defeated. But even 
 now many persons in the eastern portion of the 
 county, with a few interested parties in the 
 county seat, are anxious to have the division 
 
HISTORY 0¥ POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 61 
 
 take place, and they will continue to labor to 
 this end, with a hope that, at no distant daj% the 
 work will result in the establishment of a new 
 count}-, with Avoea as the couutj- seat. 
 
 We frequently forget the severity of early 
 seasons when in the midst of a terrific storm, 
 but those who lived in Iowa in the winter of 
 1856-57 cannot forget what had to be endured 
 then. Mails were shut out, stage drivers lost 
 their way, and in several cases were frozen to 
 death or lost some limbs. One driver between 
 Council Bluffs and Boone got caught in a snow 
 storm, and became so be wildered that he drove 
 around in a small circle all night; and when 
 found in the morning and taken to a house he 
 was so frozen as to make it necessary to ampu- 
 tate one or both feet. He said he was confident 
 of getting into the road every moment, and 
 never dreamed of going over the same ground 
 the entire night. Snow in manj^ places was 
 drifted higher than the stage coach, and the 
 mails had to be transferred in many cases from 
 the coach to horseback, and in some cases were 
 delivered on foot by strong men. The severity 
 of the wind storms during this season was ex- 
 treme, and caused more damage to farmers and 
 stock-growers than can be told at the present 
 time. In fact, the severity of this season drove 
 many people from Iowa, and a few of these 
 never returned. But after all, Iowa was not 
 the only section visited by these storms in this 
 winter, for the whole northern country suffered 
 more or less from heavy snow and wind storms. 
 We only mention these circumstances at this 
 time to remove all idea that the storms of to- 
 day are so much severer than in past times. 
 
 In 1854, the whole number of votes cast in 
 the county of Pottawattamie for Governor was 
 422, Curtis Bates, Democrat, receiving 215, and 
 James S. Grimes, Whig, 207 votes. The vote 
 for Congress stood : Hall, Democrat, 268, and 
 Clark, Whig, 140. At this election, James I). 
 Test was elected to the State Senate and John 
 T. Baldwin and Daniel S. Jackson to the House 
 
 of Representatives of the State of Iowa. Test 
 and Jackson, long since dead, were at one time 
 very active, energetic men of this count}', and 
 did much to aid in the earl}- prosperity of it. 
 
 The following persons were elected this 
 year as county officers : W. D. Turner, Treas- 
 urer and Recorder; Edward Cutler, Sheriff; 
 Thomas Tostevin, County Surveyor, and S. M. 
 Smith, School Fund Commissioner. 
 
 We are informed that Samuel Wood, of Union- 
 burg, Harrison County, was one of the first set- 
 tlers in Pottawattamie Count}-, and assisted in 
 erecting the first block house in Council Bluffs 
 for a fort. Mr. Wood married here, and has 
 quite a family, some of the daughters being 
 married, and also have families, who are still 
 living in this county. This gentleman has ac- 
 cumulated considerable property, and we un- 
 derstand is a prosperous farmer in Harrison 
 County, and also owns land in this county. He 
 has seen many changes in this section since his 
 location here. Mr. Wood is satisfied with the 
 country, and, it is presumable, would not con- 
 sent to exchange for an}- other section. 
 
 In 1847, Dustin Amy and his wife, Leo- 
 nora Amy, arrived here from Orange County, 
 Vermont. Their daughter, Mrs. Haynes, was 
 the first white child born in this section. She 
 was born at Florence, Nebraska, on August 24, 
 1847. She is now living with her husband, 
 George A. Haynes, a prominent citizen of 
 Maysville, Colorado. Dustin Amy identified 
 himself with the Mormons, and followed them 
 to Salt Lake, but in after years returned to his 
 home and died here, having abandoned the 
 Mormon faith, finding that this religion was 
 not all that fancy painted it. During liis ab- 
 sence, Mrs. Amy and family were left to battle 
 life as best they could. She is now well advanced 
 in years, but still retains a wonderfully clear 
 mind, and relates early incidents with accuracj', 
 
 Marshall Turley, who came to this county in 
 1853, began soon after his arrival to predict 
 many sublime things for this section of Iowa, 
 
63 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 and he has lived to see man}- of his supposed 
 fancy ideas now a realitj-. The raih-oad bridge 
 spans the Missouri, and is a great continental 
 hifhwaj' from the extreme East to the far West. 
 Pottawattamie Count}- has improved even be- 
 j-ond the old philosopher's predictions, and 
 abounds in more wealth than even his extrava- 
 gant notions could foretell. Mr. Turley was a 
 great advocate of free schools and education, 
 though limited in education himself He was 
 also an inventor of some note, as the Washing- 
 ton City patent office records will show. 
 
 Judge S. R. Clinton, who was one of the ablest 
 lawyers in Iowa, has long been a worthy and 
 respected citizen of Council Blufls, Pottawat- 
 tamie County. He has done much to advance 
 the interest of both the city and county, and 
 we are sorry to learn that his health has so far 
 failed him as to compel him to retire from his 
 chosen profession. But few lawyers vrere bet- 
 ter appreciated than Mr. Clinton. He was hon- 
 orable, and would never advise a person to go 
 to law unless he believed the case was a just 
 one, and litigation was absolutely' necessar}-. 
 To-day he has the respect of every citizen who 
 knows him. Mr. Clinton is one of the oldest 
 citizens, who merits the respect of old and new 
 settlers, for he worked alike for all. 
 
 Hon. J. P. Casady has been in the State Sen- 
 ate from Pottawattamie and Mills Counties ; 
 has filled manj- important positions in the first- 
 named county, and alwaj'S served the people 
 with honor to himself and credit to them. His 
 record will bear the severest criticism or the 
 strictest investigation. 
 
 Judge W. C. James has filled the positions 
 of County Judge, Mayor of Council Bluffs and 
 other important offices with a greal deal of credit 
 to himself and those who put him there. 
 
 Bon. D. C. Bloomer has been Receiver of the 
 United States Land Oflflee, Maj-or of Council 
 Bluffs, Chairman of the School Board, etc., and 
 he is accredited with having filled every posi- 
 tion to the satisfaction of the people, an honor 
 
 that is highly complimentary to this gentle- 
 man. 
 
 R. L. Douglass was chosen County Judge, 
 and served with distinguished ability. He also 
 filled several other important positions with 
 honor. 
 
 A. V. Larimer was elected Representative in 
 1856; had filled the office of County Judge, 
 and served in other offices of public trust with 
 abilit}-, and discharged every position held by 
 him with credit to himself 
 
 L. W. Babbitt was elected to the Legislature 
 from this county in 1867; was in the United 
 States Laud Office and filled many important 
 places of public trust, and in every position he 
 discharged his duties well and honorabl}-. 
 
 C. E. Stone has filled the office of Mayor of 
 Council Blufls, Justice of the Peace, Assessor, 
 etc., and in each position he discharged his du- 
 ties satisfactorily and honorably. 
 
 Messrs. Officer & Pusey, the oldest and^ most 
 prominent bankers in Council Bluffs, have been 
 in public positions, aud on all occasions dis- 
 charged their duties with fidelity to the people 
 and credit to themselves. Thej- have the ut- 
 most confidence of the public at the present 
 time, and are looked upon as fair dealers and 
 verv competent bankers. Thej- have alwajs con- 
 trolled a very large share of the public busi- 
 ness of this section of Iowa, as well as some of 
 the banking interests of eastern Nebraska. 
 These gentlemen located in this county at an 
 early day, and became identified with all the 
 interests of Council Blufls and this country, of 
 which they are respected citizens. 
 
 Gen. G. M. Dodge, was at an early day con- 
 nected with a railroad survej- from the eastern 
 boundary of Iowa to the Missouri River on the 
 west. In after years, he became the Republi- 
 can nominee for Congress, and was elected. He 
 was on all occasions a great friend of the Union 
 Pacific Compan\-, and did much work for it. 
 
 Col. W. F. Sapp, a lawyer of ability, and 
 resident of this countv, was the nominee of 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 65 
 
 the Kepublican party for Congress in the Fifth 
 Iowa district, and was elected. He constantly 
 advocated every measure calculated to do any 
 good for Council Bluffs and Western Iowa. 
 This gentleman is now at the iiead of one of 
 the leading law firms in the Bluffs, and stands 
 high in the legal profession. He has been a 
 member of the bar in this county for many 
 j'ears. 
 
 Judge C. Baldwin, now deceased, was a verj' 
 prominent lawyer of Pottawattamie County in 
 earl}' times, and made a fine record as a Judge. 
 He held many honorable public positions, and 
 discharged his duties faithfully and well, and 
 has left a record of which his farailj- and rela- 
 tives can be proud. Judge Baldwin was a ris- 
 ing politician, and no doubt, had he lived, he 
 would have Ijeen a leading man in the Kepubli- 
 can party of this State. Even tlie opponents 
 of this gentleman had great respect for him as 
 a gentleman and a person of more than ordi- 
 nary ability. He was a gentleman of strong 
 attachments for his personal friends, and won 
 a like feeling from his associates. 
 
 John Dohany, one of the earlj- settlers in 
 this county, and for many years in the livery 
 business, has always been enterprising. Years 
 ago he ei'ected an opera house over his livery, 
 that for the time was quite creditable, but its 
 day having passed, he is now engaged in build- 
 ing a large opera house on Broadway. This 
 building will cost §65,000 or §75,000, and will 
 contain all of the late improvements and con- 
 veniences, showing that Mr. Dohanj' retains 
 much of his earlier spirit and energ}-. Such 
 men are the life of every new country, and 
 soon cause it to bloom. 
 
 In 1856, D. W. Price, of this county, was 
 elected to the Constitutional Convention over 
 D. E. Brainard, of Harrison County-. Mr. 
 Price made a vei'y efficient member of the con- 
 vention, and did credit to this section of the 
 State. 
 
 F. L. Palmer has filled the office of JIavor 
 
 of the city and several other public offices, 
 and it is said of him, he discharged his duties 
 faithfully, and is entitled to the respect of those 
 he served so well. 
 
 In 1873, Col. D. B. Dailj- was appointed, 
 and ably discharged the duties of Prosecuting 
 Attornej-. In this year. Judge Douglass retired 
 from the bench. 
 
 F. A. Burke has filled many of the city and 
 township offices with the strictest fidelity to 
 the people, and he is at present City Recorder 
 and Police Magistrate. Mr. Burke is also one 
 of the early settlers in this count}-. 
 
 In all new countries, the changes that take 
 place in twentj' or thirty years are numerous, 
 and as varied as numerous, but in this latter 
 particular Pottawattamie Count\-, Iowa, has 
 been a remarkable country. First inhabited 
 by Indians; then came the French and Indian 
 mixed, the American Fur Companj-, soldiei's 
 and missionaries, and again we find the Mor- 
 mons, and soon after them arrive all manner 
 of speculators — gamblers and men of every 
 calling and persuasiou. This city and county 
 being on the great highway to the gold mines 
 of California, Colorado and Montana, and the 
 city a central starting point, accounts for the 
 admixture to be found here in early times. 
 Considering all the circumstances connected 
 with the settlement of this section of the coun- 
 try, Pottawattamie County has made wonderful 
 progress, and ranks high as a county of beauty, 
 good soil, fine improvements, culture and good 
 schools. It is doubtful if any other countj- in 
 ten States has passed through as many changes 
 as has this, and it still stands upon the road to 
 a greater and grander future. We do not won- 
 der that the people here take pride in being 
 numbered among the early settlers. They recite 
 their interesting stories with as much earnest- 
 ness as the historian ever recorded any event. 
 JMany of these recitations are full of humor and 
 peculiar events. In earl}' times the ring poli- 
 tician reigned as he does now; the trickster had 
 
66 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 his place, the good and bad were found scat- 
 tered around promiscuouslj', and it was very 
 hard to tell who had most faith in his calling, 
 for every one pursued his avocation with an 
 earnestness and energy that led the lookers on 
 to suppose that the performer was honest in his 
 convictions, or else whj- should he endeavor to 
 accomplish his work with such effort ? But it 
 is said " the devil is never idle," and it appeared 
 as if the men who were making their living by 
 fraud were ever on the alert. As an evidence 
 of this fact, we will recite a case. It is said 
 that a notorious character, named Philip Mc- 
 Guire, who had been doing all manner of evil 
 things, was found suspended from a tree on 
 cemetery hill dead, and a card was attached to 
 the bodj', on which were inscribed these words: 
 "Hung for all kinds of rascality." 
 
 Lj'uch law in the earlj' days on the slope, 
 when prisons were worthless, seemed to be a 
 necessity, for the villains were constantly at 
 work and had to be checked. No other law was 
 feared by desperate characters. 
 
 As late as 1860, three colored people, one a 
 a woman, were kidnaped in the southwestern 
 part of Pottawattamie County, and rushed into 
 Missouri. As soon as this kidnaping was 
 heard of, Sheriff Craig and City Marshal Smith 
 followed the villains who were engaged in the 
 crime, and recovered John Williams and brought 
 him home. Not long after the return of Will- 
 iams the other two were found in Missouri, and 
 also returned home. It was ascertained that 
 these persons were stolen by three desperadoes, 
 who were captured, but broke jail and made 
 their escape. At an earlier period a different 
 result would have followed, for as soon as an 
 arrest for such a crime had taken place, hang- 
 ing would have followed, and no escape could 
 set the villains free. 
 
 Coming down along the line of events from 
 the early days of Iowa, we arrive up to the 
 present time, 1882, and on the 27th day of 
 June, this year, we find the people wonderfully 
 
 excited at an election. Even the womeu have 
 determined to make a bold stand, and in Coun- 
 cil Bluffs and at other polls in the county, 
 some of them stand at the places of voting and 
 pass tickets to the men, asking them in the 
 " names of their families, their homes and 
 their God," to place them in the ballot boxes. 
 The election was called to take a ballot of the 
 legal voters of Iowa, to decide upon an amend- 
 ment to be placed in the constitution of Iowa, 
 " to prohibit the manufacture and sale of all 
 liquors, wine and beer in said State." This 
 question has always been one that was preg- 
 nant with strong friends and bitter enemies, 
 and as the day for the contest drew near the 
 bitterness increased. The beer and liquor men 
 arrayed themselves on one side and the prohi- 
 bitionists on the other side, and at an early 
 hour bands were sent out upon the streets of 
 Council Bluffs, in wagons, playing fine music. 
 These bands were employed by the liquor men, 
 and on the sides of the wagons, painted on can- 
 vas, were these mottos : " Down fanaticism ; 
 Give us liberty ;" " Let every man drink what 
 he pleases ;" " Vote against prohibition ;" 
 " Vote against the destruction of $3,000,000 of 
 property," etc. On one carriage was a sign 
 which read : " Vote for prohibition. Vote to 
 protect your homes and your families. Vote 
 for God and j'our countrj-." 
 
 This was an uuusuallj- heated contest 
 throughout the State of Iowa, and a large 
 amount of money was expended to defeat the 
 proposition, but all opposition was in vain, and 
 the amendment to the constitution was carried 
 by a large majoritj-. During the time the re- 
 turns were arriving in Des Moines, an exciting 
 temperance meeting was held, the temperance 
 committee sent word out over the country that 
 the majority for the amendment would be from 
 fort}' to sixty thousand ; but in this they were 
 mistaken, for the majority is 29,757. In this 
 count}' the majority against the amendment 
 was 892. In most of the large towns and cities 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 67 
 
 the vote was largely against the amendment, 
 but the vote in the rural districts was verj' 
 strong in behalf of prohibition, and now the 
 amendment becomes a part of the constitution 
 of Iowa. 
 
 It is frequenth" predicted b}' the one side, 
 that this amendment will be destructive of the 
 best interests of the State ; that it will drive 
 out capital ; that it will ruin many well-to-do 
 citizens ; that it will not stop the sale and use 
 of liquor, and some even contend that the sale 
 and use of liquor will be increased. 
 
 But we now turn to the advocates of the 
 amendment, and they urge, "It will destroj- 
 drunkenness; it will restore peace, happiness 
 and health to families; it will enrich the State; 
 it will prevent the manufacture, sale and use of 
 liquors, wine and beer; it will spread knowl- 
 edge and prosperitj- all over Iowa." It is very 
 doubtful if either side will see the extremes 
 predicted in consequence of the adoption of 
 this amendment. Time and a trial of the law 
 must determine what will be its fruits. Those 
 who maj' live in the future will be eij^bled to 
 tell of the results of the amendment, be they 
 good or evil. 
 
 The evidence is rapidlv increasing to con- 
 vince the world of the exceeding rich rewards 
 that are in store for Council Bluffs and Potta- 
 wattamie County. Go where j'ou will, in city 
 or country, and 3-ou will find on every hand 
 sings of progress and prosperity. In the city 
 you will see massive brick buildings rising, four 
 or five stories high; the water- works are being 
 completed; extensive elevators are going up, 
 while packing-houses are being erected, mills 
 improved, and all manner of manufacturing 
 and business of ever\' description are increas- 
 ing. Then go with us to the country, and you 
 will behold improvements that would do credit 
 to the oldest settlement in the east — farmers are 
 growing finer stock, planting orchards, and 
 their new houses and barns will compare 
 favorably with those in the city. 
 
 la passing over the county we find some of 
 the verj' nicest railroad stations, where mer- 
 chants buy vast amounts of grain and large 
 numbers of cattle, hogs and sheep for the 
 Eastern markets. It is difficult to tell whether 
 the country or citj' is making the greater prog- 
 ress, but one thing is certain, both bespeak a 
 great and wonderful future for this section. 
 There can be no mistaking the facts, and these 
 go far to stimulate all on to action and to pros- 
 perity. 
 
 The old settlers begin to look about, and ex- 
 press surprise at what they behold, while a few 
 of this class begin to show signs of discontent 
 at the crowded condition of things. One 
 farmer and stock-grower expressed himself as 
 very much dissatisfied at the numerous settlers 
 in his section. Said he, " I only have 320 
 acres of land, and before the speculators sold, 
 I had thousands of acres, and I wish I had not 
 a neighbor within five or ten miles, so I could 
 have plent}' of range for my stock." Such men 
 never do much for any country, and are really 
 no benefit to any community, and when death 
 overtakes them it is a general blessing to all. 
 Too many worship money not for what it will 
 get, but for the sake of having it. If God ever 
 intended this portion of creation for anj- good 
 purpose it is doubtful, for they would not do 
 anything to improve a country or invite a 
 settler. The day for such is rapidly passing 
 away, and he who would prosper and become 
 respected, must be up and doing — -must be- 
 come civilized, and not act the part of the 
 Indian. 
 
 This country will sustain a large population, 
 and it will be thickly inhabited, and he who 
 docs not want neighbors must remove to some 
 other frontier countr3'. This section, with its 
 richness and beaut}', was created for the use of 
 men, and nothing will stop its settlement. The 
 human family will search out and locate upon 
 productive lands where they can live well and 
 grow rich, and this they can do here, so the 
 
68 
 
 HISTORY or POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 droue who only lives to count over his dollars 
 must seek some new spot upon the face of the 
 earth if he would have anj- peace. This county 
 has liad man}' drones — men who onlj- made 
 monej- for the sake of having it, but time and 
 enterprising people are rapidlj- pushing these 
 people to the wall, and like the Indian, they 
 will be without a home. 
 
 The people of this country need have no fears 
 in relation to the growth and advance to be 
 made here, but at the same time they can do 
 much to hasten the work of placing this city 
 and count}' in the verv foremost rank, not only 
 in Iowa, but in the nation. It is not necessary 
 to here go into anj- extended argument, or to 
 refer to the numerous advantages enjoyed by 
 this section, to prove that our statements are 
 true, for the facts must be apparent to everj' 
 reflecting, intelligent mind. With a navigable 
 river, innumerable railroads, and more making, 
 a soil that is unsurpassed, no one can tell what 
 wealth, growth aud prosperity await Pottawat- 
 tamie County and the people who settle here 
 in the nest ten years. It is almost idle to even 
 hope to approximate what may reasonabl}' 
 be looked for in the period mentioned, for, in 
 the writer's opinion, much greater advance will 
 be made than is anticipated b}' the most ex- 
 travagant well-wisher or proguosticator. Time 
 alone can tell what the future of this coun'ry 
 will be. But the promise is plain, if location, 
 good soil and facilities can produce a rich har- 
 vest and great results, no speculation need to 
 be entered into, but the people should go right 
 forward in good earnest, and, as certainly as 
 time will elapse, the fruit will ripen and the re- 
 ward become perfectly satisfactory. Tliis is no 
 speculation, but a reality that a few years will 
 prove, and then those who shall have remained 
 
 steadfast will rejoice in their gains, while those 
 who may be looking for more speedy fortunes 
 may regret their changes. If the young men 
 who read this history will ponder over these 
 facts, he will be posted as to the best course to 
 pursue in the future. It is useless to go about 
 guessing and speculating upon results, for what 
 has been in the past will occur in the future. 
 Select a central location in any new country 
 aud remain on it for a few years, and the return 
 will be ample and satisfactor}'. In looking 
 over the histories of the past we cannot find an 
 exception to the rule here given. It is as true 
 as stated, " history repeats itself," and as cer- 
 tainly as fine locations in the East became for- 
 tunes to the early settlers, so will the locations 
 in this western country become fortunes to the 
 early settlers who hold them for a few 3 ears. 
 The advantages here are far superior to those 
 possessed by many of the eastern settlements, 
 and the gains must be proportionately that 
 much better. If the young men will read what 
 is here stated to any purpose they can and will 
 avoid many of the difficulties of those who 
 have gone before them, and reap the rewards 
 of those who have been successful. It is only 
 by looking at the past that we can tell how to 
 act in the future, and prepare ourselves for the 
 ups and downs of life. In the language of the 
 poet, we can sing : 
 
 " Pleiades of nation's liberty and men, 
 
 What a bright and glorious heritage is yours; 
 What matchless symmetry. Here stalwart men 
 May feed and fatten, still the soil endm'es. 
 
 "Your mighty waters, mellow, sweet and pure, 
 From veins and arteries profuseh' pour'd 
 Throughout the laud, unconscious shall allure 
 A multitude immense to come and hoard 
 The wealth exhaustless iu thv bosom stored." 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 69 
 
 CHAPTER VITI.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— ITS FIRST ERA— THE SITE FIFTY YEARS AGO— AMERICAN FUR COMPANY AND 
 TRAPPERS— LA SALLE'S EXPLORATION— SACS AND FOXES AND SIOUX BANDS— SALE 
 OF LOUISIANA— TREATY OF ST. ILDEFONSO— LEWIS AND CLARK'S EX- 
 PLORATIONS—DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 
 
 ''T^HE origin and growth of any important 
 ^ town, city or center of industry, or in- 
 fluence, is always of intense interest, not only 
 to those who have participated in the devel- 
 opment, but to those who may come after, to 
 share in the work of their predecessors. 
 This is particularly the case with reference to 
 Council Bluffs. In this utilitarian age, when 
 romance has been eliminated, to a great ex- 
 tent, fron social and industrial life, cities 
 are founded for commercial reasons, and 
 their location fixed upon through that influ- 
 ence alone. That is not the case, however, 
 to the fullest extent, with reference to Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. Its develoj^ment in its later 
 history, of course, is owing to commercial in- 
 terests, but its foundation is as much of an 
 epic as that of ancient Rome, though not in- 
 volved in the same obscurity or dependent 
 upon mere myths for the source of its annals. 
 No fair comprehension can be had of the 
 city in its present condition, and its existing 
 stage of gro'wth, without a broad view of 
 what has preceded the present, and even of 
 the situation before a single white inhabitant 
 set foot upon the soil now devoted to civiliz- 
 ing pui-poses. Fifty years ago. the site was 
 unoccupied for any j)iu-pose, and far off to 
 the Pacific Ocean was an expanse of plain, a 
 barrier of mountain and a wilderness of tim- 
 ber. Eastward almost to the Mississippi, 
 
 *ny Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 there was a stretch of rolling prairie, broken 
 here and there by patches of timber, and 
 traversed by streams, but no inhabitants, ex- 
 cept nomads, and no trails but those of Indian 
 hunting parties, or of the trappers and trad- 
 ers of the American Fur Company. An old 
 French map before the wi-iter at this moment, 
 giving the outline of the territory traversed 
 by Marquette, Hennepin and LaSalle, in 
 1680, gives some idea of how the country 
 bordering on the Missoui'i River appeared, in 
 outline, to those explorers. 
 
 LaSalle graphically describes a winter on 
 the great river which now flows on the bor- 
 ders of Council Bluffs. What he and his 
 companions endured to reach this point is a 
 dark and wierd romance, and more thrillino' 
 than any imagined drama. It was a gloomy 
 and lonely scene; the river gliding dark and 
 cold between its banks of clay, rushes and 
 overhanging cotton woods; the empty and 
 abandoned Indian lodges, covered with crusted 
 snow; the vast white meadows on either side; 
 the cliffs and bluffs, beai-ded with shining 
 icicles, or rolling in gray masses for hun- 
 dreds of miles northward and southward tree- 
 less and abrupt. Yet there was some life 
 even in this savage landscape. They saw 
 buffalo wading in the snow; they discovered 
 tracks of moccasins, denoting human existence 
 not far away. True to that social impulse 
 which seeks even savage society, they cut 
 
70 
 
 HISTOKY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 rushes and ridges, piled tbom on the bluffs 
 and fired them, in the hope of attracting the 
 attention of Indians, hostile or friendly, they 
 cared not which^ Not only in winter did 
 these French explorers, thousands of miles 
 from civilization, experience the vastness and 
 the grandeur of the solitude which they trav- 
 ersed, but they witnessed the glories even of 
 it-i matchless summer time. There is a vast 
 lapse between when they first looked upon 
 the turgid waters of the Missouri rolling 
 away in solitude to the ocean, and the next 
 advent of the white man. 
 
 It is difficult to determine, in the absence 
 of anything but tradition, the boundary lines 
 of the claims of the various Indian tribes 
 who exercised savage jurisdiction over the 
 soil of Iowa, and especially over the western 
 portion of the State. The Sacs and Foxes, a 
 confederate tribe, occupied and assumed to 
 control both banks of the Mississippi Eiver, 
 in that part of Iowa which constitutes the 
 eastern boundary. The Sioux, or Dakotas, 
 roamed as far east as that river, raided the 
 territory bordering the Missoui'i in Iowa, 
 and claimed to be lawful masters of the 
 country surrounding Council Bhififs. Their 
 title to the country on both sides of the river 
 was disputed by force by the Grand Pawnees, 
 the Pawnee Loups, the Eepublican Pawnees, 
 the Otoes and the Omahas, These bands 
 were confederated, and, about 1836, had for 
 their principal chief Addurrison, a descend- 
 ant of the ancient Mohawks, of New York. 
 
 The connecting link between these tribes 
 and bands and civilization in the States, was 
 the American Fur Company, whose agents 
 roamed to the head- waters of the Missouri in 
 search of pelts, carrying with them for barter 
 such stores and supplies as were suitable 
 alone to Indian traffic. 
 
 At the close of the last century the soil of 
 Council Bluffs was Spanish territory, and em- 
 
 braced within Louisiana Province. In 1797, 
 Miranda, a Spanish American adventurer, in 
 conjunction with Lucre, Salas and Duperon, 
 concocted a plan or convention, in Paris, for 
 the purpose of freeing the Spanish American 
 colonies and creating from them independent 
 republics, by securing the aid of an English 
 fleet, and military forces from the United 
 States, the latter to be indemnified by the 
 possession of Florida and Louisiana. This 
 plot was shared by Aaron Barr and the ill- 
 fated Gen, Wilkinson, both distinguished 
 offi'iers of the Revolutionary army, but, by 
 due vigilance of the United States, the scheme 
 was rendered abortive. Thomas Jefferson 
 was justly credited as the leader of that great 
 mass of the people who regarded the powers 
 of the Federal Government as limited by the 
 express terms of the constitution, but when 
 he became President, through the election of 
 1800, he at once recognized the overshadow- 
 ing necessity of acquiring that vast area of 
 territory which extended from the Gulf of 
 Mexico to the British Possessions, and which 
 controlled the mouths of the Mississippi River. 
 A glance at the situation will enable one to 
 comprehend the importance of the acqui- 
 sition. By a private article in the treaty of 
 St. Ildefonso, dated the 18th of October, 
 1800, Spain receded to France the territory 
 of Louisiana. This embraced the regfion 
 north of Florida, west of the Mississippi and 
 east of the Rocky Mountains, and a line 
 drawn through the Sabine, the Red and the 
 Arkansas Rivers. Napoleon Bonaparte was 
 then first Consul of France. Jefferson was 
 President and Edward Livingston the Ameri- 
 can Minister to the French Republic. The 
 latter was at peace with England, but Bona- 
 parte apprehended a rupture that soon came. 
 He felt confident that England's supremacy 
 at sea would endanger the colonial posses- 
 sions of France, and immediately proposed 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 71 
 
 to sell all this vast territory to the United 
 States for 100,000,0U0 of francs or about 
 $20,000,000. The proposal was astounding, 
 not so much on account of the price, as from 
 the fact that France should be willing to part 
 with such a vast empire in the new world, 
 on any terms, short of having it wrested fiom 
 her, by conquest. Marbois, the French ne- 
 gotiator, was instructed to take 50,000,000 
 francs, if he could get no more. Livingston 
 held to his instriictions and refused to yield, 
 and the bargaining ended by France accept- 
 ing 50,000,000 francs, and an agreement on 
 the part of the United States to pay a fur- 
 ther indemnity to her, not to exceed 20,000,- 
 000, for the spoliation of French commerce, 
 by American vessels, during a quasi state of 
 war between the two countries a few years 
 before. As this indemnity has never yet 
 been paid by the United States, the vast area 
 of country, including that occupied by Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was acquired at a cost of §10,000,- 
 000 only, afew million dollars over and above 
 the present assessed value of the real estate 
 in that city alone, eighty-two years after the 
 negotiation for its transfer ended. Jefferson 
 himself conceded that there was no express 
 warrant in the constitution for this purchase, 
 but, like many other events in our history, 
 facts and development, and bhe necessity of 
 development, were more potent than constitu- 
 tional limitations. 
 
 Having acquired Louisiana territory in the 
 manner just stated, President Jefferson com- 
 missioned two oificers of the army, Merri- 
 wether Lewis and William Clarke, to make 
 an exploration of the Missouri Kiver coun- 
 try, and to cross the Rocky Mountain range 
 and descend to the Paciiic Ocean. Steam- 
 boats had just been invented, but their utili- 
 ty was not fully demonstrated, and, in 1804, 
 Lewis and Clarke set out to navigate the 
 Missoui-i Eiver, for more than 2.G00 miles. 
 
 in canoes. Having accomplished this arduous 
 task, when reaching the head-waters of that 
 great stream, and having passed through the 
 country of tribes who had never seen the face 
 of a white Inan before, they abandoned their 
 flotilla, and, mounted on Indian ponies, 
 which they captured wild, resumed their 
 journey, descending the western slope of the 
 continent to the Pacific Ocean, to the mouth 
 of the Columbia Eiver. This stream had 
 been discovered in 1792 by a seaman, Capt. 
 Robert Gray, of Salem, Mass., when on a 
 whaling voyage. 
 
 The American Fur Company, of which the 
 celebrated John Jacob Astor was one of the 
 mainstays, soon began to develop on the ter- 
 ritory acquired from France. Steamboats 
 came into use on the Ohio River in 1812, and 
 shortly afterward they were employed in 
 navigating the Missouri in the interests of 
 the fur company. The origin of this move 
 ment is definitely traced to Ramsay Crooks, 
 of New York, and Russell Farnum, of Mas- 
 sachusetts, who had Leen in the employment 
 of John Jacob Astor, in the foundation of 
 Astoria, in the then inchoate territorj' of 
 Oregon, and who, in the winter of 1820-21, 
 sought the action of Congress for an authori- 
 zation to occupy the coiintry for fur trade 
 purposes. In Thomas H. Benton they 
 found an able advocate in the Senate, from 
 Missouri, just made one of the States of the 
 Union. The proposition passed into legisla- 
 tion, in the shape of a law to regulate inter- 
 course with the Indian tribes of the country 
 on the Missouri River and beyond that. This 
 gave to the American Fur Company a status, 
 and they proceeded at once on a large scale 
 to develop their great interests. 
 
 St Louis was then a mere French village. 
 All beyond that, to the head-waters of the 
 Yellowstone, was a dismal, desolate waste. 
 The fur company found the French voyageur 
 
72 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 the most useful agent in the Indian country, 
 and the men who undertook their most diffi- 
 cult enterprises were the descendants of the 
 early French pioneers of the Mississippi Val- 
 ley. Many who started from S^ Louis to 
 traffic with the Indian tribes within the boun- 
 daries of Western Iowa and Nebraska are 
 
 lost to sight, but a few are still left to look 
 with admiration upon the wonderful changes 
 worked in the new country in the past fifty 
 years. Clermont Lambert. Benjamin Potra, 
 Leonard Benoit, Francois La Talipe, Francis 
 Badeau and Augusta Janisse have not been 
 entirely forgotten. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS — TKE MISSOURI VALLEY— FRANK GUITTAR — THE PAWNEES, OTOES AND 
 OMAHAS — WILLIAM MENARY, THE CANADIAN— THE POTTAW.ATTAMIE — IOWA IN- 
 DIAN RAIDS-FIGHT .\T OTTER RIVER— COL. HARDIN AS INDIAN AGENT. 
 
 TT^ROM one who still survives the events of 
 -L those days, the writer has caught an idea 
 of the appearance then of the site of Council 
 Bluffs. Placing one's self on one of the loft- 
 iest of its bare peaks, and looking westward, 
 one's eye catches one of the grandest sights 
 ever beheld by man. In a clear day, the 
 vision was not limited for thirty miles to the 
 north, nor for the same distance to the south. 
 Everywhere it rested on the flanks of undu- 
 lating lines of bluffs, almost bare of all else 
 than grass. Here and there, patches of tim- 
 ber, in green bunches, ran from the valley 
 upward to the crest, marking the outlines of 
 lateral gorges and canons, and out in front 
 lay a plain in places twelve or fifteen miles 
 wide, as level as a floor, covered with green, 
 luximous grass, dotted with sparkling lakes 
 and traversed by the great Missouri, whose 
 meandering was in huge, bright coils to the 
 south. Beyond this were the blue hills of 
 Nebraska which came timber-covered in many 
 places to the liver bank. All was as solitary 
 and still as death, and one turned nervously 
 at the crackling of a twig under the feet, so 
 
 DO ' 
 
 desolate and so silent was everything. Not 
 even the friendly smoke of an Indian wig- 
 
 *B.v Col. Jcbn H. Keatley. 
 
 warn was in sight when Frank Guittar, a 
 French voyageur, first set foot on the soil of 
 Council Bluffs, and gazed for the first time, in 
 1826, over the broad expanse of the valley at 
 this point and at his feet. 
 
 At the period of this writing, Mr. Guittar 
 is still living, at the age of seventy-two, a 
 bale, hearty, prosperous citizen of Council 
 Bluffs. In years to come, the inquirer may 
 desire to know the appearance of the man 
 who has thus survived all the ordinary, and 
 a good many of the extraordinary, incidents 
 of life. Even with all the vicissitudes of his 
 early career of hardship on the frontier, he 
 is still a man of great physical endurance. 
 He is also an interesting study. He is of 
 medium height and of a fleshy, full-rounded 
 frame. His complexion is swarthy, and his 
 hair, notwithstanding his age, coal black. 
 His movements are still quick and nervous, 
 and his accent strongly French. From the 
 very beginning of his career araong the In- 
 dians of the Missouri Valley, and as far west 
 as the Rocky Mountains, he acquired their 
 utmost confidence and respect. When he 
 left St. Louis, in 1826, to make this, a lone- 
 ly frontier, his home, not a white man had a 
 cabin on the river between St. Louis and 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUKTY. 
 
 73 
 
 Council Bluffs except Eoberdeau, another 
 Frenchman who had a trading-post on the 
 river where St. Joseph, Mo., now is. Mr. 
 Guittar did not come into the country for the 
 purposes of settlement, but to engage in the 
 fm* trade for his employers. This occupa- 
 tion made him a nomad in fact, and for many 
 years he dealt with the Pawnees, Omahas 
 and Otoes, moving about and living with 
 them in their wanderings over the great jalains 
 as far west as the Rocky Mountains. In all 
 their conflicts with the Sioux, he was their 
 counselor and adviser. He espoused their 
 cause, and in their battles on the plains was 
 a trusted military leader. 
 
 In one instance, when with the Pawnees, 
 westward at O'Fallon's bluff, the latter were 
 attacked by the Sioux in large numbers. A 
 blinding snowstorm set in. The prairie was 
 a bleak expanse, when the Sioux came down 
 upon their hereditary enemies, mounted on 
 ponies, and armed with rifles and bows and 
 aiTowB, and yelling like demons. The snow 
 came down in blinding flakes, but the Sioux 
 were determined to destroy their antagonists, 
 and forever settle a contest which had been 
 waged for centuries. All day long they 
 fought with desperation. The two bands 
 were about equally matched in numbers. 
 The Pawnees were as strong and as brave 
 and as resolute as their adversaries. Form- 
 ing a circle around their women, children and 
 old men, they struggled desperately to guard 
 and protect everything that was dear to sav- 
 age life. Here and there one of their braves 
 went down in the full flush of the ftght, biit 
 they were not to be vanquished. When the 
 sim set behind a cold, gray cloud, and the 
 day ended on that lonely, snow-covered plain, 
 far away from the borders of civilization, the 
 Sioux rode away with their dead and wound- 
 ed, and the only white man on that battle- 
 field nnchronicled by the civilized annalist, 
 
 was the French voyageiu' and trader — Frank 
 Guittar, who lay upon the ground pierced 
 with two bullets and punctured with Siuux 
 arrows. That he survived is a miracle in 
 itself. From that day to this the affection 
 for him by the remnant of the Pawnees is 
 that of sons for a father. Wherever there is 
 a relic of the Omahas, the Otoes, or the Paw- 
 nees, to be found, his name is cherished as a 
 tradition, and will always be so long as there 
 is one of them to recoimt the heroic and mem- 
 orable deeds of their race. In all the subse- 
 quent intercourse of the whites with the In- 
 dians in this quarter, Mr, Guittar has taken 
 an important part. Upon the dissolution of 
 the fur company, and their abandonment of 
 this territory, by the encroachment of perma- 
 nent settlers. Mr. Guittar settled down to or- 
 dinary business pursuits and took part in 
 the building up of Council Bluffs. He also 
 married and has reai'ed a family, among whom 
 are Theodore Guittar, who, with credit, served 
 throughout the civil war, in the Second Iowa 
 Battery, and now (1882) is the Sheriff of Pot- 
 tawattamie County, 
 
 Among the other old settlers of the neigh- 
 borhood who came into the country shortly 
 after Mr. Giiittar, also in the service of the 
 fur company, was William Menary, a Cana- 
 dian by birth, and French by extraction. 
 His death, two years ago, marked the disap- 
 pearance of another of the landmarks and 
 traces of the earliest attempts to civilize the 
 borders of the Missouri Eiver, His relations 
 with the Indians, in their tribal intercourse, 
 was not as intimate as that of Mr. Guittar, 
 but his knowledge of Indian character was 
 quite as complete, and to the day of his death 
 he retained the confidence of the remnants of 
 the tribes who came here, at intervals, to 
 look at the rapid transformation of their for- 
 mer hunting-grounds. Mr. Menary lived to 
 assist in changing the very ground upon 
 
14 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 which the buflfalo fed when he came to this 
 point, into orchards and farms, and, in re- 
 spect to results, had the pleasure of demon- 
 strating that bountiful crops of luscious fruit 
 were the reward of his own perseverance. 
 He has left behind him a family to cherish 
 his name as that of one of the pioneers of 
 the county. 
 
 It was not in the nature of things that this 
 fertile country should remain undeveloped, 
 that the American Fur Comi^any should alone, 
 share its great wealth with the Indian nomad. 
 Illinois had become a State, and history was 
 only repeating itself in the annals of the In- 
 dian tribes. Chicago was only a village, on 
 Lake Michigan, but the Pottawattamies, whose 
 home, ever since the days of Marquette and 
 LaSalle, had been on the borders of that 
 lake, and whose trading canoes had b^en to 
 Montreal, in the years when Count Fronte- 
 nac was the inspiration of French Canadian 
 colonization, were troublesome neighbors, in 
 the opinion of the whites. The country be- 
 yond the Missouri, even on the Iowa side, 
 between the Des Moines Eiver and the Mis- 
 souri, was inaccurately described and laid 
 down by the geographer so late as 1846, as 
 the Great American Desert; and there are 
 men now in the prime of life who took their 
 knowledge of the country from that soiu'ce, 
 and who shuddered in conning their lessons 
 at the idea of the Sahara desolateness resting 
 in the very heart of our ovsm continent. 
 
 To appease the demands of those who 
 sought the removal of the Pottawattamies 
 from Northern Illinois, the Federal Govern- 
 ment gave it sanction, and proceeded to carry 
 it out by the selection of a new reservation 
 for that tribe on the site of the present city 
 of Council Bluffs. The Territory of Iowa 
 had been organized by a separation from 
 Wisconsin. The Black Hawk war of 1833 was 
 over, and the Indian title of the Sacs and 
 
 Foxes extinguished to the Iowa River. It is 
 no part of my duty in this connection to de- 
 tail the events of that war They are famil- 
 iar to every student of the ordinary history of 
 the border, having been recounted at the fire- 
 sides of the frontier settlements during the 
 last fifty years, and the men are living yet in 
 this city who were active participants in that 
 noted conflict. White control, however, of 
 all the country between the Mississippi and 
 the Missouri Rivers, was not fully obtained 
 even after the subjugation of Black Hawk, in 
 1833, and the submission of Keokuk and 
 Wapello. The Sioux still kept up their ma- 
 rauding habits, and it is recorded of them 
 that on the 19th of November, 1836, they 
 passed the present site of Council Bluifs in a 
 large war party, made a raid eastward to 
 the lower Iowa River, and there surprised 
 five lodges of Foxes, at a point where the line 
 of the Black Hawk Pui-chase crossed the river, 
 and killed twenty of their number. Only 
 one of the Foxes, a young brave, made his 
 escape, though wounded in the neck, and 
 carried the news to Poweskeik's village. 
 
 When the United States acquired the title 
 to the lands of the Sacs and Foxes, lands that 
 were claimed by them to extend to the Mis- 
 soui'i River, and with them the soil of Council 
 Bluffs, they promised and obligated them- 
 selves to 2'rotect the Sacs and Foxes from 
 their bloodthirsty enemies, the Sioux. How 
 well that stipulation was observed may be 
 gathered from a single event. The Sacs and 
 Foxes were threatened with a raid, during 
 the spring and summer of 1837. Wacosh- 
 aushee, the principal chief, went to St. Louis 
 to see what could be done for him in the way 
 of protection. When he got back, he found 
 his people starving in the village. He divid- 
 ed the provisions he received from the trader 
 to the tribe, and, distributing the powder and 
 lead, separated his band into two parties for 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 the purpose of hunting game for siisteuance, 
 until the corn should grow and ripen. One 
 party proceeded up the country, between the 
 Cedar and the Iowa Eivers, and the other 
 followed the east bank of the Cedar. The 
 chief himself was at the head of the latter 
 band, consisting of 170 people, forty of whom 
 were men, the rest being women and chil- 
 dren. They found no game for many days, 
 aud subsisted on the fish caught iu the Cedar 
 Kiver. He expected to find abundance of 
 game in a belt of wooded country on the 
 "Wapsie, in the vicinity of what is now Ana- 
 mosa, in Jones County, and when he sent for- 
 ward some young men to reconnoiter, they 
 were informed that the Winnebagoes were 
 hunting there. They then started for the 
 mouth of Otter River, and when they got near 
 that point, the chief found that the Sioux 
 from the Missouri Eiver were in the vicinity. 
 He found, also, that it was impossible to re- 
 treat, without discovery, and resolved to leave 
 the women aud children in camp and go on 
 the trail and fight the Sioux. About mid- 
 night, of the 2d of August, 1837, the forty 
 braves set out on the war-path westward, 
 crossing the Otter and out into the open 
 prairie. They discovered some sandhills be- 
 fore morning, which they supposed were 
 lodges, and, making a,charge, with a desper- 
 ate war-whoop, they rushed on what were 
 regarded as enemies, and were discovered by 
 the Sioux, who were encamped in a ravine 
 near by. The Foxes retreated to a line of 
 hills and opened fire, and kept it up until 
 their powder and lead were exhausted, and 
 then their foe came down on them with a yell, 
 and drove them from the field, inflicting a loss 
 of eleven killed and thirteen wounded. That 
 afi"air was substantially the last square Indian 
 fight between two tribes on the soil of Iowa. 
 Col. Hardin, of Kentucky, during the 
 administration of President Washington, 
 
 through various services rendered the Gov- 
 ernment, in dealing with the Indian tribes in 
 Ohio, had acquired the confidence of the ofl5- 
 cials at Philadelj'hia, and was intrusted with 
 a delicate mission to the Shawnees. 
 
 He was required to go to his destination 
 alone and on horseback, and, while en route, 
 was waylaid and murdered by Indians. He 
 left behind him, in Kentucky, a widow and 
 several sons. One of the latter, David Har- 
 din, grew to manhood, and was selected by 
 the^ Federal Government to can-y into effect 
 the plan of removing the Pottawatomie In- 
 dians from Northern Illinois to the banks of 
 the Missouri Kiver in 1839. The reservation 
 which has given the name and location to a 
 very large and populous county of Iowa, had 
 been marked out, and, after gathering to- 
 gether the scattered remnants of that once 
 powerful tribe, the exodus began, under the 
 escort of two comjianies of the First United 
 States Dragoons. There were about three 
 thousand men, women and childi'en in the 
 party, when they reached the j)Osition of 
 Council Bluffs. Mr. Hardin brought with 
 him his wife and childi'en, and steps were at 
 once taken to carry out the intentions of the 
 Government in the establishment and equip- 
 ment of a permanent reservation. A stock- 
 ade was built in the timber, in the bottom 
 lands, about three miles south of the present 
 limits of the city. A Government mill was 
 put in operation on Mosquito Creek, two 
 miles east of the city, at what is now known 
 as Parks' Mill. A Catholic mission accom 
 panied the Indians, and a mission house was 
 built near what is now known as the Bryant 
 Spring, on Upper Broadway. The military 
 post, from sanitary considerations, was trans- 
 ferred to the same point, or near that, in a 
 short time, and the stockade for that purpose 
 erected on the hill, now graded down some- 
 what, and occupied by the brick residence of 
 
76 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 John Clausen. The mission burial-gi'ound 
 was establishad a few hundred yards south of 
 the fort, across what is kno^vn as Pierce 
 street. A street running north and south 
 
 through this burialTplace has been excavated, 
 and, from time to time, the remains of those 
 biu-ied in the locality have been exhumed and 
 exposed by the beating rains. 
 
 CHAPTER X.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— OREGON ROUTE— JOHN CHARLES FREMONT— KIT C.\RSON— SURVEY OF 1843 
 —RICHARD AND M. D. HARDIN— MA.JOR ENGLISH. 
 
 TT7"HALING vessels and merchantmen by 
 
 vv 
 
 the way of Cape Horn to the coast of 
 
 California and Oregon, for hides, occasionally 
 brought home intelligence of the salubrious 
 character of the climate, and of the fertility of 
 the soil of the Pacific coast, and ' emigration 
 soon began to set in to a limited extent from 
 the States. California was then an outlying 
 dependency of the Mexican Eejjublic, almost 
 neglected, except for tribute. Oregon was in 
 the joint occujjation of the United States- and 
 Great Britain, with pending dispute as to iil- 
 timate boundary and ownership. Pioneer 
 energy was already invading the rich valleys 
 of both Oregon and California, and the site 
 of Council Bluffs was on the feeble trail 
 which led through the Indian country to the 
 foot of the Rocky Mountains. Thomas H. 
 Benton, with a wise forecast of the future, 
 and a dream, now realized, that the great 
 pathway between Eastern Asia and Japan 
 would eventually be across our continent, 
 sought the efforts of the Government in a 
 survey and exploration, on a scientific basis, 
 to lead, in the end, to the connecting of our 
 Pacific possessions with our great central 
 territory. Manifest destiny Heemed to him 
 to point definitely to our acquisition of Cali- 
 fornia. A large part of Oregon was assured 
 to us, under treaty with Great Britain, and 
 
 *By Col John H. Keiuley. 
 
 there were statesmen in the Cabinet and in 
 Congress who were ready to dispute with 
 it, even to a resort to arms, for the posses- 
 sion of the whole of what was then called 
 Oregon Territory. The result may be finally 
 stated, as an ultimate settlement, by which 
 we acquired, indisputably, -ill of what now 
 constitutes the State of Oregon, and Wash- 
 ington Territory to the British line, thai, por- 
 tion north of the latter remaining under the 
 control of Great Britain by indefeasible title. 
 John Charles Fremont, of French parent- 
 age, a graduate of West Point, a young and en- 
 terprising officer of the topographical engi- 
 neers of the United States army, and, more 
 than all, the son-in-law of Senator Benton, of 
 Missouri, by marriage with his daughter, Jes- 
 sie, was selected by the War Department to 
 carry into execution the famous Senator's 
 design of a scientific exploration of the wide 
 expanse of country between the Missouri 
 River and the Pacific Ocean. The wilds of 
 Central Africa, bsfore the advent of Livings- 
 ton, of Sir Samuel Baker, of CajDt. Speke, 
 and of Stanley, were scarcely more unknown 
 than the interior of our own continent, when 
 Lieut. Fremont and his party of twenty-four 
 men, with Kit Carson as guide, set out in 
 June, 1842, from Cyprian Chonteau's trading 
 house, on the Kansas River, twelve miles 
 above its mouth, to find the route of an 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY 
 
 eventual Pacific railroad, the constant, day 
 dream of Senator Benton, and the one real- 
 ized to its fullest extent before his son-in-law. 
 the young Path-Finder, was sixty yeare of 
 age. 
 
 The publication of the report of that year's 
 operations led to a material modification of 
 the opinion of the character of the country 
 bordering the Missouri River and tributary 
 to it. The survey made by him in 18-t3, 
 and in continuation of which he found him- 
 self, after great suffering and privation to 
 his party in crossing the Rockj' Mountains, 
 in the rich valleys of the Sacramento, and 
 the American Fork in California, led to a 
 more general and more favorable aj)pre- 
 ciation of our trans- Missoiu-i possessions. 
 It required no great foresight to determine 
 that the location of an Indian reservation 
 on or near the most direct route to the 
 Pacific coast would be impracticable, and 
 with that in view, a treaty was signed 
 with the Pottawatomies in 1846, extinguish- 
 ing their title to the reservation at Council 
 Bluffs, and they were removed, in due time, 
 to a new reservation, thirty miles square, on 
 the Kansas River, within the present limits 
 
 of the State of Kansas, where they now num- 
 ber 4,000 prosperous people. 
 
 The Hardin family, who Ciune to this coun- 
 try with that tribe, remained here and made 
 permanent settlements. Richard Harbin 
 lived on a farm in what became afterward 
 Hardin Township, twelve miles east of Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, until about 1874, when he removed 
 to Missouri. M. D. Hardin became the own- 
 er of a tract of land which included the or- 
 iginal military post south of the city, and is 
 still a resident of Council Blulfs, and the 
 head of a family constituting the third gen- 
 eration of the name as occupants of its soil. 
 William English, a Philadelphian, as a mem- 
 ber of the First Dragoons, came with the Pot- 
 tawatomies to this point, and, at the end of 
 his enlistment, settled in civil life, marrying 
 a daughter of David Hardin, the agent who 
 conducted the tribe here. When the civil 
 war broke out, in 1851, Mr. English volun- 
 teered as a soldier, and was made Major of 
 the Fourth Iowa Infantry, whose first Colo- 
 nel was Greenville M. Dodge, who also rose 
 to the rank of Major General of Vohuiteers, 
 and was the commander of the Sixteenth 
 Corps in Gen. Sherman's army. 
 
 CHAPTER Xl.^ 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFF.S— ITS SECOND ERA — THE MORMON MOVEMENT— rROPHET JOSEPH SMITH- 
 BISHOP PR.\TT— SIDNEY RIGDON— BRIGHAM YOUNG— DRIVEN FROM MISSOURI— ESTAB- 
 LISHMENT OF NAUVOO— THE LEGION— DEATH OF THE PROPHET— EXODUS TO SALT 
 LAKE VALLEY—STOP AT COUNCIL BLUFFS— THE MORMON BATTALION. 
 
 'T^HE foundation of the city, its inception as 
 -*- a commercial center, a railroad focus, was 
 not due to any well-defined commercial fore- 
 sight, but to a religious exodus, and in that 
 respect, its origin, and the history of its origin, 
 
 •By Col. John H. Keatlcy. 
 
 are attended with more than ordinary interest. 
 In September, 1819, Joseph Smith, Sr. , the 
 father of Joseph Smith, Jr., the celebrated 
 Mormon prophet, in digging a well near Pal- 
 mjrra, N. Y., found a cui'iously shaped stone. 
 Joseph Smith, Jr. , who came into possession 
 
78 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 of it, soon made the claim that, by meang of 
 it, he could see wonderful things. From 
 1S20 to 1827, he practiced a sort of clairvoy- 
 ance, and, from time to time, gained many 
 adherents and believers in his miraculous 
 powers. From this he advanced to the claim 
 of prophecy, after the manner of the dispen- 
 sations of the Hebrew Scriptures, and divined 
 the location of certain plates containing mys- 
 terious characters and profound hieroglyph- 
 ics, that none could decipher except him- 
 self, under the influence of inspiration. 
 With these plates, the claim was also made 
 that a huge pair of spectacles, the Urim and 
 Thummim of the new dispensation, had been 
 found, through the aid of which the transla- 
 tion was made possible. 
 
 Of the thirty-five converts to the new doc- 
 trine at the outset, none acquired any promi- 
 nence, or exerted any marked influence uj^on 
 its destiny, except the members of the Smith 
 family themselves. These converts were dis- 
 ciples, but not apostles. Those who took 
 upon themselves that function came after- 
 ward, and some of them became residents of 
 Council Bluffs, and bore their share in its 
 early development. Parley P. Pratt, who was 
 afterward one of the most noted Bishops of 
 the Church of Latter-Day Saints, belonged to 
 Lorain County, Ohio, and, when passing 
 through Palmyra, halted and became a convert 
 to Smith's teaching. Sidney Rigdon, who 
 was the minister of an association of anti-sec- 
 tarians, mostly dissenters from different re- 
 ligious denominations, at Mentor, Ohio, 
 joined Smith's chui'ch, and moved, shortly 
 afterward, with the " Saints," to Kirtland, in 
 the same State, where they sought to found a 
 society and a community exclusively of their 
 own members, in their own belief and in their 
 own interest. Joseph Smith, Sr., the father 
 of the Prophet, was duly installed as Patriarch 
 and President of the Church of the Latter-Day 
 
 Saints, and a regular hierarchy was ordained. 
 Kirtland became the headquarters of rhe 
 church in 1830. Missions were established 
 and many converts made. Circumstances 
 surrounding them at Kirtland induced them 
 to emigrate to the frontier, and in 1834 they 
 had formed settlements at Lidependence, 
 Mo. Brigham Young, wlio was born in Ver- 
 mont, joined the church at Kirtland in 1832, 
 and, taking a leading part in its mission, 
 was ordained one of the twelve apostles, and, 
 in 1836, was elected President of that body, 
 and became a recognized leader. W. W. 
 Phelps started a religious newspaper at In- 
 dependence, called the Evening and Morning 
 Star. Pratt and Young had remained at 
 Kirtland, and Smith, after seeing that his 
 followers in Jackson County, Mo., were prop- 
 erly located, also resumed his residence at 
 Kirtland. Young and Smith went to Mis- 
 souri in 1835, making that their permanent 
 residence. They were forced to fly also from 
 Missouri under the pressure of a mob, which 
 impelled them to a hasty exodus. A public 
 meeting was held of the inhabitants of the 
 towns surrounding Independence, and it was 
 resolved that the Mormons should be expelled 
 from the State. The printing office of Phelps 
 was destroyed, some of the Mormons were 
 tarred and feathered, and others killed or 
 wounded while defending their rights. A con- 
 ference was held between the belligerents and 
 the Mormons, as they were called, from their 
 Scriptures, the Book of Mormon, and they 
 agreed to leave Jackson County if molested 
 no farther. This agreement was put in writ- 
 ing and signed by the leaders of both j^arties. 
 Time until the following spring was given to 
 make the removal, and in the meantime, suits 
 were brought in the courts against some of the 
 ringleaders of the mob seeking their expul- 
 sion, and this caused the latter to break all 
 bounds, to disregai-d the truce and to renew 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 79 
 
 hostilities, in which two Missouriaiis were 
 killed; but the Saints were forced to disperse, 
 many of them taking refuge in Clay County. 
 Gen. Clark, in 1838, headed the militia force, 
 a condition of civil war existed, and Gov. 
 Boggs gave an order for their absolute expul- 
 sion from Missouri. The Legislature made 
 an appropriation to assist them in removing, 
 and in paying their debts, and before the 
 close of 1839, they had entirely abandoned 
 their homes in that State. They sought ref- 
 uge on the east bank of the Mississippi in 
 1840, in Hancock County, 111., and, founding 
 a new city, gave it the name of Xauvoo. 
 
 Brigham Young and Parley P. Pratt at 
 once started to England on a mission, and, 
 in the spring of 1841, Young shipped from 
 Liverpool 769 converts, to become settlers at 
 the new religious capital. Converts also 
 flocked from all parts of the United States. 
 A special charter for the city of Nauvoo was 
 granted by the Illinois Legislature, almost 
 making the municipality independent of State 
 authority, and under that charter a military 
 body, called the Nauvoo Legion, was organ- 
 ized, which assumed powers wholly inconsist- 
 ent with those of the commonwealth. 
 
 Exasperations and incitements, such as had 
 characterized the Mormon residence in West- 
 ern Missouri, began, in a short time, to awak- 
 en a like hostility on the part of their neigh- 
 bors in Illinois, and that led to another ex- 
 pulsion. The military force of the Mormons 
 consisted of 4,000 well armed men, with Jo- 
 seph Smith at their head, and his brother, 
 Hyrum, as coadjutor. The church organiza- 
 tion was a complicated and intricate hier- 
 archy, with a military adjunct, wholly incon- 
 sistent with the principles of the Government 
 in whose hands alone the whole military 
 power of the people could be safely lodged, 
 and under no circumstances, and for no pur- 
 pose, could or ought to be delegated to any 
 
 religious organization of any kind. In 1843, 
 Joseph Smith was both Mayor of the city and 
 military commandant. Affairs were about to 
 culminate in another outbreak. It is claimed 
 that a revelation was given him on the 12th 
 of July in that year, by which polygamy re- 
 ceived spiritual and religious sanction. In 
 the schism which afterward occurred, this 
 transaction was denied, and the doctrine dis- 
 carded by one branch, who still adhere to 
 him as the founder of the church. Be this 
 as it may, it was currently believed by a very 
 large portion of the people of Western Illinois 
 th at polygamy was not only openly practi ced by 
 the Mormon secretaries, but regarded by them 
 as a divine institution, revealed under claims 
 of inspiration. 
 
 Criminal prosecutions were commenced 
 against Smith and others, charged with adul- 
 terous practices under this claim of sanctity, 
 and a. -rests were resisted, with the aid of the 
 military power which had grown up under 
 the shadow of the peculiar charter of the city. 
 The charge of treason in levying war against 
 the State of Illinois was preferred against 
 Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. The 
 Nauvoo Legion menaced all who attempted 
 to arrest its leaders, and, to enforce public 
 authority in the exciting exigency, Gov. 
 Ford called out the militia. To avoid blood- 
 shed, which seemed imminent, the Governor 
 induced Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Elder 
 Taylor and Dr. Eichards, to surrender them- 
 selves, to be protected by the authorities in 
 the Carthage jail. The Governor placed his 
 militia in charge of the prison, and, after the 
 Smiths had remained there for several days, 
 many of the guard deserted, leaving but a 
 few men to keep back the mob, eager for their 
 blood. On the afternoon of June 27, 1844, 
 about two hundred citizens, disguised and 
 armed, overpowered the guard at the jail, 
 broke open the doors, rushed in and shot 
 
80 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 down Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and wounded 
 Elder Taylor. Dr. Richards made his escape 
 iminjured, and wrote a narrative of the event. 
 Public excitement was allayed. The public 
 arms in the possession of the Nauvoo Legion 
 had been surrendered to the Governor when 
 the Smiths gave themselves up. In the fall 
 of 1844, a few months after the Prophet's 
 death, the gi-eat temple at Nauvoo, of white 
 limestone, 128 feet long, eighty -eight feet wide 
 and sixty feet high, was finished. 
 
 A disf)ute began for the presidency of the 
 church. Sidney Rigdon, the trusted and 
 early friend of Joseph Smith, confidently ex- 
 pected to succeed him in the hierarchy. The 
 warfare grew so bitter during the winter that 
 Rigdon was expelled from the organization, 
 and, as a sequence, Brigham Young, his com- 
 petitor, was unanimously chosen as its civil 
 and religious head. It soon became manifest 
 that the quiet which they were enjoying ex- 
 ternally was only a truce, as public senti- 
 ment was only crystalizing into a resolve to 
 drive them from the State. Brigham Young 
 and his Council accejated this manifestation, 
 and began preparations for the eventuality. 
 They agreed upor a proclamation, or an an- 
 nouncement to their people, in which they 
 stated that they intended " to send out into 
 the Western country from this place (Nau- 
 voo), in the early part of the month of March, 
 a company of pioneers, consisting mostly of 
 young, hardy men, with families. They are 
 destined to be furnished with an ample out- 
 fit, taking with them a printing press, farm- 
 ing utensils of all kinds, with mill-irons and 
 bolting-cloths, seeds of all kinds and grain." 
 The object of this advance company " is to 
 put in a spring crop, to build houses, and to 
 prepare for the reception of families who 
 will start as soon as the grass shall be suffi- 
 ciently grown to sustain teams and stock." 
 The piioneers " are instructed to proceed west 
 
 until they find some good place to make a 
 crop, in some good valley in the neigh- 
 borhood of tb(5 Rocky Mountains, where they 
 will infringe upon no one, and be not likely 
 to be infringed upon." " Here," the Coun- 
 cil say, " we will make a resting-place, until 
 we can determine upon a place for a perma- 
 nent location. " They also state, in the same 
 connection, " We agreed to leave the coun- 
 try, for the sake of peace, upon the condition 
 that no more vexatious prosecutions by insti- 
 tuted against us. In good faith, we have la- 
 bored to fulfill that engagement. Gov. Fcrd 
 has also done his duty to further our wishes 
 in that reapect. But there are some imwill- 
 ing that we should have any existence any- 
 where. " 
 
 Laying aside any views that one may have, 
 in conflict with those entertained by this 
 sect, thus already driven about, there is a 
 pathos in that announcement that is touch- 
 ing to one who reflects ujson the necessary 
 exodus of a whole people across a givat wil- 
 derness of more than two thousand miles, 
 homeless, and, in a certain sense, aimless, 
 and nearly destitute. In that tersely, simply 
 worded proclamation is foreshadowed Council 
 Bluifs. The prejjarations were rapidly com- 
 pleted, and, in February, 1846, the first com- 
 pany of sixteen hundred set out on their 
 cheerless joui'ney, crossing the frozen Missis- 
 sippi River, and beginning their long, weary 
 march across the uninhabited prairies of 
 Iowa, to make a new beginning in a new 
 home. It is difficult to comprehend the feel- 
 ings of that pioneer band. The writer of 
 these pages has conversed, on more than one 
 occasion, with men and women also who set 
 forth on that wintry morning, with no hope 
 of rest for months, and then only in the un- 
 settled wilds, and no shelter except their 
 wagons, and no courage but that of stout 
 hearts. The ultimate piu'pose of the leaders 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 83 
 
 of the church was to find some suitable val- 
 ley in Eastern California, which then be- 
 longed to Mexico, hoping, by getting beyond 
 the limit of the Lnited States, and away 
 from civilization, that they might prosper in 
 their own way, unmolested. The Pottawato- 
 mie Indians had just departed for their new 
 reservation in Kansas. There was less dan- 
 ger of molestation in passing through Iowa 
 than through Missouri in reaching the Mis- 
 souri River, and for that reason the pioneer 
 band took the trail toward Council Bluffs. 
 Other companies followed, and, in the early 
 roonths of the year, their numbers began to 
 greatly accumulate in the bluffs and on the 
 river bottoms here, this point having been 
 selected by the pioneers on account of the un- 
 rivaled fertility of the soil, as the halting- 
 place, foreshadowed in the proclamation an- 
 nouncing the contemplated exodus. Orson 
 Hyde, who was the Bishop in charge of the 
 pioneers, at once selected that portion of the 
 bluffs embraced by Madison, or First street, as 
 the location of such permanent buildings as 
 were needed in carryingout their far-reach- 
 ing plan of emigration, and proselyting. 
 Brigham Young and the entire hierarchy ar- 
 rived soon after the pioneers. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the Mexican war broke 
 out. The enterprising and adventuious men 
 of Western Missouri, among them Sterling 
 Price and Col. Doniphan, acquainted with the 
 wouderful possibilities of New Mexico, 
 through commercial intercourse by the Santa 
 F6 trail from the Missouri River, covered that 
 wide expanse of country, and conceived the 
 idea of its conquest. Ool. Kearney, of the 
 army, was ordered to undertake it, and also 
 to obtain control of California. On July 14, 
 1846, a battery of the Third United States 
 Ai-tillery sailed from New York by the way 
 of Cape Horn, and in September, Col. Stev- 
 
 enson's regiment of New York volunteers pro- 
 ceeded by the same route, to the same desti- 
 nation — the Pacific coast. 
 
 The explorations of Fremont had revealed 
 the weakness of the Mexican authority in 
 that country, and the fm-ther fact that the 
 Ajnericans residing on that portion of Mex- 
 ican soil were ripe for a revolt that would 
 transfer its possession, by conquest, to the 
 United States. Just before hostilities broke 
 out, and while the sensibilities of the Mexi- 
 can authorities were at their utmost tension, 
 Capt. Fremont, of the United States Engi- 
 neers set out from the Missouri River on his 
 third exploration, with an armed outfit con- 
 sisting of sixty men and two hundred horses, 
 an expedition designed for peaceful pur- 
 poses, but which, before its termination, be- 
 came an auxiliary force in the conquest of 
 one of the richest jewels in the American 
 crown of national glory. 
 
 Shortly after the dejiarture of the troops 
 from New York, a regiment of mounted vol- 
 unteers, under Sterling Price and Col. Doni- 
 phan, rendezvoused at Fort Leavenworth, pre- 
 paratory to the arduous, long and perilous 
 march to New Mexico, to aid in its conquest, 
 and then to march to California. Two com- 
 panies of the First Dragoons, under Capts. 
 EdwinV. Sumner and Philip St. George Cooke, 
 were also ordered to take part in the expedi- 
 tion. At the same time, authority was given 
 Col. Kearney to make enlistments from the 
 Mormon emigrants on their way to the Mis- 
 souri River, their services having been tend- 
 ered to the Government by Brigham Young 
 as soon as he ascertained that war with Mex- 
 ico was a fact. Capt. James Allen, of the 
 First Dragoons, was the officer sent on that 
 duty, and, upon arriving at Council Bluffs, 
 and at the cantonment of tents stretched out 
 on the bottoms where now is the fairest por- 
 
84 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 tion of the city, he enrolled a battalion of 
 300 men, who were organized by him, as 
 Lieutenant Colonel, at Fort Leavenworth. 
 Many of the men were heads of fimilies. but, 
 responding to what they regarded as a sense 
 of duty, they marched away to join in an en- 
 terprise which has been described as being 
 as marvelous as the famous retreat of the ten 
 thousand under Xenophon. They turned 
 their backs once more upon all that was left 
 of civilization in the tents where still dwelt 
 their families. Many lived to return and 
 take part in the final exodus which landed 
 the Saints in permanent homes in the Great 
 Salt Lake Valley. 
 
 It is impossible here to follow in the foot- 
 steps of that heroic band. Capts. Sumner 
 and Cooke afterward became officers of high 
 rank in the Union army, during the civil war, 
 and the name and fame of Sterling Price in 
 the same conflict, on the other side, is world- 
 wide. Capt. Cooke, after having become a 
 Major General, and reciirring to the marvel- 
 ous exploits of that band of devoted men, 
 writes of its results : " The ' Ai-my of the 
 West' marched from Bent's Fort with only 
 rations calculated to last, by uninterrupted 
 and most rajsid marches, until it should ar 
 rive at Santa F4 Is this war? Tested by 
 the rules of the science, this expedition is 
 anomalous, not to say Quixotic. A Colonel's 
 command, called an army, marches 800 miles 
 beyond its base, its communication liable to 
 be cut off by the slightest effoi't of the enemy 
 — mostly through a desert — the whole dis- 
 tance almost totally destitute of resom'ces, to 
 conquer a territory of two hundred and fifty 
 thousand square miles; without a military 
 chest; this people are declared citizens of 
 the United States, and the invaders are de- 
 barred the rights of war to seize needful sup- 
 plies; they airive without food before the 
 
 capital, a city 240 years old, habitually gar- 
 risoned by regular troops! I much doubt if 
 
 ' any officer of rank but Stephen W. Kearney 
 would have undertaken the enterprise; or, if 
 induced to do so, would have accomplished it 
 successfully." 
 
 j In this connection, the writer of these 
 pages begs leave to use the name of William 
 Garner, an honored citizen of Council Bluffs, 
 and one of the cherished survivors of that 
 memorable campaign, an integer of the Mor- 
 mon Battalion, so graphically outlined by the 
 pen of Gen. St. George Cooke. The story is 
 not all told, when the results of the campaign 
 are stated, for, when the men returned to their 
 families, after an absence of two years, they 
 were met by a denial of their pay for their 
 
 ' services, and to this day the Government 
 stands indebted to them for the pittance 
 
 ! stipulated for in their contracts of enlistment. 
 It is charged upon Brigham Young, by high 
 authority in the church, that the money ap- 
 
 I propriated to pay these men for their serv- 
 ices, passed into his hands for disburse- 
 ment, and was by him withheld and never paid 
 
 ! over. 
 
 ! The first winter spent on the frontier by 
 these hardy emigrants was in huts erected at 
 
 1 what is known as " Winter Quarters," on the 
 
 ' Nebraska side of the Missouri, at Florence, a 
 few miles above the present city of Omaha. 
 Soon after the departure of the Mormon Bat- 
 talion for Fort Leavenworth, Brigham Young 
 and a few hardy followers started westward 
 across the plains in search of a permanent 
 settlement. They reached Salt Lake Valley, 
 and, being captivated by its location and its 
 isolation, decided to build there their new 
 city. A portion of those who accompanied 
 Young to Salt Lake, retm-ned to Council 
 
 I Bluffs to take direction of the emigration, 
 and in July 18-47, about foiu- thousand en- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 85 
 
 tered tlie valley which was to constitute their 
 future home. Mauy returned to the Iowa 
 side of the river fi-om " Winter Quarters " 
 and made permanent settlements in view of 
 
 establishing a necessary station and resting- 
 place for the emigrations which, through the 
 policy of the hierarchy, should come after 
 them. 
 
 CHAPTER XII.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— ITS THIRD JUiA— MOVEMENT FROil IOWA CITY— TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS EN 
 
 ROUTE— KANESVILLE^ SKETCH OF COL. KANE-FIRST APPEARANCE OF COUNCIL 
 
 BLUFFS— FIRST STOKE— THE FIRST GENTILE INHABITANT— FIRST 
 
 VOTING — DANITE BAND — FIRST PROHIBITION. 
 
 ~^T0 emigration of any kind has ever taken 
 -L^ place in modern times that could compare 
 with that which involved the first settlement 
 of Council Blufts. The privations incident 
 to the movement did not end with the arrival 
 here of all those who formed the original 
 population of Nauvoo. The same hardships, 
 or a like kind, were the lot of those who sub- 
 sequently followed in the wake of the Nauvoo 
 exodus. Iowa City became a convenient ren- 
 dezvous for converts and others, both from 
 the States and from Eurof)e, and at that 
 point a great deal of the subsequent suffer- 
 ing began. A correct picture of their camps 
 at Iowa City preparatory to starting West 
 cannot be drawn. It can only be presented 
 in outline, as a mere study, to be iilled in by 
 the imagination. Ignorant as many of them 
 were of the manners and customs of our 
 people, and of the language of the country, 
 hundreds of foreign emigrants were subjected 
 to the grossest tyranny throiigh an arbitrary 
 and exacting leadership. 
 
 It was impossible, situated as the latter 
 were, to furnish wagon transportation to con- 
 vey the people's meagtr luggage and sup- 
 plies, and frequently, on the trail from Iowa 
 City to Council Bluffs, and from Council 
 Bluffs to Salt Lake City, miles and miles of 
 
 ♦By Col. .Juhn H. Kcatley. 
 
 hand carts were wearily pushed before them 
 by the trudging, heart-sick and footsore emi- 
 grants, in the hope of finding at last a haven 
 of rest. Scanty supplies of provisions were, 
 in nearly every instance, doled out, and men, 
 women and children toiling over the treeless 
 prairie, fi'om dawn ui-til dark, in rain or in 
 shine, in cold or in heat, frequently suffered 
 the most poignant pangs of hunger and dis- 
 tress. Ten ounces of flour for one adult, 
 and half that amount for children, under the 
 age of eight years, constituted a day's sup- 
 ply. At rare intervals, a little rice, coffee or 
 sugar was sparingly measured out to them. 
 Hundreds were shoeless, and clothing in al- 
 most every instance was scant. The sick, 
 under such circumstances, wei"e still more 
 destitute and forlorn, and many a little hil- 
 lock along. the trail and by the wayside attest- 
 ed the final anguish of those whose last 
 journey was at an end. For years. Council 
 Bluffs witnessed the arrival of hordes who 
 crossed the State on their weary journev to 
 Salt Lake, reduced to the utmost extremity 
 by unfold and indescribable miseries. Now 
 and then courage failed the emigrant, when 
 he or she reached this point. Endui'ance 
 with them had reached its limit, and they 
 halted to make this their permanent homes, 
 in defiance of ecclesiastical threats and pend- 
 
86 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 ing censures. These recalcitrant ones in 
 numerous instances left a salutary impress 
 upon the growth of the new town. 
 
 When it was once determined that this 
 ehouli be a permanent post or stage on the 
 route to Salt Lake, it was given a name, and 
 called Kanesville. The selection of this title 
 was intended by the Mormon authorities as a 
 compliment to a Gentile who had rendered 
 theiQ an appreciable service while they were 
 yet at Nauvoo. Thomas L. Kane, of Phila- 
 delphia, and a brother of Dr. Elisha Kent 
 Kane, the famous Ai-ctic navigator, was a 
 spectator of some of the concluding eveats 
 which terminated the Mormon career at Nau- 
 voo. Exercising the functions of correspond- 
 ent to Eastern newspapers, he impartially 
 narrated some of the scenes of violence which 
 characterized the period, and fairness on his 
 part was recognized in the naming of the 
 village after him. 
 
 When the conflict arose between Brigham 
 Young and the Federal authorities in 1857, 
 and Col. Albert Sidney Johnson was en- 
 camped in the valleys of the Rocky range, 
 in winter quarters, preparatory to invading 
 Utah, to inforce the mandates of President 
 Buchanan and the laws of the United States, 
 Kane was selected by the President to act as 
 a negotiator between the belligerents. 
 
 When the civil war broke out, in 1861, he 
 became Lieutenant Colonel of the First Penn- 
 sylvania Rifles (the famous Bucktail Regi- 
 ment), was wounded and captured near Har- 
 risonburg, in the Shenandoah Valley, in 
 1862, while serving under Gen. Fremont, 
 against Gen. Stonewall Jackson, and, upon 
 being released, was made a Brigadier Gen- 
 eral, and fought with great gallantry to the 
 termination of the war in the Twelfth Ai-my 
 Corps. He is now a wealthy private citizen, 
 his present home being at Kane, Penn. 
 
 A stranger coming to Council Bluffs is 
 
 struck with the singularity of some of its 
 maps, especially that of the original town. 
 There is a strong resemblance between the 
 outlines of a diagram of that part of the city 
 and a shattered square of glass. The irregu- 
 larities in the one will compare favorably 
 with those of the other. When the Utah 
 emigrants reached this point, and found the 
 Indian lands abandoned, they also ascertained 
 that no sm'vey had yet been made of them by 
 the Government, and simply settled on them 
 as " squatters. " There was no exact rule by 
 which they staked off their claims, and hence, 
 theiri rregularity in areas and out) ine. There 
 were no courts in which to adjudicate con- 
 flicting rights. Few disijutes arose, however, 
 and these were settled by arbitrary decisions 
 of the church authorities, who claimed to 
 have the welfare of the community in their 
 keeping. 
 
 The tacit observance of possessory rights 
 caused the claims to ripen into transferable 
 interests, and when a claim owner found it 
 either his interest or his duty to move on, 
 his right in the permanent improvements ac- 
 quired an ascertainable value in either money 
 or personal projierty, and barter of that kind 
 was of frequent occurrence. 
 
 It is still not difficult to recall the general 
 appearance of Council Bluffs during the tirst 
 year of its settlement. A gorge partly 
 clothed with timber, widened out from the 
 east toward the river. This afterward be- 
 came the Bi'oadway of the city. Crossing it, 
 at almost a right angle, was a street, north 
 and south, or nearly so, which lay in another 
 ravine, and this took the name of Hyde street, 
 after the Mormon Bishop of that name. This 
 street, now improved and altered in every 
 respect, is known as Madison or First street. 
 A few log cabins dotted the slopes of the 
 bluffs on either side of the valley of Indian 
 Creek, through which Broadway extends. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 87 
 
 The greater number of the log houses and 
 tents constituting the town were on Madison 
 street, and until only a few years ago, the log 
 houses kept their places in the march of sur- 
 rounding improvement. Indian Creek, no 
 more then than now a creek, but only a brook, 
 swelled into a torrent by summer rains or 
 winter snows, coiled sluggishly in a narrow 
 channel around the base of the northern 
 slope. Such, then, is an outline of the nu- 
 cleus of the present city. 
 
 The Mormon emigration to Salt Lake was 
 not without its attractions to Gentiles, a 
 name applied to those not of the sect who 
 desired to take advantage of it for the pur- 
 poses of traffic. A gentleman by the name 
 of Donnell opened a store at Winter Quar- 
 ters, on the west side of the river, at the end 
 of the year 1847, and Jonathan B. Stutsman, 
 now a merchant at Harlan, Iowa, came in 
 February, 1848, to take charge of the busi- 
 ness He arrived from St. Joseph, Mo., and 
 in his journey found but a single house on 
 his way up from the southern line of the 
 State. The store was removed from Winter 
 Quarters to the east side of the river, to 
 Kanesville, in June, 1848, and thus Mi\ 
 Stutsman became the first Gentile inhabitant 
 of Council Bluffs. The business was opened 
 under the name of Donnell & Stutsman, and 
 was thus conducted for a number of years, 
 on what is now Madison street. Mr. Stuts- 
 man married, and built the first fi-ame dwell- 
 ing-house and the first fi-ame store building 
 ever erected in the place. Cornelius Voor- 
 his. whose name is associated with one of 
 the additions to the city, came from St. Louis, 
 arriving on the 17th of August, 1848, and as 
 a partner in the fii-m of Eddy, Jamison & 
 Co.. began the sale of goods, near where the 
 First Methodist Episcopal Chm-ch now stands. 
 He was accompanied by his wife, but the 
 winter following his settlement was lonely 
 
 and di'eary in the extreme. The long, cold 
 winter months were enlivened by the settlers, 
 to some extent, with dances and parties of 
 one kind and another, but otherwise society 
 was far fi-om being cheerful. Their inner 
 life was mainly one of toil and anxious con- 
 templation of the almost frightful joui-ney 
 across the plains 
 
 In the fall of 1848, when the Presidential 
 election occui-red, political agents visited the 
 settlement, organized an election precinct 
 and collected the voles. Five hundi-ed and 
 twenty-seven were cast for Taylor and Fil- 
 more, the Whig candidates for President and 
 Vice President, and forty-two for Gen. Cass 
 and William O. Butler, the Democratic can- 
 didates for the Presidency and Vice Presi- 
 dency. The vote, however, was finally not 
 taken into consideration. The affair was 
 managed by Bishop Hyde and A. W. Babbitt, 
 who were eventually called to account at 
 Salt Lake for their conduct. Bishop Hyde 
 made his submission, received the censm-e of 
 the chm-ch, and was re-instated in its favor 
 and good opinion; but Mi-. Babbitt refused 
 submission, was cut off from communion, and 
 subsequently lost his life, report says, by the 
 Indians, but general belief fixed the avengers 
 as the famous Danite Band, organized in the 
 hierarchy, to deal summarily with Apostles. 
 
 William Powers, who died in the winter of 
 1882, was among the fii-st to build a house 
 near where the First Methodist Episcopal 
 Chiu-ch stands. His wife was a member of 
 tho Mormon society, but she and her hus- 
 band chose to remain at Council Bluffs 
 through all the vicissitudes of the migration, 
 and spent their long lives upon the soil se- 
 lected in 1847 as their home. Dui-ing the 
 years 1847 and 1848, no intoxicating liquors 
 were sold in and about the settlement, the 
 rules and discipline of the church rigidly in- 
 forced wholly prohibiting. Quite a village 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 also sprang up at the same time along Mos- 
 quito Creek, near the Nick's Indian Mill, 
 about six miles east of the Kanesville settle- 
 ment, the settlers devoting themselves to 
 agricultural pursuits. William Garner, whose 
 name has already been mentioned, Ezra Scho- 
 
 tield, Alexander Pollett and oth?rs, preferred 
 to remaiu on that spot, after the main body 
 moved forward to Salt Lake City, and when 
 the emigrants were leaving for the West, 
 their claims were pl^^chased by these per- 
 sons who were content to stav. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFF8— FIRST PROBATE CASK— GOLD IN CALIFORNIA— CHARACTER OF THE EMIGRANTS 
 -JOSEPH TOOTLE AND JAMES A. JACKSON— GAMBLING HELLS— DRS. SHELLY, WILL- 
 IAMS AND McMAHON — COUNTY ADMINISTRATION — FRAUDULENT PRAC- 
 TICES— STUTSMAN AND POWERS' LOUP FORK FERRY. 
 
 IT appears that the county organization 
 was perfected in 1849. On the ]7th day 
 of May of that year, an application was made 
 to Isaac Clark, County Judge acting in pro- 
 bate, for the appointment of a guardian for 
 the minor heirs of Charles English, deceased. 
 Nathan A. West was appointed such guard- 
 ian. That appears to be the first record of 
 the act of any county official, and as the 
 County Judge, under the law in force then, 
 was the Representative of the county, that 
 may be taken as the first official act of the 
 new county. 
 
 The discovery of gold, by a mere accident, 
 at Suter's mill, in California, the unexampled 
 excitenijent in consequence which it created 
 in the Eastern States, the wonderful tide of 
 emigration to the Pacific coast which it 
 prompted, by both sea and land, wrought a 
 complete revolution in the condition of this 
 frontier settlement. There was no danger 
 that the gold- seeker would not spurn, there 
 ■was no hazard that he would not take, and no 
 hardship that he would not endure. In the 
 spring of 1849. as soon as the grass started 
 sufficient for stock, long lines of emigrant 
 trains wended their way across the prairies 
 of Iowa on the old Mormon trail, but they 
 
 *Ily Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 were a class of men wholly different from 
 and bent on an errand wholly exceptional to 
 those who had gone before. They were men 
 of the stamp and intellect of Gov. John Big- 
 ler, Gov. Weller, David C. Broderick, Gov. 
 Geary, of Pennsylvania, Senator Baker, of 
 Oregon, and MoDougal, of California, and 
 others of a like character, able, resolute 
 and entei-jwising. Along with them came 
 lawyers who had thrown away their briefs in 
 disgust, when the marvelous and fascinating 
 tales of untold wealth, just for the taking, 
 were rung into their willing ears; gamblers 
 and blacklegs, who were cloyed in the dull 
 precincts of an older and less rude civiliza- 
 tion, farmers and mechanics, whose moderate 
 gains stood abashed at the Alladin tales of 
 wealth which swept on every breeze across 
 the prairie from the Pacific. Men like these 
 came pouring into Kanesville. A new life 
 was injected into its career. It became 
 wholly transformed. Wives, mothers and 
 sisters were left behind. The rough garb of 
 the frontiersman reduced all to a common 
 level and a common object, and common dan- 
 gers made mates and equals of all. Even 
 individual names were sunk in the general 
 mass, and men proud of blood, race and lin- 
 eage at home, joyed even in the fragment of 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COU^'TY. 
 
 a cognomen of any kind where a democratic 
 equality rested in discovered and discoverable 
 chai-acter. The restraints of female society 
 and influence were removed. 
 
 In the first years of the California emigra- 
 tion, few women had the hardihood to cross 
 the plains, and they even were of that class 
 whose life is adventure and whose virtues do 
 not include the inimitable charm of purity 
 and chastity. 
 
 With the emigrant came also the trader 
 whose business it was to make proiit in sell- 
 ing supplies at the last possible point for 
 supplies, before the long, toilsome journey 
 bejjan. When 1850 arrived, the tide was in 
 full swell. Joseph Tootle was the first to 
 come, leaving St. Joseph with a large stock 
 of outfitting goods. James A. Jackson came 
 also in 1851, and joined Tootle — fu'st, as a 
 clerk, and then as a partner, under the name 
 of Tootle & Jackson, and far and wide they 
 were known, from plain to mountain, and 
 from the mountain to the sea. W. D. Tur- 
 ner, who remained many years, Samuel H. 
 Riddle who died only a few years ago, and 
 Joseph L. Foreman, forming a business trio, 
 also moved up from St. Joseph in 1850, and 
 entered into the business of selling goods to 
 the California emigrants. There was no 
 regular or adequate ferry across the Mis- 
 souri, and the multitude going west justified 
 the owners of several steamboats to come up 
 the river and make the experiment of engag- 
 ing in the ferry business, earning immense 
 profits by a monopoly that was unavoidable. 
 The business of selling liquors was one of the 
 most lucrative. Saloons, drinking-plaees and 
 gambling hells were established and con- 
 dueled wherever a shelter could be obtained, 
 either uuder roof or under canvas. Even 
 this, in all cases, was not necessary, for dur- 
 ing the day eveu the winding paths, the only 
 sidewalks in front of the log storehouses, and 
 
 the canvas booths, were appropriated by the 
 owners of gambling devices, and its wild, 
 lawless excitement was stimiilated at every 
 turn of the way. Young men and old gam- 
 bled. Bearded men and mere striplings 
 quarreled with each other over cards, and 
 drank deep from the same bottle. There 
 was no division of ranks, where all made no 
 attempt to conceal their vices. To the credit 
 of this mongrel, picturesque fi'ontier society, 
 be it said, that stealing was almost unknown, 
 and life comparatively and remai'kably se- 
 cm-e. Thousands of dollars' worth of goods 
 were kept in no greater place of security 
 than huge canvas tents, or in straggling, 
 sprawling log booths and cabins, with nei- 
 ther bolts, bars nor watchmen. Woe to the 
 man whose cupiditj", whose passion tempted 
 him to invade this security and confidence. 
 His life was measured by an ell, and his 
 throbbing life-blood calculated in the cold 
 formula of ounces. No intricate combiua- 
 tion locks guarded the receipts of a day's 
 sales, and to hint at the necessity of a burg- 
 lar proof safe was to invite a suspicion that 
 was of contempt. 
 
 No art will ever reproduce the early scenes 
 of the liveliest days of the California migra- 
 tion, nor pen bring back in description the 
 kaleidoscopic changes of the seething masses 
 who made up its w<jnderfiil life. Its like 
 can never be reproduced, either by imita- 
 tion, by incentive, or in fact. The character 
 which formed and impelled it has been 
 changed and obliterated in the great mechan- 
 ical and industrious revolution which has 
 transformed almost the entire face of the 
 country in the past thirty years. Imagina- 
 tion in its furthest reaches fails to bring 
 back the image of that notable past, and 
 memory is a banki-upt when it attem2)ts to 
 pay to posterity the debt that it owes. 
 
 It is only hei-e and there that we catch a 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 glimpse of men, still remembered, who came 
 to stay. Dr. B. Y. Shelly settle.l in the vil 
 lage in 1850, and was soon after followed by 
 Dr. S. E. Williams and Dr. P. J. McMahon, 
 both of whom formed a partnership and es- 
 tablished the first drug store ever opened in 
 the place. Dr. JIcMahon, after fulfilling an 
 honorable professional career, died in this 
 city, surrounded by his wife and children, in 
 the early spring of 1875, and Dr. Williams, 
 having afterward removed to Mills County, 
 to a large farm formed by him out of the 
 wilderness, about midway of Council Bluffs 
 and Glenwood, closed his life in 1880. 
 
 At the date of these transactions, nearly all 
 that constituted Pottawattamie County was 
 embraced in Kanesville, and a group of farm 
 settlements in the immediate vicinity, and, 
 though the facts of the organization and de- 
 velopment of the county will involve other 
 chapters and other heads, it cannot be out of 
 place to here note the inception of regular 
 government at this point. The territory 
 embracing Pottawattamie County np to 1848 
 was included in Monroe County. In the 
 latter year, Monroe County was divided and 
 Pottawattamie set apart. Reference has al- 
 ready been made to this matter. At that 
 date, there were no County Commissioners or 
 Supervisors. The administration of the 
 counties of Iowa was intrusted by law to a 
 County Judge, elected in each county, who 
 had also jurisdiction in all probate matters, 
 in addition to his other duties. He was also 
 authorized under the law to issue the war- 
 rants of the county, and to contract for, with- 
 out a vote of the peoi')le, and erect county 
 buildings, at a cost not exceeding $5,000. 
 He had all the authority now vested in Coun- 
 ty Boards of Supervisors, including the lay 
 ing out of roads and highways. Extensive 
 abuses were made of this almost unlimited 
 power, and the history of the State is fraught 
 
 with examjiles of the fraudulent issuing of 
 county warrants for no other purpose than 
 to enrich rings organized around County 
 Judges, to enable him and them to rob and 
 plunder with impunity. The records oi the 
 courts are j")lastered all over with the history 
 of suits brought to recover from these coun- 
 ties, on these claims, long after the perpe- 
 trators of the villainy had fled to escape pun- 
 ishment, and to begin fresh careers to dishon- 
 esty in newer localities farther West. This 
 method of robbery was reduced to a science, 
 and no sharper or shrewder set of scoundrels 
 ever made victims of new communities than 
 were the sworn officers of the law in many of 
 the new counties of Iowa. They scarcely 
 made a secret of their operations, and when 
 they departed, it was with the leisure of men 
 who appeared to be conscious of having only 
 performed laudable acts. 
 
 The making of money in those days, and 
 under the circumstances of the flood-tide of 
 emigration beyond the mountains, was easy to 
 the men who were prudent, shrewd and en- 
 terprising. In 1852, the crowd moving across 
 the plains was immense. No prospective 
 hardship could daunt those who were on 
 their way to seek gold in the wilds of Cali- 
 fornia, or formed part of the great caravan on 
 its way to the " City of the Saints." Ferri- 
 age across the numerous streams westward 
 was a necessaiy part of the great business. 
 It had its great hazards and risks, but its 
 pecuniary rewards corresponded with the na- 
 ture of the enterprise. Four persons, two of 
 them J. B. Stutsman and William Powers, 
 already named, in 1851, establishel the fer- 
 ries over the Elkhorn and the Loup Fork 
 Rivers, on the trail to Salt Lake. Their 
 earnings for the season were $50,000 in gold, 
 which was divided by making four- even piles 
 of $20 gold pieces, instead of counting it in 
 the usual way. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 91 
 
 Henry Miller, a prominent Mormon, squat- 
 ted on a tract of land which included the 
 ground now occupied by the Pacific House 
 and the park, on Pearl street. As was the 
 case with all the other occupants in 1851, it 
 was simply a claim, with the title in the 
 United States and uusui-veyed by authority. 
 Samuel S. Bayliss, a native of Fauquier 
 County, Va. , became the second owner of the 
 claim and the log house thereon. He also 
 became the owner of about 400 acres of claims, 
 including the Miller tract. A curious inci- 
 dent of his journey to Kanesville is related 
 of him by Mr. Bloomer, in his published An- 
 nals of Pottawattamie County. Mr. Bayliss 
 started from St. Louis on the steamboat Sa- 
 luda. 'When the vessel reached Lexington. 
 Mo., he became alarmed at its unsafe con- 
 dition, and. refusing to proceed farther on 
 that craft, went ashore. He had scarcely 
 left the boat ten minutes, when she blew up, 
 the captain and over one hundred passengers 
 losing their lives. Joseph D. Bayliss, the 
 brother of Samuel S. Bayliss, came soon 
 afterward, and they, with their families, were 
 residents oE Council Bluffs for many years. 
 Joseph D. Bayliss, however, went to the 
 Utah silver mining country in 1873, and 
 Samuel S. Bayliss died here in 1874. John 
 T Baldwin. William C. James, A. J. Bump, 
 
 Capt. D. B. Clark and Stephen T. Carey 
 came to the settlement during the same year. 
 All-. Baldwin entered into the mercantile 
 business, and, step by step, grew to wealth. 
 Among other things in the many years of 
 his prosperous and enterprising career, he 
 was at the head of the Pacific National Bank, 
 was the moving spirit in the establishment of 
 the present system of street railways, was 
 Mayor of the city in 1877, represented the 
 county in the Legislature for one term, gave 
 large personal efforts to the attainment of 
 this point as a railway center, rebuilt the Og- 
 den House when destroyed by fire in the 
 fall of 1874, and, amidst all his other .duties 
 and responsibilities, exerted a large influence 
 as a Republican, both in local. State and na- 
 tional affairs. William C. James entered 
 upon the career of a lawyer and rapidly ac- 
 quired a lucrative business. He subsequent- 
 ly became County Judge, Mayor of the city 
 for several terms, has all his life been an ac- 
 tive Democratic politician, acquired wealth, 
 and by his public spirit properly directed, 
 has aided in a remai'kable degree in the de- 
 velopment of the city. Both he and Mr. 
 Baldwin are still in the prime of life, and 
 look with wonder and admiration upon a 
 city that has grown to such proportions in a 
 mere span of human life. 
 
9i 
 
 HISTORY or POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— JUDGE SLOAN— FIRST TERM OF COURT— FIRST BAR— FIRST CASE TRIED— STATE 
 AGAINST ROBERT AND MARGARET KEYS— HUMOROUS SCENE IN THE 
 TRIAL— UNIQUE CHARGE TO THE JURY. 
 
 TN judicial matters, this county, when organ- 
 -*- ized, became a part of the Sixth Judicial 
 District. James Sloan was the District 
 Judge. He was an Irishman by birth, of 
 light build, nervous in temperament, and pos- 
 sessed considerable of the humor and wit for 
 which his race is famous. His attainments 
 in the law were by no means remarkable, and 
 in the administration of justice he was not 
 hampered by any of the mere technical rules 
 which make forensic hair-plitting such a tine 
 field for the acute lawyer. 
 
 The first term of that court began on the 
 5th day of May, 1851. Alexander Macrae 
 was then the Sheriff, and Evan M. Green, 
 the Clerk; J. C. Little, J. L. Stiles, William 
 M. Lecomi")te, Hadley D. Johnson, A. C. Ford 
 and Jonathan M. Bassett were attorneys 
 practicing at that term, at that frontier bar, 
 and seem to be the only ones then browsing 
 among litigants for retainers. The petit 
 jurors were Andrew J. Sharp<*, George W. 
 Ai'mstrong, Gilman Merrill, James H. Glines, 
 Benjamin E. Bullock, Daniel S. Jackson, 
 George W. Slade, Zebidee Cotterin, Cyril E. 
 Brown, Warren Austin, Orlando H. Godfi-ey, 
 Lewis M. Kline and Jude Allen. There was 
 no such an office as District Attorney then 
 known in the State, and the court appointed 
 William M. Lecompte, Prosecuting Attorney. 
 
 The first case on the docket was that of the 
 State of Iowa, by Abner Johnson, against Ed 
 O. Beebe, an appeal in an assault and battery 
 case fi'om the judgment of Jacob DeGraw, a 
 Justice of the Peace, and it was dismissed on 
 the motion of the Prosecuting Attorney. 
 
 *By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 The first civil case was that of Jacob Myers 
 against Abner Johnson, in an attachment 
 suit, and, on motion, the writ was quashed. 
 The first case tried to a jury was that of 
 the case of the State of Iowa against Robert 
 Keys and Margaret Keys, charged in the in- 
 dictment with breaking into the store of C. 
 O. Mynster and stealing some boots and 
 handkerchiefs. Mr. Little assisted the prose- 
 cution, and Mr. Stiles and Mi\ Sharpe con- 
 ducted the defense. A perusal of the record 
 of that case at this late day, and when nearly 
 all the actors in the affair are in their graves, 
 leaves the impression that they were building 
 a forensic monument of some kind. The de- 
 bates of counsel, the rulings of the court, the 
 charge to the jury, and the exact testimony of 
 each witness, are recorded as an essential part 
 of the history of the case, giving a faint out- 
 line and a faded impression of what must 
 have been the ludicrous character of some of 
 the incidents of the trial. A. Hogai'th alone 
 would be competent to give the real coloring 
 to what evidently bordered on the burlesque. 
 The prosecution wanted to try Robert Keys 
 first, the defense having severed in their 
 trials. Little urged that Mrs. Keys should 
 be first put in jeopardy, and said that the 
 State of Iowa did not present this bill for 
 the sake of prosecution, but "to seethe laws 
 of the State of Iowa magnified. " Mr. Sharpe, 
 who was with Mr. Stiles in the defense at 
 this stage, wanted to deliver himself of a 
 speech, but the court objected to hearing him, 
 and the record says: " The Judge held his 
 position." John M. Bell was the first wit- 
 ness. He was an olficer intrusted with a 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 93 
 
 searcli warrant to examine the premises of 
 the Keys family, in order to tind the stolen 
 goods. When he and Mr. Mynster got there, 
 they met Keys, and the latter toldthe witness 
 that his wife had been insulted by Mynster. 
 He said: " Keys went into the honse and 
 took his sword that was hanging on a nail, 
 and told his wife to go back into the out- 
 building, and the first man that insulted her 
 he would take his d — d head off. " He then 
 went to the out-building, sword in hand, 
 stood guard over it and said he would defend 
 the rights of his wife. The witness says he 
 then took Keys into custody, and found un- 
 matched boots under the building, which 
 they upset with Mrs. Keys inside of it. The 
 Judge took Mr. Mynster in hand, and asked 
 him some questions: 
 
 " Do yon know if Robert Keys stole any- 
 thing from you ? " 
 
 " I cannot swear to it. " 
 
 " Did you ever know Rol^ert Keys to have 
 these boots in his possession? " 
 
 "I do not." 
 
 " Did yon speak of irons that you lost ?" 
 
 " I did. We lost Hat-irons." 
 
 "Did you find them?" 
 
 " Yes; in my own back building." 
 
 Upon cross-examination, Mrs. Maria Myn- 
 ster answered some questions: 
 
 "' Do you know of Mr. Keys stealing those 
 boots?" 
 
 "Yes, sir; I never saw him; his own con- 
 science condemns him. " 
 
 George Doughty, many years afterward 
 Sheriff of the county, was ne!i.t on the witness 
 stand, and said that " Keys came into Jack- 
 son's store and stated that Mynster's store 
 had been robbed, and that Mynster was get- 
 ting out a search-warrant for all Kanesville. " 
 Ann Cowen thought she could distinguish 
 the spots on the yellow handkerchiefs. Sev- 
 eral speeches were made at this stage of the 
 
 case on a motion to quash the indictment, 
 when the court broke in by saying that " he 
 had given much indulgence to the bar on 
 both sides, and he wished no more litigation 
 on that point," and overruled the motion. 
 Mrs. Keys said her husband was in bed at 
 10 o'clock the night of the crime, f=nd did 
 not leave home until next morning. She 
 said that she was in the back building, and 
 got mad when she heard Mynster coming. 
 
 The charge of the court to the jury is a 
 specimen and an exemplar. It is here re- 
 produced entire, as follows; 
 
 Ge><tlemen op the Jdrt; 
 
 I wish to address 3'ou. I am weak. I cannot be 
 expected to speak long. I do not wish to. You have 
 taken upon you to try this ease, and a true verdict 
 give. It has been told you that a part of you 
 should come out of the jury room and a part re- 
 main, and the jury be discharged. This is to be the 
 last resort. The laws of Iowa have been so framed 
 as to prevent evasion. It is provided, that if you 
 do not find the charge in the bill sufficiently proved 
 in testimony, but lind a lower degree of the same 
 nature of crime, it is then for you to act thereon. 
 You will not take into consideration to act on any 
 evidence that is not founded on fact, and is not 
 satisfactory, and you will be aware that much ex- 
 traneous matter has been introduced, the more 
 solid, as well by the prosecution as by the de- 
 fense. The manner in whicli this case came up, 
 I was satisfied what course would be taken. First, 
 the defense tried to get the other bill dropped and 
 to have this one tried, and when they did not suc- 
 ceed they took up the other and agreed to separate 
 trials, and when the prosecution came to prosecute 
 the bill they again arose, demanding that this case 
 should be tried, and the prosecuting attorney with- 
 drew the other bill and consented to try this, or I 
 should have held them to the other. 
 
 The record says that the court referred the 
 jury to such " sections of the law as he 
 thought would be necessary for them to ex- 
 amine." After this lucid instruction, the 
 jury brought in a verdict of "Not Guilty," 
 and the case against Mrs. Keys was dismissed. 
 How near the session of the court was held to 
 the nearest saloon, the record does not disclose. 
 
94 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, 
 
 CHAPTER XV.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS -PAWNEE AND OMAHA INDIANS— TRAIL TO FORT DES MOINES— A TEN DAYS' 
 JOURNEY- POST OFFICE ESTABLISHED— JUDGE JAMES AND CONTEMPT OF COURT— OCEAN 
 WAVE SALOON— FIRST LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE— FIRST NEWSPAPER- 
 THOMAS H. BENTON, Jr.— FIRST GENTILE PREACHER, MOSES F. SHINN. 
 
 "A /FIXED with the white population of the 
 -'-'-'- village were the Indians of the Pawnee 
 and the Omaha tribes. For months at a time 
 they were encamped on the outskirts of the 
 village, and lounged about the streets in 
 filthy and curious idleness. They were mere 
 scavengers; in fact, the only ones in the 
 place, and learned little from the whites ex- 
 cept their vices, and, in the indulgence of the 
 latter, were, in numerous instances, the sole 
 means of administerincr to them. 
 
 The trail toward Fort Des Moines during 
 this year became pretty well defined. A 
 small hack was the only apology for a public 
 conveyance diu'ing the entire distance, and 
 about ten days were employed in making the 
 round trip. The post office had been estab- 
 lished in 1848, but no mail route was ordered 
 or authorized by a stage line until 1833, the 
 mails in the meantime coming by the river. 
 Hyde's new hall, on Madison street, was pur- 
 chased by the County Judge for $200, in 
 1852, for court house purposes, and used for 
 quite a number of years. Near it was built 
 a jail of Cottonwood logs, that became his- 
 toric in its way, and especially in one nota- 
 ble instance, when Judge S. H. Riddle sent 
 Judge James, his boon companion, to prison 
 for a contempt of court. At the junction of 
 Madison street and Broadway, where the 
 First Methodist Church now stands, was the 
 famous Ocean Wave, a saloon and gambling 
 
 *D.v Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 house, notorious as far as the obscurest min- 
 ing camp on the Sacramento River. For 
 that day, it was a magnificent structure. It 
 was in the very heart of the business portion 
 of the town. It had all the appointments 
 and attractions of a place of that kind. At 
 any hour in the night, in the glare of lamps, 
 fed with whale oil, the dulcet notes of the 
 fiddle, quivering out afar over the soft air of 
 summer, invited the homeless voyager to its 
 selfish hospitality. Crowds of eager men — 
 young, old and in middle life, thronged its 
 doors, precincts and tables, booted, belted, 
 spurred and armed and equipped for any 
 emergency of frontier life. Men of nerve 
 were then admired, whether they exhibited 
 it in a hazardous stake at the cards, by drink- 
 ing deeper than their comrades, or in resent- 
 ing an injury, fancied or real. 
 
 Henry Miller, who sold his claim to Bay- 
 liss, and who afterward moved to Salt Lake 
 City, was the first Representative of the 
 county in the Legislature, and was elected 
 in 1851. In this connection it may also be 
 stated that Archibald S. Bryant, who removed 
 to Kanesville from Putnam County, Mo., in 
 1852, became the second member of the 
 House in the General Assembly from the 
 county. Upon his settling here, ho jiurchased 
 a large number of Mormon claims of tovra 
 lots, and when an opportunity was given to 
 perfect the title from the United States, he 
 availed himself of the right, became the real 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 95 
 
 owner, and living at this date, to an age of 
 fully eighty years, is still the proprietor cf 
 some of the most valuable of the lots thus 
 secured by him. 
 
 G. A. Robinson and William A. Robins'jn 
 came here in 1851. Both of them are still 
 residents. With them came a brother ^lartin, 
 who afterward moved farther West. G. A. 
 Robinson built a hotel of logs, a little farther 
 west on Broadway than the Ocean Wave, and 
 christened it the Robinson Kouse, and for 
 quite a number of years it was one of the 
 most popular and most prosperous hostleries 
 on the frontier. G. A. Robinson was after- 
 ward elected Prosecuting Attorney, conduct- 
 ing his business as an attorney in connection 
 with that of hotel keeping. 
 
 Two weekly newspapers were published at 
 that date — the Frontier Guardian, estab- 
 lished by Orson Hyde in 1848. and the Bugle, 
 by A. W. Babbitt, in 1850. The office of the 
 latter stood then on the north side of Broad- 
 way, and about four rods from the street, 
 near Indian Creek. It afterward passed into 
 the hands of Joseph E. Johnson, and was 
 published until 1879, after having passed 
 through a varied ownership, including L. W. 
 Babbitt and the writer of these annals. 
 While the Bugle was owned by Johnson, it 
 was under Mormon influence, and had a 
 Democratic leaning, in all cases, however, 
 making political considerations subservient 
 to the interests of the church. Orson Hyde 
 removed to Salt Lake in 1852, and took with 
 him a portion of the printing material used 
 in the publication of the Guardian, the re- 
 mainder passing into the office of the Bugle, 
 and the Guardian as a Kanesville paper was 
 suspended. 
 
 In 1851, the county cast a vote of 397 in 
 favor of Woodward, the Whig candidate for 
 State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
 as against 51 for Thomas H. Benton, Jr., the 
 
 Democratic caadidate, and who was a nephew 
 of the gi-eat Missouri Senator, "Old Bullion," 
 as he was called by his admirers. Thomas 
 H. Benton, Jr., when the civil war broke out, 
 became the Colonel of the Twenty-ninth Iowa 
 Infantry, and subsequently, a Brigadier Gen- 
 eral of volimteers, serving to the close of the 
 war. In 1857, he was engaged in banking 
 in Council Blufi's. His death occurred in 
 1879, at St. Louis, and his remains were tak- 
 en to Marshalltown, la. , and placed by the 
 side of those of his wife, who died at the 
 latter place in 1869. His only surviving 
 child is a married daughter, living in St. 
 Louis. 
 
 The vote of Pottawattamie County, in 1852, 
 for President, stood 111 for Gen. Winfield 
 Scott, the Whig candidate, and 182 for Gen. 
 Franklin Pierce, the Democratic candidate. 
 This, however, is no criterion of the popula- 
 tion of Kanesville at that date. It only in- 
 dicates, in a degree, those who had taken up 
 their permanent residence in the county, and 
 especially in Kanesville. There was a float- 
 ing population that varied according to the 
 exigencies of emigration, aggregating, at 
 times, thousands of people who had no other 
 shelter than tents and wagons, and ofteu, 
 simply tree tops. 
 
 Up to 1852, no other religious or sectarian 
 influj^ce sought a permanent foothold at 
 Kanesville than the Church of the Latter- 
 Day Saints. Now and then, some lonely and 
 adventurous missionary, on his way to Cali- 
 fornia, during the halt here, attempted to ex- 
 hort some of the hundreds of sinners of all 
 kinds to repentance; but it was seldom that 
 he could induce men to jJ'iuse long enough 
 in their eagerness, to obtain hearerb or make 
 an impression. In many respects, the mot- 
 ley crowd were simply American Arabs. 
 
 As far as it can be ascertained, the first 
 sermon ever preached here was by the Rev. 
 
 \ I 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 William Eector,of Fremont County, in 1848; 
 he afterward died in the military service 
 during the civil war. William Simpson, a 
 pioneer preacher of the Iowa Conference of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Chiu'ch, came from 
 the eastern part of the State, in 1850, in 
 search of some horses stolen by emigrants. 
 He found the community sadly in need of 
 some religious and moral influence. Ee- 
 tiu'ning home, he reported to the church au- 
 thorities the exact condition of the people 
 here and its necessities. He was sent, there- 
 fore, by the Bishop to begin missionary work 
 and establish a society. Coming back the 
 same year, he entered upon his arduous task 
 with all the energy, zeal and self-sacrifice 
 which characterized the pioneers in Method- 
 ism, and continued to do itinerant work un- 
 til 1852, when he was appointed Presiding 
 Elder, and was succeeded by the Rev. Moses 
 F. Shiun. Mi\ Simpson died many years 
 afterward, in Hem-y County, continuing in 
 the active ministry to the day of his death. 
 The fii-st church edifice of this society was 
 built on what is now known as Pierce street, 
 almost directly in the rear of the Ogden 
 House. From time to time, under the rules 
 of the church, the pastorate of the society 
 was changed, until 1865, when the Eev. E. 
 L. Flemming and the Eev. Joseph Knotts were 
 sent here by Bishop Simpson to use their en- 
 deavors to secure the erection of a church 
 edifice that would comport with the growth 
 and importance of the society and the city. 
 The Eev. Moses T. Shinn was still here. He 
 and C. E. Stone, a Virginian by birth, a law- 
 yer by profession and a participant in the 
 Black Hawk war of 1833, were zealous with 
 INIi-. Flemming, JIi-. Knotts and the Eev. J. S. 
 Eand in the erection of thejjresent handsome 
 and substantial brick edifice occupying the 
 site of the famous Ocean Wave. Mr Shinn 
 is a resident of Omaha, has reached a vip& 
 
 old age, and witnessed the expansion of the 
 village of Kauesville to two cities, one on 
 each side of the Missouri Eiver, with an ag- 
 gregate population of more than 60,000 per- 
 sons. 
 
 Not only did the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church undertake to establish a congi-egation 
 here, but, on the 15th of November, 1851, 
 the Eev. G. G. Eice, who is still a resident 
 of Council Bluffs, began his labors under the 
 most discovu'aging circumstances, as a Con- 
 gregational minister. He states the popula- 
 tion then at from two to three thousand, vary- 
 ing, of course, according to the tide of emi- 
 gration, four-fifths of them Mormons, and 
 very few of them here with an idea of re- 
 maining, and nearly all of them occupying 
 temporary and rnde shelter. The Gentiles 
 in the village were mostly impatiently wait- 
 ing for the spring trade. The first services 
 held by him were in the log court house on 
 Madison street. Quite a number of the Lat- 
 ter-Day Saints, includingsome of their Bish- 
 ops and their families, listened to his preach- 
 ing. He and the few acting with him, then 
 rented a log house on the north side of 
 Broadway, between Bryant and Market 
 streets, on the ground occupied by the pres- 
 ent Bryant House. 
 
 There was preaching every Sunday; a Sun- 
 day school was organized and a Wednesday 
 evening prayer-meeting established. There 
 were in the town at that time only two fami- 
 lies of orthodox Christians. One of these 
 was that of a merchant belonging to the 
 Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, and the 
 other that of the Methodist Episcopal minis- 
 ter, Mr. Simjjson, already mentioned. The 
 latter and Mi\ Eice, alternately, preached to 
 a congregation of from fifteen to twenty per- 
 sons, and the Sunday school had from twenty 
 to thirty children. In the spi'ing of 1852, a 
 large house was purchased, on the north side 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 97 
 
 of Middle Broadway. Emigration mainly 
 ceased by the middle of July, the trains hav- 
 ing gone forward over the " plains, " and the 
 population of the town was thereby reduced to 
 about 500. The cholera broke out among those 
 who remained, and many persons died from it. 
 When emigration was resumed iu the 
 spring of 1853, a congregation was formed, 
 on the 12th day of June, and a church society 
 organized with eight members. Five of 
 these were Congregationalists, two of them 
 Presbyterians and one of them a Free- Will 
 Baptist. In the autumn of the same year, 
 the house which they owned jointly with the 
 Methodist Episcopal society, was sold, and, 
 until 1855, the services were held at the resi- 
 dence of IVIr. Rice. In the latter year, they 
 
 erected a plain, substantial brick edifice, on 
 the east side of Peai'l street, opposite the 
 Park, on the lot of ground just north of J. J. 
 Brown's three-story brick store-room, now oc- 
 cupied by Smith & Crittenden for wholesale 
 purposes. The struetui'e was destroyed by 
 fire in 1872. In 1869, the society began the 
 erection of a handsome frame chiu'ch at the 
 southwest corner of Sixth street and Seventh 
 avenue. The building was already inclosed, 
 and possessed an elegant tower, in April, 1870, 
 when a tornado swept over the city and re- 
 duced the church, all but the brick basement, 
 to fragments. It was rebuilt in a short time, 
 and now constitutes the place of worship of one 
 of the most floui'ishing religious societies in 
 the city. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— FIRST SCHOOL— FR.\NCIS A. BROWN FIRST TE.\CHER— JAMES B. RUE— FIRST 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOLS— ORIGIN OF NAME OF COUNCIL BLUFFS — THE CITY INCORPORATED— 
 
 CITY GOVERNMENT SUSPENDED — BAYLISS PARK LITIGATION— FIRST BRICK 
 
 HOUSE— THE SAMUELS MURDER— LYNCH LAW— FRED LORD MURDER. 
 
 '■y^HE educational interests of Council Bluffs 
 ^ were not neglected from the very first. 
 The first school — a private one — of which there 
 is any memorandum or recollection, was by a 
 Gentile teacher, whose name is forgotten, in 
 a building directly east of the Broadway 
 Methodist Church, and in the rear of whnt 
 was then the Ocean Wave saloon. The next 
 school remembered was by a Mormon teach- 
 er, named Francis A. Brown, in 1853, in the 
 old log court house, on Madison street. In 
 the same year, James B. Rue opened a pri- 
 vate school in a small wooden building, on 
 the south side of Washington avenue, on the 
 second lot west of the junction of North Main 
 street with that avenue, in Mj-nster's Ad- 
 
 •By Col.J.ihn IT. Kfntlcy. 
 
 dition. Mr. Rue and his wife came from 
 Kentucky. He was a ripe scholar, a grad- 
 uate of a Kentucky College, and an experi- 
 enced and successful educator. He remained 
 here many years, reared a large family, and 
 
 engaged in the sale of furniture and in trad- 
 er o 
 
 ing, a portion of the time being Principal 
 of the public high school after it was organ- 
 ized. He also took part in the organization, 
 and, during his residence, was a member of 
 the Presbyterian Chm'ch. He and his family 
 removed permanently to Santa Rosa, Cal. , in 
 1877. 
 
 The public schools were first opened, in 
 1854, in the old Methodist Church, on Pierce 
 street, in the rear of the present Ogden 
 House. The historv of the growth and de 
 
98 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 velopment of these will receive the proper 
 attention in detail more appropriately in 
 another place. During 1853 and 1854, two 
 ladies by the name of Rockwell conducted a 
 private school, one of them now being Mrs. 
 S. N. Porterfield, of Atlantic, and for many 
 years of her married life a resident of Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. 
 
 The post office was changed in name from 
 Kanesville to Council Bluffs, in the begin- 
 ning of the year 1853, and to conform to 
 that change, the name of the village was also 
 altered during the same period. It was un- 
 derstood by some tradition preserved by the 
 Indians, and also by the employes of the fur 
 company, that Lewis and Clarke, in 1804, 
 when passing up the river, had met some of 
 the Indians near this spot, in council, and to 
 materialize that tradition, the new town 
 eventually received the name which it now 
 bears. It was given its new name on the 
 19th day of January, 1853. At that date, 
 there were no restrictions upon the Legisla- 
 tiu-e, in the matter of granting sjjecial char- 
 ters to cities, and accordingly, at the session 
 of that year, and on the 24th of February, 
 the act passed creating Council Bluffs an in- 
 corporated city. Hadley D. Johnson was 
 in the Senate from this district, and Archi- 
 bald S. Bryant represented the county 
 in the House gi'anting these municipal fran- 
 chises. The first election of city officers 
 took place on the first Monday in April of 
 that year, when the following officers and 
 Council were elected: Cornelius Voorhis, as 
 Mayor; W. H. Robinson, City Recorder and 
 Clerk to the Council; M. W. Robinson, City 
 Marshal; S. S. Bayliss, Rev. G. G. Rice, 
 Stephen T. Carrey, L. O. Littletield, L. M. 
 Klein, Joseph E. Johnson, J. K. Cook and 
 J. B. Stutsman, Councilmen. There was a 
 quorum present at the first meeting of the 
 Council, but J. K. Cook and J. B. Stutsman 
 
 absented themselves, and were fined $5 each 
 for the neglect of duty. The Council ap- 
 pointed A. D. Jones City Surveyor; G. P. 
 Stiles, City Attorney; Isaac Beebe, Street Su- 
 pervisor, and G. A. Robinson, Chief of the 
 Fire Company. The public lands were not 
 then in market. They had been siu-veycd 
 under the direction of the Washington Land 
 Department, in 1851 and 1852, in the county, 
 but at the date of the organization of the 
 city under the new charter, each occupant 
 was either a mere squatter, or the holder of a 
 claim through some prior squatter, and no tax 
 on lands and lots could be levied. It is a 
 fact that it became a serious question, whether 
 a city government under such circumstances 
 could exist, and, as there was no revenue to 
 maintain it, except about S2S0 assessed as 
 licenses upon saloons and gambling houses, 
 for the first six months of munipcial existence, 
 the Mayor, Mr. Voorhis, resigned, and the 
 government ceased to exist for almost two 
 years, and until the title to the lots and lands 
 became vested in the citizens. 
 
 During this abeyance of titles in the lands, 
 Mr. Bayliss decided to lay out the claim ac- 
 quired by him from Henry Miller, into town 
 lots, and his first plat for Bayliss' First Ad- 
 dition was filed on the 15th of June, 1853. 
 This includes the ground occupied by the 
 Pacific House, and all the lots on the west side 
 of Main street, southward from Broadway, and 
 OTi both sides of Pearl street, embracing what 
 is now known as Baylis.s' Park, on the west 
 side of Pearl street and one square south of 
 Broadway. The Park grounds were donated 
 by him to the county, as he claimed, for a 
 site upon which to erect a county court house. 
 When the county authorities came to locate 
 the present court house, they disregarded Mr. 
 Bayliss' alleged gift, and purchased lots in 
 the square immediately south of the present 
 park, and declined to use the latter for court 
 
J ■-JA^ 
 
HISTORY or POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 101 
 
 house purposes. About ten years after the 
 original donation, and after the dedication 
 of the adjoining streets to public use, by Mr. 
 Bayliss. the city began to exercise control 
 over the park, without any objection on his 
 part, so far as ever known, and planted trees 
 
 and eventually inclosed the same, and exer- 
 cised some care over it. 
 
 About twenty years after the original do- 
 nation by him to the county, he brought suit 
 against tho county, in the State courts, to 
 set aside the original gift and to resume it. 
 During the pendency of the action, he died 
 here, and his widow, in whose name the suit 
 was afterward prosecuted, as administratrix, 
 removed to Nebraska City. Being thus a 
 citizen of another State, she obtained a trans- 
 fer of the case fi'om the State courts to the 
 United States Circuit Coiu't for Iowa, and 
 when it came on for heai'ing in the latter. 
 Judge Dillon, of that coiu't. decided against 
 the plaintiff and in favor of the city, on the 
 following grounds: It seems that two sepa- 
 rate plats of that particular forty acres were 
 recorded by IMi'. Bayliss. The park tract 
 was designated by him as "P. S.," meaning 
 public square. Judge Dillon held that as be- 
 tween the estate of Mr. Bayliss and the city 
 of Council Bluffs, this constituted a complete 
 dedication to the public. In deciding this 
 point, he said: "The city was incorporated 
 before either of the plats was recorded. The 
 statute declares that the acknowledgment and 
 the recording of such a plat is equivalent to 
 a deed in fee simple of such portion of the 
 land as is herein set apart for the i^ublic use. 
 * * The city is the representative of the 
 public rights in the square. It was called by 
 him a public square in his dedication." The 
 Buit was brought by Air. Bayliss against the 
 county, but the city, to protect its rights in 
 the controversy, intervened. The case was 
 decided in 1S78, the United States Circuit 
 
 Court then being constituted by Judges John 
 F. Dillon and James M. Love. No appeal 
 was taken to the United States Sujsreme 
 Court, and there the matter has rested ever 
 since, with the title to the park quieted in 
 the city of Council Bluffs, and has now be- 
 come one of its brightest ornaments and most 
 
 o 
 
 delightful resorts. 
 
 The ±ii-st brick house ever built in the 
 city was erected in the year 1853 by William 
 C. James, on the south side of Broadway, in 
 Bayliss' First Addition, on the third lot west 
 of Center, or First, street, as it is now desig- 
 nated. It was a one-story residence, and is 
 still standing, the projaerty and home of Ja- 
 cob H. Rogers. The second was a one-story 
 brick, still standing on the west side of Main 
 street, on the second lot south of Willow 
 street, or First avenue. The third was by 
 P. J. McMahon and Dr. S. E. Williams, a 
 double brick residence, on the west side of 
 Bancroft street, about 850 feet south of its 
 junction with Broadway. That building was 
 removed to give place to others of a different 
 character, in 1878. About the same time. 
 Stephen T. Carey erected a one-story brick 
 dwelling, at the southwest corner of Main 
 street and First avenue, which was subse- 
 quently occupied and owned by Dr. P. J. Mc- 
 Mahon, and removed, in 1882, to give place 
 to the brick block erected by E. L. Shugart 
 for the use, in part, of the Citizens' Bank, 
 organized during the latter year. Adjoining 
 the lot occupied formerly by the brick dwell- 
 ing erected by Drs. McMahon and S. E. 
 Williams, is a frame dwelling, which has an 
 historic value in this, that it was the home of 
 Gen. Grenville M. Dodge at the breaking- 
 out of tile civil war, aud continued to be liis 
 home during that conflict, and afterward 
 while he served in Congress for a dis- 
 trict which extended from the Des Moines 
 River to the Missouri, and included 
 
102 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 nearly all of Western and Southwestern 
 Iowa. 
 
 It is singular, vet nevertheless true, that 
 notable crimes, committed in the early his- 
 tory of a settlement, are remembered with 
 more vividness, and acquire through tradition 
 a more fascinating character, than those of a 
 recent date, although the latter may be at- 
 tended with circumstances of a greater sin- 
 gularity. Two mui'ders are remembered with 
 great distinctness by the older citizens, the 
 first of the kind ever committed, either in the 
 town or in the vicinity. It is an indistinct 
 recollection, that the otber^ were perpetrated 
 about the same time, and the bodies of the 
 victims buried on the slope of the hill, on the 
 west side of Madison street. It is alleged 
 that these were cases of blood- atonement by 
 the Danites. The two crimes to which refer- 
 ence is now specifically made, were not of 
 that character. 
 
 On the 13th of May, 1853, what is now 
 known as Glendale, occupied by Market 
 street and Glen avenue, on the south side of 
 Broadway, was simply an encampment of 
 California emigrants. Among the number 
 was a man nair.ed Samuels, from Columbus, 
 Ohio, and another giving his name as Muir. 
 Samuels was found the next morning in his 
 wagon, brutally murdered, and his money 
 gone. Muir was also missed by those who 
 had seen them together the evening before. 
 As soon as the crime was known, search be- 
 gan for him, and he was caught on a trail 
 which led out toward the Mosquito Creek, 
 through the woods, in the direction of D. B. 
 Clark's, and brought back. He was placed 
 in the hands of the Sheriff, to undergo a 
 regular trial, the county then having been 
 organized, but the crowd of California emi- 
 grants was impatient of such a slow process 
 of justice, and demanded a more speedy 
 method of punishment. Judge Lynch' s Court 
 
 was at once opened, and a jury constituted 
 from the settlers and others, and a trial had. 
 A. C. Ford was selected to defend the accused, 
 and made the best possible effort he could 
 under the circumstances, but the evidence 
 was so overwhelming against Muir that the 
 jiu-y had no difficulty in reaching a verdict 
 of guilty. He was tendered spiritual conso- 
 lation by the Rev. Moses Shinn, but prompt- 
 ly and savagely declined it. An immense 
 crowd assembled to witness the execution 
 that evening. The culprit was taken to a 
 tree, about twenty-five rods from the murdered 
 man's wagon, just at sunset. A rope was 
 put about his neck and thrown over the limb 
 of a tree, and the end of the same attached 
 to a mule's neck, and in that way the iniu'- 
 derer was swung into eternity. Glen avenue, 
 for many years, from that incident, was 
 known as " Hangman's Hollow, " and the tree 
 upon which Muir expiated his crime, stood 
 by the wayside and the street side for a long 
 time, shuddered at by old and young in the 
 gloaming, and shunned by a superstitious fear. 
 When Muir was arrested, no money that 
 could be fairly considered as belonging to 
 Samtiels, was found on his person, but when 
 he found that no mercy was to be granted 
 him by the crowd which surrounded the place 
 of his execution, he made a statement that he 
 had buried the money taken from the wagon 
 at the root of a tree, but refused to designate 
 the spot. In 1875, while the city authorities 
 were opening a street and improving it, on 
 the old trail to D. B. Clark's, and on the 
 route taken by Muir at the time of his arrest, 
 an old stump was dug up by the laborers, and 
 from a " pocket " at the decayed roots of it, 
 about 8350 in gold and silver, having the 
 appearance of being in the ground many 
 years, and coin of dates prior to the hanging 
 of Muir, rolled out. Circumstances indicated 
 that this was about the amount that Samuels 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 103 
 
 had when he reached Council Bluffs, and the 
 conclusion was that they had found the cache 
 that Muir, even in his dying moments, refused 
 to reveal. The money was divided among 
 the tive laborers there at work. 
 
 The second murder of which there is still 
 some distinct trace, in the circumstances of 
 it, was that of Fred Lord, by a man named 
 Jim Golden. Both were rude, rough charac- 
 ters of the frontier. Lord was a powerfully 
 built man, and as strong as a lion. Golden 
 was of medium height, and stoutly framed, 
 and had a sinister look. They were en 
 gaged, dm'ing the summer of 1853, in quar- 
 rying stone at Trading Point, on the river a 
 few miles south of the city, and one day had 
 some disagreement about their business mat- 
 ters. Lord's duty was to haul the rock to 
 town with an ox-team. On the day in ques- 
 tion. Golden attempted to interfere with 
 Lord's plans, and the latter abruptly and 
 rather profanely resented it. Golden retort- 
 ed angrily and left. A short time afterward, 
 he went to a cabin in the timber, some dis- 
 tance below the quarry, and borrowed a gun, 
 saying that he had seen some wild turkeys in 
 the brush that he wanted to shoot. Lord 
 started toward the city with a load of rock, 
 and, as he was passing up the trail, sitting 
 on the wagon, a shot from behind tore a hor- 
 rible hole in his body, but the shot failed to 
 do more than mortally wound him, and he 
 fell back upon the load of rock; his oxen 
 came up toward town, and he was met and 
 cared for. Martin W. Robinson, one of the 
 three Robinson brothers, who came here in 
 1S5L assisted in taking care of him. As 
 Boon as he rallied, he made a dying state- 
 
 ment, and, in response to a question as to 
 whether it was Golden who did the shooting, 
 he said that he saw Golden as plainly as 
 could be, as he turned to step back into the 
 woods after he fired. During one of the 
 days that he lingered on, he told Robinson 
 that they should watch when he was going to 
 die, and then give him morphine, so that he 
 might die easy. 
 
 Golden was arrested and taken before 
 Stiles, a Justice of the Peace. Stiles had all 
 the peculiarities of a backwoods character. 
 G. A. Robinson conducted the prosecution, 
 and Capt. D. W. Price, who had just come 
 into the country and began his long and hon- 
 orable career as an Iowa lawyer, took chai'ge 
 of the defen.se in the preliminary examina- 
 tion. The evidence was all in, substantially 
 as stated in this narrative, when Price arose 
 and said that he supposed Golden would be 
 held to answer to the next grand jury, and 
 suggested, that, inasmuch as his client was 
 poor and. had no friends who could respond 
 in bail in any large amount, he hoped the 
 surety would be j)laced low. Robinson re- 
 sponded that this was not a bailable offense, 
 that the crime, whoever committed it. was 
 premeditated, and that Golden, if held, 
 could only be sent to prison to await the 
 session of the District Coui-t. The eloquence 
 of Capt. Price had its desired effect. Gi^es 
 fixed the bail at $100, and William Powers, 
 who had an intense dislike to Lord, promptly 
 went on the bond. Golden remained until 
 court, the case died in the grand jury room, 
 and he eventually disappeared, and was never 
 heard of again. Mrs. Sweener, the mother- 
 in-law of Lord, still lives in Council Bluffs. 
 
104 
 
 HISTORY or POTTAWATTAMIE COFNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— JUDGE S. H. RIDDLE'S ELECTION — NO LAWYER BUT A GOOD JUDGE — LAND 
 
 OFFICE OPENED— STREET AND BALLARD APPOINTED— SKETCH OF BALLARD— NOMINATES 
 
 KIRKWOOD— DR. ENOS LOWE AND L. W. BABBITT— FIRST FIRE IN 18.53— TOM 
 
 NEELEY THE DAVY CROCKETT— OPENING OF THE PACIFIC HOUSE 
 
 — JUDGE DOUGLASS — LIFE AND CHARACTER. ' 
 
 n~^HE regular judicial elections in the State 
 -*- were held in the spring of 1853, and Sam- 
 uel H. Riddle was voted for and received an 
 unquestioned majority of all the votes cast. 
 He had never been bred to the law — in fact, 
 never claimed to be a lawyer, and the can- 
 vassing board, for that reason, refused him 
 a certificate of election. His opponent, ac- 
 cording to well-settled principles, was also 
 denied the certificate, and there being thus a 
 vacancy, Gov. Hempstead, regarding the 
 plain wish of the citizens, ajipointed Riddle 
 to serve until the next election. The choice 
 of the people and the discrimination of the 
 Governor were justified by results. Judge 
 Riddle was a Kentuckian by birth, had come 
 to St. Joseph, Mo., and engaged in the mer- 
 cantile business, and thence to Council 
 Bluffs, and was endowed with a remarkable 
 degree of plain, common sense, which he car- 
 ried with him to the bench. There was a 
 quaintness in some of his decisions that fre- 
 quently defied definition, according to tech- 
 nical rules, and no Judge in Iowa ever re- 
 ceived a more uniform approval, through a 
 review of the Supreme Coiu't, than he. 
 
 In 1854, be was regularly chosen for the 
 full term, and served with great credit to 
 himself and with universal approval. Long 
 after he left the bench, his opinions and ad- 
 vice were sought, and with as full confidence 
 as if he had spent his youth in close applica- 
 tion to the stiidy of those principles which 
 
 *By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 underlie the great lawyer's career. He was 
 one of the most affable of men, but on the 
 bench was decided, positive and firm, and 
 knew neither friend nor foe, being univer- 
 sally just. In social life, he mingled in the 
 rough pastimes of the frontier. Lawyers at 
 the bar who were his associates, when the 
 cares of his position were thrown aside, pre- 
 sumed, at their j^eril, incom-t, and frequently 
 felt the difference between a man as a Judge 
 and the same person as a citizen and a com- 
 panion in the ordinary enjoyments and affairs 
 of life. 
 
 The Council Bluffs Land Office was first 
 opened in the spring of 1853. This invited 
 another class of residents, in the persons of 
 speculators, eager to absorb the rich lands of 
 Western Iowa. Eighty-three thousand land- 
 warrants had been issued by the Federal 
 Government to the troops that had aided in 
 the conquest of New Mexico and California, 
 and who were with Taylor and Scott in the 
 brilliant and brief campaigns from Palo Alto 
 to Buena Vista, and from Vera Cruz to the 
 City of Mexico. Thousands of these war- 
 rants came into the hands of speculators, and 
 were located upon Government land in West- 
 ern Iowa, through the Council Bluffs Land 
 Office. Joseph H. D. Street was the first 
 Register, and Dr. S. W. Ballard, the first 
 Receiver. The former was the eldest son of 
 Gen. Joseph M. Street, who performed an 
 important part in the adjustment of the diffi- 
 culties with Black Hawk, in 1882 and 1833, 
 
HISTORY OF rOTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 105 
 
 aiifl was also the Indian agent at what is now 
 Agency City, on the Lower Des Moines 
 River. Both of the incumbents of the land 
 office were Whigs, and received their ap- 
 jjointments from President Filmore just at 
 the close of his administration, Dr. Bal- 
 lard, at the time of his appointment, was 
 publishing a Whig newspaper at Iowa City. 
 Among those who were serving an apprentice- 
 shij) to the art of printing in his office then, 
 was Col. W^illiam P. Hepburn, subsequently a 
 distinguished Iowa soldier, part of the time on 
 the staff of Gen. Phil Sheridan in the Army 
 of the Ciimberland, and who became also a 
 member of Congress from this, the Eighth 
 District of Iowa, from March, 1881, to 
 March, 1883. 
 
 Dr. Ballard settled down to a permanent 
 residence in W^estern Iowa, and rapidly ac- 
 quired lands, until now he is the largest land 
 owner in this section of the State. 
 
 In the political revolution of 1854, when 
 the Whig party forever disappeared from 
 sight, he united his fortunes with the Re- 
 publicans, assisting in the formation of the 
 party, and presiding over the first convention 
 of that organization ever held in Iowa. His 
 home is still in Council Bluffs, although 
 much of his time in later years has been 
 spent by him on his immense prairie farm in 
 Audubon County, a few miles north of At- 
 lantic. Dr. Ballard is a man of marked per- 
 sonal peculiarities, and a notable man in ap- 
 pearance. In his prime, he was much over 
 six feet in height and of giant frame. Sev- 
 eral serious accidents have impaired his 
 health and j)hysique, and the once vigorous 
 and robust frame has diminished to almost 
 childish helplessness. Through all the vicis- 
 situdes of the Republican p)arty, he was a 
 zealous advocate of its principles, an untiring 
 worker and a shrewd politician. His latest 
 exploit, in a Rej)ublican convention, was in 
 
 1875. Gen. James B. Weaver, who has since 
 become famous as a Greenback Congressman 
 from Iowa, and the candidate of that party 
 for President, in 1880, came up to the Re- 
 publican convention of 1875 with a majority 
 of delegates pledged to his support as the 
 candidate for Governor. Samuel J. Kirk- 
 wood, of Johnson County, the old War Gov- 
 ernor, had not been mentioned during the 
 preliminary canvass before the convention 
 met. When announcements were being made, 
 previous to balloting, the stalwart form of 
 Dr. Ballard appeared in the arena, he being 
 a delegate from Audubon Coimty, and his 
 stentorian voice was heard to utter the name 
 of Gov. Kirkwood as a candidate. More than 
 a score of delegates were on their feet in a 
 moment, demanding by what authority this 
 surprising announcement was made, and 
 whether Kirkwood would accept. Ballard, 
 without taking his seat, responded: " In the 
 name of the great Republican party. I make 
 this nomination, and in its name and for it I 
 promise that the great War Governor will 
 accept." The effect was electrical. The 
 nomination swept the convention like a storm. 
 Kirkwood accepted, was elected, became a 
 United States Senator, and. in 1881, a mem- 
 ber of the cabinet of President Garfield. 
 
 The career of Dr. Ballard and of Mr. 
 Street, in the land office, was a short one. 
 The administration of Gen. Pierce succeeded 
 that of Millard Filmore, on the 4th of March, 
 1853, and, in the following June, Dr. Enos 
 Lowe and Lysander W. Babbitt, both Demo- 
 crats, came from the eaatern part of the State 
 to assume the two offices respectively. Dr. 
 Lowe was a resident of Biu'lington at the 
 date of his appointment, and Mr. Babbitt's 
 home was on the Des Moines River. Dr. 
 Lowe eventually became a citizen of Omaha, 
 and took an active part in the founding ot 
 that city, and died there, several years ago, 
 
106 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 highly honored by her people. Mr. Babbitt 
 continued to reside in Council Bluffs, in 
 1868, serving in the Legislature; also several 
 terms as Mayor, at various times, and, in 
 1881, removed to Beebe, in the State of Ar- 
 kansas, which now is his permanent home. 
 He was also the editor and publisher of the 
 daily and the weekly Bugle, dui'ing a large 
 portion of the existence of that paper, and 
 during its vicissitudes held it to its duty as 
 the standard of the Democratic party. 
 
 It may be of some interest to know that 
 the first entry made at the Council Bluffs 
 Land Office was by Joseph D. Lane, the sec- 
 ond by Jacob Bush and the third by Mrs. 
 Maria Mynster. the tract of the latter iuclud- 
 ing what is now known as Mynsters Addition 
 to the city, on the north side of Indian 
 Creek, and extending northward beyond 
 Mynster's Springs, where this venerable old 
 lady has her beautiful and romantic home. 
 
 Among the necessary improvements made 
 in the part of the city embraced in the local- 
 ity just referred to, was the erection of a 
 water-mill, at a point about one-third of the 
 length of Scott street, from Washington ave- 
 nue, and where the bluff slopes to the west. 
 Indian Creek, though only a crooked, devious, 
 shallow brook, was utilized and dammed 
 above Market street, the water carried north- 
 westward, in a race which crossed what is 
 now Washington avenue, where the City 
 Mills stand, and to the mill in question. 
 Traces of this primitive water-way are still 
 visible at several points, though every other 
 vestige of the mill has long since disappeared. 
 That was the last and only effort made to em- 
 ploy this hckle stream for any other piu'pose 
 than drainage and sewerage. 
 
 The first tire that is noted in the annals of 
 the city occurred on the 11th of November, 
 1853. Twenty-five buildings, nearly all of 
 them log houses, standing in a grouj) in the 
 
 vicinity of the junction of Madison street and 
 Broadwaj', were consumed. Stutsman & 
 Donnell, E. B. Pegram and Tootle & Jack- 
 son were the pi'incipal sufferers. The Bugle 
 office was also seriously damaged. 
 
 An incident characteristic of frontier life 
 was attached to this fire. Thomas B. Neeley, 
 an eccentric individual of the Davy Crockett 
 species, had emigrated from Indiana and set- 
 tled in a lonely cabin, on the borders of what 
 afterward became Monona, and Harrison 
 counties, and lived in that remote spot as a 
 bachelor long before he had any neighbors. 
 By and by settlers siUTounded him, and. in 
 the turn of the political wheel, he was chosen 
 to the Legislature in 1853. To make a re- 
 sjiectable appearance at the capital of the 
 State, he came to Council Bluffs in his fron- 
 tier garb and bought a new suit of clothes 
 and a satchel. With these he intended to 
 surprise his fellow-members from the more 
 fortunate districts in the eastern part of the 
 new State. The young woman whom he in- 
 tended as his wife was living at D. B. Clark's, 
 and, going out there that evening to see her, 
 he concluded that he would leave his new 
 clothes at Tootle & Jackson's store, and wear 
 them for the first time at the State Capital. 
 That night the store was destroyed by fire, 
 and with it his new satchel and its contents. 
 Nothing daunted, he went his way, dressed 
 as he came, and when he appeiired in his 
 seat in the House, his uncouth appearance 
 and garb were the wonder of his fellow-mem- 
 bers. One of them, with more nerve and as- 
 siu-ance than the rest, approached Neeley 
 with the inquiry: "Why is it that they don't 
 send men here from your jiart of the State 
 that seem to know more than you do, IVIr. 
 Neelay ? " " I don't know any other reason," 
 replied Mr. Neeley, " than that it is because I 
 am the only one out there who has clothes 
 good enough to come." With all his oddi- 
 
HISTOEY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 107 
 
 ties, he was a useful member, and at the end 
 of his term settled down again to hunting, 
 farming, in a way, fishing and telling stories, 
 of the latter of which he had an abundanc, 
 with much native wit, and, having reared a 
 large family in frontier style, much after the 
 manner of Rip Van Winkle, and growing 
 restless of his surroundings, in 1881, he hied 
 away to ^'ashington Territory, with all he 
 had, to begin the world over in the virgin 
 forest. Like Daniel Boone, when he left 
 Kentucky for Missouri, he began to feel that 
 he was crowded, and wanting more elbow 
 room, sought it on the Pacific coast 
 
 An event notable in that day was the opening 
 of the Pacific House, on Christmas, liSoS. The 
 extraordinary influx of strangers dui'ing the 
 summer, prompted S. S. Bayliss to build a 
 new hotel in the addition laid out by him, 
 and this resulted in the erection of the Pacific 
 House, where it now stands on Broadway, 
 opposite the junction of Pearl street with the 
 latter. At first, it did not cover the space 
 that it now includes. The three-story brick 
 " L " on the west side was added in 1869, 
 destroyed by tire in the winter of 1871, and 
 rebuilt two years later. For many yenrs, 
 this constituted the principal hotel in the 
 city, and until the erection of the Ogden 
 House, in the summer of 1869. 
 
 Council Bluffs, dm'ing the winter of 1853 
 and the spring and summer of 1854, received 
 many accessions of citizens, who performed 
 an important part in its development, and 
 who have, under all circumstances, adhered 
 to its fortune, good or ill. Among these were 
 Addison Cochran, A. V. Larimer and Judge 
 R. L. Douglass. Col. Cochran is a native of 
 Loudoun County, Va., having been born near 
 Hillsboro, a few miles from Harper' .s Ferry. 
 Being of an adventurous disposition, as a 
 young man, he took part in the war for 
 Texan independence, and participated in tpiite 
 
 a number of the actions which formed the 
 prominent events of that notable conflict. He 
 engaged in the real estate business upon 
 coming to Council Bluffs, and pursued that 
 for many years. In 1878, he became Mayor 
 of Covmcil Bluffs, having served in the Coun- 
 cil in 1S5S, 1859, 1800 and 1861. During 
 the last three years, he has spent most of his 
 time improving and cultivating a large farm 
 in the river bottom, in the vicinity of Little 
 Sioux, in Harrison County. 
 
 Judge Douglass, who came to Council 
 Bluffs in 1851, was born at Hagerstown, Md., 
 and removed to Indiana in his youth. In 
 the latter State, he studied law, and after 
 practicing his profession there for some 
 years, came here to resume it. His great 
 force of character soon assigned him a leading 
 position in local aflairs. His professional suc- 
 cess was positive, and all his business enter- 
 prises brought him wealth and independence. 
 In 1855, he became City Attorney, and held 
 that oflice dui-ing that year, when C. E. Stone 
 was Mayor, and also during the next year, 
 1850, when Capt. D. T\'. Price was Mayor. 
 Mr. Douglass became a member of the City 
 Council in 1864, and served the term of two 
 years, and was again chosen, in 1806, for 
 another two years. In 1873, he was again 
 chosen for a full term, which he served. 
 The Legislature which met in January, 
 1868, for the purpose of increasing the facili- 
 ties for administering justice in the rapidly 
 expanding interests of the State, constituted 
 two Circuit Judges and two separate circuits 
 in each of the twelve judicial districts into 
 which Iowa was then divided. At the No- 
 vember election of that year, Mr. Douglass 
 was chosen one of those Judges for this, the 
 then Third Judicial District, for a term of four 
 years, in the circuit embracing Council Bluffs; 
 and James W. McDill, at present a United 
 States Senator, was chosen the other Circuit 
 
108 
 
 HISTORY OF pottaavatta:mie COVXTY. 
 
 Judge for theterritoiy embracingbisliome, Af- 
 tou, in Uniou County. Judge James Gr. Day. 
 of Fremont County, since then and for several 
 terms one of the Judges of the State Supreme 
 Court, was the Judge of the District Court, 
 and the three constituted, under the law, an 
 Appellate Court, called the General Term. 
 The General Assembly of 1870 abolished the 
 appellate jurisdiction, and reduced the num- 
 ber of Circuit Judges. Judge Day resigned, 
 and Judge McDill succeeded him in the Dis- 
 trict bench, and Jud^e Douglass served as 
 Circuit Judge until the 1st of January, 1873, 
 when he was succeeded by T. R. Stockton, of 
 Fremont County. 
 
 Judge Douglass took an active interest al- 
 ways in politics and was an enthusiastic Re- 
 publican. He was also an early advocate of 
 railway improvements and interests, and, at 
 
 an early date took a leading part in the or- 
 ganization of the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph 
 Railroad, together with Horace Everett, W. 
 C. James, L. W. Babbitt and other citizens 
 of Council Bluifs, and of which S. F. Nuck- 
 olls was the first President. 
 
 Soon after hostilties ceased in the Southern 
 States, Judge Douglass was induced to make 
 investments in Alabama and Florida, and, 
 his health becoming precarious in the years 
 1875 and 1876, he spent p^rt of each year in 
 Florida, improving and developing an orange 
 grove. In 1877, he died on his plantation, in 
 that State, and his remains were there biiried. 
 His widow, he having left no lineal heirs, 
 soon afterward removed from the Council 
 Bluffs homestead to Cleveland. Ohio, and 
 now makes that her residence. 
 
 CHAPTER XTIII.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFF,S— GEN'ER.VL CURTIS, AND .J. D. TEST— SKETCH OF .JUDGE FRWK STaEET— P.A.TRICK 
 
 MURPHY— TEST, .TOHNSON AND OASADY— A. V. LARIMERS SKETCH— FORT CALHOUN 
 
 CLAIM FIGHT— DEATH OF SHERMAN GOSS— H. C. PURl'LE WOUNDED— 
 
 A. J. POPPLETON OF OMAHA— LOST ST. MARY'S. 
 
 "TT is the human interest in the men who 
 -*- have b'lilt a city that makes a sketch of its 
 growth and progress valuable and entertain- 
 ing, even. It is the ordinary and almost uni- 
 versal experience of men who have visited 
 battle-fields, that those where the conflict was 
 in the midst of thrivinsr villages and farms 
 and farmhouses, have an attraction, and excites 
 emotions that are impossible where the dead- 
 ly struggle was unwitnessed, save by the sav- 
 age forest or the sterile and treeless plain. 
 It is the men who found cities that we want 
 just as they were, and hence the annalist is 
 most ])rofitably occupied with those facts 
 
 «By Col. Johu H. Keatley. 
 
 which endow the dry narrative with human 
 life. ' A sound mind in a sound body " is al- 
 most a universal truth. Strong, vigorous men 
 are mainly those who pioneer early settle- 
 ments. It was peculiarly so in the case of 
 Council Bluffs. Judge James. Judge Lari- 
 mer. Judge Douglass, John T. Baldwin, 
 Judge Caleb Baldwin, Dr. Ballard. Gen. 
 Benton, Gen. Curtis, Col. Test, D. C. Bloom- 
 er and others, who shared the early fortunes 
 of Council Bluffs, were men of powerful 
 frame. They were physically constituted to 
 do the arduous work of the frontier. It is 
 by an insight into their early training that 
 we catch a glimpse, also, of the real work 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 109 
 
 that tbey accomplished. Happily, the op- 
 pi)rtiinity has not passed when the material of 
 such a review are within the reach of the 
 careful annalist. 
 
 Amons those who came to Council Bluffs in 
 1851, and virtnally lived through what may 
 be termed the transition period, assisting in 
 stamping his own character upon its institu- 
 tions, was Patrick Murphy, who died here on 
 the ISth of February, 1877, in the seventy- 
 fifth year of his age. Mr. Murphy was born 
 at Kilkenny. Ireland, on the 16th of July. 
 1802. At an early age, he was sent to France 
 to be educated, the a-igidity of English law 
 against Catholics operating in his case pre- 
 cisely as in the case of the great Daniel 
 O'Connell, who was sent for the same pur- 
 pose to the College of St. Oiner. Mr. Mur- 
 phy thus became a fine classical scholar, and 
 cherished to the day of his death, and amid 
 his most active pursuits, his early acquired 
 literary tastes. His first settlement, after 
 arriving in the United States, was at Rich- 
 mond. Va. He removed from there to Seda- 
 lia, Mo., where he remained until he came to 
 Council Bluffs, and made this his life-home. 
 At Sedalia, he was married to Miss Mary 
 Dolan. One child, Mrs. Austin Darraugh, 
 was the result of this marriage, and. in 
 1854. Mrs. Mui-phy died in this city. Mr. 
 Murphy became one of the most prosperous 
 of the early merchants of Council Bluffs, 
 and. in 1860, retired from business with 
 sufficient to provide for himself and only 
 child diu'ing his life. His wealth was in- 
 vested mainly in substantial improvements, 
 the most prominent one being the Bee-Hive 
 brick biiilding, between the Nonpareil 
 building, on Scott street, and the location of 
 the new opera house at the corner of Broad- 
 way and Center street. 
 
 Not only was Judge Street the medium 
 through which the lot owners acquired their 
 
 titles from the United States, but during his 
 long residence here he filled a large space in 
 public estimation, both in city and in county 
 affairs. The date of his arrival has already 
 been given. 
 
 The Street family, to which he belonged, 
 are traced to Salem, Salem Co., N. J. It 
 was from that State to Ohio that Judge 
 Street's father removed, and then passing 
 into Kentucky, he eventually settled at Knox- 
 ville, Tenn., where the Judge was born, and 
 where his father lived five years afterward, 
 and then moved North again. Judge Street 
 was of Quaker origin, and had many of the 
 characteristics of that widespread people. 
 He was born on the 12th of July. 1819. His 
 father moved from Salem, Ohio, to Spring- 
 field, 111., and from Springfield to Salem, 
 Henry County, in this State. Here Judge 
 Street remained until the date of his coming 
 to Council Bluffs, in the meantime having 
 studied law at Mt. Pleasant, and having 
 made a trip to California in 1850, and being 
 absent two years. He was married in 1842, 
 and. at his death, on the 21st of February, 
 1877, left several sons and one daughter, one 
 of the sons being the Clerk of the District 
 and Circuit Courts of this county. He was 
 always active and prominent in politics, be- 
 ing a thoi'ough earnest Republican, and when 
 in his prime was regarded as a pleasing and 
 an effective speaker on the stump. He was 
 the Republican candidate for State Senator, 
 in 1857. against W. H. M. Pusey. when the 
 Senatorial district extended along the Mis- 
 som'i River from the Minnesota to the Mis- 
 souri line, and when a whole day was some- 
 times spent in making the journey from one 
 cabin to another in the district. The two 
 contestants for State Senatorial honors trav- 
 ersed the territory separately, with private 
 conveyances, occasionally crossing each other's 
 paths, and sometimes, as they did it at Sioux 
 
110 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 City, engaging in an impromptu joint dis- 
 cuBsion, when Sioux City was scarcely more 
 than a mere village. -Judge Street was de- 
 feated by his competitor, and it is a singular 
 fact that Mr. Pusey had a majority in every 
 voting precinct in the district, and a major- 
 ity in every county in the district. Mr. Street, 
 however, was elected that year as City Re- 
 corder, anil hold the office for two terms. He 
 was a delegate to the National Rej)ublican 
 Convention at Chicago, in 1860, when Abra- 
 ham Lincoln was nominated for the Presi- 
 dency, and, in 1861, he was made Register 
 of the Council Bluffs Land Office. This po- 
 sition he held until 1S69, when Sylvester 
 Dodge, the father of Gen. G. M. Dodge, was 
 appointed by the administration of Gen. 
 Grant, and Judge Street retired to private 
 life. He took quite an active part in the po- 
 litical campaign of 1868, but his health soon 
 after began to fail, and he declined from 
 time to time until the date of his death just 
 stated. After his vigorous constitution be- 
 gan to be sapped, he spent several years in 
 Kansas, but always turned to Council Bluffs 
 with a longing that was irresistible, and 
 yielding at last to it, he came back to spend 
 his days, then already numbered. He died 
 as he had lived, without incurring the hatred 
 of a single mortal. His funeral from the 
 Presbyterian Church, of which he became, in 
 his closing years, a member, was one of the 
 largest Council Bluffs ever witnessed. 
 
 Another former prominent citizen who 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1853. was Col. 
 James D. Test. The traveler by rail fi'om 
 the south, on approaching the city, cannot 
 fail to have his attention drawn to a hand- 
 some spot in the Vilufts, and a neat, sniig 
 brick house on the right of the railway as the 
 city limits are reached. This was the home 
 of Col. Test in the latter years of his life, and 
 here centered all his manly jpride and devotion. 
 
 His father was Judge Charles H. Test, of 
 Rush County, Ind., where Col. Test was born, 
 in June, 1827. In 1850, he emigrated to 
 Burlington, Iowa, arriving without funds, 
 and obtaining employment in a wholesale 
 drug house. He remained there until 1853, 
 when his adventurous spirit brought him to 
 Council Bluffs. Judge Jefferson P. Casady 
 had just made this his home, and he, Hadley 
 D. Johnson and Col, Test entered into a part- 
 nership to deal in real estate, their office 
 being established at the northeast corner of 
 North Main street and Broadway, in a build- 
 ing that afterward gave way to the brick 
 block now occupied by the First National 
 Bank. Mr, Johnson and Judge Casady were 
 both members of the bar, and Col, Test, hav- 
 ing read law with them dm'ing their part- 
 nership, was duly admitted to practice in the 
 courts, Mr, Johnson withdrew from the firm 
 in 1850, leaving it still to exist as Casady & 
 Test, and by this title a business in land, ex- 
 change and banking was conducted by them 
 until 1862. In 1854, Col. Test was elected 
 a member of the State Senate, and, in 18<i0, 
 was one of the Breekenridge candidates for 
 elector in Iowa, When the gold excitement 
 in Colorado broke out and became epidemic, 
 he went to Central City, in what was then 
 the Territory, and spent several years in 
 profitable mining operations. He eventually 
 returned to Council Bluffs, and made it his 
 home until his death. He was married to a 
 daughter of the late Col. A. S. Grovenor, but 
 his wife died after a short married life, leav- 
 ing one daughter, who. itpon attaining 
 womanhood, mai'ried A. T. Elwell, of this 
 city. She, too, survived her marriage with 
 Mr. Elwell scarcely more than a year. Col. 
 Test made a journey on business to Chicago, 
 in February, 1869. He was there taken sick 
 with congestion of the lungs, and lived only 
 a few days. His remains were brought home 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 for interment, and seldom has there been here 
 a more positive demonstration of public grief 
 than at his funeral. He was a man of most 
 generous impulses, and cordial and winning 
 address. He was an eloquent public speaker, 
 and possessed a splendid physique. As a 
 political writer for the newspapers, to which 
 he frequently contributed as an amateur, he 
 was sometimes bitter and caustic, being a ^ 
 warm and uncompromising partisan, but the 
 sauvity of his ordinary intercourse extracted 
 the sting from many a pungent paragi'aph 
 that was traced to his pen. He was public- 
 spirited in a high degree, and this led to the 
 forgiveness of all his faults. 
 
 The name of Col. Test could not be men- 
 tioned without associating that of Judge J. 
 P. (^asady, who stands as a sole representa- 
 ti ve of a business still siuwiving after a lapse 
 of twenty-nine years. He was born at Con- 
 nersville, Ind. , and removed to the city of 
 Des Moines in 1852, when that was simi^ly 
 on the frontier and still had about it the 
 odor of a mere military post. He was admit- 
 ted to the bar at Des Moines, and removed to 
 Council Bluffs in 1853, where, as already 
 stated, he entered into the land business with 
 Test and Johnson. He was elected County- 
 Judge in 1858, and was made one of the Di- 
 rectors of the Council Blviffs & St. Joseph 
 Railroad Company in 1861. In 18G7, he 
 was elected to the State Senate from the dis- 
 trict composed of the counties of Pottawatta- 
 mie, Mills, Fremont and Cass, the district 
 being largely Republican, but Jiidge Casady's 
 high character and general acquaintance gave 
 him an almost unprecedented popularity. 
 His Republican competitor in that conflict 
 was William Hale, of Mills Coiuity, now the 
 Territorial Governor of Wyoming. He was 
 married to Miss Joiner, but was deprived by 
 death of his estimable wife in the sjiring of 
 this year. Amidst his other public and pri- 
 
 vate duties, he has been aa active promoter 
 of the religious and educational interests of 
 the city. He assisted in the organization of 
 the Presbyterian Church, and has always 
 been regarded as one of its most important 
 members. He has also served on the Board 
 of Education, and, in 1871, 1872 and 1873, 
 was a member of the City Cou.ncil. 
 
 Among those who came here, early in 1854, 
 and left their impress upon the city, and still 
 survive to witness its growth and prosperity, 
 is Hon. A. V. Larimer. His name is connected 
 with the most important piece of Congressional 
 legislation, and a decision of the courts, that 
 ever in any way, effected the interests of Council 
 Bluffs. Reference is here made to the juris- 
 diction that was given to the United States 
 Circuit Court of Iowa, to entertain certain 
 mandamus cases, and also to the decision of 
 the United States Supreme Court, iu the mat- 
 ter of the_eastern terminus of the Union Pa- 
 cific Railroad. 
 
 These matters will receive appropriate at- 
 tention in the proper places when tiie narrative 
 of the events themselves are reached. It is 
 only now with the personality of Judge Lari- 
 mec, that we have to deal as one of the early 
 pioneers of Council Bluffs. 
 
 Judge Larimer was born in Center County, 
 Pennsylvania, on the 21st of March, 1829. 
 His earl}' education was such as could only be 
 obtained in the log schoolhouse of that day in 
 the winter months, with arduous toil on the 
 farm in the summer time. Ambitious to ac- 
 quire something more of an education than 
 the meager country schools of that day afforded, 
 he procured a scholarship at Allegheny Col- 
 lege at 3Ieadville, Penn., through the loan of 
 such scholarship by the Hon. John Keatley, 
 then Marshal of the Western District of that 
 State, and the uncle of the writer of these 
 annals. With $10 borrowed from James 
 Blair, his former teacher, Judge Larimer as a 
 hopeful youth, set out on foot, with a compan- 
 
112 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 ion, to trudge for more than 150 miles to 
 Meadville, to take his place among strangers 
 in the contests of life. He remained at college 
 for a 3'ear, and his means having given out, he 
 abandoned the idea, came home, worked on the 
 farm for a time, and then came West, engaging 
 in flat boating from Ripley-, 0., to New Orleans. 
 In 1848, he returned to college, and after a 
 year's study, was suspended for boarding at a 
 hotel in violation of the college regulations. 
 He was unsettled for some time, but eventually 
 commenced the stutl}- of law, with ex-Governor 
 Andrew G. Curtin, ia Bellefonte, and also at- 
 tended a course of law lectures at the famous 
 law school of Judge ^IcCartney, at Easton, 
 Penn. 
 
 In March, 1851, he started to Council Blulfs, 
 and in the spring of tliat year became one of 
 the citizens, a title he has worthilj' borne ever 
 since. In the fall of that j'ear he became the 
 Democratic candidate for Prosecuting Attorney' 
 against L, M. Kline, the Wliig aspirant to that 
 office, and was elected. By the resignation of 
 Judge Hall a vacancy was created in the office 
 of County Judge, and Mr. Larimer was ap- 
 pointed to fill it, holding the position until 
 1856. He was elected in the latter year to the 
 House of Representatives in tlie General As- 
 semblj' of the State, his opponent being B. R. 
 Pegram, who at that time was engaged in hank- 
 ing, Col. Test, at that date, also being the Sena- 
 tor from the district, in part composed of Pot- 
 tawattamie County. Many of the citizens of 
 Council Blufl's at that date took an active in- 
 terest in claims in the newlj'-formed Territory 
 of Nebraska. Many serious conflicts took place 
 between claimants, and some of these appeared 
 considerably warlike. On the 27th of August, 
 1855, a collision occurred at Fort Calhoun, at 
 which were Hadley D. Johnson, Addison Coch- 
 ran, A. J. Poppleton, James C. Mitchell, J. P. 
 Casady, A. V. Larimor and a number of others 
 from Council BluSs. Firearms were freelj' used, 
 and Sherman Goss, a settler in Rockford Town- 
 
 ship, was twice shot and almost instantly killed. 
 H. C. Purple, who was long identified with 
 the city, was also severely and dangerously 
 wounded. 
 
 As is common in the early settlement of com- 
 munities, friendships are formed that endure for 
 a lifetime, and attachments spring up that are 
 only severed by the hand of death. Such was 
 the case with Col. Test, A. V. Larimer and 
 Judge James, forming a trio of friends never 
 broken into except in the case of the death of 
 Col. Test, already mentioned. Larimer spent 
 his first winter in Council Bluffs, in the office 
 of Judge James, on Maine street, and after a 
 lapse of twentj'-eight years he is still an occu- 
 pant under the same roof with him, onlj' a few 
 feet from where the}' first met. 
 
 Judge Larimer practiced his profession until 
 1875, and then retired, and since then has had 
 large interests in the Western cattle business 
 in the territories of Wj-omiug and Montana. 
 Among the causes cclehres in which he was en- 
 gaged during his professional career, was the 
 defense of Batcheler for the killing of Pierce, 
 and who was acquitted through the industr}', 
 zeal and talents of his counsel. Reference has 
 also been made to other matters of litigation 
 of a local and important character, which will 
 come under its appropriate date, when the his- 
 tory, and development of the LTnion Pacific 
 Railroad are considered. Judge Larimer, dur- 
 ing his residence here, has had large real estate 
 interests in the city. He was the owner, at one 
 time, of the ground upon which the Casady 
 building stands, opposite where the court 
 house is, and also the ground set apart by 
 the Bishop for the erection of a new Catholic 
 church, at the northwest corner of Centre 
 street and Buckingham street, opposite St. 
 Joseph's Academy. He also was the proprie- 
 tor of the ground on which was erected St. 
 Francis Academy under the auspices of the 
 Sisters, and which is now one of the most im- 
 portant and most flourishing educational insti- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 113 
 
 tutioiis in the West. Judge Larimer's life has 
 been an active one, in all respects, and his 
 character is positive and decisive. He has left, 
 in the twent3'-eight j-ears that he has li^•ed 
 here, a decided impress upon the city, and has 
 a fair share, in the honor of its growth and 
 prosper! tj-. 
 
 In connection with the mention of the claim 
 fight, at Port Calhoun, Xeb.. was the name of A. 
 J. Poppleton. While he has been a citizen of 
 Omaha for manj' jears, and particularlj- identi- 
 fied with her interests, the incidents of his 
 residence in Council Bluffs in 1854, must not 
 be forgotten. He came here that year, a young 
 lawyer from the State of New York, and opened 
 a law office, intending to settle in Council 
 Bluffs. Being a boarder at the Pacific House, 
 he there formed the acquaintance of Miss 
 Sears, and an attachment sprang u]) that ter- 
 minated in marriage in 185G. Attracted by 
 the prospects of Omaha, he settled there when 
 it was a mere straggling village, and grew up 
 with it to fame and fortune. When the Union 
 Pacific Raih'oad was projected and commenced, 
 he was made its resident attorney, and though 
 a Democrat, and identified with the interests of 
 that party in Nebraska, has kept control of the 
 business, and retained the confidence of the 
 management of that road, from Council Bluffs 
 to Ogden, through all its changes and vicisi- 
 tudes. Twenty-five }'ears after the happy 
 marriage of himself and wife, thej- celebrated 
 the event in ISSl, by collecting around them, at 
 their elegant home in Omaha, hundreds of the 
 pioneers of the two cities, and among them, a 
 score of those who had witnessed the real 
 ceremony, when Council Bluffs and Omaha 
 were mere frontier villages without a railroad, 
 and a dim prospect of their early realization. 
 
 In the northern borders of Mills County, a 
 rival town to Council Blufls, called St. Mary's, 
 sprang up about 1853 and 1854. on the east 
 bank of the Missouri River. Its nucleus was 
 a steamboat landing a few miles below Trader's 
 
 Point, in Pottawattamie County. The vicissi- 
 tudes of the Missouri River are illustrated in 
 the fate of the place. At one time, it contained 
 2,000 prosperous people. Some of its business 
 houses were of brick, and a large and thriving 
 trade was established, not only with the sur- 
 rounding territory, but far inland. Year by 
 j'ear, the Missouri River encroached upon its 
 soft and friable soil, and year by year section 
 after section of its town plat was carried away 
 by the "June rise." Its inhabitants looked 
 upon it as doomed, and by 18(38 not a vestige 
 of it remained, everj- foot of ground having 
 been swept into the river by the changing cur- 
 rent ; and b}' the exigencies of the flood, its 
 site was transferred, if such a movement can be 
 called a transfer, to the jurisdiction of Nebras- 
 ka. Some of the most valuable buildings that 
 could be moved, were brought to Council 
 Bluffs, when it was once seen that St. Mary's 
 was a doomed city. 
 
 In referring to this and prior periods, the 
 names of Jones A. Jackson and W. C. James 
 have been used as connecting links of the past 
 and the present. Both were and are marked 
 characters, and exerted their influence in shap- 
 ing the city, and both are known almost 
 wherever it is known. Jackson was the first to 
 come, and the date of his arrival has already 
 been given. He came with the spirit and en- 
 ergj' of a pioneer. He was born in Ohio on 
 the 4th of March, 1829 ; removed to Missouri 
 and there lived some j'ears, coming to Council 
 Bluffs in 1851. His business connections here 
 with Milton Tootle, of St. Joseph, Mo., extended 
 to Sioux City, where the^' controlled a large 
 business with the great countr3' of the Upper 
 Missouri. He and others became the original 
 owners of the town site of Omaha, and his ex- 
 ertions for the establishment of the territorial 
 capital at that point were of the most effectual 
 character. The important and valuable addi- 
 tion to Council Blufl's, called Jackson's Addi- 
 tion, was named after him. l)y the other joint 
 
114 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUISTTY. 
 
 owners with him, as a compliment, growing 
 out of the high regard his business associates 
 had for him. 
 
 His influence was felt from the start in any 
 new enterprise calculated to further the inter- 
 ests of the city, and his name is found enrolled 
 as a councilman in 1855 and 1856. When the 
 firm of Tootle & Jackson was dissolved, Mr. 
 Jackson engaged in the hazardous and danger- 
 ous business of freighting to Colorado, over 
 nearly a thousand miles of waste and plains. 
 No conception can now be formed of the true 
 nature of that traffic through a country desti- 
 tute of timber and inhabitants, and with no 
 highway but the trail made by the pioneer 
 wagon, and with a journey of months before 
 the hardy men who risked all in the adventure. 
 In 1865, Mr. Jackson removed to St. Louis, and 
 there established the well-known wholesale gro- 
 cery house of James A. Jackson <& Co., and 
 continued in that business there until 1876. In 
 1877, he transferred his capital to the cattle 
 business in Wyoming Territory-, where he and 
 
 his son, Andrew M. Jackson, are the owners of 
 of a herd of 6,000 cattle, at their ranch on the 
 Sweetwater Kiver. James A. Jackson is also 
 the son of Mrs. Racliel Jackson, who died in 
 Council Bluffs in the winter of 1881-82, at a 
 great age, and who was venerated ,b3" thousands 
 of persons who have come here and have been 
 born here during the past twenty-five years. 
 The}' are of the family of Jacksons, whose high- 
 est exemplar was the hero of New Orleans. 
 When the latter died, Mrs. Rachel Jackson was 
 included in the family invitations to the funeral 
 at the Hermitage. 
 
 Mr. Jackson was married, during his early 
 settlement in Council Bluflfs, to Miss Henrietta 
 St. Albans, a native of New Orleans, and the 
 step-daughter of Dr. J. K. Cook, one of the 
 early settlers of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Jack- 
 son have two children — Andrew M. Jackson, 
 who was born here, and who, with his parents, 
 have resumed their residence in Council Bluffs, 
 and Georgia Jackson, now the wife of Judge 
 A. S. Wilson, of Washington, Kan. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS — SKETCfl OF JUDGE JAMES— HIS HANDICRAFT— WINTER OF IS.53-54 — DEATH 
 
 OF JAMES McMillan— TITLE TO LOTS ACQUIRED— JAMES W. GRIMES— CURTIS', 
 
 RAMSAYS AND GRIMES' ADDITIONS — SKETCH OF GEN. SAMUEL 
 
 RYAN CURTIS— HIS DK.4TH AT COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 dent at Oberlin College, working, as was the 
 wont in those days by farmers' sons in Ohio, 
 upon the farm in summer and pushing their 
 education to the best possible advantage in win- 
 ter. In due time he studied law with Messrs. 
 Wilson and Wade, in Cleveland, and then 
 started to Council Bluffs, reaching here in De- 
 cember, 1852. When he reached Silver Creek 
 Stage Station, east of Council Blufi's, kept by 
 Pleasant Taylor, he paid to the latter the last 
 quarter of a dollar he had in the world for his 
 lodging at night and his breakfast, and entered 
 
 A MORE particular sketch of Judge James 
 may be more interesting than that already 
 given to those who may come after us, and the 
 means of such a characterization may all have 
 disappeared. Like manj- more who came here in 
 those days, he was penniless, but not despondent. 
 He was born at Elmyra, in Lorain County, 
 Ohio, on the 1st day of January, 1830. His 
 father was George F. James, who received a 
 military education at West Point. The son, 
 who, at an early age, was ambitious, was a stu- 
 
 •By Col. John H. Keatl<>y. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUKTY. 
 
 115 
 
 the place that daj- with not so much as a sou 
 and a frieud upon whom he could call for assist- 
 ance. The first money he earned after his ar- 
 rival was a dollar for cutting a load of wood 
 into stove wood for Pr P. J. McMahon. [n 
 the summer of 1853. he turned his hand to 
 bricklaying and plastering, and built the brick 
 house, on Broadway-, occupied bj' J. H. Kogers, 
 of the omnibus line, this Iseing, as before stated, 
 the first brick house in the place. From that 
 date his energies prospered him, and in 1856 
 he erected the three-story block known as the 
 James Block, at the southeast corner of Broad- 
 way and Main street. He also largely invested 
 in lands, and became the owner of the large 
 and valuable estate east of Big Grove, and im- 
 proved b}' him into a magnificent farm, now 
 owned and operated by John T. Baldwin. He 
 was also elected County Judge in the fall of 
 1856, and served with credit to himself and in 
 the true interests of the county. He was also 
 a member of the Council in 1856 and 1857, 
 again in 1872, 1873, 1874, 1876 and 1879. He 
 was also elected Mayor in 1874 and in 1880. 
 In 1872, he was nominated bj'the State Demo- 
 cratic Convention as a candidate for State 
 Treasurer, and by the convention nominated 
 for Lieutenant Governor in 1 877. Judge James 
 and bis wife have had three children — Kate 
 Larimer James, who has alreadj- won a fine 
 reputation as a singer in opera; Charles James, 
 who died when on the verge of manhood, and 
 JIamie James, who, in Januar}-, 1881, was mar- 
 ried to W. V. Wood, of Camp Thomas, Arizona. 
 The winter of 1853-54 was spent by the in- 
 habitants of Council Bluffs much as other win- 
 ters had been. Horse racing during the se.ason 
 that was fit for such amusements was a favorite 
 pastime. Col. Balibitt was a great admirer of 
 the horse, and spent a great deal of time and 
 money on the turf. He also had a character in 
 his employment who looked after the interests 
 of liis stock. His name was James McMillan. 
 The latter was a wirj-, supple individual, and 
 
 of indomitable pluck. When not readj' for a 
 horse race he was on hand for a free fight. In 
 those days there was a race track in the south- 
 ern part of the city, where the Kansas City 
 roundhouse and railroad yards now are. Sat- 
 urday was a gala day, and the excitement al- 
 ways ran high. Whisky was in free use, and it 
 frequently occurred that at the close of the 
 race the distance between the race grounds 
 and Broadway was a battle-field, groups here 
 and there lieing warmly engaged in fisticuffs in 
 dispute over turf matters. It was very seldom 
 that any more powerful weapon than the fists 
 was used. McMillan fell a victim to his own 
 pugilistic tendency on the day of the Presi- 
 dential election (1872) at Honej^ Creek, on the 
 North-Western Railway. He and Alfred Prazer 
 on that day became involved in a dispute over 
 election matters in Frazer's store. The par- 
 ties clinched in some kind of an encounter. 
 McJIillan was either thrown or fell to the floor, 
 and never breathed again. Mr. Frazer was sub- 
 sequently put on his trial for the murder of 
 McMillan, but the jurj- properl}- brought in a 
 verdict of not guilty. 
 
 On the 6th of April, 1854, Congress passed 
 an act to enable the citizens, of Council Bluffs 
 to acquire title to their lots. It authorized 
 County Judge Frank Street, under rules pre- 
 scribed b}- the Legislature of Iowa, to execute 
 deeds to bona fide claimants, provided the 
 claims for the same were made within twelve 
 months from the passage of the act. On the 
 10th daj' of May following the approval of the 
 act by the President, Judge Street made an 
 entry of two forty-acre tracts in Section 30, 
 that is, emliracing what is now known as the 
 Old Town plat, and also two forties in Section 
 31 , in Township 75. Range 43 West. He also en- 
 tered for the same use, at the same time, 240 
 acres in Section 25, and the same number of 
 acres in Section 36. in Township 75, Range 44. 
 This substantially included the territory em- 
 braced in the Bayliss claim, in the Old Town 
 
116 
 
 HISTOKY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY 
 
 plat, and in that east of Madison street, so as 
 to include the George Kiiline property. There 
 were numerous disputes to settle before the titles 
 to claimants could, in all cases, be perfected. 
 Thomas and David Tostevin. nativesof the Isleof 
 Guernsej-, in the British Channel, and residents 
 of Brooklyn, N. Y., from childhood to manhood, 
 came to Council Bluffs at about the date of the 
 arrival of Judge Street, and began the practice 
 of their profession, that of land surve}-ors. 
 Both of these gentlemen are still residents of 
 the place. Thomas Tostevin was employed bj- 
 Judge Street to make an accurate survey of 
 the lands held in trust by him for the uses of 
 the claimants, as just described, and to plat the 
 respective lines. This was done, and the map 
 so constructed at that time, and now known as 
 the Tostevin Map, is taken as accurate in all 
 questions where a reference is made to that 
 date. 
 
 Thomas Tostevin was afterwards Treasurer 
 of the County, and Mayor of the city in 1868. 
 Now (1882) he is City Engineer. David Tos- 
 tevin also held the office of County Surveyor 
 for several terms, and the accuracy of his work 
 has always inspired the utmost confidence 
 where claims have been in dispute. 
 
 Stutsman's Addition, immediately east of the 
 Old Town Plat; Mills' and Myuster's additions, 
 on the north side of Indian Creek; Jackson's 
 Addition, embracing Bancroft street, south of 
 the Old Town plat lines; Hall's, Beer's and 
 Grimes' addition, in the western and north- 
 western sections of the cit}-, were also platted 
 and recorded during that year. James W. 
 Grimes, the great Iowa United States Senator, 
 became owner of the tract of land which now 
 constitutes the addition bearing his name, and 
 having the utmost confidence in the future of 
 the citj-, he caused it to be laid out into lots. 
 Gen. Samuel Ryan Curtis and Dr. Ramsay, of 
 Illinois, became the owners of a tract of land 
 extending to a point touched by the track of 
 the North-Western Railwaj- Company, from 
 
 
 the Broadwaj- Depot to the Union Pacific De- 
 pot, and laid the same out into an addition 
 bearing their names, and including a street 
 named Curtis street, it being now the third ave- 
 nue south of Broadwa}-. Gen. Custis was not 
 only thus historically connected with the found- 
 ing of the cit3', but his long and memorable ca- 
 reer as a citizen and a soldier makes his name 
 the common propertj- of the nation, and de- 
 serves something more than a mere passing ref- 
 erence in these annals. 
 
 When the civil war broke out in 1861, Gen. 
 Curtis was a member of Congress from one of 
 the two districts into which Iowa was then di- 
 vided, his residence being at Keokuk. His birth- 
 place was in Ohio, on the 3d of February, 1807, 
 and from which State, he was sent to the West 
 Point Militarj' Academj', where he graduated 
 in the class of 1827. He was appointed a 
 Brevet Second Lieutenant in the Seventh In- 
 fantry, on the 1st of Julj-, 1831, and after 
 about a 3'ear's service in the regular arm}' was 
 permitted to resign. He adopted the profes- 
 sion of civil engineer, for which he was pecu- 
 liarly fitted by his West Point studies, and 
 the Federal Government then having entered 
 upon a great system of internal improvement 
 in the construction of a turnpike, among other 
 names called the National lload, from Balti- 
 more to Wheeling, Gen. Curtis was emploj-ed 
 in that work. He was afterwards assigned to 
 duty as chief engineer of the Muskingum 
 improvement, and held that position from 1837 
 to 1839. Desiring to change his life-work, he 
 commencnd the study of law, and was admit- 
 ted to the bar at Wooster, Ohio, in 1841. 
 There he remained until the event of the Mexi- 
 can war again changed the current of his life. 
 He was appointed Adjutant General of Ohio 
 for the purpose of aiding the Governor in the 
 formation of the volunteer forces tendered and 
 accepted for service in Mexico. The First and 
 the Second Regiments were sent to the field, 
 and when the Third was read\' for service. Cur- 
 
M f 
 
 
HISTOEY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 119 
 
 lis was made Colonel, and dispatched to the 
 Rio Grande, bej-ond which line Gen. Taylor 
 was then operating. Col. Curtis, with his regi- 
 ment, was principall}- employed in garrison 
 duty, and in keeping open the communications 
 between Taj-lor's column, and his base at 
 Matamoras. Curtis was made military Gov- 
 ernor of the latter place, and of Camargo and 
 of Monterej'. respective! j-. 
 
 When Gen. Taylor was in a most critical po- 
 sition, and virtuall}- surrounded at Buena Vista 
 b}' the overwhelming force of Santa Anna, his 
 communications were severed by Gen. Urrea 
 with an irregular force of Mexicans, number- 
 ing about seven thousand men. Col. Curtis, 
 with a small column of about twelve hundred 
 men, undertook to re-establish the lines, and 
 succeeded in driving Urrea in upon the rear of 
 Taylor's forces. When thej' reached the latter, 
 Curtis was about to make a charge, but the 
 timel3- display of the American colors grate- 
 full}' told the mere handful of men in his com- 
 mand that Taylor's way was again open. As 
 soon as hostilities ceased, and satisfactor}' ne- 
 gotiations for peace began, the regiment was 
 mustered out and sent home, but by Gen. Tay- 
 lor's order Curtis was retained in the service 
 to do duty on the staff of Gen. John E. 
 Wool. When the army of occupation returned 
 to the United States, at the conclusion of peace, 
 Col. Curtis returned to civil life and the prac- 
 tice of the law. He was, however, soon sent 
 to Iowa as Chief Engineer of what is known as 
 the Des Moines Rapids Improvement of the 
 Mississippi River, an extensive worli for the 
 improvement of the navigation of that stream. 
 He made his liome at Keokuk. His restless 
 and energetic disposition soon also impelled 
 him to take part in political affairs in the new 
 State. He was elected Mayor of the city in 
 1855, and also gave close attention to the de- 
 velopment of railroad enterprises, especially in 
 a line of railwaj' from the Mississippi River to 
 the Missouri, at Council Bluffs. He took part 
 
 in the organization of the Republican partj^ of 
 Iowa, and in the fall of 1856 was elected to 
 Congress from the First District. He was not 
 only a member of the Military Committee of 
 the House, but was chairman of that on Pacific 
 Railroads. The Republican part}- had made it 
 a distinctive feature of its policy to construct 
 a railway under national patronage and charter 
 to the Pacific coast, and as representing that 
 interest. Gen. Curtis introduced a bill for a 
 Union Pacific Railwaj' on the Platte Valley 
 route, with branches at either end. This was 
 the basis of the system eventuallj' formulated 
 when the Republican at last obtained control 
 of the Federal Government in all its depart- 
 ments. 
 
 Gen. Curtis frequently visited Council 
 Bluffs, during his residence at Keokuk, and 
 during his career in Congress. Settlements in 
 a narrow belt had been begun in Nebraska, 
 along the Missouri River, and the territory by 
 that name had just commenced to take on 
 political shape. Omaha was a mere village. 
 Florence, a few miles above, was quite a thriv- 
 ing town, and had acquired a savory reputa- 
 tion by the reason of the flood of " wild cat " 
 paper money which it had sent out into the 
 west. Now, Omaha is a large, thriving citj', 
 and Florence is a mere wreck. Gen. Curtis 
 came to Council Bluffs in the summer of 1858, 
 and found an incipient Indian war on foot on 
 the Elkhorn, a short distance west of the Mis- 
 souri River. The Omahas were dissatisfied 
 and discontented, and the Governor of the Ter- 
 ritory, Samuel Black, had organized the 
 militia, under John M. Thayer, afterward a 
 distinguished Union General and a United 
 States Senator, for the purpose of punishing 
 the hostiles. It was just such an opportunit}- 
 as Curtis would himself seek, and he was at 
 once made an aid-de-camp, on the staff of 
 Col. Thayer and went to the front. Gov. 
 Samuel Black was from Pennsylvania, and one 
 of the finest stump orators in the Democratic 
 
120 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 party. He had been made Governor of Ne- 
 braska as a reward for the services performed 
 for the part}' in 1856. He sought an interview 
 with the Indian head men, on the Elkhorn, be- 
 fore resorting to the dire necessity of blood- 
 shed. He and his official retinue left Omaha, 
 the capital of the Territor}', in carriages, with a 
 liberal supply of whisky for their own use, 
 intending to visit the militarj- lines on the Elk- 
 horn, and have a council with the Indian chiefs. 
 By the time thej- reached the frontier, the 
 party were well under the influence of their 
 generous supply of liquor. Black, as was his 
 habit, more than the rest. The Indians were 
 on hand for the " talk," and the interpreter 
 ready for business. Black dismounted, and 
 straightening himself up to his full height, with 
 great dignity asked the interpreter if the ''Big 
 Injun" was ready for the talk. The interpre- 
 ter replied that he was. "Then," said Black, 
 tossing his hat to the back of his head, "ask 
 the old son of a sea-cook what he thinks of 
 me?" After this preliminary, the council pro- 
 ceeded and hostilities were avoided. Black 
 eventually returned to Pittsburgh, and at the 
 breaking-out of the rebellion, took the Union 
 side, was made Colonel of the Sixty-Second 
 Pennsylvania Regiment, and was instantly 
 killed in action, at the battle of Gaines" Mill, 
 under Gen. Fitz John Porter, on the Peninsula 
 in June, 18G2. 
 
 In the Elkhorn campaign. Gen. Curtis saw no 
 actual service, but gained an extensive knowl- 
 edge of one of the richest agricultural terri- 
 tories in the world. His duties, nntil the 
 breaking-out of the rebellion, were those that 
 fell to the ordinary lot of a member of Con- 
 gress, during the exciting times which preced- 
 ed the great civil conflict. 
 
 Congress had adjourned, and he was at home 
 in Keokuk, when he heard the intelligence of 
 the fall of Fort Sumter. His soldierly educa- 
 tion and his patriotic instincts did not allow 
 him to remain idle amid so much public dis- 
 
 tress and alarm, and the road through Balti- 
 more being blocked bj- the burning of the rail- 
 way bridges, he started at once for Philadel- 
 phia, hoping "to reach Washington by that 
 route. He proceded to New York and there 
 found the famous Seventh Regiment ready to 
 start for the seat of war, and, availing himself 
 of that opportunity, went with that regiment 
 to Annapolis, Md., where Gen. B. F. Butler, 
 with the Massachusetts men, was making 
 preparations to open that route to Washington. 
 In this enterprise, which was of a marl^ed and 
 an important character at the time and under 
 the circumstances. Gen. Curtis gave impor- 
 tant and necessary aid, and when the troops, 
 repairing the railroad as they went, entered 
 Washington with colors fl3'ing and bands play- 
 ing, he was met and warmly greeted by Presi- 
 dent Lincoln for the service that he liad thus 
 rendered at that critical moment. 
 
 Gen. Curtis, though then holding no mili- 
 tary commission, was immediately invited by 
 Gen. Scott to assist in the work of organ- 
 izing the defense. In a very short time, 
 however, he was directed to come back to 
 Iowa, to take control of the preparations 
 of the First, Second and Third Iowa Regi- 
 ments of Volunteers for the service. He was 
 made Colonel of the Second Iowa on the 
 1st day of June, 1861. J. M. Tuttle, after- 
 ward a distinguished Major General of volun- 
 teers, was chosen as Lieutenant Colonel of the 
 same regiment, and the gallant Marcellus M. 
 Crocker, also afterward a general officer of 
 volunteers, was selected Major of the regiment 
 at its organization. Curtis was ordered, on the 
 12th of June, 1861, through a special messen- 
 ger from Gen. Lyon, to move from Keokuk to 
 St. Louis, and from thatdate that gallant regi- 
 ment began to make a historj- which is indeli- 
 bly and honorably impressed for all time to 
 come. Curtis was soon made a Brigadier and 
 then a Major General, and assigned to the com- 
 mand of a division in the army in Missouri, 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 121 
 
 under G-ens. Fremont and Hunter. It is as the 
 hero of the battle of Pea Eidge in the spring 
 of 1862 that he is best known, where, with a 
 force far inferior to that of Sterling Price, Earl 
 Van Dorn, Albert Pike and Ben McCulloch, he 
 defeated them in the mountains of Northern 
 Arkansas, and achieved the first decisive vic- 
 tory by the Union troops west of the Missis- 
 sippi River, and in truth, saved the State of 
 Missouri to the cause by breaking the back of 
 the most formidable enterprise organized bj' 
 the Confederates during tlie war, to obtain its 
 control. His remarkable raid through Arkan- 
 sas in the summer of 1863, terminating at 
 Helena, is another illustration of the military 
 vigor of Gen. Samuel Curtis. Gen. G. M. 
 Dodge, for j-ears a citizen of Council Bluffs, 
 and who still maintains this as his home, was 
 a gallant participant in the " famous fight " of 
 Pea Ridge, and was at the head of his I'egi- 
 ment, the Fourth Iowa Infantry, organized in 
 1861, in the camp just south of the city, on the 
 ground occupied by Mr. Rice, west of the 
 paper mill. 
 
 After a long and honorable career as an offi- 
 cer in the Union armj^, and when the work of 
 suppressing the insurrection was at an end. 
 Gen. Curtis returned to his home in Keokuk to 
 resume tiie duties of civil life. His seat in 
 Congress had been filled by the Hon. James F. 
 Wilson, now United States Senator-elect. The 
 Union Pacific Railway had, in the meantime, 
 been begun from the west bank of the Missouri 
 River, and was being pressed with unexampled 
 energy across the great plains to a junction 
 
 with the Central Pacific, which had already 
 demonstrated the power to overcome obstacles 
 that ordinarj- engineering had deemed insur- 
 mountable. Gen. Curtis was appointed by 
 President Johnson as one of the commissioners 
 on behalf of the United States to examine and 
 report upon the condition of the Union Pacific 
 as far as then constructed, and in the fall of 
 1866 he spent some time along its line for that 
 purpose. There was no other means of com- 
 munication between Omaha and Council Bluffs 
 at that date than the steam ferry and the line 
 of coaches of the Western Stage Company. 
 While crossing the river in one of the latter, 
 on his way East homeward, Gen. Curtis grew 
 so ill that he was unable to travel, and, reaching 
 the Council Bluffs side, he was taken to the 
 residence of his friend, Col. H. C. Nutt, on 
 Broadway, and there died on the 26th of De- 
 cember, 1 866. His remains were taken to Keo- 
 kuk and there interred, a whole State mourn- 
 ing with profound sorrow the loss of one of her 
 gi-eatest citizens and of Council Bluffs an ar- 
 dent friend. The house where he died still 
 stands, a long, low, rambling frame edifice on 
 the south side of Broadway, and midway of 
 Sixth and Seventh streets. Its dilapidated con- 
 dition cannot permit it to remain long as a 
 landmark. Its site has been viewed as a pos- 
 sible location for the new United States Court 
 building and post office, and should this be 
 done it will be a fitting monument to mark the 
 spot where died Iowa's greatest soldier. If 
 not, a suitable monument of some kind should 
 designate the spot. 
 
122 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 OHAPTEK XX.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS — INCIPIENT DUEL — MARSHALL TURLEY — AN ECCENTRIC CHARACTER — THE 
 UNDERGROUND RAILWAY— GALESBURG ADDITION — PHILADELPHIA, FORT AVAYNE & 
 PLATTE VALLEY RAILWAY— THE AIR LINE— JOHN T. BALDWIN'S FORT- 
 UNE—ODD FELLOWS ORGANIZED— FIRST BANKING HOUSE 
 — THE FERRY COMPANY ORGANIZED. 
 
 AT this period, Council Bluffs narrowly es- 
 caped a bloodj' duel, growing out of a po- 
 litical co^tro^'ersJ•. One of the parties was a 
 Pennsylvanian employed as a clerk in a front- 
 ier store on Broadway. The other was a hot- 
 headed, proud, irascible Virginian, who came 
 here and seemed to have no particular occupa- 
 tion or employment of any kind. He was al- 
 ways well dressed, and had the air of one of 
 the chivalry. Discussions of the slavery ques- 
 tion, then coming into painful and disastrous 
 prominence, was an every-dat occurrence, at 
 firesides and in the stores and shops. The 
 young Pennsylvanian, whose name is now sup- 
 pressed (he being heartily ashamed of the part 
 he took in the affair) and the j'oung Virginian 
 met around a glass of grog at the store just 
 mentioned, and in a short time a high sound- 
 ing debate arose. The Virginian made a state- 
 ment which the other regarded at variance 
 with the truth, and in polite but emphatic 
 terms it was questioned. In a moment, the 
 young Southerner manifested his displeasure 
 and walked away. In a few hours a friend of 
 the Pennsylvanian called him aside, with the 
 statement that, unless a prompt apology was 
 made, he must be prepared to fight with the 
 Virginian according to the code. He replied 
 that he had no retraction to make, and that the 
 party might take whatever course he saw fit. 
 The next morning, sure enough, there was de- 
 livered to him a formal written demand to 
 either withdraw the offensive language or hold 
 
 *By Col. John U. Ki alley. 
 
 himself in readiness to give such satisfaction 
 as. one gentleman had a right to demand of 
 another. The reply bj' the Pennsylvanian was, 
 that he peremptorily declined to respond to such, 
 arbitrary language in any other way than to 
 say that if the young Southerner wanted to 
 settle the difficulty with revolvers, he would 
 have the opportunity- to do so, at an}' time and 
 place he might select. The onlj' apparent effect 
 of this missive was the sudden disappearance 
 of the eager belligerent, and he was never after- 
 ward seen in Council Bluffs, nor even heard 
 of, evidently regarding discretion, before it was 
 too late, the better part of valor. 
 
 Among the most noted arrivals during the 
 early part of 185-1: was that of Marshal Turlev. 
 who came from Galesburg, 111. He, in con- 
 nection with William Gale, Clark E. Carr (for 
 twenty-one years Postmaster of Galesburg), and 
 others, became interested in a tract of land in 
 the northwestern part of the cit}-, and laid out 
 the same, calling it Galesburg Addition. Jlr. 
 Turlcy came here an uncompromising anti- 
 slaverj' man. At all times he was an outspoken 
 enemy of the institution of slavery, and when 
 John Brown was conducting his underground 
 railway movements from Missouri through 
 Tabor, in Fremont County, he had the sympa- 
 thy at least of ^Ir. Turley, and a number of 
 others less prominent here, on the anti-slavery 
 movement. Mr. Turley is now a man of patri- 
 archal appearance with his white hair and 
 snowy beard. He is encroaching rapidly on 
 the assigned limit of human life, but is still iu his 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAAVATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 123 
 
 vigor of physical sti'ength. He has always 
 been noted for his eccentricities of character. 
 He is an orator of no mean power, and, possess- 
 ing a remarkable fund of knowledge acquired 
 in long years of varied and extensive reading, 
 his speeches are not onlj- entertaining by reason 
 of their richness in illustrative anecdote, but 
 highly instructive in matters of fact. He is 
 a curious genius in this, that he has devoted 
 the best energies of his life in devising various 
 mechanical inventions, experimenting in ever}- 
 conceivable direction to devise new means of 
 saving labor or extending the scope of human 
 effort. It is a profound and undeviating pas- 
 sion with him, and perhaps the Patent Office 
 at Washington is no more familiar with any 
 name in the annals of invention than it is with 
 that of Marshall Turley. Council Bluff's never 
 saw his like before, and perhaps will never see 
 his like again. 
 
 Gen. Curtis in the fall of 1853, conducted 
 the preliminary survey for a railroad across 
 the State to which was given the name of the 
 Philadelphia, Fort Wayne & Platte Valley 
 Railroad, or ''Air Line." This road had a gen- 
 eral direction eastward from Council Bluffs by 
 the way of Winterset, Knoxville and Oska- 
 loosa to the ^lississippi, and was intended to 
 cover about the same ground in Iowa as is em- 
 braced in the projected line of the New York 
 & Council Bliifl's Railway Company, organized 
 in Council Bluff's, with Isaac M. Hymer, Presi- 
 dent, on the 13th day of August, ]882. To 
 Gen. Curtis' road, the county, by a vote at a 
 special election for that purpose on the 2d of 
 January, 1854, made a subscription in stock of 
 S100,000, but as nothing further than project 
 the road was ever done, the bonds of the 
 county were never issued. The State elections 
 were then held in August under the old Con- 
 stitution, and at the election of 1854, Col. 
 Test was elected to the Senate, and John T. 
 Baldwin and Daniel S. Jackson to the State 
 House of Representatives from this legisla- 
 
 tive district. Luck had begun to turn in Mr. 
 Baldwin's* favor. Being a native of Washing- 
 ton Count}-, Penn., he started for Iowa in 1846, 
 bringing with him a large flock of sheep, which 
 he drove overland. His first settlement was 
 made in Jeff"erson County, in the vicinity of 
 Fairfield. At one time while in business in 
 that county, he had his all invested in the flat- 
 boat traffic on the Des Moines River. A wreck 
 occurred which made complete ruin of his 
 financial fortunes, and when he left that sec- 
 tion of Iowa to begin over again, he was more 
 than $5,000 "in debt over and above every ex- 
 isting possibility to pay. When he landed in 
 Council Bluff's, all he had in the world was his 
 household goods, plenty of pluck, nerve, ener- 
 gy and business capacity, and only S2.50 in his 
 pocket, with which to begin again. 
 
 It may be interesting to know now that there 
 are many flourishing orders in the city; that the 
 first to organize were the Odd Fellows. Coun- 
 cil Bluff's Lodge, No. 49, was established on the 
 25th day of November, 1853, with J. B. Stuts- 
 man, B. R. Pegram, J. T. Baldwin, J. P. Casa- 
 dy, H. R. Hall, Hadley D. Johnson and Anson 
 Belden as charter members. Among the ear- 
 liest to join soon after were Moses F. Shinn, 
 ex-Sheriff' Doughty, James D. Test, D. C. Bloom- 
 er and N. T. Spoor. Mr. Spoor is no longer a 
 resident of Council Bluff's, but is engaged in 
 railwa}- service in Colorado. He served as 
 Postmaster of Couucil Bluff's for a time, but 
 upon the breaking-out of the civil war he raised 
 a battery of artillery here, which took the des- 
 ignation of the Second Iowa Battery, he being 
 made Captain of the same, Joseph R. Reed, 
 for the last ten years District Judge, First Lieu- 
 tenant, and Fred Reed, in the service of the 
 postal department at this point. Second Lieu- 
 tenant. Spoor resigned after being in the field 
 some time, and Judge Reed became the Cap- 
 tain of the battery. Of the enlisted men in 
 that command were Victor L. Keller, the only 
 son of John Keller, and Theodore Guittar, son 
 
134 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTA\V'ATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 of Frauk Guittar, already mentioued. The 
 lodge of Odd Fellows thus organized continued 
 to floui'ish for some years, but waned in pros- 
 perity, as did most of the lodges for a period 
 of years throughout the countrj', and was dis- 
 continued. It was revived under other and 
 more favorable auspices at a later date, and 
 when that is reached in the course of these an- 
 nals the matter will be again appropriately re- 
 ferred to. The first banking house opened was 
 that by Green & Weare, in the fall of 1854, 
 John Weare being the manager of the estab- 
 lishment until the spring of 1855,' when Gen. 
 Thomas H. Benton, Jr., became a member of 
 the firm. Their place of business was the brick 
 building, which has been used as the City Re- 
 corder's office, a citj' jail and a council chamber, 
 at the southeast corner of Glen avenue and 
 Broadway, for manj- j-ears. The crash of 1857 
 caused a suspension of the business of this 
 banking house. 
 
 As a means of traffic across the Missouri 
 River at this point was the organization of the 
 Council Blufl's and Nebraska Ferrj' Company 
 in 1854. The incorporators were Dr. Enos 
 Lowe, Samuel S. Bayliss, James A. Jackson, 
 Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, Dr. S. M. Ballard, W. 
 W. Brown, Jesse Williams and J. H. D. Street, 
 brother of A. W. Street, the present Cashier of 
 the Citizen's Bank, which went into operation 
 on the 1st of Julj', 1882. Jesse Williams was 
 a well-known character in Council Bluffs in his 
 day, was a fine portly gentleman, and noted far 
 and wide for his enterprize and public spirit. 
 He was unfortunate in business during the 
 latter years of his life, and died at Sioux City 
 about five 3'ears ago, dependent upon the kind- 
 ness of friends for pecuniar}- assistance. The 
 charter of the Ferr}' Company expired bj' 
 limitation of twenty years, in the winter of 
 1873 and 1874, and, with some re-organization, 
 it was continued under a license from the City 
 Council for a year or two longer, and finally 
 disappeared from sight in the changes in 
 
 transfer made b}' the Union Pacific Railroad, 
 in the adopting of car ferriage over the Mis- 
 souri River bridge. One of the boats used by 
 the company was christened the 'Lizzie Baj-- 
 liss," after the favorite daughter of Samuel S. 
 Ba3-liss. 
 
 It is a notable fact that, although situated in 
 Iowa, Council Bluffs, for a number of weeks, 
 was the actual capital of the Territory of 
 Nebraska in the year 1854. T. B. Cuming, 
 of Keokuk, was the first Secretarj- of the 
 territory. Furguson was Chief Justice, and 
 Izard Marshal of the Territory, and remained 
 here during the preparation of the necessar}' 
 buildings at Omaha, then first laid out as a 
 town. Five former citizens of Council Bluffs had 
 seats in the Territorial Legislatui-e — Hadley D. 
 Johnson, Andrew J. Hanscom, A. D. Jones, J. 
 C. Mitchell and H. C. Purple. Jeremiah Folsom, 
 still a resident of Council Bluffs, and W. W. 
 Maynard, came from Michigan to Council 
 Bluffs during that year. Folsom is still living, 
 but Maynard, after filling out a useful career as 
 an editor, and as Postmaster for two terms, 
 from 18G1 to 18G9, died in 1875. He and Fol- 
 som brought a large flock of sheep to this 
 county, driving them all the way from Michi- 
 gan. At the date of his death, Jlr. Maynard 
 was editor of the Dailij Nonpareil, though his 
 connection with that paper was severed for five 
 or six years, and not having been resumed 
 again until the fall of 1871. After his removal 
 from the post office by the accession of the 
 Grant administration he was employed in 
 newspaper work at Leavenworth on the Bullc- 
 tin, published by W. S. Burke, who at one 
 time was associated with him in the publica- 
 tion of the Noiqiarcil of Council Bluffs. 
 
 No election was held in 1854 for citj- officers, 
 but on the 5th of Februarj-, 1855, such an elec- 
 tion was held, at which C. E. Stone was chosen 
 as JIayor. It was charged that the success of 
 the ticket elected at that date was due to the 
 influence which the native American party. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 135 
 
 otherwise and popularly known as •■ Know- 
 Nothings," was exerting here as well as else- 
 where throughout the countrj". In passing, it 
 is deserving to saj^, as a part of the current his- 
 torj- of tliat date, that everywhere North, as 
 well as South, the native American party had 
 sprung into vigorous life on the ruins of the 
 Whig party, whose last great national effort 
 was exerted in the Presidential campaign of 
 1852, and that the secrec}' with which the 
 " Know-Knothings " conducted their affairs not 
 onlv gave them the popular name acquired, but 
 became a stunning surprise to their own confident 
 political adversaries, who suffered defeat in al- 
 most every contest of the year. A tax of five mills 
 was levied for city purposes, and although the 
 new Mayor recommended the issuance of bonds 
 to aid in public improvements, no indebtedness 
 was created, and little else done than some re- 
 pair to some of the streets, the passage of a 
 few necessary police ordinances and the con- 
 stitution of a board of health, consisting of Drs. 
 Emanuel Honn, A. B. Maclom and Shoemaker. 
 The population during the summer varied as 
 the exigencies of emigration changed, and the 
 character of the people and their industries 
 exhibited little change from those of former 
 
 3'ears. Trading with emigrants, furnishing 
 them with supplies and outfits was the unvary- 
 ing monotony of traffic. Settlements began to 
 form in groups in the adjoining counties, and 
 the necessities of these brought them long dis- 
 tances in contact with the people aud merchants 
 of Council Bluffs. Grain and produce were 
 hauled in wagons from Harrison, Shelbj', Cass 
 and Monona Counties. Teams came from Page 
 and Montgomerj' Counties, or the territory con- 
 stituting those counties, aud procured their 
 supplies as an advantageous point on the river, 
 and men and people who were severed by dis- 
 tances of fift}', sixt}' and sevent}- miles, pioneers 
 were regarded simply as neighbors. About the 
 onl}- amusements accessible to the people in the 
 remote country places was the country dance, 
 and it was considered no hardship to go twenty 
 miles to one of these, '• hoe it down " all night, 
 return home the next day, and resume the 
 homely occupations of the frontier settlements. 
 The chain of friendship thus formed, under those 
 circumstances, among the survivors of those 
 days and those events, is as bright as ever it 
 was, and is one of the consolations of a rapidly 
 changed and, in manj- respects, more selfish 
 and less sociable condition. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— NEBRASKA TERRITORY ORGANIZED— THE MOB AT BELLVUE— HADLEY JOHN- 
 SON TERRITORIAL DELEGATE— SENATOR A. C. DODGE'S PLAN— SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY- 
 "CHRONOTYPE" ESTABLISHED— DR. SETH CRAIG'S ARRIVAL AND SKETCH— COUN- 
 CIL BLUFFS TEMPERANCE— INDIAN HABITS — AGAINST 
 
 DURING the year 1854 began the formation 
 of a new political part}' in the countr}', and 
 Council Bluffs also feU the tendency' to change in 
 new issues. The Republican partj- had not 3-et 
 emerged from the Free-Soil element that took 
 on shape organically in the Presidential cam- 
 paigns of 1844, 1848 and 1852, but a spirit of 
 
 *By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 PROHIBITION. 
 
 discontent with old organizations was mani- 
 fest. A circumstance occurring ou the other 
 side of the river, at the old mission of the 
 Omaha Indians, near Belle vue, in 1853, was the 
 incipiency of a greater movement than was at 
 first contemplated b\' its authors. What now 
 constitutes the States of Nebraska and Kansas 
 was unorganized territorj- of the United States, 
 
126 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 and without auy form of government except 
 such as was exercised by the military at the 
 frontier posts. Hadley D. Johnson and about 
 one hundred and fift3' others, citizens and resi- 
 dents of Council Bluffs, proceeded to the Oma- 
 ha Mission, and without any authority from 
 Congress organized a squatter civil territorial 
 government, and elected Johnson as a Territor- 
 ial delegate in Congress. Of course there could 
 be no recognition of this irregular act of citi- 
 zens of another State who were not residents 
 of the so-called Territory, but it directed the 
 attention of Congress to the necessit}^ of pro- 
 viding some kind of civil government for the 
 region in question. 
 
 Hon. D. H. Solomon related to the writer 
 of these annals that in the winter of 1853) 
 while he was on his way, during a blinding 
 snow storm, to Sidney to court, he was met by 
 Gen. A. C. Dodge, one of the Senators of Iowa, 
 on horseback, traversing this section of the 
 State in that inclement weather on a tour of 
 investigation regarding the settlement of West- 
 ern Iowa, and the character of the country 
 immediately beyond the Missouri, that an inter- 
 view took place between them as to the organi- 
 zation of a Territorial government for the Ne- 
 braska country, and that his return to Wash- 
 ington was followed b}^ the introduction of a 
 bill in the Senate to organize all of that coun- 
 try now included in Kansas and Nebraska as 
 Nebraska Territor}-. True it is that such a 
 bill was introduced, and when it came back to 
 the Senate, from the Committee on Territories, 
 of which Senator Douglas, of Illinois, was 
 Chairman, it was so amended as to provide for 
 the organization of two Territories, one to be 
 called Nebraska and the other Kansas, and in 
 that form, with a further amendment allowing 
 the people of these Territories to decide the 
 question for themselves, as to the introduction 
 of slaver}', the bill became a law, and those 
 incipient great States sprang into existence, 
 and, in the case of Nebraska, contributed 
 
 greatly in shaping the destiny of Council 
 Bluffs. The adoption of the Douglas princi- 
 ple in regard to slaverj' being an overthrow of 
 the compromises of 1820 and 1850, stimulated 
 au opposition which, while in the transition 
 period from the disruption of the Whig party 
 to the actual formation of the Republican 
 party, as Anti-Nebraska, not that they were 
 opposed to the organization of the Territory, 
 but to the novel features introduced which 
 tended to open up the Territory to slavery 
 and slave propert}', on equal terras with free- 
 dom. The BugJe, then under the management 
 of Joseph E. Johnson, was the champion of 
 the Douglas doctrine of squatter sovereignty, 
 and was the Democratic organ. The discon- 
 tents had no exponent. Jeremiah Folsom and 
 W. W. Maynard were of the latter class. 
 Maynard was a printer, Folsom was not. On 
 the 13th da}- of December, 1855, in response to 
 the growing discontent everywhere manifest, 
 these two gentlemen, under the firm name of 
 Folsom & Maynard, issued the first number of 
 an Anti-Nebraska weekly newspaper, called 
 the Council BJuffx Chronoti/jie, with Mr. May- 
 nard as editor. Those who knew Mr. May- 
 nard in his lifetime and vvhen in his greatest 
 vigor, will not soon forget him. He was small 
 in stature and light in build, and in all his 
 movements was quiet and undemonstrative. 
 He was no great while in demonstrating, in his 
 editorial capacity, that he was no mean adver- 
 sary with the pen. He had no disposition to 
 elaborate and exhaustive editorial writing, as 
 existing copies of the Ghronotype and the early 
 files of the NonpareU show, but his short cuts 
 to the pith of a point exhibited his capability 
 to reach the sensitive part of an argument 
 with a pungenc}' that sometimes had a vigorous 
 sting. 
 
 Among those who came to Council Bluffs 
 in 1855, and who are among those best remem- 
 bered of that date, is Dr. Seth H. Craig, and 
 who is now a resident of Fremont County. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAAVATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 127 
 
 Dr. Craig has had a varied career, and no man 
 in the State is more widely Icnown. He is a 
 native of Millersburg, Ohio, having been born 
 there in 1825. He removed to Farraington, 
 Van Biiren Count}-, in 1843, and when the 
 Mexican war brolce out went into the serv- 
 ice in 1847, in Lieut. Col. Powell's Mis- 
 souri battalion of volunteers. After that war, 
 he studied medicine, and in 1852 went to Cali- 
 fornia, where he remained until he came to 
 Council BlulTs in 1855. He was City Treas- 
 urer in 1857, and appointed Sheriff of the 
 count}' in 1859, and elected to the same office 
 in 1860. When the civil war commenced, he 
 went into Gen. G. M. Dodge's regiment, the 
 Fourth Iowa, and remained in the service until 
 he resigned in 18G3. He then returned to 
 Farmington, whence he was chosen from Van 
 Buren Count}' to the State Legislature, whicli 
 met in 1868, and, serving one term, he again 
 came to Council Bluffs. Here he served dur- 
 ing part of 1869 and of 1870 as Assistant 
 Assessor of United States Internal Revenue, 
 under the Assessor of the District, Maj. A. B. 
 Anderson. He was then elected by the Legis- 
 lature, and served two terms as Warden of the 
 penitentiary at Fort Madison. Dr. Craig is 
 also a brother of Gen. James Craig, a resident 
 of St. Joseph, Mo., and for years a wealthy and 
 influential Democratic politician and an enter- 
 prising citizen of that State. 
 
 In the spring of 1855, the great temperance 
 movement throughout the United States mani- 
 fested itself in the organization of lodges of an 
 organization known as the Sons of Temper- 
 ance. The order was then formed here, with 
 Thomas Tostevin as its chief officer, and it had 
 among its membership Judge Street and Thomas 
 P. Treynor, the latter of whom held the office 
 of City Recorder from 1863 to 1869, and until 
 he was appointed Postmaster by the new Grant 
 administration. He held the latter office until 
 1877. The first lodge of Ancient, Free and Ac- 
 cepted Masons in Council Bluffs was constituted 
 
 on the 21st of July, 1855, under the name of 
 Bluff City Lodge, No. 71. L. L. Brown was 
 its first Master, and its other officers were Dr. 
 P. J. McMahon, Judge Samuel H. Riddle, Sam- 
 uel Knepper, A. W. Hollister, J. C. Fargo and 
 Dr. S. W. Williams. Among those who were 
 its earliest members were Joseph Weirich, W. 
 W. Maynard, Judge Larimer, John Keller, 
 Judge James, Gen. Benton and Leonard Sears. 
 One of the noted business blocks of the city was 
 the " Phoenix," erected by Lysander W. Babbitt 
 and the firm of Stutsman & Donnell, on the 
 south side of Broadway, between Main street 
 and Pearl, in the early part of 1855. Mr. Bab- 
 bitt was at that time the Register of the United 
 States Land Office, and it was moved into that 
 block during that fall. William H. Robinson 
 and Mr. Babbitt also engaged jointly in trade, 
 and carried one of the largest stock of goods 
 fitted for the Western and pioneer trade ever 
 carried by any firm in the West. They were 
 known far and wide as dealers, and their credit 
 seemed to be unlimited. The Phcenix Block 
 was afterward totally destroyed by fire, but 
 the historic recollection of its existence still 
 lingers in the memory of the old settlers. During 
 these years, the Indians, the Pawnees, the Otoes 
 and the Omahas, wei'e a sort of free common- 
 ers in the city, and, in many instances, unmiti- 
 gated nuisances. They were allowed to roam 
 away from such reservations as had the name 
 merely, and were disgraceful specimens of de- 
 moralization when in contact with the white 
 man and his vices. It was useless to close 
 doors against them. They regarded these bar- 
 riers of no account, and with the most stolid 
 assurance stalked in and took possession and 
 helped themselves. They were also a constant 
 annoyance to families in the frights they gave 
 women and children unused to their rude hab- 
 its, as they put their tawny faces to the win- 
 dows and gazed quizzingly into the dwellings. 
 They were universal beggars, and up until 1869 
 abated little in their nomad conduct. The 
 
128 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 writer of this well remembers a characteristic 
 incldeut occurring while the Union Pacific Rail- 
 road was in course of construction. He took 
 passage at night in the caboose attached to a 
 freight train, mainly made up of flat cars laden 
 with railroad iron. An old buck, who had been 
 imbibing freely in Omaha, and his ancient and 
 work-worn squaw were unticketed passengers 
 on the car just in front of the caboose. The 
 train was all night making its trip, and from 
 dark until nearly dawn the old squaw sat 
 " crooning " over her inebriated brave, chanting 
 a doleful sort of requiem, sounding more like 
 the outpourings of a savage heart in the death 
 tepee than a natural scene by the side of a hus- 
 band too full for utterance. Her reward for all 
 this was when they left the train. He could 
 then walk, and, leaving the car, he gruffly com- 
 pelled her to carry a budget of stuif picked up 
 in Omaha, big enough for the brawny shoulders 
 of a stout man rather than for the frail frame 
 of a decrepit, gray-haired, storm-wrinkled 
 squaw. They disappeared over the hill to a 
 tanning camp, she almost doubled to the earth 
 bj' the weight of the burden, and he stalking 
 along with lordlj indifl'erence as one of the 
 bravest men of his tribe. 
 
 The total vote of Kane Township, in the fall 
 election of 1855, was 243. The Democratic 
 ticket had a majoritj- of some thirteen votes as 
 the highest, and three the lowest. The ques- 
 tion of prohibition was submitted to a popular 
 vote, and the township gave a majority of 
 twenty-five and the county forty against it. 
 The question of prohibition was not seriouslj- 
 agitated again in Council Bluffs, until, in 1882, 
 when at the special election, on tlie 12th day of 
 June, on the question of amending the State 
 Constitution so as to prohibit the manufacture 
 of all kinds of alcoholic liquors, the township 
 gave a majoritj' of 806 votes against the 
 amendment, and the county 1,123. The elec- 
 tion was held in August, and W. D. Turner, 
 who afterward kept the City Hotel, which 
 stood immediatel}' east of where the Ogden 
 House now is, was elected County Treasurer ; 
 Thomas Tostevin, County Surveyor ; John C. 
 Fargo, SherilT, and Joseph Hall, County Judge. 
 The latter resigned after a few months, and A 
 V. Larimer, was appointed until the spring 
 election following, when W. C. James was 
 elected to fill out the unexpired term of Judge 
 Hall. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 COUNCrL BLUFFS— GEN. G. M. DODGE — SKETCH— HIS BIRTHPLACE— FATHER AND MOTHER— 
 GRADUATES— MILITARY TRAINING— SURVEYS THE MISSLSSIPPI & MISSOURI ROAD— PACI- 
 FIC RAILWAY EXP LOR.'iTIONS- SETTLES IN COUNCIL BLUFFS — OUTBREAK OF 
 
 CAxMPAIGN — INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 
 
 soldier. The name of Gen. Grenville M. 
 Dodge is endurably impressed upon Council 
 Bluffs. It is also proper to say of him as did 
 Fuller, "a man true to his word, merciful to those 
 under him, and hating nothing so much as idle- 
 ness." The little town of Peabod^-, formerly 
 Danvers, in the State of Massachusetts, settled in 
 the earlj' days of the colonies and of the repub- 
 lic when in its incipient growth by a pure race 
 
 THE WAR— PEA RIDGE — ATLANTA 
 A T this time and place, it is right and proper 
 -^-^to tui-n the reader's attention to the one 
 who had a marked influence upon the historj' of 
 Council Bluffs through all its career since the 
 commencement of his residence here, and has 
 also stamped his impress upon the annals of 
 his country by the fame he won, and the serv- 
 ices he rendered in the civil war as a gallant 
 
 *By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY 
 
 139 
 
 of true New England stock, has given to the na- 
 tion two men of which any country might be 
 proud; the one, " the friend of all his race," has 
 ended his career of munificence in two hemi- 
 spheres, in the noblest charit}' of all history, 
 and has canonized the name of George Pea- 
 body in the great and noble roll of philan- 
 thropy; and the other, the subject of this sketch, 
 has won his place among the greatest en- 
 gineers of the world. His genius as a civilian 
 has assisted in subduing the wilderness, and as 
 a soldier, he takes rank among the many great 
 generals whose careers are glorious exemplars 
 to the aspiring youth of all ages. In the pride 
 in which his birthplace takes in such a noble 
 life, the city of Council Bluffs, of which he 
 was a pioneer, and still retains as his home, 
 justly claims an equal right and public-spirited 
 interest. 
 
 Grenville M. Dodge was born April 18, 1831, 
 and consequently, at this writing, is fifty-one 
 }'ears of age, and still in the enjoj'ment of a 
 fair proportion of physical vigor, considering 
 injuries received in the militar3' service, and 
 the full possession of the mental energy which 
 has characterized his long, arduous and erai- 
 nentl}' useful career. His father was Syl- 
 vanus Dodge, an active business man of Dan- 
 vers, now Peabody; was at one time Postmas- 
 ter of the South Town. He was of solid, 
 stable New England stock, and a native of 
 Rowley, Mass. The mother of Gen, Dodge 
 was Julia A. Phillips, of Rowley, and she and 
 the General's father were married in 1827. She 
 is also the sister of John M. Phillips, who has 
 been one of the foremost business men of 
 Council Bluffs, engaged in the shoe trade, for 
 many years. Sylvanus Dodge came to Coun- 
 cil Bluffs about the date of the arrival of his 
 distinguished son, and in 1869 was appointed 
 Register of the United States Land Office. 
 This position he held until his death some 
 years afterward at the venerable age of eighty 
 years. The mother of Gen. Dodge still sur- 
 
 vives, and has her home in Council Bluffs, on 
 Bancroft street, surrounded by her children, 
 grandchildren and other relatives, in the enjoy- 
 ment of a serene and happy old age. 
 
 Gen. Dodge received a fair common school 
 education in such schools as the times then af- 
 forded, but the opportunities then afforded b}- 
 no means slaked his thirst for knowledge. He 
 was a stout, active, robust and health}- boy. He 
 worked on a farm and at gardening, which 
 toughened and hardened the fiber of his phys- 
 ique, and fitted him for the arduous duties of 
 the life he afterward lived. He was subse- 
 quently engaged as a clerk in a general store, 
 and here he acquired those rudiments of ordi- 
 nary business which developed in him in the 
 culture of a broader career. Like many an- 
 other New Englaud boy, his ambition was 
 aroused, and his leisure hours were improved 
 in study. He was fitting himself for college, 
 and at last attained that goal by being matric- 
 ulated in 1846 at the Vermont Military Uni- 
 versitj' at Norwich, from which he graduated 
 in 1849, having attained the degree of bachelor 
 of arts and that of civil engineering. His 
 training at Norwich was of a broad, liberal char- 
 acter, and professional as well, but at the same 
 time he had the advantages of a military course 
 equal almost to the curriculum of West Point, 
 which was of the greatest usefulness to him 
 when his services were demanded by his coun- 
 try in the hour of its greatest peril, in 1861. 
 His mind had a military bent, and when he at- 
 tained high command in the field and among 
 troops and the stirring activities of actual war 
 this quality of mind was manifest in his adapta- 
 tion and success. 
 
 His attention was turned toward the West 
 through college associations. The sons of Col. 
 Ransom of the regular army, who fell gallantly 
 fighting at Chapultepec, in Mexico, were his es- 
 pecial friends, and they having come West, he fol- 
 lowed them soon after his graduation, and set- 
 tled at Peru, 111., where he adopted the profes- 
 
130 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 sioii of land surveyor. He soou, however, re- 
 ceived an appointment in tlie engineer corps of 
 the Illinois Central Railroad Company. He 
 soon exchanged this position for one in the Chi- 
 cago & Rock Island Railroad Company, whose 
 line of road was then in course of construction 
 toward the Mississippi River, and whose chief 
 engineer was the famous Peter A. Dey, one of 
 the railroad commissioners of the State of Iowa, 
 and who has been such commissioner ever since 
 the organization of the board. Gen. Dodge com- 
 menced service under Mr. Dey simply as an ax- 
 man, but the latter was quick to discern talent 
 and appreciate industry, and soon advanced 
 him to the head of a party and made him re- 
 sponsible for its work. This was the proper 
 position to develop the latent talent of the young 
 and ambitious assistant. It was clothed with 
 tliat responsibility that he located the Bureau 
 Valley Branch of the Rock Island road, and 
 from that date he was constantly employed in 
 tliat class of service on other Illinois roads un- 
 til 1851. Enterprise was already looking be- 
 yond the Mississippi into Iowa, and contem- 
 plating the magnificent capabilities of the new 
 State, and even casting its eyes toward the Pa- 
 cific as the goal of the rapidly developing en- 
 ergy of the country and the genius of the people. 
 That year, the Mississippi and the Mis- 
 souri River Eailroad across the State of Iowa, 
 from Davenport, was projected, and Mr. Dey 
 was selected as its Chief Engineer, he at 
 the same time making Gen. Dodge his assist- 
 ant. Here there was a virgin field for the 
 capacity of the latter. Here was the trying 
 time of his life, and here was to be tested the 
 trainincr he had undergone in school and in 
 the field. He was then revolving in his mind 
 a grand inter-continental railway scheme, and 
 his instructions from the contractors of the 
 Mississipiji & Missouri Railway Company, 
 Messrs. Dm-ant & Farnham, involved the 
 consideration on his part, of such a grand 
 enterprise and its achievement. They de- 
 
 cided that he shoiild ascertain the most prac- 
 ticable route beyond the Missouri River for a 
 Pacific road, in order that the Mississippi & 
 Missouri road in Iowa might have a 2>i'oper 
 connection. The same year, he entered upon 
 his work with zeal and alacrity, and made a 
 thorough reconnoissanee from Davenport, by 
 the way of Des Moines, to Council Bluf3fs. 
 Every energy of his nature was aroused by 
 the great trust imposed in him, and he faith- 
 fully discharged his duty with a rare intelli- 
 gence. The central and western part of the 
 State at this date was almost wholly unsettled. 
 The only inhabitants between Des Moines 
 and Council Bluffs were the hunters and trap- 
 pers along the streams and those in the scat- 
 tered cabins of the Mormons on the western 
 slope. The latter were mere pilgrims and 
 sojourners, unsettled as to whether they 
 would remain or go beyond the mountains 
 and join their co-religionists. Large game 
 in this section was abundant, and the buffalo 
 had not yet emigrated westward, and fresh 
 provisions were supplied to the explorers by 
 their own rifles. It was a bare, uninviting, 
 lonely prairie then; but the great capacity 
 for future development and the fertility of 
 the soil were abundantly apparent to Gen. 
 Dodge and his companions, as they traversed 
 the rolling country between the Des Moines 
 and the Missoiu-i. They found Council 
 Bluffs simply a little Mormon settlement, 
 and the last outpost of civilization on the 
 route to far-off California. Its location on 
 the Missouri River, its admirable sm-round- 
 iugs, its evident possibilities and advantages 
 as an initial point for a great inter-continent- 
 al railway, induced him, after mature con- 
 sideration, to establish here the western ter- 
 minus of the Mississippi & Missoui'i River 
 line of railway. That decision of his. as the 
 subsequent history of the place and of other 
 railway lines that have come to make up the 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWA.TTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 lai 
 
 great system centering here, was of the high- 
 est importance. Without his having so de- 
 cided, the future historian of the then little 
 frontier hamlet might have been compelled 
 to indulge in a reverie of " might have 
 beens." He not only thus selected the point 
 to which the railway should tend, in the 
 course of construction, but he selected it as 
 his future home. No sooner had he deter- 
 mined these matters than he rafted his outfit 
 across the Missoiari and began his explora- 
 tions for a Pacific line of the Platte Valley. 
 In crossing the river in the primitive method 
 of a raft, he lost half of his outfit, and had 
 the rest damaged by water; but nothing 
 daunted by these drawbacks, notwithstanding 
 the impossibility to replace the losses, he ad- 
 vanced into the Platte Valley, and unmistak- 
 ably and confidently indicated that as the 
 proper line of the projected and to 
 many, merely visionary, inter-continental rail- 
 way. He was unmoved by any speculations 
 of failm-e and impossibility. He had the 
 faith of an earnest explorer, and his work 
 was performed with a confidence that it would 
 terminate in the highest results. He was 
 among the first to realize, comprehend and 
 appreciate the great fertility of the soil of 
 Nebraska and make it known to the world. 
 His confidence in it was manifested in the 
 selection of a prairie farm, in the Elkhorn 
 Valley, now settled and cultivated as few val- 
 leys on earth are cultivated, and inhabited 
 with all the adjuncts and comforts of an ad- 
 vanced civilizcXtion. He not only selected 
 this farm, but made it his home for a time. 
 
 During the succeeding years up to 1857, 
 he vigorously carried on his railway surveys, 
 in the location of the route of the Mississippi 
 & Missouri River Railroad, now constituting 
 the Iowa Division of the Chicago, Rock 
 Island & Pacific. It is demonstrable from all 
 his work of this chai'acter that he has had few 
 
 equals and no superiors as a locating engi- 
 neer, instinctivelj' grasping, as he always 
 has, the topography of the country involved, 
 and securing for those railroads the best ]ios- 
 sible line. This quality of his work was es- 
 pecially manifest and exhibited in this, his 
 first extended location. 
 
 During the greater j^ortion of these inter- 
 vening years, he still kept in mind his project 
 of a Pacific railroad, and fondly cherished it, 
 working winter and siimmer, contending with 
 and overcoming a thousand, obstacles, and 
 passing innumerable obstacles in his way, 
 and making extended and careful surveys 
 and rcconnoissances in view of the ultimate 
 construction of the road. It was by no means 
 a task free from personal danger. He met 
 these with matchless pluck, energy and 
 patience. His aim was a fixed and definite 
 one, and nothing could deter him. It is 
 only necessary to conceive and recall the 
 character of the wild regions beyond the Mis- 
 soiu-i at that date, and the fact that not a 
 vestige of civilization appeared where States 
 have since sprung into populous and unexam- 
 p)led existence, except the mere trail made 
 here and there by the trader and the emi- 
 grant. It is only necessary to comprehend 
 the arduousness of the task; to reflect that 
 the country then was the abiding-place of 
 Indian tribes more or less hostile and more 
 or less jealous of every encroachment of the 
 white man, and that the hierarchy of Utah 
 were the sworn enemies of every approach of 
 civilization that even remotely threatened 
 the destruction or the modification of their 
 peculiar and barbarous system. He explored 
 every pass through the Rock}' Mountains and 
 every approach, from the British possessions 
 in the North to the Red River in the South, 
 and thoroughly developed the wide expanse 
 of countiy from the Missouri River to the 
 Great Salt Lake Basin, finally settling and 
 
133 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 cletermining the location upon which the line 
 of the Union Pacific traverses the great coun- 
 try between the Missouri River and Ogden. 
 This work has been pronounced by both Eu- 
 ropean and American critics, having the 
 proper experience and skill, to be a marvel 
 of railroad engineering. 
 
 During the year 1857, Abraham Lincoln, 
 then counsel for a number of Illinois railroad 
 companies, greatly interested in the develop- 
 ment and traffic of the western country, visit- 
 ed Council Bluffs and had frecjuent and pro- 
 longed interviews with Gen. Dodge with ref- 
 erence to the Pacific Railroad and its futiu-e. 
 These matters were in the mind of Mr. Lin- 
 coln when he became President, and when 
 the Union Pacific bill was under considera- 
 tion in Congress, in 1863, and when the 
 President was called to act in the matter, 
 Gen. Dodge was in command at Corinth, 
 Miss. He then and there received a tele- 
 graphic communication to visit Washington 
 to confer with the President concerning this 
 gigantic project. The result of their inter- 
 view, after I'ecalling the President's own ob- 
 servations, and impressed by the advice of 
 Gen. Dodge, induced the issuance of the 
 proclamation which fixed the initial point 
 within the limits of the city of Council Bluffs. 
 It must be borne in mind that the act of Con- 
 gress incorporating this railroad company 
 did not undertake to definitely fix this point, 
 but left it to the President to determine by 
 his proclamation, which he did in the man- 
 ner and under the influences just stated. 
 
 Gen. Dodge was married, in 1854, to Miss 
 Annie Brown, of Peru, 111., and who, as his 
 courageous wife, gallantly shared all the per- 
 ils, hazards and discomforts of the camp life 
 that he led in the arduous discharge of duty. 
 His home was actually first made in Coun- 
 cil Bluffs the same year, living at first in a 
 small brick house on Broadway, and after- 
 
 ward in a log house on Madisou, now known 
 as First street. He, however, soon went to 
 his new farm in the Elkhorn Valley in Ne- 
 braska, and became the first settler in that 
 valley. Here he made his residence until 
 November, 1856, when the Indians drove 
 him and his family away, and he was com- 
 pelled to come to the little village, as it then 
 was, of Omaha for safety and protection. 
 He wintered at this point, and in the spring 
 came back to Council Bluffs and commenced 
 the construction of the Mississippi & Missouri 
 River Railroad eastward. While engaged in 
 making preliminary surveys and explorations, 
 in view of the future Pacific Railroad, he had 
 friendly intercourse with many of the chiefs 
 of the Indian tribes, and traded with the In 
 dians, and thus formed an accpiaintance with 
 them and their character, that was of great 
 value to him in the campaign in that country 
 in 1865-66, to reduce their refractoriness, 
 and afterward, when actually locating and 
 finally establishing the route and building 
 the Union Pacific through their country, or 
 along the borders of it. He saw the vast im- 
 portance of the business of freighting across 
 the plains, and, in 1856, he also engaged ex- 
 tensively in that, to California and Utah, on 
 the great overland trail. He also engaged in 
 the banking business during the same period, 
 under the firm name of Baldwin & Dodge, 
 merging the capital thus employed eventually 
 in the Pacific National Bank, and which 
 finally went into voluntary liquidation, and 
 was replaced by the Council Bluffs Savings 
 Bank. Ilis military instincts were always of 
 the strongest, and wherever he was, manifest- 
 ed themselves. When at Peru, he organized 
 a volunteer artillerj' company, which ren- 
 dered important service in the suppression of 
 a serious riot at Vermillionville. His atten- 
 tion was again called to military matters 
 after his removal to Council Bluffs, and. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 133 
 
 though uusuccessfiil, he advocated and iirged 
 the passage of a comprehensive and efficient 
 militia bill by the Legislature. He, how- 
 ever, organized a volunteer company, desig- 
 nated as the Council Bluffs Guard, of which 
 he was Captain, and the late Gen. Benton, of 
 the Twenty-ninth Iowa, was one of the Lieu- 
 tenants. By this means, he kept alive his 
 own military spirit, and laid the foundation 
 for a proper response on the part of Council 
 Bluffs, when the trial time of the nation 
 came to determine its strength and its power 
 to cope with its armed internal enemies. In 
 political sentiment, during the period which 
 led up to the civil war and at the birth and 
 through the vicissitudes of the Republican 
 party, he was an earnest member and an ac- 
 tive work of that organization. His atti- 
 tude, when the conflict was impending, could 
 not be mistaken, and he comprehended a 
 single duty in the spirit of the first inaugu- 
 ral of President Lincoln, and never, for a 
 moment, viewed the possibility of a dissolu- 
 tion of the Union. It was too sacred for him 
 to contemplate any such a dire contingency. 
 Before Fort Sumter was fired on, he was vigi- 
 lant and comprehended his duty as a citizen 
 of the Union, without waiting for the com- 
 mands of a siiperior. He had large inter- 
 ests involved that were of an absorbing char- 
 acter, but his public spirit impelled him to 
 act, according to his best judgment, for the 
 Interests and necessities of the Government. 
 The following letter, written by him, discov- 
 ered among the archives of the War Depart- 
 ment at Washington, forcibly illustrates the 
 character and promptness of the man. It is 
 dated at Council Bluffs April 2, 1S61, and is 
 addressed to John A. Kasson, Member of 
 Congress, and says: 
 
 " I arrived home yesterday, and would 
 have telegraphed you at St. Joseph had I 
 dared to do so. There are men from seces- 
 
 sion military companies formed at St. Joseph 
 for the purpose of capturing the troops from 
 Fort Randall. They will be down about May 
 1 on the Omaha, and they propose to take the 
 boat, arms, etc. I have letters from several 
 steady Union men in St. Joseph, and I 
 shall board the boat as she comes down. My 
 information is such that there is no doubt 
 about the matter, and a telegram from the 
 proper source to the officers on the boat would 
 cause them to take the proper action. This 
 letter will reach Washington before the troops 
 reach this place. Union men are leaving 
 Missouri in swarms, and unless matters 
 change within a week, a reign of terror will 
 rest about St. Joseph." 
 
 It was not difficult to determine what course 
 he would take should a conflict of arms be 
 precipitated by the events which were hasten- 
 ing with such great rapidity at that moment. 
 Gen. Dodge at once tendered the services of 
 the Council Bluffs Guards to Gov. Kirkwood, 
 but they were not accepted for the reason 
 that in the unsettled condition of the frontier, 
 of which this city was then the almost western 
 limit, he was unwilling to expose it bj' the 
 withdrawal of what organized military force 
 existed here. This course on the part of the 
 Governor was acquiesced in with reluctance, 
 but no alternative presented itself. The per- 
 sonal services of Capt. Dodge were accepted 
 by Gov. Kirkwood, and he was dispatched to 
 Washington to consult with the military au- 
 thorities there as to the arming and equip- 
 ping of the contingent that Iowa was called 
 upon to furnish for the suppression of the 
 insurrection daily growing into wider propor- 
 tions. His mission was successful, and Sec- 
 retary of War Cameron, appreciating his 
 evident military talents and training, ten- 
 dered him a commission as Colonel of an 
 Iowa regiment to be raised. He accepted 
 the position with much misgiving, and re- 
 
134 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 turned to Council Bluffs to execute the mis- 
 sion of raising a regiment from among the 
 stiu'dy and loyal sons of the western and 
 thinly settled section of the State. The 
 writer of these annals of Council Bluffs and 
 of this sketch of Gen. Dodge had the pleasure 
 of riding with him at the head of a column 
 of veterans at the re-union of the old soldiers 
 at Council Bluffs, on the 29th of September, 
 1882, when he recalled the writer's attention 
 to the fact that he was " soldiering again, 
 after the lapse of almost twenty years." and 
 accompanied this observation with the re- 
 mark that he never had so great misgiving as 
 to hia own fitness to command troo^os as when, 
 in 1861, he marched his old company of the 
 Fourth Iowa Infantry, up these same 
 streets, just before going to the field, where 
 the men performed such gallant and mer- 
 itorious services. The tear started in his 
 eye as he looked back over the line and saw 
 the same old battle-flag of the regiment wav- 
 ing again over battle-scarred and gray-haired 
 veterans. 
 
 At the same time that he was engaged in 
 the raising of the Fourth Iowa Infantry, he 
 also organized what was called, out of com- 
 pliment to him, Dodge's Battery. Recruit- 
 ing progressed rapidly, and, in a short time, 
 one thousand of the young, hardy, athletic 
 young men of Western Iowa, inured to var- 
 ious hardships and accustomed to the use of 
 firearms, were in the ranks, and constituted 
 as fine and as loyal a regiment as shouldered 
 a musket during the civil war. Comjiany B, 
 of the regiment, was made up of Pottawatta- 
 mie County men, with its Caj^tain, S. H. 
 Craig; its First Lieutenant, P. A. Wheeler, 
 and the Second Lieutenant, W. H. Kinsman, 
 who, as Colonel of another Iowa regiment, 
 fell, gallantly fighting, at the battle of Black 
 River Bridge, in Mississippi. The battery 
 was mainly raised in the county, and was 
 
 commanded by N. T. Spoor, as Captain, with 
 J. R. Reed, now District Judge, and C. O. 
 Dewey, as Lieutenants. The camp was es- 
 tablished south of the city, and was desig-- 
 nated as Camp Kirkwood. He began the 
 task of drilling and instructing his command 
 in the arduous and stern duty that was before 
 them, and the making of soldiers out of the 
 raw material of citizenship. He was well 
 fitted for this preliminary work by his mili- 
 tary education at college and otherwise, and 
 it was no long time until men. unused by 
 habits of life to military discipline, and ma- 
 neuvers, and evolutions, became proficients. 
 In the early summer of ISfil, the Confed- 
 erate partisan leader, Col. Poindexter, made 
 an advance toward Northern Missouri and a 
 demonstration against the southern border 
 of Iowa, and particularly, against the line of 
 the Hannilial & St. Joseph Railroad. Col. 
 Dodge's regiment was then only partially or- 
 ganized and instructed, l>ut, recognizing the 
 necessity of prompt action, he moved with 
 such of his command as was available, and 
 broke up Poindexter's movement, thwarted 
 his plans and rapidly drove him to Southern 
 Missouri, and then returned to Council 
 Bluffs to complete the organization of his 
 regiment. The value of this jjrompt enter- 
 prise, taken under difficulties that could only 
 be realized and comprehended then, was in- 
 calculable. He not only encountered and 
 overcame difficulties incident everj'-where to 
 the formation of veterans from the raw ma- 
 terial of men accustomed solely to the habits 
 and vocations of civil life; but delays of an 
 unusual character were thrown in his way in 
 the trouble at which the Government was 
 in the unsettled state of the country at the 
 outbreak, to obtain the necessary military 
 stores. He received ail possible aid from the 
 citizens, regardless of jiarty, and without 
 waiting for the tardy methods of the Quar- 
 
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 -"rn-rn 
 
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 /^ , ^, y^^^ 
 
 .«^/. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 137 
 
 termaster General's Department, resorted to 
 his personal credit to facilitate all that was 
 required to put his command in a condition 
 for active service in the field. 
 
 In August, 1861, he left Council Bluffs 
 with a portion of the regiment for Fort 
 Leavenworth, and was followed, in a few 
 days, by the rest of the command, and the 
 active career of the Fourth Iowa was begun. 
 He eventually reached Holla, Mo. , and was 
 placed in command of that important post, 
 on the frontier of Gen. Sterling Price's 
 operations. When at Rolla, on November 4, 
 1861, he dispatched an expedition south, 
 under Col. Nicholas Grensel, and issued to 
 him a characteristic order by saying: " If the 
 men who are away from home are in the rebel 
 army, or if their families cannot give a good 
 account of themselves, or their whereabouts, 
 take their property, or that portion of it worth 
 taking: also their slaves. Be sure they are 
 aiding the enemy, and then take all they 
 have got. They have aided and abetted 
 Freeman in all ways, and most of them are 
 now in the rebel army. You had not been 
 gone long before the enemy was signaled 
 from this vicinity by firing and beacon lights. 
 They could only guess your destination, as no 
 one knew it except you and myself. Keep 
 account of eveiything you take and who it is 
 taken from. I think your idea is a good one 
 about dividing your forces Let the infan- 
 try, on returning, visit the Pineys, and look 
 out for affairs there. Be careful, in taking 
 contraband negroes, that the owners are aid- 
 ing the enemy." 
 
 When the Army of the Southwest was or- 
 ganized in that same quarter, under Gen. S. 
 R. Cm-tis, already mentioned in these annals, 
 Col. Dodge was assigned to the command of 
 the Fourth Brigade, and led the advance in 
 the capture of Springfield. Mo., when that 
 army moved to the Southwest, and drove 
 
 Price across the border into Arkansas. As 
 the spring opened in 1862, decisive work was 
 on hand for those troops. Van Dorn left 
 Corinth to join Price, on the west side of the 
 Mississippi. Ben McCalloch, of Texas, and 
 Albert Pike, had mustered a large force of 
 Indians, from the Indian Territory, and the 
 combined rebel army, composed of Texans, 
 Arkansans, Missourians and Indians, was 
 moving in the direction of the Boston Mount- 
 ains, expecting to defeat Ciu'tis and regain 
 Southern and Southwestern Missouri. The 
 result of this movement was one of the most 
 memorable and decisive conflicts of the civil 
 war, now passed into history as the battle of 
 Pea Ridge. The fighting took place on the 
 6th, 7th and 8th of March, 1862. Gen. 
 Sigel's division was in the direction of Ben- 
 tonville when it was assailed by Van Dorn's 
 force, greatly superior to the entire command 
 of Gen. Curtis. Sigel made a matchless re- 
 treat in order to re-unite with Curtis, and 
 did so at Pea Ridge, where the Federal 
 Commander-in Chief had taken a strong po- 
 sition, and was fortifying, preparatory to a 
 stubborn defense. A skillful flank movement 
 on the part of Van Dorn during the night of 
 the 6tb compelled Curtis to face to the north, 
 reversing his position, when his line was first 
 menaced. In this new position, the fighting 
 began, and the attack was furious and most 
 gallantly and resolutely siistained. The bri- 
 gade of Col. Dodge was in the right wing, 
 where Pike's Indians and Ben McCulloch's 
 brave Texans charged with almost savage 
 ferocity in the hope of crushing in that flank. 
 The Fourth Iowa bravely bore its part in this 
 fierce and stubborn conflict, and in the end 
 exhausted their ammunition and were com- 
 pelled to go to the rear some distance in 
 order to replenish. They began that neces- 
 sary movement under Col. Dodge, and. to 
 preserve the morale of the command under 
 
138 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 such trying circumstances as momentarily 
 tui-ning their backs to the enemy, he engaged 
 their attention and preserved their allign- 
 ment by causing them to go through the 
 manual of arms, under a heavy tire of shot 
 and shell. When going through this exer- 
 cise, he was met by Gen. Curtis, just coming 
 to that part of the field, who inquired the 
 object of the movement, and ascertaining its 
 cause, he directed the regiment to face to the 
 front and use the bayonet, which order was 
 promptly obeyed by officers and men, and 
 with the most salutary effect. The fourth 
 Iowa distinguished itself in this battle for its 
 courage and steadiness under the most trying 
 circumstances. Col. Dodge had three horses 
 killed under him, and was himself severely 
 wounded in the side in this engagement. 
 For gallant conduct on that occasion, he was 
 recommended for promotion to the rank of 
 Brigadier General, and the richly deserved 
 promotion was made by the President. As 
 soon as his wounds permitted, he was as- 
 signed to the command of the post of Colum- 
 bus, Ky. ^Vhile discharging that responsi- 
 bility, he captured Gen. Faulkner and his 
 force, near Island No. 10, in the Mississippi, 
 and conducted various important enterprises 
 and expeditions in the territory surrounding 
 his post. His energy and capacity as an 
 officer soon attracted the favorable attention 
 of Gen. Grant, and, in July, 1863, he was 
 placed in command of the Second Division of 
 the Army of the Tennessee, and subsequent- 
 ly, at the head of the left wing of the Six- 
 teenth Army Corps, with headquarters at 
 Corinth, Miss. In this responsibility. Gen. 
 Dodge displayed his high 'qiaalities as an ad- 
 ministrator and as a fighter. He rebuilt the 
 railroads, protected the bridges and exposed 
 places by block-houses, and organized the 
 freedmen into regiments and raised the First 
 Alabama Cavalry, composed of refugees from 
 
 that State, and constituted it as fine a body 
 of troops as ever drew saber. Its Colonel 
 was George E. Spencer, afterward United 
 States Senator from that State. He was 
 constantly surrounded and menaced by u 
 vigilant, hardy, enterprising enemy. Gens. 
 Wheeler, Forrest and Chalmers were con- 
 stantly on the watch, and to defeat their 
 vigilance required the utmost efforts of their 
 equally wily o])panent, Gen. Dodge. He 
 defeated the forces of Gen. Van Dorn, at 
 Tusciimbia, in a brilliant fight; whipped 
 Gen. Forrest at Town Creek, and made the 
 celebrated and successful raid upon Grenada, 
 Miss. Here he destroyed the railroad in 
 possession of the confederates, and a large 
 amount of rolling stock and other public 
 pi'operty. His headquarters were removed 
 to Pulaski, Tenn., in the fall of 1863, and 
 from that point he energetically pushed his 
 operations in all directions, and subsisted his 
 command of 30,000 men, for foiir months, 
 off the country. It was during this period 
 that he surprised the confederate garrison at 
 Decatur, Ala., and secured the whole force 
 as prisoners. 
 
 While Gen. Sherman was pre2:)aring for 
 the Atlanta campaign of 1864, from Chatta- 
 nooga, Gen. Dodge was ordered to join the 
 movement to participate in it. When the 
 campaign began, he was at the head of the 
 Sixteenth Corps in the Army of the Tennes- 
 see, and was intrusted with the advance, and 
 up to Atlanta participated in all the desperate 
 battles that won back that rugged country by 
 one of the most remarkable conquests ever 
 conducted in modern times. At Dallas, his 
 corps heroically repulsed a severe night at- 
 tack, and won for itself the fame it ever after 
 enjoyed. At Kenesaw Mou^ntain, the men of 
 his corps closed upon the rebel works, at the 
 top of that rugged, steep mountain more effect- 
 ually than any other troops engaged. 
 
HISTORY or POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 139 
 
 Tbo march from Chattanooga to Athmta 
 was a continuous battle and skirmish. In all 
 these conflicts, Gen. Dodge did not spare 
 himself. He truly estimated the value of 
 accurate information, and to a great extent 
 made his own reconnoissance. exposed to great 
 hazard and personal danger. The long train- 
 ing that he had received in a wild couutrj', 
 during his experience as a railroad engineer, 
 his constant habit of observation, and his 
 rapid methods of concentration, were of the 
 highest value in a military sense, and fully 
 appreciated by Gen. Sherman, who estimated 
 his services in that respect more important 
 than those of all his other corps commanders 
 combined. It is no reflection upon the lat- 
 ter to make such a comparison, for Gen. 
 Dodge's opportu.nitios and experience in that 
 essential were such as had not come within 
 the range of army officers, in a time of pro 
 found peace, and especially as many of them 
 had risen in a very short time, from mere 
 subalterns to high rank, by merit and meri- 
 torious services. In recognition of these 
 services, he was recommended by Gen. Grant 
 to a promotion to Major General, and his 
 commission bears date June 4, 1S()4. 
 
 In a severe light at RufiPs Mills, on July 4, 
 1864, Gen. Dodge's corps repiilsed and 
 pushed back Hood's entire army, and took 
 possession of the north bank of the Chatta- 
 hoochie River at Roswell, Ga. Here, with 
 no other bridge material than that attainable 
 from the debris of some ruined cotton fac- 
 tories, in two days, under a broiling South- 
 ern sun, his men built a substantial double- 
 ti-ack railroad bridge, 700 feet long, from 
 plans he prepared, and the entire Army of 
 the Tennessee, with his artillery and its vast 
 supplies, safely crossed over. Sherman's goal, 
 Atlanta, was eventually in sight, and, as his 
 great army closed around the city, by the 
 necessaiy contraction of the lines. Dodge's 
 
 Sixteenth Corps, was displaced and obliged 
 to take a position in the rear, in reserve, by 
 the 22d of July, on the left. Gen. Hood 
 conceived a bold and masterly policy of at- 
 tack. The night before, he withdrew his 
 troops from the city, and, secretly moving by 
 a circuitous and well-covered route, hoped to 
 break into the rear and left of Sherman's line 
 toward Decatur and crush that wing. As 
 Hood's force advanced and was about to de- 
 velop on that flank in execu.tion of the rebel 
 plan, Gen. Dodge observed the movement, 
 and, divining its purpose, promptly formed 
 his corps and met their first onset and checked 
 it. Disappointed by this sudden and vigor- 
 ous reception, the confederate column of at- 
 tack hesitated, and Gen. Dodge, getting his 
 corps well in hand, made a vigorous charge 
 and di'ove the enemy from the field with ter- 
 rible slaughter. It was only this opportune 
 position and prompt decision of Gen. Dodge 
 that on that day saved Gen. Sherman's army 
 from serious loss, and, perhaps, great and 
 irreparable disaster. Gen. McPherson, on 
 that morning, rode into the advancing rebel 
 lines and losthis life, and it was after recov 
 ering the ground by Gen. Dodge's corps that 
 the body of the well-beloved and talented 
 officer was obtained. The confederate cavalry 
 also made a desperate attempt that day to 
 capture and destroy the vast supply trains of 
 the Army of the Tennessee, but were thwart- 
 ed by the prompt action, also, of Gen. Dodge. 
 Later in the dav, one of his brisjades gallant- 
 ly repulsed a desperate charge made upon the 
 lines of the Fifteenth Corps. The confeder- 
 ate loss in Gen. Dodge's front alone was 
 fourteen hundi'ed, and many prisoners and 
 eight battle-flags. 
 
 Sherman's army proceeded with the invest- 
 ment of Atlanta, and, as Gen. Dodge was 
 personally observing the position of the con- 
 federates from the rifle-pits of his skirmish 
 
140 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 line, preparatory to the making of an advance 
 and au attack, he was picked out by a rebel 
 shai'pshooter and severely wounded in the 
 head. He was compelled at once to relin- 
 quish his command, and, as soon as it was 
 possible, was removed North. As soon as 
 his wound would permit travel, he visited 
 Gen. Grant, at City Point, Va., and, in the 
 meantime, the Sixteenth Army Corps was 
 broken up by Gen. Sherman, and its divis- 
 ions in front of Atlanta distributed among 
 the other corps. Other divisions of the same 
 corps that had been with Gen. A. J. Smith 
 in the Red River expedition of Gen. Banks, 
 and in Missouri in the final expulsion of 
 Gen. Price under the direction of Gen. Rose- 
 crans, were sent to Gen. Thomas at Nashville, 
 and assisted in the final defeat of Hood. 
 During the period of Gen. Dodge's trip to 
 Grant's headquarters at City Point, he visited 
 Boston, and his native town in Massachusetts, 
 and in both cities was received with flatter- 
 ing demonstrations, among which was an elo- 
 quent complimentary address by the venera- 
 ble Edward Everett. 
 
 Returning to diity in the Army of the Ten- 
 nessee, he was met by an order from Gen. 
 Sherman assigning him to the command of a 
 column intended to operate against Mobile 
 from Vicksburg, but was halted at Cairo, 
 111., by a dispatch directing him to proceed 
 to St. Louis and there assume control of the 
 Department of Missouri, and relieve Gen. 
 Rosecrans. This change was made by Gen. 
 Sherman, at the instance of Gen. Grant, who 
 had confidence that Dodge was the man for 
 that important post. In this new field of 
 duty, " the grave of Generals," he proceeded 
 to work with renewed energy. He promptly 
 suppressed disloyal sentiment wherever found, 
 dominating, as it did, the entire State; he 
 encouraged and protected the Union people 
 everywhere, and effectually exterminated all 
 
 guerrilla and bushwhacking enterprises and 
 practices. In a word, he thoroughly restored 
 order and safety to life and property through- 
 out the borders of Missouri. At the call of 
 Gen. Thomas, at Nashville, he sent all the 
 organized forces he could spare from his de- 
 partment, and thus assisted him in winning 
 that " famous victory." He also made a cam- 
 paign against Jeil Thompson on White River, 
 Arkansas, and compelled the dispersion and 
 sm-reuder of about ten thousand men, and the 
 breaking-up of all organized opposition in 
 that quarter. 
 
 Just before the collapse of the rebellion, 
 Kansas and the Western plains country were 
 consolidated in Dodge's command, and his 
 headquarters removed to Fort Leavenworth. 
 The Indians from the Red River to the Brit- 
 ish Possessions were in open and active hos 
 tility, and were holding all the trails and 
 routes, blockading frontier forts and massa- 
 creing settlers, and destroying settlements. 
 Gen. Dodge at once entered ujoon the ex- 
 tremely difficult task of subduing these hos- 
 tile tribes, opening up communications across 
 the plains and restoring peace to the settle- 
 ments. Troops for this service could not 
 well be spared from the armies of)erating 
 against armed rebellion in the South, and, 
 to supply a force sufficient to undertake the 
 task, he enlisted several regiments from Con- 
 federate prisoners of war, confined in North- 
 ern prison camps, under the title of " United 
 States Volunteers," and, with these as an 
 auxiliary, inaugurated a winter campaign 
 against the tribes, and, coming upon them 
 unwarily, and when they supposed white men 
 could not and would not wage war against 
 them, thoroughly and eflectively defeated 
 them, obliging them to sue for peace, and 
 thus re-opening the overland route closed b}' 
 savage hostility. 
 
 Having pacified the Indians and restored 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 141 
 
 quiet to the Western frontier, he tendered 
 his resignation in June, 1806. He was lu-ged 
 to remain in the service, and to that end was 
 appointed a Major General in the regular 
 army, for which rank he was eminently 
 fitted; but, having been selected as Chief 
 Engineer of the Union Pacific Raih'oad, an 
 employment more congenial to his tastes and 
 habits in time of peace, he insisted on his 
 resignation, and entered upon his new duties. 
 During his absence fi'om home, in July, 
 1866, the Republicans of the Fifth Congres- 
 sional District, unsought by him, and in rec. 
 ognition of his distinguished public services, 
 nominated him as thoir candidate for Con- 
 gi'ess. He accepted the honor thus tendered 
 him with great reluctance, and withotit mak- 
 ing any canvass of the district, which extend- 
 ed from the Des Moines River to the Missouri, 
 and included neai-ly one-third of the area of 
 the State of Iowa, he was elected by an over- 
 whelming majority, it being 4.500 — 2,000 
 more than had ever been given any other 
 candidate in the district. He took his seat 
 in the Fortieth Congi-ess. He was never 
 noted as an orator. In conversation, he has 
 always been incisive in speech, and pointed 
 and direct. He was an active, intelligent, 
 working member, leaving to others more 
 fluent and willing the task of debate on the 
 floor. His influence was felt in a high de- 
 gree in the passage of the bill for the re-or- 
 ganization of the army. He paid particular 
 attention to the wants ot his own State, and 
 was instnnnental in procm-ing the act reim- 
 bursing Iowa for the expenses incurred by 
 her in the raising and equipment of troops, 
 and in defending her border against raids: 
 A monument of his energy and usefulness 
 exists in the fine United States building 
 which adorns the city of Des Moines, his aid 
 in procuring the requisite appropriation be- 
 ing of the most effective character. Though 
 
 urged to accept, he most positively declined 
 to accept a re-nomination and a re-election 
 at the close of his first term, and was suc- 
 ceeded by F. W. Palmer, then a citizen of 
 the district, but now the Postmaster of the 
 city of Chicago. 
 
 Gen. Dodge preferred to devote all his en- 
 ergies, to the building of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad, an enterprise that had always lain 
 nearest his heart from the day he entered 
 upon its preliminary siu'vey, years before. 
 Nothing could induce him to change this res- 
 olution. The task was extremely diflScult in 
 many resjaects. He had at the same time to 
 survey and locate the line, carry on and push 
 the work of construction, and to operate the 
 constructed road. All these details were of 
 the most eomj^lex and perplexing character. 
 It was a long and difficult line, through an 
 iinsettled, and, in many instances, a discour- 
 agingly waste country. All the material had 
 to be carried hundreds of miles before it 
 could be put into the track. That character 
 of railroad building was a mere experiment, 
 and there were not a few experienced engi- 
 neers in this country and in Europe, while 
 they marveled at the progress, withheld their 
 approval as a success. He inspired the man- 
 agement of the new road and the contractors 
 with his own energy, zeal and earnestness, 
 and stimulated them to efibrts that were truly 
 wonderful. Track-laying, under such an in- 
 spiration as this, soon progressed at the rate 
 of from two to three miles a day, and railroad 
 building was revolutionized everywhere. 
 Since then, his example has been easy to fol- 
 low. In one yeai', 568 miles of road were 
 built and equipped — a feat that had never 
 before been excelled in the history of such 
 enterprises, and still stands out as a marvel. 
 A single base of operations, on the Missouri 
 River, served for all this gigantic movement, 
 as no other was possible. A moving city 
 
142 
 
 HISTOKY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 kept pace to the end of the track as each 
 day's progress advanced it miles west- 
 ward; and an army of workmen and their 
 camp-followers constituted its inhabitants. 
 Towns sprang magically into existence, and 
 disappeared as suddenly, but many of the 
 flourishing cities and towns that now dot the 
 plains along the route are due to the ephem- 
 eral railway camjj. Diu-ing this exciting pe- 
 riod, Gen. Dodge, who was the life and soul 
 of the enterprise, virtually lived in his worlc 
 One day he was in his ofiSce; the next, hun- 
 dreds of miles out at the end of the track, 
 and, perhaps, in a day or two, a hundred or 
 more miles still beyond, in the wilderness, 
 establishing the route. At last the gi'eat 
 ambition of his life was achieved, and he saw 
 with jileasure the uniting of the Union Pa- 
 cific with the Central Pacitic at Promontory 
 Point, Utah, a thousand miles from the start- 
 ing-point on the Missouri Eiver, on that 
 memorable day in May, 1869. 
 
 While acting as Chief Engineer of the 
 Union Pacific, he urged upon the Chicago & 
 North-Western, the first of any of the other 
 railways to make actual connection with the 
 Union Pacific, to establish their western ter- 
 minus at Council Bluffs, and was rewarded 
 with witnessing that achievement Witness- 
 ing the completion of the Union Pacific from 
 the river to its junction with the Central Pa- 
 cific, a thousand miles away, was the realiza- 
 tion of only a part^of his great plan. The 
 treacherous, fickle and subtle Missouri River 
 must be spanned by a railway bridge before 
 it could be said that the absolute wants of 
 civilization could be satisfied in the matter 
 of the Union Pacitic Railroad. None unac- 
 quainted with that task can comprehend its 
 magnitude, but, with a genius equal to the 
 emergency, he entered upon a project which 
 an experience and test of nine years have 
 amply justified. After having made the plans 
 
 for the great bridge, and pointed out its con- 
 struction in the most minute detail, he re- 
 signed the position of Chief Engineer in 
 ]S70, but, since 18G8, has served almost un- 
 interruptedly as one of the Directors of the 
 road. 
 
 On severing his connection with the Union 
 Pacitic as engineer, he immediately took j)art 
 in another great inter-continental enterprise 
 — the Texas & Pacitic, and, as Chief Engi- 
 neer, took charge of its construction, and 
 completed its location from Shi'evei)ort, La. , 
 to San Diego, Cal., a distance of 2,000 miles, 
 and 400 miles of it were built by him before 
 the distressing panic of 1873, which caused 
 a suspension of the work. His connection 
 with that road has been uninterrupted since 
 the date of his first connection with the en- 
 terprise, and his tenacity of pm-pose in all 
 manner of vicissitudes has never for a mo- 
 ment flagged or yielded. 
 
 Gen. Dodge's private business, unconnected 
 with railway enterprises, has, in the mean- 
 time, expanded into huge proportions. He 
 was President of the Pacific National Bank 
 of Council Bluffs, and held that p)Osition until 
 its merge with the Council Bhiffs Savings 
 Bank. He has also had connection with 
 numerous other successful enterprises of in- 
 ternal improvement than those already named. 
 In 1 875-7 fi, he visited Europe, and remained 
 abroad quite a long time, making a thorough 
 and a careful examination of the railway sys- 
 tems of those countries, and acquiring val- 
 uable information as to their progress, man- 
 agement and methods. 
 
 In 1879, he was made President of the Pa- 
 cific Railway Improvement Company, and re- 
 sumed operations in the construction of the 
 Texas & Pacific, and in 1880 finished that 
 road from its then terminus. Fort Worth, 
 Texas, to El Paso, in the same State. At the 
 same time, he also undertook and completed 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 U3 
 
 the building of the New Orleans Pacific road, 
 from New Orleans to Shreveport, and also the 
 work of an extension of the Missouri, Kansas 
 & Texas Railway from Denison, Texas, to 
 the Rio Grande River at Laredo. Between 
 1880 and 1882, he has built more than two 
 thousand five hundred miles of railway, all of 
 which is now in successful operation. He 
 also succeeded in obtaining from the Repub- 
 lic of Mexico a concession for a railway from 
 Loredo, on the Rio Grande, to the City of 
 Mexico, called the Mexican Oriental, and 
 upon which work is now rapidly progi-ess- 
 ing. 
 
 As already stated, Gen. Dodge married 
 early in life, and his family now consists of 
 his wife and three daughters, one of whom 
 is married to Robert E. Montgomery, who 
 grew to manhood in Council Blufis; the 
 other, to F. S. Pusey, a son of Hon. W. H. 
 M. Pusey; and a third, who is still unmar- 
 ried.^ In all the changes of location de- 
 manded of him by his greatly diversified bus- 
 
 iness enterprises. Gen. Dodge has never for 
 one moment ceased to be identified with 
 Council Bluffs. Here it is that his beautiful 
 home is. Here he comes to rest, when rest 
 he takes. Here are associations that he finds 
 no place else, and that are essential even to 
 his busy nature. Absorbed in some of the 
 most gigantic industrial enterprises that ever 
 engaged the attention of man, his affection 
 for his parents is as tender and unostentatious 
 as that of the youth who has not yet entered 
 upon the great work of the world. As a hus- 
 band, father and brother, he is singularly 
 affectionate ; and to acquaintances, of the 
 most cordial disposition. A criticism would 
 be out of place here. The writer has only 
 endeavored to incorporate in this book, as a 
 means of instruction and example, the true 
 chronicle of the achievements of an illustri- 
 ous citizen of Council Bluffs, who, as a self- 
 made man, has illustrated the workings of 
 our great free system of government in a Re- 
 public whose greatness is yet in its infancy. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIl. 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS- 
 
 -W. H. M. PUSEY— BANKER AND POLITICIAN— BIRTHPLACE AND EDUCATION- 
 STATE SENATOR— DELEGATE TO CHARLESTON CONVENTION 
 OF 1860— ELECTED TO CONGRES. 1882. 
 
 DURING 1855, the population of Council 
 Bluffs increased to some extent, and the 
 city had many visitors in search of new lands, 
 who were on their way, overland, to the Pa- 
 cific coast. There was little abatement of 
 this class of enterprise during all these years. 
 Among those who came about this date was 
 Hon. W. H. M. Pusey, a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and who, in a long and useful career 
 as a business man and a banker, has left his 
 impress upon the city. Mr. Pusey is still in 
 
 «By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 the prime of life, and has many years of use- 
 fulness before him. He was born on the 
 29th day of July, 1826, in Washington 
 County, Penn., and graduated from "Wash- 
 ington College, in his native county, in 1847. 
 Among others who have distinguished them- 
 selves in subsequent public life, and who 
 were class-mates of Mr. Pusey, was the Hon. 
 James G. Blaine, and whose friendship for 
 Mr. Pusey has been undiminished in all the 
 intervening years of public vicissitudes and 
 political strife. Their esteem for each other 
 
144 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 is as fresh and manifest as it was when they 
 were boys at college. Mr. Piisey is of Quaker 
 parentage and habits of thought. His phys- 
 ique and name indicates his English origin, 
 and his habits are in keeping with that char- 
 acter. He is broadly built, of medium height, 
 and is capable of an immense amount of phys- 
 ical endurance. His physiognomy is that 
 of the English middle-class business man. 
 After taking his degree at college, he selected 
 the profession of law, and began its study. 
 His ripe scholarship and studious, staid hab- 
 its enabled him soon to master legal princi- 
 ples, and in a short time he was duly admit- 
 ted to the bar. Soon after this occiu'red, he 
 took another important step, and that was 
 marriage, with Miss Sarah Ellen Officer, in 
 1849. This lady is the daughter of the late 
 Robert Officer and the sister of Thomas 
 Officer, who has been Mr. Pusey's business 
 associate as a banker in Council Bluffs for 
 nearly twenty-five years. The first move 
 made by these gentlemen was to Illinois, 
 where the vast quantities of unimpri ;ved land 
 presented a wide field for real estate opera- 
 tions. In these they engaged with success 
 in that State; but, in 1855, Mr. Pusey visited 
 Council Bluffs for the first time, remained 
 quite awhile, located a large amount of wild 
 lands, and laid the foundation for his and 
 their subsequent successful business career. 
 Returning to Illinois, his business connec- 
 tions there were severed, his affairs in that 
 quarter wound up, and a permanent removal 
 made in 1856 to Council Bhiffs, to establish 
 the banking house of Officer & Pusey, which, 
 during all the monetary panics through 
 which the country has since passed, has stood 
 firm, unmoved and almost uninfluenced. The 
 country now tributary to Council Bluffs and 
 the basis of its prosperity and growth were 
 little more than a waste. Here and there, for 
 a hundred miles in the interior, was a ham- 
 
 let, and here and there a settlement. ■ Coun- 
 cil Bluffs was the only point west of the Des 
 Moines River that could then afford any kind 
 of banking facilities, and Officer & Pusey at 
 once acquired an acquaintance and inspired 
 a confidence that has been undeviating from 
 that day to this. 
 
 Mr. Pusey, though engaged in an exacting 
 and absorbing business, jealous of every mo- 
 ment's thought and energy, took some inter- 
 est in political affairs and acted with the 
 Democratic party, not wholly standing aloof 
 from an active participation in its local oper- 
 ations and movements. In regard to the 
 rapidly developing question of disposing of 
 slavery in the unorganized Territories, he 
 was a disci j)le and an admirer of the lament 
 ed Stephen A. Douglas, His interest in 
 these matters was recognized in 1857 by his 
 nomination for State Senator, in a district 
 largely Republican at that date, and com- 
 prised of twenty-three counties, extending 
 fnim the Missouri line to that of the present 
 State of Minnesota. Hon. Frank Street, of 
 whom mention has already been made, was 
 the opposing candidate. There were no rail- 
 roads in this vast area of country, and both 
 candidates separately made a canvass of this 
 sparsely settled district. To neither was it 
 anything like child's play. The odds being 
 against Mr. Pusey, his task was all the more 
 difficult. This section of the country had 
 suffered and was suffering then from the 
 effects of wild-cat banking, and his views on 
 that question coinciding with those of the 
 people, in the advocacy of more stringent 
 regulations and safeguards as to the curren- 
 cy, and the confidence he inspired as a pri- 
 vate banker whose interests were not identi- 
 cal with those of the shattered and shaking 
 institutions so greatly unauthorized, gave 
 him a personal leverage that insured his tri- 
 umphant election. An incident of the result 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 145 
 
 was that he had a majority in every township 
 and a majority in every county of the twenty- 
 thi'ee in the district. His service in the 
 Senate was marked diu-ing its lii-st session by 
 his advocacy of proper safeguards and restric- 
 tions upon those raih-oads that were seeking 
 to secLU'e to themselves the results of the mu- 
 nificence of the General Government in do- 
 nating large bodies of the public lands to the 
 State, intrust for a proper encouragement of 
 railroad building. He foresaw, as may be 
 learned from the debates on those questions, 
 that the time would come when the people 
 and the railroads that had profited by the 
 generosity of the former would be brought 
 face to face with each other in a struggle 
 for industrial domination. His pledges to 
 the people on the question of the cui'rency 
 were cai-ried out to the letter. His term, 
 embracing four years, included the exciting 
 Presidential campaign of 1860, and, as a 
 Douglas Democrat, he was sent to the 
 Charleston Convention; and in the exciting 
 and difficult position in which the adherents 
 of the "Little Giant" were placed, by the 
 demands of the cotton Slave States, and by 
 their throats to secede from the convention, 
 he stood side by side with Iowa's most elo- 
 quent son, Ben Samuels, whose resolutions 
 so clearly expressed the length to which the 
 Northern friends of Mr. Douglas were only 
 willing to go on the slavery question. The 
 assault upon Fort Sumter brought new duties 
 to every man who held any official position 
 in Iowa. Mr. Pusey's attitude was not un- 
 certain. He gave his cordial support to all 
 such measures as were regarded by the execu- 
 tive, at the head of which was Gov. Kirk- 
 wood, to fully sustain the effort of the Na- 
 tional Government to suppress the rebellion. 
 Some criticism has since been made that Mr. 
 Pusey supported a resolution declaring that 
 the war was not waged on the part of the 
 
 North for the abolishment of slavery, but 
 for the solepm'pose of restoring the authority 
 of the General Government over the disputed 
 territory. In this he simply reflected the 
 sentiments of Mr. Lincoln's inaugural ad- 
 dress, delivered only a few months before, 
 and a resolution repeatedly taken by the 
 fi-ionds of the President almost up to the 
 date of the emancipation proclamation. At 
 the end of his Senatorial term, Mr. Pusey 
 returned to his business as a banker. Dur- 
 ing all the changing f ortimes of the civil war, 
 his confidence in the ultimate triumph of the 
 Union cause was undiminished, and he gave 
 to it all the assistance possible from his 
 means and his energies. He ceased to t-ike 
 as active an interest in mere party affairs, be- 
 cause his business and business interests 
 grew apace, but in the affairs of the city, its 
 credit had reached such a low ebb, that the 
 best men here demanded a re-organization of 
 the Council, by bringijig into it those who had 
 the capacity and the will to comprehend its 
 necessities. In a largely Republican ward, 
 the Fom-th, IVIr. Pusey was elected by a de- 
 cided majority to represent it in the Council. 
 He took a lead in that body in financial re- 
 organization, and, before the expiration of 
 his term, public credit was brought to par 
 and placed on a solid basis. When the time 
 came for the Council Bluffs & St. Louis Rail- 
 road to seek an entrance into the city, it im- 
 plored the people to vote a tax that would 
 have aggregated about $180,000, to be given 
 them as a donation, under the offer that the 
 city should derive certain benefits from this 
 liberality. An immense popular assembly 
 was called to consider the question with the 
 tide in its favor and strong influences brought 
 to bear in aid of its success, but Jlr. Pusey, 
 with a few others, at the risk of the loss of 
 whatever popularity was involved in such an 
 opposition, for two nights, debated every feat- 
 
146 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 ure of it, and defeated it, and the result has 
 fully justified the event. Since then, his life 
 has been a busy one behind the counter of 
 his bank, giving his personal attention to 
 the details of his business. During these 
 years of activity, he has contributed to the 
 gi'owth of the city by investments in the 
 erection of business blocks of a most substan- 
 tial and enduring character. In every public 
 enterprise that promised to be of a permanent 
 and substantial value, he has lent his in- 
 fluence and financial aid. It is not usual for 
 men, in their relation to bankers, to make 
 public such a relation and the aids they re- 
 ceive from that source, but the writer of this 
 is in a position to know that Mr. Pusey has 
 been unsparing, and without exactions to 
 those, humble though they be, who were in 
 need of substantial friendly assistance. His 
 career, public and private, has been without 
 spot or blemish, or suspicion of either. Up 
 to 1882, he had cast otf all thought of polit- 
 ical ambition. His family, consisting of a 
 
 wife, two daughters and a sou, engages his 
 affections in a high degree, and home sur- 
 roundings were a solace to one who had 
 learned to suppress the promptings of am- 
 bition and to forget the excitements of po- 
 litical strife. But, exigencies arose in this 
 Congressional district that demanded of him 
 an abnegation that he was loath to accept, 
 and, at the instance of the largest convention 
 ever held of the kind in the western part of 
 the State, he accepted a nomination, unani- 
 mously and heartily tendered, of the candidacy 
 of the Democratic party for member of Con- 
 gress from the Ninth District. 
 
 At the general election held on the 7th of 
 November, 1882, Mr. Pusey was elected a 
 member of the Forty-eighth Congress, by a 
 plurality of 2,249, over Anderson, Kepublican, 
 and Hatton, Greenbacker. In the same coun- 
 ties of the district in 1880, there was a 
 Republican majority of 5,000, making the 
 gain in 1882 the unprecedented amount of 
 7,249. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— ELECTION OF 18.56— D. W. PRICE CHOSEN MEMBER OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL 
 
 CONVENTION— LOAN OF $100,000— MISSISSIPPI & MISSOURI CELEBRATION — PALMERS 
 
 BLOCK— BENEDICT HAAG— CHARLES BOCK— WESTERN STAGE COMPANY— 
 
 H. P. WARREN— KEOKUK AND WAPELLO— ANECDOTE OF JOHN C. 
 
 BRECKINRIDGE— CHARTER AMENDED— JUDGE BALDWIN. 
 
 'T^HE political canvass of 1856 was a memor- 
 -*- able one throughout the country. James 
 Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge headed 
 the Democratic ticket: John C. Fremont and 
 William L. Da^yton that of the Republicans, 
 who were, for the first time, making a des- 
 perate struggle to gain control of the Na- 
 tional Government; and ex-President Millard 
 Fillmore and Andrew Jackson Donelson, the 
 
 *By Col. Jehn H. Koatley. 
 
 nephew of Gen. Andrew Jackson, represented 
 the Whig and native American element in 
 politics. So far as the interest of Council 
 Bluffs was concerned, the lines were drawn 
 almost solely between the Democrats and the 
 Republicans. Gen. S. R. Curtis was the 
 Republican candidate for Congress, and Au- 
 gustus Hall that of the Democrats of the dis- 
 trict. Both of these gentlemen, in stumping 
 the district, made sf)eeches here in advocacy 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 147 
 
 of their claims. Two elections were held 
 thcat year, one in Augxist, for State and county 
 officers, and another in November for Presi- 
 dential electors. The whole number of votes 
 in the county at the August election was 
 564, with a Democratic majority of 200. 
 Hon. A. V. Larimer was elected Representa- 
 tive in the State Legislatiu-e; J. H. Sherman, 
 Coimty Prosecuting Attorney, and F. H. 
 Welsh, the Clerk of the District Court. B. 
 R. Pegram ran against Larimer; George W. 
 Dodge against Sherman, and David Devol, 
 now an old and venerable citizen, the father 
 of P. C. Devol, against Welsh. An election 
 was also held for members of a Constitutional 
 Convention to revise the constitution, and D. 
 W. Price was chosen the member of that 
 body, as a Democrat, from a district embrac- 
 ing the greater portion of the northwestern 
 section of the State, his Republican competi- 
 tor being the highly respected and venerable 
 Judge D. E. Brainard, now of Magnolia, Har-' 
 rison County. In the county, at the November 
 election, the Buchanan and Breckenridge 
 electors received 353 votes; those of Fremont 
 and Dayton, 259, and Fillmore and Donel- 
 son's electors, 85, or a total of 697, out of 
 which Kane Township contributed 408. 
 Capt. Price was also Mayor of the city that 
 year, having been chosen to that office in 
 March. W. C. James, J. B. Lewis, J. D. 
 Test, Patrick Murphy, John T. Baldwin, D. 
 C. Bloomer and G. A. Robinson, among 
 others, constituted the City Council. 
 
 The city authorities had begun to realize 
 the necessity of expending money for the im- 
 provement of the sti'eets. Li order to accom- 
 plish that, a special election was trdered 
 upon the question of borrowing $100,000 for 
 that piu^ose, and, on the 14th of April, the 
 voters, by a poll of 122 to 4, declared in fav- 
 or of the proposition. The principal part of 
 this sum was expended in grading and wid- 
 
 ening Broadway, hemmed in as it was by the 
 bluffs, and irregular as it appeared in its 
 general features. It was virtually the only 
 street of any importance, at that time, in a 
 business point of view. In respect, also, of 
 the fact that large donations of public lands 
 had just been made, in aid of four contem- 
 plated linos of railway across the State, the 
 land office here was closed in May, 1856, in or- 
 der that this liberality of the General Govern- 
 ment might have full effect. In anticipation 
 of this order, the eagerness to take advantage 
 of what opportunity etill existed during that 
 mouth, 200,000 acres were entered before the 
 office was closed. At that date, the tendency 
 of railroad concentration was here, though 
 not definite. This concentration was antici- 
 pated in the celebration of the completion of 
 the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad to Iowa 
 City. Gen. Curtis urged that course in 
 newspaper articles, and had in view the great 
 Platte Valley as the route of the great inter- 
 continental highway, a dream that he almost 
 realized in his own lifetime. 
 
 Durino- this season, J. M. Palmer built the 
 three-story brick block of four buildings, 
 known as Palmer's Block, and now known as 
 the Nonpareil Block, commencing at the 
 southeast corner of Scott street and Broadway 
 and extending westward along Broadway. 
 Benedict Haag having built the first breweiy 
 ever erected in Western Iowa, the year pre- 
 vious, also erected the three-story brick suite 
 of buildings on Upper Broadway, known as 
 Haag's block. The brewery, now disused for 
 about ten years, is located on the soi;th side 
 of Pierce street, east of the Pierce Street 
 School building, and part of the premises 
 constitute what went, for many years, by the 
 name of Bock's Beer Gardens, the widow of 
 Benedict Haag having married Charles Bock, 
 who, before his death, was also one of the 
 best known and popular Germans in the city. 
 
148 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAAVATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 His widow, IVIrs. Bock, still occupies part of 
 the premises as a beautiful homestead. 
 
 Commerce at this time was mainly by the 
 river, from St. Louis, by steamboat, as many 
 as twenty boats arriving in a mouth, many of 
 them, of course, en route for the sparse settle- 
 ments and for the Indian country, still far- 
 ther north. The Western Stage Company 
 ran a line of coaches across the State, and a 
 gentleman by the name of Frost conducted a 
 line between Council Bluifs and St. Joseph, 
 Mo. Perhaps the most severe winter ever ex- 
 perienced in this locality was that which was 
 heralded by a severe snow-storm in Decem- 
 ber, 1856. Snow fell during that month to 
 the depth of four feet, and, in many places, 
 it was six feet deep. The atmosphere gained 
 in coldness at the same time, and many who 
 had not anticipated so great a severity, suffered 
 'intensely, owing to the inadeqaacy in pre- 
 paration for anything of the kind. Up to 
 that winter, deer were abundant in the vi- 
 cinity, but the deep snow drove them into 
 the timber southwest and northwest of the 
 city, to browse on the young cottonwood 
 sprigs to keep them from starvation, and they 
 were slaughtered by hundi'eds. 
 
 The niimber was so diminished by this 
 means that it may be said that they ever after 
 disappeared from the locality only one here 
 and there at times making an aj^pearance in 
 The timber or on the prairie. The only wild 
 animals, in which there did not seem to be 
 any diminution by the rigors of winter, were 
 the prairie wolf. 
 
 Among those who came to stay during the 
 early part of the winter of 1856 was Henry 
 P. Warren, who has, for quite a number of 
 years, tilled the position of Deputy Clerk of 
 the District and the Circuit Courts, and who 
 is the father of F. H. Warren, who, for two 
 terms, was Clerk of those courts. Mr. War- 
 ren was born in Illinois in 1818, and, when 
 
 a mere boy, came to v/hat was then known as 
 Wisconsin Territory, now within the limits of 
 Iowa. His uncle, with whom he came, was 
 an authorized Indian trader to the Sacs and 
 Foxes, and among the places at which he lo- 
 cated was Agency City, on the Des Moines 
 River, in Henry County. Here was a splen- 
 did opportunity to study the Indian charac- 
 ter and the language of those tribes, and Mr. 
 Warren was at that susceptible age when it 
 became easy to acquire the tongue of the 
 Iowa Indians. He quickly became a useful 
 interpreter — as much so as those who made it 
 their life employment. It was here that he 
 formed the acquaintance and acquired the 
 friendship of both Keokuk and Wapello, and 
 inspired those noted Indian chiefs with a 
 confidence that was not shaken during their 
 lives, and, when they went on their journey 
 to the happy hunting-grounds of their tribe, 
 they still remembered the white youth at the 
 agency with gratitude and characteristic In- 
 dian fidelity and friendship. After remain- 
 ing at this and other trading houses within 
 the limits of those tribes for several years, he 
 returned to Illinois to school, but came out 
 again in 1838. In 1842, John C. Breckin- 
 ridge, of Kentucky, who had settled in Bur- 
 lington, expecting to make that his perma- 
 nent residence, with a party came out to hunt, 
 and went up the Des Moines Eiver in two 
 detachments far beyond trading-posts and the 
 bounds of civilization. Breckinridge acted 
 as cook for the party to which Warren was 
 attached, and, the supply of floiu- getting 
 low, he resorted to more than a liberal use of 
 lard, in order to make slapjacks that would 
 go a great ways. Little did the future Vice 
 President of the United States, the gallant 
 officer in the Mexican war, and the noted 
 Confederate General think that his practice 
 in the art ciilinary, with slender means, 
 on the frontier, would ever stand him in 
 
HISTOKY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 149 
 
 hand, in many a like occasion, during civil 
 war. 
 
 Great hardship was endured by many peo- 
 ple during the winter of 1856. Not only in 
 the town was this the case, but in the coun- 
 try, which was covered with the deepest snow. 
 Roads were blocked, such as they were, the 
 timber was inaccessible, and many suiferpd 
 from the want of fuel, extremely difficult to 
 obtain. Scarcely anything but green cotton- 
 wood could be had, and this commanded 
 famine prices, selling as high at times as .|20 
 per load. Whole weeks intervened between 
 the arrival of mails, and newspapers were 
 read and re-read for the want of fresh sup- 
 plies. From the outside world they were 
 virtually cut off, and the isolated people were 
 compelled to endiu'e life, instead of enjoying 
 it, making up for deficiencies in ordinary com- 
 forts by resorting to such amusements as the 
 frontier of itself could afford. 
 
 The original charter of the city, after a fair 
 experiment, was found inadequate, and, in 
 January, 1857, it was materially amended, 
 and the powers of the city government greatly 
 enlarged. Not only were the municipal pow- 
 ers increased, but the boundaries were ex- 
 panded so that more territory was included 
 within its limits than embraces the city of 
 New York proper, and even the great city of 
 London. This craze for enlai'gement was 
 absui'd, and grew out of the intense passion 
 for speculation in city property, in common 
 with all other kinds of speculation inordi- 
 nately stimulated by unlimited issues of 
 cheap paper money by hosts of Western wild- 
 cat banks. The only manufacturing industry 
 existing at that time in the naiTow belt of 
 settlements constituting the Ten-itorv'of Ne- 
 braska was that of paper money manufactur- 
 ing; and this flourished with baneful influ- 
 ence until the general financial collapse of 
 the fall of 1857 brought institutions to sink 
 
 to rise no more. Council Bluffs was a suffer- 
 er from this folly in a high and in an acute 
 degree. The limits of the city at that date 
 were extended to the Missouri River, and 
 made to embrace an area of four mi les square, 
 and quite a large niunber of acres that have 
 never yet been devoted to anything else than 
 tillage. Under the amended charter, the first 
 election was held March 9, resulting in the 
 choice of J. Smith Hooton as Mayor; Frank 
 Street, City Recorder; S. H. Craig, Treas- 
 urer; and City Marshal, H. J. Barnes. Dan- 
 iel W. Carpenter, L. W. Babbitt, Henry 
 Allen and Capt. John P. Williams were 
 among the Councilmeu chosen at that elec- 
 tion. George Snider was appointed (]ity At- 
 torney for one year, but before the end of his 
 term he resigned, and Caleb Baldwin was 
 appointed in his stead. 
 
 The latter gentleman performed so lan^e a 
 part in assisting to develop the city, and, 
 during his life-time, occupied such a high 
 rank as a lawyer, Judge, citizen and public 
 man, that he is entitled to more than a mere 
 reference in these annals. Mr. Baldwin was 
 born in Washington County, Penn , on the 
 3d of April, 1824. He was the brother of 
 the Hon. John T. Baldwin, also identified 
 with the origin and growth of Council Bluffs, 
 and both were sons of Nehemiah Baldwin, 
 who, until his death several years ago, dis- 
 charged the duties of Dejnity Collector of In- 
 ternal Revenue in the service of the United 
 States for a long time, an 1 with the highest 
 degree of acceptability. Caleb Baldwin de- 
 veloped an early aptitude for study, and was 
 given the necessary means of mental improve 
 ment. When prepared for college, he entered 
 that at Washington, Penn., and graduated 
 from that institution in 1842. He spent four 
 years in the stud}' of the law, being in no 
 great haste to enter one of the most jealous 
 and exacting vocations of life without having 
 
150 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 thoroughly mastered the principles that are 
 necessary to the highest professional success. 
 He was then twenty -two years of age, and 
 eager to develop his talents in a new country, 
 and, removing to Fairfield, in Jefferson Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, established that as his home, and 
 entered upon the practice of his profession. 
 Iowa was then a Territory only, and its set- 
 tlements extended but a short distance inland 
 from the Mississippi River. Many were the 
 discouragements, the common lot of the vent- 
 uresome, in those days, in a new country, 
 without railroads, and no immediate prospects 
 of any such; but Mr. Baldwin had extraor- 
 dinary coiu-age, resolution, industry and will 
 to overcome the obstacles that were in his 
 pathway. He rapidly made friends, grad- 
 ually, yet certainly, advanced to professional 
 success, and acquired popularity as a citizen. 
 His talents and character were fully appre- 
 ciated by the most discrircfinating in that new 
 community; but, being a Whig, and subse- 
 quently a life-long Republican, the political 
 avenues were virtually closed against him, 
 after Iowa became a State, until 1855, when 
 he was appointed Judge of the District Coiu-t 
 by Gov. James W. Grimes. This was to fill 
 a vacancy created by the resignation of Hon. 
 W. H. Seevers, now one of the Judges of the 
 Iowa Supreme Court. Mr. Baldwin came to 
 Council Bluffs early in 1857, and was made, 
 as already stated, the City Attorney. In 
 1859, he was elected to the bench of the Su- 
 preme Com't of the State, this being the first 
 election of Judges of that covu't by the peo- 
 ple under the new constitution formed by the 
 convention of 1857. According to the method 
 of selection, as provided by law, he became 
 Chief Justice of that coiu-t in 1862. He was 
 unwilling to serve longer than one term — six 
 years — in that station, and declined a renom- 
 ination, and resumed the practice of his pro- 
 fession. His career as a Judge was marked 
 
 by signal ability. The opinions prepared by 
 him, and which are his monument, in the 
 earlier Iowa Reports, are models of terseness 
 and perspicuity. There is never any diffi- 
 culty in understanding what Judge Baldwin 
 meant when he decided a point, for his lan- 
 guage was direct, and the matter iinclouded 
 by any attempt to evade the issue presented 
 in the record. His instinct of justice mani- 
 fested itself in every line of those opinions. 
 As a debater, he was an adversary of formi- 
 dable character, and, having a pleasing voice 
 and presence, and considerable humor, much 
 of it of the quaint, homely character, there 
 was always an eagerness to listen to his 
 speeches when he made arguments in court. 
 He always inspired confidence, both with 
 judge and jmy, and in that way gave addi- 
 tional character and force to the evidence by 
 which he sought verdicts. In 1865, Judge 
 Baldwin was appointed United States Attor- 
 ney for the District of Iowa, and held that 
 position for a short time, soon finding it too 
 irksome to suit his tastes. About a year 
 afterward, George F. Wright, a young law- 
 yer from the eastern part of the State, came 
 to Council Bluffs, and he and Judge Baldwin 
 formed a law partnership which lasted until 
 the death of the latter. After the treaty of 
 Washington was ratified, and the Geneva con- 
 vention had ascertained the amount of indem- 
 nity to be paid by Great Britain to the United 
 States for the dej)redations of the Alabama, 
 Shenandoah and other Confederate priva- 
 teers named in the treaty stipulation, Judge 
 Baldwin was, in 1872, made one of the 
 Judges to constitute the court and distribute 
 the claims arising under that treaty and pay- 
 ment. Dm'ing the last years of his life, it 
 was evident to his friends, though not to him- 
 self — for he refused to believe it — that a fa- 
 tal disease had taken hold of -his stalwart 
 frame, and was rapidly working its insidious 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 151 
 
 way through his system. He finally suc- 
 cumbed, and came home to die, and, in the 
 winter of 187G, death came to his relief. In 
 addition to a thorough educational prepara- 
 tion for a career in life, Judge Baldwin was 
 a man of commanding jsresence. He was 
 more than six feet in height, and, possessing 
 a winsome, manly countenance, invariably 
 attracted to him hosts of personal friends, 
 and became personally popular with men of 
 all parties. There was universal sorrow at 
 his death. The Judges of the Sujjreme Coui't 
 of the State came from their homes and at- 
 tended his funeral in a body, and evinced a 
 personal sorrow that denoted the esteem in 
 which he was held by his professional asso- 
 ciates. 
 
 For about eight years before his death, he 
 made no appearance in coui't in the trial of 
 causes, leaving that to those associated with 
 him. The year before he died, however, a 
 memorable scene was enacted in the court 
 room in Council Bluffs. It was in the case 
 of William Pierson against Benjamin Min- 
 turn. Pierson was a bachelor, and had se- 
 cured, shortly after the county was organ- 
 ized, a beautiful piece of prairie land, which 
 he made into a large and fertile farm. Min- 
 ium became its purchaser, for perhaps all, or 
 at least a great part of it, on credit. At about 
 the arrival of Judge Baldwin in Council 
 Bluft's, litigation began between Pierson and 
 Minturn; and for nearly thirty years the con- 
 tention in law proaeeded. Pierson became a 
 monomaniac on the subject, and a pauper, 
 but clung with tenacity to his case. His at- 
 torneys either removed, died or abandoned 
 the case from time to time. Young lawyers, 
 just Hedged, were induced to take up the lines 
 
 where others laid them down, and began to 
 grow gray in the service. The case of Pier- 
 son against Minturn, on one side or the other, 
 was the means of introducing the newly ar- 
 rived lawyers of Council Bluffs to their pro- 
 fessional brethren, and the calling of the case 
 in court, term in and term out, as it stood at 
 the head of the docket, musty and incumbered, 
 was the source of the first merriment of the 
 tenn, and the last joke before adjournment. 
 Mintm'n, in the meantime, became a bankrupt, 
 thi'ough trade, and there seemed not to be 
 any reason for having the case still in court, 
 the substance being gone, except that fate 
 willed it so. 
 
 The year before the death of Judge Bald- 
 win, the cause was reached for some kind of 
 a determination and disposition before Judge 
 Reed. There was no unusual stir among the 
 regular habitues of the court room, but the 
 presence of Judge Baldwin denoted some 
 thing unusual. He was seated, his infirmi- 
 ties claiming for him that exemption from re- 
 spect to the court by being on his feet to ad- 
 dress it. He began an argument. His lone 
 was narrative and eonversatioual in style. 
 He commenced by reciting the history of the 
 case, and followed it through all ite chame- 
 leon changes of counsel, aspect and phases, 
 everj' step indicating that in the tragedy of 
 those two litigants there lurked a, well-sea- 
 soned comedy that he was developing in side 
 lights of " infinite jest" and merriment. The 
 effect was surprising and wonderful. For 
 more than an hour this incomparable di'oll 
 ery of speech went on, every step leading to 
 a climax. When done, he left the court 
 house, and never again was his voice heard 
 within its walls. 
 
15U 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS -CRESCENT CITY A RIVAL— JOSEPH E. JOHNSON— THE •'CLARION" AND THE 
 
 "PRESS"— BONDS IN AID OF MISSISSIPPI & MISSOURI RAILROAD— PRESBYTERIAN 
 
 CHURCH INCORPORATED— BUILDING COMMENCED— EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
 
 —REAL ESTATE SPECULATIONS— CONCERT HALL— CRASH OF 
 
 1857— INDTAN CREEK CHANNEL CHANGED 
 
 IN the beginning of the year jl 857, John T. 
 Baldwin and Gen. G. M. Dodge built a 
 steam mill on Washington avenue, on the north 
 side of Indian Creek, near the junction of 
 Bryant and North Main streets. This mill 
 they called the City Mills, and afterward it 
 passed into the hands of Col. J. C. Hofifmayr, 
 and now, in 1882, after being entirely re- 
 built, and refitted with the Hungarian roller 
 process of grinding, with an elevator at- 
 tached, it is the property of John T. Bald- 
 win and J. C. Hoffmayr. During the many 
 years of its operations, it has been extensively 
 employed, at times in the manufacture of 
 flour for the Government in filling contracts 
 of supply at Western Indian agencies. 
 
 Council Bliiifs was threatened by a rival 
 on the east side of the river at an early pe- 
 riod of her existence. Six miles north, 
 where Crescent Station, on the North- West- 
 ern Railroad, now is, the tall bluffs, instead 
 of keeping their directness on the verge of 
 the valley, sweep inland to the eastward in a 
 curve, and approach the river again south of 
 Honey Creek Station. This curved sweej) of 
 plain to the east, crescent-shaped, gave the 
 name to the locality, to the township carved 
 out in that vicinity, and to the Mormon vil- 
 lage known as Crescent City. The growth of 
 the place was stimulated by the belief that 
 the Mississippi and the Missouri River Rail- 
 
 *By Col John H. Keutley. 
 
 road would reach the Missouri River opposite 
 that point, for a crossing, by the way of the 
 Pigeon, and Crescent City, opposite Florence, 
 in I^ebraska. The latter was the chief town 
 of the Territory, and Omaha was a mere con- 
 ception, developed on paper by the drafts- 
 men. Joseph E. Johnson, of the Bugle, of 
 Council Bluffs, was an ardent advocate of the 
 future greatness of Ci'escent City, and estab- 
 lished there a newspaper called the Oracle. 
 Mr. Johnson, in his far-off home in South- 
 ern Utah, has lived to see the town of which 
 he had such great hopes shrink again to a 
 mere hamlet, and its rival expand to a popu- 
 lation of 22,000. During these years, the 
 Chronotijpe continued to be published, with 
 Mr. Maynard at its head; but, in May, 1857, 
 he and his brother-in-law, A. D. Long, 
 launched the Weekly Nonpareil, a Repub- 
 lican journal, which has continued as such 
 ever since, and has expanded, under various 
 managements, into a daily morning newsj)a- 
 per of very wide influence and circulation. 
 A. P. Bently became the owner of the Chro- 
 notype, and published the paper for a few 
 months, when it was made a Democratic jour- 
 nal, and called the Clarion, as a response to 
 Johnson's Bugle. The material on which 
 the Clarion wa» printed was removed from 
 the county in about eight years, and the pa- 
 per disappeared from sight. For a few 
 months in 1859, after J. E. Johnson ceased 
 

 QyT~p>^^ 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 155 
 
 to have any interest in the Bugle, and L. W. 
 Babbitt had become its owner. Mr. Johnson 
 published a Democratic newspaper called the 
 Press, but its life was short, as its mission in 
 this field was not a certain and successful 
 one. During the summer of 1S57. the Bugle 
 appeared as a daily newspaper, but the vent- 
 ure not being profitable and assuring, it was 
 discontinued, except as a weekly, after a few 
 months. It was eventually revived as a 
 daily, but that fact belongs to another period 
 of these annals. 
 
 One of the most notable events of the year 
 ■was a special election held iii the county on 
 the 19th of June, for the jiurpose of deter- 
 mining whether the county should or should 
 not subscribe $100,000 in the bonds of the 
 •county in aid of the construction of the Mis- 
 sissijipi & Missouri Iliver Railroad. So ea- 
 ger were the people of Coiincil Bluffs for its 
 adoption that only fourteen votes were cast 
 against it. It was a stipulation of the con- 
 tract that none of the bonds should issue un- 
 til work was commenced in the county, and 
 accordingly it did begin, in the Mosquito 
 Creek Valley, in 1858, but not a great deal 
 of grading was accomialished, and the build- 
 ing of the road at this end was suspended, 
 and not again resumed until 1868, under the 
 auspices of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pa- 
 cific. The County Judge hesitated signing 
 the bonds when claim was made for them, in 
 1858, under the allegation that they were 
 due on account of work begun. A strong 
 public pressure was brought upon him, 
 through public meetings and otherwise, and 
 he was induced to affix his signature, and the 
 bonds passed into the hands of the railroad 
 company. About 135,000 of these were ne- 
 gotiated to innocent persons, or who claimed 
 to be such, and no legal defense could be 
 made to their payment. Their validity was 
 established by judgments against the coun- 
 
 ty. The remainder were eventually surren- 
 dered and canceled, this taking place in 1870, 
 as the result of a negotiation on the part of 
 the county authorities. That is the only lia- 
 bility or debt that the county ever incurred 
 in aid of railroads, though townships and the 
 city undertook, by taxation and otherwise, to 
 contribute to the building of several of 
 these improvements. 
 
 So far as can be ascertained, the Rev. John 
 Hancock, of Kentucky, was the first Presby- 
 terian clergyman who ever undertook to eon- 
 duct stated services in that religious society 
 in Council Blufis. He came here in 1S5G, 
 and, after remaining here several days, went 
 to Bellevue, Neb., to the Omaha Indian Mis- 
 sion, where the Rev. William Hamilton was 
 stationed, as a missionary. Coming back 
 here, Hancock found quite a number of Pres 
 byterians scattered through the city, among 
 them W. H. M. Pusey, Thomas Officer, James 
 B. Rue and C. W. Boyers, and proceeded to 
 take steps to organize a congregation. In 
 this work he was assisted by the Rev. Mr. 
 Bell, a well-known and ensrgetic Presbyte- 
 rian missionary in the West. In the begin- 
 ning of 1857, $10,000 were subscribed to aid 
 in the erection of a church edifice, and the 
 ground secured on the east side of Marcy or 
 Seventh street, between First avenue and 
 Willow avenue. In February, 1857, articles 
 of incorporation were filed in order to prop- 
 erly constitute the society, and to enable it to 
 hold and control the necessary real estate, 
 among the incorporators of which were John 
 T. Baldwin, Thomas Officer, James A. John- 
 son, C. W. Boyers and W. H. M. Piisey, who 
 were designated as Trustees. The work of 
 erecting a brick structure as a place of wor- 
 ship was begun the same year, but the unfort- 
 iinate panic which paralyzed every other en- 
 terprise in 1857 caused a suspension of the 
 church erection, as well as many other im- 
 
156 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 provements, and the civil war and its excite- 
 ments and perils also intervening, it was not 
 resumed until 1865, when the present church 
 edifice was completed. Mr. Hancock remained 
 as pastor of the congregation until 1860. Dur- 
 ing the next seven years, several clergymen 
 were in charge of the congregation, and in 
 1867, the Eev. T. H. Cleland, a Kentuckian, 
 was chosen pastor, and remained in that office 
 until March, 1882, when he was called to 
 Westminster Church, at Keokuk, and. accept- 
 ing that appointment, the pulpit of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in Council Bluffs was again 
 declared vacant. 
 
 The Rev. E. W. Peet, an Episcopal cler- 
 gyman of Des Moines, the first clergyman of 
 that church who ever visted Council Bluffs, 
 in the exercise of his religious or pastoral func- 
 tions, came here in 1856, and proceeded to or- 
 ganize St. Paul's Parish. The vestry was con - 
 stituted with -J. B. Beers, Horace Everett, 
 William C. James, J. P. Casady, D. C. 
 Bloomer, Addison Cochran, Thomas P. Trey- 
 nor, Samuel Perin and G. "W. Dodge. Dur- 
 ing the autumn, the parish was visited by the 
 lit. Eev. Bishop Lee, of the diocese of Iowa, 
 in company with the venerable missionary. 
 Bishop Kemper, of that chiu'ch. The Rev. 
 George Watson, who also had a missionary 
 parish in Omaha, came in February, 1856, 
 and took charge of the parish in the capacity 
 of missionary. A lot was ptu'chased in Bay- 
 liss' First Addition, on Pearl street, on the 
 west side, in the block south of Willow 
 avenue. It was the plan to erect a commo- 
 dious brick building on the site selected, and 
 preparations were made for that purjiose. 
 On the Ist day of August, 1857, the cere- 
 monies of laying the corner stone occurred, 
 under the direction of the Et. Eev. Henry 
 W. Lee, the Bishop, assisted by Mr. Watson, 
 the missionary pastor. Some masonry in the 
 form of a square was erected as a foundation, 
 
 several feet in height, at the northeast cor- 
 ner of the intended edifice, and upon this 
 was placed the cut stone designed as a cor- 
 ner-stone. In its cavity were placed a brief 
 history of the parish, local newspapers, some 
 coins and other articles customary on such oc- 
 casions, and the cavity sealed up. An address 
 was also delivered by the Bishop. The panic 
 of that year had its effect upon this enterprise. 
 Many upon whom they depended for financial 
 aid were overtaken by monetary distress, and 
 went through the succeeding years under 
 financial embarrassment, and the plan of 
 building a brick church was abandoned. In 
 1860, when general prosperity began to re- 
 appear, a neat and an ai^propriate wooden 
 building was erected on the same lot, the 
 northeast corner of which rests a few feet 
 south of the corner-stone laid in 1857. 
 Thousands have passed the spot in the last 
 twenty-five years, and, in wonderment, no- 
 ticed what apjjears to be a partial ruin of a 
 building so near the other. In brief, it is 
 simj)ly a time-worn and storm-beaten monu- 
 ment of a financial crisis of a quarter of a 
 century ago. It is the hope of the survivors 
 that some day their ardent wishes may be 
 gratified by the occupancy of that corner-stone 
 with an edifice worthy of the ceremonies 
 which attended the laying of it. The spot is 
 regarded with religious veneration by the 
 members of the parish, and in all these years 
 it has stood unmutilated, only as time has 
 worn its traces into the stones. 
 
 The successive rectors of St. Paul's Parish 
 during the years succeeding the incumbency 
 of Mr. Watson have been the Revs. Faber, 
 Byllesby, John Chamberlain, T. J. Brooks 
 and F. T. Webb. The latter has been the 
 highly esteemed rector for about eight years, 
 and has been highly useful in his chosen 
 work. 
 
 A vote was taken, at the October election 
 
HISTORY or POTTAAVATTAiMIE COUNTY. 
 
 157 
 
 of that year (1858), upon the new State con- 
 stitution, the majority in the county being 
 1*17 against it. The question of striking the 
 word " white " out of the suffrage clause was 
 also voted upon at the same time and defeated 
 overwhelmingly, there being only seven votes 
 in favor of negro suffrage. The Nonpareil, 
 at that time under the management of Mr. 
 Maynard, was vigorously opposed to that 
 kind of suffrage, and urged the defeat of the 
 proposition. AV. H. M. Pusey was elected 
 Senator, and Samuel H. Gasady, Represent- 
 ative, on the Democratic ticket, as against 
 Frank Street and J. W. Denison, the total 
 vote of Kane Township being 504. The not- 
 ed and eloquent Ben Samuels, of Dubuque, 
 the Democratic candidate for Governor, and 
 Ralph P. Lowe, the opposition candidate, 
 had a joint discussion here. Lowe was 
 elected; also became one of the Judges of 
 the State Supreme Court; served under Unit- 
 ed States District Attorney Sapp from 1869 
 to 1873, as assistant, and is now one of the 
 legal advisers in a Washington executive de- 
 partment. 
 
 Fancy values were given to much of the 
 real estate in Council Bluffs at that date. 
 The assessment that year was largely based 
 upon the fancy values attributed to the large 
 amount of unoccupied town lots held for spec- 
 ulative purposes, and the official assessment 
 in the city aggregated the enormous valua- 
 tion of §2,276.600. Building was active dur- 
 ing the summer. Money was alnmdant, such 
 as it was, and, as it turned out to be, in a 
 few months afterward, merely " wild cat," 
 and trade of all kinds singularly active and 
 prosperous. Not a day passed without the 
 arrival of a steamboat from below. Judce 
 
 o 
 
 James, Milton Rogers and W. B. Lewis erected 
 that season the three-story brick block on the 
 southeast corner of INIain and Broadway, in 
 which block are now the Masonic Hall and the 
 
 American Express Company's offices. J. M. 
 Palmer also built a very handsome two story 
 building, called Concert Hall, at the northeast 
 corner of Broadway and Center streets. This 
 was afterward destroyed by fire, and the site 
 is now occupied by the New Opera House. 
 Where the Congregational Church now 
 stands, on Center or Sixth street, H. C. Nutt, 
 John A. Andrews and F. A. Tuttle began the 
 erection of a large hotel, and after spending 
 about $25,000 in the enterprise, were com- 
 pelled to abandon it, and the part built was 
 afterward torn down, and the material used 
 in other buildings. 
 
 During the summer of 1857, W. H. M. 
 Pusey and Thomas Officer built the comfort- 
 able and conxmodious residences which they 
 still occupy, on Willow avenue, on the south 
 side of the Pearl Street Park. Thomas H. 
 Benton also built a fine brick residence on 
 the east side of Market street, south of Broad- 
 way, in a beautiful spot in the glen, it be- 
 ing the same that was afterward owned by 
 Judge^ Douglass for so many years, and is 
 still the property of his estate. The banking 
 houses then in the city were those of Green, 
 Weare & Benton, whose place of business 
 was the brick building now known as tho 
 City Building, op Broadway; Baldwin & 
 Dodge; Officer & Pusey. still doing business; 
 S. H. Riddle & Co. ; and J. M. Palmer & Co. 
 Benton was also President, at the same time 
 of the American Exchange Bank of Omaha, 
 and so intimately connected were the two 
 establishments that when one collapsed, on 
 tho 25th of September, 1857, the other went 
 with it, and both closed their doors, to the 
 great loss of many of their customers and 
 depositors. Benton made strenuous efforts 
 to meet his obligations, surrendered his 
 homestead, and all the property and paper 
 that his banks held, but the crash was so 
 general that a great part of the latter was 
 
158 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 absolutely worthless. The utter flimsy char- 
 acter of the Nebraska banks, whose paper 
 formed the currency at that date in this part 
 of the country, left them no alternative than 
 to go to the wall, and with them went also 
 forever their abundance of paper trash. Real 
 estate fell to a low ebb in consequence of 
 these disasters, and could be scarcely given 
 away. It was, perhaps, the darkest period 
 Council Bluffs ever saw. Men who were in 
 affluence the evening before could scarcely 
 buy a breakfast the next morning. So the 
 season passed, amidst the most intense gloom. 
 Many remained here, not that they had heart to 
 stay and wait, but because they were unable 
 to get away, and the crisis was so general, 
 everywhere, that no encouragement was 
 given even to change. During this period, 
 the land office was closed, to await the pleas- 
 ure of the railroads, that acquii'ed an incho- 
 ate interest in the public lands by way of 
 donation; but among the fh'st events of the 
 beginning of the year 1858 was the re-open- 
 ing of the office by the appointment of James 
 Pollard as Register, and A. H. Palmer as Re- 
 ceiver, in February. Between that and Au- 
 gust, about eight hundred thousand acres of 
 the public lands of Western Iowa were entered 
 by speculators. Pollard -held his position 
 only until June, when he was succeeded by 
 Lewis H. Hill, a clerk in the office of the 
 Register. A greater portion of these entries 
 were made through local agencies, among 
 whom were the firms of Heun, AVilliams & 
 Hooton; Casady & Test: Baldwin & Dodge; 
 Officer &Pusey; Samuel Peri n; Louden Mul- 
 len; Addison Cochran; and Horace Everett. 
 Mullen and Everett gave their names to addi- 
 tions laid out by them to the city. At the 
 spring election of 1858, J. Smith Hooton was 
 chosen Mayor; Frank Street, Recorder; and 
 J. B. Lewis, B. Haag, J. P. Casady, Milton 
 Rogers, Addison Cochran and Ale.xander 
 
 Shoemaker, as Aldermen; C. E. Stone was 
 made City Attorney. Up to that date, In- 
 dian Creek meandered from east to west 
 through the city, on the north side of Broad- 
 way, in a narrow, shallow, devious channel. 
 It crossed North Main street close to Broad- 
 way, perhaps seventy-five feet in the rear 
 of Officer & Pusey's present bank building, 
 and on the ground now occupied by the 
 brick block erected by P. C. Derd in 1882. 
 The project to straighten the channel involved 
 the rights of a mill-owner. The stream was 
 dammed above Market street, and the water 
 condiicted in a race, on the north side of the 
 creek, across what is now Washington avenue, 
 at the City Mills, to the side-hill where Mad- 
 ison Dagger had a water-mill. Addison 
 Cochran, of i",he City Council, was the leader 
 in the project for a change, and, under his 
 influence, it was begun and cai'ried out, and 
 the present channel dug, making a straight 
 course from a point near Geise's brewery to 
 a short distance below where the Chicago & 
 North-Western track crosses the stream, where 
 it deflects nearly south in a shallow bed. A 
 condition of things wholly unforeseen grew 
 oat of this change of channel. The fall in- 
 curred, and the soft, friable earth through 
 which the changed current has since passed, has 
 washed out, between Benton street and Center 
 street, the distance of three blocks, a frightful 
 and ever-increasing chasm. The most difficult 
 jjroblemof the city government since the day 
 the water was turned into its new course has 
 been how to ari'est the progress of the rava- 
 ges of the water, and how to span the stream 
 with bridges that will endure. It has also 
 been the source of numerous perplexing law- 
 suits on the part of riparian owners, who, 
 from year to year, have seen their homesteads 
 crumble into the flood and swept away to the 
 bottoms below, to till up the swampy lots of 
 some other citizen. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 159 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— ST. JOSEFH RAILROAD MEETING— COMPANY ORGANIZED— ELECTIONS OF 
 —CURTIS AND TRIMBLE FOR CONGRESS— FIRST COUNTY FAIR— BABBITT'S CHEROKEE- 
 DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN COLORADO— "NONPAREIL" ADVERTISES IT— PIKE'S 
 PEAK EMIGRATION — GREELEY AND RICHARDSON — D. C. BLOOMER 
 — BIRTHPLACE AND CAREER— FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 
 
 18.58 
 
 INTEREST in railway building to Council 
 Bluffs began to manifest itself again in the 
 early part of 1S5S, and on the 19th of May 
 a convention of business men from Pottawatta- 
 mie, Fremont and Mills counties, and of rep- 
 resentatives from intervening counties in 
 Missouri and Southeastern Nebraska, was held 
 in Council Bluffs, to take into consideration 
 the question of connecting Council Blufl's and 
 St. Joseph. S. F. Nuckolls, of Nebraska 
 City, was elected President of the company 
 organized at that meeting; Horace Everett, 
 of Council Bluffs, Vice President; S. S. Cur- 
 tis, son of Gen. S. R. Curtis, Secretaiy; and 
 L. Nuckolls, brother of the President of the 
 company, was made Treasurer. The project 
 was a feasible one, the proposed line being 
 down the Missouri Valley, and with compara- 
 tively few streams to cross. The first ma et- 
 inf of the stockholders was held on the 12th 
 of July, when Dr. Enos Lowe, S. F. Nuck- 
 olls, B. F. Rector, J. W. Coolidge. L. Nuck- 
 olls, L. W. Babbitt, James A. Jackson, 
 James D. Test and Addison Cochran were 
 chosen Directors, and H. C. Nutt, the Chief 
 Engineer, made a favorable report of his pre- 
 liminary survey. In passing, the remark 
 may be made that S. F. Nuckolls afterward 
 emigrated to Cheyenne, and became the first 
 Delegate in Congress from the new Territory 
 of Wyoming, having been elected in 1868. 
 
 By Col. John U. Kialley. 
 
 James B. Rue was elected County Superin- 
 tendent in the spring of 185S, over Samuel 
 Eggleston and Thomas Oificer, the oppos- 
 ing candidates. At the August election, J. 
 H. Sherman was chosen the County Judge, 
 and C. P. Kellogg, the father of Miss Faimie 
 Kellogg, the famous songstress, was elected 
 Clerk of the District Court. The anti-slav- 
 ery question, by its manifestation of opposi- 
 tion to the extension of the institiition into 
 the new territor^y, caused great political in- 
 terest in the Congressional canvass. Gen. S. 
 R. Curtis was the Republican candidate for 
 Congress in the district, and H. H. Trimble, 
 afterward Colonel of an Iowa regiment, who 
 was severely wounded at the battle of Pea 
 Ridge, and is now a distinguished Iowa law- 
 yer, was the candidate of the Democracy. 
 Both visited Council Blufifs duriug the can- 
 vass and presented their claims Curtis was, 
 however, elected. Col. Trimble had a ma- 
 jority of 209 in a total vote of 093 in the 
 county. 
 
 The first agricultural exhibition or fair over 
 held in the county was on the 13th and 14th 
 of October, 1858. Hon. <^aleb Baldwin was 
 President of the society, and VV. H. Kinsman, " 
 the gallant soldier who fell at Black River 
 Bridge, the Secretary. The fair grounds 
 and race track were in the eastern part of 
 the city, a little east of the Babbitt residence, 
 and on the north side of Indian Creek. 
 
160 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Those who took the most active interest in 
 the success of the institution werr* Col. Bab- 
 bitt. Capt. D. B. Clark, William Garner, H. A. 
 Terry (now and then the noted nui-seryman and 
 fruit-grower of Crescent Township), -Joseph E. 
 Johnson (oE the Ellisdale farm) and Marshal 
 Turley. The exhiliits were highly credita- 
 ble, notwithstanding the sparsely settled 
 character of the country and the newness of 
 its ; I gri culture. The famous horse Chero- 
 kee, belonging to L. "W. Babbitt, took the 
 two fii'st premiiims of $8. Two handsome 
 ladies' saddles were awarded to the best rid- 
 ers in the toiu-nameot of the second day, 
 when the greatest interest was manifested. 
 The affair closed with a dance on the evening 
 of the last day, and the festivities were of 
 the most delightful character. The night of 
 the 3d day of December was intensely cold. 
 A. D. Long, brother-in-law of 'Mi. May- 
 nard, of the A'onjjareil, and its publisher, 
 lived then on the north side of Indian Creek, 
 and was accustomed to reaching his home by 
 a foot bridge that considerably shortened 
 the distance. "When last seen alive, he was 
 going in the direction of that crossing, biit 
 the ne,\t morning was found stark dead, and 
 frozen in the bed of the creek, evidently hav- 
 ing fallen from the unprotected structure. 
 His death was gi'eatly lamented, not only by 
 his immediate relatives, but by many citizens 
 to whom he was endeared by numerous manly 
 qualities. 
 
 The tide of emigi-atioQ to California and 
 Utah ebbed and flowed, in ail these years, 
 and, notwithstanding the fact that trade was 
 prostrate throughout the country generally, 
 there were local reasons why there should be, 
 at all times and under all circumstances, con- 
 siderable activity here in those interests 
 which related to the great country just be 
 ginning to open up westwardly^ 
 
 The discovery of gold in Cherry Creek in 
 
 the vicinity of what is now Denver, Colo., 
 gave a new impulse to all this energy and 
 westward traffic. St. Joseph, Mo., was a 
 rival of Council Bluffs. So was Nebraska 
 City, the site of the original frontier post of 
 Fort Kearney. Mr. Maynard made the first 
 announcement to the citizens of Council 
 Bluffs, in the Nonpareil, on the 11th day of 
 September, 1858, of tho Pike's Peak gold 
 discovery. The contageon soon spread. The 
 spirit of adventure that prompted many of the 
 pioneers of Council Bluffs to seek this as a 
 new home, impelled them forward to take 
 their chances in the new fields of mining 
 enterprise. Among these were Judge James, 
 James N. Casady, D. T. Elwell and a host of 
 others, some of whom increased their fortunes, 
 and others added nothing to their stock of 
 experience but disappointment. 
 
 Col. Samuel S. Curtis, the son of. Gen. 
 Curtis, was one of those who made the vent- 
 ure, and. from time to time, by newspaper 
 correspondence, contributed to the knowledge 
 and privations of the country. The news 
 spread like wildfire through the Eastern 
 States, and there was a repetition of the ma- 
 nia that characterized the excitement of 1849, 
 with an influx of like characters and in all 
 shades. The trade of Council Bluffs was 
 again stimulated by these influences, and 
 there was a return to many of the habits and 
 characteristics of its earliest history. Lon,i5 
 trains of wagons were on the trail from this 
 point by the way of Jule's Fort, fitted out in 
 all their appointments here, to the Colorado 
 mines, and there are men living, just in mid- 
 dle life, who engaged as freighters across the 
 plains, and have a lively recollection of the 
 great herds of bufi'alo that interfered with 
 overland traffic, as these great droves of ani- 
 mals were on their way, in the late autumn, 
 to Southern pasturage groimds. When the 
 tornado of wild-animal life came with a rush. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 161 
 
 thfi thousands of them, woe betide the wagon 
 train that was in their way. Led by their 
 shaggy chieftains, they heeded it not, but re- 
 sistlessly jiiu'sued their way, in spite of all 
 such obstacles. " Pike's Peak or Bust " was 
 a favorite legend on many a wagon -cover as 
 the train started West. In the spring of 
 1859, the intelligence of the richness and 
 character of the mines was various and con- 
 flicting; and many who had gone there with 
 no experience, little money and high hopes, 
 came back with the legend reversed, and the 
 wagon, or what was left of it, inscribed with, 
 '"Busted, by G— d! " There was a basis of 
 gold-seeking enterprise in Colorado, but to 
 many the disappointment was no less, and 
 inevitable. The Nonpareil, having been 
 largely responsible for the tide of adventure 
 that had set in toward Pike's Peak, in 1858, 
 Col. W. H. Kinsman, having some relation to 
 that paper, started on foot for the gold re- 
 gions to make a personal examination and 
 exploration, and report the same in its true 
 light. He reached the mining country in 
 June, and his well-known character for truth 
 and candor gave his first letter an unusual 
 and gratifying importance — so much so that, 
 upon its receipt, the office was illuminated 
 and the streets paraded by a band of music. 
 It was felt that the good name and fair fame 
 of Council Bluffs were involved in ascertain- 
 ing the truth and making it known, and when 
 Kinsman's letter put an encom-aging face on 
 it, every citizen, whether directly interested 
 or not interested at all, joined in the general 
 rejoicing. During the same summer, Horace 
 Greeley made his famous overland trip to 
 California, passing thiough the Colorado 
 mining country on his way west across the 
 Rocky Mountains, and, by his letters to the 
 New York Tribune, which were read by hun- 
 dreds of thousands of people, in the weekly 
 edition, he fortified whatever impressions of 
 
 the richness of the gold fields had gotten 
 abroad in the meantime. Albert D. Rich- 
 ardson, of the New York Tribune — he who 
 was murdered, afterward, in the office of that 
 paper, by McFarland, and who was the nephew 
 of a venerable lady of Council Bluffs by the 
 name of Blake — the mother of Joseph B. 
 Blake — also painted the richness of that 
 country in mineral wealth in its true colors, 
 and thus indirectly, but most certainly, added 
 an impetus to the solid prosperity of this city. 
 From that date to the present, with such in- 
 terrujDtions only as came through the civil 
 war, the tide of emigration to that country 
 has been unceasing. XJj) to that time. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs had her back turned upon civiliza- 
 tion, as manifested in settlements and popu- 
 lation, but now she felt that, tiu-n her face 
 whatever way she might, there was an ad- 
 vancing wave of population circulating with 
 an enduring force around her, and assuring 
 her perpetual prosperity and urban growth. 
 The question of organizing the city of 
 Council Blitffs into an independent school 
 district was submitted to the voters at a spe- 
 cial election on the 18th of February, 1859, 
 and unanimously carried. The first election 
 of the board was held on the 14th of March 
 following that special election, with the fol- 
 lowing result: D. C. Bloomer as President 
 L. W. Babbitt, Vice President; H. C. Nutt, 
 Secretary; Samuel Knepper, Treasurer, and 
 J. B. Stutsman, Thomas Officer and Edward 
 McBride, Directors. At this date, no public 
 school buildings had been erected, but, in 
 1858, six acres of ground, on Glen avenue, 
 where the High School building stands, were 
 purchased for the location of school build- 
 ings. The election of Mr. Bloomer as Presi- 
 dent of the Board, was an exceedingly fortu- 
 nate selection, and, although the other officers 
 and the members of the board were warm 
 friends of the public school system, and zeal- 
 
162 
 
 HISTORY OF rOTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 ous workers in the advancement of the cause 
 of education in the city, the universal dispo- 
 sition is to ascribe to Mr. Bloomer the pater- 
 nity of the system here. His public service 
 in that capacity was a long, and arduous and 
 a successful one. It is as a friend of popu- 
 lar education, and especially in connection 
 with our magnificent city schools, that he is 
 most widely known. 
 
 Mr. Bloomer is, most emphatically, one of 
 the pioneers of Iowa, coming as he did, into 
 this sparsely settled regioa, as early as 1855. 
 He was born at Aurora, Cayuga County, in 
 the State of New York, on the 4th day of 
 July, 1810. His ancestry were of the 
 Friends Society, and surrounded by that 
 «arly influence he imbibed a strong feeling 
 against slavery, and especially against its 
 spread into territory where it had never 
 yet acquired a foothold. He has al- 
 ways had the courage of his opinions, and his 
 convictions Were not mere barren reflections, 
 but resulted, all his life, in positive and cer- 
 tain conduct. In 1823, his jjarents removed 
 to Cortland County, and that became his 
 boyhood home. The public schools were of 
 no great importance in those days, but he 
 made such good use of them as was possible 
 under the circiunstances. In 1828, he re- 
 moved to Seneca Falls. Ho always delighted 
 in books, but in those days they were scarce, 
 and, when ten years of age, what money he had 
 earned was expended in that way, and he 
 walked quite a distance to make the delight- 
 ed purchase. His fondness for reading was 
 not confined to books, but extended to news- 
 papers, and thus instilled in him a fondness 
 for political controversies and journalism, 
 always fascinating to the youth who compre- 
 hends its far-reaching power and influence. 
 At eighteen, he became a teacher, and fol- 
 lowed that vocation for three years. He had 
 an aspiration, in the meantime, to see the 
 
 great West, that was pictured in the colors of 
 romance to his susceptible imagination, and 
 before the advent of railroads he made a trip 
 to Michigan, in 1836, going by the Erie 
 Canal and the great lakes. He returned to 
 New York in 1837, and began the study of 
 the law, that appearing to him then, with his 
 acquired experience, better than jom'nalism 
 stripped of its glamour. His resources, upon 
 entering upon this study, were limited, being 
 the possessor of only $20 and a single suit of 
 clothing, but he had a stout heart and a reso- 
 lute and intelligent jiurpose, and, with the 
 aid of such practice as came to him as a nov- 
 ice in the Justice's Courts, he was able to 
 support himself during his student career. 
 He was admitted to the bar, after a very 
 creditable examination, and, his industry and 
 attainments being recognized by those having 
 the necessary power to advance him, he was 
 appointed Clerk of the village which he had 
 made his home, and received such a salary as 
 enabled him to live. The same year, he 
 gratified his desire to enter journalism, and 
 became the editor of a Whig newspaper at 
 Seneca Falls, holding his clerkship for three 
 years, and retaining editorial control of the 
 paper for fifteen years, always, under all cir- 
 cumstances, taking an advanced attitude 
 upon the slavery question, then moving for- 
 ward to its bloody and direful solution in 
 civil war. Being an effective liublic speaker, 
 he was called upon to do arduous work in 
 that way for his party and always served it 
 faithfully and efficiently. He had few su- 
 periors and not many equals as a stump 
 speaker. His voice had a clear, metallic ring; 
 he possessed an admirable presence; his tem- 
 per was 'genial and his fund of humor in the 
 heydey inexhaustible, so that he attracted 
 men around him and became universally 
 popular. 
 
 In 1841, he was appointed a Commissioner 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 163 
 
 in bankruptcy, under the act of Congress 
 then in force, adopted as a relief measure 
 after the monetary crisis and commercial 
 crash of 1837. From that date to 1849, he 
 devoted himself also industriously to the law, 
 and won for himself a high standing at the 
 bar and a liberal, lucrative reward. He was 
 appointed Postmaster at Seneca Falls by 
 President Taylor. This position he held 
 through the short term of Taylor and to the 
 close of llr. Fillmore's administration. He 
 then removed to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and for 
 one year thereafter had editorial management 
 of the Western Home Visitor, a literary 
 jom'ual of large circulation and extended in- 
 fluence. Dm-ing these years, his desire to 
 make the far West his home increased, and, 
 in 1855, culminated in a removal to Council 
 Bluffs, then on the frontier and surrounded 
 by frontier influences. He brought with 
 him his Whig j)rinciples, seasoned with 
 strong anti-slavery instincts and convictions, 
 and when the Whig party went to pieces and 
 stranded on the question of slavery extension, 
 Mr. Bloomer, with a few others, proceeded 
 to organize, amidst obloquy, the nucleus of 
 the Republican jiarty in this section of the 
 State. In 1858, he became the editor of the 
 Chronotype, akeady mentioned, and made it 
 the first vehicle of Republican doctrine west 
 of the Des Moines River. He was elected 
 Alderman in 1856, but was defeated in 1857 
 as the Republican candidate for Mayor. 
 His party was in a rninority, and, when its 
 candidate for County Judge, in 1858, and 
 for Representative, in 1859, he was again 
 defeated. These results were partisan, not 
 personal. When Abraham Lincoln became 
 President, in 1801, he was appointed Receiv- 
 er of the United States Land Office at Council 
 Bluffs, and held that position until the office 
 was closed, the records removed to Des 
 Moines, in 1872, and the place abolished. In 
 
 the meantime, in 1860, he was chosen a 
 member of the State Board of Education, 
 and served as such until the board itself was 
 abolished by statute. He was chosen Presi- 
 dent of the School District Board for nine 
 consecutive years, by 4he j)opi^lar will, and 
 his services were so valuable in that station 
 that his continuance was simply a matter of 
 choice with himself. Many of the fine 
 school buildings in various localities in the 
 city were erected during his administration 
 of that office. Mr. Bloomer has always been 
 a careful, prudent and successful financier 
 and manager in reference to his own private 
 affairs, and into public trusts always cai'ried 
 those habits and good qualities. Ho was al- 
 ways able to inspire his associates with the 
 same degree of prudence, and it resulted al- 
 ways that no municipal corporation ever pos- 
 sessed finer management, or had better credit 
 or standing than the Independent School 
 District of Council Blufi's. Its credit has al- 
 ways been at par. Diu-ing the civil war, 
 Mr. Bloomer was President of the Union 
 League in this city, and, year in and year 
 out in that couflict, gave his energies in the 
 enlistment and equipment of troops, and in 
 various ways, as a civilian, gave the cause of 
 the Union his cordial support. 
 
 Thirty years ago, Mr. Bloomer became 
 a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 and has ever since taken an active interest in 
 its growth. His life has been that of a con- 
 sistent believer in the canons and precepts of 
 Christianity and devoted to good works. He 
 has prospered in worldly matters, and his 
 disposition to charity has kept pace with his 
 success in other matters, but following a line 
 of conduct peculiar to himself, he has not 
 made his gifts a matter of common notoriety. 
 In this duty to humanity, he has been wholly 
 free from ostentation, and, on the contrary, 
 has studiously avoided any publicity where 
 
1(54 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 concealment of the acts was possible. In his 
 domestic and home relations, he has been 
 singularly happy. In .1840, he and Amelia 
 Jenks were married, and throughout a mar- 
 ried life of forty-two years, have been almost 
 inseparable. Their union has never been 
 blessed with children, but to those who have 
 been made such by adoption, they were kind 
 and indulgent and gave them every possible 
 opportunity to start in life and meet its cares 
 and responsibilities. Mr. Bloomer became 
 an Odd Fellow when the order first began to 
 spi'ead throughout the United States, and 
 when it seemed to have reached its decadence 
 and began to recede, he never lost faith in 
 the ultimate triumph of its great principles. 
 When the revival set in a few years ago, he 
 was among the first to give his cordial efforts, 
 and ever since it is one of the objects which 
 lay nearest his heart. Recognizing the in- 
 fluence of public libraries, Mr. Bloomer, with 
 others, some ten years ago, set on foot such 
 an auxiliary of civilization under the au- 
 spices of a jirivate beneficial corporation. 
 Among his most active and efiicient coadjutors 
 in this movement were Mr. and Mrs. Horace 
 Everett, A. W. Street, Cashier of the Savings 
 Bank, and of the citizens' Bank, Mrs. G. M. 
 Dodge, Mrs. Nathan M. Pusey and others 
 whose hearts were in the success of such 
 an institution. Horace Everett and others 
 were liberal in their donations of books 
 and meals, and in the face of great adversity 
 these persons clung to the library, having 
 faith in its ultimate influence. Its shelves 
 came to contain at least about three thou- 
 sand volumes of excellent books, but public 
 interest in their use was considerably limited. 
 Mr. Bloomer took pains to urge upon the 
 Legislature the necessity of a provision of 
 law allowing taxation to a limited extent for 
 the establishment of free public libraries in 
 cities and towns, and was rewarded by seeing 
 
 the suggestion embodied in a law authorizing 
 a popular vote on the question. At the 
 spring election of 1881, the proposition to 
 levy a tax for a free public library was car- 
 ried by a decisive majority, but the Council 
 refused to levy a tax on the ground that the 
 Mayor, in making the usual and necessary 
 proclamation pi'eceding the election, had 
 omitted to state that such a question would 
 be voted on at the same time that the regular 
 city olHcers were to be voted for. Such an 
 omission had been made. Mr. Bloomer re- 
 garded it as not fatal to the validity of the 
 affirmative vote, and made application to the 
 Oirimit Court for a peremptory mandamus to 
 compel the City Council to levy the tax in 
 accordance with the popular vote. In the 
 presentation of the question in argument, he 
 was assisted by John H. Keatley, who not 
 only looked at it from a professonal stand- 
 point, but was a friend of the measure. The 
 application was sustained, the eoiu-t making 
 the order that the tax should be levied. G. 
 A. Holmes, the City Attorney, resisted the 
 petition on behalf of the City Council. No 
 exception was taken, and the case rested at 
 that point, the Council at once making the 
 proper levy of the tax in obedience to the 
 writ. The Council also provided by ordi- 
 nance for the organization of a Board of 
 Trustees to manage the fund and the library. 
 The Trustees were appointed by that body on 
 the first Friday in January, 1882, as follows: 
 Horace Everett, Thomas Officer and J. P. 
 Casady, to serve for one year; J. R. Reed, 
 John H. Keatley and D. C. Bloomer, to serve 
 for two years, and Rev. Cyrus Hamlin, A. W. 
 Street and W. R. Yaughan, to serve for three 
 years. Upon organizing the board, Horace 
 Everett was elected President; D. C. Bloom- 
 er, Vice President; John H. Keatley, Sec- 
 retary, and A. W. Street, Treasurer. Dui-ing 
 the period since the free public library has 
 
HISTORY OF FOTTAWATTxVMIE COUNTY. 
 
 165 
 
 existed, owing to the almost continuous ab- 
 sence of Mr. Everett from the city, Mr. 
 Bloomer has filled the position of Acting 
 President of the Board. A tax of half a 
 mill on the assessed valuation, being the 
 limit under the control of the board for 
 1882, only about $1 500 wore at their dis- 
 posal. The expense of fitting up, the pay- 
 ment of roomrent; the salary of the Librarian 
 and the payment of other necessary expenses, 
 left only a small sum for the purchase of 
 
 books. The Library Association heretofore 
 in existence, however, came to the rescue of 
 the free public library, and, by a proper deed, 
 conveyed to the latter all their books and 
 furniture, on the sole condition of its revert- 
 ing to the donors in case the Legislature 
 should repeal the provisions of law Ufion 
 which the free public library rests and should 
 altogether abandon the policy of such institu- 
 tions. This contingency is not likely to arise, 
 so as to ever make the condition ojierative. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVII.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— ELECTION OF 18.59— AMOUNT OF BONDED DEBT— OVERFLOW OF THE MISSOURI- 
 JUDGE SHERMAN INDICTED AND CONVICTED— HASKELL THE SHOWMAN AND PRE.iCHER 
 —ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S VISIT IN 1859— MAKES AN ADDRESS —JUDGE 
 COLE AND HENRY CLAY DEAN— GROUND BROKEN FOR ST. 
 JOE RAILROAD — SWAMP LAND TRANSFERS. 
 
 THE regular city election in 1859 occurred 
 on the 1-tth of March, at which George 
 Doughty was elected Mayor: ex-Mayor Voor- 
 his, City Recorder, and J. C. Fargo, Marshal; 
 J. B. Lewis, G. M. Dodge, J. W. Damon, S. 
 N. Porterfield, T. P. Treynor, H. H. Ober- 
 holtzer, John Hammer and D. W. Carpenter 
 were elected Aldermen; Frank Street was 
 made City Attorney. The bonded debt then 
 was .$10,000; the total amount of taxes levied 
 was $9,970. The Council, also, in the way 
 of improvement, made a raid on a large num- 
 ber of old log houses and cabins on Broad- 
 way, declared them nuisances and ordered 
 them to be torn down. Mr. Voorhis having 
 resigned as City Recorder during the year, 
 the vacancy was filled by the appointment of 
 T. P. Treynor, and, without any interrup- 
 tion, the latter gentleman held the ofiSee un- 
 til his appointment as Postmaster, in March, 
 1869. There was an nmisual overflow of the 
 
 *By Col. John U. Keatley. 
 
 bottom lands by the Missouri River that 
 summer, the water approaching the vicinity 
 of the rear of the Pacific House. 
 
 John H. Sherman. County Judge, was 
 charged with malfeasance in office by the 
 corrupt issuance of county warrants, and in- 
 dicted by the grand jmy on the 18th of Feb- 
 ruary. His case was postponed until the Au- 
 gust term, bat in the meantime a public 
 meeting was held and steps taken to investi- 
 gate the affair's of his office. A committee 
 soon got to the bottom of the matter and dis- 
 closed criminal abuses of his position with- 
 out number by the most convincing proof, 
 and at the August term he was convicted of 
 the charges in the indictment, and the office 
 declared vacant. In October, J. P. Casady 
 was appointed to the vacancy thus created. 
 It was many years and after the most careful 
 management before the county finances re- 
 covered from the operations of Sherman, the 
 Tweed of Council Bluffs. The county orders. 
 
166 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 when Judge Casady took hold of affairs, were 
 of no more value than 25 cents on the dollar. 
 The jDublic school fund suffered most. 
 
 One of the most singular characters ever in 
 the city was one J. S. Haskell, who had for 
 nine or ten months charge of the pastoral 
 affairs of the Congregational Church. He 
 had been a showman, a sort of a fakir, a per- 
 former by sleight of hand and a ventrilo- 
 quist, and he carried into the pulpit the 
 habits of the stage. His sermons were simply 
 dramatic disj)lays. He was exceedingly fond 
 of horses, and while discharging the duties of 
 his sacred office, owned quite a large number 
 of teams and managed the business of freight- 
 ing. He was highly of the sensational order, 
 and his usefulness was soon impaired by his 
 loud manners on the street, when behind a 
 fast team of horses. Diu'ing a political pro- 
 cession, he took his place on the seat of a 
 band wagon, and astonished the people with 
 his deftness in handling the reins and with 
 the airs of a montebank. When his pastoral 
 connection ceased abruptly that year, he dis- 
 appeared from sight, and not until 1870 did 
 he again show his face here, and then it was 
 as a manager of a circus. As he drove 
 through the streets, he was hailed by the 
 crowd of those old settlers who still remem- 
 bered him and given an ovation by those who 
 could enjoj' the joke of his transformation. 
 He alluded with a great deal of levity to his 
 residence here, and demonstrated that the 
 semblance of piety had formed but a very 
 thin veil to one who was a natural and irre- 
 vocable buffoon. 
 
 As stated in the sketch of Gen. Dodge, 
 Abraham Lincoln visited the city in August 
 of that year. Mr. Hatch, the Secretary of 
 State of Illinois, was with him. Mr. Lin- 
 coln was invited to address the people while 
 here, and did so in a large assembly, in Con- 
 cert Hall, and spoke eloquently and power- 
 
 fully upon the political questions which w6re 
 then shaping themselves for the memorable 
 campaign of the next year. 
 
 Some idea may be obtained of the river 
 traffic from the fact that 149 steamboats ar- 
 rived here during the boating season of 1859. 
 The county fair was held on October 13 and 
 11, and, in the absence of a floral hall, on 
 the fair grounds, that part of the display, 
 including agricultural products, was made at 
 Concert Hall. The first sorghum, an article 
 now So common among the farmers, made its 
 first appearance that year as one of our prod- 
 ucts. Gen. A. C. Dodge, of Bmlington, ex- 
 United States Senator and es-Minister to 
 Spain, was the Democratic candidate for Gov- 
 ernor in 1859. His successful opponent was 
 Samuel J. Kirkwood, afterward the well- 
 known War Governor of Iowa, twice a Sena- 
 tor in Congress, and Secretary of the Interior 
 Department in the cabinet of President Gar- 
 field, holding the latter position at the date 
 of the assassination of the President, and one 
 of his most trusted and intimate personal 
 friends. The Democrats of the city had a 
 barbecue and an immense mass meeting on 
 the 13th of Sef)tember, at which the famous 
 Hemy Clay Dean made a speech, and the as- 
 semblage was also eloquently addressed by 
 the Hon. Chester C. Cole, who subsequently 
 became one of the Judges of the Supreme 
 Coiu't of Iowa, by election on the Republican 
 ticket. Judge S. H. Riddle was elected Rep- 
 resentative, beating J. L. Fettei", now of 
 Belknap Township, and Di-s. S. M. Ballard 
 and D. C. Bloomer. Dr. Craig was elected 
 Sheriff. J. B. Rue was also elected County 
 Superintendent. 
 
 An event occurred on the 9th of November 
 that had a lasting effect upon the interests of 
 Council Bluffs. It was the first breaking of 
 ground in the construction of the Council 
 Bhiffs & St. Josexsh Railroad, an almost air 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 167 
 
 line between the two cities, traversing the 
 great valley north and south, and now oper- 
 ated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 Company, under the name of the Kansas 
 City, St Joseph & Council Bluffs lino. The 
 whole popluation of Council Bluffs turned out 
 to witness the ceremony of breaking ground. 
 The point selected was within the present 
 yards of the company, and, with plows and 
 shovels, the lirst earth, in railroad building 
 here, was thrown out amidst the most enthu- 
 siastic demonstrations of an excited and hope- 
 ful populace. That evening, Col. Sam 
 Black, the Territorial Governor of Nebraska, 
 made one of his eloquent and characteristic 
 speeches in Concert Hall, to an audience as- 
 sembled to rejoice at the harbinger of bright 
 days to come, when they should culminate in 
 being one of the great railway centers of the 
 country. Col. Peabody, the Chief Engineer 
 of the company, also made an address, un- 
 folding the plans and prospects of the enter- 
 prise. The outlook was so encom-aging and con- 
 vincing, that, upon submitting a proposition 
 to subscribe $25,000 of the bonds of the city, 
 at a special election, on the 8th of December 
 following, the proposition was almost unani- 
 mously concurred in by the popular vote. 
 At a special county election, held on the 15th 
 of February, 1860, the measm-e was supple- 
 mented by the transfer of the proceeds of the 
 sale of swamp lands to the same use to the 
 amount of 140,000. The contract for such 
 transfer had been previously made, and the 
 vote was simply one of ratification of the 
 same. The co .nty held this stock for some 
 years, and thus kept a voice in the affairs 
 of the company, but in aid of the completion 
 of the road, made an absolute transfer, event- 
 ually, to the men in control of the company. 
 
 It is here stated upon the authority of Mr. 
 Bloomer, whose personal knowledge of the 
 affairs of the county is second to no citizen, 
 either old or young, that of the 60,000 acres 
 of swamp lands allotted to Pottawattamie 
 County, but a small portion went to the uses 
 for which it was originally set apart by the 
 United States, but that the railroad company 
 in all received from the same source the acr. 
 gregate of about $-41,400. 
 
 The annual city election of 1860 was held 
 on Monday, March 12. Col. Babbitt was 
 chosen Mayor; T. P. Treynor succeeded him- 
 self as City Recorder, and Perry Smith was 
 elected Marshal. The Aldermen were J. B. 
 Lewis, John Jones, Milton Rogers, W. L. 
 Biggs, Addison Cochi-an and D. W. Carpen- 
 ter. Judge Douglass was chosen President 
 of the School Board at the annual school elec- 
 tion that year. John B. Beers, an old and 
 respected citizen of Council Bluffs, died on 
 the 3d of March, leaving a widow, one daugh- 
 ter and a step-son. The widow subsequently 
 became Mrs. D. W. Crawford; the daughter 
 married a popular young business man, M. F. 
 Rohrer; and the step-son is Phil Armour, 
 the Postmaster, appointed in 1882. 
 
 An industry that has since expanded into 
 mammoth proportions was begun here in the 
 winter of 1859, and carried on through the 
 available season of the early part of 1860. 
 It was that of packing pork. No regular es- 
 tablishment was begun until the fall of 1860. 
 when John W. Ross, who afterward kept the 
 Ogden House, and died at Marshall, Texas, 
 erected his brick pork house on the north of 
 Buckingham street, and west of Indian 
 Creek, and which forms a part of the present 
 Stewart Packing House. 
 
168 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI [I.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFF.S— KIDNAPING OF NEGROES— ESCAPE OF PRISONERS — HANGING OF MoGUIRE- 
 MILLER THE HORSE-THIEF LYNCHED— STATE BANK ORGANIZED— IRON FOUNDRY ES- 
 TABLISHED—LITTLE GIANT AND WIDE-AWAKE CLUBS — BOARDS OF 
 SUPERVISORS— TURNER'S DEFALCATION— LATTER-DAY SAINTS 
 — M. E. CONFERENCE— MILITARY MATTERS. 
 
 THREE negroes, one of them John William- 
 son and another a woman, were kidnaped 
 south of this city, on the 29th of September, 
 1860, and hurriedlj' carried off into Missouri 
 for the purpose of being sold into slavery. 
 The occurrence being in the midst of an active 
 and excited political campaign, in which the 
 slaver^' question itself figured, occasioned an 
 intense feeling of indignation, even among 
 those who were not in sj-mpathj- with the party 
 then strenuoush' opposing slavery extension. 
 Dr. Craig, who was then Sheriff, and City Mar- 
 shal Perry Smith, started after the kidnapers, 
 and succeeded in getting Williamson back, but 
 the others did not regain their libert}" until 
 some time afterward, when Mr. Blanchard 
 .and Mr. Gaston, well-known anti-slavery men 
 of Tabor, succeeded in tracing them and find- 
 ing and liberating them in Missouri. There 
 were three of the gang of kidnapers, noted 
 and desperate characters, and all were arrested. 
 Two of them escaped. One by the name of 
 Hurd was surrendered to the Governor of Iowa, 
 on a refjuisition and, brought to Council Blulfs, 
 and having had his case continued, made his es- 
 cape during the delay, and none of the parties 
 were ever brought to justice for the offense. 
 
 The disposition to inflict summary punish- 
 ment, according to the code of Judge Lynch, 
 had not j'et finally disappeared at this date. 
 A notorious character, b}' the name of Philip 
 McGuire. at this time infested the city. His 
 body was found hanging from the limb of a 
 
 *By Col. John U. Keatley. 
 
 tree on the hill near Fairview Cemetery, on the 
 morning of the 16th of October. He was labeled 
 " Hung for all kinds of all rascality." He was 
 confined in the cottonwood jail for stealing, 
 when taken out by the vigilantes and hung as 
 just stated. No clew seemed ever to have been 
 gained of the perpetrators of this hanging. A 
 man by the name of Jliller, brought from Har- 
 rison County, on the charge of hoi'se-stealing, 
 was taken about the same time from the same 
 jail, and hung to a tree on the bluffs in the east- 
 ern part of town. The summer of 1860 was 
 noted for being exceedingly warm and dry, and 
 vegetation of all kinds suSered greatly, and 
 the prosperity' of the place was materially 
 affected in consequence. By this time, the 
 character of the Colorado mining country, had 
 been pretty well determined, and emigration 
 in that direction was in a stead}' stream. This 
 greatly aided the prosperity of the city, and 
 added to its traffic. The banking facilities of 
 this place were increased by the addition of a 
 branch of the State Bank. It did not, how- 
 ever, commence operations until in January, 
 1861, at which time James A. Jackson was 
 made President, and John D. Lockwood, 
 Cashier; S. S. Bayliss, Samuel Knepper and J. 
 P. Casady were Directors of the institution. 
 It was afterward merged in the First National 
 Bank, when the law creating such institutions 
 went into effect. William S. Burke, wlio is 
 now at the head of an influential daily news- 
 paper, at Albuquerque, New Mexico, took an 
 interest in the A'oiijxircil, on the 17th of No- 
 
HISTORY OF rOTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 169 
 
 vember, 1860, and was an important editorial 
 auxiliary during the six or seven j'ears he was 
 attached to the paper. 
 
 The time had come when people began to 
 take an interest in the encouragement of manu- 
 factures. To that date the industry of the cit}- 
 was purely commercial, but in the fall it took 
 a new departure. Charles Hendrie, an experi- 
 enced foundry man and manufacturer of machin- 
 ei'y, came from Burlington, and, organizing the 
 corporation known as the Council Blutl's Iron 
 Works, established a foundry and machine 
 shop on the west side of Main street. This es- 
 tablishment has been undeviating in its pros- 
 perity ever since, and has demonstrated the 
 parcticability of manufactures even at a great 
 distance from the source of the necessarj- raw 
 material. 
 
 As already stated, the political activity that 
 characterized other parts of the country extend- 
 ed to Council Bluffs. The Democrats were main- 
 ly admirers of Stephen A. Douglas, and called 
 their club " The Little Giant." The friends of 
 Lincoln and Hamlin had their " Wide-Awake " 
 organization, and torch-light processions were 
 frequent during the canvass. Toward the close, 
 nightly meetings were held and speeches made, 
 and songs and music enlivened the assemblies 
 and increased the enthusiasm. Frank Street, 
 C. E. Stone, Col. Kinsman and D. C. Bloomer, 
 local speakers, kept up the fire, witli speeches, 
 on the Republican side ; and W. G. Crawford, 
 Capt. Price, Col. Babbitt and John C. Turk held 
 forth eloquently on behalf of the Democracy. 
 Judge Cole was the Democratic candidate, and 
 Gen. Curtis, the successful candidate for Con- 
 gi-ess on the part of the Republicans. Those 
 who adhered to the Bell and Everett Constitu- 
 tional Union party, Old Line Whigs, were few in 
 number, as were the out-and-out Breckinridge 
 Democrats. Col. J. D. Test was the principal 
 one among the latter. Cole had a majority 
 over Curtis in the county, and Douglas a plu- 
 rality. The Bell-Everett ticket had twenty- 
 
 eight votes, and the Breckinridge-Lane ticket 
 one more than the Bell-Everett. The final re- 
 sult over the country was celebrated b^' the 
 Republicans with demonstrations of a joyous 
 character, although the mutterings and rum- 
 blings of civil war were already heard. Men 
 of all parties here, as well as elsewhere, were 
 skeptical as to the possibility of the American 
 people ever plunging into such a conflict, and 
 treated the threats then made, by those of cer- 
 tain the Southern States, as the final vapor- 
 ings of disappointed politicians, and the last 
 echoes, merely, of an intensely heated partisan 
 campaign that would soon die awa}-. 
 
 The second session of the county teachers' 
 institute, lasting about a week, commenced on 
 the day before Christmas, 18G0. About a score 
 of teachers from different parts of the county 
 were present and took part. W. E. Harve}', 
 State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 
 Nebraska Gen. Thomas H. Benton, Jr., who 
 had held that office in Iowa, and a Mr. Bloomer 
 delivered lectures during the session, and which 
 were attended by the people of the city in large 
 numbers as well as b^' the teachers immediate- 
 ly intei-ested. Judge Casady was elected to 
 the office of County Judge, to which he had 
 previously been appointed. Experience had 
 demonstrated, however, that the system of man- 
 aging county affairs through the instrumentality 
 of County Judges was so liable to abuse, and 
 had been so abused, that a change was made bj- 
 the Legislature, and in 1861 the s^-stem of 
 Boards of Supervisors for counties went into 
 effect. The first board met in this county on 
 the 7th day of Januar}', 1861. It ma}' not be 
 out of place here to state the names of those 
 who constituted the board, though not strictly 
 a matter of Council Bluffs. Judge Douglass 
 represented Kane Township in the board ; C. 
 Voorhis represented JIacedonia ; William Els- 
 wick, Grove ; Josiah True, Knox ; J. B. Lay- 
 ton, Center ; L. J. Childs, York ; Robert Kent, 
 Boomer ; Abram Jackson, Rockford ; David 
 
170 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Dunkle, Crescent ; William Lj'man, James ; 
 and John Bratten, Silver Creek. As townships 
 were added in subsequent years, this sjstem of 
 township representation became cumbrous and 
 unwield}', and the number of members was re- 
 duced, elected by the whole count}', and not 
 bj- townships. Years were required, however, 
 to demonstrate the necessity for this change. 
 William D. Turner, was then Treasurer of the 
 county, and having filed an unsatisfactorj- re- 
 port, lie was required by the board to supple- 
 ment it and also increase his sureties in the 
 amount of 817,000. He filed what he consid- 
 ered a report in response to the order of the 
 board, but instead of complying with that in 
 relation to additional sureties, resigned, and 
 Thomas Tostevin, now Citj- Engineer iu 1SS2, 
 was appointed to the vacancy, and through sub- 
 sequent elections, held thepo.sition for six years. 
 Earlj' in 1801, President Buchanan issued a 
 proclamation calling upon the people to observe 
 a day with prayer and fasting iu token of the 
 impending calamity of a civil war, and in re- 
 sponse to it all classes of citizens, profoundly 
 feeling the impending danger, strictlj- and re- 
 ligiously observed the da}-. Up to this date, a 
 schism had been widening in the church of the 
 Latter-Daj' Saints. The non-pol^'gamists in 
 the city felt the necessity of organizing under 
 the direction of Joseph Smith, Jr., the sou of 
 the prophet who had been murdered in the Car- 
 thage Jail, and on the 4th of January, 1861, 
 the first meeting was held to constitute the neces- 
 sar}' societ}- here, and a series of meetings were 
 held, at which many baptisms occurred. The ad- 
 herents wholly repudiated Brigham Young and 
 the Utah hierarchy. They also built a neat 
 frame church edifice in after years, and have 
 ever since been considered one of the most im- 
 portant religious societies in the citj-. It may 
 be interesting to those of the present to com- 
 pare the prices then received for agricultural 
 produce in this market, and now, when we are 
 blessed with all the advantages of apparent com- 
 
 petition of railroads and our homes nearer mar- 
 ket, where it took days and even weeks to de- 
 liver our produce. Wheat then, in ttie mouth 
 of Januarj-. 1861, sold for 65 cents; corn, 30 
 cents, and oats 35 cents per bushel. Butter 
 was 25 cents per pound, and slaughtered hogs 
 were quoted by dealers at from $4 to $4.50 per 
 100 pounds. The intercourse between Council 
 Bluffs and Omaha that winter was of an un- 
 iBKially cordial nature. The river was frozen 
 over,'and mammoth sleighing parties crossed 
 between the two towns, making perfect holi- 
 days of the occasions. Once or twice since that, 
 the people of both cities have thus turned out 
 en masse, with sleighs and sleds and in lioliday 
 dress, when the ground and snow were fiivor- 
 able, and interchanged their happy good feel- 
 ings. 
 
 Upon the advent of Mr. Lincoln's administra- 
 tion and the supremac3'of the Republican party 
 in national affairs, a change was made in the 
 two most important Federal offices in the citj-. 
 Frank Street, on the 20th of May, 1861, was 
 appointed Register of the Land Office, and D. 
 C. Bloomer, Receiver. Judge Street held the 
 appointment until the incoming of President 
 Grant's administration, when he was succeeded 
 by Sylvanus Dodge, the father of Gen. G. M. 
 Dodge, who discharged its duties until his 
 death, and in turn was succeeded by Nehemiah 
 Baldwin, who was the incumbent when the land 
 office was closed. Mr. Bloomer was Receiver 
 from Maj-, 18(!1, until the office was finally 
 closed. The annual meeting of the stockhold- 
 ers of the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph Rail- 
 road Company took place here on the 13th of 
 July, and James A. Jackson, John T, Baldwin, 
 Horace Everett, Jefferson P. Casady, Samuel 
 Knepper, Edward Gilliland, W. C. Sipple and 
 S. T. Nuckolls were elected Directors. The grad- 
 ing of the road down the river through Potta- 
 wattamie and Mills Counties was then finished, 
 and that through Fremont County all under 
 contract, and 25,000 ties were on the ground 
 
Jf 
 
 «, 
 
 . / 
 
HISTORY or POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 173 
 
 ready for use. While the civil war was then 
 in activity, the prospect of completing the road 
 was still encouraging, and lively hopes were 
 aroused by the official report then made. The 
 condition of atfairs in Northern Missouri was 
 not, however, very encouraging to those who 
 looked beyond that report. Money was needed 
 for national uses, and after that date little was 
 done toward completing the road until the sta- 
 bility of our Union was assured by the victory 
 of its arms. The first time a Methodist Epis- 
 copal Conference was ever held in the city was 
 in September of that year, in the annual meet- 
 ing of the Western Iowa Conference of that 
 church, with Bishop Scott presiding. The at- 
 tendance was large, and the people, without re- 
 gard to sect or belief, gave the ministers and 
 visitors a cordial reception, and hospitably* en- 
 tertained them. 
 
 The Bugle, published by Col. Babbitt at 
 that time, expressed the belief " that the com. 
 pact which holds these States together was irre- 
 mediably broken," and following the sugges- 
 tion of the celebrated letter of Gen. Scott 
 before Fort Sumter was fired on, held that the 
 Union would be " divided into four Republics." 
 It was not surprising that men should take this 
 view of the result. Public opinion was in 
 chaos, and we, as a people, were going through 
 an experiment that had never been more than 
 foreshadowed in words of significant warning, 
 but never defined. When the die was once 
 cast; when compromise and conciliation were 
 exhausted; though adhering to its Democrac}-, 
 with an unflagging spirit, that paper never 
 ceased in ardent desires for the total and final 
 success of the Union arms. The troops of the 
 United States, two companies, referred to b}' 
 Gen. Dodge, in his letter to John A. Kasson, and 
 already quoted, eventually passed this point. 
 The citizens tendered them a loj'al and earnest 
 ovation, and gave them a complementary din- 
 ner. 
 
 When preparations were being made to cele- 
 
 brate the national anniversary on the 4th of 
 Jul}' that year, a spirited controversy sprang 
 up among some of the citizens. A public 
 meeting was held to make the necessarj' ar- 
 rangements, and a resolution was ofl'ered invit- 
 ing the people of the county to join in it as a 
 '• Union celebration " of the day. So much 
 feeling had been aroused by discussions and 
 events, that had preceded the meeting, that 
 the word " Union " was regarded b}- some as 
 having been appropriated b}- those most free 
 in the use of it, as a mere partisan and partj' 
 designation, and Col. J. D. Test, who was at 
 the meeting, moved to amend the resolution bj' 
 omitting the word " Union." The amendment 
 did not pass. Col. Babbitt was Maj-or, and 
 invited to participate in the celebration, but 
 declined to take part on the ground that he 
 regarded its character as purely partisan. 
 This difficulty was removed finally by the iH\'i- 
 tation to attend being so shaped as to include 
 all who desired to see the restoration of the 
 Union, no matter by what means, and thus har- 
 mony among the citizens was restored, and the 
 celebration took place, with the best of feeling, 
 J. D. Lockwood and William G. Crawford, 
 afterward Clerk of the District Court, making 
 the principal speeches. The latter gentleman 
 at that date was one of the best known and 
 highl}- respected persons in the citj-. He was a 
 lawyer of excellent attainments, and a speaker 
 of no ordinary talent. He was elected Clerk 
 of the District Court in the fall of 18G6, but 
 already consumption had made a fearful inroad 
 upon his system, and before the completion of 
 his second term of two years, the disease carried 
 him off. He was also an Odd Fellow of high 
 degree, and his obsequies took place at Fair- 
 view Cemeterj-, under the auspices and under 
 • the solemnities of that noble order, thousands 
 of other citizens attending the funeral of one 
 who had just closed a highly honorable career. 
 The first response made to the spirit of re- 
 sistance to the breaking-up of the Union bj- 
 
174 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 violence was the raising of a military company 
 ou tlie 11th of April, 1861, the day before the 
 firing on Port Sumter began, and before it was 
 known what would be the result of the be- 
 leaguering of that fortress in the Charleston 
 Harbor by the troops concentrated there under 
 Gen. Beauregard. G. M. Dodge was chosen 
 Captain of the new military organization, John 
 F. Hopper, long since a newspaper man, and 
 now a resident of Leavenworth, Kan., the First 
 Lieutenant, and C. C. Rice, Second Lieutenant. 
 On the day'that Fort Sumter fell, April 14, and 
 before intelligence of the disaster reached Coun- 
 cil Blufl's, the organization of the Union Cav- 
 alrj' was completed by the choice of Dr. Seth 
 Craig as Captain, and John T. Oliver and P. 
 A. Wheeler as Lieutenants. In a very short 
 time afterward, one artillery company was 
 raised, and Samuel Clinton made its Captain. 
 These organizations went toward the Missouri 
 State line to meet an apprehended invasion of 
 Iowa from that quarter, and, during the brief 
 and bloodle.ss campaign, occupied a position on 
 the verge of Page County. The service de- 
 manded of these embryo soldiers was cheer- 
 fully performed, but their ideas of the art and 
 necessities of war were of the crudest charac- 
 ter. The rustle of a leaf, the crackling of a 
 twig, a little cloud of dust off in the prairie 
 track were conjured into and magnified to the 
 
 proportions of a bloodthirsty enemy, and gavfr 
 rise to some of the most ludicrous exhibitions 
 of soldiering. Many still survive to tell of the 
 feats of the campaign. It is a tradition among 
 them that Capt. Clinton had one excellent qual- 
 ity as an officer, and that was to give personal 
 attention to the subsistence of his men and ex- 
 ercise a personal supervision over the quality 
 of the rations issued them. On one occasion, 
 while they were in the field, almost in the pres- 
 ence of the Mis.souri " hostiles," he passed up 
 and down the company street when the camp 
 kettles were seething and boiling with the cus- 
 tomary allowance of beans. Observing small, 
 white, quivering particles floating through the 
 mass of cooking food and in the boiling water, 
 he at once became intensely indignant at the 
 frauds perpetrated upon the poor private sol- 
 dier, and vented his wrath bj^ ordering tiie 
 whole mess to be emptied on the ground as un- 
 fit for human food. It was not until the suppers 
 of the men had thus been destroyed, and they 
 compelled to go to their couches supperless on 
 the hard ground, did he discern that what he sup- 
 posed were maggots in the beans were simply 
 the germ of that famous article of soldiers' food 
 expelled by the heat in cooking. The tradition 
 is still cherished as an illustration of how much 
 the most intelligent officer can find to learn in 
 assuming new and untried duties. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 175 
 
 CHAPTER XX:X.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY — ROLL OF HONOR — SECOND IOWA BATTERY— VIC 
 
 KELLER'S GUM-WOOD MORTARS— COU W. H. KINSMAN'S DEATH— DEATH OF ADJUTANT 
 
 TUTTLE — FISCHER THE FIFER-BOY — TWENTY-NINTH IOWA— MAJOR LYMAN 
 
 AND COMRADES— THE DRAFT— SIXTH IOWA CAVALRY— AN OVATION. 
 
 THE part which Council Bluffs otherwise 
 took ill tlie war for the Union will always be 
 of intense interest to those who are proud of her 
 history. The fact has already been stated, in 
 the sketch given of the career of Gen. Dodge, 
 that Camp Kirkwood was established near the 
 southern limits of the city, on the high ground 
 north of the IMosquito Creek and east of the road 
 leading to the Deaf and Dumb Institute. Com- 
 pany B, of the Fourth Iowa Infantry, was al- 
 most wholly raised in the city of Council Bluffs. 
 Its officers were elected on the 3d day of July, 
 1861. During its honorable career of service 
 in the field, it had, successively, for its Cap- 
 tains, Dr. Seth Craig, W. H. Kinsman and George 
 E. Ford. When its first term of enlistment ex- 
 pired, it was renewed as a veteran organization. 
 The veterans who thus re-enlisted, and who occu- 
 py a bright place in the roll of honor, were George 
 E. Ford, George W. Lloyd, Christian W^eirich, 
 Henry Bradshaw, C. A. D. Clark, Lawrence 
 Doran, Levi Jones. Heur3- C. Laj'ton, James S. 
 Lewis, John W. Ncsbitt, Curtis O'Neill, George 
 W. Tucker, Jonathan West and Isaac V. Jlay- 
 nard. Two of this company were killed in bat- 
 tle, twenty-one were wounded and four died in 
 Andersonville Prisou — Ennes, Jones, Maynard 
 and Reed. The regiment was finally discharged 
 from service on the 24th of July, 1865, at Louis- 
 ville, Ky., after having been in thirty battles 
 and engagements, after losing 119 men killed, 
 250 b}- disease, and 309 discharged on account 
 of disability incurred in the line of duty. This 
 
 "By Col. Johu H. Keatley. 
 
 regiment also had the honor uf participating in 
 Sherman's famous " March to the sea," and when 
 the fighting was all over, and when Gen. Joseph 
 E. Johnston's army had surrendered at Salis- 
 bury, N. C., it marched with the column across 
 Virginia to Washington, and there took part in 
 the grand review of the Army of the Potomac 
 and of the Armies of the Cumberland, of the 
 Tennessee and of the Ohio. 
 
 The Second Iowa Batter3- was organized at 
 Camp Kirkwood on the 4th of Jul}-, 1861, with 
 Nelson T. Spoor as Captain, J. R. Reed and 
 David Watling, First Lieutenants, and Fred 
 T. Reed as Second Lieutenant. The record of 
 this battery is a glorious one, and the organiza- 
 tion was mustered out of the service on tlie 5th 
 of August, 1865, its last fighting being in the 
 capture of Mobile, Ala. When the siege of the 
 latter city began, it was found that the troops 
 were deficient in mortar batteries with which to 
 assail Spanish Fort with the ordinary bomb- 
 shell. To supply that deficcncy, wooden mor- 
 tars were constructed from the ordinar}- Soutii- 
 ern gum wood, at the suggestion of Vic Kel- 
 ler, of Council Bluffs, a member of the Second 
 Iowa Battery, and under his direction ami su- 
 pervision with most effective mortar batteries 
 thus organized, the}" threw shells with the force, 
 precision and effect of a regularly constructed 
 cast-iron regulation mortars. 
 
 Company H of the Fifteenth Regiment of 
 Iowa Volunteers was raised at Council Bluffs. 
 the officers being Capt. D. B. Clark, and Lieut. 
 Stephen W. King, of Pottawattamie County, 
 
176 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 ami John A. Donelson, of Harrison County. 
 Capt. Clark, on account of his health, resigned 
 before the term of service of the company ex- 
 pired. William S. Burke at a later date took 
 seventeen men from the county into the Seven- 
 teenth Iowa Infantry, and was made First 
 Lieutenant of the Company H. John C. Lea- 
 inger of Council Bluffs, took twenty-three men, 
 in 18G2, into Company E, of the Twenty-third 
 Iowa, and was made a Captain. W. H. Kins- 
 man, of the Fourth Iowa, was commissioned 
 Lieutenant Colonel of the Twenty-third Iowa, 
 on the 2d of August, 1862, and Colonel, Sep- 
 tember 9, 1 862, and was at the head of that 
 regiment until killed in battle in 1863. One of 
 the most brilliant j'oung lawyers of the Coun- 
 cil Bluffs bar, was Joel Tuttle. As Adjutant uf 
 the Second Iowa, he distinguished himself at 
 Fort Donelson and Shiloh ; he died in the hos- 
 pital, of fever, in St. Louis, in May, 1862, deep- 
 ly lamented Ijy hosts of friends, here and else- 
 where, who admired his chivalrous and patriotic 
 character. Tlie name of Col. Kinsman is the 
 especial propert}- of Council Bluffs. His re- 
 mains lest in an unknown grave in Mississippi, 
 where he fell at Black River Bridge. He came 
 to the county as a school teacher, and obtained 
 employment in Hazel Dell. Few knew his ori- 
 gin, but he rapidly made friends, and took part 
 in correspondence in the Nonpareil, attracting 
 attention by the quaintness and humor of some 
 of his paragraphs. Among the first to offer his 
 services to the country, and doomed to lose his 
 life on the battle-field, his gallant career has in- 
 vested his memory with a halo that time will 
 never dispel. Some of his gallant comrades of 
 the Twenty-third Iowa still survive, among them 
 Ernest Fischer, of this city, who, as a mere boy, 
 as afifer, went into Company E, and was near 
 his gallant Colonel when struck by the fatal 
 bullet, and assisted in placing his body at rest 
 in the lonely Southern grave where the bright 
 river will ever and ever murmur his requiem. 
 The Twenty-ninth Iowa has some claims upon 
 
 the attention of the people of Council Bluffs. 
 It was here that this fine regiment of soldiers 
 was organized, at Camp Kirkwood, from mate- 
 rial gathered throughout Western Iowa, from 
 the stalwart j'oemanry of that region. The 
 rendezvous began in August, 1862, and in De- 
 cember the command was read^' to take the 
 field. During that time, the men who assem- 
 bled from all parts of the " slope " formed as- 
 sociations of the most pleasant character, and 
 the survivors still turn with pleasing memories 
 to events here of twent3' }'ears ago. It was that 
 feeling which, to many of them, made the re- 
 union of October 28, 29 and 30, 1882, of such 
 a pleasant character. Pottawattamie Count}" 
 furnished of the field and the Colonel, Thomas 
 H. Benton, Jr.; Major, Joseph Lyman; Sur- 
 geon, Dr. William S. Grimes, now of Denver, 
 and after the war a long-time a physician at Des 
 Moines; and the Quartermaster, William W. 
 Wilson, now a banker in Lincoln, Neb. Com- 
 pan}- A was from Pottawattamie County, with 
 John P. Williams. Captain; George A. Haynee. 
 First Lieutenant, and E. R. Kirkpatrick, Second 
 Lieutenant. Capt. Williams is an emploj-e 
 of the Council Bluffs Post Office; Haynes is a 
 merchant at Maysville, Cal., and R. R. Kirk- 
 patrick lives at Oakland, Cal. C. V. Gardner, 
 one of the founders of Avoca, and afterward of 
 Deadwood, D. T., succeeded Williams as Cap- 
 tain of Company A, a short time after the regi- 
 ment reached the field, and remained at the 
 head of the company during the war. Will- 
 iams resigned on account of ill health. The 
 regiment had an honorable career, and was dis- 
 charged at New Orleans, on the 10th of Au- 
 gust, 1865, after having served on the Rio 
 Grande for some months after actual hostilities 
 ceased in that quarter, by the surrender of Dick 
 Taylor and Kirby Smith. Thirty men of the 
 Twentj'-ninth were killed in battle and died of 
 wouuds, 253 of disease and 1 3-1 were discharged 
 on account of disability. 
 
 While speaking of the military incidents of 
 
HIiSTORY OF rOTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 177 
 
 the city, it may be stated that only one draft oc- 
 curred here during the war. This was made ou 
 the 5th of November, 1864, sixty of whom were 
 drawn from Kane Township. Substitutes were 
 furnished in a few instances, and on the 17tii of 
 the same month the men thus drawn were sent to 
 the general rendezvous at Davenport, and from 
 that camp assigned to various commands in the 
 field. The draft was here conducted b}' II. H. 
 Field, who was a Deputy Provost Marshal in the 
 Fifth District of Iowa. Hon. Caleb Baldwin, as 
 an assistant to Gov. Kirkwood, and Col. II. 
 C. Nutt as aid to Govs. Kirkwood and 
 Stone, rendered important service in placing 
 all these troops in a condition for active duty. 
 The ladies of Council Blufls were not behind 
 hand in aiding the countr}^ in its efforts to re- 
 store peace. xVt an early period of the war, a 
 soldier's aid society- was formed here, and did 
 most excellent and patriotic work, but on the 
 22d of March, 1SG2, that organization was 
 merged into a branch of the " Army Sanitary 
 Commission of Iowa." In addition to that, a 
 branch of the Christian Commission was also 
 established here to aid in the work assigned to 
 that organization, in the hospitals, and camps, 
 and militarj- posts. Company E of the Sixth 
 Iowa Cavalry, was recruited at this point. 
 When the enlistments were made, it was in- 
 tended that W. G. Crawford should have the 
 command of the company, but consumption 
 was already making rapid headway and threat- 
 ening his life, and he reluctanth- yielded the 
 post to Capt. Daniel F. Eicher, of this city, one 
 of the Lieutenancies being assigned to Joseph 
 C. Dellaven, also of this city. The company 
 was mustered in in Januar3', 1863, and the 
 disturbed condition of Indian affairs on the 
 Northwesleru frontier, and the massacres of set- 
 tlers in Minnesota, making it necessary that 
 they should be employed in that service, their 
 term of enlistment was spent in arduous cam- 
 paigns through the wilds and " Bad Lands" of 
 Dakota and the Northwest. 
 
 The final paymeijt of the $40,000 sub- 
 scribed for stock in the St. Joseph Railroad 
 was made on the 8th of January, 1802. The 
 road, owing to the disturbed condition of 
 national affairs, was making no headway to- 
 ward completion, but the assets of the com- 
 pany at that date were estimated at S568,000. 
 Some indication of the growth of the city 
 was manifest in the number of children of 
 school age, and, as shown by the school cen- 
 sus of the year, there being of those 584. 
 J. M. Pabner was chosen Mayor, and J. B. 
 Rue, John Dohany, H. C. Fredericksou, L. 
 W. Babbitt and John B. Lewis were chosen 
 as Aldermen. Samuel Clinton was also chos- 
 en President of the School Board. In March 
 of this year, the market price of wheat here 
 ranged from 40 to 45 cents per bushel, corn, 
 15 cents, and dressed pork, from $2.25 to 
 $2.50 per hundred weight. The Missouri 
 River, iu April, was at a very high stage. 
 To navigate it in those diiys through virtual 
 wilds, at any season of the j'ear, iu any small 
 craft, was an undertaking of considerable 
 hazard. Jesse Williams, Beruhard Henn 
 and Col. Test, however, venliu'ed to come 
 down from Decatur, Neb., to Council Bluffs 
 in a small boat during this flood, and, though 
 exposed to great perils, made a successful 
 trip. Emigration to the gold mines kept up 
 a constant stream, and contributed to general 
 mercantile prosperity. Mormon emigration 
 was without abatement. About a thousand of 
 these arrived by way of the river in steam- 
 boat, on the 9th of June, and started over- 
 land, after fitting out here for the long and 
 dismal journey of more than a tliousand 
 miles. As soon as the act of Congress went 
 into effect, during this summer, providing a 
 system of internal revenue, Horace Everett 
 was .appointed Collector of the Fifth District, 
 and F. A. Burke, an old and highly esteemed 
 citizen, was appointed his Deputy. The Pa- 
 
178 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 citic House property met with an accident, on 
 the 3()th day of August, in this, that the 
 stables belonging to the hotel were struck by 
 lightning and entirely destroyed by fire, in- 
 cluding seven horses, some cows and ■ve- 
 hicles. 
 
 The frights to which the sparse settlements 
 in Northwestern Iowa were subjected from 
 border Indian hostilities during the fall of 
 1862 will not soon be forgotten by those early 
 settlers. The savage torch was kindled all 
 along the Minnesota frontier. The unrelent- 
 ing Sioux were on the warpath, and the utmost 
 alarm pervaded the whole of Western Iowa 
 The excitement reached its highest pitch in 
 September. The people of Council Bluffs 
 felt the necessity of prompt action and held 
 a large public meeting to devise measures of 
 assistance. Three companies of the Twenty- 
 ninth Iowa in camp here, then recruiting that 
 regiment, and a detachment of the local ar- 
 tillery, moved to Sioux City to await devel- 
 opments, and, after remaining there some 
 days, the excitement grew less, the alarm 
 abated and the troops returned to this point. 
 W. W. Maynard was ajjpointed Postmaster in 
 November, to succeed Nelson T. Spoor, who 
 had gone to the front with his battery, and 
 retired from the editorial control of the Non- 
 pareil. He was succeeded in the latter posi- 
 tion by W. S. Burke, whose health did not 
 permit him to remain in the military service. 
 John P. Williams, who was Sheriff of the 
 county, also resigned to go into the volunteer 
 service, and C. Yoorhis was appointed to fill 
 the vacancy thus made. The Democratic 
 County Convention held that year denounced 
 " Abolitionism and secession as twin enemies 
 of the Union." The resolutions of the Re- 
 publican County Convention simply an- 
 nounced the adherence of the party to the 
 administration in its efforts to prosecute the 
 war. E. F. Burdick and J. Smith Hooton 
 
 were independent candidates for the only office 
 in the county to be tilled that fall, that of 
 Clerk of the District Court, and in the con- 
 test Burdick was elected. John A. Easson 
 was the Republican candidate for Congress, 
 and D. O. Finch, of Des Moines, led the 
 Democratic party in that respect. The two 
 candidates had an interesting and joint dis- 
 cussion at Council Bluffs .during the canvass. 
 Both were ranked as the most eloqu&nt stump 
 speakers in the State. Samuel Clinton was 
 the candidate of the Democracy for Judge of 
 the District Court, and James G. Day, of Fre- 
 mont County, was the candidate of the Re- 
 publicans of the district. The latter was 
 elected, and held that office until chosen to 
 the Supreme bench of the tate, in 1870, a 
 position he has ever since held. Finch's ma- 
 jority over Kasson in the county was thirty- 
 six; that of Clinton over Day, two hundred 
 and forty-two. Kasson, however, was elected 
 by a decided majority over Finch in the dis- 
 trict, and was re-elected in 1804, but failed 
 of the nomination in 18()6 for a third term 
 because of his leaning toward the famous 
 policy of President Johnson. 
 
 Several years before this, missionary priests 
 of the (Jatholic Church had succeeded in 
 gathering in the communicants of that relig 
 ious oj'ganization, and, iu 1859, a plain, sub- 
 stantial brick church, a chapel rather, was 
 erected on Pearl and Main streets, between 
 Willow avenue and Buckingham street. No 
 regular pastor was provided for the parish 
 until 1862, when the Bishop of the Diocese 
 of Iowa designated the Rev. Father Philip 
 McMahon as the first stated priest here. The 
 church edifice was built through the main 
 efforts of the Rev. Father Tracy, as a mission- 
 ary. Rev. J. H. Clark, of the Presbyterian 
 Chiirch; the Rev. J. W. Todd, of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church; the Rev. Harvey 
 Adams, of the Congregational Church, and 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 179 
 
 the Rev. Faber Byllesby, were the pastors of 
 the Protestant societies at that date. 
 
 Among the changes that took place at the 
 January meeting of the Board of Supervis- 
 ors, in 1863, was the admission of Perry Reel 
 as a member fi'om Crescent Township. This 
 gentleman afterward became Sheriff of the 
 county for four terms, and County Treasurer 
 for two terms. His popularity in the county 
 was unbounded, and his name has always 
 been the synonym of everything that is noble 
 in character. J. M. Palmer was again elected 
 Mayor in the spring of 18*33. Among the 
 Aldermen chosen were H. H. Fields, J. M. 
 Phillips, John Hammer and N. S. Bates. 
 The latter gentleman was a noted and con- 
 spicuous character in his day here, and was 
 familiarly known to his associates as "Gov. 
 Bates," a title to which he responded with 
 alacrity. He was highly esteemed during his 
 life, and took high rank as an Odd Fellow, of 
 which order he was a zealous member. Sam- 
 uel Clinton was re-elected as President of the 
 School Board at the annual school election. 
 The Sixth Iowa Cavalry, the regiment to 
 "which the company, officered by Capt. Ei- 
 cher, and Lieut. De Haven, of this city, be- 
 longed, were ordered into the Indian country 
 of Dakota, and when on their way up, on the 
 march, they halted for a day, rested their 
 animals and enjoyed the hospitality of old 
 neighbors and friends. The Council Bluffs 
 Branch of the Sanitary Commission did a 
 most excellent work during this period, in the 
 collection and remittance of funds. To May, 
 for that current year, they had collected and 
 transmitted $340. Considering that they 
 were here on a virtual frontier, and had con- 
 tributed largely in the equipment of troops, 
 and in aid of soldiers' families, this showing 
 was highly creditable to the town. 
 
 Council Bluffs lost several estimable and 
 patriotic young men in the army during this 
 
 summer, among them Curtis Burroughs, of 
 the Twenty-ninth Iowa, who died at Helena, 
 Ark. ; George W. Fairmau, son of George 
 Fairman, an old citizen, and N. H. Folsom. 
 Lawrence M. Smith was instantly killed in a 
 fight at Milliken's Bend. A Union League 
 was established early in the year by the Re- 
 publicans of the county, with headquarters in 
 Council Bluffs. Its functions were mainly in 
 the directio;! of controlling local political 
 affairs. The Democrats effected the organi- 
 zation of a large club, with Samuel Ja- 
 cobs, now of Hamburg, Fremont Couuty, as 
 President. Judge Cole, who had hitherto 
 been a Democrat, took the attitude of a War 
 Democrat, as they were called in those days, 
 and spoke to a large crowd on the 2d of 
 May. He eventually drifted into the Repub- 
 lican party, and was elected to the Supreme 
 Court for several terms. Capt. A. L. Dom- 
 ing, President of the First National Bank of 
 Council Bluff's dm*ing his lifetime after the 
 institution was organized, was chosen a dele- 
 gate to the Republican State Convention this 
 year. Thomas Tostevin, I'rank Street, and 
 J. C. Layton, were the other delegates. The 
 Republicans carried the county by 160 ma- 
 jority on the State ticket. Col. William M. 
 Stone, of Marion County, was the Republican 
 candidate for Governor, and was elected, 
 afterward for a second term, and Gen. 
 James M. Tuttle, of Des Moines, they were 
 both soldier candidates, was the leader of the 
 Democracy. L. W. Ross, now one of the law 
 professors and Chancellor of the University 
 at Iowa City, was the unsuccessful Repub- 
 lican candidate for State Senator, against 
 Samuel Clinton, Democrat. A. J. Bell, Re- 
 publican, was chosen Representative over B. 
 Winchester, Democrat. Among the political 
 events of tjie summer and of the campaign, 
 was a Democratic address — a speech to the 
 people here by Hon. A. C. Dodge, ex-United 
 
180 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 States Senator, on the 30th of May, when on 
 his way to Montana Tetritory. On the 5th 
 of September, Gen. G. M. Dodge visited his 
 homo on a leave of absence, and in considera- 
 tion of his distinguished military services, 
 the citizens, without regard to party, gave 
 him a most cordial public reception and wel- 
 come. This demonstration was highly ap- 
 preciated by that distinguished officer, and 
 he expressed his gratitude to his old neigh- 
 bors in the warmest possible terms. The 
 county fair fell short of being asiiccess, owing 
 to a heavy frost which destroyed almost all 
 kinds of vegetation, on the 27th of August. 
 Caleb Baldwin and Nathan P. Dodse formed a 
 banking house in September, an institution 
 that was afterward merged in the Council 
 Bluffs Savings Bank, the latter also afterward 
 absorbing the Pacific National Bank. The 
 annual Mormon conference was held in Octo- 
 ber, on the farm of M. L. FoUet, in what is 
 now Garner Township, in the vicinity of 
 Parks' Mill. This was that branch of the 
 Latter- Day Saints whose headquarters were 
 at Piano, 111., and who discarded polygamy 
 as any part of their system, and treated it as 
 a rank heresy engrafted on their religion by 
 Brigham Young. Joseph Smith, Jr., the 
 son of the Carthage Jail martyr, was the 
 recognized head of the anti -polygamous 
 branch, and presided over the deliberations 
 of the conference at this meeting for the first 
 time. At that date, and up to 188 1, the gen- 
 eral business of the church was transacted in 
 
 an annual conference held in the fall near 
 Council Bluffs, at Parks' Mill. Every male 
 member of adult age had a voice in the de- 
 liberations of the conference. The people of 
 the society from far and near came in wagons 
 and otherwise, and pitched their tents in the 
 style of a camp meeting, and for a week, at 
 least, religious services were conducted in 
 the camp meeting, and the aifairs of the 
 church deliberated as in a purely democratic 
 assembly. As the church grew in numbers, 
 and, in 1880, had reached some 21,000, in 
 Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and even in Utah, 
 and other Western Territories, as a delibera- 
 tive body, on the old plan, it became un- 
 wieldy and inaccessible to many, and its dis- 
 cipline and constitution were so changed as 
 to constitute it a representative body com- 
 posed of delegates chosen by congregations 
 and local church societies. These camp 
 meetings were events of an interesting local 
 character, and thousands attended them who 
 were neither members of that society nor in 
 sympathy with them in any way, as idle and 
 cm'ious spectators. They were more after 
 the fashion of an old-time Methodist camp- 
 meeting than the later-day so-called camp 
 meetings of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 An interesting sight, always, was the immer- 
 sion of scores of converts and new communi- 
 cants in the Mosquito, this ceremony receiving 
 gi'eater unction from the fact that the sacra- 
 ment of baptism in that form was adminis- 
 tered by the son of the Prophet Joseph Smith. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 let 
 
 CHAPTER XXX.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS — SOLDIERS' BOUNTIES —FIRST SCHOOL BUILWNG — FAIRVIEW CEMETERY 
 —GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN— CIRCUS CALAMITY — WILLIAM MARBLE KILLED BY 
 INDIANS— LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION— PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BUILD- 
 ING—LYNCHING OF A BOBBER— UNION PACIFIC BEGUN. 
 
 WHEN the Boai'd of Supervisors met, on 
 the -ith of January, 1864, E. McBride, 
 now of Harrison County, represented Kane 
 Township. A draft, under the act of Congress, 
 was pending at that date; Mayor Palmer and 
 other citizens, to avoid that contingency, 
 went before the Board, and induced them to 
 appropriate the sum of S'2,000, to be placed 
 in the hands of Caleb Baldwin, for the pay- 
 ment of bounties for voluntary enlistments to 
 fill the quota called for. Large sums were 
 also expended by the board for aid to the 
 families of absent soldiers who needed such 
 assistance. The State tax was 2 mills; the 
 coimty tax, 4; schools, 1; relief, 2^; and 
 bounty tax to soldiers, li. At the city elec- 
 tion in March. "Gov." Bates became Mayor. 
 A. J. Bump was also elected Marshal. Judge 
 Douglass and Judge Street were also elected 
 to the Council with others. The entire Re- 
 publican city ticket was elected at that time. 
 In that year began that admirable system of 
 public school building, which has ever since 
 characterized the district. A tax of 2 mills 
 was voted by the people at the annual elec- 
 tion, and the contract was let to George F. 
 Smith for a $5,000 brick schoolhouse, now 
 known as the Stutsman Street School, in the 
 eastern part of the city, and the building 
 completed in time for the winter schools. 
 
 In the early history of the city, the Mor- 
 mon settlers had used the highest point of 
 the bluff between Oakland avenue and Ben- 
 
 •By Col. John n. K>atley. 
 
 ton street, and the spot now forming the 
 eastern portion of Fairview Cemetery as a 
 place of burial. Diu-ing this summer, this 
 old burying-ground was secured from those 
 who thus owned the soil, and by adding to it 
 on the west to a great extent, an area was se- 
 cured for one of the most beautiful resting- 
 places for the dead to be found anywhere. 
 The ground sloped beautifully to the west, and 
 being at an elevation of 100 feet above the level 
 of the great valley of the Missouri, presented a 
 most romantic and delightful view for miles 
 north, south, west and, at the highest point, 
 east, taking in range the Missouri as it coils 
 around the foot-hills, and the sparkling lakes, 
 whose sheen amid the trees and foliage that 
 embowered them is like the glitter of gems. 
 Walnut Hill Cemetery, in the eastern part of 
 the city, and on the road to Parks' Mills, was 
 laid out the same season. Here rest the re- 
 mains of Dr. McMahon and Judge Baldwin. 
 The Catholic cemetery is side by side with 
 Walnut Hill. A soldiers' festival was held 
 in Palmer's Hall in April, 1864, as a testi- 
 monial of welcome to such soldiers as had 
 come home on a thirty days' furlough, one of 
 the conditions oE their re-enlistment for 
 another three years. George Francis Train, 
 at that time, was highly interested in Omaha, 
 with Dr. Durant, his brother-in law, the 
 Vice President of the Union Pacific Railroad, 
 and was here and made one of his charac- 
 teristic speeches at this festival and re-union. 
 The semi annual statement of the State 
 
183 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Bank, now the First National, of Council 
 Bluifs, showed the average deposits to be 
 148,000; the circulation, $79,000; the loans, 
 185,000, and the gold and other coin in its 
 vaults at §22,000. The Cedar Rapids Rail- 
 road, now the Chicago & North- Western, 
 had advanced westward to within 160 miles 
 of Council Bluifs, and gave token of an early 
 connection with the outside world by rail. 
 The Western Stage Company established its 
 stages between the temporary terminus and 
 this city, and as the space diminished, short- 
 ened its route, until the arrival of the road 
 in 1867. 
 
 On August 2, the people had an immense 
 scare. Mabie's circus was exhibiting. A 
 fearful storm of wind came on, after dark, 
 and blew the pavilion down and extinguished 
 the lights. Severall thousand people were 
 involved in total darkness, and, in the pros- 
 trate canvas. One of the lions escaped 
 from the cage, and added terror to the dis- 
 tressing scene, but was secured in a short 
 time, but the fright occasioned a panic of the 
 most alarming character. The pavilion was 
 cut almost to shreds by the attempts of the 
 people to escape. No lives were lost, and 
 the injuries received were not of a very seri- 
 ous character. 
 
 Atlanta having fallen, the people uniting 
 with those all over the country, celebrated the 
 victory with vast demonstrations of joy, with 
 boniires and illuminations, on the 9th of Sep- 
 tember. Gen. Dodge, who had been severely 
 wounded in the head, in front of Atlanta, in 
 that campaign, came home as soon as he could 
 safely travel, and gave the citizens another 
 pleasant opportunity to testify in a public 
 manner their high regard for the distin- 
 guished soldier, their fellow-townsman. 
 
 William Marble, a citizen of this place, 
 while on the plains near Plum Creek, Neb. , 
 was killed by the Indians, in October. His 
 
 little son with him escaped, and was sent 
 home. S. S. Bayliss and his son-in-law, 
 George Parks, began the erection of what is 
 now known as Parks' Mill, on the Mosquito 
 Creek, two miles east of town, on the site of 
 the Wicks Mill, used by the Government in 
 connection with the Pottawatomie Indian 
 Agency and reservation. During the same 
 autumn, the militia of the city were shaped 
 into two organizations of "Home Guards," 
 in two companies, one called the "' Flying 
 Artillery," under Capt. Thomas Tostevin, and 
 the other the "Provost Guards," under Capt. 
 A. J. Bell. The county fair began October 
 24. An early frost greatly injured the corn 
 crops, and that cereal sold at SI. 10, and 
 wheat at SI a bushel. Butter readily brought 
 50 cents per pound, and hard wood |10 per 
 cord. The canvass between Lincoln andMc- 
 Clellau was conducted with very little S2:)irit 
 in the city, and few public meetings were 
 held. The work of the Re2:)ublicans was done 
 within the secret precincts of the Union 
 League. The most marked public event of 
 the winter was the holding of a festival for 
 the relief of the families of such soldiers as 
 needed that assistance. It may as well be 
 plainly stated that a variety of circumstances 
 made this course necessary on the part of 
 those at home. Long delays frequently oc- 
 cmTed between dates of payment in the field. 
 Active operations in a campaign rendered it 
 impracticable in the presence of the enemy to 
 intrust large sums of money on precarious 
 lines of commtinication, and added to that, 
 the soldier in the field was not always as 
 mindful of those dependent on him at home 
 as the ordinary dictates of prudence demand. 
 Gambling devices inntimerable, often won his 
 hard-earned dollars when his family were in 
 need, and, in many instances, there were 
 those who were careless of results, in this, 
 that they conceived that the rich who were 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAAVATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 183 
 
 not bearing tho bnant of the battle were un- 
 der some kind of au obligation to support the 
 families of those in the service. These were 
 exceptions, but they helped to increase the 
 burdens of those charitably disposed toward 
 the actually deserving. The donations and 
 receipts of this fair and festival amounted in 
 money and useful articles to §2,000. and was 
 placed in the hands of D. C. Bloomer, Thom- 
 as Officer and Judge Baldwin as a committee 
 for disti'ibution. At the January, 1805, 
 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, E. Mc- 
 Bride was elected Chairman. A. E. Claren- 
 don, of Council Bluffs, was also appointed 
 County Superintendent, to fill a vacancy 
 caused by the resignation of L. S. Axtell. 
 Cornelius Yoorhis also resigned the office of 
 Sheriff, and at the same session of the board 
 H. H. Field was appointed in his stead. A 
 ferry at Trader's Point was established as 
 soon as navigation opened, and a license for 
 that purpose gi'anted by the Board of Super- 
 visors to H. T. Clark. At the city election. 
 Bates was elected Mayor; T. P. Trey nor. 
 Recorder; H. P. Warren, Treasiu'er; A. J. 
 Bump, City Marshal; and H. H. Field, Rich- 
 ard Eodgers, C. P. Johnson, J. M. Phillips, 
 Thomas Jefferies and John Hammer, Alder- 
 men. At the spring school election, a brick 
 school building was authorized at the corner 
 of Seventh street and Willow avenue, diag- 
 onally across from the Presbyterian Church 
 in the Fourth Ward. This building was re- 
 garded of ample proportions for its uses, until 
 1880, when the j)resent three-story brick edifice 
 gave place to it, and received the name of the 
 Bloomer School Building, a designation made 
 officially by the School Board as a tribute to 
 Mr. Bloomer, as a tribute to his long and val- 
 uable services in the cause of education. 
 
 The "most solemn and son'owful event that 
 ever fell upon the city, was the news of the 
 assassination of President Lincoln. When 
 
 received on the 15th of April, all places of 
 business were immediately closed, the city was 
 draped in mourning, the bells were tolled, 
 and every manifestation of profound sorrow 
 was made. The Union League called a 
 meeting for the afternoon, and the whole cily 
 turned out in attendance, eulogies were pro- 
 nounced, and strong resolutions adopted de- 
 nunciatory of the act. On the Wednesday 
 following, the day fixed for his funeral, 
 services in memorial were held in the Con- 
 gregational Church on Pearl street, and ad- 
 dresses made recounting the life and services 
 of the Martyr President. 
 
 Work on the new Presbyterian Church was 
 resumed dm-ing the summer, and the building 
 carried forward to completion, under the pas- 
 torate of the Rev. James H. Clark. The cost 
 of the building was $17,270; S1,S93 of this 
 amount was raised by the ladies of the church 
 through festivals, one of which, the most suc- 
 cessful, was held on the 21st and 22d of De- 
 cember, 1865. The Soldiers' Aid Society 
 closed its labors on the 16th of May, and 
 balanced its accounts. From December, 1864, 
 it had transmitted to the Christian Commis- 
 sion the sum of $504. The people of the 
 city were greatly imperiled in their lives and 
 property by a gang of robbers which seemed 
 to prey at will upon them and in the neigh- 
 borhood. George Parks, on his way in from 
 his mill, encountered a suspicious character 
 whom he compelled, at the muzzle of the re- 
 volver, to march into the city. The man was 
 at once identified as an individual who had 
 compelled a farmer to hold up his hands 
 while he robbed him. In a day or two after- 
 ward, the body of the unnamed criminal was 
 found dangling from the limb of a tree in 
 the eastern part of the city. Its effect was a 
 salutary one in the way of breaking up the 
 system of bold robberies. 
 
 The State census made the population of 
 
184 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 Kane Township, which then included what is 
 now Garner and Lewis Townships, at 3,003. 
 
 The celebration of the Foiu'th of July, 
 1865, was of an iiniisual character. The 
 termination of the civil war occasioned a 
 disposition to make the most of the National 
 anniversary, and thousands, from all parts of 
 the county, attended. Gyrus H. Street read 
 the Declaration of Independence, and 
 speeches were made by Judge Street, D. C. 
 Bloomer, W. G. Crawford, W. F. Sapp and 
 others. A military procession, consisting of 
 the Council Bluffs Light Artillery, the Rifle 
 Company, the Botna Tigers and the Provost 
 Guards, occurred, with Col. J. C. Hoffmayr 
 as commandant. Council Bluffs, at that date, 
 had no lire department, but the Omaha Hook 
 and Ladder Company took part m the dem- 
 onstration. The mothers and widows of the 
 dead soldiers were given the place of honor, 
 together with such soldiers as had been mus- 
 tered out of the service and reached home. 
 Au immense free dinner was given, and that 
 night there was a very fine display of lire- 
 works. 
 
 The commencement of the building of the 
 Union Pacific Railroad from the west bank of 
 the Missouri River, during the summer of 
 1865, and another event that had a marked 
 influence on the future of Council BhtfTs. 
 The line, as first projected, contemplated a 
 direct route westward from Omaha, until it 
 
 reached the Platte Valley. This idea was 
 abandoned, and what is known as the " Ox 
 Bow" or southern convergence, selected. This 
 plan was deemed prejudical to both Council 
 Bluffs and Omaha, as leading to the eventual 
 abandonment of both towns, when the con- 
 struction of the bridge over the Missouri 
 River came to be considered. A good deal 
 of feeling was aroused, but it had no effect in 
 altering either the plans or purposes of the 
 company, and the danger apprehended did 
 not prove, as expected, a calamitous reality. 
 In August, the Council Bhiffs Branch of the 
 State Bank was transformed into the First 
 National Bank of Council Blufls, with Capt. 
 A. L. Deming, as President, and Moses H. 
 Deming, his brother, as Cashier. The '21st 
 day of September was set apart by the citi- 
 zens as a testimonial to the men here who had 
 gone into the military service, and had re- 
 turned, at the close of the war, to resume 
 again their peaceful avocations. The testi- 
 monial was in the shape of a banquet, and all 
 the citizens vied with each other in thus ex- 
 pressing their gratitude to the brave men who 
 had so cheerfully and nobly done their duty. 
 The returned soldiers organized a post of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, but after a 
 time it took on a political character, and the 
 post disappeared, and was not revived until 
 1880, when the re-organized Post Abe Lin- 
 coln was established. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 185 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI.* 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS— ST. JOE RAILROAD REVIVED— CONGRESSIONAL FIGHT OF 188( 
 HOUSE— REV. CLARK SCANDAL— NARROW ESCAPE AT BURHOP'S HALL- 
 CHURCH EDIFICE— COMPLETION OF THE NORTHWESTERN JUBILEE 
 —SKETCH OF THE "NONPAREIL" AND THE "BUGLE." 
 
 —NEW COURT 
 M. E. 
 
 RL. DOUGLASS was President of the 
 • Council Bluffs & St. Joseph Railroad Co. ; 
 J. P. Casady, Vice President; Horace Ever- 
 ett, Treasurer, and Samuel Jacobs, Secretary. 
 Increased efforts were put forth to secure the 
 completion of the road. The old contracts 
 for construction were surrendered, and a new 
 one entered into between Henry W. Phelps, 
 of Massachusetts, for the completion of the 
 road by January 1, 1867, and, under this 
 arrangement, the work was vigorously re- 
 sumed. All the stock in the company held 
 by the city and the county was transferred to 
 Willis Phelps, as one ot the inducements to 
 a resumption of the work. W. F. Sapp, who 
 had settled in Omaha, having removed there 
 from Mt. Vernon, Ohio, became a citizen of 
 Council Bluffs in 1864. At the election held 
 for Representatives in the State Legislature, 
 he was chosen on the Republican ticket that 
 fall to represent Pattawattamie County in the 
 House. Thomas Tostevin was re-elected Coun- 
 ty Treasurer, and H. H. Field, Sheriff. Col. 
 Sapp assisted in raising a regiment for front- 
 ier duty, among the people of Nebraska, and 
 the organization was designated as the Second 
 Nebraska Regiment. He was made its Lieu- 
 tanant Colonel. In 1869. he was appointed 
 United States District Attorney for Iowa by 
 President Grant, and served for four years, 
 and was succeeded by James T. Lane, of I>av- 
 enport. In 1876, Col. Sapp was nominated 
 
 «Bj- Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 by the Republicans of the Eighth Congres- 
 sional District of Iowa, and elected. He was 
 renominated in 1878, and having as his oppo- 
 nents John H. Keatley, as a Democratic can- 
 didate, and the Rev. Mr. Hicks, of Montgom- 
 ery County, a Greenbacker; he was elected 
 the second time by a majority over both, oi 
 369 votes. A bitter contest arose, in 1880, 
 over his desire for a nomination for a third 
 term. The convention was held in Council 
 Bluffs in August. Col. W. P. Hepburn, of 
 Page County; A. R. Anderson, of Fremont 
 County, John T. Stone, of Mills County, 
 and Col. Sapp, were candidates before 
 the convention. After a few ballots. Col. 
 Hepburn announced his withdrawal, and 284 
 ballots, consuming three days and two nights, 
 were had without any result. Scarcely a 
 change was made in all this long and stubborn 
 contest; but, at the end of the 2S5th ballot, 
 it was found that Col. Hejiburn had secured 
 the number requisite to a nomination, and he 
 was declared the candidate, and elected in the 
 ensuing fall by a majority of about seven 
 thousand, over Robert Percival, of Council 
 Bluffs, the Democratic candidate. Gen. 
 Thomas H. Benton, Jr., was the Democratic 
 candidate for Governor of Iowa, in 1865, but 
 was defeated by Col. William M. Stone, who 
 was then the successful Republican candidate 
 for a second term. 
 
 In January 1866, the movement already 
 on foot to erect the present county court 
 
186 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COU>fTY. 
 
 house took definite shape. A Committee of 
 the Board of Supervisors reported a plan and 
 estimates, and on the tith of January, the 
 present site on Pearl street,' at the corner of 
 Buckingham, was purchased at a cost of 
 $3,500. J. M. Phillips, Thomas Officer 
 and William Ward, neither of whom were 
 memberii of the board, were appointed a 
 building committee, to let the contract and 
 supervise the erection of the court house. On 
 the 15th of February, 1866, the contract was 
 let according to plans and speeificationa pre- 
 [)ared by William Ward, the architect, to 
 John Hammer, a professional contractor of 
 brick and stone work, and F. T. C Johnson, 
 now a farmer of Norwalk Townshipj but then 
 engaged in Council Bluifs as a contracting 
 carpenter and builder, the cost not to exceed 
 $42,000, and bonds of the county having been 
 authorized to meet the cost. The basement 
 story was completed that year, and the build- 
 ing finished so far as inclosing it and fitting 
 up the jail and offices on the first floor were 
 concerned, but the court room proper was not 
 completed until the winter of 1868. It was, 
 however, used as a coiu't room with temporary 
 f lu'uitiu'e. The funds having been exhaust- 
 ed occnsioned this delay. A disastrous fire 
 occurred on the south side of Broadway, on 
 the morning of the iSth of Februaiy, which 
 swept away the stores and tin shop of J. M. 
 Phillips, Samuel Knepper, Keller & Bennett, 
 and John Epeneter. These were replaced in 
 1868 by substantial brick store buildings. 
 At the city election, on the 12th of March, 
 1860, Caleb Baldwin was chosen Mayor, and 
 H. P. Warren, Treasurer, and A. J. Bump, 
 City Marshal. The latter office had attached 
 to it the important duty of collecting the 
 taxes levied for city purposes. At the spring 
 school election, D. C. Bloomer was elected 
 President of the Board. A religious feeling 
 was also aroused in the city, and for a num- 
 
 ber of months a union prayer meeting was 
 daily held, beginning at eight o'clock in the 
 morning, and lasting for an hour. A Young 
 Men's Library Association was also organ- 
 ized at the same time, with Hon W. H. M. 
 Pusey as its Librarian. Cyrus H. Street was 
 Secretary, and Frank M. Streamer, afterward 
 city editor of the Omaha Herald, librarian. 
 This institution collected quite a large quan- 
 tity of books, but interest was lost in it, and 
 the library became scattered. A Board of 
 Trade, with Capt. A. L. Deming, was also 
 constituted, which also, after a year's pre 
 carious existence, and with a total lack of in- 
 terest in its success and objects, was allowed 
 to dissipate. T. J. Hiu-ford, then in the 
 hardware business, now of Grand Island, 
 Neb., was elected its second and last Presi- 
 dent in the spring of 1867. 
 
 Great scandal was brought upon the com- 
 munity by the discovery of improper conduct 
 of the Rev. James H. Clark, pastor of the 
 Presbj-terian Church. It was alleged against 
 him that he had been in the habit of enticing 
 young girls to his study, and there made in- 
 decent proposals to them. The fact was kept 
 a secret for some time, but rumors at last got 
 to the public ear, the triith became known, he 
 was confronted with the evidence, and, seeing 
 no avenue of escape, resigned his pastor- 
 ate, after making a fiiU confession of his 
 guilt. He left the city almost immediately 
 after his exposure. 
 
 Bitrhop's Hall, now known as Platner's 
 Hall, on the north side of Upper Broadway, 
 was opened on the 22d of June, and, for a 
 number of years, was a favorite place of 
 amusement for the people. It was here that 
 Walter Bray made himself a favorite with the 
 theater-going people of the city. Leo Hud- 
 son also played " Mazeppa" on its stage. It 
 may not be out of place here, in this connec- 
 tion, to state a remarkably narrow escape made 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 187 
 
 at this hall in the winter of 1868. Joseph 
 Mueller, then piirstiing the profession of 
 teaching music, had prepared an operetta for 
 presentation, in which some twenty young 
 girls were to appear in chorus. Red light 
 was to be used in some part of the perform- 
 ance, and the material for it stood on a shelf 
 in the dressing-room on the east end of the 
 stage. The choras of young girls had just 
 stepped from the room to the stage; the hall 
 was packed; the last of the young girls had 
 only taken her place in the semi-circle, when 
 a report was heard as if of a cannon, the 
 audience jumped to their feet, a shudder ran 
 through the crowd, and the smell of some 
 kind of an offensive gas nished into the au- 
 ditorium. It was soon found that there need 
 be no panic, but the wiuter of this and sev- 
 eral others ran into the dressing-room, and 
 found that the red light, carelessly prepared 
 by the druggist, had exploded in contact with 
 the air, at the moment the last little girl had 
 left the room, that the concussion had torn 
 out the windows and burst the panels from 
 two doors, making fragments of them. Noth- 
 ing but the mere chance of the young girls' 
 having, at the precise moment, been trans- 
 ferred to the stage, saved the whole chorus 
 from destruction. After the recovery from 
 the first shock, the performance went on, but 
 its pleasures were materially mar/ed by the 
 thought of the recent danger. 
 
 The fine brick building for school purposes, 
 on Washington avenue was erected during 
 the summer of 1866, that is, the part fronting 
 on the avenue. The wing was not put up 
 until two or three years later. This made the 
 third two-story brick school building in the 
 city. Upon the resignation of the Rev. James 
 H. Clark, of the Presbyterian Church, for the 
 reasons already stated, a call was extended to 
 the Rev. T. K Cleland, then at Keokuk, and 
 but a short time a graduate of the theological 
 
 seminary, to assume pastoral duty here. After 
 the usual trial, he was duly installed, and 
 remained such pastor until May, 1882, when 
 he resigned to take the pulpit of Westmin- 
 ster Presbyterian Church of Keokuk. This 
 clergyman was one of the most eloquent pul- 
 pit orators ever in the ministry in Council 
 Bluffs. Duving his pastorate, he was not only 
 popular with his own congregation, but won 
 the esteem of the citizens generally. This 
 esteem enabled him to fill a career of many 
 years of great usefiilness. 
 
 The old Ocean Wave Saloon having been 
 struck with lightning and destroyed by fire, 
 there was poetical justice in occupying its 
 vacant site with a religious edifice. The 
 Methodist Episcopal Chui'ch here had grown 
 and prospered, and the want of an appropri- 
 ate place of worship was sadly and earnestly 
 felt. A large brick edifice was planned by 
 the Rev. Joseph Knotts, the Rev. J. S. Rand, 
 the Rev. Moses Shinn and other zealous mem- 
 bers of the church, and the contract having 
 been let to John Hammer and George F. 
 Smith, the latter a carpenter and builder, the 
 corner-stone was laid with appropriate relig- 
 ious services on the 14th of May, 1866. The 
 building with its tall spire was located in the 
 widening of Upper Broadway, at the junction 
 of the latter street and Madison or First 
 street. It fronts westward, and in looking 
 eastward on that street the graceful outlines 
 of the noble-looking building have an attract- 
 ive appearance. The following year, 1867, 
 the building was furnished and dedicated to 
 religious uses. 
 
 During all this period, when the Cedar 
 Rapids & Missouri River Railroad was 
 working its way toward the Missouri River, 
 with the Chicago & Noi-th-Western company 
 behind it as a sponsor, great fear existed in 
 the minds of many of the business men of 
 Council Bluffs, that after all the road might 
 
188 
 
 HISTOEY or POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 reach the river without touching Council 
 Bluffs. To reach this point required a sharp 
 deflection southward from its direct route 
 across the State. Whether the company would 
 ;so diverge in the interests of the city, and of 
 their own interests, had become a very serious 
 question. It is difficult to describe the con- 
 stant anxiety that at times prevailed. Com- 
 munication after communication passed be- 
 tween the committees of the citizens and the 
 officers of the company, without definite 
 results. Eeal estate wa^ sensitive as to value 
 in consequence of this uncertainty. At last, 
 in July, something definite was reached in 
 the way of a proposition for the settlement of 
 the vexed question of the location of the 
 western terminus of the road. Agents of the 
 company came here and proposed to make 
 this the terminus, provided the right of way 
 was donated from the north line of the 
 county and a cash donation made of §30,000. 
 The meeting of citizens and business men to 
 take into consideration these propositions 
 occurred on the 'Jth of July. There was no 
 difficulty in securijig .the pledge of $30,000 
 .contemplated in the proposed stipulation. 
 Marshall Turley made a donation of eighty 
 acres of land, includin'g the soil occupied as 
 a freight-yard and round-house, on condition, 
 as he claims, that the passenger depot should 
 be placed on the tract. This was not done, 
 however, biit the temporary passenger depot 
 was located about midway of Broadway and 
 the present round-house. When the perma- 
 nent building was finished, in the summer of 
 1868, in disregard of the stipulation, the com- 
 pany placed the freight and passenger depot 
 on the south side of Broadway and some dis- 
 tance south of the Turley tract. Many per- 
 sons, among them T. J. Hurford, gave nego- 
 tiable promissory notes for the amount of 
 their subscription to the $30,000 fund, and 
 when the same became due they allowed suit 
 
 to be brought to test the validity of the de- 
 fense, that the railroad comisany had violated 
 its stipulation as to location. The notes had 
 been transferred before due for value, it was 
 claimed, to innocent purchasers, and this fact 
 was successfully made against the makers of 
 the notes, and the amounts collected. After 
 the stipulation was thus made, the impression 
 got abroad and still exists, that before the 
 negotiation was concluded the railroad com- 
 pany had decided upon this as the terminus, 
 in order to connect with the Union Pacific, 
 then well under way. The meagerness of the 
 donation to such an important enterprise for 
 so material a change in route was overlooked, 
 in the eagerness of the people to secure the 
 road at all hazards. The first ground was 
 broken within the city limits on the 14th of 
 September, 1866. From the date that this line 
 of road was assured, the work went rapidly 
 forward. It was important to the Union Pa- 
 cific that they should have a line of railway 
 across the State, for the transportation of the 
 immense quantities of iron needed for its 
 completion. 
 
 In the meantime, the work went well on on 
 the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph Railroad. 
 An engine was brought up the river, on a 
 steamboat, and landed in Mills County, and 
 there a construction was made up and run 
 into Council Bhiffs, on the 27th of December. 
 The road, however, was not in condition to 
 run trains to St. Joseph at that date, to con- 
 nect with the Hannibal route. 
 
 The North-Western pushed ahead with ra- 
 pidity, and, on the 22d of December, 1867, 
 the first engine on any completed railroad 
 that ever entered Council Bluffs arrived, on 
 a trial trip. The long period of deferred 
 hope was at an end. Public joy burst all 
 bounds. The people turned out en masse, and 
 gave the train and those accompanying it a 
 right royal reception. No conquering hero 
 
Nonpareil Building, council bluffs, iowa. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 191 
 
 was ever hailed with louder and more earnest 
 plaudits than this engine and the people with 
 it received on that occasion. It was duly 
 honored with a procession and music. Can- 
 non boomed, and the day was turned into a 
 happy holiday. Mayor Baldwin and other 
 prominent citizens gave vent to their feelings 
 in eloquent congratulatory speeches. There 
 was feasting and joy on all sides. Tele- 
 grams were sent in all directions announcing 
 the event, and from that date a new era 
 dawned on the city. It ceased at that hour 
 to be a mere frontier town. Its pupilage was 
 at an end. 
 
 During this period, from January, 1866, 
 to October, 1867, the Bugle was published by 
 W. T. Giles, who purchased the paper from 
 L. W. Babbitt, and again sold to Mi\ Bab- 
 bitt, returning to Freeport, 111., and there 
 publishing the Bulletin for a number of years. 
 A change also took place in the management 
 of the Nonpareil, on the 2'2d of December, 
 1866. W. S. Burke retii-ed. and W. W. May- 
 nard and John W. Chapman took control of 
 it. Sir. Chapman had been in the United 
 States civil service in Omaha for some to that 
 date, when, removing to Council Bluffs, he 
 entered journalism. Without recurring to it 
 again, it may be here stated that diu'ing sev- 
 eral changes of partnership, from December, 
 1866, to January 1, 1869, Mr. Chapman had 
 an interest in the paper, and was its manag- 
 ing editor. At the latter date, the firm was 
 Chapman, Grey & Mill. Richard Gray was 
 a railroad man and a business character of 
 great energy and experience. This charac- 
 teristic he brought to bear as a business man- 
 ager in the aifairs of the daily, then strug- 
 gling as all such papers are compelled to 
 struggle in order to gain a foothold and an 
 establisbment. In the latter function, he was 
 materially assisted by Spencer Smith, who at 
 that date had no interest in the paper other 
 
 than as an employe, who, subsequently, as a 
 part owner, and as the business manager, gave 
 unusual talents in the establishment of the 
 paper on a firm and prosperous footing. Mr. 
 Chapman sold his one-third interest to John 
 S. Brainard, who had been the publisher of 
 the Story County AOgis. Brainard retained 
 his interest from January 1, 1869, until in 
 Ma}% when he transferred it to John C. Scher- 
 merhorn, and the paper was by them pub- 
 lished under the firm name of Gray, Mill & 
 Schermerhorn. George S. Mill was a Scotch- 
 man and a printer, educated in the printing- 
 house of "William Blackwood & Sous, Edin- 
 burgh. Schermerhorn was also a printer. 
 Diu'ing this period, John H. Koatley was the 
 editor of the paper, his connection begin- 
 ning in August, 1868, and ceasing on the 
 31st of March, 1870. 
 
 Mr. Chapman was elected County Treasm-er 
 on the Republican ticket, in the fall of 1869; 
 was re-elected in 1871, but was defeated in 
 his candidacy for a third term, in the fall of 
 1873, by Perry Rue. His Democratic oppo- 
 nent, in 1869, was E. A. Huber. The Nonpa- 
 reil was organized into a joint-stock compa- 
 ny in 187U. Mr. Gray andlNIi-. Mill retired, 
 their interests being adsorbed by Mr. Chap- 
 man. Thomas P. Treynor, then Postmaster, 
 and Spencer Smith, the brother-in-law of Mr. 
 Treynor. The corporation was called the 
 Nonpareil Printing Company, and under that 
 name the business of the paper has ever since 
 been conducted. The office was removed at 
 once from the two-story brick building, on 
 the south side of Broadway, known aa the 
 land office, and where part of the Everett 
 Block now stands, to the building now u.'ied 
 as a book store by Bushnell & Brackett, on 
 Pearl street. During a porticm of 1870. 
 Charles Aldrich, of Marshalltown, was the 
 editor at a salary. He was succeeded by W. 
 W. Maynard, also a salaried employe, with 
 
19-2 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 no other interest in the business. At his 
 death, in the winter of 1874-75, he was suc- 
 ceeded by S. W. Moorehead, who had been 
 the publisher of a weekly newspaper in 
 Southwestern Iowa, had acted as business 
 manager of the Nonpareil for a season, and, 
 with W. R. Vaughan, in November, 1872, had 
 started the Daily Globe, an evening Demo- 
 cratic paper, and sold the same in a short 
 time to Jacob Williams. 
 
 The summer of 1866 was one of intense 
 political excitement. President Johnson, on 
 the 22d of February, from the steps «f the 
 White House, in response to a serenade, 
 made a sensational speech by which he sev- 
 ered his connection with the Republican 
 party, and, in August, the famous ' ' Peace 
 Convention" was held in Philadelphia. J. D. 
 Test and A. V. Larimer were chosen to repre- 
 sent this Congressional district in that body. 
 W. W. Maynard was the editor of the Non- 
 pareil. He never let slip an opportunity to 
 sting a political opponent and with sarcasm 
 reeking from every pore, he published a bo- 
 gus dispatch f)urporting to come from Test 
 at Philadelphia, saying that he would be at 
 home in a few days, and would bring Presi- 
 dent Johnson with him. This stroke of wit 
 at Test's expense was the laugh of the town 
 fcH- a day or two, but Test's own pungent pen 
 was always a match for Maynard's gall. 
 
 During the month of November, 1866, a 
 special election was held upon the question 
 of authorizing a city loan of 160,000, to es- 
 tablish a market house, improve the streets 
 and provide a fire department. Under the 
 market-house provision, the city bought nf 
 Judge Riddle the brick building now known 
 as the city building, at the southeast corner 
 of Glen avenue and Broadway, it having 
 been used as Green, Weare & Benton's bank- 
 ing-house up to 1857, and the consideration 
 being $7,000. 
 
 One of the landmarks of Council Blufts 
 disappeared on the 1st of December, 1866. 
 This was the old Cottonwood jail that had be- 
 come historic from the early days of the Mor- 
 mon immigration. A prisoner by the name 
 of Pilling was in t'oe old prison when it took 
 fire in the night, and when the alarm was 
 given the fact that he was there, was careless- 
 ly overlooked, and he was roasted to death. 
 During the week preceding Christmas, the 
 ladies of the Episcopal Chiu-ch held a fair 
 and festival at Biuhop's Hall, at which they 
 realized §1,000. The large brick dwelling- 
 houses of Dr. McMahon, in the southwestern 
 part of the city, and of Jitdge Cassady. on 
 Washington avenue, were erected. 
 
 William Turner was the member of the 
 Board of Supervisors from Kane Township 
 when that body assembled, in Jamtary, 1867. 
 The Council Bluffs & St. Joseph Railroad 
 was completed to the MissDiu-i State line, 
 and all the shares of the county in that road 
 were assigned at that meeting to Willis 
 Phelps, in consideration of that completion. 
 The board also resolved to pay a large amount 
 of swamp land orders that had been issued 
 by Judge Sherman, and the issuance of 
 which, in part, occasioned his removal from 
 office. This course of the board was far from 
 being approved by the tax-payers. The issu- 
 ance of bonds to the M. & M. R. R. Co. was 
 also restrained by the District Court. An 
 intensely bitter feeling was engendered by 
 the charge, and rttmor that the board had 
 contracted with several lawyers to seciu'e the 
 injunction for a fee of $38,000; but if such 
 an agreement was ever made, it was not car- 
 ried into effect in any way, for the reason 
 that other citizens than those charged with 
 complicity in the matter took it in hand and 
 pushed the suit to a satisfactory conclusion. 
 
 Regular trains began to run on the Chicago 
 & North- Western in February, but heavy 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 193 
 
 snows between that and spring frequently 
 interrupted railway travel on that line. The 
 first movement was then made to secure a 
 county poor-house and a poor- farm, but the 
 credit of the county was strained as much as 
 it could then bear, in the building of the 
 new court house, and the poor- farm project 
 was postponed. Another institution, how- 
 ever, localized at Council Bluifs, had taken on 
 shape. The State was using temporary 
 quarters at Iowa City in maintaining an in- 
 stitute for the deaf and dumb. Col. Sapp, 
 as a member of the House from this county, 
 backed by leading citizens, and exercising 
 excellent judgment, secured a f)reliminary 
 appropriation for the erection of suitable 
 buildings for such an institute at Council 
 Bluffs. The resistance to the project was a 
 bitter one, but the claim that the western part 
 of the State had not received projjer con- 
 sideration in the distribution of the State in- 
 stitutions had great influence in finally de- 
 ciding the result. 
 
 The ultimate future of Council Bluffs was 
 foreshadowed in the action of those at the 
 head of the Union Pacific Railway enterprise. 
 Thomas C. Diu-ant, the Vice President of the 
 corporation, on behalf of himself and other 
 officers of the company, bought 1,200 acres 
 of land in the western part of the city, in- 
 tended to be utilized for railroad purposes in 
 the future. How was not definitely settled 
 or determined, but it was evident that in the 
 expansion of railway business, a wide scope 
 would be required on both sides of the river 
 when it was once bridged. This is the same 
 tract of land now used by the Union Pacific 
 as their transfer grounds and the magnificent 
 union depot for themselves and the Ijwa 
 roads. 
 
 At the spring election, Judge Street was 
 elected Mayor, the opposing candidate being 
 Col. Babbitt. A. J. Bump was again chosen 
 
 Marshal, and Samuel Haas was among the 
 new Aldermen elected. D. C. Bloomer was 
 again chosen President of the School Board. 
 Wheat sold in the market here at that elate 
 at $2 per bushel, corn at 85 cents, and flour 
 from §5 to -SB per 100 pounds. 
 
 William and Patrick Lawn, of Mills 
 County, were asleep as guests of the Farmers' 
 Hotel, on Broadway, kejjt by Peter Bechtelle, 
 on the night of the 13th of June, 1867. Be- 
 fore daylight the next morning, a mob of un- 
 known persons came into the city, waked up 
 the sleeping men, compelled them to go with 
 them, and just inside of the Mills County 
 line, they were hung until dead. Their 
 bodies were brought here and buried in the 
 Catholic Cemetery. They were merely sus- 
 pected of being guilty of crime. No oppor- 
 tunity was given to vindicate themselves. 
 Both men had served in the Union army, and 
 their comrades in Council Bluffs, on each 
 succeeding Decoration Day, have reverently 
 and devoutly decorated their graves. "V^'. W. 
 Maynard retired from the Nonpareil, and was 
 succeeded by S. T. Walker, who, in conjunc- 
 tion with I\Ir. Chapman, was its publisher. 
 Council Bluffs Lodge, No. 49, of Odd Fel- 
 lows, was revived and re-organized at this 
 period, and has ever since flourished. The 
 Empire Block stood on the south side* of 
 Broadway, between Main and Pearl streets. 
 On the 24th of June, this block, consisting 
 of a series of handsome three-story brick 
 buildings, was totally destroyed by fire. 
 There was no fire department in existence at 
 that date, and nothing could be done to save 
 the property. The loss was estimated at 
 §100,000. The type, press and material of 
 the Nonpareil were totally destroyed, as well 
 as the Young Men's Library. Only a few of 
 the books of the latter were saved. This 
 disaster terminated the usefulness of the li- 
 brary, and for a number of years no effort 
 
194 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTi'. 
 
 was made to supply its jilace. The Pierce 
 Street Schoolhonse and the Court Street 
 School Building were erected during the 
 siummer, at a cost of about $12,000. The 
 latter building was placed west of the track 
 of the North-Western Eailroad to the trans- 
 fer. The Germans organized a society, and 
 erected a handsome brick school building, 
 just south of the city building, and on the 
 west side of Glen avenue. Rev. George L. 
 Little diunng the same time erected a large 
 brick building, on Sixth avenue, between 
 Main street and Sixth street, for a young 
 ladies' seminary, and the institution was con- 
 ducted as such until the spring of 1870, when 
 it was abandoned for want of patronage. It 
 subsequently became the property of J. F. 
 Evanw, President of the First National Bank, 
 and by him transferred, after changes in 
 construction, into a handsome private resi- 
 dence for his own use. 
 
 The first Turn-Verein but-door exhibition 
 was given in August. Athletic exercises, un- 
 der the auspices of this society, were a nov- 
 elty, and attracted an immense crowd both 
 by themselves and the excellent instrumental 
 and vocal music. Omaha sent a large dele- 
 gation, and the festivities were truly charac- 
 teristic of the Fatherland. In the gymnastic 
 exercises, John Epeneter drew the first prize, 
 and Henry Lehman, of Omaha, the seond. 
 
 This was what is called a " grasshoj)per 
 season." They came in clouds from the 
 southwest, and literally covered the fields 
 and grounds throughout the valley, eating 
 up and devouring all kinds of vegetation, and 
 fairly making a desert of one of the most 
 promising agricultiu-al regions of the West. 
 They were not simply the grasshoj^per, but 
 the locust of the plains, the same which vis- 
 ited the region again in 1873 and 1874. 
 
 Excursions of another and less detrimental 
 kind also occurred diu-ing the same summer. 
 
 The opening up of the new railroads, the inva- 
 sion of the plains of Nebraska by the Union 
 Pacific, invited and brought sight -seers, land 
 speculators and adventurers of high and low 
 degree in large numbers. One or two mass 
 excursions of business men and Eastern edit- 
 ors became the guests of the people of the 
 city, and the latter went fairly wild in their 
 hospitality. Among new enterprises was the 
 establishment of a German newspaper, which 
 first saw light as the Frie Press, under the 
 direction of Messrs. Wenbore & Worden, in 
 September. The paper had a splendid out- 
 look in starting. The German business men 
 in the town gave it substantial encourage- 
 ment, and the large German farming element 
 in Pottawattamie and Mills Counties were 
 liberal in its support. It afterward changed 
 hands, and for quite a number of years bare- 
 ly existed. In 1880, it passed into the 
 hands of a gentleman by the name of Peiffer, 
 from Oregon, who. having character, ability 
 and capital, placed the paper on its feet, and 
 it is now again on the road to prosperity. 
 
 The election for State officers and a mem- 
 ber of the Legislature, in October, was a 
 spirited one. Col. Babbitt was nominated 
 by the Democrats for Representative, and 
 Maj. Joseph Lyman by the Republicans. 
 Judge Casady was the Democratic candidate 
 for State Senator, in a district composed of 
 Pottawattamie, Mills and Fremont Counties. 
 Maj. A. R. Anderson, of Fremont County, 
 received the Republican nomination for the 
 State Senate. Pottawattamie and Fremont 
 Counties gave majorities for Casady, and 
 elected him, and Col. Babbitt defeated Maj. 
 Lyman in the race for Representative. Will- 
 iam Porterfield, the Democratic candidate for 
 County Treasurer, and Perry Reel, the candi- 
 date of the same party for Sherifl', were also 
 elected. Col. Samuel Merrill, the successful 
 Republican candidate for Governor, had a 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 195 
 
 minority of the votes in the county as against 
 Judge Charles Mason, of Burlington, the 
 Democratic candidate. The same season 
 witnessed the ei'ection of a series of brick 
 buildings extending from Pearl to Main 
 streets, and including Bloom's Opera House, 
 the last being by Gen Dodge and Sol Bloom, 
 and the others by Samuel Haas and John T. 
 Stewart, and used by Stewart & Haas, and 
 afterward by the Stewart Bros. , as a whole- 
 sale grocery house, by John T. Baldwin, and 
 by Mrs. Martha Knepper, the widow of Sam- 
 uel Knepper, deceased. The Stewart & Haas 
 building was at once tilled with groceries and 
 heavy goods. On the 9th day of November, 
 the central supports in the cellar gave way, 
 and the entire building fell in. A number 
 of persons were within it at the time of the 
 fall, but, though bui'ied in the ruins, they 
 escaped almost unhiu-t, and were soon extri- 
 cated. The building was re-erected at once, 
 but only to the height of two stories, as it 
 DOW remains. 
 
 The Council Bluffs & St. Joseph Railroad 
 was open and ready for business as far south 
 as Hamburg, in Fremont County, within a 
 mile and a quarter of the MissoiU'i line, on 
 the 17th of December. The Directors of the 
 road at that stage were Willis Phelps, E. W. 
 Bond. W. M. Carson, G. M. T. Davis. Hor- 
 ace Everett, J. P. Casady and L. W. Babbitt. 
 Christmas night, 1867, was celebrated in the 
 new court house by a dance gotten up by 
 John Hammer and F. T. C. Johnson, the 
 contractors, and a grand supper given in 
 honor of the near comjjletion of the edifice. 
 In this way it was joyously dedicated, the 
 citizens generally joining in the festivity. 
 The next day. the citizens ware treated to the 
 spectacle of the crossing of the river by the 
 first locomotive, on a temporary bridge sup- 
 ported and stayed by the strong ice of the 
 Missouri. After that each season, when tho 
 
 river was firmly frozen, and until the stream 
 was permanently bridged by the existing 
 magnificent iron structure, a temporary 
 bridge was used to transfer trains to the west 
 bank with the greatest facility, from fall un- 
 til spring, and until the ice began to move. 
 
 On New Year's night, another fire devas- 
 tated a portion of the city. This time it as- 
 saulted a row of wooden buildings, on the 
 south side of Broadway, and east of the junc- 
 tion of Bancroft street. In the absence of a 
 proper place for a County Clerk's ofiice, one 
 of those wooden buildings in that quarter 
 was used for that pur^jose, and was totally 
 destroyed with a great jiortion of the records; 
 not all, however. The fire was evidently the 
 work of an incendiary, and suspicion attached, 
 for years, to the names of several well-known 
 citizens, as implicated, but no proof was ever 
 reached as to the real culprit. 
 
 Considerable excitement prevailed in this 
 section over a bold robbery, consisting of the 
 blowing open of the Harrison County safe on 
 the 20th of February, ISGS. On the 27th of 
 the same month, that of Mills County was 
 dealt with in the same way, and lai'ge 
 amounts of j^ublic money in both instances 
 secured. The party suspected were traced to 
 Council Bluffs, where Michael Rogers, a man 
 of considerable means and local celebrity, 
 was arrested, together with five others. 
 Rogers was arrested in his own house here, 
 and in a stove many thousands of dollars of 
 paper currency were found. He had at- 
 tempted to destroy it by tire, and failed. 
 There was a disposition to lynch the prison- 
 ers, but moderate counsels prevailed, and 
 they were taken to the Sidney Jail for safe 
 keeping, there being none here or at Glen- 
 wood, or at Magnolia, that was deemed safe 
 for that purpose. In a week or so afterward, 
 they all escaped, and Rogers was never again 
 heard of, except incidentally, as being in 
 
190 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 refuge in Canada. Subsequent developments 
 showed that, for some years, he had been the 
 head and front of a gang of counterfeiters 
 and robbers, whose operations extended over 
 many States and Territories, 
 
 The annual election for city officers was 
 held on the 10th of March, 18(58, and result- 
 ed in the choice of Thomas Tostern for May- 
 or. The school election was held on the 
 same day, and Mr. Bloomer was again chosen 
 President of the School Board. Col. Bab- 
 bitt, while being a useful member of the 
 Legislature, made a humorous point in favor 
 of Council Bluffs, by introducing a joint 
 resolution asking Congress to relocate the 
 capital of the United States at Council 
 Bluffs. On the 5th of April, the Broadway 
 Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated, 
 the dedicatory sermon being preached by the 
 Kev. Dr. Eddy, of Chicago. The Odd Fel- 
 lows, on the 26th of April, celebrated the 
 fortj'-ninth anniversary of the establishment 
 of the order. The street parade was one of 
 the most attractive ever seen on the streets 
 of Council Bluffs, and is still referred to by 
 members of the order as a memorable event. 
 The addresses were delivered in the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, and a grand banquet at 
 the new court house. 
 
 The 3d of May witnessed the establishment 
 of a new daily newspaper, called the Daily 
 Democrat, under the management of Alf S. 
 Kierolf & Co. Mr. Kierolf was a native of 
 Kentucky, and was a sensational political 
 writer after the manner of Brick Pomeroy, 
 under whose tuition he had acquired the 
 " redhot " style of journalism. The paper 
 was published in the interests of Democracy, 
 and had for its office the old land office, on 
 Broadway, where the Everett Block stands. 
 A bitter rivalry existed between it and the 
 Bugle, then again under the editorial control 
 of Col. Babbitt and David Sheward, the lat- 
 
 ter of whom had the questionable honor of 
 having been a Fort Lafayette prisoner diu-ing 
 the war. This rivalry neutralized the suc- 
 cess of the Democracy of the county the year 
 before, and created a personal feud in the 
 party that did not disappear for years. Per- 
 sonal journalism was can'ied to a bitter ex- 
 treme by these two papers. The Democrat 
 ceased to exist in a few weeks after the de- 
 feat of Seymour for President, an 1 the elec- 
 tion of Gen. Grant. Mr.. Kierolf went to 
 Missouri, and thence to Louisville, Ky. He 
 was subsequently a member of the Kentucky 
 Legislatui'e, but he paid the penalty of his 
 highly nervous temperament by an early 
 death. He was a man of most generous im • 
 pulses, thoiigh his journalistic belligerency 
 indicated totally the contrary. 
 
 A special election was held on the 25th of 
 June, appropriating $20,000 of the §60,000 
 loan for the purpose of pui'chasing a steam 
 fii-e engine. A Silsby steamer was pur- 
 chased, and Bluff City Engine Company or- 
 ganized to manage the steamer. The new 
 engine arrived on the 17th of Sejjtember. 
 An engine-house was erected in the rear of 
 the city building, on Glen avenue. F. T. C. 
 Johnson was made the first Chief of the tu'e 
 department, when that body was once organ- 
 ized. The Des Moineo Conference of the 
 Methodist Ef)iscopal Church was held here, 
 beginning its sessions on the 20th of August, 
 with Bishep Simpson as the presiding officer. 
 The first anniversary of the city Young 
 Men's Christian Association was held on the 
 6th of September, and the Rev. George L. 
 Little was re-elected President. 
 
 The political campaign was of an unusual 
 heated character. Club rooms were opened 
 by both parties. The Seymour and Blair 
 Club met at Barhop's Hall, and meetings 
 were held at least once a week diu'ing the 
 campaign. The Grant and Colfax Club hired 
 
HISTORY OF rOTTAWATTAMIE COUIS'TY. 
 
 197 
 
 au untinishod room in Rice's Block, west of 
 Gleu avenue, and as the campaign waxed 
 warm meetings were held each night. At 
 these, D. 0. Bloomer, John W. Chapman, 
 AVilliam Hale, of Glenwood, now Governor 
 of Wyoming, Frank Street and other Repub- 
 lican talkers, made stirring speeches. The 
 club was a regular tanner's organization, and 
 in pai-ade the members wore tanners' aprons, 
 glazed caps and carried torches in their pro- 
 cessions. F. W. Palmer, the present Post- 
 master of the city of Chicago, was the Re- 
 publican candidate for Congress. His home 
 was then at Des Moines. He was also the 
 editor and principal proprietor of the State 
 Register. His Democratic opponent was P. 
 Gad Bryan, a distinguished lawyer of In- 
 dianola, and a good stumper. Iq Septem- 
 ber, a joint discussion was had at Council 
 Blufifs between these two candidates. Each 
 party vied with the other in making a dem- 
 onstration, and the two processions organized 
 for the occasion were simply immense. No 
 collision occurred between the marching 
 masses. The meeting was held in the after- 
 noon, one of the mo.st beautiful of the many 
 delightful days of that glorious autumn. 
 The sun went down behind the Nebraska hills 
 before the debate closed, and the general ver- 
 dict was that both the contestants had acquitt- 
 ed themselves most deservingly. The debate 
 was reported in full for the Nonpareil by the 
 writer of this paragraph, and published ver 
 batim in the next morning's issue. 
 
 An amusing incident of the campaign was 
 a wager between Judge S. H. Riddle, an ar- 
 dent Democrat, and Capt. J. P. Williams, a 
 no less enthusiastic Grant supporter. It was 
 that in case of Grant's election, Riddle should 
 don a tanner's apron, take a torch, wear a 
 glazed cap, and march by the side of Will- 
 iams in a jollification procession. Williams 
 stipulated to do the same with Kiddie in case 
 
 of Seymour's election. The election of Grant 
 was celebrated in a grand demonstration at 
 night. Riddle kept his pledge, and when 
 marching at the head of the column, by the 
 side of Williams, the wildest enthusiasm and 
 the best of good feeling prevailed, and pre- 
 vented every thought of unpleasantness in the 
 presence of political defeat. During the 
 campaign, on the 22d of October, a grand 
 free dinner was given by the Republicans, to 
 which came people far and near. Broadway 
 and other streets were handsomely arched, 
 and wagons were fitted up and bevies of 
 young ladies decked out to represent the 
 States, to form part of the handsome proces- 
 sion. 
 
 The summer of 1868 was an exceedingly 
 active one in the way of improvements. The 
 President of the United States fixed, by proc- 
 lamation, the township in Pottawattamie 
 County in which the eastern terminus of the 
 Union Pacific should be located, but the pre- 
 cise point where the bridge should be located 
 when the time should come to build it was a 
 matter of more than ordinary interest. Two 
 sites were examined, and the river sounded 
 within the city, and another four miles south, 
 at Child's Mill. Gen. Dodge, the Chief En- 
 gineer of the road, eventually determined 
 upon the one where the bridge now is, and 
 the announcement of that selection was made 
 to the people on the 2d day of April, and the 
 occasion made one of demonstration and a 
 manifestation of groat joy. An impromptu 
 mass meeting was held in front of the Pacific 
 House, and abundance of speech -making 
 took place and cannon were fired in honor of 
 the result. This was not obtained, however, 
 without some important concessions. Johu 
 T. Baldwin, Horace Everett and Mayor Tos- 
 terin had been constituted a committee to visit 
 New York and negotiate with the officers of 
 the Union Pacific with reference to a dona- 
 
198 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 tion to the company. An agreement was 
 made that $205,000 in the bonds of the city 
 should be donated to the railroad company, 
 provided they would locate the bridge at the 
 point selected by Gen. Dodge, and also pro- 
 vided they would erect suitable passenger 
 and freight depots within the limits of Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. Five thousand dollars of this 
 amount of bonds was to be applied to the se- 
 curing of the right of way over the lands of 
 private persons in the city. AVhen the Union 
 Pacific was subsequently completed, in 1869, 
 and the bridge built over the river at a still 
 later date, inducements of an extraordinary 
 character were offered by the business men 
 of Omaha, and the county of Douglas, in Ne- 
 braska, to the company to locate their eastern 
 terminal facilities in that city, and an im- 
 mense union depot was erected there for the 
 pui-pose of carrying out that design. The 
 litigation which terminated favorably to 
 Council Bluffs in that matter and settled the 
 terminal question, belongs to a later period 
 of these annals, and at its more appropriate 
 place will receive the requisite attention. 
 
 July, 1868, marked the completion of the 
 Council Bluffs & St. Joseph Railroad. This 
 gave Council Bluffs another outlet to the 
 East, the new road connecting with the Han- 
 nibal & St. Joseph Eailroad at St. Joseph, 
 Mo. 
 
 Gen. Grant, then the chief of the army, 
 and candidate for President, accompanied by 
 Gens. Sherman, Sheridan and Frank P. 
 Blair, who had been on a visit to western 
 military posts, crossed from the west side of 
 the river, and were conveyed to the depot of 
 the St. Joseph Railroad, on the 30th of July, 
 to take the train south. An impromptu re- 
 ception and a cordial welcome were given 
 these distinguished officers by the people of 
 the city, regardless of party feeling, which 
 otherwise then ran exceedingly high. 
 
 No year witnessed greater efforts to im- 
 jirove the condition of the public schools than 
 that of 1868, and to keep them. at a proper 
 pace with the advance, advantages and growth 
 of the city. Mr. Adam Armstrong, a gradu- 
 ate of the Springfield. Ohio, College, was 
 engaged as the first Superintendent of the 
 city schools. He had selected this as his 
 profession, and with the requisite experience 
 already acquired in other fields, he proceeded 
 to re organize the public sch lols of Council 
 Bluffs on an enduring basis. The first step 
 was in grading them. The high school was 
 organized, and conducted first in the eastern 
 part of the city, and then in the Washington 
 Street building until the erection of the high 
 school building on the bluff, on Glen avenue 
 in the year following. Twelve teachers were 
 employed for the jDublic schools in this year. 
 The year closed with great prosperity in busi 
 ness. Some of the most important buildiags 
 erected during the fall were the brick build- 
 ing now occupied by D. Maltby as a grocery 
 store, and then owned by Cnpt. A. L. Deming ; 
 and the three-story brick at the southwest 
 corner of Broadway and Main streets, by Offi- 
 cer & Pusey, for the Pacific National Bank, 
 and an Odd Fellows' hall on the third floor. 
 J. M. Phillips, Mrs. Knepper and John Kel- 
 ler and John Bennett also erected handsome 
 two-story business houses during the season, 
 on the south side of Broadway, between Main 
 street and Banerpft street. 
 
 One of the first of a great series of law- 
 suits, involving the liabilities of cities for 
 injuries to passers on the sidewalks, was tried 
 at the December term of the District Coiu't 
 before Judge Day. George Schidele was 
 the owner of the lot, and had let the contract 
 for a two-story brick building, in 1867, and 
 which now constitutes the second one from 
 the west side of what is known as the Non- 
 pareil Block. All west of that was then va- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAAVATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 199 
 
 cant lot, and persons living on the north side 
 of Indian Creek, going by Center or Sixth 
 Street Bridge, took a path leading across 
 this vacant tract as a sort of a cut-oflf. It 
 was claimed that no proper guards or protec- 
 tion were thrown around this excavation 
 made for the Schidele building, and Henry 
 Rowell, or " Hank " Rowell, as he was called, 
 a man given to over indulgence in liquor, 
 when on his way home, and while attempting 
 to find his way across this vacant lot, fell in- 
 to the open cellar at night and shattered his 
 leg, and became a permanent cripple. He 
 brought suit against the city for negligence 
 and against John P. AVilliams, contractor, 
 and Schidele, as the owner of the building, 
 and in the trial of the cause, a verdict was 
 obtained against the city for 88,000. Clin- 
 ton & Sapp represented the claimant, and S. 
 J. Hanna, as City Attorney, the city. The 
 bonds of the municipal corporation were is- 
 sued subsequently in payment of the judg- 
 ment. The city never, in any way, under- 
 took to recoup itself against the contractor, 
 and the owner, whose own negligence was 
 the primary cause of the injmy. 
 
 The act of the Legislature of 186S, creat- 
 ing Circuit Courts, to supplement the juris 
 diction of the District Courts, and to increase 
 the judicial facilities of the State, went into 
 effect on the 1st day of January, 1869. 
 Judge Douglass, who had been elected one of 
 the Circuit Judges for this,, the Third Dis- 
 trict, opened court for the first time on the 
 8th day of February, and proceeded to re- 
 organize the probate business of the county, 
 it having, under the old system of adminis- 
 tration, fallen into great confusion and un- 
 certainty. 
 
 Several incidents of a jaeculiar character 
 occurred during this month out of the ordinary 
 way. A noted courtezan by the name of 
 " French Moll " kept a bagnio in the western 
 
 part of the city, and had as one of her inmates 
 an attractive looking woman by the name of 
 " Indian Moll." It was no uncommon thing 
 for miners and AVestern men, with money, 
 when on their way East, to stop in Council 
 Bluffs for a few days. Of the latter class 
 was a young man of about twenty-five, by the 
 name of Bernard. He was a tall, athletic 
 specimen of his race, and, though clad in 
 frontier garb, was exceedingly handsome in 
 face and person. Ha fell into the toils of 
 these two women, and having some $7,000 or 
 18,000 in gold, was considered a proper and 
 desirable victim for them. They plied him 
 with wine until he had actually lost his wits, 
 and when in this state they procured a car- 
 riage, and aided by a notorious scamp by the 
 name of Bill Strope, they went to a magis- 
 trate with a marriage license, procured by 
 Strope late in the evening, and the stranger 
 and Indian Moll were married. Upon recov- 
 ering himself the next morning, aad realizing 
 his attitude, he contemplated his situation 
 with intense disgust, and, brooding over the 
 matter all that day, Saturday, he went to his 
 room at the old hotel on Broadway, between 
 the Revere House and Pearl street, locked 
 himself in and took a dose of strychnine, and 
 when discovered by the servants, by his agony 
 and groans and contortions, he was too far 
 gone for medical aid to be of service, and in 
 that condition died. 
 
 The other incident was of another charac- 
 ter, and iUu.strates the methods to which a 
 person addicted to forbidden stimulants will 
 resort, in the extremity of their desires. 
 Gen. Champ Vaughan, of Kansas, a bright 
 newspaper man, a politician of some note 
 and a soldier of a very fair record in the civil 
 war, visited Council Bluffs. He was here 
 only a short time, when his associates, among 
 them the writer of these annals, discovered 
 that he was the slave of chloroform, and 
 
200 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY 
 
 seemed powerless to resist its use and abuse 
 as an ordinary stimulant, as an intoxicant. 
 To prevent this, they visited all the drug 
 stores in the city, and forbade the sale or gift 
 of it to him. This embargo made him des- 
 perate, although he had no idea from what 
 source the inhibition came. His wit'' were 
 equal to the emergency. Going as a total 
 stranger to Dr. Woodbury, the dentist, he 
 complained of an excrutiating tooth ache, and 
 desired to have the teeth extracted. The 
 dentist could find none that indicated the 
 seat of the torment, but Vaughan pointed 
 them out, and insisted that they must be 
 drawn. Dr. Woodbury complied, but the 
 would-be patient would not submit to the 
 operation until a liberal dose of chloroform 
 was administered, and under that influence 
 two teeth were taken out that were as sound 
 and faultless as the moment they had reached 
 maturity. That was simply the price paid 
 by the victim of a pernicious habit for a mo- 
 ment's indulgence. 
 
 During this month, the city was shrouded 
 in gloom by the death of one of its oldest 
 and most highly regarded citizens. Col. J. 
 D. Test. He made a visit to Chicago and 
 died there on the 25th of February. His 
 remains were brought home on the North- 
 western train, on Sunday, and met at the 
 def>ot by an immense concourse of citizens. 
 The Odd Fellows and the tii-e department 
 turned out to do them honor, when deposit- 
 ed in their final resting-jjlace. His wife had 
 preceded him a few yeai's before, and he left 
 as sole surviver. Miss Carrie Test, a daughter, 
 who having afterward become the wife of A. 
 T. Elwell, of the United States Express Com- 
 pany, also died after a very brief married life. 
 
 At the city election on the first Monday in 
 Ajjril, D. C. Bloomer was chosen Mayor, and 
 F. A. Burke, City Recorder, Mr. Treynor 
 declining to be a candidate, he havins; been 
 
 appointed Postmaster by President Grant. 
 John B. Lewis, J. B. Atkins, the druggist. 
 John T. Oliver, L. L. Spooner, John Hunt- 
 ingdon and L. Vi. Babbitt were also chosen 
 Aldei'men at that election. A new code of 
 ordinances was prepared, under the super- 
 vision of L. W. Ross, but not published un- 
 til 1870. 
 
 Another important law suit was disposed 
 of against the city, in the early part of this 
 year. Mr. Collins was the bookkeeper in 
 the wholesale grocery establishment on 
 Broadway, near the junction of Bancroft 
 with the former street. About dusk, his wife 
 was coming down the south side of Broadway 
 toward the store, and when within fifty feet 
 of it fell and fractui-ed her thigh. The al- 
 leged cause was the negligence of the city in 
 not keeping that sidewalk free from ice, and 
 the fact was that at the moment of the injury 
 a slight snow was falling, which wholly con- 
 cealed the dangerous condition of the side- 
 walk. The unfortunate lady lay all winter 
 at her home, on Vine street, and suffered un- 
 told agony, and was also permanently injured 
 and made a cripple by the accident. Suit 
 was brought against the city, the case was 
 taken to Mills County on a change of venue, 
 and the case there tried, with a verdict against 
 the city in the sum of $15,000. In an ap- 
 peal to the Supreme Court, the judgment was 
 afiirmed, on the condition that the claimant 
 should submit to a reduction of the amount 
 of the verdict to §13, 165, the original amount 
 of damages being regarded by that court as 
 excessive. These terms were accepted by 
 Clinton, Hart & Brewer, who represented 
 Mrs. Collins, and the. judgment \yas paid by 
 public bonds voted, at a special election or- 
 dered by the City Council for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 W^ W. Maynard ceased to be Postmaster 
 on the 9th of May, and being succeeded by 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 201 
 
 Mr. Treynor, the office was removed from the 
 one-story building just west of Atkin's drug 
 store to the room beneath Bloom & Nixon's 
 Opera House, where it has ever since re- 
 mained. Among the famous literary people 
 who visited Council Bluffs during this season 
 were Bayard Taylor, John G. Sase, Albert 
 D. Richardson, and Charles Carleton Coffin, 
 of the Boston Journal. The latter was on 
 his way home from a journalistic tour of the 
 world, and came east from San Francisco 
 overlaud. Bayard Taylor was here on a visil 
 to his old schoolmate of Kennett Square, 
 Pennsylvania, ex-Mayor Junius M. Palmer, 
 and spent Sunday in the city. The German 
 people had a temporary beer garden in the 
 eastern part of the city, near Col. Babbitt's 
 place, and in the afternoon the distinguished 
 poet and traveler manifested his cosmopoli- 
 tanism by joining in the dance and drinking 
 beer according to the custom of the Father- 
 laud. 
 
 An important industry was set in motion 
 in the early part of the season, one that has 
 since grown to mammoth proportions. The 
 new brick brewery of Conrad Geise, on the 
 north side of Ujsper Broadway, was built the 
 year before, and commenced business in the 
 early part of 1869. It has expanded diu-ing 
 the interval until its product, in 1881, was 
 15.000 barrels of beer, and the malting es- 
 tablishment turned out for sale and shipment 
 70.000 bushels of malted barley. Mr Geise 
 started business without any capital, except 
 his intelligent energy and thorough knowl- 
 edge of the business, and has in the interval 
 pushed the enterprise to the foregoing vast 
 results. 
 
 The want of adequate hotel facilities began 
 to press during the early part of this year. 
 Mr. Palmer, J. L. Foreman and throe or four 
 other prominent citizens, met two or three 
 nights diu'ing Febniary, 1809. in the old 
 
 storeroom of J. H. Warner, amid stacks of 
 floar stored there, to concert measures for the 
 building of a new hotel, at some point on 
 Broadway east of the city building and west 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was 
 finally agreed that the property owners in 
 that vicinity should raise $10,000 as a dona- 
 tion to any parties who should undertake to 
 build a large hotel of the requisite capacity. 
 The money was raised, and the site of the 
 present Ogden House selected, and a contract 
 entered into with A\'illiam Garner, Charles 
 Baughan and John Hammer, by which they 
 obligated themselves to erect a hotel, cover- 
 ing exactly the space of the present building, 
 three stories in height, with an additional 
 mansard story. As soon as spring opened, 
 work on the new enterprise began, and was 
 as rapidly pushed forward as the season 
 would permit. Great quantities of rain fell 
 I during the summer, and the laying of the 
 I corner-stone was delayed until the 12th of 
 May. This was made a gala day by the peo- 
 ple. For months, the Chicago, Rock Island 
 & Pacific Railroad Company, having the 
 franchise and the right of way of the old M. 
 & M. Company, were pushing their road down 
 the Mosquito Valley, to make the third Iowa 
 road entering the city of Council Bluffs. All 
 the civic societies, the tire department and a 
 ereat concourse of citizens turned out to wel- 
 
 o 
 
 come the arrival of the first train over the 
 Rock Island road. A terrific rain storm came 
 on as the dense crowd, on the bottom east of 
 the St. Joe depot, awaited the arrival of the 
 train ; but the torrents caused no abatement 
 of the enthusiastic welcome which greeted 
 the decorated engine as it came whirling in- 
 to sight through the gorge where the Mos- 
 quito finds its way to the Missouri River. 
 When the enthusiastic congratulations were 
 concluded at the temporary depot of the Rock 
 Island, the procession came back to the site of 
 
■2m 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 the Ogden House, and there Mayor Bloomer, 
 as master of ceremonies, lowered the immense 
 corner-stone to its place, after depositing 
 coin and the usual relies, and accompanied 
 by an appropriate address. The day closed 
 with a ball at the Pacific House, and the elite 
 of the city and a host of railway officials and 
 visitors made the most of it. 
 
 The Council Bluffs Post, a German paper, 
 was started in the same month by S. Mader, 
 a competent newspaper man, and the publi- 
 cation of the same continued by him for a 
 coujale of years, when he removed to Omaha. 
 During the same summer, Julius Silversmith 
 came to this side from Omaha and started a 
 Democratic evening paper, called the Times, 
 the office being located in one of the one- 
 story wooden buildings now occupied by the 
 Everett Block, on Pearl street. One of his 
 employes during this period, as city editor, 
 was A. C. Buell, afterward famous as the al- 
 leged libeler of Senator Zacli Chandler, of 
 Michigan, editor of the AVashington Capital, 
 and involved in some way as a newspaper 
 Dian in connection with the Star Route trials 
 of 1882. Buell had also been a soldier dur- 
 ing the civil war. having served in the Army 
 of the Potomac, in Battery D, of the Fourth 
 United States Artillery. Silversmith after- 
 ward sold the paper to B. F. Montgomery, 
 by whom it was published until the close of 
 the memorable Grant-Greeley campaign of 
 1872, Mr. Montgomery, though an ardent 
 Democrat, having attended the Baltimore 
 Convention, and having urged the endorse- 
 ment of Greeley by that body. 
 
 During this summer, the Center Street 
 Schoolhouse was built, opposite the present 
 C. , B. & Q. depot, and the Washington Avenue 
 School building was enlarged, at a cost of over 
 $5,000. On the 13th of May, Council Bluffs 
 Lodge, No. 49, of the Odd Fellows, occupied 
 their new hall in the third story of the new 
 
 building at the corner of Broadway and Main 
 street. On the 1st of -Tuly, a public instal- 
 lation of its officers took place at Bloom's 
 Opera House, the exercises being conducted 
 by Grand Master William Sharp, of Ottum- 
 wa. Humboldt Lodge, No. 174, was organ- 
 ized by the Germans in October, 1869, and 
 Hawkeye Lodge, No. 184, a lodge in English, 
 was instituted. Twin Brother Encampment 
 was chartered October 20, and duly instituted. 
 John Beresheim was elected a member of 
 the Legislature at the fall election of 1809, 
 his Democratic competitor being Robert Per- 
 cival. John W. Chairman, the present editor 
 of the Nonpareil, was elected County Treas- 
 urer for the first term. He had, up to that 
 date, held the position of Assistant Assessor 
 of Internal Revenue, having succeeded F. A. 
 Bui'ke in that office. On the 28th of October, 
 a disastrous fire occm'red, which swept the 
 south side of Broadway, from the Demiug 
 Building, near Bancroft street, to Atkins' 
 drug store. During the same month, the east 
 side of North Main street was devastated, the 
 
 ' fire carrying away a number of buildings, 
 among them the residence of Dr. Osborn. 
 The three-story west end of the Pacific House 
 was finished this season, and Dr. Bragg and 
 the Ballantyne brothers took charge of the 
 house, as lessees of ]\Ir. Bayliss, the owner. 
 Gen. Dodge and John Beresheim, during 
 that summer, began the erection of their tine 
 
 I residences. A beginning was made, in the 
 fall of 1868, upon the Deaf and Dumb Insti- 
 tute, but no great amount of work was done 
 
 I until 1869, when the contractor, William R. 
 Craig, of Nebraska City, advanced the 
 building with considerable rapidity, the east 
 wing and the center building being the first 
 completed. William AVard, of Council 
 Bluffs, was the directing architect. The plans 
 were altered so as to involve a gi-eater ex- 
 penditm-e than was permitted by the appro- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 203 
 
 priation, and, when the contractor came to 
 obtain his pay for this outlay, he was con- 
 fronted with the objection that the changes 
 were imauthorized by law. He was subjected 
 to expensive law-suits on the part of material 
 men. and absolutely financially ruined by the 
 enterprise. He danced attendance in the 
 courts and at the various Legislatures for 
 years, in the hope of obtaining redress. Suits 
 were brought against the Trus'ees as individ- 
 uals, to make them personally liable, but de- 
 cided adversely to the claimant and the ma- 
 terial men behind him; and at last the Leg- 
 islature, in its session of 1878, made some 
 amends for the delay, by an appropriation, 
 that the creditors, whose claims, with accu- 
 mulated interest, absorbed it all, leaving the 
 contractor, Craig, nothing except the satis- 
 faction of being released from the pressure of 
 this debt. The ninety-six acres of land on 
 which the building stands, about two miles 
 from Broadway, were purchased in 18(37, by 
 the citizens, and donated to the State as an 
 inducement to locate the institution at this 
 point. 
 
 The street railway was licensed in the early 
 part of 1869, and, during the summer, it was 
 constructed, the work being finished in De- 
 cember. The track was constructed down 
 Broadway, at the foot of which, at the river, 
 was a ferry lauding, and this continued to be 
 the western terminus of the track until the 
 railroad bridge over the Missouri was fin- 
 ished, when the track was shifted over to the 
 present transfer grounds at the Union Pacific 
 Depot. Masonry was in a lioiu'ishing condi- 
 tion here at this time. Excelsior Lodge was 
 constituted in the winter of 1868-69, and Star 
 Chapter about the same time. In December, 
 1869. Ivanhoe Commandery of Knights Tem- 
 plar was organized. The great social event 
 of the winter was the ojjeuing of the Ogden 
 House. The building was finished, and 
 
 was the handsomest and most complete hotel 
 between San Francisco and Chicago. The 
 ownei's of the bi:ilding, out of compliment to 
 the late William B. Ogden, of Chicago, whose 
 energies had contributed to such a great ex- 
 tent in the development of this section of the 
 country through the completion of the North- 
 western Railway, called their hotel the Og- 
 den House. A. J. Cutting, of Ohio, and 
 William Porterfield, who was about to retire 
 from the County Treasurer's office, became 
 the lessees of- the new hostelry, and furnished 
 it in the most elegant manner, and, on the 
 22d of December, threw open its doors to one ' 
 of the most brilliant assemblies that ever met 
 under any roof on either side of the Missouri 
 River. Guests were present from far and 
 wide, and a banquet, the like of which had 
 never been seen in Western Iowa, was given 
 in honor of the occasion. Among those who 
 paid tribute in eloquent speeches on the occa- 
 sion were Judge Newman, of Burlington, and 
 Dr. George L. Miller, of the Omaha Herald. 
 It was an event of which all classes of citi- 
 zens were proud. 
 
 On the 4th of December, 1869, the fourth 
 railroad was added to those already here, it 
 being the Burlington & Missouri River, which, 
 taking a route almost directly across the 
 State, made a junction with the Council 
 Bluffs & St. Joseph Railroad sixteen miles 
 south of the city, ran its cars here on the 
 track of the latter road, and so jointly used 
 that facility until the B. & M. was consoli- 
 dated, leased, and, in a sense, absorbed, by 
 the Chicago, Burlington & Qiiincy, and then 
 afterward the same means of getting into the 
 city were used, to the present time. 
 
 On the 5th of March, 1870, the Pottawatta- 
 mie County Agricultural Society was organ- 
 ized, with Thomas J. Evans as President. 
 Forty acres of land were leased from Col. 
 Cochran, about half a mile west of the North- 
 
204 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Western depot, and on the south side of Broad- 
 way, for fair grounds. One of the most suc- 
 cessful agricultural exhibitions was held that 
 fall ever held in the West. The weather 
 was admirable. For a year and more, Capt. 
 A. L. Deming, President of the First National 
 Bank, was suffering from Bright's disease of 
 the kidneys. He spent a portion of the win- 
 ter in Philadelphia, in the hope of a cure, 
 but, coming home, he expired on the 28th of 
 March, and his remams were borne to Fair- 
 view Cemetery by the most extensive cortege 
 that ever followed the remains of a citizen of 
 Council Bluffs. He was universally esteemed, 
 and his loss to the bxisiness community uni- 
 versally deplored. M. L. Deming, his 
 brother, was made President by the stock- 
 holders of the bank, and S. Farnsworth, who 
 has ever since been Cashier, having acquired 
 an interest in the bank in the winter of 1868, 
 continued in that official relation to the insti- 
 tution and the public. The bank was then 
 located at the southeast corner of Broadway 
 and Main streets, having shortly before that 
 been removed from the small two- story build- 
 ing of L. Zeuhmiiellen, west of the J. M. 
 Phillips building. 
 
 This summer, the high school building, on 
 the hill overlooking the western part of the 
 city, was authorized and commenced. The 
 six acres of ground upon which it stands had 
 been secured for school purposes many years 
 before. Many persons were dissatisfied, as 
 they still are, with it for the location of a 
 high school, and the decision of its location 
 at that point would have been otherwise, but 
 the school election day, whon the question 
 was submitted in March, was an exceedingly 
 stormy one, snow falling all day, and only a 
 few electors attended the polls. As it was, 
 the proposition only carried by five or six 
 votes, and, during the summer, the building 
 was erected, at a cost of §45,0U0. 
 
 The Council passed an ordinance, on the 
 30th of March, 1870, authorizing the Coun- 
 cil Bluflfs Gas Light Company to lay down 
 pipes in the street for the purpose of lighting 
 business places, the streets and dwellings, at 
 a maximum rate of $4.50 per 1,000 cubic feet. 
 About that date, the Nonpareil narrowly es- 
 caped destruction by fire again. The brick 
 building occuiiied by it stood inward from 
 Broadway about fifteen feet. In front and at 
 the inner edge of the sidewalk stood two small 
 one-story buildings used as shops of small 
 tradesmen, each one flanking the approach to 
 the Nonpareil office. The paper was in type 
 for the morning edition, and the forms nearly 
 made up, ready to go on the press. John H. 
 Keatley, the sole editor of the paper at that 
 date, and the compositors, had gone home, 
 when, about 3 o'clock in the morning, when 
 the mercury was ten degrees below zero, and 
 a hea\'y wind blowing, a fire broke out in one 
 of the small buildings in front of the print- 
 ing office. The alarm was at once given, but 
 the water froze in the hose, and, only for the 
 timely assistance given by the Phcenix Hook 
 and Ladder Company, the whole side of 
 Broadway would have been swept away. The 
 windows were all taken out of the printing 
 office, all the type, forms and material re - 
 moved, and t^tacked up in the rear, out of 
 reach of danger, and nothing was left in the 
 building except the heavy and immovable 
 press, which was allowed to take its chances. 
 As soon as the danger was passed, enough 
 of type was collected with the aid of a lan- 
 tern, an account of the fire was written, with 
 the window closed by an old blanket held to 
 its place by Ben Allen, the veteran printer of 
 Council Bluffij, the same put into type, and, 
 without an hour's delay, the paper appeared 
 to its patrons on the street, the same as if no 
 calamity had threatened the office. 
 
 The original. license granted to the Nebras- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 203 
 
 ka Ferry Company, mention of which was 
 made at the commencement of these annals, 
 was about to expire. A desperate fight oc- 
 ciuTed in the City Council over the question 
 of a removal. The opposition was a bitter 
 one, as against the alleged monopoly of the 
 transfer business, but, after an acrimonioiis 
 conflict, the license was granted for three 
 years, upon the annual payment of a fee of 
 $1,000 into the city treasury. The Union 
 Pacific bridge was completed before the ex- 
 piration of the new term, and the value of 
 the ferry fanchise was greatly impaired. In 
 fact, as soon as the end of the three years 
 came, the ferry business by boat was wholly 
 abandoned, and the steamers employed in 
 that traiBc sent away, the business being ab- 
 sorbed by the car ferriage of the Union Pa- 
 cific. 
 
 After one of the most bitter tights on so 
 unimportant an office as that of Mayor, J. M. 
 Palmer was again elected in the spring of 
 1870, his competitor being Mayor Bloomer, 
 the Piepublican candidate, Palmer being an 
 independent. The railroad bridge over the 
 Missouri River was virtually commenced in 
 the spring of 1870. Gen. William Sooy 
 Smith, who had been an officer in the West- 
 ei'n Army during the civil war, had underta- 
 ken some preliminary work in the sinking of 
 the caissons in 1869, but the work was sus- 
 pended until resumed again under T. E. 
 Sickles, General Superintendent of the Union 
 Pacific, and a railway civil engineer of more 
 than ordinary ability. The plans under which 
 the work went forward were those devised by 
 Gen. Dodge, before his resignation as Chief 
 Engineer of the load. 
 
 A calamity of a peculiar kind visited the 
 Congregational society of Council Bluffs dur- 
 ing the latter part of .Ipril. Their new and 
 handsome chm-ch edifice on Center street was 
 inclosed, and ready for inside furnishing. 
 
 A hurricane visited this region about 11 
 o'clock at night, and blew terrifically but no 
 material damage was done in the city to any 
 other building except to this chm'ch, which 
 was literally blown to atoms and totally de- 
 molished. It was afterward rebuilt, but not 
 a stick of timber or a board belonging to the 
 former building could again be used. 
 
 In May, while Congress was in session, a 
 bill passed the House of Representatives 
 providing for the charter of a company to 
 build a railroad bridge to take the place of 
 the one begun by the Union Pacific Railroad 
 Company. As soon as this intelligence was 
 received, the fieople of Council Bluffs took 
 the alarm, and saw in the project an effort to 
 make the actual eastern terminus of the Union 
 Pacific in Omaha, the provision, of course 
 being that the bridge should be operated in- 
 dependently of the railroad. They regarded 
 it as a scheme to cut off so much from the 
 eastern end of the railroad. Thus taking 
 the alarm, handbills were issued, and an im- 
 mense mass meeting was called at the south 
 west corner of Pearl street and Broadway, on 
 the afternoon of the 24th of June, 1870. 
 Denunciatory speeches were made by Col. 
 Sapp, Judge Larimer and others. Judge 
 Baldwin and Gen. Dodge defended the proj- 
 ect, and explained it, but the explanation 
 failed to satisfy the people, and strong reso- 
 lutions were passed condemning it, and Col. 
 Sapp authorized to convey the same to Wash- 
 ington, to endeavor to arrest the measiire in 
 its passage through the Senate. Senator Har- 
 lan caused the bill to be amended, providing 
 that the bridge corporation might borrow 
 money on the structm-e, issuing its bonds 
 therefor, and providing that the mortgages on 
 the main line of the road should not attach 
 to the bridge property, allowing it to collect 
 tolls to pay operating expenses, and creating 
 a sinking fund to discharge indebtedness, 
 
206 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 but providing that, notwithstanding all these 
 concessions and advantages, the Union Pa- 
 cific should still operate its road, in conjunc- 
 tion with the bridge, as one continuous line. 
 This latter clause was satisfactory to the peo- 
 ple of Council Bluffs, on their theory that 
 President Lincoln had located the eastern 
 terminus of the road in Council Bluffs. 
 
 The brick residence of John W. Eoss, on 
 the point of the bluff just north of the Wash- 
 ington Avenue School building, then consid- 
 ered the finest residence in Council Bluffs, 
 was accidentally destroyed by tire on the 7th 
 day of May. 
 
 June 3, the Congressional Convention of 
 the Republican party was held here. The 
 candidates were F. W. Palmer and John A. 
 Kasson, both of Des Moines. The prelimi- 
 nary conflict was a most bitter one. Twenty- 
 three counties were represented. Palmer was 
 the member from the district, and on the 
 fijst ballot he was renominated, in a vote of 
 sixty to twenty. 
 
 Charles Austin and James M. Bell, both 
 printers in the DaUy Times office, had a 
 quarrel on the afternoon of the 20th of June. 
 Bell was sober, but Austin was quite drunk. 
 Just about sundown, they renewed the quar- 
 rel. Between the two occasions. Bell had 
 stated to comrades that if .Austin interfered 
 with him again he would kill him. Austin 
 was near the sidewalk in front of the Times 
 ofiSce on Pearl street when the second alter- 
 cation began. Bell drew his revolver, and 
 Austin began to retreat, when Bell fired, the 
 ball striking Austin in the forehead and pen- 
 etrating the brain. He was soon in the 
 hands of surgeons, and Bell was placed in 
 jail. The ball lodged in the brain, yet the 
 wounded man lived five days, and at last suc- 
 cumbed. Bell was tried for murder at the 
 July term of the District Court, the State 
 being represented by District Attorney Mil- 
 
 liard and Keatley & Hench, and the defend- 
 ant by B. F. Montgomery, A. V. Larimer and 
 J. E. Eeed. The trial occupied a week, the 
 time being mostly taken up with the exami- 
 nation of medical experts; and, the jury hav- 
 ing found a verdict of manslaughter, the de- 
 fendant was sentenced to the penitentiary 
 for eight years. He was pardoned by the 
 Governor at the end of two years. 
 
 The Second Methodist Chiu'ch was organ- 
 ized in December, and a chapel built on 
 Eighth street. The society flourished for a 
 couple of years, and then the chapel was 
 abandoned, and the building eventually sold, 
 removed and transformed into a dwelling 
 house in the southwestern part of the city. 
 
 The first Unitarian society was also organ- 
 ized this year, and a brick building pur- 
 chased for a chapel, on the west side of North 
 Main street, near the bridge. The society 
 maintained its existence and organization for 
 about five years, the Eev. Mr. Fitzgerald be- 
 ing its first pastor. It at last went to pieces, 
 and the building was sold, and is now the 
 Kelley Marble AVorks. 
 
 In August, the Iowa editorial excursion 
 visited Council Bluffs and spent the day here, 
 the guests of the people, and a dinner given 
 them at the Pacific House. Hon. J. M. Pal- 
 mer welcomed them in appropriate terms, and 
 John P. Irish, of the Iowa City Press, re- 
 sponded eloquently on behalf of the mem- 
 bers of the editorial convention. The census 
 of the city, as taken under the auspices of the 
 United States, showed 10,020 inhabitants. 
 
 All the railroad lines between Kansas City 
 and Council Blufis were that year consolidat- 
 ed under one corporation, thereafter known 
 as the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council 
 Bluffs Railroad Company. George L. Brad- 
 buiy, now the General Manager of the Peoria 
 & Evan.svillo Eailroad, had charge of the in- 
 terests of the new corporation at this end of 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 309 
 
 the line. The first steps were also taken to 
 build what is now known as the Wabash line 
 to St. Louis. This was in the incorporation 
 of the St. Louis, Council Bluffs & Omaha 
 Railroad Company. The object was the con- 
 struction of a short line from St. Louis by 
 the way of Brunswick and Chillicothe, Mo., 
 so as to enter this county diagonally. Gen. 
 J. H. Hammond was the most active promot- 
 er of this enterprise, and visited Council 
 Bluffs several times to secm-e co-operation. 
 When the panic of 1873 came, the line was 
 in operation to Chillicothe. and there rested 
 until 1S70. In the latter year, the spirit of 
 railway building revived all over the couutry. 
 A new corporation was formed, called the St. 
 Louis & Council Bluffs Railroad Company, 
 under the auspices of Jay Grould and the 
 Union Pacili& The counties in Iowa through 
 which the line passed voted aid by taxation 
 liberally, and in 1878 the road was in opera- 
 tion to this city. As soon as the track was 
 considered fit for general traffic, the consoli- 
 dation of the Wabash lines took place, and 
 the road ever since has been operated under 
 that management. 
 
 The Congressional District was so over- 
 whelmingly Republican at this date that the 
 nomination of a candidate on the part of the 
 Democrats was only a matter of form. A 
 few of the latter in a small mass convention 
 nominated B. F. Montgomery, of Council 
 Bluffs, who stumped the district in opposition 
 to F. W. Palmer. The result was the usual 
 one. 
 
 The building of the bridge over the river 
 attracted more attention than any other enter- 
 prise at that moment. To ordinary persons, 
 the idea of thus spanning so treacherous a 
 stream ns the Missouri River was almost re- 
 garded as absurd. To the engineers in 
 charge, it had passed out of the domaiu of 
 mere experiment. The process will always 
 
 be interesting. Adequate soundings had de- 
 termined that solid rock lay beneath seventy- 
 five feet of mud and water. To reach this, 
 and to lay a solid foundation for the super- 
 structure of the bridge, immense hollow iron 
 cylinders, eight feet in diameter, and twelve 
 feet in height, were placed upright, projier- 
 ly capped with an air tight iron covering, 
 the air exhausted, and the cylinders forced to 
 their places through the soft earth by tbe 
 natural atmospheric pressure. When two 
 cylinders were thus set side by side and some 
 distance apart to form the basis of one of the 
 eleven piers constituting the foundation of 
 the bridge, a second cylinder was placed so 
 that when the exhausting process went on 
 the latter would go to its place on top of the 
 second, and so on until the requisite height 
 was reached to place the bridge itself above 
 high water mark. lu that way the hollow 
 pillars were set in pairs, and then filled in 
 with concrete masonry, consisting of brok- 
 en rock solidfied with water lime, forming an 
 endurable basis for the immense structure de- 
 pendent upon it. The pairs of pillars were 
 united with massive iron bracing and stanch- 
 ions. The piers bear an enormous weight 
 of wrought and cast iron in the shape of a 
 truss superstructure constituting the bridge 
 proper. No wood is used except for the ties 
 upon which the railroad track is laid. The 
 structure hangs in air seventy feet above the 
 water. The character of the shore on the 
 Council Bluffs side required a long and high 
 grade as an approach. This was built by 
 laying a narrow guage railroad from the 
 point of entrance to the bridge to the bluffs 
 in the southern part of the city, and night 
 and day for over a year trains were engaged in 
 conveying earth for this " dump," excavated 
 with steam shovels. The entire structure was 
 regarded as of sufficient endurance to resist 
 both the action of wind, water and ice, yet 
 
206 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 but providing that, notwithstanding all these 
 concessions and advantages, the Union Pa- 
 cific should still operate its road, in conjunc- 
 tion with the bridge, as one continuous line. 
 This latter clause was satisfactory to the peo- 
 ple of Council Bluffs, on their theory that 
 President Lincoln had located the eastern 
 terminus of the road in Council Bluffs. 
 
 The brick residence of John W. Ross, on 
 the point of the bluff just north of the Wash- 
 ington Avenue School building, then consid- 
 ered the finest residence in Council Bluffs, 
 was accidentally destroyed by tii'e on the 7th 
 day of May. 
 
 June 3, the Congi'essional Convention of 
 the Republican party was held here. The 
 candidates were F. W. Palmer and John A. 
 Kasson, both of Des Moines. The prelimi- 
 nary eontiict was a most bitter one. Twenty- 
 three counties were represented. Palmer was 
 the member from the district, and on the 
 first ballot he was renominated, in a vote of 
 sixty to twenty. 
 
 Charles Austin and James M. Bell, both 
 printers in the Dailij Times oflSce, had a 
 quarrel on the afternoon of the 20th of June. 
 Bell was sober, but Austin was quite drunk. 
 Just about sundown, they renewed the quar- 
 rel. Between the two occasions. Bell had 
 stated to comrades that if -A-ustin interfered 
 with him again he would kill him. Austin 
 was near the sidewalk in front of the Times 
 office on Pearl street when the second alter- 
 cation began. Bell drew his revolver, and 
 Austin began to retreat, when Bell fired, the 
 ball striking Austin in the forehead and pen- 
 etrating the brain. He was soon in the 
 hands of sargeons, and Bell was placed in 
 jail. The ball lodged in the brain, yet the 
 wounded man lived five days, and at last suc- 
 cumbed. Bell was tried for murder at the 
 July term of the District Court, the State 
 being represented by District Attorney Mil- 
 
 liard and Keatley & Hench, and the defend- 
 ant by B. F. Montgomeiy, A. V. Larimer and 
 J. R. Reed. The trial occupied a week, the 
 time being mostly taken up with the exami- 
 nation of medical experts; and, the jury hav- 
 ing found a verdict of manslaughter, the de- 
 fendant was sentenced to the penitentiary 
 for eight years. He was pardoned by the 
 Governor at the end of two years. 
 
 The Second Methodist Church was organ- 
 ized in December, and a chapel built on 
 Eighth street. The society flourished for a 
 couple of years, and then the chapel was 
 abandoned, and the building eventually sold, 
 removed and transformed into a dwelling 
 house in the southwestern part of the city. 
 
 The first LTnitarian society was also organ- 
 ized this yeai", and a brick building pur- 
 chased for a chapel, on the west side of North 
 Main street, near the bridge. The society 
 maintained its existence and organization for 
 about five years, the Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald be- 
 ing its first pastor. It at last went to pieces, 
 and the building was sold, and is now the 
 Kelley Marble Works. 
 
 In August, the Iowa editorial excui'sion 
 visited Council Bluffs and spent the day here, 
 the guests of the people, and a dinner given 
 them at the Pacific House. Hon. J. M. Pal- 
 mer welcomed them in appropriate terms, and 
 John P. Irish, of the Iowa City Press, re- 
 sponded eloquently on behalf of the mem- 
 bers of the editorial convention. The census 
 of the city, as taken under the auspices of the 
 United States, showed 10,020 inhabitants. 
 
 All the railroad lines between Kansas City 
 and Council Blafi'swero that year consolidat- 
 ed under one corporation, thei'eaf ter known 
 as the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council 
 Bluffs Railroad Company. George L. Brad- 
 bury, now the General Manager of the Peoria 
 & Evansville Railroad, had charge of the in- 
 terests of the new corjaoration at this end of 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 the line. The first steps were also taken to 
 build what is now known as the Wabash line 
 to St. Louis. This was in the incorporation 
 of the St. Louis, Council Bluffs & Omaha 
 Railroad Company. The object was the con- 
 struction of a short lino from St. Louis by 
 the way of Brunswick and Chillicothe, Mo., 
 so as to enter this county diagonally. Gen. 
 J. H. Hammond was the most active promot- 
 er of this enterprise, and visited Council 
 Blufl's several times to secure co-operation. 
 When the panic of 1873 came, the line was 
 in operation to Chillicothe. and there rested 
 until 1S76. In the latter year, the spirit of 
 railway building revived all over the country. 
 A new corporation was formed, called the St. 
 Louis & Council Bluffs Railroad Company, 
 under the auspices of Jay (iould and the 
 Union Pacilic. The counties in Iowa through 
 which the line passed voted aid by taxation 
 liberally, and in 1878 the road was in opera- 
 tion to this city. As soon as the track was 
 considered fit for general traffic, the consoli- 
 dation of the Wabash lines took place, and 
 the road ever since has been operated under 
 that management. 
 
 The Congressional District was so over- 
 whelmingly Republican at this date that the 
 nomination of a candidate on the part of the 
 Democrats was only a matter of form. A 
 few of the latter in a small mass convention 
 nominated B. F. Montgomery, of Council 
 Bluffs, who stumped the district in opposition 
 to F. W. Palmer. The result was the usual 
 one. 
 
 The building of the bridge over the river 
 attracted more attention than any other enter- 
 prise at that moment. To ordinary persons, 
 the idea of thus spanning so treacherous a 
 stream as the Missouri River was almost re- 
 garded as absurd. To the engineers in 
 charge, it had passed out of the domain of 
 mere o-tiwrimeut. The process will always 
 
 be interesting. Adequate soundings had de- 
 termined that solid rock lay beneath seventy- 
 five feet of mud and water. To reach this, 
 and to lay a solid foundation for the super- 
 structure of the bridge, immense hollow iron 
 cylinders, eight feet in diameter, and twelve 
 feet in height, were placed upright, proper- 
 ly capped with an air tight iron covering, 
 the air exhausted, and the cylinders forced to 
 their places through the soft earth by tbe 
 natural atmospheric prossiu'e. When two 
 cylinders were thus set side by side and some 
 distance apart to form the basis of one of the 
 eleven piers constituting the foundation of 
 the bridge, a second cylinder was placed so 
 that when the exhausting process went on 
 the latter would go to its place on top of the 
 second, and so on until the requisite height 
 was reached to place the bridge itself above 
 high water mark. In that way the hollow 
 pillars were set in pairs, and then filled in 
 with concrete masonry, consisting of brok- 
 en rock solidfied with water lime, forming an 
 endurable basis for the immense structure de- 
 pendent upon it. The pairs of pillars were 
 united with massive iron bracing and stanch- 
 ions. The piers bear an enormous weight 
 of wrought and cast iron in the shape of a 
 truss superstructure constituting the bridge 
 proper. No wood is used except for the ties 
 upon which the railroad trafik is laid. The 
 structure hangs in air seventy feet above the 
 water. The character of the shore on the 
 Council Bluffs side required a long and high 
 grade as an approach. This was built by 
 laying a narrow guage railroad from the 
 point of entrance to the bridge to the bluffs 
 in the southern part of the city, and night 
 and day for over a year trains were engaged in 
 conveying earth tor this '' dump," excavated 
 with steam shovels. The entire structure was 
 regarded as of sufficient endurance to resist 
 both the action of wind, water and ice. yet 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 on the 28tli day of August, 1877, a singular 
 fatality visited the two spans on the Council 
 Bluflfs side of the river. A terrific rain 
 storm set in in the night time; but elsewhere 
 than at the bridge, the wind accompanying 
 rain, was of only an ordinary character, but 
 in its whirl in some way the two spans were 
 wrested from their foundations and hurled 
 into the river. Traffic was suspended for 
 about a month, until a temporary wooden 
 structure replaced these spans, and the wooden 
 spans eventually yielded to iron again. In 
 the meantime, the transfer of the immense 
 traffic of the Union Pacific took place at 
 Plattsmouth by the way of the Chicago, Bur- 
 lington & Quincy route and the Burlington 
 & Missouri of Nebraska. 
 
 The Odd Fellows Grand Lodge of Iowa 
 was held at Council Bluffs that year, the ses- 
 sion commencing October 26, and extending 
 over two days. On the evening of the second 
 day, the fraternity gave their visiting breth- 
 ren a grand banquet. The Odd Fellows Pro- 
 tective Association of Council Blnffs was or- 
 ganized the same year, with F. A. Burke as 
 President. This was intended as a mutual 
 benefit or life insurance association to the 
 extent of SI, 000, to be paid at the death of 
 the member to the party named in the bene- 
 fit It has flourished ever since. The mem- 
 pership is limited to 1.000, and assessments 
 are made of |1 10 upon each member when 
 a death oecurrs to make the necessary pay- 
 ment. The funds are always in the treasury 
 to pay the nest loss, but the assessment is 
 made, notwithstanding, to replace the funds 
 so appropriated. None but Odd Fellows in 
 good standing are eligible. Experience has 
 demonstrated that it is one of the noblest and 
 most efficient charities ever organized. The 
 institute for the deaf and dumb had so far 
 progi-eseed that it was ready for the recep- 
 tion of pupils at the fall term, and the 
 
 ] school was removed from Iowa City, in ac- 
 cordance with the intention of the Legisla- 
 
 I ture. The wholesale gi-ocery store of E. P. 
 Snow, on Broadway near Bancroft street, was 
 discovered on fire on the morning of Novem- 
 ber 8. The fire was extinguished before the 
 building was destroyed, but the latter was 
 seriously damaged, and many of the goods 
 entirely destroyed or rendered worthless. The 
 effect of the fii'e was to cripple Mr. Snow's 
 business energies, and to impair his capital to 
 such an extent as to disable him from con- 
 ducting one of the most important business 
 enterprises of the city. The High School 
 Building was comjaleted so that it could be 
 used by the 18 th of November, and on that 
 day it was formally dedicated by being occu- 
 pied, and by appropriate ceremonies, in which 
 Gov. Merrill and State Superintendent Kis- 
 sell took part, and made addresses. 
 
 This year, the Council Bluffs Agi-icultural 
 Works went into Of)eration, their establish 
 ment being a set of wooden buildings located 
 on the east side of North Main street, south 
 of the bridge, and adjoining it. The business 
 of manufactiu'ing plows and cultivators was 
 carried on at this point with eminent success 
 for several years. In a year or two after the 
 establishment of this corporation, what was 
 known as the Power Company, an incorporated 
 association, began the erection of a large brick 
 building in the vicinity of the Rock Island 
 freight depot, designed to furnish steam 
 power to individuals engaged in manufact- 
 ures. When the building was completed, it 
 became the property of the Agricultural 
 Works, and their establishment, buildings 
 and business were transferred to that point. 
 They were well under way, and had a career 
 of prosperity before them, when on Thanks- 
 giving night, 1877, the brick factory took 
 fire, and was totally destroyed, except the 
 bare walls, and these have remained gaping 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 211 
 
 ruins ever since. No serious effort has ever 
 been made to revive the industry. 
 
 An interesting farmers' institute was held 
 in the court house in Council Bluffs during 
 the first week in January, 1871. The fai-m- 
 ers of the county seemed to be spui'red up to 
 an unwonted interest in their necessary in- 
 dustry, and the movement thus begun cul- 
 minated eventually in the Grange organiza- 
 tions all over the country. Prof. Welsh, of 
 the State Agricultural College at Ames, took 
 an active part in the proceedings of the insti- 
 tute, and its work that session left a healthy 
 influence upon the farmers who were present. 
 That winter, however, was characterized by 
 a serious depression in the wheat markets at 
 this point. It was quoted and sold at 55 
 cents per bushel, corn realizing 25 cents. 
 
 Congress having authorized the holding of 
 two terms of the United States District Court 
 each year at Council Bluffs, the first term was 
 opened by Judge James M. Love, the United 
 States Judge for the district of Iowa, on the 
 I8th of January. Col. W. F. Sapp was Unit- 
 ed States District Attorney, and Gen. George 
 W. Clark, of Des Moines, United States Mar- 
 shal. The court was opened in the court 
 house owned by the county, leased for that 
 purpose, and has been held in that building 
 ever since. Jiu-isdietion has been added to 
 the United States District Court thereby giv- 
 ing it power to try civil causes the same as 
 the United States Circuit Court, and the great 
 bulk of its business is civil causes either 
 originally brought in that court or transferred 
 from the State Courts. The Foreman of the 
 first United States District Court grand jury 
 ever held in Council Bluffs was Thomas Offi- 
 cer, the senior member of the banking house 
 of Officer & Pusey. 
 
 The Northivesiern Odd Fellow, a monthly 
 journal or periodical devoted to the interests 
 of that order, was begun in February. 1871, 
 
 by W. R. Vaughan, with D. C. Bloomer as 
 editor. It continued to appear for a year and 
 more, and was then discontinued. Gen. • 
 Hammond, in the interests of the St. Loiiis 
 & Chillioothe Railroad, made his appearance 
 here about the same time, and met the moat 
 prominent business men of the city in con- 
 sultation, with reference to inducements to 
 be given him in behalf of the railroad com- 
 pany to establish its machine shops at this 
 point. Nothing ever came of the negotiation, 
 for before the project could be matured and 
 definitely fixed, the franchise of the railroad 
 company passed into other hands, and what- 
 ever opportunity was involved was lost. It is 
 a serious question now whether it was ever 
 possible for Council Bluffs to secure those 
 improvements. 
 
 The great Jefferies lottery will not soon be 
 forgotten. Through that Council Bluffs got 
 the benefit of more advertising everywhere 
 than it ever received before. Mr. Jefferies 
 during a long residence in the city had ac 
 cumulated considerable real estate, among it 
 a handsome new residence. To dispose of it, 
 he organized a vast lottery scheme, and tickets 
 were sold in almost evei'y city and town in 
 the United States. A grand musical festival 
 constituted part of the scheme, and the 22d 
 of February, 1871, was fixed upon as the day 
 of the drawing and the concert. All the 
 halls in the city were devoted to the concert, 
 but the drawing did not take place for several 
 weeks later. The whole number of tickets 
 sold was 20,000, at $1 each. The drawing 
 was conducted fairly, and no complaint was 
 heard in that respect. The event was one, 
 however, of intense excitement, and the city 
 was filled with strangers interested, in the 
 drawing. The receipts of taxes for school 
 purposes up to the close of the fiscal year in 
 March were $70,360.31, and the expenditures 
 for the year previous, §05,707.14, of which 
 
312 
 
 HISTOEY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY 
 
 $41,610.62 was devoted to the erection of the 
 high school building. 
 
 Council Bluffs, since the destruction of the 
 Young Men's Library by tire, as stated al- 
 ready, felt the want of such an institution. 
 The Odd Fellows of the city had created a 
 library, but this was not accessible to the 
 general public, D. C. Bloomer, A. W. Street, 
 Horace Everett and other enterprising citizens 
 includiag many ladies, undertook the organ- 
 ization of the Public Library Association. 
 Horace Everett made a liberal donation of 
 books, which formed the nucleus of the col- 
 lection, and this, gradually expanded, often 
 under the most serious difficulties, until it 
 merged into the Free Public Library sustained 
 at public expense, in April, 1882. D. C. 
 Bloomer was again elected Mayor, and F. A. 
 Bui'ke, City Recorder. W. H. M. Pusey 
 was chosen one of the Aldermen from the 
 Fourth Ward, on the direct issue of reform- 
 ing the finances of the city, and elevating 
 the standard of its credit. The Council was 
 fully in harmony with this desire, and that 
 body set earnestly to work to raise the value 
 of city warrants and thus ecomonize the pub- 
 lic expenditures. There were outstanding a 
 large amount of city warrants, for the payment 
 of which there was no cash in the treasury 
 and none in prospect. Some of the earlier 
 issues of city bonds were also maturing, and 
 had to be met. A special election was held 
 in Augiist to determine 
 should be refunded, and 
 standing warrants should 
 first proposition carried; 
 feated. 
 
 The annual Diocesan Convention of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church of Iowa was held 
 in St. Paul's Church May 30, Bishop Lee pre- 
 siding, and about thirty clergymen also being 
 present. St Patrick's Benevolent Society 
 was also organized abput the same time, and 
 
 whether |25,000 
 whether the out- 
 be funded. The 
 the last was de- 
 
 has ever since, under the auspices of the 
 Catholic Church, constituted one of the most 
 admirable and efficient charities of the city. 
 The State Dental Association held its annual 
 meeting at Council Bluffs in June. Some of 
 the sessions were held at the Ogden House, 
 and others in the court room. Dr. E. I. 
 Woodbury was chosen President for the ensu- 
 ing year. During the same month. Rev H. 
 P. Roberts resigned the pastorate of the Con- 
 gregational Church, and was succeeded by 
 the Rev. H. S. De Forest. The Rev. John 
 Chamberlain resigned the rectorship of the 
 St. John's Parish of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the same month, and in December 
 following the Rev. T. J. Brooks was installed 
 in his stead. 
 
 The delegates to the Democratic State Con- 
 vention at Des Moines were J. P. Cassady, 
 Robert Percival, B. F. Montgomery and David 
 Dunkle. The delegates to the Republican 
 State Convention, Capt. C. V. Gardner, A. E. 
 Steinmetz, Leonard Kirscht, Dr. S. H.Craig, 
 L. W. Ross and Eugene A. Street, son of 
 Frank Street. The delegation had been in- 
 structed to urge the nomination of John H. 
 Keatley as the Republican candidate for Lieu- 
 tenant Grovernor. These instructions were 
 loyally carried out, and by their efforts his 
 name in the balloting, amid five candidates. 
 was second on the list, Dr. Bullis carrying off 
 the nomination by a bare majority. At the 
 fall election, John Beresheim, the Republican 
 candidate for Representative, was elected, and 
 George Doughty, Democratic candidate for 
 Sheriff, over Philip Armour, present Postmas- 
 ter; John W. Chapman, Republican, was re- 
 elected Treasui'er over Vigo Badolett, Demo- 
 crat. 
 
 Bock's Garden, attached to Bock's Brewery, 
 on Pierce street, and Horn's Park, west of 
 the North-Western depot, were diu'ing this 
 summer favorite Sunday resorts. Mr. Bloom- 
 
HISTORY 1)1' i'UTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 313 
 
 er, the Mayor, made strenuous efforts to close 
 those institutions, as in violation of the Sun- 
 day ordinance, but being inadequately sus- 
 tained by public opinion, the effort failed. 
 
 One thousand dollars of the bonds for 
 right of way for the Union Pacific were issued 
 in -the spring of 1871, under the authorization 
 of 1868. In July, Gen. Dodge, on behalf of 
 the company, requested the additional $4,000 
 to enable the company to comjalete the right 
 of way, and the Council thereupon directed 
 that they should be sold by the Mayor, and 
 the proceeds applied to the appropriate pur- 
 pose. 
 
 In this connection must not be forgotten a 
 singular phenomenon, no other than the fa- 
 mous " Potter Christ," as he called himself. 
 During his life, he was a noted character 
 upon the streets. At this date, he was a man 
 of some seventj' years of age; was heavy set 
 and of stout build, with long, gray, venerable 
 locks, and not altogether of an unpreposses- 
 sing appearance. He had come to this sec- 
 tion with the Mormon emigration, and in 
 brooding over religious subjects had become 
 a monomaniac. He fancied himself the Mes- 
 siah of a new dispensation, had fits of ecstasy, 
 indulged in prolonged fasts and vigils, and 
 cultivated the spirit of prophecy. The 
 vagaries of his mind were regarded by him as 
 inspiration, and were written down in a 
 rhapsodical jargon, and some of them printed 
 in slips and pamphlets. He was not without 
 those who believed in his divine mision, but 
 most people regarded him with pity. He 
 had selected the 2d of August, 1871, as the day 
 on which he would ascend into heaven. Clad 
 in white robes, surrounded by half a dozen 
 nearly demented followers bearing a banner 
 eabalistically inscribed, he rode through the 
 streets, surrounded by jeering and hooting 
 crowds, preaching the advent of the day of 
 judgment, and the necessity for immediate 
 
 repentence. The boisterous mob soon ended 
 his efforts at demonstrating the truth of his 
 prophesies, and his followers removed him in 
 a short time to the outskirts of the city, where 
 he disrobed, and gave up the fruitless enter- 
 prise. He died in a year or two afterward in 
 great poverty and wretchedness. 
 
 The annual session of the Iowa Teachers' 
 Association was begun at Council Bluffs Au- 
 gust 29, 1871, the meeting lasting three days, 
 and the business sessions being conducted in 
 Dohanny's Opera House. Spencer Smith, 
 business manager of the N'onjjareil, and for 
 many years the efficient Secretary of the city 
 School Board, delivered a welcome address, 
 responded to by Prof. Fellows, of the Iowa 
 University. Col. John VV. Ross, who was 
 then the manager of the Ogden House, gave 
 the teachers of the State in attendance a com- 
 plementary banquet. 
 
 Among the natural curiosities abounding in 
 this vicinity, is what is called Spoon Lake, 
 on the grounds of the Union Pacific Rail- 
 road, in the western part of the city. It is 
 almost circular in shajse, and very deep in 
 many places. From the northern side ex- 
 tends a narrow, cui'ved arm resembling the 
 handle of a spoon, the lake itself resembling 
 the bowl or cup of the sjaoon. The lake has 
 no surface outlet and the only apparent inlet 
 is when the banks of Indian Creek or the 
 Missouri River overflow, and the surplus 
 water thus finds its way into this small lake, 
 which is now used as a source of water 
 supply for the Union Pacific depot, and for 
 the use of their machinery and engines on 
 this side of the river. Small fish, such as 
 yellow perch, ^liave from time immemorial 
 abounded in the lake, but on the 28th of July 
 a singular phenomenon presented itself. 
 It was just at the close of a very heavj' rain 
 shower. Immense quantities of Missouri 
 River fish made their appearance in the lake. 
 
214 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 such as enormous cattish weighing twenty 
 and thirty pounds, pickerel of great size, and 
 buffalo fish three or four feet long. Hun- 
 dreds of pounds of these large fish were easily 
 captured, and for many days the circumstance 
 was simply the wonder of the locality. Some 
 were of the opinion that the bottom over- 
 flowed in the night time during the prevail- 
 ing storm, and the fish thus had access from 
 the river. Others, again, surmised that they 
 came by the way of some vmderground chan- 
 nel. Floods since have failed to repeat the 
 exhibition, and the mystery is still unsolved. 
 Council Bluffs was honored in September 
 by a visit from President Grant. The citizens 
 without regard to party took carriages, and 
 gave his party a view of the city. The day 
 was one of the finest in autumn. Arriving 
 at the Ogden House, after a tour of the city, 
 the President gave an informal recej^tion. 
 The public schools were dismissed, so as to 
 give the pupils an opportunity to take the 
 hero of Vicksburg and of the Wilderness 
 campaign by the hand. For hours a constant 
 stream of sight- seers streamed through the 
 corridors of the hotel. At the close of the 
 reception. Mayor Bloomer and the leading 
 citizens conducted the Presidential party in 
 carriages to the St. Joseph depot, where they 
 took the evening train south. 
 
 The news of the great fire in Chicago fell like 
 a death knell upon the surprised citizens of 
 Council Bluffs. They had full intelligence of 
 the disaster the next morning, and proceeded 
 at once to organize for the relief of the stricken 
 city. A public meeting was at once called, and 
 committees organized, and a depot established 
 under the superintendence of the late Thomas 
 Elder, one of the foremost citizens of Coun- 
 cil Bluffs in all matters of charity. E. L. 
 Shugart was charged with the proper distri- 
 bution of the supplies, and the relief in 
 money thus collected. The real value of ihp 
 
 contribution made by Council Bluffs cannot 
 now be definitely known, but it is enough to 
 say that rich and poor gave liberally and 
 cheerfully. One of the most eloquent polit- 
 ical speakers Council Bluffs ever had was 
 John C. Turk, who was a brother-in-law of 
 William G. Crawford, the Clerk of the Courts. 
 Mr. Turk was a Democrat, and a tine lawyer 
 and had been carefully educated for his pro- 
 fession in his native State, Ohio. He was 
 universally beloved. A sudden illness over- 
 took him in the fall of 1871, and in a few 
 days death closed his eloquent lips forever. 
 His wife was a sister of Mrs. Crawford. The 
 same family was visited by death again in a 
 few weeks, on the 14th of November, when 
 Mr. Crawford succumbed to consumption, 
 which for years had been gradually wasting 
 him away. He was a native of Ohio also, and 
 at an early age emigrated to Eastern Iowa. 
 When Nobraska Territory was organized, he 
 settled there, and served for two years- as a 
 membei' of its Legislature. He came to 
 Council Bluffs in 1860, and formed a law 
 partnership with Judge Street. He was a 
 War Democrat, and held the ofiSces of City 
 Recorder, Recorder of Deeds and Clerk of 
 the District Court. He was succeeded in the 
 latter office by Capt. J. W. Robinson, who 
 was appointed to till the vacancy, but failed 
 to get the nomination of his party, and re- 
 tired to give place to R. Bryant, a nephew of 
 Judge Bryant's. Robinson was afterward ap- 
 pointed Register in Bankruptcy, and at the 
 close of that system went to Leadville and 
 Silver Cliff, in Colorado, to engage in min- 
 ing enterprises, where he has ever since lived. 
 Bryant served one term as Clerk, and was 
 succeeded by F. H. Warren, who served two 
 terms, and was himself succeeded by S. D. 
 Street, son of Judge Street, and who is now 
 entering upon his second term. All these 
 incumbents were Repiiblicans. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 215 
 
 On the 1st of November, a manufacturers' 
 association was formed for the purpose of 
 giving proper encouragement to the establish- 
 ment of manufacturing industries. Gen. Q. 
 M. Dodge was made President; G. W. Lin- 
 inger, now of Omaha, Vice President; S. 
 Farnsworth, Cashier of the First National 
 Bank, and E. L. Shugart, Vice President of 
 that bank, Secretaries, and Col. H. C. Nutt, 
 Treasurer. The association representing 
 great capital and influence, did a good work 
 in the direction of their object. The Patrons 
 of Husbandry also organized a Grange during 
 the same month, the leading members of 
 which were Capt. D. B. Clark, Wooster Fay, 
 Col. Babbitt, H. C. Raymond, and H. A. 
 Terry, nurserymen, and J. A. Sylvester. 
 Their grange meetings were held on Pearl 
 street in the second story of one of the build- 
 ings between Broadway and First avenue. 
 
 The most prominent event at the close of 
 the year 1871 was the death and burial of 
 Maj. M. L. McPherson, the District Attorney 
 of this district. Maj. McPherson had lived 
 at Winterset for many years, and at the 
 breaking-out of the civil war, entered the 
 service, and discharged the arduous duties 
 of Brigade Quartermaster in the armies of the 
 West. In 1860, he was a candidate for the 
 Republican nomination for Congress against 
 Mr. Kasson, but Gen. Dodge succeeded in the 
 nomination, as stated in his biographical 
 sketch. Toward the close of 1869, Maj. 
 McPherson removed to Council Bluflfs, as a 
 wider field for the practice of his profession 
 — that of a lawyer — but Bright's disease of 
 the kidneys had already set in and seriously 
 impaired his health. He was elected District 
 Attorney of this district in 1870, over Judge 
 Morseman, his Democratic competitor, of 
 Page County. Some months before the fall 
 term of the District Court in 1871, he went 
 to Si Louis in the hope of relief, leaving 
 
 Capt. D. W. Price to discharge the duties of 
 his office at that term. Medical aid was of 
 no avail, and on the 29th of December Maj. 
 McPherson died in St. Louis, and his re- 
 mains were brought here, and the funeral 
 services were held in the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, of which society he was a member. 
 Col. D. B. Dailey was appointed to fill the 
 vacancy caused by the death of Maj. McPher 
 son. At the next election. Col. Dailey was not 
 a candidate. His law partner, L. W. Ross, 
 was a candidate for the nomination of Dis- 
 trict Judge, an ambition that was not grati- 
 fied, through the success of Capt. J. R. Reed 
 in carrying off the nomination and Col. Dailey 
 waived his claims in favor of Mr. Ross. 
 
 The Pacific House met with a serious loss 
 on the morning of the 11th of January, 1872. 
 The new west wing took fire in one of the 
 upper rooms, and before the fii'e department 
 could get to work, owing to the intensely 
 cold weather, that part of the structure was 
 a mass of ruins. A heavy gale was blowing 
 at the time, and it was with the greatest 
 difficulty that the whole block, including 
 Officer & Pusey's bank, was saved. Omaha 
 sent one of her steam fii-e engines, but the 
 flames were subdued by the time it reached 
 here. The heavy loss sustained by Mr. Bay- 
 liss, the owner of the building, ever after- 
 ward crippled his energies and resources, 
 ami when he died it was in comparative 
 poverty. Sylvanus Dodge, the father of Gen. 
 Dodge, died on the 24th of December, 1871, 
 and on the 1st of February, 1872, Nehe- 
 miah Baldwin, the father of John T. Bald- 
 win, and Judge Baldwin entered upon the 
 duties of Register of the United States Land 
 Office, to which he had been appointed as 
 the successor of Mr. Dodge. The Iowa Leg- 
 islature was in session. The Union Pacific 
 bridge was completed, and in running order. 
 It paid no attention to Council Bluffs, and 
 
216 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 regarded Omaha as its actual if not its legal 
 terminus. The people of Council Bluffs 
 were justly apprehensive that the Iowa roads 
 would cross their trains, and meet the Union 
 Pacific on the west bank of the river. In- 
 deed, the Kansas City road, that it had been 
 so largely aided with Council BluiTs money, 
 and when had virtually absorbed the great 
 swamp land fund of the county, were taking 
 steps to carry out that design. That course 
 once taken, the rivalry of business would 
 have forced the other roads to follow the ex- 
 ample of the Kansas City company. A bill 
 was unamimously passed by both houses of 
 the Legislatui'e prohibiting the Iowa roads 
 from running their trains into Omaha. A 
 test case was made in the Circuit Court of 
 this county before Judge Stockton by injunc- 
 tion, and decided against the company, but 
 the latter having appealed to the Supreme 
 Court, the decision of Judge Stockton was re- 
 versed, and the Iowa statute declared un- 
 constitutional, as beyond the power of the 
 State to regulate commerce between the 
 States, thai authority being vested wholly in 
 Congress. There was only a partial attempt 
 to carry out the design of the railroads be- 
 tween that date and the final determination 
 of another question by the Supreme Court of 
 the United States, in which the Union Pacific 
 and certain citizens of Council Bluffs, ship- 
 pers, were immediately interested. That 
 case properly comes under its own date and 
 heading. A meeting of all the General Super- 
 intendents of the Iowa roads centering in 
 Council Bluffs was held here on the 12th of 
 March, and in resjDonse to the evident feel- 
 ing of the people of Iowa, as manifest 
 through its Legislature, as well as through pub- 
 lic opinion otherwise expressed, they arrived 
 at the conclusion not to run their trains into 
 Omaha, and so notified the officers of the 
 Union Pacific at the same time. The Unioa 
 
 Pacific adhered to its own resolution, and re- 
 fused to come to this side. The transfer busi- 
 ness between the terminus of the Iowa roads 
 and the so-called terminus of the Union Pacific 
 was conducted by a sort of stub corporation 
 and train until the Supreme Court of the 
 United States finally settled the question 
 that the actual and legal eastern terminus of 
 the Union Pacific was in Council Bluffs and 
 not in Omaha. The Union Pacific, however, 
 erected a platform a little southwest of the 
 present Union Pacific depot and a frame hotel, 
 which was kept by ex-Mayor Palmer until it 
 was destroyed by fire several years afterward. 
 They also erected long freight sheds, and the 
 Iowa roads built tracks and platforms so as 
 to connect with the platform and track of 
 the Union Pacific. The spring city election 
 of 1872 was a hotly contested one. Dr. N. 
 D. Lawrence was the Republican candidate 
 for Mayor, and Sam Haas the nominee of the 
 Democrats. Lawrence was elected by a ma- 
 jority of 142 votes. One feature of the city 
 campaign was the publication of the Daily 
 Star, an evening Republican paper, by W. 
 R. Vaughan, edited by John H. Keatley. 
 During the canvass it kept the town in com - 
 motion, and every evening was eagerly sought 
 after, it being impossible to supply the de- 
 mand for copies. John H. Keatley at that 
 date was Chairman of the County Republi- 
 can Committee. He had decided, in view of the 
 fact that Grant would probably be the candi- 
 date that year again for the presidency, to take 
 part in the Liberal Rej)ublican movement 
 which culminated in the nomination of 
 Horace Greeley at Cincinnati. To that end, 
 he sent his resignation as such Chairman to 
 W. W. Mayuard, editor of the Nonpareil, 
 with his reasons for so doing, and the re- 
 quest that they be made known. No other 
 attention was paid to the matter, except l)y a 
 three-line editorial announcement that such 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, 
 
 2t7 
 
 resignation had been made. W. F. Sapp was 
 a candidate for the Republican nomination 
 for Congress. Tlie Noiqiareil espoused the 
 canse of James W. McDill, of Union County. 
 The contest became a bitter one. and on the 2d 
 day of July, 1872, W. R. Vaughan began 
 the publication of the Daily Republican, ad- 
 vocating the claims of Col. Sapp. as a Council 
 Bluffs man. A complete new printing ou fit 
 was procured in Cincinnati, and one of the 
 most perfect printing offioes established ever 
 organized in the city. Col. Sipp was de- 
 feated in the convention; the paper was 
 published as a daily until some time that 
 autumn, and before the election ceased, ex- 
 cept as a weekly, in the interests of the 
 farming community. As such it existed for 
 a yeai' or two. Out of it grew an exceeding- 
 ly bitter controversy between "Mr. "^^aughan 
 and Capt. D. B. Clark, who was at the head 
 of the grange movement in the county at that 
 time. Mr. Clark charged in the columns of 
 the N'onpareil that Mr. Vaughan, in procuring 
 subscriptions to the stock of the Farmers' 
 Publishing Company, under whose auspices 
 the Weekly Republican was claimed to be 
 conducted, had practiced a fraud upon the 
 subscribers. This led to a libel suit for 
 damages by Mr. Vaughan against Clark and 
 the Nonpareil Printing Company. Judge 
 Reed, in submitting the case to the jury, in- 
 structed them, among other things, that if 
 they found that the communication published 
 by Clark was in good faith, whether true or 
 false, it was priviledged, and Vaughan could 
 not recover, and the verdict was against the 
 latter. Early in the same summer, an effort 
 was made to found a religious journal in this 
 city that would occupy the field of Methodism 
 in the Northwest, and accordingly the Council 
 Bluffs Christian Advocate was established by 
 the Rev. Joseph Knotts and the Rev. P. P. 
 Breaee. After a time, it too disappeared as 
 
 a fruitless speculation. The United Brethren 
 Church also established an organ of their so- 
 ciety about the same time, and, after publish- 
 ing it for two years, it failed for want of sup- 
 port. 
 
 A musical event occurred on the 2d of May 
 at Dohany's Opera House that had a marked 
 influence upon the career of a Council Bluffs 
 young lady, Miss Fanny Kellogg, the now 
 famous prima donna. She came to this city 
 in her childhood, with her father and mother. 
 Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Kellogg, and her half 
 brother, E. F. Burdick, and grew up here, 
 and here received her education. She early 
 di8j)layed remarkable musical talents, and 
 these were as carefully cultivated as circum- 
 stances would permit. She was always de- 
 servedly jjopular, and a benefit for her was or- 
 ganized, in which she was assisted by Mi-s. 
 George L. Everett and other musical ama- 
 teui's. The opera house was crowded to over- 
 flowing, and the result was a forecast of her 
 future success. Since then, she has earned 
 fame as a songstress. In the summer of 1882, 
 she returned again, after several years of 
 absence, and received a magnificent ovation. 
 On the 28th of November, she paid anoth- 
 er visit to her old home, singing to an im- 
 mense audience at Dohany's Opera House, 
 the scene of her first triumph, and at the 
 head of the incomparable Kellogg-Brignoli 
 combination, under the direction of Bach- 
 ert. The event was marked by the pre- 
 sentation by Miss Kellogg to each of her 
 audience, her old friends and admirers of a 
 vignette portrait of herself on the rich pro- 
 gramme, as a souvenir of her early friend- 
 ship. 
 
 Council Bluffs was visited by the Iowa Press 
 Association on the 14th of June, while on 
 their way to Salt Lake, on their annual excur- 
 sion. At ih.& annual commencement of the 
 high school this year, held on the 14th of 
 
218 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 June, six young ladies graduated: Hattie 
 Williams, Mary Warren, Lizzie Oliver, Ida 
 Kirkpatriek, lugeletta Smith, Verna liey- 
 nolds. The 4th of July, 1872, was celebrated 
 amons: other things with a magnificent and 
 attractive horse trot. The crowd was a large 
 one, 2,80() tickets having been sold. There 
 was also a tine picnic and celebration in Glen 
 Dale. 
 
 As soon as the result of the Liberal Repub- 
 lican convention at Cincinnati Was known in 
 the nomination of Horace Greeley for the 
 presidency, and his endorsement by the De- 
 mocracy at Baltimore, a large Greeley and 
 Brown club was formed, with headquarters 
 at Barhop's Hall. A very large number of 
 persons who had hitherto acted with the Re- 
 publican party in the city, joined in tjie 
 movement, and took part in the active work. 
 Among these was M. P. Brewer, a young 
 lawyer of decided talent, and a public speaker 
 of considerable power. Mr. Brewer was 
 made President of the club, he having up to 
 that time acted as a Repulilican. The mem- 
 bers of the club, dming the canvass, expressed 
 their appreciation of his zeal and talents in 
 the presentation of a handsome gold-headed 
 cane suitably inscribed. With the termina- 
 tion of that campaign, Mr. Brewer's connec- 
 tion with the opposition to the Republicans 
 ceased. Another notable local event in con- 
 nection with that campaign occurred during 
 the summer. In August, the Liberal Repub- 
 lican State Convention and the Democratic 
 State Convention met (m the same day in Des 
 Moines, the Democrats in Moore's Hall and 
 the Liberal Republicans in the coiu't house. 
 A joint meeting was held in the court house 
 yard at Des Moines, where the two parties 
 fraternized. Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, 
 was present, and delivered an eloquent ad- 
 dress. When it came to nominate a candi- 
 date for Congress in this district in opposi- 
 
 tion to McDill, Republican, the Democrats and 
 the Republicans of the district fraternized in 
 a convention at Council Bluffs, and unani- 
 mously nominated W. H. M. Pusey, a Demo- 
 crat. Mr. Pasey accepted the nomination in 
 an eloquent speech, and the necessary steps 
 were taken to conduct, an active canvass in 
 his interests. After a lapse of several weeks, 
 and after announcements of appointments for 
 him had been made, the Central Committee 
 were notified of his resolution to withdraw. 
 He took this course, he said, because in ac- 
 cepting the nomination he had not consulted 
 his absent partner in business, Mr. Officer, 
 and when the fact of the nomination had been 
 made to the latter, he presented the alterna- 
 tive of a dissolution of a banking firm of 
 nearly a quarter of a century's duration or 
 an abandonment of the canvass, and the 
 second alternative had been resolved iipon. 
 This led to the calling of a meeting of the 
 Central Committee at the Pacific House.. 
 Col. W. P. Hepburn, now a Republican 
 Congressman fi'om Iowa, was Chairman, and 
 J. S. Stidger, of Rod Oak, now a Republican, 
 was a memberof that committee. After can- 
 vassing the situation for an entire day, the 
 committee placed the name of W. W. Merr'itt, 
 of Red Oak, on the ticket, in opposition to 
 McDill, and these two candidates conducted a 
 joint discussion throughout the district. The 
 antecedents of Mr. Merritt were Republican. 
 He never again resumed his Republican party 
 relations, and is now a Democrat. One of 
 the most devastating fires that ever visited 
 Council Blutfs occurred in the afternoon of 
 the IGth of August, on Main street, in the 
 furniture store of Joseph A. Eno, a little south 
 of First avenue. Part of the building had 
 been the brick Congregational Church, extend- 
 ing to Pearl street. Three other buildings 
 were destroyed at the same time. A series 
 of important suits in the United States Dis- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY 
 
 219 
 
 trict Court grew out of this fire. Eno saed 
 on his policies oC insurance, but the insur- 
 ance companies denied his right to recover, 
 among other grounds that there had been a 
 fraudulent "raising" of hia invoices after the 
 fire occurred, in order to increase the amount 
 of his loss. No clue to the origin of the fire 
 was ever reached, and it was attributed to 
 spontaneous combustion of rags and oil used 
 about the building in cleaning furniture. 
 The cases were tried several times to a jury, 
 but after disagreement they wholly disap- 
 peared from sight, and Eno returned to New 
 Jersey, his former home, a financially ruined 
 man. 
 
 A bold bank robbery occurred on the 5th 
 of August, in which about $20,000 of paper 
 currency were taken from the first National 
 Bank. The money was in the bank safe. 
 It was intact at the time the bank opened, 
 and when last seen by Mr. Farnsworth, the 
 Cashier, at 10 o'clock. Visiting the vault at 
 5 o'clock that afternoon, he discovered that 
 the money was stolen. A side door led from 
 Main street to an alcove in the bank, and from 
 that to the vault door it vvas only a step. No 
 other explanation of the theft could be given 
 than that, while the back of the Cashier was 
 turned in waiting on a customer, some adept in 
 the business took the money. No trace of 
 either thief or money was ever found. The 
 banking house of Officer &Pusey was raided, 
 and about $5,000 taken a year or two after- 
 ward, and about in the same way, and no 
 clue to either money or thief was ever found. 
 As an incident of the political contest of 
 that year, and a protest against partyism, the 
 Kev. Joseph Knotts started a weekly newspa- 
 per, called the Council Ulufts Independent, 
 with the printing office of the same, in one 
 of the lower rooms of the Ogden House. He 
 also announced himself as an independent 
 candidate for Congress, and traversed the 
 
 district for several months in a still-bunt 
 canvass, but, before election day, his name 
 disappeared from among the list of contest- 
 ants. In a few mouths, he received an ap- 
 pointment from the President to one of the 
 northern States of Mexico, where he was 
 about to engage in silver mining, which he 
 has since prosecuted with remarkable success. 
 The District Fair was held here on the 17th, 
 18th, 19th and 20th of September, on the 
 grounds of the Pottawattamie County Agri- 
 cultui-al Society. The district embraced all 
 the country from Des Moines to the Missoiu-i 
 River. The affair was a faihu-e, in part due 
 to bad weather, and in great part to bad 
 management. Col. John Scott, of Story 
 County, delivered the adch-ess, and a uni- 
 formed militia company from Des Moines gave 
 a fancy drill. 
 
 One of the characteristics of the poltical 
 campaign was a speech in the interest of 
 Grant and Wilson, by IMi-s. Matilda Fletcher, 
 the noted and eloquent lecturer. She was at 
 home here again, among her own people, and 
 the novelty of a woman on the stump attract- 
 ed an immense audience. Mrs. Fletcher be- 
 gan her career as a lecturer in the winter of 
 1868. Her husband was a teacher in the 
 public schools, and in failing health. His 
 wife resolved that the bm-den should be shared 
 by herself. Being a woman of considerable 
 talent, of indomitable will and courage, she 
 resolved to prepare a lectm-e and deliver it. 
 To this end her friends approached the writer 
 . of these annals, who was then editorially con- 
 nected with the Nonparcn, to create as favor- ■ 
 able an impression as possible of her talents, 
 in order to give her a fair start Burhop's 
 Hall was selected as the place of her debut. 
 The curtain rose on seats almost empty, but 
 woman's will was sufficient for the occasion. 
 She had resolved, and there wat, no deviating 
 from her purpose. For over one hour she 
 
220 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY, 
 
 spoke eloquently, and, ignoring the paucity 
 of lier audience, not a half-dozen in all, she 
 went thi'ough the ordeal with as much nerve, 
 and more, than if the house were packed. 
 Justice was done her effort. It deserved com- 
 mendation. It was above the ordinary plat- 
 form address. Her career was marked out 
 for her. She took the field in earnest, creat- 
 ing, as she went, new lectures, one of them, 
 " Men and their AYhims, " as rich in substance 
 as ever adorned the lecture platform. When 
 she came to Council Bluffs in a year or so 
 afterward, with the fame and reputation as- 
 sured, people here were eager to hear her. 
 She had realized what Disraeli had said 
 when hooted at in Parliament daring his 
 maiden speech — " The time will come when 
 you will hear me." Her husband died while 
 employed in one of the departments at Wash- 
 ington, and since then his eloquent widow 
 has kept her place among the talented and 
 deserving women of this ceutuiy. 
 
 The Eoman Catholic girls' school, St. 
 Francis' Academy, was erected this year, and 
 opened under the auspices of the Sisters of 
 Charity, on Buckingham street. It is one of 
 the largest and most complete edifices of the 
 kind in the State. The winter was memora- 
 ble for another condition of things, in this, 
 that it was visited by what was known as the 
 epizootic among the horses. For several 
 weeks, not an animal appeared upon the 
 streets to perform any kind of labor. The 
 ground was hard frozen and free from snow, 
 and goods were handled and delivered with 
 hand-barrows. The absence of vehicles 
 di'awn by horses during that time produced a 
 sort of desolate silence, and the streets were 
 as weird as they well could be imagined. 
 
 The greatest sensation of the early j)art of 
 1873 was a three card monte case, that occu- 
 pied public attention and the police coiu-ts 
 for some days. Rev. W. E. Mosher was liv- 
 
 ing in Story County, along the line of the 
 North- Western Railroad. Council Bluffs was 
 infested at that date by a gang of scoundrels 
 known as three card monte men, men who 
 played a game with three cards, which were 
 marked, so that a stranger betting on the 
 game was sure to become a victim. The con- 
 gregation of Mr. Mosher concluded to pay 
 his salary by donations of butter, and in that 
 way he accumulated several hundred pounds 
 that he concluded to sell in Council Bluffs. 
 Taking the train, and having shipped the 
 same by freight, and having received a bill 
 of lading for his merchandise, he came to 
 this city about 9 o'clock at night. Being a 
 stranger, he fell into the hands of a hotel 
 runner, and was conducted to a hotel on 
 lower Broadway, where the three card monte 
 men made their headquarters. "After loiter- 
 ing around the hotel office for some moments, 
 he strolled into the adjoining saloon, under 
 the same roof, and had his attention attracted 
 to a game of cards going on at a table. It 
 turned out to be three card moute, and the 
 participants were of that profession, alter- 
 nately winning and losing, to act as a decoy 
 to the unwaiy. He soon had a desire to en- 
 ter into the game, and, having no money, he 
 staked his bill of lading for the butter against 
 the chances of the cards in the hands of the 
 unscrupulous manipulators, and in a trice he 
 had lost, the winner pocketing his bill of lad- 
 ing, and the game ended. The police, after 
 a day or two of strife, succeeded in secui-ing 
 to him his lost rights; but the sensation it 
 caused, the exposure it involved, and the dis- 
 grace, was more than he could bear, and he 
 went home dazed and half a maniac, a ruined 
 man, and in a few months died with grief. 
 Among those who plied their nefarious busi- 
 ness here as three card monte men at that 
 time was the notorious Canada Bill, the most 
 expert gambler in the West. He was a tall, 
 
HISTORY or POTTAAVATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 'J21 
 
 ungainly, sallow, stoop-shouldered individ- 
 ual, and went about with a slouch hat drawn 
 over his face, and spoke with the twang of a 
 Texas cattle drover, and, assuming this role 
 when acting as a capper for his gang, never 
 failed to secure his victim. At one time he 
 exhibited to the writer of these annals a roll 
 of currency amounting to $11,000, which he 
 carried in his pocket. He had one redeem- 
 ing quality, and that was in charity. No 
 suffering or destitute person ever applied in 
 vain to the sympathies of Canada Bill; and 
 even he became an object of charity, for, in 
 about a year after his last exploit in Council 
 Blufis, came the telegraphic newspaper in 
 telligence that Canada Bill had died a pau- 
 per in the almshouse at Reading, Penn. 
 
 Dr. N. D. Lawrence was again elected 
 Mayor at the spring election of 1873. Judge 
 Riddle was also chosen President of the 
 School Board. That season, the Washington 
 street school grounds were embellished by a 
 handsome stone wall in its front, most effect- 
 ually increasing the attractions of the sur- 
 roundings. On the 31st of May, Beriy & 
 Smith, having purchased the press, type and 
 materials of the Independent, began the pub- 
 lication of the Daily Tribune, an independent 
 newspaper, biit it only endured a few months, 
 and then went the way of many others. On 
 the 3lBt of May, the United States Land Office 
 was forever closed here, and the records re- 
 moved to Des Moines, and the land district 
 abolished. 
 
 Council Bluffs was now approaching a cri- 
 sis in her fate. Her newspapers and citizens 
 claimed that the le^al eastern terminus had 
 been tixed by the proclamation of President 
 Lincoln within the city limits. The Omaha 
 papers and people contended that the Presi- 
 dent had simply declared that the initial 
 point should be located on the western bound- 
 arv of Iowa, and that was in the middle of 
 
 the river, and that its obvious construction 
 meant, to avoid absiu-dity, that the road 
 should begin on the fii-st solid ground west of 
 that imaginary line between the two States. 
 The Union Pacific was in accord with the 
 latter view. There was no proper tribunal 
 where that question could be settled by the 
 process of mandamus. Omaha had sent her 
 representatives to Washington to guard 
 against any unfriendly legislation by Con- 
 gress on this point. Judge A. V. Larimer 
 was in Washington at the same time, looking 
 after the interests of Council Bluffs in the 
 same matter. Hon. George W. MeCrary, the 
 member of Congress from the Keokuk Dis- 
 trict, now United States Circuit Judge, was 
 friendly to the claim of Council BluS's, and 
 in a position to render important service. 
 An appropriation bill was pending, and in 
 charge of Mr. McCrary, of the proper com- 
 mittee. Favoring the suggestion to give the 
 United States Circuit Court of Iowa jurisdic- 
 tion, in mandamus, in cases concernine the 
 Union Pacific Railroad Comjiany, he per- 
 mitted Judge Larimer to write, at the close 
 of the last section of the appropriation bill, a 
 clause of three lines, giving that court such 
 jurisdiction, in such cases, and the same 
 passed the House as a " rider " to the bill. 
 The " rider " escajjed attention when the bill 
 passed the Senate, and it became the law un- 
 der date of March 3, 1873. 
 
 That was the first step toward securing the 
 desired end. The next was to avail the rem- 
 edy thus placed within reach of the citizens 
 of Council Bluffs. It was the hazard of a 
 long law-suit, attended by great expense, 
 against a corporation with millions of rev- 
 enue. Judge Larimer, aided by Col. Sapp, 
 was equal to the emergency. Sam Hall and 
 J. W. Morse were engaged in the business of 
 retail grocers on Main street, in the city of 
 Council Bluffs, and, in the way of ordinary 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 trade, were shippers of produce to the West 
 over the Union Pacific Railroad, but, in the 
 conduct of their business, were compelled to 
 transport their merchandise to Omaha by or- 
 dinary land eaiTiage and feiTiage, before it 
 would be received by the Union Pacific for 
 transportation to its destination. In this 
 they were subjected to the same obstructions 
 as all other local shippers from Council Bluffs 
 were. Judge Larimer procured them to offer 
 the Union Pacific a shipment west in Council 
 Bluffs, and, failing to accept the consign- 
 ment, he prepared to test the validity of their 
 claim that they were not boimd by law to op 
 erate their road as one continuous line, in- 
 cluding the bridge transfer, from ^Council 
 Bluffs to Ogden, their western terminus. 
 Hall and Morse were neither in a condition 
 to make the fight alone, nor had they the dis- 
 position to hazard all they had m such an at- 
 tempt, one from which others better able had 
 shrunk. Judge Larimer assumed all the risk 
 of the conflict, and indemnified Hall and 
 Morse against any possible loss or damage. 
 To secure the costs and to comply with all 
 necessary orders in the mandamus case, he 
 prevailed upon Peter Bechetele, the public- 
 spirited proprietor of the Farmers' Hotel, to 
 become sui'ety in thousands of dollars, in the 
 bond required in that class of cases, also in- 
 demnifying ill'. Bechetele against loss. 
 With these preliminaries arranged, he set 
 about collecting all the evidence necessary to 
 make out a case. Judge John F. Dillon, 
 then Judge of the United States Circuit Court 
 at Des Moines, after examining the petition 
 prepared by Judge Larimer and Col, Sapp, 
 and after argument, in which the Union Pa- 
 cific was represented by the Hon. A. J. Poj)- 
 pleton, made an alternative order in manda- 
 must either to operate their road to and from 
 Council Bluffs as one continuous line, or 
 show cause why the same should not be done. 
 
 Id answering this order, the railway company 
 set up the order of President Lincoln, made 
 on the 7th day of March, 1864, and their 
 construction upon it as really establishing 
 the " initial point " within the limits of the 
 city of Omaha, and not in Council Bluffs. 
 This fileading was answered by Hall and 
 Morse, and ujion that issue the case was 
 heard by Judge Dillon. At this stage of it, 
 at the instance of the city authorities of 
 Council Bluffs, the Hon. John X. Rogers, of 
 Davenport, was called into the case on behalf 
 of Hall and Morse. The city authorities had 
 no power, under the city charter, to employ 
 counsel for such a purpose, but the matter 
 was of such public importance that the irreg- 
 ularity was most cheerfully condoned by the 
 people, especially in view of the final result. 
 After examining the whole case. Judge 
 Dillon decided adversely to the Union Pa- 
 cific, and made the wi-it of mandamus abso- 
 lute, compelling them to operate their road ac 
 cording to the claim of Council Bluffs. From 
 this order the Union Pacific appealed to the 
 Supreme Coui-t of the United States. The 
 accumulation of business in that court prom- 
 ised an indefinite prolongation of the contro- 
 versy pending the appeal, but, recognizing 
 the highly important character of the issue, 
 not only to those locally concerned, but to 
 those who furnished the traffic for so imjjort- 
 ant a 'series of highways, the case was taken 
 out of its order, advanced on the docket, and 
 argued and heai'd far in advance of any pos- 
 sibility had it been allowed to take its own 
 course. The case was decided by the Su- 
 preme Court in October, 1875, Justice Strong 
 reading the opinion of the court affii'ming 
 the final order made by Judge Dillon, and a 
 second time and for all time to come, estab- 
 lishing as law the claim made in the begin- 
 ning by the citizens of Council Bluffs. The 
 only dissenting Judge was Bradley, who read 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 223 
 
 a short opinion, viewing the case from the 
 standpoint of the Union Pacific, adhering, 
 in his judgment, to the theory that, inasmuch 
 as the western boundary of Iowa is in the 
 middle of the channel of the Missouri River, 
 the President must have meant to locate the 
 " initial point " of the railroad on the first 
 solid gi-ound west of that changeable and 
 changing demarkation. 
 
 In obedience to that order, the Union Pa- 
 cific at once proceeded to carry it out. Then 
 began the erection of their handsome and 
 substantial passenger depot and hotel, on the 
 1,200-acre tract secured for railroad pui-poses 
 years before, and the Iowa roads, acting in 
 concert, proceeded to co-operate with the 
 Union Pacific. The wide gap of space be- 
 tween the Transfer and the central part of 
 the city at once began to be occupied, until 
 now it is, in fact, one continuous city. The 
 City Council, in liquidating the claim of Mr. 
 Rogers for professional services, paid him 
 $5,000 oiit of the city treasury. Neither 
 Col. Sapp nor Judge Larimer received any 
 compensation, nor asked for it, for their share 
 in the work. As soon as the decision was 
 announced and the intelligence reached Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, it was hailed with manifestations 
 of intense joy. A platform was erected at 
 the intersection of Bancroft and Broadway, 
 an immense meeting was held, cannon were 
 fired, congratulatory speeches made, and res- 
 olutions passed of the most grateful charac- 
 ter, commendatory of all who had aided the 
 result. 
 
 The annual conference of Latter-Day Saints 
 was held again, in September, 1873, in the 
 grove at Parks' Mill. Joseph Smith, Jr., 
 presided over its deliberations, and the at- 
 tendance was the largest ever had at any of 
 their meetings. 
 
 On the 2Gth of August, a tragedy occurred 
 in Garner Township, resulting in the death 
 
 of a young farm hand named Charles Gran- 
 ville. He and an old citizen named Thomas 
 Davis, a man of intensely high temper, were 
 threshing at Mr. Garner's, and engaged in an 
 altercation. Mr. Davis had a knife in his 
 hand, with which he was opening bundles, 
 and, in the fracas, he cut out the bowels of 
 3'oung Granville and killed him. Mr. Davis 
 was tried for murder, and convicted of man- 
 slaughter, and sentenced to the penitentiary 
 by Judge Reed for six years, but, after serv- 
 ing about two years, he was pardoned by the 
 Governor. 
 
 Council Blufls, like every other city in the 
 country, felt the effects of the monetary panic 
 in 1873. The effect of it was to suspend im- 
 provements. The grasshoppers had devas- 
 tated large sections of the surrounding coun- 
 try, and made special inroads in Nebraska in 
 quarters otherwise specially tributary to 
 Council Bluffs. Real estate was stagnant. 
 Hard times pressed heavily upon the poor 
 and those dependent upon labor for subsis- 
 tence. Heavy drafts were made upon those 
 who were able and willing to dispense char- 
 ity, and at no time in the history of the city 
 were there so many pressing calls for that 
 kind of assistance. The banks here in ope- 
 ration at that time were the First National, 
 the Pacific National, the Council Bliiffs Sav- 
 ings Bank, and the banking house of Officer 
 & Pusey. Neither of these institutions suc- 
 cumbed to the general pressure. ' Their con- 
 servatism saved them from the worst features 
 of the panic — suspension of payments. Not 
 for one moment, during the height of the 
 panic, when banks everywhere else, almost, 
 were posting notices of suspension, did the 
 Council Bluffs banks indicate any purjaose of 
 wavering. 
 
 On the 18th of November, 1873, Council 
 Bluffs, or those having a taste for such events, 
 enjoyed a sensation in the shape of a prize 
 
224 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 fight, preparations for which were made in 
 Omaha, and the details of which were to be 
 carried out in Mills County, near Pacific City, 
 and near the south line of Pottawattamie 
 County. The prize ring contestants were the 
 noted fighters, Tom Allen and Ben Hogan. 
 For several days the rumor gained ground in 
 sporting circles in Omaha, where the pugil- 
 ists were quartered, that they intended to 
 cross over into Iowa, pass through this city, 
 and fight in this State. Sheriff Doughty and 
 other well-disposed citizens resolved to pre- 
 vent the conflict, and Gov. Carpenter was 
 notified of the facts. Council Bluffs had a 
 piece of artilleiy here, a twelve-poundei', left 
 over from the civil war, and this was in 
 charge of an artillery company, on paper, of 
 which Charles E. Provost was the nominal 
 Captain. Late on the night of the 17th, he 
 began telegraphing the Governor, and re- 
 ceived an order to take his gun to the transfer, 
 meet the train with the pugilists and their 
 friends as they came to this side of the river. 
 He had the gun di'agged with horses that 
 night, and unlimbered on the platform, but 
 not an ounce of ammunition or a man to serve 
 it. The Governor also sent the Olmstead 
 Zouaves, a militaiy company from Des Moines, 
 to assist in preventing a breach of the peace. 
 Sheriff Doughty and the militaiy, a little 
 after daylight on the morning of the 18th, 
 stood shivering on the bleak platform for an 
 hoiu' or more, in anxious expectation of the 
 arrival of the train. It came in sight at last, 
 as the smoke and steam from its engine 
 curled up over the great iron bridge, and the 
 military and the excited spectators were on 
 tiptoe for the event. The pugilistic party 
 were on a train of the Kansas City road; the 
 military were told off into squads and board- 
 ing parties; their arms were loaded and fixed 
 for a deadly assault; but the train merely 
 slacked up as it came along side of the plat- 
 
 form. Sheriff Doughty got aboard, but, be- 
 fore he could make his errand understood, 
 his voice 'was di-owned by a terrific yell, 
 steam was put on, and the train pushed ahead 
 with swiftness, leaving the military a gaping 
 crowd on the platform. 
 
 Upon aiTiving opposite Pacific City, on the 
 level bottom land, the train discharged its 
 mob, and preparations were made to begin 
 the fight, The ring was fonned, the stakes 
 driven and the rope stretched, when a Mills 
 County Constable came up to stop the fight. 
 Several of the stoutest of the sjiectators took 
 the officer and pitched him over the fence into 
 an adjoining field, and he was glad to have 
 even so much of an ob.struction between him 
 and them. The battle began, and, after sev- 
 eral rounds, the friends of the respective par- 
 ties broke into the ring, the fight became gen- 
 eral in a row. and the disgraceful affair ended 
 without a decision on the part of the princi- 
 pals. 
 
 At the spring election of 1874, AV. C James 
 was elected Mayor. H. H. Field, E. L. 
 Douglass, J. B. Lewis, John Hanthorn, E. 
 L. Shugurt, W. A. "Wood, George Tabor and 
 Horace Everett constituted the City Council. 
 Henry A. Jackson was elected City Marshal. 
 The importance of the office had considerably 
 diminished, owing to the fact that the col- 
 lection of the city taxes had been taken from 
 that officer and transferred to the County 
 Treasmer, Perry Reel, who had been elected 
 to that office in the fall of 1873, and was the 
 incumbent, having defeated Mr. Chapman, 
 who was seeking a third election. The most 
 active principle in politics in this section at 
 that date was the effect of the Granger law, 
 as it was called, by which fares and tariffs 
 were limited in railway transportation. The 
 anti -monopoly movement, the fall before, had 
 so far swept the State that they were able to 
 dictate the organization of the House at Des 
 

HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 227 
 
 Moines, and the law which was the result of 
 that success was going through the crucible 
 of experiment. The Congressional campaign 
 was not without interest at the same time. 
 The Eepiiblicans of the district nominated 
 James W. McDill without any contest. The 
 anti-monopolists, however, took control of the 
 Democratic nomination, and Fremont and 
 Mills Counties, practically dictated the nom- 
 ination of Anson Bood at their conven- 
 tion at Council Bluffs. The nomination was 
 received with derision and profound dissat- 
 isfaction by many who, the year before, had 
 labored for and earnestly hoped for a change. 
 
 After the retirement of Col. John W. Ross 
 from the management of the Ogden House, 
 the owners of the building, Messrs. Garner, 
 Baughan and Hammer, undertook to keep it 
 open, with Mr. Baughan as the direct mana- 
 ger. A little before daylight un the 13th of 
 October, 1874, the building took fire from 
 some cause, in one of the inner rooms, on the 
 upper floor, and by dawn the structure was a 
 gapin'g mass of ruins. The lofty walls stood 
 for a month or so, when a gale of wind blew 
 the east one to the ground, crushing, in the 
 fall, two small brick buildings which stood 
 beneath it. The ground and brick ruins 
 were sold by Garner, Baughan and Hammer 
 to John T. Baldwin, and, in 1S76, with the 
 aid of a donation of about .? 10,000 from the 
 citizens, he rebuilt the edifice, on the plan on 
 which it now exists, avoiding the mansard 
 roof, which, in the late fire, prevented the 
 firemen from reaching the exposed part of 
 the building in time to save it. 
 
 Among the auxiliaries devised in 1871 to 
 aid the prosperity of the city, was the organi- 
 zation of the Merchants' Exchange Club, 
 with Horace Everett as its first President. 
 This organization was perfected on the (3th of 
 April, 187-1. A suite of rooms was rented in 
 the west end of Everett's Block, on Broad- 
 
 way, for the meetings of the club, and they 
 were kept open day and night, for visitors 
 and members. Some of the most important 
 measures affecting the city and its interests 
 were here discussed during the existence of 
 the club for two years. It finally fell into 
 desuetude; it failed to excite interest; and 
 in the end, it yielded up its life. One of the 
 meetings was signalized, in August, 1875, by 
 a banquet, on a Saturday night, at which 
 there flowed a considerable quantity of cham- 
 pagne. The speech-making of the occa.^ion 
 was of the richest imaginable character. 
 
 The winter of 187-1 was one of steady gain 
 in growth and prosperity, and the spring 
 opened hoiaefully. In March, 1875, Council 
 Blufi"s lost one of its oldest and most esteemed 
 citizens in the death of Dr. P. J. McMahon. 
 He had lingered with disease all winter, and 
 at times there were faint hopes of his recov- 
 ery, but at last the announcement was made 
 that he to whom thousands were indebted for 
 ■ their lives, was no more. On one of the bright 
 Sundays of early spring, his remains were 
 borne to Walnut Hill Cemetery by a long 
 concourse of his brother Masons, and of citi- 
 zens who revered him for his rugged and 
 manly virtues. The Masonic services at the 
 grave were impressively rendered by N. F. 
 Story, the "Worshipful Master of Excelsior 
 Lodge. 
 
 The annual city election in 1875 was an 
 exceedingly quiet one. C. B. Jacquemin. the 
 senior member of the jewelry firm of C. B. 
 Jacquemin & Co., a Republican, was chosen 
 as Mayor. AV. P. Wightmao, F. O. Gloasou, 
 Peter Bechtele and Henry H. Metcalf were at 
 the same time elected Aldermen. 
 
 One of the most noted events, aside from 
 the decision of the Union Pacific question, 
 that summer and fall, was an extensive flood 
 that deluged the city on the night of the 31st 
 of May. The rain set in about half past G 
 
228 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 o'clock in the evening, and continued for over 
 four hours. Every glen poured its contents 
 into Broadway, which, in turn, emptied itself 
 in torrents into Indian Creek, or swept in 
 great swales, off southward to the flat lands 
 below the city. The house of James N. Eiley 
 was struck by lightning, in the southern sec- 
 tion, near the bluffs, and. before the alarm of 
 fire could be heard above the raging storm, 
 the house and its contents were in ashes, and 
 the frightened inmates barely able to seek 
 shelter from the flood elsewhere. One of the 
 most important and expensive law-suits in 
 which the city ever engaged, resulted from 
 this flood. A culvert led across Broadway, 
 near the residence of William Powers. This 
 had been obstructed in the laying of a gas 
 main along that street, and, when the torrents 
 came down the gorge, the sewer overflowed, 
 the tide swept across the street, over his lots, 
 and drove a huge stone wall with impetuosity 
 into the creek, making it a more pile of ruins. 
 It cost the city about SI, 800 to satisfy the 
 claimant for his damage, growing out of a 
 matter of neglect that might have been 
 avoided by a few hours' work. 
 
 The impulse given to business after the re- 
 sult of the Union Pacific decision was a 
 healthy and steady one. Preparations were 
 at once made for a building boom in the 
 spring of 1876— an impulse that has not 
 abated from that day to this. Dui-ing the 
 long controversy, doubt lingered in the minds 
 of the most hopeful, and] retardedj some of 
 the most necessary enterprises, but, now that 
 the long-drawn agony was over, there was a 
 steadiness of purpose and a confidence that 
 never was equaled before. One of the evi- 
 dences of this was the erection of the hand- 
 some block at the corner of Broadway and 
 Pearl streets by Horace Everett, and the 
 Whitney building, occupied by the Metcalf 
 brothers; and the Keller & Bennett block, -at 
 
 the southwest corner of Bancroft street and 
 Broadway. Residence building also was 
 stimulated beyond precedent, and has known 
 no abatement since that hour. Two impor- 
 tant fires took place that winter — one the de- 
 struction of the original Transfer Hotel and 
 its surroundings, and the other the burning 
 of the fm'niture factory of John Chase, and a 
 row of buildings on North Main street, on the 
 north side of Indian Creek. Fortune merely 
 saved a great portion of the city on the latter 
 occasion. The hand engine owned by the 
 city had been sold and removed. The steamer 
 was at the foundry, taken apart, and no fire 
 appliance, in one of the coldest nights that 
 ever blew, was available except the apparatus 
 of Phcenix Hook and Ladder Company, which 
 was admirably served. 
 
 As the time for the election in the spring 
 of 1876 approached, there was a disposition 
 manifested to take the election of city ofiicers 
 out of politics. With that in view, a mass 
 convention of citizens was called for the coiu-t 
 house, about thi-ee weeks before the election, 
 on the first Monday in April. Leading citi- 
 zens took part in its deliberations. A com- 
 mittee was appointed, of which John T. Bald- 
 win was Chairman, to select candidates on a 
 citizens' ticket. No other nominations had 
 yet been made. The committee reported, for 
 Mayor, E. L. Shugart, and the recommenda- 
 tion was ratified without a dissenting voice. 
 Both the Globe and the Nonpareil indorsed 
 the action of the convention, and, for the inter- 
 vening three weeks it seemed as if no other 
 choice would be presented than to ratify at 
 the polls the selection made in the mass con- 
 vention. On the Friday evening before the 
 election, which was to occm- on the Monday 
 following, a petition, signed by over three 
 hundred laboring men, was presented to John 
 H. Keatley, asking him to become the oppo- 
 sition candidate. Assent was given, and, 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 S39 
 
 ■when the polls were closed on Monday even- 
 ing, it was found that Mr. Shugart was beaten 
 -by a majority of 438 votes, after one of the 
 most hotly contested elections ever held in 
 the city. The Aldermen elected at the same 
 time were Lewis Hammer, M. Keating, C. E. 
 Scott and W. C. James. E. W. Jackson was 
 elected City Marshal, and G. A. Holmes 
 •chosen City Attorney by the City Council, 
 through the casting vote of the Mayor, the 
 contest being between Mr. Holmes, Democrat, 
 and W. S. Williams, Republican. 
 
 W. F. Sapf) was nominated by the Repub- 
 licans at their convention held in Council 
 Bluffs, for Congress. The early spring and 
 summer were devoted by him and William 
 Hall, of Mills County, to a preliminary fight 
 in their party for the nomination, but on the 
 first ballot Sapp was declared nominated. L. 
 R. Bolter, of Harrison County, was nominated 
 by the Democrats, and the two contestants 
 entered upon a long series of joint discussions 
 throughout the district, closing the campaign 
 the night before the election by an immense 
 meeting at Dohany's Hall. A few days before 
 that, the Nonpareil appeared with a detailed 
 statement of charges of gross immorality 
 against Mr. Bolter. The charges were so 
 bold, and expressed in such harsh terms, that 
 many Republicans, holding Col. Sapp re- 
 sponsible for their currency, voted against 
 him. Both candidates occupied the " fiat 
 currency " platform, and leaned to greenback- 
 ism in all their discussions. The majority 
 was too large for Mr. Bolter to overcome, un- 
 der the circumstances, and he was beaten in 
 the race. 
 
 This being Centennial year, the 100th an- 
 niversary of the signing of the Declaration of 
 Independence, the citizens of Council Bluffs 
 j)ut forth extraordinary efforts to celebrate 
 the Fourth of July. The display was the 
 finest then ever seen in the city. The fire 
 
 department, St. Patrick's Benevolent Society 
 and many other civic societies, and the Coun- 
 cil Bluffs Light Artillery, under Capt. J. W. 
 Ropelje, paraded and marched to the park, 
 where the ceremonies took place and the ad- 
 dresses were delivered. At night, a magnifi- 
 cent exhibition of fire-works was given by the 
 fire dej)artment from one of the lofty bluffs 
 south of Broadway. 
 
 The City Council, during the summer, un- 
 dertook to control and manage Indian Creek, 
 by entering upon the constrwction of what is 
 known as the Olive Street Ditch, from Stew- 
 art's packing house southward beyond the 
 Rock Island round-house. The contracts for 
 the work were made and the improvement en- 
 tered upon, wnen a series of injunctions were 
 begun by the owners of lots contiguous to 
 Olive street to restrain the city from inflict- 
 ing permanent damage on those properties by 
 the digging of the water-way. Deterred by 
 the formidable character of the claims pre- 
 sented, the Council canceled the work aad 
 settled with the contractors for work already 
 done. 
 
 The spring election of 1877 was also a 
 memorable one. John T. Baldwin was nomi- 
 nated by the Republicans, and W. R. Vaugh- 
 an ran as an independent Democrat. Large 
 sums of money were spent on both sides to 
 secure a victory. Bands of music were hired, 
 and paraded the street all day long, and the 
 most intense excitement was manifested by 
 the majority of the voters. The election of 
 Mr. Baldwin was secured by a large majority. 
 His term of service in that office was charac- 
 terized by one of the most perplexing ques- 
 tions ever presented to the executive officer of 
 a city. It was the year of the great railroad 
 strike. The mob had destroyed millions of 
 railroad property in Pittsburgh. Gov. John 
 F. Hartranf fc, who had gone West through 
 Council Bluffs on a pleasure trip, was hurried 
 
230 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 home by the call of a telegram advising him 
 of the terrible emergency, and the train which 
 bore him eastward through Council Bluffs 
 went as swiftly as the wind. When intelli- 
 gence reached this point of the work of the 
 mob in Eastern cities, the lawless here began 
 to organize to take advantage of the excite- 
 ment and the fears of the people. The men 
 who were the head and front of the offending 
 here were not those who toil and are provi- 
 dent, but are improvident. A gang of men 
 came up from. the quarry work, along the 
 line of the Kansas City road; young men 
 who had no other object than excitement 
 boarded incoming North-W astern trains, and 
 made a mob's noise and a mob's demonstra- 
 tion. At the depot they were joined by a 
 hooting collection and a motley crowd, and, 
 parading Broadway with torches and yells, 
 they created apprehensions which their num- 
 bers would scarcely justify. As a part of the 
 programme, they demanded of Mayor Bald- 
 win a supper at the Ogden House, and the 
 Jack Cades at their head announced veng- 
 ance for non-compliance. The mob encamped 
 in the open air during that July night, in 
 the park, and made the night hideous and 
 terrible with their wild noises. With drawn 
 pistols, they compelled engineers and firemen 
 to abandon their locomotives, and put out the 
 tires and patrolled the freight-yards to see 
 that their orders were olieyed. 
 
 The business men of Council Bluffs met at 
 Rescue Engine House, on North Main street, 
 that night, and organized a military company, 
 and armed themselves with such weapons as 
 were at hand, and held themselves in readi- 
 ness for such an emergency as might arise. 
 Twenty Spencer carbines hung in the armory 
 of the Council Bluffs Light Artillery, at the 
 headquarters of Phcenix Hook and Ladder 
 Company, on upper Broadway, with three 
 rounds of ammunition. The Governor, in re- 
 
 sponse to the request of Mayor Baldwin, 
 placed this squad of men under his control, 
 and the latter kept the men at their quarters 
 day and night to guard against the capture 
 of the arms by the mob, should they attempt 
 it, furnishing the men from the table of the 
 Ogden House with subsistence. The City 
 Council met and took into consideration the 
 disturbed state of the city, and authorized 
 the Mayor to increase the police force by spe- 
 cial appointment. Sheriff Kahle, in aid of 
 the Mayor, called out the posse, and, in the 
 afternoon of the third day of the troubles, 
 the court house was filled with the stanchest 
 men in the city, many of them ready armed, 
 to bring the crisis to a focus. Twenty men 
 of the Light Aiiillery, with loaded carbines, 
 marched to the public park and stacked arms 
 to await the result of the deliberations of the 
 citizens in the court house. The principal 
 part of those who had engaged in the lawless 
 demonstrations of the preceding days and 
 nights were in possession of the St. Joe 
 round-house, sullenly and partially awaiting^ 
 events, and, in some respects, overawed by the 
 earnest manifestations of the citizens. The 
 result of a few moments' debate at the court 
 house was the appointment of a delegation of 
 citizens, at the head of which was B. F. 
 Montgomery, to proceed to the St. Joe round- 
 house and notify those there of the ultimate 
 consequences of their conduct, and of the res- 
 olution of the citizens to make quick and 
 sharp work of any further riotous demonstra- 
 tions. The deputation had its desii'ed effect. 
 The meeting separated, subject to the call of 
 the Sheriff in case hostility was resumed, but 
 that evening the mob of lawless strangers 
 melted away, and the railroad embargo 
 ceased. 
 
 The Aldermen elected in the sjiring of 1877 
 were Henry Dawson, A. C. Graham, W. S. 
 Pettibone and J. W. Kodifer. The ever-re 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 231 
 
 curring question as to how to permanently 
 bridge Indian Creek presented itself in the 
 necessity for a new structure at Bryant street. 
 It was demonstrable that the old system of 
 piling, with an iron superstructure, was a 
 failure. A new system was devised, under 
 the direction of City Engineer Judson. It 
 was the driving of piles side by side, at low 
 water level, on each side of the stream, as a 
 foundation for a stone arched bridge. Be- 
 hind this, clay was rampped, and then, the 
 top of the piling being cut to a level, upon 
 this were placed heavy stone abutments from 
 the top of which was sprung a single stone 
 arch. This work was completed during that 
 year, at a cost of about !?G,000, but there is 
 every possible indication that the plan thus 
 adopted is the only one of a durable charac- 
 ter. It has justified the selection of a similar 
 plan for the Madison street bridge this year 
 (1882). under the supervisi()n of City Engi- 
 neer Thomas Tostevin, and the work on which 
 is now almost finished. 
 
 At the city election in 1878, Dr. N. D. 
 Lawrence was again elected Mayor, Mr. Bald- 
 win having positively declined to alLjw the 
 iise of his name again for that office. .Joseph 
 Ross, John Epeneter, George H. Tabor and 
 Geifirge H. Bicknell were chosen Aldermen at 
 the same election. Mr. Bicknell, at the time, 
 was the Superintendent of the landing of all 
 the freight transferred from the Iowa rail- 
 roads to the Union Pacific, and vice versa. 
 The stimulus given the prosperity of the city 
 by the favorable decision of 1875 kept even 
 with the energies of the people, and there 
 was no abatement of building, and public and 
 general improvements. The St. Louis & 
 Council Bluffs Eailroad^Company, occupying 
 the route of the company which had under- 
 taken, under the management of Gen. Ham- 
 mond, to build a road fi-om St. Louis by the 
 •way of Chillicothe, Mo., were pushing their i 
 
 road, under the auspices of Jay Gould and the 
 Union Pacific, to this point. In that connec- 
 tion reference has already been made to the 
 efforts of that company to secure the levy of 
 a tax of about $180,000 as a donation from 
 this city, and the causes which thwarted the 
 plan. 
 
 The Congressional contest in the district 
 was conducted with some degree of interest 
 The Greenback party held their convention 
 at Council Bluffs in May, and nominated the 
 Rev. William Hicks, of Montgomery County. 
 The Republicans met at a later date, and re- 
 nominated W. F. Sapp, he not having oppo- 
 sition in his own convention. The Demo- 
 crats met in convention at Council Bluffs in 
 August, and placed John H. Keatley in nom- 
 ination. Only a few joint discussions took 
 place during the canvass between Sapp and 
 Hicks, but the Democratic candidate, making 
 a thorough canvass of the district, spoke only 
 at such points as were designated to him by 
 his Central Committee. Upon canvassing 
 the votes, it was found that Sapp's majority 
 over both the opponents was 329. Several 
 weeks before the election, an effort was made 
 to obtain the withdrawal of Hicks, alleging 
 as inducement that, inasmuch as Gen. Wea- 
 ver, the Greenbacker in the Sixth District, 
 and Gillette, in the Seventh, had received 
 the hearty indorsement of the Democrats, the 
 Greenbackers should yield a clear field to the 
 latter in this, the old Eighth. This arrange- 
 ment could not be effected, and the campaign 
 ended as it began. 
 
 Fairs, festivals and theatrical entertain- 
 ments constituted the amusements of the peo- 
 ple during the seasons apjiropriate to such 
 recreations. Council Bluffs was visited by 
 some of the most talented jieople on the stage 
 — Maggie Mitchell, Kate Claxton, John T. 
 Raymond, Lawrence Barrett, and others of a 
 like reputation throughout the country. 
 
232 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 Among distinguished lecturers were Henry 
 Waxd Beecher and Eobei-t Ingersoll. 
 
 At the spring election of 1S79, Col. Addi- 
 son Cochran was elected Mayor, on the water 
 works and what was known as the Union 
 avenue issues. F. A. Biirke had been unin- 
 terruptedly elected City Recorder from 1SG9, 
 frequently having no opposition, his name 
 being printed on both tickets; but at this 
 election, R. C. Hubbard, now one of the edi- 
 tors of the Nonpareil, an avowed Democrat 
 in principle, became a candidate against Mr. 
 Bui'ke, and succeeded in defeating him. The 
 Aldermen elected at the same election were 
 A. C. Graham, for a second term; G. H. 
 Jackson, John H. Nicholas, and Jacob Will- 
 iams, one of the editors of the Globe. This 
 Council took steps, soon after its organiza- 
 tion, to secure seventy-live acres of land in 
 tne southeastern part of the city, in order to 
 laj' out and improve Fairmount Park. By 
 various decrees and negotiations, that end 
 was accomplished. Earnest eflfbrts were also 
 made in the direction of water works. It be- 
 came evident that manufacturers could not 
 be induced to seek location here unless an 
 abundant supjjly of water was provided. A 
 large sum of money was placed in the hands 
 of the Mayor, and a committee, of which Ja- 
 cob Williams was Chairman, for the purpose 
 of obtaining the proper estimates of the prob- 
 able cost of such an improvement, and J. D. 
 Cook, an hydaulic engineer, was employed 
 to carry out that design, and made an elab- 
 orate report on the subject, which was printed 
 and largely distributed. He estimated the 
 cost, Ijringing the water from the Missouri 
 River, the only feasible plan, at $350,000. 
 The amount was startling and discouraging 
 to many, and was certainly beyond the reach 
 of the city, in its corporate capacity, ham- 
 pered as it was by existing debt, and limited 
 by the State constitution as it was in the 
 
 matter of incurring farther liability. It be- 
 came clear to all that the only reliance was 
 upon private enterprise, under proper munic- 
 ipal control. No definite plan was formu- 
 lated during the year. The St. Louis & 
 Council Bluffs Railroad was finished during 
 the year, and in November a consolidation 
 was effected, which constituted the road a 
 material portion of the great Wabash system. 
 By an ordinance, approved on the 4th of 
 October, 1878, Union avenue was established 
 from a point on Broadway, near its intersec- 
 tion with Ninth street, diagonally to the 
 Union Pacific Depot, an avenue nearly six 
 thousand feet in length and 120 feet wide, to 
 constitute the principal thoroughfare between 
 the central part of the city and the Union Pa- 
 cific Transfer. To provide funds for open- 
 ing and improving this avenue, a special 
 election was held in the early part of 1879, 
 upon the question of the issuance of $25,000 
 in the bonds of the city, and the prof)osition. 
 was carried by a large majority. John T. Stew- 
 art & Co., who owned a considerable number 
 of ice-houses, standing on the line of the 
 proposed street, objecting to the proposition 
 to increase the indebtedness of the city for 
 the improvement, sought to restrain the issu- 
 ance of the bonds, on the ground that the 
 limit of the city to contract debt had been 
 reached, and alleging that the outstanding 
 warrants must be included in any estimate of 
 the city's indebtedness. This view was ac- 
 cepted by Judge Reed in deciding the case 
 in the District Court, and a perpetual injunc- 
 tion was granted. The city appealed to the 
 Supreme Court from this decision, but the 
 latter court affirmed the order made. by Judge 
 Reed and continued the injunction. A spe- 
 cial levy was then made of taxes to cover th« 
 expense of procuring the right of way and 
 executing the work, and, in 1880 and 1881, 
 nearly one-half of the necessary grading was- 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 331 
 
 done. The condition of the finances of the 
 city in 1SS2 made a suspension of the im- 
 provement nocessaiy. Its resumption isouly 
 a matter of time, as it has gone too far to be 
 abandoned. 
 
 The State Democratic Convention met at 
 Council Bhiffs on the 30th day of May, 1879. 
 The greater portion of the delegates arrived 
 the evening before, and an immense mass 
 meeting vpas held at the corner of Broadway 
 and Bancroft streets, at which Judge Kin- 
 ne, of Tama County, and Hon. W. A. Stovf, 
 of Hamburg, spoke. The convention was 
 called to order by Hon. Ed Campbell, Jr., of 
 Fairfield, the veteran Chairman of the State 
 Democratic Committee, and Hon. James Ha- 
 german made temporary Chairman. Hon. 
 A. C. Dodge, ex-United States Senator, was 
 chosen permanent Chairman of the conven- 
 tion, and delivered an interesting address, 
 upon taking the chair. Among the leading 
 members of the convention were W. W. Wit- 
 mer, then editor of the Des Moines Leader, 
 and Hon. John P. Irish, of the Iowa City 
 Press. T. J. Potter, General Manager of 
 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 
 was a delegate from Des Moines County, and 
 was appointed on the Committee on Resolu- 
 tions, and assisted in making the State plat- 
 form. Col. Harry H. Trimble was nominated 
 for Governor, and the gallant crippled sol- 
 dier, Capt. Joseph Yeoman, of Fort Dodge, 
 for Lieutenant Governor. The fire depart- 
 ment of the city gave a grand parade in the 
 forenoon, and attracted considerable atten- 
 tion, and won the applaiise of the many vis- 
 itors by their admirable appearance and dis- 
 cipline. 
 
 The spring election of 1880 resulted in the 
 choice of \\'. C. James for Mayor a second 
 time, though the terms of two incumbents in- 
 tervened since he held the office last. Among 
 the most prominent and valuable improve- 
 
 ments inaugiu'ated in the early part of the 
 year, was that of erecting a new three-story 
 school building in the Fourth Ward, on the 
 site of the old two-story brick, nearly oppo- 
 site the Presbyterian Church, now known as 
 the Bloomer School. In addition to the 
 three principal stories is a large basement. 
 It was not the desigrn to transfer the high 
 school to that building, when it was first de- 
 signed, but the public had conceived such a 
 prejudice against the high school building, 
 on the summit of the l)luflf, that when the 
 Bloomer School was ready for occupancy, in 
 September, 1881, it became necessary to as- 
 sign the high school classes to those quarters, 
 and to use it for high school purjMses, in ad- 
 dition to making it award school proi:)er. A 
 clock was also provided for the handsome bell 
 tower 105 feet high, the bell which was for- 
 merly in use at the Presbyterian Church be- 
 ing the one used for strikingf the hour. 
 
 The Republican Congressional Convention 
 held in the court house here, was one of the 
 most memorable political events of this lo- 
 cality. The nomination of Col. W. P. Hep- 
 burn, of Page County, was, after one of the 
 most arduous of struggles, three days and 
 nights having been spent in attempting to 
 make a nomination. Robert Percival, of 
 Council Bluffs, was made the Democratic 
 candidate, and stumped the district, Mr. Pa- 
 sey, elected in 1882, accompanying him, and 
 also making some speeches. C. R. Scott, of 
 Council Bluffs, was chosen a Garfield Dis- 
 trict Presidential Elector, in 1880, Maj. An- 
 derson of this Congressional District, also 
 having been chosen one of the electors-at- 
 large. Robert Perrival and Jacob C. Mor- 
 gan were sent by the Democrats as delegates 
 to the National Convention at Cincinnati, the 
 former as a district delegate, and the latter 
 was elected by the State Democratic Conven- 
 tion, held in that year at Bm-lington. 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 At the spring election of 1881, W. B. 
 Vaughan, as a Democratic candidate, was 
 elected Mayor, over C. E. Scott and Col. D. 
 , B. Dailey. F. A. Burke, former City Re- 
 corder, and E. C. Hubbard were opposing 
 candidates again for the same office, and Mr. 
 Bmke was successful. 
 
 At the meeting of the State Fireman's 
 Association, in 1880, Council Bluffs was des- 
 ignated as the place of next meeting, and the 
 time, the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th of June, 
 1881. The fire department of Council Bluffs, 
 under the management of Thomas Bowman, 
 B. Newman, P. Lacy, John N. Beckley, G. 
 A. Holmes, the President of the dej^artment, 
 and others of equal enterprise, made the most 
 ample preparations for the event. Weeks 
 were spent in preparing the grounds in the 
 northwestern part of the city, adjoining the 
 North-Western railroad track. Commodious 
 buildings of all kinds were erected, and many 
 acres of ground inclosed like a fair ground. 
 The track upon which the trials of sjjeed 
 during the tournament were to take place, 
 was 300 yards in length from east to west 
 and 60 feet wide, hardened, graded and 
 rolled until it was one of the most perfect 
 race tracks in the world. Every building in 
 the city, almost, was decorated and draped 
 with flags and bunting, and an immense tri- 
 umphal arch was sprung from the four cor- 
 ners at the intersection of Broadway and 
 Main streets. The meeting of the State As- 
 sociation was held at Burhoja's Hall on the 
 7th. On the 8th occurred the grand parade. 
 Forty-sis fire organizations, from various cit- 
 ies and towns in the State, took part in this 
 vast demonstration. The parade was under 
 the direction of John H. Keatley, as Chief 
 Marshal, and was more than a mile in length. 
 Ten bands of music attended it, and it was 
 witnessed by fully 30,000 jieople along the 
 line of march. Among the distinguished vis- 
 
 itors of the day were Hon. John H. G-ear, 
 Governor of Iowa, who spoke eloquently to 
 the State firemen, in the public park. The 
 afternoons of eacli day of the tournament 
 were taken up with hose races, trials of fire 
 engines and appliances of all kinds, witnessed 
 by many thousand people from the great am- 
 phitheater within the grounds. A most bril- 
 liant illumination closed the festivities of the 
 second day. Balls were given by the Coun- 
 cil Bluffs firemen to their comrades from 
 abroad. Am^ng the victors in the lists were 
 the Eescues, of Council Bluffs, of which the 
 present Mayor, Bowman, was Captain, and 
 the Bluffs City. Both teams took State 
 prizes. The event closed without a single 
 accident to mar its pleasures. At the elec- 
 tion of officers of the State Association, Oscar 
 Allen, of Marshalltown, President for the 
 preceding year, gave place to Gen. Lyman 
 Banks, of Muscatine, and Muscatine selected 
 as the place of meeting for 1882. 
 
 A great furor was created in transporta- 
 tion circles during the latter part of the sum- 
 mer by an attempt made by Mayor Vaughan 
 to introduce what is known as the Herdic 
 coach for street travel, in opposition to the 
 street car lines. Peter Herdic, of Williams- 
 port, Peun., visited the city in the interests 
 of these coaches, and some six or seven of 
 them were put on various lines of travel on 
 principal streets, with fare at 5 cents, but 
 when the fall rains set in, and the unjsaved 
 streets became impassable for that class of 
 vehicles, it was demonstrated that, with the 
 streets in that condition, they were impi'acti- 
 cable, and were abandoned. 
 
 For several years, there was a supj)ressed 
 wish to change the form of the city govern- 
 ment by abandoning the old special charter, 
 but no definite effort was made until 1881. 
 A petition, containing the names of a requi- 
 site number of voters, was presented to the 
 
HISTOUY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 235 
 
 City Council, and, in obedience to the stat- 
 ute, they appointed the 3d day of October as 
 the day of a special election, on which the 
 question of abandonment should be decided. 
 The proposition carried by a handsome ma- 
 jority. The City Council, owing to a claim 
 that the polls had not closed at the proper 
 hour, refused to canvass the vote, urging that 
 it was no election. A writ of mandamus 
 was sued out before Judge Reed, to compel 
 them to count the votes, the suit being insti- 
 tuted by George Keeline, at the instance of 
 the friends of the measure, to operate the city 
 under the general puljlic incorporation laws 
 of the State, instead of under the old special 
 charter, but before a final decision was 
 reached, a compromise was effected, and an 
 order made that the election for city officers 
 should occur on the 7th day of March, 1882, 
 for a term of two years. 
 
 The 30th day of May, 1881, was strictly 
 observed by the people of Council Bluffs as 
 Decoration Day. Up to 1880, there had been 
 no memorial services of the kind held in this 
 city, although quite a number of veterans of 
 the late war occupied unmarked graves in the 
 various cemeteries here. There was no or- 
 ganization of veterans to take charge of such 
 ceremonies and tribute to the valiant dead. 
 About the middle of April, 1880, as a pre- 
 paration for Decoration Day, one hundred 
 and twenty old soldiers met in the court 
 house and organized the Pottawatamie Vet- 
 eran Association, and took the necessary 
 steps, in connection with the citizens, to 
 properly celebrate the occasion. It was a 
 bright Sunday. Thousands tiu-ned out to 
 take part, and the people marched to Fair- 
 view Cemetery, where a platform had been 
 erected, with appropriate music, to decorate 
 the graves, about a dozen in all. They were 
 completely buried in masses of flowers be- 
 stowed by loving and reverent hands. Hon. 
 
 J. E. Reed and Maj. Lyman delivered elo- 
 quent eulogies on the soldiers. 
 
 The 30th day of May. 1881, Decoration 
 Day, was again observed in an imposing 
 manner, at the same cemetery, Col. W. F. 
 Sapp. Col. Smythe, of Omaha, Rev. F. T 
 Webb, of the Episcopal Church, and others, 
 delivering appropriate addresses, and the 
 tombs beinor again strewn with flowers. The 
 Cemetery Association, the year before, had 
 donated to the Veteran Association a hand- 
 some plat of ground for the proper burial of 
 such soldiers as died here in poverty and 
 without friends. Several burials had already 
 occurred iu that beautiful lot. Among the 
 graves dacorated in 1881, which were not in 
 the cemetery in 18S0, was that of the distin- 
 gui.shsd physician. Dr. Henry Osborn, who 
 had tilled an honorable place in the service 
 of his country as a medical officer on the bat- 
 tle-fields of the Western army. 
 
 The sju-ing of 1881 was ushered in by what 
 will always be known as the great flood. 
 Heavier snows fell in the West, and espe- 
 I cially in the Cpper Missouri country, than 
 had been known for many years before. 
 AVhen these began to melt, at the end of 
 March, there were indications of an unusual 
 flood. Intelligence came from Yankton, 
 Sioux City and other points iu the North and 
 Northwest, that there was an unprecedented 
 rise in the river, and that cattle and houses 
 had been swept away. Now and then a house 
 from up the country swept past Council 
 Bluffs, but no local alarm was created. On 
 Friday night, the water of the Missouri was 
 out of its banks in the northwestern part of 
 the city, but no apprehension was felt by the 
 citizens generally, although the city authori- 
 ties felt the danger of the breaking of a dyke 
 made by an old embankment of the North- 
 western Railroad Company, extending to 
 the river. 
 
236 
 
 HLSTOKY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 The grounds west of the North W^estern 
 track were much lower than east of it. This 
 section of the city was then occupied by 
 smaller residences. The dyke broke, the 
 water came through, but not in any great 
 rush, and gradually spread over the table- 
 land, not disturbing the foundations of the 
 buildings. It was late at night when the 
 real alarm was given, and the scene was more 
 appalling in appearance than in actuality. 
 Numerous families were rescued in the night 
 and taken to the court house, Dohany's Hall, 
 Bloom & Nixon's, and other places, for safety 
 and comfort. By daylight, the whole area 
 from the North-AVestern track to the river 
 bank, was an open sea, dotted with houses as 
 islands. During the forenoon of Saturday, 
 nearly all were in a place of safety, yet the 
 water kept rising till it crossed the railroad 
 track, covered all the south and west jiart of 
 the city as far east as Ninth street, and 
 wholly cut off all intercourse between the 
 centra] part of the city and the transfer, ex- 
 cept by boat. Until Wednesday of the next 
 week, commerce between Omaha and Council 
 Bluffs was wholly by boats. The water stood 
 at the transfer platforms to the upper edge. 
 Men made from $15 to $20 per day in carry- 
 ing passengers in boats from the North-West- 
 ern depot to the transfer. During the flood, 
 scarcely a house was moved from its founda- 
 tions. The water eventually fell about a 
 foot, and people congratulated themselves 
 that the crisis was over, but they were start- 
 led, in a few days again, with the intelli- 
 gence that the river was rising at Sioux City 
 to a height equal to the former flood; and in 
 a few hours, the water advanced over its 
 fonner route, submerging the same portions 
 of the city to a height of about two inches 
 more than before. It stood at that stage for 
 nearly a week, and then subsided, leaving 
 one of the fairest portions of Council Bluffs 
 
 a desolate waste, so far as mere appearances 
 were concerned. Fences, outhouses and 
 sidewalks were gone, entailing heavy loss 
 upon individuals, ill able to bear it, and 
 upon the public. Many families of the lab- 
 oring classes were fed at the public expense, 
 as their employment at the railroads was 
 wholly interrupted. 
 
 The 26th of September, 1881, was signal- 
 ized in Council Bluffs by the observance of 
 appropriate mamorial services, on the day of 
 the funeral of President Garfield, at Cleve- 
 land, Ohio. The day set in with a shower, 
 but by noon it cleared off bright and clear. 
 The entire city took part in the ceremonies. ' 
 At noon, a salute was tired from a twelve- 
 pounder, but during one of the discharges of 
 the piece, the arm of Joseph Spaulding, an 
 ex-soldier of the civil war, was torn off so 
 that amputation had to be made at the shoul- 
 der. He recovered otherwise from the acci- 
 dent, and when the mail carrier system was 
 established here, he was appointed by Mr. 
 Armour, the Postmaster, in that branch of 
 the public service. This was the second ac- 
 cident through that piece within two months. 
 "While it was being used at the Shenandoah 
 Soldiers' Re-union, in the latter- part of Au- 
 gust, James Matthews, of Council Bluffs, 
 who was engaging in serving the gun, lost 
 his hand by a premature discharge. The 
 people of Shenandoah very generously pro- 
 vided a large sum of money for the benefit of 
 Mr. Matthews, whose circumstances justified 
 such an act of charity. 
 
 The civic societies, the post of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, and the Veteran Asso- 
 ciation, marched in column to the Pearl Street 
 Park, where appropriate services were held, 
 among them the delivery of an eloquent eu- 
 logy by John N. Baldwin, son of Judge 
 Baldwin, deceased. 
 
 Scarcely had the people left the park on 
 
HISTORY OF rOTTx\.WATTAMlE COUXTY. 
 
 237' 
 
 their way home from the ceremonies, when 
 a terrific explosion was heard, the noise of 
 the crash coming from the southwestern part 
 of the city. Persons in the second stories of 
 buildings, looking in the direction of the 
 Eock Island depot, saw a huge column of va- 
 por and smoke rise into the air at a great 
 height, indicating the explosion of a steam 
 boiler as much as anything else. Hundreds of 
 squares of large French-plate glass, more than 
 a mile from the Rock Island depot, on Broad- 
 way and on Pearl and Main streets, were 
 shattered to fragments, and the streets were 
 filled in a moment with crowds of panic- 
 stricken people. An earthquake seemed to 
 be, to most of them, the only explanation. It 
 was soon ascertained that a car load of dyna- 
 mite had caught lire in the fi-eight yard of 
 the Rock Island Railroad Company, and had 
 exploded. The wreck made on the grounds 
 was terrific. Box-cars constituting trains 
 were split into kindling wood. The large 
 brick round-house near by was totally de- 
 molished, and some of the largest stone in 
 the structure hurled immense distances. Oil- 
 houses, dining-cars, machine shops and tool- 
 houses were literally torn to pieces. Dwell- 
 ing-houses, a quarter of a mile away, were 
 rendered ruinous, and where the car stood a 
 hole was scooped out of the earth more than 
 a hundred feet in diameter and fifty feet in 
 depth, the earth having deen thrown up in 
 great blocks weighing many tons each. Sin- 
 gularly enough, not a life was lost. Only a 
 few moments before the disaster occurred, 
 Jerome McClintock, in charge of the freight 
 depaitment of the company, and aware of 
 the car being on tire, notified the men in the 
 yard and shops of the impending danger, and 
 they abandoned the premises none too soon. 
 Many suits have been begun against the rail- 
 road company to determine its liabilities for 
 the results of the explosion. Before winter 
 
 set in, the railroad company had completely 
 restored their destroyed buildings. 
 
 The canvass for the election of officers of 
 the city at the spring election, in 1882, was, 
 without exception, the most active the city 
 had ever known. Mayor Vaughan was a can- 
 didate for re-election. He made a struggle 
 to secure the delegates to the city Democratic 
 Convention, but was defeated in his effort. 
 He had at the same time been nominated by 
 a large convention of the laboring men, and 
 entered on a fierce strife for ratification at 
 the polls. The Republican Convention 
 nominated Dr. N. D. Lawrence, and the Demo- 
 crats, Thomas Bowman, a young Democrat, a 
 native of Maine, who came to Council Bluffs 
 in 1867, and who had twice been elected 
 County Treasurer by unprecedented majori- 
 ties. Many Democrats, who were in sympa- 
 thy with the labor cause, voted for Mr. 
 Vaughan, thereby diminishing the chances of 
 Mr. Bowman as against Dr. Lawrence. The 
 
 ! most intense excitement prevailed on elec- 
 tion day. The result was that Mr. Bow- 
 man defeated Mr. Vaughan by a majority of 
 138 votes, and Dr. Lawrence by thirty-four 
 votes. 
 
 Diuring the summer of 1882, the Driving 
 Park Association made especial efforts for its- 
 fall meeting, to begin on the 18th of Sep- 
 tember. A new art and agricultm'al hall was 
 erected, at a cost of §0,000, the finest edifice 
 of its kind in the West. It was built in the 
 form of a cross, each arm of the same being 
 
 1 150 feet long. In addition to the excellent 
 mile track made the year before, the associa- 
 tion constructed a half-mile track inside of 
 
 i the other, and made the grounds most at- 
 tractive in every respect. Arrangements were 
 made for the holding of a county fair at the 
 date of the fall meeting, and this was con- 
 ducted with the most eminent success, owing 
 to the admirable management of Dr. A. B. 
 
338 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 McCune, W. S. Pettibone, N. M. Pusey, L. 
 C Baldwin, J. W. Peregoy, Directors of the 
 association. The daily attendance during 
 the four days' fair and races was about 20,- 
 000 people, they coming from all parts of 
 Western Iowa and Eastern Nebraska. The 
 fair was a success, not only in numbers, but 
 in disjjlay and financially. The art exhibi- 
 tion under Mrs. N. M. Pusey, Mrs. J. B. At- 
 kins and other ladies of the city, was the 
 finest and most attractive ever seen in Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. 
 
 Following the fair, and beginning on the 
 28th of September, was the re-union of the 
 Veteran Association of Southwestern Iowa 
 and Northwestern Missouri. The Driving 
 Park Association gave the use of the fair 
 grounds to the reunion. Through the aid of 
 a bill introduced by Congressman Hepburn, 
 the War Department loaned to the associa- 
 tion 150 hospital tents, capable of sheltering 
 over 2,500 men. A rain occurred on Wed- 
 nesday night, the re-union beginning on 
 Thursday, and laid the dust. The first morn- 
 ing opened bright, clear and cool, and the 
 fixst trains brought veterans by the hundred, 
 and by night 3,000 of them were comfortably 
 quartered in the camp. Col. John H. Keat- 
 ley was the Commandant, aided by Col. D. 
 B. Dailej-, Chief of Staff. Cen. G. M. 
 Dodge, the former commander of the Six- 
 teenth Army Corps, and the first Colonel of 
 the Fourth Iowa, organized here, was on a 
 visit home from New York, to meet the old 
 regiment and to take part in the re-union. 
 On the afternoon of the first day. the veter- 
 ans were organized into two battalions, the 
 one called the Wabash Battalion, under com- 
 mand of Col. Ellis, of Vallisca, and the other, 
 the Northwestern Battalion, commanded by 
 Col. J. C. Cook, of Carroll. Both battalions 
 gave handsome and interesting dress parades 
 at 5 o'clock that evening, witnessed by many 
 
 thousands of spectators. The veterans had 
 not forgotten, in the fifteen years since the 
 war closed, their military habits, and moved 
 with a precision that was remarkable. 
 
 On the second morning, at 9 o'clock, the 
 column formed at the fair grounds, and 
 ; marched into the city for parade and review. 
 Old, tattered and torn battle-flags were borne 
 in the column, headed by the commandant 
 and Gen. Dodge^ the reviewing officer. At 
 the Methodist Church, the column counter- 
 marched, and as Gen. Dodge passed it on 
 return, he was received with respectful and 
 pathetic silence, and many a gray-haired 
 veteran wept at the spectacle, never again 
 to be repeated. Gen. Dodge jilaced himself 
 at the corner of Broadway and Bancroft 
 streets, where the column passed, marching 
 by platoons, and riding away when the last 
 maimed veteran passed his gallant old com- 
 mander, there was a feeling of sadness, not 
 only in the men themselves, but in the more 
 than 40,000 people who in dense masses 
 lined the sidewalks for nearly two miles. It 
 was a memorable day, the greatest Council 
 Bluffs ever saw, and perhaps will never see 
 its equal again. Congratulatory dispatches 
 . and letters were also read in camp, before 
 ! the parade was dismissed from Gens. Grant, 
 i Sherman, Sheridan and Howard. The after- 
 noon was occupied by speeches from Col. 
 Hepburn Maj. Anderson and others, to their 
 comrades, and a sham battle between an 
 armed post of the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public from Carroll, and a cavalry company 
 from Coburg, Iowa, under Capt. Kretchmer, 
 and with a dress parade of both battalions in 
 the evening. That night, the city was bril- 
 liantly illuminated, in honor of the veterans, 
 and Gen. Dodge, assisted by his daughter, 
 Mrs. F. S. Pusey, gave the Fourth Iowa and 
 other military guests, and his civilian friends, 
 including Hon. A. C. Dodge, ex-United States 
 
HISTOKY OF rOTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 239' 
 
 Senator of Iowa, a hospitable reception at 
 his residence on Bluff street. The re-\inion 
 closed on Satm-day, with farewell greetings, 
 and the election of officers of the association 
 for the ensuing year, and the fixing of the 
 next place of meeting at Marysville, Mo. 
 
 With this paragraph, the annals of Council 
 Bluflfs close, at a point, too, in its history, 
 and in an event which will not soon be for- 
 gotten either by the writer or by those who 
 witnessed this assemblage of the men who had 
 gallantly fought tlie battles of the great nation. 
 
 4%^ 
 
^40 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII* 
 
 KNOX TOWNSHIP— FIRST SETTLERS— FIRST MARRIAGE— FIRST WHEAT SOWN— MISSIONARY WORK 
 
 —AVOCA— ORIGIN OF NAME— RAILROADS— CHURCHES— SOCIETIES— 
 
 THE PRESS— BUSINESS INTERESTS, ETC. 
 
 and settled near Newtown, on Section 22. 
 Joshua Headlee is now dead. His son James 
 removed to Han'ison County, and William to 
 Butler County, Kan. The mother is a resi- 
 dent of Avoca. Her two daughters also live 
 in the same town. Joseph Headlee arrived 
 in the fall of 1852. He now lives in Valley 
 Township. George Headlee settled on the 
 J. A. Sinclair farm, near Avoca, and his 
 death, in 1854, was the tirst in Knox Town- 
 ship. Jackson Headlee came about the same 
 time and stayed until the war broke out, 
 when he went into the military service as a 
 "Union soldier, and died in the South. Where 
 Joshua Headlee first settled is now the prop- 
 erty of Cyrus True. 
 
 Ira Baker and Thomas F. Davis airived 
 and made a settlement in 1853. Baker dis- 
 charged the duties of Justice of the Peace 
 and of Township Clerk for several years. 
 Joseph A. Bunnell came in 1852, but did not 
 make a permanent residence, part of his time 
 being spent in Shelby County for a few years, 
 and he did not definitely locate until ]854. 
 Josiah True, who is one of the leading citi- 
 zens of the county, and who was one of the 
 Democratic candidates for Representative in 
 the Legislature in 1879, settled near where 
 Avoca now is in November, 1857. Cyrus 
 True came during the same month. Jona- 
 than Hall, who now lives in Woodbiuy Coun- 
 ty, settled in Lewin's Grove, but the date is 
 not now remembered by the old settlers of 
 the township. John lii'utzinger bought out 
 the Joshua Headlee claim, and built a saw 
 
 -X -rEXT after Kane, Knox Township is the 
 _LN most important township in the coimty, 
 inasmuch as it contains the largest town in 
 the county after the city of Council Bluffs. 
 Not only that, the main line of the Chica- 
 go, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad passes 
 through Avoca, and it is also the northern 
 terminus of the Carson Branch, and the 
 southern terminus of the Harlan Branch, of 
 ihe Rock Island. Besides these considera- 
 tions, a great portion of the township con- 
 sists of the far-famed Nishnabotna Valley, 
 one of the richest agricultural regions in the 
 world. 
 
 The tirst settler in Knox Township was 
 Washington Lewin, who came in in 1851, 
 and settled about a mile and a half east of 
 where Avoca now stands, in what has since 
 been called Lewin's Grove. Mr. Lewin sub- 
 sequently changed his residence to Omaha, 
 Neb. , and the tract of land that he occupied 
 in 1851 has been divided into lots, and 
 owned principally by H. Meredith. Lewin 
 occupied a log cabin on the land. 
 
 William Henderson, a bachelor, was the 
 second settler, and located in Lewin's Grove 
 in the fall of 1851. He opened out a small 
 clearing in the timber, and the next year 
 raised a light crop of corn. He lived on this 
 land several years; was afterward married 
 there, and died in the township. His widow 
 is now a resident of Shelby County. 
 
 Joshua Headlee and his two sons, William 
 and James, came into the township in 1852, 
 
 *By Col. Johu H. Keatley. 
 
KNOX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 241 
 
 mill on the West Branch of the Nishnabotna, 
 on Section 21. This was the fu-st improve- 
 ment of that kind made in Knox Township, 
 and the second in the eastern part of the coun- 
 ty. Krutzinger also connected a small grist- 
 mill with his saw-mill. He was a man of 
 some means. He was killed at Gleuwood, 
 Mills County, in the fall of 1S56. He moved 
 from that place in 1854, and built his mill the 
 same summer. 
 
 Jonathan Hall was also a man of some 
 means and influence; acted as Justice of the 
 Peace, and frequently practiced medicine 
 among the needy settlers. Joseph Losh came 
 to the township in 1854, jumped a claim 
 where Avoca now stands, and built a cabin, 
 but did not remain long, moving; farther 
 down the river and building Losh's Mill, 
 near Carson. Henry Brown bought out Losh's 
 claim. He lived on it for quite awhile, and 
 then sold it to J. A. Sinclair. Henry Peter- 
 son. J. Wineland, John Wood, John Nelson 
 and Joseph Crews came in about the same 
 date and opened up farms. Buck Townsend 
 arrived in the fall of 1855, and laid out the 
 town of Wooster, in Section 21, in the winter 
 of 1855-56, and opened a store on the town 
 site. Samuel Perrin, of Council Bluffs, was 
 the surveyor who laid off Wooster for Town- 
 send. The original proprietors were Town- 
 send and Samuel Knepper and Dr. S. M. 
 Ballard, of Coimcil Bluffs, who had in view 
 the railroad from the Mississippi to the Mis- 
 souri River at that date. After from fifteen 
 to twenty houses were built on their site, they 
 found difficulty in the title, and, dissatisfac- 
 tion having arisen, and John Krutzinger 
 bought forty acres just across the line, and 
 laid it out, calling the new site Newtown, "by 
 which the spot has ever since been known, 
 anything like a town having long since dis- 
 appeared in the opening-up of railroads in 
 ■other directions. Newtown was the center 
 
 of business in Knox Township until Avoca 
 was laid out, as the result of the building of 
 the Rock Island Railroad. Newtown had 
 thi-ee stores at one time, and a blacksmith 
 shop. The elections were held at that point, 
 and nearly all the meetings in the township. 
 The first frame schoolhouse in the township 
 was at Newtown, and was erected by Cyriis 
 True as the contractor. This was in 1858. 
 But the first school was in a log cabin built 
 by Joshua Headlee. This was not a public 
 school, but was sustained by private subscrip- 
 tion among the settlers, and was taught by R. 
 M. Donahue. 
 
 The first marriage celebrated in Knox 
 Township was between George White and 
 Miss Mary Townsend, the daughter of Buck 
 Townsend, who laid out Wooster. The new- 
 ly married couple went to Council Bluffs to 
 live after they were married. The first birth 
 in the township was a son to Josej)h Head- 
 lee and his wife, in LS53. The tu'st preach- 
 ing was in a log cabin, at a quarterly, held 
 by the Rev. Moses Shinn, of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church. The second mill built 
 was on the Main Branch of the Botna River, 
 by Seth Hunt & Sons. This was the first 
 regular flouring-mill; but the machinery was 
 afterward taken out and made a part of the 
 Centennial Mills in Avoca. A parsonage 
 was built at Newtown for the Methodist min- 
 ister. John Wilson bought out Buck Town- 
 send's store at Newtown, and discharged the 
 duties of local Methodist preacher. The 
 circuit extended for twenty miles in each di- 
 rection from Newtown, the first circuit-rider 
 as a preacher being Rev. Mr. Card. Dr. S. 
 M Ballard, who was at one time Register of 
 the United States Land Oifice at Council 
 Bluffs, laid out a State road from Iowa City 
 to Council Bluffs, and passed through 
 Newtown, and is still known as the Ballard 
 State road. The first bridge was on this 
 
243 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 road, across the Botna, and was constructed 
 by James A. Sinclair. The post office was 
 opened at Newtown by John Wilson, as Post- 
 master. He was succeeded by Cyrus True. 
 James A. Sinclair succeeded True. A steam 
 saw-mill was brought up from Big Grove to 
 Newtown in 1858, and operated there for 
 some years. After Mr. Krutzinger's death 
 at Glenwood, John Stickley, who now lives 
 at Clarinda, in Page County, operated Krutz- 
 inger's Mill. 
 
 Tlie family of Woods was quite an impor- 
 tant one at an early date in the township. 
 John H. Wood now lives in Missouri. The 
 family consisted of a widowed mother, and 
 live brothers and two sisters. 
 
 The first wheat sown was in the spring of 
 1855, and the first threshing by a machine, 
 in the harvest of 1856, on the farm of James 
 A. Sinclair. The great distance the town- 
 ship lay from railroads and the river, and 
 especially from railroads, until the advent 
 of the Kock Island in 1869, retarded the set- 
 tlement of the township, although the soil is 
 the most fertile in the State. 
 
 The United Brethren Church began mis- 
 sionary work among the settlers shortly after 
 the Methodists, and organized a society, con- 
 ducting their services in the schoolhouse at 
 Newtown. They have now about iifty mem- 
 bers, and their meetings are held at the 
 schoolhouse at Pleasant Hill. Their pres- 
 ent minister is the Rev. Mr. Jenks. They 
 also have a Sunday school in connection with 
 their church organization. The Rev. J. M. 
 Dosch was the first pastor of the society. 
 One of the original members is James A. 
 Sinclair. 
 
 The following sketches outline the cai'eer 
 of some of the early settlors of the township, 
 its pioneers. William Pierce came to Potta- 
 wattamie County in 1855, and settled at Mac- 
 edonia, and remained there about thi'ee years. 
 
 when he removed up the river to where Han- 
 cock, on the Carson Branch now is, and lived 
 there for three years more. He returned 
 then to Des Moines and stayed four years, 
 and moved back again, settling in Avoca. 
 While at Macedonia, he had a blacksmith 
 shop, and kept the toll-bridge across the Nish- 
 nabotua River for its owner, J. B. Stuts- 
 man, and others, who had erected it and were 
 operating it under a license. When he first 
 came into the township, wolves were abund- 
 ant and terribly annoying, howling all night 
 long around his cabin; and deer could be 
 easily shot at any time. Game of all kinds 
 was then abundant. Mr. Pierce was born in 
 Ohio in 1828, and lived in his native State 
 until his removal to Iowa in 1855, following 
 his trade as a blacksmith. He was married, 
 in 1853, to Miss Elizabeth Brown, also a na- 
 tive of Ohio. They have four children living 
 — three sons and one daughter. In political 
 sentiment and opinion, Mr. Pierce has always 
 been a Democrat. His farm of eighty acres, 
 near Avoca, is finely improved, and constitutes 
 for him a comfortable home. When he 
 went to where Hancock now is to settle, 
 there was not a house on either side of the 
 river from Big Grove to Newtown, a distance 
 of eleven miles. In order to secure his claim 
 of 120 acres of land, he had to borrow money, 
 and was compelled to pay 60 per cent per an- 
 nvim for the use of what he needed. He bor- 
 rowed the amount from Ira Platner, of Coun- 
 cil Blufis. Mrs. Pierce greatly assisted her 
 husband, especially when they resided at 
 Macedonia. The constant stream of emi- 
 grants westward made the baking of bread 
 for sale to them extremely profitable, her net 
 receipts, some days, from that source, being 
 as high as $5. When she kej)t toll-bridge at 
 that point, a Mormon train came along, hav- 
 ing with it about fifty hand-carts. She had 
 not been given the rates of crossing for this 
 
KNOX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 245 
 
 kind of vehicle, and jumped at a conclusion, 
 and charged them $2.50, the rate for a two- 
 horse wagon being 20 cents. 
 
 Another well-known and highly respected 
 citizen of Knox Township is Cyrus True, al- 
 ready mentioned in connection with a num- 
 ber of early enterprises and improvemen s. 
 He was born in Lincoln County, Me., Sep- 
 tember 26, 1829, his father being Samuel 
 True, of that county. The parents of Cjtus 
 True removed to Bradford, Me., when he was 
 only six years old: and when he was eighteen 
 years old, he went to Bangor and learned the 
 trade of carpenter and joiner. When twenty- 
 three, he settled in New Haven, Conn., and 
 lived for three years, and then went to Bos- 
 ton, leaving the latter city and reaching his 
 present home in 1857. He was married to 
 Mrs. S. J. Hunter, also a native of North 
 Yarmouth, Me. The route taken to reach 
 this locality was to Alton, III. There they 
 took steamboat to St. Louis; from the latter 
 city they went by rail to Jefferson City, from 
 Jefferson City to Fort Leavenworth by boat; 
 and then again by boat to St. Joseph ; and 
 from there to Council Bluffs by stage. Land 
 was selling in the Botna Valley at that date 
 for $5 per acre. Josiah True, the brother of 
 Cyrus, who came at the same time, pm-chased 
 400 acres where he now lives, in sight of 
 Avoca. Cp'us bought no land at that time, 
 but went to work at his trade. Josiah True 
 went to Colorado during the Pike's Peak ex- 
 citement, and engaged in mining for about 
 five years, but came back to the county, and 
 has since made Knox Township his home, 
 having one of the tiaest homesteads in Iowa. 
 Part of the summer of 1882 has been spent 
 by him in Dakota, locating a ranch and en- 
 gaging in the management of stock-raising in 
 that quarter, but his permanent home is 
 w))ero he settled in 1857. 
 
 When James A. Sinclair arrived in Knox 
 
 Township in 1855, there were only ten fami- 
 lies of settlers in the township. He was born 
 in Indiana in 1826, his father being William 
 D. Sinclair. His mother still lives, at the 
 great age of eighty years. His parents moved 
 to Kentucky when he was twelve years of age, 
 and he remained in that State until after he 
 was married, in 1848, to Miss Martha Adkis- 
 son, a native of Kentucky. He then emigrat- 
 ed to Illinois, living in Warren County six 
 years, when be came to Iowa and settled in 
 Knox Township. He and his brother crossed 
 the State with one wagon and six horses, 
 bringing their families. They came by the 
 way of Burlington, Mt. Pleasant and Fair- 
 field. They had no idea of any particular 
 locality for settlement — simply that they 
 would come to Western Iowa. On the way, 
 they met their father, who had been out pros- 
 pecting. He turned back, came with them, 
 stayed a few months, and, when he started 
 East again, they were unable to hear what 
 ever became of him. Trading at that date 
 '^as all done at Council Bluffs, and the mill- 
 ing at Macedonia, Mr. Sinclair has six chil- 
 dren living — three sons and three daughters. 
 He has a fine farm of 425 acres, his principal 
 business being the raising of stock. He has 
 always been a Republican in politics, and a 
 consistent member of the United Brethren 
 Church. He has an orchard of fifteen acres on 
 his farm, doubtless the largest in the county. 
 H. H. Peterson, whose pvost office is Avoca, 
 is another Knox Township pioneer, who was 
 born in Maine August 18, 1827, and is the 
 son of William B. Peterson, who died when 
 the son was eighteen years of age. He 
 learned the tanner's trade, and, until his' fa- 
 ther's death — the latter being a cripple — 
 aided in his support. He came West, pass- 
 ing through and stopping for a short time in 
 Ohio, Indiana and Illinois; he finally landed 
 in Iowa, where he was married. His was the 
 
2it3 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 first wedding ever celebrated in Greene Coun- 
 ty, the bride being Miss Fannie Wood. On 
 coming to Pottawattamie County, he found the 
 public lands bad all fallen into the hands of 
 speculators, and, going into Nebraska, was 
 unable to find a homo to suit him, and re- 
 turned to Knox Township and settled. In 
 the spring of 1855, he bought 120 acres from 
 Ira Platner, paying him $12.50 an acre, pay- 
 ing Plainer also 60 per cent interest for six 
 months. At the end of that time, he was 
 able to borrow the money from Dr. S. M. 
 Ballard for 40 per cent and pay off the Plat- 
 ner debt. At the end of four years, he was 
 out of debt, and had his farm all paid for. 
 He was able to do this by stock - raising, 
 which, at that date, with the great range of 
 open country, was an exceedingly profitable 
 business. His farm now consists of 265 
 acres of as fine land as exists in Pottawat- 
 tamie County, ninety acres of it being in cul- 
 tivation, and the rest pasture and meadow. 
 He has also a grove of young timber planted 
 of seventy acres. He has six children living 
 — two sons and four daughters. Mr. Peter- 
 son is a Democrat in politics. 
 
 Jacob Wineland, another old settler, was 
 born in Pennsylvania in 1816, but moved to 
 Ohio with his parents when he was a small 
 boy. His father's name was John Wineland. 
 He lived in Ohio until 1852, when be came 
 to Iowa and assisted in the founding of 
 Brooklyn, in this State. He bought the land 
 to constitute his farm in Knox Township 
 July 3, 1854. The only settlers now living 
 in the township when he came are Joseph 
 Bunnell, James A. Sinclair and Henry Peter- 
 son. His wife, who was Miss Mary Ann Hain, 
 was a native of Ohio, and the couple were 
 married in that State. The pair have had 
 four daughters and three sons; two of the 
 daughters are married, and two of the sons. 
 Mr. Wineland, before the organization of the 
 
 Republican party, was a Whig, but when that 
 party disappeared in the contest over the 
 slavery question, Mr. Wineland assisted in 
 organizing the Republican party, and has 
 adhered to it ever since. He bought his land 
 from James A. Sinclair for 15 per acre. He 
 lived for a time in a kind of a tent, made by 
 piling up rails for sides, and making a roof 
 of the wagon cover. He then built a log 
 cabin, with a ground floor. In order to get 
 the Krutzinger Mill in operation, to get the 
 use of it, Mr. Wineland and other settlers 
 gave their assistance in labor for their board. 
 About the time the mill was ready for opera- 
 tion, a flood came and washed it off, and all 
 the work had to be done over. He has now a 
 fine farm of 450 acres, and a home in which 
 to spend his declining years comfortably. 
 When the first winter commenced after his 
 residence here, he possessed only 25 cents in 
 cash. He came through with ox teams from 
 Ohio. He brought to Knox Township twelve 
 sacks of flour, hoping that that would serve 
 him until the new crop would be harvested, 
 but the article was so scarce in the settlement 
 that he had to lend it nearly all to his neigh- 
 bors, and he and his family more than once 
 suffered for the want of it. 
 
 AVOCA. 
 
 This history of Avoca necessarily grows 
 out of that of Knox Township. It is the bus 
 iness center of the township, and the place 
 where its general elections are held. It is 
 situated forty-one miles east of Council 
 Bluffs, in the very heart of the Botna Valley, 
 and at the confluence of the East and West 
 Branches of the Nishnabotna River, Its ori- 
 gin is due to the construction and completion 
 of tho Rock Island Railroad through from 
 Des Moines to Council Bluffs in the early 
 part of 1870. The original town plat of 
 Avoca was made in 1869, when the railroad 
 
KNOX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 247 
 
 reached that point. John P. Cook, of Dav- 
 enport, and B. F. Allen, of Des Moines, laid 
 out an addition in 1870; Davis' Park Addi- 
 tion was added afterward; and the Old Race 
 Track Addition, in the west part of the town, 
 on the bottom. G. Deidrick, acting as agent 
 for the citizens, made a purchase of ten acres 
 for cemetery purposes in the north part of 
 the town in July, 1877. Afterward, ten more 
 acres were added to this; but live acres of 
 the last ten were afterward conveyed to the 
 Catholic Church for cemetery p.irposes. 
 
 Meredith Addition also forms a part of the 
 existing town plat. 
 
 The original town was laid off by a town 
 company in 1869, which consisted of John 
 P. Cook, his brother, Ebenezer Cook, John 
 F. Tracey, of the Rock Island Railroad Com- 
 pany, and B. F. Allen, the Des Moines bank- 
 er. Ebenezer Cook was at that time Vice 
 President of the railroad company, and its 
 Land Commissioner; and John P. Cook, who 
 had been a Member of Congress from Iowa, 
 was the Iowa solicitor of the company. The 
 first building erected was by Julius Priester. 
 In the winter of 1868-69, a building was 
 erpcted where the Pacific House now stands, 
 and was called the Botna Exchange, and this 
 was the first building ever occupied in the 
 town of Avoca. The railroad track reached 
 that point in April, 1869. 
 
 The old settlers called the town " Pacific," 
 but in April, 1869, it was changed to Botna. 
 An excursion of ladies and gentlemen came 
 out by rail, and going to the hill where the 
 public school building now is, looked up and 
 down the beautiful valley, and the scenery 
 recalling to one of the gentlemen Tom Moore's 
 " Sweet Vale of Avoca," he quoted several of 
 its lines, and, inspired by that circumstance, 
 one of the ladies clapped her hands, with 
 the exclamation, "That is it," and that be- 
 came the name of the town. 
 
 The first general store opened in the place 
 was by Norton & Jones, in a building that 
 stood where the Centennial Mills now are, 
 and the store was opened in July, 1S60. 
 They afterward moved to the northwest cor- 
 ner of Elm and High streets. Norton is now 
 in the hardware business at Oakland. Jones 
 & Norton are also in the hardware business 
 at Avoca. Abram Harris, who was afterward 
 Mayor of the place, opened a meat market in 
 March, 1870, buying out a man named Bee- 
 die, who had undertaken the business first. 
 Mr. Harris may be said to have actually 
 opened out the first regular market in the 
 town. He came to Valley Township in July, 
 1869, and began opening up a farm, and 
 since then has improved the second one in 
 the same township. He lived, before coming 
 into this section, at Ottawa, 111. ; was a 
 Democrat in 1844, and voted for Polk and 
 Dallas, afterward, the Whig and Republican 
 tickets, and finally became a leader in the 
 Greenback movement. 
 
 John Acker, the oldest settler in the town, 
 came in March, 1869, before the track was 
 finished to Council Bluffs. He came by stage 
 to Big Grove, and from there up to Avoca. 
 There was not at that date enough lumber to 
 be had to build a house, and sufficient to do so 
 had to be brought by rail from Atlantic. As 
 soon as he could get a building up, he went 
 into the general hardware trade, his being 
 the first business house on Elm street. At 
 that time, there was a little grocery on the 
 east side of the hill, and one hotel and two 
 saloons in the entire town. The first Mayor 
 after the town was incorporated was Milo H. 
 Adams. The present Mayor is G. Diedrich. 
 Capt. C. V. Gardner, who now lives at Dead- 
 wood, Dak. , and has there been engaged in suc- 
 cessful mining operations, and Thomas Led- 
 wich, now of Harlan, opened the first Imuber 
 yard in Avoca. C. V. Gardner also began the 
 
248 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 publication of the Avoca Delta, in 1870, hav- 
 ing the composition and press work done 
 outside, and the enterjirise being more of a 
 real estate boom than a legitimate joui'nalis- 
 tic enterprise. Shortly after, the railroad 
 company began the regular operation of 
 trains. Stephen Caldwell began buying and 
 shipping grain at that point. When the post 
 office was established and oj^ened, Thomas 
 Ledwich was made the first Postmaster. Jo- 
 seph B. Blake, one of the oldest settlers in 
 the county, and for many years a resident of 
 Crescent City and Council Bluffs, is the 
 present Postmaster of Avooa. 
 
 W. B. Peterson sold the land to John P. 
 Cook upon which the town site company lo- 
 cated the station, the tract consisting of 
 ninety-five acres. Clarence M. Peterson was 
 the first child born in the town, or where the 
 town stands, that occurring on March 4, 
 1869. His father lived on the site at the 
 time. They had began to stake off the town 
 a few days before he was born, and had not 
 finished when the event occurred. 
 
 The first public school building erected by 
 the Independent School District of Avoca, 
 after it was set off as such from the distinct 
 township of Knox, was a two- story brick, 36 
 x8(> feet, in 1876. An addition of the same 
 height and same material, 36x64. was made 
 in the year 1880. This building stands on 
 the top of an elevation, giving one of the 
 finest views in the State of Iowa, and the one 
 which so rapturously inspired those who gave 
 the existing name to this prosperous town. 
 
 The first meeting of the City Council was 
 held March 15. 1875. Milo H. Adams was 
 Mayor, G. Diedrich, Recorder, and H. O. 
 Seiffert, a member of the Iowa Legislature in 
 1882: J. M. Jones, C. H. Norton, W. T. 
 Mead and Stephen Jackson, Trustees. E. W. 
 Davis, the banker, was appointed Treasurer, 
 Orrin E. Beswick, Marshal, and John Cool, 
 
 Street Commissioner. At the second meet- 
 ing, March 17, a set of ordinances were adopt- 
 ed. The present officers (1882), besides Mr. 
 Diedrich, as Mayor, are F. G. Hetzel, Re- 
 corder; E. W. Davis, Treasurer; and Coun- 
 cilmen, H. O. Seiffert, N. E. Acker, D. Hig- 
 bee, A. Sterling, P. Desmond and Charles 
 Uhden. The Assessor is M. L. Hardesty; 
 City Marshal, O. E. Beswick; Assistant, 
 Thomas Hardie, and City Attorney, H. J. 
 Chambers. 
 
 Byron Bunnell built a house in 1870. In 
 this building, he taught a school, and all the 
 school taught in the town was here until the 
 new brick building was fit for occupancy. 
 All the religious services in the place and 
 Sunday schools were held there until church- 
 es were built for that pui'pose. In 1877, a 
 frame school building, 24x40 feet, was erect . 
 ed, on the south side of the railroad, for the 
 use of the inhabitants of that part of the 
 town. This was enlarged, in 1882, by a 
 two-story adnition, 24x60 feet. 
 
 In 1876, a three-story brick building was 
 put up by Consigny & Wath, with the ca- 
 pacity of 7,000 bushels for a steam flouring- 
 mill. An addition has been added as a ware- 
 house, making the capacity 12,000 bushels. 
 This is what is widely known as the Centen- 
 nial Mill, so called for the year in which it 
 was completed and put in operation. 
 
 The first religioiis services held in the 
 place were in July, 1869, when the Rev. 
 Charles W. Blodgett, of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Circuit of Big Grove and Harlan, 
 preached in the temporary depot of the Rock 
 Island road. In 1870, W. E. Hamilton came 
 upon the circuit, and organized a class of 
 four members, of which E. Fitch was made the 
 leader. In 1871, Rov. E. C. Waynick was 
 sent to take charge of the Avoca Circuit, just 
 then created, and Avoca was made the center 
 of the survev. In the same vear, a Method- 
 
KNOX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 249 
 
 ist Episcopal Suaday school was organized, 
 with Mr. Fitch as its Superintendent. A. 
 parsonage for the use of the circuit was com- ! 
 pleted in 1872. The p-esent church edifice ; 
 was built in 1874, and dedicated tu religious i 
 services by Bishop Andrews. The pastor in | 
 1882 is the Rov. D. C. Adams, and the so- I 
 ciety has about forty-five members, and the 
 average attendance upon the Sunday school 
 is about fifty. 
 
 The Rev. George Carroll, of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church, preached at Avoca on the 24th 
 day of July. 1870, and organized the society 
 there at that date. The first pastor was the 
 Rev. D. M. Hughes, who also had charge of 
 the chiu-ch at Atlantic, and preached alter- 
 nate Sundays, at the latter place and at Avoca. 
 The church at the latter place was organized 
 with thirteen members, consisting of Mr. 
 and Mrs. F. Waterman, Mr. and Mrs. C. V. 
 Gardner, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Halstead, Mi-, 
 and Mrs. I. Culbertson, Miss M. E. Knowles, 
 Mrs. H. Jones and Mrs. Annie Sharp. F. 
 Waterman was the first Ruling Elder. In 
 1871, a building committee, consisting of 
 Rev. Mr. Hughes, F. Waterman, Thomas 
 Ledwich, J. M. Halstead and C. V. Gardner 
 were appointed. The church was begun in 
 the fall of the same year, and finished and 
 dedicated in July, 1872. The dedication 
 sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Thomp- 
 son, of Jamestown, N. Y. The services up 
 to this time were held in the schoolhouse. 
 Mr. Hughes severed his connection in the 
 spring of 1873, went to New Mexico and 
 died soon afterward. He was succeeded by 
 the Rev. Andrew Herron, who was in time 
 succeeded by the Rev. John Kennedy. The 
 present minister is Rev. F. X. Miron; the 
 membership is fortj- persons, and the Sunday 
 school is attended by eighty pupils. The 
 Rev. John A. Walker occupied the pulpit for 
 some time during this interval, but trouble 
 
 having arisen between him and the congre- 
 gation, he went back to his native country, 
 Ireland. 
 
 The Catholic Church of Avoca was organ- 
 ized by the Rev. Father McMenony, priest 
 of St. Francis Church of Council Bluffs, in 
 1876. It soon afterward passed into the 
 charge of Father Edward Gaul, of Atlantic. 
 At the organization of the church, there were 
 only six Catholic families in the town, but 
 now there are about three hundred persons 
 who receive the administration of that church 
 in Avoca and the surrounding country. A 
 church was erected and dedicated in 187*3, and 
 a large Sunday school is also conducted un- 
 der the direction of the Bishop of the 
 diocese. 
 
 The First Congregational Church of Avoca 
 was organized June 12, 1870. This was the 
 fu'st church organized in the place. Rev. C. 
 D. Wright was the first minister. The mem - 
 bers were James M. Jones and his wife, J. 
 
 C. Norton and his wife, E. W Pearl and his 
 wife and the Rev. C. D. Wright and Nettie 
 
 D. Wright. The present membership is 
 seventy-five persons. The present church 
 edifice was built in 1874 and 187-"), and dedi- 
 cated May 23, 1875. A comfortable parson- 
 age was bought by the society in 1880. The 
 names of the different pastors who have had 
 charge of the society since the Rev. C. D. 
 Wright, are the Rev. George Hindley, Rev. 
 J. G. Sabin and Rev. George G. Perkins. 
 The Rev. J. G. Sabin simply supplied a va- 
 cation of a year, taken by Mr. Hindley. 
 
 A union Sunday school was organized im 
 the south side of the railroad on the IGth i>f 
 September, 1877; the first Superintendent was 
 J. T. Hazen. It was organized under the 
 auspices of J. S. Love, the missionary of the 
 American Sunday School Union. It has a 
 class of ninety members, with J. T. Nelton 
 as Superintendent. 
 
330 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Avoea has a flourishing Iilasonic lodge 
 called Mt. Nebo, No. 297. It has a member- 
 ship of si.\ty-live. Only two deaths have oc- 
 curred since its institution, that of Dr. 
 Thomas E. Fowler, March 6, 1873, and E. 
 Wolf, December 27. 1880. Both were bm-ied 
 with the usual and customary Masonic honors. 
 The present Master is J. C. Adams, and the 
 Secretary, Fremont Benjamin. There is also 
 a Royal Arch Chapter and an Eastern Star. 
 The latter was organized January 29, 1879, 
 under the title of Queen Esther Chapter, No. 
 50. with F. Waterman, W. P.; ]\Ii-8. D. 
 Hunt. \V. M. ; and Mrs. A. M. Gardner, A. 
 M. Mt. Nebo Lodge was organized June 7, 
 1871, with P. B. Hunt, as Master; Josiah 
 True, Senior Wai'den; John Cool, Junior 
 Warden; Daniel Hunt, Secretary, and R. G. 
 Harlow, Treasurer. 
 
 Delta Lodge, of the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows, was organized March 8, 1878. 
 J. M. Jones was the first N. G. ; J. C. Het- 
 zel. V. G. ; M. B. Nelson, P. S. ; F. M. Hoopes, 
 R. S., and H O. Seiffert, Treasurer. 
 They have an excellent hall in the second 
 story of the building occupied by Weise as a 
 di'ug store. The present membership is 
 fifty-six, and one death has occurred since 
 organization, that of M. B. Nelson. 
 
 Avoca Lodge of the same order was insti- 
 tuted April 19, 1871, where the work of the 
 order is conducted in English. Its place of 
 meeting is the same as that of Delta Lodge. 
 Its present membership is sixty-four, and its 
 present officers are : J . H. Arnold, N. G. ; L. 
 H. Sanders, V. G. ; S. B. Richards, Secretary, 
 and F. G. Hetzel, Treasurer. A. "W. Coff- 
 man was the first N. G. ; Steve Jackson the 
 first V. G.; O. H. P. Shoemaker, M. D., the 
 first Secretary, and J. H. Ai-nold, the first 
 Treasurer. Two deaths have occurred since 
 the lodge organized, those of G. W. Hart and 
 George Warner. 
 
 The Avoca Delta, a Republican weekly 
 newspaper, was established by Thomas Led- 
 rioh and C. U. Gardner, the first number 
 making its appearance January 1, 1870. 
 One side of the' paper was printed at that 
 time in Chicago, and the other in the office 
 of the Hiirlau Herald, in Harlan, Shelby 
 County. August 1, 1870, it changed hands, 
 becoming the property of its present owner, 
 J. C. Adams, who fitted up the office with new 
 material and press. In 1873, the office was 
 destroyed by fire, but the citizens of Avoca 
 at once raised $550 and made it as a dona- 
 tion to Mr. Adams, in order to enable him to 
 regain his feet and resume the publication of 
 his paper. The paper was also enlarged 
 fi'om a six-column folio to a seven-column, 
 and in fom'teen days from the date of the fire 
 re-appeared. In January, 1882, it was again 
 enlarged to a seven-column quarto. It is 
 still Republican in political views, but has 
 made the interests and welfare of the town 
 its principal mission, in all instances seeking 
 the establishment of manufacturing indus- 
 tries as the permanent basis of prosperity. 
 The Avoca Herald, a Democratic weekly 
 newspaper, a nine-column, neatly printed 
 and ably edited joiu-nal, was established by 
 
 A. P. Cramer, in August, 1880, and it has 
 continued to prosper from the date of its fu'st 
 issue. Like the Delta, it adheres to the in- 
 terests of Avoca with commendable and 
 praiseworthy tenacity. 
 
 The society of the V. A. S. was organized 
 here on the 24th of May, 1880, with ten 
 charter members. The first officers were: O. 
 
 B. Nelson, Rector; Charles Uhden, Vice 
 Rector; Peter M. King, Usher; F. K. Dab- 
 ney, M. D., Scribe; H. B. Crofts, Speculat- 
 or, and Rev. George D. Wright, Questor. 
 
 In November, 1880, a German musical so- 
 ciety was organized, called the Avoca Man- 
 nerchor, witli a membership of twenty per- 
 
\^ 
 
 KNOX TOAV'NSHIP. 
 
 251 
 
 sons. The President is Mayor Diedrich; the 
 Secretary, Charles Uhden, and the Treasur- 
 er. H. Hebbelm. 
 
 The lire organization or department con- 
 sists of a company composed of lifty-four 
 meinliers, called the Red Jackets, and having 
 a lirst-class hand engine. 
 
 The Avoca Brewery was established by Ja- 
 cob Kampf, in 1874, and has a capacity of 
 about 800 barrels per year. The cost of the 
 building, which is of brick, and the machin- 
 ery' was about $20,000. 
 
 The creamery is another institution of 
 which the people are proud. It is owned by 
 a jointstock company, and was put into 
 operation in February, 1882. It collects 
 milk fi'om a district of about fifteen miles in 
 extent. 
 
 The Harlan Branch of the Rock Island 
 Railroad, north to Harlan, was built in 1878, 
 and the Carson Branch, southward, down the 
 valley, was put into operation in the early 
 part of 1880. 
 
 The favorable situation of Avoca in the 
 very midst of one of the finest agricultm-al 
 regions in the world, makes its business in- 
 terests of the highest importance. Those 
 engaged as leading merchants, carrying gen- 
 eral f-toeks of goods, are G. Diedrich, O. B. 
 Nelson, Charles Uhden and H. Stevens; in 
 drugs, P. Weise, Maxwell & True; agricult- 
 ural implement dealers. Hart & Co., T. O. 
 Meredith and AV. H. Van Brunt; the lumber 
 dealers are Ainsworth & Waterman and Seiff- 
 ert &L Weise; hardware, C. H. Norton, and 
 harness, Wilson. 
 
 In 1870, the Rock Island Railroad Com- 
 pany built an extensive hotel and railway 
 dining-hall at the Avoca Station for the ac- 
 commodation of their passenger trains. As 
 soon as it was completed and ready for occu- 
 pancy, John Jones, the former proprietor of 
 the Pacific House at Council Bluffs, leased 
 
 it, and for many years continued to manage 
 it, until the railroad company modified and 
 entailed its patronage by adopting the dining- 
 car system. 
 
 Among those who came as physicians were 
 Dr. O. H. P. Shoemaker, an eclectic, who 
 opened an office in the fall of l869. He re- 
 mained until 1881, when he removed to Des 
 Moines to take a professorship in a medical 
 college there. Dr. J. H. Corman arrived in 
 the winter of 1869, and died in March, 1881. 
 He was of the regular, or allopathic school. 
 Dr. H. S. Knowles, an homoeopathic, came in 
 June, 1870, and is the oldest member of the 
 medical profession in the place. Dr. B. L. 
 Nye arrived in 1872, and died in March. 
 1882. 
 
 Personal mention may be here made of 
 some of the citizens of Avoca, to whom ref- 
 erence has not yet been made. H. W. Wil- 
 son came from West Liberty. Iowa, to Avoca 
 in 1874, and engaged in the harness and sad- 
 dlery business. He came from Ohio to West 
 Liberty in 18GH. He was bom in Ohio in 
 April, 1847, and enlisted in Company F, of 
 the One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Regi- 
 ment of Ohio Infantry, in 1864, and served 
 with the regiment in Kentucky, Tennessee 
 and Alabama. He remained in the service 
 until the war closed, and then came to Iowa. 
 His father was Robert Wilson, an English- 
 man; he is also a member of the Masonic 
 Chapter and the lodge of Avoca. Mr. Wil- 
 son was also Mayor of Avoca in 1879, 1880 
 and 1881. He was married, in 1870, to Miss 
 Emma Givens, of West Liberty, and of this 
 marriage two daughters have been born — 
 Myrtle and Mary. Mr. Wilson has prospered 
 in business. 
 
 H. Stephens came to Iowa in 1844, settling 
 first at Davenport, then moving to Cedar 
 Rapids, and from Cedar Rapids to Avoca. 
 His business and trade are second to none in 
 
253 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 the West, and his experience as a merchant 
 is a well worthy example. 
 
 On April 10. 1870, Ainsworth & Water- 
 man bought out the lumber stock of Gitchell 
 & Tiehenor. In 1881, Mr. Ainsworth, Sr. . 
 retired from business, and his son, C. H. 
 Ainsworth, stepped into his place in the firm. 
 Their sales amount to about $30,000 per year. 
 His father. C. E. Ainsworth, was in the lum- 
 ber trade at Moline, being a stockholder there 
 in a manufactory. 
 
 In May, 1882, John Ledwich, a successful 
 
 lawyer of Avoca, started into operation wagon 
 hubs, and has the establishment on a sound 
 basis and a prosperous footing. He came 
 from Victor, Iowa, and practiced his profes- 
 sion until he began his manufactory. He is 
 a native of Canada, and his parents were both 
 born in Ireland and came to America in 1829. 
 Messrs. Seiflfert & Weise, lumber merchants' 
 began in July, 1877. Mr. Seiffert has lived 
 in the county since 1874. They have branch 
 yards at Hancock, Minden and other points 
 on the Eock Island road. 
 
 CHAP TEE XXXIIL* 
 
 L.WTON TOWNSHIP— ORGANIZATION— NATURAL ADVANTAGES— BOUNOARV— FIRST SETTLER.S— 
 
 RAPID IMPROVEMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT— ROADS AND BRIDGES— GOVERNMENT— 
 
 POPULATION— MILLS— NEWSPAPERS— CHURCHES— SCHOOLS— SECRET SOCIETIES. 
 
 TUNE 7, 1873, the petition of W. B. Cup- 
 ^ py, Thomas Ledwick, G. N. Eobinson 
 and forty other citizens of Knox Township 
 was presented to the Board of Supervisors of 
 Pottawattamie County, asking that honorable 
 body to divide Knox Township into two civil 
 townships, and, on motion, the following res- 
 olution was adopted : " Be it ordered by the 
 Board of Supervisors of Pottawattamie Coun- 
 ty, that Township 76, Eange 38, and Town- 
 ship 77, Eange 38, be and the same is hereby 
 organized into a civil township, to be known 
 as the township of Layton." The first elec- 
 tion was ordered held in the town of Walnut, 
 on October 14, 1873. 
 
 Layton Township was the last portion of 
 Pottawattamie Coimty to attract the land agent 
 and the settler. Why this was the case seems 
 difficult of explanation. It was perhaps be- 
 cause that j)ortion of the county was farthest 
 from market. In the settlement of the new 
 lands of Pottawattamie County, the two most 
 important questions considered were fertility 
 
 »By Frank M. Wright. 
 
 of soil and facility of reaching market. None 
 doubted the fertility of the soil of Layton 
 Township, but it was a question of doubt as 
 to whether the residents of that portion of 
 the county would ever have the advantages 
 of -a railroad. Layton Township is well 
 adapted to agricultural pursuits, nearly the 
 whole of the surface being a gently rolling 
 prairie, of which but very little is xmtillable, 
 yet, when the agents for Government lands 
 had the choice of locating claims in almost 
 any part of Pottawattamie or adjoining coun- 
 ties, they ignored the natural advantages 
 presented by Layton Township, and, in 
 many instances, went seventy-five, and some- 
 times even 100 miles distant fi'om Council 
 Blirffs to locate a claim in what they consid- 
 ered a desirable locality. Could they but 
 have foreseen the future prosperity and rapid 
 development of the northeast corner of the 
 county, how differeut would their plans have 
 been! Could they have known that what 
 seems to them bat a few short years since 
 
LAYTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 253 
 
 they sold thousands of acres of choice land at 
 $5 or $6 per acre, would bring a ready mar 
 ket for the same lands at 120 or $30 per acre, 
 how quickly would they have taken the lands 
 of Pottawattamie County which they then 
 considered undesirable. The growth in pop- 
 ulation and the development of the resources 
 of Layton Township have been more rapid 
 than in any township in Pottawattamie Coun- 
 ty- 
 Important events have crowded one after 
 another in quick succession since the organ- 
 ization of the township. It has been said by 
 an eminent writer that " in the earlier days 
 of emigration westward, the people went 
 West and the railroads followed them, but 
 that in later years the custom has changed, 
 and now the railroads open the wild lands 
 for the pioneers." The lands of Layton 
 Township were so late in attracting the at- 
 tention of the land agent and the settler as to 
 have almost verified this statement. It was 
 not until after the Chicago, Rock Island & 
 Pacific Railroad Company had seciu'ed their 
 land grant from the Government that the 
 land of Layton Township found a ready 
 sale. 
 
 Forming the northeastern corner of the coun- 
 ty, Layton Township is bounded on the north 
 by Shelby County, on the east by Cass Coun- 
 ty, on the south by Lincoln Township and on 
 the west by Knox Township. As will be seen 
 by the original petition for the organization 
 of Layton. it also included Lincoln Township, 
 which has since been organized, and which 
 now leaves Layton Township in the form of 
 an exact square, containing an area of thirty- 
 six square miles. The surface of the town- 
 ship is but little broken, there being but one 
 creek crossing it. This stream, kno^vn as 
 Walnut Creek, has its source in Shelby 
 County, and flows almost directly south 
 across Layton Township. It enters the 
 
 county about on the line between Sections 2 
 and 3, from the north, and follows near the 
 line between these two sections until it 
 reaches Section 10, when it bends somewhat 
 to the north, but tiu-ns again to the south be- 
 fore leaving the section, which it crosses on 
 the eastern line, near the corner. Its course 
 from this point is across the southwest corner 
 of Section 11, thence south through Sections 
 14, 23, 26. 35 and 34, crossing ihe south 
 line of the latter about the southeast corner 
 of the section, thence on its way southward 
 through Lincoln Township. 
 
 The first settlers of the townshp were E. B. 
 Hinckley and family, Oscar Lodge, Leander 
 Lodge, Albert Lodge and Henry Orctitt, all 
 of whom are still residents of the township 
 except Leander Lodge, who now resides at 
 Neola. Mr. E. B. Hinckley was perhaps the 
 most enterprising. He was the first to take 
 active steps toward the settlement of the town- 
 ship). In this, however, he may have been 
 actuated by pecuniary motives, as, in the 
 sale of the lands belonging to the Chicago, 
 Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company, 
 for which he was agent, he established a bus- 
 iness which proved a source of profit to him- 
 self, as well as to create a rapid improvement 
 of the wild lands of Layton Township. His 
 success financially has not diminished, and 
 today he is the wealthiest citizen of the 
 township. The rest of the early settlers 
 mentioned have also been very successful, be- 
 sides many others who arrived at a later date. 
 The little cabin erected by Mr. Hinckley to 
 be used as a land o£fice soon became a lively 
 place of business. The settlers came from 
 all directions, and soon the cabins, and oc- 
 casionally a nicely built frame residence, 
 dotted the prairie at every point of view from 
 the lonely little land office. The settlement 
 grew very rapidly, and soon there was evi- 
 dence of traveled wagon roads from place to 
 
254 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 place. Much of the travel during the first 
 settlement was done on horseback, but soon 
 supplies were needed to build homes, and 
 implements required to till the soil, and these 
 had to be transported in wagons. The roads 
 at first were very crooked, winding around 
 the base of hills and crossing the streams at 
 the easiest points for fording. As the town- 
 ship increased in population, and the owners 
 of property began building fences, the origi- 
 nal lines of the roads were in a number of 
 places changed. The first main road laid 
 out across the township is now known as the 
 Old Territorial road, and it ran almost due 
 east and west near the center of the town- 
 ship. Nearly all the roads in the township 
 now follow the section lines, they having been 
 changed from time to time, on the presenta- 
 tion of petitions, signed by a number of the 
 citizens, to the Board of Supervisors of the 
 county. There are three wooden bridges 
 spanning Walnut Creek in Layton Township, 
 and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail- 
 road has one bridge crossing the same 
 stream. 
 
 Layton Township has a sprinkling of many 
 nationalities among her citizens, the Ger- 
 mans and Americans predominating. The 
 former are mainly engaged in farming. 
 They are among the best farmers of the town- 
 ship, and are ready supporters of the district 
 schools. 
 
 Fine stock is not bred to any extent in the 
 township. Mr. E. R. Hinckley has been the 
 most progressive in this respect, he having 
 introduced some fine Norman horses, Short- 
 Horn cattle and Cotswold sheep. These 
 breeds of stock are rapidly taking the place 
 of the more inferior grades among the better 
 class of farmers. 
 
 The original town plat of the city of Wal- 
 nut was surveyed and laid out by what was 
 known as the Allen Land Company. Several 
 
 additions have been made to the original plat 
 by E. R. Hinckley and others. The first set- 
 tlers in the town were Dr. Phinny, Mr. D. 
 Holcomb, D. Hison and E. R. Hinckley. 
 
 The first store was opened by Leander 
 Lodge, and the first Postmaster was E. R. 
 Hinckley, and the present Postmaster is S. 
 R. Baker. 
 
 In October, 1877, Walnut received her 
 charter as a city, and the first election re- 
 sulted in placing the city government in the 
 hands of the following officers: Mayor, W. 
 H. Linfor; Recorder, J. B. Johnson; Mar- 
 shal, Robert Giibreath; City Council, J. H. 
 Henry, O. M. Bruce, Charles Lebeck, L T. 
 Spangler, William Hill and J. B. Johnson. 
 The present officers of the city are: Mayor, 
 R. L. Craig; Recorder, W. F. Moreshell; 
 Marshal, A. S. Burns; City Coimcil, W. F. 
 Bm-ke, Charles Lebeck, J. B. Johnson, F. H. 
 Green, Jerry Longnecker and W. F. More- 
 shell. 
 
 The population of the city is now about 
 one thousand, and the following shows the 
 strength of the business represented: Four 
 dry goods stores, five groceries, seven saloons, 
 three drug stores, one jewelry store, one fur- 
 niture store, two millinery stores, one bank, 
 three elevators, three agricultural implement 
 stores, two blacksmith shops, one harness 
 shop, two carriage shops, two hotels, one 
 barber shop, three lumber yards, two shoe 
 shops, two lawyers and three doctors. There 
 is one flouringmill in Walnut, known as the 
 Walnut Mill property. This is the only 
 mill in the town.ship, and it was builfin 1872, 
 by Moses Shuns & Co. In 1880, Messrs. 
 Eroe & Peatt pnrchased the property of G. 
 W. Borley, and are the present owners and 
 operators. This mill is 30x60 feet, and has 
 four run of buhrs, and a manufacturing ca- 
 pacity of fifty barrels of flour per day. Prior 
 to the building of this mill, the citizens of 
 
LAYTON TOWXSHIP. 
 
 255 
 
 Walnut Township haiiled their grain to 
 Hunt's Mill, sis miles south of Avoca. 
 
 Walnut has one newspaper, the Walnut 
 .\etvs. It was established in 1878, by^A. O. 
 Cramer, who is also editor and proprietor of 
 the Avoca Herald. The Neics has a circula- 
 tion of 600, and is edited by Dan Cramer, 
 who is a brother of the proprietor. 
 
 Walnut has grown and prospered in her re- 
 ligious and educational undertakings as in 
 everything else. The enterprise of her citi- 
 zens in this respect is of the same determined 
 character that has built one < f the most pros- 
 perous and business-like little cities in the 
 county. They have two churches — one Pres- 
 byterian and one Catholic. The Presbyte- 
 rian Church was built in 1876, and cost $2,- 
 400. The main structure is 34x50 feet, in 
 addition to which there is a lecture room 10 
 xl2 feet. It is located on Center street. 
 Rev. George Lodge was the first pastor of 
 this church, and Rev. Kennedy is the pres- 
 ent one. There are seventy-five active mem- 
 bers of the organization, and they maintain a 
 Sabbath school, with a regular attendance of 
 about fifty pupils. The Catholic Church was 
 erected at a greater cost of the two, $3, 500 
 being requited to complete it. Its dimen- 
 sions are 32x60 feet, and, at present, has 200 
 members. The membership in 1873, the 
 date of the building of the church, was but 
 twenty-five. They have no resident priest. 
 There are members of other churches, resi- 
 dents of Walnut, biit, as yet, have erected no 
 building in which to worship. The first Sab- 
 bath school ever held in Layton Township 
 was at the depot of the Chicago, Rock Island 
 it Pacific Railroad in Walnut, in 1873. This 
 was conducted under the auspices of the 
 Campbellites. 
 
 In 1875, at a cost of 15,000, there was 
 erected in Walnut a handsome two-story pub- 
 lic school buildinar. This is the lai'gest and 
 
 only school building in the township in 
 which a graded school has been organized. 
 The building is 78x51 feet, and twenty eight 
 feet high. At the opening of the school, 
 there were twenty-five pupils in attendance, 
 who were under the charge of Miss Kate 
 Williams. It was opened as a district school, 
 but in the fall of the same year it was made 
 a graded school, and put under the manage- 
 ment of a Principal and assistants. There 
 are at present em-olled 230 pupils, with an 
 average daily attendance of 120. The Su- 
 perintendent of the schools is Prof. William 
 Hubbard, who has three assistants. There 
 are four- departments. The first, or primary 
 department, is taught by MissC. E. Johnson; 
 the first intermediate department, by Miss G. 
 A. Orcutt; the second intermediate depart- 
 ment, by Miss F. Perrigo; and the grammar 
 department is taiight by and is under the im- 
 mediate charge of Prof. Hubbard. This 
 school is conducted independent of the laws 
 by which the district schools of the township 
 are governed. As a graded school it ha^ 
 proved a success, and the benefits derived are 
 well worthy the increased eflbrts of the citi- 
 zens of Walnut. 
 
 The statistics for the year 1881 show the 
 following in regard to the schools of Layton 
 Township : 
 
 Number of subdistricts, 8 ; number of un- 
 graded schools, 8 ; average number of months 
 taught, 9; number of teachers employed — 
 male, 2; female, 13; total, 15; number of 
 pupils between the ages of five and twenty- 
 one years — males, 102; females, 90; total, 
 192; average cost of tuition per month 
 for each pupil, $2.72; number of school- 
 houses, 8; value of schoolhouses. $4,800; 
 value of apparatus, $5. 
 
 Three secret societies afford a goodly num- 
 ber of the citizens of Walnut an excellent ex- 
 cuse for spending their evenings down town 
 
356 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 at stated intervals. Walnut Lodge, No. 122, 
 Legion of Honor, organized and charter 
 granted November 17, 1871, was the first to 
 impose the obligation of brotherhood upon 
 the following citizens, who were the char- 
 ter members: W. H. Linfor, W. H. Bow- 
 man, J. 0. Spangler, W. F. Moreshell, J. H. 
 Henry, J. B. S. Case, J. W. Hubbard, J. 
 W. Gardiner, G. H. Myers, O. M. Bruce, F. 
 Moreshell, M. Peatt, F. Hanna, P. Koll, H. 
 Chi-istiansen, E. M. Mirth, L. H. Broughton, 
 (t. W. Eroe, J. Watters, G. Frahm. A. L. 
 Louless, J. N. Manifee, C. A. Rossman, H. 
 D. C. Lenset, John Frahm, J. G. Hass, J. 
 Green, H. W. Beyer, J. Longnecker. Hemy 
 Koll and A. Peterson. The first officers of 
 the lodge were: W. H. Linfor, President; 
 W. H. Bowman, Vice President; J. C. Span- 
 gler, Recording Secretary ; J. H. Henry, 
 Foreman; W. F. Moreshell, Financier; J. B. 
 S. Case, Chaplain; and W. Gardiner, Door- 
 keeper. 
 
 The second secret society organized was 
 Moriah Lodge, No. 327. I O. O. F.. on Sep- 
 tember 25, 1875. The charter members 
 were J. W. Snyder. C. W. Merrill, G. C. 
 Hunt, O. M Bruce. W. H. Brundridge, J. 
 M. Turner, W. E. Turner and G. T. Mix. 
 The first officers were: Noble Grand, J. W. 
 Snyder; Vice Grand, G. T. Mix; Recording 
 
 Secretary, W. E. Turner; Permanent Secre- 
 tary, James Ledwick; and Treasurer, F. H. 
 Green. The present officers are : Noble 
 Grand, J. E. Margeson; Vice Grand, C. A. 
 Brown; Recording Secretary, C. I. Eroe; 
 Permanent Secretary, J. Hector; and Treas- 
 urer, W. F. Moreshell. This lodge is in a 
 floui-ishing condition, the strength of the or- 
 der in Walnut being forty- six active members. 
 The third and last secret society to organ- 
 ize a lodge in Walnut was the A. O. U. W. 
 Walnut Lodge, No. 194. .i. O. U. \V., was 
 organized by charter granted June 25, 1879. 
 The charter members were W. H. Linfor, 
 Master Workman; W. L. Williams, Fore- 
 man; F. M. McGunsey, Receiver; J. L. 
 Spangler, Financier; J. C. Spangler, Over- 
 seer; J. B. Johnson, Past Master Workman; 
 O. M. Bruce, Guide; L. Carpenter, Inside 
 Watchman; J. B. Stephens, Outside Watch- 
 man; J. C. Stephens, Secretary. This lodge 
 now has a membership of forty-two, and the 
 present officers are: W. L. Williams, Mas- 
 ter Workman; William Woodi'ing, Foreman; 
 A. S. Aury, Receiver ; William Gardiner, 
 Financier; Henry Ott, Overseer; W. O. Hub- 
 bard, Past Master Workman; Robert Boot, 
 Guide; W. R. Spencer, Inside Watchman; J. 
 C. Spangler, Outside Watchman; and H A. 
 Cummings, Secretary. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV.* 
 
 PLEAS.-VNT TOWNSHIP— BOUNDARIES— ORGANIZATION— FINE SOI! TIMBER— FRUIT— STREAM.-5- 
 
 OLD SETTLERS— SCHOOLS— TOWNSHIP OFFICERS— MURDER. SUICIDE AND ACCIDENTS. 
 
 T3LEASANT TOWNSHIP is bounded on 
 -L the north by Shelby County, on the ease 
 by Knox Township, on the south by James 
 Township, and on the west by Minden Town- 
 ship. The township was organized by an 
 
 ♦By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 order made April 7, 1873, on the petition of 
 L. G. Bennett. Hiram Stewart, S. T. Bender 
 and forty-one others, asking that a new civil 
 township be created out of Congressional 
 Township 77, Range -40, In soil this town- 
 ship is peculiarly favored, the land sloping 
 
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 257 
 
 gently to the south and southwest It is a 
 gently rolling prairie, and without doubt is 
 as fine an agricultiiral township as there is 
 in the State. It is stated by competent ob- 
 servers that not ten acres of untillable soil ex- 
 ists within the box;nds of the entire organi- 
 zation. On the east side, where the surface 
 inclines toward the West, Nishnabotna River, 
 the land is the roughest, bat none too rough 
 for cultivation. The township had no groves 
 of native timber; when the first settlers came 
 into it it was treeless, but since then large 
 numbers of groves have been planted and 
 cultivated, until the whole siu-face of the 
 township has been changed and improved in 
 that and other respects. Oak, walnut, Cot- 
 tonwood and maples have been cultivated 
 with ease and siiccess. and add much to the 
 value and protection to the land. Not only 
 have groves of ordinary timber been planted 
 and spnmg into thriftiness, but orchards 
 have engaged the attention of the settlers, 
 and been made an absolute success. The 
 principal success in that i-espect has been 
 with apple orchards, and the Ben Davis, 
 "Willow Twig and otlier hardy varieties thrive 
 most, indicating the capability of soil and 
 climate to make comfortable homes. 
 
 Two streams of water flow throush the 
 township, one called the Big Silver, thi-ough 
 the center; and the Middle Silver, in the 
 southwest part. The county has constructed 
 nine bridges, making access to all parts easy 
 and convenient. These streams of water are 
 bright and limpid. That fact occasions their 
 names. 
 
 Among the old settlers are the following: 
 Jacob and Franz Haas- came from Sauk 
 County, Wis., July 12, 1872; Joseph Frum 
 emigrated from Monongalia County, W. 
 Va. . and settled February 25, 1872. He still 
 owns and occupies the farm fii'st opened out 
 by him. He has had eight children, five of 
 
 whom are living in the township. His chil- 
 dren are Samuel B., Joseph E. and John 
 N., who are twins, and Anna and George 
 D. A. M. Scott is another pioneer in the 
 township, who came and bought land and be- 
 gan to make a farm in 18G9. He went into 
 partnership with P. S. McCandless in open- 
 ing up the farm. When they married they 
 dissolved the farming partnership, and each 
 went his own way in improving his land, and 
 a division was made. Mr. McCandless came 
 out into the country with Mr. Scott; both 
 went to Colorado in 1875, but returned the 
 same year. They were together for some 
 years. T. Goodwalter came into the 
 
 township in 1872. The first road was the 
 Ballard State road, referred to in the annals 
 of other townships, crossed the southeast jiart. 
 Another was located in 1870, from north to 
 south, in the west part, and called the A. C. 
 Bennett road. Another was laid out from 
 east to west, and named the Hiram Stewart. 
 The first schoolhouse was built in 1871, 
 called the No. 2, and is known as the 
 Fnun Schoolhouse. The first school was 
 taught by Alonzo Bartnett. No. 6 was the 
 next one erected in 1871, and the fucat teacher 
 Miss Maggie Clark. No. 4 was also built in 
 1871, and John K. Cooper, the present County 
 Superintendent, was the fii'st teacher. No. 3 
 was erected in 1875, and Mrs. Nellie Parker 
 the first teacher. No. 1 was established in 
 1876, and Mr. Cooper opened a school as the 
 first teacher. He was a resident of Jamas 
 Township when he was first nominated on 
 the Democratic ticket, in 1879, for County 
 Superintendent, and elected by a handsome 
 majority, although the Republicans carried 
 the county by 300 majority on their State 
 ticket. In 1881, Mr. Cooj)erwas again nomi- 
 nated by the same party, and elected by about 
 seven hundred majority, the Republican State 
 ticket having a majority of over three hun- 
 
258 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 dred, his competitor being Miss Ingeletta 
 Smith, now Mrs. Weare, of Council Bluflfs. 
 Mr. Cooper is a native of Maryland, and 
 served in the Union army, in Lockv?ood's 
 brigade, in the Twelfth Army Corps, at the 
 battle of Gettysburg, in July, 1S63. 
 
 No. 5 Schoolhouse was erected in 1877, 
 and Miss Mary J. Trotter became the first 
 teacher. No. 7 the same year, with Miss 
 Plumer the first teacher, and No. 8, in 1880, 
 Fremont Benjamin, now a successful Avoca 
 lawyer, the teacher. 
 
 P. W. Bennett, an old settler and pioneer, 
 was born in Boston, Mass., in 1812, and came 
 to the township in 1866 and bought eighty 
 acres, which he improved. He built a house 
 and set out a grove. His nearest trading 
 point was either Atlantic or Council Bluffs, 
 and it was manj' miles to his nearest neigh- 
 bor. He was the third man that made the 
 township his home. He was the first school 
 Director, and in 1869 he had a hay-shed 
 built, in which he had a school taught by 
 William Baker. In 1880, he sold his farm to 
 Franz Haas, and moved to Missoim. 
 
 G. W. Davis was born in Fayette County, 
 Penn., February 14, 1819, and came to a 
 farm near Iowa City in 1851. In 1861, he 
 removed to Pleasant Tovsmship, and bought 
 360 acres of land, for which he had traded 
 his eighty acre Johnson County improved 
 farm. His nearest neighbors, when he first 
 made his settlement, were from three to ten 
 miles distant. The year he came, he erected 
 his present residence, a frame story and a 
 half, and in 1868 added to it of native tim- 
 ber. When he came, in 1861, the Omaha.s 
 from beyond the Missouri River roamed at 
 will over the prairies in his vicinity, hunt- 
 ing and trapping. Mr. Davis died October 
 7, 1871. His widow bought 180 acres of 
 land, and also died December 8, 1881. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Davis left eight children, three sons 
 
 and five daughters. Joshua, the youngest of 
 the sons, occupies the old homestead. Mr. 
 Davis was the first settler in Pleasant Town- 
 ship He and his wife were members of the 
 Dunkard religious society, or German Bap- 
 tists, as they are sometimes called. He was 
 married, December 27, 1841, in Pennsylva- 
 nia, to Miss Mai'y Gibson. In politics, he 
 always voted with the Republican party. 
 
 Hiram Stewart was born in Athens Coun- 
 ty, Ohio, December 24, 1834, and came to 
 Iowa, to Lee County, in 1840. In 1849, he 
 moved to Henry County, and in 1850, back 
 to Ohio, and back again to Henry County, 
 Iowa. In 1856, he went to Clark County, 
 and after several other changes, moved into 
 Pleasant Township, where be has ever since 
 lived. He took a school claim of forty acres, 
 and lived in a hut the first summer, but beiog 
 burnt out with a prairie fire, he and his family 
 spent the winter at Big Grove. Since then 
 he has worked industriously, until he is the 
 owner of a tine farm of 160 acres. Mr. Stew- 
 art's father came to Iowa as a settler in 1840, 
 a year before the first session of the Terri- 
 torial Legislatm-e was held. 
 
 William Simpson was born in New York, 
 in 1821, settled first in Clinton County, and 
 then in Pleasant Township, in September, 
 1870, where he purchased 480 acres of prairie 
 land, and commenced to open up one of the 
 finest farms in the county. He has three ex- 
 cellent houses and other proper buildings, 
 two of which are for the use of tenants culti- 
 vating the land. The nearest mill to him 
 when he came into the county was that of 
 the Hunts', on the Nishnabotna, and which 
 is mentioned in the history of Knox Town- 
 ship. 
 
 A. C. Bergman was born August 24, 1833, 
 in Wehrden, in the Kingdom of Prussia. He 
 came to America by the way of New Orleans, 
 in 1855, and seeing the method in which the 
 
PLEASANT TOWXSHIP. 
 
 259 
 
 colored people of the South were treated by 
 their owners and masters, he at once espoused 
 radical Republican principles, and an intense 
 hatred of the institution of slavery. He 
 lived in Illinois seventeen yeai's, where he 
 mai'ried Miss Katie Johnson, who was born 
 in 1841, and came to Pleasant Township to 
 make that his home in 1871. He there 
 bought 120 acres of raw prairie and made it 
 into a farm. In 1881. he built a fine resi- 
 dence, which is siuTOunded by several thou- 
 sand shade trees of his own cultivation, and 
 l)y one of the most thrifty orchards in the 
 State. Having received an excellent educa- 
 tion in his native country, he has been appre- 
 ciated here, and has always taken a lively 
 and eai'nest interest in the advancement of 
 the home of his adoption. 
 
 When Pleasant Township was organized, 
 by being carved out of Knox, in 1873, the 
 Board of Supervisors aiithorized S. B. Fnim 
 as a Commissioner, to take the necessary steps 
 to perfect that oi'ganization. He called a 
 meeting of the qualified electors, on the 14th 
 of October of that year. S. B. Frum was 
 chosen Chairman of the to^vnship meeting, 
 and F. N. Keeney, Secretary. S. B. Frum. 
 S. J. Wharton and J. M. Greenlee were elect- 
 ed as Judges of the election, and F. N. Kee- 
 ney and W". A. Clark were made Clerks of 
 the same. Fifty-fom- votes were polled, and 
 the following officers elected: S. H. Buckley, 
 C. H. Brown and T. T. Larkin. Trustees; S. 
 B. Frum. Township Clerk; William Buckley, 
 and F. N. Keeney, Justices of the Peace; D. 
 Gross, A. M. Scott, Constables; William A. 
 Clark, Assessor, and Hiram Stewart, Road 
 Supervisor. The following are the township 
 officers: Franz Haas, W. V. Rock and J. N. 
 Frum, Trustees; S. B. Frum, Township 
 Clerk; F. M. Keeney and A. C. Bergman, 
 Justices of the Peace; J. C. Frum and Fred 
 Rohrs, Constables; John Stuhr, Assessor; 
 
 President of the School Board, John Stuhr; 
 Secretary, F. M. Keeney ; and Treasurer, S. 
 B. Frum. 
 
 The most notable public event was the 
 tragic death of Jacob Maason, a farmer, a 
 German, at the hands of Christian Pittman, 
 a neighbor. This occurred on the evening 
 of July 28, 1879. Maason had been at Avoca 
 during the day, and came home in the after- 
 noon. A dispute had existed between them 
 on account of the claim made by the latter, 
 that Pittman, in cutting his grain with a 
 reaper, on a piece of ground next to that of 
 Maason, was treading down the latter's grow 
 ing corn. Just about dusk, Maason was 
 standing near his door, with one of his chil- 
 dren near the door, when he saw Pittman 
 coming out of his field into the road near 
 Maason's gate. Without putting down the 
 child, he advanced to the gate, and there an 
 altercation took place between them, the 
 words of which could not be heard by those 
 in sight of them, as they stood in the road. 
 When Maason went out of the gate, he placed 
 the child on the ground. In a few moments 
 Pittman started to run, with Maason in pur- 
 suit, and in a short time both were out of 
 sight. Pittman stated, in his evidence on 
 the trial of the ease, that, when they got 
 near his own premises, Maason then close to 
 him, took hold of him, and threatened to kill 
 him. That he did not realize that he had 
 struck Maason until after he saw the wounds, 
 after death, and that he only used the knife, 
 to ward off the blows and to loosen the grasp 
 of Maason. The death of the latter was al- 
 most instantaneous, the stab being in the 
 heart. Pittman was arrested and indicted 
 by the grand jury, and tried before the Dis- 
 trict Court at Council Bluffs. The prosecu- 
 tion was conducted by A. R. Anderson, Dis- 
 trict Attorney, and John H. Keatley, and the 
 defense by Mynster & Adams. The jury 
 
260 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COFXTY. 
 
 failed to agree on the first trial. The case 
 was then changed to Mills County, and when 
 the case was called for trial there, the indict- 
 ment, which had never been sent to that 
 county, could not be found, and the District 
 Attorney, Conner, who had succeeded Ander- 
 son, was obliged to dismiss the case. The 
 attention of the grand jury in Pottawattamie 
 County was again called to the ease at the 
 December term, 1881, of the District Court, 
 and Pittman was indicted a second time, and 
 a second time the place of trial was changed 
 to Mills County. At the September term of 
 the District Coui-t of Mills County, in 1882, 
 the cause was tried a second time, with a ver- 
 dict of acquittal. 
 
 In the fall of 1875, T. T. Larkin bor- 
 rowed a gim fromClaus Horst to kill a hawk. 
 He promised to return the gun the same even- 
 ing, and about 7 o'clock some one saw him 
 near a fence with the gun, then heard the re- 
 port of it and his own name called, and when 
 
 he got to the spot he found Mi\ Larkin dead, 
 with a severe gunshot wound in the breast. 
 
 Peter Doll, a German resident of Pleasant 
 Township, was killed in Avoca, in 1878, by 
 the running away of his team. On the 4th 
 of September, 1882, an unknown man was 
 found dead from exposiu'e and intemperance, 
 about a mile east of the Frum Schoolhouse. 
 His remains were interred in Avoca. 
 
 Pleasant Townshif) is largely settled by 
 Germans. The only church organization in 
 the township is the German Evangelical As- 
 
 I sociation, who hold their religious services in 
 the Frum Schoolhouse. It was organized in 
 the spring of 1874, by Aaron Bossart, as 
 minister. He held the charge for two years, 
 and was succeeded by Wilhelm Jonas, and 
 he in turn by Flegler Aschenbrenner. 
 Ground has been secm-ed for a chm-ch edifice 
 on Section 16, donated by Franz Haas, three 
 and a half miles south of the Frum School - 
 
 1 house. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXT.* 
 
 MINDEN TOWNSHIP— ORIGIN OF THE NAME— FIRST ELECTION— SOIL— BOUSDARV 
 MINDEN STATION— KOADS— TIMBER LAND— SCHOOLS— CHURCHES 
 —BUSINESS INDUSTRIES— INCIDENTS. 
 
 DRAINAOE- 
 
 THE origin of the name of Minden Town, 
 ship is familiar to the greater portion of 
 her citizens. Natives of a foreign countiy, 
 it was only natural that they should establish 
 in the home of their adoption on the broad 
 prairie, which promised them a speedy com- 
 petence, mementoes of the far-away homes 
 across the sea. How true they were to the 
 memories of olden times, and how patriotic 
 in their desire to honor their native land, is 
 evidenced by giving to their township and 
 the chief town in it the name of Minden. 
 
 »By Frank M. Wright. 
 
 Minden is a strongly fortified Prussian town, 
 in population aboiit fifteen thousand, and 
 the capital of the administrative division of 
 Minden, the population of which is about 
 five hundred thousand. It is located on the 
 left bank of the Weser, and on the declivity 
 of a chain of mountains, 161 miles from Co- 
 logne, and 229 miles by railway from Berlin. 
 It has manufactories of woolens, linens, to- 
 bacco, soap and sugar, and is the center of 
 the Cologne-Berlin Railway, which, as well 
 as the navigation of the Weser, produces much 
 commercial activity. It possesses an ancient 
 
^"^ 
 
 /' ■^: 
 
 u 
 
 \ >v^.:^>"-*^ ■• ■ 
 
MINDEN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 263 
 
 Roman Catholic cathedral, and was once the 
 capital of the See of Minden, which was 
 founded by Charlemagne. It was also for- 
 merly the residence of some of the German 
 Emperors, and" several diets were held there. 
 Within two miles of Minden, the railroad 
 traverses the pass called Porta Westphalia. 
 In a ruined chapel near it, Wittekind was, 
 according to tradition, bai^tized by Charle- 
 magne. The French were defeated in the vi- 
 cinity of Minden August 1, 1759, by an 
 Anglo-Hanoverian army, under Ferdinand 
 of Brunswick. Such was the city in the na- 
 tive land of most of the citizens of Minden 
 Township, the memory of which carries them 
 back to the by-gone days of childhood. 
 
 Minden Township formed a part of the 
 township of Neola until 1877, when, through 
 the efforts of Mr. James Crow and a number 
 of other citizens of that jjortion of Neola 
 Township subsequently forming Minden, the 
 petition presented by them to the Board of 
 Supervisors was granted, and a new town- 
 ship formed, to be known as Minden Town- 
 ship. The township took the same name as 
 the little village, which had been founded on 
 the line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pa- 
 cific Railroad in 1875. 
 
 In October, 1877, the first election took 
 place in the newly organized township. It 
 was held at the schoolhouse, in the village of 
 Minden. The Judges were William Spears, 
 August Caven and James Crow, and the 
 Clerks were J. R. Crow and J. Lake. About 
 one hundred votes were cast at this election. 
 There is but little mitillable land in Min- 
 den Township, and what there is lies along 
 the coiu-se of Keg and Mosquito Creeks. The 
 .■surface of the whole township, except the 
 r'-nigh land along the streams, is fine, rolling 
 prairie, and of the same fertile and highly 
 productive soil which is to be found in the 
 greater portion of Pottawattamie County. 
 
 The boundaries are Harrison County on 
 the north. Pleasant Township on the east, 
 York Township on the south and Neola 
 Township on the west. 
 
 The eastern portion of the township is 
 di-ained by Keg Creek, and the western por- 
 tion by Mosquito Creek, both of which rise 
 in Harrison County. The latter enters the 
 township about the center of Section 4, on 
 the north line, and Hows diagonally across 
 that section from its point of entrance to the 
 southwest. Its coiu-se is almost due south- 
 west through Sections 9, 8. 17 and 18, cross- 
 ing the southern line of the latter section, 
 where it bears due south for a short distance, 
 and then bends to the east until it crosses the 
 southern line of Section 19, about the center. 
 From this point it again bends westward, and 
 crosses the line of Section 30 about one-half 
 mile south of the village of Neola, and thence 
 on its way through Neola Township. There 
 ai-e five tributaries which have their rise and 
 join this stream in Minden Township. The 
 largest of these rises in Section 5, and runs 
 south through Sections 6, 7, and into Section 
 18, where it joins the mainstream. Another 
 small creek rises in Section 9, and flows al- 
 most west, entering the main stream in Sec- 
 tion 8. Two small streams join the main 
 creek in Section IS, the one rising in Section 
 17, and flows almost due west; and the other 
 rising in Section 20, about one mile due south 
 of the first. The length of either of these 
 streams does not exceed one and a half miles. 
 The last tributary to the south to ioin Kec 
 Creek in Minden Township rises in Section 
 32, and flows in a direction almost oppo.site 
 the main stream. It passes through Section 
 32, across the corner of Section 29, thence 
 northwest across Section 30 to the point 
 where it empties into the mainstream. Keg 
 Creek, the origin of the name of which will 
 be found in the history of Hardin Township, 
 
264 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 enters Minden Township through Section 2, 
 from Harrison County. Its course is in a 
 zigzag line, almost due south, through Sec- 
 tions 2, 11 and 14, leaving the latter section 
 at the southwest corner, and flowing diagon- 
 ally through Sections 22, 27 and 33. Five 
 small tributaries have their rise and enter the 
 main stream in this township, neither of 
 which, however, have been honored with a 
 name, and the largest of which will not ex- 
 ceed two miles in length. 
 
 Though Mr. James Crow was the most ac- 
 tive in getting Minden Township separated 
 from Neola, Mr. Casper Foster, of the firm of 
 Richmond, Kooh & Foster, of Davenport, 
 Iowa, was the first to become a large land- 
 owner before the organization of the town- 
 ship. He purchased of the Chicago, Rock 
 Island and Pacific Railroad Company 10,000 
 acres of land, and at the same time made a 
 contract with them that they should build 
 and maintain a station at some point where- 
 their railroad crossed his piirchase. Under 
 this contract, they built the station of Min- 
 den in 1875, which was located on the lands 
 owned by Mr. Foster, and which was named 
 by him. 
 
 The old settlers of Minden Township had 
 passed through the greatest difiBculties of pio- 
 neer life long before the township was organ- 
 iied. 
 
 ]\Ir. N. Abbott was one of the first settlers 
 in the township. He and many more of the 
 early settlers were obliged to go to the old In- 
 dian Mill on Mosquito Creek to get their corn 
 ground. It was situated about twenty miles 
 from their homes, and, when a trip was made 
 to the mill, two yokes of oxen were usually 
 driven, and the grain thus hauled to mill fre- 
 quently belonged to half a dozen different 
 families. The roads were rough, uneven 
 trails, winding round the base of hills, and 
 crossing the sloughs at points where the 
 
 banks of the streams seemed most firm, and 
 where the teams and wagons were least liable 
 to become stuck in the mud. Three and 
 sometimes four days were required to go to 
 mill, as it was not an uncommon occurrence 
 for the settlers to be obliged to wait a 
 whole day for gi-ain belonging to the In 
 dians to be ground before they could have 
 the use of the mill. The continual flow of 
 the settlers to the promising lands of Minden 
 Tovraship enabled them, in a short time, to 
 build rade bridges across the streams, which 
 served their purpose until, in later yeai-s, these 
 were torn away, in many instances, where the 
 line of road remained unchanged, and a bet- 
 ter class of crossings were built at the ex- 
 pense of the county. 
 
 The first regularly laid out road through 
 the township was known as the Remington 
 road. It was built in 1858, and ran through 
 the west tier of sections. Its name is de- 
 rived from the principal builder, Z. Reming. 
 ton. The roads now in the township running 
 north and soixth, east and west, are about 
 equal in number, and in most instances they 
 follow the section lines. 
 
 The original timber growth of Minden 
 Township is confined to the borders of Mos- 
 quito and Keg Creeks. In variety, it is 
 principally cottonwood, box elder, ash and 
 maple. Much of this has been used for 
 building purposes, fuel and fence-posts. 
 Groves of cultivated timber are now being 
 planted on almost every farm. 
 
 The town of Minden, which has always ex- 
 ercised a great influence over the township, 
 is located on the southeast quarter of Section 
 15, and lies almost wholly on the north side 
 of the railroad. Keg Creek skirts it on the 
 east, and there are six lines of wagon roads 
 enter the town from different directions. It 
 is only about four miles distant from Neola, 
 and, though a smaller town, it draws the 
 
MINDEN TOAVNSHIP. 
 
 265 
 
 trade of the community for more than half ; 
 the distance between the two towns. North : 
 and south and to the east it affords a market ' 
 for the citizens of a large scope of country. 
 
 As before stated, the town was laid out in 
 1875. from land belonging to Mr. C. Foster. 
 That gentleman has taken an active interest 
 in the growth and prosperity of the town 
 since it was first settled. 
 
 The first house in the town was built by 
 Hugo Prister. Jlr. Foster built the second, 
 and Peter Ehlers the third. G. Diederich 
 erected the first store in 1875. He moved a 
 stock of general merchandise into this from 
 Avoca. J. O. Jeffries built the nest business 
 house, and engaged in the grocery trade, with 
 a restaurant attached. Messrs. Bartelle& Co. 
 became the successors of Mr. Diederich by 
 purchase. Mr. Diederich then erected an- 
 other store building, which he subsequently 
 sold to Stuhr Bros. , who have since occiapied 
 it as a general merchaiidise establishment. 
 
 The first carpenters of the town were Henry 
 L^rbahn, August Kaven and Fred Krugen- 
 berg. A Mr. Rodecker opened a blacksmith 
 shop, and the first lumber business was done 
 liy Messrs. Pria & Hornley, a Davenport firm. 
 Peter Ehlers was the first to begin the grain 
 trade. Dr. McLeod was the first physician 
 to hang out a shingle in the little town, and 
 James Crow was the first land agent. 
 
 Through the energy and enterprise of the 
 citizens a public school building was erected, 
 which is 24x36 feet. Caven and Wilson were 
 the contractors and builders. This step to- 
 ward public improvement was made under the 
 jurisdiction of Mr. James Crow, who was at 
 that time Director. Previous to the con- 
 struction of this building, a term of school 
 had been taught by a Mr. Kelsey, in one room 
 of the residence of Mr. Foster. In the spring 
 of the same year that saw q piiblic school 
 building added to the improvements of the 
 
 little town, a very destructive prairie fire 
 from the north came near destroying the 
 town. Its approach, however, was discovered 
 in time to enable the citizens to protect and 
 save their homes. 
 
 The first Board of Trustees of Minden 
 Township met and organized January 26, 
 1877. At their meeting, the township was 
 divided into five subdistricts for school pur- 
 poses. No township in Pottawattamie County 
 has taken a more active interest in their pub- 
 lic schools than Minden. The statistics for 
 the year 1881, as per the reports of the 
 County Superintendent of Public Schools, 
 show the following: 
 
 Number of subdistricts, 8; number of un- 
 graded schools, 8 ; average number of months 
 taught, 8; number of teachers employed^ 
 male, 5; female, 12; total, 17; average com- 
 pensation per month — males, $35, females, 
 $33.75; n lumber of persons between the ages 
 of five and twenty-one years — males, 156; 
 females, 123; total average attendance in the 
 whole district, 95; average cost of tuition per 
 month for each pupil, S4.19; schoolhouses, 
 frame, nine; value, 3,530; value of apparatus, 
 S9.10. 
 
 Minden has a German day school, which 
 is the only one in the county. It was opened 
 through the efforts of Rev. Nolting in 1882. 
 Twenty pupils are regular attendants, who 
 pay a tuition of 50 cents per month. The 
 branches taught are the same as those of the 
 common schools of the county, except the re- 
 ligious instruction. 
 
 The German Evangelical Lutheran Church 
 of Minden is the only one in the township. 
 The organization was effected in 1878, with 
 the Rev. Julius Ochlert as pastor. The orig- 
 inal members were August Kaven, Adam 
 Turk, John Stuhr, Jr., Jacob Wasser, Died- 
 erich Rohlfs, Peter Alleman, August Bock, 
 Wilhelm Bolte, Wilhelm Giese, John Stuhr, 
 
266 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Sr., August Giese and Carl Leitzke. Rev. 
 Ochlert remained in charge as pastor for three 
 years, and, during most of this time, services 
 were held in the schoolhouse. A church 
 building was begun during his stay, but left 
 unfinished. From various causes, the mem- 
 bership dwindled down to five, when Rev. 
 Wilhelm Nolting became their pastor. 
 Through his efforts, the membership increased 
 to thirteen, and the church building, begun 
 in 1879, has been completed under their ear- 
 nest and active pastor. It is 24x36 feet, and 
 is surmounted by a bell tower, and furnished 
 with all modern improvements. The lot on 
 which it stands was presented to the society 
 by Mr. Casper Foster. A Sunday school was 
 organized in Minden in 1876, with James 
 Crow as Superintendent, and there is an at- 
 tendance of about twenty pupils. The pres- 
 ent officers are: Conrad Niel, Superintend- 
 ent; John Crow, Secretary; J. A. Yoder, 
 Treasurer; and E. O. IMorgan, Librarian. It 
 is now in a flourishing condition, and has a 
 regular attendance of forty pupils. 
 
 The growth of Minden has not been so 
 rapid as that of some of the other towns of 
 Pottawattamie County, but there has always 
 been, since its founding, a substantiality in 
 its progress which made success a foregone 
 conclusion. The extent of the business done 
 in the town may be determined by the fol- 
 
 lowing list of business men and the indus- 
 tries they represent: J. B. Norton, druggist; 
 John Hammer and J. C. Garmong, hardware 
 merchants; Peter Stuhr and J. C. Garmong, 
 agricultural implement dealers; Stuhr Bros., 
 J. W. Crow and J. H. Yoder, dry goods and 
 grocery merchants; Peter Ehlers, grain-deal- 
 er; Seiffert & Weise, lumber- dealers; L. 
 Harm, physician and surgeon; J, C. Gar- 
 mong, harness-dealer; Henry Rolfs and H. 
 Peterson, blacksmiths; and one hotel, with 
 Adolph Wuuder as proprietor. 
 
 There are several smaller busine.ss institu- 
 tions in the town, but the above are the prin- 
 cipal firnis. Minden will shortly have two 
 grain elevators in operation. Besides that 
 of Mr. Ehlers, which has been running for 
 some time, a new one is being constructed by 
 Messrs. Dow, Sandhan & Co., the capacity of 
 which will be about fifteen thousand bushels. 
 
 On the 12th of June, 1881, a hail-storm 
 struck Minden Township, and the damage 
 done by it amounted to $20,000. The track 
 of the storm was about two miles wide. It 
 came from the southwest and northwest, and 
 the two divisions seemed to meet near the 
 residence of Mr. F. Bloomer, where the dam- 
 age done was about §1,000. The storm de- 
 stroyed about six hundred and fifty trees and 
 about one hundred acres of grain at this 
 point. 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 NEOLA TOWNSHIP— INTRODUCTORY — ORGANIZATION — DRAINAGE— EARLY SETTLERS— ROADS- 
 BRIDGES— FIRST RAILROAD— SCHOOLS— POST OFFICE— GRAIN ELEVATORS- 
 BUSINESS INDUSTRIES— SECRET SOCIETIES— CHURCHES. 
 
 LONG before the white man saw the rich 
 lands of the " Great American Desert," 
 these gentle slopes, green hills and groves of 
 timber were peopled by another race than the 
 pale-face from the far East. Here the red 
 man roamed in all his savage glory for years 
 and decades, aye, for centuries, perhaps, un- 
 disturbed save by the rival tribes, of his own 
 race. Here he hunted the buffalo and chased 
 the deer and howled behind his fleeing ene- 
 my. But the time came when all this was 
 changed, and as the light of civilization 
 spread over the continent, the " wigwam 
 blaze" was extinguished in this region and 
 the savage followed after the retreating herds 
 of buffalos. Then were the foundations laid 
 for the future greatness of a prosperous 
 country by the hardy pioneers amid exposure 
 and privation. The farmer, the mechanic, 
 the merchant and the professional man were 
 soon represented by the most enterprising 
 and energetic of their calling, and soon where 
 the prairie grass grew so rank as to hide a 
 man on horseback from view, broad fields of 
 waving grain told of the rapid development 
 of the resources of a rich and, fertile countiy. 
 Manufactories, villages, churches and school 
 buildings sprang up and the hum of busy in- 
 dustry was heard on every hand, where but a 
 few years before the pioneer was almost 
 alone; on a broad, rolling prairie, almost 
 wholly unpeopled for hundi'eds of miles in 
 every direction from his lonely cabin, save 
 by bands of half- naked Indians, which might 
 
 *By Frank M. Wright. 
 
 occasionally have been seen galloping along 
 the course of a stream, or disappearing over 
 the crest of a hill on their hardy Mustang 
 ponies. Such were the scenes familiar to 
 the pioneers of only a quarter of a centui'y ago. 
 
 June 10, 1S72, a petition signed by H, G. 
 Fisher, George Remington, Fielding Steele 
 and seventy-eight other citizens, was j^resent- 
 ed to the Boai'd of Supervisors, asking that 
 honorable body to form a new civil township, 
 to comprise a part of the townships of York 
 and Boomer. It was ordered by the Board 
 of Supervisors that Township 77, Range 41, 
 and Township 77, Range 42, is hereby or- 
 ganized into a civil township, to be known 
 as the township of Neola. By this organi- 
 zation, Neola Township comprised all the 
 territory now known as Minden Township. 
 Neola Township is now bounded on the north 
 by Harrison County, on the west by Boomer 
 Township, on the south by Norwalk Township 
 and on the east by Minden Township. It is 
 broken and untillable only at some points 
 along the streams. Nearly the whole siu-f ace 
 is a gently rolling prairie, and the soil is 
 very productive. Wheat, corn, oats and rye 
 are grown successfully, corn being the staple 
 crop. 
 
 This township is drained by Mosquito and 
 Pigeon Creeks and their tributaries. The 
 latter rises in Section 10, and crossing Sec- 
 tion 3, entering Section 4, flows in a south- 
 westerly direction across the sections diago- 
 nally of 9, 8, 18 and 19, leaving the town- 
 ship at the southwest corner of Section 19 
 
268 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 and crossing Section 25 of Boomer Town- 
 ship. In Section 25, of Boomer, it receives 
 the waters of a small tributary which rises in 
 Section 21, of Neola, and taking a southwest- 
 erly course, through Sections 20, 29 and 31, 
 leaves the township at the northwest corner 
 of Section 31. This tributary is known as 
 Bardsley's Creek, and received its name 
 through the event of the settlement of a Mr. 
 Bardsley on the west bank of the stream in 
 1854. 
 
 There are three bridges cross this stream, 
 all of which are mainly wooden structures, 
 erected at the exjjense of the count)-. Mos- 
 quito Creek rises in Harrison County and 
 enters Neola Township near the northwest 
 corner of Section 1. It flows almost due 
 south through the northern part of Sections 
 1, 12 and 13, and, on entering Section 24, it 
 bears to the east, flowing nearly to the east- 
 ern line of the township, in Section 25, whore 
 it is joined by the Minden Branch of Mos- 
 quito Creek. Its course from this point is 
 southwest through Sections 25, 26 and 35, 
 crossing the township line between Neola 
 and Norwalk Townships, about the center of 
 Section 35. 
 
 The early settlers of Neola Township found 
 the same rich soil, the same fine rolling 
 prairie and the same prospects of peace and 
 plenty, which awaited the pioneers of most 
 of the other townships of Pottawattamie 
 County. G. "W. Henderson claimed the 
 honor of being the first pei-manent white set- 
 tler of the township). His home had been in 
 Van Buren County, Iowa. In March, of 
 1855, he pre-empted the southeast quarter of 
 Section 12, and began at once to erect a shel- 
 ter for himself and family and to break 
 ground for a spring crop. He continued his 
 improvements, and to-day is among the well- 
 to-do farmers of the county. His home is 
 now located about two miles north of the 
 
 town of Neola. Mr. Henderson's first neigh- 
 bor in Neola Township was a Mr. Norman 
 Abbott, who settled in Section 19 during the 
 latter part of the same month. Mr. Abbott 
 remained a resident of the township until 
 1865, when he sold his farm to Thomas Cel- 
 lars, who in turn sold it to a gentleman 
 named Hillsworth. Subsequent to this sale, 
 it was divided, but is now owned by Mr. 
 Johu Handley, of Neola. William Tidwell 
 came to the new country and settled in Sec- 
 tion 18, near to Mr. Abbott. Joseph Balsley 
 and J. Mecklin settled on Pigeon Creek in 
 May of 1855. Mr. Balsley continued a resi- 
 dent of this township until his death. Mrs. 
 Balsley still owns the old farm where they 
 first settled. Mr. Mecklin sold his farm and 
 is now a resident of Boomer Township. The 
 next to choose a home in the prairie now 
 within the boundaries of Neola Township 
 was John O'Brien, who settled on Section 
 23 and still resides on the old place. Promi- 
 nent among the early settlers was Mr. Z. 
 Kemington and family, who settled on Sec- 
 tion 33. Mr. Remington, however, did not 
 become a resident of the township until 1858. 
 He lived on the place of his first settlement 
 until his death. After his death, the old 
 farm was divided by his heirs. His sons are 
 among the most prominent business men of 
 Neola. These early pioneers were soon fol- 
 lowed by large numbers of settlers, and the 
 country began to assume the appearance of 
 being peopled by a thriving, energetic com 
 munity. 
 
 After the first struggle to provide comfort- 
 able homes for their families, and a portion 
 of their prairie farms were broken and under 
 cultivation, the important question of schools, 
 churches, roads, bridges and other public 
 improvements were common topics of conver- 
 sation and movements which claimed their 
 attention. 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 269 
 
 The first roads in the township were mere 
 community roads. No survey had yet been 
 made of the lands, and the first settlers 
 staked off a claim, to which they were enti- 
 tled at Government prices after the survey. 
 The settlers located on these claims in differ- 
 ent parts of the country, chose the most con- 
 venient routes of driving across the prairie 
 from one house to another, or to such places 
 as their business might call them. After the 
 survey of lands by the Government and the 
 coiintry became more thickly settled, the lines 
 of roads were in many instances so changed 
 that the old trails or community roads were 
 entirely abandoned. Since the sm-vey, the 
 public roads have been opened usually upon 
 section lines, by petition presented to the 
 Board of Supervisors of the county, and which 
 were signed by those citizens mostly inter- 
 ested. The first public road opened in the 
 township was thi'ough the influence of Messrs. 
 G. W. Henderson and Z. Remington. This 
 road led from Section 5, Eange 41, to the 
 Ballard State road, which ran to Council 
 Bluffs. The length of the new road opened 
 by these gentlemen was about twenty- five 
 miles. The roads now in the township run- 
 ning east and west are very few and not car- 
 ried out by sections. The two principal 
 roads of the township run north and south, 
 and are known as the Henderson and Daven- 
 port roads. The former is about twelve miles 
 in length, and its termini are Sections 1, of 
 Neola Township, and Eight Mile Grove, of 
 Norwalk Township. 
 
 Mosquito and Pigeon Creeks remained for 
 a number of years unbridged, sa^e by such 
 rude structures as they were able to build. 
 There are now three bridges across these 
 streams in Neola Township, one of which 
 crosses Pigeon Creek on the line between 
 Sections 8 and 17, where the road ci'osses 
 which runs from Neola to Missouri Valley. 
 
 Cole Fisher's residence is near this bridge. 
 The other two cross Mosquito Creek; one of 
 them is located near the residence of Mr. 
 Aultman, one-half mile south of Neola, and 
 the other is located one and one-half miles 
 from Neola, and near the residence of J. J. 
 Leonard. Both are on the road running 
 from Neola to Eight Mile Grove, and are 
 constructed of wood and ii'on, as is also the 
 one crossing Pigeon Creek. 
 
 Neola Township had no special attractions 
 until 1869, when- the Chicago, Rock Island 
 & Pacific Railroad was built, and the town 
 of Neola laid out on lands owned by Messrs. 
 Withrow, Wright & Allen. The first house 
 where the city stands was built by D. Little, 
 about 1868, who kept store in the building. 
 It is now owned by D. J. Farrell and occu- 
 pied by F. D. Butler. The second building 
 was put up by Mr. Kuhl, who was a harness- 
 maker. This building is now owned by D. 
 Tostevin, the real estate agent. Mr. J. W. 
 Norris then put up a small building, which 
 is now owned by "VV. Graybill. Mr. Norris 
 was the first blacksmith to open a shoji in 
 Neola, and it was in the loft of his shop that 
 a Mrs. Doane taught the second term of 
 school in the town. The first school taught 
 in Neola was in the winter of 1869-70. Miss 
 M. Webster was the teacher, and the school 
 was held in the building now owned by D. 
 Tostevin. The Neola House was among the 
 first buildings in the town, and was erected 
 by Charles Hamilton. It was built for hotel 
 purposes, and has since been used for such. 
 McKinney is the present proprietor. 
 
 A post oflice building was erected in 1870 
 by Mr. Duncan, who was also first Postmas- 
 ter. Daniel Flynn erected a building the 
 same year and opened a saloon. 
 
 The large amount of gi'ain raised annually 
 in Neola Township justified Mr. C. D. Dillen 
 in engaging in the grain trade in the little 
 
270 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY 
 
 village as early as 1873. He also began the 
 sale of coal and lumber at the same time, 
 and has established an extensive trade in each 
 of these commodities. In 1878, Mr. Dillen 
 bnilt a grain elevator, the capacity of vfhich 
 is about 10,000 bushels per day. Mr. Dil- 
 len was the first permanently located dealer 
 in grain in Neola, though the writer was in- 
 formed that Blr. G. Duncan, the tirst Post- 
 master, was the first to buy any grain mar- 
 keted at Neola. The first grain elevator was 
 built by Mr. C. Hamilton. Both elevators, 
 however, were built in 1878, and their ca- 
 pacity was about the same. Mr. Dillen 
 opened and began operating his elevator on 
 October 1, while Mr. Hamilton had begun 
 biisiness in his some months earlier. Both 
 these gentlemen are successful business men, 
 and have taken an active part in the growth 
 and prosperity of the little city. 
 
 In 1880, the rapid growth of the town led 
 Mr. L. P. Judson to siu'vey and increase the 
 city property by an addition. In 1882, the 
 town received its charter as a city, and elect- 
 ed the following officers, who are still serv- 
 ing: Joha P. Organ, Mayor; C. M. Crippen, 
 Recorder, and O. L. Davis, Marshal. The 
 City Council is composed of T. Rishton, W. 
 Downs, E. Reichart, C. D. Dillen, J. W. 
 Butler and R. F. Lovell. 
 
 The principal business of Neola is done by 
 the following gentlemen: 
 
 Grain Dealers — C. D. Dillen and J. A. 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Dealers in General Merchandise — H. Men- 
 del. B. Riston, J. W. Butler, F. Riston, 
 Eggleston Bros, and Bradley & Burton. 
 
 Druggists — Mr. Vanness, C. F. Bobbins, 
 B. A. McKay. 
 
 Hardware Firms — Reichart Bros., C. M. 
 Witt and C. B. Stone. 
 
 Clothing Stores— -Remington Bros, and C. 
 M. Crippen. 
 
 Stock Buyer — G. W. Rogers. 
 
 Newspapers — Neola Tribune, E. P. Ivins, 
 editor (see biography), founded by Z. Brown 
 in 1880. 
 
 Real Estate Agents — H. L. McWilliams 
 and D. Tostevin. 
 
 Hotels — Commercial, S. Burgess, proprie- 
 tor; Neola House, McKinney, proprietor. 
 
 Bank — Neola Bank, Mr. Hemy, President; 
 Mr. Lodge, Cashier. 
 
 Livery Stables — A. King and Downs & 
 Mott. 
 
 Meat Markets — Hagerty & Reichart and 
 Handbury & Sills. 
 
 Insurance Agents — H L. McWilliams and 
 Riley Clark. 
 
 Millinery Store— Mrs. F. M. Gallup. 
 
 Carpenters — Purcell & Rogers, Eli Vick- 
 ery, William Schierbrook and Mr. Fulli- 
 gen. 
 
 The physicians of the town have been Dr. 
 Barton, Dr. Vanness, Dr. Harvey, Dr. Todd 
 and Dr. Lawrence. 
 
 Attorneys — H L. McWilliams and John 
 P. Orgen. 
 
 Present Postmaster — G. W. Remington. 
 
 Neola has one graded school. The build- 
 ing was erected in 1881, at a cost of $3,000, 
 and is a frame stnicture, 32x36 feet, and two 
 and one-half stories in height. About eighty- 
 five pupils attend this school. 
 
 The "school statistics of the township, inde- 
 pendent of the Neola school, show the follow- 
 ing for the year 1881: 
 
 Number of subdistricts, 6; number un- 
 graded schools in each district, 6; average 
 number of » months taught, 9. , 
 
 Teachers — Number employed, males, 8; 
 females, 4; total, 12. Average compensation 
 per month — males, $34.16; females, $33.75. 
 
 Pupils — Number of persons between the 
 ages of five and twenty-one years, males, 135; 
 females, 116; number enrolled in whole dis- 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 371 
 
 trict, 319; total average attendance in whole 
 district, 79; average cost of tuition per 
 month for each pupil, $4.72. 
 
 Schoolhouses — Frame, 6, value, $4,475; 
 value of apparatus, $1.85. 
 
 The Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
 was the first secret society to organized lodge 
 in Neola. Neola Lodge, No. 410, was or- 
 ganized on May 27, 1880. The charter 
 members were J. A. Hamilton, E. E. Harris, 
 Jacob Brown, Arthur Pitkin, F. T. C. John- 
 son, J. C. Chapman and C. K. Lynch. The 
 first officers were: J. A. Hamilton, Noble 
 Grand; E. E. Harris, Vice Grand; J. C. 
 Chapman, Secretary, and Jacob Brown, 
 Treasurer. The present officers are: E. P. 
 Brown, Noble Grand; Jacob Brown, Vice 
 Grand; R. T. Lovell, Secretary, and C. M. 
 Crippen, Treasurer. The lodge at present 
 numbers forty-four members. 
 
 Irwin Lodge, No. 118, Iowa Legion of 
 Honor, was the next secret society to effect an 
 organization in Neola. This lodge was or- 
 ganized August 15, 1881. The following 
 were the charter members: S. N. Harvey, L. 
 W. Todd, E. Reiohart, John Watson, M. Stew- 
 art. Ed L. Eggleston, O. O. Densmore, H. 
 J. Schierbrook, W. McDonald, R. Messing- 
 ham, H. Brengenhempkia, H. Vieth, C. M. 
 "Witt, E. Eiohenberger, M. Lanning, E. 
 Whitney, H. B. Lane, C. B. Stone, John Bu- 
 chansln, A. W. Loomis, L. Goerow, W. Ful- 
 lagar. H. Mendel, J. W. Telford, A. E. 
 Stone, F. O. Lewis and F. D. Tanner. The 
 first officers were: E. Reichart, W. P.; John 
 Watson, v.. P.; E. L. Eggleston, R. S.; C. 
 M. Witt, F. S.; J. Buchanan, C; C. B. 
 Stone, T. ; A. W. Loomis, D. K. ; M. Lan- 
 ning, S.; S. N. Harvey, M. E. ; L. W. Todd. 
 M. E. The present officers are : E. Eieehart, 
 M. P.; John Watson, V. P.; F. D. Tanner, 
 E. S. ; H. Mendel, F. S. ; A. W. Loomis, C. ; 
 C. B. Stone, T.; H. Vieth, D. K. ; W. Mc- 
 
 Donald, S.; S. M. Harvey, M. E. ; L. W. 
 Todd, M. E. 
 
 Agate Lodge, No. 423, A., F. & A. M., 
 was organized in March, 1882, and was the 
 last of the secret societies to organize a lodge 
 in Neola. The charter members were Will- 
 iam Harper, H. Mendel, J. D. Garrison, S. 
 N. Harvey, A. S. Avery, W. Phillips, L. W. 
 Barnum, J. W. Butler, J. M. Butler and N. 
 W. Matson. The first officers, who are still 
 serving, are: A. S.Avery, W. M. ; S. L. Har- 
 vey, S. W.; W. Harper, J. W. ; H. Men- 
 del, S. ; J. W. Butler, T. ; J. D. Garrison, 
 S. D.; W. Pliillips, J. D.; N. ^v. Matson, 
 Tiler. 
 
 Neola has two churches, one Catholic and 
 one Presbyterian. The former is a frame 
 structure, about' 28x40 feet, and was built by 
 Philip Mooman. It cost about $800, and was 
 completed in 1874. The first priest was Rev. 
 B. P. McMenony, now of Council Bluffs. 
 The membership consisted of twenty families 
 when the church was organized; they now 
 have a membership of one hundred families, 
 and have recently laid the foimdation of a 
 fine new church building, which will be con- 
 structed of brick. Father Kempler is expect- 
 ed to take charge of this people during the 
 early fall of 1882. 
 
 The following historical statement by the 
 Eev. G. M. Lodge, in regard to the Presby- 
 terian Church of Neola, will show the energy 
 and determination of that society to establish 
 an organization and build a church: 
 
 " February 20, 1880, Eev. G. M. Lodge and 
 Elder J. S. Love visited Neola to look after 
 the interests of Presbyterianism in that vi- 
 cinity. On the day following, which was 
 Saturday, these gentlemen made several calls, 
 and without previous appointment, Eev. G. 
 M. Lodge preached in the schoolhouse from 
 the text found in I Timothy, 2d chapter and 
 5th verse. In the evening, he preached in 
 
272 
 
 HISTOKY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 the same building, his text being Matthew, 
 6th chapter and 33d verse. 
 
 Finding four families, parts of which were 
 members of the Presbyterian Chm-ch, and en- 
 couraged by the attendance and apparent in- 
 terest of other citizens, these gentlemen ad- 
 vised that a church be organized as soon as 
 practicable. About this time, Neola was 
 visited by Eev. A. K. Baird, Syuodical mis- 
 sionary of Iowa, north, and acting mission- 
 ary of Presbytery of Council Bluffs, who also 
 advised the organization of a chm-ch in Ne- 
 ola. During this visit, Eev. Baird preached 
 a sermon, on March 1, 1880. 
 
 March 1-i of the same month, Rev. G. W. 
 Lodge preached again in Neola, and with the 
 consent of those who expected to become 
 members of the church, he appointed Mon- 
 day, March 22, as the day on which to or- 
 ganize. On the 22d day of March, 1880, 
 by the authority of the Presbytery of Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, a committee, consisting of Revg. 
 G. M. Lodge, F. H. Cleland and Elder J. S. 
 Love, met in Neola at 2 o'clock P. M. to or- 
 ganize a Presbyterian Church. 
 
 A sermon suitable to the occasion was then 
 preached by Rev. F. H. Cleland. A brief 
 statement was made of the steps already ta- 
 ken, and the register of the names of those 
 persons to be organized into a church was 
 read, which were as follows: John Buchanan 
 and Jessie, his wife, and their childi-en— 
 Katie, Jennie, Kennedy and David ; Lawrence 
 Hunter and wife, Mrs. Anna Remington and 
 Dr. Harvey and wife. All the members pres- 
 ent then arose to their feet and made a con- 
 fession of their faith in all the doctrines of 
 the Word of God, and covenanted with God 
 and each other to walk in all the commandments 
 
 and ordinances of the Lord blameless. The 
 church was then pronounced fully and prop- 
 erly organized. John Buchanan was elected 
 a Ruling Elder, and Lawrence Hunter a 
 Deacon. The Elder and Deacon elect were 
 then ordained and installed, after which a 
 solemn exhortation and charge were given to 
 the church and the officers, and the newly 
 organized church, with all its interests, was 
 commended to God in prayer." 
 
 A short time subsequent to the organiza- 
 tion of the Presbyterian Church, a society 
 was formed in Neola, the object of which was 
 to raise money to be given to any denomina- 
 tion of Christians that would contribute the 
 largest sum to this fund, the whole of which 
 was to be used in the erection of a new 
 church building, the same to be the property 
 of the denomination that secured the fund. 
 The Presbyterians succeeded in getting this 
 appropriation through the Presbyterian Board 
 of Missions, contributing S500. This sum, 
 with the donation from the town, and the 
 sums subscribed by members of the church, 
 was used in erecting a frame building, 42x38 
 feet. It was completed in March, 1882. at a 
 cost of $1,500. 
 
 Neola has two railroads — the Chicago, 
 Rock Island & Pacific and the Chicago, Mil- 
 waukee & St. Paul. The former was com- 
 pleted in 1869, and the latter in 1882. Both 
 are trunk lines, and offer to the little city 
 such advantages as are not surpassed by any 
 city in Pottawattamie County, except at Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. Surrounded by a populous and 
 highly productive country, and possessed of 
 an enterprising and liberal community, the 
 future of Neola is an unusually bright 
 one. 
 
BOOMER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 273 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV II.* 
 
 BOOMER TOWNSHIP— ORGANIZATION— ORIGIN OF NAME— EARLV SETTLERS— ADAM HEAGENV'S 
 
 "DUG-OUT"— AN EARLV TRIAL, ETC. 
 
 ^ I "'HE order to constitute Boomer Township 
 -*- was made by the Coianty Com-t on the 8th 
 day of June, 1858. It is that a new town- 
 ship be organized to be called Boomer, and 
 bounded and described as follows: By a line 
 commencing at the southeast corner of Sec- 
 tion 33, in Congressional Township 77 north, 
 of Kange 48 west; running thence on the 
 section line to the line separating the counties 
 of Harrison and Pottawattamie; thence east 
 along said county line to the northeast corner 
 of Congressional Township 77, Range 42 
 west; thence south six miles to the southeast 
 corner of said Congressional Township 77, 
 Range 42 west; thence on said Congressional 
 township line to the place of beginning. 
 This was a subdivision of the territory which, 
 in part, constituted Rocky Ford Township, 
 as originally organized. The first election 
 under the new organization was held on the 
 12th day of October of the same year, and 
 the township officers were then chosen. The 
 election was held in 1859, at the house of 
 Samuel Bateman, at which nineteen votes 
 were polled, out of which one was cast for 
 Republican candidates and eighteen for Dem- 
 ocratic candidates. The present number of 
 legal voters is now about one hundred and 
 sixty-five, and the township, during the past 
 ten years, has given about ninety Democratic 
 majority at general elections. The first 
 township officers chosen were Samuel Diggle, 
 William Fonts and Joseph Mohat as Trust- 
 ees; Henry Gittings as Township Clerk; and 
 Samuel Bateman, Sr., and Joseph Bardsley, 
 
 -By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 Justices of the Peace. It seems that no Con- 
 stables were chosen at that time. At least, 
 there is no record of it. 
 
 The earliest note there exists of settlement 
 in the township is that of Lee Bybee, who 
 came in 1847, and the spot where he made 
 his home was known far and wide as " By- 
 bee's Camp," in Section 31, and, during the 
 winter following his arrival, about fifteen 
 houses were erected in the same vicinity, on 
 the north of Pigeon Creek. In two or thi-ee 
 years, all of these settlers sold out their 
 claims and went onto Utah Territory with 
 the general Mormon emigration, and finally 
 remained there. Their improvements here 
 were made during a pause, while fleeing with 
 the general mass of those sectarians across the 
 State of Iowa from Nauvoo, 111. What was 
 once known as " Bybee's Camp " is now in- 
 cluded in the farms owned and occupied by 
 William McKeown, L. S. Axtell and George 
 Drake. William McKeown is the only resi- 
 dent of Boomer Township who came there and 
 settled in the original Bybee's Camp, when 
 it was simply a camp, and is doubtless the 
 oldest settler in the township for that i-eason. 
 He is a native of Canada, and came to Iowa 
 in 1846. The first birth, death and marriage 
 in the township occuiTed in this camp. It is 
 impossible now to give the names of the par- 
 ties in the first birth and the first death, but 
 the first marriage was a double one, and took 
 place in the spring of 1848. The parties in 
 the one instance were William McKeown and 
 Miss Eliza Jane Hall; in the other, Ezekiel 
 Cheeny and Miss Lucy Hardy. The latter 
 
374 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 subsequently went to Salt Lake City, and 
 were lost sight of. The iirst school opened 
 was in Bybee's Camj). in the winter of 1847 
 -48, and the teacher, J. L. Deforest, who 
 afterward died in Harrison County. 
 
 Those principally interested in securing 
 the organization of the township were Judge 
 Hall and I. M. Sigler, the latter still a resi- 
 dent. Jiidge Sherman was the County Judge 
 who made the oi'der constituting the town- 
 ship. Inasmuch as it would, when constitut- 
 ed, be an overwhelmingly Democratic town- 
 ship, it was proposed to flavor it with an 
 equally strong Republican designation, and 
 to call it after the Hon. D. J. Bloomer, of 
 Council Bluffs. In finally deciding this mat- 
 ter, Judge Sherman concluded to strike out 
 the " 1," and thus called it Boomer, a title 
 the organzation has ever since held. The 
 fu'st highway laid out was what is known as 
 the Harris Grove & Council Bluffs road, laid 
 out by Edward Latham, as Commissioner, in 
 1853. The first bridge was a wooden one, 
 across the North Pigeon, near William Mc- 
 Keown's. Nearly all the fu'st settlers were 
 English people, farmers, used only to the 
 reaping sickle. Isaac M. Sigler had the only 
 gi'ain cradle at that time in the settlement, 
 and, when his neighbors obtained the use of 
 it to cut their grain, their want of skill in 
 handling this Yankee imjilement, now also 
 out of date, created no little amusement. 
 Samuel Bateman, Sr. , brought the first reap- 
 ing machine into the settlement, a second- 
 hand McCormick reaper. Only small areas 
 of wheat were raised while the mode of har- 
 vesting was still of a f)rimitive character, but, 
 when improved machinery was once intro 
 daced, wheat-gi-owing expanded in the ex- 
 ceedingly rich and virgin soil of the " Missouri 
 Slope." ' 
 
 The first fanning-mill on North Pigeon 
 Creek was owned bv Robert Kent and 
 
 for the use of it he charged a toll of every 
 fourth bushel of wheat. 
 
 Among the most prominent and best-known 
 persons in the township, and who have been 
 residents a great many years — in fact, about 
 ever since the organization — besides Mr. Mc- 
 Keown and those already named, are Isaac 
 M. Sigler, George Drake, Henry Gittings, 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Mackland, Thomas French, 
 L. S. Axtell, Peter Peterson and B. Smith. 
 Mr. Sigler is a native of the State of Indiana, 
 and, during the Mexican war, in 184(3-48, 
 served as a soldier, and was severely wound- 
 ed in battle, and is now a jiensioner on the 
 pension rolls of the United States by reason 
 of such injuries. After the organization of 
 the Board of County Supervisors, and when 
 each township had at least one representative 
 on that board, Mi- Sigler was for a number 
 of years the member fi-om Boomer, and ren- 
 dered very valuable services. L. S. Axtell is 
 also a representative man, and has had the 
 confidence of his neighbors and fellow-citi- 
 zens. He is a Rejjublicau in polities. When 
 Pottawattamie County had a single Represen- 
 tative in the General Assembly of the State, 
 in 1873, Mr. Axtell was chosen as that Rep- 
 resentative, and served one term, declining a 
 renomination and a re-election. 
 
 Mrs. Mackland is one of the best-known 
 and most highly respected ladies of the town- 
 ship. She was born in Cheshire, England, 
 and emigrated to America in 1850. She 
 came by the way of New Orleans, in a sailing 
 vessel, across the ocean, the trip in that way 
 consuming eight weeks and four days. 
 From New Orleans she came up the Missis- 
 sippi to St. Louis, and thence by the Missouri 
 to Council Bluffs, making Keg Creek her 
 abode for several years, going to Boomer to 
 live in 1855. Her experience was that of 
 most persons settling in a new country and 
 having only moderate means. Privations 
 
BOOMER TOWXSHIP. 
 
 275 
 
 they were compelled to endiu-e, as neighbors 
 and comforts, under the circumstances, were 
 few and far between. Even the commonest 
 necessaries of life, such as the frontier ordi- 
 narily afforded, were not of the most abund- 
 ant. It often fell out that corn-meal could 
 only be had by grating the corn, instead of 
 grinding it. Their home was a log cabin, 
 and this was the only style of dwelling in the 
 settlement, where handsome and comfortable 
 houses, fine barns and cultivated fields have 
 replaced the rude culture of the frontier. 
 With all their discomforts, the social life of 
 the pioneers was of the most pleasant char- 
 acter. There was no meanness nor stinginess 
 in their intercourse. Each shared with the 
 other the little they had. The long winter 
 nights were frequently whiled away in log 
 cabin dances, when the buildings would fairly 
 shake in the liveliness and zest of those who 
 thus enjoyed themselves. There was little 
 of what was called "style" in those days. 
 Putting on airs was entirely out of place, and 
 the little community was thoroughly demo- 
 cratic in its social aspects. Game was still 
 abundant on the prairies and in the timber. 
 The streams abounded in fish; and at night, 
 the howl of the wolf, as he prowled around, 
 was a species of music not of the most assui-- 
 ing, but still not indicative of any danger. 
 Mrs. Mackland's husband died in 1876, in 
 the home made by him and her in toil and 
 privation. 
 
 Another character existed in those days, 
 and long after, in that township, in the per- 
 son of Adam Heageny, one of the earliest 
 settlers. The reverso side of tha blufifs that 
 divide Boomer from Koekford made, in those 
 times, excellent opportunities for the con. 
 struction of what, on the frontier, are known 
 as "dugouts." Heageny came fi-om Erie 
 County, Penn. , and took a small claim in the 
 western part of the township, and, being of 
 
 slender means, made a " dugout " for a hab- 
 itation. This was a large, roomy cave in the 
 hillside. It was warmly banked up, and in- 
 closed in front, and was as comfortable as 
 the most costly palace when the wild winter 
 winds whistled across the prairie. Here he 
 lived for many years, and reared a large fan^- 
 ily, and it was not until these had reached 
 manhood and womanhood that he bethought 
 himself of any other abode. He was a Jus- 
 tice of the Peace for quite a number of years. 
 The writer of this distinctly remembers an in- 
 stance of the manner. of dispensing justice 
 under his administration. It was an ex- 
 tremely cold day in November, 1870. A man 
 by the name of Henderson, a farmer, had been 
 sued at Neola by a Swede neighbor for inju- 
 ries done to the Swede's cow by Henderson' s 
 dog. The damages, at all events, could not 
 amount to more than $4 or $b. Neola was 
 then on one side of Boomer Township. A 
 change of venue was taken from the Neola 
 Justice to the next nearest one, Heageny, 
 at the far side of the township. The 
 party, witnesses and all, started for the 
 court, across the country, in one of the 
 bleakest winds that ever blew, in an open 
 fai'm wagon. Heageny was off at Loveland 
 when the litigants got to his house. A mes- 
 senger, a boy, was sent after him, and in two 
 hours after, he was seen coming up the ra- 
 vine, where the road led, at a gallop, his hat 
 gone and his hair streaming in the air. He 
 soon took in the situation. He had just in- 
 closed a new dwelling house, I)ut it was un- 
 finished on the inside. Loose boards lay 
 along the joists. It was Saturday, and the 
 day was already nearly gone. The group 
 were shivering around the stove, and the wind 
 whistling through crack and cranny of the 
 badly built house. Heageny soon compre- 
 hended what was wanted in the way of his 
 services as a Justice of the Peace, and, tak- 
 
276 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 ing his half-grown boy, hoisted him high 
 enough to reach the joists and loose boards, 
 and the docket and the Code of Iowa were 
 brought down, and the solemnity of the trial 
 began. At nightfall the trial was over, and 
 judgment was entered against the owner of 
 the dog. Heageny eventually became cramped 
 for elbow room in the encroachments of set- 
 tlements around him, and moved with his 
 
 family to California. Joseph Mohat, one of 
 the earliest and most staid of his neighbors, 
 is a Frenchman, still living, respected for his 
 excellent qualities as a citizen. 
 
 Boomer Township is one of the most pros- 
 perous in the county. It is now well settled, 
 and, with its exceeding richness of soil, bids 
 fair to be among the wealthiest, as it is one of 
 the most beautiful, townships in the county. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVITL* 
 
 KOC-KFORD TdWNSHIP— ONE OF THE ORIGIN.A.L TIIKEE TOWNSHIPS OF THE COUNTY— FIRST 
 
 MORMON SETTLERS— OTHER SETTLER.''- ORG.\NIZ VTION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS— FIRST 
 
 DEATH— TWO MURDER C.A.SES—LOV ELAND AND HONEY CREEK, ETC. 
 
 IT will doubtless always be interesting to 
 remember the origiral organization of a 
 county, which in area equals almost the 
 States of Delaware and Rhode Island each, 
 and is larger than many of the petty German 
 principalities before their incorporation into 
 the modern empire. Prior to 1853, the 
 county was simply divided into election pre- 
 cincts and had no distinctive township or- 
 ganization and administration. For all pur- 
 poses, it constituted a single township, but 
 in fact no township functions were exercised, 
 except such as related to the holding of elec- 
 tions. On the 12th day of February of that 
 year, the first steps were taken to divide the 
 county into three townships. This was done 
 at a special session of the County Court, which 
 was simply constituted of the County Judge. 
 T. Burdick held that oiSce at that date, and 
 made the necessary order, and S. T. Corg 
 was the Clerk of the Coiu-t, and made up the 
 record of the transaction. 
 
 The record so made states, in substance, 
 that the former division of the county into 
 precincts was discontinued, and the county 
 
 •Bjr Col. John U. Kiatley. 
 
 of Pottawattamie divided into three town- 
 ships, viz., Macedonia, bounded on the south 
 by the south line of the county, west by the 
 meridian or range line ruunintj north and 
 south across the county, between Range 40 
 and 41; north by the north line of the coun- 
 ty, and east by the east county line. A 
 glance at the map will show the vast area of 
 territory embraced in this subdivision. The 
 first election in the township was to be held 
 at the house of Calvin Beebe, at or near the 
 post office. 
 
 Kane Township's boundaries were lixed as 
 on the south by the north line of Mills Coun- 
 ty, on the west by the Missouri River, north 
 by the line separating Congressional or Gov- 
 ernment Townships, No. 75 and No. 76, and 
 east by the west line of Macedonia Town- 
 ship, just described. The tirst election was 
 ordered to be held at the court house in 
 Council Bluffs, and this meant the old cotton 
 wood building on Madison street, now First 
 street. 
 
 The third township embraced in this order 
 was what is now known as Rockford, then 
 called Rockj' Ford, from a I'ock-bottomed ford 
 
ROCKFOKD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 277 
 
 of the Boyer Eiver in the vicinity of Love- 
 land. The west boundary of the township 
 was the Missouri River, the north the south- 
 ern line of Harrison County, the south by the 
 north line of Kane Township, and the east 
 by the western line of Macedonia Township. 
 The first election was ordered to be held at 
 Reel's Mill. 
 
 It is not necessary in this place to enlarge 
 upon the history of Kane Township. That 
 is embraced in the history of the city of 
 Council Bluffs, except so far as it may be ne- 
 cessary to give the requisite sketch of those 
 townships which have since been carved out 
 of the older township. Each of these three 
 organizations has been frequently subdivid- 
 ed, and named, and the' facts which follow 
 are mainly relating to the townships as they 
 are now constituted and limited. 
 
 As to Rockford, or Rocky Ford, as it was 
 first officially designated, the first settlers 
 were members of the Mormon Church, who 
 came about the date of the arrival of the 
 people of that faith at Council Bluffs. Only 
 a few of that class of settlers still remain. 
 Joseph Hill was the first arrival in the town- 
 ship who did not belong to that church, and 
 was designated as a Gentile. He took pos- 
 session of a tract of land in Section 11, on 
 the Missom'i Eiver, near what is known 
 as the old St. John's Landing, and has made 
 that spot his home ever since. He came 
 from the vicinity of St. Joseph, Mo., in 1850. 
 He was followed the next year by Joseph 
 Kirby and Arthur Mann. These men are 
 both dead. Samuel Kirkland and Dr. Rob- 
 ert McGavern came the same year as Joseph 
 Hill. Dr. McGavern is still living and is a 
 highly respected citizen of Harrison County, 
 residing only a few miles from the point of 
 his original settlement in Pottawattamie 
 County. Kirkland lived in the township un- 
 til his death, in 1880. The farm he first 
 
 cleared out, opened and improved is owned 
 by his son-in-law, James Brookhauser. 
 James Kirkland came to the township with 
 his father, and died at old St. John, just over 
 the Harrison County line, in 1882. Henry 
 D. Cox made a settlement in Rockford in 
 1851. He subsequently removed into the ad- 
 joining county of Harrison, and is a large 
 land-owner and the possessor of a magnifi- 
 cent farm near the Chicago & North-Western 
 Railway, between Missouri Valley and Logan. 
 Mr. Cox removed from the township in 1854. 
 Noah Harris was a settler cotemporaneous 
 with Cox, but went to St. John in 1857, and 
 subsequently to the Rocky Mountain country, 
 where he died. 
 
 One of the oldest and most prominent set- 
 tlers is Basil Fox. He is still living, and 
 one of the best known and most respected 
 farmers i n the county. He was born in Put- 
 nam County, Ind. , where he lived until his 
 emigration to this county, in 1852. When 
 the war of the rebellion broke out, Mr. Fox 
 enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Iowa Volun- 
 teers, organized by Col. Thomas H. Benton, 
 Jr., at Council Bluffs, and served until the 
 expiration of his term of three years, and 
 coming home when all the work was done. 
 He has always been an active Republican in 
 politics, and is a member of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic, being attached to the Abe 
 Lincoln Post at Council Bluffs. Under the 
 old regime, when each township had at least 
 one member in the Board of County Super- 
 visors, Mr. Fox served a term or two in that 
 office. 
 
 Sherman Goss and his family arrived in 
 1851. Mr. Goss was shot dead in a claim 
 fight which took place at Fort Calhoun. Neb. , 
 in 1854, and his widow and children re- 
 mained in the township for many years. 
 Henry W. A. Goss still lives on the old home 
 farm in Section 10. John S. Goss lives at 
 
278 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUJfTY. 
 
 MisBOiiri Valley and Hugh A. Goss in Coun- 
 cil Blufifs, where he is in the employment of 
 the United States Government as a free de- 
 livery mail can'ier. All three of these sons 
 of Sherman Goss served in the Union army 
 during the rebellion. Their mother is also 
 dead. Is<iac Cox and Peter R. Deel arrived 
 from Putnam County, Ind., in 1851, but only 
 remained a short time, Cox having removed 
 to Harrison County and Deel having died 
 soon after. Thomas N. Copeland, an old 
 and respected citizen of Loveland, arrived 
 with his family in the fall of 1852. He 
 lived in Harrison County during his tirst 
 winter in Iowa, but came over into Rockford 
 Township in the following spring, and has 
 been there ever since. Hon. Hardin Jones, 
 his brother, John G. Jones, and Joseph Moss, 
 son-in-law of Hardin Jones, and their fami- 
 lies emigrated from Indiana in 1854, made 
 farms and have lived since that date in the 
 township. Hardin Jones was County Judge 
 for the term which expired on the Ist day of 
 January, 1870, when the otSce ceased to exist 
 by operation of law. and the office of County 
 Auditor substituted for his. He has always 
 been an active Democratic worker, and has 
 taken a personal interest in county politics. 
 Joseph Moss served one term as Deputy 
 Sheriff, under Sheriff Periy Reel, and acted 
 as County Jailer during that period. Joseph 
 Foreman came into the township and settled 
 diu'ing the same year as the Jones family. 
 Josiah Skelton, well known and highly re- 
 spected, came in 1854, and at the same time 
 James T. Frazier and his son Alfred. All 
 of these old settlei's are still living. 
 
 As near as can be ascertained at this date, 
 Hiram Bostwick and his famih'were the lirst 
 Mormon settlers in the township. They lo- 
 cated in tbe timber bordering the Missouri 
 River, nearly opposite Honey Creek Station, 
 on the North-Western Railway, and almost 
 
 west of Honey Creek Lake. Mr. Bostwick 
 was noted far and near fbr his hospitality, 
 and hundreds of middle-aged men, who were 
 mere youths then, have a lively and pleasant 
 recollection of the couutry dances at the 
 Bostwick mansion in the early days of tile 
 county. People went from far and wide to 
 those gatherings, and fun and fi-olie always 
 rewarded them for the distance traveled. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bostwick lived to a ripe old 
 age, in the home carved out by them in the 
 lonel}- wilderness. Their hospitality was of 
 the genuine backwood's style, sometimes 
 rough, but always generous. Daniel Bost- 
 wick, one of the sons who grew to manhood, 
 and who was as well known as his parents, 
 also died a year or two ago. Samuel, another 
 son, is now a resident of Colorado. Another 
 of these early settlers was an Englishman 
 named Richard Allen and his family. He 
 spent his days near Honey Creek, and died 
 about a year ago at an advanced age. His 
 grandson, Henry Lowe, lives on the tract of 
 laud settled by his grandfather. One of Mr. 
 Allen's daughters mamed William Points, 
 and is still an inhabitant of the township. 
 He also had a son Joseph, who settled and 
 acquired about 600 acres of land, partly im- 
 proved for farming, near Honey Creek Sta- 
 tion, and used and occupied it until his 
 death, about five years ago. He left a large 
 family of sons and daughters, and the estate 
 has been divided among them. His widow, 
 Eliza Allen, has the homestead. The Chicago 
 & North -Western Railway was built north 
 and south through the township in the winter 
 of 1866-67, and the first trains run in Feb- 
 ruary, 1867, two stations, Loveland and 
 Honey Creek, also being established in the 
 township. One of the attractive and promi- 
 nent topographical features of the townshijj 
 is Honey Creek Lake, a beautiful, clear sheet 
 of water, half a mile south of Honey Creek 
 
ROCKFORD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 281 
 
 Station, about two miles long and half a mile 
 or more wide. It abounds in fish, and has 
 always been an exceedingly attractive spot to 
 sportsmen. Numerous smaller lakes or clear 
 ponds dot the surface of the township, and 
 aside from the Missouri River, which washes 
 its west front, the Boyer River traverses the 
 entire breadth of it, and empties into the 
 Missouri on the west side of Crescent Town- 
 shiji. 
 
 In the winter of 185-1, a public school sys- 
 tem was organized, and a Board of Directors 
 constituted. The school historj' of the town- 
 ship up to that date is clouded in absolute 
 uncertainty. Basil Fox was chosen Presi- 
 dent of the School Board; Hardin Jones, 
 Secretary; and Thomas N. Cojjelaud, Vice 
 President. The school was opened in an old 
 log Mormon hut, which was repaired, on the 
 northwest quarter of Section 11. The school 
 was first opened there in the winter of 1855. 
 Jacob Cox was the first teacher. The first 
 house originally intended as a school build- 
 ing was a frame one, transported from what 
 was called " Old Cincinnati," in Harrison 
 County, and permanently located on Section 
 10. As the settlements expanded around this 
 nucleus, houses were added to supply increas- 
 ing wants, the district was subdivided, and 
 now seven substantial, convenient school- 
 houses adorn and accommodate Rockford 
 Township, as an evidence of the public spirit 
 of her people. The second public highway 
 was a road from Crescent City np the valley 
 to " Old Cincinnati." but nothing remains of 
 it now but the tracing on the record. Basil 
 Fox was the first Road Supervisor. The first 
 public bridge built was in 1853. over a branch 
 of Honey Creek. It was constructed of na 
 tive timber and floored with split logs or 
 puncheon. The Mormons had previously, at 
 their own expense, built some bridges over 
 streams, but they were sim^^ly temjaorary 
 
 makeshifts. They had also put in a mill on 
 Honey Creek, but it was gone before any of 
 the Gentile settlers got into the country. In 
 1859, Wiley B. Hatcher built a small mill on 
 Honey Creek, in Section 24, the millwright 
 work being done by Basil Fox and one Popps, 
 but the floods carried the dam out, in 1870, 
 and the structure was allowed to go to ruin. 
 In 1865, E. Lovelaud and A. J. Bell began 
 the erection of a flouring-niill, at Lovelaud, 
 and it was put in operation by Mr. Loveland 
 in the winter of 1866. The mill was after- 
 ward rebuilt and enlarged,- and is now the 
 property of John Hawthorne & Co. Hey- 
 ward & Amos operated a horse power saw- 
 mill near Honey Creek Station in the tim- 
 ber in 1854. In 1860, William Arthur and 
 Hoil Carter put in a steam saw-mill, but it 
 has long since been disused. 
 
 The first death noted in the settlement was 
 a child of H B. Cox, in the summer of 
 1852. The first bu'th was a daughter of Ja- 
 cob Cox, in January, 1853, and a few days 
 later, on the 5th of February, one was born 
 to Mr. and Mrs. T. N. Copeland. The first 
 marriage remembered by the old settlers was 
 that of John S. Goss and Sophronia Cope- 
 laud, daughter of T. N. Copeland, and which 
 occurred in June. 1855. An election was 
 held in a sort of an irregular way, in the fall 
 of 1852, in the log schoolhouse on the Cope- 
 land farm, Harrison County voters coming 
 there to vote, and it being also a Presidential 
 year. 
 
 Among the early prominent settlers is Ed- 
 ward W. Bennett, who has now reached a 
 ripe and venerable age. He was born in 
 Nova Scotia in May, 1805. His father was 
 an old-fashioned Nova Scotia merchant, and 
 at a very early date instilled into the mind of 
 his son two business principles, one never to 
 buy anything except for cash down, and the 
 other, never to aro security for another. The 
 
2S'' 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 son adhering to these points, came to the 
 United States, and engaged in mercantile 
 pursuits for twenty years, in Buffalo, N. Y. 
 Desirincr to become a land-owner, he emi- 
 grated to Western Iowa, in 1856, and pur- 
 chased the large tract which has ever since 
 been his home, where he has resided in com- 
 fort and contentment. He and his wife have 
 enjoyed a married life of over fifty-five years, 
 she being one year his senior. They have 
 seen the county expand from a few scattered 
 settlements to a perfect hive of industry. 
 
 In the fall of 1858, Isaac and Enos Cole 
 came from Illinois, and bought of James 
 Goss the farm now owned by Isaac Cole. 
 When they arrived, James Mcintosh lived on 
 the prairie between the Boyer River and the 
 timber. John S. Goss. two miles north of 
 Mcintosh; old Mr. Bush, on the Josejjh Hill 
 farm, on the Missoui'i River, and old Mr. 
 Davis on the present David Henderson place, 
 and these were then the only settlers in that 
 part of the township west of the Boyer, ex- 
 cept Butterfield, who lived on the bank of 
 this stream where Loveland now is. The 
 Coles landed in the country with about SlOO 
 in money, a yoke of oxen, a pair of horses, a 
 log wagon and a common wagon, and began 
 work. Ague took hold of them, but they 
 managed to put up their hay. They had a 
 stack of wheat and one of beans, but the 
 prairie fire destroyed their wheat. The 
 next year they raised a small wheat crop, 
 and threshing it with a flail, took it to Reel's 
 mill and had it ground, and this was the 
 first of that kind of flour they had for a year. 
 Of the six boys in the family, three of them 
 went into the military service, in the Union 
 army during the rebellion, and one of them 
 died while thus serving his country. When 
 they came to Iowa, there were twelve of them 
 in the family, ten children. The young men 
 of this family broke the raw prairie for 
 
 George Mcintosh, the original owner of what 
 is now the town site of Missouri Valley, at 
 the junction of the North- Western and the 
 Sioux City and Pacific Railroads. Joseph 
 Buffingtou, who still survives the many inter- 
 vening changes in the township, is a native 
 of Indiaaa, but emigrated from Illinois in 
 1853. When Le reached there, many of the 
 tracts of land that are now beautiful farms, 
 were under water from the Missouri River 
 overflow, and the country had, in conse- 
 quence, a most discouraging outlook. Game 
 in the timber and on the prairies was abund- 
 ant, as many as seventy-five deer in a herd 
 being frequently seen, and the woods abound- 
 ed in wild turkeys. The old trees standing 
 were, in scores of instances, occupied by wild 
 bees, and the settlers supplied themselves 
 from this source. This, in fact, gave the 
 name to the creek, which it still retains. 
 Mr. Buffingtou came to the West with only a 
 small sum of money, but out of the wild 
 lands of Western Iowa has made himself a 
 comfortable home for his old age, in Section 
 24. He and his wife have reared nine chil- 
 dren, and in the long interval have never 
 had more than five visits from a physician. 
 William Points, who was born in Kentucky, 
 removed with his parents to Missoui'i, and 
 then into Eastern Iowa, is another long resi- 
 dent of the township. With the exception 
 of a short residence in Nebraska, about 1862, 
 he has lived almost continuously in the town- 
 ship since 1852, having been married in No- 
 vember of that year, to Catharine Allen, 
 daughter of Richard Allen, already men- 
 tioned. His wife was born in England. 
 They have only one son living, who remains 
 still with his parents on their fine farm. Jo- 
 siah Skelton is a native of Tennessee, re- 
 moved to Indiana, and thence to Western 
 Iowa in 1853, settling where he now lives, 
 on a tract of land having a small log house. 
 
KOCKFORD TOWXSHIP. 
 
 283 
 
 fourteen by sixteen feet in dimensions. 
 They were compelled to endure considerable 
 hardship during their early residence in the 
 county. The nearest point where lumber 
 could' be procured was at the Thomas Dennis 
 saw- mill, on Soldier Creek, twenty-two miles 
 north, and the roads, where there were any, 
 were execrable. The winter of 1857 was a 
 peculiarly hard one, to them, the snow hav- 
 ing drifted to a depth of fifteen feet in places. 
 Two of his sons narrowly escaped death, in 
 a snow storm, while on their way from Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, whither they had gone as their 
 market town. The mother, to save the feet 
 of one of the boys, T. M. Shelton, amputated 
 two of his toes with a common table knife, 
 no surgeon being within reach in those days. 
 As it was. the boy lost neai'ly all of his toes 
 from being frozen. 
 
 The people of the township were thrown 
 into intense excitement in the winter of 1871 
 by the news that John S. Goss had shot and 
 dangerously wounded his cousin, Sherman 
 Brown. The facts, as disclosed at the trial 
 of Goss for the jnurder of Brown were sub- 
 stantially these: Brown had lived in North- 
 western Missoui'i, in Clay County, during the 
 rebellion, and had acquired the reputation of 
 being a bushwiiacker. About a year before 
 his death, he removed with his wife, mother 
 and brother to Rockford Township, and be- 
 came a tenant on Goss's farm, occupying a 
 small house near the road, and some distance 
 west of the dwelling of jSIr. Goss. Difficulty 
 arose between him and Mr. Goss, during the 
 summer of 1871, and on one occasion, he 
 made an assault on Goss with a large knife, 
 at milking time, in the cow-yard in the 
 morning, and in chasing Goss, cut a gash in 
 the latter's felt hat. On various occasions 
 afterward, he threatened to others that he 
 would in the end have revenge, and that he 
 would kill Goss. These threats were con- 
 
 veyed to the knowledge of Goss, and he 
 placed a revolver in his pocket with which to 
 defend himself in case of attack. No diffi- 
 culty again occurred until in the following 
 winter. Goss started, one very cold morn- 
 ing, to the timber west of the Brown house, 
 got his load and was on his way past the house, 
 walking by the side of his team, when he saw 
 Brown coming toward him with a club in 
 his hand. Acting on appearances, keeping 
 in mind Brown's threat, and regarding the 
 attitude of the latter as menacing, he kept> a 
 sharp lookout. Ho stated on the trial that 
 Brown raised the club to strike a blow, and 
 did strike, but without effect, when he drew 
 the revolver from his overcoat pocket, with 
 his mittened right hand, keeping the reins in 
 his left, and fii-ed, the shot taking effect in 
 the right thigh of Brown and severing the 
 femoral artery. This ended the encounter, 
 and Brown lingered for fourteen days, and 
 died. Goss surrendered himself, and was 
 admitted to bail, after a full preliminary ev 
 amination. He was indicted and tried for 
 Brown's mm-der, at the May term of the Dis- 
 trict Court, 1872, before Judge Reed, the 
 prosecution being mainly managed by Hon. 
 B. F. Montgomery and W. S. Shoemaker, and 
 the defense by Sapp & Lyman, L. W. Ross 
 and John H. Keatley. When the evidence 
 was all submitted and the charge of the court 
 given to the jury, counsel for the defendant 
 were so confident of acquittal that they sug- 
 gested that the juiy should take the case 
 without any argument and this was done. 
 They were out about an hour, and returned 
 a verdict of not guilty. 
 
 Shortly after this, a tragedy of a totnlly 
 different character occurred in the same 
 township, resulting in the death of an old 
 citizen by the name of Samuel Fickle. At- 
 tracted by some noise on the outside of his 
 house, he went to the door opening in the 
 
284 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 direction of a corn-crib. It was after dark, 
 
 and the room was brightly lighted, and as he 
 
 stood for a moment, listening, in the full 
 
 glare of the light, in the open doorway, he 
 
 was pierced with buckshot and instantly 
 
 killed. A subsequent examination of the 
 
 surroundings showed fresh tracks at the cor- 
 es 
 
 ner of the corn-crib, and other circumstances 
 indicating that the person who had done the 
 deed had fired from that spot, where he was in 
 perfect shelter in the darkness. He had 
 married a widow by the name of Kirby some 
 time before that, having several children, one 
 of them a young man by the name of George 
 Kirby. He had had a difficulty with his step- 
 father, and no cordial feeling existed between 
 them, and he was living from home at the 
 time. Several witnesses saw him an hour or 
 60 before the killing moving across the open 
 prairie in the general direction of the Fickle 
 house, with a shotgun on his shoulder. 
 Tracks were found in the soft mud, on the 
 line traversed by him when seen by these 
 witnesses, and there was also some corre- 
 spondence between those tracks and the pe- 
 culiarity of one of the heels of his boots. 
 The tracks, however, could not be traced to 
 the spot where the shot was fired, although 
 the ones found there bore a strong resem- 
 blance to those about which there was little 
 dispute. There were other circumstances de- 
 veloped in the train of evidence, there being 
 no direct proof, but they played a secondary 
 part in the trial. In the first trial the jury 
 disagreed, and the case was again tried at 
 another term. No new discoveries of evi- 
 dence were made in the meantime, and the 
 jury rendered a verdict of acquittal. 
 
 On the evening of the Presidential election 
 of November, 1872, Alfred Frazier and a 
 man by the name of James McMillan got 
 into an altercation in the store of Mr. Fra- 
 zier, and it reached to the point of their 
 
 clinching. In a moment, McMillan was dead. 
 There is no certainty that any blows were 
 struck or -anything done by Frazier that could 
 certainly cause death, but he was tried on 
 the charge of murder and fully acquitted. 
 
 It was not a long time after the settlement 
 of the township that attention was paid to 
 its religious interests, a Baptist Chui-ch hav- 
 ing been organized where Loveland now is, 
 in 1856. The original membership was 
 twelve persons, viz., W. A. Reel and wife, 
 John Deel and wife, Hardin Jones and wife, 
 Mary M. Frazier, Cynthia Mace, Edward 
 Latham and Josiah Skelton. Its present 
 membership is seventy-five. Their present 
 edifice was erected in 1880, at a cost of $1,- 
 300, and is thirty by fifty feet in dimen- 
 sions. The Rev. John Case was the first 
 pastor of this church. William L. Jones 
 and Isaac Skelton are regularly ordained 
 ministers of this religious organization. 
 They claim it as the oldest Baptist society 
 west of the Des SJoines River. At the date 
 of its organization and for years afterward, 
 its pastor and the delegated laymen had to 
 travel more than two hundred miles on land, 
 before the era of railroads, to attend the an- 
 nual meetings of the church association. 
 
 The inhabitants of the township constitute 
 especially an agricultural community. It 
 contains no large towns. It has two villages 
 at the raih'oad — Loveland and Honey Creek. 
 A hamlet grew up about the mill, but it was 
 not until December, 1879, that Judson & 
 Brodbeck, surveyors, laid off and platted the 
 town, at the instance of John Hawthorne, the 
 owner of the land now constituting the site. 
 The first house was one moved to the site, late 
 in the summer of 1880, by D. A. Mace. The 
 first lot sold was in the spring of 1880, to J, 
 A. Copeland. The town is in Section 3 of 
 that township. Considerable business has 
 grown up about that nucleus, among them the 
 
CRESCENT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 285 
 
 merchant milling business of Mr. Hawthorne, 
 Kelsey Bros, and ]\I. H. French & Co., gen- 
 eral merchants. E. C. Kelsey conducts a 
 lumber yard; Joseph Moss sells agi-icultural 
 implements; Bert Evans is the proprietor of 
 a grain elevator; J. A. Champion conducts 
 the "Excelsier Creamery;" W. E. Hoit has a 
 restaurant, town hall and a boarding-house; 
 J. A. Mason has a harness shop, and in ad- 
 dition to that the place has a blacksmith shop 
 and a fine railroad depot in charge of J. E. 
 Kellotfg, station agent. 
 
 The mill driven by water-power is an im- 
 portant matter in the industry and prosperity 
 of the place. It is forty by sixty feet, with 
 two stories and an attic, and has a wheel- 
 house, sixteen by forty, and a two-story stor- 
 age room, eighteen by forty. Its capacity is 
 four run of buhrs, and the product is about 
 forty barrels of flour per twelve hours' run. 
 The treacherous nature of the banks and bot- 
 tom of the streams of Western Iowa has al- 
 
 ways been a source of constant peril to mill- 
 owners. In this instance, it is so fixed that 
 all danger in that respect is avoided. The 
 front or breast of the dam is fastened from 
 top to bottom with stanch iron rods strongly 
 bolted through the heavy timber, and heavy 
 and niunerous rods extend from front to rear, 
 connecting with the mud-sills, and making 
 the structure a solid mass. 
 
 Honey Creek is a small hamlet, a railroad 
 station and a post office. It is near the 
 south line of the township, and has a general 
 store, kept by Alfred Frazier, who is also the 
 depot master and the Postmaster. 
 
 In dismissing the annals of this town- 
 ship the note is made, that the present 
 officers (1882) are Lewis Jones, Calvin 
 Crispin and Hardin Aldridge, Trustees ; 
 Henry Goss, Township Clerk; Joseph Moss 
 and William Hoit, Justices of the Peace, 
 and B. P. Spencer and Seth Crowder, Con- 
 stables. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX.^ 
 
 CRESCENT TOWNSHIP— ORIGIN OF NAME— THE INDIANS— FIRST SETTLERS — ORGANIZATION- 
 FIRST ROAD— FIR.ST BRIDGE— FIRST MILL— SCHOOL'S- FIRST POST OFFICE- 
 MUTUAL PROTECTION SOCIETY- CRESCENT CITY— THE PRESS 
 —INDIAN INCIDENT, EARLY .7USTICE, ETC. 
 
 CRESCENT is a singular name for a 
 township, and yet, when the facts of its 
 location are known and understood, it is not 
 80 singular after all. It borders the Mis- 
 souri River just north of Kane Township and 
 Garner, and therefore lies north of Council 
 Bluffs. Back from the river several miles 
 are the bluffs which characterize all this re- 
 gion. A little north of Council Bluffs, these 
 bluffs and the Missouri River are so close to- 
 gether that there is no more than room for 
 the North-WesternRailway track, which runs 
 
 *By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 here in a northerly direction. The bluffs 
 between Council Bluffs and Crescent Station, 
 about six miles distant, lie facing the west, 
 and keep a northerly course. A few hundred 
 yards north of this station, they make quite 
 a sharp ciu've eastwardly, and then sweep back 
 again toward the river, reaching its general 
 direction in the form of a crescent, and from 
 this circiunstance is derived the name applied 
 to the township — a poetical stretch of fancy 
 not often indulged in in pioneer days. 
 
 As stated in the sketch of Council Bluffs, 
 the territory now included in the site of the 
 
286 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COrXTY. 
 
 city was made the Pottawattamie Indian Res- 
 ervation until their removal to Kansas. Up 
 to the date of the arrival of the Pottawatta- 
 mies, no Indians made this and the soil of 
 Crescent Township an abiding-place. The 
 Omahas frequently crossed over to this side 
 on hunting expeditions, but made no claim 
 to the soil. After the Pottawattamies were 
 established on their reservation, a band of 
 the Omaha tribe took possession of a tract of 
 land in Crescent Township, on Little Pigeon 
 Creek, and established a small village, and 
 remained there until the removal of the tribe 
 to Kansas. These Omahas were never the 
 foe of the whites, and proved steadfast under 
 all circumstances. The roving bands of Om- 
 ahas on their hunting and trapping expedi- 
 tions, were perfectly honest, and molested 
 nothing belonging to the settlers. When 
 stock was lost or stolen, they most cheerfully 
 assisted in the search, and showed their 
 friendly dispositions in a thousand percepti- 
 ble ways. The neighborly character of the 
 Pottawattamies was as strongly marked as 
 that of the Omahas. 
 
 The hrst settlers in the township were 
 members of the church of Latter-Day Saints, 
 and formed a part of the esodus and emigra- 
 tion which resulted in the foundation of 
 Council Bluffs. Among the number were 
 David Wilding, who was born in England; 
 Robert Kirkwood and William Strang, the 
 latter of whom died in 1880, highly respected 
 by the whole community; both were natives 
 of Scotland; and H. A. Terry, S. M. Hough 
 and Joseph McCoid, born in New York. Mr. 
 Hough died a few years ago, at an advanced 
 age, leaving behind him a large family of 
 grown-up children. Joseph McCoid still 
 lives in the township, and is one of the most 
 prosperous citizens of the county. 
 
 No citizen of the county is better known 
 throughout the State than H. A. Terry. To 
 
 him are the people of Iowa largely indebted 
 for a demonstration that the State, and es- 
 pecially the western portion of it, is adapted 
 to fruit-growing, and especially those tender 
 varieties that were popularly supposed inca- 
 pable of cultivation in this climate. He was 
 born in Cortland County, N. Y., in 1826, 
 and came to Iowa in 1846, and to Pottawatta- 
 mie County in 1847, several years before the 
 county was organized. He was emphatically 
 one of its pioneers. His first vocation after 
 coming here was that of selling goods, near 
 what is now the village of Crescent City. 
 Giving some attention before that to fruit 
 culture, by careful study and observation he 
 came to the conclusion that it was practica- 
 ble here, and to that end, in 1855, started in 
 business in Council Bluffs, in the sale of 
 seeds and nru'sery stock. He continued to 
 do so until 1857, when he removed to the vi- 
 cinity of Crescent City, where he still re- 
 sides, to engage in the nursery business. He 
 was among the original members of the fu'st 
 agricultural society ever organized in the 
 county, of which L. M. Kline was President; 
 D. S. Jackson, Vice President; J. E. John- 
 ston, Treasurer; and H. A. Terry, Secretary. 
 This organization was effected in 1856, and 
 its operations have been included in the an- 
 nals of Council Bluffs. For many years, his 
 seed business and traffic extended from St. 
 Joseph, Mo., to Fort Pierre, D. T. In 1860, 
 he abandoned the seed business and gave his 
 whole attention to the nursery business. Not 
 only did his efforts become the nucleus and 
 source of the many thriving orchards of 
 Western Iowa, but, rearing an orchard of his 
 own, he has demonstrated that the tenderest 
 fruits, such as peaches, can be successfully cul- 
 tivated in this climate, and with profit. Mi-. 
 Terry has also taken part in every movement 
 orcranized in the State for the benefit of its 
 agi'icultural interests. He is emphatically a 
 
CRESCENT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 287 
 
 public-spirited citizen, and is still in the 
 prime of life, enjoying the fruits of his con- 
 fidence, skill and industry. 
 
 Robert Kirkwood is a plain farmer, and, 
 ever since he came into the county, has fuade 
 that his business, and in that he has emi- 
 nently succeeded. He has never had any 
 ambition to be anything else, but on any oc- 
 casion, when called upon by his fellow-citi- 
 zens, whether in his own township or in the 
 county, he has cheerfully and prudently 
 served the public as he has always managed 
 his private affairs. Besides discharging pub- 
 lic duty in connection with the schools and 
 township affairs in Crescent, Mi-. Kirkwood 
 served one term as a member of the Board of 
 County Supervisors, his term expiring on the 
 4st of January, 1881. As a test of his per- 
 sonal popularity, based upon the confidence 
 reposed in the man, it may be stated that, as 
 a candidate on the Democratic ticket, in a 
 county at that date giving a large Republican 
 majority, Mr. Kirkwood defeated his compet- 
 itor by a satisfactory majority. The Demo- 
 cratic County Convention, on the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, 1881, nominated him as one of the 
 candidates for Representative in the Legis- 
 lature of the State, but he felt it his duty to 
 decline the honor. The County Democratic 
 Convention of 18S2 again nominated him as 
 one of the candidates for member of the Board 
 of Supervisors of the county, and at the elec- 
 tion, on the 7th of November, 1882, he was 
 again elected to that position, to take effect 
 January 1, 1883, his associate on the ticket, 
 S. A. Dye, being defeated by the Repub- 
 lican candidate. Mr. Kirkwood's opponent 
 was Jerome Tm-ner, of Washington Town- 
 ship, one of the most esteemed citizens of the 
 county. 
 
 The gentlemen just named were followed 
 as settlers, in 1852, by David Dunkle and 
 Hem-y McMullen, who are still citizens of the 
 
 township. Emigration set in quite actively 
 after that date, and by 1857, large quantities 
 of land were under cultivation, and comfort 
 and thrift characterized the community. They 
 had refused allegiance to the hierarchy of 
 Brigham Young, and had resolved to make 
 the rich lands of the Missouri Valley their 
 homes, and were abundantly content with 
 that lot. They have all prospered, and thus 
 justified their choice of location. In 1857, 
 Joseph E. Johnston, who is mentioned in 
 connection with Council Bluffs as a pioneer 
 newspaper publisher, and who opened up 
 Ellisdale farm, near Crescent City; A. J. 
 Williams, S. Eggleson, L. J. Goddard, A. 
 M. Lewis, William Menai'y, L. O. Little- 
 field, Alexander R. Prentiss, Nelson Swanson 
 and 0. H, Dutrow were the most prominent 
 settlers, aside from those already mentioned. 
 Joseph E. Johnston now lives at Fort George, 
 in Southern Utah; William Menary died 
 about three years ago; Nelson Swanson also 
 died in Crescent City four years ago, leaving 
 a family to revere his memory for his good 
 qualities as a man and a citizen; and Alex- 
 ander S. Prentiss, a Scotchman by birth, still 
 has his pleasant home where he founded it 
 years ago. 
 
 From February 12, 1853, to March 2, 
 1857, Crescent Township formed a part of 
 Rockford, or, as it was then called Rocky 
 Ford. At the latter date, a petition, signed 
 by A. J. Williams and thirty-seven other set- 
 tlers in the territory comprising Crescent 
 Township, was presented, asking that the 
 territory be set off as a new township, and 
 this was done. The territory thus assigned 
 were Congressional Townships 76, Range 42, 
 and 76, Range 43, and a fractional part of 
 76, Range 44. It was also ordered that the 
 first election for township officers be held at 
 Crescent City in April, 1857. The limits 
 thus defined are not those of the present town- 
 
288 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 ship, for since that date Hazel Dell and Nor- 
 walk Townships have been created, depriving 
 Crescent of a considerable portion of her ter- 
 ritory. This change v/aa made in 1873. 
 Four petitions were tiled with the Board of 
 Supervisors on the 7th day of June, 1873, 
 asking them to organize the township of Ha- 
 zel Dell and Norwark from the eastern end of 
 Crescent Township. J. P. Boulden and W. 
 H. H.. McGinnis. both old citizens, repre- 
 sented the petitioners before the board, and 
 urged the change. Those opposed to it with- 
 in the limits of the present organization were 
 David Dunkle among others, Dunkle repre 
 senting them before the board and L. W, 
 Eoss, a lawyer of Council Bluffs. After the 
 hearing, the matter was postponed lantil June 
 9, 1873. when the order v^as made in accord- 
 ance with the petitions, having Crescent 
 Township bounded as at present — on the west 
 by the Missouri River, on the north by Rock- 
 ford, on the south by Garner and the east by 
 Hazel Dell. 
 
 At the first election, as provided by the or- 
 der of the Board of Supervisors, the Trustees 
 elected were S. M. Hough, L. O. Littlefield 
 and L. J. Goddard; A. M. Lewis was made 
 Township Clerk; Thomas Allison, Assessor; 
 A. J. Williams and Samuel Eggleson, Justices 
 of the Peace; and David Dunkle and James 
 Hopkins, Constables. The present officers of 
 the township are: L. M. Aylesworth, C. G. 
 Mcintosh and John Currie, Trustees; W. M. 
 Hough (son of the late S. M. Hough), Town- 
 ship Clerk: S. M. Swanson (son of the late 
 Nelson Swanson), Assessor; C. F. Pratt and 
 W. A. Robinson, Justices of the Peace; and 
 Denver Hough and R. C. Menary, Constables. 
 The Road Supervisor is L. Hamilton. 
 
 The first highway opened in the township 
 was the one from Crescent City to Council 
 Bluffs, through the valley of the Little Pigeon 
 Creek, crossing that stream a little east of the 
 
 present residence of P. Waldo; the first bridge 
 was at this crossing. There are now seven 
 combination bridges, wood and iron, in the 
 township, built at the cost of the county — 
 one crossing Boyer River, two across the Big 
 Pigeon, one across Little Pigeon, one over 
 Mill Creek, and one across the neck of Haw- 
 thorn's Lake, on the Missoiu-i River bottom. 
 The first mill built in the township was in 
 1848, when Jerome Benton established a 
 small one for the use of the settlement in 
 Section 13, on Pigeon Creek. It afterward 
 became the property of H. S. Williams, who, 
 after running it awhile, took out the princi- 
 pal part of the machinery and allowed the 
 mill to go to rain. Messrs. Allison & Nut- 
 ting built a saw-mill in Section 25 in 1857, 
 and in 1859, added a custom grist-mill to it. 
 It was afterward transferred to Wilbur & 
 Porterfield as a merchant mill, in 186-4. The 
 latter carried on operations until 1874, when 
 the machinery was removed and the mill 
 abandoned. Wilbur & Porterfield also, about 
 the same time, had a saw-mill in the north- 
 ern part of the township. Capt. C. F. Pratt 
 brought his steam saw-mill from Roekford 
 Township into Crescent Township in 1S76. 
 Henry Conant, William Clark and James Gor- 
 don began making the first brick in 1857. on 
 what is now H. A. Terry's nursery This 
 enterprise was in view of the expectations of 
 Crescent City becoming the terminus of the 
 Mississippi & Missouri Railroad, and when 
 the town fully believed in its destiny as the 
 principal point in the county. 
 
 The first schools were private ones, estab- 
 lished and sustained by the Mormon settlers. 
 They were taught at some of the residences of 
 the patrons. The first movement to establish a 
 public school was in September, 1855, when 
 Reuben Barton, David Dunkle, William Mc- 
 Mullen. Henry McMullen and Solomon Mc- 
 Mullen met at the house of William McMul- 
 
CRESCENT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 289 
 
 len, where Solomon McMullen now lives, in 
 Hazel Dell, and organized the school town- 
 ship of Little Pigeon District, No. 7. At 
 this meeting, L. J. Goddard was elected 
 President of the Board of Directors; David 
 Dunlile, Secretary; and Eeubeu Barton, 
 Treasurer. Reuben Barton, the Treasurer, 
 was also authorized to employ a teacher, and, 
 in carrying out that intention, he made a 
 contract with the newly elected President by 
 which the latter took charge of the school at 
 a salary of S30 per month, for a term of two 
 months. The people, however, were not 
 fully satisfied with this system of education, 
 and wave it little encouragement at first. A 
 log schoolhouse was soon built and fitted up 
 near the present line between Crescent arid 
 Hazel Dell Townships. It had a turf roof and 
 a puncheon floor and door, dressed out with 
 a common adz. The seats were made of the 
 same material and in the same way, and were 
 simply made by putting feet in with an au- 
 ger, and they were ranged around the sides 
 of this primitive building. Each pupil had 
 a certain portion of the bench set apart to 
 him, and designated by a chalk mark. The 
 next summer, Miss Sophronia E. Whitcomb 
 was the teacher. The system had come into 
 favor, and the school was then crowded. For 
 several years this was the only school in a 
 radius of seven miles. The second building 
 for that purpose was erected on Pigeon Creek, 
 near the site of the Parish Mill. The build- 
 ing was of a better class than the first one 
 erected. From that date there was no lag of 
 interest in the pviblic school system in the 
 township, and, before the division. Crescent 
 contained eleven subdistricts, all provided 
 with comfortable buildings. The last board 
 before the separation were H A. Terry, Dan- 
 iel Bronson, J. H. Grigg, D. E. Wightman, 
 John Currie, O. H. Dutrow, Joseph Butler, 
 M. H. Dial, W. H. McGinnis, M. Didia and 
 
 D. Parish. In the division of Crescent, the 
 latter retained five of the schoolhouses, and 
 two have since been added, making seven in 
 all. The present School Board ar^ David 
 Dunkle, President; Robert Kirkwood, Treas- 
 urer, and Robert Adams, Secretary. 
 
 It may be of some general interest in the 
 future to know the present condition of the 
 public schools of this township, and the year 
 1881, is taken as the basis. The number of 
 subdistricts is six, and the same number of 
 ungraded schools. The average number of 
 months taught were six and five-twelfths; 
 ten teachers were employed — four males and 
 six females; the average compensation per 
 month was, for males, $33.33; and females, 
 $35. There were 112 male pupils between the 
 ages of five and twenty-one years, and seven- 
 ty-five females between the same ages. The 
 average attendance in the entire district was 
 sixty-six, and the average cost per pupil per 
 month, S4.33. An attempt was made to build 
 a S3,000 school building in Crescent City, but 
 the proposition failed to receive the authori- 
 zation of the tax-payers of the township. • 
 
 The fii-stpost office was authorized at Ellis- 
 dale Farm, two miles south of Crescent City, 
 April 3, 1856, and L. J. Goddard was ap- 
 pointed Postmaster, and he held the position 
 until 1859. The office was, however, changed 
 to Crescent City shortly after his appoint- 
 ment, and the name of the post office also 
 changed to Crescent Cit}-. On the 1st of 
 January, 1859, Samuel Eggleston was made 
 Postmaster, and held it until November 11, 
 1859, when David Dunkle was appointed, 
 and the latter discharged the duties of the 
 office until October 16, 1861, when J. B. 
 Blake, now Postmaster of Avoca, was appoint- 
 ed in his stead. Blake was succeeded by G. 
 "W. McKeown, David Wilding, John Currie, 
 T. J. Spangler and Nelson Swanson, the lat- 
 ter of whom was appointed October 22, 1879. 
 
290 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Only one secret society exists in the bounds 
 of Crescent Township. This is in the nat- 
 m-e of a police force. This section of the 
 State, like many others, was subjected to dep- 
 redations from cattle and horse thieves. The 
 citizens of Crescent Township, in 1872, re- 
 solved to organize secretly in a most effective 
 manner for mutual protection in this respect, 
 and for that piu'pose, about thirty of the best 
 citizens constituted the organization known 
 as the " Mutual Protectionists. " They have 
 a secret ritual, and signs and pass woi'ds in 
 use in cai'rying out the plan and design of 
 their organization. Its object is to recover 
 stolen property, and to bring thieves to jus- 
 tice and punishment, and in this respect it 
 has done a good work. On one occasion, a 
 few years ago, the citizeos of Council Bluffs 
 were surprised to see coming down Broadway 
 a large body of horsemen, mounted as caval- 
 rymen, with a flag at their head, and each 
 mounted man wearing a red sash. It was the 
 first intimation that there existed in the 
 neighborhood any such an organization, and 
 its object was soon understood. After parad- 
 ing the streets, the mounted society returned 
 as they came, to their lodge room at Crescent 
 City. The present officers of the association 
 are: Robert Kirkwood, President; C. F. 
 Pratt, Vice President; William Currie, Cap- 
 tain; I. A. Brown. Assistant; O. H. Dutrow, 
 Treasurer; Robert Adams, Secretary; and H. 
 S. Gideon, Janitor. 
 
 A branch of the re-organized church of the 
 Latter-Day Saints was established at Cres- 
 cent City in 1801, by William Blair, one of 
 the most distinguished ministers of that re- 
 ligious society. It had a membership of 
 twenty members, and Mr Kuykendal was 
 President, with J. B. Boren, Secretary. It 
 ceased to exist in 1872. It was, however, re- 
 established afterward, and has a membership 
 of seventy persons, H. Hansen being Presi- 
 
 dent, and Robert Kirkwood, Secretary. They 
 also maintain a flourishing Sunday school, 
 but as yet they have no church edifice, though 
 they are making strenuous efforts to acquire 
 one. No other religious society has an or- 
 ganized existence in the township, althoiigh 
 there are many members of other churches who 
 are residents, and whose church affiliations 
 are outside of the township. 
 
 The original proprietors of the town of 
 Crescent City were Joseph E. Johnson. H. A. 
 Terry, J. R. Hough, S. M. Hough, Samuel 
 Eggleston, L. O. Littlelield, L. J. Goddard, 
 O. H. Dutrow, D. S. Jackson and R. W. 
 Steele. Joseph E. Johnson erected the first 
 business house in the spring of 1856. It 
 was located on the north side of Florence 
 street, west of Johnson avenue. The mate- 
 rial for the same was brought from Hanni- 
 bal, Mo. Johnson opened out a general store 
 in that building. Samuel Eggleston soon 
 followed with another building, on the south- 
 west corner of Florence street and Johnson 
 avenue. The third person who put up a 
 building was a man named Piper, who built 
 a large one only a short distance from the 
 other two. Business was not encoui'aging 
 for so large a building, and it was converted 
 into a town hall. Wliile other points in 1857 
 were struggling with financial disaster, Cres- 
 cent City was rapidly improving, on account 
 of railroad prospects that were eventually 
 blasted. The town was laid out in the fall 
 of 1856. In 1857, few towns in the West 
 away from railroads presented greater activ- 
 ity. A newspaper was started called the 
 Rock Bottom, and this little weekly journal 
 had only a short life. Its principal business 
 was the urging of a railroad bridge over the 
 Missouri River between Crescent City and the 
 then flourishing town of Florence, in the 
 Territory of Nebraska. The Crescent City 
 Oracle, of which Joseph E. Johnson wes edi- 
 
CRESCENT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 •291 
 
 tor, and L. O. Littlefield was publisher, had 
 a little firmer foothold, but it also disappeared 
 when the prosperity of the town began to 
 wan«. The boom only lasted until 1S5S, 
 when it became evident that Council Bluffs 
 would be the railroad center, and not Cres- 
 cent City. Johnson was among the first to 
 desert the place, and took his store to Oma- 
 ha, then a mere village. So it has dwindled 
 away, until now only the store of Nelson and 
 J. H. Swanson is left 
 
 Few traces remain of the Indians who laid 
 claim to the rich soil of the township; and 
 few traditions survive. One, perhaps, only 
 is remembered. Wabayo had his village a 
 little west of what is now known as Currie's 
 Grove. In the village were two brothers — 
 Kobago and Wishumemeka. Kobago was the 
 elder of the two, and both sought the hand of 
 Kamalola. She was indifferent to both. 
 Kobago became jealous, not only of his own 
 brother, but of the other young men of the 
 tribe. Kobago took his brother into his con- 
 fidence in the plan to murder the girl and 
 place her beyond the reach of any rivals. 
 Wishumemeka was selected to invite the 
 maiden to a trysting-place at the old oak, 
 near the residence of Reuben Dunkle, and 
 there, at nightfall, the two savage brothers 
 murdered their victim with horrid atrocity. 
 After having bm-ied her body at the root of 
 the tree, they were unable to rest, and, the 
 next morning, made a full confession to the 
 chief. They were punished with death, ac- 
 cording to the usages of the tribe, and with- 
 out delay, the means of punishment being a 
 club, by which their brains were beaten out. 
 
 A great portion of Crescent Township is 
 rough land. The Missouri bottom, of course, 
 stretches along its west front, but many por- 
 tions of this, at that point, owing to the 
 overflows, is untillable. The high range of 
 bluffs which skirt this bottom are fit for past- 
 
 urage only, but still the township contains 
 great quantities of the richest soil in the 
 world. Council Bluffs is its market town, 
 being reached by excellent roads. One of 
 these passes through an immense artificial 
 cut in the bhiffs, at a point still known as the 
 "Hog Back." On this high ridge, at an 
 early day, many a weary settler has packed 
 flour for his family on his back, when the 
 bleak winds of the winter blew stinging gales 
 into his face. 
 
 In the early days of the township, it is re- 
 lated that curious methods of administering 
 justice prevailed. A citizen was killed by 
 another on the bottom, in the timber, and was 
 arrested for the crime and taken before a lo- 
 cal magistrate there for the purpose of an ex- 
 amination as to whether he ought to be held to 
 answer at the District Com-t. Lawyers went 
 up from Council Bluffs to prosecute and de- 
 fend the case. When the time came for the 
 hearing, the attorney for the prisoner claimed 
 that no man could be tried for so grave an 
 offense as mui-der except by a jury, and de- 
 manded that the Justice of the Peace impanel 
 six men for that purpose. His influence pre- 
 vailed, in spite of the eloquence of the other 
 side that the proceeding was nor a trial, but 
 simply an investigation as to whether the 
 prisoner ought to be held to be tried by a 
 jury in the District Court. This line of rea- 
 soning was of no avail. Six men were sworn 
 to try the alleged culprit, and true deliver- 
 ance make; and they did make it, for they 
 brought in a verdict of not guilty. The pris- 
 oner's counsel gained his point, which was 
 simply to get his man off. 
 
 The following additional pt^rsonal notices 
 and n;iention are made of old settlers of 
 Crescent and Hazel Dell Townships. 
 
 W. C. Mcintosh, born in Kentuckj^ came 
 here in 1848, and is still living in the town- 
 ship. A. B. Boren, a native of Tennessee, 
 
293 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 arrived in 1848. At that date there was no 
 house between Afton and Council Bhiffs, a 
 distance of 110 miles, and nothing but a trail 
 over the prairie and through the timber. 
 
 C. G. Mcintosh, a native of Tennessee, 
 came in the fall of 1850, and John Mcintosh 
 came the same year, but now lives in Shelby 
 County. 
 
 In 1852, William A. Reel came into the 
 county, and bought a mill which stood near 
 
 the site of what is called the Pigeon Creek 
 Mill. It had been called Cooley's, and in 
 operation four years. That mill, after a 
 time, was removed. Mr. Reel built a saw- 
 mill by the side of it, and this was afterward 
 converted into a grist-mill, and is the pres- 
 ent one conducted by Mr. Paris. Perry Reel, 
 who was Sheriff of the county, and its Treas- 
 urer, is a son of William Reel, and resides 
 in the township, on his farm. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 H.-VZEL DELL TOWNSHIP— SEPAR.iTlOX 
 
 FROM CRESCENT 
 AND OFFICERS. 
 
 TOWNSHIP— SCHOOLS— ORGANIZATION 
 
 MENTION has already been made of the 
 division of Crescent Township so as 
 to constitute Hazel Dell Township. The first 
 schoolhouse was the log one built by the 
 Mormons, and mentioned in the sketch of 
 Crescent Township. There are nine neat 
 schoolhouses now in the township, with as 
 many prosperous schools. The first township 
 officers after the new township was organized 
 were J. P. Boulden and James Osborn, Trust- 
 ees. Mr. Boulden came into the country at 
 a very early day, and became one of the orig- 
 inal settlers in the old township of Cres- 
 cent. He was a Republican in politics, and 
 served several terms as a member of the 
 County Board of Supervisors. Among oth- 
 
 •By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 era who came in about the same time were 
 Benjamin McGinnis and W. H. McGinnis, 
 both of whom are still there, and both of 
 whom served in the Union army during the 
 whole period of the civil war. The present 
 officers of the township are Joseph Butler, 
 Reuben Dunkle and J. P. Boulden; Charles 
 Mm-phy is Township Clerk; Morris Mon-ison 
 and J. P. Boulden are Justices of the Peace; 
 and Alexander Johnson and Andrew O'Don- 
 nell are the Constables. Riley'Hough, an old 
 settler, came to the township in 184S, and has 
 lived there ever since. A. Hall and John 
 Roberts came nearly as soon as Boren and 
 Hough. Mr. Hall died some years ago. One 
 of his daughters is married to Davenport 
 Magruder, of Rockbridge County, Va. 
 
XOKWALK TOWXSHIP. 
 
 393 
 
 CHAPTER XLI.* 
 
 NORWALK TOWNSHIP— INTRODUCTORY — NATURAL ADVANTAGES — BOUNDARIES— DRAINAGE- 
 EARLY SETTLERS— MILLS— ROADS AND BRIDGES— SCHOOLS— DOWNSVILLE— UNDERWOOD. 
 
 WE may conceive of a time when men 
 subsisted on the spontaneous produc- 
 tions of the earth and the easy gains of the 
 chase; on fruits, vegetables and animals, all 
 of which were obtained with little exertion in 
 sufficient quantities to support a limited pop- 
 ulation in the temperate and beautiful re- 
 gions, where the human race is supposed to 
 have originated. But all must be left to con- 
 jectm-e and vague surmise previous to the 
 first record, in which Cain appears as a "til- 
 ler of the ground, " and Abel as a " feeder " 
 or "keeper of sheep," offering the " firstlings 
 of his flock." Here we find the two grand 
 divisions of agriculture — the tilling' of the 
 soil, requiring the active labor of head and 
 hand; and the raising of animals, or the more 
 passive watchfulness of shepherd life — and 
 it is reasonable to suppose that these divis- 
 ions continued as the human family increased. 
 The change from a state of natvu-e, in which 
 the first of the race must have lived, to the 
 pastoral, or to any higher mode of living, 
 must have been gradual — the work, perhaps, 
 of ages. Experience and observation, on 
 which improvements in the modes of life usu- 
 ally depend, are gained only by slow degi'ees. 
 Reliance on the spontaneous fruits of the 
 earth was found to furnish only a precarious 
 subsistence. The race was doomed to toil, 
 and necessity soon sharpened the power of 
 invention. An old theory of political econo- 
 my, taught in the da3-s of Louis XV, was 
 ■' that only those who cultivate the earth, or 
 
 «By Frank M. Wright. 
 
 otherwise bring into use the natural powers 
 of the vegetable or animal kingdom, can be 
 regarded as really increasing the wealth of 
 the community." According to this theory, 
 artisans, merchants, scholars, public officials 
 and professional men are unproductive per- 
 sons. At the same time, they are necessary 
 to the occupation of the farmer, herdsman, 
 miner or hunter, and are therefore useful. 
 The descrif)tion of a feast given by a rich 
 man during the thirteenth century, as found 
 in " Treasurie of Ancient and iModerne, " 
 published in 1613, is as follows: "The meat€^ 
 served into the Table, was alwaies in great 
 chargers, tilled with pease and Bacon: Gam- 
 mons of Bacon; huge neat's toungs salted; 
 great pieces of Beefe, boyled Poultry with 
 Pottage about-them; boyled Mutton, Veal, 
 and other grosse food. They gorged in these 
 victuals so long as they could cram any more 
 into their bellies. Afterward, they brought 
 in other meates, answerable to the former, but 
 wasted and 'larded, oftentimes with unsavory 
 lard, but it would go for Pigs and Hares, 
 After this second service had stood awhile on 
 the Table well neere to no effect, then came 
 in more dainty neates and Foules, as Mal- 
 lards, wild Ducks, Ringdoves, young Pigeons, 
 Partridges, Woodcocks, Qitails, Plovers, Tur- 
 tles, and others of like kinds, which are car- 
 ried away like the second service, almost 
 never toucht, for they (good men) had filled 
 their stomackes with the first course of 
 meates, feeding hungerly on them, and drink- 
 ing sower wines, such as summer marreth, so 
 
294 
 
 HISTORY OF POTT A.W ATT AMIE COUNTY. 
 
 they left the beat and daintiest meates, in- 
 deede, for their varlets and base servants to 
 feede on." 
 
 How little we realize the changes that have 
 been made, and how slow we are to believe 
 that the farmer of to-day may depend only 
 upon the products of his own farm, and en- 
 joy a greater feast than the nobleman of three 
 oentiu'ies ago! Neither Indian corn, carrots 
 cabbage or turnips were known in England 
 till after the beginning of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. To-day, the Indian corn is the great 
 staple crop of the West, and, notwithstand- 
 ing the immense amount ah-eady produced, 
 the resources of the West have just begun to 
 be developed as they are destined to be here- 
 after; for thousands of miles of virgin prai- 
 rie still stretch away beyond the line of civ- 
 ilization, waiting only the hand of the farm- 
 er to contribiate their abundant stores for 
 the support of man. Western Iowa has al- 
 ready proved beyond the question of experi- 
 ment her ability to produce a supply far in 
 excess of her home consumption. No more 
 honorable task can be given the historian 
 than to leave upon record the trials, struggles 
 and privations of any community, however 
 small, which has added to the wealth of our 
 nation by developing the resources of the 
 soil. 
 
 Nor walk Township may be considered one 
 among the tirst agricultural townships of Pot- 
 tawattamie County. The sm'face is but little 
 broken by bluffs or ravines, and the soil is of 
 that rich, mucky nature so productive along 
 the valley of the Missouri River. Farming 
 has been carried on in some parts of the town- 
 ship for the past thirty years, and still there 
 seems to be no fertilizing agencies required.' 
 The soil in many places is several feet in 
 depth. That part of the soil which is solu- 
 ble in the water of rain represents its avail- 
 able plant food. 
 
 Assuming, then, that the soil is physically 
 adapted for a cultivated vegetation, its fer- 
 tility depends upon its furnishing the grow- 
 ing plant with continuous and abundant sup- 
 plies of nutrition. The quantity of ash in- 
 gredients that the heaviest crops of corn are 
 estimated to remove from the soil in one rear 
 is small, compared with the whole weight of 
 the soil taken to such a depth as is penetrat- 
 ed by the roots of the plants. Those por- 
 tions which are removed from the field as the 
 more valuable part of the crops do not carry 
 off more than 600 pounds of ash ingredients 
 per acre yearly, while the soil taken to the 
 depth of one foot, weighs from 3,000,000 to 
 4,000,000 pounds per acre. 
 
 Possessing such natural advantages, it is 
 only a question of time and industry until 
 the farmers of Norwalk Township can rest 
 from their labors, retire with a competency, 
 and leave a handsome legacy to their chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Norwalk Township was organized June 6, 
 1873, and was named Norwalk by Mr. E. 
 Foote, in honor of Norwalk, Conn., where he 
 formerly resided. It is bounded on the north 
 by Neola Township, on the west by Hazel 
 Dell Township, on the south by Hardin 
 Township, and on the east by York Township. 
 The central portion of the township is drained 
 by Mosquito Creek, which enters the town- 
 ship about the center of the north line of 
 Section 2. and flows in a southwesterly di- 
 rection, through Sections 2, 3, 10, 9, 16, 21, 
 20, 29 and 31, crossing the west line of the 
 latter section just south of the line of the 
 Chicago, Eock Island & Pacific Eailroad. 
 There are numerous tributaries to Mosquito 
 Creek, arising in Norwalk Township, besides 
 two which rise outside of the township, but 
 empty into the main stream within the town- 
 ship boundaries. The largest is, perhaps, 
 three miles from source to mouth. Mosquito 
 
XORWALK TOWJJSHIP. 
 
 295 
 
 Creek received its name from the early set- 
 tlers, on account of the millions of insects by 
 that name whicE were found in swarms along 
 its banks. Keg Creek, the name of which 
 was derived from an incident related in the 
 history of Hardin Township, crosses the 
 southern corner of Norwalk Township, enter- 
 ing the township from the east about the 
 southeast corner of Section 2-1; it flows a lit- 
 tle south of west, and crosses the western 
 line of the township near the southwest cor- 
 ner of Section 36, the whole distance of the 
 channel in Norwalk Township being a little 
 over two miles. 
 
 A few of the early settlers of Norwalk 
 Township were Mormons, but in the emigra- 
 tion of that people to Utah, they followed 
 their leaders. But one lonely cabin is left as 
 i\ momento of that historic people. It was 
 originally standing on the claim purchased 
 by Asa Downs, in 1851, and was used by him 
 as a dwelling for a time. It has since been 
 moved, and is now standing near and to the 
 east of Down's bridge. The principal early 
 settlers of the township were Joseph Holman, 
 Ezekiel Downs, Asa Downs, William Cox, 
 William Hendrix, Johnson Lane and Will- 
 iam Yocum. They all arrived and settled in 
 Norwalk Township, from 1845 to 1850. Jo- 
 seph Holman still resides at the place of his 
 original settlement. He came from Missouri 
 to this county. Ezekiel Downs was among 
 the prominent early settlers; he came about 
 the year 1845, and settled on Mosquito Creek 
 at the point subsequently known as Down's 
 mill. He remained a resident of this county 
 until his death. Asa Downs, son oE Ezekiel 
 Downs, was a native of Indiana; went to Il- 
 linois with his people when a child, where 
 the early part of his life was spent, and came 
 from that State to Iowa. He settled in the 
 grove on Mosquito Creek, where the post 
 office by the name of Downsville has been 
 
 established. Mr. Downs has been dead for a 
 number of years. His widow, six sons and 
 four daughters, still reside in Pottawattamie 
 County. William Cox came from Illinois in 
 1850, and located on land owned by Asa 
 Downs, in 1851. Mr. Cox now resides in 
 Union Grove, Harrison Co., Iowa. Mr. 
 Hendrix came from Illinois and settled on 
 the farm now owned by Mr. G. T. Ward. 
 He continued to reside in Norwalk Township 
 until his death. Johnson Lane came from 
 Illinois and settled on land which now forms 
 a part of Mr. G. T. Ward's farm, where he 
 spent the remainder of his life. William 
 Yocum, also one of the early settlers, came to 
 the county, but a sad wreck physically. He 
 had been a resident of Missoiu'i, and while 
 there he joined a mob at Horn's Mill against 
 the Mormons. During the fight, he received 
 seven bullets in his body, from the effects of 
 which he never recovered, but remained a 
 cripple until his death, which occurred in 
 Pottawattamie County. He lived for a num- 
 ber of years on a part of Mr. G. T. Ward's 
 
 I farm. A Mrs. Kelly, of Downsville, is the 
 daughter of Mr. Yocum, and the only one 
 left of that family in Norwalk Township, so 
 far as could be ascertained. 
 
 Pioneer life has many hardships and pri- 
 vations; at times, the early settler would 
 suffer for the necessaries of life, but for the 
 common humanity which leads a fellow-being 
 to divide with a more needy neighbor. But 
 
 , for this kindly assistance granted in times of 
 need, the pioneers must, many of them, turned 
 their faces toward the old home and made 
 their way back as best they could. The loss 
 of a horse meant the loss of crops, and actual 
 want, if not starvation, would be the result, 
 if the new settler could not borrow of his 
 neighbor. But the pioneers always welcomed 
 every new-comer who coi;ld satisfy them of 
 his honesty and inclination to " do the square 
 
296 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 thing." Little trouble, however, was taken 
 to discover who or what the new settler mav 
 have been. It was very evident that he was 
 possessed of energy and determination, or he 
 never would have braved the dangers of pio- 
 neer life. They coimted, also, that he was 
 willing to work, and. consequently, must 
 be honest, and in this conclusion they were 
 usiially correct, for it is not in the nature of 
 a dishonest man to seek a home in a new and 
 undeveloped country, where only hard work 
 and an abundance of it awaits him. It was 
 not uncommon for them to borrow and lend 
 tea, coffee, sugar and flour. 
 
 Going to mill meant crossing sloughs and 
 fording the unbridged streams, and. though 
 it was a day or two of change from the mo- 
 notony of the routine of farm life, yet there 
 were difficulties and obstacles to be overcome 
 to insure a safe return to the anxious ones at 
 home. 
 
 The early settlers of Norwalk were more 
 fortunate than the settlers of many other 
 parts of the county. As early as 1847, Eze- 
 kiel Downs and Mr. A. Smith built a saw- 
 mill and flouring-mill on Mosquito Creek, 
 which stood about fifty yards below where 
 the mill owned by Mr. Fleck now stands. 
 The flouring, or grist-mill, as it was usually 
 called, was a two-story building, erected of 
 hewed logs. Both mills were run by water- 
 power furnished by a dam built in Mosqu.ito 
 Creek. The completion of this mill was an 
 important epoch in the history of Norwalk 
 Township. It gave a new impetus to grain- 
 raising, and was the means of attracting 
 many new settlers to the vicinity. Both mills 
 continued to do a good business until the 
 flood of Mosquito Creek in June of 1852. 
 The flouring-mill, though a verV substantial 
 structure, was too miich exposed to the rash- 
 ing flood of water that came with great force 
 against it, and at last gave way, and in a few 
 
 minutes was in utter ruins, and the timbers, 
 many of them, floating down stream. The 
 dam was badly injured, though not beyond 
 repair. The saw- mill was left standing, and 
 with very little repairing was in condition to 
 be run. Asa Downs had purchased Mr. 
 Smith's interest in the mills about one year 
 before the flood. After the destruction of so 
 much of their property, the Downses, sold their 
 entire milling interests to Mr. William Gar- 
 ner. Mr. Garner repaired the dam, and kept 
 the saw-mill running for several years. The 
 citizens were again without the advantages of 
 a flouring-mill until the present mill was 
 built. This mill was begun by Joseph Su- 
 buary, biit before he completed it sold out to 
 James Golden, who finished and operated the 
 mill about two years, when he sold it to the 
 present owner, Mr. C. Fleck. 
 
 For many years after the first settlers of 
 Norwalk Township had established them- 
 selves in their new homes, they traveled over 
 the prairie from point to point, regardless of 
 farm or section lines. Gradually the roads 
 were changed and began to assume the ap- 
 pearance of public highways as the owners of 
 property began building fences, and began to 
 be traveled in direct lines east and west or 
 north and south. There are still some diag- 
 onal roads in the township, though but few 
 in comparison with the many of early days. 
 During the spring and fall seasons, when 
 hard and continued storms were prevalent, 
 the crossing of the streams became very diffi- 
 cult with a loaded wagon, by reason of the 
 banks on either side of the streams becoming 
 soft and muddy. It was not infrequent for 
 the original crossing to become extended five 
 or six rods both up and down the stream, as 
 each driver would think his chances better 
 for crossing the slough — as the small streams 
 were usually termed — if l;ie should drive his 
 team just a little above, or if he went down 
 
NORWALK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 299 
 
 the stream to cross, just a little below where 
 the last team crossed. In this way a road 
 over the higher ground that seemed almost 
 untraveled presented the appearance at the 
 crossing of a " slou:^h " of having been just 
 traveled by a freight train of a hundred wag- 
 ons. Rude bridges of logs and poles were 
 constructed then by the settlers, the exi^ense 
 usually being borne by a half-dozen or more 
 of them who were directly interested. Their 
 plan was to meet at the ford at the appointed 
 time, with teams and implements, and in one 
 day's time build good strong crossing of 
 logs, covered with a few strong poles, and 
 over these a layer of brush, and over the 
 whole a thick covering of earth. A bridge 
 constracted in this way would last many 
 years. As the county grew in wealth with 
 increased population, bridges were built over 
 Mosquito Creek at the expense of the 
 county. 
 
 Martin Luther said, in his efforts to organ- 
 ize a free school system in Germany: " It is 
 a grave and serious thing, affecting the in- 
 terests of the Kingdom of Christ, and of all 
 the world, that we apply ourselves to the 
 work of aiding and instructing the young." 
 Have we not the proof on every hand that he 
 was right ? Nothing is more necessary than 
 the training of those who are to come after 
 us and bear rule. The Puritan settlers of 
 New England were fully convinced of the 
 necsssity of universal education. They came 
 here with no intention of founding a colony 
 of semi-barbarians, like the natives of South 
 Africa, and, accordingly, we tind that as soon 
 aa they had provided temporary shelter for 
 themselves, they reared, in humble guise in- 
 deed, yet with willing hands, the chm'ch and 
 the schoolhouse. They emigrated in search 
 of religious liberty, and founded a colony 
 only after the most grievous agitation of these 
 questions. How well has their example been 
 
 emulated. As the tide of emigration set 
 westward, though hundreds of years after- 
 ward, each little community reared its hum- 
 ble log cabin and established in their midst a 
 common school. The settlers of Norwalk 
 Township did not prove an exception to this 
 rule. For a time, it is true, their children 
 attended a school taught by a man named 
 Bayliss Hough, in a little log cabin on the 
 farm of a Mr. Gatrost, in Hardin Township. 
 In the winter of 1863-64, the first school was 
 taught in Norwalk Township. The building 
 erected by the farmers for school purposes 
 was of the usual log cabin style, and was lo- 
 cated near the present residence of G. T. 
 Ward. The first teacher was Miss Jane Da- 
 vis. Year by year since that little school- 
 house was built, improvements have gone 
 steadily forward, until the statistics for the 
 year 1881, of the schools of Norwalk Town- 
 ship, show the following: 
 
 Number of subdistricts, 6; number un- 
 graded schools, 5 ; average number of months 
 taught, 7. Teachers — number employed, 
 males, 6; females, 5; total, 11; average com- 
 pensation per month, males, $32.41; females, 
 $26.07. Pupils — number of persons between 
 the ages of five and twenty-one years — males, 
 178; females, 138; number enrolled in dis- 
 trict, 218; total average attendance in whole 
 district, 71^; average cost of tuition per 
 month for each pupil, $1.77. Schoolhouses 
 — number of frame, 6. Total cost of school - 
 houses, $3,350. Value of apparatus, $5.40. 
 
 On examining the map of Pottawattamie 
 County, the words " Downsville Post Office" 
 will be seen plainly marked in the southwest 
 corner of Norwalk Township. Its name — 
 Downsville — is in honor of the village which 
 bears that name. Mr, James Golden was the 
 first government official to take charge of this 
 office, and Mr. C. Fleck is present Postmas- 
 ter. The village of Downsville is but a 
 
300 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAAVATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 8mal] cluster of residence buildings. The 
 post office and Fleck's mill are the principal 
 attractions of the place. The village was so 
 called after the family of Downs, who, as re- 
 lated, were the first settlers in that part of 
 the township. Though there are two lines 
 of railroad crossing the township— the Chi- 
 cago, Rock Island & Pacific, and Chicago, 
 Milwaukee & St. Paul, both of which follow 
 the valley of Mosquito Creek, there are no 
 stations as yet within its boundaries. On the 
 I8th of June, 1882, however, thi-ough the en- 
 terprise of Messrs. H. « G. Fisher and B. 
 Graybill, a contract was entered into between 
 these gentlemen and the Chicago, Milwaukee 
 & St. Paul Railroad Company, by the con- 
 dition of which during the summer of 1882, 
 the railroad company has obligated itself to 
 
 build a station house, erect a water-tank and 
 lay a switch. These improvements are to be 
 made on Section 16, where Messrs. Fisher & 
 Graybill are preparing to have a portion of 
 their farms siu-veyed and divided into town 
 lots. The name of this new town is to be 
 Underwood. 
 
 In March, 1882, under the auspices of 
 Rev. Lewis and William Smith, at Down's 
 Schoolhouse, there was organized a Society 
 of Friends. Following is a list of the origi- 
 nal members: George F. Ward and his wife, 
 Jane Ward, Archibald N. Ward, Mary Fleck, 
 Catharine Whitney, her son, William Whit- 
 ney, A. Mott, his wife, Martha Mott, Ada 
 Mott, George Mott, Lena Vezy, Albert Shaw, 
 Li zzie Vezy, Drusci Ua Downs, Minerva Downs 
 and Joseph Whitney. 
 
 CHAPTER XLII.* 
 
 YORK TOWN.'?HIP—DE.SCRIPTION — FIRST SETTLERS —EARLY 
 
 AND TEACHERS. 
 
 INDUSTRIES— FIRST SCHOOLS 
 
 TT is no uncommon occurrence to those 
 -^ whose duty and pleasure it is to collect 
 material for these pages to meet with those 
 who, forming the connecting link between 
 that day and this, have no appreciation for 
 the enterprise of which this volume is the 
 outgrowth. The stern experience of pioneer 
 trials has come too near their lives to make 
 the record novel or interesting. But the early 
 days, so full of toil and privation, have 
 passed beyond the hopes and fears of those 
 of a later generation, and, gilded by tradi- 
 tion, they reflect back to us the "mellow glow 
 of a novelty that is akin to romance. " But 
 a higher motive for perpetuating the history 
 of those who ventured upon the trackless 
 prairie is that we are thus able, approxi- 
 
 *By Frank 51. Wright. 
 
 mately, to measure the value of what has 
 been wrought in the last quarter of a cent- 
 ury. It was a noble spirit of self-sacrifice 
 that animated the pioneers of this land, and 
 "bowed their strong manhood to the humble 
 plow." Forgetful of their own ease, at a 
 time of life when years of toil could reason- 
 ably have demanded repose for their declin- 
 ing days, they braved the untried dilficulties 
 of the frontier, that their children might 
 achieve that greatness which their patriotic 
 faith pictured in the future. The rapidly 
 increasing population in a country devoid of 
 manufactories left to the pioneer one alter- 
 native—ease at the expense of their chil- 
 dren's future, or a wider scope of cheaper 
 lands, bought with a life of toil, that found 
 rest only beyond the grave. The broad 
 
YORK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 301 
 
 lands, waving with the green plumage of the 
 springing grain; the thousand homes adorned 
 with the comforts and luxuries of an ad- 
 vanced civilization; the vast resources that 
 command a nation's homage, are the grand 
 memorials that set forth the virtue and wis- 
 dom of their choice. The journey from their 
 homes in the East was made by wagons, over 
 the old overland route to California, or by 
 the more circuitous route of the Ohio, Missis- 
 sippi and Missouri Rivers. To day, they 
 may be visited by friends from their old home 
 who have the choice of four trunk lines of 
 railroad which center at Council Bluffs 
 
 York Township is bounded on the north by 
 Minden Township, on the east by James 
 Township, on the south by Washington 
 Township and on the west by Norwalk Town- 
 ship. The surface of the townshij) is com- 
 paratively smooth. There are some places, 
 however, too rough and broken to he valuable 
 as farm lands. Its location, according to the 
 United States Survey, is Township 76 north, 
 in Range 41 west. The western portion of 
 the township is drained by Keg Creek and its 
 tributaries, and the eastern portion of Middle 
 Silver Creek. The former enters the town- 
 ship at the northeast corner of Section 4, and 
 flows in a southwesterly direction through 
 Sections 5, 8, 18 and 19, leaving the town- 
 ship at the southwest corner of the last-named 
 section, where it enters Norwalk Township. 
 The origin of the name of this stream will be 
 found in the history of Hardin Township. 
 There are five tributaries to this stream aris- 
 ing in York Township, the largest of which 
 is Coon Tail Creek, and the only one which 
 has thus far been honored with a name. It 
 rises in Section 29, flowing southwest through 
 Sections 29 and 31, leaving the township on 
 the west line, near the northwest corner of 
 Section 31, and entering the main stream in 
 Hardin Township. There are two small trib- 
 
 utaries arising near and flowing through 
 Eight-Mile Grove, in a northwest direction, 
 and both entering the main sti-eam in Sec- 
 tion 19. Another small tributary rises in 
 Section 20, and flows in an irregiilar, north- 
 west direction, entering the main stream in 
 Section 18. The tributary next in size to 
 Coon Tail Creek rises in Section 2, and flows 
 almost directly southwest through Sections 3, 
 9 and 8, enters the main stream in Section 
 8. There are also some small streams enter- 
 ing this tributary from the southeast, from 
 Sections 9, 16 and 17. Middle Silver Creek 
 enters the township at the northeast corner 
 of Section 1. It flows in an iiTegular soath- 
 west direction through Sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 
 23, 26, 85 and 34. It is increased by but 
 one small tributary in this township. In 
 Section 23, a small stream rises and flows 
 almost directly south, entering the main 
 stream near the south side of Section 2<5. 
 These are the only streams in the township, 
 except where the main stream of Silver Creek 
 crosses Section 3(5, in a southwesterly direc- 
 tion. 
 
 The original timber growth of York Town- 
 ship is found in groves along the streams, 
 and consists of the following varieties: 
 Linn, walnut, wild cherry, hickory, hack- 
 berry, ash, red elm, white elm, white hickory 
 and box elder. Lombardy poj)lar, maple, 
 willow and some other varieties have been 
 largely cultivated, until there is hardly an 
 improved farm in the township which has not 
 a fine grove surrounding the farm buildings. 
 A view of the country from any elevated point 
 in the township will hardly bring to the eye 
 of the observer a single building, but, dotted 
 here and there over the prairie, may be seen 
 tine groves of timber, which have been culti- 
 vated. In the center of these, upon closer 
 inspection, the traveler will find the neat and 
 comfortable homes of the farmers, where if 
 
302 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 seems he might realize the dream of the poet 
 
 when he Hays: 
 
 " My nest desire is, void of care of strife, 
 To lead a soft, secure, inglorious life ; 
 A country cottage near a crystal flood, 
 A winding valley and a lofty wood." 
 
 The greater portion of Eight-Mile Grove is 
 found in this township. It lies principally 
 on the east side of Keg Creek, and is about 
 two miles in length by three-quarters or one 
 mile in width at its widest point. It received 
 its name from the early settlers, during the 
 time the Council Bluffs & Lewis Stage Road 
 was in the height of its glory, from the "fact 
 of its being situated eight miles distant from 
 Hardin Station, on the old stage route. 
 There is one other small grove in the town- 
 ship, known as Linn Grove, on account of 
 the timber forming the grove being linn 
 trees. This grove is located exactly in the 
 southeast corner of the township. 
 
 The first settlers of York Township were 
 Elam Meekham, N. Holman, William Cham- 
 plain, Ales Clough, Henry Eishton, Sr., D. 
 T. Jones, Lewis Beard, Ratford Dewey, Joel 
 German, John Ingram and West Ingram. 
 These gentlemen settled in the township be- 
 tween and including the years 1848 and 1857. 
 Elam Meekham, N. Holman, William Cham- 
 plain and Ales Clough came from Nauvoo, 
 111., about 1848; Henry Eishton, from Fall 
 River, Mass., in 1850; E. Dewey and Joel 
 German, in 1857 — the former from Indiana 
 and the latter from Tennessee; D. T. Jones 
 came from Wales about 1850, and Lewis 
 Beard from Baltimore, Md , in 1857. 
 
 Many changes have taken place, and but 
 few of the first settlers of the township re- 
 main to tell the tale of their struggles. R. 
 Dewey still resides on the place of his orig- 
 inal settlement; John Ingram went to Cali- 
 fornia, and West Ingram, becoming tired of 
 Western life and its privations, sold out and 
 
 returned to the East. N. Holman and Elam 
 Meekham went to Utah, both selling their 
 property to Lewis Beard. William Cham- 
 plain's old place is now a part of the farms of 
 R. Dewey and Henry Eishton. Mr. Cham- 
 plain is now a resident of Walker's Grove, 
 Pottawattamie County. A few of the early 
 settlers of York Township were as enterprising 
 as the new-comers to any part of the county. 
 They were without mills of any description, 
 and the long distance they were obliged to 
 travel to get their grain made into flour spm-red 
 them on to improvements^ that otherwise 
 would in all probability not have been under- 
 taken. They were also sadly in need of lum- 
 ber with which to build more comfortable 
 houses, to repair those in which they lived, 
 and for the construction of outbuildings. 
 With this urgent demand for lumber in the 
 vicinity, Mr. Lewis Beard and Charles Allen 
 in 1858 built a saw-mill on the left bank of 
 Keg Creek, on the farm of Mi-. Beard. About 
 one year later, they added a run of bulu-s for 
 grinding corn. This mill was operated till 
 worn out, and was scon in ruins. Other 
 mills with better facilities soon sprung up in 
 different parts of the county. Much praise is 
 due these gentlemen for their enterprise at a 
 time when the rudest improvements were made 
 at great labor and expense. In later years, 
 no manufactui'ing has been done in York 
 Township. Though it is one of the best 
 agricultural townships in the county, it pos- 
 sesses no shipping facilities, Neola and Min- 
 den, on the line of the Chicago, Eock Island 
 & Pacific, being the principal markets and 
 nearest points of shipment. 
 
 The first public road opened in York Town- 
 ship was known as the Ballard State road. 
 The petition praying for the opening of this 
 road was signed by the majority of the set- 
 tlers, and the line located by D. Tostevin, 
 County Sui'veyor. The main roads in the 
 
YORK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 303 
 
 township are opened north and south, as the 
 principal outlet to market is by roads center- 
 ing at Neola, which lies about two miles due 
 north of the northwest corner of York Town- 
 ship. One of the first things to mark the 
 enterprise of the pioneers in different parts 
 of the county was the opening up of a 
 school, and in this proiect the citizens of 
 York ,Township worked in unison and with 
 a will and determination to succeed. The 
 first sehoolhouse erected in the township and 
 at the expense of the settlers was a little log 
 cabin, 12x14 feet, with two windows. The 
 roof of this building was rather novel as 
 well as substantial, though it must be ad- 
 mitted there was nothing ornamental about 
 it. The rafters were good strong poles and 
 covered with layers of tine brush so close and 
 thick as to admit of a covering of earth aboiit 
 one foot in depth. The floor was made of 
 puncheons, and the desks and seats were 
 made by putting legs in a good strong plank. 
 This building stood on the farm of IMi*. 
 Lewis Beard, and was used as a sehoolhouse 
 for four or five years. The first term of 
 school taught in the township was in this 
 building in the winter of 1858-59, and the 
 teacher was Miss Harriet Perry, now ilrs. 
 Harvey Thomas, of Hardin Township. The 
 second term was taught during the summer 
 and fall of 1859 by Miss Adelaide Clough, 
 now Mrs. Henry Rishton, of York Township. 
 Miss Clough received $12 per month for her 
 service, which was considered at that time a 
 high salary to pay a teacher. Good wives 
 seemed to have been in demand as well as 
 good teachers, and these ladies were the first 
 brides in the township. Miss Perry was mar- 
 ried in the spring of 1859 and Miss Clough 
 on March 1, 1860. The school sj-stem of the 
 township has been gradually improved, and 
 her citizens in this respect have kept pace in 
 
 public spirit and enterprise with any part of 
 the county possessing the same advantages. 
 The statistics for the year 1881 in regard to 
 the schools of York Township show their 
 standing to be as follows: Number of subdis- 
 tricts, 7. Schools — ^Number of ungraded 
 schools, 7 ; average number of months taught, 
 8. Teachers — Number employed: males, 1; 
 females, 17; total, 18. Average compensa- 
 tion per month — Males, $30; females, 127. 
 Pupils — Number of persons between the age 
 of five and twenty-one years — males, 136; fe- 
 males 124; number enrolled in district. 234; 
 total average attendance in whole district, 
 99i^; average coat of tuition per month for 
 each pupil, $2.11. Schoolhouses — frame, 8; 
 value $4,800. 
 
 By the above it will be seen that the citi- 
 zens of York Township are fully aware of the 
 great importance of establishing good schools. 
 The citizens of this township are principally 
 American and German and usually wherever 
 the natives of these two countries predomi- 
 nate in the settlement of a new country, they 
 are the friends of every movement the object 
 of which is to establish a thoroughly organ- 
 ized school system. 
 
 No church buildings have been erected in 
 York Township, though the friends and pro- 
 fessors of religion hold church in the severs,! 
 schoolhouses. 
 
 There is a small cemetery on the northern 
 line of Section 20. We have been iinable 
 to ascertain when the first interment was 
 made. Joseph Champlain was the first 
 white child born in the township. 
 
 Corn is the staple crop raised in the town- 
 ship, though wheat, rye, barley and oats are 
 grown is considerable quantities. Stock- 
 raising is not carried on so extensively as in 
 other parts of the county, as the lands are 
 mostly devoted to agricultural purposes. 
 
304 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII/ 
 
 JAMES TOWNSHIP— BOUNDARIES— SOIL— TIMBER— EARLY SETTLERS— RELIGIOUS, ETC 
 
 TAMES TOWNSHIP is bounded on tlio 
 ^ north by Pleasant Township, on the 
 south by Belknap, on the west by York and 
 on the east by Valley. The soil of the town- 
 ship is a fine rolling prairie, sloping both to 
 the east and to the west, and the township is 
 watered by Silver Creek and the West Nish- 
 nabotna River. Silver Creek enters the town- 
 ship about the middle of the north line, and 
 flowing southwestwardly, leaves it near the 
 soTithwest corner. The West Nishnabotna 
 traverses only about two sections of land in 
 that township. The soil is limestone land, 
 mixed with sand, and has never failed, ac- 
 cording to the memory of the oldest settler, 
 to produce a crop. The soil, however, is best 
 suited to corn-raising. Timber has never 
 abounded, and the groves which exist are 
 mainly the result of cultivation, gi-eat atten- 
 tion to which has been paid ever since the 
 th-st settlement of the townships. 
 
 Stephen James, a brother of Hon. "W. C. 
 James, of Council Bluffs, is one of the oldest 
 settlers in the townshij), and has raised one 
 of thetinest pieces of timber in the West. It 
 consists mainly of cottonwood, maple and ash. 
 and is now fit for use as timber. The original 
 road in the township was the stage road, lo- 
 cated b}' Dr. Ballard, close to his lands, in 
 the northern part of the township, so as to 
 increase their value. This road proceeded 
 along the section lines. 
 
 In regard to the religious matters of the 
 township, it may be said that the class of the 
 German Methodist Church was organized 
 about 1S73. The first members were mainly 
 from Illinois — JohnMischle, Bernhard Eich- 
 enberger. Father Busse. August Busse. Franz 
 Busse, Albert Busse and Henry Lee. The 
 first report shows a Sunday school of sixty 
 pupils. They have also erected a parsonage 
 at a cost of .§3, 500. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV.^ 
 
 VALLEVTOWNSHir— ORGANIZATION— FIRST ELECTION— OLD SETTLERS— RELIGIOUS M.\TTERS— 
 SOCIETIES— HANCOCK— ITS BUSINESS INTERESTS. CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES. 
 
 nnHE petition for the organization of this 
 
 JL 
 
 township was signed by W. F. Traver 
 
 and one hundred and sixty other legal voters. 
 A remonstrance was presented by Thomas 
 Dulin. After a full heapng, it was ordered 
 that the township should comprise Congres- 
 sional Township 76. Eange 39. It is situated 
 south of Avoca, and is traversed by the Car- 
 
 *By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 son Branch of the Rock Island Railroad, and 
 was called by its present name because of 
 its location, mainly in ,the Nishnabotna Val- 
 ley, one of the most beautiful and fertile 
 farming regions in the world. The first 
 election was held at what is known as the 
 Acker Schoolhouse, on the 8th day of Octo- 
 ber, 1S78. One hundred and twenty-six 
 votes were then cast. The election oflicers 
 
VALLEY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 305 
 
 were: Judges, "\V. C. Barton, James Living- 
 ston and H. C. Hougli; and Clerks, A. 
 M. Battelle and W. H. Benjamin. The 
 Board of Supervisors appointed R. M. White 
 to superintend the organization of the town- 
 ship, call an election and provide for the 
 election officers. The Trustees chosen were: 
 W. C. Barton, S.Armstrong and S. D. Acker; 
 Township Clerk, R, M. White; and Assessor, 
 R. D. Ballard. The present officers are: 
 Trustees, W. C. Barton, C. O. King and Jo- 
 seph Moore; Township Clerk, R. M. White; 
 Justices of the Peace, W. H. Patterson and 
 Charles Roberts; and Assessor, R. D. Ballard. 
 There are about two hundred and tifty-tive 
 legal voters in the township. In the organi- 
 zation of the township, four tiers of sections 
 were taken off Knox and from off Center 
 Township. The sub-school districts were 
 made to consist of four- sections each, and 
 were numbered from the northeast to the left 
 and back toward the beginning, as the sec- 
 tions themselves are numbered, making in all 
 nine subdistricts for school pui'poses. No. 
 10 has been organized for the town of Han- 
 cock, which is a flourishing station on the 
 Carson Branch of the Rock Island, and one 
 of the best gi-ain shipping points, in the 
 State. A schoolhouse has been arranged for 
 in Hancock. All the other subdistricts have 
 comfortable and well-built frame edifices. 
 When the first three schoolhouses were built 
 — Pleasant, Lavton, Lincoln and two-thirds 
 of Valley Township were included within the 
 limits of Knox Township. E. L. Shugart, of 
 Coiineil Bluffs, at the date of organization, 
 was a member of the Board of County Super- 
 visors, and suggested the name " Valley " for 
 the new subdivision of the county. 
 
 • Among the oldest settlers is A. M. Battelle. 
 He is now holding the position of Deputy 
 United States Marshal, with his office at 
 Council Bluffs, but still retains his home and 
 
 farm in Valley Township, where he settled 
 in 1855. To reach this point, at that date, 
 he crossed the State with a wagon from Keo- 
 kuk, taking two weeks to make the trij). 
 His household goods, etc., were shipped by 
 the river, from Wheeling, W. Va., passing 
 around by the way of St. Louis to Council 
 Bluffs. The road from Keokuk led through 
 Ottumwa, Eddyville and Afton, and the trip 
 is now made by rail in about twelve hours 
 that occupied, by good di-iving then, two 
 weeks, and sometimes more. Afton, the 
 county seat of Union County, at that date 
 had just been located, but not a house had 
 yet been built. He found thi-ee almost im- 
 passable sloughs ten miles south of Lewis, 
 and persuaded a man breaking prairie to un- 
 yoke his oxen and help him over. Mi'. Battelle 
 was compelled to cany his wife and children 
 across, as all the oxen could do was to pass 
 with the wagon and the baggage, and then 
 the box plowed up the mud, sinking so 
 deep in the muck. The nearest point for 
 provisions was Council Bluffs. Winter set 
 in early, and snow fell to a great depth be- 
 fore they were prepared for it, and for many 
 weeks many of the settlers were obliged to 
 subsist on hominy alone, made in the cabins 
 and at home. Venison was their only meat, 
 but this was'plenty, and deer could be killed 
 any time, they were so exceedingly abundant 
 and easy to capture, owing to the deep snow. 
 At last, an old trader in the settlement vent- 
 ured out, with two yoke of oxen, and went 
 to Council Bluffs for food for the settlement. 
 He was a week in making the trip. He stuck 
 in a snow drift when within two miles of his 
 destination, on the retiu-n, but the settlers 
 lent a helping hand, and he got in in safety. 
 No mail could be had nearer than Council 
 Bluffs, and the trader sold flour to the set- 
 tlers at $6 per 100 pounds. 
 
 Joseph Headley, another old settler, was 
 
306 
 
 HISTOKY OF POTT AAVATT AMI E COUNTY. 
 
 bom in Pennsylvania in 1826; came to Iowa 
 in 1841, and settled within the present lim- 
 its of Valley Township in 1852. He came in 
 a wagon with his wife, and made a log cabin 
 his first home. His nearest milling point at 
 that time was Glenwood, in Mills County, 
 forty miles away. The first season or two 
 was a severe one. Wages were only 50 cents 
 a day, and corn about §3 a bushel. The set- 
 tlers, the few of them that were, lived mostly 
 on corn bread and game. When they did 
 raise wheat, and marketed it, after a drive of 
 forty miles, they were compelled to sell it for 
 30 and 40 cents a bushel. 
 
 Thomas Dulin came to the township from 
 Scott County, in 1866, having served a full 
 term in the Union army dm-ing the war of 
 the rebellion. He brought his family over- 
 land in wagons, and camping on the prairie 
 in the joru-ney. He had a tent with him. In 
 his party were emigrants for Colorado and 
 Pike's Peak. When they got into the Nish- 
 nabotna Valley, he concluded to remain here. 
 The others desired the tent, and upon his 
 declining to part with it, they went on. The 
 next morning, they came back and insisted 
 upon having it, and finally got it. He had 
 with him a wife and three children. He at 
 once went to work to cut logs to build a cab- 
 in, and, with the assistance of Mr. Griffith 
 and Mr. Eiley, distant neighbors, he soon had 
 a home. He bought the land for his farm at 
 $3 per acre, and his was the only residence 
 for many miles on the west side of .the river 
 at that time. 
 
 W. H. Benjamin is a native of New York. 
 He came from Nashville, Tenn., where he had 
 been employed by the Government. He ar- 
 rived by the way of the Mississippi and the 
 Missouri to Council Bluffs to explore the 
 country, but when about to make a perma- 
 nent settlement, he came across the country 
 by the way of Grinnell. His teaming from 
 
 that jjoint, the then terminus of the Eock Is- 
 land road, cost him §72, having had to pay 
 teamsters §6 a day for hauling. He occupied 
 a house belonging to T. F. Davis, the first 
 summer and the following winter, and for 
 whom he erected a gi-ist-mill. During that 
 winter, he cut logs for a house, and i.t inter- 
 vals he built this and made himself a perma- 
 nent home. It was sided with black walnut 
 and roofed with the same material. 
 
 Jacob Rust, mentioned in the history of 
 Knox, was a Kentuckian, and came in 1852. 
 Mahlon Griffith arrived in the county in 
 1855, and settled in the township in 1860, on 
 Section 4. He now lives in Harrison County. 
 About 1855, a man by the name of Pierce 
 owned a cabin on the present site of Han- 
 cock. 
 
 R. M. White came in 1860, and was 
 the tifth settler within the present limits of 
 Valley Township, coming from Illinois. An- 
 drew Carrier, Joseph Layton, Samuel John- 
 son, now in Nebraska, and Mr. Bails, now in 
 Missouri, were pioneers. E. M. White has 
 always been a moving spirit in public affairs 
 connected with the township, both before 
 and since its organization. He took especial 
 interest in educational matters, and has al- 
 ways been foremost in these. He is a native 
 of Pennsylvania and an energetic business 
 man. His home is on the south line of the 
 township. The prosperity of the township is 
 also due to the energy of such men as Will- 
 iam Convers, AV. C. Barton, C. O. King, 
 Robert Motherall and William Clark. 
 
 The religious matters of the township have 
 been liberally provided for. The Knox Pres- 
 byterian Church was organized October 23, 
 1873, by the Rev. N. C. Robinson, with eight 
 original members, consisting of Eobert Mar- 
 tin and wife, Thomas Dool and wife, James 
 Service and wife, Mary Eay and Sarah A. 
 Birney. The present pastor is the Eev. F. 
 
VALLEY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 307 
 
 X. Miron. The first pastor was the Kev. 
 Andrew Herron, of Atlantic, and was suc- 
 ceeded by S. G. Fisher, ^h: Lodge, Mr 
 Hedges and Mr. Miron. vServices have been 
 held ever alternate Sunday in the Acker 
 Schoolhouse, and the present membership is 
 twenty- three persons. New Hope Baptist 
 Chiu-ch was constituted in 1875 by the Rev. 
 E. Burch, who was the first pastor. He was 
 succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Ai-nold, and the 
 latter was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Burch 
 in turn. There were thirteen original mem- 
 bers. This increased to twenty-seven. The 
 services were held at the Fairview School- 
 house. Many ot the members having moved 
 out of the township, the church organization 
 was abandoned in 1879. The United Breth- 
 ren Ghiu'ch was established by the Rev. Mr. 
 Adams in 1875. The services have always 
 been held in the Fairview Schoolhouse. 
 Succeeding Mr. Adams as minister were Ja- 
 cobs, Fisher, Curtis, Roberts and Jenks, the 
 latter being the present incumbent. Services 
 are held once in two weeks. A number of 
 the members having removed, they are now 
 reduced to about fifteen communicants. The 
 M. P. Church of Valley Township was or- 
 ganized in 1879 by the Rev. B. F. Peerman. 
 He has been the minister ever since that 
 date. There were sixteen original members, 
 which number has increased to twenty. They 
 have no church edifice. 
 
 The society or order of A. H. T. A. is rep- 
 resented by Lodge No. 95, constituted in the 
 spring of 1879, with thirteen charter mem- 
 bers. H. Cook was the first Worthy Presi- 
 dent; John Warner, Vice President; Emer- 
 son Smith, Secretary, and Joseph Moore, 
 Treasurer. The members have been called 
 out once, to assist in the capture of thieves, 
 and succeeded in securing the lost property 
 and in bringing the guilty to deserved pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 HANCOCK. 
 
 The Carson Branch of the Rock Island 
 Railroad was completed and put into opera- 
 tion in the summer of 1880. The same sum- 
 mer, F. H. Hancock, of Davenport, who 
 owned the land now constituting the town 
 site, laid out the town. Samuel Armstrong 
 built the first house, beginning it in October, 
 
 1880. C. W. Newman opened a coal yard 
 about the same date, and near that time C. 
 W. Newman established a blacksmith shop. 
 The first store was erected by B. F. Steven- 
 son in the grocery business, but it was soon 
 transferred to E. Kinney & Co. F. H. Han- 
 cock began buying grain at that point, the 
 fii-st load being purchased in December, 1880, 
 Hancock being represented by G. G. Harris. 
 Since that date to July, 1882, he, alone, 
 has bought and shipped at that point 325,000 
 bushels of corn, other buyers, also, shipping 
 great quantities of the same cereal. Mr. 
 Hancock's grain elevator was finished in 
 June, 1882, with a capacity of 25,000 bushels. 
 The first hunber sold was by Seiffert & Weise, 
 to W. H. Benjamin, on the 26th of June, 
 
 1881. They opened out a lumber yard at 
 that date. Their business at Hancock is un- 
 der the superintendence of A. L. Field, who 
 is also an insurance agent and Notary Public. 
 W. H. Benjamin opened a general store in 
 January, 1881. G. Diedrich, Mayor of Avoca, 
 started a general store in October, 1881. 
 Battelle & Bavern entered upon the saloon 
 business and also engaged in buying hogs. 
 Whisnand & Archer followed with a general 
 store, the firm having been originally Gordon 
 & Whisnand. The Anderson Bros, opened a 
 saloon and restaurant, and A. Anderson went 
 into the meat market trade. Dr. C. W. Hard- 
 man & Bro. have engaged in the sale of drugs. 
 Samuel Armstrong, the first settler, opened a 
 hotel. Among the others who have estab- 
 lished themselves in the town are: W. H. 
 
308 
 
 HISTOEY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Patterson, attorney at law; W. S. Williams, 
 the Postmaster; John Knierieman, Deputy 
 Postmaster; L. C. Drury, stationer; I. G. 
 Carter, who is Constable; Henry Carter, dray- 
 man; J. Reed, carjaenter and builder: Paul 
 Reed and Ira Cook, plasterers, and B. Ramsey, 
 dealer in imported horses. The town has now 
 a population of over one hundred persons, 
 and being situated in an exceedingly rich 
 agricultural region, will continue to grow 
 and prosper. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Chui-ch of Han- 
 cock was organized in 1874, but it was then 
 known as the Valley Church. Its first pastor 
 was the Rev. William Armstrong, a pioneer 
 Methodist preacher. It had seven original 
 members: I. G. Carter and wife, W. H. 
 Clements and wife, Mrs. Martha Reed, Mrs. 
 Ira Cook and Mrs. Andrew Carrier. A chiu'ch 
 was built in Hancock and completed in the 
 fall of 1881, at a cost of $1,500. The min- 
 isters who have succeeded Mr. Ai-mstrong are: 
 
 Burke, Wood, Bunker, Linn, Wright and 
 Adams. The present membership is seventy- 
 one persons They have also a prosperous 
 Sunday school attached to the church, of 
 which W. W. Whijjple is Superintendent. 
 
 Valley I,odge, No. 439, I. O. O. F., was 
 instituted December 19, 1881. The charter 
 members were Samuel Bell, William Con- 
 vers, W. W. Griffith, L. D. Seward, Fairfield 
 Thayer, W. S. Williams, Charles Warner, B. 
 F. Stevenson, J. W. Warner and A. H. Whit- 
 taker. The first oflicers were: Samuel Bell, 
 N. G.; A. H. Whittaker. V. G. ; W. S. Will- 
 iams, Permanent Secretary ; Fairfield Thayer, 
 Recording Secretary; and Treasurer, William 
 Convers. Thayer resigned his position, and 
 W. H. Patterson was chosen in his stead. 
 The present officers are: A. H. Whittaker, 
 N. G. ; W. H. Patterson, V. G. ; Dr. C. W. 
 Hardman, Recording Secretary, and Joseph 
 Moore, Treasurer. The membership num- 
 bers forty-two. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 LINCOLN TOWNSHIP— FIRST ELECTION— SCHOOLS— EARLY SETTLERS. 
 
 'T^HE first election held in Lincoln Town- 
 -L ship was held on the same date as the 
 general election, in November, 1876; W. A. 
 Clapp was chosen Township Clerk; H. B. 
 Jack, Samuel I. Pope and Andrew McCormick, 
 Trustees, and Joseph Battersley, Justice of 
 the Peace. The present township officers 
 are: W. A. Clapp, Township Clerk; George 
 Woods, John A. Frank and Andrew McCor- 
 mick, Trustees; W. E. Bartley and A. J. 
 Chase, Justices of the Peace; and Charles 
 Morehead and William Burkhather, Con- 
 stables. 
 
 The township or school district of Lincoln 
 
 *By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 has nine schoolhouses, costing each about 
 $800. They are of uniform dimensions, 24x 
 36 feet, one story in height, and frame. The 
 first built in the district was in 1874, and is 
 known as the "Dromyer School." Thei-e are 
 also six bridges, all constructed at the cost of 
 the county, at a cost of from $1,600 to $1,700 
 each. Three of these structiu-es are across 
 the Big Walnut, two over Little Walnut and 
 one over Graybill Creek. The township has 
 no churches and no mills within its bound- 
 aries. 
 
 William H. Painter came into the town- 
 ship from Jasper County, Iowa, in 1872. At 
 that date, the whole townshijD was a wild and 
 
AVRIGHT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 309 
 
 raw prairie. There was no timber, except 
 along the streams. Milling and trading had 
 to be done at Lewis, in Cass County. George 
 Roberts came from Marion County, Iowa, in 
 1872, in an 'emigrant wagon. There were not 
 two houses within three miles of the spot 
 where he settled at the time. He bought 160 
 acres of land on the prairie, and began to 
 open out a farm. His trading point was 
 mainly at Atlantic. Patrick Howard, a gen- 
 tleman about sixty-three, moved into the 
 
 township in December, 1872, and began to 
 improve raw land. He had lived in Knox 
 Township. He made the first wagon trail 
 ever made from Walnut, on the Eock Island, 
 into Lincoln Township. He originally came 
 from Clinton County, Iowa. Among those 
 who came after these were H. B. Jack, W. A. 
 Clapp, Samuel I. Pope, John A. Frank, Elias 
 Yeoman, Chi-ist Dromyer, John A. Chipman, 
 William Linkletler, George Woods, Charles 
 Manifer, Georere Roberts and R. M. Allen. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 WRIGHT TOWNSHIP— ORGANIZATION— L.W Of THE LAND— FIRST HOL'SE- 
 
 MARRIAGE— RELIGIOUS— SCHOOLS, ETC. 
 
 ■FIRST DEATH— FIR>T 
 
 'T^HIS township, situated in the eastern 
 -^ part of the county, was organized on 
 the 14th of October, 1873, by an order of the 
 Board of Supervisors. It comprises Con- 
 gressional Township No. 75, Range 38. It 
 is drained by Walnut Ceeek flowing 
 through its center. The greater portion of 
 the native timber found in the township, of 
 which there is considerable, is found on the 
 East Nishnabotna, in the southeast part of 
 the township. The land otherwise is rolling 
 prairie and exceedingly fertile, the soil being 
 the loam of the bluff formation, which 
 stretches from the east bank of the Missouri 
 River to Cass County. 
 
 The first house built was by a man named 
 Campbell, whose Christian name has been 
 forgotten by the oldest settlers. He had a 
 wife and two daughters, and his house con 
 stituted the only stopping place for a long 
 journey for many years, on the road to 
 Wheeler's Grove. Nothing is now definitely 
 known as to what became of this family, but 
 the general impression was that they removed 
 
 »By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 to Missouri. The Campbells were simply 
 " squatters," and located in 1852 at the point 
 where the old State road crossed W alnut Creek. 
 The first death was that of a child in that 
 family. It was quite awhile before the town- 
 ship began to settle up, on account of its iso- 
 lation from a navigable stream and from rail- 
 roads. The first marriage noted was that of 
 Henry Shank and Sophronia Dean, in April, 
 1858. The first birth of which any note is 
 made was that of Jesse Van Riper, now Mrs 
 Wright, May 22, 1858. Levi Mills erected 
 a house for a tavern on the northwest quarter 
 of Section 22, and this was afterward kept by 
 Mr. Whipple as a station house for the ac- 
 commodation of the Western Stage Company, 
 on their route from Des Moines to Council 
 Bluffs. It is now the house of Mrs. Baxter. 
 To the west of Whipple Station, J. B. Deloy 
 established a small store, and a post office 
 was also authorized at the same point, known 
 as Whipple. The latter was constituted in 
 1876. M. H. Elliott is the present owner of 
 the property. Alexander Evans bought a 
 claim of land and the improvements, such as 
 
310 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 they were, in 1855, from Granville Pierson, 
 and thus became the second settler in the 
 township. Pierson removed to Missouri in 
 1857, having located the claim sold to Evans 
 in 1854. In 1856, the veeather vfas intensely- 
 cold, and Evans killed in the neighborhood 
 100 deer in the timber and on the prairie. 
 Feed for them was exceedingly scarce. Of 
 the old settlers who came in in 1855 were 
 Amos West, Edward Dean and Charles Fen- 
 ner; in 1856, William Van Riper and Samuel 
 Place, and in 1857 L. A. Biu-nham. As al- 
 ready stated, Levi Mills, Alexander Evans 
 and Campbell came at earlier dates, but 
 none earlier than 1852. Samuel Place set- 
 tled on Section 36. He enlisted in the Union 
 army during the civil war, and died in the 
 service, leaving no heirs or representatives in 
 the county, so far as known. Levi Mills was 
 a native of Ohio, and was by vocation a ho- 
 tel-keeper when he came into the county. 
 The house he built here was of native timber, 
 and the shingles were split. He went to 
 California some time before 1860, where he 
 died, leaving no relatives in this county. 
 
 Amos West was born in Bristol County, 
 Mass., January 31, 1784, and died in W^right 
 Township April 30, 1880. He lived until 
 manhood at his birthplace, and was married 
 to Avis Hestor in 1808, who was born Janu- 
 ary 30, 1788. They emigrated to Rhode Isl- 
 and in 1825, and in Natick in the latter 
 State, raised a large family. The latter 
 numbered thirteen children, of whom five are 
 still living. Mr. West came to Pottawatta- 
 mie, with his wife and four daughters, mar- 
 ried, as follows: Edward and Mary Ann Dean, 
 Cornelius Soper and Avis West; Charles and 
 Martha Fenner, and William and Betsey Van 
 Riper. Edward Dean was born in Bristol 
 County, Mass., in 1810. He removed, at the 
 age of seventeen, to Central Falls, R. I., 
 where he was emp)loyed in a cotton factory 
 
 for twenty-five years, when he came to Iowa, 
 as a member of the W'est family, having mar- 
 ried one of the daughters of Amos West in 
 1840. He located on Section 35 of Wright 
 Township. He has had live children, two 
 of whom, Warren and William, are residents 
 of the township. His daughter Sophronia, 
 that was married, in 1858, to H. C. Shank. 
 Charles and Martha Fenner also located on 
 Section 35. Charles Fenner and William 
 Van Riper, sons-in-law of Amos West, went 
 to California in 1859. Fenner came back, 
 went to Rhode Island, and, remainiug there 
 two years, returned to Iowa, and has made 
 this his home ever since. He now lives at 
 Griswold, Cass County, a few miles from the 
 east line of Wright Township. Amos West 
 laid his claim for his land on a land-warrant 
 for service in the war of 1812. Mr. Van Ri- 
 per is a native of New York City, and after 
 reaching manhood, went to Rhode Island. 
 He calne with the West family to Iowa. He 
 went to California, as already stated, and lost 
 his life by a land slide, and was thus buried 
 in a drift mine, in which he was working. 
 He left three children in Pottawattamie 
 County — Mrs. Emma Jane Black, Clarence 
 Van Riper and Mrs. Jessie Bertha Wright. 
 After his death, his widow married William 
 Barnes, and now lives in Cass County. Van 
 Riper located on Section 26. 
 
 The religious interests of the township are 
 represented by the Whipple Methodist class, 
 which was organized in August, 1872, by the 
 Rev. Mr. Adair, with the following members: 
 Henry W. Rarey, Mrs. Eliza Rarey and Mrs. 
 S. J. Weaver. The following spring, Mrs. 
 J. N. Bell, jVL". Charles Matthews, Mrs. Sar- 
 ah Matthews, James McGinnis, Mrs. Nancy 
 McGinnis, Mrs. M. P. Black, William Mor- 
 ford, Mrs. Susan Morford, Mrs. Eli Clayton 
 and Mrs. Helen Baxter joined the class. The 
 present membership is twenty-five. The 
 
CENTER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 311 
 
 pastors who have had charge of the class since 
 its organization, are, in their order, Revs. 
 Adair, Abraham, Lampman, A. J. Jefferson, 
 Wertz, Sweeley and Tennant. There are two 
 branches of the class now — one at the Porter 
 Schoolhouse and the other at the Black 
 Schoolhouse. The latter was organized in 
 March, 1882, by the Eev. Sir. Moore, with 
 Nathan Meredith and wife as members; 
 Madison Meredith and his wife; William 
 Charles and his wife; Leonard Barnes and 
 his wife; Mi's. M. P. Black, Mrs. Bershong, 
 Elizabeth Smith, David XJtley and wife and 
 Mrs. Twing. 
 
 The most prominent citizen in the town- 
 ship is Eli Clayton, the owner of one of the 
 largest farms in the county, and President of 
 the Board of Supervisors, and a sketch of 
 
 whom appears elsewhere in these annals. 
 The first school attended by the children 
 of the township was taught by Harriet How- 
 ard in a log cabin on the southeast quarter 
 of Section 2, Congressional Township 74, in 
 the summer of 1857. The first building 
 erected for school purposes was in Subdistrict 
 No. 7, and is what is called the Dean School- 
 house. The lumber for this structure was 
 hauled from Boone, on the North-Western 
 Railroad, in 1866. The distance in which 
 the lumber was brought is 140 miles. The 
 desks and fiu'niture were of native walnut, 
 obtained in the vicinity. Georgiana Hard- 
 enbergh was the fii'st teacher in this new 
 building and is now the wife of Wan-en 
 Dean, and lives in the vicinity. Dean erected 
 this schoolhouse. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 CENTER TOWNSHIP— ITS SEPARATION FROM KNOX— EARLIEST SETTLERS— FIRST JUSTICE OF TH E 
 
 PEACE— HOME GUARDS OF 1861- FIRST MILL— FOURTH OF JULY 
 
 IN 18.57— PROSPECTIVE RAILROAD. 
 
 CENTER TOWNSHIP was taken off from 
 Knox Township by A line beginning at 
 the southeast corner of Township 76, Range 
 39, thence north on the Congi'essional town- 
 ship line to the northeast corner of Section 
 25, in 76, Range 39; thence west on the sec- 
 tion line to the northwest corner of Section 
 30; thence north on the Congressional town- 
 ship line to the Nisbnabotna River, and all 
 that part of Congressional Township 76, 
 Range 40, lying west of the Nishnabotna 
 River. 
 
 The earliest settlers who came were Joshua 
 C. Layton, who arrived on the 2d of April, 
 1852; Reuben Mains came in 1855; Joseph 
 Layton, Jacob Rust and Joseph Darnell, in 
 
 *By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 1854; Louis Huff, Benjamin Palmer, Charles 
 S. Robinson, Thomas, Ephraim and William 
 McKee, in 1856. Joshua C. Layton has 
 lived ever since on the farm fu-st occupied by 
 him on the 29th of April, 1852. Joseph Dar- 
 nell located near Big Grove, but, in 1860, 
 went West, and, when last heard of, was liv- 
 ing at Yankee Hill, in the State of Califor- 
 nia. Louis Huff is still a resident of the 
 township. Benjamin Palmer moved into 
 Knox Township, where he died in April, 1882; 
 and Jacob Rust now lives in Oakland, Belknap 
 Township. Reuben Morris resides whei'e he 
 first settled in 1855. Joseph Layton located 
 on a part of the claim of his brother, 
 Joshua C. Layton, and, after awhile, re- 
 turned to Indiana. He came, however. 
 
312 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 to Keosauqua, Iowa, where he died in 
 1875. 
 
 Louis Huff, one of the early settlers of the 
 township, was born in Stokes County, N. C, 
 February 22, 1811. His parents were John 
 Huff and Charity Adams, and his grandfa- 
 ther was one of the pioneer settlers of the 
 "Old North State." Louis Huff lived in 
 North Carolina until 1828, when he came to 
 Illinois, and assisted in the erection of the 
 first house ever constructed in Monmouth, 
 the county seat of Warren County. He sub- 
 sequently moved to the vicinity of Rock Isl- 
 and, where he opened up and improved a 
 farm, but, inspired with the desire to come 
 farther west, he arrived in Council Bluffs in 
 1853. With oxen and horses he moved his 
 effects, in three wagons, to Center Township, 
 and befjan to improve the northwest quarter 
 of Section 18, Township 75, Range 39. 
 There he has ever since lived, first in a log 
 house, built at the time of his arrival. For 
 three years, from 1861 to 1864, he kept a 
 public house on his farm, for the accomjno- 
 dation of the many people crossing the State 
 on that roiite. He was married, between 
 Christmas and New Year's, in Knox County, 
 111. , in 1830, to Susan Palmer, sister of M. 
 T. Palmer. She died May 20, 1874. By this 
 marriage he had twelve children, and all re- 
 side in Pottawattamie County. He contract- 
 ed a second marriage, on the 5th of August, 
 1875, with Mrs. J. D. Rust, whose maiden 
 name was Morris, and who was born in Fay- 
 ette County, Ind., February 23, 1823. Mr. 
 Huff is a member of the Baptist Church, 
 and has always been an active member of 
 the Republican party, having assisted in 
 organizing it in this county. His pres- 
 ent wife is a member of the Christian 
 Church. By her first husband she was 
 also the mother of fourteen children, four of 
 whom were twins, and eight of which child- 
 
 ren are still living — five sons and three 
 daughters. 
 
 Joshua C. Layton, or Capt. Layton, as he 
 is called by his neighbors and friends, was 
 born in Clarke County, Ohio, August 27, 1807. 
 His father was Robert Layton, and a native 
 of Pennsylvania. He, however, became one 
 of the original settlers of Clarke County. His 
 death occurred when his son, who is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, was only six years old. 
 His mother was Ruth Freeman, a native of 
 Eastern Pennsylvania, and died in Febru- 
 ary, 1821. 
 
 Mr. Layton went to school in a primitive 
 Ohio log schoolhouse for about thirteen 
 months, and that constituted the sum total of 
 his opportunity to acquire an education. He 
 lived with his grandfather for several years, 
 and finally, striking out for himself, moved 
 to Indiana, where he worked for his board 
 the first year, and the next made rails for 25 
 cents a hundred. In the spring of 1826, he 
 completed his time in the cabinet-makers 
 trade. In 1830, he was married to Nancy 
 Beedle, who was born in Vincent, Ind. , May 
 23, 1810. Her father was Joseph Beedle, 
 who also emigrated to Miami County, Ohio, 
 from Pennsylvania. Mr. Layton continued 
 to live in Indiana for twelve years, but in 
 1842 he came to Lee County, Iowa, and 
 worked at his trade there for one year, after 
 which he moved to Kishkekosh, in Monroe 
 County. Here he farmed, putting out a crop 
 of winter wheat, and built a cabin. Snow 
 came before it was roofed, and filled it with 
 snow, but, notwithstanding this, he put on 
 the roof, Sunday, as it was, and made that 
 his home. He spent a few years there farm- 
 ing and working at his trade, and finally 
 came to Center Township in 1852, as already 
 stated. The land was not then subject to en- 
 tr)', and was not made so until 1853, after he 
 had squatted on it and made a claim. Since 
 
J 
 
 CENTER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 313 
 
 that date, by his industry and good manage- 
 ment, he has increased his possessions until 
 they constitute a farm of 600 acres, lying in 
 one body. Included in his farm were four 
 Mormon claims which he acquired. All the 
 other land was improved by his own efforts. 
 Mr. Layton has been a member of the Board 
 of County Supervisors, and was honored by 
 that body by the naming of one of the new 
 townships of the county after him. He has 
 always been a Republican in politics since the 
 party was organized, and, during the civil 
 war, was a prominent and active member of 
 the Union League. 
 
 The first Justice of the Peace in Center 
 Township was Jacob Rust. The first birth 
 was in the family of Joseph Darnell; the 
 child and his wife died. The first maiTiage 
 was between James Mon-is and Lavinia Lay- 
 ton, daughter of Joshua C. Layton, and oc- 
 curred on the 1st day of July, 1856. Mr. 
 Layton was also the first Assessor of Center 
 Township, and made the first assessment in 
 three days. The first school taught in the 
 township was in a log cabin on the northeast 
 quarter of Section 7, in Township 75, Range 
 39. This was in the winter of 1858-59, and 
 was taught by Martin Luther Ligoldsby. 
 Center Township has now nine prosperous 
 schools and elegant school buildings. The 
 streams draining are Graybill Creek, called 
 after Levi Graybill, an old settler, mentioned 
 in the sketch of Belknap Township; Jordan 
 Creek and Spring Creek. 
 
 In 1861, a military organization was 
 effecte(J, and called the " Home Guards." J. 
 C. Layton was made the Captain. Its first 
 duty was to go under -Gen. Dodge to the Mis- 
 souri border to meet an apprehended rebel 
 raid into Iowa, which has already been men- 
 tioned in the biographical sketch of Gen. G. 
 M. Dodge. It also marched to Sioux City 
 to meet apprehended trouble from the Sioux 
 
 Indians from that quarter. When the draft 
 was ordered to fill quotas in the volunteer 
 forces of the United States, some threats 
 were made by citizens of Pottawattamie 
 County that resistance would be made to this 
 method of raising troops, and the Center 
 Township Home Guards were held in readi- 
 ness to aid the United States authorities to 
 enforce the draft, but were not called upon 
 to do so. Public feeling was exceedingly 
 bitter on both sides. Some of those on the 
 Union side carried this feeling to the extent 
 that they laid a plan to frighten their polit- 
 ical opponents into silence. A large tree 
 stood near the drill ground of the company, 
 on the farm of !Mr Layton, and they gave 
 out, in a quiet sort of way, apparently, that 
 they intended to hang some of those most 
 bitterly opposed to the draft, using the limb 
 of that tree for that purpose. A yoimg man 
 was sparking one of the girls of one of those 
 most strongly opposed to the draft, and made 
 it his business to tell his prospective father- 
 in-law that the Home Guards had resolved to 
 hang the " Secesh, " as they termed their op- 
 ponents. The old gentleman was so far con- 
 vinced of the truth of the story that he was 
 on his way to obtain a warrant against the 
 organization to compel them to keep the 
 peace against him. The Union League of 
 the township was organized with the utmost 
 secrecy, and its movements as quietly kept, 
 the organization being made in the granary 
 of Mr. Layton. 
 
 The first mill established in the township 
 was on Jordan Creek, for grinding corn. It 
 was pioneer and primitive, being simply a 
 very large coffee-mill, with a sack under it to 
 receive the meal. Its capacity .was about a 
 bushel, and it was run by a Mormon by the 
 name of Jordan, after whom the creek was 
 called. 
 
 While mentioning other matters connected 
 
314 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 with the early settlement of this township, G. 
 S. Robinson, one of the pioneers, must not 
 be forgotten. He is a native of Fountain 
 County, Ind., having been born there March 
 2, 1828, and resided there until 1850, when 
 he came to Wapello County, Iowa. He 
 moved to Council Bluffs in 1853, with an ox 
 team, with his family. In the spring of 
 1855, he settled near Big Grove, on Section 
 18, Township 75, Range 39. His first resi- 
 dence was a board shanty. His wife's name 
 was Mary Rogers, a native of Ohio, born 
 December 16, 1826. They have had ten chil- 
 dren, nine of whom are still living, all of 
 them in Pottawattamie County but one. Mr. 
 Robinson was for one term Justice of the 
 Peace; is now Township Clerk, and served 
 in that office in the early history of the town- 
 ship. 
 
 Another old settler is Reuben Morris, who 
 was born in Scott County, Ind., in January, 
 1830, and moved to Fulton County, 111., and 
 to Center Township in 1855. His wife was 
 Isabella Rust, who was born in Henderson 
 County, 111. Their first home was a log 
 cabin. 
 
 Three brothers by the name of McKee 
 brought a portable steam saw-mill into the 
 settlement in 1856, and afterward sold it to 
 
 I Joseph Layton and Joseph Donnell, who 
 moved it to the bridge near Big Grove, and, 
 while in use, the boiler exploded and totally 
 destroyed the mill. 
 
 The first Fourth of July celebration ever 
 held in the vicinity was in 1857, at lola, 
 near Big Grove. It was a basket picnic. 
 The mention of this place, lola, calls to mind 
 I again the futility of human designs in spec- 
 j ulating in the future of cities and towns. 
 The prospect of a railroad, the American 
 Central, through that township at that date 
 stimiilated Dr. P. J. McMahon, Dr. S. W. 
 Williams, G. J. Reed and Louis Huff to lay 
 out and plat a town site, and call the place 
 lola. Thomas Tostevin made the survey and 
 plat in 1857. Three houses only were built 
 in the place, the first by a Mrs. Wilkinson, 
 intended for a hotel; the second by the Mc- 
 Kee brothers, and this one still stands; and 
 i the third by Dr. Fansler. The town site is 
 j on the dividing line between Center and Val- 
 ley Townships. Frank has become the owner 
 of the site, and devotes it to farming pur- 
 poses. It was emphatically a town on paper. 
 No railroad came to make the speculation 
 available, and it is no more now than a mere 
 memory, with far less romantic interest than 
 Goldsmith's Deserted Village. 
 
BELKNAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 317 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII/ 
 
 BELKNAP TOWNSHIP— THE FIRST SETTLER— FIRST MARRIAGE- FIRST DEATH— FIRST BIRTIl- 
 FIRST HOUSE— VEST MURDER CASE— RAILRO \.I>S— OAKLAND, AND ITS BUSI- 
 NESS AND OTHER INTERESTS— BIG GROVE, ETC. 
 
 AMONG the most recent creations of new 
 townships is that of Belknap, on the 
 Nishnabotna Elver, and called such after Gen. 
 W. W. Belknap, an Iowa soldier, who became 
 President Grant's Secretary of War, upon 
 the death of Gen. John A. Eawlins. The 
 township was set off for organization by an 
 order of the County Board of Supervisors, 
 dated September 6, 1872, on the petition of 
 TV. Henry Mann, D. W. Hays, Wi lliam Ly- 
 man and twenty other citizens of Center 
 Township, out of which the new township 
 was carved. The order defining its limits 
 states that Tcwnship 72, Range 40, except 
 Sections No. 1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and 36, and 
 the southeast of the northeast quarter of Sec- 
 tion 26, and the north part of 75, in Range 
 40 in said Center Township, shall constitute 
 the new township of Belknap. 
 
 As near as can now be traced and ascer. 
 tained, the first settler of the tovmship was 
 Orrin Belknap, who came fi'om Ohio, his na- 
 tive State, in 1854, and settled on Section 10, 
 Township 75, Range 40, the same tract of 
 land which he afterward sold to Judge James, 
 and is now the farm of Hon. John T. Bald- 
 win. In 1857, he went to Central America, 
 where he remained about a year, came back 
 to Circleville, Ohio, married a second time, 
 and died there shortly afterward. 
 
 G. A. Slocum. who still lives in the town- 
 ship, was another early settler. He was born 
 at Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y. , on the 
 10th of May, 1811, and became one of the 
 
 *By Cul J. A. Kestlej. 
 
 early settlers in Huron County, Ohio. In 
 1834, he returned to New York, but in 1844 
 removed to Walworth County, Wis. In 
 1847, he went northward, to Marquette, and 
 from there emigrated to this county, settling 
 in what is now Belknap Township in 1854. 
 The trip was made from Wisconsin with an 
 ox team and wagon. 
 
 The fij'st marriage in the township occiu-red 
 in March, 1857, between Sylvadoy Slocum and 
 Marilla Belknap. Mr. Slocum's first residence 
 was what is called a "dugout, " made by dig- 
 ging into the earth about three feet, and for 
 a space of sixteen by thirty feet. Rafters 
 were then raised from the banks so made to 
 a ridge-pole, elevated twelve feet from the 
 ground floor of the excavation, and the whole 
 was roofed with sod or tiu'f dug from the 
 prairie. The end walls, or gables, were con- 
 structed of the same material, jailed up like 
 brick laid in a wall. This kind of a struct- 
 ure, although not of the neatest externally, 
 was warm and comfortable, and sheltered the 
 new settlers from the bleak winds of winter. 
 The floor was laid with common boards and the 
 chimney built of turf. A way was cut in the 
 bank and a flight of steps descended from 
 the prairie surface to the level of the floor. 
 In this primitive dwelling was born the first 
 child of white parents in Belknap Townshija. 
 The traces of this first home of the Slocums 
 are still plainly to be seen where the turf 
 cabin stood. The fu'st birth, and the one 
 just referred to, was that of Samuel Georo-e 
 Slocum, son of G. A. Slocum, on November 
 
318 
 
 HISTORY or POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 7, 1854. In the Center Township Cemetery, 
 on a native stone, is the simple record, " Mi- 
 chael Beard, died August 29, 1854, aged thir- 
 ty-one years. " This is the earliest record of 
 a death among the settlers in the township. 
 
 Levi Graybill, whose post office is at Car- 
 son, but who is a farmer in Center Town- 
 ship, is one of the earliest settlers of Belknap 
 and of the county. He was born in Jackson 
 County, Ohio, March 12, 1818. His father, 
 Michael Graybill, was a native of Ashe 
 County, N. C, and crossed the Ohio into the 
 great Northwest on Christmas Day, 1815. 
 He afterward moved to Caldwell County, 
 Mo., in 1837, to Hancock County in 1842, 
 and in 1846, came to Kane Township, where 
 he died, in October, 1856. The family can 
 be traced back through fom- centui-ies, and 
 has always in each generation had a Michael, 
 one of Levi Graybill's brothers being also 
 called by that name. Michael Graybill, the 
 father of Levi Graybill, was the son of Peter 
 Graybill and Christina Wampler, the latter 
 of whom was born in Germany. Her par- 
 ents emigrated to this country when she was 
 a mere infant, and when five years old, she 
 was stolen by the Delaware Indians and held 
 by them until she was about twelve years 
 old. 
 
 The first post ofiice in the township was 
 established in 1854. George Reed was ap- 
 pointed Postmaster, with M. T. Palmer and 
 Louis Huff on his official bond as sureties. 
 While Mr. Reed held that position, he was 
 fatally injured by the kick of a horse, the 
 wound being in the side. He was a highly 
 esteemed citizen of the county at the date of 
 his death. He was succeeded by William 
 Lyman, Sr. , and he in turn was succeeded 
 by J. A. T. Bates, P. J. Wasson, A. P. Coo- 
 per, M. T. Palmer, G. A. Slocum, D. B. 
 Freeman, Alvina Eck and L. B. Robinson, 
 the post office being called Big Grove, now 
 
 Oakland. Eck became a defaulter, and ab- 
 sconded in the spring of 1882. The post 
 office was first located in George Reed's 
 house, about a mile from Oakland, the resi- 
 dence now occupied by J. A. T. Bates. In 
 1863, it was transferred to the other side of 
 the run, to the residence of William Ly- 
 man, Sr., and when Cooper was appointed 
 Postmaster, it was taken to his house at the 
 cross roads. Parma Post Office, at the other 
 side of the grove, was established by the in- 
 fluence of M. T. Palmer, in 1871. Abner M. 
 Johnson was the first Postmaster, at the store 
 of M. T. Palmer, about two miles and a half 
 north of the present town of Oakland. Mr. 
 Palmer established his store at that point in 
 1860. He was a physician and the first who 
 settled in the township, as early as 1856, 
 and the nucleus of the store was the di'ugs 
 kept by him in the practice of his profession. 
 To these he added a small stock of dry goods 
 and groceries, and occupied a building once 
 used as a schoolhouse. The first mail to the 
 offices was carried by James A. St. Clair, and 
 the mail was kept in the tray of a common 
 trunk, so primitive were the offices on the 
 frontier in those days. The route on which 
 it was carried was from Macedonia to New- 
 town, south of the present site of Avoca. 
 
 The second death recorded in Belknap was 
 that of Mrs. Orrin Belknap, in 1856. The 
 first school taught in the township was by 
 William Lyman, Sr., in the beginning of 
 1858, on the spot near where Schoolhouse 
 No. 1 now stands. It was supported by the 
 voluntary contributions of the little commu- 
 nity, and the school taught in the dugout, 
 built by G. A. Slocum, as already stated. 
 
 J. L. Fetter was the first School Director, 
 and as such let the first contract for a school 
 building in the township, to Cp'us True, of 
 Newtown, for S690. When it came time to 
 make payment for the work, it was all done 
 
BELKXAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 319 
 
 in silver. The house was finished in 1861, 
 and is the one used in District No. 1. 
 
 The fii-8t house in Big Grove, now Oak- 
 land, was built in 1856, by William Walker, 
 for a storeroom. It still stands neai* the 
 run, and being since enlarged, is known as 
 the " Bee-Hive." It is now the property of 
 the widow and heirs of John Bates. The fii'st 
 bridge across the Nishnabotna was begun 
 in December, 1855, and finished in March, 
 1856. The abutments were timber cribs 
 filled in with earth, and the frame was hewn 
 oak and black walnut. The structure was 
 120 feet long, and the bridgeway fourteen 
 feet wide, and consisted of three spans. It 
 had a puncheon floor. Before this bridge 
 was built, the settlers had to go soiith to Mace- 
 donia before they could cross the river. Not 
 a dollar in money was expended in the build- 
 ing of it. G. A. Slocum procured the set- 
 tlers to sign a contract to either furnish la- 
 bor or materials, and in this way the bridge 
 was built. The principal part of the labor 
 was performed by G. A. Slocum, Samuel Day 
 and Orrin Belknap, all of whom were me- 
 chanics. This bridge was good, and stood 
 until 1874, when it was removed and replaced 
 by an iron structure. 
 
 The first importation of thoroughbred cat- 
 tle was by Abner M. Johnston, in 1874, when 
 he brought from the herd of Samuel A. Ten- 
 ney, of Durham Hill, Waukesha Co., Wis-, 
 a number of Short-Horns, largely of the 
 Dutchess blood. The stock and blood came 
 through John P. Roe, of Walnut Hill, who 
 imported direct from England. The road from 
 Big Grove to Council Bluffs ran south ten 
 miles to Stutsman's mill, from 1852 to 1856, 
 where the river was crossed by a small rope 
 ferry. The settlers went to Council Bluffs 
 about twice a year to trade and market, and 
 the roads were little else than a mere trail on 
 the open prairie in many places. 
 
 Deer and such game were quite abundant 
 for many years after the first settlers came 
 into the country, in fact, until 1856, when 
 the severe winter destroyed great numbers. 
 The deer were very tame, so tame that it was 
 not very diificult to capture the fawns when 
 they were quite a size. One of these ani- 
 mals for many years was the pet of the whole 
 settlement. J. L. Fetter and G. A. Slocum 
 were on the prairie and aroused one, and 
 giving it chase, Fetter outran Slocum and 
 caught the young deer and pi'esented it to 
 Mr. Slocum, who kept it as a pet for a long 
 time, and until it was shot by some heartless 
 and brutal hunter. 
 
 The arrival of some of the original settlers 
 can be fixed with a goodly degree of certain- 
 ty now. Dr. M. T. Palmer came in 1856; J. 
 L. Fetter, the same year; Sarah Beard about 
 the same time, but afterward moved to Coun- 
 cil Blufis; Michael Emery and John Emery 
 in 1856; Samuel Day in 1854, but afterward 
 went to Harrison County, where he died; a 
 man by the name of Andrews in 1855, and 
 William Lyman, Sr., in 1857. Mr. Lyman 
 died several years ago, leaving quite a family 
 of children, among them Maj. Joseph Lyman, 
 the distinguished lawyer of Council Bluffs, 
 and who also served with great credit as a 
 soldier in the Twenty-ninth Iowa during the 
 civil war. Emery Beard, one of the sons of 
 Sarah Beard, emigrated to Oregon. 
 
 One of the most noted events of the town- 
 ship is what is known as the Vest murder 
 case, which caused great excitement at the 
 time, the crime having been committed by 
 James Vest in the killing of Edward M. Ben- 
 ton in the beginning of October, 1868. Ben- 
 ton was a native of Watertown, N. Y., had 
 lived at St. Paul and Des Moines, and was, 
 at the time of his death, in the employment 
 of the Western Stage Company, who had a 
 ' station at Big Grove. Vest was a farm hand. 
 
820 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 in the employment of one W. M. West. Tbe 
 scene of the mnrder was a little log rabin, 
 which stood where the rear of the Oakland 
 House now is. The place was kept by thi-ee 
 women of not very desirable reputation, and 
 Vest was boarding there. Benton demanded 
 an entrance into the cabin late the night of 
 the killing, and Vest refused to admit him. 
 Benton then broke down the rickety door 
 that barred the way, and made an attempt to 
 get m, when Vest picked up a hatchet and 
 struck Benton twice on the head with the 
 blade, and cut him so severely that he died of 
 his injuries before morning. No inquest was 
 held, and Vest made his escape, no attempt 
 ever having been made to capture him. The 
 last intelligence ever received of Vest was 
 that he had threatened to kill his brother, 
 Thomas Vest, in Missouri, that the latter dis- 
 appeared mysteriously and that James Vest 
 was sent to the Missouri Insane Asylum as 
 incurable. 
 
 In i860, Albert GrifiSth, a young man 
 from Oshkosh, Wis. , was plowing in a field 
 of J. L. Fetter's with a yoke of oxen, when one 
 of them became entangled, and when the 
 young man undertook to extricate him, he 
 was kicked to death. He was buried in the 
 Big Grove Cemetery, in Section 10. Others 
 buried there are Peter S. Johns, one of the 
 soldiers drafted from James Township; Will- 
 iam Elliott, a soldier of the civil war, who 
 died while undergoing amputation of a 
 wounded leg; an unknown emigrant of 1857, 
 who was drowned while bathing in the Nish- 
 nabotna River, and the eldest son of J. E. 
 Cook, who, in trying to reach the Upper 
 Botna Bridge when the river was out of its 
 banks, missed the bridge and was drowned, 
 March 28, 1875. 
 
 Goods were sold on the present site of Oak- 
 land before the town was laid out. Mr. Slo- 
 cum had a storeroom and a stock of groceries 
 
 when Jacob Cohn came from Council Blufifs, 
 in 1871, to start a general store at Big Grove, 
 and the grroceries in stock were transferred 
 by Slocum to Cohn. W. H. Freeman put 
 up a new building in the Grove, and Cohn 
 removed to that. He soon became a bank- 
 rupt. D. B. Freeman took charge of the as- 
 sets, and he and W. H. Freeman afterward 
 opened out in the same place on their own 
 account. J. B. Matlock afterward acquired 
 W. H. Freeman's interest, and again that of 
 D. B. Freeman, after which D. B. Freeman 
 became sole owner by puichase from ^Matlock. 
 Through successive changes quite rapidly 
 made, the business has come into the hands 
 of its present owners. Potter & De Graff. 
 
 The building of a branch railroad of the 
 Chicago, Eock Island & Pacific Railroad 
 down the Nishnabotna Valley, from Avoca, 
 changed the character of the hamlet of Big 
 Grove as it stood in the primeval forest, and 
 transformed it into a prosperous growing 
 town. The town of Oakland was laid out by 
 Thomas Tostevin and Samuel Denton as sur- 
 reyors. The first residence on the new site 
 was erected by Dr. S. Stewart, and the first 
 store building by J. C. Norton, J. M. Estes 
 and E. H. Wineland, in the upper part of the 
 town. The plat of the lower part of the town 
 was made September 13, 1880, on the lands 
 of W. H. Freeman, Daniel Freeman, John 
 Bates and Ambrose Bates and Thomas Tos- 
 tevin. The next spring, 1881, Thomas Tos- 
 tevin platted a portion of the town, in the 
 upper part, on the lands of John T. Bald- 
 win. 
 
 Since then, the place has grown with con 
 siderable rapidity. It has now as business, 
 dry goods and groceries, Potter & De Graff, 
 G. W. Cooper & Co., Estes & Hislop and 
 Bates & Reed; hardware and furniture, Nor- 
 ton & Bryant; hardware and implements. 
 Strong & Huff; agricultural implements, 
 
BELKXAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 321 
 
 George H. Nasb and E. G. Bailey; drugs 
 and the post office, L. B. Eobinson & Co., 
 and drugs, Toothaker & Balkam; grocery, A. 
 M. Louie; restaurant, D. H. Morrison; ho- 
 tels, the City Hotel, Dennis McGath, and 
 Oakland House, Nathaniel Young; jewelry, 
 W. S. Bedford; millinery, Mary Ellis and 
 Mrs. Moses; harness shops, William Stotes 
 and James Storey; clothier, Henry O'Neil; 
 boots and shoes, G. A. Slocum, M. H. His- 
 lop and Lee Rudolph; lawyers and insurance, 
 L. B. Kobinson and W. W. Bilger, and law- 
 yer, W. T. Wilcox; physicians, Drs. S. D. 
 Toby, S. Stewart and T. C. Alexander; lum- 
 ber, Milner & Caldwell; anti- monopoly com- 
 bination, the Barb Fence Factory and Milner 
 & Caldwell; livery stables, Mark Neiland 
 and Freeman & Co. ; bank, Freeman Bros. ; 
 floiu- and feed exchange, John McDonald; 
 newspaper, Oakland Acoryi, A. T. Cox; 
 blacksmiths, D. Steadman & Co. and W. P. 
 Meadows; wagon-maker, M. Howrey; grain 
 dealers, S. S Rust and W. H. H. Dabnoy; 
 stockbuyers, H. A. Goif, J. I. Reed and H. 
 Cooper & Co.; two saloons, Peter King and 
 Thomas Collison; furniture, A. P. Cooper & 
 Co. ; meat market, C. H Cooper; under- 
 taker, fJorton & Bryant; barbers, J. A. Em- 
 mettand J. M. Pullen; carpenters, A. N. Cov- 
 ert, M. M. Brightman and Daniel McCotter, 
 and plasterers, William Farley and the 
 Young Bros. 
 
 The town site is in the center of an im- 
 mense grove, which at an early day received 
 the name of Big Grove and by which the 
 point was known until the railroad station 
 and new town were designated as Oakland. 
 The place is the center of one of the finest 
 agricultural regions in the world, and is 
 destined to still greater growth and prosper- 
 ity. Oakland has been set apart as an inde- 
 pendent school district, and has set apart the 
 necessary funds for the erection of a large 
 
 and handsome school building for its own 
 use, and the same is in course of construc- 
 tion. The town was incorporated under the 
 laws of Iowa by the Circuit Court of Potta- 
 watamie, on the 1st of May, 1882, an elec- 
 tion having been held on the 26th of April, 
 at which W. H. Freeman was chosen Mayor; 
 S. S. Rust, J. L. Caldwell, John McDonald, 
 Austin GolT, L. F. Potter and Charles Bry 
 ant, Councilmen; E. G. Bailey, Recorder; 
 B. F. Freeman, Treasurer; D. H. Morrison, 
 Marshal, and W W. Bilger, City Attorney. 
 
 A newspaper, the Acorn, was started by 
 John C. McMannima and John G. Julian, 
 on the 1st of May, 1881. The first issue was 
 dated May 5, of the same year. In August 
 following, A. M. Lewis became editor and 
 proprietor, and on the 1st of March, 1882, A. 
 M. Lewis sold to A. T. Cox, who now con- 
 ducts the paper. It is independent of polit- 
 ical parties, and devoted to the interests of 
 the town and surrounding country. In that 
 respect, it fills an important position in the 
 community, and its efforts are appreciated by 
 the business public in liberally sustaining it. 
 
 Oakland Lodge, No. 442, of the Independ 
 ent Order of Odd Fellows, was established at 
 Oakland on the 13th of January, 1882, with 
 the following officers and members: T. C. 
 Alexander, N. G.; N. Young, V. G.; A. M. 
 Lewis, Secretary, and W. D. Johnson, Treas- 
 urer. Members: H. C. Snyder, William 
 Farley, E. A. Coleman, A. J. Richards, A. 
 Eck and W. D. Johnson. The present mem- 
 bership is thirty- four. 
 
 The Big Grove Grange of Patrons of Hus- 
 bandry was instituted by Gen. William Du- 
 ane Wilson, editor of the loica Homestead. 
 in the spring of 1871. The charter mem- 
 bership was twenty, and increased to sixty 
 while the Grange continued to act as such. 
 
 For the establishment of a Masonic lodge, 
 the first meeting for organization was held 
 
323 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 at Big Grove, in March, 1874, and the lodge 
 instituted, as Ark Lodge, No. 335, under 
 dispensation from the Grand Lodge, upon 
 the recommendation of Mt. Nebo Lodge of 
 Avoca. J. C. Chapman was the Grand Mas- 
 ter at that date. The dispensation is dated 
 the 10th of June, 1874, A. L. 5874, the year 
 of the Grand Lodge thirty-two, and is signed 
 by J. C. Chapman as Grand Master, and T. 
 S. Parvin as Grand Secretary, and evidenced 
 by the seal of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. 
 The dispensation constituted Fletcher Dun- 
 ham, Master of the lodge; W. H. Freeman. 
 Senior Warden; H. H. Gillette, Junior War- 
 den. With these the lodge was duly consti- 
 tuted, and at the ensuing meeting of the 
 Grand Lodge, the subordinate lodge was 
 properly and regularly clothed with power 
 to work under the jiu-isdietion of the Grand 
 Lodge of Iowa. The present ofScers are: W. 
 H. Freeman, Worshipful Master; J. A. T. 
 Bates, Senior Warden; J. O. Humbert, Jun- 
 ior Warden; Freeman Reed, Treasurer, 
 and E. G. Bailey, Secretary. 
 
 The Big Grove Missionary Baptist Church 
 of Jesus Christ was organized^ August 11, 
 1861, with the following as members: Jacob 
 Rust, Eda E. Rust, Susan Huff, Margaret J. 
 Reed, Eda McGee, M. T. Palmer and Caro- 
 line Palmer, seven persons in all. The so- 
 ciety was organized under the counsel of the 
 Rev. E. W. Hall, pastor of the Baptist 
 Chm-ch at Lewis in Cass County, and James 
 W. Brown, clerk of the church at Lewis. 
 The first meeting was held in the dwelling 
 which now constitutes the residence of John 
 Bird, the building then being used for a 
 schoolhouse. On the second Siinday in No- 
 vember, 1861, George I. Reed and Abnas M. 
 Huff were received as members, and on the 
 second Sunday in December, Mr. Reed was 
 
 baptized and the sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper administered for the first time. A 
 series of meetings were held during the fol- 
 lowing week, and the following persons joined 
 the church by letter: Louis Huff, Benjamin 
 and Sarah Morris, and subject to baptism; 
 H. J. Reed and William Huff. The succes- 
 sive pastors have been E. M. Hall, James 
 Lambert, William Arnold, Eli Burch and D. 
 C. Adams. The present membership is forty- 
 two, and the society is without a pastor. In 
 1874, the society purchased a schoolhouse on 
 the site of the abandoned town of lola, near 
 Big Grove, and fitted it up for a church, but it 
 is now unfit for use, and has been abandoned. 
 A preliminary meeting was held at Big 
 Grove September 16, 1881, for the purpose 
 of organizing a Congregational Church so- 
 ciety. The confession of faith as laid down 
 in the authorized manual was accepted. Ar- 
 ticles of faith and a constitution were drafted 
 by a committee composed of Messrs. Norton, 
 Snyder, Shepherd and De Graff. The fol- 
 lowing persons became members by signing 
 the same: J. C. Norton, Susie Norton. Sarah 
 Lyman, Rhoda Lyman. H. C. Snyder, C. R. 
 Johnson, Lottie Shepard, W. L. Nokes, H. B. 
 Shepard, M. J. De Graff, L. B. Shepard and 
 Frank Shepard. Rev. John Todd, of Tabor 
 College preached to the congregation in the 
 storeroom of J. B. Estes on the 19th of Oc- 
 tober, 18S0. The first officers were: H. C. 
 Snyder, Clerk; Mrs. Sarah Lyman, Treasurer; 
 A. Johnsim, L, B. Shepard and J. C.Norton, 
 Trustees, and J. C. Norton, Deacon. Work 
 was begun on a new chui'ch in September, 
 1881, a building 28x40 feet in dimensions, 
 and was so far completed as to be suitable 
 for use in the winter of 1881. The cost was 
 §1,500, and the same has been furnished and 
 dedicated. 
 
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 323 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX.* 
 
 WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP— ORtfANIZATION— FIRST ELECTION— AN OLD STAGE STATION— SCHOO LS 
 
 -CHURCHES— A TRAGEDY. 
 
 WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP was or 
 ganized as a civil township from the 
 territory comprising Congressional Township 
 75, Range 41, on the petition of C. W. Brown 
 and others. It is situated east of Council 
 Bluffs, and, among other points, includes the 
 old stage station of Pleasant Taylor, on Silver 
 Creek, on the old route of the Western Stage 
 Company from Des Moines to Council Bluffs. 
 The first election was held at the schoolhouse 
 near Taylor's Station. The name of Wash- 
 ington was given to the township at the in- 
 stance of Jerome Tui'ner, a farmer and pub- 
 lic-spirited citizen of the township, who has 
 been a resident for many years. There were 
 only sixteen votes cast at the lirst election. 
 Situated, as the township was, at a great dis- 
 tance from railroads, and constituted, as it 
 was, from raw prairie, with little timber, its 
 settlement was exceedingly slow until 1875 
 and 1S76. 
 
 The only post office in the township is near 
 the old Taylor Station. The old station 
 building was destroyed by lire a few years 
 ago. T. H. Sketchley is the Postmaster, and 
 also keeps a store, having the only one in 
 Washington. The first road laid out after 
 the township was organized was what is 
 known as the Wasson road, from the Nishna- 
 botna to a point near Parks' Mill, two miles 
 from Covmcil Bluffs. 
 
 The first schoolhouse was built by Jerome 
 Turner, near the " station " at Silver Creek, 
 in 1860. The district has now eight such 
 frame buildings in all, and as many flourish- 
 
 *By Col. J. H. Kcatley. 
 
 ing and prosperous public schools. The first 
 teacher in the district was Miss Piles. Soon 
 after the fii'st schoolhouse wa3 erected, a Sun - 
 day school was organized at that point. The 
 first sermon was by Elder Golliday, who was 
 then stationed at Council Bluffs. Pleasant 
 Taylor came into the township first and 
 opened up the stage station, and built the 
 only mill ever erected in the township. It is 
 now disused, and has gone to ruin. F. A. 
 Burke, a Pennsylvanian by birth, but who 
 emigrated from West Virginia, where he had 
 been a steamboat Captain, was the next set- 
 tler after Pleasant Taylor. He has been a 
 resident of Council Bluffs for many years, 
 and, for ten or more, the City Recorder and 
 City Auditor, and a prominent Odd Fellow. 
 Jerome and Charles Turner, brothers, came 
 in soon after. Charles Turner moved to 
 Phillips County, Kan., several years ago, but 
 Jerome Turner is still a resident of the town- 
 ship, and a prosperous farmer. For many 
 years these were the only settlers, and the 
 distance to the next, at Big Grove, was six 
 miles, and on the west the Dick Hardin Sta- 
 tion, as many more miles, the intervening 
 space being scarcely more than trackless prai- 
 rie. Miss Piles was the first teacher, in 1859; 
 Ellen Wood was the second. In 1864, Miss 
 May Burke was the first teacher, and Miss 
 Belle Burke the second. The first birth was 
 Alice Turner, in 1858; the first death, Lu- 
 cinda Nolands, a widow, in 1865; and the 
 first marriage, James Taylor, son of Pleasant 
 Taylor, to Miss Maria Piles, in 1859. Pleas- 
 ant Taylor built his mill in 1856. 
 
324 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 The original settlers in their order were: 
 Pleasant Taylor, Jerome Tui-ner, Charles 
 Turner, James A. Taylor, William Taylor, F. 
 A. Biirke, T. B. Matthews. J. B. Matthews 
 and A. F. Carter. 
 
 The first election was held October 11, 
 1870. P. B. Matthews, James Taylor and B. 
 M. Weak were chosen Trustees; J. B. Mat- 
 thews, Township Clerk; and B. M. Weak 
 and W. L. W. Wasson, Justices of the Peace. 
 The present officers are: J. K. Annis, Jack- 
 son Lewis and R. E. Williams, Trustees; O. 
 W. Pearce, Justice of the Peace; Jesse Cra- 
 ven, Constable; and F. A. Tiu-ner, As- 
 sessor. 
 
 The Methodist Protestant Chiu'ch of that 
 township was first organized in 1861. There 
 is also a Methodist Ejsiscopal, and a Presby- 
 terian society in the township, but none have 
 any chui-ch building, the services being held 
 at the pi;blic schoolhouse at Taylor's Sta- 
 tion. 
 
 A tragedy occiu-red on the bridge at the 
 crossing of Silver Creek at Taylor's Station 
 in December, 1S77, which caused quite an 
 excitement in the township. Frank Briggs, 
 a young man about twenty years of age, son 
 of George W. Briggs, William Martin, and 
 a number of other young men of the town- 
 ship, were at a religious meeting at the Tay- 
 lor Station Schoolhouse, at night. They left 
 the meeting before it was over, and, crossing 
 the creek, some kind of an altercation oc 
 curred between Frank Briggs and William 
 Martin, and the latter stabbed Briggs 
 through the heart, in the road, and instantly 
 killed him. Mai'tin was tried for the mur- 
 der, and on the witness stand testified that 
 he was simply acting in self defense. The 
 j^rosecution was conducted on behalf of the 
 State by A. E. Anderson, District Attorney, 
 and John H. Keatley, and the prisoner was 
 defended by C. R. Scott There was a ver- 
 dict of not guilty. 
 
 CHAPTER L.* 
 
 H.\RDIN TOWNSHIP — INTRODUCTORY— DR.A.1N.\CtE— FIRST F.XMILIE.S— ■• OLD DICK H.^RDIN 
 RO.\DS .AND BRIDGE.S— CHURCHES .\ND SCHOOLS— RAPID INCREASE OF POPULATION. 
 
 ~| TE who attempts to present with accuracy 
 -* — *- the annals of a country or even of a 
 district no larger than a township, the his- 
 tory of which reaches back to the date of the 
 settlement of the first white man within its 
 boundai'ies, imposes upon himself a task not 
 easily accomplished. The difficulties to be 
 met with in performing such a task are often 
 aiigmented by statements widely at variance, 
 furnished by eai'ly settlers and their descend- 
 ants, as data from which to compile a ti-ue 
 and faithful record of past events. To claim 
 for a work of this character perfect freedom 
 
 *By Frank SI. Wright. 
 
 from all inaccuracies would be to arrogate 
 to one's self a degree of wisdom and infalli- 
 bility possessed by no mortal man. To give 
 facts onl)', should be the highest aim of 
 every writer who professes to deal with in- 
 cidents of the past. This shall be oiir aim 
 in the pages following, and when statements 
 disagree with the opinion of the reader, he 
 will bear in mind that we have chronicled 
 the events which seemed supported by the 
 greatest weight of evidence. 
 
 Originally, and as far back as we know, 
 this great Western country belonged to the 
 Indians. Undisturbed in those primeval days 
 
HARDIX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 325 
 
 by the pale-faced race, beneath the shadows 
 of his wigwam, the Indian smoked his [jipe 
 in peace and dreamed not of the time when 
 his people must make room for the pale- face 
 and the Westward strides of civilization. 
 The relics left by the red man and his ante- 
 cedents are the only historic chapters handed 
 down to us to tell of the people whose feet 
 once pressed the earth around our own pleas- 
 ant homes. With these people there were no 
 learned men to record the history they were 
 making, though among them unlettered sages 
 and warriors there may have been. With us, 
 how different ! We know the uses of letters, 
 printing presses, books and telegraphs, and 
 there is no reason why we should die and 
 leave no sign. The history we are making 
 can be handed down to posterity in the ages 
 that are to come, for thousands of years, when 
 other and higher races of men shall have 
 taken our place. 
 
 Hardin Township was organized in 1869, 
 but for many years prior to this formed a part 
 of temtory known as Kane Township. It is 
 a full Congressional Township, lying in the 
 form of a square, and containing thirty six 
 sections. Its boundaries are: Norwalk Town- 
 ship on Ihe north, Washington Township on 
 the east, Keg Creek Township on the south, 
 and Garner Township on the west. It 
 is a section of land sis miles square, and 
 forms a part of a vast rolling prairie, which 
 in some places is inclined to be broken. The 
 original timber growth, so far as is known, 
 consisted of small groves along the streams. 
 The growth of cotton-wood, box elder, maple 
 and walnut has been largely cultivated on al- 
 most every farm in the township. Hardin 
 Township, like the greater portion of Potta- 
 wattamie County, is well adapted to farming 
 aud grazing purposes. The soil is very pro- 
 ductive, and in some of the creek bottoms 
 farming has been carried on for many years 
 
 without requiring fertilizers; indeed, but lit- 
 tle need has been felt thus in any portion of 
 the township for fertilizers. The higher 
 lands, so long as they have been farmed in 
 different localities, seem to have lost none of 
 their productive qualities. Hardin Township 
 is, perhaps, as well adapted to stock-raising 
 as any town.ship in the county, on account of 
 the advantages derived from running streams, 
 which furnish a supply of water for stock 
 during a greater portion of the year. Keg 
 Creek is the largest stream in the township. 
 Its name originated through the following 
 incident: During the early settlement of the 
 whites in Pottawattamie County, the sale of 
 intoxicating liquors to Indians was carried on 
 to such an extent as to have been prohibited 
 by law. Then, as now, the prohibitory laws 
 did not always jjrohibit, and the tradei's con- 
 tinued to sell whisky to the Indians. An 
 abundance of "fire-water" was not calculated 
 to preserve peace among the Indians, and the 
 officers were diligent in their efforts to detect 
 the giiilty dealers. A trading-post on the 
 bank of Keg Creek was visited by the officers, 
 but the trader, having been warned of their 
 approach, rolled his stock of live barrels of 
 whisky into the stream, and sunk them from 
 view. The stream has since torne the name 
 of "Five Barrel," or Keg Creek. The streams 
 all flow through Hardin To\vnship in almost 
 a direct line from north to south. Weasel 
 Run, in the southwest part of the township, 
 and which empties into Little Keg Creek, 
 being the only exception. Keg Creek enters 
 Hardin Township about the northwest corner 
 of Section 1. It is joined by one of its trib- 
 utaries in Section 2. In Section 15 another 
 tributary, Mamie Creek, empties into it. 
 This stream was without a name until, in 
 1875, when an Atlas of Iowa was being 
 completed, and one of the gentlemen en- 
 gaged in preparing the map of Pottawattamie 
 
326 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 County for that work, named this stream in 
 honor of Miss Mamie Cress, who lived near 
 it. In Section 27, Little Keg Creek emjsties 
 into the main stream. It rises, in Section 28 
 of Norwalk Township, and is joined by Weasel 
 Run In Section 20 of Hardin Township. 
 Flowing across the southeast corner of the 
 township is one of the tributaries of Silver 
 Creek, known as Little Silver Creek. 
 
 The first permanent settler of the township 
 was Mr. Eees D. Price, who came fi-om Wales 
 in 1849, and settled in Hardin Township in 
 1850. In Section 20, where Mr. Price set- 
 tled, there was a village of thirteen log huts, 
 where lived a number of Mormon families. 
 In Section 32, there was another settlement 
 of Mormons of eleven huts. In the summer 
 of 1850, the Mormons left without having 
 made any improvements of a lasting charac- 
 ter. Their departiu'e left the family of Jlr. 
 Price entirely alone. In 1854, Mr. Price 
 moved one mile south of his original claim, 
 and settled on the place where he now re- 
 sides. His original place is owned by his 
 son, J. A. Price. Perhaps the first white 
 man who lived for any length of time within 
 the boundaries of Hardin Township, was 
 Richard Hardin, in honor of whom the town- 
 ship was named. "Old Dick Hardin," as he 
 was familiarly called, became a resident of 
 the township long before the coming of Mi'. 
 Price. He spent most of his time in hunt- 
 ing, trapjjing and trading with the Indians, 
 and for a number of j-ears kept a atation on 
 the old stage route. He now lives near St. 
 Joseph, Mo., having been a resident of that 
 State prior to becoming one of Pottawattamie 
 County. 
 
 The valuable lands of Hardin Township 
 attracted the jaioneers, and within a few years 
 a number of families had settled there, 
 Stephen Williams settled at an early day on 
 Section 27 on the Council Bluffs & Lewis 
 
 Stage road. Mr. Williams now lives in 
 Council Bluffs, aud Mr. J. C. Barnard owns 
 h's old place. Mrs. Gratin Perry and family, 
 of Vermont, were among the settlers as early 
 as 1857. She purchased the property of a 
 Mr. Augustus Ayers, who was living alone in 
 a miserable old hut. Mrs. Perry passed 
 through some of the hard times incident to 
 pioneer life. In these early years, the ques- 
 tion of providing supplies presented not un- 
 frequently a very dilficult problem. The 
 first season, she paid S4 per bushel for seed 
 potatoes, and §1.25 per bushel for wheat to 
 feed her team. Mr. James Wild came from 
 England in 1857, a short time previous to the 
 coming of Mrs. Perry and family, and settled 
 on his present place. Mr. E. C. Thomas 
 also came in the year 1857 from Vermont, 
 and has followed farming and stock-raising 
 since living in Hardin Township. He is now 
 seventy-three years old, but a hale, hearty 
 old gentleman, who is never behind his neigh- 
 bors in any local enterprise. Soon after and 
 in 1857, Mr. W. K. Eames, also from Ver- 
 mont, came to Hardin, but did not purchase 
 his farm until 1865. There were others who 
 came to this township early, but only re- 
 mained a short time. Those mentioned are 
 among the principal early settlers. 
 
 The first road in the township was the old 
 Council Bluffs & Lewis Stage road, which 
 ran across the southern part of the township, 
 east and west. It was over this route that 
 such an extensive business was done by the 
 Western Stage Company on their line from 
 Council Bluffs to Des Moines and Iowa City. 
 There is one station on this line, in Hardin 
 Township, known as Hardin Station, so called 
 after Richard Hardin, or ' ' Old Dick " Hardin, 
 the popular station agent for a number of 
 years at this point. 
 
 The first bridges built in the township were 
 on this road. There were two, and both made 
 
HARDIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 327 
 
 of logs, one crossing Keg Creek at Hardia 
 Station and the other built across Weasel 
 Run. The balance of the roads in the town- 
 ship are of more recent date, and most of 
 them run east and west, centering at Council 
 Bluffs. Changes are being gradually made 
 in these roads, and they are now much more 
 confined to section lines than they were when 
 fii-st broken for travel. As farms are being 
 fenced and brought under a state of cultiva- 
 tion, the roads are changed to wind around 
 them. There are many small wooden bridges 
 in this township crossing the creeks. These 
 were erected at the expense of the county, 
 and are perhaps more in number than there 
 otherwise would have been but for the agita- 
 tion of the question of dividing the county, 
 the people of the eastern portion of the coun- 
 ty desiring to be severed from the western 
 half and organized into a new county. The 
 question has come to a vote, but the bound- 
 aries remain the same. With this feeling 
 in the community over the probability that 
 the county would some day be divided, the 
 citizens, east and west, felt like making pub- 
 lic improvements, while the entire popula- 
 tion was subject to taxation. 
 
 "The groves were God's first temjiles," 
 and so they are yet so far as Hardin Town- 
 ship is concerned, as there is not a church 
 building in the township. This, however, is 
 not because the people are not religiously in- 
 clined, nor because they are less'moral than 
 in other parts of the county. They have 
 preferred to wait until their societies grow 
 stronger, when they will be able to build a 
 better and more substantial edifice than they 
 can now afford to erect. The Methodist Epis- 
 copal society is the largest, and has now 
 about twenty members. It was organized in 
 1880 by Rev. M. D. Collins, of Council 
 Bluffs. Their first pastor was Rev. Jackson, 
 and their present pastor is Rev. Branstone. 
 
 This little society is deserving of a great deal 
 of credit. Some time ago they organized a 
 Sabbath school, which has been maintained 
 with much interest and success, now having 
 an average attendance of forty scholars. This 
 is the only Sabbath school that has ever been 
 organized in the township which has become 
 thoroughly established, and which those most 
 interested in it feel assured has now arrived 
 at a point beyond an experiment. In con- 
 nection with the Sabbath school, and as an 
 additional feature of interest, they have a 
 circulating library. Other Sabbath schools 
 have been organized in other parts of the 
 townships, but none have survived for any 
 length of time. In the absence of churches, 
 sermons are delivered fi"om time to time in 
 the several schoolhouses. 
 
 The first school ever taught in the town- 
 ship was by INIi'. Lorenzo Burr, in 1857. ]\Ir. 
 Burr was engaged to teach by ]Mi\ Rees D. 
 Price, and school was held in a log cabin be- 
 longing to him. The settlers continued to 
 have a school, though under great disadvan- 
 tage, until 1860, when the first schoolhouse 
 in the township was erected. This building 
 was built in Section 27, and though there is 
 no school building in that section at present, 
 there is one in the section both east and west 
 of it. The first teacher secm-ed to teach in 
 the new building was an English priest by 
 the name of Middleton. The lu'st school- 
 house built by the township is located in Sec- 
 tion 18, near the residence of Mr. James 
 Wild. This is known as Schoolhouse No. 1. 
 
 The statistics for the year 1881, in regard 
 to the schools of Hardin Township, are as 
 follows: 
 
 Number of subdistricts 5 
 
 Number ungraded in each district 5 
 
 Average number of mouths taught 7 
 
 Teachers: Number employed — Males, 2; fe- 
 males, 7; total 9 
 
338 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUKTY. 
 
 Average compensation per month — Males, $30; 
 
 females. |30; total $60 
 
 Pupils: Number between the ages of 5 and 21 
 
 years— Males, 103; females, 83; total 184 
 
 Number enrolled in each district 110 
 
 Total average attendance in whole district. . . . 61^ 
 Average cost of tuition per month for each 
 
 pupil.... 13 51 
 
 Schoolhouses — Frame, 4; brick, 1; value of 
 
 same $1,,500 
 
 Hardin Township is as yet without a village, 
 the general market being Council Blnfl's. 
 There is, however, a small store located on 
 Silver Creek, but it supjjlies the people of 
 only a small vicinity with the smaller articles 
 of merchandise, most of the citizens of the 
 township buying their supplies at Council 
 Bluffs. There is one post ofHce in the town- 
 ship, the name of which is Snapp, and of 
 which Mr. H. S. Alexander is Postmaster. 
 The first election in the township was held at 
 what is known as the Hardin schoolhouse. 
 There were twenty eight votes polled at that 
 election. Now there are about two hundred 
 residents of the township who are legal vo- 
 ters. According to the census of 1880, the 
 population of the township was 549. It has 
 increased very rapidly since that date, as then 
 but little more than half of the land of the 
 township was under fence, while at present 
 very little of it remains unfenced. This is 
 of itself the best evidence that improvements 
 
 are rapidly progi-essing, and that the popula- 
 tion is increasing. The first birth of a white 
 child that occurred in Hardin Township was 
 that of J. A. Price, on November 16, 1850. 
 He is the son of Eees D. Price, whose biog- 
 raphy appears in this work. The first death 
 of a white person in the township was that 
 of Lorenzo Dunn. This also occurred in 
 1850. Mr. Dunn was buried near the Mor- 
 mon settlement, on what was sometimes called 
 Log City. The first marriage in Hardin 
 Township was that of Jonathan Patridge. 
 He and his wife subsequently removed to 
 Salt Lake, and have since been numbered 
 among the Latter-Day Saints. 
 
 Most of the residents of Hardin Township 
 were possessed of but little property at the 
 time of their settlement. Energy, industry 
 and economy was the capital required to de- 
 velop the resources of the country. A drive 
 across the township would convince any one 
 that the investment had been made and a 
 handsome annual dividend declajj'ed by the 
 stockholders. Among those who may be con" 
 sidered as esjjecially fortunate, and who are 
 usually mentioned as the leading or promi- 
 nent citizens of the township, are the follow- 
 ing: Newell Birchard, Peny brothers, Eev. 
 J. S. Eand, J. A. Price, C. Barnard and Will- 
 iam F. Phinkett. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 GARNER TOWNSHIP— THE MORMON SETTLERS— CARTERVILLE— THE OLD INDlAxV MILL— OTHER 
 MILLS— ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP— ORIGIN OF ITS NAME— TIMBER, STREAMS, SUR- 
 FACE—FIRST .SALE OF REAL ESTATE IN THE COUNTY— EARLY SCHOOLS— RAILROADS. 
 
 'T^HERE was but little that was romantic 
 -^ aboitt the loaded wagons, weary, worn- 
 out women and children, slowly moving teams 
 of oxen and tired, traveled-stained and anx- 
 ious drivers, as they wended their way over 
 hills, through groves of timber and across the 
 
 unbridged streams, and at last settled on the 
 banks of a little stream, which they subse- 
 quently named Mosquito Creek, on account 
 of the millions of these insects which hatched 
 from the stream, and proved a great annoy- 
 ance to them while they were yet in camp 
 
GARNER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 329 
 
 preparing to build rude huts to shelter them 
 from the rays of the hot sun and summer 
 storms. They were Mormons, and had 
 traveled in and formed a part of the great 
 wagon train of that people which ci-ossed the 
 prairies of Illinois and Iowa in 1846, and 
 halted near Kanesville, according to the 
 orders of their leader. Those who settled in 
 Garner Township were among the first of the 
 wagon trains to arrive. They had not made 
 any definite settlement when the war with 
 Mexico broke out, and many of them enlist- 
 ed and engaged in that struggle. Pottawat- 
 tamie County had not yet been organized 
 when they arrived. Township and section 
 lines were unknown boundaries to them until 
 1853. Looalitieg and boundaries were better 
 fixed in their descriptions by the ranges of 
 bluffs along the Missoiu-i River and the little 
 streams rising a few miles in the interior, and 
 winding their way to the river. 
 
 From Lewis Township to Roekford Town- 
 ship, the two extreme townships which border 
 on the Missoui'i River, there was perhaps not 
 a single township excepting Kane which be- 
 came the halting place of so many of the Mor- 
 mons as did Garner. Not because the hills of 
 Garner aflforded a better protection or a more 
 abundant supply of wood and water, were the 
 pioneers induced to pitch their tents or erect 
 cabins on the Mosquito Creek, but because the 
 little old and already half worn out corn mill 
 located on the bank of that stream promised 
 the best facilities for getting what they must 
 have — a little corn meal. 
 
 This mill had been built in 1836 by the 
 Government for the benefit of the Pottawat- 
 tamie Indians. Stutely E. Wicks was the 
 last Government agent who ran the mill, and 
 when the Pottawattamies were removed to the 
 reservation granted them in Kansas, the old 
 mill was unheeded as Government property, 
 and Mr. Wicks remained in undisputed pos- 
 
 session. He had married a half-breed squaw 
 of the Pottawattamie tribe, who bore him a 
 large family of children. Mrs. Wicks re- 
 mained a resident of Garner Township until 
 her death, which did not occur until the 
 winter of 1881. A number of her sons and 
 daughters are among the respected and well- 
 to-do farmers of the county, and one son and 
 a daughter are with the Pottawattamie tribe 
 in Kansas. There was no mill nearer the 
 Indian mill than one on Rock Creek, Mo., 
 which was known as Meek's Mill. It was a 
 larger and better mill than the Indian mill, 
 but distant from it about one hundred miles, 
 and it was only on rare occasions that a trip 
 was made so far away from home. 
 
 William Garner, Adam Ritter, both of 
 whom now live on Section 16, and J. D. Hey- 
 wood, on Little Mosquito Creek, were among 
 the first settlers of the township, and they 
 are perhaps the oldest in the county who have 
 followed farming as a business. They came to 
 the county in 1846, and are now owning the 
 same farms upon which they then settled. 
 M B. Follet, J. B. Dingman, George and 
 Simeon Graybill, J. J. Johnson, Thomas 
 Williams, William F. Childs and Mrs. Mar- 
 garet Stoker were also among the pioneers. 
 They came in 1846, and were soon followed 
 by large numbers, many of whom still live in 
 the township, some of whom are dead and 
 others that moved on westward in a few years 
 and found a final home, and many of them a 
 last resting place in Salt Lake City., Utah. 
 
 Just below the point where Little Mosquito 
 Creek empties into the larger stream by the 
 same name, a village of huts known as Car- 
 terville grew and flom-ished. The place was 
 named in honor of one of the first settlers at 
 that point, and before it was deserted h'ad 
 grown to about eighty huts. 
 
 The residents of Carterville were all Mor- 
 mons, and when the body of that people moved 
 
330 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUXTY. 
 
 onward toward Salt Lake in 1S52, tliey formed 
 a part of the caravan. 
 
 They had made but little improvements in 
 or near the village of huts of any consequence, 
 and when ready to leave the huts themselves 
 were of so little value that they made no 
 efforts to sell them, and the site of the town 
 is now owned by J. D. Heywood, whose resi- 
 dence is in the immediate vicinity. All that 
 was picturesque about the bluffs, glens and 
 running streams of Garner Township was 
 passed unheeded by the pioneers. They had 
 traveled over hundreds of miles of country, 
 which presented all manner of landscape 
 views,'and cared but little for anything but rest 
 and the necessaries of life upon their arrival. 
 
 Wick's Mill, as it was usually called by the 
 first settlers, was but a poor affair at best. 
 Built by the Government for the benefit of 
 the Pottawattamie Indians, the settlers were 
 unable to get any grinding done save at such 
 times as the Indians were not needing the 
 mill. But little else was ground except corn; 
 grain of all other kinds was very scarce, and 
 what little wheat did come to the mill was 
 simply ground, the bolting being done by the 
 settlers as best they could. There was also 
 a saw mill attached to the Indian mill, which 
 was rigged with an old-fashioned up-and- 
 down saw, or what was usually called a sash 
 saw. The sawing and grinding were both 
 done by the same water wheel. The demand 
 for lumber was easily supplied, but so many 
 new patrons overtaxed the grinding capacity 
 of the mill, and settlers were so often disap- 
 pointed, and compelled to wait until the In- 
 dians were through, thatthey rigged all man- 
 ner of devices for pounding their corn at 
 home. Usually a tire was built on the top of 
 a burr oak stump, and the hollow thiis formed 
 was scraped clean of the charred part, and in 
 this they poured their corn and pounded it 
 with the head of an iron wedge to the re- 
 
 quired fineness. Corn was scare, and was 
 bought and sold at enormous prices. Ox 
 teams and wagons were plenty, and many of 
 the settlers prefeiTed making the trip of 100 
 miles to Meek's Mill, on Rock Creek, Mo., 
 rather than to depend on the Indian mill or 
 pound their corn at home. Grain could be 
 bought cheajaer in the vicinity of Meek's 
 Mill, and they could start with an empty 
 wagon and two or three yokes of oxen, and 
 make the joiu-ney there and back in about 
 two weeks. 
 
 Many of the Mormons had not time to 
 leave their families provided for when they 
 entered the army to engage in the war with 
 Mexico. William Garner was one of these, 
 and while avyay Mrs. Garner was almost 
 wholly dependent upon her own resources to 
 provide for the approaching winter of 1S47- 
 iS. Unable to get corn at reasonable prices, 
 and the further prospect of the diificulty of 
 getting it ground at the old Indian mill, in- 
 duced her in the^ fall of 1846 to undertake 
 the difficult task of going to Meek's Mill. 
 Provided with a good wagon and three yokes 
 of oxen, the same that had brought them 
 through from Quincy, 111., Mi-s. Garner 
 started out bravely for ■ the mill, 100 miles 
 distant. Experience had taught her the 
 management of the cattle, and the driving and 
 care of them on the journey was undertaken 
 by herself. Three weeks of weary travel, 
 and she returned with provision for the 
 winter, but solemnly declaring that had she 
 known the difficulties to be surmounted she 
 never would have started. 
 
 The old Indian mill was run until 18-1:9, 
 when Mr. Wicks built a new mill beaile it 
 and used the old machinery. In 1851, this 
 mill was injiu-ed by high water, biit was re- 
 paired and kept running until 1863, when it 
 tumbled down, by reason of the water having 
 washed away the foundation. 
 
GARNER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 331 
 
 It was still grinding away to the last, and 
 when it, fell there were 700 bushels of grain 
 in it. It was never of a very substantial 
 character, as those afSrra who attended a 
 grand dance or ball given by Mr. "Wicks, and 
 held in the mill on Christmas of 184:9, the 
 tim& of its completion, that at that time it 
 seemed very shaky. 
 
 Long before the old Indian mill had been 
 rebuilt, Mr. J. D. Heywood and another party 
 put up a mill on Little Mosquito Creek about 
 half a mile above the point where the old 
 CouncirBluifs and Lewis stage road crossed 
 that stream. This mill was first run by hand, 
 but this process of grinding being so slow 
 and laborious, they constructed a shaft to 
 reach the whole width of the mill, built a 
 dam and removed the mill to it. Paddles 
 were put into the shaft, which were aiTanged 
 so the water would pour through a series of 
 troughs upon them. By the power thus gen- 
 erated, they were enabled to grind as much 
 as forty bushels of corn per day. Mr. Hey- 
 wood and two other gentlemen biiilt a saw 
 mill on Honey Creek, which was fitted up 
 with a circular saw. This was the first saw 
 of the kind brought into the county. They 
 ran this mill with twelve horses, and manu- 
 factured lumber very rapidly, but there was 
 no money in the country, consequently no sale 
 for lumber, and the business was abandoned. 
 About this time, a gentleman named Hamilton 
 built a small mill on Indian Creek, and ran 
 it by horse power. It lasted but a few years, 
 when larger and better mills left it unpatron- 
 ized. 
 
 The second mill built in the township of 
 any importance was located about three miles 
 above the old Indian mill, on Mosquito 
 Creek. It was erected by William Garner in 
 1858, the machinery being purchased by Mr. 
 J. J. Johnson at Rock Island, III, while on 
 his way to Ohio. This mill was run success- 
 
 fully for a few years, but eventually became 
 an unprofitable piece of property, and was 
 let go to ruin. February 12, 185B, Pottawat- 
 tamie County was divided into three town- 
 ships — Rocky Ford, Kane and Macedonia, 
 Garner Township then formed a portion of 
 Kane, and remained as such until June 10. 
 1876, when the township of Lewis was organ- 
 ized and it became a part of the newly made 
 township. April 2, 1877, a little less than 
 ten months after it became a part of Lewis, 
 a petition was presented to the Board of Su- 
 pervisors of Pottawattamie County, signed by 
 J. J. Johnson,'\V. F. Childs, John White and 
 sixty-eight other citizens of Lewis Township, 
 asking the Board to divide the township of 
 Lewi'j into two townships, divided as fol- 
 lows: That all the territory comprised in 
 Township 74, Range 43, and Township 74, 
 Range 44, outside the limits of the city of 
 Council Bluffs, shall constitute one civil 
 township to be known as Lewis, and all the 
 territory comprised in Township 75, Range 
 43, and Township 75, Range 44, outside the 
 limits of the city of Coimcil Bluffs, shall be 
 known as Garner Township. This division 
 created the following boundaries, which still 
 exist: Crescent and Hazel Dell Townships 
 on the north, Kane Township and the Mis- 
 souri River on the west, Lewis and Kane 
 Townships on the south, Harlan Township 
 on the east. Its greatest length along the 
 northern tier of sections is eleven miles. 
 It contains an area of about forty and one- 
 half square miles, and the sm'faee is high 
 hills, rugged bluffs, deep ravines and some 
 low and unvaluable river bottom land. 
 
 The township was named in honor of Will- 
 iam Gamer, whose name has already been 
 mentioned. Mr. Garner was born in 
 Davidson County, N. C, January 22, 1817, 
 and is the son of David and Jane (Stephens) 
 Garner, both natives of North Carolina. His 
 
332 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 father died in September, 1S73, aged little over 
 one hundi-ed and four years old. and liis mother, 
 who became a resident of California, lived to 
 be almost ninety years old. Her death occurred 
 in 1871. Sir. Garner was seventeen years 
 old when his people moved from North Caro- 
 lina to Quincy, 111. He remained there 
 about eleven years, and during the time was 
 married to Miss Sarah Workman. In 1846, 
 they joined the Mormons at Nauvoo, 111., and 
 were among the first to arrive in what after- 
 ward became Garner Township. Mr. Garner 
 did not remain long to investigate the advan- 
 tages or disadvantages of the location on 
 which he had settled, but entered the army 
 and engaged in the war with Mexico. When 
 he returned, he found his wife at Winter 
 Quarters, on the Nebraska side of the Mis- 
 souri. They located near their first stop- 
 ping place in Garner, and when the survey 
 was made by the Government in 1853, the 
 claims of William Garner, Alex Marshall, 
 George Scofield and Joseph Love were 
 found to be in Section 16, which, accord- 
 ing to the State laws, belonged to the public 
 schools. The above-named gentlemen pur- 
 chased the section from the School Commis- 
 sioners before there was a land office estab- 
 lished in Council Blufi's. They then deeded 
 the land to the owners of claims, each one 
 paying his proportion of the purchase money. 
 This was the first purchase or sale of land in 
 Pottawattamie County. 
 
 Mr. Garner has since remained a resident 
 in Section 16, where he now has a farm of 
 350 acres, besides having given to each of 
 his eleven childi'en a fine farm, all of whom 
 reside withic six miles of the old home. 
 
 There are but few good farnis in the 
 township, and these few are situated betweeti 
 the ranges of hills. About two- thirds of the 
 township is timber land which, where the 
 timber is heavy and has not been too much 
 
 culled, is considered more valuable than the 
 prairie lands on the eastern border of the 
 township. It possesses a value over the 
 prairie on account of the value of the timber 
 when worked up into firewood, which sells 
 readily almost any season of the year in 
 Council Bluffs at fi-om §6 to $8 per cord. 
 Oak, hickory, ash, walnut and box-elder are 
 the principal varieties. 
 
 Garner Township is drained by Mosquito 
 and Indian Creeks and their tributaries. 
 The former is much the more important 
 stream of the two. It enters the township 
 near the northeast corner, and flows in an ir- 
 regular southwest direction through Sections 
 1, 2, 11, 10, 15, 16, 21, 29, 28 and 32, leav- 
 ing the township near the southwest corner. 
 There are a number of small tributaries, 
 which rise in the hills of Garner Township 
 and join the main stream within its bound- 
 aries. Little Mosquito Creek, however, is 
 the only tributary of importance within the 
 township. It rises a few rods east of the 
 township line, in Section 18 of Hardin 
 Township. Its course is southwest through 
 Sections 13, 14, 23, 22, 27 and 28, joining the 
 main stream near the southwest corner of the 
 latter section. Indian Creek, so called by 
 the early settlers for the reason that they al- 
 ways found such numbers of the Pottawatta- 
 mie Indians hunting, fishing or trapping 
 along its banks, has since acquired a name, 
 which, though less classic, is probably more 
 appropriate. It is now usually spoken of as 
 Lousy Creek. This name was given it by 
 the early settlers of Council Bluffs, who were 
 so annoyed by its always bursting all bounds 
 in times of high water, and running, creep- 
 ing or crawling into cellars, outhouses and 
 every conceivable place where it was most in- 
 convenient for them to have a creek run. 
 Indian Creek enters Garner Township from 
 Hazel Dell Township about the northeast 
 
GARNER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 335 
 
 corner of Section 5. Its com-se from this 
 point is almost due south through Section 5, 
 southwest through Section 8, crossing the 
 corner of Sectiou 7, and then again flowing 
 almost due south until it leaves the town- 
 ship, after having crossed Section 18 about 
 the center. 
 
 The first main road through Garner Town- 
 ship was the old Council Blufifs & Lewis 
 stage road, which passed through the south- 
 ern part of the township. Next, a road was 
 opened between Mosquito and Pigeon Creeks, 
 and this was followed by a road down the valley 
 of the former. The first bridges built across 
 Indian and Mosquito Creeks, were rude log 
 affairs, which were usually badly injured or 
 entirely carried away by the spring freshets. 
 These in time were succeeded by a substantial 
 class of wooden bridges. The jjoint where 
 the old stage road crosses the Mosquito alone 
 being considered worthy of a strong iron 
 bridge, which was built and has been in use 
 for a number of years. 
 
 The first term of school ever taught in 
 Pottawattamie County is claimed to have been 
 held in the little Mormon village of Carter- 
 ville in 1847. A Mr. Curtis was the teacher 
 and was pi'omised $12 per mouth for his serv- 
 ices, but when his school had closed and he 
 undertook to collect his salary, the patrons 
 conchided they had promised him too much, 
 80 compromised tiie matter by paying him a 
 part of it. Not long after this, a young man 
 named Joshua Grant taught a school in Sec- 
 tion 10. In a short time, another term was 
 taught in a little cabin near the present resi- 
 dence of ilr. Scofield, James Gettis being 
 the teacher. 
 
 Each succeeding year found some new im- 
 provement in the school system or in the 
 character of the buildings erected for school 
 purposes. Following ai'e the statistics for 
 Garner Township schools for the year 1881 : 
 
 Number subdistricts, 10 ; number un- 
 graded in each district, 12; average number 
 of months taught, 7^. Teachers — Number 
 employed: males, 5; females, 7. Average 
 compensation per month: males, $35; fe- 
 males, $33.40. Pupils — Number of persons 
 between the ages of five and twenty-one 
 years, males, 167; females, 134; number en- 
 rolled in whole district, 300; total average 
 attendance in whole district, 137; average 
 cost of tuition per month for each pupil, 
 $3.13; number of school buildings, 12; 
 frame, 4; brick, 8; value, $6,300. 
 
 There are no church buildings in Garner 
 Tovrnship, nor as yet any organized denomi- 
 nation of Christians. There are, however, 
 many residents of the township who are mem- 
 bers of chm-ches elsewhere located. In 1867. 
 the Chicago & North- AVestern Railroad was 
 completed through Garner Township. This 
 was the first to be completed of the three 
 railroads which now cross the to\vnship. It 
 enters the township from the north, through 
 Section 3. follows the valley of the Missouri 
 and leaves the township at the southwest cor- 
 ner of Section 13. In May, of 1869, the 
 Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Raihoad was 
 comjjleted, entering the city of Council Bluifs 
 on May 10. This road enters the township 
 through Section 2, and follows the valley of 
 Mosquito Creek until it leaves the township in 
 Section 29. 
 
 The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- 
 road was completed in July of 1882, and runs 
 beside the Rock Island road the entire dis- 
 tance across the township. Though Garner 
 Township is so well supplied with railroads. 
 there is not a railroad station within her 
 boundaries. There are, however, four sa- 
 loons, one grocery store, one water mill and 
 a Grange hall in the township; also a small 
 post office on the old stage road, the name 
 of which is Scottswood, with a Mr. McNair 
 
336 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 the present Postmaster. The Grange hall is 
 located just east of the point where the old 
 Indian mill stood. It is a frame building 
 60x24 feet, and was built by a stock com- 
 pany. There were about one hundred and 
 twenty members when the lodge was organ- 
 ized, and it is still in a flourishing condition 
 with Mr. William Childs as Master. 
 
 The water mill stands on the site of the 
 old Indian mill, which went down in 1863, 
 as before stated. In 1865, the present mill 
 was built by George Parks and Samuel Bayless. 
 It is a two-and-a-half-atory frame structure, 
 and bears on the north end the name " Em- 
 pire Mills." It is. however, always men- 
 tioned by the citizens as Parks' Mill. It is 
 supplied with two run of stone, and does the 
 principal part of the custom milling for Gar- 
 ner Township. An industry that has not 
 yet been mentioned, and which, perhaps, was 
 
 the largest and most extensive private enter- 
 prise ever undertaken in the township was 
 the Garner Woolen Mills. In 1861. Mr. 
 William Garner built this mill in Section 10. 
 on Mosquito Creek, about three miles above 
 the site of the old Indiao Mill. He employed 
 about twenty hands, and did carding, spin- 
 ning and weaving. It was kept in oper- 
 ation until 1872, when the business was 
 abandoned, and the buildings used for barns 
 by the sons of Mr. Garner. This was the 
 last to go down of al' the mills started in 
 this township. Parks' Mill alone stands as 
 a monument of all that have gone before it. 
 Its location on the very spot where the first 
 mill was erected in Pottawattamie County is 
 a fitting illustration of the progress made by 
 those early settlers who now patronize it. and 
 who patronized the little old corn mill built 
 by the Government in 1836. 
 
 CHAPTER Lll.* 
 
 LEWIS TOWNSHIP— ITS SEPARATION FROM KANE TOWNSHIP— BOUNDARIES— ORIGIN OF NA.ME- 
 RAILROAD.S— DEAF AND DUMB INSTITUTE— PLUMER SETI'LEAIENT, ETC. 
 
 TZ"ANE TOWNSHIP, until its separation 
 -L^ into Garner and Lewis Townships, and 
 the limiting of Kane to the boundaries of the 
 city of Council BlulTs, extended fi-om north 
 to south from the south line of Crescent to 
 the Mills County line. In 1875. Kane was 
 subdivided into thi'ee townships, and Garner 
 was set off its eastern end and Lewis fi'Om 
 its southern extremity. In this way being 
 set off, it reaches from the city of Council 
 Bluffs to the north line of Mills County, and 
 from the Missouri River eastward to Keg 
 Creek Township. Its earlier history is iden- 
 tified with that of Kane Township and Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, and for that reasou whatever of 
 
 *By Ci.l. John U. Keatley. 
 
 attractive incident belongs to it, has been 
 narrated in the history of Council Bluffs. 
 The western side of the township is the Mis- 
 souri bottom, the most fertile soil in the 
 world. Skirting this is the line of bluffs 
 which rises in many jjlaces like huge but- 
 tresses, and again, they slope gentl}^ outward 
 and are clothed with timber. Beautiful val- 
 leys cut the bluffs laterally, and out of these 
 flow brooks that have their source in springs 
 far up the gorges. The east side of the town- 
 ship is rolling prairie, and there is little of 
 it that cannot be cultivated. The township 
 is well settled and contains some of the finest 
 farms in the county. 
 
 The three Lewis brothers who have been 
 
LEWIS TOWNSHIP. 
 
 337 
 
 settled there many years, gave the name to 
 the municipality. Their farms are on the 
 east side and on the north of the road leading 
 from Council Blufls to Macedonia, and be- 
 sides being under a high state of cultivation, 
 have tine orchards that demonstrate that 
 fruit-growing in Western Iowa is thoroughly 
 practicable. No other township in the county 
 has more railroads than Lewis, except Kane 
 itself. The Kansas City and Chicago, Bur- 
 lington & Quincy come direct from the south, 
 and the Kock Island, the Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul and the Wabash from the east, passing 
 out through the gorges of the bluffs. 
 
 After the railways through the townships, 
 the most important public improvement is 
 the Deaf and Dumb Institute of the State 
 of Iowa, located on eighty acres of land, 
 in the north end of the county, and adjoin- 
 ing the southern limits of Council Bluffs. 
 This is a foiu-story brick building, about 
 live hundred feet in length, with a center 
 and two broad wings. It stands on a 
 broad table-land some twenty-five feet above 
 the level of the river bottom, and at that al- 
 titude presents an attractive appearance ar- 
 chitectui'ally. Besides the main building, 
 which is used as recitation rooms, and dor- 
 mitories for the 350 pupils who are now in 
 attendance, the State has provided large 
 work- shops where the pupils are taught the 
 various handicrafts that will eventually make 
 them useful citizens. The building is heated 
 by steam generated in a set of boilers in a 
 building detached from the main edifice. 
 The managers have also provided a printing 
 establishment, with funds furnished by the 
 State, where all the blank work is done for 
 the institution, and a weekly journal printed 
 
 and published by the labor of the pupils. 
 One of the most important institutions in 
 the township is the nursery of H. C. Ray- 
 mond, whose industry and skill have been 
 directed to make fruit-growing in Westeru 
 Iowa practicable and successful. His orchard 
 is one of the most attractive spots in the 
 county, and at the season when fruit is ripe 
 is as handsome as a pictiire. The bluffs which 
 traverse considerable portions of the township 
 are particularly adapted to grape growing. 
 Vineyards already cluster along the slopes, 
 and more are planted that have not yet began 
 to yield fruit. 
 
 The Plumer settlement, which begins in 
 Mills County, extends northward into Lewis 
 Township, into Pottawattamie. This settle- 
 ment takes its name from a family of frugal, 
 shrewd and industrious German farmers who 
 settled in the neighborhood at an early day, 
 and who have multiplied and prospered until 
 they are among the wealthiest farmers in the 
 county. Their lands under cultivation ex- 
 tend for miles north and south, and are a 
 perfect paradise in appearance. 
 
 The Wabash Railroad has established a 
 station at Poney Creek, five miles from Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, at which great quantities of grain 
 from the rich farms of the county are shipped 
 to market. The township is specially adapted 
 to stock-raising. Thomas P. Treynor, who 
 was for many years City Recorder and Post- 
 master of Council Bluffs, and the Bentons 
 are the principal farmers engaged in that 
 business, and have made it a complete suc' 
 cess. The school interests of the township 
 have been well cared for. Each subdistrict 
 has ample school facilities in good, substan- 
 tial school buildings. 
 
338 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII.* 
 
 KEG CREEK TOWNSHIP — ORGANIZATION — FIRST OFFICERS- 
 SETTLERS. ETC. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE NAME— EARLY 
 
 THE general history of Keg Creek Town- 
 ship is that of Silver Creek up to 1873, 
 when it was carved out of Silver Creek. 
 This was done by an order of the Board of 
 Supervisors, made on the 14th of October, 
 1873 ; and it was also ordered that the tirst 
 election should be held at the brick school- 
 house known as the Keg Creek Schoolhouse, 
 on the west side of Keg Creek, and near 
 what is knovm as the Dick Hardin farm. 
 This is about twelve miles from Council Bluffs, 
 and at the crossing of the stage road at Keg 
 Creek, a station was kept for many years by 
 Richard Hardin, son of the Col. Hardin who 
 brought the Pottawattamie Indians to their 
 reservation, whei-e Council Bluffs now stands. 
 Eichard Hardin, or "Dick, "as he was called, 
 continued to keep a public house at that 
 point until in 1874, when he sold oiit the 
 farm to John T. Baldwin, and removed to 
 Amazonia, a few miles north of St. Joseph, 
 Mo. , where he still lives. The township was 
 named, as its name indicates, after the prin- 
 cipal water-course in the township, a large 
 mill stream, which finds its way to the Mis- 
 souri River after passing Glenwood, in Mills 
 County. The creek was named after a curi- 
 ous circumstance. Some pioneers hunting 
 along its banks had the luck to find several 
 kegs of whisky hidden, or cached, near the 
 stream, and the water-coiu'se then being 
 without a name, it was called Keg Creek — 
 Barrel Creek first. 
 
 Among the early settlers who have become 
 most prominent, and who have contributed 
 
 »By Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 most to the development of this township of 
 incomparable soil, are Wooster Fay, A. W. 
 Wyman, Samuel G. Underwood and Col. 
 William Orr. Mr. Orr's estate is what is 
 known as Hardindale, a short distance from 
 the Dick Hardin Stage Station. Mr. Orr is 
 a native of Western Pennsylvania, and in 
 early life was engaged in the manufacture of 
 iron in his native State. Coming West in 
 the early history of Iowa, he settled in Har- 
 rison County, and assisted in the material 
 development of that section of the State. 
 About ten years ago, he settled in Keg Creek, 
 on the Hardindale farm. \Ir. Orr has devot 
 ed much time, and that successfully, to the 
 raising of blooded horned cattle, and given 
 material aid to increasing the interest which 
 has since grown up among Pottawattamie 
 County farmers in that respect. He has one 
 of the finest homes in Iowa, and his hospi- 
 tality is proverbial. Mi'. Orr was the Dem - 
 ocratic nominee for State Senator from this 
 county, his successful opponent being George 
 F. Wright, of Council Blufls. Wooster Fay 
 has resided in the township, and, besides be- 
 ing one of its leading citizens, has for years 
 been one of the leading citizens of the coun- 
 ty. He has been a member of the County 
 Board of Supervisors for several terms, serv- 
 ing as President of the Board when a mem- 
 ber of it, and winning the highest esteem of 
 his fellow-citizens by his conservative con- 
 duct in that responsible station. Samuel G. 
 Underwood, a Scotchman by birth, is another 
 of the pioneers of Keg Creek Township, and 
 one of its largest and most prosperous farm- 
 
KEG CKEEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 339 
 
 ers. At the autumn election, 1881, he was 
 elected a member of the County Board of 
 Supervisors for three years, and in the year 
 that he has served the public in that capacity, 
 has demonstrated the principle that the man 
 who is most successful in the conduct of his 
 private affairs always makes the most com- 
 petent public officer. Judge Wyman, a 
 neighbor of Mr. I'nderwood'a, is also a large 
 farmer, who has assisted in the development 
 of the township, and is one of its leading and 
 prosperous farmers. 
 
 Keg Creek Township has now a post office, 
 at the farm of J. D. Carson, a short distance 
 east of the residence of Wooster Fay. There is 
 also one church organization in the township, 
 known as the Evangelical, the members of 
 which are Germans mainly. The pastoral 
 supply is fi-om Council Bluffs. The build- 
 ing in which they worship was erected in 
 1874 ; and the tirst pastor was William 
 Knoehe, and through his personal efforts the 
 church was built. At that time, there were 
 forty members, but it has since increased to 
 sixty. The pastors who succeeded him are 
 August Hauser, Phillip Frase, Gotlieb Hen 
 miller, Christian Smith, and the Rev. Mr. 
 Ashenbrenner and Louis Smith. Peter Bel- 
 sor, of Council Bluffs, officiates as the pres- 
 ent pastor. The church property is fi-ee fi'om 
 debt. 
 
 The first officers of this township were A. 
 W. Wyman and Frederick Miller, Trustees; 
 Wooster Fay, Trustee, and George Kirby, 
 Justice of the Peace. The present officers 
 are: William F. Frohardt, William Orr and 
 A. B. Perkins, Tnistees; Joseph McNay, 
 Township Clerk; J. D. Carson and Fred Hen- 
 
 winkle, Justices of the Peace, and Rasmus 
 Campbell, Constable. 
 
 The first road laid out was what is known 
 as the State road, established in I860, by J. 
 P. Cassady, County Judge. It is what is 
 known as the Council Bluffs & Lewis road. 
 For many years this was the only road in the 
 township. It was located nearly on the line 
 of the old stage road, but not quite. 
 
 The tirst school of which there is any rec- 
 ord, is one taught in the summer of 1856, in 
 an old log cabin that had been moved out of 
 Moffatt's Grove onto the edge of the prairie. 
 Miss Catharine Buliington being the teacher. 
 The winter of 1856 was so severe that it was 
 impossible to have any school in the town- 
 ship that season. The school district now 
 owns eight excellent schoolhouses. 
 
 The following are some of the old settlers 
 who came in 1856: Thomas Moffatt, from 
 North Carolina, who lived on the farm now 
 owned by S. G. Underwood; J. D. Craven, 
 also from the same State, who afterward 
 moved to Missouri, the farm he left being 
 the one occupied by 'Mx. Schell. Moffatt and 
 his wife are both dead. A man named 
 Breckinridge came into the township at the 
 same time, but afterwai'd removed to Nebras- 
 ka. William Campbell also came from New 
 York in 1857, and opened up the farm occu- 
 pied by J. D. Carson. Campbell went to 
 Harrison County, but his son, Rasmus Camp- 
 bell, is still a resident of Keg Creek. Henry 
 Kams, of Council Bluffs, opened up a farm at 
 that date in the township. Rasmiis Campbell 
 is the oldest living settler, and Wooster Fay 
 the next after him. Mr. Grierson came when 
 the earliest did, but died in the fall of 1855. 
 
340 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER LIV; 
 
 SILVKR CHEEK TOWN'SHir— FIRST SETTLEMENT BV THE MORMONS— FIRbT SETTLERS— SEPARA- 
 RATION FROM KANE TOWNSHIP — TiiWN-FlU' OFFICERS— A TER- 
 RIBLE TRAGEDY— SCHOOLS— RELIGIOUS, ETC. 
 
 ^T^HIS township was lii'st settled by Mor- 
 -*- mon emigrants, who were connected with 
 the Nauvoo exodus. They made some claims 
 in the township before the lands came into 
 market, and, remaining a single season, either 
 sold their claims or abandoned them to Gen- 
 tiles, who came after them. 
 
 The tirst to open a stage station between 
 Wheeler's Grove and Council Bluffs was a 
 Mr. Gardner, and at that time it was the 
 only one between the two points. He, how- 
 ever, soon sold out to Issac Moore, and moved 
 on with the Mormons to Salt Lake. In 1854, 
 John Bratten bought out Isaac Moore, and, 
 for three years more, that was a stage route. 
 A post oifice was also kept at the station, but 
 was discontinued in ISo-i. It was abolished 
 when Mr. Moore removed from that point. 
 
 The first settler who came to Silver Creek 
 with the intention of staying was Pleasant 
 Taylor, Silver Creek Townshij). He is now 
 a resident of Washington Township, and es- 
 tablished Taylor's Stage Station, on the stage 
 road from Council Bluffs through what is now 
 Oakland, then called Big Grove. He is a 
 native of Tennessee, and, in 1865 and 1866, 
 spent some time in the mining regions of 
 Montana. He is known among his neighbors 
 as Gen. Taylor. John Bratten was the sec- 
 ond permanent settler in Silver Creek. He 
 is a Pennsylvanian by birth, but emigrated 
 from Ohio. He is now a resident of Silver 
 City, in Mills County, on the line of the Wa- 
 bash Railroad, only a few miles from the 
 
 *Bj Col. John H. Keatley. 
 
 home he made for himself in Silver Creek 
 Tovimship, Pottawattamie County. The fii-st 
 schoolhouse was at the Station, and it was 
 simply a log hut, with a tm-f roof. The tirst 
 teacher was Miss Maggie Weirich, of Council 
 Bluffs. The school was established in 1857. 
 In 1861, a frame school building was erected, 
 and also a chui'ch. In 1860, a Protestant 
 Methodist Church was organized, with seven 
 members, but withoLit any regular pastor. 
 
 When the township was cut off fi'om Kane, 
 Silver Creek and Keg Creek Townships were 
 one election precinct, and the elections were 
 held alternately in Silver Creek and in Keg 
 Creek Townships. There were hardly enough 
 of voters in the townships to fill the necessarj' 
 offices. Jason Parker was the first Justice 
 of the Peace. The first marriage was between 
 George E. Smith and Mi's. Clarissa Wheel- 
 ing. This was in 1860. The first child born 
 in the township of whom there is any recol- 
 lection now was in September, 1855, Will- 
 iam, the son of Thomas Wells. IVIrs. Bratten 
 attended the birth of this child. Mr. Wells 
 lived on the corner of what is now the James 
 Frazier farm. Mrs. Bratten followed the 
 profession of midwife for all that region of 
 country for years, and her husband that of a 
 preacher in the sparse settlement, both do- 
 ing good. The first death of any adult per- 
 son after Mr. Bratten came into the township 
 was Mrs. Margaret Piles, in August, 1857. 
 An infant of hers died in July of the same 
 year. They were both buried near the stage 
 station. During the Pike's Peak mining ex- 
 
SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 341 
 
 citement, the stage station in Silver Creek 
 Township was a lively point From sixty to 
 seventy emigrant wagons to the gold regions 
 passed through that point daily. In Septem- 
 ber, 1856, 500 Mormon emigrants passed 
 along this stage route, with hand barrows, on 
 their way to Salt Lake. There was not a sin- 
 gle horse in the entire caravan. They were 
 a motley crowd. Many of them had never 
 realized the character of the journey when 
 they left England, as many of them did. 
 They wore silks and other fine goods, and, 
 when they reached this county in the long 
 and weary tramp across the State, many of 
 them were in a sorry plighi They did con- 
 siderable trading with Mrs. Bratten at the 
 station, their taste running more particularly 
 to ribbons and soap. Council Bluffs was then 
 the nearest trading point. AVhen Mr. Brat- 
 ten moved into the township, it was with ox 
 teams, and he and his family were eight 
 weeks on the road. Mi-. Bratten moved into 
 Mills County, then back into Pottawattamie, 
 and then into Mills again. In 1865, Mr. 
 Bratten was elected County Judge of Potta- 
 wattamie County, and served nearly two 
 years, having resigned in May, 1867. He 
 has lived in Mills County ever since. Thom- 
 as Wells, as an early settler, has already 
 been mentioned. He now lives in Missouri, 
 and James A. Frazier owns the fai-m Wells 
 opened up. Mr. Grimes, a Methodist local 
 preacher and exhorter, also came into the 
 settlement at an early date, but left for Mis- 
 souri with Mr. Wells. The McHanna broth- 
 ers came in at an early date and opened up 
 farms. Ole Lawson and Henry Ouren, who 
 are still prosperous farmers of the township, 
 arrived together in 1866. Malcolm McKen- 
 zie, H Scotchman by birth, went from Prince 
 Edward's Island, Nova Scotia, to the West- 
 ern mountain regions, and then came to Sil- 
 ver Creek Township in 1867 and settled, 
 
 opening up and improving one of the finest 
 farms in the coiinty, about seven miles 
 north of Silver City. He was followed by 
 several brothers, who also became farmers. 
 John Anderson was also one of the original 
 settlers. 
 
 The present (1882) township officers are: 
 J. W. Anderson, James Summers and Mr. 
 Brauchman, Trustees; S. H. Gregory, Town- 
 ship Clerk; and Isaac Hoopes, Assessor. 
 
 A terrible tragedy was enacted in this 
 township in the summer of 1875. Jordan 
 Clark, a man nearly sixty years of age, moved 
 into the township some years before, with a 
 large family, and opened up a farm. From 
 the same neighborhood in Illinois also came 
 a man by the name of Joab Stoves and wife. 
 During the winter of 1874 and spring of 
 1875, a clandestine correspondence sprang up 
 between Clark and the wife of Stoves, and 
 meetings of an improper kind occurred be- 
 tween them. Stoves at last became suspi- 
 cious of their conduct, and intercepted a letter 
 from Clark to the woman. After this discov- 
 ery, an attempt was made to negotiate a set- 
 tlement of the affair, Stoves in part agree- 
 ing, for a money consideration, to abandon 
 his wife to Clark; but friends interposed, and 
 induced Clark to desist from such a foolish 
 matter. The parties came to Council Bluffs 
 to complete the negotiation, coming to the 
 city in the same wagon, and returning in the 
 same. When here, Clark was advised that 
 his life was in danger, and warned to be on 
 his guard, but he treated the matter with 
 contempt, and even with derision. It was 
 harvest time, and all were engaged in the 
 same place harvesting, at Stoves'. It rained 
 so that it was impossible to work in the fields. 
 The forenoon was spent about the house in 
 various kinds of amusement, and to outside 
 persons the friendship that appeared to exist 
 between Stoves and Clark appeared to be real. 
 
342 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 After dinner, some one proposed that they go 
 out into the stubble tields to hunt for prairie 
 chickens. Stoves had the shot-gun, and a 
 man named George Howser and Clark trudged 
 on ahead of Stoves through a small grove, in 
 the road. When Clark and Howser were 
 about fifteen yards ahead of Stoves, the re- 
 port of a gun was heard, and when Howser 
 looked around, just before he ran away in his 
 fright, the smoke was clearing and curling 
 away from the muzzle of Stoves' gun, and 
 Clark fell in the road, dead, with a terrible 
 gash torn in the back of his head with a load 
 of shot. Stoves was arrested for the murder, 
 and, at the December term of the District 
 Court, he was tried for the crime. B. F. Mont- 
 gomery and C. R. Scott conducted the defense, 
 it being that of emotional insanity, brought 
 about by the discovery of the clandestine 
 correspondence between Clark and Mrs. 
 Stoves. The District Attorney, H. R. Mc- 
 Junkin, and John H. Keatley, appeared for 
 the State. The trial was concluded by a 
 verdict of the jury declaring Stoves not 
 guilty. Stoves and his wife moved back to 
 Illinois in a short time, and lived together 
 as before. 
 
 The first schoolhouse in the township was 
 erected on Section 32, near the residence of 
 John Vankirk. There are now six excellent 
 schoolhouses in all in the township. The 
 last one was completed in the summer of 
 1882, at a cost of SI, 200. 
 
 The first road in the township was the old ) 
 
 stage road, already mentioned, through the 
 south portion of the township. This was 
 changed to a line three miles farther north, 
 for the reason that the expenses of keeping 
 the stage outfit was cheaper at Taylor's Sta- 
 tion. The first county road laid out was what 
 is known as the Living Spring road, the peti- 
 tion having been circulated by Henry Ouren, 
 for the accommodation of the settlers between 
 the Big Silver and the Little Silver Creeks. 
 The bridge was built mainly at private ex- 
 pense, by those anxious to obtain the use of 
 the road. The heavy timbers were contrib- 
 uted by some citizens of Macedonia who de- 
 sired to use the road. 
 
 The religious interests of the township are 
 mainly in oae church organization. In 1878, 
 W. H. Hartman, of Glenwood, Mills County, 
 organized a branch of the Christian Church 
 at Schoolhouse No. 3, what is known as the 
 Pontious Schoolhouse. The meetings were 
 held at this schoolhouse until the spring of 
 1881, when, owing to the fact that the great- 
 er bulk of the membership lived near what 
 is called the Silver Center Schoolhouse than 
 the other, the place of meeting was changed, 
 and where the meetings are now held. Elder 
 McFadden is the pastor of this society, he 
 also having several charges in Mills County. 
 In the spring of 1877, a Sunday school was 
 organized at tho Pontious Schoolhouse, and in 
 1882 one was also instituted at the Silver 
 Center Schoolhouse, both continuing to flour- 
 ish. 
 
MACEDONTIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 343 
 
 CHAPTER LV.* 
 
 MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP— ORGANIZATION— FIRST SETTLER — EARLY PRIVATION'S — MILLS— OLD 
 MACEDONIA— CARSON— NEW MACEDONIA-CHURCHES— SCHOOLS— SOCIETIES- 
 BUSINESS INTERESTS— THE FIRE OF 1882— THE CYCLONE, ETC. 
 
 THE date of the organization of Mace- 
 donia Townsbip is given at the begin- 
 ningof the chapter on Ruckford Township, and 
 it is not necessary to repeat it. The history 
 which follows, relating to that township, of 
 course, will comprise the annals of that por- 
 tion of the old township, as near as may be, 
 as still bears the original name. The dates 
 when her limits were contracted by the form- 
 ing of new townships out of her territory, or 
 in part from it, will be given when those sub- 
 sequently created organizations come to be 
 mentioned in detail and in their order. 
 
 The first settler in what was then a lonely 
 region, and remote from other settlements, was 
 Thomas Jefferson King. It will always remain 
 a matter of some interest to know some of the 
 personal history of a man who was emphat- 
 ically one of the pioneers of the county. He 
 was born in Massachusetts on the 20th of 
 May, 1804, and, when six years old, removed 
 with his parents to Vermont, where his father 
 died in July, 1810. His mother emigrated 
 to Pennsylvania with her children, and died 
 there in 1824, leaving them to buffet the 
 world alone. Being only twenty years of 
 age, Mr. Rinar came to St. Louis, and re- 
 mained there two years. Taking a steam- 
 boat, he reached Louisiana, Mo. In 1848, 
 he started for Western Iowa, overland, and, 
 reaching what is now known as Pottawatta- 
 mie County, settled that year near the site 
 of the old town of Macedonia, on the fertile 
 bottom lands of the Nishnabotna River. He 
 
 •By Col. John n. Ktatley. 
 
 arrived on the 1st day of May, and was in 
 time to raise a crop of corn that year. He 
 was already married, having gone back, in 
 1824, to Vermont, and was maiTied on the 
 23d of January, 1824. He had also three 
 children when he came to the county. His 
 wife, who was born in September, 1804, and 
 who cheerfully shared with him the hardships 
 and the privations of carving out a new home 
 in the wilderness of the West, died Novem- 
 ber 8, 1873. 
 
 During that interval, from 1848 to the 
 present, only a single year has witnessed 
 what might be termed a crop failui'e in the 
 township. In 1850, when the overland emi- 
 gration to Salt Lake City and Utah Territory 
 was at its height, the Nishnabotna River was 
 out of its banks for about three months, and 
 caused great delay, embarrassment and suf- 
 fering to those who were on their way West, 
 and were compelled to cross that stream. 
 There were no mills then within reach. Mr. 
 Ring, before the river rose, got a supply of 
 flour from Council Bluffs, and this he divid- 
 ed with those in need on the east side of the 
 river. This source of supply then failed, and 
 there was no recourse except pounded corn. 
 A rude appliance was made for this purpose, 
 after a primitive fashion, and the family 
 kept from starvation in that way for more 
 than three weeks, and until the water subsid- 
 ed so that they could cross in such boats as 
 they had and reach Council Bluffs. When 
 once over, it took seven days to make the 
 round trip, such being the condition of the 
 
344 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 trail and the intervening streams and water- 
 courses. The next settler who arrived after 
 Mr. Eing was one by the name of Jacob My- 
 ers, from Ohio, who built a saw-mill, and 
 then a grist-mill, in connection with one 
 Hawes, at the old town of Macedonia, just 
 below the present bridge. The mill was built 
 in 1848, but was washed out in the great flood 
 which followed its construction, and Myers 
 returned to Michigan, and was ever after 
 lost sight of. Before it was washed away, a 
 half-interest was purchased by J. B. Stuts 
 man, the first Gentile merchant of Council 
 Bluffs, and the other half by William Mar- 
 tin. Martin & Stutsman erected a saw mill 
 there in 1851, and in 1853 they had another 
 grist-mill in operation, on the same site, un- 
 der the management of J. Z. Losh as a mil- 
 ler, for a year, and under others until 1861, 
 when another flood took the second mill 
 away, md the location was abandoned. My- 
 ers & Hawes erected a dwelling house on the 
 old Macedonia town site before the Govern- 
 ment had surveyed the public lands, and be- 
 fore any entries could be made. Next came 
 a man by the name of Tuttle, and began to 
 open up the farm now owned and occupied 
 by Capt. Beasley. Tuttle eventually moved 
 on to Salt Lake City with the Mormon emi- 
 gration. The fli'st store opened in the town- 
 ship was by J. B. Stutsman, who is mentioned 
 elsewhere in this work as a resident of Har- 
 lan, Shelby County, and the first Gentile 
 merchant in Pottawattamie County. He 
 opened his moderate stock of goods at Mace- 
 donia in 1851. The next season, a man by 
 the name of Householder brought a stock of 
 merchandise and sold them out in the same 
 building. 
 
 The Mormon and other emigration 
 West made a blacksmith shop at that 
 crossing a matter of some importance, and 
 one was started in 1852 by Henry Adams, 
 
 and conducted by him until 1854, when he 
 left, and was succeeded by John McDermott, 
 now conducting the same business in Council 
 Bluffs. The first school ever opened in the 
 township was by Maj. Joseph Lyman, of 
 Coimcil BlulTs, who was then a boy not more 
 than sixteen or seventeen years of age. He 
 afterward served with distinction in the civil 
 war, as Major of the Twenty-ninth Iowa, and 
 is now one of the most prominent and most 
 successful lawyers in the western part of the 
 State. He emigrated with his father from 
 Ohio, and settled on the west bank of the 
 Nishnabotua, opposite the town of Big Grove, 
 as it was for years called, but now designated 
 as Oakland. It is impossible to fix the exact 
 date of that school, but it was not earlier 
 than 1854, and not later than 1^55. The 
 school was taught in a building rented for 
 that purpose, and, there being no means for 
 the erection of one at the public expense, and 
 the one leased not being again attainable, 
 two years elapsed before any school was again 
 taught in the township. 
 
 Old Macedonia, as it was termed, never 
 grew much. It was always a hamlet, with 
 two stores, two blacksmith shops, a hotel, 
 drug store, post office, saddler shop and a 
 wagon-maker's shop. The first Postmaster 
 was Calvin Beebe, who lived on the William 
 Tompkins farm. Here the office was kept, 
 and here the first election, after the organiza- 
 tion of the township was ordered to be held. 
 Frink & Walker had the contract to carry the 
 mail, then from Fort Des Moines, now the 
 capital of the State, and Council Bluffs. 
 There was a weekly service each way, the cai'- 
 rier starting from Fort Des Moines on Mon- 
 day morning, and reaching Council Bluffs on 
 Saturday evening, and returning in the same 
 time. As soon as events justified it, the 
 Western Stage Company put daily coaches on 
 the route, and contracted and handled it un- 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 345 
 
 til the opening of the Rock Island Railroad 
 in June, 1869. 
 
 The first schoolhouse built at public ex- 
 pense was erected a short distance east of the 
 old town, A. M. Denton being the contractor. 
 The building was frame, twenty feet wide 
 and forty feet deep. The finishing lumber 
 was hauled by wagon from Booneville, a dis- 
 tance of seventy miles, and the contract price 
 of the structure was $1,100. The first Pres- 
 ident of the Board of School Directors was 
 Andrew Rayburn; and R. H. Woodmansee 
 was the first Treasurer; the first teacher in 
 that building, George A. Clark; and the sec- 
 ond, Mrs. R. H. Woodmansee. 
 
 The survey of the public lands under the 
 authority of the General Government, and the 
 opportunity to enter them, they being among 
 the most fertile in the State, and the conti- 
 guity of such a fine stream as the Nishnabot- 
 na, and its excellent water-power, contributed 
 greatly to the early settlement of the portion 
 of the original township of Macedonia. J. Z. 
 Losh came into the county, as is already 
 stated, and conducted the mill for Stutsman, 
 but in 1S56, his eye fell upon a mill site sev- 
 eral miles above that, near the south line of 
 Section No. 3, and there he erected what 
 long afterward have been known as Losh's 
 Mills. The new town of Carson, the rival of 
 Macedonia, since the advent of the Rock Isl- 
 and Branch Railroad, has sprung into exist- 
 ence only a shoi-t distance east of the mills, 
 and displaced the latter as a post office for 
 that community, a position it long held. 
 Since Mi-. Losh erected these mills, they have 
 never been unemployed, except one season, 
 when there was a pause for repairs. They 
 are still owned and operated by him, who is 
 highly regarded over the whole county as one 
 of the most upright of citizens. The futiu-e 
 history of this section of the county will not 
 be included in any annals of Macedonia 
 
 Township, inasmuch as it has been author- 
 itatively set off to assist in constituting the 
 new township of Carson. One of the most 
 important improvements in Macedonia Town- 
 ship was the construction of a King iron 
 bridge, 100 feet long, in 1872, to replace the 
 old wooden structure put there in the early 
 days of the community. The Methodist 
 Episcopal Chui'ch established a station at the 
 old town of Macedonia quite early in the his- 
 tory of the settlement, and constituted it a 
 part of the Council Bluifs Circuit, the serv- 
 ices being held in the schoolhouse in the vi- 
 cinity until 1873, when they built a church 
 at the old town. There are no data in reach 
 now as to the exact period when this first 
 took place. 
 
 Regarding the territory embraced within 
 Macedonia Township as valuable for a feeder, 
 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
 Company began the construction of a branch 
 northward from their main line at Hastings, 
 in Mills County, and completed the same, and 
 had their trains runuing to a j)oint thi'ee- 
 quarters of a mile east of the old town site, 
 at the river, on the 4th day of July, 1880. 
 Here a now town, also called Macedonia, was 
 laid out by a town company, consisting of 
 Hon. B. F. Clayton and R. H. Woodmansee, 
 of Macedonia, T. J. Evans, of Council 
 Bluffs, and T. J. Potter, General Manager of 
 the Chicago, Biu-lington & Quincy Railroad. 
 The first store erected in the new town was 
 by R. H. Woodmansee; the first shop, by 
 J. T. Bird, for carpentering; and the first 
 blacksmith shop, by Henry Keeler & Co. A 
 new school building is in course of construc- 
 tion, the old building in the old town still 
 being in use for the inhabitants of both, and 
 will be until the new is fit for use. 
 
 The Cumberland Presbyterian ChiU'ch or- 
 ganized a society at Macedonia as early as 
 April 1, 1871, under the auspices of the Rev. 
 
346 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 J. W. Carter. The original members were 
 Jackson Buekner, Jemima Btickaer, Alfred 
 Buckner, E. E. Williams, J. H. Smith, 
 Agnes Smith, John Dungan, Mary E. Dun- 
 gan, T. J. Simpson, Sidney A. Simpson, A. 
 L. Bryan, Martha A. Bryan, Joanna Bry- 
 an, Kebeeca Rayburn, Fanny J. Clark, Mary 
 Watson, Rev. J. W. Carter and Malinda Car- 
 ter. The Ruling Elders were A. L. Bryan, 
 Jackson Buckner and J. H. Smith. T. J. 
 Simpson and R. A. Williams were chosen 
 Deae...n8. No change has since been made 
 in the pastor since Mr. Carter first took 
 charge of the congregation. The present 
 membership is forty- four persons. From the 
 date of the organization of the society, in 
 1871, to 1880, religious services were held at 
 the public schoolhouse at Old Macedonia, 
 but in the fall of the latter year, a neat 
 church edifice was erected in the new town, 
 at a cost of §2,000, and without incurring 
 any debt. 
 
 The date of the erpction of the Methodist 
 Chixrch at Old Macedonia has been given. 
 The society was organized with a member- 
 ship of about fifteen persons, under the di- 
 rection of the first pastor, the Rev. Thomas 
 H. Smith, now Presiding Elder of the Atlan- 
 tic District of the Des Moines Conference. 
 It was re-organized in 1873, under the super- 
 vision of the Hev. Henry De Long, of Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, and under whose auspices the 
 church was built. When the new town was 
 established, and population tended in that 
 direction, the old edifice was sold and used 
 for public school purposes, and a new one 
 erected at a cost of $3,000, at the new town. 
 It is a frame structure, thirty feet wide and 
 fifty feet long, and has a bell and a bell-tower, 
 the last being serenty feet high. The 
 ministers, besides those already named, who 
 had charge of the congregation in the inter- 
 vening years, were Rev. W. A. Wiseman, 
 
 Rev. L. McKay, Rev. Campbell, Rev. J. W. 
 Martin, Rev. R. W. Farlow, Rev. Osborn, 
 Rev. G. W. Griffiths and the Rev. E. M. H. 
 Fleming. At this date, the membership is 
 sixty persons. Since the organization of the 
 new town, the Presbyterians have established 
 a church, this having been done on the 20th 
 of Jime, 1880, by the Rev. J. R. Brown, of 
 Emerson, Mills County. The members at 
 the date of organization were B. I. H. Mitch- 
 ell, Joseph C. Bearss, Mrs. Mana Bearss, 
 Mrs. Joseph Carse, Mrs. Elizabeth Carse, 
 Miss Anna I. Carse, Mrs. Julia Lowe, J. H. 
 Mitchell and Mrs. N. I. Mitchell, William 
 Throp and his wife, Carrie Throp, J. H. 
 Smith and Mrs. Agnes Smith, and George 
 Reimond and his wife, Barbara Reimond. 
 The pastors since organization were J. R. 
 Brown and F. K. Miron. They have no 
 church edifice, and the membership is thir- 
 teen. The Ruling Elders are J. H. Smith, 
 George Reimond and E. A. Vanvranken. 
 
 The first child born in New Macedonia was 
 in September, 1880, to Mr. and Mrs. Will- 
 iam Dye. The first death was that of Mrs. 
 Emma Mitchell, in the same month. She 
 was the wife of Brutus Mitchell, engaged in 
 business in the firm of Mitchell & Mitchell. 
 In A-Ugust, 1881, the first marriage ceremony 
 was performed in the town, by Rev. J. W. 
 Carter, in the marriage of Mr. Charles Beas- 
 ley and Miss Ora Lowe. 
 
 The town was no sooner established than 
 an Odd Fellows Lodge was constituted. The 
 organization was effected on the 4th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1881, with W. Dye, of Fort Madison 
 Lodge, No. 159, Iowa; E. L. Cook, Red 
 Oak, Iowa, Lodge; A. M. Cale, of Green - 
 Top Lodge, Missouri; E. A. Vanvranken, 
 Past Grand of Mystic Lodge, Mt. Pleasant, 
 Iowa; A. S. Staggers, Rapids City Lodge, 
 Illinois; and J. J. Rainbow, as charter mem- 
 bers. The officers installed at the organiza- 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 347 
 
 tion were: W. Dye, Noble Grand; A. M. 
 Cale, Vice Grand; E. L. Cook, Secretary; 
 and E. A. Vanvranken, Treasurer. The lodge 
 held their first meetings in the second story 
 of the store building of W. Dye & Co. ; but 
 thih building was destroyed by fire in March, 
 1882, and all the property of the lodge was 
 destroyed at the same time. Until a new 
 brick building, with a hall over head, war 
 erected, the lodge held none but business 
 meetings. The membership in the meantime 
 has increased to forty-two; and E. L. Cook, 
 Noble Grand; J. S. Carter, Vice Grand; J. 
 C. Bradley, Recording Secretary; W. L. 
 Russell, Permanent Secretary; and F. P. 
 Stari'ett, Treasurer, are the present officers. 
 The lodge is working under a dispensation 
 from the Grand Lodge of Iowa, and within 
 its jurisdiction. 
 
 The first hotel was the Macedonia House, 
 and was opened by George H. Kaler. The 
 post ofiice was removed from Old Macedonia 
 to New Macedonia, and Ohio Knox made the 
 first Postmaster. Through his especial 
 efforts, it was declared a money order office 
 shortly after it was opened. There are two 
 general stores in the place, one devoted to 
 hardware, an agricultural implement estab- 
 lishment, a millinery store, and caiTiage and 
 wagon factory, with blacksmith and other 
 shops. The drug store of J. M. Kelley & Co. 
 was started in March, 1881, and the building 
 in which the business was conducted was de- 
 stroyed in the generally destructive tire of 
 March, 1882. Dr. E. L. Cook has his office 
 in this establishment, and the business is 
 managed by L. L. Harlam, a registered phar- 
 macist. 
 
 Macedonia is in the center of one of the 
 most prolific grain-growing sections of the 
 State, and to reach these crops, Meckelivart 
 & Young erected a steam elevator in ISSO. 
 It is a frame structure, forty by forty-eight 
 
 feet in length and width, and sixty-three feet 
 high. The first grain was handled by the 
 proprietors in September, 1880, and, diu-ing 
 the first season, managed about two hundred 
 and fifty thousand bushels, and in 1881 
 shipped over five hundred car-loads. The 
 resident manager is T. J. Young, the other 
 partner, Mr. Meckelivart, being a resident of 
 Glenwood, in Mills County. A new Howe 
 truss bridge was erected across the Nishna- 
 botna at the old town of Macedonia in 1881, 
 which gives access to the rich country on both 
 sides of the valley. 
 
 A joint-stock company was organized at 
 Macedonia in July, 1880, to conduct a bank- 
 ing business under the corporation laws of 
 Iowa, and known as the Macedonia Bank, the 
 shareholders being George Meckelivart, Rich- 
 ard Meckelivart and D. L. Heinsheimer, of 
 Glenwood, and William Dye, ot Macedonia. 
 The bank, as now organized, has for its Pres- 
 ident George Meckelivart; Vice President, 
 William Dye; and Cashier. J. M. Kelley. 
 The capital stock was increased from $13, - 
 000, when the bank first organized, to $25,- 
 000. Hon. B. F. Clayton, of Macedonia 
 Township, who, from January, 1877, to 1881, 
 was a member of the House of Representa- 
 tives in the Iowa Legislature, and is now the 
 President of the Board of Trustees of the In- 
 stitute for the Deaf and Dumb at Council 
 Bluffs, is also of the Directory of the bank. 
 
 The Masonic fraternity established them- 
 selves in the new town shortly after it was 
 laid out, Euba Lodge being organized in the 
 winter of 1881, with a membership of seven- 
 teen. John Craig was made the first Worship- 
 ful Master; J. M. Kelley, the first Senior War- 
 den; L. D. Bulla, the first Junior Warden; 
 Ohio Knox, Secretary; B. F. Clayton, Treas- 
 xirer; S. A. Jones, Senior Deacon; D. W. 
 Bomfi", Junior Deacon; J. W. Carter, Chap- 
 lain; and A. B. Rayburn, Tiler. The lodge 
 
348 
 
 HISTORY or POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 room, at the date of the organization, was 
 the same as that occupied by the Odd Fel- 
 lows, but met the same fate in the disastrous 
 fire of March, 1882. The lodge opened un- 
 der a dispensation, but, at the meeting of the 
 Grand Lodge of Iowa, in the summer of 
 1882, a charter was granted, under which the 
 subordinate lodge is now working. 
 
 The annals of this township ought not to 
 be dismissed without the mention of the 
 erection of a fine flouring-mill on the West 
 Nishnabotna, in 1876-77, by L. S. and Sala- 
 thial Pruden. Its location is about a mile 
 and a half southwest of Macedonia, and the 
 river at this point is crossed by a handsome 
 bridge, and the highway leading from Mace- 
 donia to Hastings, in Mills County, on the 
 main line of the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy Railroad. Hastings, for many years 
 after the opening up of the Chicago, Bur- 
 lington & Quincy Railroad through Mills 
 County, in the fall of 1870, was the market 
 town of all that section of country now trib- 
 utary to Macedonia itself. 
 
 The most notable event of recent years was 
 the great fire, which, in March. 1882, de- 
 stroyed the main portion of the new town. 
 The buildings thus consumed were rapidly 
 replaced. In the annals of Center Township 
 will be found the narrative of a destructive 
 cyclone which passed the vicinity of Wheel- 
 er's Grove and destroyed considerable prop- 
 erty, and the lives of the Ossler family. The 
 same cyclone passed near the old town of 
 Macedonia, and was clearly witnessed as it 
 whirled its destructive way, with great rap- 
 idity, toward W^heeler's Grove. liarge num- 
 bers of men were engaged at work on the 
 grade of the railroad at the time, and were 
 barely able to find refuge under culverts to 
 escape the storm. Trees were uprooted, ani- 
 mals were carried great distances, the ground 
 was mowed, iron plows were borne off and 
 broken into fragments, and the barn of Capt. 
 Beaseley, which was in the edge of the track, 
 was unroofed and otherwise injured, the fiuy 
 of the storm spending itself with the greatest 
 violence in Center Township. 
 
 CHAPTER LVL* 
 
 OROVE TOWXSHIP— INTRODUCTORY— BOUNDARIES— DRAINAGE— " OLD MORMON TRAIL "—FIRST 
 SETTLERS— MILLS— ROADS AND BRIDGES— SCHOOLS AND CflURCHES- THE GRR.\T CYCLONE 
 
 ALTHOUGH so much has been said by 
 those living in the sections of country 
 covered with a natural growth of dense for- 
 ests about the necessities of timber in the 
 prairie States, an examination of facts shows 
 that what has been considered a scarcity of 
 timber has great agricultvu'al attractions 
 rather than otherwise. No doubt the prairies 
 of Iowa have kept, and are still keeping, some 
 from locating within her borders. For all 
 agricultui-al, and for most mechanical pur- 
 poses, the State does not lack for timber yet, 
 
 •B}- Frank H. Wright. 
 
 I and in view of the fact that the quantity is 
 I increasing, with care and artificial groves, 
 rather than decreasing, there appears no 
 time, even in the distant future, when the 
 ! State will want for timber. The best esti- 
 mates give the State 3,522,880 acres of native 
 timber, or about one acre of timber to ten of 
 prairie land. This would give every farm of 
 a quarter section sixteen acres of timber. It 
 is true that it is not quite equally distrib- 
 uted, and that the remote distances of some 
 farms from timber, necessitates a few extra 
 days labor each year iu hauling, but the fa- 
 
GEOVE TOAVNSHIP. 
 
 349 
 
 cility with which prairie land can be put un- 
 der cultivation and a highly productive farm 
 obtainel, far more than counterbalances the 
 temporary inconvenience in some sections of 
 obtaining fencing and fuel. We say tem- 
 porary, for the rapidity with which timber 
 grows will enable any farmer within five 
 years to gather from his own land all the 
 timber required, if he will but plant. Many 
 beautiful sections of the fine prairie land of 
 Pottawattamie County, which were destitute 
 of trees and homes a few years ago, to-day 
 present the appearance of having been natu- 
 ral timber land, so numerous are the orchards 
 and groves. When an abundant supply of 
 timber for farm purposes may be grown in 
 five or six years, during which time a prairie 
 farm may be brought to the highest state of 
 cultivation, how much greater the natural ad- 
 vantages of the pioneers of Pottawattamie 
 County over those of the rough timbered 
 country of the Middle States who were 
 obliged to spend from ten to fifteen years in 
 hard toil to remove the heavy growth of tim- 
 ber, which, to them at that date was so worth- 
 less that it was not at all uncommon for 
 them to roll together the finest of walnut logs 
 and burn them to make room for their crops. 
 
 Grove Township, as its name suggests, and 
 by which its name originated, has within its 
 boundaries a number of fine groves, on the 
 banks of the Farm and Jordan Creeks. The 
 rich, fertile soil, fine groves of timber and 
 running streams of pure, cool spring water, 
 which the early settlers found in that part of 
 Pottawattamie County, which afterward be- 
 came Grove Township, were the natural at- 
 tractions which caused that township to be 
 one among the first settled in the county. 
 
 Grove Township was included in the terri- 
 tory of Macedonia Township until September 
 25, 1858, on which date, by the authority of 
 the County Judge, the territory was divided. 
 
 and the following minute of the division 
 placed on record : 
 
 " Now, on this day, was organized a town- 
 ship, to be called Grove Township, to consist 
 of Congressional Township 74 north, of 
 Range 39 west, and the same is declared an 
 election precinct, and it is ordered that an 
 election be held therein at the schoolhouse 
 therein on the second Tuesday of October, 
 to wit, on the 12th day of October A. D. 
 1858." The election was held as ordered, 
 and the following oiScers elected: George 
 B. Otto, Township Clerk; E. W. Knapp, 
 Justice of the Peace; Cornelius Hurley, 
 Constable; David Watson, Assessor; Thomas 
 Conner. A. J. Field and S. M. B. Wheeler, 
 Trustees. 
 
 The present boundaries of the township 
 are Center Tovmship on the north, Waveland 
 Township on the east, Montgomery County 
 on the south and Macedonia Township on 
 the west. 
 
 Two fine streams of unsually pure water 
 run through the township, which are in- 
 creased within its boundaries by a number of 
 tributaries. Jordan Creek rises in Section 12 
 of Center Township, and flows west of south, 
 and enters Grove Township about the center 
 of Section 3, on the north side. It then 
 flows south and west to the center of Section 
 4, where it is joined by a tributary called 
 Spring Creek. It then flows south and south- 
 west through Sections 9, 17, 19, 20 and to 
 the center of 31, where the waters of Farm 
 Creek join it, from which point it flows al- 
 most directly west for about half a mile and 
 empties into Graybill, or Second Creek, which 
 crosses the northwest corner of the township. 
 Farm Creek and its tributaries drain the 
 southern and eastern portions of the town- 
 ship. It rises in Section 1, and flows south- 
 west through Secti >ns 1. 12, 11, 14, 23. and 
 west through Section 22. thence southwest 
 
350 
 
 HISTOBY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 again through Sections 28, 29, 32, and then 
 west to the center of Section 31, where it 
 empties into Jordan Creek. Three tributa- 
 ries have their rise and join Farm Greek with- 
 in the boundaries of the township; all of 
 them, also, empty into the main stream in 
 Section 22. These streams are fed by nu- 
 merous springs, and do not dry up during 
 the hot summer months, nor freeze over in 
 the winter in shallow places where the cur- 
 rent is rapid. 
 
 The origin of the names of these streams 
 was through the following incidents. During 
 the early settlement of the township, many of 
 the pioneers selected their farms along the 
 banks of a running stream of pure water. 
 Farm Creek oifered the greatest attractions 
 in this respect, and before other parts of the 
 township had become settled. Except a farm 
 here and there, the land bordering this stream 
 had been occupied by settlers, and a series of 
 farm improvements made on either side; and 
 through this choice of land and through the 
 improvements which followed, the stream be- 
 came known as Farm Creek. Among the first 
 to settle on this creek were J. A. Watson and 
 Messrs. Winegar, Stedham, Burris and 
 Bagley. The name is certainly very well ap- 
 plied, for no nicer stream, for farm and stock 
 purposes, can be found in the county. 
 
 Long before Grove Township had been or- 
 ganized, and even before the first permanent 
 settler had found a home within its bounda- 
 ries, a line of travel had worn a trail across 
 the township. This was known as the " Mor- 
 mon Trail," and was the route taken by that 
 people when they moved from Nauvoo, 111., 
 to Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, which was 
 their halting place when on their way to Salt 
 Lake in IS-tT. Whei'e this trail crossed Jor- 
 dan Creek, a man by the name of Jordan had 
 settled near the ford. In their efiforts to de- 
 scribe the points along the line, the travelers 
 
 gave this stream its name, by referring to the 
 settler at the ford. This trail, which after- 
 ward became the first public road in the 
 township, crossed the township line about the 
 northwest corner of Section 1, and took a 
 southwesterly course through Sections 2, 10, 
 16 and 20, thence west through Section 19, 
 crossing Jordan Creek about the center of 
 this section, thence westward to Kanesville. 
 Her fine groves of natural-growth timber, 
 streams of living water, and fertile, undulat- 
 ing prairies, makS'Grove Township one of the 
 most desirable for stock-raising and agricult- 
 ural pursuits in Pottawattamie County. Her 
 citizens claim that not a single foot of the 
 land is uutillable if properly worked. The 
 varieties of original timber growth were prin- 
 cipally black and white hickory, burr and red 
 oak, black walnut, red and water elm, ash, 
 hackberry and basswood. In area there were 
 about 3,000 acres of timber land in the town- 
 ship, but little of it has been cleared and 
 the land utilized for farming purposes, 
 though in instances where the timber has 
 been cleared away and a crop raised, has 
 proved very prductive. 
 
 During the early settlement of the town- 
 ship, when mills were erected and the larger 
 timber cut for lumber, it usually occurred in 
 the winter. From the stumps of the trees 
 cut in winter, the settlers found these started 
 in the sprin:^ a vigorous growth of sprouts. 
 These usually, except one or two, died about 
 the second year, -when the growth of those 
 which survived was very rapid and now are 
 the required size for fence posts. 
 
 In 1848, there moved into Grove Town- 
 ship the following settlers, with their fami- 
 lies; they came over the old Mormon trail 
 from Illinois: James Watson came with ox 
 teams and settled in Section 32. George 
 Owen di'ove both ox and horse teams, and se- 
 lected his home in Section 16. George 
 
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GROVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 353 
 
 Taylor, who came with ox teams, also settled 
 in Section 1(5, and John Jordan chose Sec- 
 tion 17 as his future home. Jacob Anderson, 
 who came with his family the same year, drove 
 horse teams and settled in Section 20, where 
 he made a claim, and when the Government 
 survey was made, in IS52, entered about 000 
 acres, half of which was prairie and half tim- 
 ber land. In 1853, he removed to Califor- 
 nia, where he died some years later. His 
 widow and son, A. J. Anderson, came back to 
 the old farm about 1865. and began improv- 
 ing it. They have since added to it and have 
 now 1,000 acres of tine land. John Winegar 
 and David Bagley came from Illinois in 18-19; 
 both drove ox teams through over the old 
 Mormon trail. The former settled in Section 
 21 and the latter in Section 28. David 
 Stedman and S. M. B. Wheeler followed in 
 1851, Mr. Stedman settling in Section 21, 
 and Mr. Wheeler in Section 16. The former 
 came from Pennsylvania. Mr. Wheeler, 
 after whom the grove in Section 16 took its 
 name, now lives in Lewis. Cass Co., Iowa. 
 
 The first settlers of W^he»ler's Grove were 
 a Mr. Orman, George Graybill and Jacob 
 Anderson. Mr. Wheeler bought the farms 
 of Orman and Graybill; the former went to 
 California, and the latter now lives on Mos- 
 quito Creek, in Pottawattamie County. A. 
 J. Field, J. R. Traver and Thomas Conner 
 also were among the early settlers, the latter 
 having a son and daughter living in the 
 township. In 1848, 1849 and 1850, a num- 
 ber of Mormon families stopped in Grove 
 Township, raised a crop or two and then fol- 
 lowed the march of their leader to Salt Lake. 
 
 The first saw-mill in Grove Township was 
 built and owned by John Smith in 1853. and 
 was located on Farm Creek. Prior to the 
 building of this mill, the settlers built their 
 cabins of round logs, and chinked the cracks 
 with a mixture of mud and prairie hay. The 
 
 roofs were almost invariablj' made of prairie 
 sod, which, when properly cut and laid, was 
 very substantial. Smith's mill was washed 
 away during a freshet, and was rebuilt in 
 1856 by' C. Huidey, Sr., and again washed 
 away. The next mill was built in 1858, by 
 J. S. Watson, and was located about two 
 miles farther down stream than the Smith 
 Mill. In 1859, S. M. B. Wheeler built a mill 
 on Jordan Creek. These were all saw-mills 
 and run by water-power. The next mill was 
 built on the site of the old Smith Mill, by 
 Orman Osier, and was intended for a grist 
 mill, but when the building was completed 
 and a part of the machinery put in, there 
 came a freshet, and the mill was partially 
 destroyed. The remainder was moved irom 
 over the stream and has since been used as 
 a barn. 
 
 Great difficulty was experienced by the 
 early settlers in getting their milling done. 
 They were obliged to go to the old Indian 
 mill, in Garner Township, or to Meek's Mill, 
 on Rock Creek, in Missouri. Sometimes the 
 traveling was bad, and when such was the 
 case and they could not go to mill, they re- 
 sorted to pounding their corn. To do this 
 they would scoop a hollow in a block of 
 wood, a ad fasten an iron wedge, or some 
 other heavy instrument, on the end of a pole, 
 which was rigged like the old- fashioned well- 
 sweep. W'ith this arrangement, they man- 
 aged to make very good corn meal. Even 
 when they did travel the long distance from 
 their homes to the Indian mill, they were 
 often obliged to wait until the Indians were 
 through; as the mill had been put uji by the 
 Government for the special benefit of the 
 Pottawattamie Indians, and when there was 
 nothing to grind for them then the settlers 
 j could have their grinding done. Mills were 
 built by enterprising citizens in a few years, 
 and this great difficulty obviated. 
 
354 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUISTTY 
 
 The old Mormon trail, previously men- 
 tioned, was used when these trips were made to 
 the mills, and for a number of years it was 
 the only public road in the township. 
 
 Public roads were gradually opened to 
 meet the wants of the community, and those 
 now in the township usually follow the sec- 
 tion lines. The first bridge built in the 
 township was where the old Mormon trail 
 crossed Jordan Creek. Bridges now span 
 all the streams in the township at the cross- 
 ing of the public roads. The largest bridge 
 in the township erected by the county spans 
 a ravine near the residence of J. W. Conner. 
 It is ninety feet in length and thirty-five 
 feet above the water. 
 
 In 1850, the township had become so thick- 
 ly settled that the question of a school of 
 some sort began to be talked of. The settlers 
 became so thoroughly interested in the matter 
 that they hired a Dr. Williams to teach a 
 school in one room of the residence of Jacob 
 Anderson. The result of this experiment 
 was so satisfactory that a second term was 
 taught at the residence of S. M. B. Wheeler, 
 by a Mr. John Day. In 1854, a term of 
 school was taught in a little log cabin situated 
 just east of S. M. B. Wheeler's, by Mr. D. T. 
 Kelly. The first building erected in the 
 township for school purposes was located 
 about forty rods north of the center of Sec- 
 tion 20. It was built in 1855, and was con- 
 structed of logs, with puncheon floors and 
 seats. This was used as a school building 
 for a number of years, when it finally became 
 unfit for use. In 1865, the next sehoolhouse 
 was built. It was located in the southeast 
 corner of the southwest quarter of the south- 
 west quarter of Section 21. This school- 
 house was used by the entire township 
 until 1868, when the township was di- 
 vided into three subdistricts, and three new 
 schoolhouses erected. Subsequently, the 
 
 township was again subdivided into subdis- 
 tricts, and this time the number increased to 
 nine and new houses built. The township 
 contains just thirty-six sections, and in the 
 last division into subdistricts, it was divided 
 into squares of four sections each, and the 
 schoolhouses located in the center, or at the 
 point where the foui' sections meet. School- 
 houses Nos. 1 and 2 were destroyed by the 
 cyclone of June 9, 1880, but have since been 
 rebuilt. The statistics for the year 1881, 
 collected by the County Superintendent of 
 Public Schools, show the following for Grove 
 Township: 
 
 Number of subdistricts, 9. Schools — num- 
 ber of ungraded schools, 8 ; average number of 
 months taught, 5|. Teachers — niimber em- 
 ployed, males, 5; females, 10; total, 15. 
 Average compensation per month — males, 
 130.86; females, 129.70. Pupils— number 
 of persons between the ages of five and twen- 
 ty-one years — males, 175; females, 160; 
 number enrolled in district, 234; total aver- 
 age attendance in whole district, 114; average 
 cost of tuition per month for each pupil, $2. - 
 43. Schoolhouses — frame. 8; value, .$2,800. 
 
 There are but few foreign residents of 
 Grove Township, aud in all movements tend- 
 ing to the advancement of public schools they 
 have been in enterprise equal to the Ameri- 
 cans. 
 
 It is very evident the broad, rolling prairies 
 possessed natui'al advantages, and were more 
 attractive in a state of nature to the pioneers 
 than the country surrounding Grove Town- 
 ship. When that band of followers of Brig- 
 ham Young had traveled over hundreds of 
 miles nf the old trail, which wound its way 
 through heavy timber and over rolling prai- 
 rie, and any number could have had millions 
 of acres from which to choose a farm, why 
 did so many of them wait to settle on the 
 banks of the little stream, fed by numerous 
 
GROVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 355 
 
 springs, which was afterward known as Farm 
 Creek, unless it was the beauty of landscape, 
 fertility of soil and all that nature had done 
 to make the place so attractive? They were 
 good judges, those travel-stained, hardy emi 
 grants, and their settlement in one of the 
 finest sections of country in the county was 
 not by chance, when they had the libei'ty of 
 staking out a claim almost anywhere in the 
 thousands of acres of unoccupied lands on all 
 sides of them. They could have forsaken 
 their claims and improvements, and have 
 obeyed the demand of their leader, in 1852, 
 and joined in the march to Salt Lake. They 
 preferred to stay where they were, and the 
 result of their industry has proved the cor- 
 rectness and accuracy of their judgment. 
 The finely improved farms, good buildings 
 and many evidences of prosperity, which in a 
 short time marked their halting place on the 
 banks of Farm Creek, grew too dear to them 
 to be deserted. 
 
 They left Nauvoo, 111,, expecting to con- 
 tinue the march to the final place of settle- 
 ment, but when they found in the beautiful 
 country bordering Farm Creek all that tbe best 
 farmer could desire, and were not restricted 
 in their religious liberty, those few who had 
 laid the foundation for a fuuu'e competency, 
 remained behind when the exodus occurred. 
 So many settlers of one religious denomina- 
 tion were natm-ally the first to effect an or- 
 ganization, and so it happened that in 1863 
 the fiiBt organization of a religious body m 
 Grove Township was that of the Latter-Day 
 Saints. E. W. Briggs and W. W. Blair were 
 the organizers, and the original members 
 were John Smith and wife Sarah, E. W. 
 Knapp and wife Melissa, A. J. Fields and 
 wife Sarah, James Otto and wife Mehitable, 
 Lewis Graybill and wife Patience, John 
 Winegar and wife Elizabeth, Joseph Smith 
 and wife Bachel, and Stephen Smith. John 
 
 Smith was their first President, and E. W. 
 Knapp their first Clerk. The present officers 
 are : John Winegar, President, and Heber New- 
 berry, Clerk. Services were at first held by 
 them at the residences of the different members 
 of the church, and sometimes, in later years, 
 in the schoolhouses. The society becoming 
 more wealthy and the membership gradually 
 increasing, they decided, in 1874, to erect a 
 church building. It was a frame building, 
 and cost §763. 85. 
 
 The present membership is ninety, and a 
 Sabbath school is maintained, with a regular 
 attendance of thirty pupils. 
 
 The Wheeler's Grove class of the M. P. 
 Church was organized in 1865 by its original 
 members, among whom were Isaac Denton 
 and wife Cordelia. Jacob Elswick. Alexander 
 Osier and Susan A. Stedman. Their church 
 is a frame building, and was erected in 1875 
 at a cost of $1,300. It is located one-half 
 mile north of Wheeler Grove Post Office. 
 The present membership is about sixty, and 
 a Sabbath school has a regular attendance of 
 thirty-five pupils. The pastors who have 
 presided at this chiurch, as given by Jlr. A. 
 W^. Pearce, one of the present members, 
 were: Eev. William Van Vleet, Rev. J. Davis, 
 Rev. J. Bratton, Eev. T. E. Pershall, Rev, J. 
 Burch. Rev, T. W. Sketcherly, Rev. W. F. 
 Price, Rev. E, M. Garheart, Rev. A. Overton, 
 Rev. J. A. Bolton, and the present pastor, 
 Rev. Josiah Sanders. 
 
 Pleasant Grove congregation of the C, P. 
 Chm-eh was organized July 1, 1876, by Rev. 
 J, W, Carter, and received imder the care of 
 the West Iowa Presbytery of the C, P, 
 Chiu-ch, August 18, 1876, The original 
 members were Jackson Buckner and wife Je- 
 mima, Jonathan Watson and wife Mary S,, 
 George Shinn and wife Martha M., Esperam 
 Co.mts and Margaret McMullen. Rev. J. 
 W. Carter was their first, and continues to be, 
 
356 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 their pastor. Their church is a frame build- 
 ing, and was erected in 1879, at a cost of |1,- 
 400. It is located in Section 27, near 
 Wheeler's Grove Post Office. The present 
 membership is twenty-eight, and they sup- 
 port a Sabbath school with an attendance of 
 thirty pupils. 
 
 The Christian Church was organized by 
 Rev. Cephas Ellis and Rev. Samuel Johnson. 
 The original members were S. Brown and 
 wife Rachel, Franklin Pullen and wife Mary, 
 Thomas Dillardy and wife Rebeca, George 
 Hauser and wife Sarah, John Fender and 
 wife Millie, Cephas Ellis and wife Rachel, 
 Thomas Moxley and wife Rachel, and Jesse 
 Brown. Their pastors have been Rev. Sam- 
 uel Johnson, Rev. Samuel Smith, Lewis C. 
 Bishop, and the present pastor, Rev. Cephas 
 Ellis. They began building a church in 
 1881. It is not yet completed, though nearly 
 so, and when finished will cost about $1,100 
 or $1,200. It is located in Section 16. The 
 society numbers sixty members at present, 
 and they support a Sabbath school with an 
 attendance of fifty pupils. 
 
 The village of Eminence, in which Grove 
 Post Office is located, was laid out in 1875, 
 by L. D. Woodmansee, Esq. It is a neat, 
 thriving place of business, and is located in 
 Section 28. The first i-esident of the place 
 was Mr. Woodmansee, who built a storeroom 
 in 1875, and has since been engaged in a 
 general merchandising business. He was 
 also appointed Postmaster, and continues to 
 hold that official position. Dr. A. J. Michael 
 was the next to risk the result of establishine 
 
 o 
 
 a business by making Eminence his place of 
 residence, and he was followed by Malcomb 
 McKenzie, the only blacksmith of the place. 
 J. L. Harrell made the fourth business man 
 of the little town, where he engaged in the 
 manufacture and sale of harness. Later, a 
 store of general merchandise was opened by 
 
 F. E. & N. Pershall, brothers, and who are 
 
 ' still engaged in business. 
 
 Grove Township has no railroad, but the 
 business men of Eminence are fully able to 
 
 I compete with the business men of the railroad 
 towns in the vicinity, and, being located 
 near the center of the township, they do an 
 extensive business. 
 
 The present officers of Grove Township are 
 as follows: Alex Osier and L. D. Woodman- 
 see, Justices; A. W. Pease, Clerk; John 
 
 i Rankin, Assessor; George Bolton, Stephen 
 
 1 Smith and George B. Otto, Trustees. 
 
 September 30, 1863, the wife of Mr. Isaac 
 Denton gave birth to three children, which 
 were named respectively William, Wallace 
 and Williard. They lived, however, but a 
 short time, the dates of their deaths being 
 given in the biography of Mr. Denton. This 
 event caused a great deal of interest to be 
 manifested in the affair by his neighbors and 
 friends, but their excitement and wonder were 
 greatly increased, when, on August 17, 1864, 
 the same lady gave bii'th to twins, one of 
 which lived but four and the other six hours. 
 The cyclone which occurred June 9, 1880, 
 and which has previously been mentioned, 
 was the most eventful incident in the history 
 of Grove Township. The following report 
 from the Nonpareil of June 12, 1880, gives a 
 description ot the scene: 
 
 " About 7 o'clock, Wednesday evening, the 
 cyclone was discovered by a gentleman by the 
 name of W. C. Lowrey, who resides about 
 three-quarters of a mile northwest of Macedo 
 nia. Mr. Lowrey says it ajsjjeared to him as 
 a great funnel, formed of deep, dark clouds 
 of the most furious appearance, which seemed 
 to be hopjiing and skipping first to the heav- 
 ens and then to the earth, and traveled at a 
 rapid rate. When it struck the earth, it took 
 everything in its course. It so swung and 
 revolved around, that while watching its ap- 
 
GROVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 337 
 
 pearance, it struck a house occupied by Mr. 
 Denitty, whose family had also been watch- 
 ing its maneuvers, and, realizing their danger, 
 had vacated the building and thereby saved 
 their lives. In an instant, the roof of the 
 house was carried high in the air, and the 
 body of the house badly injm-ed, and the loose 
 material, such as timber, farming machinery 
 and vehicles, was carried away. The next 
 house that came in its way was that of Capt. 
 Beasley, one of the best known citizens of 
 Pottawattamie County. Here it also carried 
 off the roof of the house, as well as farming 
 implements, besides doing considerable in- 
 jury to stock. Next it, running in a north- 
 east direction, struck the shanties occupied 
 by the workmen engaged in the construction 
 of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail- 
 road, on the Macedonia Branch thereof. The 
 occupants, realizing the danger, repaired to a 
 culvert hard by, and crowding into it to the 
 number of forty, thereby saved their lives. 
 It then passed on at a furious rate and struck 
 a hoiv?e occupied by a gentleman named 
 Smith. Here it seemed to redouble its fiuy, 
 and tearing the house and barn asunder, com- 
 pletely carried them away, carrying also the 
 household goods. The next house with 
 which it came in contact was that of Mr. 
 Fender, tearing his house into a thousand 
 pieces, it crossed what is called Second Creek 
 and struck the classic Jordan. About half a 
 mile distant, it struck the residence of Mr. 
 Buckingham, tearing the entire lai-ge frame 
 structure in pieces, and carrying away not 
 only the house, but the household goods, as 
 wfll as farming implements and stock. The 
 next house it struck was that of Mr. C. Run- 
 nels, carrying off the roof of the house and 
 carrying the barn away and killing a vast 
 amount of stock. 
 
 " Leaving this, it continued its course on up 
 the Jordan, dealing death and destruction 
 
 with every possible thing with which it came 
 in contact, until it reached a residence occu- 
 pied by a gentleman by the name of Lyman. 
 Here it seemed to have reached its zenith, 
 and its exact actions were indescribable. 
 Here birds were beaten almost entirely into 
 the ground, and not a feather left on their 
 bodies. Wire fences were torn and twisted 
 into a thousand pieces. Speeding on its 
 com'se, it reached the residence of our once 
 much loved and respected fellow-citizen, Jesse 
 Osier. This family consisted of Mr. Osier, 
 his wife and two children, a boy and a girl, 
 aged respectively eight and six years, besides 
 three hired men, namely, John Davis, A. F. 
 Tiderick and Jesse Pettitt. The hired men 
 had come in from the field and had cared for 
 their teams, when they saw the storm's ap- 
 proach, and spoke to Mr. Osier about it. Up 
 to this time, Mr. Osier had been fanning his 
 little son, who lay sick. Rising to his feet, 
 Mr. Osier said it was true that a bad storm 
 was almost upon them, and called for the en- 
 tire family to go with him to the cave, which 
 was in the yard but a few feet from the door. 
 Thereupon he gathered his sick child in his 
 arms and started for the door, but he was too 
 late; the elements were almost upon them, 
 and their only remedy was to stay in the 
 house. The doors blew open at this junctiu-e 
 and the wind lashed them about as though 
 they were so many matches, and the fact that 
 two strong men undertook to hold them shut 
 made no difference. The house, a strong, 
 two-story frame structure, went to pieces like 
 a pile of dust before a whirlwind, and not a 
 splinter of it the size of a man's arm was left 
 to tell where the once beautiful residence of 
 Jesse Osier stood, and Jesse Osier and his en- 
 tire family were at the same instant dashed 
 into eternity. When the storm had passed, 
 the only human being about the place that 
 had apparent life left was Mr. Tiderick, who 
 
353 
 
 HISTORY OF FOTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 was blown about six rods into some gooseber- 
 ry bushes. Davis and Pettitt were blown 
 about twenty rods, and when found their rea- 
 son had fled. They were cared for, and some 
 neisrhbors havincr arrived, the search for teh 
 missing Osier family began. The body of 
 Mr Osier was found about twenty rods south- 
 west of the house, and the remains of Mrs. 
 Osier were found blown fiilly forty rods' 
 across the meadow southwest of the house, 
 and the children were found eight or ten rods 
 west of where the house had stood. ]\Ii's. 
 Osier was dressed in her usual day wearing 
 apparel when the storm broke upon them, and 
 when found she was stripped of the last ves- 
 tige of her garments, except one garter string. 
 The children were also stripped. It was a 
 sight sickening and sad in the extreme when 
 entering the residence of Mr. G. Naugle, one 
 of the near neighbors of the Osier family, to 
 find a whole family lying cold and dead. 
 The dead bodies were all badly mangled, 
 and, in fact, almost past recognition, the top 
 of the little boy's head being entirely torn 
 away. Under the efficient care of physicians, 
 Messrs. Tiderick, Pettitt and Davis will prob- 
 ably recover. The house of Mr. Alexander 
 Osier, a large two-story frame, stood upon a 
 hill to the northwest of his dead brother's 
 about forty rods, and hence, just the edge of 
 the storm struck it. An addition built onto 
 the east end of the structure was completely 
 torn away, and the main portion badly shat- 
 tered. Mr. John Naugle and Mr. G. Nau- 
 gle, residing about eighty rods west of this, 
 also felt the effects of the storm. It twisted 
 a portion of the roof off of Mr. J. Naugle's 
 house, and tore down the well curb and some 
 trees at the residence of Mr. G. Naugle. 
 These well-known gentlemen were both at 
 home and witnessed the storm pass by them, 
 and when asked to deseride it, said it sounded 
 like ten thousand threshing machines all in 
 
 motion at one time. At Mr. J. Osier's place, 
 there were also many horses and cattle killed 
 and dead pigs and chickens were visible all 
 about the place. The storm sped on up the 
 Jordan about a quarter of a mile, when it 
 reached a small house upon the bank of a 
 stream occupied by a poor family by the name 
 of Mills. Fortunately, they were all absent 
 from home and escaped injury, but returned 
 to find only the cellar where their little homo 
 once stood. At this point, the Jordan takes 
 asharjjturn to the southeast, and its banks were 
 thickly studded with timber, which was com- 
 pletely torn away. Trees as thick as the body 
 of an ordinary man were twisted off and blown 
 away, and what few shrubs were left were con- 
 spicuous for their covering of bed quilts, pil- 
 lows, petticoats, carpets and clothing of every 
 conceivable kind. Next, the monster reached 
 the residence of I^Ir. Samuel Smith. Mr. 
 Smith owns a nice farm, situated on a beau- 
 tiful declining bank of the Jordan. He had 
 a good substantial house, sm'rounded by a 
 fine young orchard of about three hundred 
 trees. His family consists of himself, his 
 wife and seven children, all of whom went 
 into the cellar. The house was carried from 
 over their heads and the cellar filled with 
 debris, but, strange to say, none were hurt. 
 The orchard was completely ruined, evea the 
 bark being stripped from the trees. On the 
 northeast corner of Mi'. Smith's farm stood a 
 schoolhouse. This was more than an ordi- 
 nary fi'ame country schoolhouse, built in 
 1878, but a few brick scattered about is all 
 that is left to mark the place where it stood. 
 A few rods farther in a northeast direction, 
 the grim monster caused more death and de- 
 struction. Samuel Osier, a brother of the 
 dead Jesse, had a residence on the south 
 bank of the Jordan, but a few rods from the 
 stream. There he resided with his wife and 
 one child. In an instant after the storm 
 
WAVELAND TOWNSHIP. 
 
 359 
 
 struck it, the house was in ten thousand pieces. 
 Mr. Osier states that the first thing he realized 
 he was hanging to the limb of a tree some 
 rods distant from the house, with a young 
 neighbor boy, who was visiting at his house, 
 in his arms. The limb broke and they fell, 
 bnt Mr. Osier manfully clung to the boy and 
 by catching upon the limbs as they fell, he 
 so broke the fall that he and the boy were 
 but li tie hurt. Mrs. Osier was found north- 
 west of the house about six rods, thrown 
 down an embankment, probably twenty feet, 
 helpless and senseless. The child, a babe 
 born in February, was found about four rods 
 distant from the house, almost entirely cov- 
 ered with dirt and mud, mutilated almost be- 
 yond recognition. A threshing machine, 
 which stood iu the yard, was entirely blown 
 away and no trace of it is yet found. About 
 
 forty rods farther up on the Jordan, the storm 
 struck the residence of Mr. Lewis Starts. 
 Mr. Starts and family saw the storm coming, 
 and went into the cellar, or rather an outside 
 cave, and were saved. The house was torn 
 into a thousand pieces, and carried away, 
 with all the fiu-niture. The storm sped on 
 up the Jordan, killing horses and cattle, some of 
 which it is stated were carried three -quai-ters 
 of a mile. It passed on its course into Cass 
 County, wrecking the residence of Mr. Spur- 
 geon, killing his team and smashing his wag- 
 ons. The residence of Mrs. Thomas Paist 
 was next in its path. Mrs. Paist and a young 
 son, thirteen years old. were instantly killed. 
 The storm seemed to have spent its fury a 
 short distance from this point, and but little 
 further damage was done by it. " 
 
 CHAPTER LVII.* 
 
 WAVELAND TOWNSHIP— ORGANIZATION— TOWNSHIP OFFirERS—STP>EAMS— CHURCHES— SCHOOLS 
 
 —A TRAGIC AFFAIR. 
 
 ^ I "'HIS township was originally called Wal- 
 -*- nut Creek, and was organized in 1856. 
 The petition for its organization by a mis- 
 take was made to include what is now Grove 
 and Center Townships to the west of it. This 
 gave offense to the voters in these last town- 
 ships, and at the election in 1856 they came 
 in a mass to the polls, and at that time the 
 boundaries were rectified in a proper applica- 
 tion, and duly approved by the county author- 
 ities. In 1873, Wright and Waveland Town- 
 ships were formed of Walnut. Waveland is 
 in the extreme southeast of the county, and 
 adjoins Cass County on the one hand and 
 Montgomery County on the other. The first 
 birth in the township was William Black, 
 born on the 4th of July, 1854. The first 
 
 •By Col. John H. Keatlej-. 
 
 death was Zolphes Williams, in September, 
 1854. He was buried on the banks of the 
 Nishnabotna River early in the morning. He 
 and a child were the only ones interred in 
 the burial ground in Section 14, Township 
 74. The first election was held in 1855. at 
 which time the following persons were chosen 
 to the township offices: Ed. Dean, JohnWil- 
 son and William Mewhirter, Trustees; Fred- 
 erick Mewhirter, Justice of the Peace; Frank 
 Hostotter, Constable, and William McCart- 
 ney, Assessor. 
 
 The present officers are: Clarkson Godfrey, 
 D. K. Parker and C. M. Potter, Trustees; 
 Eobert Wilson, Clerk; G. L. Mundorf and 
 W. L. Cocklin, Justices; William Gray, Con- 
 stable, and William Mewhirter, Assessor. 
 
 The first marriage was that of Levi 
 
360 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Smith and Miss Sara Wilson, in the fall of 
 1S59. 
 
 The first mill of any kind built in the 
 township was a saw-mill, constructed on the 
 east side of the East Nishnabotna River in 
 1857 by a man named Davenport, who after- 
 ward moved it off. The second saw-mill was 
 built by Isaac Bobb on the west bank of the 
 same stream, on Section 13, in 1867. There 
 are seven principal bridges in the township, 
 two over the east Nishnabotna, and five over 
 Walnut Creek, on the Walnut Creek and 
 Wheeler's Grove road. There are two 
 church organizations — the Methodist Ejiiseo- 
 pal and the Chinstian — but neither of them 
 have edifices of their own, and the services are 
 held in the public schoolhouses. The first 
 school was taught by a Mrs. Wan-en in her 
 own hoiise, on Section 13, in 1857, and the 
 second by Mary Ann Hackin, in an old log 
 house in the same section, in 1859. The first 
 public schoolhouse was erected in 1861. 
 There are now eight excellent school build- 
 ings in the township. A post office was es- 
 tablished at the Mewhirter bridge across 
 the Nishnabotna River. Levi Persons was 
 its second Postmaster, but the office has been 
 discontinued. The first ten settlers in Wave- 
 land, and who came in 1S54, 1855 and 1S57, 
 were Granville Pierson, who came from Mon- 
 roe County in 1854; Joseph Pierson. who 
 came at the same time and from the same 
 county; W. P. Black came in the same year; 
 Johnson Brandon arrived from Missovu'i in 
 1854; William and Frederick Mewhirter, 
 brothers, from Ohio in the same year; George 
 Boyer, from Pennsylvania, and Peter Cocklin 
 and John Wilson from the same State in 1855, 
 and John Flint from Illinois in 1857. All 
 these settlers traveled the old Mormon trail, 
 and built log cabins with turf roofs until they 
 could provide better habitations. They were 
 compelled to go to mill at Ironston, in Cass 
 
 County, or to Stutsman's Mill, near Macedo- 
 nia. The name of the township was made to 
 correspond with that of the post office then 
 existing for the accommodation of the settlers. 
 
 There are two principal streams in the 
 township, the East Nishnabotna, and Walnut 
 Creek. There are about fifteen hundred acres 
 of young timber and 1,000 acres of old timber 
 in the township. The first bridge built was 
 over Walnut Creek, on the Walnut Creek 
 and Wheeler's Grove road. The first road 
 laid out was the one leading from Lewis, in 
 Cass Coimty. to Sidney, in Fremont County. 
 
 Granville Pierson is a native of Kentucky, 
 and was born July 14, 1827. His father, 
 Robert Pierson, was a Virginian by birth, 
 and died in 1843. Granville Pierson's 
 mother was Nancy Rendler, of Boone County, 
 Ky., and died in 1839. Both his parents 
 died after removing to Indiana. Mr. Pier- 
 son was mai'ried in Kenton County, Ky, No- 
 vember, 1850, to Elizabeth Fray, who was 
 born in Boone Coimty, Ky., December 3, 
 1830. Her father, John Fray, was a Virgin- 
 ian. Pierson moved to Indiana, and from 
 there to Polk County, Iowa, and to Wave- 
 land Township in 1854, where he has ever 
 since resided, following the pursuit of a farm- 
 er. He was a soldier in Company I, of the 
 Twenty-third Iowa Infantry, having enlisted 
 in 1862, and was at the battles of Port Gib- 
 son, Jackson, Champion Hills, Black River 
 Bridge and Milliken's Bend and the siege of 
 Vicksburg. He was also at the attack upon 
 Fort Esperanda, in Texas, and Spanish Fort, 
 Mobile, and was mustered out of the service 
 June 16, 1865. He is the father of ten 
 children, namely, May Jane, George, Milton, 
 Tabitha, Ida, now dead; Sophronia and 
 Henry, twins; John, James and Emeline. 
 In politics, he is an Independent. 
 
 A very distressing and tragic affair occurred 
 in Waveland Township in August, 1876, 
 
WAVELAND TOWNSHIP. 
 
 361 
 
 resulting in the death of Dr. J. H. Hatton, a 
 physician residing a few miles from Wave- 
 land Post Office, in Cass County. Dr. Hat- 
 ton practiced in Waveland Township, and 
 about a year before that was the family phy- 
 sician of Frederick Mewhirtor, one of the 
 oldest settler and the largest land-owner in 
 the township. Hatton attended Mrs.Mewhirter 
 in childbirth, and it was alleged by ]VIr. Me- 
 whirter that Dr. Hatton in the treatment of his 
 wife was guilty of malpractice, which re- 
 sulted in permanent injury to the lady. A 
 suit was brought for this alleged misconduct 
 on the part of the physician in the coiu'ts of 
 Cass County, and on some preliminary ques- 
 tion the decision of the court was against Dr. 
 Hatton. An appeal was taken to the Su- 
 preme Court. Diu'ing the pendency of these 
 proceedings, it was claimed that the treat- 
 ment of the lady by the physician so preyed 
 upon the mind of Mr. Mewhirter that his 
 mental faculties became impaired to the ex- 
 tent of limiting his responsibility for acts 
 that would otherwise be criminal. Dr. Hat- 
 ton and his father, an ^old man seventy years 
 of age, went to the post office at the Mewhir- 
 ter bridge to visit a patient on Sunday after- 
 noon, and after completing their errand they 
 started to return with two horses and an open 
 buggy. When on the road opposite Mr. 
 Mewhirter' s residence, the latter came through 
 the fence armed with a Henry rifle. Nothing 
 was said as he took the track in fi'ont of the 
 horses and fired at Dr. Hatton, striking him 
 so that the ball passed through the liver and 
 
 the kidneys. He fell forward on the knees 
 of his father. Help was soon obtained, and 
 he was taken home, where he lingered until 
 the second Sunday, a week, and died. Mr. 
 Mewhirter came to Council Bluffs and sur- 
 rendered himself to Sherift' Doughty, and ad- 
 mitted to bail. When death ensued, he was 
 taken into custody, a hearing had before 
 Judge Reed, and committed to prison to 
 await trial on the charge of murder in the 
 first degree. This came on in the December 
 term of the District Court at Couucil Bluffs. 
 The Grand Jury indicted him for the highest 
 grade of homicide, and he was put on his 
 trial. District Attorney Mc J unkin and C. E. 
 Richards, of Red Oak, and John H. Keatley 
 appeared and conducted the prosecution, and 
 Montgomery & Scott conducted the defense. 
 The burden of the latter was the insanity of 
 the prisoner, growing out of the conduct of 
 the deceased toward the prisoner's wife, the 
 claim being made that he was a monomaniac,, 
 made so by brooding over the subject. After 
 a long, tedious and well-conducted trial, the 
 defendant was convicted of murder in the 
 first degree. The highest penalty for the 
 offense at that date was imprisonment in the 
 penitentiary for life, and Judge Reed accord- 
 ingly gave that sentence. An appeal was 
 taken to the Supreme Court of the State, but 
 the judgment of the court below was affirmed 
 and the sentence executed. A civil action 
 was also brought for the wrongful killing, 
 and a verdict and judgment obtained in the 
 sum of 15,500. 
 
362 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 APPENDIX— SCHOOL STATISTICS OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY FOR THE YEAR 1882. 
 
 ^ I "* HE following statistics of the public 
 -*- schools of Pottawattamie County have 
 been furnished from official sources, and we 
 give them in a separate chapter, rather than 
 to incorporate them with the township chap- 
 ters: 
 
 Rockford District — Number of subdistricts, 
 
 7. Schools — ungraded schools, 7; average 
 number of months taught, 8. Teachers em- 
 ployed—males, 3; females, 5; average com- 
 pensation per month — males, $33. 93 ; females, 
 $33. 93. Pupils — Number of persons between 
 the ages of live and twenty-one years, male, 
 159; females, 164; number enrolled in dis- 
 trict, 242; total average 'attendance in the 
 whole district, 118; average cost of tuition 
 per month for each pupil, $2.03. School- 
 houses — Lumber of frame, 7; value, $3,700; 
 value of apparatus, $3.85. 
 
 Pleasant District — Number of subdistricts, 
 
 8. Schools — number of ungraded schools. 
 8; average number of months taught, 8. 
 Teachers — number employed, males, 4; fe- 
 males, 20; average compensation per month 
 —males. $32.50; females, $27.19. Pupils 
 — number of persons between the ages of five 
 and twenty-ime years, males, 109; females, 
 99; number enrolled in district, 170; total 
 average attendance in the whole district, 95; 
 average cost of tuition per month for each 
 pupil, $2.56. Schoolhouses — number of 
 frame, 8; value, $4,400. Apparatus —value 
 of apparatus, $2. 56. 
 
 Lincoln District — Number of subdistricts, 
 
 9. Schools — number of ungraded schools, 8 ; 
 
 average months taught, 7;^. Teachers — num 
 ber employed, males, 1 ; females, 23 ; average 
 compensation per month — males, $30; fe- 
 males, $26.80. Pupils — number of persons 
 between the ages of five and twenty-one 
 years, males, 119; females, 111; number en- 
 rolled in the district, 405; total average at- 
 tendance in the whole district, 84; average 
 cost of tuition per month for each pupil, $2.- 
 93. Schoolhouses — frame, 9; value, $5,200. 
 Apparatus — value of apparatus, $12.45. 
 
 Lewis District — Number of subdistricts, 7. 
 Schools — number of ungraded schools, 7; 
 average number of months taught, 7f. 
 Teachers — number emjaloyed, males, 4; fe- 
 males, 6; average compensation — males, $34,- 
 67; females, $32.29. Pupils— number of 
 persons between the ages of five and twenty - 
 one years, males, 113; females, 104; total 
 average attendance in the whole district, 87; 
 number enrolled in district, 179; aver- 
 age cost of tuition per month for each pupil, 
 $2.74. Schoolhouses — number of frame, 4; 
 brick, 3; stone, 1; value, $3,500. Appara- 
 tus — value of apparatus, $150. 
 
 Knox District — Number of subdistricts, 8. 
 Schools — number of ungraded schools, 8; 
 average number of months taught, 7|. 
 Teachers — number employed, males, 6; fe- 
 males, 15; average compensation per month 
 — males, $33; females, $30. Pupils — num- 
 ber of persons between the ages of five and 
 twenty-one years, males, 154; females, 152; 
 total average attendance in the whole district, 
 117; munber enrolled in each district, 157; 
 
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 363 
 
 average cost of tuition per month for each 
 pupil, |3. 50. Schoolhouses — frame, 8 ; value, 
 $2,900. Apparatus — value of apparatus, $78. 
 
 Keg Creek District— Number of subdis- 
 tricts. 7. Schools — number of ungraded 
 schools, 7; average number of months taught, 
 7. Teachers — number employed, males, 5; 
 females, 9; average compensation per month 
 —males, $30.83; females, $31.75. Pupils- 
 number of persons between the ages o|, five 
 and twenty-one years, males, 136; females, 
 115; total average attendance in the whole 
 district, 81|; average cost of tuition per 
 month for each pupil. $3.15. Schoolhouses 
 — number of frame, 7; value, $3,275. Ap- 
 paratus — value of apparatus, $2. Library — 
 books in library, 63. 
 
 James District — Number of subdistricts, 
 9. Schools— number of ungraded schools, 9; 
 average number of months taught, 7f . Teach- 
 ers — number employed, males, 4; females, 
 14; average compensation per month — males, 
 $29.96; females, $29.70. Pupils— number 
 of persons between the ages of live and 
 twenty -one years, males, 118; females, 100; 
 number enrolled in district, 218; total 
 average attendance in the whole district, 82; 
 average cost of tuition per month for each 
 pupil, $3. 23. Schoolhouses — number of 
 frame, 9; value, $1,500. 
 
 Hazel Dell District — Number of subdis- 
 tricts, 9. Schools — number of ungraded 
 schools, 9 ; average number of months taught, 
 6^. Teachers — number employed, males, 4; 
 females, 14; average compensation per month, 
 males, $29.16; females, $26.87. Pupils- 
 number of persons between the'ages of tive 
 and twenty one years, males, 184; females, 
 196; number enrolled in district, 376; 
 total average attendance in the whole district, 
 240; average cost of tuition per month for 
 each pupil, $2.28. Schoolhouses — number 
 of frame, 8; value, $4,075. 
 
 Center District — Number of subdistricts, 
 12. Schools — number of ungraded schools, 
 10; average number of months taught, 7f. 
 Teachers — number employed, males, 11; fe- 
 males, 16; average compensation per month 
 -males, $31.22; females, $30.84. Pupils- 
 number of persons between the ages of five 
 and twenty-one years, males, 220; females, 
 257; number of pupils enrolled in dis- 
 trict, 344; total average attendance in the 
 whole district, 181; average cost of tuition 
 per month for each pupil, $2.31. School- 
 houses — number of frame, 5; value, $4,700. 
 Apparatus — value of apparatus, $25. 
 
 Belknap District — Number of subdistricts, 
 6. Schools — number of ungraded schools. 
 5; average number of months taught, 9. 
 Teachers — number employed, males, 3; fe- 
 males, 9; average compensation per month 
 — males, $35; females, $30.97. Pupils — 
 number of persons between the ages of five 
 and twenty-one years, males, 88; females, 
 75; number enrolled in each district, 138; 
 total average attendance in the whole district, 
 71; average cost of tuition per month for 
 each pupil, $2.11. Schoolhouses — number 
 of frame, 5; value, $2,250. 
 
 Boomer District — Nvunber of subdistricts, 
 9. Schools — number of ungraded schools in 
 each district, 9; average number of months 
 taught, 6|. Teachers — number of teach- 
 ers employed, males, 3; females, 12; average 
 compensation paid teachers per month — 
 males, $32.44; females, $26.83. Pupils- 
 number of persons between the ages of five 
 and twenty-one years, males, 199; females, 
 186; number of pupils enrolled in each dis- 
 trict, 335; total average attendance in the 
 whole district, 134§; average cost of tuition 
 per month for each pupil, $1.89. School - 
 houses — number of frame, 8; brick, 1; value, 
 $4,690. Apparatus — value of apparatus, 
 $295. 
 
364 
 
 HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. 
 
 Silver Creek District — Number of subdis- 
 tricts, 6. Schools — number of ungraded 
 schools in district, 5; average number of 
 months taught, 8f. Teachers — number em- 
 ployed, males, 3: females, 12; average 
 compensation per month — males, $30.22; fe- 
 males, $29.25. Pupils — number of persons 
 between the ages of five and twenty-one 
 years, males, 110; females, 77; number en- 
 rolled in district, 130; total average attend- 
 ance in the whole district. 62i; average cost 
 of tuition per month for each pupil. 82.51. 
 Schoolhouses — number of frame, 5; value, 
 $1,900. 
 
 Valley District — Number of subdistricts, 
 9. Schools — number of ungraded schools in 
 district, 9; average number of months taught, 
 8. Teachers — number employed, males, 18; 
 females, 14; average compensation per month 
 —males, $33.50; females. 132.50. Pupils- 
 number of persons between the ages of five 
 and twenty-one years, males, 159; females, 
 161; number enrolled in district, 25-t; total 
 average attendance in the whole district, 
 127|^; average cost of tuition per month for 
 each pupil, $2.58. Schoolhouses — number 
 of frame, 9; value, $4,050. Apparatus — 
 value of apparatus, $300. 
 
 Washington District — Number of subdis- 
 tricts, 8. Schools — number of ungraded 
 schools in district. 8; average number of 
 months taught, 6|. Teachers — number em- 
 ployed, males, 3; females, 8; average com- 
 pensation per month — males, $30; females, 
 
 $27. 86. Pupils — niunber of persons between 
 the ages of five and twenty-one years, males, 
 132; females, 92; number enrolled in dis- 
 trict, 185; total average attendance in the 
 whole district, 861; average cost of tuition 
 per mouth for each pupil, S3. 07. School- 
 houses — number of frame, 7; value, $2,700. 
 Apparatus — value of apparatus, $85. 
 
 Wright District — Number of subdistricts, 
 9. Schools — number of ungraded schools in 
 district, 9 ; average number of months taught, 
 8|. Teachers — number employed, males, 4; 
 females, 11; average compensation per month 
 —males, $27.78; females, $27.34. Pupils- 
 number of persons between the ages of five 
 and twenty-one years of age, males, 108; fe- 
 males, 117; number enrolled in district, 250; 
 total average attendance in the whole dis- 
 trict, 134; average cost of tuition per month 
 for each pupil, $2.50. Schoolhouses — num- 
 ber of frame, 8: value. $5,100. 
 
 Waveland District — Number of subdis- 
 trictH. 8. Schools — number of ungraded 
 schools in district, 8; average niuuber of 
 months taught, 6J. Teachers — number em- 
 ployed, males, 5; females, 12; average com- 
 pensation per month — males, $30.80; fe- 
 males, $28. 12. Pupils — number of persons 
 between the ages of five and twenty-one 
 years, males, 133; females, 145; number en- 
 rolled in the district, 267; total average at- 
 tendance in the whole district, 121i; average 
 cost of tuition per month for each pupil, 12.- 
 12. Schoolhouses — number of frame, 8; 
 value, $3,250. 
 
 
PA RT II. 
 
 Biographical Sketches, 
 

PART II. 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 COUNCIL 
 
 E. E. AYLESWORTH, Judge of Superior 
 Court of city, came to Council Bluffs in Octo- 
 ber, 1866; opened a law office the same year; 
 formed partnership with AV. S. Williams in fall 
 of 1867, and continued in that firm until the 
 spring of 1872; he then formed partnership 
 with James & M3'nster, that being the time of 
 the organization of the firm of James, Ayles- 
 worth & M^-nster. Mr. Mynster withdrawing 
 from the firm in 1879, James & Aylesworth con- 
 tinued in business together until the spring of 
 1882, when Mr. Aylesworth was elected Judge 
 of Superior Court of Council Bluifs for a term 
 of four years. He was born in Otsego County, 
 N. Y., in 1838; was educated in Hartwick Semi- 
 narj-. New York, and Delaware Literary Insti- 
 tute, Delaware County, X. Y., and commenced 
 the study of law in January, 1861, in Portland- 
 ville. N. Y., with R. M. Townsend. He was ad- 
 mitted to the bar at Binghampton, N. Y., Ma^- 
 12. 1863; commenced the practice of law the 
 same 3'ear, at Portlandville, N. Y., and con- 
 tinued there until 1866. He ran for Judge of 
 Circuit Court on the Democratic ticket against 
 C. F. Loof bourow (present incumbent) Republi- 
 can, and was defeated by a small majority", run- 
 ning, however, 2,800 ahead of party ticket. In 
 politics, he is a Democrat. He is of English 
 and Scotch descent. 
 
 BLUFFS. 
 
 EDWIN J. ABBOTT, Justice of the Peace, 
 Council Bluflrs,was born in London, Eng., May 27, 
 1841, and came to this countr}' with his parents, 
 who located at Cleveland, Ohio. He received his 
 education in the preparatory schools of London. 
 Eng., and the public schools of Cleveland, Ohio. 
 In his early days he followed railroading in 
 Ohio and the South. He was married, in Ely- 
 ria, Ohio, in 1861, to Sarah A. Packer, sister of 
 Mrs. John Hammer, and Ijj" this union they have 
 been blessed with four children, two of whom 
 are deceased. During the late war, he served 
 as a private in the One Hundred and Thirtj-- 
 fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry-, and, after the 
 close of the war, became a member of the Cleve- 
 land police force, and, while serving in that ca- 
 pacitj', received a wound which produced lock- 
 jaw. He arrived in Council Blufl's April 7. 1870, 
 where he was elected Constable, and was after- 
 ward Dcput}' Recorder of this county for three 
 years. Ho then became book-keeper and man- 
 ager for John Hammer, contractor and builder, 
 which position he held sis years, and, during 
 that time, was three times elected Township 
 Clerk of Kane Township, on the Republican 
 ticket. After leaving Mr. Hammer, he was ap- 
 pointed Census Enumerator of the First Ward 
 Council Bluffs in 1880, and in the fall of that 
 year, was elected Justice of the Peace on the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Republican ticket, and still holds that office. 
 During the years 1880 and 1881, he was City 
 Finance Clerk. He is the only charter member 
 now belonging to the order of the original lodge 
 of Knights of Pythias for a number of years; 
 he was a member of the grand lodge of Knights 
 of Pythias. He became a member of the I. 0. 
 0. F. at twenty -one years of age. 
 
 W. S. AMENT, attorner, Council Bluffs, has 
 been a resident of Council Bluffs since August 
 13, 1877. On the 15th of the same month, he 
 became the junior member of the firm of Sapp. 
 Lyman & Ament. He remained a member of 
 this firm for three and a half years, when he 
 formed a new partnership under the firm name 
 of Ament & Sims, which still exist. Mr. Ament 
 is a native of Princeton, Bureau Co., 111. He 
 graduated from the high school of his native 
 town, and then went to Lincoln, 111.; he had 
 spent about two j'ears there as a salesman, 
 when he was appointed Deputy County Clerk, 
 and held that position but three months, when 
 he was appointed Deputy Circuit Clerk, and 
 discharged the duties of that position for about 
 two years; he then began the study of law with 
 Mr. D. H. Harts, of Lincoln, with whom he re- 
 mained two years, and then attended, and sub- 
 sequently, graduated from the Albany law 
 school of Albany, N. Y. Since becoming a 
 resident of Council Bluffs, he has devoted his 
 time exclusivelj- to the practice of law, and has 
 met with good success. 
 
 CHARLES ATKINS, Railroad Pool Commis- 
 sioner, Council Bluffs,was born in Maine in 1831; 
 was educated in his native State, and,when twent3- 
 j-ears of age, went to California, where he re- 
 mained four years. In 1856, he came to Iowa, 
 and settled in Onawa, where he engaged in 
 merchandising. In 1873, he left Onawa, and 
 began railroading on the Union Pacific Rail- 
 road, and, in 1875, was tendered the position of 
 General Agent of the Chicago & North-Western 
 Railroad. In the spring of 1880, he went to 
 Colorado as President of the Colorado Mining, 
 
 Smelting & Investment Company, which posi- 
 tion he still holds. In Onawa, Iowa, in 1860, 
 he married Miss Mary Sears, of that place, and 
 they have one child, Carrie, aged twenty years. 
 Mrs. Atkins' father kept the Pacific House in 
 Council Bluffs in 1854. Mr. Atkins is at pres- 
 ent Pool Commissioner for the Iowa lines at the 
 Transfer Yards of Council Bluffs. 
 
 JOHN E. AHLES, blacksmith. Council 
 Bluffs, came to this city in 1856, and was 
 employed on the Utah expedition against 
 the Mormons, and shortl}- afterward was 
 engaged by the Western Stage Co. to con- 
 duct their blacksmith shops located here. 
 In 1860, he started in business for himself, 
 and carried it on with great success. In 
 1859, he went to California, but returned the 
 following year. While absent, he was engaged 
 in an Indian fight, and he still carries a ball in 
 his bod^' as a token of remembrance of that 
 occasion. When Abraham Lincoln was here in 
 1858, he (subject) was instructed by N. S. 
 Bates, city agent of the Western Stage Co., 
 and also an old neighbor of Mr. Lincoln's to 
 show him all possible courtesy, and to take 
 him down on the bottom and show him his 
 large farm, which mission Mr. Ahles fulfilled, 
 and on their return the party stopped at a 
 saloon, near where Lentzinger's bakery now 
 stands, and all with the exception of 3Ir. Lin- 
 coln took a glass of beer, he remarking that 
 he " would take a drink if he felt like it." In 
 Basil, Switzerland, is the seat of the largest 
 German and Swiss institution for missionary 
 purposes. In 1857, they sent out two mission- 
 aries and four colonists among the Crow and 
 Blackfeet Indians that were roaming about the 
 Black Hills. They stayed among them two 
 years, when, through the influence of Canadian 
 missionaries, their huts were burned and four 
 killed, the remaining two returning to Council 
 Bluffs. These latter were very positive of the 
 existence of gold in the Black Hills, which 
 fact our subject published in the Allentown 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 Weltburger, and also in Frank Leslie's Illus- 
 trated, this being the first knowledge of gold 
 existing in the Black Hills. Our subject claims 
 to the first man to correspond in German with 
 the Eastern press from Colorado, Utah and 
 Nevada. The Germans of Council Bluffs cele- 
 brated the one hundredth anni versarj- of the birth 
 of the poet Schiller, and soon after our subject 
 recevied a letter from the daughter of the poet, 
 thanking them for the honor shown her father's 
 memory. Mr. Ahles enlisted in the Fifth 
 Iowa Cavah'y, but was rejected on account of 
 physical disabilities. He has built many small 
 houses for poor tenants, manj- of whom are 
 to-daj- thanking him for their homes. Mr. 
 Ahles' shop is situated on South Main street, 
 where he does general blacksmithing and 
 wagon work. He has twice been a member of 
 the Democratic State Convention, and once a 
 member of the National Convention of the 
 Democratic part}-. 
 
 .^IRS. L. C. ARBUTHNOT, milliner, Coun- 
 cil Bluflfs, was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., and 
 lived there until her marriage. Her husband, 
 George B. Arbuthnot. died in 1S65. He 
 was a cotton broker in the South, and lost his 
 property in the rebellion. They had one boy — 
 George W. Arbuthnot, aged twenty-two years, 
 who is now in Omaha. ;\Irs. Arbuthnot em- 
 ploys twelve girls in her millinery and dress- 
 making establishment. She came to Council 
 Bluffs iu 1865, from New Orleans, where her 
 husband formerly lived. 
 
 JUDGE A. S. BRYANT, retired. Council 
 Bluffs, whose portrait appears iu this work, 
 was born in Powhatan County, Va., twenty 
 miles from Richmond, July 1, 1803. When he 
 was nine years old, his parents moved to 
 Georgia, and soon after to Frankfort, Ky., 
 where he was reared and educated, and where 
 in 1831, he married Miss P. G. Montgomerv. 
 In 1849, he was elected County Judge of Put- 
 nam County, Mo., and in 1S52 came to Council 
 Bluffs, and engaged in buying and selling real 
 
 estate. He owns twelve houses in Council 
 Bluflfs, and also has a fine tract of land near, 
 consisting of 250 acres. He speaks very high- 
 ly of the early IMormon settlers here, whom he 
 describes as honest and industrious. He was 
 a friend of Orson Hyde, the Mormon elder, 
 who was at Council Bluflfs in 1852; the dispute 
 between the Mormons and Gentiles at that 
 time being settled by Judge Bryant and Elder 
 Hyde, who were chosen arbitrators. When 
 Judge Bryant first came -to Council Blufl^'s it 
 was a place of about five hundred inhabitants, 
 but there were flush times then and money was 
 plentiful. He auctioned off at one time $12,- 
 000 worth of cattle where the Broadway 
 Methodist Church now stands. He canned 
 $3,000 in gold on his person from Council 
 Bluffs to Missouri, a journey at that time at- 
 tended with considerable peril to the traveler. 
 His success in life has been owing to his un- 
 tiring energy and industry. He spends the 
 winter seasons at Beebe, White Co., Ark., 
 where he owns some property. His name in 
 full is Archibald S. Bryant; has no children; 
 is an uncle of R. T. Brjant, of Council Bluffs. 
 JOHN N. BALDWIN, attorney. Council 
 Bluflfs, was born in Council Bluffs July 9, 1857, 
 where he has since resided. He was educated 
 at the Iowa State University, graduating from 
 the law department in June, 1877. He began 
 the practice of law in Council Bluffs as a mem- 
 ber of the firm of Rising, Wright & Baldwin. 
 In 1880, Rising left for Colorado, and the firm 
 then changed to Wright & Baldwin, as it now 
 stands. Mr. Baldwin has achieved remarkable 
 success as an attorney, whi^h, perhaps, is due 
 to his natural ability as an orator, though, as a 
 sharp, shrewd and far-seeing lawj'er, he ranks 
 among the old attorne3's of his native city. 
 Every succeeding year since he began practic- 
 ing, has found him higher in the estimation of 
 the people, and deeper in the m3'steries of law. 
 Future honors maj- be easily won by him, if the 
 past maj- be any criterion from which to judge 
 
6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 In December of 1878, he was married to Miss 
 Lilla G. Holeomb, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
 
 HENRY BEECROFT. livery. Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Blutl's in 1860, and engaged in 
 teaming. He commenced draj-ing in 1 865, with 
 one team, and kept increasing until at present 
 he has four teams at work. He bought his liverj- 
 stable September 9, 1832, but still keeps three 
 teams at work dra\'ing and two cabs running; 
 he has fourteen horses in livery stock, besides 
 several boarders; he employs five men. Mr. 
 Beeeroft was born in England in 1840, and came 
 to the United States in 1851, his parents set- 
 tling in Missouri. In two years, they removed 
 to Salt Lake, our subject remaining there three 
 years; he was married, in 1863, to Miss Mary 
 Reeves, of Council Blutfs, and thej- have eight 
 children, equally divided, four boys and four 
 girls. Mr. Beeeroft is a Republican in politics. 
 
 PETER BECHTEL. proprietor of Bechtels 
 Hotel, Council Bluffs, is a native of Bavaria, 
 Germany, born in 1827, and came to America 
 in 185-4. After traveling for a short time, he 
 located in Chicago, where he remained one 3'ear, 
 after which he went to Lake Superior. After 
 remaining there a few months, he went, in 1856. 
 to La Crosse, where he remained till 1859, when 
 he removed to St. Joseph, Mo.; he remained in 
 St. Joseph for two years, and carried on the 
 restaurant business there, and, in 1861, came to 
 Council Bluffs; here he opened a hotel, and in 
 1864, bought his present stand, which he re- 
 fitted and improved in 1867; he does a good 
 business, having from fift^' to sixtj' boarders, 
 and being also well patronized by transient 
 guests. In Havre de Grace, in 1854, he mar- 
 ried Miss Anna Wentzl, of the T3-rol, Germany, 
 and by this union they have been blessed with 
 two children — Louis, twent3'-six, and Anna, 
 twenty-four 3-ears of age. 
 
 NAPOLEON J. BOND, grain-dealer. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born near Waterloo, 111., in 1832, 
 and is a descendent of the Bond family who 
 came to America in 1 634. with Lord Baltimore, 
 
 and assisted in founding the cit3' of Baltimore. 
 In 1781, a great-great-uncle came to Kaskaskia, 
 111., with Gen. George Rogers Clark, who was 
 followed, about the year 1800, b3' Shadraek 
 Bond, who was elected the first Governor of 
 Illinois, in 1819, about which time Shadraek G. 
 Bond, father of Napoleon, came to Illinois. 
 The subject of this sketch remembers manv of 
 the thrilling incidents related to him by his 
 famih' of the early pioneers of Illinois. After 
 receiving a common school education, he taught 
 school for a time, and read law with Colonel, 
 afterward Governor, Bissell, of Illinois. A favor- 
 able opportunity offering, he went into the bus- 
 iness of merchandising at Waterloo, III., in 
 1852. Closed out in 1853. and removed to 
 Sulphur Springs. Mo., where he carried on the 
 mercantile business for a 3-ear and a half, and 
 while engaged in business studied medicine, 
 and in 1855 sold out, and went to Carlyle, 111., 
 where he continued the study of medicine, un- 
 til he again engaged in business for himself, in 
 1857, in which he remained but a short time. 
 Removed to Trenton, 111., where he again em- 
 barked in the mercantile business, and failed in 
 1859. Closed up affairs, and again took up the 
 law, and in the spring of 1861, crossed the 
 plains to Colorado, with the gold-seekers, and 
 was fortunate enough to strike a bonanza in 
 the shape of a gold mine called the Phillips, at 
 Buckskin Joe, which was the leading mine of 
 Colorado in 1861. He was, soon after his ar- 
 rival in the mining camp, elected President 
 and Judge of the district, which position he 
 held until the Territorial organization. Was 
 a member and President of the Council 
 of the first Colorado Legislature, and assisted 
 in organizing the Territorial Government of 
 Colorado. Left Colorado in 1863, and went 
 to Virginia City. Mont., in 1864, with the 
 gold excitement there, engaged in mining and 
 merchandising, and in the spring of 1865 re- 
 moved to Helena, where he built one of the 
 first houses built in that city, and saw 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 Johnnj- Keen, alias Bob Black, hung on 
 hangman's tree, who was the first of sixteen 
 hung on it at different times. Closed out in 
 the fill! of 180)5, and returned to the States ; 
 fitted out a mule train and freighted across the 
 plains ; again to Virginia City, Mont., in 186ti, 
 where he engaged in business, and in March, ; 
 1867. started with his train and goods for Sal- 
 mon Kiver Mines, Idaho ; the severest weather 
 of the winter was experienced after his leaving, 
 the thermometer ranging from zero to -i7° be- 
 low : but bj- making sleds, which he had to do, 
 with the mercury 20° below, and placing his 
 wagons ou them, was enabled to cross the 
 main snowy range of the Rocky ilonntains, 
 over snow from three feet to fortj' feet deep, 
 which feat he accomplished without frost biting 
 a man. or losing a single mule, and claims to be 
 the first and only person who ever successfully 
 crossed the main snowy range of the Rocky 
 Mountains with a train in the middle of the win- 
 ter. Arriving at Salmon River, seventeen miles 
 from the mines, at the foot of the mountains, in 
 company with Col. George L. Shoup, they laid 
 out a town which they named Salmon Cit}-, 
 which in about two weeks had a population of 
 1.200 inhabitants. But the mines proving a 
 partial failure, a stampede set in from them, 
 and in three months there were only about 100 
 out of the 1,200 left. After an eventful season, 
 he closed out, and returned to the States, stop- 
 ping on his wa}' home at Council Bluffs, where 
 an opportunity offered, and in the spring 
 of 1868 engaged in the grain, produce, 
 hide and wool business, with Thatcher and 
 Mulholland, under the firm name of Bond, 
 Thatcher & Co., which was dissolved in the 
 spring of 1869, N. J. Bond continuing the bus- 
 iness. In 1872, the hide and wool business 
 was sold to Oberne, IMcDonald & Co., and the 
 balance of the business closed out, after which 
 he removed to Vermillion, Dak., where he 
 bought grain during that j'ear, and loaded the 
 first steamboat load of wheat ever shipped out 
 
 of the Territory-, and after a successful trade 
 over the Dakota Southern Railroad, the fol- 
 lowing year, again returned to Council Bluffs, 
 and in the fall of 1874 again went into the 
 grain and produce trade in Council Bluffs, in 
 which he has continued until the present time. 
 During the most of the time, he has been work- 
 ing and developing his old mine in Colorado, 
 which he has at last succeeded in developing 
 into a second Bonanza. Although a life-long 
 Methodist, he, with his wife, who was a Mrs. 
 Harvey, whose maiden name was McClelland, 
 are now both members of the Presb3'terian 
 Church of Council Bluffs. 
 
 D. W. BUSHNELL, book and news dealer, 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Ashtabula County, 
 Ohio, in 1844; was educated there, and re- 
 mained till 1859, when he moved to Boone, 
 Boone Co., Iowa, where he lived on a farm two 
 }'ears; he then entered the army as a private in 
 Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantrj-, and, at the 
 close of the war. returned to Boone, where he 
 filled the office of Deputy County Treasurer 
 for two years; he then engaged in the book 
 business, which he carried on under the firm 
 name of Moffatt & Bushnell to the fall of 1872, 
 when he came to Council Bluffs; here he bought 
 an interest in L. Brackett's Post Office Book 
 Store, and carried on business in company with 
 Mr. Brackett until 1876, when he sold out to 
 W. C. Erb. Aftei two years, he again bought 
 an interest in the business. On first coming to 
 Council Bluffs, Bushnell & Brackett started a 
 store on upper Broadway, and they have 
 operated that and the post office book store 
 ever since. In the spring of 1882, the post 
 office store was removed five doors above the 
 post office. The Pearl street store is 100 feet 
 long and twenty feet wide, and occupies one 
 floor, where they carry on both wholesale and 
 retail business, keeping a full stock of goods in 
 their line; this store is conducted by Mr. Bush- 
 nell. The store on Upper Broadway is con- 
 ducted by Mr. Brackett, and a full stock of toys 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 are kept in addition to the books and news busi- 
 ness; this store is seventy feet long and fifty feet 
 wide. Mr. Bnshnell's ancestors came to this 
 country many generations back. 
 
 REUBEN T. BRYANT, real estate and 
 mining, Council Bluffs, was born in Scotland 
 County, Mo., in 1837, and is of Scotch-Irish 
 descent, although his ancestors came to this 
 country' many generations past and settled in 
 Virginia. He remained in Scotland County, 
 Mo., until the spring of 1851, when he came to 
 Council Bluffs, and after living there a year 
 and a half, moved back to Scotland County, 
 Mo. He received his education in the schools 
 of Scotland County and Council Bluffs. He 
 returned to Council Bluffs in 1863, and attended 
 school, and also taught until 1866, when he 
 went to Chicago and took a business course in 
 Eastman's Business College. Returning to 
 Council Bluffs- the following year, he taught 
 school for two years, then engaged in real 
 estate business. In December, 1869, he went 
 to Avoca, Iowa, where he engaged in general 
 merchandising until the fall of 1872, when he 
 was elected Clerk of Court on the Republi- 
 can ticket, and he accordingly sold out his 
 business in Avoca and entered upon his duties 
 as Clerk in January, 1873, and held that posi- 
 tion for four years. During this time he had 
 carried on the real estate business, and on 
 leaving the Clerk's office he gave his attention 
 to that business. In the spring of 1879, he 
 took a trip to Colorado, and while there became 
 connected in the mining business with the Sen- 
 eca Mining & Tunnel Company, and the R. T. 
 Bryant Mining Company (named after subject), 
 and afterward became interested in some 
 placer mines located on Mandano Creek, on the 
 south side of Sangre de Christo Mountains, 
 Col., in San Luis Valley, and in some copper 
 mines on Pass Creek, the company being known 
 as the Huerfano Mining Company. At Council 
 Bluffs, in 1872, Mr. Bryant married Miss Anna 
 C. Drain, of that city, and by this union they 
 
 have been blessed with one child — Faunie 
 Anna, aged four years. 
 
 GEORGE C. BROWN, dentist, Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Watertown, N. Y., February 
 11, 1859 ; removed, in 1869, tj Council Bluft's, 
 where he received his education in the public 
 schools. He has lived in Council Bluffs ever 
 since, with the exception of the time spent in 
 acquiring his knowledge of dentistry. He 
 began studying dentistry with Austin & Darby, 
 of St. Joseph, Mo., in the spring of 1877, and 
 in the fall of that year entered the Penn.sylva- 
 nia College of Dental Surgery. In the spriug 
 of 1873. he returned to the office of Austin 
 & Darby, where he pursued the stud}' of his 
 chosen profession, and in the fall of the same 
 year entered the University of Pennsylvania, 
 from which he graduated March 12, 1879. In 
 the summer of that year he began the practice 
 of dentistry corner of Pearl street and Broad- 
 way, Council Blufls. His office is now in room 
 11, in the same block, on Pearl street. 
 
 REV. P. F. BRESEE, one of the most 
 active members of the Iowa clergy, was born 
 in the township of Franklin, Delaware Count}-, 
 N. Y., December 31, 1838. His father. P. P. 
 Bresee, at that time farming in Franklin, is a 
 native of the same count}', as is also his 
 mother, Susan, daughter of Luke Brown, who 
 came to Delaware County from Massachusetts 
 at an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Bresee had one 
 daughter and two sons — ^Diantha, P. F. our 
 subject, and Reed, who died at one year of age. 
 Diantha married Mr. Giles Cowle}' in New 
 York. They all came West, pursued farming 
 in Iowa Count}*, this State, for a time, then 
 removed to Des Moines in 1864, and engaged 
 in milling and merchandising, and, in 1872, 
 came to Council Bluffs, where Mrs. Cowley 
 died April 20, 1875, leaving one son, Fred. P. 
 P. Bresee, our subject, attended the common 
 schools of his native home, and later the 
 Franklin Seminary. He spent a portion of 
 his youth in a general store in Davenport, in 
 
COU^TCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 which his father for several years owned an 
 interest. He experienced a change of heart at 
 sixteen j-ears of age, joined the Methodist 
 Church in Davenport, Delaware County, and 
 from that time was inclined to the work of the 
 ministry. Two years later he came West, with 
 a view of ultimately entering the religious 
 field. Owing to a great need of ministerial 
 workers in Iowa, he almost immediately joined 
 the Iowa Conference. Although being at that 
 time but eighteen years of age, he was assigned 
 a charge as junior Pastor of the Marengo work, 
 comprising six or eight appointments. It was 
 a year of hard work, but success crowned his 
 labors, and the church was greatly strength- 
 ened. Mr. Bresee first came to Council Bluffs 
 in 1870 as Pastor of the Broadway JI. E. 
 Church, and remained there three years. He 
 labored earnestly for the prosperity of the 
 church, and during his pastorate the member- 
 ship was greatly increased, and a much higher 
 state of spiritual power was enjoyed. He has 
 ever been careful to educate his people on 
 every moral question, and has ever been a rad- 
 ical temperance man. He was sent as delegate 
 to the General Conference in 1872, held at 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. From Council Bluffs he 
 labored at Red Oak, Iowa, three years, 
 then in Clarinda three years, and next in 
 Creston two years, and, in 1881, he returned 
 to Council Cluffs, where he is now actively 
 engaged in a new and most important work of 
 organizing a new society and erecting a mag- 
 nificent new church edifice. Mr. Bresee has 
 been assigned this special work because of his 
 well-established reputation as a worker, an 
 organizer and a man of marked executive 
 ability. The success of this enterprise at the 
 time of writing is assured by large subscrip- 
 tions of money, and the efficient manner in 
 which Mr. Bresee has thus far conducted the 
 business, not only contributing to the work his 
 undivided attention, but liberallj- from his pri- 
 vate purse. Mr. Bresee has been engaged in 
 
 the work of the ministrj' for more than twent3-- 
 five years, and during the entire time in the 
 State. He first joined and worked in the Iowa 
 Conference until 1864, when that Conference 
 was divided, and his field of labor put into the 
 Des Moines Conference. July 31, 1860, he 
 married Miss Maria E. Hebbard, daughter of 
 Horace and Samantha (Hoyt) Hebbard. Mr. 
 Hebbard was a native of the Empire State, and 
 a farmer by occupation. Mrs. Hebbard was 
 born in the State of Connecticut. They had two 
 sons and three daughters — R. L., Debora, N. H., 
 Maria E. and Mary. Mrs. B. was born Novem- 
 ber 1 5, 1836. She received her education at the 
 schools in Davenport, Delaware Co., N. Y., 
 where she lived until after her marriage. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bresee have had seven children, six 
 of whom are now living. The second child — 
 Lillie M., died when fifteen mouths old. Ernest 
 H., the oldest, is now in college. Phineas W., 
 Bertha, Paul, Melvin and Susie, are at home. 
 Mr. Bresee, besides attending to his pastoral 
 duties, finds time to devote to outside business, 
 and has been fortunate in making modest 
 investments in mining stocks, upon which he 
 has received handsome margins, and now owns 
 stock in several of the most prolific mines of 
 Mexico and Arizona, with the returns from 
 which he is enabled to gratifj- a life-long desire 
 to promote the prosperit}' of and spread the 
 word of (rod. 
 
 AMELIA BURROUGHS, physician. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in Wellington, Ohio, a few 
 miles from Cleveland. From early childhood, 
 she manifested a passion for the study of med- 
 icine and surgery. She was educated in Cleve- 
 land and graduated at the Homreopathic Hos- 
 pital College in March, 1881. She was Dis- 
 pensary Physician at the Woman's Dispensary 
 connected with the college. She has a large 
 and steadily-increasing practice in Council 
 Bluffs. She was married, in 1873, at Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, and has one child — Willie. 
 
 J. W. BUFFINGTON, book-keeper for Erb 
 & Duquette, Council Bluffs, was born at Ta- 
 
10 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 neytowii, Carroll Co.. Md., November 10, 1847, 
 and is of English descent. His father was 
 Chief Judge of the Orphans' Court of Carroll 
 County, Md., for eight years. When subject 
 was nine years of age, he moved with his par- 
 ents to Baltimore, Md. He received his edu- 
 cation at Irving College, Manchester, Md., and 
 took a business course at Bryant & Stratton's 
 Business College, Baltimore, 3Id. He first be- 
 gan business in 1866 as salesman with Delphey 
 & Shorb, dry goods merchants, with whom he 
 remained about a year ; then entered the store 
 of F. H. Elliott, Taneytown, Md., remaining 
 there till 1870. He then engaged in farming 
 and dair}' business, near Baltimore, Md., and 
 continued in that occupation till February, 
 1875, when he came to Council Bluffs and there 
 engaged as salesman with J. W. Laing, with 
 whom he remained till 1876. He then returned 
 to Maryland and engaged with his former em- 
 ployer, F. H. Elliott, for two years, when he 
 returned to Council Bluffs and again engaged 
 with J. W. Laing, and after being two years in 
 his employ accepted his present position of 
 book-keeper for Erb & Duquette, wholesale 
 confectioners and fruiterers, of Council Bluffs. 
 The}' are the largest dealers in their line west 
 of Chicago. 
 
 BECK BROTHERS, grocers. Council Bluffs. 
 Peter Beck now has control of the business of 
 this firm, his brother, Charles Beck, having 
 died August 8, 1881. The style of the firm, 
 however, yet remains — Beck Brothers. They 
 commenced business July 19, 1879, in the 
 house occupied by them now, 600 South Main 
 St. Their stock when beginning business 
 amounted to $1,500, and their annual sales 
 were S20,000. The firm has on hand at pres- 
 ent about $4,000 stock, and the annual sales 
 now amount to 830,000. Mr. Beck attends in 
 the store himself and has two salesmen besides. 
 Peter Beck was born at Bingen on the Rhine, 
 German}', in 1854. His parents removed to 
 this country when he was but six years old, 
 
 and came to St. Joseph, Mo., where they lived 
 one year. They then moved to Omaha, re- 
 mained there a year, and then came to Council 
 Bluffs, where he has ever since resided. He 
 was educated in the public schools of Council 
 Bluffs. 
 
 J. H. BURROUGHS, real estate, Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., 
 in June, 1820, and is of English descent. He 
 was one of the originators of the \V3'oming 
 Mutual Insurance Company, of which he was 
 General Manager at Warsaw, N. Y. In the 
 spring of 1868, he came West and located at 
 Council Bluffs, where he has since resided. 
 Since he came to Council Bluffs, he has been 
 engaged in the real estate and loan business. 
 He is now and has been for two years Overseer 
 of the Poor. He is a supporter of the Repub- 
 lican part}'. 
 
 J. W. BAIRD, attorney. Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Morgantown, W. Va. He came to 
 Council Bluffs in the fall of 1862, where he has 
 ever since resided. He was educated in Coun- 
 cil Bluffs Public Schools and at Cornell College, 
 Mount Vernon, Iowa. He graduated from the 
 former school in 1870, in the first class ever 
 graduating from that school, and from the lat- 
 ter institution in the spring of 1874, having at 
 that time conferred upon him the degree of B. 
 S., and in 1877 the honorable degree of 51. S., 
 from the same college. He commenced read- 
 ing law with Sapp & Lyman in 1878. Was 
 admitted to practice the same year, and in the 
 fall of 1878 was elected Justice of the Peace of 
 Council Bluffs, which otfice he has ever since 
 held. He is of Irish descent. 
 
 J. F. BARKE, Excelsior Gallery, Council 
 Bluffs, came to Council Blufl's in 1879 from 
 England and opened up business on First av- 
 enue, between Main and Pearl streets. He has 
 a branch gallerj' at Missouri Valley, Iowa. 
 He employs four assistants. In the fall of 
 1881, he introduced the new instantaneous 
 gelatine bromide process, he being the first to 
 
COUXCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 11 
 
 introduce it In the West. It has proved an 
 eminent success. He was born, in 18-14. in 
 Warwickshire. England. Cama to the United 
 States in 1874, and soon after returned, and 
 came back here in 1879. Mr. Bai-ke is about 
 to re-model his operating room, which will 
 then be the finest in the State. He has met 
 with great success with children's photographs. 
 
 THOMAS BOWMAN, Mayor, Council Bluffs, 
 has been a resident of the city since 1867. 
 He first entered the employ of John Hammer, 
 contractor and builder; next spent two years 
 with J. P. & J. N. Casady, real estate dealers, 
 and left them to take the management of the 
 Crystal Mills at Council Bluffs. He held the 
 office of City Assessor during 1872-73-74 and 
 1875, four terms, resigning in the latter year 
 to accept the office of Treasurer of Pottawat- 
 tamie Count}-, to which he was elected by the 
 Democratic party. This is a two yeai-s' term 
 office, and Mr. Bowman held it for three con- 
 secutive terms. In 1881, he was elected May- 
 or of the cit}- of Council Bluffs. He has been 
 connected with the tire department of the citj' 
 since 1868, and is Captain of Rescue Hose 
 Company, No. 3. In 1881, the firm of Bow- 
 man. Rohrer & Co. was organized. Their 
 principal business is storage and commission. 
 Mr. Bowman was born in 1848 in Wiscasset, 
 Me. He has a full genealogical history of 
 his family, bj- which his ancestry is traced to 
 English origin. His family was represented in 
 the pilgrims of the Mayflower. He has been 
 remarkablj' successful as a business man. and 
 his position is among the best societj- of the 
 city. 
 
 JOHN BENNETT, County Treasurer, Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, is one of that class of citizens of 
 Pottawattamie Count}- whose name is familiar 
 to almost every citizen in the county, and who 
 is very frequently spoken of as one of the first 
 settlors, and the assertion is a true one, as in 
 1853, when Council Bluffs was but a small fron- 
 tier trading or outfitting point, he, with his un- 
 
 cle, John Keller, became residents of the place. 
 None, not even the most enthusiastic in their 
 predictions, ever supposed that a quarter of a 
 century could make so much difference as to 
 change the rough frontier town to the city 
 of to-day. Equally important and progress- 
 ive have been the changes in the lives of 
 some of thie first comers to the town, and of 
 this number, the life of Mr. Bennett, is perhaps 
 as remarkable as anj-. Born in Allegheny 
 City, Penn.. in July, 1832, he w.as left an 
 orphan at six years of age in care of his uncle, 
 John Keller, his father dying when he was 
 two j-earsold, and his mother when he was six. 
 His uncle becoming a resident of Cincinnati. 
 Ohio, the most of his early life was spent 
 and his education received in that city. In 
 1853, as before stated, he became a resi- 
 dent of Council Bulffs. He spent about three 
 j-ears as clerk in a store, and then engaged in 
 the lumber trade, at which he continued until 
 1862; from that date until 1867, he was a 
 salesman in the store of J. M. Philips. The 
 following three years he spent in the grocery 
 trade on his own account, and only quit it to 
 accept the office of Auditor of the County, an 
 office which he filled with so much credit as to 
 be re-elected to the same position for five con- 
 secutive terms of two years each. As a further 
 honor, in October, 1881, he was elected to the 
 office of Treasurer of the county, for a two 
 years' term, and is now engaged in the dis- 
 charge of his duties. He has been dependent 
 almost wholh' upon his own resources, and 
 though he labored under many disadvantages 
 when j'oung, he now stands among the sub- 
 stantial citizens of the county, financially, and 
 and b}- an honorable career, he has builded for 
 himself a reputation for which he ma}- be al- 
 lowed a pardonable pride. 
 
 JOHN BENO, of John Beno & Co., mer- 
 chants, Council Bluffs, came to Council Bluffs 
 in the spring of 1861, with his brother, and 
 lived with him one j'ear; when his brother 
 
13 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 moved away, he then lived with Mr. W. D. 
 Turner during the latter part of 1861 and all 
 of 18G2, during which time he attended the 
 public schools of Council BlutTs, and in 1863 
 lived with Mr. H. C. Niilt, working in an ex- 
 press oflBce, and then entered the store of J. L. 
 Foreman as salesman, and held that position 
 until the spring of 1866, Mr. Foreman going 
 out of the business at that time. Mr. Beno 
 then engaged as salesman with Johnson, Sprat- 
 Ian & Co., with whom he stayed until July of 
 that year, when he formed a partnership with 
 Mr. Foreman, the firm being Foreman & Beno. 
 He remained in partnership with Mr. Foreman 
 until August, 1879, when Mr. Beno withdrew 
 from the firm, and he then took a vacation and 
 went on a visit to his parents at Portland, Ore- 
 gon. He returned to Council Bluffs, and in 
 the fall of 1880 opened up a general merchan- 
 dise store at 18th Main and 17th Pearl streets. 
 Council Blufts, length of store-room 102 feet, 
 width twenty feet. The stock of general goods 
 is on ground floor, and the store-room and 
 clothing department in upper story, the build- 
 ing being two stories high. Mr. Beno was 
 born in Alsace, France (now Germany), in 
 1845, and at seven years of age came to 
 America. He first lived in St. Louis six j-ears, 
 then removed to St. Joseph, Mo.; lived there 
 three years and then came to Council Bluffs. 
 He married in 1872, Elizabeth M. Robertson, 
 of Little Sioux, Iowa, formerly of Council 
 Bluflls. Mr. Beno has associated with him in 
 business his two nephews, A. F. Beno and 
 Charles Beno, two estimable young gentle- 
 men. 
 
 F. A. BURKE, City Auditor, Council BluflTs, 
 became a resident of Pottawattamie County as 
 early as 1856. He first settled in that part of 
 the county' now known as Washington Town- 
 ship, and was the second settler there. He re- 
 mained there for about three years and then 
 came to Council Bluffs. He was filling the 
 office of Justice of the Peace when he came to 
 
 the town, Kane Township at that time em- 
 bracing the territory of which Washington 
 Township was a part. He removed to Council 
 Bluffs in 1869, and continued to hold the office 
 of Justice by re-election, until 1879. In 1869, 
 he was also elected to the office of City Re- 
 corder, and was retained in that ofllce liy re- 
 election by the Republican party until 1S79. 
 He was then out for one j'car, but was again 
 elected to the same office, holding it until the 
 spring of 1882, when the charter was abolished 
 and the Superior Court established, when he 
 was elected City Auditor, which office he is now 
 filling. During the war of the rebellion he 
 was appointed Assistant United States Assessor, 
 and held that office until 1869. His life, spent 
 in Council Bluffs, has been such as to reflect 
 only -credit upon himself. He is a native of 
 Washington County, Penn., where he was born 
 July 17, 1815. For about ten years prior to 
 his moving West he had resided in Wheeling, 
 W. Va. In social circles he has taken quite an 
 active part. He is a charter member of Twin 
 Brother Encampment, No. 42, I. 0. 0. F.. and 
 since the organization of the Odd Fellows Pro- 
 tective Association on December 5, 1870. he 
 has been its President. His first marriage was 
 to Miss Eliza J. Smith, a native of Fayefte 
 County, Penn. His two sons, William S. and 
 Hugh M., were born of this marriage. They 
 were both in the Federal army during the re- 
 bellion, the former holding the office of Lieu- 
 tenant. William S. was also the first publisher 
 of the Daihj Nonpareil of Council Bluffs. He 
 is now at Alberqurque, N. M., and Hugh M. is 
 in San Francisco. Mr. Burke's second marriage 
 was while he was a resident of Wheeling. W. 
 Va., to Miss Margaret McMilleu, who was also 
 born in Pennsylvania. There are five sons and 
 one daughter living who were born of this mar- 
 riage. The elder sons have already distinguished 
 themselves as members of the legal profession, 
 and the younger bid fair to occupy an equally 
 honorable position in the communit}-. 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 13 
 
 JOHN F. B^YD, Superintendent of the 
 Transfer Stock Yards, Council Bluffs, was born 
 in Worcester Countj-, Mass., in 1845, and in 
 1865 came to Council Bluffs, where he engaged 
 in the stock business, in the interest of which 
 he spent four years in Texas. In January 
 1880, he was appointed to his present position, 
 Superintendent of the Transfer Stock Yards at 
 Council Bluffs, which he abh" fills, having un- 
 der his direction about twenty-three men. 
 Mr. Boyd was married in Massachusetts in 
 1874, and has three children — Leon Lovell. 
 aged six years; Mable A., aged three j'ears, 
 and Lulu, eight months old. 
 
 C. A. BEEBE, of C. A. Beebe & Co., dealers 
 m furniture and crockery, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Caldwell County, Mo., in 1836. He 
 came with his parents in 1838 to Iowa, soon af- 
 ter went to Lima, 111.; returned here in 1848, 
 and followed farming for fourteen years. He 
 began business here in 1867; built his present 
 business house in 1880, and is doing a good 
 trade, carrying a stock of about §15,000, em- 
 ploying two assistants, and doing an annual 
 business of from $35,000 to $40,000. He keeps 
 a fine stock of furniture, crockery' and glass- 
 ware; he also does an extensive jobbing busi- 
 ness. He was married in 1857, and has a fam- 
 ily of four daughters and one son. The latter 
 who is twent}'-four years of age, has an inter- 
 est in the business. His family are all at home. 
 
 M. P. BREWER, attorney. Council Bluffs, 
 has been a resident of Council Bluffs since 
 1867. Ei is a native of laida County, N. Y., 
 where he graduated from Hamilton College of 
 Clinton. He subsequently graduated from the 
 law department of the Michigan University, of 
 Ann Arbor, after which he came to Council 
 Bluffs, and spent one year in the law office of 
 Judge Caleb Baldwin. In the spring of 1863, 
 he began practice with Mr. Hart, under the firm 
 name of Hart & Brewer. In one j-ear's time 
 the firm again changed, and became Clinton, 
 Hiirt & Brewer. Business was done by this 
 
 firm until May, 1882, when Mr.- Hart changed 
 his residence to Minneapolis, Minn., and Mr. 
 Clinton retired from business. Mr. Brewer has 
 since continued in practice at the old office, in 
 the Officer & Pusey bank building. 
 
 E. BURHORN, jeweler. Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Germany in 1840; in 1866, came to 
 the United States, and in 1869 to Council Bluffs. 
 He worked six months for C. B. Jacquimin & 
 Co., and in 1870 commenced business on his 
 own account. He has been successful in his 
 business, which is constantly increasing; he 
 carries a $7,000 stock, and emploj's an assist- 
 ant. In 1878, he married Miss MoUie L. Woods, 
 of Council Bluffs, and they have one child — 
 Frank, aged three and a half years. 
 
 J. J. BROWN, railroad contractor. Council 
 Bluffs, is a native of Ireland; was born in 1833, 
 and in 1845 came to the United States with his 
 parents, who settled in Springfield, Mass. He 
 came to Chicago in the spring of 1849, thence 
 to Diibuque, Iowa, in 1853, and in 1865 came 
 to Council Bluffs, where he engaged as a con- 
 tractor on the Chicago & North- Western Rail- 
 road. In Council Bluffs, in 1867, he married 
 Miss Rj'an, and by this union thej- have one 
 daughter — Nora M., aged twelve 3-ears, now at- 
 tending school in South Bend, Ind. In 1S68, 
 he engaged in the hardware business under the 
 firm name of Brown & Ryan, in which he con- 
 tinued for three years, then sold out, and in 
 1870 went to Texas, where he built 200 miles 
 of the Intern.ational Railroad, now the Texas 
 Pacific. In 1862, he enlisted in the Twelfth 
 Iowa Infantry; in 1863, was transferred into 
 the Sixth Iowa Cavalry, in which he held the 
 rank of First Lieutenant. In 1865, he enlisted 
 in the regular army as Captain of the Com- 
 missionary department, and the same year left 
 the service, being in the army in all four years 
 and six months. He is a supporter of the Dem- 
 ocratic part}-. 
 
 VINCENT BATTIN, carpenter. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Ohio in 1833; left home in 
 
u 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 1853, and went to Indiana, where he stayed 
 four years. He has traveled quite extansivel}-; 
 has been in Kansas, Colorado and Idaho, and 
 was married in the latter place in 1866. He 
 moved to Council Bluffs from Idaho in 1867; 
 opened a carpenter shop on Broadway, and has 
 lately erected his present building; he does a 
 business averaging $15,000 annually, aud gives 
 employment to eight men; he superintended 
 the rebuilding of the Ogden House, and also 
 built the Everett Block, on the corner of Broad- 
 way and Pearl streets. His mother is living in 
 Davis County, Iowa, and is seventy years of 
 age; his father died in Davis Countj^ Iowa. 
 Mr. Battin is a stanch Republican, and takes a 
 deep interest in political affairs. 
 
 JAMES M. BARSTOW, physician, Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Peoria County. 111., in 1854 
 His parents moved to a point in Mills County, 
 this State, called New Bethlehem, and in 1865, 
 returned to Illinois, where, after staying two 
 years, they came to this count)'. Our sulycct 
 was educated at the Keokuk College of Phar- 
 macj" and Surgery, from which institution he 
 graduated in March, 1880. He took special 
 courses in Obstetrics, Surger}- and Analj'tical 
 Chemistry; he has one of the finest medical 
 libraries in the cit)-; he was married in Sep- 
 tember, 1881, to Miss Lizzia Knabe, of Council 
 Bluff. Mrs. Barstow died June 6 of the fol- 
 lowing \'ear; she was well known and greatly 
 beloved by the people of this community, be- 
 ing a popular and respected teacher in our pub- 
 lic schools. 
 
 CHARLES J. BECKMAN, harness-maker. 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Bavaria in 1840. 
 He arrived in New York December 26, 1856, 
 and started at once for Chicago, where he 
 worked at his trade of harness-making. In 
 March, 1861, he went to Naperville, 111., where, 
 in the following May, he enlisted in the Thir- 
 teenth Illinois Infantry, and served till Novem- 
 ber 29, 1863; he was at the battle of Ringgold, 
 Ga., and afterward, under Gen. Grant, at Look- 
 
 out Mountain aud Mission Ridge, where he 
 lost his right arm. He was discharged in 
 March, 1864, at Hospital No. 19, in Nashville, 
 Tenn.; he returned to Naperville, 111., where he 
 remained until May 1, 1870, at which time he 
 came to Council Bluffs and opened in business; 
 he moved to his pi'esent location January 1, 
 1877, and furnishes employment to six men. 
 * Our subject is of a family of ten children; his 
 mother is still living with him, at the age of 
 seventy-four; his father died in Naperville, 111., 
 aged seventy-two. Mr. Beckman was married, 
 in Council Bluffs, July 19, 1874, to Paulina W. 
 Vogeler. Her parents live in Oak Township, 
 Mills County, this State. 
 
 H. S. BOTLE; commission merchant, Coun 
 cil Bluffs, was born in a railroad camp in 1837. 
 This was the Albany & Schenectadj' Railroad, 
 which was the second railroad built in the 
 United States. It is now a branch of the X. 
 Y. C. & H. R. R. Up to the present year, 
 our subject has been in the railroad business 
 all of his life. He helped to build the first rail- 
 road in Texas; he built the Wisconsin Central 
 from Stevens Point to Ashland; he built the 
 last ten miles of Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 
 Railroad, at the Council Bluffs end of that road, 
 employing from 10,000 to 15,000 meu; he con- 
 tracted for and built five miles of the Wabash 
 Railroad in Mills County, this State. July 1. 
 1882, he opened in this present business ; he 
 keeps a stock of wood, coal, flour, feed, etc., 
 and does a general commission business. He 
 was married at Darlington, Wis., in January, 
 1S61, to Miss Matilda M. Durst, of Erie, Peun., 
 a cousin of Gen. Robert E. Lee, of rebellion 
 fame. Mr. and Mrs. Boyle have two children — 
 Harr)' E., aged eighteen 3"ears, and Lelia N.. 
 aged thirteen. Our subject's father died in 
 Erie, Penn., in 1845, at the age of seventy. The 
 mother died in McGregor, this State, in 1868, 
 being seveut\--six years old. 
 
 PAUL BOUQUET, livery. Council Bluffs, 
 born in New York in 1848. From his native 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 15 
 
 State he moved successively to Ohio, Michigan, 
 Omaha, Neb., aud Anally, to Council Bluffs in 
 1872. He started a livery stable with eight 
 horses. At present, he owns two livery barns, 
 one on North Madison street, and the other on 
 lower Broadwaj'. He has a fine residence on 
 Stutsman street, and also a farm in Nebraska. 
 Mr. Bouquet is a public-spirited man; always 
 ready to lend his aid to every legitimate en- 
 terprise. His mother is living at Grand Island, 
 Neb., and is sixty-five years old; his father 
 died in Saginaw, Mich., in 1875, leaving a family 
 of twelve children, all of whom are living ex- 
 cept one, Martha, who died in 1880, at Flint, 
 Mich. Our subject was married in Council 
 Bluffs, in 1873. He has two children — Mabel, 
 aged five years, and Bud, who is three years 
 old. 
 
 JOHN CLAUSEN, grocer. Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Germany December 25, 1832. He 
 landed in New York Citj- in 1853, without a 
 single cent in his pocket. He came to Council 
 Bluffs in 1856 and in 1860 opened a grocery 
 store in a small log house on what is now the 
 site of the Ogden House. This primitive food 
 dispensar3' was called the " One-Horse Grocery," 
 and it will be remembered by the older citizens 
 of Council Bluffs. He now carries on a large 
 grocerj-, beside keeping a full line of hardware 
 and agricultural implements. He was married 
 in Council Bluffs in 1856. He has seven chil- 
 dren — two sons and five daughters, all of whom 
 are living in Council Bluffs. The oldest daugh- 
 ter is the wife of jMr. Allen of this city. Our 
 subject was Treasurer of the city of Council 
 Bluffs in 1876, aud has held the same office for 
 the past two j-ears. He has also been a mem- 
 ber of School Board for three years. 
 
 COOPER & McGEE, hardware and stoves. 
 Council Bluffs. H. G. McGee was born in 
 Grafton, W. Va., April 26, 1858 ; he removed 
 to Pittsburgh, Penn., with his parents when 
 eight years of age, and was educated at West- 
 ern University of Pittsburgh, Penn. He came 
 
 to Council Bluffs in the spring of 1874, and 
 engaged with Miller & Company in hardware 
 store as salesman, aud remained with that firm 
 until forming his present partnership. He 
 is of Irish descent. W. S. Cooper was born and 
 raised in Council Bluffs, and educated in the 
 public schools of that city. After leaving 
 school he worked for Empkie & McDoel, hard- 
 ware dealers, as salesman, for two j'ears. He 
 then became bookkeeper for P. C. Devol, hard - 
 ware merchant, and held that position un- 
 til entering the present firm. His ancestors 
 came to America many generations back. The 
 firm of Cooper & McGee commenced business 
 in Council Bluffs in March, 1882, at No. 41 Main 
 street, their store occup3'ing two stories seven- 
 ty feet long bj- twenty-two feet in width. The 
 lower story is occupied by the hardware aud 
 stove department ; part of the upper story is 
 used as a tin shop, while the other part is used 
 for storing goods. They carry from $10,000 to 
 $15,000 in stock, and expect to increase that 
 amount. Their annual sales, from present in 
 dications, will run as high as $30,000. The}- 
 emplo}' two practical tinners the year round. 
 
 J. H. CLARK, Reporter for Circuit Court 
 of Thirteenth Judicial District, Council Bluffs, 
 was born August 6, 1840, iu Brown County, 111.; 
 he was raised aud educated there, and in 1856, 
 came with his parents to Jefferson, Greene Co., 
 Iowa. He entered the arm}- at Jefferson, Iowa, 
 August 10, 1861, asa private, in the Tenth Iowa 
 Volunteer Infantry ; was promoted to First 
 Sergeant iu 1862, and to Captain of Companj- 
 H — same company- in which he had enlisted- 
 August 11, 1863. He held that position until 
 discharged, January 15, 1865, at Savannah, 
 Ga. He was wounded four times, one, a se- 
 vere wound in the shoulder. He returned to 
 Jefferson, Iowa, and engaged in merchandising, 
 and during the 3-ears 1869-70-71 and 72, was 
 mail agent on Des Moines Valley Railroad 
 during 1873 ; meanwhile he had been studying 
 shorthand writing, and still continued that 
 
16 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 stud}', and in 1875, was appointed to the posi- 
 tion of Reporter for Circuit Court of Thirteenth 
 Judicial District of Iowa, and still holds that 
 position. In August, 1880, he came to Coun- 
 cil Bluffs to reside. He is of English descent. 
 
 COUNCIL BLUFFS SAVINGS BANK, 
 general banking, Council Bluffs, was organized 
 November 1, 1870, N. P. Dodge being elected 
 President and A. W. Street Cashier. At a 
 meeting of the stockholders, held in June, 1882, 
 N. P. Dodge was elected President ; J. Bere- 
 shen Vice President, and Charles E. Dix Cash- 
 ier. Capital, $50,000. Surplus, $20,000. C. 
 E. Dix was connected with bank as Assistant 
 Cashier from May 1, 1875, till June, 1882, 
 when he was elected Cashier. The bank does 
 a general banking business. All the railroads 
 running into Council Bluffs transact their bus- 
 iness with this bank. 
 
 J. W. CHAFFIN, Council Bluffs, editor 
 of the Council Bluffs Advance, part pro- 
 prietor of that paper and of the steam job 
 printing and book-binding establishment of 
 S. T. Walker & Co. Born in Chillicothe, Ohio, 
 July 17, 1824. Received his early education 
 at Germantown and Bellbrook, Ohio. The 
 honorary degree of Master of Arts was con- 
 ferred bj' the Adrian College, Michigan, 
 1868, receiving an invitation to deliver the 
 annual lecture before the Star Literary So- 
 ciety of Adrian, which is considered quite an 
 honor. Taught school for awhile after leav- 
 ing school. In 1848, entered the ministry of 
 the Wesleyau Church. During years 1861-62 
 -63, held position of President of the Miami 
 Conference ; during time in the ministry-, he 
 was associated either as editor or correspond- 
 ent of several religious weeklies. In 1850, 
 he launched forth the Herald of Freedom, an 
 anti slavery paper devoted to reform and tem- 
 perance. Was nominated, in 1853, by the Free 
 Soilers, for Treasurer of State. In 1858, en- 
 gaged in the pork-packing business in Cincin- 
 nati, in which business he was unsuccessful. 
 
 In 1863, was Chaplain of the Fifty-ninth Ohio 
 Volunteers ; at end of same j'ear, was mus- 
 tered out on account of ill health. Then accept- 
 ed position in Secretary's ofHce of United 
 States Treasur}'. Returned to Ohio in 1865 ; 
 from there to Richmond, Ind., in a short time ; 
 same year entered the ministry- of the M. E. 
 Church at West Liberty, Iowa, in which he re- 
 mained until 1877, at which time he resigned 
 his charge and went to Clarinda, and engaged 
 in printing the Herald. He is the author of 
 two volumes (one poetical). The Golden Urn, 
 and the second a Theological work. The Battle 
 of Calvary. Came to Council Bluffs, January 
 1882, and during the summer of this year, or- 
 ganized and set on foot the Council Bluffs 
 Advance, an Independent Republican weekly 
 newspaper, which bids fair to be a success in 
 ever}' sense of the word. Mr. Chaffin was mar- 
 ried to Miss Lizzie Grant, of Burlington, Ohio, 
 in 1850 ; after her decease in 1860, he married 
 Miss Bell Shriver, in 1862. 
 
 J. L. COHOUN, Cashier for Christian Straub, 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Elizabeth City, N. 
 C, January 13, 1861. Resided with his par- 
 ents there for eleven years. Then came to 
 Council Bluffs. He was educated in Council 
 Bluffs, and in September, 1880, left that city to 
 join the American Contingent of the Peruvian 
 Navy, at Halifax, N. S. He first went to Bal- 
 timore, Md., where he passed a thorough and 
 rigid examination. He was accepted and pre- 
 sented with a commission of Foui'th Lieuten- 
 ant, and took 160 American seamen from Bal- 
 timore to Halifiix to man the new Peruvian 
 iron-clad, Guadaloupe, which was laden with 
 arms and ammunition. The expedition was 
 for the relief of Callao, Peru. Mr. Cohoun 
 continued in the Peruvian service seven months. 
 The Guadaloupe encountered a sevei'e storm 
 while on her voj'age, making her almost a 
 wreck, and injuring manj- of the officers and 
 crew. Among the unfortunate was Mr Cohoun, 
 who was accordingly left at the Marine Hos 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 17 
 
 pital, at Norfolk, Va., with the First Lieuten- 
 ant. Upon his recovery, he was assigned to 
 the dangerous duty of recruiting seamen for 
 the Peruvian service, which was a violation of 
 our international law. He was engaged in the 
 recruiting service for four months, and upon the 
 fall of Callao, he severed his connection with 
 Peru. He returned to Council Bluffs May 1, 
 1881, and engaged with W. W. Wallace, coal 
 merchant, as book- keeper and acted in that 
 capacitj' till June 1, 1882, when he accepted 
 the position of cashier with Christian Straub, 
 the well-kuown contractor and builder of Coun- 
 cil Bluff's. Mr. Cohoun is a young man office 
 business ability", and success in life is sure to 
 crown his eflbrts. 
 
 F. C. CLARK, dentist, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Maine, in 1829, and in 1850 went to 
 California by way of Cape Horn. He was mar- 
 ried, in Boise City. Idaho, in 1863, and, his 
 wife's relations residing in Iowa, he resolved to 
 settle there, and accordingly came overland to 
 this State. He came to Council Bluffs in Sep- 
 tember, 1864, and engaged in business there in 
 1865. He has four children. He is a member 
 of Excelsior Lodge. 
 
 J. T. CLARK, General Agent of Chicago & 
 Xorth -Western Railroad, Council Bluffs, has 
 been in his present position since April, 1880. 
 Previous to coming to Cbuncil Bluffs, he was 
 in the office of the General Manager of the 
 Chica-zo & North-Western Raih'oad, at Chicago. 
 In 1870, he left school and went into the office 
 of the General Manager of the Illinois Central 
 Railroad, at St. Louis, Mo. In 1873, he went 
 to Chicago and entered the General Passenger 
 Department of the Chicago & North-Western 
 Railroad there. In 1875, went into the Gen- 
 eral Superintendent's office of tliat road at 
 Chicago, and afterward iield a position in the 
 General Manager's office, which he held until 
 he came to Council Bluffs in 1880. Mr. Clark 
 was born in Auburn, N. Y.,in November, 1852. 
 Moved to Springfield, 111., in 1858, and re- 
 
 mained there till 1870. He was married, in 
 Chicago, in 1880, to Miss Arnold. 
 
 D. M. CONNELL. undertaker. Council Bluff's, 
 was born in Canada in 1853, and came with 
 his parents to the United States in 1857, and 
 settled in New York. His father, who is sev- 
 enty years of age, resides in Plymouth, N. H., 
 where subject's mother died at the advanced 
 age of seventj'-seven years. Mr. Connell en- 
 gaged in the undertaking business in 1874, and 
 carried it on in Plymouth, N. H., till 1881. 
 He came to Council Bluff's September 7, 1882, 
 and engaged in his present business, carrying 
 $2,000 worth of stock. He was married, at 
 Plymouth, N. H., in 1877. 
 
 GEORGE CARSON, attorney. Council 
 Bluffs, is a native of Illinois. He read law 
 under Col. Scoby, of Greenville, 111., and grad- 
 uated from the Law Department of the 
 State Universitj- of Michigan, in the class of 
 1868. In 1869, he began practice in Council 
 Blufi's. In 1870, he formed a partnership with 
 Mr. S. Smith, under the firm name of Smith & 
 Carson. In 1879, the firm again changed and 
 became Smith, Carson & Carl. In 1877, Mr. 
 Carson was elected by the Republican part3', a 
 member of the Seventeenth General Assembly 
 of Iowa, for the session of 1878, and in 1879 
 he was re-elected by the same partj-, and served 
 during the Eighteenth General Assembly, in 
 the session of 1880. His time at present is 
 wholly devoted to his law practice in Council 
 Bluffs. 
 
 A. J. COOK, physician, Secretary- and Med- 
 ical Director of the Mutual Benefit Association, 
 came to Council Bluff's in April, 1881 ; located 
 here and began the practice of medicine, mak- 
 ing chronic diseases a specialty. He is a ph}-- 
 sician of the old school. Dr. Cook is the orig- 
 inator of the Council Bluffs Mutual Benefit 
 Association, which was incorporated, March 
 14, 1882, with W. F. Sapp, President ; F. 31. 
 Gault, Vice Presieent ; A. J. Cook. Secretary 
 and Medical Director ; and Joseph Lyman, 
 
18 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 Counselor. This company now has in the field 
 about one hundred regular agents working in 
 Iowa, Nebraska, ^liunesota, Kansas, Colorado, 
 Dakota, Missouri and Wisconsin, and has at 
 this time 513 policies. The main office is lo- 
 cated at 103 Pearl street, Council Bluffs. Dr. 
 Cook was born in Decatur County, Ind., August 
 24, 1841, and remained there until the breaking- 
 out of the rebellion, when he enlisted in the 
 army at the age of nineteen, as a private, in 
 Companj' E, Thirty-seventh Indiana Volunteer 
 Infantr}', and was mustered into service Sep- 
 tember 18, 1861. He was taken prisoner May 
 9, 1862, at the battle of Limestone Creek, : 
 Ala., and was kept in prison thirteen months. 
 After getting out of prison, he was appointed 
 independent scout, in the Army of the Cumber- 
 land, and served in that capacity during the 
 the rest of the war. He shot and killed the 
 rebel General W. C. Walker, in Cherokee Coun- 
 ty, N. C, on the night of January 3, 1864. 
 Ten men were with the Doctor ; undertook to 
 capture the General ; he resisted and was killed 
 to prevent him from killing the chief of scouts. 
 After leaving the army, he began reading medi- 
 cine in 18G6, and read and practiced under his 
 preceptor until 1869. He took first course of 
 lectures at Bennett Medical College, Chicago, 
 in the winter of 1869-70 ; commenced prac- 
 ticing in Kosciusko County, Ind.; took second 
 course of lectures in the winter of 1871-72, at ; 
 same college, and then graduated at Louisville 
 College of Medicine in the winter of 1873-74. 
 After graduating, he did not engage in active 
 practice until the fall of 1875, when he began 
 at Kose Hill, Mahaska Co., Iowa, and re- 
 mained there until the spring of 1879. He 
 then moved to Bedford, Taylor Co., Iowa, 
 and practiced there until coming to Council 
 Bluffs. The Doctor was married in Mahaska 
 County, Iowa, June 29, 1876, to Rosamond B. 
 Clay worth, of that county. Is of English descent. 
 B. T. CONNOR, marble. Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1878, from Burling- 
 
 ton. He was born in Galena, 111., in 1853. 
 He learned his trade in Galena 111., and thence 
 moved to Burlington. He employs six men 
 and does a yearly business of ,S1 5,000. He 
 built his present building in 1879. His par- 
 ents are still living at Galena, 111.; they had 
 a family of nine children. 
 
 GEORGE DOUGHTY, retired, Council 
 Bluffs, has been a resident of Council Bluffs 
 since the fall of 1853, except a short time spent 
 in the mountains of Colorado, during the sum- 
 mers of 1860-61. He was born March 4, 181 7, in 
 Dutchess County, N. Y. His people were among 
 the early settlers of the New England States. 
 The name of Doughtj-, so far as can be traced, is 
 of Scotch origin. When ten years of age, ]\Ir. 
 Doughty's parents moved from Dutchess Countv 
 to Cayuga County, N. Y., where the early part of 
 his life was spent, and his education received. In 
 1839, he left home, and, for several _vears, was 
 traveling over the West; his last place of resi- 
 dence before coming to Council Bluffs was 
 Atchison, Mo. In 1853, he engaged in the 
 mercantile business in Council Bluffs, and con- 
 tinued the same until June, 1858. In the spring 
 of 1859, he was elected Mayor of the city for 
 one year. In 1860 and 1861, he spent a part 
 of the time in Colorado, mining and prospect- 
 ing; he was out of active business until 1866, 
 when he opened a furniture house, which he 
 conducted until 1870, since which time he has 
 not been engaged in the mercantile business. 
 In 1871. he was elected by the Democratic party 
 to the office of Sheriff of Pottawattamie County 
 by a majority of eighty votes, though the votes 
 of the county were 300 Republican. In 1873, 
 he was re-elected this time, by a majority of 
 380. At the expiration of his second term of 
 office, he withdrew from public life, and has 
 since been leading the quiet life of a retired 
 citizen. He is a member of the I. 0. 0. F., and 
 has filled the chair of Noble Grand of his lodge 
 for three terms. He is also a member of the 
 A.. F. & A. M., and has acted as W. 31. in his 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 19 
 
 lodge during the absence of that officer. He 
 was one of the builders of the first three-story 
 brick building ever erected in the city; this was 
 the corner now occupied bj- the savings bank, 
 and was known as tiie Empire Block. 
 
 FRED DAVIS, livery, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Peoria in 1852. His parents removed 
 to St. Joseph, Mo., in 1859; thence to Oska- 
 loosa in 1862, and, in 1863, came to Council 
 Bluffs. His father died in Council Bluffs in 
 1864; his mother is still living; they had two 
 children — Fred and Mrs. J. W. Bell, of Chicago. 
 The firm of Wheeler & Davis began the livery 
 business in Council Bluffs in May, 1882. Their 
 barn was built by Stambach, and is known 
 as the Ogden Livery. They keep ten horses 
 in their livery, and board about twenty more. 
 
 D. K. DONNELLY, engineer. Union Pacific 
 Water Works, Council Bluffs, is a native of De- 
 troit, Mich.; born in 1845. He enlisted in Ann 
 Arbor, Mich., in the Second Michigan Cavalrj', 
 and, during the late war, served three j-ears and 
 nine months. After the war, he went to Cali- 
 fornia, where he remained a number of years, 
 engaged as engineer in crushing and smelting 
 works. In 1871, he came to .Council Bluffs, 
 and engaged as engineer of the Union Pacific 
 Waterworks till 1872, when he went to St. 
 .Joseph, but in 1875, returned to Council Bluffs, 
 and has since held his present position there. 
 His duty consists in running the engine four 
 hours in the twenty-four. .June 26. 1872. he 
 married Miss Anna Butler, of Nodaway, Mo., 
 and by this union they have been blessed with 
 two children — Cora, aged nine, and Ethel, aged 
 three years. 
 
 J. DICKEY, grocer, Council Bluffs, was 
 bom in Lawrence, Ohio, in 1827, and, in 1839, 
 came to Van Buren Count}-, Iowa. He was a 
 member of the State Militia. In 1860, Mr. 
 Dickey came to Council Bluffs and opened a 
 grocery store in his present building, which was 
 erected that year. He was married in 1849. 
 Mr. Dickey is in partnership with his son, A. 
 
 D. Dickey, who was born in Van Buren County, 
 Iowa, in 1855. They have met with good suc- 
 cess in business, their annual sales amounting 
 to $30,000. Mr. Dickey has a dwelling house 
 on Fourth avenue, a house and lot on Main 
 street, and four lots in Casady's Addition. 
 
 J. D. EDxMUNDSON, Council Bluffs. One 
 of the busiest citizens of Council Bluffs is 
 James D. Edraundson, who arrived here in 
 1856, and formed a partnership with D. C. 
 Bloomer in the real estate and insurance bus- 
 iness. The otHce of the firm, until the begin- 
 ning of 1869, was in the frame building one 
 door west of the block occupied by Metealf 
 Brothers, on Broadway. At that date. Mr. 
 Edmundson and Mr. Bloomer dissolved partner- 
 ship, Mr. Edmundson goinoj into business 
 on his own account, in real estate, having his 
 office to the present time on the west side of 
 Main street, between First avenue, and Wil- 
 low avenue. The large amount of lands 
 owned by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 
 Railroad Company passed through his hands 
 as the agent for their sale, in Pottawattamie 
 Count}-, and in addition to that he had a long 
 list of prairie lands, owned and for sale by 
 private parties. Seeing the absolute necessity 
 for an organization in the nature of a loan and 
 building association, at his instance and 
 through his powerful efforts, such an institu- 
 tion was incorporated in 1877, and put in oper- 
 ation. He was made a director of the new 
 corporation, and has acted as Secretarj- ever 
 since. No movement of any kind inaugurated 
 in the city, has ever had more beneficial results 
 in aiding persons of moderate and limited 
 means to acquire homes for themselves ; and 
 the success of the enterprise is in great part 
 due to the energy instilled into it, and the care 
 exercised over its operations, by Mr. Edmund- 
 son. When the Citizens' Bank of Council Bluffs 
 was organized and put into operation, on July 1, 
 1882, the directory unanimously chose ?Ir. 
 Edmundson as its President, and he holds that 
 
20 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 position now. He was married to Miss Hart, 
 the only daughter of Dr. H. W. Hart, of Coun- 
 cil Blutfs. Mr. Edmuudson, in addition to hav- 
 ing an aptitude for business, is a gentleman of 
 general culture, and has a passion for general 
 literature and science, and is one of the most 
 liberal patrons either has in the city. No man 
 is more highly regarded for his integrity and 
 urbanity than he, and the esteem held for him 
 is universal. 
 
 L. C. EMPKIE, hardware, Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in the spring of 1867, 
 and engaged as book-keeper for T. J. Harford 
 & Bro., with whom he remained till 1871, when 
 he started in the hardware business for himself, 
 and shortly afterward the firm of L. C. Empkie 
 & Co., under which name he carried on busi- 
 ness until 1874, when W. H. McDoel was 
 admitted as a partner, and, under the firm 
 name of Empkie & McDoel, the business was 
 continued until Januarx', 1882. At that time, 
 a company was formed, called the Empkie 
 Hardware Company, of which Mr. Empkie was 
 the head, his associates in the business being 
 George F. Wright and J. T. Hart. Since 1872, 
 he has been doing both retail and wholesale 
 business, having ou the road three traveling 
 men, and seven men besides himself in the 
 house. When he began business in 1872, he 
 had a stock of $16,000, his annual sales being 
 then about $50,000. The business has steadily 
 increased, until now they have about $100,000 
 stock, and their annual sales amount to about 
 $375,000. Mr. Empkie was born near Berlin, 
 Prussia, in 1845 ; was educated in the public 
 schools there, and. in 1856, came to America 
 with his parents, locating in Huron County, 
 • Mich. He engaged as salesman in a general 
 store for a lumber companj', having charge 
 also of the shipping for the company for two 
 or three }'ears. He served during the j-ear 
 1864 in the Twentv-uinth Michigan Volunteer 
 Infantry, and, on leaving the armv, again 
 epgaged with his former employers — the lum- 
 
 ber firm of Ayres, Leonard & Wiswall — and 
 continued with that firm until 1866. During 
 the last two years he was with that firm he had 
 charge of all shipping of the compan)-. In 
 1866, he went to the Poughkeepsie (N. Y.) 
 Commercial College, from which he graduated 
 in the spring of 1867, then came directly to 
 Council Bluffs, where he has remained ever 
 since. He was married, in 1870, to Miss Van 
 Pelt, of Council Bluffs. During the summer of 
 1882. the Empkie Hardware Company erected 
 the first four-story business house built in 
 Council Bluffs, the building which is 100 
 feet deep by 50 feet in width, cost about 
 $25,000. 
 
 JOEL EATON. Secretary and part proprie- 
 tor of Council Bluffs Gas Company, Council 
 Bluffs, was born near Boston, Mass., and 
 received his education there. He is of English 
 descent, his ancestors coming to America in 
 1630. In the spring of 1870, franchise was 
 granted, and the construction of gas works for 
 the city of Council Bluffs was immediately 
 begun. Soon after this, however, articles of 
 incorporation were filed with the Secretary' of 
 State organizing a stock company with a capi- 
 tal of .$150,000. The company has at present 
 one main building 112 feet in length, where the 
 gas is manufactured from best Penns^dvania 
 coal, and one gasometer with a capacity of 
 60,000 cubic feet. Five men are employed in 
 the manufacture of the gas. The company's 
 office is located at 28 Pearl street, where they 
 have a plumbing and gas-fitting establishment. 
 In this latter department four men are em- 
 ployed, including the book-keeper and plumbers. 
 The company has a contract with the city for 
 furnishing the gas and lighting the street 
 lamps of the citj*. Two lamp-lighters are 
 employed by the company, and sometimes as 
 high as twenty-five men are employed in laying 
 mains, etc. Mr. Eaton is at present secretary 
 of this company, and part proprietor of the 
 same. 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 31 
 
 JOHN EPENETER, Council Bluffs, was 
 boru ill Germany in 1S36, am.! learned his 
 trade in his native countiy. In 1852, he came 
 to America, and, iu 1859, to Council Bhifls. 
 At Omaha, Neb., in 1861, he married Henrietta 
 Rudovsky, and by this union the}- have been 
 blessed with nine children, all of whom, save 
 one, were born in Council Bluffs. Mr. Epeneter 
 began business in Council Bluffs iu 1863, and 
 was burned out iu 1866, losing all he had. He 
 rebuilt, however, and is now doing a flourishing 
 business in stoves, tinware, and the manufacture 
 of galvanized iron cornices. He employs four- 
 teen men, his business having assumed large 
 proportions and extended far into Iowa and 
 Nebraska. He was the founder of the first 
 Turner's Association organized in Council 
 Bluffs in 1864, and is also one of the charter 
 members of the German Odd Fellows Lodge 
 of Council Bluffs. He was a member of the 
 City Council in 1878, and held the otflces of 
 Assessor and Gauger in Council Bluffs for six 
 jears. 
 
 LEONARD EVERETT, attorney. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Gainesville, Ala., in 1853 ; 
 removed to Council Bluffs with his parents in 
 1855, where he has lived ever since. He was 
 educated at and graduated from Cornell Uni- 
 versity, N. Y., in 1873 ; commenced studying 
 law, soon after graduating, with Col. D. B. 
 Pailey, and was admitted to practice in 1876. 
 He is now practicing law at Nos. 17 and 18 
 Pearl street. He is of English descent. 
 
 WILLIAM G. EMONDS, physician, Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in Cologne, Westphalia, 
 Germany, and remained there until seven 
 years of age; then came to this countrv with 
 his sister, and located in Iowa City. He has 
 remained there all the time since, with the ex- 
 ception of what time he spent in going to 
 school and traveling abroad. He attended 
 Salesianum College, Milwaukee, Wis., one year, 
 in 1867, after which, on account of ill health, 
 he went to Cape Girardeau, Mo., and remained 
 
 there one year. He then went to Fond du Lac, 
 Wis.; attended college there some time, after 
 which he went to Notre Dame University, near 
 South Bend, Ind. ; remained there one year, and 
 then returned to Iowa Cit}-, and attended the 
 Iowa State University there two years. He 
 then went again to Notre Dame, Ind.; remained 
 there eight months, when sickness brought him 
 back to Iowa City again. During his conva- 
 lescence in Iowa, he attended St. Joseph In- 
 stitute at Iowa City remaining there two years; 
 after that he went into the Chicago, Rock 
 Island & Pacific Railroad office, as telegraph 
 operator and assistant United States Express 
 agent one j'ear. He then took the office at 
 Mitchelh'ille, Iowa, and remained there seven 
 months, after which he was promoted to clerk- 
 ship iu W. H. Quick's Superintendent's office- 
 Des Moines; remained there more than one 
 year, then returned to Iowa Cit}' again, and 
 took up the higher branches at St. Joseph's 
 Institute, and prepared himself for the Homoe- 
 opathic Department of the Medical Depart- 
 ment of Iowa State University, Prof. Cow- 
 perthwaite being his preceptor; he remained in 
 this office as clinical clerk for three years, 
 graduating at the end of that time. He com- 
 menced practicing at Bellevue, Iowa, and Du- 
 buque, and remained there two years, after 
 which he went direct to the place of his birth, 
 and from there to Vienna, Austria, attending 
 and practicing in the General World's Hospi- 
 tal, or AUeg. Krankenhaus, where he remained 
 with the king of all surgeons, Prof. Billroth 
 assisting him in the hospital one and a half 
 years. He then went to Prague, Bohemia, and 
 assisted in the obstetrical ward of Prof Bris- 
 k}', after which he went to Berlin, attending 
 the Prof Laugendeck Hospital one j'ear, after 
 which he went to Paris, where he remained a 
 short time, visiting different hospitals; thence 
 he went to London, England, practicing at 
 Guy's street, Bartholomew's and St. Thomas' 
 one year. Leaving London, he traveled 
 
22 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 through England and Scothiud; remained at 
 Edinburgh a short time, thence went to Ire- 
 land, and from there to America, on June 27, 
 1882. He is now permanently located in Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, with the intention of going to Omaha 
 in course of one year to make that his head- 
 quarters. 
 
 HENRY EISEMAN & CO., clothing, Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. Simon and Heury Eiseman, the 
 members of this firm, are natives of Germany. 
 They emigrated to the United States and came 
 direct to Council Bluffs in 1861, where they 
 opened a wholesale and retail clothing estab- 
 lishment. They made but a small beginning, 
 but their push, energy and close attention to 
 business soon increased their trade, and to-day 
 they can show larger sales than any other 
 house in Iowa. They carry an average stock of 
 $100,000, and their annual sales are nearly a 
 quarter of a million; thej^ employ from twelve to 
 fifteen men in their establishment. Mr. Simon 
 Eiseman was married in Council Bluffs in 1872. 
 
 JAMES FRAINEY, merchant tailor. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born iu Connaught, Ireland, 
 iu 1837, where he remained until he was 
 seven jears of age, when he removed with 
 his parents to Lancashire, England. He 
 served his apprenticeship to the tailor's trade 
 in England, and iu 1852 came to this coun- 
 try and located in New York City. He 
 worked at his trade in that city for two 
 years, then moved to Chicago ; after working 
 there two years, moved to St. Louis, Mo. ; and, 
 after working there a year, returned to New 
 York City. He pursued his trade in that city 
 for a year, then iu Charleston, S. C, for a 3'ear, 
 then went to Nashville, Tenn., where he began 
 as a cutter and remained there four j-ears. 
 From Nashville he went to St. Louis, Mo., re- 
 mained there four or five years then came to 
 Omaha, openetl up a shop there for himself, 
 and in 1870 came to Council Bluffs. Here he 
 ran a shop a short time then engaged as a cut- 
 ter with Oberfelder & Newman, with whom he 
 
 remained till the summer of 1882, when he 
 opened up his fine merchant tailoring estab- 
 lishment at 332 Broadway. He carries one of 
 the finest and newest stocks in his line in the 
 citv, and is meeting with an extensive patron- 
 age. He employs eighteen men constantlj' 
 and pays the highest price for skilled labor. 
 In 1872, he married Miss Mary J. Buckle3-, of 
 Belolt, Wis., and by this union thej- have had 
 six children. 
 
 E. R. FONDA, locomotive engineer. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Utica, N. Y., in 1844. In 
 1866, he went to Quincy, 111., and in 1875 came 
 to Council Bluffs and engaged as a locomotive 
 engineer at the Union Pacific Transfer Yards. 
 He runs transfer switch engine No. 217, one of 
 the most powerful engines that runs into Coun- 
 cil Blufis. In Oberlin, Ohio, in 1873 he mar- 
 ried Marian B. Berry, of that place, and they 
 have on child — Lena, aged eight years. Mrs. 
 Fonda was educated in New York. Mr. Fonda 
 was an Alderman of the Fourth Ward in 1881; 
 was a member of the Council when the charter 
 was changed, and when Union avenue work 
 was commenced. He is a Knight Templar, an 
 Odd Fellow, a member of the Brotherhood of 
 Locomotive Engineers, and President of Gar- 
 field Lodge, No. 126, Iowa Legion of Honor. 
 His parents are residing at Mendota, 111. 
 
 W. H. FOSTER, gardener and florist, Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born and raised in Carter Coun- 
 ty, Tenn. His father is still living in Indiana, 
 at the age of seventy-five. Our subject is a 
 brick-layer by trade. He left Tennessee in 
 1857, and worked at his trade in different cities 
 until 18G7, when he came to Council BluflTs and 
 started a green-house. He has now the most 
 extensive grounds and appointments west of 
 Chicago, having twenty acres in garden and 
 flowers, and 20,000 square feet of glass roof 
 He employs from six to twentj' men, and is 
 this year making extensive improvements. He 
 was married in Indiana in 1854, and has one 
 child — a bov of fifteen vears. 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 23 
 
 A. D. FOSTER, druggist, Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Jefierson County, N. Y., in Sep- 
 tember, 1840, and after living there five years 
 removed witli his parents to Waukesha, Wis., 
 where he lived about fifteen years. At the 
 breaking out of the late war, Mr. Foster joined 
 Company G, Twenty-eighth Wisconsin, as pri- 
 vate, and after serving over three j-ears, left the 
 service as First Lieutenant. After the war, he 
 spent about two 3'ears in the mountains, then 
 moved to Milwaukee, Wis., where he engaged 
 in the drug business for three 3ears. In 1870, 
 he came to Council Bluffs, and immediatelj- en- 
 gaged in the drug business, in company with 
 Alfred Hammer. They carried on business to- 
 gether for two 3'ears, when Mr. Foster bought 
 out Mr. Hammer's interest in the business, and 
 continued for three years, when the present firm 
 of A. D. Foster & Bro. was formed, and busi- 
 ness has since been carried on under that name. 
 When they first began business, they did a 
 wholesale trade, but since 1878 have carried on 
 a jobbing business, which has steadily increased 
 as has also their retail trade. The\- are one of 
 the most substantial drug firms in the cit}'. 
 
 JOHN JAY FRATNEY, attorney. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in Harrison County, Ky., 
 January 13, 1856, and lived there until 1862, 
 when he went to New York City, where he was 
 educated, also attending the Brooklyn common 
 schools. In 1870, he commenced clerking for 
 Messrs, Ottinger & Bro., wholesale cotton and 
 tobacco brokers, New York, He came West 
 in 1872, to Washington, Ind,, and commenced 
 reading law with Judge James W, Ogden, of 
 that place, and in the fall of 1877 entered the 
 law class of Bloomington, Ind,, Universitj', 
 from which he graduated in the spring of 1878, 
 having conferred on him the degree of LL. B. 
 He then began the practice of law at Washing- 
 ton, Ind., where he remained one year, then 
 went to St. Louis, where he remained three 
 months. From St. Louis he went to Chicago; 
 staid there three months, and in the spring of 
 
 1880, came to Council Bluffs, where he began 
 practice, and in the fall of 1880 was elected Jus- 
 tice of the Peace on the Democratic ticket, the 
 Republican majoritj' of the city being 160; he 
 received a majority of eighteen, and still holds 
 that office. He is of Irish descent. 
 
 G. H. FERGUSON, hotel. Council Bluffs, is 
 a native of Vermont, born in 1853, and is a son of 
 G. W, Ferguson. In 1861, became to Dubuque, 
 Iowa, where he lived until 1870, when he moved 
 to Flo3'd County, Iowa. He remained there 
 one year, then moved to Osage, Iowa, where he 
 stiyed four years, running the Dunton House; 
 then removed to Waterloo, Iowa, where he ran 
 an omnibus and transfer line for two years. 
 He began hotel business in 1876, at the Pacific 
 House, under the firm name of Ferguson & 
 Son. It is the leading hotel of Council Bluffs, 
 and was built thirty years ago. The hotel con- 
 tains about seventy fine rooms, and about thirty 
 servants are emplo3'ed in the house. The ar- 
 rivals average seventy per day, and there are, 
 besides, many regular boarders at the hotel. A 
 fine bar and billiard hall in connection with the 
 house is conducted by N. L. Hall, while the 
 barber shop is run by Fritz Bernhardie, who 
 employs two assistants. September 10, 1878, 
 Mr. Ferguson married Miss Anna B. Peregoy, 
 of Baltimore, sister of J. W. Peregoy, of the 
 well-known firm of Peregoj' & Moore. 
 
 F. M. GAULT, railroad agent. Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Bow, Merrimack Co., N. H., July 
 14, 1848. He lived at home until he reached 
 the age of twenty, at which time he went to 
 Rockford, III, as baggage man, in the employ 
 of the Chicago & North- Western Railroad, He 
 remained in that capacity a short time, and was 
 promoted to a clerkship in the freight office at 
 the same point; shortly afterward, he rose to be 
 cashier of the same office, which he held till 
 the spring of 1874, when he engaged in otlier 
 business. In 1876, he went to Chicago, and en- 
 gaged as a book-keeper in a commission house, 
 remaining at this occupation until he came to 
 
21 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 Council Bluffs. He is a member of the Masonic 
 tVateruit}-. Is a stock-holder in the Council 
 Bluffs Insurance Company, and is Vice Presi- 
 dent of the Mutual B snefit Association of Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. He received his education at Blanch- 
 ard Academy, Pembroke, N. H; he is of 
 Scotch-Irish descent; he came to Council Bluffs 
 in August, 1880, as the local freight agent at 
 this point of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific 
 Railroad; he remained in this capacity till 
 April 1, 1882, when he received his promotion 
 to the general agency of the same road. 
 
 C. H. GILMORE, news and notions. Council 
 Bluffs, started in Council Bluffs only a short 
 time ago in his present news and notion busi- 
 ness. He ivas born in New Hampshire in 1849. 
 son of W. H. Gilmore, who is still living in New 
 Hampshire, on a farm, part of which is a part 
 of the old Franklin Pierce place. Until 1866, 
 Mr. Gilmore lived on the farm and attended 
 school, going to Philip's Academy at Frances- 
 town, N. H., but in 1866, he ran away from home 
 and enlisted in the regular army, in the Second 
 United States Infantrj', most of the three years 
 which he served being spent at Louisville, Ky., 
 Gen. Thomas' headquarters. In 1869, the army 
 consolidated, and the regiment was sent into 
 Alabama, Mr. Gilmore's company being sent to 
 Guntersville, Ala., where they were discharged. 
 S. W. Crawford was their regimental com- 
 mander. After being discharged, Mr. Gilmore 
 re-enlisted at Louisville, K}'., and was sent to 
 Omaha, but on account of ill health, was dis- 
 charged after serving one year of the second I 
 enlistment. Since that time, he has made Pot- '' 
 tawattamie Count}- his home, teaching school 
 for the first two years in the eastern part of 
 the count}'. He then came to Council Bluffs, 
 and has since remained here. In the spring of 
 1877, he went into the Sheriff's office, and has j 
 been in the court house ever since, with the ex- 
 ception of two j'ears, when he was Citj- Consta- 
 ble. He is at present Assistant Recorder. Al- 
 though Mr. Gilmore has just started in busi- ' 
 
 ness, he is doing well, and his location, 512 
 Main street, gives him one of the best situa- 
 tions in the city, and, as he continues in busi- 
 ness, he will gain the patronage he so well de- 
 serves, being so well and favorabl}' known in 
 the city. 
 
 CONRAD GEISB, brewery. Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1858 ; began build- 
 ing a malt house in 1867, and, in 1868, built a 
 large brewerj-. He erected a new malt house 
 in 1877, and uses the old one for an ice house. 
 He employs from twent}- to twenty-five men, 
 and has from eight to ten work horses. His 
 yearly sales amount to about 15,000 barrels. 
 He was born in German}- in 1842, and came 
 direct to this city in 1858, Mr. Geise was mar- 
 ried, in Council Bluffs, in 1864, and has a 
 fiimily of four boys and ona girl. His mother, 
 who is now sixty-four years of age, resides 
 with him. In 1882, he added another story to 
 his brewery, in which he malts from 50,000 to 
 60,000 bushels of barley annually. He gets 
 his hops from New York. He owns thirty 
 acres of land adjacent to his buildings, 
 
 F. H, GUANELLA, marble. Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1860, and engaged in 
 the ice business in 1862, He carried on that 
 business till 1875, when he engaged in farming, 
 which occupation he pursued till 1879, when 
 he engaged in the marble business. He was 
 born in Galena, 111., in 1854, and, in 1859, went 
 to St. Joseph, where he remained two years, 
 after which he came to Council Bluffs. His 
 father still lives in Council Bluffs, at the ad- 
 vanced age of seventy-six years; his mother 
 died in Council Bluffs in 1868. 
 
 THEODORE GUITTAR, County Sheriff, was 
 born in 1842, in St. Louis, Mo., and became a resi- 
 dent of Council Bluff's in 1855. He received 
 his education in the public schools of Council 
 Bluffs, and, in 1877, was elected to the office of 
 Constable. To this office he was re-elected, 
 serving four years during the two terms; he 
 spent two years as Deputy Sheriff under George 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS 
 
 25 
 
 Doughty, in 1872-73, and also two j-ears in the 
 same capacit}' under A. L. Kahle. In 1881, he 
 was elected by the Republican party to the 
 office of Sheriff of the county; his majoritj- was 
 forty-one votes; he is now engaged in the dis- 
 charge of the duties of that office. In 18G2, he 
 entered the army as a private in the Second 
 Iowa Battery. During his service, he was in 
 many hard-fought battles, among which were 
 the following : siege of Vicksburg, battle of 
 Nashville, Tenn., Jacksonville, Miss., second 
 siege of Mobile, battle of Selma, Ala., Mont- 
 gomery, Ala., and of Tupelo, Tenn. Mr. Guittar 
 is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 and also of Bluff' City Lodge, No. 49, I. 0. 0. 
 F.; he was married, in 1869, to Miss Elizabeth 
 Beecroft, a native of England, and who came to 
 the United States in 1S54. with her people, and 
 to Council Bluffs in 1860. They have but one 
 child, a daughter. 
 
 L. B. GORHAM, Union Pacific Stock Agent, 
 Union Pacific Transfer Stock Yards, Council 
 Bluffs, was born in New York City, and when 
 ten yeas old went to Illinois, and, at the age of 
 fifteen years, became engaged in stock business. 
 In 1870, he went to California on a govern- 
 ment survey; in 1376, passed his examination 
 for United States Deputy Surveyor in San Fran- 
 cisco, and, in 1878, passed the examination for 
 United States Deputy Mineral Surveyor, which 
 appointments he holds at present. He surveyed 
 through Colorado and Wyoming in 1879 and 
 1880, and, in the latter year, came to Council 
 Bluffs, where he entered the employ of the 
 Union Pacific Railroad Count}' as stock agent, 
 and also officiated as bill clerk. He was mar- 
 ried in October. 1882, and resides on Ninth 
 street, Council Bluff's. 
 
 A. H. GRABBER, Receiving Clerk in Local 
 Department of the Union Pacific Transfer 
 Freight Offices, Council Bluffs, is a native of 
 Maryland; born in 1822. His parents, in 1826, 
 moved to Salisbury, N. C, where they died; his 
 father in 1S42, and his mother a short time after. 
 
 In 1854, Mr. Graebcr came to Council Bluffs, 
 which was then a town of only 500 inhabitants, 
 and without any railway communication what- 
 ever; he engaged with the Western Stage Com- 
 pany here, in whose employ he remained for 
 fifteen years; he now holds the position of Re- 
 ceiving Clerk in the local department of the 
 Union Pacific Railroad Transfer Freight Offices. 
 At Pella, Iowa, in 1870, he married Miss E. M. 
 Post, of that place, and by this union they have 
 had four children— Mary B. V., Ella L., Clara 
 L. and William H. P. Mr. Graeber is a mem- 
 ber of the Episcopal Church, and is Past Chan- 
 cellor of the Knights of Pythias. 
 
 xM. G. GRIFFIN, manager of the Daily Bee, 
 Council Bluffs, came to Council Bluffs in the 
 spring of 1877, being at that time traveling 
 salesman for Greensfelder Bros., wholesale 
 druggists in St. Louis, Mo., and, in 1878, open- 
 ed up a grocery and wholesale butter and flour 
 store on South Maine street, having severed his 
 connection with Greensfelder Bros. ; he continued 
 in the grocery business until the fall of 1881, 
 when he sold out to Strauvien & Schurtz, and 
 July 1, 1882, assumed the management of the 
 Daily Bee, which position he holds at present. 
 He was born November 8, 1845, in County 
 Clare, Ireland, where he remained until 1863, 
 when he came to America, landing in New 
 York in August of that year; he went direct to 
 Washington, D. C, where he entered the music 
 store of John F. Ellis, and remained there until 
 December, 1865, when he went to St. Louis, 
 where he held the position of book-keeper and 
 cashier for Charleston, McKenna & Co., whole- 
 sale notions and dry goods, until 1867; he then 
 took charge as manager of the " Broadway Dry 
 Goods Store," or " Red Store," a branch house 
 of A. M. Haggarty & Co., of St. Louis, until 
 1868; he then went to Omaha, Ne"b., and en- 
 gaged in the general insurance business, and 
 remained there until the great Chicago fire, 
 when he accepted the position of cashier in the 
 Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluff's Rail- 
 
26 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 road Coinpan3-'s freight office, holding that 
 position until the completion of the bridge 
 across the Missouri Eiver at this point, at which 
 time the diflferent roads consolidated their offi- 
 ces, and Mr. Griffin was appointed cashier of 
 all. In May, 1872, he married Ada Dohaney, 
 daughter of John Dohaney, of Council Bluffs, 
 and in June, 1873, went to San Francisco with 
 his family, and remained thereuntil 1877, when 
 he came to Council Bluffs. He is general 
 agent for Madame Demorest's patterns for the 
 Coast Pacific. 
 
 GRONEWEG & SCHOENTGEN, wholesale 
 grocers, Council Bluffs, have been engaged in 
 the wholesale grocery trade in Council Bluffs 
 since July 1 1878. In the building-up of this 
 branch of the business industries of Council 
 Bluffs, the above gentlemen have displayed as 
 much energy, enterprise and good fin.auciering 
 ability as any firm in the citj-. They were 
 both engaged in the retail grocery trade in the 
 city for a number of years prior to establish- 
 ing their present house. Mr. Schoentgen be- 
 came a resident of the city in 1866, and began 
 the retail grocery business in 1869, while Mr. 
 Groneweg began in the retail trade in 1862, 
 which was the first year of his residence in 
 Council Bluffs. The building they now occupy 
 is 34 feet frontage by 100 feet in length, three 
 floors and basement. The}' began business 
 with one man on the road and four in the 
 house, and now have three traveling salesmen 
 and nine men in the house. Their business 
 has more than trebled since their first year. 
 Hitherto, their trade has been mainly in Iowa, 
 but they ai'e now preparing to do a business in 
 Nebraska. Their energy and push have placed 
 them among the first business men of the city. 
 To such men is Council Bluffs indebted for her 
 prosperit}-. 
 
 GEORGE A. HOLMES attorney. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in 1848 in Huntsville, Ala., 
 and is of English descent. In 1862, his father 
 and family went overland to California, and. 
 
 returning overland in 1866, settled in Page 
 Count}-, Iowa. He commenced studying with 
 Moore & Mclntyre, of Clarinda, Iowa, in 1869, 
 remaining in the office four months. He was 
 admitted to the bar in March, 1869, under a 
 close and rigid examination. He then worked 
 on a farm two years for the benefit of his health. 
 He came to Council Bluffs in December, 1871, 
 and opened a law office on Broadway, where he 
 has ever since been located. After having 
 been located here a year, he had gained a 
 lucrative practice. In April, 1874, he was 
 elected City Attorney by City Council ; was 
 re-elected in 1876-77-78-79, and again in 
 1881. He is a Democrat in politics, and ran 
 on that ticket in 1876 as Representative of 
 Pottawattamie County, receiving a large vote, 
 though the Republican majority- in the county 
 at that time was 600. He received at that 
 election 220 votes more than the State ticket. 
 During his administration as City Attorne}', a 
 great many valuable improvements were pro- 
 jected and carried out, of which he had the 
 management Big Spring Lake and Car Lake 
 were ceded to the city by the General Govern- 
 ment through the assistance of Hon. W. F. 
 Sapp, Member of Congress at that time ; T^nion 
 avenue. Pacific avenue, Vaughn avenue, which 
 required a great deal of labor and time and 
 ability during these years, were finished and 
 opened by the city. Union avenue causing a 
 great deal of litigation, which was finally de- 
 cided Ijy the Supreme Court of the State in 
 favor of the city two years after this improve- 
 ment was commenced. In 1876, while Col. J. 
 H. Keatley was Mayor, he and the City Attor- 
 ney devised and proposed a plan by which the 
 whole of Williams' Addition might be secured 
 as a public park for the city, the addition con- 
 sisting of eight}' acres cut up into town lots. 
 This plan, however, was not accepted by the 
 City Council at that time. In 1879, during 
 Hon. Addison Coughran's administration, the 
 question of securing the ground was again 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 27 
 
 brought up b^' the Maj-or and Cit}- Attorney. 
 It was aided by the fact that preliminary sur- 
 veys were made for the construction of water 
 works, and it was decided that a portion of 
 Snow & Green's Addition was the proper place 
 for a reservoir. This addition adjoins on the 
 north and east sides Williams' First Addition. 
 This at once showed the expediency of having 
 this ground secured for park purposes, and a 
 resolution was then passed by the City Council 
 for the procuring of the ground as had been 
 advised by the City Attorney. The lots were 
 all incumbered by delinquent taxes, and in but 
 few instances were the lots condemned for 
 more than taxes due upon them. The citj^ 
 paid the State tax and school tax and remitted 
 its own tax, and the County Board of Super- 
 visors, after the condemnation, released the 
 county and assigned the county tax to the city. 
 The assigned amount of mone}- actuall3' ex- 
 pended was between §1,800 and $2,000, and 
 this includes also Snow & Green's Addition, 
 making a body of land for park purposes of 
 almost one hundred acres, contiguous to the 
 city. In this improvement, there were over 
 two hundred and flft}" condemnation cases, 
 which were prosecuted to successful termina- 
 tions b}' subject of sketch. The preliminary sur- 
 vey of water-works was made by Mr. Cook, As- 
 sessor, of Cleveland, Ohio, and S. P. Judson, Cit}' 
 Engineer. Many other improvements of minor 
 importance were carried out. Graham avenue 
 was established, which passes around the south 
 side of the park grounds, now known as Fair- 
 view Park. Alderman A. C. Graham used his 
 best efforts for the establishment of this ave- 
 nue, which now bears his name, and as a pub- 
 lic drive it is the finest in the city. These 
 improvements will always be a benefit to the 
 present citizens and a blessing to those who 
 will become future inhabitants, and remain a 
 perpetual monument to the care of these ad- 
 ministrations in providing free public resorts 
 for coming generations. The last improvement 
 
 was the procuring the right of way for the 
 extension of Washington avenue, a much- 
 needed improvement, which was made under a 
 resolution of the Council instructing the City 
 Attorney to procure the right of way for their 
 work, which was immediately commenced, and, 
 after the award of damages to owners, the 
 Council instructed the Citj- Attorney and 
 Alderman R. F. Rain to settle with property- 
 owners as they thought best. They settled all 
 of the cases except one, which cost about 
 S7,000. This amount was paid out on the 
 order of the City Attorue}-. 
 
 H. L. HENRY, grain dealer, Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1856, and built a 
 saw-mill in Harrison County, making Council 
 Bluffs his headquarters, and continued in that 
 business some few years. When the war broke 
 out, he entered the arm3- as Acting Quarter- 
 master for Battalion Fourth Iowa and Spoor's 
 Battery. In 1863, he purchased a steamboat; 
 followed steam boating between St. Louis and 
 New Orleans, commanding the boat himself 
 From 1866 to 1870, he was interested in the oil 
 business in Kentucky; he then went into the 
 grain business, operating between Council 
 Blufls and St. Louis, and has continued in that 
 business ever since, with the exception of the 
 years 1872 and 1873, when he went to Texas, 
 where he acted in the capacity' of Special Agent 
 of the California & Texas Railway Con- 
 struction Company, furnishing the money in 
 currency for the construction of that road. 
 Since 1873, he has been operating in grain 
 more or less. Mr. Henry was born in New 
 York Citj', and is of Scotch descent. 
 
 LEWIS HAMMER. Council Bluffs, was born 
 in Lorain County, Ohio, in 1837. He came 
 West to Harrison County, Iowa, in 1857, and, 
 in 1864, moved to Council Bluffs, where he 
 opened a lumber jard on the corner of Vine 
 and Market streets, -where he does an annual 
 business of $60,000, and employs six assistants. 
 In Council Bluffs, in 1870, he married Rhoda 
 
28 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Wood, and from this union three children have 
 been born. Mr. Hammer was a member of the 
 City Council of Council Bluffs, in 1878 and 
 1879. He is a member of the I. 0. 0. F. 
 
 S. F. HASKINS, coffee, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Connecticut in 184-t; his father was an 
 old railroad man. In August, 1862, our sub- 
 ject enlisted in the Nineteenth Connecticut, and, 
 after serving fifteen months in that regiment, 
 was transferred to the Second Connecticut 
 Heav}- Artillerj', in which he was Sergeant. He 
 left Connecticut in the spring of 18G7, and, 
 April 19, 1880, engaged with Thurman & Co., 
 on Pearl street, Council Bluffs. August 1, 
 1881, he bought out Mr. Thurman, and carried 
 on the grocer}- business until he came to his 
 present stand; he started in the coffee business 
 January 1, 1882, keeping all kinds of the finest 
 goods in that line, and giving employment to 
 two assistants. 
 
 B. W. HIGHT, attorney, Council Bluffs, was 
 born July 1, 18-42, in Albany, Vt.; was educated 
 at Morrisville Academ}- and the University of 
 Vermont, graduating from the latter in the class 
 of 1861. The same year, he entered the United 
 States Arm}' as a private, and, in a short time, 
 was promoted to Fourth Corporal; then to Fourth 
 Sergeant; then to Sergeant Major, and in 
 winter of 1862 was promoted to Second Lieu- 
 tenant; then, after the battle of the Wilderness, 
 he was again promoted to Captain of Company 
 C, of Second Vermont Volunteer Regiment. 
 About the year 1867, he came to Council Bluffs; 
 previous to this, however, he had studied law in 
 Vermont, and in the spring of 1866, had gradu- 
 ated from Albany law school. He commenced 
 practice with William A. Mynster, in Council 
 Bluffs, in the spring of 1867; withdrew from 
 partnership July 1, 1874, and practiced alone 
 until 1878. when he formed partnership with 
 C. 11. Scott, and they are still practicing to- 
 gether. In 1871, he was appointed to fill the 
 vacancy occasioned by the resignation of J. R. 
 Reed, and the same fall was elected to fill the 
 
 unexpired term, and was appointed by the 
 board to the office of County Attorney, and held 
 this position until 1880. At the spring term of 
 the Supreme Court, he was appointed Supreme 
 Court Reporter by that court, to fill the vacanc}' 
 occasioned by resignation of J. S. Runuells, 
 Reporter of that court. He was married, March 
 17, 1875, to Miss Lillie Snow. He is a charter 
 member of the American Legion of Honor. 
 
 HENRY HOWE & SON, new and second- 
 hand store, Council Bluffs. Henry Howe has 
 been a resident of Pottawattamie County for 
 about sixteen years. He was born in Ohio in 
 1822, and lived in that State till 1846, when he « 
 moved to Indiana, where he resided about ten 
 years; he then moved to Harrison County, Mo., 
 where he resided during the late war. While 
 there, and prior to the breaking-out of the war, 
 he had a debate with Rev. Isaac Plank on the 
 Bible position of slavery. Mr. Howe taking 
 the ground that the Bible did not uphold 
 slavery while Mr. Plank maintained that it did. 
 This debate caused so much excitement that 
 Mr. Howe was arrested, and, after having a 
 trial of two days before a Justice of the Peace, 
 was bound over to wait the action of the Grand 
 Jury, but uo bill was found against him. Dur- 
 ing the war, he was not in the regular service, 
 but was Captain in the State Militia for some 
 time; his early life was spent on the farm; dur- 
 ing the war, he published a paper in Bethany, 
 the county seat of Harrison County, Mo., but 
 about the close of the war he sold out his print- 
 ing oflSce and came to Council Bluffs, where he 
 engaged in the trust business, which he followed 
 for five years; he also followed farming for 
 some time, his farm and residence being just 
 outside the city limits; he began his present 
 business in October, 1881, keeping all kinds of 
 new and second-hand furniture, his stock being 
 worth from $15,000 toS20,000; he owns the store 
 building and residence adjoining it; his sou, A. 
 B. Howe, is now in partnership with him. Mr. 
 Howe has been married three times. In Ohio, 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 39 
 
 in 1842, he married Miss Amanda Roby, who 
 died in Indiana in 1850; his second wife, whom 
 he married in Indiana, was Miss Elizabeth Ir- 
 win. In Iowa, in 1868, he married Mrs. Lodema 
 Irwin, his present wife. He has nine children 
 living, five sons and four daughters; he has 
 been a member of the United Brethren Church 
 since ho was sixteen years old, and when twenty- 
 four years, became a local preacher, and has 
 since continued to preach the Gospel ; he 
 traveled on a circuit for two years; he has been 
 a Republican since the organization of that 
 part}'. 
 
 ROBERT HUNTINGTON, grocer. Council 
 Blufls. is an Englishman ; was born in 1820, 
 and. crossing the Atlantic in 1866, he came im- 
 mediately to Council Blufis. He has been 
 twice married ; first, in 1840. His wife dying in 
 1864. he again married in 1866, just before 
 coming to America. He im mediately- bought 
 a farm of 320 acres, and continued in the oc- 
 cupation of " tiller of the soil " for fourteen 
 years. He has given to his children all of his 
 land except 120 acres. He recently bought 
 twelve acres near Fairmount Park. He built 
 the first house on Graham avenue, also the first 
 one in the township of James. Mr. Hunting- 
 ton is Democratic in politics. 
 
 MRS. E. J. HARDING, physician. Coun- 
 cil Bliitfs, is a daughter of Dr. M. S. Barnwell, 
 of Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated at the 
 Electropathic Institute of Philadelphia, Penn., 
 and her fame extends over the whole United 
 States, she having practiced very successfully 
 in St. Louis, San Francisco, Salt Lake and 
 other large cities. She came to Council Blufls 
 in 1878 and established the Thermo Electric 
 bath rooms. These medical baths are very ef- 
 fective and are verj' popular. She has invent- 
 ed several appliances and supporters for invalid 
 ladies. She has at present three patents from 
 the United States Government. Her great 
 stud}' has been to invent appliances for the 
 relief of her own sex. She was born in Cin- 
 
 cinnati, Ohio ; was married in St. Louis, Mo., 
 in 1867. She is a medical Electrician and 
 Gynechologist. 
 
 MRS. H. J. HILTON, physician. Coun- 
 cil Blufl's. Came to Council Blufls in Septem- 
 ber, 1880. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, 
 and raised and educated thero. She graduated 
 at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1872. Her mother 
 lives in Chicago, HI., at the advanced age of 
 eighty years, but looks not over sixty j-ears, and 
 is very fine looking. Mrs, Hilton has graduat- 
 ed both in medicine and surgery ; she has 
 three children — E. Harold, who is a graduate 
 of the literary department at Ann Arbor, Mich., 
 and is now in Washington, D. C., in the signal 
 service department ; and two daughters, who 
 reside here with her. Mrs. Hilton belongs to 
 a ver}' old Eastern family, being descended 
 from the Childs of New York, on her mother's 
 side, and from the Tifts of New York on her 
 father's side. Her father, Hezekiah Tift, was 
 one of the very first .settlers of Cleveland, 
 Ohio, there being onl}' a log hotel at that place 
 when he first settled there. Her mother, who 
 is still living at Chicago, spends considerable of 
 her time among her children. One of her 
 daughters is Mrs. F, J, Osborne, wife of the 
 well-known merchant of this city, 
 
 E, H. HUGHES, confectioner, Council BluflJs, 
 was born in Hamburg, Fremont Co., Iowa, 
 April 8, 1861, son of J, A. and Jenny (Clone) 
 Hughes ; he is a resident of Fremont County, 
 Iowa ; died in Alabama during the war ; she 
 resides in Glenwood, Iowa. His parents had 
 two children. He received his education chiefly 
 at Glenwood, Iowa, where he began business as 
 a clerk with Mr. Townsley, in whose employ he 
 remained about three years. He came to 
 Council Blufl's January 10, 1881, and engaged 
 in business in company with Mr. Townsley, at 
 No. 12 Main street, where he has since remained. 
 Mr, Hughes is a young man of fine business 
 qualities, and is sure to be successful, while his 
 partner, Mr, C, H, Townslej', is one of the most 
 
30 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 substantial business men of Mills County, 
 Iowa, wliere he carries ou business. They car- 
 ry on a general confectionery and fruit Ijusi- 
 nes9, keeping on hand a full line of confection- 
 ery and 03'sters, ice cream, etc., in their season. 
 Mr. Hughes purchased, in the summer of 1882, 
 one of the finest soda fountains in the city, 
 which furnishes a constant supply of the cool- 
 ing beverages. He is doing a large and^steadi- 
 ily increasing trade. 
 
 H. W. HART, physician. Council Bluffs, is 
 one of the pioneers of that class of physicians 
 who stand at the head of the profession in the 
 city. He is a native of Chenango County, N. 
 Y.; received his literary education at Geneva, 
 and graduated from the Geneva Medical Col- 
 lege in 1846. He spent one year in practice in 
 Batii, of his native State, and then went to 
 Rock County, Wis., where he practiced three 
 years. His next move was to West Union, 
 Fayette Co., Iowa, where he remained until 
 the breaking-out of the vvar of the rebellion, 
 when he entered the army as a Surgeon. His 
 service was with the Ninth and Thirty-eighth 
 Regiments of Iowa Infantry', Thirteenth Army 
 Corps. Returning from the war, he spent a 
 short time in Dubuque, Iowa, from which place 
 he came to Council Bluffs in May of 1868. He 
 opened an office within a short time after his 
 arrival, and has been steadily engaged in prac- 
 tice since. He is a member of the Council 
 Bluffs Medical Society, State Medical Society 
 and of the American ^Medical Association. 
 For the past ten j-ears, he has been Commis- 
 sioner of Insanity of tlie Council Bluffs dis- 
 trict, and he is at present filling the office of 
 County and Citv Physician. The Doctor is a 
 member of the Congregational Church, and is 
 a member of the best society of the city, as 
 well as maintaining his position among the 
 first of his profession. 
 
 W. C. HOLLAND, livery, Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Ohio in 1837, and lived in that 
 State till he was nineteen years of age. His 
 
 parents raised a family of ten cliildren, every 
 one of whom are living and married. His 
 mother is also living in Conway, Taylor Coun- 
 ty, this State. His father died iu the latter 
 place, in May, 1882. Our subject came to 
 Council Bluffs April 16, 1881. He keeps eight 
 head of horses in his livery beside having four- 
 teen boarders. He had formerly lived twenty- 
 two years in Henr\' County, Iowa, and after- 
 ward a short time in Woodbine, Harrison 
 County, this State. He was married in Heury 
 County, this State, in 1858, to Miss Mary J. 
 Conklin. They have two children — Alta, aged 
 eighteen j'ears, and Clarence, who is nine years 
 old. On January 1, 1873, there was a grand 
 re-union at the house of our subject's parents. 
 The ten children were all there to take dinner 
 with their father and mother, making it an oc- 
 casion long to be remembered. 
 
 A. H. HARRIS, retired, Council Bluffs, was 
 Ijorn in New York in 1 820. He came to Indi- 
 ana in 18-42, and to this county in 1854. He 
 mentions the circumstance that three towns 
 with whose earl}- interests he had at different 
 times iu his life been identified are now flour- 
 ishing cities — Batavia, N. Y., Terre Haute, 
 Ind., and Council Bluffs. Since coming to 
 Council Bluffs, Mr. Harris has alwaj'S dealt in 
 real estate, and has erected no less than eight 
 business buildings. He has been foremost iu 
 many leading enterprises ; he gave $500 toward 
 the Ogden House ; $300 to the Chicago & 
 North- Western Railway, and has financiallj- 
 aided many other public schemes. He was 
 married, in Batavia, N. Y., in 1857 ; he has 
 two children, both born in Council Bluffs — Ida 
 M. and Harry. Mr. Harris has alwa3-s held 
 aloof from politics, and has never united with 
 anj' secret society or church organization. 
 
 A. A. HAZARD, sewing machines. Council 
 Bluffs, was boru in Claiborne County, iMiss.; 
 he was the son of S. H. and Delia A. (Leach) 
 Hazard ; his father was a Presbyterian minis- 
 ter, born in Rhode Island in 1814, and died in 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 31 
 
 1853 ; his (subject's) mother was born in 
 Rockaway, N. J., in 1807, and died iu New 
 York City iu 1876 ; his parents had twelve 
 children. Our subject came to Council Bluffs 
 in June, 1871, and engaged in business in 
 company with G. R. Thompson, selling the 
 Singer Sewing Machine. Thej' continued in 
 business together until February, 1879, when 
 our subject purchased his partner's interest 
 and took control of the entire business. In 
 June, 1880, he severed his connection with the 
 Singer machine, and continued at his old place 
 of business, 106 South Fifth street, carrying a 
 stock of leading machines of different makes. 
 He finallj- became partial to the Domestic Sew- 
 ing Machine, regarding it superior in many re- 
 spects to other makes, and therefore decided to 
 handle only machines of the Domestic pattern. 
 Since October 20, 1881, he has been in the em- 
 ploy of the Domestic Sewing Machine Com- 
 pany as their special traveling agent for West- 
 ern Iowa. He still carries on his business in 
 Council Bluffs at the same location. He has 
 been one of the most successful sewing- 
 machine men iu Iowa, and the present flourish- 
 ing condition of the business that he has 
 established in this and adjoining counties has 
 been brought about by his fair and straight- 
 forward dealing on all occasions. He has five 
 children — William L., Mary L., Nellie, Laura 
 Lilly and Emily Lucretia. In religion, Mr. 
 Hazard is a Presbyterian, and in politics, a 
 Republican. 
 
 MONTGOMERY P. HARRIS, Council 
 Bluffs, by profession a lawyer, and who has 
 recently become identified with the legal pro- 
 fession of Pottawattamie County, was born 
 November 20, 1857, in the village of Sandy 
 Hill, Washington Co., N. Y.; his father, Hor- 
 ace Harris, was born in the town of Queens- 
 bury, Warren Co., N. Y., in 1818, and was the 
 son of Moses Harris, one of Washington's 
 most trusted spies during the Revolution ; the 
 mother of M. P., A. A. (Boone) Harris, was 
 
 born in the village of Greenville, Washington 
 Co., N. Y., in 1822, and is a great-niece of the 
 historical Daniel Boone ; there were eight chil- 
 dren in the family, of whom the subject of this 
 sketch is the sixth. When eight years of age, 
 he was placed in the common schools of his 
 native village, which he continued to attend 
 until his fourteenth year, when he was sent to 
 the academy of that place, where he graduated 
 in 1876. In the winter of the same year, he 
 entered the law office of the Hon. N. G. Paris 
 as a law student and clerk. His career as a 
 law student is best told in his own words : 
 " On the 8th day of December, 1876, I called 
 on Mr. Paris for the purpose of making ar- 
 rangements to study law in his office. My 
 clothes were far from being of the finest text- 
 ure, nor were they in the best of repair, my 
 mother's time being occupied in looking after 
 so many. I learned at an early age to be sat- 
 isfied with the best she could do for me, and 
 found no fault. I stepped into the library and 
 made known my business. Mr. Paris looked 
 me over from head to foot, during which try- 
 ing time I concluded that he thought I had 
 better go to work instead of spending my time 
 studying law. He consented, however, to 
 allow me the use of his books upon condition 
 that I would do the office work, to which I 
 quickly and gladly consented, and on the 11th 
 I commenced a regular clerkship in his office. 
 The four j'ears I spent in his office as a stu- 
 dent I shall never forget. They were trj'ing 
 and eventful ones in my life, and manj' times I 
 was sorely tried and very nearl}' discouraged. 
 I had everything imaginable to contend with ; 
 circumstances which were very embarrassing, 
 indeed, seemed to have been the rule instead of 
 the exception." Through it all, however, the 
 determination and will to succeed carried him 
 through, and on the 10th of September, 1880, 
 at the village of Saratoga Springs, he was ad- 
 mitted to the bar of New York. In May, 
 1882, Mr. Harris came to Council Bluffs, where 
 
32 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 his references gave him an entree to the best 
 society. He was shortl}' admitted to the bar 
 of Iowa, and has begun the struggle of estab- 
 lishing a practice in Council BhifTs, in which 
 his natural ability as an orator gives him great 
 advantage. He is an Episcopalian, a member 
 of the society of I. 0. O. F., and a stanch Re- 
 publican. 
 
 JAMES A. JACKSON, Council Bluffs, 
 whose portrait appears in this work, is one of 
 the most prominent men of the West, and has 
 done more for the good of the Missouri slope, 
 in Iowa, than any other man whom we could 
 name. His history has an interest for all the 
 active business men of Council Bluffs and 
 Omaha. He was born in Ohio in 1829. His 
 parents moved to Missouri when he was very 
 young, where his father soon after died, leav- 
 ing the mother with a family of nine children, 
 to be raised amid the hardships of a frontier 
 life in Missouri, But she kept her trust well, 
 and lived to the ripe old age of eight3--five, dying 
 in Council Bluffs January 1, 1882. She was 
 followed to her last resting-place by a large 
 number of friends, having been verj- highh* 
 esteemed by all who knew her. Of her chil- 
 dren, two live in Council Bluffs — W. C. Jack- 
 son, and the subject of this sketch, James A. 
 Jackson. Andrew P. and Franklin L., are in 
 California, having gone there in 1852. One 
 daughter, Mrs. Julia Record, now resides in 
 Glenwood, Iowa. Subject's father was a native 
 of Virginia, and was a near relative of Gen. 
 Andrew Jackson. His mother was a Cessna, of 
 Pennsylvania, the Hon. John Cessna being her 
 nephew. Mr. Jackson has seen all of our West- 
 ern country grow up. Attended the treaty held 
 with the Indians, on the west bank of the iMis- 
 souri River, in 1852, Maj.Gatewood acting on the 
 part of the Government, Mr. Jackson assisting 
 him. This treatj^ was held about fifteen miles 
 south of Omaha. Mr. Jackson is a good conver- 
 sationalist, and can entertain one for hours with 
 his reminiscenses of the earlv days in Iowa 
 
 and Nebraska, in fact of aUnost the entire 
 West. He attended the first sale of lots in St. 
 Joseph, Mo., so that he has watched its growth, 
 as well as that of Sioux City, Omaha and 
 Council Bluffs, with the greatest of interest. 
 He was one of the original owners of Sioux 
 Qiity and Omaha. Mr. Jackson came to this 
 city in January, 1851, and opened in business 
 in general merchandise, and in 1855 opened a 
 branch establishment in Omaha. The succes- 
 sors to his Omaha branch are " Tootle & Maul." 
 a very heavy firm to-day. Located another 
 branch iu Sioux Cit}' in 185ti, chartering a 
 steamboat and unloading the first goods that 
 were brought there. He built what is known 
 as the Empire Block, in 1854, which was 
 burned in 1868. The part of the city known 
 as Jackson's Addition, was named in his honor. 
 His fellow-citizens appreciated his efforts in 
 behalf of their town, and in 1852 elected him 
 County. Treasurer. About this time he met 
 the beautiful young belle. Miss Henrietta St. 
 Aubin, of New Orleans, and being as impres- 
 sionable as j'oung men generally are in the 
 presence of beaut}', fell in love with and mar- 
 ried her. in 1852, thus exciting the envy of his 
 young associates for bearing off so captivating 
 a prize. 31rs. Jackson is still living, and wears 
 the charm which always clings about a once 
 beautiful woman — perfect elegance. The State 
 Bank of Iowa was organized here in 1860, 
 Mr. Jackson being one of the stockholders, 
 also its President. Our present First National 
 Bank is its successor. Mr. Jackson let his 
 efforts for the good of the west take in Omaha 
 also. He built the first brick house erected 
 there, taking his brick from Council Bluffs. 
 The said house was used as a capitol building, 
 which he was influential in securing to Omaha. 
 Thus he kept on, all the time using his money 
 for the public good. He continued in business 
 here until 1865. when he sold out aud moved 
 to St. Louis, engaging there in the wholesale 
 grocery business. His untiring energy and 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 33 
 
 business talent took him to the front rank 
 among successful men of that city, while his 
 wife's beauty and accomplishments won them a 
 prominent place in social circles. But, alas ! 
 his health broke down under his increase of 
 care ; and selling out there, he went to the 
 Western plains, in 187G, to regain strength, 
 which he soon did in the pure, bracing air, and 
 freedom from anxiety. He then entered into 
 the cattle business, in compau\- with his son 
 Andi'ew. and has been verj^ successful in that, 
 as in everything else, at present owning as ex- 
 tensive a ranch as he can take care of in jus- 
 tice — one of the most extensive in the West. 
 Mr. Jackson has two children (still living), 
 Andrew M. Jackson and Georgiana Jackson, 
 the wife of Judge Andrew S. Wilson, of Kan- 
 sas, whom she married in 1881. His son An- 
 drew was married in April, 1878, to Miss Carrie 
 Rice, of Council Blufl's, the daughter of A. T. 
 Rice, of the First National Bank. Andrew, 
 while inheriting the tireless energy of his 
 father, possesses in a great degree the grace 
 and elegance of manner of his mother, and 
 has her dark eyes and hair. He was engaged 
 here for several jears in a wholesale grocer}- 
 trade, but finally sold out, in 1878, to enter 
 into stock business with his father, in Wyo- 
 ming. He has one son, a bright little fellow of 
 three years, who bears his grandfather's name, 
 and let us hope, will have his active business 
 tact and clear-headed management. 
 
 H. JAMES, grocer. Council Blutt's, was born 
 in Bucks Countj', Penn., Februarj- 3, 1850, and 
 was educated in the public schools of Norris- 
 town, Penn. In March, 1869, he came to 
 Council Bluifs, where he engaged as clerk for 
 Wright Bros., with whom he remained about 
 one year. He then engaged in the grocer}' 
 business on his own account on the corner of 
 Bancroft street and Broadway, where he carried 
 on business for about eight years. He then 
 removed to his present place of business, corner 
 of Main and Willow streets, where he has since 
 
 remained, doing a constantly increasing busi- 
 ness, and carrying a full stock of staple and 
 fanc}- groceries, fruits, etc. His store occupies 
 the entire ground floor of the building, fifty 
 feet in length, twenty-three feet in width. He 
 carries a stock of about $20,000, and his annual 
 sales amount to about §20,000. He married, 
 October 10, 1872. Lizzie McCammon, of Coun- 
 cil Blufl's, formerly of Canada, and, by this 
 union, they have one child — Harry, aged nine 
 years. Mr. James is a member of Excelsior 
 Lodge, No 259, A., F. & A. M. of Council 
 Blufts. 
 
 C. B. JACQUEMIN, jeweler. Council Blufl's, 
 came to Council Bluflfe in May, 1865. He 
 keeps a large stock of clocks, jewelry and fancy 
 goods; he has a splendid location, and is doing 
 an immense business. The firm consists of C. 
 B. Jacquemin, his brother, and George A. 
 Garner. Mr. Jacquemin was born in Luxem- 
 burg, Europe, in 1838; came to America in 
 1852, and settled in Missouri, where he learned 
 his trade. He has been a member of the 
 School Board for six jears, and was Mayor of 
 the city iu 1865. During his term as Mayor, 
 the terminus of the Union Pacific Transfer was 
 located here. 
 
 S. S. KELLER, furniture, Council Blufl's, 
 was born in Franklin Count}', Penn.. in 1838, 
 where he received his education, and remained 
 till 1856. He then moved to Indiana, and, in 
 1862. entered the One Hundred and Fiftj'-sixth 
 Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He remained 
 in the service till the battle of Gett3'sburg, 
 when his regiment was mustered out. In the 
 spring of 1867, he came to Council Blufl's, 
 where he worked at the carpenter's trade with 
 Johnson & Orr for nine mouths ; then began 
 business for himself as a contractor and builder. 
 In 1870, he went to Utah, where he engaged iu 
 the grain trade with N. J. Bond; returned to 
 Council Blufl's in 1871, where he engaged in 
 the furniture business with J. M. Scott, at the 
 corner of Broadwa}' and Byrant streets, and 
 
34 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 after being in business some time under the 
 firm name of Scott & Keller, bought out Mr. 
 Scott's interest. He then ran the business 
 himself, occupying the entire three story build- 
 ing, and in the fall of 1881 he moved to the 
 opposite side of Broadway into the building 
 that he had built the previous summer. This 
 building, which comprises two stories and base- 
 ment, is seventy feet long and forty-three feet 
 wide; the warehouse in the rear is one story 
 in height and forty feet long by forty feet wide. 
 Mr. Keller started in business with but little 
 capital, but has succeeded in building up a 
 good trade. He carries a full line of furniture 
 and household goods. In 1873, he added un- 
 dertaking to his business, and carried on busi- 
 ness alone till 1876, when he formed partner- 
 ship with Messrs. Morgan & Dohaney, carry- 
 ing on business under the firm name of Morgan, 
 Keller & Co. The business is under the 
 management of Mr. Morgan, who is an experi- 
 enced undertaker. In Council Blufl's, in 1874, 
 Mr. Keller married Libbie Noble, of Carroll 
 County, 111. He is of German descent; during 
 the year 1881, he held the office of Alderman 
 of the Second Ward. He is a member of the 
 I. 0. 0. F. of Council Bluffs. 
 
 T. C. KIRKLAND, County Auditor, Council 
 Bluffs. The most severe test to which a man's 
 standing or reputation in a community may be 
 subjected is, perhaps, when he becomes a can- 
 didate for office. In the fall of 1881, Mr. T. C. 
 Kirkland passed through such a test, and was 
 elected to the office of Auditor of Pottawattamie 
 County, on the Republican ticket, and by a 
 majority of 627, the total vote cast for him 
 in the county being 2,489, which was the 
 largest vote cast for any Republican candidate. 
 He took formal possession of the office in Janu- 
 ary, 1882. Having spent eight years in the 
 same office as Deputj' for John Bennett, he en- 
 tered upon the discharge of his duties with a 
 full knowledge of the responsibilities of the of- 
 fice. He was born in Jefferson County, N. 
 
 Y. and when six years of age his parents 
 moved to Sheboygan, Wis., where he received 
 a good education, and engaged in the drug 
 business, which he followed until he came West 
 in 1867. From 1867 until he began as Deputy 
 for Mr. Bennett in 1874, he was engaged in 
 railroad business, principally contracting on the 
 Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads. 
 He has lost nothing in popularity since becom- 
 ing an officer of the county, and, should he 
 desire it, he will probably be re-elected. 
 
 P. C. & W. D. KIRKLAND, jewelers. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. Mr. P. C. Kirkland was born in 
 Scotland. He resided in Washington County, 
 Wis., for about eight j-ears, then moved to Min- 
 nesota, where he lived for about a year: he 
 then followed boating on the Mississippi River 
 till the fall of 1868, when he came to Council 
 Bluffs; here he engaged with the telegraph 
 company for about thirteen months; then with 
 the gas company about eleven months, and, in 
 1870, entered the emplo}- of James Brewster, 
 wholesale grocer, Broadway, Council Blufl's, 
 with whom he remained until he entered into 
 his present business. Mr. P. C. Kirkland was 
 married, January 19, 1879, to Miss M. J. Brew- 
 ster, niece of James Brewster, and by this union 
 they have been blessed with one son, Charles 
 W. In August, 1882, Mr. P. C. Kirkland. in 
 company with Mr. W. D. Kirkland, of Sheboy- 
 gan County, Wis., opened their present jewelry 
 store at No. 329 Broadway, Council Blufl's, 
 where they keep on hand a complete stock of 
 watches, clocks, jewelry-, silver and silver- 
 plated ware, spectacles, etc. Mr. W. D. Kirk- 
 land is an experienced workman, and guaran- 
 tees all work. They solicit an inspection of 
 their stock, feeling satisfied tliat they can 
 please all. 
 
 JOHN KELLER, Council Bluffs, one of tiie 
 oldest and most respected citizens of Council 
 Bluffs, was born at Elzes, in Eastern France, 
 October 23, 1815, where he spent his youth. 
 He came to America with an older brother in 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 35 
 
 1836. Lauding in New York, he began to 
 learn the trade of cabinet-making, and, after 
 serving his apprenticeship, he went to Cincin- 
 nati, Ohio, and followed the same calling. 
 From there, he went to St. Louis, and from 
 there to Western Missouri, where he resided 
 some time. Afterward coming to Council 
 Bluffs, he entered the land where his dwelling 
 is now situated in 1855, and in 1854 brought 
 from Missouri the first fruit trees ever planted 
 in the count}'. In 18-11, he was married to 
 Rebecca Runyan, a native of Center County, 
 Penn., and of this marriage one son was born 
 — Victor L. Keller, who served in the Union 
 army throughout the civil war in the Second 
 Iowa Batter}-. Mr. Keller has been noted for 
 his kindness to orphan children, having reared 
 and educated three since coming to Council 
 Bluffs. Mrs. Keller ilied here on the 18th day 
 of April, 1882. Mr. Keller is a member in most 
 excellent standing of the Masonic order. He 
 is still a man in most eseelJeut health, pos- 
 sesses a wiry frame, and is gifted with strong 
 mind and body. Bj- care, prudence and indus- 
 try, he has amassed considerable property, and 
 owns some of the most valuable real estate in 
 the city of Council Bluffs. He was among the 
 first to demonstrate the practicability of fruit- 
 raising in this climate, and has made it a most 
 positive success. 
 
 L. KIRSCHT, wholesale grocer. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in German}- in 1829, and served 
 three and a half years in the Prussian Army. 
 In 1854, he came to America, and, in 1856, was 
 married at Hillsdale, Mich. From Hillsdale, 
 Mich., he went in the fall of 1856 to St. Joseph, 
 and came to Council Bluffs May 11, 1861; here 
 he opened a retail grocery, in which he met 
 with good success, and gradually increased his 
 business until he is now doing an extensive 
 wholesale trade, employing four men in the 
 store and one traveling salesman. He carries 
 about §30,000 worth of stock, and his yearly 
 sales amount to about $100,000, and are steadily 
 
 increasing. Mr. Kirscht served in the City 
 Council in 1869 and 1870, and has been Town- 
 ship Trustee for many years. He has a family 
 of six children, all living at home; he Las a 
 fine residence on Glen avenue; he is a stanch 
 Republican. Mr. Kirscht's mother came to 
 Council Bluffs June 25, 1881, and died in Au- 
 gust, 1832, aged nearly seventy-one years. 
 
 S. H. KELLEY, druggist, Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Cedarville, Herkimer Co., N. Y., 
 in 1819; his father moved to Otsego County, 
 N. Y., in 1827; our subject came to Council 
 Bluffs in 1857, and engaged in the drug busi- 
 ness, in which he remained until 1862, when he 
 sold his interest to his partner, Mr. Kynett. and 
 took a trip for his health; he went to Syracuse, 
 N. Y., where he finally opened a drug store; he 
 remained here until the spring of 1880, at which 
 time he returned to Council Bluffs, where he 
 again opened out in the drug business; this 
 time on Lower Main street. He carries about 
 $6,000 in stock, with annual sales amounting 
 to $10,000. 
 
 HARMAN KELLEY, marble works, Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in Vermont in 1820, and, 
 in 1849, removed to Western New York, where 
 he remained till 1872. In 1873, he came to 
 Council Bluffs and engaged in marble-cutting; 
 he employs six men in the shop and two on the 
 road; carries about .$2,000 worth of stock, and 
 his annual sales amount to about 89,000; he 
 has always been engaged in the marble busi- 
 ness. He was married in Vermont; his mother 
 is still living in Western New York, at the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-nine years; his father died 
 there in 1868. Mr. Kelley is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity. 
 
 REV. JOSEPH KNOTTS. Council Bluffs, 
 was born on the 24th of September, 1832, at 
 Knottsville, Monongalia Co., Va. He spent 
 his earlier years on a farm at home, and ac- 
 quired such an education as the best facilities 
 in his native county afforded. In his early 
 manhood, he also engaged in teaching, and be- 
 
36 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 ing a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, he joiued the West Virginia Confer- 
 ence of that religious body as au itinerant 
 minister. In 1860, he came to Iowa, and was 
 transferred to the Iowa Conference, and was 
 assigned to dut}' in the western part of the 
 State. When the conference was divided, ter- 
 ritorially, he became a member of the Des 
 Moines Conference. He traveled several cir- 
 cuits in the central portion of Iowa, and in 
 1865 was appointed to Council Bluff's, serving 
 for two years as pastor of the Broadway 
 Church, and it was through his energj' and 
 during his ministration, that that fine edifice 
 was built. He was afterward appointed agent 
 of the Church Extension Society of the Des 
 3Ioines Conference, and served in that capacitj' 
 for two years, when he was appointed Presiding 
 Elder of the Council Bluff's District, and served 
 with marked ability for four j'ears. During 
 the period of his incumbency as Presiding Elder, 
 he was a delegate to the General Conference of 
 the 3Iethodist Episcopal Church. His health 
 having failed him and being obliged to cease in 
 the active ministr}"^, he engaged in the book and 
 job printing business in 1872, and published 
 the Inland Advocate, a religious newspaper, for 
 several years, and the Weekly Independent, a 
 journal devoted to news and politics from an 
 independent standpoint. His establishment 
 was in the east end of the Ogden House Block, 
 and when that was destroyed by fire in the fall 
 of 1874, he became the principal sufferer. In 
 his efl'orts to save liis jeopardized property his 
 disease was aggravated, and he was unable to 
 resume the business. He went to Washington 
 Citj- and spent the winter, and hearing of the 
 glowing prospects of mining operations in 
 Northern Mexico, from gentlemen who had 
 visited that .section, he began to turn his atten- 
 tion in that direction. He was appointed a 
 United States Consul to Chihuahua, and went 
 south to explore the countrj- for silver mining 
 prospects. He succeeded in securing the Par- 
 
 ral mines by a contract, and resigning his con- 
 sulate, he came back to the United States, and 
 organized a mining compau}' to develop the 
 property. From that date to this he has given 
 almost his entire attention to silver mining, not 
 only in Mexico, but in New Mexico and Ari- 
 zona, and has amassed a handsome fortune 
 through judicious investments. Mr. Knotts 
 was married to Miss Rebecca Hall, a native of 
 Barbour County, Va., on the 9th of Octol^er, 
 1855, in Hancock County, 111. They have been 
 blessed with a large family of children. The 
 two older sons — Abraham and Thomas — being 
 engaged with their father in his business, min- 
 ing interests. 
 
 JOHN LINDT, attorney. Council Bluff's, 
 was born and raised in Erie, Penn. He re- 
 ceived his education in the public schools of 
 Erie, Penn., and also attended the Oberlin Col- 
 lege, Ohio. At the age of fifteen years, he 
 entered the army, becoming a member of 
 Independent Battery, Company B, First Penn- 
 sylvania Light Artillery, and participated in 
 the engagements at Dallas, Buzzard Roost, 
 New Hope Church, Resaca, Peach Tree Creek, 
 Kenesaw Mountain, Rome, Spring Hill, Frank- 
 lin, Nashville and Atlanta ; was through Sher- 
 man's campaign and Thomas' campaign with 
 Hood, and was discharged at Harrisburg, 
 Penn., in 1865. Before entering the army, he 
 had studied law, and in 1866 he again com- 
 menced reading law. He came to Council 
 Bluff's in the spring of 1870 ; in 1871, was ad- 
 mitted to practice in Iowa, and has practiced 
 his profession in Council Bluff's ever since. 
 He was married in Misbawaka, in 1873, to 
 Sarah Griffin, a native of New York, of Quaker 
 descent. They have had two children, one de- 
 ceased. Mr. Lindt is a cliarter member of the 
 Knights of Pythias, and has held the highest 
 offices in that order ; has been Commander of 
 Post and Delegate to the National Convention 
 of the G. A. R. at Baltimore, Md., in 1882, and 
 is now a member of the National Council of 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 37 
 
 Administration of the G. A. R. ; he is also a 
 member of and has held high positions in 
 tlie I. 0. 0. F. 
 
 JOHN C. LEB, contractor, Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1871, and engaged in 
 business here in 187-t. He was born in Can- 
 ada in 1845, and lived there till he came to 
 Council Bluffs. He is a railroad contractor, 
 and has worked on several of the railroads 
 centering here. In 1878, he married Miss 
 Anna Leonard, whose parents reside on a farm 
 near Neola, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Lee have one 
 child living — Mar.y, fifteen months old. Mr. 
 Lee's parents still live in Lanark Countj', Can- 
 ada. His grandfather, Martin Condred, was a 
 soldier in the French Armj- under Napoleon ; 
 crossed the Alps with him, and was with him 
 at Waterloo. 
 
 DR. N. D. LxAWRENCE, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., in 1822; 
 was educated in the Rensselaer Institute, New 
 York, and at the Vermont University, from 
 which latter institution he graduated. He 
 practiced the medical profession in New York, 
 and in 1868 came to Council Bluffs. He was 
 married in New York in 1846 and has been 
 blessed with two children — Frank E. and Ella 
 M. Frank E. was born in 1848, and in 1878 
 married Elizabeth Cody Stanton, who has 
 borne him one daughter — Margaret Living- 
 stone Stanton. Ella M. was born in 1851, and 
 in 1871 married John Monell, son of Dr. 
 Monell, of Omaha, Neb. They had one daugh- 
 tea, Anna Mabel, who came from Omaha on a 
 visit to Dr. Lawrence in Council Bluffs, and 
 while there died, in February, 1880, aged two 
 and one-half years. The Doctor has been 
 elected JNLayor of Council Bluffs three times. 
 Since he came here, he has made three trips to 
 Europe. 
 
 JACOB LEUTZINGER, baker, Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Switzerland in 1840. His 
 parents' family, which consisted of five chil- 
 dren, came to this country in 1847. They 
 
 went to Southern Illinois, settling at a point 
 twenty-five miles east of St. Louis, Mo. 
 Our subject was engaged in the bakery busi- 
 ness in the latter city from 1856 to 1859, when 
 he came to Council Bluffs April 1 of that year. 
 He is the leading baker of Council Blufls, and 
 is sole proprietor of the Empire Bakery of this 
 city. He was married in 1870 to Anna Hil- 
 tonberg, of this city. Thej' have two children 
 — Anna, aged eleven, and Matilda, who is six 
 years old. 
 
 J. C. LANGE, of the firm of Lutz & Lange, 
 wholesale cigars and pipes. Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Russia in 1846 ; came to the United 
 States in 1867, and settled in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
 where he was employed in an architect's office ; 
 he left there in 1869, and went to Burlington, 
 Iowa ; stayed there two years, then went to 
 St. Louis, and from there came to Council 
 Bluffs in December, 1878. Mr. Lange was 
 married in December, 1873, in Ottumwa, Iowa, 
 and has three children, one boy and two girls. 
 He is an active Democrat. 
 
 J. I. LUTZ, of the firm of Lutz & Lange, 
 wholesale cigars and pipes, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in German}- in 1843 ; came to the United 
 States in 1865, and settled in Burlington. Iowa. 
 From Burlington, he came to Council Bluffs in 
 1876. In 1877, he, in company with his part- 
 ner, opened a wholesale cigar and pipe store. 
 They employ three traveling men and have one 
 assistant in the store besides himself and part- 
 ner. They keep a stock on hand worth about 
 $18,000, and their yearly sales amount to 
 $150,000. Mr. Lutz was married in 1868, in 
 Burlington, Iowa, and has five children, all at 
 home, the three eldest going to school. He is 
 an active Democrat. 
 
 P. J. MONTGOMERY, physician, Council 
 Bluffs; though a resident of this place but a lit- 
 tle over two years, the Doctor has already estab- 
 lished himself in the practice of medicine in a 
 very satisfactory manner. He is a native of Del- 
 aware County, N. Y., and on his father's side is 
 
38 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 a lineal descendant of Gen. Montgomen', while 
 by his mother, who was an Abbott, he traces 
 the genealogy of his family to the Abbots of 
 England, and to the Mayflower pilgrims of that 
 name. When he was eleven j"ears of age, the 
 Doctor's parents moved to Wisconsin; his edu- 
 cation was received principally at the Albion 
 Academy of Dane County, Wis.; he studied 
 medicine with Dr. D. L. Davis, of Waterloo, 
 Iowa, an allopathic physician, and also with 
 Dr. L. N. Squire of the same place, who 
 was a homoeopathic physician. In 18G6, he 
 graduated from the Hahnemann Medical Col- 
 lege of Chicago; he also attended the Chi- 
 cago Medical College, an allopathic institu- 
 tion, and, in addition to this, he took a 
 course of lectures at the Homiston Institute 
 College of Cleveland, Ohio. During last two 
 years of the war, he served in the Nashville 
 City Hospital, or what was better known as the 
 College Bluff Hospital, In May, ISSO, he was 
 appointed Surgeon of the W^abash Railroad at 
 this point. He is a member of the Northwestern 
 Academy of Medicine, and was President of 
 that society in 18S1; he is also a member of 
 the State Homogopathic Medical Society, and is 
 now holding the position of Chairman of the 
 Bureau of Surgery in that society. His success 
 in practice and the honorable position he has 
 held in the medical societies is dpe to his ex- 
 tensive study of the science of medicine, and to 
 the honorable course he has pursued since he 
 became a resident of the Blulfs City. 
 
 MAX MOHN, proprietor of the Creston 
 House, Council Blufli's, was born in Wurtem- 
 berg, Germanj-, December 6, 1843, where he 
 was educated, and where he lived till he came 
 to America. He came to Council Blufls June 
 9, 1869, and worked for Jlax Kreidler, boot and 
 shoe maker, for two and a half years; he then 
 engaged for one year as clerk for Charles Beck- 
 man, in the leather business; then worked for 
 Louis Zurmuelon four and a half years, and, in 
 1877, went into partnership with his sister, Mrs. 
 
 Weber, in the hotel business, on South Main 
 street, in a one-stor3- building, which would ac- 
 commodate about nineteen boarders. Finding 
 that his business justified it, he erected a fine 
 three-story brick hotel, with stone front, cost- 
 ing $12,000, with twenty-four sleeping apart- 
 ments, and nine other rooms, having now about 
 fiftj- regular boarders, and a large transient 
 custom. Mr. Mohn was married, in June, 1879, 
 to Anne Betz, and bj' this marriage they have 
 one daughter. In 1881, he bought the building 
 occupied b}^ Thrall & Kracht, grocers, for $2,- 
 500, and, in November, 1881, bought for $7,- 
 000, a two-storj- brick building, containing one 
 large room down stairs occupied as the billiard 
 hall and bar, and with four rooms in the upper 
 story. 
 
 W. S. MAYNE, attorney, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Clark County, Ohio, in 1835; removed 
 with his parents to Ottumwa, Iowa, in the fall 
 of 1848, and thence removed to Van Buren 
 County, Iowa; his father was elected Judge of 
 Van Buren County, and removed to Keosau- 
 qua, Iowa, iu the fall of 1851. Our suliject at- 
 tended a private school in Keosauqua, and, in 
 1853, entered the Iowa Wesley an University at 
 Mount Pleasant, from which he graduated in 
 1856, he being the first graduate of that institu- 
 tion. He began reading law with C. C, Nourse, 
 afterward finishing with Hon, G, G, Wright, 
 then sitting on the supreme bench of Iowa, and 
 was admitted to the bar in 1858. He began 
 the practice of his profession in Keosauqua, 
 where he remained until 1872, when he removed 
 to Red Oak, Iowa, where he formed a partner- 
 ship with the present Attorney General of the 
 State— Smith McPherson, In the fall of 1875, 
 he came to Council Bluffs, wiiere he took charge 
 of ihe business of the law firm of Baldwin & 
 Wright, while the latter was attending the ses- 
 sion of the Legislature, The following spring, 
 Mr. Mayne formed a partnership with George 
 F. W^right, and continued iu the firm till Julv, 
 1877, when he formed a partnership with Mar- 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 39 
 
 shal Ke}-, and under the firm name of Maj-ne & 
 Key. carried on the practice of law till August, 
 1880, when Mr. Mayne took up the practice of 
 Mr. Ross, the latter having gone to Iowa City. 
 Mr. Mayne is now located in L. W. Ross' old 
 office, corner of Main street and Broadway, 
 Council Blutfs. In May, 18G4, he married Miss 
 R. E. Mangum, a native of Van Burea County, 
 Iowa. Mr. Maj'ne was a member of the City 
 Council in 1880 and 1881, and, in the spring of 
 1882, was elected City Attorney on the Re- 
 publican ticket, the first election under the new 
 charter. 
 
 GEORGE MARSHALL, street car company, 
 Co\incil Blutfs, was born in Essex Coun- 
 t3-, N. Y., in 1827. He went to Michigan at 
 the age of sixteen, and stayed there three 
 years, then entered the employ of Western 
 Stage Company, coming with them to Council 
 Bhifl's in 1855. He remained in their employ 
 for fourteen j-ears, then left them and ft-eighted 
 on the plains eight years. In 1869, he began 
 Government and mail contracting, and con- 
 tinned until 1879, when he took charge of the 
 street car barn. He has the supervision of 
 everything belonging to the street car com- 
 pany, including horses, cars and track, and 
 employs ten men. Mr. Marshall was married 
 in 1857, in Fulton, Ind. He has one daughter 
 — Mary. 
 
 WILLIAM A. MYNSTER, attorney. Council 
 Bluffs, is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, 
 born October 13, 1843. and is of Danish par- 
 entage. On his third birthday, he was with 
 his parents on the ocean on the way to Amer- 
 ica. They first settled permanently at 
 Washington, D. C, where they lived three 
 years, then moved to Louisville. Ky., where 
 they lived one year, and, in 1851 came to 
 Kanesville, now Council Bluffs. Mr. Mynster 
 was educated at Sinsinawa Mound. Wis., and 
 St. Louis University. He studied law with 
 Clinton & Baldwin of Council Bluffs, whose of- 
 fice was then located opposite the present city 
 
 building; afterward pursued his law studies in 
 New York City, and at the Albany Law School 
 N. Y. He graduated from that institution 
 in 1866, having conferred on him the degree 
 of LL. B. The following year, he opened a 
 law office in Council Bluffs, and formed partner- 
 ship with B. W. Hight, present Supreme Court 
 Reporter of Iowa, who was a classmate of his 
 at the law school. This firm dissolved in 
 1872, and Mr. Mynster entered into partnership 
 with James & Aylesworth, and remained in 
 that firm until 1877, when he entered into 
 partnership with C. F. Adams, which firm still 
 exists. 
 
 ROSE & McMAHON, abstract and loans. 
 Council Bluffs. The firm of Rose & McMahon, 
 was formed July 1, 1882, the members of the 
 firm being S. C. Rose and P. J. McMahon. 
 Their office is on the ground floor of No. 4 Pearl 
 street. Council Bluffs. P. J. McMahon was 
 born in Council Bluff's January 5, 1859, and is 
 a son of the celebrated Dr. P. J. McMahon, who 
 died in 1875, from the effects of blood-poison- 
 ing. His grandfather on his father's side was 
 a native of Ireland; his ancestors on his 
 mother's side came to America many genera- 
 tions ago. His mother's uncle — Austin King — 
 was Governor of Missouri. Mr. McMahon 
 received his education in Council Bluffs, in the 
 public schools and under private tuition. In 
 1876, he began clerking for A. D. Foster & Co., 
 druggists, with whom he remained one year, 
 then engaged with J. D. Edmundson, real 
 estate dealer, with whom he stayed till October, 
 1880. He then started the business in which 
 he is at present engaged, at 506 Broadway, 
 Council Bluffs, and in January, 1882, removed 
 to present office. No. 4 Pearl street. 
 
 J. C. MITCHELL, ticket agent, Council 
 Bluffs, was born in M3'stic, New London Co., 
 Conn., May 27, 1856. In 1866, he moved with 
 his parents to Owatonna, Minn. In 1870, he 
 accepted a position as operator at St. Paul, 
 and was afterward at Stillwater, Minn., in the 
 
40 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 employ of the Lake Superior & Mississippi 
 Railway Compan}'. Here he remained about 
 one year, when he went to St. Peter, Minn., as 
 operator and clerk for the Chicago & North- 
 western Railway Company, He remained in 
 the latter company's emploj* for about five 
 years. He assisted his father for about a year 
 and a half, in the latter's store in Owatonna, 
 Minn. He came to Council Bluffs in the fall 
 of 1880, when he accepted the position of Ticket 
 Agent for the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific 
 Railway Company. Our subject is of English 
 and Scotch descent. 
 
 F. C. MILLER, physician. Council Bluffs, 
 who has recently become associated with Dr. 
 Rice in the practice of medicine, is a native of 
 Oranb}', N. Y., where he was born March 31, 
 1857. He resided there until twelve years of 
 age, when his parents removed to Bristol, 111., 
 where they resided for eight years and then re- 
 moved to Maryville, Mo. There the Doctor be- 
 gan the study of medicine and subsequently 
 attended and graduated from the St. Louis 
 Eclectic Medical College. He graduated in 
 the spring of 1882, and in March, the same 
 year, he married Miss Jennie M. Gaunt of 
 Marj-ville, Mo. A short time subsequent to 
 this event he came to Council Bluffs, and effect- 
 ed a partnership with his uncle Dr. R. Rice. 
 Under the instruction of one so thoroughly 
 capable of advising him, he begins the prac- 
 tice of his chosen profession under most favor- 
 able circumstances. 
 
 J. MUELLER, musical merchandise. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, is a native of Bohemia ; subsequent- 
 ly became a resident of Prussia, where he re- 
 sided for ten years, and in 1857 came to the 
 United States and settled in Wisconsin. In 1859, 
 he came to Council Bluffs and engaged in teach- 
 ing music. He continued teaching as a business 
 until 1864, when he began the sale of musical 
 instruments and musical merchandise, running 
 the two together until 1869, when he gave up 
 teaching and turned his attention exclusively 
 
 to the sale of instruments and music. In the 
 meantime, however, he was burned out, by 
 which disaster he lost $8,000 worth of goods, 
 and was left $1,300 in debt. He lost none of 
 his energy and business ability, and in a short 
 time was making fair progress toward accumu- 
 lating another handsome property. In 1869, 
 he began business in the old Bee Hive build- 
 ing, where he remained until 1881, when he re- 
 moved to the fine building which he now occu- 
 pies, and which is his own property. The 
 building is twent^'-five by eighty feet, three 
 floors and basement, all of which is filled with 
 musical instruments, musical merchandise and 
 toys. He now does an extensive wholesale 
 trade, having about three regular men on the 
 road and six or seven men in the house. He im- 
 ports largely in sheet music and instruments. 
 The Chickering & Sons, Weber and J. Mueller 
 are among his best pianos, and tho Burdett 
 Standard and Western Cottage organs ; of the 
 latter organ he is Western agent, and has sold 
 of them in the eight years about 3,400. His 
 annual sales now aggregate about $100,000. 
 His success cannot be ascribed to luck, for 
 every step of progress has l»een carefull3- con- 
 sidered before an important business movement 
 has been made. There are probably but one or 
 two instances in Council Bluff's of like success. 
 THOMAS METCALF. wholesale and retail 
 dealer in hats, caps, buck goods and clothing, 
 was born in Chardon, Geauga Co., Ohio, and 
 in 1871 he married Miss Eva Canfield of 
 Chardon, Ohio, and thej' have two children — 
 Thomas, aged ten, and Frank aged eight years. 
 Mr. Metcalf, came to Council Bluffs in the fall 
 of 1867 and opened a hat and cap store on the 
 south side of Broadwa}- in a room eight by 
 twent}' feet. Here he remained two3-ears, then 
 moved into one-half of J. M. Philip's store, and 
 in 1880 moved into his present stand. The 
 firm of which Mr. Metcalf is a member carried 
 on the hat and cap business exclusively for 
 eight years, then added clothing. They em- 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 41 
 
 ploy six assistants aud carry about $50,000 
 wortli of stock, the annual sales amounting 
 to $150,000. H. H. Metcalf, senior member 
 of the firm, was married in 1868, to Miss Lida 
 Brownsfield of South Bend, lud. George Met- 
 calf was married in 1878, to Helen Rue of 
 Council Bluffs, and they have one child — Clara, 
 one and a half years of age. 
 
 R. N. MERRIAM, groceries and provisions, 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Princeton, Worcester 
 Co., Mass., in 1837, and when he attained his ma- 
 jorit3' moved West to Iowa. He served in the 
 army three years and three months, entering the 
 Fourth Iowa Infantry as private, and being 
 discharged as Sergeant. He came to Council 
 Bluffs in the fall of 1864. Started in business 
 with his brother, in eompau}- with whom he 
 continued till 1872, when he bought out his 
 brother's interest, and has since carried on the 
 business himself. He employs three assistants 
 in his store, and carries about $3,000 worth of 
 stock, his yearly sales amounting to $20,000. 
 In 1871, he married Miss Lucretia M. Lewis, 
 of Pennsj'lvania, and they have been blessed 
 with fourciiildren — Freddie, ten ; Harry, seven ; 
 Bessie, five, and Ottie, three years old. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Merriam are members of the Presby- 
 terian Church. 
 
 D. MACRAE, M. D., Council Bluffs, whose 
 portrait appears in this work, has been a resident 
 of Council Bluffs since March, 1867. He is a 
 native of Edginburgh, Scotland, receiving both 
 his literary and medical education at the Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh, from which he gradu- 
 ated in 18C1. He spent three years in the 
 Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, after graduat- 
 ing, and then accepted a position as Surgeon 
 for the Cunard Line of steamers. He re- 
 mained with the Cunard Line three years, 
 during which time he crossed the Atlantic sev- 
 enty-five times. The half of the last " round 
 trip " landed him in New York City in 1867, 
 where, before coming to Council Bluffs, he 
 married Miss Charlotte, daughter of Joseph 
 
 Bauchette, late Surveyor General of Canada, 
 who died in 1881, aged eighty-sis years. The 
 family was of French origin and well known in 
 Canada, which is the native place of Mrs. Mac- 
 rae. The Doctor has been in active practice 
 since his residence in the city. In 1882, he 
 was appointed Professor of Diseases of Women 
 in this district for the Des Moines College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons. He is a member of 
 the Council Bluffs Medical Society and of the 
 State Medical Society. He is also a charter 
 member of the lodges of the following orders 
 in Council Bluffs : A. 0. U. W., A. M. L. of 
 H., and Equitable Aid Union. The Doctor is 
 so well and favorably known socially and pro- 
 fessionally that anything of a eulogistic nat- 
 ure in connection with the above facts would 
 sound like flattery. 
 
 R. MORGAN, undertaker. Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1874 and opened an 
 undertaking establishment, emploj'ing two or 
 three men steadily. He was born in Chautau- 
 qua County, N. Y., in 1821, and began business 
 in Jamestown in 1842. In 1844, he moved to 
 Sinclairville, N. Y., aud engaged in the manu- 
 facture of furniture, and then moved to Corry, 
 Penn., in 1855, where he remained till he came 
 to Council Bluffs. He was married in James- 
 town, N. Y., in 1842, and has a family of twelve 
 children. His wife dying in 1861, he again 
 married in 1879. Mr. Morgan united with the 
 Baptist Church at Buffalo at the early age of 
 fifteen. He was the founder of the First Bap- 
 tist Church in Corry, Penn., maintaining the 
 minister for the first six months himself, and was 
 Trustee and Deacon while he remained in that 
 city. Is also Trustee and Deacon of the First 
 Baptist Church of Council Bluffs at the present 
 time. 
 
 MAURER & CRAIG, crockery and glass- 
 ware. Council Bluffs, began business in Coun- 
 cil Bluffs in August, 1881, buying out the 
 stock of William Whitney. They have con- 
 verted their business from retail to wholesale, 
 
42 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 and are doing a large trade. When they com- 
 menced business, the}' had but two salesmen ; 
 now they have four, and have also two regular 
 men on the road, as their stock has increased 
 to five times its original proportions. Their 
 business house is 110 feet long and 24 feet 
 wide, three stories and basement. W. A. 
 Maurer, senior member of this firm, was born 
 in Sandusky, Ohio, June 1, 1856. At an early 
 age, he removed with his parents to La Porte, 
 Ind., where he was educated in the public j 
 schools, and graduated from the high school ] 
 there about the year 1870. That same year, 
 he became salesman in the retail crockery and 
 glassware establishment of H. T. Culver, at La 
 Porte, Ind. He afterward managed the busi- 
 ness of D. C. Decker, wholesale crockery and 
 glassware, La Porte, Ind., and in 1880 went 
 South and engaged as salesman for L. A. 
 Mueller, dealer in crockery and glassware. 
 July 17, 1881, he came to Council Bluffs and 
 formed partnership with J. H. Craig, and they 
 have since continued in business together. J. 
 H. Craig, junior member of this firm, was born 
 in Cahaba, Ala., April 3, 1859, and during the 
 late war lived at Milledgeville, Ga. In the fall 
 of 1868, he moved to Selraa, Ala. During the 
 years 1876 and 1877, he attended the State 
 University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, Ala., 
 and from September, 1877, till the spring of 
 1878, attended the business college, at Pough- 
 keepsie, N. Y. In September, 1878, he began 
 working the General Freight and Ticket Office 
 of the Selma, Rome & Dalton Railroad, at 
 Patona, Ala., where he remained till December 
 4, 1878, when he accepted the position of book- 
 keeper for Knapp, Stout & Co., at Prairie Farm, 
 Wis. He was soon promoted to the position 
 of assistant book-keeper at the headquarters of 
 that company, at Menomonee, Wis., where he 
 remained one 3'ear. He then went back to 
 Selma, Ala., where he remained until he 
 started for Council Bluffs, at which place 
 he arrived August 5, 1881, and immedi- 
 
 ately became a partner in the firm of Maurer 
 & Craig. 
 
 W. GERALD NASON, agent for the Coun- 
 cil Bluffs Insurance Company, Council Bluffs, 
 vpas born in Schenectady, N. Y., May 15, 1837; 
 came to Iowa in 1855, and located in Boomer 
 Township, Pottawattamie Countj'. He farmed 
 there until Jul}-, 1856, at which time he went 
 to Omaha, Neb.; went to work in hotel there, 
 and remained until November of the same 
 year. He then came to Council Bluffs, where 
 he drove a team until the following spring ; 
 then went back on a farm, and remained there 
 until March, 1859. He then, in connection 
 with his brother, engaged in the grocery busi- 
 ness in Council Bluffs, in which they continued 
 until December, 1859. He then went back 
 again to the farm, and remained there until 
 July, 1860, when he went to Colorado with his 
 brother and engaged in mercantile business in 
 Cottonwood Springs ; he remained there three 
 months ; then returned to this county and 
 went back on the farm, and remained there 
 until September, 1862. He then enlisted in 
 Company E, Sixth Iowa Cavalry, and was 
 mustered out June 20, 1865, after which he re- 
 turned to the farm. Jlr. Nason was married 
 February 10, 1866, to Miss Maggie McKenna, 
 of Delaware, Ohio, and removed to Council 
 Bluffs April 15, same year, and engaged in the 
 wood and railroad-tie business. He again en- 
 gaged in farming in March, 1867, and pursued 
 that occupation till April, 1873, when he again 
 removed to Council Bluffs. Here he engaged 
 in the insurance business with the Continental 
 Insurance Company, with which he remained 
 until January, 1880, at which time he resigned 
 his position with that company and took the 
 superintendency of agencies of the Council 
 Bluffs Insurance Company. He has also been 
 representing five Eastern insurance companies 
 as local agent of Council Blufl's. The duties 
 of the Council Bluffs Company keeps him 
 almost constantly on the road. He has a 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 43 
 
 brother engaged in stock business in Montana, 
 who is ver^' wealtlij', and also a brother in 
 Boomer Township, this county, a farmer, who 
 has been on the same farm for twenty-seven 
 yer.rs. He has two sisters, married, who reside 
 on farms in Boomer Township. Blr. Nason 
 has been one of the verj' few who have made a 
 success of the insurance business. He was 
 educated in the town of Boonville, Oneida 
 Co., N. Y. 
 
 F. J. OSBORNE, dealer in staple and fancy 
 groceries, Council Bluffs, was born in Canada ; 
 his mother died in May, 1 874 ; his father is 
 still living in Canada. In 1876, he married 
 Miss Lillian Hilton, daughter of Dr. Hilton, of 
 Council Bluffs, and by this marriage they have 
 one child — Florence, an infant nine weeks old. 
 Mr. Osborne went to Michigan in 1879, and 
 the following 3-ear came to Council Bluffs. 
 Here he engaged in the grocer}- business, 
 which he has since carried on, doing an annual 
 business of about $35,000. He employs four 
 men. and carries from $4,000 to $5,000 worth 
 of stock. He has two brothers and two sis- 
 ters. One of his brothers, W. H., is married, 
 and lives in San Jose, Cal., where he is en- 
 gaged in the milling business. The other 
 brother is in the dry-goo's business in Chica- 
 go. His two sisters, one of whom is married, 
 reside in Canada. 
 
 DR. PETER WILHELM POULSON-FA- 
 CtEUSTJERN A. He was born at Copenhagen, 
 Denmark, December 14, 1831. His father was 
 born in Denmark, but of Swedish parents, and 
 belonged to a prominent old Swedish family, of 
 military distinction and nobility, the Counts 
 Fagerstjerna. His mother was also born in 
 Denmark, but her parents were of German 
 descent, and lost their great wealth when the 
 Danish Government, bankrupt, repudiated the 
 national debt in 1808, and many of the bond- 
 holders were financially ruined. His grand- 
 father, Poul Svendson Fagerstjerna, retired 
 from militar}^ service, as his father, Sveud 
 
 Nielson Fagerstjerna, also did when at the age 
 of forty, and Poul sold his propert}' in Sweden 
 and settled in Denmark, where he bought 
 large farms near Copenhagen, and also an 
 extensive brickyard, but five years later he 
 died suddenly from pneumonia and left the 
 children as minors. His widow married again, 
 and the Doctor's father, as the youngest son, 
 was given a military education in the Danish 
 Army. His great love for mathematics and 
 architecture made him, however, make it his 
 favorite study. The long line of his mother's 
 ancestors were ministers of the Lutheran 
 Church. His mother's father, Johan Peter 
 Gudenschrager, lived on the island Moen where 
 he owned much lanil and two grist mills. His 
 father, Ole Poulson Fagerstjerna, became an 
 architect and builder bj' profession, and when 
 the Doctor was onl}- live m jnths old his father 
 accepted the management of a large manufact- 
 uring company at Copenhagen. By moving, 
 the baby took a cold, and a congestion of the 
 lungs. Dr. Berg, the familj'' physician, de- 
 clared it fatal, and told the mother to call 
 next day and get the death certificate, but 
 when he stopped his visits the child got 
 well. When five years old, the boy was 
 sent to the Royal Military Elementary School. 
 There he remained six years, and graduated 
 when eleven j-ears old. He was then put in 
 the Royal School of Education, where he 
 remained four years, and graduated at the age 
 of fifteen. Only one and a half j-ears later the 
 war broke out between Denmark and Prussia, 
 and the rebellion of Schleswig and Holstein and 
 I Lunenburg made it hot for the country to save 
 itself. He became filled with patriotism, and 
 volunteered, much against his father's will, and 
 entered the Danish Arm}' as Corporal ; finished 
 the first campaign with distinction, and was, in 
 the fall of 1848, sent to Copenhagen to enter 
 the graduating class of the militar}- academy, 
 and was appointed Sergeant. After graduation, 
 he was sent back to his regiment and made his 
 
u 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 second campaign of 1849 as Quartermaster of 
 the arm}-, and the joungest on record. After 
 the battle at Colding he was among the i 
 2,000 men whom the main body of the armj' 
 left behind as a garrison at Fort Frede- 
 ricia. In ten weeks it was terrificall}* bom- 
 barded da}- and night, but defended with cour- 
 age and tenacit}- against the 20,000 enemies 
 which surrounded it. A re-enforcement of 
 16,000 men arrived bj- sea, and July 6, 18-19, 
 the battle of Fredericia was fought, leaving 
 6,000 dead and wounded on the field, but the 
 German Army was entirely defeated, the entire 
 siege artillery, two hundred pieces of field 
 artiller}', and two thousand prisoners were 
 taken. The soldiers came to Copenhagen as 
 the victorious arm}-, and held the entry under 
 a rain of flowers and the most deafening 
 enthusiasm of the nation. According to his 
 father's express wish, he resigned a few months 
 later from active service in the army, and 
 studied the two following years at the univer- 
 sitj- at Copenhagen. In the summer of 1852, 
 he entered the Ro3al Jonstrup College, where 
 he remained three years and graduated in 
 1855. He commenced again his study at the 
 universit}-, devoted especial care to medicine, 
 and was appointed one of the Professors at 
 St. Anna's Citizens' School. At the same time, 
 he pushed on his studies at the Royal Military 
 High School, which he graduated from in 1860, 
 and attained the rank as First Lieutenant of 
 Artillery. During the same year, he entered 
 the Royal Common Hospital as Volunteer Sur- 
 geon, and retained that position for three years 
 till 1863, when he concluded to emigrate to the 
 United States, and received his professional 
 testimonials from the hospital and the univer- 
 sity. The King granted him a permit of 
 absence for two j-ears from military duty, and 
 bid him good-by. In June, 1863, he landed at 
 New York, and was cordially received by the 
 medical profession. July 3, he finished an 
 eight days' rigid examination before the New 
 
 York Aeadem}^ of Medicine, and the New 
 York County Medical Society- of Homceopathy 
 awarded him their diploma and right hand of 
 fellowship. He started then for the West, with 
 intention to locate at Kansas Citj-, but it was 
 during the war, and arriving at St. Joseph, he 
 embarked on a steamer for Council Bluffs, 
 Iowa. Before leaving New York, the Doctor 
 had some idea of going to practice in Charles- 
 ton and enter the Southern Army as a Surgeon 
 or officer, but his medical friends got him to 
 abstain from such an intention, and on his 
 journej- through Missouri Quantrell's band 
 make a raid on the Hannibal & St. Joe Rail- 
 road, and killed a large number of Union sol- 
 diers not armed and on a visit home. This 
 horror of civil war disgusted him much with 
 the Confederate warfare, and he consoled him- 
 self later with the study of the Council Bluffs 
 Bugle. On his arrival in this city Juh' 21, 
 1863, Mr. Burke was the editor of the Nonpa- 
 reil, and he became soon the Doctor's friend, 
 patient and patron, and made him a good, 
 black Republican, and a great admirer of 
 Abraham Lincoln. Ver^- soon a large practice 
 greeted him, and he built a residence on Upper 
 Broadwa}-, but, in 1865, his health was shaken 
 by too much work, and he concluded to leave? 
 and was too exhausted to undertake a sea 
 voyage for home. He sent a petition to the 
 King of Denmarli for resignation, which was 
 granted him with royal gi-ace as First Lieu- 
 tenant of the artillery, and with rank as Cap- 
 tain of Infantry and the royal war medal for 
 services rendered the country was later con- 
 ferred on him. On his arrival in New York, he 
 was about dying from nervous prostration, but 
 being relieved from practice he studied and 
 recuperated slowly, and in March, 1866. he 
 graduated from the New York HomcEopathic 
 Medical College. Wishing for a more congenial 
 climate, he went to sea to Aspinwall and across 
 the Isthmus to Panama, and sailed for San 
 Francisco, Cal. 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 45 
 
 During his voj'age from Couucil Bluffs, he 
 had the misfortune to suffer shipwreck twice. 
 First, on the Missouri River, fifteen miles below 
 St. Joseph, where the steamer Deer Lodge 
 struck a snag and sunk; the passengers were 
 saved, but all his books brought along from 
 Europe, a sixteen j"ears' careful collection, were 
 lost, and a value of more than $5,000 consigned, 
 not insured to the depths. The passengers 
 happened to come ashore on the Missouri side, 
 and spent a night among bushwackers, and all 
 that saved them was probably that the bandits 
 were ashamed to rob and kill shipwrecked 
 people; next day they got teams hired for St. 
 Joseph; the second shipwreck happened on 
 board the Panama mail steamer Constitution, 
 when in a terrific gale she ran ashore in the 
 Gulf of Tehuantepec, off the eoastof Gautemala, 
 and, in a sinking condition, she arrived at San 
 Francisco several weeks too late. In the Golden 
 City, health and strength was regained, and aside 
 from the dreary sea fogs, he had no reason to 
 dislike San Francisco. During ISGO, tiie over- 
 land railway was finished, and he went on a 
 visit to Council Bluffs partly of curiosity of see- 
 ing the new scener3', and to visit his brother at 
 that place. When he entered Council Bluffs in 
 August, epidemics of diphtheria and d^'senterj- 
 prevailed, and very soon he was busy in a 
 large practice, in which he remained to 1874, 
 when an accident was the cause of his second 
 exodus to California. At a curve near the 
 Union Pacific depot, street cars were frequently 
 thrown from the track. One morning in Jan- 
 uary, after a hard night's frost, the car rushed 
 down hill with a lightning speed, and the horses 
 approached the curve in a gallop; the passen- 
 gers were screaming, and he jumped the car, 
 knocking his knee against the rail and inflict- 
 ing a very severe wound. The cold weather 
 and want of rest made the wound very painful, 
 and he left on the Union Pacific Railroad for 
 Salt Lake Citv. There he was laid up for 
 weeks, and recovered slowly, and left June 24 
 
 for San Francisco. In Utah as well as in Cali- 
 fornia, he did some practice, but left again for 
 Iowa during 1875. During the winter of 187G 
 and 1877, he practiced at San Francisco, and 
 returned in the spring to Council Bluffs, where 
 he has been in practice since. In ISGfi, at a 
 meeting held at St. Louis, Mo., the National 
 Medical Convention of the United States, the 
 American Institute of Homojopathy, showed 
 him the honor of electing him a member of that 
 bod\'. A few weeks after his arrival at Council 
 Bluffs in 1869, he bought the Kirkwood Bam- 
 ford farm. Willow Creek, one mile east of 
 Crescent City. There be has built a new addi- 
 tion to the house, and planted twelve acres of a 
 now bearing orchard. The Iowa State Medical 
 Society of Homteopathy elected him, 1870, 
 a member and also censor of the society. Dur- 
 ing 1873, he bought 120 acres new land ad- 
 joining his farm, and had it fenced and culti- 
 vated and built a new home in it, and created 
 a new farm by the name of Timberdale. On a 
 central plateau between the two farms, it is the 
 Doctor's intention very soon to raise his long 
 projected Sanitarium, called Petershof, which 
 will be open for patients from May to October 
 ever}- j-ear. Several years in succession, he 
 has been a State Delegate to the National Medi- 
 cal Convention, and at that Convention, held at 
 New York in 1881, he was elected a delegate 
 from the United States to the International 
 Medical Convention of Homojopathy held at 
 London that year. Onlj' a severe illness pre- 
 vented him from sailing for England, and he 
 missed a pleasant and interesting journe}- to 
 Europe. During his j'oung da3's, he studied 
 at the iesthetic department at the LTniversity 
 of Copenhagen, the ancient and modern classic 
 literature, and wrote, at the age of eighteen, his 
 first dramatic work called '• Magnus the Good, 
 King of Norwaj-.' His next work is "A Night 
 in the North," an epic poem of 100 pages. 
 Next, he issued a volume of poems. In ISGO, 
 he published a translation from German to 
 
46 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL: 
 
 Danish of Dr. Arthur Lutree, ''The Chronic 
 Diseases." During his years in America, he 
 published, in 18G9, a pamphlet, "The Duchies 
 and the Policy- of Germany." This political 
 hrodiure was Tvritteu in Danish and published 
 at Copenhagen. It was followed in 1870 with 
 another, which caused the greatest sensation at 
 home, and a newspaper discussion for months, 
 and was called, " The Diplomacy of Germany 
 and Scandinavia and Kussia." Even the Gov- 
 ernment organ, the Berlin Times, had its col- 
 ums open in defense of its diplomacy, and the 
 editor of the People's Times called attention to 
 the pamphlet in the loudest terms as a national 
 necessity. During his visit to California in 
 1876, he wrote a new dramatical work of 226 
 pages of print, called "Kay Lyrre," printed at 
 San Francisco. Besides general newspaper ar- 
 ticles, he has published numerous essays on 
 medical and surgical topics, which the readers 
 of the Chicago Medical Investigator are familiar 
 with. During the winter of 1881-82, he trans- 
 lated and wrote many new additions, translated 
 from Danish to English the " Great Drama of 
 Henry Hertz, called Sveud During's House. ' 
 with intention to have it played during the 
 coming winter on the American stage. At 
 present, he is working on three different books. 
 A new original drama, '■ Olaf Tryggason, King 
 of Norway," is about written. A medical do- 
 mestic hand-book is he going on with, and a 
 work on the philosophy of the Ethics of Mes- 
 siah is also ready for print. Prof. Dr. Carsten 
 Hauch was his teacher in Esthetics at the Uni- 
 versity of Copenhagen. In eight j'ears, he was 
 a pupil of that distinguished dramatist. ^Yheu 
 he had finished his manuscript for Kay Lyrre, 
 at San Francisco, he sent it for Prof Hauch's 
 perusal, and several hints of value were given. 
 Dr. Hauch praised especially the scene where 
 the Queen thinks she is betraj-ed, in these 
 words ; " That scene is written with a master's 
 pen." Prof Dr. Heiberg, known as an emi- 
 nent critic of dramatic literature, read his 
 
 drama • Magnus the Good," and gave especial 
 scenical and technical points, and said, •' Keep 
 up good courage to sing with as to fight by." 
 In June, 1879, he graduated from the Ameri- 
 can Health College at Cincinnati, Ohio, and is 
 now only anxious to get means suflScient to 
 disposition, bj- which his great hospital and 
 sanitarium can be built and completed in the 
 neighborhood of Crescent City. It will be a 
 national institution, treating onh' nervous and 
 chronic diseases, and open only during the 
 summer months, and receiving its patients 
 mostlj- from the Atlantic States of the Union. 
 J. M. PHILLIPS, boot and shoe dealer, 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Essex County, Mass., 
 March 15, 1820, and resided there nearly 
 thirty-nine years. In the fall of 1858, he re- 
 moved so Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and 
 took charge of a boot and shoe business, which 
 had been started in the fall of 1856. Mr. 
 Phillips served six months' apprenticeship to 
 the tanners trade, and also learned the shoe- 
 maker's trade in Essex County, Mass., where 
 he carried on the manufacture of boots and 
 shoes, previous to his coming to this county. 
 He first started business in Council Bluffs, in a 
 log storehouse, located back of where Rob- 
 ison & Bro.'s jewelr3- store now stands, but 
 late in the fall of 1856, he moved to his pres- 
 ent business stand. Mr. Phillips had then the 
 only exclusive boot and shoe store in the city, 
 but all the merchants carried a small stock in 
 that line. There was a two-story frame build- 
 ing on the lot when he first moved in, in the 
 fall of 1867. He was burned out in 1868, and 
 then built the brick building that he now occu- 
 pies. He is a leading boot and shoe dealer of 
 Council Bluffs, and does a wholesale and retail 
 business. He has established a fine trade 
 through Iowa and Nebraska, and his business 
 is steadily increasing. His retail business during 
 the months of July and August, 1882, amounted 
 to three times as much as the sales for those 
 two months the previous year. In the early 
 
COUJfCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 47 
 
 j-ears of his business in Council Bluffs, he 
 alwa3-s purchased his goods six months ahead, 
 owing to the fact that boats could not get up 
 this far at all months of the year, and he was 
 therefore obliged to lay in his stock six months 
 ahead. 3Ir. Phillips was first elected Alder- 
 man for 1863 and 1864, and served in that 
 office for sis successive terms, and then posi- 
 tivel}- declined to sen'e anj- longer. He is one 
 of the prime movers in the organization of the 
 Savings Bank of Council Bluffs ; was Vice 
 President of that bank for a number of j'ears ; 
 was one of the first stockholders and direc- 
 tors, and is still a director of tlie bank. He 
 was elected a member of the Board of Super- 
 visors in 1880, and still holds that oflfice. He 
 moved his family to Council Bluffs from St. 
 Joseph, Mo. He has had seven children, six 
 of whom are living — Milton David (deceased), 
 Nathan C, Mary 0., J. M., Emma C, Russ M. 
 and Grenville Dodge. Mr. Phillips is one of 
 the oldest business men in Western Iowa ; his 
 business has increased from S4,000 to $20,- 
 000 a year. 
 
 GEORGE T. PHELPS, Ogden House, Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, Iowa. The gentlemanly proprietor 
 of the large and popular hotel, the Ogden 
 House, took charge of that hotel in 1876. His 
 genial disposition and happy faculty of under- 
 standing the needs of the inner man, most 
 thoroughly render him that hard-to-befound 
 mortal — an efficient and universally-liked land 
 lord. Mr. Phelps was born in Chatham, N. Y. 
 in 1842. His father was a railroad contractor 
 and moved to Massachusetts when our subject 
 was one year old, to fulfill a contract there. 
 In 1860, his business took him to Illinois, from 
 whence he returned to Massachusetts on the 
 breaking-out of the war. Here George T. en- 
 listed as a private in the Twenty-sixth Massa- 
 chusetts Volunteers, and was discharged June 
 21, 1865. He entered the service as a private, 
 and came out as Quartermaster Sergeant. After 
 this, he was engaged for one year in the whole- 
 
 sale feed and grain business. He followed in 
 the footsteps of his father, and came to Coun- 
 cil Bluffs in 1866, as a contractor on the Chi- 
 cago, Burlington & St. Joe Railroad ; and, on 
 its completion assumed the general manage- 
 ment of this division of the road, in which 
 capacity- he continued until the spring of 1869, 
 when he went East as a contractor on different 
 roads in New York, Massachusetts and Con- 
 necticut. He returned to Oakland, Pottawat- 
 tamie Co.. Iowa, in 1873, staj-ing there three 
 years, when he assumed the proprietorship of 
 the Ogden House, which had but shortly before 
 been rebuilt after the fire of 1875. The Ogden 
 House averages sixtj- arrivals per da}-, and has, 
 besides, many regular boarders. Mr. Phelps 
 was married in the spring of 1869, to Miss 
 Anna Baldwin, daughter of John T. Baldwin, 
 of this city. 
 
 DR. W. L. PATTOX, physician. Council 
 Bluffs, is a native of Virginia. He moved to 
 Missouri in 1853, and resided in that State nine 
 years, during eight of which he practiced in 
 Kirksville, Adair County, of that State. He 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1865, and followed 
 his profession as a physician and oculist. He 
 went into the drug business in 1867. After 
 two years, he sold out and opened up in the 
 same business a second time, in connection 
 with Mr. M. Beardsley. They carried nearly 
 87,000 in stock, and continued in this business 
 for two j'ears, when they sold out, after which 
 our subject attended strictly to his practice. 
 During the last two years, he has treated 352 
 cases of eye and ear difficulties. He owns a 
 fine livery stable on North Main street. He 
 opened an undertaking establishment Septem- 
 ber 1, 1882. He has 106 feet front on North 
 Main street, valued at 820,000. The Doctor 
 was married in Virginia, in March, 1852, to 
 Miss Elizabeth C. Rogers, daughter of John 
 Rogers, who died in Harrison County, this 
 State, in November, 1880, aged eighty-two. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Patton have seven children, four 
 
48 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 sons and three daughters. His oldest boy — 
 A. B. Pattou, is at present a telegraph operator 
 in Pueblo, Colo. Douglas S. is in Omaha, In 
 the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany. The next boy — William, studied law, 
 and was admitted to the bar in Council Bluffs 
 in 1880, and is now in Kokomo, Summit Co., 
 Col. His three daughters — Jennie, Effle and 
 Lulu, are all at home. His youngest boy — 
 D. D., is also at home, a.m\ is a fine musician. 
 
 R. V. PHILLIPS, proprietor handle factory. 
 County Bluffs, was born at Crown Point, Essex 
 Co., N. Y. He came to this State in 18-19, and 
 settled in Jackson County. For five years, he 
 was with Mr. P. Mitchell, of Maquoketa, who 
 is called the pioneer merchant of the West. 
 He (subject) came to Council Bluffs in 1859, 
 and established a handle factor}'. He manu- 
 factures all kinds of wooden handles, and 
 splits all liis timber, instead of sawing it, there- 
 by making a more durable and otherwise 
 superior article. He supplies many different 
 railroads with his goods, having furnished the 
 Union Pacific Railroad with handles for eleven 
 years. He was married in Clinton County, 
 this State, in 1854, to Miss Anna L. Smith. 
 They have four bo3's, all of whom assist their 
 father in the factory. Frank, aged twentj'-six; 
 Don, aged twenty-two; Edward, aged twentj^; 
 and Charles, who is eighteen years old. They 
 also have two daughters, one living in Creston 
 (the wife of T. S. Douglas), and the other, Belle, 
 living at home. 
 
 J. W. PALMER, dentist, Council Bluffs, was 
 Vjorn in Vinton, Benton Co., Iowa, September 
 2, 1861; lived there four years, then moved to 
 Iowa City. After residing in Iowa City for six 
 years, he moved to Harrison County, Iowa 
 where he lived until the fall of 1879, when he 
 came to Council Bluffs. Mr. Palmer began the 
 study of dentistry under Drs. Swinton & West 
 on Pearl street, Council Bluffs, in the spring of 
 1882, and purposes completing the stud}- of 
 his profession at the Iowa City Dental College. 
 
 He is a son of Capt. J. E. Palmer, of Company 
 A. Twenty -eighth Iowa Volunteers, who was 
 born in Ohio in 1821, and, who was killed 
 September 19, 1864, at the battle of Winchester, 
 his remains being brought back to Vinton, 
 Iowa, for interment. Subject's mother was born 
 in Essex County, N. Y., in 1822, was married at 
 Vinton, Iowa, in 1856, and resided there until 
 1862. 
 
 C. H. PINNEY, physician and surgeon. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in Elyria, Ohio, August 
 30, 1842, son of H. H. and M. Abbey Pinney, 
 who now reside at East Saginaw, Mich. H. H. 
 Pinny is a farmer b}- occupation, was born at 
 Farmington, Conn., in 1806; his wife was born 
 in Syracuse, N. Y., in 1810. Subject received 
 his preliminarj- education at Clarkson, Ohio; 
 took an academic course and finished his pro- 
 fessional studies at the University at Ann 
 Arbor, Mich. At Council Bluffs, September 
 30, 1870, he married Ella O., daughter of W. 
 H. M. Pusey of that city. By this union, they 
 have been blessed with four children — William 
 H., Hulburt H , Lucilla K. and Frank. The 
 Doctor was elected Coroner of Douglas County, 
 Neb., for a term of four j'ears. During the late 
 war, he entered Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cav- 
 alry- as Surgeon, and served in that eapacit}' 
 for three years. He graduated from the Uni- 
 versitv of Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1862, and, after 
 the war, spent eight months in the Medical De- 
 partment of the University of Pennsylvania, 
 from which he also graduated. From Phila- 
 delphia, Penn., he came to Omaha, Neb., where 
 he practiced medicine for eight j-ears. and in 
 1874, moved to Council Bluffs, where he has 
 since held the position of one of the most prom- 
 inent physicians and surgeons of that city. 
 He was examining physician for applicants for 
 cadetships. The Doctor is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternit}- in Omaha, Neb., and in 
 politics is Republican. 
 
 J. M. PALMER, real estate. Council Bluffs. 
 He came to Council Bluffs in 1854, and en- 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 49 
 
 gaged In real estate business He built the 
 block in which the Nonpareil is now located 
 in 1856. In 1860, he was elected Assessor, 
 and in 1861 was elected Mayor of Council 
 Blutfs; re-elected to the latter office in 1862. and 
 in 1870 was again elected Ma^^or. During this 
 time he was engaged in real estate and tax pay- 
 ing business. In 1871, he built the Transfer 
 House at the Union Pacific Transfer; liopt that 
 house five }'ears, and then sold out to Markel. 
 Since that time he has been engaged in the real 
 estate business, and in building tenement 
 houses; his office is at 503 First avenue. Mr. 
 Palmer was born March 10, 1827, in Chester 
 County, Penn., and was reared and educated 
 there. At the age of twenty-one years, he en- 
 gaged in the butchering business in Chester 
 County, Penn., near Coatesville, and until he 
 came to Council Bluffs was engaged in buying 
 and selling cattle for the Philadelphia market- 
 When he arrived in Council Bluffs, there were 
 but four houses in Omaha. His ancestors came 
 to America a great man\- generations ago. 
 
 N. M. PUSEY, Council BluflFs, became a resi- 
 dent of Council Bluffs May 17,1877; he was 
 born in ^yashiugton County, Penn., June 21, 
 1841; removed to Baltimore, Md., in the fall of 
 1849, where he was educated, and continued to 
 reside till his removal to Council Bluffs. He 
 read law under the tuition of Messrs. Cochran 
 & Stoekbridge. and practiced at the Baltimore 
 bar from 1864 till his removal West. He was 
 married in May, 1865, to Miss Gertrude A. Mor- 
 gan, the daughter of Rev. N. J. B. Morgan, a 
 celebrated Methodist divine. He has been a 
 continuous practitioner of law since his admis- 
 sion to the bar in 1864. 
 
 HENRY PASCHEL, real estate. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Poland October 14, 1825, 
 where he lived until 1845, and after traveling 
 all over Europe came to America in 1853, for 
 the purpose of seeing the country. He traveled 
 over a great part of the United States, and 
 finally settled in Sioux Cit}-, Iowa, where he 
 
 built one of the first houses in that place. In 
 1856, he married Miss Anna Kasberg, and from 
 this union seven children have been born — 
 Mary, the eldest, was born in Ponca, Neb.: The- 
 resa, who married Mr. H. Swing, of St. Helena, 
 Neb., was born in St. Joseph, Mo.; and the re- 
 mainder of the family were all born in Council 
 Bluffs. The third daughter, Anna, is at pres- 
 ent in the convent at Dubuque, while the other 
 two girls are at home. The two boys (twins), 
 aged sixteen years, are both employed in Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, one with P]mpkie & McDoel, the 
 other with Erb & Duquette. Mr. Paschel first 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1854,, but did not 
 fettle permanentl}' till 1860, when he moved 
 here from Sioux City. He had begun the bus- 
 iness of life as a brick-layer, and when he came 
 here he engaged as a brick-laying contractor. 
 In 1 868, he abandoned brick-laying, and engaged 
 in the real estate business, which he had for- 
 merl}- followed in Sioux City, Iowa, and has met 
 with gratifying success. He is not an agent 
 for anybody, but handles his own property; he 
 owns fourteen buildings in Council Bluffs, and 
 handles from $5,000 to 110,000 worth of prop- 
 erty. 
 
 JUDGE JOSEPH R. REED, Council Bluffs, 
 is a native of Ashland County, Ohio, born 
 March 12, 1835. His father. William Reed, 
 was a native of Washington Count}', Penn,, a 
 farmer by occupation, and was of Scotch ances- 
 try. He married Miss Rosanah Lyle, daugh- 
 ter of Robert Lyle, also a farmer of Washing- 
 ton Count}-, Penn., and came West and located 
 in Ohio in 1829. The}- raised a family of six 
 children, all of whom are still living — James 
 0., a resident planter and railroad contractor 
 of Louisiana since 1864; Sarah J., a maiden still 
 living in Ashland County; Elizabeth, wife of 
 Rev. D. A. Newell, a Presbyterian clergyman 
 of Mercer County, Penn.; William, a merchant 
 of Loudonville, in Ashland County; Rosanah, 
 wife of Jesse Hessen, a lawyer of the same 
 I town, and our subject, who is the third of the 
 
50 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 family. Judge Reed secured his rudimental 
 schooling in the commou schools of his native 
 town, and closed his school da3's in au acade- 
 my. He left Ohio and came to Iowa in 1857, 
 and first located in the town of Adel, in Dallas 
 Count}'. There he engaged in teaching, devot- 
 ing a portion of his time to the stud}' of law; 
 was admitted to the bar of the State in March, 
 1859, and from that time practiced his pro- 
 fession in Dallas County until 1861. At the 
 breaking-out of the rebellion, he entered the 
 ami}- as Lieutenant in the Second Iowa Battery, 
 from Dallas County; he served as Lieutenant 
 about three years, and in September, 1864, was 
 promoted to the rank of Captain, which com- 
 mission he held until July, 18G5, when he re- 
 turned home. His battery figured in the entire 
 campaign before Vicksburg, also at the battle 
 of Nashville, later at Mobile, and was in many 
 other minor engagements, the most important 
 of which was the battle of Tupelo, in July, 
 1864. Judge Reed's personal tastes inclined 
 him to the study of law, which he prosecuted 
 without the aid of a tutor, and entered upon 
 its practice alone. He came to Council Bluffs 
 in 1869. In 1870, he formed a law partnership 
 with B. F. Montgomery and Judge James, un- 
 der' the firm style of Montgomery, Reed & 
 James. In 1871, Mr. Montgomery retired from 
 the firm, and Messrs. Reed & James continued 
 the business until September, 1872, when Mr. 
 Reed was appointed Judge of the Third Judicial 
 District of Iowa, to fill the vacancy occasioned 
 by the election of Judge McDill to Congress. 
 Judge Reed, after completing the unexpired 
 term, was duly elected to fill the place which he 
 now occupies. When a practitioner, Judge 
 Reed was known as a thorough, industrious and 
 painstaking attorney. He is now known as a 
 prompt and impartial Judge of the law, dis- 
 posing of his judicial business with dispatch, 
 and to the general satisfaction of the bar. He 
 was married, November 1, 1865, to Miss Jen- 
 ette E. Densmore, daughter of James E. 
 
 Densmore, a farmer of Ashland County, 
 Ohio, a native of Pennsylvania. He came to 
 Ohio in 1833. He had three daughters and 
 four sons, Mrs. Reed being the fourth of the 
 family, and was born in York Count}', Peun., 
 April 20, 1833. 
 
 JOSEPH ROSS, cooper. Council Bluffs, was 
 born in England, and came to America at the 
 age of ten. He came to Iowa in 1857. He 
 has a fine farm in Crescent Township, where 
 he stayed two years and a half, coming to the 
 Bluffs in 1872. He carries on a heavy cooper- 
 ing business, employing from fifteen to eight- 
 een men. His family consists of three children 
 — Daisy S., aged six years ; John T., aged four 
 years, and Charlie, who is three years old. 
 
 RAYxMOND & CAMPBELL, bridge build- 
 ers, Council Bluffs. E. W. Raymond, the sen- 
 ior member of this firm, was born near Lock- 
 port, N. Y., iu 1842. He left New York when 
 a boy and went to Illinois ; was in the Quar- 
 termaster's office in Jackson, Tenn., Vicksburg 
 and Memphis. In August, 1868, he came to 
 Council Bluffs, where, in 1869, he was married. 
 He has two children — William Randolph, aged 
 twelve years, and Anna Belle, both attending 
 school. Mr. Raymond's mother died here in 
 1879 ; his father, who is now sixty-four years 
 of age, lives with him. Mr. Campbell, the 
 junior member of the firm, was born in Prince 
 Edward Island in 1849, and came to the 
 United States in 1867. He came first to Oma- 
 ha, Neb.; worked there for one year, then 
 worked in Schuyler, Neb., at bridge-building 
 for H. T. Clark for three years. In September, 
 1874, the present firm of Raymond & Camp- 
 bell was formed, and the}' are doing a heavy 
 business in bridge-building, employing about 
 fifty men, and doing a business of $200,000. 
 
 WILLIAM RICH.MOND, wholesale and re 
 tail grocer, Council Bluffs, was born in County 
 Cavan, Ireland, July 12, 1845, and at the age 
 of sixteen years emigrated to the United 
 States with his parents and settled in Green 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 51 
 
 County, Wis. He received his education in his 
 native country-. He followed fanning for four 
 years, and then engaged in the hotel business 
 in Manchester, Iowa, for three years. He then 
 traveled for the grocery house of Harper Bros., 
 Chicago, until he came to Council Bluffs in 
 October, 1880, and began business at No. 14 
 Pearl street, where he has since remained. 
 His store occupies two stories 90 feet long and 
 20 feet wide, the lower floor containing the re- 
 tail department of the business, the upper 
 floor containing teas, spices, etc., and the cellar 
 is stocked with sirups, oils, vinegar, etc. He 
 began business with about $2,000 worth of 
 stock, his annual sales then amounting to about 
 $50,000. He now carries about $5,000 worth 
 of stock, and from present prospects his an- 
 nual sales for the present year will amount to 
 about $100,000. He employs three men in his 
 establishment and keeps nine men on the road, 
 and expects soon to increase his force of trav- 
 eling men. Mr. Richmond is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity. 
 
 M. F. ROHRER, commission. Council Bluffs, 
 became a resident of Council Bluffs in 1871. 
 He came to the city in the interests of a mill- 
 ing firm of Wathena, Kan., and finding the 
 place possessing attractions for him over other 
 cities of the West, he quit traveling and set- 
 tled down, and, instead of stopping three 
 months, as he at first intended, he has pro- 
 longed the time to about eleven }-ears. He 
 was born in Rohrersville, Washington Co., Md., 
 on what afterward was the Antietam battle- 
 ground, August 1, 1850, and at the time that 
 battle was fought, he was a lad twelve j-ears 
 old Even at this age, he was pressed into the 
 service as a nurse, as his father's house and 
 barn were turned into hospitals, and all possi- 
 ble aid rendered by the family to the wounded 
 soldiers of the Federal army. He was a wit 
 ness of that terrible battle, and. boj- though he 
 was, did manly service in caring for the 
 wounded. His first employment in Council 
 
 Bluffs was in the capacity of salesman for the 
 firm of Bracket & Golden, with whom he re- 
 mained about one year. This was in 1872. 
 In 1873, he acted as Deputy Sheriff for George 
 Doughty. In the latter part of 1873, and un- 
 til August of 1875, he was engaged as bill 
 clerk for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 
 Railroad, and as agent for the Burlington & 
 Missouri Railroad in Nebraska. He then en- 
 gaged in the insurance business in company 
 with his present partner by the purchase of the 
 business of Messrs. J. P. and J. X. Cassady. 
 Changes were subsequently made in the firm, 
 but Mr. Rohrer continued interested in the 
 insurance and real estate business until he en- 
 gaged in the storage and commission bu.siness 
 in November, 1881, under the firm name of 
 Bowman, Rohrer & Co. He is, however, still 
 largelj' interested in the real estate business, 
 though only in propertj- owned by iiimself. 
 He has taken an active part in all enterprises 
 of a local nature. In 1871, he joined Rescue 
 Hand Engine Company, No. 3, and was shortly 
 after made Vice President, which office he has 
 since held. He is P. G. of Hawkej'e Lodge, 
 No. 184, I. 0. 0. F., and is P. C. P. of Twin 
 Brother Encampment, No. 42, of that order ; 
 he is also a charter'^member of Widvey Tem- 
 ple, No. 5, P. C. He had served one term as 
 Township Clerk, and in the fall of 1880, while 
 he was in Missouri, he received the nomination 
 for a second term, though he had left positive 
 orders that he would decline to become a can- 
 didate for the office. This was the more pro" 
 voking as the Republicans had put up a 
 colored man as their candidate. There re- 
 mained but one of two things for him to do. 
 either to withdraw and let the public think he 
 was afraid to enter the contest, or to enter the 
 field with a colored man as an opponent. He 
 chose the latter, and was elected by a good 
 round majority of 800 votes, though he did not 
 want the office. With this election, the term 
 of office was changed to two years, so he is 
 
52 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 still filling the position. In 1877, lie was mar- 
 ried to Miss Sarah B., only child of John B. 
 and Eliza Beers. Mr. Beers was one of the 
 most prominent real estate dealers and prop- 
 erty owners in the city, as well as the first 
 wholesale grocery merchant. A more com- 
 plete sketch of his life, however, will be found 
 in another part of this work. Mr. Rohrer, 
 though a young man, has builded for himself a 
 good, honorable reputation in the city of 
 Council Bluff's. That he is in every way 
 worthy of the position he holds in both social 
 and business circles is evidenced by his popu- 
 larity among the best citizens of the city. 
 
 K RICE, M. D., Council Bluffs. The science 
 of medicine has grown to such an extent as to 
 admit of many specialties in the practice. 
 After a general course of study in order to 
 graduate from any of our leading medical col- 
 leges, it has become the custom of many of the 
 best students to turn their attention to some 
 important specialty in the practice and in their 
 chosen field devote the time and hard study 
 of their career as a practitioner to adding new 
 points and new discoveries to that science upon 
 which mankind has grown so dependent. What 
 more important study than the treatment of 
 the cancer could be taken up as a specialty, and 
 what more difficult to treat successfully? For 
 hundreds of years the cancer was considered 
 incurable; this, too, by the best medical author- 
 ity; and it is only by the patient study of emi- 
 nent physicians, who have made a specialty of 
 this dreaded atBiction, that in later years 
 thorough and permanent cures are not uncom- 
 mon. For years it was the custom of the phy- 
 sician to use the knife in the removal of the 
 cancer, and even to the present time this is 
 practiced to an extent. The same science, how- 
 ever, which has made the custom of blood-let- 
 ting by the barber — in honor of which their 
 signs were painted with a red stripe — a thing 
 of the past, has also discarded the use of the 
 knife in removing the cancer. No better evi- 
 
 dence is needed of the success of the science of 
 medicine in this respect than a talk with .some 
 of the patients of Dr. R. Rice, of Council 
 Bluffs, or a visit to the Doctor himself, where 
 abundant proof awaits the incredulous. A 
 brief sketch of the experience and course of 
 study of the Doctor may not prove uninterest- 
 ing. He was born in Coventry, N. Y., March 
 15, 1820, and resided there until six years of 
 age, when his parents moved to Whitestown, 
 Oneida Co., N. Y. The ensuing time until he 
 had arrived at man's estate was spent in Hol- 
 land Patent, Oneida County, and in Fulton, 
 Oswego Co., N. Y. After receiving a careful 
 literary education, he began the study of medi- 
 cine, and subsequently graduated from the Ec- 
 lectic Vegetable Reform College of Fulton. He 
 began practice in Fulton, N. Y., and remained 
 there till 1868, when he removed to Sandwich, 
 111. There he practiced eight years and then re- 
 moved to Council Bluffs, where he arrived in 
 the spring of 1875. He at once opened up an 
 office and began practice, and since that time 
 he has been steadily increasing his 'practice 
 until at present he is known as the most suc- 
 cessful physician in the treatment of cancers 
 and other chronic diseases of the Missouri Val- 
 ley. 
 
 J. C. RHODABECK, attorney, Council 
 Bluffs, began reading law in 1853, in Newark, 
 Ohio, with E. C. Smythe ; was admitted to the 
 bar in Franklin County in 1856, and began the 
 practice of his profession in Harrison County, 
 Iowa, in 1868. Previous to this, however, he 
 was speculating in land in Benton County, 
 Iowa. In March, 1881, he came to Council 
 Bluffs, where he was engaged in the practice of 
 law. His grandfather on his mother's side was 
 of English descent; his grandfather on his 
 father's side was of German descent, and his 
 grandmothers were of Scotch descent. 
 
 E. L. SHUGART, of the Shugart Implement 
 Company of Council Bluffs, is unquestionably 
 amona; the first of that class of citizens to 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 53 
 
 whom the " Bluffa City" owes much of her 
 prosperity. He became a resident of the city 
 in 1868, and in 1869, January 1st, lie began 
 selling agricultural implements. His chances 
 of success were no better than those of manj- 
 others who have undertaken the same business 
 and failed under equally favorable circum- 
 stances. The opening of the business was 
 under the firm name of Shugart & Lininger, 
 and was continued bj- this firm until 1873, 
 when Mr. F. Weis was admitted as a member 
 of the firm. In 1875, the firm again changed, 
 and Mr. E. L. Shugart became successor of the 
 old firm. He conducted the business alone, 
 until September of 1880, when the Shugart Im- 
 plement Company was formed. The building 
 occupied by them was begun in the fall of 
 1880, and finished in the spring of 1881. It is 
 fifty feet frontage b}^ one hundred feet deep 
 and three stories and basement. This com- 
 pany is considered one of the leadiug business 
 firms of the city. In 1871, Mr. Shugart was 
 the principal founder of the Council Bluffs 
 Agricultural Works and continued a member 
 of the company until the works were burned in 
 1877. He was Vice President of the First 
 National Bank of Council Bluffs for a number 
 of years, and when the Citizens' Bank was or- 
 ganized in the summer of 1882, became Vice 
 President of that bank. In 1871, he was elect- 
 ed a member of the City Council, holding the 
 office four years b3- re- election, and in 1877 he 
 was elected a member of the County Board of 
 Supervisors for a three j-ears' term. In the 
 spring of 1882, he was again elected a member 
 of the City Council, and is at present discharg- 
 ing the duties pertaining to that office. He is 
 a member of the order of A., F. & A. M., and 
 of the following lodges: Excelsior Blue Lodge, 
 Star Chapter and Ivanhoe Commandery. Such 
 is briefly the career of Mr. Shugart as a public 
 and business man. He was born in 1836, in 
 Franklin County, Ohio, and in 1850 became a 
 resident of Bureau County, 111. He was edu- 
 
 cated at Vermilion Institute of Haysville, Ohio, 
 and at Smith Seminar}- of Princeton, Bureau 
 Co., 111. September 20, 1860, he was married 
 to Miss A. R. Donning, a native of Bureau 
 County, 111., and who was educated at Mount 
 Carroll Seminary. Thej- have two children 
 living, both boys, aged respectively nine and 
 sixteen 3'ears. 
 
 F. A. SHULTZ, hotel-keeper. Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Chriswig, Germany. He was the 
 son of E. and Anna (Rosakir) Shultz. His 
 father was born in Chriswig, Germany, and was 
 a shoemaker b}- trade. He came to this country, 
 and went to Davenport, Iowa, in 1866; here he 
 lived about five years, when he moved to Sheri- 
 dan County, Mo., where he lived nine years and 
 then came to this count}'. His (subject's) 
 mother was also a native of Chriswig, Ger- 
 man}', and died in Sheridan County, Mo., in 
 1875. Our subject's parents had eight children. 
 He (subject) lived with his father until the 
 spring of 1880, when he came to this county, 
 and engaged in farming. He was a shoemaker 
 by trade, and worked at this in Germany, but 
 since his arrival in America he has been en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits, until the spring 
 of 1882, when he opened his hotel in Lewis 
 Township, this county, in which business he 
 has since been engaged. He was married in 
 the fall of 1871, at Davenport, Iowa, to Cathe- 
 rina Ikener, born in Chriswig, Gerraanv, in 
 1852. She was the daughter of John and 
 Christina (Thompson) Ikener, both natives of 
 Chriswig, Germany. Mr. and ^Irs. Shultz have 
 five children — Mollie, Albert, f]mma, Laura 
 and Annie. They are members of the Luther- 
 an Church. In politics, Mr. Shultz is a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 JACOB SIMS, attorney. Council BIuflTs, was 
 born November 30, 1850, at Dodgeville. Iowa 
 Co., Wis. He served a full apprentice.ship at 
 the wagon and carriage making trade, and af- 
 ter learning the trade attended Lawrence Uni 
 versity, Appleton, Wis., graduating there in 
 
54 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 the class of 1874, and taking first bonors of 
 his class in full classical course. After gradu- 
 ating, he filled the position of Principal of High 
 School at Oconto, Wis., for one 3-ear, and then 
 engaged in newspaper business as editor of the 
 iStatesmaii of Milwaukee, Wis. After leaving 
 that paper, he became editor and proprietor of 
 the Citizen of Minneapolis, Minn. He came to 
 Council Bluffs in March, 1878; read law with 
 B. F. Montgomerj'; admitted to the bar in Jan- 
 uary, 1879; commenced practice forthwith here, 
 and has continued in practice ever since; was 
 attorney for Pottawattamie County during the 
 years 1880-81. Both his parents were born in 
 England; his father has been a Methodist min- 
 ister for over twenty-five years. Mr. Sims is 
 editor-in-chief of the Daili/ Monitor, a Repub- 
 lican organ recently founded in Council Bluffs. 
 
 SWAN BROS., packers. Council Bluffs. The 
 members of this firm, C. J., G. W. & F. H. 
 Swan, came from Urbaua, Ohio, to Council 
 Bluffs in 1869. They are sons of Charles and 
 Marj^ (Johnson) Swan, who wee married at 
 Ithaca, N Y. , and who have had a family of 
 nine children, four bo^s and five girls, none of 
 whom are married. Their parents are still liv- 
 ing; their father is a native of Norwich, Conn. 
 The brothers engaged in the packing business 
 in Council Bluffs in 1877. They improved and 
 rebuilt their packing house in 1876, so as to be 
 ready for work the following year. The}' do a 
 wholesale and jobbing business, and employ 
 six men. They slaughter cattle and hogs in 
 the winter, killing about five hundred hogs 
 each winter season. The}' also buy and sell 
 cattle. Owing to their increasing business, 
 they purpose improving and rebuilding at an 
 early da}'. They have a residence on Stutsman 
 street, Council Bluffs. 
 
 J. W. SQUIRE, of J. W. Squire & Co., real 
 estate, loan and abstract. Council Bluffs, came 
 to Council Bluffs in the spring of 1870; entered 
 real estate office and savings bank of N. P. 
 Dodge, and remained there about five years. 
 
 He then formed partnership with A. B. Wal- 
 ker, undei firm name of Squire & Walker, in 
 real estate, loan and abstract business, and 
 continued business under that name here until 
 the spring of 1880, when he dissolved partner- 
 ship with Mr. Walker, and continued the busi- 
 ness under firm name of J. W. Squire & Co., 
 having associated with him in business his 
 brother. Their office is on the corner of Pearl 
 and First avenue. Four men are employed 
 in the business, including the partners. They 
 have on hand a complete set of abstract books 
 of the latest improved system, which are thor- 
 oughly kept up. Mr. Squire was born in Suf- 
 folk County, N. Y., February 1, 1848, and re- 
 moved to Rockford, 111., at the age of four years, 
 with his p.arents. He was educated in the Rock- 
 ford schools, from which he graduated: then 
 entered the army and served three years in the 
 Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He re- 
 turned to Rockford after leaving the army; was 
 Deputy Circuit Clerk and Recorder five years, 
 and then came to Council Bluffs. He married, 
 September 15, 1872, Elizabeth H. Howard, of 
 West Hartford, Windsor Co., Vt. 
 
 THOMAS SWOBE, hotel, Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1878, and opened a 
 hotel in the new Transfer Depot building; he 
 also built the Emigrant House in 1878, and 
 conducts it in connection with the Transfer 
 Hotel. In 1866, he bought out J. M. Palmer, 
 who was running the Transfer Eating House at 
 that time. Mr. Swobe was born in Johnstown, 
 Fulton Co., N. Y., in 1843. His parents moved 
 to Michigan in 1855; he enlisted in the Twelfth 
 Michigan in. 1861, as private, and returned Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1866, as First Lieutenant. He came 
 to Omaha in August, 1866, and held the posi- 
 tion of Secretary of Central Land Company 
 till 1868. He was married in November, 1868, 
 and has two children — Edwin T., aged eight 
 years, and Dwight M., aged six years. The 
 firm of which Mr. Swobe is a member is Mar- 
 kell & Swobe. This firm owns, besides the 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 55 
 
 Transfer Hotel and Emigrant House, half in- 
 terest in the Millard Hotel at Omaha, on the 
 CO ner of Douglas and Thirtieth streets. Thej' 
 employ about fift^'-five assistants, their yearlj' 
 business being about $150,000. Mr. Swobe 
 was elected County Clerk of Douglas County, 
 Neb., in the fall of 1869, and served in that 
 office until the fall of 1871. 
 
 M. SCANLAN, meat market. Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in Maj', 1876, and has 
 been in his present market since. He served 
 seven years' apprenticeship at his trade in 
 Philadelphia, Penn., beginning at the age of 
 fourteen and serving till he was twenty-one 
 years old. He was born in Philadelphia, Penn., 
 in 1821. His parents died when he was small, 
 and there being no free schools at that time, 
 he did not go to school till after he was four- 
 teen }-ears old, and then only attended night 
 schools. Once during his apprenticeship, he 
 ran away, but the next morning, seeing that a 
 reward of $100 was offered to anj- one who 
 would return him, he went back on his own 
 account, knowing that he would be caught if 
 he did not do so. After he was twenty-one 
 years old, he worked only about two months in 
 Philadelphia. Then went to Pittsburgh, Penn., 
 and followed steamboating for about six years. 
 Duringthis time, he went down to New Orleans 
 on a tow-boat, and was afterward on the Gulf 
 of Mexico for some time. In 1848, he was 
 married, in Pittsburgh, Penn., to Miss Martha 
 Sneathen. He then began butchering in Pitts- 
 burgh, Penn., and from there went to Wheel- 
 ing, W. Va., and remained there till 1876, when 
 he came to Council Bluffs. He has four chil- 
 dren living — two sons and two daughters, all 
 married. He is Republican in politics, and 
 was a Whig before the Republican party was 
 organized. He is a member of the Knights of 
 Pythias and I. 0. 0. F. 
 
 E. R. STEINHILBEli, furniture. Council 
 Bluffs, came to Council Bluffs in Februarj',;1882, 
 built a furniture factory and commenced busi- 
 
 ness Jul}' 13, the same year. He was born near 
 Davenport, Iowa, in 1857, and moved to Harhm, 
 Iowa, iul880. He was engaged in stock business 
 in Davenport, Iowa. He was married in De Witt, 
 Clinton Co., Iowa, in 1880. and has one child, 
 his little daughter Jennie. He is the onlj- one 
 who manufactures furniture on the Western 
 slope. His is, in reality, a great enterprise, 
 and he is doing, as he deserves to do, a lucra- 
 tive wholesale business. He makes a specialty 
 of all kinds of tables, cupboards, safes, ward- 
 robes and washstands, 
 
 JOHN STEINER, physician. Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Goettingen, German}', March 30, 
 1842, and was educated in his native place. 
 In 1860, he began the study of medicine in 
 Tubingen, Germany, graduating there in 1863, 
 and was admitted . to practice. During the 
 Franco-Prussian war, he was Second Assistant 
 Surgeon in the German Armj', and while acting 
 in that capacitj' saw a great deal of service. 
 In 1867, he married Magdeline Frash, and they 
 have four children, two boj's and two girls. In 
 1873, he came to this country and located in 
 Sac County, Iowa, where he followed farming 
 for some time. He then moved to Audubon 
 County, Iowa, where he followed the practice 
 of his profession for some time, thence moved 
 to St. Mary's, Iowa, and thence to Westphalia. 
 Iowa. Meanwhile, he had been attending the 
 Herring Medical College of St. Louis, Mo., 
 from which he graduated in the spring of 1882. 
 He then located in Council Bluffs, where he 
 has now a good practice. 
 
 HARDIN, SKELTON & CO., merchant tai- 
 lors and dealers in gents' furnishing goods. 
 Council Bluffs, began business in Council 
 Bluffs in Mai'ch, 1881. William Hardin was 
 born in Council Bluffs October 13. 1856, and 
 was educated in the public schools of his na- 
 tive city. He is a son of Martin Hardin, oue 
 of the oldest residents of this county. His 
 ancestors were of the first families in Kentucky. 
 Mr. Hardin was messenger hov at the Transfer 
 
56 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 for some time, and afterward entered the ab- 
 stract office of J. P. & J. X. Casady, of 
 Council Bluffs. During the j-ears 187S-79-80, 
 he was Deputj- County Treasurer. Henry H. 
 Skelton was born in England and came to this 
 countr\' in 1872. He is a professional cutter, 
 and up to the time of entering the present firm 
 was emplo\'ed by Metcalf Brothers as cutter. 
 The present firm of Hardin, Skelton & Co. 
 began business with a stock valued at $7,000, 
 their annual sales being $35,000. They now 
 carr}' a stock worth $15,000, and the annual 
 sales for 1882, from present indications, will 
 reach $50,000. 
 
 F. W. SPETMAN of the firm of F. W. 
 Spetman & Bro., Council Bluffs, was born in 
 Kane Township, this county, September 18, 
 1855. He attended Byrant & Stratton's 
 Commercial College at Davenport, this State, 
 and graduated in 1873. He started iu business 
 in Council Bluffs, in the fall of 1875, with 
 about $1,500 in stock. The business increased 
 to such an extent that he took in his brother, 
 W. C. Spetman, and removed to No. 511 Main 
 street, where his father had just completed a 
 building, 22x70 feet, and two stories high, with 
 a basement. But the steady increase of the 
 business demanded still more room, and his 
 father built au addition, 25x70, and two 
 stories high. The firm now carry about $20,- 
 000 in stock, with annual sales amounting to 
 $60,000. They cany a full line of general 
 merchandise. In 1881. our subject was elected 
 Alderman in the Third Ward, on the Demo- 
 cratic ticket, and served one year. He was 
 married, September 10, 1878, to Alvini Las- 
 kowski, of Council Bluffs. Mr. Spetman is of 
 German descent. 
 
 W. C. SPETMAN, of the firm of F. W. Spet- 
 man & Bro., Council Bluffs, was born in this 
 county in 1856. He graduated from Byrant 
 & Stratton's Commercial College at Davenport, 
 this State, in 1875. He was married, in March, 
 1881, to Antoinette Ehrig, of Davenport, Iowa. 
 
 He has one child — Roy Henry, aged six 
 months. 
 
 N. SCHURZ (Schurz & Strohbehn) grocers, 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Prussia. He came 
 to the United States in 1858. He served four 
 years and three months in the civil war, part 
 of the time iu the One Hundred and Sixty- 
 ninth Pennsylvania Regiment, and the balance 
 in the navy. He responded to Lincoln's first 
 call for three months' men. He came to Coun- 
 cil Bluffs in 1868, and was emplo^-ed bj- a 
 wholesale queeusware house, where he staj-ed 
 for a 3'ear and a half, when he moved to Weep- 
 ing Water, Cass Co., Neb. He engaged in the 
 mercantile business, but was burned out in 
 1873, losing ever3-thing. He immediately re- 
 turned to Council Bluffs, and the following 
 spring went to Missouri Vallej'. where, engag- 
 ing in business, he regained all that he had 
 previously lost. He returned to Council Bluffs 
 in 1879. Schurz & Strohbehn have added a 
 fine stock of cigars, and will hereafter do a 
 wholesale business in that line. Our subject 
 was married iu Pennsylvania to Miss Eliza E. 
 Lindt, sister of Mr. John Lindt, the well-known 
 lawyer of Council Bluffs. They have two boys 
 — Emil, aged fourteen, and Herman, aged 
 twelve. 
 
 SCOFIELD & CAVIN, Council Blutts. Ira 
 Seofield and T. E. Cavin formed partnership in 
 general merchandising business June 1, 1877, 
 at 218 Broadway, and continued in that build- 
 ing until September 1, 1878, at which time they 
 removed to the new building, corner of Broad- 
 waj' and Jlarket, 200 Broadway, using two 
 stories and basement with elevator attachment. 
 Besides doing a large city trade, they ship goods 
 to railroad contractors in Iowa, Minnesota, 
 Colorado and New Mexico. The3' started on a 
 small scale in a room eighteen by fortj' feet, 
 with cellar, and have steadilj- increased the 
 Inisiness so that now the}' are cramped for 
 room in a two story and basement building, 
 twenty-two by eighty feet. T. E. Cavin came 
 
COUXCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 57 
 
 to Council BluflFs in 1866, and after close ap- 
 plication to business, he formed partnership 
 witli Foreman & Beuo of Council Bluffs, in a 
 branch store in Logan, Iowa. Having disposed 
 of his business in Logan profitably, he returned 
 to Council Bluffs, and formed partnership with 
 3Ir. Scofield, as above stated. 
 
 W. STROHBEHN (Schurz & Strohbehn, 
 gi'ocers), Council Bluffs, came to Council Bluffs 
 in the spring of 1872, and was employed by 
 Groneweg & Co., grocers and wholesale liquor 
 dealers. He rose from a driver to a clerk, and 
 afterward to the position of book-keeper. The 
 firm sold out to Mr. Kirschr. with whom our 
 subject stayed until October 28, 1881, when he 
 went into partnership with Mr. Schurz. Mr. 
 Strohbehn was married in October, 1875, to 
 Miss Christine Witt, of Council Bluff's. They 
 have three children — Matilda, aged six ; Hel- 
 en, aged four, and William, who is two and a 
 half years old. Our subject's parents live in 
 Silver Creek Township, this county, where they 
 have a farm of 200 acres. The father is sixt}-- 
 eight and the mother sixty -six jears old. 
 
 J. G. TIPTON, attorney. Council Bluffs, was 
 born in 1849 at Fairview, Fulton Co., 111., and 
 lived there until he was eighteen ^-ears old. 
 He was educated at Abingdon College, Illi- j 
 nois, from which he graduated in 1872, teach- 
 ing school before and after attending college, 
 the money required to carry him through 
 school being earned by himself teaching coun- 
 try school. In the latter part of 1872, he 
 entered the law otlice of Robert G. IngersoU at 
 Peoria, 111., and remained there the balance of 
 that year and all of 1873. Leaving there, he 
 entered the law office of Weldon, Tipton & 
 Benjamin, of Bloomington, 111., where he fin- 
 ished his law studies, and September 11, 1874. 
 was admitted to practice by the Supreme 
 Court of Illinois, then in session at Ottawa, 111. 
 He commenced practice at Bloomington, 111.; 
 was nominated bj' Democratic State Convention 
 in 187C to the office of State's Attoruev, and 
 
 defeated by a small majority. In the spring 
 of 1872, he went West in quest of fresh fields 
 of labor, arriving in Deadwood in time to 
 attend the first da}' of the first term of court 
 ever held there, said court being presided over 
 by Judge Bennet, present Member of Congress 
 of that district. He stayed there six months 
 then went to Avoca, Iowa ; began practice 
 there and continued until the spring of 1882, 
 at which time he opened an office in Council 
 
 I Bluffs. He was married October 31, 1878, at 
 Avoca, Iowa, to Miss Nettie Bryant, of x\voca. 
 Father was killed on 23d day of March, 1869, 
 by branch of tree which hired man was felling 
 striking him. A branch of same tree struck 
 our subject, breaking his left shoulder and lac- 
 erating his left arm severeh'. After receiving 
 these injuries, he carried his father home, one- 
 half mile, on his right shoulder, having to 
 cross two fe,nces on the waj-. He is of Scotch 
 descent. 
 
 N. A. TAYLOR, grocer, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Vermont in 1832. He entered upon 
 the study of law in Orange County, Vt., and 
 in 1857 was admitted in all the courts of 
 that State. He practiced law until 1862. when 
 he enlisted in the Thirteenth Vermont Volun- 
 
 i teers and served one year, holding the position 
 of Quartermaster. He was married in Ver- 
 mont in 1860, and has one child — Gertie, aged 
 fifteen years. Mr. Ta3-lor came to Council 
 Bluffs in 1876, and engaged as Steward at the 
 deaf and dumb institution in that city. He 
 opened his present grocery store in September, 
 1879, and is doing a rapidly increasing busi- 
 ness, his annual sales amounting to about 
 $25,000 ; he emploj's two men. 
 
 M. A. UPTON, freight and ticket agent of 
 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co., 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Brooklyn. N. Y., 
 December 24, 1847, and, at the age of seven 
 years, removed with his parents to Kalamazoo, 
 Mich. There they lived till 1860, when they 
 removed to Vernon Countj-, Mo. Resided 
 
58 
 
 BIOGRAPHIC A.L: 
 
 there till 1863, then moved to Lawrence, Kan. 
 Mr. Upton received his education in Kalama- 
 zoo, Mich., and at the Montevallo Academy in 
 Vernon Countj-, Mo. In the spring of 1864, 
 he drove a four-mule team from Leavenworth, 
 Kan., to Denver, and thence drove the team all 
 over the State of Colorado, and returned to 
 Lawrence, Kan., in the fall of 1865. He then 
 entered the Lawrence High School, after leav- 
 ing which, in 1866, he occupied various posi- 
 tions till 1868, when he went to Kansas City, 
 where he kept books for a commission grain 
 house. In 1869, he returned to Lawrence, 
 Kan., where he kept books for a wholesale 
 stove and tin plate house for some time, then 
 went to Vernon Count3-, Mo., where he re- 
 mained till May, 1871, when he came to Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. Here he entered the Chicago, Rock 
 Island & Pacific Railroad freight office as 
 clerk, and was promoted through all the differ- 
 ent grades till, in October, 1879, he became 
 cashier, and, six mouths after, was also put in 
 charge of the clerical work, having twelve men 
 under him. In August, 1882, he was appoint- 
 ed to his present position of freight and 
 ticket agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul Railroad at Council Bluffs. In May, 
 1871, he married Miss May Adams, of Burling- 
 ton, Kan. He is of English descent. 
 
 GEORGE F. WRIGHT, State Senator, 
 Council Bluffs, is one of her leading citizens, 
 and a man of extensive influence throughout 
 the State. He was born in Warren Count}, 
 Vt., on the 5th of December, 1833. His father, 
 Franklin A. Wright, was of English ancestry, 
 and bj- occupation a farmer. The latter spent 
 the last years of his life in Council Bluffs, and 
 died suddenly, only a few years ago, at his 
 residence on Willow avenue, near the Presby- 
 terian Church. He was known during his 
 residence here as a man of singularly sound 
 sense, and was admired and beloved for his 
 good temper and quiet and unassuming dispo- 
 sition. George F. Wright, his son, was given 
 
 an excellent academic education with a view of 
 preparing him for college, but having engaged 
 in teaching for four or five years, he abandoned 
 the idea of taking a degree, and moved to Keo- 
 sauqua, Iowa, in 1855, and there began the 
 study of law in the office of the late Judge 
 Knapp and the Hon. George G. Wright, who 
 afterward became one of the Judges of the 
 State Supreme Court, and for one term a United 
 States Senator. He was admitted to the bar of 
 Van Buren Countj' in 1856, and entered into 
 partnership at once with Judge Knapp, Judge 
 Wright having withdrawn to take his seat on 
 the bench of the Supreme Court. The profes- 
 sional success of George F. Wright was assured 
 from the beginning. He was not gifted with 
 the shining qualities of the forensic orator, Vnit 
 his strong, good sense and his knowledge of 
 legal principles were qualities easily recognized 
 by those intrusting him with business, and 
 were the safe foundation of lasting and dura- 
 ble success. He remained at Keosauqua until 
 1868, when he removed to Council Bluffs, en- 
 tering at once into a law partnership with the 
 late Judge Caleb Baldwin, which lasted during 
 the life of the latter, and which is now extend- 
 ed through the membership of the firm by John 
 N. Baldwin, the son of Mr. Wright's old part- 
 ner. Since coming to Council Bluffs, the busi- 
 ness intrusted to him and his firm has includ- 
 ed the attorneyship of the Chicago, Rock 
 Island & Pacific, the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy, the Union Pacific and the Milwaukee 
 & St. Paul Railroads. In the year 1875, he be- 
 came a candidate for State Senator from the 
 district composed of the counties of Pottawat- 
 tamie and Mills, his Democratic opponent 
 being B. F. Montgomery, also of Council 
 Bluffs. After a very active canvass, in which 
 both Montgomery and Wright made strenuous 
 efforts, Mr. Wright was elected, and served the 
 full term of four years. In the meantime, the 
 Senatorial District was so changed that Potta- 
 wattamie Countv was made a Senatorial Dis- 
 
COUxVCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 59 
 
 trict by itself. In 1879, Mr. Wright was a 
 candidate for re-election, liis antagonist in tbe 
 Pemoeratic party being Col. William Orr, a 
 popular farmer, and stock-grower in Hardin 
 Township. Mr. Wright was successful a second 
 time. As at the bar, Mr. Wright has won the 
 respect of his fellow-Senators in both parties, 
 by reason of his solid, substantial qualities as 
 a man and as a legislator. Mr. Wright has not 
 only been diligent in the practice of his pro- 
 fession, and active as a legislator, but as a 
 citizen he has been singularly enterprising. 
 He was instrumental in the organization of the 
 Council Blufls Gas Light Company in 1868, 
 and still has a large interest in that enterprise; 
 also the Ottumwa Gas Compan}' in 1871; the 
 Mount Pleasant Gas Company, in 1871; and 
 the Elgin Light Company, the same year; and 
 that at Cedar Rapids, and the one at Sioux City 
 in 1872. He is also largely interested in the 
 several lines of street railway in Council Bluffs, 
 and was a leader in the organization of those 
 improvements. To him, also, are the public 
 indebted for the inauguration of a sj-stem of ' 
 water works for the City of Council Blufls in i 
 the spring of 1881. He is a large stockholder ' 
 in the company having the franchise, and gives 
 his personal attention to the development and 
 execution of the plans necessary to complete 
 the work, well under way. One of the greatest 
 enterprises to which his name is attached, and 
 of which he is justly proud, is the great Union 
 Pacific elevator at the Transfer in Council 
 Bluffs. This gigantic appliance for handling 
 grain has a capacity of 200,000 bushels. 
 Mr. Wright's energy had much to do in induc- 
 ing capital to invest in it, but in advancing it 
 to completion under the most favorable circum- 
 stances and auspices. In all his dut3- in the 
 Senate and elsewhere, Mr. Wright has kept in 
 view the essential interests of Council Bluffs. 
 iHiring the civil war he was active in promot- 
 ing enlistments. Upon the first call for volun- 
 teers he raised a company, and repaired with it 
 
 to Keokuk, the rendezvous, but the response of 
 Iowa was so prompt that the offer it made ex- 
 ceeded its quota, and the supernumeraries were 
 allowed to return home. 3Ir. Wright was mar- 
 ried, in 1865, to Miss Ellen E. Brooks, of 
 Northfield, Vt., and has two sons and two 
 daughters. 
 
 W. O.WIRT, proprietor Boston Tea Com- 
 panj', Council Bluffs, born in Harrison Count}', 
 Ohio, December 30, 1843 ; came to Council Bluffs 
 in 1873, and engaged as traveling salesman with 
 Steel, Johnson & Co., grocers, of Omaha, Neb., 
 with whom he remained one year. He then 
 went East, and traveled from Pittsburg, Penn., 
 from 1874 to 1876, and in 1876 and 1877 for 
 James Kent, Santee & Co., of Philadelphia, 
 Penn. In the fall of 1877, he returned to 
 Council Bluffs, and, in the spring of 1878, 
 engaged in the retail grocery and hardware 
 trade in company with R. 0. Newell, at Red 
 Oak, Iowa, where thej- carried on business for 
 nearly three years. Mr. Wirt then removed to 
 Council Bluffs, where he opened up his present 
 business at 16 Main and la Pearl streets in the 
 spring of 1881. He keeps a full line of staple 
 and fancy groceries ; in fact, everything to be 
 found in a first-class grocer}' store can be pro- 
 cured at the Boston Tea Company. Mr. Wirt 
 does an extensive trade, running two delivery 
 wagons, and keeping three counter clerks busy 
 all the time. He is one of the wide-awake and 
 energetic business men of Council Bluffs. 
 
 E. J. WOODBURY, dentist. Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Bolton, Mass., in 1830. Studied his 
 profession in Worcester, Mass., where he lived 
 till 1852, then went to Ohio and remained there 
 until he came to Iowa. He settled in Council 
 Bluffs in 1858, and immediatelj' established 
 dental rooms. The Doctor was married in 
 Townsend, Mass., in the spring of 1855, and 
 has three sons and two daughters. The eldest 
 son, H. A. Woodbur}-, is a graduate of Boston 
 Dental College ; the other children are at home: 
 Dr. Woodbury is one of the most popular and 
 
60 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 best known dentists in Council Bluffs, liaving 
 been in business there twenty-four years. 
 
 A. B. WALKER, real estate, Council Bluffs, 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1871 as Steward of the 
 Deaf and Dumb Institute, occupying that posi- 
 tion until 1877, when he moved into the city. 
 He then engaged in the real estate and abstract 
 business as a member of the firm of Squire & 
 Walker, continuing in that firm about two and 
 a half years ; then sold out the abstract busi- 
 ness to Mr. Squire, and continued in the real 
 estate business himself In 1880, he began 
 investing in mines in Utah and Colorado, 
 assisting in organizing the Park Mining & 
 Milling Company, Union Consolidated Mining 
 Company and Lakeside Mining Company, the 
 two first of Utah and the last of Colorado. 
 Mr. Walker was born in 1837 in Elkhart 
 County, Ind., and at the age of two years came 
 with his parents to Iowa, and located on a farm 
 near Iowa City, Johnson County. He was edu- 
 cated in the public schools of Johnson County, 
 and at Galesburg, 111. When eight years of agei 
 his father died, and, when fifteen 3'ears of age' 
 he wont to live with an uncle in Madison 
 County, Ohio, and commenced clerking for his 
 uncle, and remained there until he was twenty- 
 one years of age. II j tiien returned to Iowa 
 City and engaged in the photograph business, 
 which he continued until 1862. He was four 
 months in the army in 18G5. In 1858, he 
 married Loraine Byers, of London, Madison 
 Co., Ohio. After his marriage, he lived two 
 years in Ohio, where his wife died, and he then 
 returned again to Iowa. He was again married 
 in 1876 to Abbie M., daughter of Rev. G. G. 
 Rice, one of the earliest preachers of Potta- 
 wattamie County, and the first Congregation- 
 alist ministers in this county. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Walker visited the Centennial at Philadelphia 
 while on their marriage tour. 
 
 A. WHEELER, liotel. Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Wyoming County, N. Y., in 1836, and 
 was educated in Alexander Academy, New 
 
 York. After leaving school, he taught for 
 some time in a commercial college. He engaged 
 in the mmufiicture of leather for some time, 
 and afterward carried on the manutacture of 
 kitchen goods. He lived in Baffalo from 1861 
 till he came to Council Bluffs in July, 1881, 
 Here lie took charge of the Revere House, 519 
 Broadway, which contains forty sleeping rooms, 
 a dining-room large enough to seat forty guests, 
 parlors, sitting-rooms, etc., and all the accom- 
 modations of a first-class hotel. Since Mr 
 Wheeler has hail charge of the hotel, its busi- 
 ness hfl.s increased twofold, owing to his able 
 managemeut. In 1873, he married Miss Dell 
 Axtell, of Wyoming County, N. Y. His grand- 
 father on his mother's side was of Scotch 
 descent, and served seven years during the 
 Revolutionary war. His father's people were 
 of English descent, and came to America about 
 the year 1760. 
 
 HENRY P. WARREN, Deputy Clerk of 
 Courts, Council Bluffs, was born in Palmyra, 
 N. Y., August 21, 1820, and the following year 
 his parents removed to Springfield, III, and in 
 1828, to Pulton County, III. He received his 
 education at Oquawka, III, and in Fulton 
 County, 111. When he reached the age of 
 twenty years, he, in connection with his uncle, 
 began trading with the Indians, on the Des 
 Moines River, Iowa. At Peoria, 111., in 18-16, 
 he married Hannah L. Page, and the following 
 year removed to Fairfield, Iowa, where he en- 
 saged in business. In 1854-55, he held the 
 office of County Treasurer of Jeffer.son County, 
 Iowa, and in 1856 removed to Council Bluffs, 
 where he kept books for the old State Bank, 
 afterward the First National Bank. He was 
 Deputy Count}' Treasurer of this county from 
 1870 to 1873, and in the latter year was ap- 
 pointed Deputy Clerk of Courts, which office 
 he has since held. His ancestors were New 
 England Puritans. His son, F. H. Warren, 
 held the position of Clerk of Courts for six 
 vears. 
 
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 
 
 61 
 
 MASON WISE, livery and sale stable, 
 Council BlufTs, was born in Decatur Countj', 
 Ind., in 1833. He went to Missouri in 
 1857, from which State he came to Iowa in 
 1861. In 186G, he came to Council Blufls 
 and started a liver}- and sale stable. He has 
 been in this business ever since, and now 
 handles from 300 to 500 head of horses and 
 mules per year. He built a large addition in 
 1881, which enables him to accommodate 100 
 head at one time. His stables are commodious 
 and convenient, which, with a fine yard, makes 
 his premises the finest of the kind in the 
 West. 
 
 PETER WEIS, grocer. Council Blufis, was 
 born in Prussia in 1834. He came to Amer- 
 ica in 1855, settling in Wisconsin. In 1859, he 
 came to this State. In 1866, after returning 
 from a two years' trip through Colorado, he 
 opened up in business in a little log building 
 near where the Ogden House stands. He built 
 his present building in 1878. He employs 
 four clerks, and carries an $8,000 stock, which 
 includes a line of hardware and agricultural 
 implements. Annual sales, $30,000. Mr. 
 Weis was married in Mills Countj', this State, 
 in 1860. He has one child by adoption. 
 
 H. J. WINTHERLICH, manufacturer of iron 
 shot. Council Blutfs, is a native of Denmark, 
 born in 1843. He emigrated to the United 
 States; came to Chicago in 1873, and thence 
 to Council Bluffs in 1880. He enlisted, in Den- 
 mark, in the Sixth Battery of Artillery, and 
 held the rank of Lieutenant. He has always 
 been in the foundr}- business. He and his 
 brother have invented a process for making iron 
 shot, and with several other gentlemen, princi- 
 pally of Council Blutfs, have entered into the 
 manufacture of the same. He has also 
 patented a process for securing complete ven- 
 tilation for houses. He was married in Den- 
 mark in 1866, and has three children. Mr. 
 Wintherlich is an accomplished linguist ; speak- 
 ing six difl'erent languages. 
 
 REV. FREDERICK T. WEBB, Council 
 Bluffs, came to Council Bluffs in 1875, from 
 the Theological School at Davenport, Iowa. 
 He was born in England in 1850. His parents 
 came to Philadelphia when he was one year old. 
 He entered Griswold College at Davenport in 
 1868; graduated in 1872. He then took a 
 three years' course in the Theological Seminarj-. 
 When he took charge of St. Paul's Parish, in 
 Council Blufis, in 1875, it numbered fifty com- 
 municants, but now has one hundred and 
 seventy-five — a goodly' increase in so short a 
 time. Mr. Webb is an indefatigable worker, 
 and has been instrumental in establishing 
 twelve churches in this Diocese. He was mar- 
 ried in Davenport in 1874, to Miss Laura Bell 
 Gillette. Thej' have one child living — Ada, aged 
 two years. In 1881. lost .their only son — 
 Frederick Lee, aged six years. Mr. Weljb is a 
 Mason of high standing, belonging to the Bluff 
 City Lodge, Star Chapter and Ivanhoe Com- 
 mandery. He is a member of the Standing 
 Committee of the Diocese of Iowa, the Trust- 
 ees of Funds and Donations, and is also a 
 Trustee of Griswold College. He is Dean of 
 the Southwestern Convocation. 
 
 LUCIUS WELLS, agricultural implements, 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Rock Island County. 
 111., in 1845, and has alwaj-s been in the im- 
 plement and plow business ; beginning, as he 
 jokingl}- saj's, " by holding a plow by the 
 handles." He was educated at Galesburg, 111., 
 and was married in 1868, at Dixon, and has 
 one child — Emma M., aged twelve years. He 
 is at present manager of the Council Bluffs 
 branch of the John Deere, Moline Plow Works. 
 He began business here when the branch was 
 established, in December, 1881. They handle 
 here a general line of agricultural implements. 
 Mr. Wells left Galesburg in 1864 ; went to 
 Moline, 111., where he engaged with the Deere 
 Company, and remained there until coming to 
 this cit}-. He employs twent3--five men, and 
 carries a stock of S50,000. 
 
62 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL: 
 
 U. H. WHITE, transfer and drayage, Coun- 
 cil BlufTs, was born in New York in 1836. His 
 parents moved to Ohio in 1838, where he was 
 raised and educated. He came to Des Moines, 
 Iowa, in 1858, and engaged in the lumber 
 trade ; continuing this until 1872, when 
 
 he came to Council Bluffs and opened a 
 furniture store. In 1880, he established his 
 freight transfer business, running four wagons 
 and employing four men. He was a mem- 
 ber of the City Council of Des Moines for 
 two terms. 
 
 BELKNAP TOWI^SHIP. 
 
 J. A. T. BATES, farmer and general mer- 
 chandise, P.O. Oakland, was born near New Bos- 
 ton, Mercer Co., 111., November 23, 1837; he is 
 the son of John and Elizabeth (Noble) Bates. 
 His father was born in Virginia in 1800. He 
 was a farmer; moved to Mercer County, 111., 
 where he lived for nearly thirty years. In 1863, 
 he came to Taylor County, this State, and to 
 this county in 1871. He died in Oakland, this 
 county, August 25, 1881. His (subject's) mother 
 was born in Tennessee in 180-t. She left Ten- 
 nessee when she was young, and went to Ohio. 
 During the war of 1812, she went to Indiana, 
 where she experienced many hardships from 
 the Indians. She is still living in Oakland, 
 this countj'. Our subject had the advantage of 
 a common school education, and lived at home 
 until he was twenty-one years of age. He came 
 to this count3% bringing with him a separator 
 and a horse-power machine for the same. He 
 followed threshing for two seasons, Mr. Brazil 
 having an interest in the business. He then 
 enlisted in the Thirteenth Iowa Infantry. He 
 was one of the guards at Fort Negley under 
 Gen. Thomas ; was afterward with the troops 
 that followed Hood through Alabama. During 
 this time, he was on detached duty. His i-egi- 
 ment was with Sherman in his memorable 
 march to the sea, and he rejoined it at Golds- 
 boro, N. C. He was in the grand review at 
 Washington, D. C., and was mustered out at 
 Louisville, Ky., after which he came back to 
 Big Grove. He was married in Council Bluffs, 
 
 August 9, 1866, to Mrs. Margaret Reed. She 
 was the daughter of Louis and Susan (Palmer) 
 Huff. Her father was born in North Carolina 
 in 1811. He was one of the earliest settlers in 
 Big Grove, and is still living near Oakland. 
 Her mother was born in Indiana about 1821. 
 She died at the age of fifty-three. After his 
 marriage, our subject confined his attention to 
 farming at Big Grove. He raised, principally, 
 stock. In 1879, he went to the Gunnison 
 countr3', in Colorado, where he prospected and 
 mined for two seasons, coming home to pass 
 the winters. The mining party of which he 
 was a member pitched the first tent on the 
 present site of Irwin, Colo. This party discov- 
 ered and located the principal mines of the 
 camp— the Ruby King and the Forest Queen. 
 In the fall of 1880, he began business at his 
 present location Block 2, Lot 10, on Main 
 street, Oakland. He is the senior member of 
 the firm of Bates & Reed, dealers in general 
 merchandise. Mr. Bates lives on his farm, half 
 a mile south of Oakland, which he also 
 operates. He has seven children, four sons 
 and three daughters — Clara B., John 0., 
 Susie E., Phoebe D., Thomas A. C, Par- 
 don H. and H. Irwin. Mr. Bates was for 
 a time Justice of the Peace, and was the first 
 Postmaster at Big Grove. He is an A., F. & 
 A. M., and is a charter member of the lodge 
 to which he belongs, inrs. Bates is a mem- 
 ber of the Baptist Church. He is Democratic 
 in politics. 
 
BELKNAr TOWNSHIP. 
 
 63 
 
 JOHN K. BAXTER, farmer, P. 0. Oak- 
 land, was boru in Leesburg, Oliio, December 
 13, 18J:2. He is the son of Joseph H. and Isa- 
 bella (Porter) Baxter. His father was born in 
 Cannonsbarg, Washington Co., Penn., August 
 17, 180(5. He was a blacksmith, and worked at 
 his trade in his native town, and also in Lees- 
 burg, Ohio, to which place he moved about 
 1840. His death occurred in the latter place, 
 February 20, 1837. His (subject's) mother was 
 born in Caunonsburg, Penn., March 20, 1806. 
 This most worthy lady still enjoys good health, 
 and lives with her daughter, Mrs. John W. 
 Gard, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Both the par- 
 ents are of Scotch descent. Their ancestors 
 were compelled to seek refuge in the North of 
 Ireland to escape the bitter persecution visited 
 upon the " nan Conformists " under the Stuart 
 dynasty. They finally emigrated to Pennsyl- 
 vania previous to the Revolution. Our sub- 
 ject's father, in early life, had a taste for mili- 
 tary tactics, and was for many years Captain of 
 a military company in Pennsylvania. He was 
 the father of ten children, eight of whom lived 
 and grew to maturity — five sons and three 
 daughters. Four of the sons" were Union sol- 
 diers in the late civil war. Robert was killed 
 while on a " scout " in Baxter Count}', Va., in 
 1862. James was a member of the Eleventh 
 Iowa, and was wounded in the battle of Shiloh, 
 from the effects of which he died in 1863. Jo- 
 seph and our subject were also through the 
 war, but escaped unhurt, with the exception that 
 the latter lost his hearing at the battle of 
 Shiloh. Our subject received a common-school 
 education, and lived at home till he was seven- 
 teen years of age. At that time, be went to 
 Moscow, this State, for the purpose of studying 
 medicine with his brother. He attended the 
 high school, and his brother gave him courses 
 in anatomy. September 10, 1861, he enlisted 
 in the Eleventh Iowa as musician of Company 
 I, under Capt. C. B. Millinger. He received his 
 discharge October 28, 1863, on account of phys- 
 
 ical disability, uamel}', loss of hearing, as be- 
 fore stated. After his discharge, he continued 
 his study of medicine with his brother, intend- 
 ing to become a physician, but was compelled 
 to give it up in consequence of his defective 
 hearing. He was appointed Postmaster at 
 Moscow, Iowa, in 1863, and held this position 
 till the spring of 1869, since which time he has 
 run a store, an insurance office and the Mer- 
 chants' Union Express. He was married in 
 Iowa City, October 10, 1867, to Texie A. 
 Buuch, born in Albemarle County, Va., October 
 18, 18i4 ; she was the daughter of William E. 
 and Sarah (Crank) Bunch, both natives of Vir- 
 ginia. Her fiither came to Moscow, this State, 
 in 1855, and was engaged in the merchandising 
 and afterward in the drug business. He now 
 lives at Saratoga, McDonald Co., Mo., where he 
 keeps a drug store. In 1869, our subject sold 
 out in Moscow, and moved to Lamar, Barton 
 Co., Mo. Here his family had such poor 
 health, that he came back to Jasper County, 
 Iowa, where he farmed five years. In June, 
 1877, he came to this count3^ He owns forty 
 acres in Belknap Township, where he now re- 
 sides, and also 200 acres in Woodbury County, 
 this State. He has three children living — 
 Colfax E. (born August 6, 1868), Grace J. 
 (born July 23, 1872), and Claude J. (born June 
 13, 1881). Mrs. Baxter is a member of the 
 Evangelical Methodist Church. In politics, 
 Mr. Baxter is a Republican. 
 
 C. W. BRYANT, of Norton & Bryant, ha^-d- 
 ware, Oakland, was born in Keutuck}- Decem- 
 ber 3, 1834. He is the son of James M. 
 and Elizabeth (Sulenger) Brj'ant; his father was 
 born in Georgia about 1808. He moved to 
 Kentucky, and afterward to Missouri about 
 1836. He was married near Vincennes, Knox 
 Co., Ind. He lived in Scotland County, Mo., 
 for several years, and in 1843 moved to Putnam 
 County, Mo. In 1850, he came with his family 
 to Council Bluffs (then Kauesville). He first 
 lived in a little log cabin, situated just west of 
 
64 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 where the Pacific House now stands. In the 
 summer of 1850, he bought a Mormon claim, 
 located about one mile east of the Ogden 
 House; he died September 16, 1851. The fam- 
 ily moved back to Scotland County, Mo., in the 
 following spring. Our subject's mother was 
 born in Indiana in 1813. He left her in Scot- 
 land County, Mo., and in the spring of 1853 
 came to Couucil Bluffs, where he worked with 
 his uncle, A. S. Brj'ant, on his farm till the 
 spring of 1860. The three following years he 
 was in Colorado and New Jlesico. He returned 
 to the Bluffs and assisted his uncle in tlie Farm- 
 ers' Hotel. He afterward went in partnership 
 with Henry Thatcher, and kept a provision 
 store on the Union Pacific Bailway, while that 
 road was being built. Thej' were located at 
 different points on that road at different times. 
 They sold out, and our subject returned to the 
 Bluffs, and engaged in the grocerj' business, in 
 connection with E. Hubbard. He sold out 
 shortly- afterward, and for some time was en- 
 gaged in various occupations, finally going in 
 partnership with his brother, R. T. Brj-ant. and 
 W. B. Clark in the real estate business. They 
 bought eight}' acres of land of A. S. Bryant, 
 situated west and north of the Union Pacific 
 Transfer Depot. They divided it up into town 
 lots. In September, 1870, our subject, with his 
 brother, opened a dry goods and furniture 
 store. In December of the same year, they 
 moved their business to Avoca, this county, 
 where they continued it till the election ofB. 
 T. as Clerk of the District Court, after which 
 subject conducted the business till the spring 
 of 1876, when he sold out. He then clerked 
 for C. H. Norton in a hardware store in Avoca. 
 After this he went in partnership with his 
 brother, J. C. Norton, and opened up in the 
 hardware business in Oakland. They added a 
 line of furniture, and the firm still stands Nor- 
 ton & Bryant. Our subject was married in 
 Council Bluffs, on March 7, 1871, by Rev. P. 
 H. Cleland, to Louisa F. Brockie, born in 
 
 St. Louis, Mo., in 1852. She was the daughter 
 of Henry and Jennie (Wells) Brockie, Ijoth 
 natives of Glasgow, Scotland. They came to 
 this country in 1850, landing in New Orleans. 
 La. The}' lived for a time in St. Louis, and 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1857. The father is 
 dead, :iud the mother is at present living in 
 Mills County, this State. 
 
 JOSEPH CARSE, farmer, P. 0. Oakland, 
 was born in County Down, Ireland, December 
 21, 1808. He is the son of John and Aba- 
 gail (McCormick) Carse, both natives of Coun- 
 ty Down. Ireland. His father was born in 1 776. 
 He was a farmer, and his ancestors, as near as 
 we can ascertain, came from Scotland in A. D. 
 1611. His (subject's) mother was born in 1766. 
 and died in her native country in 1850. Our 
 subject I'eceived a fair education in the old sub- 
 scription schools. His grandfather took out a 
 perpetuity on a piece of land in 1748, on which 
 our subject and his father lived; Lord Dufferin 
 was his landlord. Our subject came to the 
 United States in 1860, locating in Lee County. 
 111., where he lived and farmed until 1878, when 
 he came to this count}-, and now lives on Sec- 
 tion 21, Township 75, Range 40. He was mar- 
 ried in County Down, Ireland, October 6, 1843. 
 to Elizabeth Spratt, born in that county Octo- 
 ber 27, 1821. She was the daughter of John 
 and Hannah (Carse) Spratt; both natives of the 
 latter county; her father, Ijorn October 31^ 
 1775, and died about 1869, in Ireland; her 
 mother, born in the same county in 1796, and 
 died May 26, 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Carse have 
 had eleven children — Hannah, born September 
 19, 1844; Abigail, born November 20, 1846, 
 died November 31, 1878; John, born January 
 10, 1849; Elizabeth, born March 19, 1851; Jo- 
 seph, born March 19. 1853; James, born March 
 13, 1855 ; William, born March 15, 1857; 
 Archie, born December 23, 1858 ; Ann I., 
 born October 12, 1860; Sarah A., born Feb- 
 ruary 11, 1863. and Robert H., born De- 
 cember 10. 1865. The family are all members 
 
BELKNAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 65 
 
 of the Presbj'terian Church. Mrs. Carse has a 
 brother ia Lee County, 111., and a sister living 
 in Allegheny City, Penn. 
 
 JAMES CARSE, farmer, P. 0. Carson, was 
 born in County Down, Ireland, October 19, 
 1830. He is the son of James and Mary 
 (Gaugh) Carse, both natives of the same coun- 
 ty. His father was a farmer, and died when 
 our subject was fourteen years old. His an- 
 cestors were Scotch " non-conformists." His 
 (subject's) mother, was of English descent, and 
 died in Ireland. The parents had ten children, 
 five sons and five daughters. Our subject has 
 four sisters living in America, and a brother 
 John, who is a successful miner in Australia. 
 He (subject) received a good common school 
 education, and lived with his mother's famil}' 
 until he came to America in 1859. He located 
 at Newburg, Orange Co., N. Y., where he lived 
 for two years, being engaged as a coachman; 
 he then came to Dixon, 111., where he worked 
 out for nine months, at the end of which time 
 he commenced farming for himself He was 
 married at Dixon, 111., September 3, 1863, to 
 Mar^- Wallace Carse; born in the same place 
 as her husband, January 17, 1835. She was 
 the daughter of James and Margaret (Wallace) 
 Carse, both natives of Ireland, and both of 
 whom are dead. Subject's wife came to the 
 United States in 1857, living in Baltimore, Md., 
 till 18t>3, when she moved to Illinois. After 
 his marriage, our subject farmed in Illinois for 
 fourteen years. He purchased his land in this 
 county September 6, 1876, and moved on it in 
 the spring of 1877. He has made all the im- 
 provements himself; he has six children — 
 Margaret Wallace, Mary Gaugh, Sarah Eliza- 
 beth, William Henry, James Stewart and John 
 Archibald. Mrs. Carse's parents had six chil- 
 dren, three sons and three daughters. All of 
 the daughters and one son — James, are living 
 in this country. James is living with our sub- 
 ject, and owns eightj- acres of land adjoining 
 his farm, which consists of 240 acres in Sec- 
 
 tions 19 and 20, Belknap Township. His spe- 
 cialty is stock, for which he raises his own grain. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Carse were raised Presbyterians. 
 In politics, he is Republican. 
 
 G. W. COOPER, of G. W. Cooper & Co., 
 general merchandise, Oakland, was born in Erie 
 County, Penn., the son of Wilson and Margaret 
 (Riblet) Cooper, both natives of Pennsylvania. 
 Our subject received a good education; he 
 came to Council Bluffs in 1867, and has been a 
 resident of this count}- ever since. In 1809, 
 he was engaged as traveling salesman by Brew- 
 ster & Co., of Council Blutfs. He remained in 
 their employ for one jear, after which he trav- 
 eled eleven years for Steward Bros., of the same 
 city. In March, 1880, he began business for 
 himself iu Oakland, this county. He rented a 
 storeroom of Mr. Daniel Freeman, situated at 
 the foot of Oakland avenue. In the spring of 
 1882, he moved up to the corner of Oakland 
 avenue and Main street, where, under the firm 
 name of G. W. Cooper & Co., he is engaged in 
 the general merchandise business. 
 
 A. T. COX, publisher, Oakland, was born in 
 Newton, Jasper Co., Iowa, June 9, 1857. He 
 is the son of John M. and Mary (Wilson) Cox. 
 His father was born in Monroe County, Ind., 
 January 31, 1823. His (subject's) mother was 
 born in the same place in 1821. His parents 
 moved from their native State to Green Bay, 
 Wis., where the}' lived for a short time, after- 
 ward going to Jasper County, this State. Here 
 the father was engaged in the flour business for 
 a shgrt time, after which he farmed in the same 
 county for six years. In 1864, tlie family 
 moved to Shelby County, Iowa, near Harlan, 
 where the fimil}' have carried on a farm, while 
 the father worked at his trade of painter and 
 plasterer. He is also a Baptist clergyman, and 
 is pastor over several charges. The parents 
 have nine children — five sons and four daugh 
 ters, all of whom except our subject and his 
 youngest brother are married, and all except 
 subject live in Shelby County, this State. Our 
 
60 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 subject received a common school education, 
 and began life for himself bj' teaching school, 
 which he followed for about six _years with 
 marked success. In the spring of 1882, he as- 
 sumed entire control of the Oakland Acorn, 
 which he has since conducted with great zeal 
 and a commendable spirit of independence, ad- 
 vocating right at all times, without regard to 
 party or personal interests. 
 
 W. H. H. DABNEY, stock and grain, Oak- 
 land, was born in Vermillion Count}-, III, De- 
 cember 31, 1835. He is the son of Henry 
 and Maria (Stanfleld) Dabnej-. His father was 
 born in King William County, Va., December 
 31, 1795; he had a number of slaves left him, 
 which he afterward set free; he left his native 
 State in 1825, and. in the winter of 1825-26 he 
 taught the first school in Terre Haute, Ind. ; he 
 went from here to Vermillion County, 111., where 
 he located, and was married. He was a sol- 
 dier in the war of 1812, and was in a number of 
 active engagements; he moved to Dallas Coun- 
 ty, this State, in 1855, and afterward to Madi- 
 son County, Iowa, where he died in Winterset 
 March 24, 1870. His (subject's) mother was 
 born in Knoxville, Green Co., Tenn., October 6, 
 1813, and is still living, in the enjoyment of 
 good health, in Winterset, Madison County, this 
 State. Our subject has eight brothers and two 
 sisters living. One brother is a prominent 
 lawyer in Madison Coiintj-, Iowa. Onr subject I 
 received a common school education and 
 worked on his father's farm until twentj-one 
 years of age, when he started in for himself" by 
 elerkinsj; in a store for two years; he then start- 
 ed for Colorado without a dollar; he commenced 
 business with two yoke of cattle and a wagon, 
 which he bought on time; he freighted four 
 years from the 3Iissouri River to Colorado, and 
 four years from Salt Lake City to Montana; he 
 then owned ten wagons, with five yoke of cattl,e 
 to each. During this time he came home, and 
 was married, March 15, 1866, to Mary B. Lee; 
 born in Licking County, Ohio, September 12, 
 
 1849. She was the daughter of E. B. and Ann 
 (Shields) Lee. Her father was born in Licking 
 County, Ohio, in 1814; he was a farmer and 
 stock-shipper; he died in Barton County. Kan., 
 at the age of sixt}'- eight; her mother was born 
 in Jeft'erson Count}^ Ohio, in 1824, and is now 
 living in Barton County, Kan. After his mar- 
 riage, our subject freighted for eighteen months, 
 at the end of which time he sold his train and 
 returned to this State, locating in Winterset, 
 Madison County. Here he dealt in land, stock 
 and grain, and built and ran an elevator. In 
 February', 1880, he moved to this countj-, hav- 
 ing previous!}-, in 1868, bought the farm on 
 which he now resides. Section 2, Township 75. 
 Range 40. He owns 600 acres in Belknap and 
 James Townships, which is farmed l.\y renters. 
 He is engaged in feeding and shipping stock, and 
 alsograin. He has hadfour children, allof whom 
 were born in Winterset, this State — William, 
 died when he was eighteen mouths old; Minnie 
 Alice, born Octolier 5, 1868; John Maurice, 
 born April 4, 1872; Henry Bowman, born July 
 9, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Dabney are members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a 
 member of the I. 0. 0. F., and in politics, a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 J. L. FETTER, farmer, P. 0. Oakland, was 
 born at Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland Co., Peun., 
 September 19, 1820. He is the son of Christian 
 and Sarah (Lobingier) Fetter. His father was 
 born in Richmond, Va. He was a physician, 
 and followed his profession up to the time of 
 his death, which occurred in Caledonia, Put- 
 nam Co., 111., in 1847. He came to his death 
 by an accident. Upon returning home one 
 evening from his usual round of professional 
 visitation he came to a ditch which it was 
 necessary that his horse' should jump. He 
 stood upon the opposite side of the ditch, and 
 called upon the animal to jump, which did so 
 at once, but struck upon the unfortunate man, 
 inflicting injuries which proved fatal. His (sub- 
 ject's) mother was born at Mt. Pleasant, West- 
 
BELKNAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 67 
 
 raoroland Co., Ponn., Maj- 5, 1706, and died at 
 the residence of her son-in-hiw, Dr. L. S. Herrs, 
 in Evansville, Ind., March 25, 1881. Our sub- 
 ject lived witli his grandfathei-, John Lobingier, 
 until he was twentj- years of age. His grand- 
 father was a prominent lawyer, and was Judge 
 of Westmoreland County, Penn. He raised 
 our subject, and gave him the best education 
 that was obtainable in the city of Mt. Pleasant. 
 Our subject came West with his father in the 
 spring of 1840, and settled at Caledonia, Put- 
 uam Co., 111. Here he studied law. He was 
 married, April 19, 1843, eleven miles east of 
 Lacon. 111., at Elder H. D. Palmer's residence, 
 to Charlotte R. Palmer ; born in Carlisle, Ind., 
 November 1, 1821. She was the daughter of 
 Elder H. D. and Martha (Angel) Palmer. Her 
 f:\lher was born in South Carolina, and was one 
 of the first ministers of the Christian Church. 
 He was engaged in active ministerial labors for 
 over forty years. He emigrated from his native 
 State on account of his repugnance for slavery. 
 He and a number of others brought their 
 slaves along with them, and liberated them 
 upon their arrival at their destination. He 
 first settled in Illinois, not far from Vincennes, 
 Ind, and afterward moved to Carlisle, Ind. In 
 the latter part of his life he moved to Eureka, 
 Woodford Co., 111., where he died at the age of 
 eight3--one. His wife (our subject's wife's 
 mother) was a native of North Carolina. She 
 emigrated to Tennessee, where she was maiTied 
 to Elder Palmer. After his marriage, our sub- 
 ject lived in Lacon, 111., until April, 1856, when 
 he came to Big Grove, this county. He still 
 resides' on his original settlement — northwest 
 quarter Section 10, Township 75, Range 40. 
 He has been Magistrate for eighteen 3'ears, and 
 was Town Clerk for ten 3'ears. He is at present i 
 Treasurer of the School Board. He has four 
 children — Frank P. (a graduate of Oskaloosa 
 College, class of '78), Trannie B. (wife of J. H. 
 Louis, who is County Recorder and Auditor of 
 Shelby County, Iowa), Florence and May A. Our 
 
 subject rents out his 600 acres of land, which 
 he owns in Belknap Township. He and family 
 are members of the Christian Church. 
 
 DANIEL FREEMAN, retired merchant. 
 Oakland, was born in St. Louis, Mo., April 2G, 
 1818 ; his father, Daniel Freeman, was born in 
 New Hampshire in 1780, and came West to St. 
 Louis, Mo., in 1800, when that place was a 
 small village. There he built a hotel called 
 the "Green Tree," where he had the honor of 
 entertaining La Faj'ette, when that noted 
 soldier and statesman visited the United States; 
 he died near St. Louis in 1839. Mr. Freeman 
 remembers St. Louis, as it was In the days of 
 its crooked streets and old-fiishioned houses, 
 when the few steamboats then on the river 
 fired cannon to denote their approach to the 
 citj-. Mr. Freeman received a good education 
 for those days, and ■ lived at home till his 
 fatlier's death, when he was married, and farmed 
 for three years in Illinois, opposite St. Louis; 
 thence went to Rockford, Winnebago County, 
 where he remained five years, and then went 
 to Rock Countj', Wis. In the latter place. Mr. 
 Freeman lost his wife, Marj- Waller, whom he 
 married in Madison County, 111.; she was born 
 in Kentuckj' in 1818, and was the daughter of 
 Richard and Nancy (Ellis) Waller ; he is a 
 native of Mar^-land, and she of Georgia. From 
 Rock County, Wis., Mr. Freeman moved to La 
 Fayette County, where he farmed for about 
 twenty-five years. Six years after the death 
 of his first wife, Mr. Freeman married Elizabeth 
 Swindlow, born in England in 1834. In 1876, 
 Mr. Freeman came to Big Grove, Pottawat- 
 tamie Count}', engaged for two years in the 
 mercantile business, and then sold but to his 
 son-in-law, G. L. Whitehead. Since selling out, 
 Mr. Freeman has lived in retirement from active 
 business pursuits, though he still has some 
 business interests. IMr. Freeman ha^ five sons 
 by his first wife, viz.: James Wilson, William 
 Henry, Daniel Boone, Levi Ellis and Benjamin 
 Franklin ; thej' are all married and doing well. 
 
68 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 By his second wife, Mr. Freeman has had five 
 children — Don Alonzo, Nanc}- Emily (deceased), 
 Elizabeth Murray (now wife of L. G. White- 
 head), Elmer Ellsworth and Charles Frederick. 
 Mr. Freeman is a strong Republican. 
 
 W. H. FREEMAN, banker, Oakland, was 
 born in Rockford, III, April 11, 18i4 ; son of 
 Daniel and Mary (Waller) Freeman ; he was 
 born in St. Louis, Mo., April 29, 1818 ; she, 
 born in Kentucky in April, 1819, died in Wis- 
 consin April 9, 1850. Subject's father was one 
 of the early settlers of Rockford, locating there 
 in 1843. From Rockford, 111., subject's father 
 moved to Wisconsin, where he lived in Rock 
 and La Fayette Counties respectivelj" till 1876, 
 when he came to Big Grove, and engaged for 
 about two }-ear3 in the mercantile business; 
 then sold out to Mr. Baker, and now lives in 
 Oakland. Subject's mother died when he was 
 six years old, and he lived with his mother's 
 relatives till he was eleven years of age, when 
 he joined his father in La Fayette County, 
 Wis. Mr. Freeman engaged in farming with 
 his father till twenty-one years of age, when 
 he went to Davis, 111., and farmed for one 
 year. He came from Davis to Big Grove, Iowa, 
 remained a short time, and then went to Ne- 
 braska, where he furnished wood and ties for 
 the Union Pacific Railroad, then in course of 
 construction. In 1867, Mr. Freeman left Ne- 
 braska, and returned to Big Grove, remained 
 till spring, and removed to Newtown, near what 
 is now Avoca; while there he constructed the 
 wood culvert extending from Walnut to Neola, 
 on the Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. In 
 May, 1869, Mr. Freeman purchased what was 
 known as the Davenport Saw-Mill, and moved 
 it to Big Grove, where he operated it in con- 
 nection with the mercantile business ; in the 
 latter, he was interested with his brother, D. B. 
 Freeman. In the fall of 1876, Mr. Freeman 
 removed his saw-mill to Green County, Wis., 
 when he continued the lumber business, making 
 a specialty of black-walnut till the summer of 
 
 1881, when he returned for the third time to 
 Oakland. Here, December 23, 1881, our sub- 
 ject in connection with his brother, B. F. Free- 
 man, opened the "Oakland Bank" under the 
 firm name of " W. H. & B. F. Freeman, private 
 bankers." Our subject was married in Avoca, 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, September 21, 
 1869, to Malinda J. Shipp, born in Greencastle, 
 Iowa, November 30, 1851; daughter of Albert 
 and Mahala (Piles) Shipp, natives of Kentucky; 
 he, born January 1, 1825, is a farmer living 
 in Shelby Count}', Iowa; she, born November 
 20, 1826, died December 10, 1864; her parents 
 were early settlers of Jasper Count}', Iowa. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Freeman have two children — Jennie 
 May, born March 3, 1871, and Clyde Alden, 
 born September 14, 1873. After the incopora- 
 tion of Oakland in April, 1882, Mr. Freeman 
 was elected Mayor; he has also served as 
 Justice of the Peace; he is a Mason and a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 EMIL J. GEHRMANN, farmer, P. 0. Car- 
 son, was born on the river Weiser, Germany, 
 December 7, 1850. He is the son of Charles 
 F. and Johannah (Riceland) Gehrmann. His 
 father was a machinist and engineer, born in 
 Germany March 20, 1823. He was passenger 
 engineer for about twenty years. He ran the 
 first German train into Russia, and also the 
 first train that was run between Moscow and 
 Kaurch, as a trial, prior to drawing the train 
 that bore the Duke Alexis to the Black Sea. 
 He drove the train that bore the Duke on his 
 trip. He also ran the first train on this road, 
 which train, before starting, was sprinkled with 
 Holy water, by the Priest of the Greek Church. 
 From the early part of 1860 to 1869, our sub- 
 ject's father lived in several diflferent places in 
 Russia. August 16, 1869, he, with his family 
 landed in New York City. They came to 
 Chicago and visited a few days with a brother. 
 In September of the same year they came to 
 Council Blufls. The father had come ahead 
 and purchased land in Macedonia Township, 
 
BELKNAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 69 
 
 this county, where the family moved, and lived 
 for six years. At the end of this time they 
 sold out and bought in Section 29, Township 
 75, Range 40, where the father (our subject) 
 and a brother, have each farms. The father 
 worked ten years in the Union Pacific machine 
 shops, but has now retired to his farm. Our 
 subject's mother was born in Saxon}', Germany, 
 August 16, 1827. This was the native Prov- 
 ince of Martin Luther, and she has seen the 
 house in which the school which he attended 
 was kept ; also his ink-bottle and pen. When 
 a little girl, she visited his grave, and planted 
 small bass-wood trees about it. Our subject 
 received a good education in the German and 
 Russian schools. He talks fluenth' the Ger- 
 man, Russian and English languages. He at- 
 tended a mechanical institute in Germanj-, and 
 studied the machinist trade from 1863 to 1866. 
 He afterward fired about one year on a rail- 
 road, finally becoming an engineer himself 
 Since coming to this countrj- he has devoted 
 his attention exclusively to farming, and has 
 been very successful. He now has 120 acres 
 of land. He was married in Belknap Town- 
 ship, this county. May 1, 1879, to Elizabeth 
 Carse, born in County Down, Ireland, near 
 Belfast, March 19, 1851, a daughter of Joseph 
 and Elizabeth (Spratt) Carse, both natives of 
 Ireland. Her parents and family came to 
 America in 1860, locating in Dixon, 111., where 
 they lived for about eighteen 3-ears. They 
 came to this count\- in 1878, locating on the 
 farm in Section 21, Belknap Township, where 
 both the parents still reside. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gehrmann have one child — Emil, born May 2, 
 1880. They are members of the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 F. H. GEHRMANN, farmer, P. 0. Carson, 
 was born in Berlin, Prussia, August 25, 1852. 
 He is the son of Charles F. and Johannah 
 (Riceland) Gehrmann. (See sketch of E. J. Gehr- 
 mann.) Our subject received his education 
 principally in Germany. He attended the com- 
 
 mon schools until he was fourteen years of age, 
 after which he attended two years at the high 
 school. He then learned the carpenter's trade, 
 at which he worked -till he came to America, 
 with his father, in 1869, since which he has 
 been engaged in farming. 
 
 H. A. GOFP, stock-dealer, Oakland, was born 
 in Henry County, Ind., January 30, 1833, son 
 of Abram and Nancy (Smith) Goff, natives of 
 Kentucky; he was a farmer by occupation, and 
 died when our subject was eighteen months 
 old; she was born about 1809; after the death 
 of her first husband, she married Robert Erwin, 
 of Virginia; she died in Henderson County, 
 111., in 1879. Mr. Goff left home at the age of 
 sixteen, and worked by the month till Novem- 
 ber, 1851, when he was married in Tippecanoe 
 Count}', Ind., to Elizabeth Crose, a native of 
 the aforesaid county, born in 1833, daughter of 
 John and Elizabeth (Crouch) Crose, natives of 
 Ohio. After his marriage, Mr. Gofi' farmed 
 one year in Tippecanoe County, Ind., then 
 moved to Henderson County, 111., where he 
 bought land and farmed for sixteen years. 
 There Mr. Goff lost his wife March 20, 1858, 
 and then he again married, November 28, 1859, 
 this time to Sarah Jane Brown, born in Ken- 
 tucky October 28, 1839, daughter of Charles 
 and .\nn (Percell) Brown, natives of Ken- 
 tucky ; he was born December 25, 1810, and 
 came to Illinois with his family, when Mrs. 
 Goff was five years old; her mother died in 
 Illinois ; her father is now living with his chil- 
 dren in Iowa. In the fall of 1868, Mr. GoflF 
 came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and 
 bought land in James Township ; this land he 
 improved and lived upon till the following 
 summer, when the grasshoppers became 
 troublesome and he returned to Illinois. After 
 remaining in the latter State eighteen months, 
 he returned to his farm in Iowa, where he re- 
 mained till the spring of 1882, when he moved 
 in Oakland, where he has since been engaged in 
 trading in cattle and hogs. For the past ten 
 
70 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 j-ears, Mr. Goff has furnished beeves to the 
 butchers of Avoca. Mr. Groff has, by his 
 second wife, seven children — Ellen (now Mrs. 
 Hayse), George, Flora Ann (now Mrs. Cla}-- 
 ton), Dolly Jane (now Mrs. Strong), Charles, 
 Lily May and Samuel. Mr. Goff is a Demo- 
 crat 
 
 JOHxN McDonald, flour and feed, Oak- 
 land, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 
 April, 1834; his father, William McDonald, was 
 born in the same place as subject, and was a 
 miller by occupation; he emigrated to the United 
 States and settled in Illinois, Warren Count}', 
 in 1855, and died the following year of typhoid 
 fever. Subject's mother was born in Ireland; 
 came to this country with her husband and died 
 at Oxford, Jones. Co., Iowa. Subject's brother, 
 Samuel, and sister Martha, came to the United 
 States with their parents, the oldest brother 
 preceded them to this county. Mr. McDonald 
 received a fair common school education, and 
 worked with his father at milling, until he mar- 
 ried, March 8, 1852, Bessie McElhinney, born 
 in Ireland November 20, 1833. She was a 
 daughter of William and Bessie (Thompson) 
 McElhinne}-, natives of Ireland, where the 
 father died. After his marriage, Mr. McDon- 
 ald, came to this country and located in War- 
 ren County, 111., June 3, 1853. He ran a grist- 
 mill at Monmouth, 111., for four j^ears for Silas 
 Umpstead; then moved to Keithsburg and con- 
 ducted a mill for Joseph Ogden, for seven 
 years; thence to North Henderson, Mercer 
 County, for a year; then, after a j'ear spent in 
 Jlillersburg, he purchased a mill in Bureau 
 County, 111.; operated it for two j'ears, sold it 
 and came to Jones County, Iowa, where he 
 rented a mill for a 3'ear. Upon leaving Jones 
 County, Mr. McDonald moved to Union Town- 
 ship, Shelby Count}', where he bought a farm 
 near the present site of Defiance; there he en- 
 gaged in farming for seven years, when he and 
 his wife began traveling for the latter's health 
 in California and Washington Territory; in the 
 
 latter Territory she died of consumption Sep- 
 tember 4, 1878. In 1879, Mr. McDonald lo- 
 cated in Neola, and established the " Exchange 
 Mills Flour and Feed Store," which his son now 
 conducts. Mr. McDonald sold his property in 
 Neola; established a similar business in Marne, 
 Cass Co., Iowa; conducted it six months; sold 
 out and came to Oakland in December, 1880, 
 where he has since conducted a flour and feed 
 business. Our subject has, by his first wife, 
 four children— Jennie, Ella, William aud 
 Thomas Tiiompson. April 1, 1880, at Neola, 
 Iowa, Mr. ^McDonald married Margaret Gallup, 
 born in Harrison County, Iowa, in 1861, daugh- 
 ter of Jasper and Sarah (Wood) Gallup, early 
 settlers of Pottawattamie Countv — he a native 
 of New York State, and she of Ohio. This 
 second union has been blessed with one child 
 — Frederick Samuel. Mr. McDonald is a 
 Mason and a member of the V. A. S.; he is a 
 member of the City Council and a Republican. 
 J. L. McMURRY, farmer, P. 0. Oakland, 
 was born in Indiana April 9, 1853 ; son of 
 John and Elizabeth (Wilson) McMurry ; he 
 was born in North Carolina, was a farmer by 
 occupation, and died about 1859 in Davis 
 County, Iowa ; she, born in North Carolina, is 
 now living at the age of sixty-four, in Davis 
 County, Iowa. Mr. McMurry worked at hom^ 
 till December 24, 1874, when he was married, 
 near Drakesville, Davis Count}', to Mary E. 
 Wood, born in Davis County, Iowa. Septem- 
 ber 17, 1848, daughter of John G. and Mary 
 (Vaughn) Wood ; he was a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, and died in Davis County, Iowa, in Octo- 
 ber, 1880 ; she, born inOhio in July, 1805, is 
 living in Davis County. After his marriage, 
 Mr. McMurry farmed for himself for two years 
 in Davis County, then moved to Mills County, 
 Iowa, where he worked two years for L. W. 
 Tubbs. In 1879, Mr. McMurry left Mills 
 County and came to Pottawattamie County, 
 where he has since been engaged in farming. 
 In politics, Mr. McMurry is a Republican. 
 
BELKNAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 n 
 
 GEORGE H. NASH, agricultural imple- 
 ments, Oakland, was born in We_ymouth, Norfolk 
 County, Mass., December 13, 184(i. He is the 
 son of Abner P. and Silence (Humphrey) Nash, 
 both natives of Weymouth, Mass. His father 
 was born July 24, 1803. He was a wholesale 
 leather merchant in Boston, Mass. He is now 
 living a retired life in his native town, and is 
 an unusually vigorous old gentleman. His 
 (subject's) mother died in her native town in 
 1846. Our subject lived with his father until 
 he was twenty-one years of age, when he came 
 to this State, locating on his present farm of 
 64U acres, situated iu Sections 23 and 24, 
 Township 75, Range 39, in Center Township, 
 this county. He lived here till January, 1882, 
 when he weut into his present business in Oak- 
 land. He was married in Center Township, 
 March 8, 1873, to Louisa L. Russell, born in 
 Middlebury, Addison Co., Vt., December 9, 
 1846. She is the daughter of Samuel and 
 Laura (Drake) Russell, both natives of Addi- 
 son County,. Vt. Her father died iu Middle- 
 bury, Vt., in 1855, at the age of forty-seven. 
 He was a horse dealer and grocer. Her mother 
 was born Januarj- 16, 1816, and is still living 
 with her son, E. S. Russell, of Center Town- 
 ship, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Nash have 
 three children — Fred A., born February 21, 
 1875; Russell, born January 18, 1878, and E. 
 Ernest, born Februarj- 14, 1882. Our subject 
 is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 
 politics is a Republican. 
 
 J. C. NORTON, hardware and furniture, Oak- 
 land, was born in Livingston County, N.Y., June 
 13, 1836, son of William C. and Harriet (Thayer) 
 Norton ; he, born in Onondaga County, N. Y., 
 in January, 1811, is a carpenter, living in Oak- 
 field, Audubon County, Iowa ; she, born in 
 Oneida County, N. Y., in September, 1813, is 
 the mother of three sons and four daughters. 
 The girls received sufficient education to en- 
 able them to teach, but Mr. Norton, being the 
 oldest child, was deprived of school advantages. 
 
 till he became twenty-three years old, when he 
 attended school two years, and one year later 
 he obtained a certificate for teaching. Mr. 
 Norton early learned the trade of carpentering, 
 and worked at home till twenty-one years of 
 age. In October, 1856, Mr. Norton's parents 
 migrated to Audubon County, Iowa, where our 
 subject worked at his trade summers and en- 
 gaged in trapping, winters. In 1867, Mr. 
 Norton opened a mercantile business in Oak- 
 field, Audubon County, Iowa ; there he con- 
 tinued two j'ears, and in 1869 came to Avoca. 
 Pottawattamie County, when there were but 
 two houses in the place. He was engaged in 
 merchandising iu Avoca, till 1875, when he 
 sold out and started West for his health, spend- 
 ing a year auti a half iu California and Oregon ; 
 while in the latter State he engaged in the sew- 
 ing machine business, which he sold in 1876, 
 and then returneil to Avoca. After returning 
 to the latter place, Mr. Norton retired from 
 business till 1880, when he erected the first 
 building iu the new town of Oakland, where he 
 has since conducted a mercantile business, the 
 firm name being Norton & Bryant. Mr. Norton 
 was married in Oakfield, Iowa, Februar}- 2. 
 1868, to Susie Ostrander, born iu Illinois in 
 1846, daughter of James Ostrander, a native 
 of New York State, and a farmer by occupa- 
 tion. Mr. and Mrs. Norton have four children 
 — Elmer D., born November 4, 1871 ; Arthur, 
 June 28, 1876 ; Jessie, June 28, 1878, and 
 Clarice, born September 9, 1881. Mr. Norton 
 is a member of the Congregational Church and 
 is a Republican. 
 
 M. T. PALMER, physician, Parma, was 
 born in Fayette County, Ind., March 22, 1822. 
 His father, William Palmer, was born in South 
 Carolina about 1774; he served in the war of 
 1812; was an earlj' settler in Faj"ette County, 
 Ind., and subsequently settled in Rock Island 
 County, 111., where he lived about two 3-ears, 
 and then died October 25, 1840. Subject's 
 mother, Jane (Gill) Palmer, was born in Vir- 
 
72 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 ginia about 1780, and died August 25, 1846. 
 The parents had ten children, eight of whom, 
 three sons and five daughters, grew to maturity. 
 Mr. Palmer's school advantages were very lim- 
 ited, his education being mainly self-acquired; 
 he being the youngest son, remained at home 
 engaged in farming and taking care of his par- 
 ents till their death; then, he being in delicate 
 health, lived for three years with an older sis- 
 ter at Yellow Banks, 111. While at the latter 
 place, Mr. Palmer studied medicine; he also 
 there met Caroline Tuel, whom he afterward 
 married in Rock Island County, 111., November 
 30, 1848; her parents were Preslej' and Mar}- 
 (Bell) Tuel. he a native of Virginia, died in 
 Ohio; she a native of Ohio, died at the resi- 
 dence of her daughter in Iowa. After mar- 
 riage, !Mr. Palmer spent a year on the home- 
 stead in Rock Island County, 111.; then sold out 
 and moved to Sugar Grove. Mercer County, 
 where he farmed and leai'ned carpentering. 
 October 31, 1853, he moved to Council Bluflfs, 
 where he helped to build the first steam saw- 
 mill erected on the bottom west of that place; 
 he also took the contract for tlie first frame 
 building erected in Omaha, Neb. 3Ir. Palmer 
 engaged in farming near Council Bluffs from 
 1854 to 1856, when he came to Big Grove, 
 then a new settlement, and located on the farm 
 where he still lives. After studying medicine 
 for about ax years, and receiving much instruc- 
 tion from Dr. Barrett, a graduate of Glasgow, 
 Scotland. Mr. Palmer began to practice medi- 
 cine about 1861, and since then has been active 
 and successful in the profession. 3Ir. and Mrs. 
 Palmer have had nine childieu — Marion, born 
 April 5, 1851; Sumner Steven, April 28, 
 1853; George, May 6, 1855, died February 
 4, 1876; Minor T., Jr., May 21, 1857, died 
 August 17, 1857; Mary Matilda, December 
 30, 1859; Abraham Lincoln, April 26, 1861; i 
 Alexis Presley, July 28, 1864; Hiram 
 Thomas, January 16. 1868; and Lucy Adella, 
 July 9, 1872. Mr. Palmer has been School 
 
 Director, and has twice been Postmaster. He 
 and wife are Missionary Baptists; he is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 L. F. POTTER (of Potter & DeGraflf), gen- 
 eral merchandise, Oakland, was born in Mil- 
 waukee, Wis., March 27, 1855. He is the son 
 of L. B. and Hitty (Wenzell) Potter. His 
 father was born in Fitzwilliam, Cheshire Co., 
 N. H., December 15, 1815, and was a school 
 teacher in his native State. He afterward kept 
 a meat market and packed pork in Fitcliburg, 
 Mass. In 1839, he came to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 where he engaged in the manufacture of butter, 
 and later in the manufacture of cheese. He is 
 now living a retired life near the latter city. 
 His (subject's) mother was born in Framing- 
 ham, Mass., July 26, 1820; she died in Wis- 
 consin October 27, 1864. Our subject received 
 a common school education, and for one year 
 afterward was a student in the English depart- 
 ment of Ripon College, Wis. At the age of 
 seventeen, he was sufticientl}' advanced in all 
 English branches to enter college, and so began 
 the study of Latin and Greek in the prepar- 
 atory department of the Beloit College, Wis. 
 After pursuing his studies at this place for one 
 year, he was compelled to leave, together with 
 man}- of his fellow-students, on account of an 
 ej-e-sore which appeared to come in the form 
 of an epidemic. From the effects of this dis- 
 ease, our subject never sufficiently recovered to 
 resume his studies. He subsequently taught 
 school for four or five years in Wisconsin and 
 this State. He came to this county in 1876, 
 and after teaching for a time, he took half-in- 
 terest in business with J. L. Caldwell. In Ma}-, 
 1880, Mr. Caldwell sold his interest to M. J. 
 DeGraff, a brother-in-law to our subject, being 
 married to his sister. Our subject was married 
 in Council Bluffs, November 29, 1881, to Miss 
 M. J. Wood, born in 1856. She is a member 
 of the Congregational Church. Mr. Potter is a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity, and in poli- 
 tics is a Republican. 
 
BELKXAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 73 
 
 J. I. KEED, farming, P. 0. Oakland, was 
 born in Rushville, Eush Co., Ind., November 
 26, 1830. His father. Zenas Reed, was born 
 in South Carolina March 9, 1795 ; was a stock- 
 dealer and farmer. When twenty-three 3'ears 
 old, he moved to Indiana, where he lived till 
 1840. About 1830, he became County Judge 
 of Rush County, Ind.. which position he held 
 a number of years ; he held several otlier civil 
 offices. In 1840, he moved from Indiana to fier- 
 cer County. 111., where he farmed till his death, 
 March 6, 1845. Subject's mother, Elizabeth 
 (Rishling) Reed, was born in Pittsburgh, Penn.. 
 March 10, 1805. She is the mother of eight 
 children, four sons and four daughters. Two 
 sons and one daughter are dead. Mr. Reed re- 
 ceived his education mostly in a subscription 
 school, the building for which was erected by 
 subject's father and three other men. When 
 Mr. Reed was fifteen years old, his father died, 
 and the care of the stock and farm devolved 
 on our subject and an older brother. They 
 conducted the farm till they were of age. 
 This brother, George, was afterward the first 
 Postmaster of Big Grove. October 21, 1851, 
 our subject was married, in Mercer Countj-, 
 111., to Hannah Jane Sherer, born in Lawrence 
 County, Penn.. February 27, 1832 ; daughter 
 of Robert and Mary (Adair) Sherer, he born in 
 Lawrence County, Penn., in 1803, was a far- 
 mer bj' occupation, and died December 25, 
 1854, in Mercer County, 111. When Mrs. Reed 
 was one }-ear old, her mother died. After his 
 marriage, Mr. Reed farmed in Mercer County, 
 111., till 1855, when he came to Council Bluffs. 
 After remaining a short time in Council Bluffs 
 engaged in teaming, Mr. Reed returned to 
 Mercer Count3-, 111., where he remained till 
 1861, when he came back to Iowa, and bought 
 prairie land. The latter he improved and ex- 
 changed for a farm in Big Grove ; there he 
 lived from February, 1863, to October, 1881, 
 when he sold his farm and bought nine acres I 
 on the northern limits of Oakland. In 1882, | 
 
 Mr. Reed bought 200 acres two and one-half 
 miles south of Hancock. This is very fine 
 land. For the last three years, Mr. Reed has 
 dealt in hogs. Mr. and Mrs. Reed have ten 
 children — Adaline (Mrs. McMartin), Mar}- (Mrs. 
 Larue), Maggie (Mrs. Russell), Robert, George, 
 John, Albert, Irwin, Harry and May. Mrs. 
 Reed is a Presbyterian ; Mr. Reed is a member 
 of the I. 0. 0. F., and a Republican. 
 
 S. S. RUST, gi'ain-dealer, Oakland, was born 
 in Henderson County, 111.. Februar}- 23, 1848. 
 His father, Jacob Rust, was born in Frederick 
 County, Va., May 27, 1795. Subject's grand- 
 father, George Rust, was born about March 20, 
 1767, and had four brothers in the Revolution- 
 ary war. One of them, Vincent, died in the 
 service ; John was a Captain, Peter a lieuten- 
 ant and Jerry a private ; the last three were in 
 the battles of Braudywine, Cowpens, and at 
 the surrender of the British at Yorktown. In 
 1829, Jacob Rust left Kentuckj- and emigrated 
 to the militray tract now called Warren Coun- 
 tj-. 111. He boarded Maj. Butler and Capt. 
 Jennings while they were surveying the site 
 for the town of Monmouth, Warren Count}-. 
 After Warren County was organized as such, 
 Jacob Rust served as Justice of the Peace for 
 a number of years. He afterward moved to 
 Henderson Count}-, 111., then to Pottawattamie 
 County, Iowa, locating at Big Grove, where he 
 was one of the first settlers. There he fol- 
 lowed farming till retiring from business. He 
 now lives at Oakland, and is eighty-eight years 
 old. He was first married, in Hardin County, 
 Ky., to Frances 3IcDonald, born in Virginia ; 
 this union was blessed by fourteen children, of 
 whom three survive — Mrs. W. E. Brunk, Mrs. 
 C. E. Chastain and Mrs. Louisa Ward. Sub- 
 ject's father next married, in Illinois, Mrs. Eda 
 E. Morris, by whom he had three children — 
 Mrs. Reuben Morris, Steven Sumner (our sub- 
 ject) and Larue, who died at the age of four years. 
 Subject's early education was limited to two 
 years in the common schools, but he has since 
 
74 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 stiulied much liy himself. Mr. Rust worked 
 out from the age of fourteen till he was seven- 
 teen, when he began farming for himself; this 
 he continued till the fall of 1879, when he be- 
 gan buying grain at Parma, two and one-half 
 miles north of Oakland. In the fall of 1880, 
 he sold his farm and came to Oakland, Potta- 
 wattamie County, where he has since been en- 
 gaged as a grain-dealer. Mr. Rust was married 
 at Council Bluffs, September 2, 1865, to Mary 
 Anne Strong, born in Ohio Februar3- 18, 1845, 
 daughter of J. M. and Nancy (Barker) Strong, 
 natives of Ohio, who came to this county in 
 1863, and now live near Oakland. Mr.' and 
 Mrs. Rust have one child — Bertie. 3Ir. Rust 
 was for five years Treasurer of the school fund 
 of Centre Township, and he is now Treasurer 
 of the Oakland School Board. He is a Mason and 
 an Odd Fellow ; in politics, he is a Republican. 
 JAMES R. SLOAN, farmer, P. O. Oakland, 
 Was born in Henderson Count}', 111., June 4, 
 1854. He is the son of Workman and Pearl 
 Ann (Roberts) Sloan. His father was born in 
 Zanesville, Muskingum Co., Ohio, January 12, 
 1824. He was a farmer, and came to Illinois 
 when a young man. His (subject's) mother was 
 born in Greene Count}', Penn., December 10, 
 1831. His grandmother Sloan still lives in 
 Henderson County, 111. She has never seen a 
 railwaj' car, though she is living at present 
 within four miles of the depot. Our subject 
 received a good common school education, and 
 lived at home until he was twenty-one years of 
 age, when he made a start for himself He 
 was married near Terre Haute, Hender.son 
 Co., 111., June 10, 1875, to Analiue L. Showalter, 
 born in Lancaster Count}', Penn., October 14, 
 1853. She is the daughter of John Sho- 
 walter, born in the same count}' October 19, 
 1823, and died November 23, 1879, in Hender- 
 son County, 111. Her mother was born in 
 Montgomery County, Penn., December 24, 
 1831, and is still living in Henderson County, 
 111., where she and her husband moved Novem- 
 
 ber 19, 1869. After his marriage, our subject 
 lived and farmed in Illinois for six years. 
 October 12, 1881, he came to this county on a 
 prospecting tour, and, finally, made a purchase 
 of land, the northwest quarter of Section 19, 
 Township 75, Range 40. He left Illinois and 
 moved on to his laud in this county March 3, 
 1882. September 5, 1881, he was in a railroad 
 disaster while going to visit some friends in 
 Page County, this State. Thomas Leecox, the 
 great inventor, was killed. Mr. Sloan sustained 
 a dislocation of his right shoulder, and also 
 received injuries in the back and bowels. Mr. 
 and jMrs. Sloan have two children — William 
 Oscar, liorn October 26, 1878, and Cora Emma, 
 born September 13, 1880. They are members 
 of the Baptist Church. In politics, Mr. Sloan 
 is a Republican. 
 
 S. SLOCUM, farmer, P. 0. Oakland, was 
 born in Huron County, Ohio, December 24, 
 1835 ; son of G. A. and Mary (Harrouue) Slo- 
 cum ; he was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., 
 May 10, 1811, is a shoemaker by trade, but has 
 been engaged in farming in Belknap Township, 
 Pottawattamie County, since August, 1854. 
 Subject's mother was born in New Hampshire 
 December 17, 1811, and died December 13, 
 1878. Our subject was named by his grand- 
 father Slocum after one of the latter's com- 
 rades in the Revolution. Until twenty -one years 
 of age, Mr. Slocum worked at home, then, after 
 farming two years, he went to Council Bluffs 
 and learned the carpenter trade, at which he 
 began to work in 1860. He built the second 
 log house and the third frame house in Bel- 
 knap Township. Mr. Slocum continued to work 
 at his trade till 1870, when he came to his 
 present farm of sixty acres, situated 100 rods 
 from the Oakland depot. He devotes the most 
 of his time to gardening, occasionally working 
 at his trade. He was married, in March, 1857, 
 to Marilla Belknap, born September 21, 1836, 
 died September 21, 1863. Her father, Orin 
 Belknap, born in Kentucky, was the first settler 
 
BELKXAP TOWNSHIP. 
 
 in Belknap Township, which was named after 
 him. Her mother, Anne Draper, was born in 
 Ohio, and died in this county about 1856. Mr. 
 Slocum has by his first wife one child — George 
 Orin, now in Las Vegas, New Mexico, engaged 
 in the coal and coke business. Mr. Slocum 
 was again married, in Center Township, January- 
 3. 1867, to Emeline Reed, born in Mercer 
 Count}', 111., Januar\' 23, 1843, daughter of 
 Enos and Elizabeth (Rishling) Reed ; he was 
 born in South Carolina March 9, 1795, and died 
 in Mercer County, 111. ; she was born in Pitts- 
 burgh, Penn., March 10, 1805 ; is now living in 
 this county with her children. This second 
 union has resulted in two children — Fred and 
 Hattie Grace. Mr. Slocum is a member of the 
 M. E. Church. In politics, he is a Republican, 
 and believes in prohibition. 
 
 J. S. WHITE, farmer, P, 0, Carson, was born 
 in Fulton County, 111., June 3, 1845. He is 
 the son of J. M. and Elizabeth (Rist) White; 
 his father was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1820; 
 he is a farmer, and lives on Section 22, Wash- 
 ington Township, this county; he came from 
 Henderson Countj-, 111., in 1867, to Mills Coun- 
 ty, this State, and has lived in this county for 
 the past two years. His (subject's) mother was 
 born in Allegheny Count}-, Penn., in 1823, and 
 died in Fulton County, 111., in 1858. In 1863, 
 our subject joined the Union army, but was 
 taken sick, and returned home on that account; 
 he enlisted a second time, in Companj' H, 
 Twenty-eighth Illinois Infantrj-. He was in 
 the siege of Blobile, under Burnside, and at 
 Forts Gains and Blakely. He was then trans- 
 ferred to Brownsville, Texas, under command 
 of Steele and Can by. He was mustered out of 
 service at this latter place on March 25, 1865. 
 He was married in Terre Haute, 111., June 11, 
 1867, to Mary Spencer, born in Perr}- County, 
 Ohio, September 29, 1848. She was the daugh- 
 ter of Edward and Elizabeth (Fowler) Spencer, 
 both natives of Ohio. Her father was a farmer; 
 went to the war in 1861; he was taken prisoner 
 
 at the time of Bank's retreat at Winchester, 
 and died in Andersonville Prison in 1862; her 
 mother died before the war. After his mar- 
 riage, our subject farmed two seasons in Illi- 
 nois, and then came to Mills County, this Slate. 
 He has resided in this county about four years; 
 his residence is situated in the northeast quar- 
 ter Section 31, Belknap Township, where he 
 farms 200 acres in and owns 160 acres else- 
 where. He conducted a real estate office, hand- 
 ling land all over this county; he was once 
 elected Justice of the Peace, but declined to 
 serve ; he has served as School Director ever 
 since coming to this county; he has five chil- 
 dren—John E., born May 3, 1808; William, 
 born November 25, 1870; Mary J., born Octo- 
 ber 25, 1872; Sarah, born October 20, 1874, 
 and Charles W., born May 12, 1878. Mr. and 
 Mrs. White are members of the Methodtst 
 Episcopal Church. He is a member of the I. 
 0. 0. F., and in politics is Independent. 
 
 JAMES II. WRIGHT, farmer, P. 0. Oakland, 
 was born in Henderson County, 111., January 
 25, 1855. He is the son of James and Lncretia 
 (Hammond) Wright. His father was born in 
 Nelson County, Kj'., February 17, 1S12. He 
 was a farmer, and emigrated to Illinois about 
 1848. He is still living in this county. 
 His (subject's) mother was born in the same 
 count}' as his father, in 1817, and is still living. 
 Our subject lived at home until he was twenty- 
 two years of age, when he began farming for 
 himself; he left Illinois with his father in the 
 fall of 1 868, and came to this county, locating 
 in Center Township. lie was married in Adair 
 County, this State, in 1879, to Rosa Jennings, 
 born in that county January 18, 1863. She 
 is the daughter of Robert and Nancy (Sny- 
 der) Jennings, both natives of Pennsylvania. 
 Her father died in Warren County, 111., in 1864; 
 her mother lives with subject, who, since his 
 marriage, has been engaged in farming. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wright have one child, Lisle Claude, 
 born March 26, 1881. In politics. Republican. 
 
76 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 BOOMEE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 EDWIiN BUKBRIDGE, farmer, P. 0. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was bora in London, England, in 
 1812. He was raised a farmer and has followed 
 that almost his entire life. He was raised in 
 Buckinghamshire, and farmed there till he 
 was twenty-one and then went to London, and 
 into the dairy business, and continued living 
 there till he came to America in 1849. He 
 was educated in Aspley and Rugby Schools. 
 After leaving school he farmed largely under 
 the Duke of Buckingham. After coming to 
 America he followed farming in Pennsylvania 
 for two j'ears, and then moved to Dubuque, 
 Iowa, followed farming and cattle dealing. 
 Moved into Pottawattamie County in 1865 ; has 
 followed farming and stock-raising ever since, 
 feeding from three to five car loads of cattle 
 for shipping each year. He has nearly 100 
 cows now, and has built a creamery for his own 
 use. His farm consists of about 800 acres, all 
 under fence, and his farming is stock-raising 
 mostly. He has only been on his present farm 
 for about eight years. While in England he was 
 largely dealing in stock, and has traveled a 
 great deal on the continent attending to his 
 business. Soon after coming to America he 
 was in Iowa, when there was not a railroad in 
 the State, and when Indians and buffalo roamed 
 over the prairies. Mr. Burbridge was married 
 in England in June, 18-44 or 1845, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Downs. They have seven children 
 living and four dead — four sons and three 
 daughters living. Two are married and farm- 
 ing for themselves, the others are at home. His 
 boys all follow farming, and intend that shall 
 be their future occupation. Mr. Burbridge's 
 life has been one which shows what a man 
 with a determination can do, for he has had 
 his reverses as well as his successes, but has 
 
 never been discouraged. He is now one of the 
 leading farmers and stock-raisers in Boomer 
 Township. 
 
 WILLIAM DARRINGTON, farmer, P. 0. 
 Council Bluffs, was born in England in 1839, 
 son of Charles Darrington. Mr. Darringtoa ar- 
 rived in New York May 1, 1860. He crossed 
 on a sailing vessel ; there were 600 on board ; 
 they were four weeks on the ocean. After 
 coming to America, he went to Nebraska, where 
 he lived fdr three 3'ears, and then went to Utah, 
 where he lived for nine years, and then came 
 to Pottawattamie County, Boomer Township, 
 April, 1872. He bought his present place at 
 that time and has been on it since. He has 
 always followed farming. His father also fol- 
 lowed the same occupation. His parents never 
 came to America; both are now dead. He was 
 educated in England. He was twenty-one 
 years old when coming to America. He was 
 married in Utah in 1866 to Miss Mary Ann 
 Sabey, born in England. They now have nine 
 children — seven boys and two girls. When 
 first buying in Boomer Township he paid $20 
 per acre for 120 acres. It was improved. But 
 since he has bought land that cost about $10 
 per acre. His farm now consists of 360 acres. 
 His farm is well improved. His farming is 
 mostly raising corn, cattle and hogs. When 
 Mr. Darrington came to America in 1860 it was 
 with nothing and alone, but by energy and 
 perseverance he has made a success of his life. 
 He has always voted the Republican ticket, 
 but does not trouble much about politics. Mr. 
 Darrington has no relations in America, but 
 has three sisters living in England. 
 
 JOSEPH DEUR, farmer, P. 0. Missouri 
 Valley, was born in France, in 1830, near the 
 Switzerland line. He came to America when 
 
BOOMER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 77 
 
 he was nineteen j^ears old, and first settled in 
 Oswego County, N. Y., after staying in the citj' 
 of New York for about a month. He lived in 
 Oswego County till 1859, and then came to 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and settled on 
 his present place iu the fall of the same j'ear, 
 and has been on it ever since. Most of his 
 life has been spent in farming. His father 
 died when he was two years old, and mother 
 when he was twelve; from that on he had to make 
 his own wa}'. When he landed in New York, 
 he had only $15. Mr. Deur had oue brother, 
 who came to America two j-ears first, but Mr. 
 Deur did not know anj'thing of him for some 
 time. This brother was killed in a coal mine 
 near East St. Louis, HI., by the mine caving in. 
 Mr. Deur has four sisters in the old country. 
 He was married in New York, in 1857, to Miss 
 Jeaunette Mohat. She was born in New York, 
 but her parents were from France. Thej- have 
 eight children — five boys and three girls. One 
 of the daughters married, and one son in the 
 lumber business in Missouri Valley, Harrison 
 County, the remainder are at home. When 
 buying laud he bought 100 acres and paid 
 $S per acre. There was not a house between 
 his place and Harris Grove at that time. 
 What settlers that were near him were on 
 Honey Creek; none had got out into the prairie. 
 His farm now consists of 580 acres, and farm 
 well improved. When first coming he had to 
 buy a yoke of cattle on time, getting them of 
 Dr. George McGavern. Everjthing that thej- 
 had to bu}- then came from Council Bluffs. 
 Every pound of butter or meat, unless the3- 
 could make it, they had to get from Council 
 Bluffs. No horses to work, but all cattle, and 
 Mr. Deur did not know much about it, but had 
 to learn. He is a member of the Catholic 
 Church, and votes the Democratic ticket. His 
 farming is mostly stock, and has about seventy- 
 five head of cattle and horses, besides hogs. 
 About 340 acres of his farm are in cultivation, the 
 rest in meadow and pasture. Besides his farm 
 
 he has also property in Missouri Valley, two 
 good residence houses. Mr. Deur was in the 
 service, belonging to Company B, Thirteenth 
 Iowa, going out in 1864, and remained till the 
 close of the war. Frorn Iowa the}- went to 
 Tennessee, and was at Nashville in the battle 
 between Hood and Thomas, and then followed 
 Hood down into Alabama, and then were sent 
 back to North Carolina to join Sherman's com- 
 mand, and were with him till the close. 
 
 THOMAS FRENCH, farmer, Council Bluffs, 
 came to Pottawattamie Couut\' first in 1852, 
 but did not remain but a short time, and then 
 went to the mountains, freighting from the 
 Missouri River to the mountains. He was en- 
 gaged in this business till 1867. His home 
 from 1852 to 1867 was just where he happened 
 to be, but two winters he wintered in Council 
 Bluffs. In 1867, he bought his present farm, 
 and has been on it ever since. The first laud 
 he bought of a man named Butterfield, and the 
 place his house is on of Perry Reel, paying 
 $20 per acre for 150 acres, and paid Mr. But- 
 terfield about the same. On the farm there 
 were about ten acres broken, and a shanty built 
 on it, but no other improvements, although 
 they had lived here for years. Mr. French 
 went into general farming business when first 
 coming, as fast as he could, but had a good 
 deal to contend against. He has hauled corn 
 to Council Bluffs and sold it for 10 cents per 
 bushel, and had to take goods at a high price, 
 in pay for the same, and wheat he has also 
 hauled there and got 40 cents per bushel. At 
 first he hired help, but from the prices re- 
 ceived for grain, they could not pay their 
 waj'. When moving to his farm, many old set- 
 tlers told Mr. French that fruit would not 
 grow, but he went to work setting out trees, 
 and now has an orchard which has-been bear- 
 ing so as to make it paying. Besides orchards, 
 he has forest groves, etc. Mr. French has two 
 farms, 280 acres in each, and it has cost him, 
 from $7.50 to $20 per acre. It is all improved, 
 
78 
 
 BIOGRArHICAL: 
 
 about half in cultivation, the other half in 
 pastures and meadows. Mr. French has one of 
 the beet residences in Boomer Township, a 
 large brick, two stories and a basement. He 
 built it in 1870. It is 3Gx4-l feet. He also 
 has a large barn. Mr. French has been suc- 
 cessful in business, but has always worked 
 hard for it, and that is how he has made what 
 he has. He is an Englishman b}' birth, and 
 came to Council Bluffs direct from England in 
 1852; was six months making the trip, which 
 now he could make in a few days. Left Liver- 
 pool Januar3- 7 and came to New Orleans, and 
 then up the river to St. Louis, rested a few 
 days, and then came up the river to Keokuk, 
 and from there took an ox cart and crossed the 
 State to Council Bluffs, landing July 3. He 
 was born May 27, 1832, son of James French. 
 Mr. French has no relatives living at all, ex- 
 cept one brother, who is still in England. He 
 has been married twice, first in 1856, in Utah, 
 to Miss Sarah Ann Spyge. She came from 
 near Mr. French's home in England, just across 
 the street, and they had played together when 
 small children. He had five children by first 
 wife, all living now and in Pottawattamie Coun- 
 ty. Married second time, in Pottawattamie 
 Count}', to Miss Mary Roberts; by this wife he 
 has three children living; married in 1868. He 
 is Democratic in politics. 
 
 WILFRED HAINES, farmer, P. 0. Cres- 
 cent City, was born in Council Bluffs in Janu- 
 ary, 1851. His mother died when he was only a 
 year or two old, and then he went to Canada, 
 and lived there and in Prince Edward's Island 
 and New Brunswick till he was nineteen jears 
 old, and came back to Council Bluffs spring 
 of 1869. Mr. Haines is the youngest of eleven 
 children, all but the oldest and the 3'oungest 
 dying when thej- were young. His brother 
 went into the armj-, and never got hack. He 
 was killed while in Missouri. Mr. Haines and 
 his father were lost from each other from about 
 1858 till 1868. When by advertising, the}- 
 
 found out the place of each. Mr. Haines' 
 father was out through the mountains, and 
 in this way they were lost from each other, for 
 the people Mr. Haines was with, changed to 
 different parts of the English provinces. Since 
 coming here in 1869, his home has been in 
 Pottawattamie County, and the next j-ear came 
 to the farm, and has been on it since. The 
 farm of 570 acres is owned by his father, 
 David Haines, of Council Bluffs, but their 
 business is in partnership. On their farm, 
 they have about 200 acres in cultivation; the 
 remainder is in grass, pasture land and timber, 
 having some of the best timber land in the 
 township ; his farming is corn and stock, feed- 
 ing about two car loads of cattle a year. 
 Mr. Haines has been married twice, first about 
 1872 to Miss Rosa B. Roberts, and second 
 time in 1880 to Miss Dorcas Page, daughter of 
 Thomas Page. Mr. Haines has three sons. 
 Mr. Haines is Democratic. He is a member of 
 the M. P. society. 
 
 MICHAEL KILKENNY, farmer, P. O. 
 Honey Creek, was born in Galway, Ireland, 
 about 1827; came to America 1853. In 1855. 
 he came to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and ran a dairy 
 for Presley Sanders, brother of ex-Gov. 
 Sanders, of Nebraska; was at Mt. Pleasant for 
 about five years, and then to Glenwood, Mills 
 County, working for Tootle, Green & Co., in a 
 store. Came to Council Bluffs after about five 
 years spent in Glenwood, and was in the dairy 
 business for some time, and then went to plaster- 
 ing for John Hammer. March, 1867, he came 
 to Broomer Township, and went to farming 
 and has been engaged in that business ever 
 since. He traded for fifty acres of land before 
 coming here, but now his farm consists of 
 250 acres. His farming is general, but most- 
 ly stock-raising. He was married in Mt. 
 Pleasant, Iowa, to Miss Nora Lines. They 
 have six children, four bo}'S and two daugh- 
 ters. He is Democratic in politics, and is a 
 Catholic. 
 
BOOMER TOWjSTSHIP. 
 
 79 
 
 WILLIAM McKEOWN, farming, P. 0. Har- 
 rison, was born in 1828 in Bcckwitli Townsliip, 
 Count}' of Kent. Upper Canada. He is tlio 
 son of William McKeown who died before our 
 subject was born. His mother was Jane 
 (Lucas) McKeown ; she died in Boomer Town- 
 ship. He was raised on a farm, and has fol- 
 lowed it for a living all Lis life. His parents 
 both came from the old countr}', mother from 
 Ireland, and father horn in Ireland, but of 
 Scotch parents, and thej' were married in Jlon- 
 treal, Canada. He came to Pottawattamie 
 County in 1847, and was at Bybee's Camp that 
 winter. Was married Maj- 9. 1848, also in this 
 township, and has lived here ever since. His 
 wife was Miss Eliza Jane Hall. She had come 
 with her brother from Indiana in 1847. He 
 entered his land, part in 1853 and part in 
 1855, entering 280 acres, most of which he 
 still holds, and also has bought some meadow 
 land in bottom on Big Pigeon. His farming is 
 mostly corn, but has some stock. When here 
 for some time there was no money to be ob- 
 tained, so they worked for anything they could 
 get — harvesting for a bushel of corn a day, 
 and used a sickle. Their first house was made 
 of logs, 14x16 feet, and covered with split 
 boards. The first year or two, but little prai- 
 rie was broken, because they did not have the 
 teams, but would go where the timber was 
 light and cut it off, then one yoke of cattle 
 could break it. The cultivating was done with 
 a. single shovel mostl)', some working a horse, 
 others an ox. Their milling first was at the 
 old Indian mill on the Mosquito, but, in 1849, 
 a mill was built on Pigeon Creek in Hazel 
 Dell Township, and then they went to it. 
 Some stores having been opened up, their sup- 
 plies soon came from Council Bluffs, but the 
 first season the}' crossed the river to a settle- 
 ment on the Nebraska side, where there was a 
 store. He is Democratic in politics ; is a member 
 of the re-organized Lattor-Day Saints' Church. 
 His grandfather was a millvAiorht, and was 
 
 working at a mill in Ireland, when he was 
 caught and crushed. His wife, or Mr. McKe- 
 own's grandmother, was sent for, so she went 
 from Scotland to Ireland, and remained there, 
 and iier child was born there, but never saw 
 his father. Mr. McKeown's father remained 
 there till he went to Canada. 3Ir. McKeown 
 has been married twice : first, in May, 1848, to 
 Miss Eliza Jane Hall, who died in 1870 ; was 
 married again, in 1873, to Miss Janet H. 
 Kirkwood. He had eleven children by his first 
 wife, nine of whom are still living ; he had 
 five In' last wife, four now living. Of the 
 thirteen living children, eight are boys and five 
 girls ; four are married. The oldest, William 
 Alfred, is married and farming in Boomer 
 Township. Two of his sons, Thomas Allen 
 and Robert, are now engaged in the stock busi- 
 ness in Nebraska. Joseph is also married and 
 has a family ; he also is farming in Boomer 
 Township. Two of his d.aughters are married, 
 and are also living in Boomer Township. 
 
 THOMAS PAGE, farming, P. 0. Harrison, 
 was born in England, near Stratford-on-Avou. 
 in 1818. Mr. Page's birthplace was near that 
 of Shakespeare, and he has seen Shakespeare's 
 birthplace many times. Mr. Page came to 
 America in 1852, and settled first in Edwar;:ls 
 County, 111., and lived there for five years, and 
 came to Council BluflTs in July, 1857. With 
 the exception of four years, he has lived in 
 Pottawattamie County ever since. Those four 
 years he was on the frontier in Nebraska and 
 Colorado. Came to Boomer Township in 18G4, 
 but did not buy his present farm till the win- 
 ter of 1865, and since that time has been on 
 his farm. His occupation from a child has 
 been that of farming ; his father, John Page, 
 was also a farmer. None of Mr. Page's rela- 
 tives came to America that he knows of He 
 was educated in England in the common 
 schools till he was nine years old, and then 
 what other education he got was at night 
 schools and Sunday school. When Mr. Page 
 
80 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 bought his present farm, there were no improve- 
 ments whatever ; no fence, grove, but open prai- 
 rie. Now he has groves, good buildings and 
 other improvements. His farm consists of 120 
 acres, and he does all kinds of farming. He 
 has been married twice ; first, in England, to 
 Miss Elizabeth Painting ; she died after he 
 came West, and while in Nebraska. He was 
 married the second time to Mrs. Margaret 
 Newton. They were married in Nebraska. 
 He has three children b}' first wife and six by 
 second wife, and one dead. Two of his chil- 
 dren are married, both in this township. Mrs. 
 Page also has two sons living in Boomer 
 Township. Mrs. Page was born in York- 
 shire, England. She was married in Eng- 
 land to George Newton. The}- came to Bos- 
 ton first. From there, Mrs. Newton, or Mrs. 
 Page, came to Florence, Neb., with her two 
 boys ; was married in Nebraska to Mr. Page in 
 1S58. Mr. Page is Kepublican in politics; is 
 a member of the Mutual Protectionists and 
 also a Granger. He has held almost all of the 
 township oflices. 
 
 WILLIAM PETERS, Sr., farming. Council 
 Bluffs, was born near Berlin, Prussia, in 1817. 
 He left Prussia in 18-19, and went to England, 
 and in 1850 came to America bj- way of New 
 Orleans, and then to St. Louis. !Mr. Peters 
 was in the army nearlj- nine years, and was in 
 the King's body guard. He had to leave on 
 account of taking part in the Revolution, and 
 was acquainted with Carl Schurz, Gen. Sigel, 
 and others that were in the Revolution, and 
 came to this country. Mr. Peters and his 
 brother left together, and lost all their property 
 b}^ the Government confiscating it; they had 
 $33,000 each in the bank. After coming to Amer- 
 ica he did any kind of work he could get to do, 
 till he had mone}- enough to buy a little farm 
 near St. Louis, Mo.; but on account of health 
 he sold that out, and went to California in 1854, 
 and went to mining, went to Utah from Cali- 
 fornia, and was married there March 20, 1858. 
 
 to Miss Maggie Armstrong; she was born in 
 Scotland, but came to America when j-oung. 
 During the civil war, he acted as scout on the 
 plains; was with Gen. Corner. Mr. Peters has 
 been all through the West ; was in the employ 
 of the Government, hauling provisions, etc., 
 from Utah to California. In 1866, he came to 
 Council Bluffs, and hay been in Pottawattamie 
 County ever since; lived in Council Bluffs for 
 three years, and then came to his farm in 1869, 
 and has been on it since. His farm now consists 
 of 200 acres, about eighty-five in cultivation, the 
 remainder in meadow and pasture land. His 
 farming is raising stock and corn. He has had 
 thirteen children, eleven still living, six boj'S 
 and five girls. Oue sou and two daughters are 
 married; is a member of the M. P. society; he 
 is Republican in politics. The brother, who 
 came to America he does not know anything 
 about now, and the last he knew of his other 
 two brothers thej* were in the Prussian Army. 
 Mr. Peters' life has been oue of unusual inter- 
 est. In crossing from New Orleans to Cuba, 
 the vessel he was on struck on a reef and was 
 wrecked. Mr. Peters was the only one saved. 
 Other incident*, of his engagements with the 
 Indians, would be interesting, but space forbids 
 the enumerating. 
 
 CHRISTIAN PETERSON, farming, P. 0. 
 Crescent City, was born in Denmark December 
 20. 1831, but he remained there till he was twenty- 
 two years old; came to Missouri, and was there 
 about a year, and then to Kansas, and remained 
 in Kansas, but made severel other changes before 
 he settled in Pottawattamie Countj- in 1&67; 
 tte spring of 18G8, he bought his present farm, 
 and moved onto it, and since that time he has 
 been living here. He was married, in 1852, in 
 Denmark, before he came to America, to Miss 
 Anna M. Christenson. The}' have six children, 
 three boys and three girls. His farm consists 
 of 240 acres, about half in cultivation, the 
 other half is in timber, pasture and meadow land. 
 When first buying he only got eighty acres, and 
 
BOOMER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 81 
 
 paid a little over $16 per acre, and since 
 that time he has been adding to it and improv- 
 ing; his farm now is well improved. On the 
 first eighty acres there was a little frame shanty 
 and ditches for fences. He has been a member 
 of the Grange since it started, and of the Good 
 Templars; he is Republican in politics; he is 
 also a member of the Mutual Protection Society. 
 I. M. SIGLER, farming, Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Putnam County, Ind., September 3, 
 1826, son of Eli Sigler, native of Tennessee. 
 Mr. Sigler was raised in Indiana, and received 
 his education there. By trade he is a tanner, 
 and followed it till he came to Iowa, and has 
 since followed farming. He came to Iowa in 
 1855, and entered his farm, and then went back 
 to Indiana and stayed two yeai's, but was pre- 
 paring to come here. He was married in Indi- 
 ana, in 1847. to Miss Phcebe Manker, born in 
 Ohio. They have had nine children, six are 
 still living — three boys and three girls, and 
 three girls dead. Only two at home, the 
 other four married; all in this count}' but the 
 oldest son, and he is in Page County, Iowa, 
 where he is in restaurant and grocery store in 
 Blanchard, Iowa. In moving West, Mr. Sigler 
 came in wagon with horse team, but sold them 
 after coming, and bought cattle and began to 
 break prairie. His farm is on Big Pigeon Creek, 
 and when he came to it in 1857 there were not 
 any horses on the Creek; the work was done 
 with oxen. Wheat was cut with a scythe, and 
 tramped out with oxen; then to get it made 
 into flour they took it to William Reel's mill 
 on Pigeon, where it was ground on the same 
 stones as the corn, and they would bring it 
 home bran and all together, and sift it at home; 
 using bobbinet as a bolt. Robert Kent 
 had the first fanning-mill on the creek, and 
 would charge every fourth bushel for using the 
 fan. When coming in 1855, he entered 200 
 acres of Government land, and pre-empted 120 
 of swamp land, and then when he came in 
 1857, he entered this 120 which he had pre- 
 
 empted, and besides this he bought the claim 
 of William Goodwin of 120 acres; but this was 
 railroad land, so he had to paj- the railroad 
 company for it. He moved into a Mormon 
 cabin on the Goodwin claim, and lived in it for 
 abouta3-ear. In 1858, he bought his present 
 dwelling house of William Reel, and moved it 
 from Crescent City, and fixed it up, and moved 
 into it in the spring of 1859. For some years 
 his farming was mostly wheat ; but now his 
 farming is mostly stock and corn. His farm 
 now consists of about two hundred and fifty 
 acres, as he has been selling some. When 
 each township had a member of the Board of 
 Supervisors, Mr. Sigler served for eight j-ears. 
 and besides -this has held various offices in 
 school and township. 3Ir. Sigler had joined a 
 companj- in 1846 to go to the Mexican army, 
 but while they were drilling and practicing in 
 Green Castle, Ind., he was accidently shot 
 through the wrist the day before they were to 
 start, so that ended his service. He is Demo- 
 cratic in politics; is a member of the Grange, 
 and in 1854 joined the Masonic fraternity, but 
 since coming to Iowa, he has not not joined any 
 lodge, because they are so far distant. Mr. 
 Sigler's ancestors were German, his grand- 
 father coming from Germany. 
 
 W. H. THOMAS, marble cutter, Missouri Val- 
 ley, Harrison Co., was born in Utah Jan. 16, 
 1857 ; came to Pottawattamie Co. in October, 
 1806, settling in Boomer Township. He is the 
 son of Thomas Thomas, who was born in 
 Wales, and came to America in 1853 and set- 
 tled in Utah, and remained there till 1866. 
 He and familj- came to this count}- ; died 
 January 17, 1877. His wife died June 19, 
 1877. They left a family of eight children, of 
 whom W. H. is the oldest, being only twenty 
 when the familj- was left to his care. The 
 family have remained together ever since, and 
 during the five years Mr. W. H. Thomas has 
 bought another farm of eight}- acres, and ten 
 acres in a timber lot, all in cultivation and past- 
 
82 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 ure and haj' land. He had partly learned his 
 trade of marble cutter before his father died, 
 and since has completed it, and now is engaged 
 in following it, while his brother runs the farm. 
 His marble shop he has on the farm, and his 
 work finds its way into all of the cemeteries 
 within twenty miles each way, some of his 
 finest monuments going to Council BluflTs ceme- 
 teries. He is a member of the Mutual Protec- 
 tionists. He is Democratic in politics. Mr. 
 Thomas was elected Assessor of the township 
 when he was twenty -one years old, and has held 
 it ever since ; has also been Secretary of 
 School Board for three years. 
 
 R. T. WARD, farmer, P. O. Council Bluffs, 
 was born in England in 1847, in Suffolkshire ; 
 son of 6. W. Ward. Mr. Ward's parents 
 moved from England when he was about four 
 years old, coming to Pottawattamie County in 
 1851 ; stayed here for one year, and then emi- 
 grated to Utah in 1852, and that was his home 
 till 1872. He came back to Pottawattamie 
 ' County and settled on his present farm in 
 1 873. He bought open prairie, paying for the 
 first land $10 per acre, and $12.50 for the 
 remainder. His farm consists of 235 acres ; 
 about eighty acres in cultivation ; the remainder 
 is in pasture and meadow land. His farming 
 is raising corn, cattle and hogs. Mr. Ward 
 was educated in Utah in common schools. He 
 has always followed farming, and that was also 
 his father's occupation most of his life. His 
 mother died in 1860, and his father in August, 
 1882. Mr. Ward is one of eleven living chil- 
 dren, one dead. He was married, in Utah, to 
 Lizzie Saby. She was also born in England. 
 She came to New York in 1862, and to Utah in 
 1863. They were married in 1867. They have 
 eight children, four boys and four girls. He is 
 Republican in politics, but does not take much 
 interest in politics. Is a member of the M. P. 
 Society. His farm is well improved with good 
 buildings, etc. Ezra T. Benton, a Mormon 
 minister, came out from Utah and preached 
 
 that the Mormons should not remain here but 
 go on. That is the reason Mr. Ward's parents 
 moved on in 1852. They were stopping in Harris 
 Grove at the time. 
 
 J. R. WILLMOT, farmer, P. 0. Council Bluffs, 
 was born in p]ngland September 10, 1835 ; 
 came to America in 1863. First settled in 
 Jersey City, N. J., then two years in Pennsyl- 
 vania, and two j-ears in the mountains, and the 
 remainder here in Pottawattamie County on 
 his present farm. In the old countrj', he fol- 
 lowed boating, and since coming to America he 
 has been in the rolling mills, and in the mount- 
 ains he was working on the Union Pacific, and 
 never farmed till coming to his present place. 
 His farm consists of 160 acres. When buying, 
 he paid about $8 per acre. He does general 
 farming, corn, stock, etc., having about eighty 
 head of cattle, besides other stock. He was 
 married, in Wales, Januarj', 1863, to Miss 
 Sarah Williams. She was born iu Wales. 
 The}- have seven boys and two girls. He is 
 Democratic in politics. He was brought up 
 under the Church of England, and was edu- 
 cated in England. Mr. Willmot had three sis- 
 ters and two brothers, but he does not know 
 where any of them are. His farm was all open 
 when he came to it — no improvements. 
 
 JESSE AVRIGHT, farmer, P. 0. Missouri 
 Valley, Harrison Co., came to Pottawattamie in 
 the fall of 1866. and to his present farm in 
 March, 1867 ; has been on it ever since. The 
 first 80 acres that he bought was school land, 
 paying $1.25 per acre. He is a native of Ken- 
 tucky, Wayne County ; was born in 1830. His 
 home was Kentucky till he moved to Iowa in 
 1860, but lived in the eastern part of the State 
 till 1866, when he came to Pottawattamie. 
 When coming to his present farm, there was not 
 a house between it and Harris Grove on the 
 northeast. On Hone}' Creek to the north of 
 him there were a few settlers. He has 200 
 acres in his farm, and twenty acres in timber 
 besides, almost the entire farm being in culti- 
 
CENTER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 83 
 
 vation. Mr. Wright was married, in Keutuck}', 
 in 1855, to Miss Rlioda Jane McCoighn. Tliey 
 hftve eleven children. In 1854, Mr. Wright 
 had been out through Iowa, and was in Council 
 Bluffs when it was Kanesville. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Grange and of the Masonic frater- 
 
 nity. He has alwa3-s been a Democrat. Mr. 
 Wright has one of the most substantial barns 
 to be found anywhere. Its storage capacity 
 for hay is over sixty tons. He has also dem- 
 onstrated that fruit-raising can be done with 
 success in Boomer Townsl^ip. 
 
 CENTER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 T. C. ALEXANDER, physician and sur- 
 geon, Oakland, was born in Union County, Ind., 
 September 25, 1839. He is the son of James 
 and Catharine (Hartsell) Alexander; he was 
 born in Green County, Tenn., and she is a na- 
 tive of Virginia. Thej- came to Indiana after 
 their marriage, and in the fall of 1852. moved 
 to Platte County, Mo., where they spent one 
 winter, coming to Big Grove in the following 
 spring, settling in Section 13, Township 75, 
 Range 40. He sold this place to Ephraim 
 Bird, and moved to Adams Count}-, this State, 
 in 1856. The following year they went to 
 Kansas, but returned during the drought in the 
 fall of 18G0. In 1864. they moved to Jackson 
 County, Kan. The father died in 1867, and 
 the mother in 1879. Our subject lived with 
 his parents until 18G0. In the following 3'ear, 
 he enlisted, in Adams Count}-, in the Fourth 
 Indiana Volunteer Infantrj', under Capt. E. Y. 
 Burgan. His initiation in war procedures 
 took place in Page County, where the}- camped 
 for two days. Gen. G. M. Dodge, at that time 
 a Colonel, ordered a false alarm to be sounded 
 in order to try the boys. At 3 o'clock in the 
 morning, they were ordered out without giving 
 them time to dress, and in this condition were 
 drawn up in line of battle. Our subject was 
 engaged in many of the principal battles of the 
 war, including Pea Ridge, Vicksburg, Lookout 
 Mountain and Mission Ridge, at which latter 
 places he carried the colors above the clouds. 
 He was also engaged in the battles of Ring- 
 
 gold and Resaca, 6a., at which latter place 
 he received a gun-shot wound in both legs. He 
 afterward lay in several hospitals, until, re- 
 covering from his wounds, he rejoined his regi- 
 ment at Raleigh, N. C. He was present at the 
 surrender of Gen. J. E. Johnston, and was 
 mustered out of service at Louisville, Ky., 
 August 20, 1865. and returned to Big Grove, 
 then his home, having returned on veteran fur- 
 lough, and married at Big Grove, March 24, 
 1864, Miss Phoebe Huff, born in Mercer County, 
 111., May 25, 1849. She was the daughter of 
 Louis and Susan (Palmer) Huff. Her father 
 was born in Stokes County, N. C, February 22, 
 1811. He came to Illinois, where he was mar- 
 ried to Miss Palmer, who is a sister of Dr. Pal- 
 mer, of Belknap Township. In 1865, our sub- 
 ject moved to Jackson County, Kan., and farmed 
 during the following year. He then sold his 
 place, and commenced the study of medicine 
 under D. W. Taylor, M. D., of Holton, Kan., an 
 old army Surgeon. Hare he studied for three 
 years, afterward taking two courses of lectures 
 at the E. M. Institute, of Cincinnati. He prac- 
 ticed at his profession in Holton until 1874, 
 when he returned to Big Grove, where he has 
 resided ever since. His residence is on the 
 southwest quarter of Section 5, Township 75, 
 Range 39. He has two children — Elmer Ells- 
 worth, born June 9, 1865, and Laura Belle, 
 born September 23, 1867. Mr. Alexander is a 
 member of the I. 0. 0. F., and in politics is a 
 Republican. 
 
84 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 A. L. BROWN, farmer, P. 0. Oakland, was 
 born in Muskingum County, Ohio, Maj- 25, 
 1827. He is the son of Benjamin and Nancy 
 (McKee) Brown. His father was a farmer, 
 born in New York State about 1796. He was 
 an early settler in Qhio. He was married near 
 Newark, N. J., in 1818, to Miss McKee, a 
 native of that State. They moved to Mercer 
 County, 111., in 1852, and thq father died there 
 in 1862, and also the mother at the age of 
 eighty-six. Our subject received a common- 
 school education, and lived with his father till 
 the age of twenty-one. He began life for him- 
 self by getting married in Coshocton County, 
 Ohio, April 20, 1845, to Elizabeth Catharine 
 Menefee, born in Fauquier, now Culpepper 
 County, Va., September 30, 1829. Her father, 
 Charles William Menefee, was a farmer, and 
 died in Mercer County, 111., in 1856. Her 
 mother, Marj- Maddox, was born in Fauquier 
 County, Va., August 5, 1807, and is still living 
 with her son, Charles Menefee, in this county. 
 After his marriage, the subject farmed in Ohio 
 for four years, after which he went to Mer- 
 cer County, 111., where he lived and farmed for 
 twenty years. In the spring of 1873, he came 
 to this county, locating on his present place, 
 which consists of 240 acres, but he farms con- 
 siderable more. He has eighty acres in Sec- 
 tion 10, and 160 acres in Section 15, Township 
 75, Range 39. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have had 
 eight children, seven of whom are living — 
 Samantha J., born June 20, 1849 ; Johanna, 
 born July 28, 1851 ; Charles, born October 28, 
 1853 ; Benjamin, twin brother to Charles, died 
 May 16, 1858; Theodore D., born June 22, 
 1856 ; Thomas W., born October 8, 1858 ; 
 Hugh J., born September 13, 1861, and George 
 A., born August 10, 1864. Samantha married 
 Horace Bull. They are now living in Rock 
 Island, 111. ; Johanna married Austin R. Dun- 
 can, and they are living in Walnut, this count}-. 
 The sons are all living at home. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Brown are members of the Baptist Church, 
 
 and two of the sons are members of the M. E. 
 Church. In politics, the family are Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 ALFRED B. CURTIS, farming, P. 0. Oak- 
 land, was born in Plainfield, Essex Co., N. J., 
 October 30, 1847. He is the son of Jonathan 
 and Hannah (Anglemau) Curtis, both natives 
 of Plainfield, N. J. His father was a farmer, 
 and moved to Tazewell County, 111., about 
 1857. He then moved to Logan County, of 
 the same State, about 1860, where he died 
 August 23, 1866. The mother of our subject 
 was born August 2, 1822, and is still living in 
 Logan Count}', 111. Our subject lived at home 
 up to the date of his- marriage, which occurred 
 in Galva. Henry Co., 111., in 1874, when he 
 married Sarah E. Frazee, born in the same 
 place as our subject, November 10, 1844. She 
 is the daughter of John W. and JIary (Rogers) 
 Frazee, both natives of Essex County, N. J.; 
 he born in 1811, and died in Peoria County, 
 111., in 1872; she, born in 1814, and is still liv- 
 ing in Galva, Henry Co.. 111. The parents left 
 New Jersey in 1856, and came to Peoria Coun- 
 ty, 111. After his marriage, our subject farmed 
 in Logan County, 111., until he left for this 
 State February 17, 1880, locating in Shelby 
 County. He moved to Center Township, this 
 county, in the spring of 1882, where he pur- 
 chased eighty acres of land in Section 4, Town 
 75, Range 39. He has two children — Oscar 
 Whitfield, born February 27, 1877, and George 
 Eugene, born June 25,1880. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Curtis are members of the M. E. Church. He 
 belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and in 
 politics is a Republican, 
 
 L. R. PUTNAM, farmer, P. 0. Carson, was 
 born in Jefferson, Coos Co., N. H., October 22, 
 1840. He is the sou of George and Eliza- 
 beth (Perkins) Putnam ; he was born in Charles- 
 town, Sullivan Co., N. H., February 16, 1799, 
 and she in the same place as our subject Sep- 
 tember 22, 1809. His father was a farmer ; 
 moved to Vermont about 1842, and to Illinois 
 
CENTER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 85 
 
 in 1852, locating near Dixon, Lee County. 
 Here they lived until 1871, when they came to 
 this county, where the father died on Novem- 
 ber 12, of the following year. The mother is 
 at present living with our subject. They had 
 nine children, eight of whom are living — Ada; 
 Mary E., wife of H. R. Storrs ; George M., 
 married ; Jane, wife of W. Nangle ; L. R. (our 
 subject); Ellen, wife of F. Morris ; Belle, and 
 Charles W. The whole family live within two 
 miles of each other, and are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject is 
 not married. His farm, which consists of 160 
 acres, is situated in Section 33, Center Town- 
 ship, and is the southwest quarter of that sec- 
 tion. He has made his own improvements. 
 In politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 J. M. STRONG, farmer, P. 0. Oakland, was 
 born in Berkshire County, Mass., September 5, 
 1812. He is the son of John and Sadie (Kas- 
 son) Strong, both natives of Berkshire Coun- 
 ty, Mass. His father was born June 2, 1782, 
 and was a farmer by occupation. His mother 
 was born Ma}- 12, 1786. The parents moved to 
 Meigs County, Ohio, in 1814, where thej- both 
 died, he April 31, 1845, and she June 15, 1834. 
 Our subject received a common school educa- 
 tion, and worked at home till he became of age. 
 He began life for himself as a farmer. He was 
 married in Meigs County, Ohio, January 28, 
 1834, to Mary M. Barker, born in Gallia 
 County, of the same State, Januar}- 16, 1816. 
 She is the daughter of Amos and Nancy 
 (Russell) Barker ; he was born in Berkshire 
 County, Mass., September 11, 1793, and died 
 in our subject's house February 19, 1882 ; she 
 was born in Greenbrier County, Va., December 
 20, 1792, and died in Warren County, this 
 State, May 8, 1876. Mrs. Strong's father 
 moved to Ohio with his father's family in 1807, 
 locating in Gallia County. In 1845, they came 
 to Iowa, and settled in Warren County, where 
 both are now buried. After his marriage our 
 subject farmed in Ohio until 1846, when he 
 
 came to this State, locating in Jefferson County. 
 In 1865, he came to this county, settling on 
 the place where he now resides. He has seven 
 children living — Laura A., born July 25, 1835, 
 wife of Harvey Clayton ; Silas Cook, born 
 October 13, 1837, married Luc}- Clover; Mary 
 N., born February 18, 1845, wife of S. S. Rust ; 
 Z. C, born November 17, 1848, married Martha 
 J. Bird ; Lucinda M., born August 28, 1854, 
 wife of Thomas Wallace ; Horace E., born 
 August 1, 1859, married Dolly Goff ; Frank 0., 
 born November 7, 1861. Mr. J. C. Strong is 
 a partner in the firm of Strong & Hofl", hard- 
 ware and implements, Oakland. With the ex- 
 ception of Horace E., who has gone to Boone 
 County, Neb., all of the children are living in 
 this count}'. Our subject owns eighty acres of 
 land in Section 8, Township 75, Range 40, 
 where he at present resides. He has been a 
 member of the County Board of Supervisors 
 of this county, serving two years. 
 
 H. R. STORRS, farmer, P. 0. Carson, was 
 born in Trenton, Oneida Co., N. Y., February 
 3, 1828. He is the son of Calvin and Maj- 
 G. (Wells) Storrs. His father was a farmer, 
 born in the same place as our subject, and 
 moved to Wisconsin, arriving in Milwaukee 
 October 27, 1847 ; he died in Chippewa Coun- 
 ty, Wis., iu 1868. The mother of our subject 
 was born in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Conn., 
 and died in Wisconsin at the age of about 
 eighty-three. Our subject received a common- 
 school education, and afterward attended two 
 terms at the high school. He worked at his 
 grandfather's cheese-factory until he was eight- 
 een years of age. He then began to learn the 
 carpenter's trade, to which he apprenticed for 
 three j-ears. He then went to Wisconsin with 
 his father, where he engaged in farming. He 
 lost his health by running a " thrasher," after 
 which he went South and worked at his trade. 
 He was at St. Louis, and was also an overseer 
 on a plantation in Kentuck}', and acted also in 
 the same capacity in Missouri. After three 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 3-ears, during which time he regained his 
 health, he came to Illinois, stopping in Lee 
 County, and was married at Dixon, the count}- 
 seat of that county, January 11, 1855, to Mary 
 E. Putnam, born in Jefferson, Coos Co., N. H., 
 March 5, 1835. She is the daughter of 
 George and Elizabeth (Perkins) Putnam. Our 
 subject farmed in Lee County, 111., for six 
 j-ears, when he moved to Chippewa County, 
 Wis., living here five }'ears. He then returned 
 to Dixon, 111., where he lived another six years. 
 In October, 1872, he came to this county, 
 locating in Center Township, purchasing his 
 present place, which consists of 240 acres in 
 Sections 26 and 33, Township 75, Range 39. 
 He engages in general farming, besides buying 
 and selling largely in stock. Mr. and Jlrs. 
 Storrs have eight children living — Harriet A., 
 Albert L., George A., Clara B., William R., 
 Nellie L., Florence M. and Mabel P. The par- 
 ents and the five oldest children are members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In poli- 
 tics, Mr. Storrs is a Republican. 
 
 REASON R. THOMAS, farmer, P. 0. Oak- 
 land, was born in Nelson County, Ky., August 
 28, 1828. He is the son of Eleazur and Ann 
 (Garrett) Thomas. His father was born in Vir- 
 ginia (as near as can be ascertained), in 1780, 
 and died in Nelson Count}-, Ky., when our sub- 
 ject was ten j-ears of age. His mother was 
 born in Spencer County, Ky., and died in Nel- 
 son County, of the same State, of cholera, in 
 1833. Our subject received a common school 
 education, but his ftither's death compelled him 
 to look out for himself He lived with an uncle 
 in Shelby Count}-, Ky., for seven years, after 
 which he worked out by the month for some 
 time. In the fall of 1848, he went to Spencer 
 
 County, Ind., where he worked at farming in the 
 summer and cut cord-wood in the fall, making 
 several trips on flat boats down the Ohio River. 
 In the fall of 1852, he went to Henderson County, 
 111., wherfe he was married, August 2, 1855, to 
 Mary C. C. Wright, born in Nelson County, 
 Ky., April 17, 1839. She is the daughter of 
 James and Lucretia (Hammond) Wright, both 
 natives of the latter county, he born February 
 17, 1812, and she March 30, 1814. The parents 
 left their native State and settled in Hender- 
 son County, 111., in the spring of 1848. They 
 came to this county in the fall of 1 867, and are 
 still living in Center Township. After the 
 marriage, our subject commenced farming for 
 himself in Henderson County, 111., where he 
 lived till the fall of 1871, when he came to thi? 
 county, locating on Graybill Creek, in Section 
 16, Center Township. In the spring of 1873. 
 he came to the place he now owns, purchas- 
 ing the same in 1875. It consists of 120 acres, 
 located in Section 17, Township 75, Range 39. 
 He also farms eighty acres besides, and raises 
 principally grain. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have 
 twelve children, eight of whom are living — 
 John Franklin, born August 25, 1857, died in 
 November, 1861; Cyrena Adella, born October 
 25, 1859, married January 1, 1878, to Sumner 
 Palmer; James Amos, born December 10, 1861; 
 McClelland, born June 15, 1864; Margaret 
 Ellen, born October 26. 1866; Lucretia Ann, 
 born January 28, 1869; Sarah E., born March 
 11, 1871, died in August of the same year; 
 Reason R., born July 20, 1872, died September 
 6, 1873; Ira, born May 20, 1875; Era, born 
 May 1, 1877, and Isaac Madison, born July 
 19, 1879. In politics, our subject is a Demo- 
 crat. 
 
CRESCENT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 87 
 
 CRESOEITT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 I. A. BOREN, farmer, P. 0. Crescent City, 
 was born in Hancock Countj-, 111., Januar}- 6, 
 1842; his father, J. B. Boren, was born in Illi- 
 nois April 6, 1817, and married Nancj- Mcin- 
 tosh, \yho was born in Kentucky December 2, 
 1811, and died April 14, 1867. She was the 
 mother of seven children, five of whom are liv- 
 ing. I. A., with his parents, left Illinois and 
 came to Davis County, Iowa, in 1846, and, in 
 1847, came to Pottawattamie Countv; at that 
 time neighbors were few and far between. Mr. 
 Boren attended the common schools, and, at an 
 early age, adopted farming as his avocation, in 
 which business he was successful. He mar- 
 ried, in Crescent City, Iowa, January 14, 1877, 
 Mary Smith, who was born in Michigan October 
 24, 1854, daughter of William and Eunice 
 (Lacy) Smith, both of New York. Mrs. Boren 
 died in 1881, leaving one child, Frances M.; Mr. 
 Boren has also lost one child. In politics he is 
 a Democrat, having been elected a number of 
 times to offices on that ticket; he is a member 
 of the I. 0. of G. T.. and also of the M. P. So- 
 ciety. 
 
 ENOS P. CORBALY, farmer, P. 0. Crescent 
 City, was born in Marion County, Ind., May 30, 
 1851; his father, J. B. Corbaly, was born in the 
 same count}- August 18, 1828; he married Eliza 
 Pendergast, who was born in Bedford Countj', 
 and died in 1858. Mr. Corbaly spent his child- 
 hood daj-s attending the common schools, where 
 he received his education; coming to the age 
 of manhood, he was for a time a salesman; his 
 mind being of a mechanical turn, he learned 
 the carpenter's trade, but afterward adopted 
 farming, of which business he makes a success- 
 September 13, 1870, he came to Pottawattamie 
 County, Iowa; August 30, 1874, at Crescent 
 City, he married Mazie A. Dunkle, who was 
 
 born in Center County, Penn., August 19, 1856; 
 her parents were L. K. Dunkle, born in 1828, 
 and Elizabeth (Myers) Dunkle, born December 
 25, 1834. Mr. and Mrs. Corbaly have two 
 children — Harry Gr. and John L. In politics, 
 Mr. Corbaly is a Republican; he belongs to the 
 societies of I. 0. of Gr. T. and the Grange. 
 
 G. B. HAMPTON, farmer, P. 0. Crescent 
 City, was born in Cumberland County, N. J.. 
 January 14, 1856; his father, George Hampton, 
 was born in Cumberland County April 1, 1830, 
 and married Ruth Butcher, who was born in 
 Cumberland Count}- in September, 1832; G. B. 
 Hampton was their only child. In 1863, he 
 with his parents came West, and settled in 
 Hastings, Minn.; he received his education in 
 the common schools, and afterward in the Uni- 
 versity of Minnesota. He began life by teach- 
 ing school, and for awhile was employed as 
 traveling salesman until 1875, when he came to 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and has since re- 
 sided here, excepting a few months spent at his 
 father's home. He is now a practical farmer 
 and stock-raiser, and has, by his own industry 
 and integrity, attained an enviable position 
 among his neighbors. In politics, he is a 
 Democrat; he is also a Good Templar. 
 
 WARREN M. HOUGH, farmer, P. 0. Cres- 
 cent City, was born in Pottawattamie County, 
 Iowa, April 24, 1849; his father, S. M. Hough, 
 having come to Iowa in 1841, from Oswego 
 County, N. Y., where he was born January 6. 
 1818, and where he learned the blacksmith's 
 trade. He married Eliza J. Allen, who was 
 born in Oswego County, N. Y., April 15, 1823; 
 they raised a family of ten children, six of 
 whom survive. The father "died November 9, 
 1881; at the age of ten, Mr. Hough with his 
 parents, removed to Crawford County, Iowa, 
 
88 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 where he spent seven j'ears, and came back to 
 this township in 1866. Here he has resided 
 since, and has, bj- his industr\- and enterprise, 
 gained the confidence of his neighbors, and has, 
 at various times, filled township offices. At 
 present he is a successful farmer and stock- 
 raiser. In politics, he is a Greenbacker, having 
 been converted to that party in 1876; since then 
 he has also been a member of the I. 0. G. T.; 
 He was married, in Crescent City, to Rebecca 
 E. Dunkle, November 28, 1872. She came to 
 Pottawattamie Count}- in 1870, with her par- 
 ents, from Center Countj-, Penn.; she was born 
 October 19, 1856. Her father, L. K. Dunkle, 
 was born in 1828, and married Elizabeth Myers, 
 who was born in same county December 25, 
 1834. Mr. and Mrs. Hough have had three 
 children, of whom but one, Walter, survives. 
 
 DENVER HOUGH, farmer, P. 0. Crescent 
 City, was born in Deloit, Crawford Co., Iowa, 
 June 1, 1859, and is a son of S. M. and Eliza J. 
 (Allen) Hough. S. M. Hough -was born in Os- 
 wego County, N. Y., January 6, 1818, and died 
 November 9, 1881; he was a blacksmith by 
 trade; his wife was born April 15, 1823; they 
 had ten children, six of whom are living. Sub- 
 ject came to this township with his parents in 
 1866, and has since resided here. He received 
 his education in the common schools, and began 
 life as a farmer, which occupation he has since 
 followed. He was married in Crescent City, 
 Iowa, March 15, 1882, to Miss Allie Alexan- 
 der, a native of Pottawattamie Count}-, born 
 February 1, 1862, daughter of Charles and 
 Catharine (Scott) Alexander. Mr. Hough has 
 held some township offices; he is a Good Tem- 
 plar, and in politics a Greenbacker. He is a 
 good musician, and has furnished the music for 
 a great number of balls. 
 
 MILTON C. HOUGH, farmer, P. 0. Cres- 
 cent City, was born in Denison, Crawford Co., 
 Iowa, August 3, 1863, and came to Pottawatta- 
 mie County in 1866, with his father, Mortimer 
 A. Hough. The latter was born in Lee County, 
 
 Iowa, December 18, 1841; came to Pottawatta- 
 mie County in 1846. and married Naomi Bar- 
 rett, who was born at New Boston, Mercer Co., 
 111., July 13, 1842, and to them five children 
 were born. Milton C. received his education 
 in the common schools, and is a natural pen- 
 man, and also a musician. His father died No- 
 vember 25, 1874, since which he has worked at 
 farming to maintain and educate himself, and 
 assisted his mother in doing the same for her 
 younger sons ; he is a trusted employe; he 
 joined the I. 0. G. T. in 1877. 
 
 REV. H. KEITH, nursery and fruit grower. 
 Crescent City, was born in Logan County, Ohio, 
 June 8, 1826, son of Jacob Keith, who was 
 born in Mason County, Ky., in February, 1793, 
 and was engaged in farming and stock-raising 
 until he died, February 13, 1869. He married 
 Amelia Steward, of Mason County, Ky.. born 
 December, 1793, bj-whom he had thirteen chil- 
 dren, only four of whom are living. When the 
 subject of this sketch was fourteen years of age, 
 he, with his parents, came to Indiana; thence to 
 Linn County, Mo., in 1837, where he remained 
 until 1844. His childhood days were nearly 
 devoid of school advantages, nevertheless he is 
 a self-educated man. From Linn County he 
 went to Mercer County, Mo., and remained 
 until 1848. He married in Grundy County, 
 Mo., October 7, 1846, Elizabeth H. Sutton, of 
 Boone County, Mo., born March 6, 1826; her 
 parents were John Sutton, born in 1795. in 
 Garrett County, Ky., and Elizabeth (Davis) 
 Sutton, of Madison County, Ky., born in 1801. 
 Mr. Keith came from Missouri to Dallas Coun- 
 ty, Iowa., where he remained until 1852, en- 
 gaged in farming and cabinet work. He then 
 removed to Mills County, Iowa, and remained 
 until 1855, engaged in farming and stock-rais- 
 ing. From there he went to Leavenworth, 
 Kan., where he was principally engaged in 
 farming. In 1856, he went to Dallas County, 
 Iowa; remained a year, employed in farming, 
 and then came to Grundy County, Mo., and fol- 
 
CRESCENT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 89 
 
 lowed farming until 1861, when he sold out and 
 came to Waj-ne Couutj-, Iowa, where he re- 
 mained six j-ears. August 20, 1862, he enlisted 
 in the Thirty-fourth Iowa Volunteers, Company 
 F, Capt. McClanahan, and was under command 
 of Grant and Sherman. He was at the capture 
 of Vicksburg and Arkansas Post, and was sent 
 to Chicago with prisoners captured at Arkan- 
 sas Post; he went to St. Louis; then to Iron 
 Mountain; then back to St. Louis, where he 
 was crippled in Benton Barracks, from which he 
 was discharged March 27, 1863, when he re- 
 turned to Wayne County, Iowa. There he was 
 appointed missionary for East Des Moines Con- 
 ference until 1867. when he was sent to Union 
 County, Dak., by the Missionary Board. There 
 he resided for sis years, and was sent from that 
 district to the Legislature of Dakota. In 1873, 
 he went to Antelope County, Neb., and in 1874 
 to Cass County, where he engaged in merchan- 
 dising. In 1875, he came to Avoca, this coun- 
 ty, as a missionary; in 1876, went to Shelby 
 County; 1877, to St. John, Harrison County; 
 in 1878, to Washington County, Neb., and the 
 same year to Furnas Countj-, where he re- 
 mained until 1880, then removed to Blue Spring, 
 Gage County, Neb. In 1881. he came t(j Cres- 
 cent City, Iowa, and has since resided here; he 
 is engaged at present in nursery and fruit grow- 
 ing. At an early age, he became a Methodist 
 Protestant, which has been his faith since. He 
 has had eight children, six of whom are living. 
 In politics, he is a Republican; he was first a 
 Whig, then a Free-Soiler, and took an active 
 part in the Kansas struggles; he is at present 
 a member of the Grand Army Republic. 
 
 J. B. MATLACK, farmer, P. 0. Crescent 
 City, was born in Union County, Ind., Decem- 
 ber 15, 1844; son of David H. Matlack, who 
 was born in Pennsylvania April 21, 1819, was 
 a harness-maker by trade, and died in 1880; he 
 married Elizabeth Milward, who was born in 
 Pennsylvania August 6, 1826, and died April 
 29, 1845. J. B. was one of seven children, five 
 
 of whom are still living. His mother having 
 died when he was but a few months old, he was 
 taken care of by his grandmother, who gave 
 him a common school education, and afterward 
 apprenticed him to learn saddlery and harness- 
 making. When the rebellion broke out, he en- 
 listed at the age of seventeen, as a private, in 
 the Fifteenth Indiana Battery, Capt. A. D. 
 Harvey, and took part in many engagements; 
 was a prisoner of war four months, and was 
 mustered out June 30, 1865. Returning to his 
 home in Marion County, Ind., he was married, 
 February 9, 1867, to Martha J. Swaford, who 
 was born in Marion County, Ind., August 16, 
 1851, daughter of Wesley and Catharine 
 
 ! (Marts) Swaford, both of Wayne County, Ind. 
 
 ' In 1868, Mr. Matlack came to Pottawattamie 
 County, Iowa., where he has since resided, ex- 
 cepting three years' residence at Big Grove. 
 Since his residence in this township, he has en- 
 gaged in farming and stock-raising. BIr. and 
 Mrs. Matlack have four children — George A.i 
 
 i Laura B., Willie A. and Pearl I. In politics. 
 Mr. Matlack is a Republican, and has taken an 
 active part in that party's actions, both local 
 and otherwise; he has frequently been elected 
 to ofBce, and was a candidate for membership 
 in the Board of Supervisors of Pottawattamie 
 County in 1881, his successful competitor be- 
 ing S. G. Underwood. 
 
 R. C. MENERAY, nursery, Crescent City, 
 was born in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, July 
 6, 1855, son of William Meneray, who was born 
 in Canada in 1822, and married Sophia A. 
 Packard, who was born in Ohio October 1, 
 1828; he died March 10, 1880. To the parents 
 eleven children were born, ten are now living, 
 of whom R. C. Meneray is the fifth. At the age 
 of three years he, with his father, came to Cres- 
 cent City, Iowa, where the latter bought an in- 
 terest in the Crescent Saw-Mill, and continued 
 in that business until 1864, when he commenced 
 fruit-growing and a nursery, which he continued 
 until his death, when the business fell into the 
 
90 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 hands of our subject, who has since supplied 
 the trade in his line of business, having now a 
 nursery of fort}' acres, in which 3,000 trees are 
 bearing at the present time. In politics, Mr. 
 Meneray is a Kepubliean, having been elected 
 to fill township offices on that ticket in a town- 
 ship that is three-quarters Democratic. He is 
 also a Good Templar. 
 
 J. W. NUSUM, M. D., Crescent City, came to 
 Crescent City four years ago, and began the 
 practice of medicine, though previous to this 
 he had practiced some time in Spring Hill, 
 Warren County, Iowa. The Doctor was born 
 in Waynesburg, Greene Co., Penn., in 1848, 
 though his people moved to Virginia when he 
 was four }'ears old; there the early years of his 
 life were spent. In 1866, when he was nine- 
 teen years old, he removed to Des Moines, 
 Iowa, with his people. He began the study of 
 medicine in Des Moines, under Dr. J. Grimes, 
 and then studied with Dr. James T. Wakefield, 
 of Spring Hill, Iowa, after which he took a 
 course at Rush Medical College, Chicago, where 
 he graduated in 1868. He then returned to 
 Spring Hill, where he spent two years in part- 
 nership with his old preceptor. Dr. Wakefield. 
 In 1872, at Indianola, Iowa, the Doctor married 
 Miss Emma Armstrong, a native of Guernsej' 
 County, Ohio, born in 1852. Five children 
 have been born to them, three of whom are now 
 living, viz., Georgie G., Maggie E. and Ivy F. 
 The genealogy of his family the Doctor is able 
 to trace back to an honorable ancestry. His 
 grandfather and grandmother were both natives 
 of England, and born a short distance north of 
 London. In their early settlement in the United 
 States, his grandfather joined the Americans in 
 the Indian war, and while fighting under St. 
 Clair, was taken prisoner by the Indians and 
 held a captive for three years. His father, 
 George G. (who spelled his name Neusum), was 
 born in Virginia in 1822, and lives in Iowa; 
 his mother, Eliza J. (Kimball) Nusum, was 
 born in Greene County, Penn., in 1826, and died 
 
 in 1861. During the war of the rebellion, the 
 Doctor spent some time in the Confederate serv- 
 ice, under command of Gen. Morgan; he was 
 wounded three times during his service; he has 
 now a good and lucrative practice established, 
 and has gained a place in four years which 
 many physicians struggle ten years to attain. 
 C. F. PRATT, farmer, P. 0. Crescent City. 
 was born October 19, 1824, in Abbeville County, 
 S. C; son of W. Pratt, who was born in Ab- 
 beville County, S. C, September 27,1798, and 
 was engaged in farming, when he married Mar- 
 tha Murdock, born in Newberry County, S. C, 
 July 30, 1803; he died January 26, 1863, but 
 his wife survives, and is now seventy-nine years 
 old. To iier seven children were born; five 
 survive, of whom Mr. C. F. Pratt is one. He 
 spent his earlier years on thefarm of his father, 
 receiving a common school education. At the 
 age of twenty, at his home, July 2, 1845, he 
 married Gabrilla Callaham, who was born in 
 the same county July 30, 1823; her parents 
 were John and Nancy (Stephenson) Callaham, 
 who were born respectively in Virginia and 
 South Carolina. In 1845, Mr. Pratt removed 
 to Chattooga County, Ga., and engaged in farm- 
 ing and school teaching; he enlisted as a vol- 
 unteer September 2, 1861, in Company I, 
 Thirty-fifth Georgia, Hill's corps of Lee's army; 
 took part in a number of engagements, and sur- 
 rendered at Kingston, Ga., May 17, 1865. In 
 1869, he came West, and stopped a few months 
 at Omaha, Neb., then came to Pottawattamie 
 County, Iowa, and engaged in saw-milling until 
 1879, when he changed to farming, in which 
 business he still continues. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt 
 had nine children, one of whom Is dead. Their 
 names are John W., Nancj' E., James A., Syl- 
 vester v., Martha Ann (dead), Emma M., Phebe 
 J., Charles F. and Frances L. Mr. Pratt be- 
 longs to the Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons; he 
 is a Greenbacker in politics, having been a 
 candidate several times for count}' otlices on 
 that ticket. He joined the Masonic fraternity 
 
CRESCENT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 91 
 
 in 1863, and is also a member of the Mutual 
 Protectionists. 
 
 S. V. PRATT, farming, P. 0. Crescent City, 
 was born in Cliattooga County, Ga., April 10, 
 1852, son of C. F. Pratt, born in Abbeville 
 County, S. C, October 19, 1824, and Gabrilla 
 (Callaham) Pratt, born in Abbeville Countj', S. 
 C., ■which place the parents left and came to 
 Chattooga Count}', (la., where S. V. was born 
 and spent his childhood days, attending the 
 common schools; he was one of nine children, 
 eight of whom are living. In 1869, he with his 
 parents, came West, stopped at Omaha a short 
 time, and the same year came to Pottawattamie 
 County, and engaged in lumbering and saw- 
 milling until 1880, when he changed to farm- 
 ing, which he is still pursuing. Mr. Pratt mar- 
 ried Maggie T. Currie, in Crescent City, Iowa, 
 December 10, 1878; she was born in Utah Sep- 
 tember 6, 1860, daughter of John Currier, born 
 in Scotland in 1836, and Elizabeth A. (Filcher) 
 Currie, born in England in 1837. Mr. Pratt 
 belongs to the church of Latter-Day Saints. 
 In politics, he is a Greenbacker, having been 
 elected to township offices on that ticket; he is 
 a member of the M. P. Society. 
 
 W. S. SWANSON, farming, P. 0. Crescent 
 City, was born in Sturopokra, Sweden, January 
 25, 1850, and with his parents came to Amer- 
 ica in 1855, landing at St. Louis, Mo., March 
 
 22, 1855, where he resided two years, and came 
 to Florence, Neb., May 25, 1857, thence to 
 Crescent City, Iowa, July 15, the same year. 
 There he attended the common schools and 
 received his education, working in summer on 
 the farm, and attending school in winter. His 
 fiithcr. Nelson Swanson, was born in Sweden 
 August 14, 1821, and died January 12, 1881; 
 his mother, Johannah (Jensen) Swanson, was 
 born in Sweden December 27, 1824, and died 
 October 11, 1874. In 1869, our subject went to 
 Council Bluffs and worked at cabinet-making a 
 year, then to Illinois for several months. May 
 
 23. 1872, he went to Montana, and followed min- 
 
 ing and prospecting for two years and six months, 
 returning in November, 1874. May 16, 1876, 
 he went to California, where he was for six 
 months employed bj' the Southern Pacific Rail- 
 way, as express messenger, which position he 
 resigned for a position as foreman on a ranch. 
 While there, he married Augusta Buckman, 
 November 15, 1879; she was born in Sweden 
 June 27, 1847. Mr. Swanson came to Potta- 
 wattamie County April 6, 1880, and the same 
 year he was called upon to mourn the loss of 
 his wife, who died from consumption, contracted 
 some time before. Mr. Swanson was married 
 again, November 23, 1881, to Annie Johnson, 
 born in Sweden April 28, 1856, and he has 
 since his return from California resided here, 
 and turned his attention to farming and stock- 
 raising. He is a carpenter bj^ trade. He joined 
 the I. 0. of G. T. in 1869. Mrs. Annie Swan- 
 son's parents are John and Stina (Magnuson. 
 Oisen, natives of Sweden, where he was born 
 September 20, 1824, and she October 16, 1822. 
 N. SWANSON, merchant and Postmaster, 
 Crescent City, was born June 29, 1857, in 
 Douglas County, Neb., in what was known 
 then as " Winter Quarters," now Florence. His 
 parents came to this country in 1855, residing 
 for two years in St. Louis, Mo., and in the 
 spring of 1857 coming to the "Winter Quar- 
 ters " with a company of Mormons, to which 
 denomination thej' belonged; on account of 
 their financial condition they did not continue 
 on their way to Utah. They came to Crescent 
 City July 15, 1882, after which they withdrew 
 from Mormonism. Mrs. Swanson's early life 
 was spent on the farm; his parents being in 
 limited circumstances, his education was con- 
 fined mostly to the common schools, which 
 in after years, he was able to attend in winter 
 by working on the farm during tlie summer 
 months. It was here that he attained that 
 promptness and attention to business that char- 
 acterized him in after years. Having qualified 
 himself for a teacher, he began that vocation 
 
92 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 in 1878, and pursued it until October 22, 1879, 
 when he was appointed Postmaster at Crescent 
 City, Iowa; at that time he also engaged in the 
 mercantile trade, and stock and grain buying 
 which he continues at the present time. In 
 politics, he is a Republican, and works for that 
 party's interests. He was a candidate for the 
 office of County Supermtendent of Schools in 
 the Republican convention held in Council 
 Bluffs, Iowa, September 9, 1881, in which Miss 
 Smith received the nomination. He joined the 
 I. 0. of G. T. December 12, 1874, and has con- 
 tinued an active member since. Januar}- 21, 
 1881, he joined the I. 0. 0. F. Mr. Swanson's 
 parents were N. and Johannah (Jensen) Swan- 
 son, natives of Sweden, he, born August 14, 
 1821, died January 12, 1881; she, born Decem- 
 ber 27, 1824, died October 11, 1874. 
 
 J. H. SWANSON, Crescent City, brother of 
 William and N. Swanson, was born in Crescent 
 City, Iowa, August 20, 1859. His boyhood 
 and youth were spent on his father's farm. At 
 the age of nineteen years, he obtained a posi- 
 tion as teacher in a countrj- school, and con- 
 tinued for two years subsequently to teach in 
 his own and adjoining townships; then went to 
 Iowa College, Grinnell; thence to Griswold 
 College, Davenport, where he has since been 
 though he still makes Crescent City his home. 
 His parents are Nelson and Johannah (Jensen) 
 Swanson, natives of Sweden, he, born August 
 14, 1821, was a farmer by occupation, and died 
 January 12, 1881; she, born December 27, 1824, 
 died October 11, 1874. They had eleven chil- 
 dren, four of whom are dead. He is a mem- 
 ber of the I. 0. G. T., and in politics is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 W. SMITH, blacksmith. Crescent City, was 
 born in Belmont County, Ohio, in 1830. At 
 the age of sixteen years, he began an apprentice- 
 ship of four years at blacksmithing; after serv- 
 ing his full term, he began working at his trade, 
 and spent the time until 1869 in Greene County, 
 111., Springfield, Ohio, Louisville. Ky., Colum- 
 
 bus, Ind., and Council Bluffs, Iowa, spending 
 one year in the latter place and then moving to 
 Cresceut^City, where he has since resided; he 
 has been a hard and industrious worker, and is 
 well established in business. In 1859. he mar- 
 ried Miss Mary Wilson, a native of Tennessee, 
 but a resident of Missouri at the time of their 
 marriage. They have but one child, Charles, 
 who is now in his eighteenth year, and is a 
 sober, stead}' and industrious young man. Mr. 
 Smith is a Democrat, but not a politician. He is 
 able to trace the genealogy of his family back 
 to his grandfather Smith, who was a native of 
 Ireland; his parents were John and Elizabeth 
 (Bellville) Smith, the latter a native of Brandy- 
 wine, Del. 
 
 W. STRANG, farmer, P. 0. Crescent City, 
 was born in Crescent Township, Pottawattamie 
 County, Iowa, November 27, 1858; his father, 
 W. Strang, was born June 23, 1816, and mar- 
 ried Jane Meur, who was born in 1825; thej- 
 were both natives of Scotland, from which 
 country they emigrated in 1853 to Pottawatta- 
 mie County, Iowa, where the father carried on 
 farming and stock-raising till his death, which 
 occurred November 1, 1881. 3Ir. Strang at- 
 tended the common schools, and at maturity 
 adopted farming as his avocation. He is one 
 of four children now living, six having died. 
 Mr. Strang is a member of the church of Latter- 
 Da}' Saints. In politics he is a Democrat; he 
 also belongs to the society of the Mutual Pro- 
 tectionists. 
 
 H. A. TERRY, nurseryman. Crescent City, 
 has been a resident of Pottawattamie County 
 since 1847; he was among the first white set- 
 tlers of the county ,-aud has remained a resident 
 of it during the greater portion of the time 
 since he first strayed so far from the older- set- 
 tled country of the East and became a resident 
 of the frontier. He is a native of Cortland 
 County, N. Y., where he was born in 1826. 
 When he was ten years of age, his people re- 
 moved to Oakland Countv, Mich. He remained 
 
GARNER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 93 
 
 there until his seventeenth year, and then went 
 to Knox County-, 111., where he resided until 
 1846. In 1848, he was married to Miss Rachel 
 T. Slnlne, widow of M. Sinine; sis children were 
 born to them, of whom Henrj- S. was the first 
 white child born iu Crescent Township. Mr. 
 Terry's second marriage, after the death of his 
 lirst wife, was to Esther J., daughter of S. M. 
 and Eliza J. Hough. Three children have been 
 born of this marriage. When Mr. Terrj' first 
 came to Pottawattamie County, he engaged in 
 the seed business, he being for many ^-ears the 
 first and only seed merchant on the Missouri 
 River. He combined with his seed trade the 
 sales of small fruit nursery stock. In the fall 
 of 1855, he began the nursery business, and his 
 sales began in 1856; since that time, he has 
 been steadily engaged in the business. For the 
 first twenty years, his sales were all made at 
 the nursery. He then established local agents, 
 and now he is doing an exclusive wholesale 
 business. Fifty acres of his farm of 120 acres 
 are devoted exclusively to nursery. He is the 
 oldest and most thoroughlj- posted dealer in his 
 line in the county. In 1855. when the first 
 
 agricultural society in the county was organ- 
 ized, he was elected Secretary. Politically, he 
 is a Democrat, and as a citizen and honorable, 
 upright member of the community, Mr. Terry 
 stands without a superior in Crescent Township. 
 HENRY S. TERRY, farmer, P. O. Crescent 
 City, was the first white child born in Crescent 
 Township. His parents, H. A. and Rachel T. 
 (Sinine) Terr}-, were among the first settlers of 
 the township, and a more complete sketch of 
 them will be found elsewhere in this work. 
 Henry S. was born September 2, 1849, in the 
 village of Crescent, and has spent most of his 
 life in the township. He had the advantages of 
 the public schools of his native village, and 
 then spent some time at Notre Dame College 
 of South Bend, Ind. January 2, 1870, he mar- 
 ried Miss Matilda Thompson, a native of Knox 
 Count}-, Mo., though her people had been resi- 
 dents of Crescent Township for many years 
 prior to her marriage. Starting in business for 
 himself after his marriage, Mr. Terry now has 
 a nicely improved farm about two miles north 
 of Crescent City. Mr. and Mrs. Terry have one 
 child, born January 2, 1879. 
 
 GAEIS'EE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 W. W. CAxMPBELL, farmer. P. 0. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Indiana in 1840, and is of i 
 Scotch descent; his parents were William and 
 Maria (Cross) Campbell, natives of New York i 
 State; both are dead. The family consisted of 
 twelve children, two of whom are dead, the rest 
 live in Iowa. When about four years of age, 
 Mr. Campbell migi-ated to Jlissouri with his 
 parents, and there received his education, i 
 About 185.3, Sir. Campbell, with his parents, j 
 removed from Missouri to Silver Creek Town- \ 
 ship, Pottawattamie Co., Iowa; when they first 
 settled in that township, their nearest neighbor 
 on one side was two miles distant, and on the 
 other six miles. Mr. Campbell was married iu 
 
 Iowa, January, 1864, to Miss Hannah Ross, of 
 Mills County, Iowa, daughter of Charles and 
 Polly Ross, he living, she dead; they came 
 from Ohio to Mills County, Iowa, in 1853; 
 they were the parents of sixteen children, eight 
 of whom are dead. Mr. and 3Irs. Campbell 
 have had six children, two of whom are dead. 
 Mr. Campbell cultivates about 150 acres of 
 land; he has held several township offices, and 
 is a Republican. 
 
 JOHN CLARK, P. 0. Council Blufls, was 
 born iu England in 1821; son of James and 
 Rachael (Goodman) Clark, both deceased; his 
 father was a weaver. Mr. Clark has three 
 brothers and one sister, all married and living 
 
94 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 in England. There our subject received his 
 education in select schools, and was appren- 
 ticed as a shoemaker, which trade he followed 
 in England, and continued in this country till 
 1867, when he located on his present place and 
 became a farmer, which occupation he still pur- 
 sues. Mr. Clark was married, in 1845, to Miss 
 Rachael Smart, daughter of Thomas and Eliza- 
 beth Smart, both deceased. Mrs. Clark has 
 one sister and three brothers in Utah, and one 
 brother in England. Mr. Clark came to 
 America in 1851, and lived till 1853, in New 
 Orleans for a short time, and the remainder of 
 the time in St. Louis; he then came to Council 
 Bluffs, his original intention being to join the 
 Mormons at Salt Lake, but disapproving of 
 some of the practices of the church he stopped 
 here. His farm consists of 300 acres, about 
 eighty of which are under cultivation, eighty 
 acres pasture, and the remainder timber. Mr. 
 Clark conducts general farming, and also has 
 quite an apiary. December 22, 1881, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Clark made a visit to England, the voyage 
 occupying nine davs, whereas their first voy- 
 age, some thirtj' -one years previous, occupied 
 over two months. The children of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Clark are A. J., farming in Boomer Town- 
 ship; Rachael E., now Mrs. Winchester, of Gar- 
 ner Township; John T., at home; Henrietta 
 now Mrs. Wright, of Boomer Township; and 
 Heur}- J., at home. One son died when young. 
 Mr. Clark takes an active part in educational 
 matters; he was Justice of the Peace four 
 years; is a member of the '■ Patrons of Hus- 
 bandrj'," and in politics is a Democrat. 
 
 G. W. CROSSLEY, farmer and stock-raiser 
 P. 0. Council Bluffs, was born in Lincolnshire, 
 England, August 6, 1854, son of William and 
 Susan (Hand) Crossley, natives of England, and 
 both dead. He came here in 1855, with his 
 parents, and settled on the farm where he now 
 lives; he has two sisters, one, Mrs. John A. Orr, 
 living in Harrison County. Iowa, and one, Mrs. 
 S. S. Fletcher, keeping house for him at the 
 
 present time. The family came to this coun- 
 trj' with a company expecting to join the Mor- 
 mons in LTtah, but the mother was taken sick, 
 and by the time she recovered they decided 
 not to go to Utah. They landed first in New 
 Orleans, thence bj- steamer to Keokuk, Iowa, 
 then across the Stale iu ox carts. When they 
 reached Garner Township, they found a Mor- 
 mon settlement at what was called Carterville. 
 Most of the early settlers were Mormons, dis- 
 satisfied with the religion as exemplied in the 
 West. Upon first coming to this county, Mr. 
 Crossle3''s father bought a claim from a man 
 b^' the name of Clough, pre-empted 120 acres, 
 and this has since been added to until the 
 farm now consists of about 800 acres, 160 of 
 which belong to our subject's sister, who keeps 
 house for him. When they first settled on the 
 place, it was in a wild state, and the only build- 
 ing upon it was an old log hut, left by the 
 Mormons, on their way to Salt Lake City. Mr- 
 Crossley is engaged in stock-raising, feeding 
 the most of his grain; he has fourteen head of 
 thoroughbred Short-Horn cattle, and all the rest 
 of his stock is of a high grade; he has a small 
 orchard and raises some small fruits. Mr. 
 Crosslej' is no partisan, but votes for whom he 
 considers the best man. 
 
 W. H. GARNER, P. 0. Council Blufls, was 
 born in Garner Township. Pottawattamie Co., 
 Iowa, in 1849, son of Wm. and Sarah (Warkman) 
 Garner, who came from North Carolina to Illi- 
 nois, and from there to Pottawattamie Co., Iowa, 
 in 1 846. Thej- had eleven children, two boys and 
 nine girls. One of the latter is dead. The}' 
 are all married and settled in Garner Township, 
 except three, who live in Hazel Dell Township. 
 Their father having pre-empted land, gave each 
 of them 200 acres, with a good house upon it. 
 Before Mr. Garner divided his land among his 
 children, the Rock Island Railroad ran across 
 his farm for five miles. Our subject has always 
 worked at farming, excepting some time spent 
 in a woolen factory. His present farm consists 
 
GAKNER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 95 
 
 of 180 acres, mostly under cultivation and well- 
 improved, although when he first took it, in 
 1874, it was entirel}- unimproved. He has an 
 orchard of four and a half acres, which has just 
 commenced bearing ; also grapes and other 
 small fruits. Mr. Garner was married in De- 
 cember, 1871. to Miss Lena McMullen. daugh- 
 ter of James and Hannah (Poe) McMullen, who 
 came here from Indiana in an early day. Her 
 mother died when Mrs. Garner was quite small. 
 Her father, who is now dead, served in the 
 Mexican war. Mr. and Mrs. Garner have one 
 son and two daughters. Mr. Garner is a member 
 of the Knights of Pythias. He and his brothers 
 are Democrats. 
 
 JOSEPH HANCOCK, farmer, P. 0. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in England in 1829 ; he came 
 to America in 1854, settling in Missouri, in Holt 
 County, where he had built a brewery. In 1862, 
 he went back to England ; stayed till 1866, and 
 then returning to America spent that year on 
 the plains, and April 2, 1867, he settled at his 
 present place, on which there were then a num- 
 ber of old Mormon huts, which had gone to 
 ruin. From that time, he has been improving 
 his place by planting orchards, etc. Jlr. Han- 
 cock was married, in 1853, in tVales, to Letitia 
 Stanlej', born in England. Mr. Hancock was 
 educated in England, and went to Wales when 
 he was about sixteen j-ears old. He has a 
 brother and a sister living in Utah, being all 
 his relatives in America. In England, he has 
 three sisters and one brother. One brother 
 died in Wales a few years ago. Mrs. Hancock 
 has seven sisters and three brothers in England, 
 and one sister dead. Mr. and Mrs. Hancock 
 have one daughter and three sons. Their 
 daughter, Mary E., is married to Henry Bateman, 
 living in Boomer Township, Pottawattamie Co., 
 where he is now farming ; Joseph H., twen- 
 ty-two years old ; Charles B., twenty years old, 
 and John, seventeen j-ears old, all living at 
 home. One son is buried in Missouri. Mr. 
 Hancock has always had to depend on his own 
 
 resources. He was doing a good business in Mis- 
 souri and lost it during the war. Since coming 
 to his present place, he has made a good prop- 
 erty. He came to this countrj- as a Mormon, 
 coming with Mormons to New Orleans ; thence 
 to Holt County, Mo., where he abandoned them 
 and their religion. Mr. Hancock is a Democrat. 
 WILLIAM HARMS, farmer, P. 0. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Germany in 1830, son of 
 Albolt and Sophia Harms, both dead ; mother 
 died when subject was very small, and father 
 when he was about eight j'ears old. Mr. Harms 
 was educated in Germany. He had one brother, 
 who was drowned when five 3'ears old ; also 
 one half-brother and two half-sisters, all of 
 whom are dead. His fiither was a farmer, and 
 Mr. Harms has followed the same occupation 
 all of his life. He came to America in 1850, 
 and settled in Dixon, 111., where he lived till 
 1863. He was married, in 1854, to Miss Hen- 
 rietta Minssen, born in 1829 in Germany, daugh- 
 ter of Folgett and Wilhelmina Minssen, both of 
 whom died in Germanj'. Mrs. Harms came to 
 America in 1853. She has one brother living 
 in this country. After moving to Jones Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, in 1863, Mr. Harms went into the 
 army in 1864, staj-ing till the close of the war. 
 He was in the Seventeenth Army Corps, Fourth 
 Division, Fifteenth Iowa, and was with Sher- 
 man in his march to the sea, being also with 
 him when Atlanta was burned. Mr. Harms 
 came out without a wound. In 1871, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Harms came to their present place, it be- 
 ing then unimproved prairie. Mr. Harms bought 
 eighty acres first, but has since added to it till 
 he now has a farm of 190 acres, mostlj- under 
 cultivation and general improvement. He does 
 general farming. Mr. and Mrs. Harms have 
 six children, all at home except their oldest 
 daughter, Katie, who married George Young, of 
 Norwalk Township, Pottawattamie Co. ; oldest 
 son, Henry, is twenty -one years of age ; second 
 daughter, Sophia, was born in 1862; second 
 son, Edward, in 1864 ; third son, William, iti 
 
96 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 1868 ; third daughter, Emma, in 1870. Mr. 
 Harms and wife are members of the Lutheran 
 Church. 
 
 WM. HEILEMAN, farmer, P. 0. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in Germany in 1857; son 
 of William and Wilhelmina (Marker) Heileman, 
 living in German}'. Subject was educated in 
 Germany, where he has five brothers, he being 
 the only child iu America. His father was in 
 the arm}-, but now has an otHce on a railroad. 
 Our subject has always followed farming. He 
 was married, April 16, 1879, to Miss Lucretia 
 Stoker. They have one child, a little girl. Mr. 
 Heileman came to this countr}' when only fifteen 
 years old, with an uncle, settling at Fort Dodge, 
 Webster Co., Iowa, where he followed farming; 
 he came to Pottawattamie County in April, 
 1877, and has been here since engaged in gen- 
 eral farming. He is now farming Mrs. Stoker's 
 farm, but owns one of eighty acres in Minden 
 Township, partly improved. Since coming to 
 America at fifteen years of age. he has made 
 his own way. 
 
 G. P. KEMP, farmer, P. 0. Council Bluff's, 
 was born in Randolph County, Va., March 
 7, 1837, son of W. C. and and Eliza A. (Wil- 
 son) Kemp; he was born in Huntington County, 
 Penn., in February, 1802, and died in May, 
 1880; while in Virginia he was Couutj- Sur- 
 veyor, and also practiced law; after coming to 
 Iowa, he kept hotel and speculated in land. 
 Subject's mother was born iu Randolph County, 
 A''a., in 1818, and lives in Wayne County, 
 Iowa; she is the mother of five boys and three 
 girls, one of each sex being dead. Mr. Kemp 
 attended the subscription schools of Vir- 
 ginia, where he subsequently conducted the 
 stage line for five .years, between the James and 
 Ohio Rivers. After coming to Iowa, he con- 
 tinued the stage business for several years, and 
 then became messenger and ticket agent on the 
 train running from Council Bluffs to Bartlett; 
 leaving the latter business, he was engaged with 
 J. W. Morse, in the express business, till 
 
 March, 1875, when he setled where he now lives. 
 Mr. Kemp was married in Lewis, Cass Co., 
 Iowa, October 26, 1863, to Miss J. A. Mann, 
 born in St. Thomas, Canada, July 22, 1845; 
 daughter of L. Mann, born in St. Thomas. 
 Canada, December, 1808, died April 5, 1852. 
 and Almira (Taylor) Mann, born in Erie, Penn., 
 November 4, 1820. Mr. and Mrs. Kemp have 
 three children — May B., William F. and Bessie 
 A. Mr. Kemp belongs to the Masonic fra- 
 ternitj- of Council Bluffs; he is a Republican, 
 and has held several township offices. 
 
 J. B. MEGINNESS. farmer, P. 0. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Lancaster County. Penn.. 
 iu 1837, son of Benjamin and Sarah Meginness, 
 natives of Pennsylvania; he died in 1868. she 
 in 1850. Mr. Meginness attended the common 
 schools, and afterward went to the Academy at 
 Jersey Shore, Penn. He has three brothers 
 farming in Pottawattamie County. Iowa; one 
 in California in the same occupation, and one 
 in Pennsylvania as chief editor of the Williams- 
 port Gazette and Bulletin. Mr. Meginness came 
 to Council Bluffs in the fall of 1846; crossed 
 over into Nebraska and stayed in what is now 
 Florence, till the spring of 1848. then came 
 back to the Iowa side, remaining till 1853. and 
 then returning to Pennsylvania, where he re- 
 mained four years. In 1863, he enlisted in the 
 Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry, and was under 
 Steele's command in Arkansas; he was captured 
 April 30, 1864, at Jenkin's Ferrj-, Saline 
 River, while he laj* wounded on the field, after 
 Steele's retreat; he was subsequent!}- taken to 
 Tyler, Texas, and mustered out with paroled 
 prisoners in Februar}-, 1865. In 1858, in Pot- 
 tawattamie County, Iowa, Mr. Meginness was 
 married to Mrs. (Nixon) Debolt, daughter of 
 William Nixon. The}- have one son and three 
 daughters. Mr. Meginness came to this place 
 in the spring of 1868, and purchased an unim- 
 proved farm; he now has 450 acres, about one- 
 half of which is under cultivation; he raises 
 stock extensively; he is a plasterer by trade, 
 
GARNER TOWNSHIP. 
 
 97 
 
 but has been engaged in farming since 1859. 
 Mr. Meginness owes liis success in life to liis 
 own energy and perseverance; he is a Repub- 
 lican in politics. 
 
 L. PROUTY, farming, P. 0. Council Bluffs, 
 was born in Massachusetts in 1831, son of 
 Pliny and Melissa Prout}', natives of Massa- 
 chusetts, and the parents of five boys and three 
 girls. Mr. Prouty was educated at the common 
 schools and at Leicester Academy, Massachu- [ 
 setts, and in that State taught school, having i 
 charge of one of the city schools of Worcester 
 in 1854. He then taught two years in Vir- 
 ginia, where he was married, in 1857, to Miss 
 Esther J. Hull, of Rockbridge County, that 
 State. He left Virginia for Nebraska as a sur- 
 veyor ; thence to this township, where he 
 rented a farm for three j^ears of Mr. Bump ; 
 then rented for three years of Mr. Henry Gar- 
 ner the place which he now owns, having 
 bought it in the spring of 1861. Since his res- 
 idence in this township, Mr. Prouty has taught 
 school for ten winters, carr3ing on farming 
 during the summer months. He is still identi- 
 fied with the schools of the township. 
 
 MRS. MARGUERITE STOKER, Council 
 Bluffs, was born in North Carolina in 1822 ; 
 daughter of John and Rhoda Judd. When 
 Mrs. Stoker was quite 30ung, she moved, with 
 her parents, from North Carolina to Indiana, 
 where she was raised and educated. When 
 seventeen years of age, she married Mr. E. 
 Stoker, born in Ohio in 1816. At the time of 
 her marriage, she was living with her mother 
 (her father having died ten j-ears before) on the 
 Des Moines River, near what was called Meeke's 
 Mill at that time a flouring mill, subsequent!}- 
 a woolen- mill ; there she had lived a year pre- 
 vious to her marriage. The first two years 
 after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Stoker lived 
 in the eastern part of Garner Township, and 
 then moved onto the present place. When 
 they first settled in this township, almost their 
 only neis'hbors were Indians and half-breeds. 
 
 and they were obliged to procure their pro- 
 visions in Missouri. When the Western lands 
 first came into market, Mr. Stoker purchased 
 160 acres ; he also entered land, and subse- 
 quently added to this till the farm now consists 
 of 360 acres. Mr. Stoker died in 1855, le.iving 
 his wife with seven children, two of whom live 
 in Harrison County and five in this county ; 
 thej- are all married, except the j'oungest 
 son. 
 
 J. W. TEMPLETON, farmer, P. 0. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Scotland in 1835; son of 
 Archibald and Janet (Mcintosh) Templetou, na- 
 tives of Scotland, both deceased; the father was a 
 farmer. Mr. Templeton has three brothers and 
 three sisters living and one bro'her dead; he has 
 two brothers in America, one being in Michigan 
 and one in Dakota Territory, the rest of the 
 children are in Scotland. Mr. Templeton re- 
 ceived his education in his native country, 
 where he dealt in fruits, groceries, etc., and also 
 followed farming before coming to this country. 
 He lost everything in Scotland, and came here 
 to start anew. He arrived in Chicago in De- 
 cember, 1871, and remained there as a laborer 
 one year; then went to Colorado, and followed 
 farming four years, having to irrigate all his 
 land. In 1876, while Mr. Templeton was re- 
 turning to Colorado bj' wagon from Des Moines, 
 Iowa, a colt injured itself on a wire fence, causing 
 a delay ofseveral days, during which Mr. Temple- 
 ton purchased seventy- acres, a part of his present 
 farm, in Iowa ; this laud was slightly improved. 
 He now has 300 acres all under cultivation, ex- 
 cept 120 acres of pasture ; he has an orchard 
 often acres, two of which are bearing at the 
 present time ; he has three teams, fift}" head of 
 cattle and fifty hogs, and carries on general 
 farming. He has a comfortable house and out- 
 buildings, and has set out shade trees, etc. He 
 was married, July 4, 1872, in Kankakee, 111., to 
 Eliza Hanna, a native of Scotland, from where 
 she emigrated, when quite joung, with her par- 
 ents; her father is dead, and her mother lives 
 
98 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 in Illinois, where Mrs. Templetou also has two 
 sisters. Mr. Templeton is a Republican. 
 
 JOHN J. TIARKS, farmer, P. 0. Council 
 BlufTs, was born in Germany in 1848 ; son of 
 Henry and Mary Tiarks, both of whom died 
 when subject was young. He is the only child ; 
 was educated in Germany, and also went to 
 school in America. He came to this country 
 when eighteen years of age, and has no relatives 
 here. When first coming to America, he set- 
 tled in Jones County. Iowa, where he farmed 
 in summer and went to school in winter. In 
 1870. he returned to Germany, was married to 
 Lizzie Oltmanns, and then came to this county 
 ai)d settled on his present farm. When he first 
 took his farm, it was raw prairie ; he bought at 
 that time eighty acres, but has since added to 
 it. till he now has 5U0 acres, all inclosed by 
 fence, 200 acres being in pasture, with good im- 
 provements, buildings, orchard and small fruits. 
 He pays most of his attention to stock-raising, 
 feeding all his grain. In county elections, he 
 always selects what he thinks the best men, but 
 votes the Republican ticket in national elections. 
 He has four children, all boys. His wife's par- 
 ents are both in the old country. Mr. Tiarks 
 inherited enough money from his parents to 
 give him a good start in life. He has crossed 
 the ocean five times, taking his family over 
 to Germany for a visit in the winter of 
 1880-81. 
 
 T. W. VAN SCIEVER & BRO., farming, 
 P. 0. Council Bluffs, were born near Columbus. 
 Ohio, T. \V. in 1854, and C. L. in 18G0; sons 
 of George and Nancy (Romine) Van Sciever, 
 he born in Philadelphia in 1809, and she in 
 Virginia in 1814; both deceased; eight of the 
 famil}- are dead; our subjects have two broth- 
 ers and two sisters living in Ohio. T. W. and 
 brother commenced their education in the com- 
 mon schools, then T. W. attended the Agricult- 
 ural College of Columbus, Ohio, and afterward 
 
 read law at that place; C. L. continued his 
 studies in Shippensburg, Penn. The two 
 brothers began life farming and handling stock. 
 In 1881, they were engaged in the mercantile 
 business, and also the manfaeture of brick. 
 They started for Dakota, but arriving at Coun- 
 cil Bluffs changed their minds, and purchased 
 their present farm of 450 acres iu Pottawatta- 
 mie County partly improved. Thej- turn their 
 attention mostly to stock-raising, and intend 
 soon to devote their entire time to the raising 
 of Short-Horn cattle and Poland-China hogs. 
 They have an orchard of about three acres, 
 which they are enlarging; they are also setting 
 out groves. Mr. T. W. Van Sciever was mar- 
 ried, December 28, 1875, to Miss Addie B. 
 Smith, of Columbus, Ohio, daughter of Charles 
 C. and Lucy Smith, parents of six children, 
 of whom Mrs. Van Sceiver is the eklest. Her 
 father came to Columbus, Ohio, in 1861, where 
 he, in connection with his father, ran the larg- 
 est steam tannery in Central Ohio, furnishing 
 leather for the Government during the war. 
 Her father died in 1876; her mother lives iu 
 Columbus, Ohio, where she has also a brother 
 and sister, they and Mrs. Van Sciever being 
 the only surviving children. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Van Sciever have one child, a son four years 
 old. Mrs. Van Sciever attended Otterbein 
 Universitj', studying three years in the scien- 
 tific course. The Van Sciever Bros, trace their 
 origin to Holland, where their great-grand- 
 father was a Commodore, owning a line of ves- 
 sels, which ran between New York and Liver- 
 pool; he was also one of the first manufactur- 
 ers of shoes in Philadelphia; their grandfather 
 was a sea captain. Their father came to Frank- 
 lin Count}-; Ohio, when he was but nine j^ears 
 old, and lived there till his death, being one 
 of the first settlers of that couutv; one of his 
 sons now lives on the farm he first located on. 
 Our subjects are Democrats. 
 
GROVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 99 
 
 GEOVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BLANEY, farmer, P. O. Gris- 
 wolcl, Cass Co., Iowa, was born in New York 
 City Februar}' 17, 1835, son of John and Ros- 
 hanna (Crook) Blane^-, lie born in Ireland and 
 she in England, died on Long Island in 1865. 
 They had two children, both still living. Sub- 
 ject received a common school education ; com- 
 menced life as a carriage and wagon maker, and 
 married about 1853, in New Jersej-, Catharine 
 Noggle, born in New York September 3, 1816, 
 daughter of William and Leah (Bogart) Nog- 
 gle, both born in New York, and both died 
 there. Subject has held several township offices ; 
 worked for the United States Government from 
 1861 to August, 1863, repairing wagons at Ft. 
 .Monroe ; also in South Carolina in 1864. and 
 Nashville through the fall of 1864 and 1865. 
 In 1865, he went to Pennsylvania ; worked in 
 the oil regions until the winter of 1868, when 
 he went to Illinois, staying one month ; thence 
 to this county, in company with John Noggle ; 
 thence to W3'oming Territorj', where he worked 
 on the U. P. R. R. in the repair shops for one 
 year. Returning to this count}-, in 1869, he 
 bought fort}' acres of land at $5.50 per acre, 
 and now owns eighty acres, valued at S35 per 
 acre. There is a fine j'oung orchard, all kinds 
 of small fruits and a fine grove on the place. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Blane}* have two children — George 
 W. and Rosa — both born in New York City. 
 Subject is a Republican. 
 
 DAVID BOLTON, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in Virginia December 9, 1823, son 
 of Jacob and pjlizabeth (Insley) Bolton, both 
 born in Virginia. He died in Georgia about 
 1859, she in Iowa about 1873. They had nine 
 children, five of whom are living. Subject re- 
 ceived a common school education ; commenced 
 life at the age of twenty as a miller ; followed 
 
 this avocation about eight years ; millwright 
 for several years ; carpenter for about sixteen 
 years, and married Miss Martha A. Fisher, in 
 Virginia, on December 11, 1845, who was born 
 in that State July 29, and is a daughter of 
 Joseph and Mar}- (Catlet) Fisher, both born in 
 Virginia. She died in Iowa about 1868. Sub- 
 ject scouted for Gen. Cox for a short time in 
 1862, and drove his staff team awhile. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bolton have had ten children, nine of 
 whom are living. Mrs. Bolton was formerly a 
 member of the Baptist Church. He is a Re- 
 publican. In 1862, he moved from Virginia to 
 Cedar County, Iowa, renting a farm for his 
 boys, while he worked at his trade as a mill- 
 wright and carpenter, moving in 1875 to this 
 township, renting a farm for two years. He 
 then bought 160 acres at $8.12i^, which is now 
 valued at $30 per acre. It has fine improve- 
 ments, with about two acres of young orchard, 
 over one acre of mixed grove, about twenty 
 acres of natural timber and one mile of osage 
 hedge fence. There are also forty bearing 
 grapevines and a large quantity of raspberry 
 bushes. Mr. Bolton is now erecting a beautiful 
 two-story frame residence. The main building 
 is to be 32x16 feet, the L 26x14 feet, the cellar 
 the same size as the L ; five rooms above and 
 five below, the upper rooms corresponding in 
 size with those below ; a hall 6x16 feet on both 
 floors. The front rooms are to be 15x16 feet, 
 the bed rooms 11x8 feet, the kitchen 14x15 feet, 
 dining-room 14x11 feet. 
 
 GEORGE BOLTON, farmer. P.O. Macedonia, 
 born in Cedar Co., Iowa, December 9, 1840, son of 
 Wm, H,and Sarah (Southern) Bolton, he, a farm- 
 er, born in Virginia, died in Cedar County, 
 Iowa, in 1863; she, born in North Carolina in 
 April, 1808, is still living in Michigan, They 
 
100 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 had nine children, all of whom are living. Sub- 
 ject received a common school education ; com- 
 menced life as a farmer, and married in Iowa, 
 November 8, 1860, Miss Anna M. Pearce, bora 
 in Ohio March 20, 1838, daughter of Dennis 
 and Marj- (Pollock) Pearce, both natives of 
 Ohio. He died in Iowa, and she is still living. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bolton have had nine children, 
 viz., Charles E., A. W., Ida M., Minnie A. 
 (dead), L. D. (dead), P. K. (dead), Albert, Nel- 
 lie G. and James Garfield, all born in Iowa. 
 Subject has been Township Clerk, as well as 
 filling other offices ; is a member of the M. P. 
 Church, a Republican, an Odd Fellow, and 
 moved from Cedar Count}-, Iowa, to this countj' 
 in 1877 ; bought 240 acres of land at $18 per 
 acre, which is now valued at about $40 per 
 acre. There are about two acres of very fine 
 orchard, and other small fruits on the place. 
 
 J. W. CONNOR, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Crrove, born in Middlebury, Summit Co., Ohio, 
 July 11, 1847, son of Thomas and Elizabeth 
 (Thompson) Connor; he, born in County Kildare, 
 Ireland in 1810; came to America in 1842, set- 
 tling in the Western Reserve, Ohio, where he fol- 
 lowed his avocation of woolen manufacturing, 
 moving to Iowa in 1854, and settling on the farm 
 where he now lives in this township, having re- 
 tired from active business; she, born in York- 
 shire, England, in 1809, came to America in 1843, 
 just one year later than her husband; is still 
 living, and is the mother of three children, sub- 
 ject being the oldest son. Subject received a 
 limited common school education; he is a fine 
 conversationalist, being well read, very public- 
 spirited, encouraging any enterprise which is 
 for the public good, and commenced life as a 
 farmer, working on his father's farm for several 
 j-ears after his marriage, generally controlling 
 its affairs, but now he owns a farm of 110 acres 
 adjoining the old homestead, keeping him hap- 
 pily near his aged parents. Subject is a Re- 
 publican, though not a noisj' politician; and 
 married Miss Laura Peckenpaugh in this coun- 
 
 ty on October 1, 1871, born in Warren County, 
 111., on July 8, 1850, daughter of Louis B. and 
 Aurilla (Sellers) Peckenpaugh, he, born in Craw- 
 ford Count}', Ind., on August 6, 1826, emi- 
 grated to this State about 1854, settled at or 
 near Logan, Harrison County, this State, where 
 he lived till his death, which occurred Decem- 
 ber 6, 1856, leaving a wife and four small chil- 
 dren, which were cast upon the charit}' of the 
 world; she, born in Crawford County, Ind., May 
 19, 1826, is still living in this county. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Connor have two bright girls, viz., Minnie, 
 born August 22, 1872; and Kate, born August 
 21, 1874. Subject's farm is pleasantly located, 
 being five and a half miles southeast of Mace- 
 donia, and two miles southwest of Wheeler's 
 Grove Post Office, just east of Farm Creek, the 
 principal stream running through the township; 
 has forty-five acres of very beautiful, healthy 
 grove of natural young timber, consisting of 
 hickory, oak, walnut, elm and ash. The farm 
 cost about $1,500, and is now valued at about 
 $4,000. 
 
 ISAAC DENTON, farmer, P. O. Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in New York April 7, 1821, son 
 of James and Anna (Tillison) Denton, both 
 born in New York; he died in the same State 
 in 1825, and she in Iowa in 1862; they had 
 ten children. Subject received a common 
 school education; commenced life as an orphan 
 boj". working on the farm, and was married in 
 Michigan August 30, 1844, to Mary Etta Moore 
 born in Ohio November 26, 1829, daughter of 
 John and Phebe (Eddy) Moore, he, born in the 
 Eastern States, died in 1851; she, born in 
 Massachusetts, died in Iowa in 1874. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Denton have had nine children, four of 
 whom are living, viz.. Nancy, James, Frank 
 and Charle}-. Subject moved from Michigan 
 to Illinois in 1851; sis 3-ears later to Missouri; 
 in 1859, to Decatur County, Iowa, and the same 
 \-ear to this county, living on his brother's place 
 until 1860, when he bought forty acres of land 
 at $10 per acre, and now owns eight}' acres, val- 
 
GROVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 101 
 
 lied at $40 per acre. There is a fine grove, a 
 young orchard, and two good wells on the 
 place. Subject is a Republican and a Method- 
 ist. Williard, William and Wallace Denton 
 were triplets, born September 30, 1863, one of 
 whom lived nine days, another three weeks, and 
 the other five weeks. Two infants also were 
 born and died the same day, January 27, 1864, 
 by which it will be seen that the five children 
 were born within four months of each other, 
 one of the most remarkable circumstances ever 
 recorded in obstetrical historJ^ 
 
 JOHN HARDING, farmer, P. O. Wheelers 
 Grove, born in Wiltshire, England, December 
 28, 1820, son of John and Elizabeth (Hewer) 
 Harding, he born in Gloucestershire, England; 
 died in England about 1828; she born in Wilt- 
 shire, England, died in England April 3, 1848. 
 They had eight children, and as far is known 
 four are living. Subject received a common 
 school education; began life as a tenant farmer 
 in England; married Miss Louisa Trotman in 
 England about 1850, who was born there June 
 20, 1825, and is the daughter of Cornelius and 
 Ann (Reeves) Trotman, both born in England; 
 he died about 1869; she died in 1849. Subject 
 has been ever ready to serve his fellow-citizens, 
 and has held the offices of Trustee, School Di- 
 rector and Supervisor; is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, and came to this 
 county from England in 1866, buying 109 acres 
 of land, valued at about S6.80 per acre, and now 
 owns 270 acres, valued at about $28 per acre; of 
 this there are eighty or ninety acres of timber. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Harding have had the following 
 children— Ellen, Elizabeth, born May 29, 1853; 
 Mary, born December 1, 1854; Hester D., on 
 January 19, 1856; Bertha C, March 8, 1857; 
 August M., May 6, 1858; Finnetta, June 28, 
 1859; Fannie S. J., November 22, 1860; Robert 
 J., July 18, 1865; twin girls, October 15, 186,6, 
 and Thomas W., October 12, 1867. All were 
 born in England except the twin girls and 
 Thomas, who were born in this county. Hester 
 
 and Bertha were drowned in England Octo- 
 ber 21, 1858. The twins died in this county 
 October 26, 1866. Mary C. died May 4, 1869. 
 Fannie S. J. died April 6, 1880. 
 
 SAMUEL H. HOPKINS, farmer, P. 0. Mace- 
 donia, born in Michigan May 17, 1841, son of 
 Samuel and Philancy (Holt) Hopkins, he, a car- 
 penter, born in Vermont, died in Michigan in 
 1854; she, born in New York, died in Missouri 
 in 1863. They had five children, two of whom 
 are living. Subject received a common school 
 education, commenced life as a farmer, and 
 married Miss Emma Fayborn in Iowa, who was 
 born in Ohio in 1848, and is the daughter of 
 Wooster and Charlotte (McMillan) Faj'born; 
 he born in Vermont, she in Ohio; both are still 
 living. Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins have had four 
 children, viz.. Flora G., Herbert L. (died in 
 1872), Edith J. and lone, all born in this 
 county. Subject has filled almost all the town- 
 ship offices at different times, and enlisted in 
 Company B, Fifth Iowa Cavalr}' in 1861; mus- 
 tered out at Cairo, 111., in 1863; was in several 
 engagements in Kentucky and Tennessee; was 
 wounded four times, and carries three balls in 
 his bod3' now. He is a Republican, an Odd 
 Fellow, and a member of the M. P. Church; he 
 moved from Michigan to Illinois about 1857, 
 worked on the farm as a laborer until 1859, 
 when he moved to this count}-, working by the 
 month until he enlisted; bought forty acres of 
 land in 1863 at $7.50 per acre, and now owns 
 eighty acres in this township, valued at about 
 $35 per acre; there are ten acres of natural 
 timber and is well stocked. 
 
 PETER JAMISON, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Grove, was born in Ireland in 1844, sou of x\lex- 
 ander and Mary (Kain) Jamison, both born in 
 Ireland; he died April, 1882, and she is still 
 living. They were the parents of eleven chil- 
 dren, six of whom are living. Subject received 
 a common school education, began life as a 
 farmer, and was married to Miss Ellen Keegan, 
 December 6, 1876, a native of Ireland, born 
 
103 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 about 1852, and daughter of Patrick and Mary 
 (Dal}') Keegan. both natives of Ireland; he is 
 still living; she died in Ireland about 1874; 
 they had eleven children, four of whom are 
 living. Mr. and Mrs. Jamison have two chil- 
 dren — Mary, born October 5, 1877, and Alex- 
 ander, born June 18, 1880. Subject came from 
 Ireland to Knox County, 111., in 1866; from 
 thence to the Rock}- Mountains, hunting for 
 gold, which proved so successful that he went 
 back to Ireland on a visit to his parents for 
 three or four months; when he returned to this 
 countrj-, ho came to this count}-, and, in 1874, 
 bought 120 acres of land at $13.50 per acre, 
 which are now worth S35.00 per acre. There 
 is a fine ^oung orchard, and also some fine na- 
 tural timber on the place. Mr. Jamison is a 
 Democrat and a Freemason. 
 
 W. T. JOHxXSON, tarmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 CJrove, was born in Kentucky July 15, 1829, 
 son of Evander and Editha (Reedy) Johnson, 
 both born iu Kentucky, died in Illinois, he 
 about 1869, she about 1871. They had six 
 children, five of whom are living. Subject re- 
 ceived a common school education; commenced 
 life as a farmer, and married, iu March, 1855, 
 Elizabeth Dehort, born in Indiana in 1835, 
 daughter of Larkin and Sarah (Collet) Dehort. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children — 
 Leander, born in Illinois; William R., born in 
 April, 1873. Subject is a member of the Cum- 
 berland Presbyterian Church, a Democrat, a 
 member of the Vigilant Committee; and moved 
 from Warren Count}-, 111., to this county in 
 1870, and bought 160 acres of land for $15 per 
 acre; he now has about 400 acres, valued at 
 about $30 per acre. 
 
 E. J. McBRIDE, farmer, P. O. Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in Indiana April 9, 1850, .son of 
 William and Mary (Whitted) McBride; he, a 
 farmer, born iu North Carolina, is still living; 
 she, born iu North Caroline, died in Iowa in 
 1874. They were the parents of twelve chil- 
 dren, eight of whom are living. Subject re- 
 
 ceived a common school education; commenced 
 life as a farmer, and married, on February 11, 
 1875, in Iowa, Sarah L. Woody, born in Indi- 
 ana September 27, 1852, daughter of James and 
 Asenath (Maglemery) Woody; he, born in 
 North Carolina, died about 1877; she, born in 
 North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. McBride have 
 had three children, viz., Minnie May, born 
 March 5, 1876, died August 8, 1876; Annie M., 
 born August 8, 1879; William D., born Febru- 
 ary 2, 1882, all born in this county. Sub- 
 ject is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, a Democrat, and moved from Jasper 
 County, this State, to this county in 1873, and 
 broke prairie for other parties for two years, 
 then rented land for three years. In 1878, he 
 bought forty acres of land at $20 per acre, now 
 valued at $30 per acre. There is a small or- 
 chard, and about two acres of flue grove on the 
 farm. 
 
 A. M. MILLER, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Grove, was born in Tennessee in 1838, son of 
 John H. and Mary (Ewiug) Miller; he, born in 
 Tennessee, died in 1848; she, born in Tennes- 
 see, died in 1844. They had four children, sub- 
 ject being the only oue living. Subject re- 
 ceived a good education, having passed through 
 the high school, commencing life as a carpen- 
 ter, and was married, in this State, on Novem- 
 ber 23, 1865, to Naucy E. Garrett, born in Ohio 
 April 20, 1839, daughter of Robert and Sarah 
 I. (Patterson) Garrett; he, born in Pennsylva- 
 nia, died in 1855 ; she, born iu Tennessee, 
 died in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have 
 three children — Carrie, born November 18, 
 1867; Orion G., born October 10, 1869; Ar- 
 thur E., born July 13, 1872; all of them being 
 born in Davis County, this State. Subject is a 
 member of the C. P. Church; a Republican; 
 mustered in Company I, Thirteenth Iowa In- 
 fantry, November 2, 1861; mustered out at 
 Louisville, Ky., July 22, 1865; was in the 
 first battle of Shiloh, the two battles of Corinth, 
 Vicksburg, siege of Atlanta; Sherman's march 
 
GROVE TOWNSHIP. 
 
 103 
 
 to the sea, and the grand review. He has 
 held several township offices; moved from Ten- 
 nessee to Davis County. Iowa, in 1847; from 
 thence to this township in 1874; bought the 
 undivided half of 120 acres for $10 per acre, 
 and now has 120 acres valued at about $30 per 
 acre. There is a grove of natural timber, a 
 small orchard, and he is now erecting a fine 
 one-and-a half story building on his place. 
 
 G. B. OTTO, blacksmitli and farmer, P. 0. 
 Wheeler's Grove, born in Pennsj-lvania, May^ 
 1831, son of James and Mehetabel (Field) Otto ; 
 he, a farmer, boru in Pennsj'lvania in 1796, 
 died in Iowa in 1869 ; she, born in Delaware 
 in 1803, died in Iowa in 1880. They had 
 eleven children, eight of whom are living. Sub- 
 ject received a common-school education; com- 
 menced life as a blacksmith, and married, in 
 this county, in 1859, Sarah J. Pritchett, born in 
 Tennessee in 1841, daughter of John W. and 
 Lucinda (Traynor) Pritchett ; he died in 1845 
 and she in 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Otto have had 
 nine children, viiz. : John W., Harriet E. (dead), 
 Rebecca J., Iva E. and Eva I. (twins), James 
 B. (dead), Orpha A., Effle (dead) and Olive L. 
 Subject is a Democrat ; moved with his parents 
 from Pennsj-lvania to Ohio in 1837, then to 
 this county in 1851 ; about 1855, he bought 
 forty acres of land at S8 per acre, and now has 
 eighty acres valued at about $25 per acre; 
 there is a small orchard and other small fruits 
 on the place. 
 
 A. W. PEARCE, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in Richland County, Ohio, Sep- 
 tember 22, 1840, son of Dennis C. and Mary 
 (Pollock) Pearce ; he, a farmer, born in Ohio, 
 died in Scott Count}-, Iowa, about August, 
 1854 ; she, bom in Ohio in 1811. is still living. 
 They had nine children, seven of whom are 
 living. Subject received a common-school edu- 
 cation ; commenced life as a farmer, renting a 
 farm in Cedar County, Iowa, in 1866, and mar- 
 ried Miss Agnes Bolton, September 11, 1866, 
 who was born in Cedar County, Iowa, February 
 
 28, 1847, daughter of William H. and Sarah 
 (Southern) Bolton ; he, born in Virginia, died 
 in Cedar County, this State, in 1863 ; she, born 
 in North Carolina in 1810, is still living in 
 Michigan, Mr, and Mrs, Pearce have six chil- 
 dren, viz. : Merrill E., born July 13, 1867 ; 
 Mertie C, January 11, 1869 ; Estella K., Octo- 
 ber 29, 1872 ; Dessie I., February 23, 1877; 
 Ethel G., August 24, 1879, and Laura J., July 
 15, 1881. Subject enlisted in Company E, 
 Eleventh Iowa lufantry, on the 23d of Septem- 
 ber, 1861 ; discharged honorably, in Kentucky, 
 Jul}' 15, 1865 ; participated in several severe 
 engagements, such as the battles of Shiloh and 
 Vicksburg ; taken prisoner at Atlanta, Ga.. 
 July 22, 1864 ; was in prison seven months 
 and four days ; in Andersonville one month ; 
 Charleston two or three days and in Sumter 
 Prison, South Carolina, the balance of the 
 time. He has served his township as Clerk, 
 School Director, etc. ; is a member of the 'SI. E. 
 Church and moved with his parents from Ohio 
 to McLean County, 111. ; lived there one year ; 
 moved to Cedar County, this State, and in 1 869 
 he bought forty acres of land there, but sold out 
 and went to Polk County, Neb., in 1873, where 
 he took a homestead of 160 acres ; in 1875, he 
 sold out and came to this county, buying 120 
 acres of land at $10 per acre, but afterward 
 sold forty acres at about $17.75 per acre, and 
 now owns eighty acres valued at about $30 
 per acre, with a fine young orchard and about 
 four acres of natural timber on the place. 
 
 G. M. PUTNAM, farmer, P. 0. Carson, born 
 in New Hampshire in 1837, son of George and 
 Elizabeth (Perkins) Putnam ; he died in this 
 State, November 12, 1872 ; she is still living 
 in this State. They had nine children, eight 
 of whom are still living. Subject received a 
 common-school education, commenced life as a 
 farmer and was married in Illinois, in 1868, to 
 Emily A. Jackson, born December 16, 1842, 
 and daughter of William and Maria (Moulton) 
 Jackson, Mr, and Mrs, Putnam have six chil- 
 
104 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 dren, viz. : Fred, Edith, William, Mjrtle, 
 Blanche and Francis. Subject has held some 
 township offices ; is a member of the M. E. 
 Church, a Republican ; enlisted in Companj- A, 
 Seventy-fifth Illinois Infantry ; mustered out 
 June, 18G5 ; was in the battles of Stone River, 
 Perryville, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, 
 Kenesaw. Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville, Tenn., 
 and others. He moved from New Hampshire 
 to Illinois in 1853, thence to Iowa in 1873, 
 when he bought 1 60 acres of land for $9 per acre, 
 which is worth at least 830 per acre. There is 
 a. small young orchard of about one acre and 
 some natural and artificial timber on the place. 
 ISOM REYNOLDS, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in North Carolina January 16, 
 1847, son of Wilson and Nancy (Spurling) 
 Reynolds, both born in North Carolina ; he, 
 a farmer, is probably still living ; she is still 
 living. They had eight children, four of whom 
 are living. Subject received a common-school 
 education ; commenced life as a laborer on the 
 farm, and was married in this county, Novem- 
 ber 11, 1875, to Miss Cornelia J. Foot, born in 
 Ohio October 25, 1851, daughter of Adonijah 
 and Elizabeth (Bedell) Foot ; he, born in New 
 York ; she, in New Jersey ; both are still 
 living. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have two chil- 
 dren, viz. : Eva Elnora, born in this county, 
 January 20, 1877. and Hermie Blanche, also 
 born in this county, March 26, 1878. Subject 
 is a member of the Christian Church, a Repub- 
 lican, a Vigilante and was drafted into Company 
 D, North Carolina Infantry, remaining three or 
 four months when he was sent home on a sick 
 furlough, and the war closing before his return, 
 this ended his military career. He moved from 
 North Carolina to Hardin County, Iowa, about 
 1870, working as a hired man, moving in 1872 
 to this county, where he leased land until about 
 1874, when he bought eighty acres at §10 per 
 acre, which is now worth S30 per acre. There 
 is a fine 3'oung orchard of one and one-half 
 acres, a mixed grove of the same amount and 
 
 a large quantity of the smaller fruits on the 
 place. 
 
 COLUMBUS REYNOLDS, farmer, P. 0. 
 Carson, born in North Carolina November 12, 
 1848, son of Wilson and Nancy (Spurling) 
 Reynolds; he. a farmer, born in North Carolina, 
 is still living; she, born in the same place, is 
 also still living. They had eight children, four 
 of whom are living. Subject received a com- 
 mon school education; commenced life as a 
 farmer, working for others, and married, in 
 Iowa, September 16, 1872, Sarah Wilson, born 
 in Indiana July 10, 1851, daughter of William 
 T. and Anna (Pemberton) Wilson; he, born in 
 North Carolina August 22, 1821; she, born in 
 Indiana August 17, 1827, died October, 1872. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have three children, 
 viz., Nancy R., Laura J. and Anna E., all born 
 in this county. He is a Christian, a Republi- 
 can, an Odd Fellow; and moved from North 
 Carolina to Whitesides Countj', 111., in 1867, 
 working for the farmers; in the fall, he moved 
 to Hardin County, Iowa; worked by the month 
 until 1868, when he moved to this couut3- and 
 leased land for a few years. In 1872, he 
 bought eighty acres of land at $10 per acre; 
 now owns 240 acres valued at $45 per acre. 
 There is a very fine orchard of about three 
 acres, a large quantity of small fruits, and a 
 very beautiful, large two-story residence on the 
 farm. In 1880, he was damaged to the extent 
 of $800 by the cyclone, which passed through 
 this region on June 9, 1880; some of his horses 
 were blown eight}- rods; his cattle, hogs and 
 chickens were blown all over the prairie for a 
 distance of at least a mile. 
 
 JOHN JACKSON RODENBOUGH, farmer, 
 P. 0. Wheeler's Grove; born in New Jersey, 
 June 10, 1832, son of George S. and Elizabeth 
 (Jackson) Rodenbough, both natives of New 
 Jersey; he, a shoemaker, was born about 1802, 
 is still living; she died in August, 1878. They 
 had twelve children, ten of whom are living. 
 Subject received a common school education, 
 
GROVE TOWXSHIP. 
 
 105 
 
 commeueed life as a farmer, and was married 
 the first time in Illinois, in 1S39, to !Mary A. 
 Axtel, who died in 1872, and was a daughter 
 of Thomas and Sarah (Robb) Axtel, of Penn- 
 s\-lvania, who are both dead. In Illinois, in 
 1873, he took for his second wife Eunice Dilley, 
 born in Pennsj'lvania in 1839, and daughter of 
 William Dillej-, bora in Pennsylvania, and who 
 still lives. There are four children by the first 
 marriage, viz., Wilbert E., George T., Flora B. 
 and Hattie, and three bj- the second wife, viz., 
 Mary A. E.. William H. and Janetta, all liv- 
 ing. Subject is a member of the Methodist 
 Protestant Church; a Republican; and moved 
 from New Jersey to Illinois about 1863; from 
 thence to this county in 18G7; broke prairie; 
 worked on the railroad, and, about 1870, bought 
 fortj' acres at $10 per acre; he now owns 120 
 acres, valued at about S35 per acre. There is 
 a small orchard, and forty acres of brush and 
 timber on the place. He has six first-class 
 horses, eighteen j'ouug cattle and fifty hogs. 
 
 C. G. STARR, farmer, P. 0. Carson, born in 
 Ohio in 1823, son of Josiah and Mary (Cannon) 
 Starr; he, a farmer and shoemaker, born in 
 Connecticut in 178(5, died in Ohio in 1862; 
 she, born in Massachusetts in 1788, died in 
 Ohio in 1874. They were the parents of eight 
 children. Subject received a common school 
 education; began life as a farmer, also as a 
 cooper, and was married in Ohio, in 1850, to 
 Susan Williamson, born in Ohio in 1833, daugh- 
 ter of Palmer and Amy (Horton) Williamson, 
 both born in New York; he in 1802, she in 
 1804. Mr. and Mrs. Starr have five children, 
 viz., Ella, Warner, Palmer, Mabel and Lylburn, 
 Subject's business has been farming, though he 
 has been a cooper, a tanner, and also been in 
 the saltpeter business as well as a Justice of 
 the Peace. He moved from Lake County, HI., 
 to this county in the spring of 1868, the trip 
 having been made in a covered wagon, and oc- 
 cupying three weeks. He moved onto his own 
 land, having bought it two years previous for 
 
 $3 per acre; the same land is now worth $35 
 per acre. Mr. Starr is a Republican. 
 
 AUGUSTUS J. ST. CLAIR, farmer, P. O. 
 Macedonia, born in Logan, 111., October 21, 1856, 
 a great-grandson of Gen. St. Clair, of Revolu- 
 tionary fame, and son of Joseph N. and Melissa 
 Ann (Briggs) St. Clair, he, a carpenter by ti-ade, 
 born in New York, died in Kansas July 4, 1872 ; 
 she, born in Vermont in 1828, is still living ; 
 they had eight children, all of whom are living. 
 Subject received a common-school education ; 
 began life as a farmer and married in Kansas, 
 on January 1, 1880, Lenora C. Penu, born jn 
 California, February 21, 1856, daughter of 
 Josiah W. and Martha A. (Clark) Penn ; he, 
 born in Tennessee June 21, 1827, died in 
 Missouri, October 15, 1870 ; she, born in Ohio 
 August 9, 1829, is still living. Mr. and Mrs. 
 St. Clair have one child. Bertha, born Jul}- 25, 
 1881. Subject is a Christian and a Democrat; 
 and moved from Illinois to Crawford County, 
 Kan., in 1872, farming on his own land and 
 trading in cattle until 1881, when he moved to 
 to this county and shortly afterward rented 
 the farm on which he now lives and which he 
 contemplates buying soon. There are about 
 fourteen acres of natural timber, 100 head of 
 sheep and other stock on the place. 
 
 THOMAS SHEETS, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in Seneca County, Ohio, December 
 6, 1835, son of Greenberry and Marcella (Petti- 
 cord) Sheets ; he, born in Maryland in 1788, 
 emigrated to Ohio when about twenty-seven 
 years old, settled on a farm, improved it and 
 remained there till his death, about 1847 ; she, 
 born in Maryland in 1795, died in Ohio in 
 1877, and was mother of nine children, three 
 of whom are living. Subject received a com- 
 mon-school education ; began life at sixteen 
 years of age as a stock trader, buying for W. 
 H. Gibson, of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, for about 
 four years ; emigrating to Belmont, Wright 
 County, this State, working for various com- 
 panies as a fur trader for about ten years. 
 
106 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 when he moved to Wheeler's Grove, this town- 
 ship, where he bought eight\- acres of land, 
 but now owns 200 ; has devoted his attention 
 largely to dealing in real estate. Subject is a 
 Republican, a Freemason, has been a member 
 of the Board of Supervisors and held various 
 other township and county offices. Mr. Sheets 
 married Miss Emma Dumond. of Wright 
 County, Iowa, January 1, 1860, born in Lake 
 County, Ind., July 22, 1841, daughter of Archey 
 and Elizabeth (Martin) Dumond ; he, a farmer 
 and saw-miller, born in Seneca County, Ohio, in 
 1803, emigrated to Michigan, thence to Indiana, 
 thence to Iowa in 1855, where he owned a saw- 
 mill and followed fiirming, died in 1857 ; she, 
 born in Ohio about 1808, is still living in 
 Harper County, Kan. Mr. and Mrs. Sheets 
 have had six children, three of whom are living, 
 viz., Llewellyn, Earl and Almira. 
 
 ABRAHAM SMITH, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in Macedonia Township, this coun- 
 ty, on June 29, 1849, son of John and Sarah 
 (Winegar) Smith ; he, born in Union County, 
 S. C, in February, 1800, died in Iowa, February 
 25, 1870 ; she, born in Pennsylvania in 1801, 
 died in this State November 15, 1880. The}' 
 had four children, three of whom are living. 
 Subject received a common-school education ; 
 commenced life as a painter, following the 
 trade for fourteen jears, and was married in 
 Montgomery County, Januarj' 1, 1874, to Olive 
 Malissa Knapp, born at Wheeler's Grove, this 
 count}', August 5, 1855, daughter of Edward 
 W. and Charlotte Malissa (Otto) Knapp ; he, 
 born in Michigan, in 1810, is still living ; she, 
 in Ohio, in 1816, is still living. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Smith have had four children, viz. : Janie 
 Belle, born February 26, 1876 ; Mabel Grace, 
 born December 29, 1877 ; Abraham Clifford, 
 born March 16, 1879, died January 6, 1880 ; 
 Paul George, born November 19, 1881. Sub- 
 ject is a Republican, a Vigilante, a member of 
 the L. D. S. ; commenced about 1868 to farm 
 on his father's place ; a year later, he returned 
 
 to his trade ; in 1881, he bought fortj- acres of 
 laud at $30 per acre, and now owns about 
 sixty-five acres valued at $35 per acre ; there 
 are twelve acres of natural timber, a fine young 
 orchard and other fruits on the place. He is 
 also engaged in the apiar}- business, having 
 thirtj'-two stands of bees. 
 
 JOHN D. TEDRO, farmer, P. 0. Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in Westmoreland County, Penn , 
 October 17, 1845, son of Leonard and Naucj' 
 (Carpenter) Tedro ; he, born in Somerset 
 County, Penn., December 22, 1810, is still liv- 
 ing ; she, born in Westmoreland Count}', Penn., 
 September 26, 1809, died June 23, 1847. They 
 had eight children, six of whom are living. 
 Subject received a common-school education ; 
 commenced life as a farmer, and married Miss 
 Sarah Stevick in Lee Count}-, this State, No- 
 vember 1, 1866 ; born in Harrisburg, Penn., 
 December, 7, 1846, daughter of David and 
 Mary (Zarker) Stevick ; he, born in Harris- 
 burg, Penn., still living ; she, born in Harris- 
 burg, Penn., about 1828, died in this State in 
 April, 1861. Mr. and Mrs. Tedro have had 
 four children, viz. ; Frank B., born August 
 16, 1867 ; Cora Bell, born June 7, 1869. died 
 January 11, 1870 ; Alice N., born July 4, 1871 ; 
 Judd, born October 17, 1880. Subject enlisted 
 in Company L, First Iowa Cavalry, at West 
 Point, this State, March 26, 1864 : was in sev- 
 eral engagements, and was discharged February 
 16, 1866, at Austin, Texas. He moved with 
 his parents from Pennsylvania to Lee County, 
 this State, in 1855; in 1867, he moved to Mont- 
 gomery County, this State, and rented land 
 for two years ; moving in 1870 to this town- 
 ship, bought eighty acres of land at $12.50 per 
 acre, and now owns 160 acres valued at $30 
 per acre ; there is about one acre of fine young 
 orchard, five acres of grove, consisting of 
 maple, ash, Cottonwood, sycamore, box-elder 
 and elm ; there are also grape vines, a consid- 
 erable amount of small fruits and one and one- 
 quarter miles of osage and locust fence. 
 
HARDIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 107 
 
 L. D. WOODMANSEE, merchant, Wheeler's 
 Grove, born in New Jersey March 21, 1833; he 
 emigrated with his father's family to Ohio in 
 1843, and remained there till 1858, then emi- 
 grated to Illinois, and settled in Logan Coun- 
 ty, where he followed farming till coming to 
 Iowa in 1864, when he settled in Pottawattamie 
 County, three miles north of Macedonia. He 
 owned a portion of the land now occupied by 
 the town of Carson in Pattawattamie County; 
 from there he went into the mercantile business 
 in old Macedonia in 18GG. but continued in 
 charge of a farm of 160 acres south of Mace- 
 donia; this business was continued for three 
 years, when he sold out, and bought a grist- 
 mill on East Nishuabotna River, in Jlontgomery 
 County, Iowa. He continued in the milling 
 business one year, then traded for a farm in 
 Pottawattamie County, near Wheeler's Grove, 
 on Farm Creek. He remained on that farm 
 till 1875, and then opened the mercantile busi- 
 ness at Wheeler's Grove, where he conducts 
 mercantile, stock and agricultural business; 
 
 he owns 567 acres adjoining the town of Wheel- 
 er's Grove. His father, John Woodmansee, 
 was born in New Jersey in 1804; he emigrated 
 to Shelby County, Ohio, in 1843; has always 
 been a farmer, and still lives on the farm on 
 which he first settled; his mother, Harriet 
 (Piatt) Woodmansee, was born in New Jersey 
 about 1813. She is the mother of seven chil- 
 dren, of whom six are living, three being in 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Mr. Woodman- 
 see has been Township Clerk, and is now Jus- 
 tice of the Peace. ■ Mr. Woodmansee married 
 Mary Niswanger, of Shelby County, Ohio, Feb- 
 ruary 7, 1858; she was born April 18, 1836; 
 her father, Samuel Niswanger, was born in 
 Greene County, Ohio, in 1806; her mother, 
 Nanc}- Scarf, was born in Greene County, 
 Ohio, and died in 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Wood- 
 mansee have three children — Hattie Alice, 
 Laura E. and Edith S., whose ages are re- 
 spectively twenty-three, twentj--two and four- 
 teen. Mr. Woodmansee is a staunch Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 HARDIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 J. C. BARNARD, farmer, P. O. Snapp, 
 was born October IS, 1820, in Hnntsville, 
 Ala. , and is the son of Timothy and Eliza- 
 beth (Daniel) Barnard. Both of his parents 
 •were born in Massachusetts. Father died in 
 1829; mother in 1856. The family consisted 
 of four brothers, one of whom was killed in 
 the army. Mr. Barnard was educated in the 
 common schools of Illinois. Began life with 
 farming, and has followed it most of the time 
 since; however, he has been in the mercantile 
 business for a short while at different times. 
 He has voted the Republican ticket ever since 
 Fort Sumter was fired on. In lSr)4, he was 
 married to Miss Abbie Sanford, who was bom 
 ir Michigan, and is the daughter of Joel H. 
 
 and Anna M. (Ragan) Sanford; father born 
 in New York State, but mother came across 
 the water from Ireland when she was a baby. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Barnard both joined the Meth- 
 odist Chiu-ch in Warren, 111., about the 
 year 1856. Mi\ Barnard is a member of the 
 Masonic order, Lodge No. 36, Illinois; be- 
 came a member in 1850. In 1821, he moved 
 to Illinois with his parents. They settled in 
 Franklin County, and lived there till he was 
 about twenty-five years old, and then went to 
 the north part of the State, settling in Jo 
 Daviess County; bought about nine hundi-ed 
 acres of land, which had just been opened to 
 the public. Here he followed fanning, with 
 the exception of a year or two, in which he 
 
108 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 was in business in Warren, 111., till he came 
 to his present farm in Hardin Township in 
 1865. Here he farmed till in the fall of 1877 ; 
 then rented his place and went into the har- 
 ness business in Avoca, Pottawattamie Coun- 
 ty. Here he built up a good trade, having 
 several men in his employ, but the health of 
 family required a change, so, in the spring 
 of 1881, he closed out business and spent 
 the year in Colorado, and then retiu'ned to 
 his farm. Mr. and Mrs. Barnard's lives have 
 been saddened by the loss of five of their 
 children. The oldest son, Albert, born De- 
 cember 16, 1855, resides now at Avoca, Iowa, 
 where he has been in the photograph busi- 
 ness, but which, on account of ill health, he 
 has had to give up; Charlie, born in 1860, 
 died at four months old; Delia, born in 1863, 
 died at six months old; Gracie, born in 1875, 
 died at four years old; Frank Barnard, after 
 reaching the age of twenty-one years, died 
 June 23,. 1879; and Clara Bell died April 22, 
 1880, in her seventeenth year. Frank and 
 Clara Bell were both members of the Meth- 
 odist Church at Avoca, as is also Eva, who 
 was bom in 1871, and is now at home with 
 her parents. It has always been Mr. Bar- 
 nard's aim to give his children a good edu- 
 cation, and in this he would have succeeded 
 if death had not intercepted. Mr. Barnard 
 has a farm of 240 acres, well improved, an 
 orchard of 600 apple trees, besides other 
 fruits, all in bearing. Some of the apple 
 trees have been bearing about nine years. 
 Mr. Barnard started in life with but little 
 property, but, by hard work and economy, he 
 has accumulated quite a property, but is not 
 in sufficient health to take charge of his farm, 
 so he rents it. Mr. Barnard has had seven 
 children born to him. two of whom are liv- 
 ing — Albert L. and Eva; those dead are 
 Frank, Charles, Clara Bell, Delia and 
 Grace. 
 
 FREDERICK BOLLMEIER, farmer, P. 
 O. Council Bluffs, was born in Prussia in 
 1850. Is the son of Frederick W. and Char- 
 lotte (Mahler) Bollmeier, who were farmers, 
 and lived and died in Gei-many, his 
 mother dying in 1861, and father in 1880. 
 Mr. Bollmeier has one brother and two 
 sisters, one sister being in Pennsylvania, 
 while the others remain in the old country. 
 He was educated in his native country, and 
 worked at diiferent employments till he came 
 to America in 1868 ; then worked three years 
 in the rolling-mills in Pittsburgh. Penn. In 
 1871, he came to Cedar County, Iowa, and 
 worked on a farm for some time, and then 
 to Mills County, farming there for over a 
 year, then to Pottawattamie County in 1873; 
 worked on a farm by the month. In 1875, 
 he bought a farm of eighty acres, and moved 
 onto the same in 1876, and added to his farm 
 till now he has 140 acres. Mr. Bollmeier 
 does not take much interest in political affairs; 
 has never voted for President but once, but 
 then voted the Democratic ticket. In 1871, 
 he was married to Miss Caroline Luker, who 
 came from near his old home in 1868. Her 
 parents are living in this country; also she 
 has two brothers and one sister living in 
 America. They have two boys and one daugh- 
 ter. Mr. Bollmeier and wife were brought 
 up in the Lutheran Church, and ai-e members 
 of the same church now. When they came 
 to their farm in 1876, it was open prairie, 
 but now the whole farm is under cultivation. 
 and considerable improvements have been 
 made. Mr. Bollmeier is doing general farm- 
 ing, and has made all he has by his own in- 
 dustry. 
 
 L. W. CARLISLE, farmer, P. O. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in 1836 in Ohio, and is the 
 son of John and Ann E. (Baldwin) Carlisle, 
 who were also born in Ohio. He is the son 
 of a farmer, and has two brothers and two 
 
HARDIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 109 
 
 sisters, all living in this county. He was 
 educated in the common schools of his na- 
 tive State, and began life as a farmer. In 
 1861, Ml-. Carlisle enlisted with the Fifty- 
 fourth Ohio Regiment, Second Brigade, Sec- 
 ond Division of Fifteenth Ai-my Corps. He 
 continued in the army till 1865, when peace 
 was again established. He had one brother 
 in the army for some time. Both came out 
 with scarcely a scratch. He has always voted 
 the Republican ticket. In the year 1860, he 
 was first married, to Cecilia Stuart, who was 
 born in Ohio in 1838. Both of her parents 
 died while she was quite small. His wife 
 died in 1872. They have two children, both 
 living in Pottawattamie County. Iowa. In 
 1868, he moved from Ohio to this State, and 
 stayed here till 1879, farming most of the 
 time. Then he went to Ohio, sold his farm 
 on Silver Creek, this county, and stayed in 
 Ohio till 1881. when he was again married, 
 to Miss Louisa Standish, of Ohio, and came 
 here to live, fanning for the season on Mr. 
 Baj-nard's farm, in Hardin Township. Mr. 
 Cai'lisle's life has been one of quiet, it being 
 spent mostly on a farm. In 1859 he took a 
 trip to Pike's Peak, but soon returned. 
 
 H. A. DONER, farmer, P. O. Council 
 Bluffs. One of the most successful young 
 men in Hardin Township is Mr. H. A. Do- 
 ner, who was born in Wayne County, Ohio, 
 in 1850. He is the son of Henry and Aman- 
 da (Johnson) Doner. He is one of six broth- 
 ers and thi-ee sisters, one brother and one sis- 
 ter being dead. In August, 1851, his father 
 moved from Ohio to Northeastern Indiana, 
 then, after a stay of eleven years, moved back 
 to Ohio, going to Defiance County; lived 
 there three years, then sold out and came to 
 Jasper County, Iowa, and lived there till his 
 death, in 1868. On account of these changes, 
 INIr. Doner attended the common schools in 
 Indiana, Ohio and Iowa. He has always fol- 
 
 lowed his father's occupation — that of farm- 
 ing — and is a Republican in politics. His 
 mother is now living in Mills County, Iowa. 
 In 1871, he went to Bureau County, 111. 
 where he worked on a fann for about six 
 years, and then came to Pottawattamie Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, and bought, in j^artnership with his 
 brother, a quarter-section of land, pju-t of 
 which was improved to some extent. They 
 then divided the land, each taking an eighty- 
 acre lot. Since that time, Mr. H. A. Doner 
 has added to his farm, till now it consists of 
 320 acres, all under cultivation, well stocked 
 and considerably improved. In 1882, he 
 was married to Laura Swarts, of Potta- 
 wattamie County. Her mother is dead, but 
 her father lives in Mills County. She has 
 one brother living, and one dead. Mr. Do- 
 ner attributes his success in life to hard work, 
 early and late, and a fixed determination to 
 succeed. 
 
 HENRY HARTING, farmer, P. O. Coun- 
 cil Blidls, was born in Germany in 1842, son 
 of Frederick and Mary (Lietsmith) Harting: 
 he, a farmer and laborer, born in Germany, 
 moved to this country about 1845, lived at 
 York. Penn. , till 1867, when he came to this 
 county, and died August 17, 1878; she, also 
 born in Germany, is still living in this town- 
 ship, and was the mother of three sons and 
 two daughters. Subject received his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of York, Penn.; 
 commenced life as a blacksmith, and married, 
 in York, Penn., September 10, 1865, Rebecca 
 Fahs, bom in York County, Penn., daughter 
 of John and Mary Fahs, of York, Penn. Mr. 
 and !Mi's. Hai'ting are the pai'ents of the fol- 
 lowing children, viz. : Mary Jane, born 
 April 20. 1866; Clara H., February 17, 1868; 
 Charles Henry, December 10, 1869; Fannie 
 F., July 20, 1878. Subject is a Democrat; 
 worked for some time in a blacksmith shop; 
 one year in the rolling-mills; seven years in 
 
110 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 the boiler shops; leaving the shop, he came 
 here in 1870, and has followed farming since 
 1871. He came to America with his parents 
 when about two and a half years old; lived 
 in York, Penn,, until he came to this State to 
 see his parents, who had come here some time 
 before. In the following year, he brought 
 his family out, farmed on his mother's place 
 until 1877, when he removed to his present 
 place, which, at that time, consisted cf eighty 
 acres, since adding to it until now he has a 
 farm of 280 acres, all under fence, and over 
 half in cultivation. He has improved his 
 farm, and has a small apple orchard and 
 other fruits. 
 
 G. A. HEYWOOD, farmer, P. O. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Vermont December 25, 
 1835; is the son of Jonathan D. and Chris- 
 tina (Mathewson) Heywood. His father was 
 born in Massachvisetts. He was a far;, er on 
 the side of the Green Mountains, biit is now 
 living in Pottawattamie County. His mother 
 is dead. Father joined the Mormons in Ver- 
 mont, but mother's 2>eople were Quakers, and 
 shewoiild not join the Mormons. But his fa- 
 ther sold out and followed the MoiTQons to 
 Nauvoo, 111., although it was against the will 
 of his mother. There they had a farm and 
 town property, and were living here at the 
 time of the uprising of the mob which drove 
 them out. One evening, while his father and 
 mother were standing on the porch, two Mor- 
 mons rode by ai-med, a strap by which the 
 gun was carried broke and let the gun fall to 
 the ground; in striking, it was discharged; 
 one buckshot striick his mother in the neck, 
 while another struck her in the back and 
 glanced to the side. For some time they 
 despaired of her life, but she finally recov- 
 ered. Soon after this accident, the mob sur- 
 rounded their house, took Mr. Haywood's fa- 
 ther and sent him across the river to the Iowa 
 side, and gave him warning that if he re- 
 
 turned they would kill him. He did return, 
 however, was captured, taken to the temple, 
 and, while one was sent for a warrant for his 
 arrest, others watched him, but, before the 
 warrant was procured, he escaped and crossed 
 the river. One night, a few days after this, he 
 again returned, to try and persuade his wife 
 to go to Council Bluffs with the Mormons, 
 but she refused to follow them any farther, 
 BO he returned, but afterward sent a neigh- 
 bor's boy over to the Illinois side, and this 
 boy induced Mr. Q. A. Heywood and his two 
 brothers to go down to the river, and there 
 was a man in a skiff who asked them to take 
 a ride, which they did; he rowed them across 
 to the Iowa side, and there they found their 
 father waiting for them. He took them in a 
 wagon and drove off some distance, and left 
 them with a Mormon family. A short time 
 after this, he went back one nisrht and eot 
 his little daughter, who was about six months 
 old at that time. She was soon afterward re- 
 turned to her mother, however. The father 
 and thi-ee sons came to Western Iowa with 
 the Mormons. Mr. Heywood remembers see- 
 ing the Mormons make chain shot and fire it 
 at the mob, with a cannon made from a cast- 
 iron steamboat shaft, being cut into and one 
 end filled up. His mother, after recovering 
 from the wound, still lived in Nauvoo for 
 about five years ; was then married, and 
 moved to Eastern Iowa, and lived there till 
 her death, about fifteen years after the time 
 of the mob. Her daughter, who had been 
 with her all the time, was now almost woman- 
 grown, but did not know that she had any 
 brothers. The mother had kept the place of 
 her residence a secret from Mr. Heywood's 
 father, for fear that he would tiy to get their 
 daughter. Just before ilr. Heywood's moth- 
 er's death, she told her daughter of her fa- 
 ther and brothers, and told her where they 
 were, and where some letters were which she 
 
HARDIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 Ill 
 
 had received from her sons through their 
 aunt in Vermont. Laura, the daughter, then 
 made herself known to her father and brothers, 
 and, soon after this, the father and youngest 
 brother went to see her, and soon afterward 
 she came to her father's, but did not live 
 there long till she was married to John Kel- 
 ley, of Jasper Coimty, Iowa, and is now liv- 
 ing there. Thus the family circle was broken 
 up on account of religious beliefs; on all 
 other subjects, there was perfect harmony. 
 But Mr. Heywood's father thought it his duty 
 to follow the chui'ch in its varied changes, 
 while his mother could not think the same. 
 His father was afterward cut oil" from the 
 church because he called Taylor a rascal, so 
 he did not follow them to Salt Lake. The 
 family came here about 1847. (It was in the 
 fall, after the first Mormon emigration in the 
 spring.) They settled on land which Mr. 
 Heywood's father now owns. In the settle- 
 ment, there were about eighty families, on as 
 many acres. All the houses were log huts, 
 and they called it Springville. They had 
 their schools and churches, but, when the 
 Mormons moved to Salt Lake, the Heywood 
 family was all that was left in the place. 
 The first year they had to live mostly on 
 coru-meal and game. Everything cost a 
 high price, and there was no money and no 
 work; but, after the first crop, which was 
 good, they got along without any trouble. 
 With a few exceptions, Mr. Heywood is as 
 old a settler as is in the county. He was 
 married, in 1857, to Miss Martha J. Allen, 
 daughter of Russell and Sarah (Ray) Allen; 
 she was bom in Indiana; parents both dead. 
 They have three sons and seven daughters. 
 Mr. Heywood has not as large a farm as many, 
 but there are few farms in Hardin Township 
 which show more care than his does. He has 
 been on his present place for twelve years; 
 has an apple orchard of 250 trees in bearing. 
 
 besides various other kinds of fruits. His 
 orchards and shade trees have been out ten 
 years, and some of them measure in diame- 
 ter as much as eighteen inches. 
 
 V. R. J. MORRIS, farmer, P. O. Weston, 
 was born in Des Moines County, this State. 
 March 3, 1840, son of William and Catha- 
 rine (Cothran) Morris, she a widow, he a na- 
 tive of New York; was a farmer, and one of 
 the pioneers of Iowa, coming in 1836; he died 
 in 1867, at the age of eighty- four years. 
 The mother died in 1843. Our subject was 
 their only child, but he had a half-brother 
 and a half-sister, the result of his father's 
 subsequent marriage. Our subject received 
 a common-school education in this State, and 
 started in life as a farmer. He was married 
 in his native county, April 13, 1861, to Isa- 
 bella Allison, born in Ireland March 17, 
 1840. daughter of John and Elizabeth (Barr) 
 Allison, natives also of Ii-eland, he still liv- 
 ing; she died June 30, 1865. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Morris have had five children — Sai'ah Jane, 
 Elizabeth Catharine (deceased), William 
 Leslie, Elbert Garner and Van Rensselaer. 
 Our subject enlisted, in 1864, in the Fif- 
 teenth Iowa Infantrv, and served till the close 
 of the war. He served on detached duty with 
 Sherman in his march to the sea, and was 
 mustered out at Louisville, Ky, He came to 
 his present place in 1873, previous to which, 
 however, he had traveled for some two years 
 in Missouri and elsewhere. He purchased 
 160 acres of unimproved land, on which he 
 lived for two years, when he moved to Coun- 
 cil Bluffs on account of family sickness, there 
 being no physicians in the surrounding coun- 
 try at that time. He remained in the latter 
 city for three years, and then returned to his 
 farm, on which he has since remained. He 
 has formerly raised gi-ain principally, but is 
 now giving extensive attention to stock. Mr. 
 Morris has held several township and school 
 
112 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 offices. In politics, he is a Republican, and a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity. 
 
 CHARLES C. PLATNER, farmer and 
 stock-raiser, P. O. Council Bluffs, born in 
 Council Blufifs, this State, Februaiy 3, 1856, 
 son of Ira and Elizabeth (Blair) Platner, both 
 still living in Council Bluffs, he born in 
 New York, she in this State. Subject has 
 one full brother, two half-brothers and one 
 half-sister; was educated in Council Blufifs; 
 commenced life as a farmer in 1878; married, 
 in Council Bluffs, September 21, 1881. Miss 
 Anna B. Smith, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, 
 daughter of H. A. and Maria (Kistler) Smith. 
 Subject came to his mother's farm of 320 
 acres in 1878, and has since been farming 
 and stock-raising, dealing in cattle and 
 thoroughbred horses; has Lottie Moon, four 
 of her colts, and other thoroughbred horses. 
 He has improved the farm, which is one of 
 the finest in the township. 
 
 "WILLIAM F. PLUNKET, farmer, P. O. 
 Council Bluffs. In the fall of 1870, when 
 Mr. "William F. Plunket became a resident of 
 Hardin Township, the country was settled by 
 but a few farmers and stock men. Choosing 
 one of the finest locations in the township, 
 Mr. Plunket has devoted his time and energj' 
 to the development of a fine farm, and he has 
 succeeded admirably. He first bought 200 
 acres, but has since added forty acres to his 
 original purchase, and now has what is gen- 
 erally conceded to be the finest farm in Har- 
 din Township. For four years after purchas- 
 ing the farm, he lived in a small hut, occu- 
 pied by the original owner, Mr. E. A. Hu- 
 ber. He then erected his present residence, 
 the main part of which is 16x26 feet and two 
 stories, with a sixteen-foot post. The L, or 
 wing, is 11x16 feet. A fine cellar, walled 
 with brick, is under the main building. His 
 barn, which is the finest in the township, is 
 an old-fashioned frame, and is solid and sub- 
 
 stantial. This he built in the spring of 
 1882. It is 36x50 feet, with sixteen-foot 
 posts. Both buildings cost him S3,0i)0. 
 Hardin Township doos not boast a finer orchard 
 than is to be found on the farm of Mr. Plun- 
 ket. It consists of nearly six hundred fine 
 trees, all of which have been reared by him- 
 self. Mr. Plunket is a native of Mason 
 County, 111., where he was born in 1833. 
 His parents moved from there to Hemy 
 County, Iowa, while there were plenty of In- 
 dians to be had for neighbors, if they so de- 
 sired. There the early life of ^Yilliam F. 
 was spent. In 1854. he went to Colorado, 
 where he remained for three years, mining 
 and prospecting. Retiu'ning to Iowa, he 
 bought a farm in Henry Covmty, and resided 
 there imtil he sold out and came to his pres- 
 ent home. In 1858, he married Miss Nancy 
 Coy, of Henry County, Iowa. Her people 
 became residents of that county as early as 
 1855. Six boys have been born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Plunket, but no girls have blessed their 
 union. Politically, Mr. Plunket is a Demo- 
 crat, though he is governed more by princi- 
 ple than party ties when casting his vote. 
 
 REES D. " PRICE, farmer, P. O. Snapp. 
 The oldest settler now in Hardin Township 
 is Rees D. Price, who was born in Wales in 
 1813, and is the son of Daniel and Mary 
 (Hopkins) Price. His father was a mason, 
 and died in 1835, and buried on Christmas 
 Day; his mother died in 1827. In the fam- 
 ily there were five sons and four daughters, 
 of whom Mr. Rees D. Price is the only one 
 now livincr. Mr. Price was educated in 
 Wales, in his native language. He started 
 in life as a miner, and continued in the same 
 till he came to America, and has since fol- 
 lowed farming most of the time. Was first 
 married in 1834, and had one daughter by 
 first wife, who is now living in Omaha, Neb. 
 In 1839, his wife died, but Sir. Price was 
 
HARDIN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 113 
 
 married a second time, in 1840, to Miss Jane 
 Jones, of Wales. They have had nine chil- 
 dren, seven of whom are still alive. Febru- 
 ary 13, 18-49, Mr Price and family left Wales 
 and went to Liverpool; from there they em- 
 bai'ked about March ] . After seven weeks 
 and two days on the ocean, they arrived at 
 New Orleans, and there took a boat on the 
 Mississippi River to St. Louis. A little son, 
 who had taken sick on the ocean, died at 
 landing in St. Louis; they buried him there, 
 and took a boat for Council Bluffs, Iowa, at 
 which place they landed May 17, 1849. Dur- 
 ing the trip from St. Louis to Council Bluffs, 
 the cholera had been raging on board, and 
 out of the 240 Welsh emigrants on board, 
 forty-seven died, besides many others of dif- 
 ferent nationality. They remained that year 
 at Council Point, where they landed. The 
 fall of 1849, there being no work to be done 
 here. Mr. Price went to St. Louis on the last 
 boat from Upper Missouri; worked at St. 
 Louis till, in the winter, word came that one 
 of his children was sick, and, as there was no 
 other way of traveling, he, with two of his 
 friends, walked all the distance from St. 
 Louis to Council Bluffs, making the trip in 
 twenty days. June 8, 1850, Mr. Price moved 
 with his family to Hardin Township, buying 
 a claim and settling in what was called Log 
 City, it being a colony of Mormons, and in 
 the city there were thirteen log huts. This 
 was on Section 28, and on Section 32 there 
 was another settlement of eleven huts. Be- 
 sides these two settlements, there were only 
 two more huts in the township in 1850, and, 
 in the summer of this year, mo:t all of the 
 Mormons moved to Salt Lake, and Mr. Price' s 
 family was the only one remaining in the 
 township. In the year 1854, Mr. Price 
 moved to his present farm, one mile south of 
 his first place. Here he entered 200 acres of 
 Government land at that time. In 1863, he 
 
 went to Pike's Peak, but remained but a short 
 time, when he returned home, and has been 
 on the farm ever since. Mr. Price came here 
 with a Mormon colony, but, after getting 
 here, he found that their practices were dif- 
 ferent from what they preached in Wales, so 
 he forsook them, and, when they went to Salt 
 Lake, he remained behind. Mrs. Price has 
 two brothers still living — one in Wales, while 
 the other, John E. Jones, is now in Eosedale, 
 Kan. In 1879, he paid his sister a visit, it 
 being the first time he had seen her for over 
 thirty -three years, and her other brother she 
 has never seen since leaving Wales. John 
 E. Jones had been in Scotland for several 
 years before his sister came to America, but 
 he came to America about 1863, and has 
 since lived in Chicago, 111., Pittsburgh, 
 Perm., Topeka and Rosedale, Kan., being in 
 rolling-mills. Mr. Price's daughters are all 
 married, but none of the sons. The oldest son, 
 Evan J., lives at Fort Benton, Mon., and is 
 in the stock business. The second, John 
 A., was the first child born in Hardin 
 Township, and is now Township Assessor, 
 and owns the land on which he was born, the 
 old log city. Rees A., the third, is now in 
 Denver, Colo., but has a farm in Hardin 
 Township, William E, is the youngest, and 
 is farming at home. Together, Mr. Price 
 and sons have 480 acres or land, and are 
 farming and stock-raising. When Mr. Price 
 came to Pottawattamie County, Indians were 
 of common occurrence, although they had been 
 removed over the river the year before: and 
 the best house at Council Bluffs was made of 
 logs. When first coming here, Mr. Price 
 had no hogs, or nothing of any kind to make 
 meat of, so they had to depend upon game, 
 but prairie chickens were so thick that it was 
 not much trouble to trap them; catching 
 more than they could use at the time, they 
 salted and dried the breasts for use in the 
 
lU 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 spring. There being a mill near Council 
 Bluffs, their grain was taken to it to be 
 ground, but it had been built for the In- 
 dians, so, if a white man had his grist in 
 grinding, and an Indian brought his, the mill 
 had to stop, and the corn taken out of the 
 hopper, and give the Indian the preference. 
 One time, after high waters, and what bridges 
 there were were washed away, their meal gave 
 out, and they resorted to grinding 'corn in a 
 coifee-mill, and found that it could be done 
 quite well, at least fast enough to keep off 
 hunger. At Mr. Price's we find two old rel- 
 ics, one, a hand- board, or waiter, used in the 
 time of Queen Elizabeth, is made of solid 
 mahogany, and is about eighteen inches in 
 diameter; the other, a Welsh Bilile, "Pub- 
 lished in London by John Bill, Christopher 
 Barker, Thomas Newcomb and Henry Hills, 
 printers to His Royal Highness the King, 
 and sold by John Hancock, under the sign 
 of the three Bibles, in Pope-Head alley, in 
 Cornhill, 1678." This Bible contained the 
 prayers and all the ceremonies of the Church 
 of England at that time. 
 
 NATHAN SHERWOOD, farmer, P. O. 
 Weston, was born in Delaware County, Ohio, 
 June 6, 1837, son of Lewis and Lockey (Ad- 
 ams) Sherwood, natives of New Haven Coun- 
 ty, Conn., he, a farmer, born November 1, 
 1794, and is still living with his only daugh- 
 ter, Sarah, in Clinton County, this State; she, 
 born December 13, 1798, and died September 
 1 5, 1867. They were the parents of nine chil- 
 dren — seven sons and two daughters — of 
 whom six are living. Oui- subject received a 
 common school education in his native State, 
 and has followed farming all of his life. In 
 1857, he came to Clinton County, this State, 
 where he lived for seventeen years, after 
 which he moved to Harrison County, this 
 State, living in that county for four and a 
 half years, when he came to this county and 
 
 settled in Norwalk Township, where he' 
 stayed until 1880, in which year he purchased 
 his present farm of 160 acres of improved 
 land, on which he has since remained. He 
 was married, in his native county in Ohio, 
 April 4, 1865, to Isabella E. Johnson, born 
 in the same county August 3, 1843, daughter 
 of Harvey and Julia Jane (Haskins) John- 
 son, natives also of Delaware County, Ohio, 
 he born October 27, IS 10, and is still living 
 in his native county; she born in 1813, and 
 died October 21, 1845. Mr. and Mrs. Sher- 
 wood have fom- children — Dellie C, Jennie 
 O. , Sarah H. and Harvey Lewis. The Sher- 
 wood family are descendants from throe 
 brothers who came to this country about one 
 hundred years ago. Our subject's father was 
 one of the earliest settlers in Berlin Town- 
 ship, Clinton County, this State, at which 
 time he entered land at $1.25 per acre. He 
 was in the war of 1812, and now draws a 
 pension. Although eigthy-nine years old, 
 his life has been one of hard work. Our sub- 
 ject is a member of the Methodist Church, 
 and his wife of the Baptist Church. He is 
 a strong Republican, and a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity. 
 
 HERBERT M. THOMAS, farmer. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born February 24, 1847, at 
 Jacksonville, Vt., and is the son of R C. and 
 Mary Ann (Bassett) Thomas. He had three 
 brothers and three sisters. Coming to Har- 
 din Tovraship while quite young, most of his 
 education was obtained in the common schools 
 of Hardin Township. His whole life has 
 been spent on a farm. In 1857, he moved 
 with his parents from their home in Vermont 
 to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, his father 
 settling on the farm where he has lived ever 
 since. Mr. Thomas lived on the old farm till 
 in November, 1869, when he was married to 
 Mary L. Smith, the daughter of John Godfrey 
 and Johanna Christina Smith. Her parents 
 
HAZEL DELL TOWNSHIP. 
 
 115 
 
 moved from Germany to Indiana; from there 
 moved to Iowa, and are still living, and follow 
 farming. After getting married, Mr. Thom- 
 as moved to his present home, where he has 
 a farm of 240 acres, made by his own indus- 
 try. He also has three sons. Mr. Thomas 
 is. as his father, a Republican in politics. 
 The father of Herbert M. Thomas, R. C. 
 Thomas, is one of the oldest citizens in Har- 
 din Township, being born in Wilmington, 
 Vt., in 1809, and is the son of Nathaniel and 
 Hannah (Cummings) Thomas. His father 
 was born in Salem, Mass., and mother in 
 Vermont. IMr. R. C. Thomas, when only 
 nine year sold, was sent from his home in 
 Vermont back to Massachusetts, where he 
 learned the boot and shoe trade. He re- 
 
 mained there till he was twent3'-one years 
 old, when he returned to Vermont and worked 
 at his trade there till he came to Pottawatta- 
 mie County, Iowa, in 1857, and has been on 
 the place he first improved ever since. In 
 the year 1844 or 1845, he was married to 
 Mary Ann Bassett, daughter of Jonathan 
 and Amy (Moore) Bassett, and was born in 
 Vermont. Their family consisted of four 
 sons and three daughters, of whom two sons 
 and one daughter are still living; also his 
 wife is still alive. When they first settled 
 in Hardin Township, there were only one or 
 two houses between Keg Creek and Council 
 Bluffs, a distance of about twelve miles, ex- 
 cept now and then a log hut along some of 
 the streams, belonging to the Mormons, 
 
 HAZEL DELL TOWNSHIP. 
 
 O. L. BARRETT, Council Bluffs, was born 
 in Delaware County, Iowa, August 3, 1848, 
 son of Lemuel and Mary Ann (Blue) Barrett; 
 he, born August 10, 1821, in Green Castle, 
 Ind, died December 7, 1855, and was a farm- 
 er by occupation; she, born in Ohio June 20, 
 1822, lives with our subject. The parents 
 had ten children, seven of whom — four boys 
 and three girls — are living. The father of 
 our subject left Indiana when eighteen years 
 of age, and settled in De Kalli County, 111., 
 in 1839, There he followed farming with his 
 father till after marriage, which occurred in 
 Pontiac, 111,, February 12, 1836, He then 
 bought a farm in Delawai'e County, Iowa, 
 where he remained about five years, thence 
 moved to Pottawattamie County and located 
 on the farm where he died, and where our 
 subject now lives. Mr. Barrett was educated 
 in the common schools of this township, and 
 
 has always been a close I'eader, He takes 
 pride in assisting in every good work, and is 
 a strong temperance man. He carries on his 
 farm in a thorough, scientific manner, having 
 all the late appliances with which to work. 
 His maternal grandf?ither was a soldier in 
 the war of 1812, serving his time in full and 
 being honorably discharged. Mr. Barrett 
 was married, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, April 
 31, 1872, to Emma Caroline Stoffanson, born 
 in Sweden October 19, 1851, daughter of Pe- 
 ter and Cecelia (Strickerson) Stoffanson, na- 
 tives of Sweden, he born November 22, 1823, 
 she born January 8, 1827, Mr. and Mrs. Bar- 
 rett have six children — William Oliver, Ben- 
 jamin Franklin, Burlie Clayton, Lulu May, 
 Isaac Everett and C. Mr. Barrett has been 
 Road Sujiervisor, Constable, School Director, 
 President of the School Board, and is now 
 Secretary of the board, which office he has 
 
116 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 held three years. He belongs to the Inde- 
 pendent Order of Good Templars, and is a 
 Republican. 
 
 SOLOMON McMULLEN, farmer, P. O. 
 Crescent City, was born in Ohio June C, 1832, 
 son of William and Catharine (Myers) McMul- 
 len; he, born in Virginia March 15, 1783, 
 died October 8, 1878, was a farmer; she was 
 born in Ohio February 10, 1776, and died 
 November 10, 1848, in Missouri, near Spring- 
 held; they had eleven children, six of whom 
 were boys and five girls. When our Subject 
 was nine years of a re, he removed with his 
 parents to Lawrence County, Mo. After re 
 maining there eleven years, they emigrated 
 to Pottawattamie County. Iowa, in 1852. 
 There the father died, and there our subject 
 has since been employed in farming. Mr. 
 McMallen has a farm of about four hundred 
 acres, a good portion of which is timber; 
 He grows the ordinary farm crops, and raises 
 considerable stock. Mr. McMullen was mar- 
 ried, in Iowa, December 2, 1852, to Ellen 
 Dunkle, born in Ohio March 10, 1835, daugh- 
 ter of William and Mary (McMullen) Dun- 
 kle; he, born in Virginia January 10, 1781, 
 died December 30, 1873; she, born in Ohio 
 January 20, 1777, died September 20, 1831. 
 Mr. and Mrs. McMullen have been blessed 
 with six children -— Mary Catharine, born 
 September 30, 1853; Amanda Jane, Decem- 
 ber 30, 1855; John William, October 16, 1859; 
 Daniel Boone, June 3, 1863; Anna Laura, 
 September 18, 1867; and Reuben Lee, Jan- 
 uary 18, 1876. Mr. McMullen is a Demo- 
 crat, but believes in home protection. 
 
 CHARLES O. MUSSER, farmer, P. O. 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Millwood, Knox 
 Co., Ohio, July 17, 1842, son of John and 
 Caroline A. (Souls) Musser, natives of Penn- 
 sylvania; he, born May 21, 1817, in Somerset 
 County, Ohio, was a cabinet-maker by trade, 
 and died in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 
 
 October, 1868; she, born near Gettysburg 
 April 11, 1822, is the mother of nine children. 
 Mr. Musser came to Pottawattamie County 
 with his parents in May, 1854, and was en- 
 gaged in farming till twenty-one years of age, 
 when he enlisted in Company A, Twenty-ninth 
 Iowa Volunteers, and served till the close of 
 the war. He was present at the battles of 
 Helena and Little Rock, Ark. ; was in the 
 Camden campaign, and at the siege of Mo- 
 bile; he was also actively engaged in the Ya- 
 zoo Pass expedition. He was mustered out 
 as Sergeant August 10, 1865, and returned 
 home Aujfust 29. Mr. Musser was married, 
 in this county, November 26, 1867, to Emily 
 J. Triplett, born in Ohio April 15, 1849, 
 daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Pollock) 
 Triplett, he born in Virginia in 1827, she 
 born in Pennsylvania in 1829. Mr. and MJrs. 
 Musser have four children — John Thomas, 
 Sarah C, Charles F. and Jessie M. Mr. 
 Musser is engaged in general farming and 
 fruit-growing. He has held the various ofB- 
 ces of his township, and was census-taker 
 of 1880. He is a Presbyterian, a member of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, and a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 JAMES W. OSBORN, farmer, P. O. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in Virginia February 2, 
 1827, son of George and Millanda (Good- 
 win) Osboru. natives of Virginia; he, born 
 April 13, 1780, was a farmer by occupation, 
 and died at his home near Winchester, Va., 
 during the latter part of the late war, and whilst 
 a battle was being fought near his house. Our 
 subject's mother was born December 3, 1789, 
 and died October 11,1845, near Winchester, Va. 
 The parents had seven children, five of whom 
 are living. Mr. Osborn received his early 
 education in the subscription schools of his 
 native place. He is a man well posted in the 
 general affairs of the day. He first rented 
 the old homestead, which he farmed for five 
 
HAZEL DELL TOWNSHIP. 
 
 117 
 
 years. The farm then being sold for the 
 benefit of the heirs, our subject removed to 
 Missouri, and settled near St. Joe, where he 
 remained till the spring of 1865, when he 
 came to Pottawattamie County. He first saw 
 his present farm the morning after the assas- 
 sination of President Lincoln. At that time 
 the farm was unimproved, and but one small 
 house upon it. jVIr. Osborn now owns 500 
 acres in this county. He was married, in 
 Virginia, May 21, 1857, to Margaret Ester, 
 born in Baltimore, Md. , February 23, 1834, 
 daughter of John and Susan Byard (Perkins) 
 Ester, he, born in Ireland about 1802, died in 
 1864; she, born in 1802, died in 1853. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Osborn have nine childi-en — Olin 
 (married), James H. , Charles E., William 
 A., Susan M., Lillian, Margetta M., George 
 H. and Hunter. The family are members of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Os- 
 born is a Democrat. 
 
 PERKY REEL, farmer, P. O. Honey 
 Creek Station. William A. Reel was a na- 
 tive of Virginia, but moved to Indiana about 
 1822, settling in Putnam County. In 1850. 
 he came to Iowa, and, liking the country, 
 purchased two claims, one for himself and 
 one for his son-in-law, Edmond Latham. Mr. 
 Latham and a Mr. Cox came in the fall of 
 
 1851, and then Mr. Reel in the spring of 
 
 1852, and through Mr. Reel's influence, al- 
 most all the settlers that came from Putnam 
 and Clay Covmties. Ind., came to this part of 
 the county. Mr. William Reel bought the 
 mill on Pigeon Creek when first coming in 
 1852, and resided near the same till his death, 
 in 1859. Mr. Reel did as much or more than 
 any one to make this part of the county what 
 it is — a community filled up with energetic 
 and successful farmers. Mr. William Reel 
 had two sons — W. R., who is now in Monta- 
 na in the mining business; and Perry Reel, 
 the subject of this sketch. Mr. Perry Reel 
 
 was born in Putnam County, Ind., in 1838, 
 and came to this county with his parents in 
 1852, and since that time Pottawattamie 
 County has been his home. Mr. Reel's edu- 
 cation was obtained in the subscription 
 schools of Indiana. When coming here, they 
 did not have any schools, so his chances for 
 an education depended on himself. Mr. 
 Reel's main business has been that of farm- 
 ing. His politics have always been those of 
 his father — Democratic. Previous to 1867, 
 'Mi. Reel had served five years as a member 
 of the Board of Supervisors from his town- 
 ship. In 1867, he was elected Sherifi" of Pot- 
 tawattamie County, and again re-elected in 
 1869, going out of office January, 1872. He 
 then was on the farm till the fall of 1873; 
 he was elected County Treasurer and served 
 two years, and again, in 1877, he was elected 
 Sheriff, and held the office two terms, going 
 out January, 1882. Mr Reel's election to 
 office so many times in a county where his 
 support had to come from Republicans, as 
 well as his own party, tells more of his per- 
 sonal character and uprightness than any 
 other words can, and he feels indebted to 
 both parties for the honor. Mr. Reel was 
 married, in 1862, to Miss Millie Branson, 
 who was also born in Indiana. She came to 
 Pottawattamie County in the spring of 1860, 
 with her father, Jonathan Branson. They 
 have five children living — two boys and three 
 girls — all at home. Mr. Reel also has his 
 fair share of this world's goods, having quite 
 a large body of land, most of it, however, 
 being grass land and pasture. Still, his 
 home fhrm of 160 acres is well improved, 
 fine forest groves, convenient farm buildings, 
 fruit, etc. Mr. Reel has water works on a 
 small scale on his farm. A wind-mill pumps 
 water into a tank or reservoir on a bluQ" about 
 seventy feet above the level of his building 
 grounds, and from this pipes are laid below 
 
118 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 frost depth to different places around his 
 grounds where he has hydi-ants. Other 
 things are made convenient in proportion. 
 The place tirst settled by William A. Reel is 
 now owned by H. B. Paris. When Mi- Will- 
 iam A. Reel built his house on the old 
 home place, it was probably the finest 
 
 house in the county at the time, and, 
 with lumber and everything else so ex- 
 pensive, the house cost about $8,000. At 
 ]VIi'. Reel's close of office, January, 1882, the 
 Council Bluffs bar presented him with a 
 line gold-headed cane, in token of their 
 good will. 
 
 JAMES TOWN'S HIP. 
 
 THOMAS BEATTY, fai-mer, P. O. Han- 
 cock, was born in Fayette County, Penn. , 
 September "25, 1845, son of William and 
 Charlotte (Gable) Beatty, he born in Fayette 
 County, Penn., September -1, 1814, she in 
 Preston County, Va., now West Virginia, 
 July 4, 1821. They are farmers, and are 
 living in James Township. They are the 
 parents of nine children — four sons and five 
 daughters. Our subject received his educa- 
 tion in his native State, and also attended 
 school some in Muscatine County, this State. 
 He came to James Township in 1874, and 
 purchased 120 acres of land, eighty acres of 
 which cost $8 per acre, and the balance $15. 
 He made improvements on the place, and sold 
 it in 1875 at $20 per acre. In 1877, he 
 bought 200 acres of improved land at $22.50 
 per acre. In 1880, he added eighty acres of 
 prairie land, costing $10.50 per acre, which 
 he uses as a pasture. He added forty acres 
 of improved land at $25 per acre in 1882, 
 and now has a good farm of 320 acres, which 
 is a good proof of the wisdom of Greeley's 
 advice — " Young man, go West. " Our sub- 
 ject is not married. He is an Odd Fellow, 
 Valley Lodge, No. 439, and also a member 
 of the A. H. T. S. In politics, he is a Dem- 
 ocrat. 
 
 SAMUEL D. BLAKELY, farmer, P. O. 
 Hancock, was born ia Allegheny County, 
 
 Penn., November 22, 1849, son of James P. 
 and Rebecca (Crouse) Blakely. His father 
 was a farmer, born in December, 1820, and 
 is now living in Henry County, 111. The 
 mother of our subject was a native of Wash- 
 ington County, Penn., and died in Henry 
 County, 111., in October, 1873. They had 
 five children — three boys and two girls. Our 
 subject was educated in Orion Academy, 
 Henry County, 111., and also went to school 
 in Washington County, this State. He taught 
 school for a number of years in Illinois and 
 this State. He has been Secretary of the 
 School Board for two years. He came to 
 Illinois in 1857, where he farmed and taught 
 till 1878, when he came to this township and 
 purchased eighty acres of land in James 
 Township at $12 per acre. He set out an or- 
 chard, built a good house, and otherwise im- 
 proved it. He engaged in general farming. 
 He was married, April 13, 1882, near Dub- 
 lin, ^\'ashington County, this State, to Lizzie 
 M. Bathurst, born in that county August 22, 
 1855, daughter of R. C. Bathurst, born in 
 Pennsylvania in 1825. Mrs. Blakely's moth- 
 er was born in Washington County, this State. 
 Our subject is a member of the Presbyterian 
 Church, and his wife of the Methodist 
 Church. In politics, he is a Democrat. 
 
 H. C. BRANDES, farmer, P. O. Hancock, 
 was born in Germany April 14, 1852, son of 
 
JAMES TOWNSHIP. 
 
 119 
 
 H. C. and Dorothea (Katz) Brandes, both na- 
 tives of Germany, he born in 1813, and died 
 in the place of his birth in 1858; she born in 
 1813, and is still living in her native coun- 
 try. They had four children — one son and 
 three daughters. Our subject received his 
 education in Germany, and began life as a 
 farmer. He came to the United States in 
 1869, and located in La Salle County, 111., 
 v^here he lived until 1877. He then came to 
 James Township, where he had purchased 
 160 acres of land at $8 per acre in 1874. He 
 built on this place, and otherwise improved 
 it. In 1879, he bought 120 acres at $12.40 
 per acre, and in 1880 added eighty acres at 
 $15.50 per acre, which, with eighty acre at 
 $15 per acre which he purchased in 1882, 
 give him a good farm of 440 acres, which 
 contains good buildings and other improve- 
 ments. He engages in general farming, and 
 feeds stock in the winter. He was married, 
 in Forest, Livingston Co., 111., March 11, 
 1874, to Magdalena Miller, born in La Salle 
 County, 111., December 3, 1857, daughter of 
 Nicholas and Katharina Miller, he born in 
 Alsace, Germany, January 28, 1829; she in 
 Boston, Mass., June 29, 1836. :Mr. and Mrs. 
 Brandes have four children — George Hemy, 
 born February 12, 1876; Walter E., born 
 December 28, 1878; Celia M., born January 
 11, 1880; and Ada Josephine, born February 
 15, 1882. Oiu- subject has filled several 
 township offices, and is now a Township 
 Trustee for a second term. He is a member 
 of the German Evangelical Association, and 
 in politics is a Republican. 
 
 WILLIAM M. CROUCH, farmer, P. O. 
 Hancock, was born in Ripley County, Ind., 
 October 4, 1839, son of John and Maria 
 (Markland) Crouch, both natives of Kentucky, 
 he born in 1818, and she in 1822. The father 
 died in this State in 18/9, and the mother in 
 1873. They had twelve children — three sons 
 
 and nine daughters — of whom the sons and 
 four daughters are now living. Our subject 
 received his education in Indiana and this 
 State, and began life as a farmer. August 
 2, 1862, he enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Iowa 
 Infantry, Company A, Capt. Williams. He 
 was engaged in the battles of Arkansas Post, 
 siege of Vicksbm-g, Chattanooga and Look- 
 out Mountain. He served three years. He 
 was married, December 19, 1868, in Clinton 
 County, this State, to Esther Adams, born in 
 Pennsylvania May 9, 1845, daughter of James 
 and Sarah Adams, both natives of Ireland. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Crouch had four children — one 
 boy and three girls — of whom there are liv- 
 ing Lulu, bom in 1869; and Bertba, born 
 January 18. 1882. Our subject came to 
 James Township in 1874, and purchased 320 
 acres of land at $11 per acre. He has since 
 made some substantial improvements, includ- 
 ing a live-acre grove and an orchard. He 
 engages in general farming. Our subject 
 has filled some township offices, and is at 
 present Township Trustee. He is a member 
 of the A. H. T. S. , and in politics is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 S. M. HILDEBRAND, farmer, P. O. Han- 
 cock, was born in Rockingham County, Va., 
 March 26, 1847, son of Samuel and Elizabeth 
 (Paul) Hildebrand, he born in Virginia in 
 1811, and is still living, in Iowa City, this 
 State. The parents had five childi'sn — three 
 sons and two daughters. Our subject re- 
 ceived his education inVirginia and this State. 
 March 29, 1864, he enlisted in Company- H, 
 Thirty-third Iowa Infantry, Capt. W. Gore. 
 He took part in the engagements at Spanish 
 Fort, Mobile and Whistler Station. He re- 
 ceived an honorable discharge September 5, 
 1865. He was mairied, in Iowa County, this 
 State, February 23, 1871, to Miss Julia F. 
 Cole, born in that county February 20, 1853, 
 daughter of Stewart and Sarah P. (Dennis) 
 
120 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Cole, both natives of Illinois, he born in 
 1824, and she in 1830. Mr. and Mrs. Hilde- 
 brand have two children — Willie, born June 
 1. 1873; and Alta, born March 23, 1875. 
 Our subject came to James Township in 1875, 
 and purchased eighty acres of laud at SIO per 
 acre. He has since made many substantial 
 improvements, including an orchard of 200 
 trees and a grove. He carries on general 
 farming. He is a member of the Christian 
 Church, and of the A. H. T. S. In politics, 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 JUDSON B. HOGATE, farmer, P. O. Oak- 
 land, was born in Salem, Columbiana Co., 
 Ohio, September 24, 1853, son of Nicholas 
 and Anna (Dolbow) Hogate, he born in De- 
 cember, 1816, in New Jersey; she born in 
 Delaware in 1818. They were farmers, and 
 are now living on the old homestead in Jeffer- 
 son County, this State, where they have lived 
 for twenty-eight years. They had live chil- 
 dren — two boys and three daughters. Our 
 subject received his education in Jefferson 
 County, this Sta e, and began life for himself 
 by clerking one year in a grocery store m Ot- 
 tumwa, Iowa, after which he went to farm- 
 ing. CHe was married, February 20, 1873, in 
 Fairfield, this State, to Anna Moore, born in 
 Jeffei-son County in 1855, daughter of Rob- 
 ert and Sarah Ann (Stewart) Moore, he born 
 n laiiaaa Iq 1S17. sha in Peaasylvaaia in 
 1828. In the month following his marriage, 
 our subject came to this county, locating in 
 Pleasant Township. In September, 1878, 
 he purchased eighty acres in James Town- 
 ship, Section 31, paying §11.25 per acre, 
 forty acres of which were already broken. 
 In 1879, he bought forty acres more at $14 
 per acre, and in 1881 purchased another forty 
 acres at $11 per acre. He now has a good 
 farm of 160 acres, which is all under cultiva- 
 tion. He engages in general farming, and 
 keeps a stock of Norman horses. He has 
 
 filled several township offices. In religion he- 
 is Evangelical, and in politics he is a Demo- 
 crat. He has one child, Robert Edward, 
 born August 13, 1874. iVIr. Hogate's father 
 and brother Jesse were in the late civil war. 
 
 A. N. HALLADAY, farmer, P. O. Oak- 
 land, was born in Dearborn Co.-.nty, Ind. , 
 March 22, 1828, son of Asariah and Polly 
 (Johnson) Halladay. His father was a f ai-m- 
 er, born in New York in 1791; was a soldier 
 in the war of 1812, and died in 1856 in La 
 Porte County. Ind. The mother of our sub- 
 ject was a native of Vermont, and died in the 
 same place 'as her husband, in 1860. They 
 had nine children — six boys and three girls. 
 Our subject received his education in Fort 
 Wayne, Ind., and began life as a farmer. 
 He was married, in Porter County, Ind., De- 
 cember 25. 1850, to Elizabeth Elliott, born 
 in Ohio October 28, 1832, daughter of Sam- 
 uel and Mary (Carter) Elliott, he born in 
 Ohio. Our subject came to James Township 
 in 1868, and, in 1873, purchased 120 acres of 
 land at $8 per acre, which is now improved, 
 and contains an orchard and a grove. He 
 engages in general farming. His children 
 are six in number — Frank S., Lydia, Anna 
 and,Annis (twins), Carrie and Charley. Mrs. 
 Halladay died March 7, 1880. She was a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 Our subject has been Township Trustee, and 
 has tilled other offices in the township. He 
 is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and 
 was Master of his lodge for two years. In 
 politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 STEPHEN JAMES, farmer, P. " O. Oak- 
 land, was born in Lorain County, Ohio, 
 June 23, 1823, son of George F. James, a 
 farmer, born in Stockbridge, Mass., and died 
 in Lorain County, Ohio, in 1863. The 
 mother of our subject was born in Stamford, 
 Conn., and died in James Township in 1864. 
 The parents had six children — three boys and 
 
JAMES TOWNSHIP. 
 
 121 
 
 three girls. Our subject began life as a 
 farmer; lived in his native State fifteen years, 
 when he removed to Indiana, where he re- 
 mained until ISo'l. He was married, in 
 Porter County, Ind., November 12, 1849, to 
 Charlotte Reynolds, born in Chautatiqua 
 County, N. Y. , daughter of Hugh Reynolds, 
 born in the same county. In 1852, our sub- 
 ject came to this State, locating at Fort Des 
 Moines, where he lived for three years. He 
 then came to James Township, this county, 
 where he purchased 2U0 acres of wild land at 
 $6 per acre. He made improvements on it, 
 and, in 1863, sold it at $10 per acre. He 
 then bought 120 acres — eighty acres at §6 
 and forty acres at $8 per acre. He has made 
 many substantial improvements on this place, 
 including an orchard, a nice grove and good 
 buildings. He has also dealt inland to some 
 extent, having bought, improved and sold 
 over three hundred acres. He engages in gen- 
 eral farming it', and Mi-s. James have six 
 children — Carrie, William, George, Lysan- 
 der, Anna and Nettie. Our subject has filled 
 many township offices. He is an A., F. & A. 
 M. . Ai'k Lodge, No. 335. In politics, he is 
 a Democrat. In his younger days. Mr. James 
 was very fond of traveling and has been over 
 the greater part of the United States and 
 most of the Territories. 
 
 THOMAS H. JEFFERSON, farmer, P. O. 
 Oakland, was born in Trumbull County, 
 Ohio, Februarj' 23, 1839, son of William 
 and Elizabeth (Hewitt) Jefferson, both na- 
 tives of England, he bom April 24, 1804, and 
 died in August, 1878, in Black Hawk Coun- 
 ty, this State; she, bom September 2, 1801, 
 and died in the same place as her husband, 
 February 12, 1878. They were farmers, and 
 had four children — three sons and one daugh- 
 ter. Our subject received his education in 
 his native county, and began life as a farm- 
 er. He was married, in Erie County, Penn. , 
 
 March 22, 1864, to Rose M. Stewart, bom in 
 that county October 12, 1842. She is the 
 daughter of Simeon and Hannah (Blakeslee) 
 Stewart, he born in Genesee County, N. Y., 
 October 2, 1795; she born in Chenango 
 County, N. Y'., January 8, 1808. Our sub- 
 ject came to this State January 15, 1868, lo- 
 cating in Black Hawk County. The follow- 
 ing year, he moved to Missouri, where he en- 
 gaged in farming. In 1872, he came to this 
 county and purchased eighty acres in Bel- 
 knap Township, at $12.50 per acre. In 1876, 
 he bought 160 acres more, at SIO per acre. 
 In 1879, he traded the first eighty acres for 
 160 acres in James Township, where he now 
 resides, and has a good farm of 320 acres, 
 including a grove and an orchard. He en- 
 gages in general farming, and raises and 
 feeds his own stock. He has three children 
 — Stewart S., born March 13, 1865; Char- 
 ley C, born February 26, 1869; and Thom- 
 as W. , born August 19, 1874. Our subject 
 has served the township several times in an 
 official capacity. In politics, he is a Demo- 
 crat. 
 
 JAMES S. LAWRENCE, farmer, P. O. 
 Oakland, was born in La Salle County, 111., 
 February 1, 1853, son of Isaac B. and Caro- 
 line E. Lawrence, he born in Pennsylvania 
 May 2, 1824, and died in Marshall County, 
 111., in 1865; she was a native of Ohio, born 
 July 4, 1826, and is still living, in Polk 
 County, this State. They were farmers, 
 and had nine children — six sons and three 
 daughters. Our subject received his school- 
 ing in many different localities, including 
 La Salle, Marshall and Putnam Counties, 
 111., and Polk and Johnson Counties, this 
 State. He began life as a farmer. He came 
 to Johnson County, this State, in 1870, and 
 lived there until 1877, after which he lived in 
 Shelby County, this State, where he rented 
 land for one year. He then came to James 
 
122 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 Township, this county, and purchased eighty 
 acres of partly improved land, paying $12 
 per acre. He has since made some substan- 
 tial improvements on the place, having put 
 up good baildings and set out trees. He 
 carries on general farming. July 4, 1875, 
 he was married, in Johnson County, this 
 State, to Arabella Moore, bom in that county 
 March 13, 1860, daughter of William W. 
 and Phoebe S. (Robert) Moore, both natives 
 of Ohio. Her father was born July 21, 1834, 
 and died August 4, 1884. in Andersonville 
 Prison, having been wounded and captured 
 at the battle of Atlanta. Her mother was 
 born July 12, 1834, and died in 1871, in 
 Johnson County, this State. Mr. and ]\Ir3. 
 Lawrence have had four children — George 
 Ellsworth (deceased), Myrtie Maud, Ernest 
 Roy and Marion Oliver. Our subject has 
 filled township offices. In religion, he is 
 Evangelical, and in politics is a Republican. 
 
 W. W. LIVINGSTON, farmer, P.O. Han- 
 cock, was born in Scott County, this State, 
 April 25, 1854, son of Hugh and Elizabeth 
 Livingston, he born in Pennsylvania in 1804, 
 she in England in 1805. They are farmers, 
 and are living in Avoca, this county. They 
 had eleven children — five sons and six daugh- 
 ters. Our subject received his schooling in 
 Illinois. He was maiTied, in Rock Island, 
 111. , August 14, 1874, to Miss Mary A. B. 
 Crawford, born in Henry County, of that 
 State, in 1856, the daughter of Edward Craw- 
 ford. The year following his marriage, our 
 subject came to James Township, and, in 
 1878, purchased eighty acres of prairie land 
 at $16 per acre. He has made many sub- 
 stantial improvements, including an orchard 
 and shade trees. He carries on general 
 farming. He has four children — Ella, James 
 B., Charles E. and Cyrus Dixon. 
 
 JOHN McCONAIJGHEY. farmer, P. O. 
 Oakland, was born in Marion County, this 
 
 State, April 13, 1854, son of James and Mary 
 Ann (Wiers) McConaughey, he born in 
 Guernsey County, Ohio, and she a native of 
 Pennsylvania. The parents are farmers, and 
 are now living in Marion County, this State. 
 They had eight children — three sons and five 
 daughters, of whom the sons and three daugh- 
 ters are now living. Our subject received 
 his education in his native county. He was 
 married, February 28, 1877, to Miss Frances 
 E. Myers. They have two children — Doro- 
 thea May. born November 8, 1877; and 
 Clyde Loson, born in ISSl. Our- subject 
 came to James Township in 1877, and rented 
 land for three years, after which he pui-chased 
 eighty acres of prairie land at $10 per acre. 
 He has since made some good improvements 
 on this place, and engages in general farm- 
 ing. He is a member of the Christian 
 Church, and in politics is a Republican. 
 
 HENRY RAPP, farmer, P. O. Minden, 
 was born in Germany September 14, 1831, 
 son of Johannes and Magdalena Rapp, both 
 natives of Germany, he born'April 17, 1806, 
 and she in 1806. Her father is still living 
 in his native town, where the mother died. 
 They had nine children — five sons and foui' 
 daughters — of whom thi-ee boys and two 
 girls are now living. Our subject received 
 his education in his native place, and began 
 life as a farmer. He came to the United 
 States in 1851, landing in Baltimore, Md. 
 He went to Frederick, Md., where he learned 
 the tanner's trade. He then went to Union- 
 town, Fayette Co. , Penn. In 1854, he came 
 to Ottawa, La Salle Co., 111., where he was 
 man'ied, January 31, 1856, to Eva Maier, 
 born in Germany December 24, 1833. She 
 is the daughter of Johannes and Maria (Hell- 
 stern) Maier, both natives of Germany, he 
 born in 1789, and she died in 1844, in her 
 native town. In 1878, our subject came to 
 James Township, this county, and purchased 
 
JAMES TOWNSHIP. 
 
 123 
 
 eighty acres of wild land at $8 per acre. He 
 improved it, and, in 1880, bought forty acres 
 more at f 10 per acre. Mr. Kapp has tilled 
 several township offices. He has had nine 
 children, of whom there are living John C, 
 Lena, Mary C, Hemy and Louisa. Our 
 subject is a member of the German Evangel- 
 ical Association. He was a Mason, and a 
 member of the German Benevolent Associa- 
 tion of Ottawa, 111. In politics, he is an In- 
 dependent. One of Mr. Eapp's sons has just 
 finished a coiu'se of study in the German 
 Church at Mt. Pleasant, preparatory to en- 
 tering the ministry of the Methodist 
 Church. 
 
 H. H. ROUNDS, farmer, P. O. Hancock, 
 was born in Ogdensburg, N. Y., in April, 
 1844, son of Hiram and Lucinda (Hastings) 
 Rounds, both natives of Rich ford, Vt., he 
 born in 1804. and died in San Bernardino 
 County, Cal., in August, 1868; she born in 
 ISOo. and died in Leavenworth. Kan., in 
 186U. They were farmers, and had six chil- 
 dren — four sons and two daughters. Our 
 subject received his schooling in Dane Coun- 
 ty, Wis., and Illinois. He was married, 
 April 13, 1866, in Anamosa, Jones County, 
 this State, to Elizabeth Brock, born in Lake 
 County, 111., March 18, 1839, daughter of 
 Robert and Katharina (Blair) Brock, he born 
 in New York City in 1804. and is still living, 
 in Fairbury, Jefferson Co., Neb. He is a 
 farmer. Mrs. Rounds' mother was a native 
 of Canada, born in 1807, and died in Clinton 
 County, this State, in 1871. Oiar subject 
 has six children living, and two deceased 
 (who were twins). Those living are Eiigene 
 Henry, born February 7, 1867; Stephen 
 W.. born August 15. 1869; John W., 
 born March 15, 1871; Cora Isabelle, born 
 June 25, 1873 ; Alice M. , born February 3, 
 1875; and Mary C, born December 19. 1879. 
 Our subject came to James Township, this . 
 
 county, in 1873, after having lived one sum- 
 mer in Nebraska. He purchased eighty 
 acres of prairie land at $7 per acre, and, in 
 1877, added forty acres of improved land at 
 $15 per acre. He made several subsequent 
 purchases, including twenty acres at $16.50 
 per acre, forty acres at $21.25 per acre, the 
 two latter purchases being improved land. 
 In 1881, he bought eighty acres of prairie 
 land at $12.50 per acre, and now has 260 
 acres of good land, and carries on general 
 farming. In politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 MARTHA E. SAGE, Oakland, widow of 
 Charles S. * Sage, who was born in Berlin, 
 Hartford Co.. Conn., January 4, 1845, son 
 of Raljih and Katharine (Marcy) Sage. Mr. 
 Sage died March 27, 1879. He was a farm- 
 er, had tilled several township offices, and was 
 a Republican in politics. He enlisted in the 
 Union army during our late civil war, and 
 served four years, up to the close of that 
 bloody conflict. He came to this county in 
 1871, locating in Center Township. March 
 25, 1876, he removed to James Township, 
 where he purchased 160 acres of improved 
 land at $15 per acre. He was married, Jan- 
 uary 31, 1870, in Fenton, Whitesides Co., 
 111., to our subject, then Martha E. Stevens, 
 born in Bradford County, Penn., February 
 28, 1847. She is the daughter of Solon and 
 Charlotte (Smith) Stevens, he born in Brad- 
 ford County, Penn., October 17, 1820, and 
 she a native of New York State, born Sep- 
 tember 22, 1822. The parents are still liv. 
 ing in Whitesides County, 111., and are 
 farmers. They had seven children — one boy 
 and six sirls — of whom one girl is deceased. 
 Our subject received her education in White- 
 sides County, 111. In 1880, she built a one- 
 and-a-half-story frame house, 16x24, well tin- 
 ished. Her two daughters are living with 
 her — Lotta Callista. born December 5, 1870; 
 and Etta Maude, born December 18, 1876. 
 
134 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Our subjeet lives on the place, but rents the 
 land, having general fanning done thereon. 
 
 JOHN SENN, farmer, P. O. Avoca, was 
 born in Switzerland April 24, IS'26, son of 
 Joseph and Mary (leekly) Senn, both natives 
 of Switzerland, he born in 1788, and died in 
 Scott County, this State, April 12, 1870; and 
 she died in the same county in 1863. His 
 father was a harness-maker, and was the fa- 
 ther of eleven children — nine boys and two 
 girls — of whom iive boys are now dead. Our 
 subject was married, in Havre, France, De- 
 cember 27, 1855, to Kathrina Solond, born 
 in Switzerland in 1828, and died in Le 
 Claire, Scott County, this State, in 1863. 
 Her parents were natives of Switzerland, and 
 also died in that country. By her our sub- 
 ject had five children — three boys and two 
 girls — of whom three are living — Louie, Au- 
 gust and Edward. Mr. Senn was married a 
 second time, October 28, 1865, to Margaret 
 Woller, born in Holstein, Germany, May 8, 
 1888. Her parents were both born in the 
 latter place, also. Mr. and Mrs. Senn had 
 six children — Henry, Julius, Bertha, Lena 
 (deceased), Maggie and Lillie. Mrs. Senn 
 died in James Township, this county, in 
 1876, to which township our subject came in 
 March, 1874, and purchased 160 acres of 
 prairie land at $12 per acre, after renting 
 for four years. He now has good buildings 
 on his place, and has made some substantial 
 improvements, including an orchard and a 
 grove. He engages in general farming. Has 
 been Eoad Supervisor. In religion, he 
 is a Catholic, and in politics a strong Demo- 
 crat. 
 
 JOSEPH STROEBELE, farmer, P. O. 
 Oakland, was born in Germany July 9, 1841, 
 son of Ottmir and Elizabeth (Selbherr) Stroe- 
 bele, both natives of Germany, he born in 
 1800, and she in 1808. They both died in 
 their native town, he in 1872, and she Jan- 
 
 uary 11, 1865. They were the parents of 
 four children — three boys and one girl. Our 
 subject received his education in his native 
 land, and began life as a farmer. He came 
 to the United States in 1865, and went to St. 
 Louis, Mo., and from there to Council Bluffs, 
 where he remained for three years. Here he 
 was married, April 17, 1869, to Bertha Tetz- 
 laff, born in Germany October 6, 1846, 
 daughter of Martin and Louise (Brisemeis- 
 ter) Tetzlaff, both natives of Germany. After 
 his marriage, our subject removed to Mills 
 County, this State, where he rented land for 
 two years. In 1871, he came to James Town- 
 ship, this county, where he purchased eighty 
 acres of land at $7 per acre. He improved 
 it, and now has a grove and an orchard. He 
 engages in general farming. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Stroebele have live children — Emil H. O., 
 Mary E., Theresa E. Edward J. and Viola 
 O. In religion, Mr. Stroebele is a Catholic, 
 and his wife a Lutheran. He is an Odd 
 Fellow, Humboldt Lodge, No. 174. In pol- 
 ities, he is a Republican. 
 
 HERMAN VIETH, farmer. P. O. Minden, 
 was born in Germany May 17, 1848, son of 
 Michael and Charlotte (Gatting) Vieth, both 
 natives of Germany. His father was born in 
 1820; was a carpenter; came to the United 
 States in 1870. and is now living in James 
 Township, where the mother is also living. 
 Our subject received his education in his na- 
 tive country, and began life as a cabinet-ma- 
 ker. He was married, in Ottawa, 111., Au- 
 gust 6, 1872, to Amelia Jacobs, born in Phil- 
 adelphia, Penn., September 29, 1850, daugh- 
 ter of Henry and Katharine (Machetanz) Ja- 
 cobs, both natives of Germany, he born in 
 1824, and she in 1826. Our subject was a 
 merchant in Neola for four years, after whi ch 
 he sold out and came to James Township 
 and in 1875, purchased eighty acres of land 
 at $7 per acre. He put up some fine build- 
 
JAMES TOWNSHIP. 
 
 125 
 
 ings, and has otherwise improved his place. 
 He engages in general farming. He has 
 live children — Emma, Henry, Eddie, Nellie 
 and Minnie. He is a member of the German 
 Evangelical Association. He is an Odd Fel- 
 low, Neola Lodge, No. 410, and is also a 
 charter member of the Legion of Honor, Ne- 
 ola. In politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 WILLIAM F. WRIGHT, farmer, P. O. 
 Oakland, was born in Henderson County, 
 111., February 10, 1857, son of James and 
 Lucretia (Hammon) Wright, both natives of 
 Kentucky, he born February 17, 1812, and 
 she in 1817. The father is a farmer, and is 
 now living in James Township. The mother 
 is also living. They had eleven childi-en — 
 fom- sons and seven daughters. Our subject 
 received his educatioQ in this county, and 
 has always been a farmer. He came to James 
 Township in 1868, and, in 1881, pm-chased 
 eighty acres of prairie land at $12.50 per 
 acre, which is now all improved, including a 
 good house, which he built the same year. 
 He engages in general farming. He is not 
 married, but his widowed sister, Sarah E. 
 Vane, is keeping house for him. Our sub- 
 ject is a Good Templar, Oakland Lodge, No. 
 61. In politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 CHRISTIAN YOUNG, farmer, P. O. Han- 
 cock, was born in Alsace, Germany, August 
 26, 1839, son of Adam and Kathrina (Cron) 
 Young, both natives of Alsace, Germany, he 
 born September 10, 1810, and died in 1858, 
 in Streator, 111. ; she born September 10, 
 1809, and is still living, in James Township, 
 this county. They were farmers, and had 
 six children — two sons and four daughters — 
 two of whom are now deceased. Our subject 
 came to this country in 18-16, and went to 
 Peru, 111. He received his education in Put- 
 nam County, 111., and remained in the latter 
 State until he came to this county. He lived 
 for sixteen years in Livingston County, 111. 
 
 He started in life as a farmer and thresher. 
 He was married, in Granville, Putnam Co., 
 111., in 1863, to Katharina Franz, born April 
 12, 1846, in Germany, daughter of Johannes 
 and Martha E. (Becker) Franz, both natives 
 of Germany. Our subject came to James 
 Township, this county, in March, 1881, and 
 made several purchases of dififerent men, in 
 all amounting to 320 acres, for which he 
 paid $16 per acre. He now has a good farm, 
 including good buildings and an orchard, 
 and he engages in general farming. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Yovmg have had nine children — five 
 boys, one of whom is deceased, and foui- 
 girls — Adam, Heim-ich, Louise, Wilhelm S., 
 Caroline K., Johannes C, Mary E. and Em- 
 ma M. Mr. Young has filled several town- 
 ship offices. He is a member of the German 
 Evangelical Association, and in politics is a 
 Republican. 
 
 J. N. YOUNG, farmer, P. O. Oakland, was 
 born in Fleming County, Ky. , February 5, 
 1844, son of James John and Mary J. (Ad- 
 ams) Young, both now living, in Washington 
 County, this State. His father is a farmer, 
 born in 1811, and his mother was born in 
 Illinois in 1818. They had nine children — 
 four sons and five daughters — of whom the 
 sons and two of the daughters are now living. 
 Om- subject went to school in Washington 
 County, this State. In July, 1862, he en- 
 lisi.ed it the Nineteenth Iowa Infantry, Com- 
 pany C, Capt. T. H. Stanton, who was suc- 
 ceeded by Capt. John S, Gray. He was en 
 gaged in the siege of Vicksburg, Spanish 
 Fort, Fort Smith and Sterling Farm. He 
 was taken prisoner of war, and held as such 
 for nine months and twenty-three days. He 
 was married, March 29, 1866, in Washington 
 County, this State, to Sarah M. Farley, born 
 in that county February 9, 1848, daughter of 
 Sylvester and Candace (Barnett) Farley, he 
 born in Ohio in 1811, and she in Indiana in 
 
126 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 1816. Mr. and Mrs. Young have three chil- 
 dren — ^Jeanette, born October 6, 1868; Min- 
 nie Alice, born November 15, 1878; and the 
 baby, born August 5, 1882. Our subject 
 went, to Missouri, where he remained seven 
 and a half years, returning to Washington 
 County, this State, where he lived for two 
 
 years, when he came to James Township, 
 and, in 1878, purchased eighty acres of prai- 
 rie land at $15 per acre. He set out a good 
 grove, seventy-five fruit trees, built a good 
 house, and has made many substantial im- 
 provements. He 
 ing. 
 
 engages in general farm- 
 
 KEG CEEEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 HENEY C. BEBENSEE, farmer, P. O. 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Schleswig, Ger- 
 many, September 29, 1823, son of Henry F. 
 and Maria Magdalena (Kohn) Bebensee, he 
 a native of Holstein, and she a native of 
 Schleswig, Germany. They were farmers, 
 and were the parents of three children — two 
 sons and one daughter. Our subject received 
 his schooling in his native town, and began 
 life as a tiller of the soil. He was married, 
 in May, 1851, in his native town, to Marga- 
 retta Koch, born in Germany in 1825, daugh- 
 ter of Jurgen and Mrs. (Ramm) Koch, both 
 natives of Germany. Our subject was in the 
 Schleswig-Holstein war, from 1848 to 1850. 
 He sustained two wounds, one in each leg. 
 He came to the United States in 1872, com- 
 ing to this coimty, and jnirchasing. in Keg 
 Creek Township, 220 acres of land at $12 per 
 acre. In 1881, he bought eighty acres more 
 at $15.75 per acre. His farm now contains 
 good buildings and other improvements. He 
 carries on farming in all its branches. He 
 has six children — Fred Rudolph, born April 
 16, 1852; Dora, born March 12, 1859; Mary, 
 born December 23, 1861; Ereka, born Jan- 
 uary 8, 1S6-4; Henrjr, born January 13, 1866; 
 and Johanna, born January 24, 1868. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bebensee are Lutherans. In poli- 
 tics, he is a Democrat. 
 
 JOHN L. BUSCH. farmer, P. O. Keg 
 Creek, was born in Holstein, Germany. Au- 
 giist 22, 1833, son of Joe and Margaretta 
 (Buck) Buseh, both natives of Holstein, Ger- 
 many, where they also died. They were the 
 parents of foiu- children, of whom our sup- 
 ject is the only son. He received his educa- 
 tion in his native town, and started in life 
 as a farmer. He came to the United States 
 October 3, 1857. He lived in Scott County, 
 this State, several years, and in Clinton 
 County six years; was also in St. Louis and 
 New Orleans. He came to Keg Creek Town- 
 ship and purchased, in 1871, eighty acres of 
 land at $10 per acre. He made subsequent 
 purchases, and now has 320 acres of good, 
 improved land. He engages in general farm- 
 ing. He has been twice married — the first 
 time in Scott County, this State, to Dorothea 
 Quater. His second marriage was with So- 
 phia Kluver, which oecvuTed in Keg Creek 
 Township, June 14, 1877. She was born in 
 Germany April 24, 1838, daughter of Ditleft 
 and Sophia Kluver, both natives of Germany. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Busch have one child, Chris. 
 Our subject has filled township offices. In 
 religion, he is a Lutheran, and in politics, a 
 Democrat 
 
 RASMUS CAMPBELL, farmer, P. O. Keg 
 Creek, was born in Wayne County, Ind., in 
 
KEG CREEK TOWJfSHIP. 
 
 127 
 
 1840. He is the oldest settler in Keg Creek 
 Township, coming here in 1852, and he has 
 lived here ever since, within one mile of the 
 place he first settled on. He received his 
 education in the schools of this county. His 
 father, William Campbell, was a native of 
 New York, and lived in Harrison County, 
 Iowa. He died in Monona County, Iowa, in 
 1880. When our subject first settled in the 
 county, there was only one settler between 
 him and Council Bluffs. This was Mr. Thom- 
 as Moffatt, who lived on the farm now owned 
 by S. G. Underwood. It was five miles up 
 Keg Creek to any settler, and to the south 
 there was no settlement till Glenwood was 
 reached. Mi'. Campbell was married, in this 
 county, in 1864, to Miss Martha M. Mofifatt, 
 a daughter of Thomas Moffatt, one of the 
 earliest settlers in this township. They have 
 had six children, three boys of whom are liv- 
 ing. They lost two children by typhoid fe- 
 ver in 1881. Mr. Campbell's farm consists 
 of 127 acres. He is engaged in stock-raising 
 and general farming. He has three broth- 
 ers — one living in Hardin Township, one in 
 Lewis Township, and one living in Monona 
 County. In politics, Mr. Cam[.bell has al- 
 ways been a Republican. 
 
 JAilES FLOOD, farmer, P. O. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Ireland in 1830. He 
 came to America in 1847, and settled near 
 Jacksonville, Morgan Co., 111. Here he re- 
 mained until 1856, when he came to Mills 
 County, Iowa, settling in Glenwood. He 
 lived here for eight years, but was away part 
 of the time, being engaged in freighting with 
 ox teams from the Missouri River to the 
 mountains. It usually took from two to 
 three months to make a round trip, the time, 
 of course, depending upon the condition of 
 the roads, Indians, etc. Mr. Flood was mar- 
 ried, in Morgan County, 111., in 1856. to Lou- 
 isa M. Ballatti. She was born in England, 
 
 and came to America with her parents, who 
 are still living, in Morgan County, 111. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Flood have six childi'en — five sons 
 and one daughter. Two of his sons have 
 each a farm, one consisting of a quarter- sec- 
 tion, and the other of eighty acres. Mr. 
 Flood's farm consists of 400 acres, situated 
 on Middle Silver Creek. He raises a good 
 deal of stock, Ijesides doing a general farm- 
 ing business. While in Mills County, he 
 engaged largely in buying and selling cattle, 
 and also in feeding. He has been on his 
 present farm eight years. When he first 
 came, there were but few settlers in this part 
 of the township, but now the entire surround- 
 ing country has been fenced in and improve- 
 ments made. Mr. Flood has always taken an 
 active interest in educational matters. In 
 politics, he is a Democrat. 
 
 ERNEST FRANKE, farmer, P. O. Coun- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in Germany in 1845, and 
 came to America in 1866, settling two miles 
 north of Glenwood, in Mills County, Iowa, 
 where he remained for six years. He then 
 came to this county, and has since lived, with 
 the exception of four years, on his present 
 farm of 180 acres. MJr. Franke has good 
 builaings on his farm, and he engages in all 
 the branches of farming. In the spring of 
 1872, he married Miss Paulina Bhoam, a na- 
 tive of Germany. They have six childi-en — 
 three sons and three daughters. Mr. Franke 
 votes the Democratic ticket. 
 
 p. S. FRANK, fai-mer, P. O. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Lake County, Ohio, Au- 
 gust 23, 1850, within three-foiu-ths of a mile 
 of the lamented Garfield's home. He is the 
 son of Solomon S. and Phcebe (Davis) Frank, 
 he a native of Pennsylvania, and she of New 
 York. They are farmers, and are now living 
 in Hardin Township, this county. They 
 were the parents of eight children — four sons 
 and four daughters. Our subject received 
 
128 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 hie education in Council Bluffs, and began 
 life at farming. He was but eight years old 
 when he came to Council Bluffs, where he 
 lived for four years. He has been a resident 
 of this county for the past twenty-four years. 
 His present farm consists of 160 acres; is 
 well improved land, containing good build- 
 ings and a walnut grove of 500 trees. He 
 carries on general farming. March20, 1878, 
 he was married, in Keg Creek Township, to 
 Marguerette Orr, born in Ohio November 25, 
 1850, daughter of William and Marguerette 
 Orr, natives of Ireland. Our subject has 
 been School Director in the township), and in 
 politics he is a Democrat. 
 
 KOBERT INGRAM, farmer, P. O. Silver 
 City, Mills County, was born in Scotland Au- 
 gust 30, 1831, son of James and Jane (Ser- 
 ling; Ingram, both natives of Ayrshire, Scot- 
 land, he born in 1792, and is still living in 
 the same place; she born in 1797, and died in 
 her native town in 1846. They were farm- 
 ers, and had five children, of whom our sub- 
 ject is the only boy. He received his edu- 
 cation in Ayrshire, Scotland, and began life 
 at the plow. He came to America in 1851, 
 and to Keg Ci'eek Township in 1871, where 
 he purchased 220 acres of prairie land at ."510 
 per acre. He has since added 160 acres, 
 which cost on an average of §12.50 per acre. 
 He has made many substantial improvements, 
 including a good grove and orchard, and a 
 new two-story frame house, which he erected 
 in 1882, at a cost of §1,800. His present 
 farm of 380 acres contains a constant supply 
 of living water, which would make it an ex- 
 cellent farm for stock-raising. He carries on 
 general farming. He was married, in La 
 Porte County, Ind., in May, 1851, to Eliza 
 Cane, born in Ohio, and died in the place of 
 her marriage in the following year. She was 
 the daughter of John and Ruth (Hullinger) 
 Cane, he born and died in Ohio, and she also 
 
 a native of Ohio, born in 1808, and is now 
 living in Lake County, Ind, Our subject was 
 married a second time, to Miss Melissa Mc- 
 Murphy, a half-sister of his former wife. She 
 was born in Michigan February 7, 1814, the 
 daughter of Moses McMurphy, a native of 
 Vermont, born in 1806. By his first wife 
 our subject had one child, James M. ; by his 
 second wife, four children, three of whom are 
 living — Andi-ew L. , Martha and Robert Ma- 
 rion. Oar subject has filled several township 
 offices. He belongs to the Baptist Church, 
 ! and is a Republican in politics. 
 
 WILLIAM KIRBY, farmer, P. O. Silver 
 City, Mills County, was born in Yorkshire. 
 England, February 13, 1850, son of James 
 and Jane (Croft) Kirby, natives of Y'ork- 
 shire, England, he, born in 1808, was a large 
 farmer, and died in Clyde, 111., July 22, 1866; 
 she born October 15, 1819, and is now living 
 in Keg Creek Township. They were the 
 parents of four children — three boys and one 
 girl. Our subject received his schooling in 
 Logan County, 111., and started in life as a 
 farmer. It was in 1854 that he came to the 
 United States, and he lived in Illinois for 
 eighteen years. March 4, 1875, he came to 
 Keg Creek Township and bought 100 acres 
 of prairie land, at $11, $12.50 and $16.75 
 per acre. He has made many substantial im- 
 provements, and carries on general farming. 
 Since his residence in this county, he has 
 dealt considerably in land, having been in 
 the real estate business for some time. He 
 votes the Republican ticket. 
 
 HENRY B. KNOWLES, farmer, P. O. 
 Council Bluffs, was born in St. Lawrence 
 County, N. Y., August 7, 1849, son of Henry 
 and Jane L. (Brush) Knowles ; he, born in St. 
 Lawrence County, N. Y^. , June 23, 1815, is a 
 lawyer in Potsdam, N. Y.; she, born in Ver- 
 gennes, Vt. , June 21, 1817, and is still liv- 
 ing. They are the parents of six children — 
 
KEG CREEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 129 
 
 two sons and four daughters. Our subject 
 received his education in Potsdam, N. Y., 
 WiJliamstown, Mass., and Cornell University. 
 He started in life as a farmer and stock man. 
 He was married, in Keg Creek Township, 
 February 10, 1881, to Elizabeth J. Orr, born 
 near Cleveland, Ohio, June 15, 1855, daugh- 
 ter of William and Marguerette Orr, both 
 natives of Belfast, Ireland, he born March 
 13, 1817, she March 23, 1817. Our subject 
 came to Council Bluffs in the fall of 1872. 
 His present farm consists of 400 acres, which 
 was, at the time he purchased it, all prairie 
 land, but now contains many substantial im- 
 provements, including good buildings, his 
 house being one of the largest and best in 
 the county. He feeds cattle in the winters, 
 and afterward ships them to Chicago. In 
 politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 EOBERT McELRATH, farmer, P. O. Sil- 
 ver City, Mills County, was born in Erie 
 County, Penn., March 11, 1836, sou of James 
 and Elizabeth (Leland) McElrath, both na- 
 tives of Northumberland County, Penn., he, 
 born March 12, 1800, and died in St. -Joseph 
 County, Mioh., in December, 1862; she, born 
 in 1802, and still living, in St. Joseph Coun- 
 ty, Mich. The parents were farmers, and 
 raised eight children — four boys and four 
 girls. Our subject received his schooling in 
 St. Joseph County, Mich., to which place his 
 parents had moved shortly after his birth, 
 and commenced life as a tiller of the' soil. 
 He afterward leai-nod the shoemaker's trade, 
 but returned to farming. August 8, 1802, 
 he enlisted in the Nineteenth Michigan In- 
 fantry, Company K, Cajit. Duffy. He took 
 part in the engagement of Spring Hill, Tenn., 
 and was taken prisoner, and sent to Libby 
 Prison, Virginia. He was married, February 
 4, 1857, in St. Croix County, Wis., to Nancy 
 M. Harris, born in New York September 24, 
 1836. Om- subject lived in Michigan until 
 
 1869, when he went to Shelby County, Mo,, 
 where he lived until he came to Keg Creek 
 Township in 1873, where he purchased eighty 
 acres of land at S15 per acre. He has set out 
 a grove and made other substantial improve- 
 ments. He engages in general farming. He 
 has two daughters — Susan Elmina, born 
 March 5, 1861; and Alice Elcina, born July 
 15, 1862. Ml-. McElrath is an Odd Fellow, 
 Silver City Lodge. He votes the Republican 
 ticket. 
 
 COL. WILLIAM ORR, farmer and stock- 
 raiser, P. O. Council Bluffs, was born near 
 Belfast, Ireland, March 13, 1826. He is 
 the son of John and Margaret ()rr. His fa- 
 ther died in L'eland in 1841. Our subject 
 received his education in L'eland. He first 
 attended the subscription schools, and after- 
 ward the public schools, when the national 
 system of free instruction came into vogue. 
 When but sixteen years of age, he came to 
 Ohio, where he remained until the year 1856, 
 with the exception of about four years, dui-- 
 ing which he lived in Western Pennsylvania. 
 In the fall of 1848, he returred to the old 
 country, and was married, near Belfast, in 
 1849, to Miss Margaret Orr. He immediately 
 came back to Ohio and commenced farming 
 and stock-raising, in which occupations he 
 has ever since been engaged. The same year, 
 his mother visited him, but returned to Ire- 
 land shortly afterward, and died there in 
 1853. In the spring of 1857, our subject 
 moved to a place near Florence, Neb., re- 
 maining there for fom- years, when he went 
 to Harrison County, Iowa, where he lived till 
 1872, finally coming to his present farm in 
 Keg Creek Township. Mr. and Mrs. Orr 
 have had twelve children, seven of whom are 
 living — three sons and four daughters. La- 
 mont, William, Mary and Emma are living 
 at home. John A. is married, and lives in 
 Harrison County, near the old homestead. 
 
130 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 ^largaret A. and Elizabeth J. are married, 
 and reside in this county. From about 1866 
 to 1879, Col. Orr was engaged in breeding 
 Short-Horn cattle, but he held a sale in 1879, 
 from which he retained but a few head. He 
 is at present engaged in breeding cattle of 
 the Hereford blood. Besides this, he makes 
 it a basiness of feeding cattle through the 
 winter season, having at times several hun- 
 dred head. The Colonel is also a breeder of 
 thoroughbred horses, sheep and hogs, at pres- 
 ent breeding the Chester White and Poland- 
 China hogs. Col. Orr is one of the earliest 
 who have made fine stock-raising a specialty, 
 and he has probably been more extensively 
 engaged in that business than any other man 
 in the county. His farm consists of 640 
 acres, and he has a quarter-section more, 
 which he leases. His farm is complete in all 
 tlie necessaiy equipments pertaining to the 
 business. In his pastiu'e he has a self-regu- 
 lating Halliday windmill. Col. Orr raises 
 his own hay, in which he has been very suc- 
 cessful, cutting as high as three tons to the 
 acre. In polities, the Colonel is a Democrat, 
 but has never taken a very active interest in 
 political affairs. His party did, however, 
 run him for the State Senatorship in the fall 
 of 1880, but he was defeated by Hon. George 
 F. Wright, the Eepublican candidate. 
 
 A. B. PEKKINS, farmer, P. O. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Warren County, 111., in 
 1846, and, with his parents, moved to War- 
 ren County, Iowa, when he was nine years old. 
 His father, D. R. Perkins, moved to Southern 
 Kansas in the fall of 1870, and in the March 
 following, our subject went to Nebraska, re- 
 maining there two years, when he came to 
 Keg Creek Township, in March, 1873. At 
 that time, his present place was all open 
 prairie, and there were but two or three 
 other settlers near him. He had ample range 
 for his cattle, but, inside of five years, some 
 
 of the roughest of the neighboringr land had 
 
 O DO 
 
 been settled up. Mr. Perkins paid SIO per 
 acre at the time he first purchased. His farm 
 at present consists of 180 acres, all of which 
 is under cultivation. He raises some stock, 
 and engages in general farming. He was 
 married, in Warren County, Iowa, in 1868, 
 to Miss Malinda Whited, who was born in 
 this State. They have eight children — five 
 boys and three girls — Mr. Perkins is at pres- 
 ent one of the Trustees of Keg Creek Town- 
 ship. He is a member of the Christian 
 Church, and also of Silver City Lodge, I. O. 
 O. F. Politically, he is a Democrat. 
 
 JULIUS J. SAAR, farmer, P. O. Council 
 Blufis. was born in Jefferson City, Mo.. Jan- 
 uaiy 1, 1845. He was but four years old 
 when his parents moved to Mills County, 
 Iowa. Here our subject lived until 1S70, 
 when he came to this county. He received 
 his ediacation in the schools of Mills County. 
 He is the eldest son of Heniy Saar, who, with 
 his wife (our subject's mother), is living in 
 Mills County. His grandfather, John 
 Plumer, is one of the oldest settlers in Mills 
 County, and still lives on the place he first 
 settled, and is over ninety years old. Our 
 subject was married, in Mills County, in Jan- 
 uary, 1869, to Miss Catharine Shoning, a 
 native of Germany. They have seven chil- 
 dren — five boys and two girls. Mrs. Saar's 
 farm consists of 280 acres, 150 acres of which 
 are under cultivation, and the remainder are in 
 pastiu'e and grass. He has a pleasant farm 
 home with good buildings, orchards, forest 
 trees and other improvements, which give to 
 the place an air of comfort and happine.ss. 
 Out of a piece of the open prairie, Mr. 
 Saar has, by his hard work and energy, 
 made his farm what it is. He is engaged 
 in general farming. He belongs to the 
 Lutheran Church, and votes the Democratic 
 ticket. 
 
KEG CKEEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 131 
 
 H. F. SAAR, farmer, P. O.Keg Creek, was 
 born iu Moniteau County, Mo., in 1848, and 
 was the son of Henry Saar. His pai'ents 
 moved by ox teams to this State when he 
 was a small boy. They settled in- Mills 
 County, where both parents are still living. 
 Our subject was educated in the schools of 
 Mills County. He was married, in June, 
 1872, to Miss Caroline Riekman, who was 
 born in Davenport, Iowa. They have five 
 childi-en — three boys and two girls. IVIr. 
 Saar settled on his present farm in the fall 
 of 1876. He had lived in this county before 
 that time, but had returned to Mills County, 
 where he stayed for a year or so. His pres- 
 ent farm consists of 520 acres, about 180 acre 
 of which are tinder cultivation, the remainder 
 being in meadow and pasture land. He is 
 engaged in stock-raising and general farm- 
 incf. The first 120 acres which he bought 
 was improved to some extent, but the balance 
 of his improvements he has made himself. 
 His success has been attained by hard labor 
 and close attention to business. His father's 
 farm in Mills County lies on what was once 
 an old stage route, which was one of the thor- 
 oughfares for emigrants going to California. 
 At one time, a train of 1,000 mules stopped 
 to feed at his father's place, and they had 
 to haul corn by the load and scatter it over 
 the ground in order to feed them. When our 
 subject first came to this county, twelve years 
 ago, he broke prairie on his brother Julius' 
 farm, at which time the country all around 
 was all open prairie. He has seen the stage 
 drive over his father's fence many a time in 
 the winter. It was a rail fence which would 
 be completely buried in snow, so severe would 
 be the storms in that locality. 
 
 ALBERT W. WYMAN, farmer, P. O. 
 Council Bluffs, was born in Parma, Monroe 
 Co., N. Y., Februaiy 20, 1834, son of Sam- 
 uel and Betsey (Atchison) Wyman, he born in 
 Sheffield, Mass., May 31, 1789, and died in 
 Parma, N. Y., in January, 1876; she born in 
 Parma, N. Y., January 21, 1799, and is still 
 living in that place. The father was a black- 
 smith. The parents had ten children — sis 
 sons and four daughters — of whom three boys 
 and one girl are now deceased. Our subject 
 received his education in his native town, 
 where he also learned the carpenter's trade, 
 in which occupation he began life. He was 
 married, November 10, 1858, in Half Moon, 
 Saratoga Co. , N. Y., to Hai-riet M. Peek, born 
 in Rensselaer County, N. Y., November 15, 
 1837, daughter of A. and Betsey Ann (Wood) 
 Peek, he born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., in 
 1807; she in 1808, and still living in Sara- 
 toga County, N. Y. Our subject lived in New 
 York until 1871. He was a cai'penter on the 
 Albany & Northern Railroad, but afterward 
 rose to the position of foreman on the third 
 division of that road. He was Lieutenant in 
 the Home Guards, State militia, Capt. Diver. 
 In 1871, he came to Keg Creek Township, 
 where he shortly afterward purchased 160 
 acres of land at §10 per acre. He set out 
 7,000 forest and 140 fruit trees, which are in 
 a thriving, and the fruit trees in a beai-ing, 
 condition. He has good buihlings, living 
 water on the place, and engages .in general 
 f ai-miug, but mostly stock-raising and feeding 
 in winter. Mr. and Mrs. Wyman have one 
 boy, born October 6, 1859. Our subject is 
 an A., F. & A. M., Clinton Lodge, No. 140, 
 being a charter member of the same. In 
 politics, he is a Democrat. 
 
132 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 KS^OX TOWI^SHIP. 
 
 E. A. BABCOCK, lawyer, Avoca, born in 
 Huntington, Hampshire Co., Mass., Sept. 10, 
 1841. His parents moved to Clinton, Oneida 
 Co., N. Y. , when he was a few months old; 
 parents are both dead ; father buried in 
 Hampshire County, aged fifty-seven; mother 
 in Oneida County, N. Y., aged forty-two. 
 Subject was Principal of the Schoharie Acad- 
 emy for a short time; taught school near 
 Buifalo, N. Y.; graduated at Hamilton Col- 
 lege, Oneida County, in 1865, went to New 
 Boston. 111., September 16, 1866, taught 
 school until November 28, 1866, when he 
 moved to Muscatine, this State, November 30, 
 1866, went to Davenport, this State, in a few 
 days; taught one term of school in Scott Coun- 
 ty, when he started for Omaha, April 3, 1867, 
 thence to this county; taught one term near 
 Council Bluffs, and two tenns in Shelby Coun- 
 ty. Subject is a Democrat; was elected Asses- 
 sor October, 1869, and was married to Augusta 
 Burmister December 25, 1879. They have 
 had only one child, which died soon after its 
 birth. Subject came to Avoca July 2, 1869, 
 and now has a large practice. 
 
 FREMONT BENJAMIN, attorney, Avoca, 
 dates his residence in Avoca back to July, 
 1875. He was born in Schuyler County, N. 
 Y., and, prior to his coming West, he had 
 spent aboutjeight years in the schools of El- 
 mira, grdauating from the Elmira Academy 
 while Prof. J. Dormau Steele was Principal 
 of that institution. He came to Avoca and 
 engaged in school -teaching, but, concluding 
 to study law, he entered the office of John 
 Ledwich. He subsequently took a course in 
 the State University of Iowa, from which he 
 
 graduated in 1881. In February, he was 
 admitted to the bar in Johnson County. Iowa, 
 and, in the following June, he was admitted 
 to practice in the United States Courts. He 
 began practice in Avoca in April of 1881, and 
 has succeeded in establishing a good busi- 
 ness. In political affairs, he has taken an 
 active part with the Eepublican party. He 
 is a member of the Mt. Nebo Lodge, No. 
 297, A., F. & A. M., of which he is the pres- 
 ent Secretary, 
 
 J. B. BLAKE, Postmaster, Avoca, so well 
 known through his official position in Avoca 
 and vicinity, has been a resident of Potta- 
 wattamie County the greater part of the time 
 for the past twenty-two years. He was born 
 in Worcester County, Mass., where he was 
 educated, and where he remained a resident 
 until his seventeenth year. He then went to 
 Boston and entered a wholesale house, where 
 he remained three years. His first year's sal- 
 ary was S50; the second, S75; and the third 
 year. SIOO. He then came West, and stopped 
 for a few months in Omaha. He then went 
 to Crescent City, where he designed engag- 
 ing in business, but, finding the climate to 
 him so unhealthy that he contracted ague, he 
 was obliged to make a change, so went to 
 Denver, Colo., where his brother, Charles 
 Blake, resided, and who erected one of the 
 first houses ever built in that famous city. 
 Iklr. Blake spent about one year there, when. 
 his health admitting, he returned to Potta- 
 wattamie County. His life from this date 
 until he settled in Avoca in 1874 was a series 
 of changes, the time being spent mainly in 
 Crescent Citv, Council Bluffs and Loveland. 
 
KXOX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 133 
 
 He removed from the latter place to Avoca 
 and engaged in the retail boot and shoe 
 business, which he continue until he was 
 appointed Postmaster of the Avoca office, 
 by President Hayes. He was re-ajapointed 
 by President Arthur, and is at present en- 
 gaged in the discharge of his duties, and is 
 unquestionably a substantial, worthy citizen 
 of the prosperous little city. 
 
 T. P. BOGUE, farmer, P. O. Avoca, born 
 in Vei-mont in 1832, son of T. F. Bogue, who 
 died in 1865; his mother died in 1872. 
 Subject lived in Vermont until 1859, when 
 he went to California, living there until 
 1869. The lirst four years were occupied in 
 mining, the next three in freighting, and the 
 balance he lived in the western part of Utah 
 Territory. Returning to Vermont in 1809, 
 he remained there one year, when he came to 
 this county and bought his jiresent farm from 
 Henry Davenport, paying about $13 'per acre 
 for the same. It is located two miles from 
 Avoca; consists of 120 acres, nearly all in 
 cultivation; there were few improvements on 
 the place when he bought it, only twenty acres 
 broken and the land all fenced. He raises 
 corn and hogs principally. Subject was edu- 
 cated in the common schools of Vermont, 
 Castleton and Brandon Seminaries, and mar- 
 ried, in 1869, Miss Caroline B. Hall, of Ver- 
 mont, daughter of David Hall; they have 
 three children, all boys. Subject is a Repub- 
 lican, a member of the Mt. Nebo Lodge, No. 
 297, A. , F. & A. M., and was three years in 
 the Crown Point Iron Mines in New York 
 State. He was through two Indian outbreaks 
 in 1866 and 1867, the worst being that of the 
 Goshoot, the tribe being almost annihilated 
 by Capt. Smith. One of Mr. Bogue's horses 
 was shot bv an Indian while he was di-iving 
 a stage. However, a soldier, who was sit- 
 ing on the seat beside him, soon dispatched 
 "Poor Lo." 
 
 J. A. BUNNELL, farmer, P. O. Avoca, 
 born in Portage County, Ohio, January, 1836, 
 son of Charles and Margaret Bunnell; moved 
 from Ohio to Illinois in 18-46, settling in 
 Winnebago County, living there until 1852, 
 when he went to Iowa. His father, however, 
 had gone to Clinton County, Iowa, in the fall 
 of the previous year, while he remained in 
 Illinois, attending school. His home for 
 some years after this was either in Shelby or 
 Pottawattamie County until after the war, 
 when he came to this township. He attended 
 the Urst school that was ever taught in the 
 township, which was a successful institution 
 for those days. Subject was married in Au- 
 gust, 1856, to Miss Sarah J. Headiee, 
 daughter of Joshua Headiee, born in 
 Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Bunnell have eight 
 children — five boys and three girls — one 
 daughter married and living in this town- 
 ship. Subject enlisted, October 14. 1863, 
 in Company M, Ninth Iowa Cavalry; served 
 until the close of the war, under Col. Tnim- 
 buU; was stationed along White and Arkan- 
 sas Rivers, being in only one j)itched battle, 
 with Shelby's men, near Duvall's Bluff Af- 
 ter leaving the army, he sold his farm in 
 Shelby County, and bought his present place, 
 his farm now consisting of 600 acres, well 
 improved. There is a grove of thirty acres, 
 a large house, etc., on it, and the products 
 are principally stock and corn. On his ai-- 
 I'ival here, his entire capital was 75 cents, 
 and he worked at anyihing he could find to 
 do, coming with an uncle who had lost his 
 eyesight by being blown up in a well while 
 working for Buford, of Rock Island, 111. He 
 helped this uncle' all he possibly could; got 
 a yoke of oxen, went to Nebraska in 1854, 
 and broke prairie, working through the sum- 
 mer. He lost one of his cattle, which re- 
 quired six months' work to pay for it. In 
 1856, he went back to Nebraska, broke prai- 
 
134 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 rie, hauled wood to Omaiia in the winter, 
 putting all his earnings into land at 81.25 
 per acre, and he soon made a start in the 
 world. He has hauled wheat to Council 
 Bluffs and sold it for 30 cents per bushel; 
 also sold and dressed hogs as low as $1.25 
 per hundred. He is a Kepublican ; has held 
 several offices, and may feel proud of his past 
 record as a self-made man. 
 
 JOHN COAKES, livery, Avoca, born in 
 Canada in 1840, son of Samuel Coakes, a 
 painter. Subject has two sisters in Avoca, 
 and one brother in the Sandwich Islands. 
 He left Coburg, Canada, with only S5, cross- 
 ing Lake Ontario in the Maple Leaf; landed 
 in New York in i860; enlisted in the Thirty- 
 fourth New York Eegiment (Col. Suter), in 
 the fall of 1861. His first battle was Fair 
 Oaks; was in the seven days' retreat with 
 McClellan; at the battle of Antietam; both 
 fights at Fredericksburg, being with the Ai-my 
 of the Potomac all the time, and mustered 
 out July 3, 1863, at Albany. He worked in 
 livery stable in Palmyra, N. Y., then went to 
 Detroit, Mich., continuing in the same busi- 
 ness for sis years, when he came to Avoca, in 
 July, 1870, and opened business for himself, 
 with two buggies and foiu" horses, Avoca at 
 this time not having more than twenty build- 
 ings. Now he has a stable 34x146 feet, con- 
 taining nine rigs. He was married, in the 
 fall of 1864, in Detroit, to Miss Rozina Kier- 
 sey, who died in the fall of 1878, leaving two 
 children — one boy and one girl. Subject's 
 parents are both dead. 
 
 ENOCH GUSHING, farmer, P. O. Avoca, 
 born in Tamworth, N. H., about foiu-teen 
 miles from the White Mountains, in 1829; 
 lived there until twenty-one years old; edu- 
 cated in the common schools; raised on a 
 farm, and lived in difi"erent places in New 
 Hampshire until 1862, when he moved to 
 Massachusetts; he worked at farming, car- 
 
 pentering — in fact, all kinds of work — and 
 for fourteen years was employed in a shoe 
 manufactory employing 6,000 hands. In 
 Massachusetts, he raised vegetables for the 
 Boston market; after five years at this busi- 
 ness, went into the dairy business for one 
 year, and, in December, 1868, he came to this 
 county; settled at what is known as New 
 Boston, living there for one year, owning a 
 dozen horses and a saw-mill. Moving to 
 Avoca, he was the first carpenter, and did the 
 first work in this line which was done in the 
 town; stayed there one year, sold out to Abel 
 Harris and moved onto his present farm. 
 When he came to this county, he had only 
 S200: bought eighty acres of land from the 
 Chicago, Rock Island &_ Pacific Railroad 
 Company in 1869; made a small payment on 
 it; built a house on it in 1870; moved onto 
 it; had only one horse; no farming tools: 
 only made a payment of $100, with a wife 
 and six small childi'en depending on his 
 efforts, but since that time has paid for the 
 original eighty acres, bought and paid for 
 160 acres more, so that the farm now consists 
 of 240 acres of fine land, with a good barn 
 and dwelling house erected thereon, the 
 dwelling costing 81,600. The farm is well 
 stocked and imjiroved. This has all been 
 done by farming. He married, in 1849, Miss 
 Charlotte Bugel, of Barrington, N. H. They 
 have sis children — three sons and tlu-ee 
 daughters, all living at home. Subject is 
 politically a Greenbacker. 
 
 E. W. DAVIS, banker, Avoca, bominDan- 
 ielsonville Conn., in 1839; his mother still 
 lives there; father died in 1861. They had 
 a family of eight children — five girls and 
 three boys — all living. Subject went to 
 Michigan in 1863 ; remained there three 
 years; traveled for one year; went to Harlan, 
 this State, in 1867, remaining there four 
 years, when he moved to Avoca, in April, 
 
KXOX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 135 
 
 1871, engaging in merchandise, under the 
 firm name of E. W. Davis & Co. ; opened a 
 bank in August, 1872, and built a new 
 building in 1874, the firm name being J. W. 
 & E. AV. Davis, organized with a capital of 
 $25,000. but in 1876 the capital was raised 
 to S50,000. Subject is a Freemason, and was 
 married. May 20, 1871:, to Miss May Ben- 
 ham, of Cascade, Dubuque County, this State. 
 TUey have two children — -Vinnie D., aged 
 seven; and Joseph V., aged two. 
 
 GUSTAV DIEDERICH, merchant, Avoca, 
 born in Minden, Germany (Minden Town- 
 ship named after his birthplace), came to 
 the country February 2, 1862, landing in 
 New York; came to Avoca from Davenport, 
 this State, in 1870, where he kept a gi'oeery 
 and crockery store. He now keeps a general 
 stock, and has a branch at Hancock. His 
 wife died in April, 1882. They were married 
 in 1868. He is the father of five children, viz., 
 Gustav, fourteen ; Louise, twelve; Frank, 
 ten; Josephine, seven; Karl, five. He takes 
 an active interest in politics; was the first 
 Recorder of the city; held oflSce four terms- 
 has been Mayor since, except one year spent 
 in Europe; belongs to the order of I. 0. O. 
 F. ; business increasing, yeai'ly sales being 
 $24,000; does a large business in fonvard- 
 ing express to Europe; also does a general 
 banking business for Eui'opean cities; is the 
 agent for the principal Eui'opean steamship 
 lines, and also of the Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany. 
 
 H. S. GREEN, farmer, P. O. Avoca, bom 
 near Brockport, Monroe Co., N. Y., in 1829; 
 raised in Ashtabula County, Ohio; lived there 
 until 1868, when he went to Illinois; stopped 
 with friends near Ottawa, where he was 
 teaching for two years. He is the son of 
 Caleb Green, who died in 1840; his mother, 
 at the age of eighty-eight, died in Septem- 
 ber, 1881; he is one of twelve childi-en, one 
 
 brother and one sister dead. He was educat- 
 ed in Ashtabula County, Ohio, going to 
 school with B. F. Wade, nephew of B. F. 
 Wade, of the Nineteenth District, Ohio. He 
 has been farming most of his life, and, while 
 in Ohio, was in the dairy business; married, 
 in Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1853, Miss 
 Sarah J. Wood, born in New York and raised 
 in Ohio. They are the parents of four childi-en 
 — one daughter dead and three sons living. 
 Subject came to this township in the spring 
 of 1870, buying raw prairie, paying S8 and 
 SIO per acre for same. The land was owned 
 by Mr. Hitchcock, of Boston, and sold by N. 
 P. Dodge, of Council Bluffs. The farm is 
 well improved now, consisting of 290 acres, 
 mostly under cultivation, with large build- 
 ings, groves, orchard, etc., thereon. He 
 came here just as the Chicago, Rock Island 
 & Pacific Railroad commenced carrj-'ing 
 freight, and was in Shelby when the first 
 freight was delivered there, it Iseing a keg of 
 whisky. Mr. Green is a Democrat. 
 
 R. S. HART, agricultural implements, 
 Avoca, is one of the oldest as well as one of 
 the leading business men of Avoca. He is a 
 native of Juniata County, Penn., where he 
 was educated and spent the early years of 
 his manhood. In 1867, he came West and 
 located at Council Bluffs. About one year 
 after his arrival, he entered the employ of 
 Messrs. Shugart & Lininger, and engaged in 
 the sale of agricultural implements. He re- 
 mained in their employ about two years, and 
 then went to Avoca, where he engaged in the 
 stock business for about two years. The rap- 
 id development of the new country creating 
 a demand for farm implements, he was 
 shrewd enough to see the advantage of es- 
 tablishing a good business house in this line 
 at Avoca. The result has proved the correct- 
 ness of his judgment. In 1875, he formed 
 a partnership with Mr. Shugart, of Council 
 
1C6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Bluffs, and at ouce began an extensive busi- 
 ness in the implement line and in buying 
 grain. Their success is perhaps due to the 
 carefulness of their selection of any and all 
 articles of goods in which they have dealt. 
 The Fiu-st & Bradley and Weir plows and 
 cultivators, Bain and Schuttler wagons, and 
 Buckeye reapers, mowers and twine-binder, 
 and Brown corn-planters, are samples of the 
 character of their goods. They also have an 
 extensive trade in carriages and buggies. 
 They supply agents at Oakland and Harlan 
 with some Hues of their goods, in addition to 
 their retail trade. Mi-. Hart has the entire 
 management of the business, Mr. Shugart be- 
 ing so extensively engaged in the same line 
 in Council Bluffs as to require his time and 
 attention. An annual sale of goods amount- 
 ing to $40,000 is the best evidence of Mr. 
 Hart's ability as a financier. In addition to 
 his mercantile business, Mi-. Hart has a tine 
 farm of 240 acres, located near Avoca, where 
 he takes a pride in keeping some good stock. 
 Mr. Hart has been only interested in politics 
 to the extent of helping fill the local offices 
 with just and honorable men. His time and 
 energy have been given to the building up 
 of his business, and to such men as he and 
 Mr. Shugart is Avoca largely indebted for her 
 growth and prosperity. 
 
 S. A. KING, farmer, P. O. Avoca, born in 
 Orange County, Vt., April 13, 1825, son of 
 John King, who died in Indiana in August, 
 1852 ; his mother died in Dover, N. H. Sub- 
 ject lived in Vermont until he was nine years 
 old, when he was taken to Lowell, Mass., 
 where he lived until he was thirteen years 
 old, when he went to Hm-on, Ohio, remaining 
 there until he was eighteen years old, when 
 he rode on horseback to Galena, 111., to try 
 his fortunes in the lead mines. Living there 
 about nine months, he got discoui-aged, hav- 
 ing caught the ague. He started back to 
 
 Ohio, but, finding he could not stand the 
 ride, he stopped at Rockford, moving from 
 there to Ottawa about the time the canal was 
 finished from Chicago to La Salle; lived in 
 Ottawa three years, when he went to Lake 
 County, Ind His father, having moved there 
 some time before, was very sick, and died 
 from this sickness. He settled up the busi- 
 ness and took his step-mother to Ohio. While 
 at Rockford, he freighted to Chicago; would 
 haul wheat the eighty miles for 20 cents per 
 bushel, and, on reaching the city, would fre- 
 quently have to sell for 37^ cents per bushel, 
 taking shelf goods in payment, not even get- 
 ting groceries; he hauled pork for 30 cents 
 per hundred, sold for $1.50 per hundred, 
 and, on his return trip, would take emigrants 
 who landed from the steamboat to any place 
 they wished, taking him all over Northern 
 Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. This was 
 before there were any railroads in this part 
 of the country. TSTiile in Ohio, after taking 
 his step-mother there, he m-arried, in Ajjril, 
 1853, Miss Hannah Studwell, born in New 
 York State. The same spring, he started 
 West again, stopping at La Porte, Ind., stay- 
 ing nearly a year, when he started to Ii-oquois 
 County, 111., February, 1854, staying there 
 until August, 1855, moving to Tama Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, where he bought eighty acres of 
 land, paying $5 per acre, building a cabin 
 on it. the next year he sold out for §10 per 
 acre, moving onto better land; he lived in 
 Tama County for nearly thirteen years, when 
 he moved to this township, in June, 1869, 
 driving his stock across country, moving his 
 goods and family in wagons. When they 
 came here, there were no neighbors for about 
 five miles north and twelve miles east, but 
 south of them, around Lewin's Grove, there 
 was quite a settlement. He paid S900 for 
 his fii-st eighty acres of land, and now has 
 240 acres, his principal business now being 
 
KXOX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 137 
 
 stock-raising. Politically, he is a Green- 
 backei', though, until lately, was a Republic- 
 an. Has sis childi'en — three boys and three 
 girls, one girl and one son married and away 
 from home, the others still living at home. 
 After his aiTival in Tama County, he had to 
 go to Iowa City, sixty-two miles away, for 
 everything they bought. 
 
 K. S. KNOWLES, M. D., Avoca, born in 
 New York State in 1827, came here from 
 Findley's Lake, N. Y. , where he had been 
 practicing medicine for five years ; graduat- 
 ed, in 1857, at the Kalamazoo College, Mich- 
 igan, and took his medical courses in the 
 Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, in the 
 winter of 1874-75, and in the Chicago Ho- 
 mceopathie College in the winter of 1877. 
 The Doctor's first practice was in Wisconsin, 
 where he practiced for six years. Going to 
 New York, he practiced five years, when he 
 moved here, where he has practiced for twelve 
 years. Subject's office is at his house, where 
 he keeps a large stock of homoeopathic med- 
 icines. He and his wife are encraged with 
 son- in-law, the firm being known as P. C. 
 Backus & Co., in a 99-ceut store, containing 
 an endless variety of fancy goods &nd furni- 
 ture, and are doing an extensive business. 
 Subject was married, December 25, to Miss 
 M. L. Francisco. Her father, B. S. Francis- 
 co, was born just after parents came from 
 France, and her family are noted for their 
 longevity. Her father, joining the army 
 when he was over sixty year sold, is still liv- 
 ing, at the age of eighty-two. One of her 
 great-uncles lived to be one hundred and 
 twenty-four years old. Her mother died in 
 November, 1^81, at eighty-three years old. 
 Dr. Knowles' ancestors are also long-lived. 
 His mother died at the age of eighty-foui\ 
 His grandparents (Knowles) lived to be be- 
 tween ninety and one hundred years old. 
 Dr. and Mi-s. Knowles had five children, but 
 
 only three are living — one daughter, at home; 
 one daughter, Mi's. Backus is in a large fancy 
 store in Omaha; the other daugther, Mrs. J. 
 J. Hipsley, is in a wholesale and retail book 
 store in Fort Dodge, this State. The Doctor 
 has quite an extensive business in Avoca 
 and surrounding country. 
 
 ERNEST P. MACOilBER, M. D.. physi- 
 cian and surgeon. Avoca, born in Massachu- 
 setts in 1854, son of Dr. A. P. Macomber, a 
 physician of Atlantic, this State, who was 
 his son's preceptor tlii-ough his medical course 
 at college. Dr. A. P. Macomber is a grad- 
 uate of New York University, and practiced 
 the old-school system for fifteen years, but 
 now and for twelve years he has practiced 
 the new (homoeopathic). Subject has been in 
 Avoca one year, succeeding Dr. F. K. Dabury, 
 who was in practice here for foiir years, and 
 came from the vicinity of Long Branch, N. 
 J. , where he had been living four years. He 
 is a graduate of the New York Homoeopathic 
 College; also attended a course in the Medi- 
 cal Department in Columbia, N. Y., and a 
 session of lectui'es in the Long Island Hos- 
 pital. He received his early education at 
 Williston Seminaiy, East Hampton, Mass., 
 and Goddard Seminary, Barre, Vt. He is a 
 member of the New Jersey and Iowa State 
 Homoeopathic Societies, and has been quite 
 successful in his practice here, which is quite 
 extended, taking in Oakland, Carson, Han- 
 cock and Shelby. Dr. Macomber and Dr. 
 Knowles are the only homoeopathic physi- 
 cians in Avoca. 
 
 D. S. McCONNAUGHEY, M. D., Avoca, 
 born in Lawrence County, Penn., July 8, 1837, 
 came to Avoca April 4, 1882, from Washing- 
 ton County, this State, having arrived in Den- 
 mark, Lee County, this State, in 1852, and 
 living there two yeais before he went to 
 Washington County. He attended the Den- 
 mark Academy for two years, the Washington 
 
13« 
 
 BIOGKAPPIICAL: 
 
 College several years; enlisted, in 1861, in 
 Company H, Eleventh Iowa Infantry; dis- 
 charged in 1862, at Fulton, Mo.; returned 
 home and commenced the study of medicine; 
 re-enlisted, in the summer of 1862, in the 
 Thirtieth lovra Infantry; remained with the 
 regiment one year; discharged in 1863, at 
 Vicksburg; returned to Washington, this 
 State; resumed the study of medicine, at- 
 tending a coui'se of lectures at Rush Medical 
 College in the winter of 1865-66; graduated 
 in 1866-67, at Keokuk, this State; began the 
 practice of medicine near the present town of 
 Kiverside, this State ; moved, in 1869, to 
 Marshall, Henry County, this State; remained 
 there seven years, retui-ning to Riverside, re- 
 maining there live years, when he removed to 
 Avoca, where he has a large and constantly 
 growing practice. Subject was married, Oc- 
 tober 31, 1867, to Miss Josie Terry, daugh- 
 ter of J. L. L. Terry, of Washington, this 
 State. They had two children — Zetta, born 
 in 1869, lived nine yeai's and died at River- 
 side; and Harry D. Subject is a Repub- 
 lican and a Freemason. 
 
 N. MEREDITH, farmer, P. O. Avoca, was 
 born sixteen miles north of Peoria, in 1829, 
 son of J. B. Meredith, who is still living; 
 his mother is dead, and his only brother lives 
 in this township. Subject received a com- 
 mon-school education in Illinois, and mar- 
 ried, in Illinois, in 1852, Miss Clarissa Reed, 
 born in Illinois, daughter of Simon Reed, 
 who was one of the first settlers in that part 
 of the State: her pai'ents are both dead. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Meredith have four children — three 
 boys and one girl Subject came to this 
 county from Peoria County, 111., in Septem- 
 ber, 1859, and has lived here since, with the 
 exception of two years. In the spring of 
 1853, he went across the country to Califor- 
 nia, having been gone four years. While 
 there, he was mining, teaming and farming. 
 
 Returning to Illinois, he lived there until he 
 moved to Iowa. He bought his present farm 
 in 1868, from John Ghilds, paying $6,25 per 
 acre. The farm contains 120 acres, mostly 
 in timber, in what is known as Lewin's Grove 
 — in fact, occupying the same place which 
 Mr. Lewin first settled. Subject takes no in- 
 terest in politics, and has not voted since the 
 war. When he came to his present place, 
 there were hardly any improvements. Mov- 
 ing into the old log cabin built by Lewin, 
 and lived there until it was burned down, but 
 now has good farm buildings. He raises 
 corn principally, but also does some business 
 in stock, 
 
 T, O, MEREDITH, agricultural imple- 
 ments, Avoca, was born in England in 1844, 
 son of Thomas Meredith, who still lives near 
 Lewis, and was married, January 1, 1872, to 
 Miss M. J. Marsh, of Cass County, born in 
 Indiana, and daughter of Enoch Marsh. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Meredith have two children, both 
 boys. Subject has two brothers and one half- 
 brother, all living in Cass County. Subject 
 came from Lewis, Cass Co., Iowa, in March, 
 1872, and has followed his present business 
 since coming here. He was raised on a farm 
 adjoining Lewis, and came to this country 
 with his^ parents when only eight years of 
 age, and settled in Madison, Wis,, remaining 
 there about two years, then moved to Cass 
 County, Iowa, making that his home until he 
 came here ^in 1872. He voted the Repub- 
 lican ticket until the fall of 1881, when he 
 joined the Greenback j)arty. He cast his first 
 vote for Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 O. B, NELSON, merchant, Avoca, came to 
 Avoca in the spring of 1871 ; commenced 
 business in 1873, and clerked for two years. 
 He is a native of Denmark; his mother, com- 
 ing hei'e last year, is still living. He mar- 
 ried, in 1877, Angle Reynolds, of Avoca, who 
 is a native of New York, Thev have two 
 
KNOX TOWNSHIP. 
 
 139 
 
 children, viz., Edna, five years old; and 
 Meta, four. He carries a large stock, doing a 
 business of 833,000, and employs four clerks; 
 handles dry goods, boots and shoes, a full 
 line of groceries, and also some of the lead- 
 injr sewing machines. Is a member of the 
 I. O. O. F. ; been Deputy for two tenns, Con- 
 ductor and Past Grand. In 1873, his broth- 
 er, M. B. , came and engaged in the hardware 
 business, but died in 1879, leaving a wife 
 and one child. 
 
 WAIT H. SANDERS, f ai-mer, P. O. Avoca. 
 born in New York State in 1810, living there 
 until a young man, when he emigrated to 
 Michicran: living there for twentv-six years, 
 he moved to this State, settling in Davenport, 
 in 1854, remaining there for sixteen years, 
 when he removed tn Avoca. He was raised 
 on a farm, but followed mechanical pursuits 
 from 1836 until he came here, in August, 
 1870. settling in Avoca, though buying a farm 
 one and a half miles northeast of Avoca at the 
 same time; lived in Avoca four years, but 
 followed farming and the improvement of his 
 land. He bui't the City HDtel of Davenport, 
 the Post Office Block in the same'town, be- 
 sides many other large buildings. Subject 
 never served an apprenticeship or attended a 
 mechanical school, but taught himself the 
 mechanical arts. The first year he worked at 
 the trade, his boss thought he was a regular 
 mechanic, and put him in as foreman of a 
 gang of hands, he had such a thorough 
 knowledge of the business. Subject was 
 married, at Ypsilantf, Mich., about 1844, to 
 Miss Sarah J. Wakeman, of New York City. 
 He has four sons and one daughter living. 
 Three of the sons are at home, and his daugh- 
 ter is now Mi's. Scott Williams, of Hancock, 
 Iowa. There is only one son married. Mrs. 
 Sanders died in June, 1879. When subject 
 came to this township, hisfra-mwas all open, 
 and no improvements thereon whatever, but 
 
 now is finely improved, and contains 280 
 acres, 200 of which are under cultivation. 
 It is also well stocked with a fine lot of high- 
 grade cattle, as well as horses, There are 
 also ten acres of grove and orchard. He has 
 been a member of the I. O. O. F. for fortv 
 years, and one of the charter members of 
 Lodge No. 10, Michigan. The first year of 
 his residence in Avoca, he built the German 
 store of G. Diederich, the original bank 
 building, the residence of Frank Watterman, 
 lumberman, also the present residence of 
 M. SieiTert, of the firm of Siefiert & Weise, 
 lubmer merchants. Besides these he built 
 several other smaller houses. 
 
 GEORGE E. SMITH, farmer, P. O. Avoca, 
 was born in Andover, Merrimack Co., N. H. , 
 April 26, 1837, son of John G. Smith, born 
 in Rutland County, Vt., is about sixty-eight 
 years old, and living in Portage County, Wis. ; 
 his mother is also living. Subject was edu- 
 cated in New Hampshire; went to Portage 
 County, Wis. , with his parents, in 1852, liv 
 ing there iintil he went West, in 1857, and 
 has always followed farming; his father also 
 has been a farmer since leaving New Hamp- 
 shire; previous to that, he was a blacksmith. 
 Subject man-ied, in 1859, Mrs. Clarissa 
 Wheeling, born in Ohio, daughter of William 
 Pierce. They have foiir children — two boys 
 and two girls. j\Irs. Smith had one child by 
 her first husband. Subject came to this 
 county in the fall of 1857, settling on Silver 
 Creek. He stayed a year, when he went to 
 Denver, Colo. Returning to this State in 
 1859 he spent the winter in Guthrie County 
 moving into this township in August, 1860, 
 settling on Section 22, his present place. 
 He first bought eighty acyes of land, part 
 from Dowler and part from Pierce, paying 
 about §2.50 per acre. He now owns 200 
 acres, on which he raises corn and stock, 
 feeding from fiftv to 180 head of cattle a 
 
140 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 year. On August 13, 1862, he enlisted in 
 Company E, Twenty - third Iowa Infantry 
 Volunteers, Col. Kinsman, of Council Bluffs, 
 in couunand; served three years; was mus- 
 tered out August 13, 1S65, at Harrisburg, 
 Texas; was taken prisoner at Fort Gibson, 
 Miss., May 1, 1S63; was in Libby Prison 
 eighteen days, when he was exchanged and 
 taken to City Point, on James River; was 
 wounded at Fort Blakely, Ala., April 7, 1865; 
 from this point he went into Texas to take 
 charge of some cotton on the Colorado Kiver. 
 Ou May 8, 1882, his house biu'ued down, 
 causing the loss of nearly all his household 
 goods, but he has rebuilt; the house, which 
 is a fine one, cost §1,012.50 above the foun- 
 dation. There is a fine orchard on the farm, 
 and a good barn. He also has considerable 
 property in Dakota, two of his sons being lo- 
 
 cated there. All that Mr. Smith has he has 
 made in this county, by hard work and econ- 
 omy, and belongs to the Greenback party. 
 
 P. WIESE, druggist, Avoca, born in Prus- 
 sia in 1851, emigrating to America in 1868 
 and settling in Davenport, this State; had 
 no settled business until he came to Avoca, 
 when he started in the drug business, buying 
 out the stock of J. J. Hipsley, one of the first 
 druggists here; came here in 1870; farmed 
 for some time near Avoca, and went into the 
 drug business in the fall of 1880; carries a 
 stock of about §5,000, including paints, oils, 
 etc. Subject was married, in thi= county, 
 in 1874, to Miss D. Peters, who came from 
 the old country about the same time subject 
 did. They have three children. He has al- 
 ways voted the Republican ticket. 
 
 LAYTOii TOWI^SHIP. 
 
 B. F. BIXBY, ticket and express agent for 
 the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, 
 Walnut ; bom in Norridgewock, Me., June 17, 
 1828, son of Rufus and Betsey (Weston) Bix- 
 by, he a farmer, born at Norridgewock in 
 1796, participated in the war of 1812. and is 
 still living; she, bom in Madison, Me., in 1798, 
 died April 17, 18S2. They had fourteen chil- 
 dren, viz., Mary, Solomon E., Llewyu, Caroline 
 X., William W., Ann L., Elizabeth, Lyman 
 Munson, Munson, Lyman, A. B., Sarah A., Ann 
 L. and B. F., our subject, who received an aca- 
 demic education, attending the Bloomfield and 
 Brunswick Academies of 3Iaine, graduating 
 from the hitter in 1851. Commenced life as a 
 school-teacher, following the profession from 
 the time he graduated until 1852; when the 
 gold fever broke out. he left home for Califor- 
 nia, going by way of Chili, making a stop at 
 
 Valparaiso, and while there he assisted in res- 
 cuing the Captain of the ship Florida who was 
 imprisoned by the cit3- authorities. After a 
 period of six 3'ears in California, where he was 
 engaged in mining, he returned in 1859. 
 Moved to Madison County, this State, where 
 he remained until 1864, when he enlisted in 
 Company E, Fortj'-seventh Iowa Infantrj-. 
 Served until the close of the war. Returned 
 to Sladison County and engaged in specula- 
 tion. Moved, in 1868, to Dallas County, 
 where he was employed by the Chicago, Rock 
 Island & Pacific Railrod, and now has full 
 charge of the depot at Walnut. Subject was 
 married, in Winterset, Madison County, this 
 State, in September, 1859, to Mary A. Horn- 
 back, born in Indiana in Maj-, 1842, daughter 
 of Abraham and Martha Cornell, he born on 
 Scioto River, Ohio, in 1802, she in 1804. Mr. 
 
LAYTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 141 
 
 and Mrs. Bixbj- have five children, viz., Frank- 
 lin, William R., Miatie M., Derrick Lloyd and 
 Bessie. Subject is a member of the Presby- 
 terian Church, a Republican, and his brother 
 William W. is a civil engineer and surveyor ; 
 survej-ed the route of the Northern Pacific 
 Railroad from St. Paul to Puget Sound, W. T. 
 His brother Solomon E. is a pastor of a Con- 
 gregational Church in Holland, Mass. 
 
 CHARLES A. BROWN, confectioner and 
 news dealer. Walnut ; born in Lakeville. Conn., 
 May 23, 1854. son of Albert H. and Caroline 
 (Saunders) Brown, he a carpenter, born in 
 Lakeville, Conn., June 10, 1832, she born in 
 Lakeville, Conn., June 18, 1832; has three 
 children, viz., Charles A., Jennie E., born May, 
 1861, and Sadie, October, 1865. Subject at- 
 tended the graded school at Sheffield, III. from 
 1859 to 1872, at which time he, with his par- 
 ents, moved to this county-, where he com- 
 menced life on a farm, and married, at Walnut, 
 December 25, 1877, Laura N. Work, born in 
 Sheffield, Bureau Co., 111., August 18, 1858^ 
 daughter of J. M. and Martha Work, both born 
 at Williamstown, Vt., in 1832. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Brown have one child — Grace E., born Novem- 
 ber 19, 1880. Subject canvassed this State in 
 1870 for McCabe's " History of the World," 
 which took him a little over a year, when he 
 engaged in the loan and insurance business in 
 Walnut. He is a Republican, and cast his 
 first vote for R. B. Hayes ; is an Odd Fellow, 
 and a direct descendant of Lord Eli Brown, 
 heir of Brown Castle, Wales. 
 
 ?I. B. DARNELL, P. 0. Walnut, was born 
 May 10, 1827, in Champaign County, Ohio. 
 Emigrated with his father's famil}-, in 1839, to 
 Hancock County, El. Attended the district 
 school until he was in his seventeenth \'ear, 
 when he attended a seminary for about one 
 year in Carthage. Jll. He had formerly at- 
 tended a \ery good village school, taught bj- 
 Miner R. Deming, in a small town called St. 
 Marj-'s. Deming received a General's commis- 
 
 sion, and commanded the anti-Mormon forces 
 which succeeded in arresting Joseph and 
 Hiram Smith. As a result of the intimacy 
 which existed between Mr. Darnell and the 
 General in consequence of having been his 
 pupil, he procured for him without his knowl 
 edge, a Lieutenant's commission from Gov. 
 Thomas Ford, and was at once placed on his 
 statf, and did dutj- as such officer throughout 
 the entire campaign, and, a few hours after the 
 troops were discharged, he was, by a mere co- 
 incidence, present at the jail and witnessed the 
 killing of Joe and Hiram Smith. Was also 
 present when a deputation of Mormons came 
 to the jail and removed the bodies to Nauvoo. 
 He was also a participant in all the " wars" 
 (as they were denominated) which were organ- 
 ized for the purpose of ridding the country of 
 the presence of the Mormons. The 27th of 
 March, 1850, he was united in ma^-riage to 
 Martha Craig, a lady of Southern birth, but 
 residing then in Jacksonville, 111. Has had 
 four children, the eldest of whom is a daugh- 
 ter. One son, Murray A., who was a boj- of 
 unusual promise, just after he had obtained his 
 education, lost his life b}' an unfortunate acci- 
 dent at Sioux Falls, Dak., at the age of twen- 
 ty-four years, which has cast a permanent 
 shadow over the remainder of subject's life. 
 Having been elected to the office of Justice of 
 the Peace when only a few daj-s over twenty- 
 one years of age, he discharged the duties of 
 the office for a time, and formed an idea that 
 he would like the law ; consequentlj- removed 
 to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and read law with Col. 
 A. H. Bereman, now of Breckenridge, Colo. 
 Was admitted to the bar in 1854, before R. P. 
 Lowe, then Judge of the First District. He 
 at once formed a partnership with Mr. Bere- 
 man, and remained in the practice until the 
 second year of the war, when he enlisted in 
 the First Iowa Cavalry. Was with the regi- 
 ment about four weeks at Benton Barracks, 
 St, Louis, when Mr. Bereman. who had received 
 
14-J 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 a Captain's commission in the Eigliteentli 
 United States Infantry, and was with the regi- 
 ment at Camp Thomas at Columbus, Ohio, 
 wrote subject that if he would get transferred 
 into the Eighteenth United States Infantrj-, he 
 had assurances from Col. Carrington that m 
 the near future he would get subject a Lieuten- 
 ant's commission, and consequently" was trans- 
 ferred by an order of Gen. Curtis, and, upon ar- 
 riving at Camp Thomas, Ohio, he found that the 
 promise made to Mr. Bereman in his behalf was 
 but a ruse to get his regiment supplied with 
 competent men as First or Orderly Sergeants. 
 He accepted that position, and served for 
 about two 3-ears. He was under command of 
 Gen. Biiell, and was discharged for disability 
 at Louisville, Ky., directh- after Bragg's raid 
 on that city. Returning to his home in Mt. 
 Pleasant, he found his practice gone and the 
 profession very full, consequently he moved to 
 Cass County, Iowa, and made a farm, arriving 
 there in Maj', 18G4. He removed from there 
 to Pottawattamie Count}- in March, 1873, 
 when he again engaged in farming, three and 
 a half miles from W.alnut, dividing his time 
 between the farm and a limited law practice in 
 Walnut and before country Justices in Cass, 
 Shelb}' and Pottawattamie Counties. On the 
 ■1th of last March, he rented his farm, bought 
 property in Walnut, opened an office, and is 
 now engaged exclusivelj- in the practice. Dur- 
 ing his residence in the county, he delivered 
 a number of agricultural addresses, having de- 
 livered about half of them before the Cass 
 County Society since its organization ; one at 
 Avoca three years ago. He had also delivered 
 orations on the Fourth of July at Atlantic, 
 Avoca and Carson, and, during the campaign 
 which h.as just closed, he made more speeches for 
 the amendment than any other man in the east 
 end of the county, clbsing the campaign before 
 an immense audience at the Presbvteriau 
 Church on Sunday night before the election. 
 It is the proudest recollection of his life that 
 
 he was early identified with the anti-slavery 
 cause. The Republican party came into exist- 
 ence in his boyhood. He at once espoused it, 
 and was identified with the partj' from its 
 birth, and contributed all he could in its be- 
 half. He was editor and publisher of a paper 
 called the Republican News from June, 1859, 
 for the period of one and a half years, and 
 sold out at a profit. He remained with the 
 party until 1873,. when he went ofl' in the 
 Greelej' movement, and is out of politics to- . 
 daj'. He has one among the finest homes in 
 this eit}-, and is taking it as comfortable as be 
 can. Although not living continuoush- in the 
 State, it is now nearly fort}- -three years since 
 his boyish feet trod the soil of Iowa, having 
 been in Keokuk in 1839. During his residence 
 in Mt. Pleasant, he was twice its Mayor, while 
 they were building the Burlington & Missouri 
 Railroad and the insane asylum. Saw the first 
 dirt thrown on the Burlington & Missouri 
 Railroad at Burlington in 1854, and the first 
 stone laid in the foundations of the asylum at 
 about the same time. He has believed ever 
 since the war, that there was silently develop- 
 ing in the Government an antagonism between 
 capital and labor, and that such tendency, con- 
 nected with the well-known degeneracy and 
 corruption of politics, is becoming a perma- 
 nent menace to the institutions of our country. 
 He believes that reform is wonderfully neces- 
 sary in order to preserve the liberties and 
 well-being of the people. 
 
 E. R. HINCKLEY, capitalist. Walnut. It 
 is difficult sometimes to estimate the worth to 
 a community of a leading or master spirit. In 
 the personal mention of some of the citizens of 
 Layton Township, it is our object to give credit 
 only to those to whom credit is due. It is al- 
 most unanimously conceded by the citizens of 
 the northeast corner of Pottawattamie County 
 that Mr. E. R. Hinckley has been the agitator 
 of almost evei-y movement which has resulted 
 in the general welfare of the citizens of Lavton 
 
LAYT05T TOWNSHIP. 
 
 143 
 
 Township. Mr. Hinckle}- is a native of Barn- 
 stable County, Mass. He was born on Septem- 
 ber 10, 1823, and at the age of eleven years be- 
 came a resident of the cit}' of Boston, by the re- 
 moval of his parents. There he received a good 
 literai-y education, and continued a resident of 
 that citv until his twenty-sixth year, when he 
 went to New York City, and for the following 
 six jears he was a successfuV operator on Wall 
 street. Kemoving to Chicago, he made his home 
 in that city until 1869 ; the following year he 
 spent in Atlantic, Iowa, and in 1870 he located 
 at the point where the thriving little town of 
 Walnut now stands, the founding and building- 
 up of which has been mainly due to his energy 
 and enterprise, and a historj- of which will be 
 found in the history of Layton Township. When 
 Mr. Hinckley located in Layton Township he 
 was alone on a wild prairie, and so far as neigh- 
 bors were concerned, they were almost as scarce 
 as Enoch Ardeu's, and he could feel something 
 of the spirit of that unfortunate character of 
 Tennyson's when he counted himself monarch 
 of all he survej'ed. Opening a land office for 
 the sale of lands gi-anted to the C, R. I. & P. 
 Railroad, Mr. Hinckley entered upon a very suc- 
 cessful business career in the West. He soon 
 became largel}' interested in real estate on his 
 own account, and also in buj'ing and grazing 
 stock, and there has not been a time since that 
 he has not owned one or more herds of cattle, 
 and both improved and wild lands. In 1875, 
 in company with his son, he engaged in a 
 general banking business in Walnut. This, 
 however, was in addition to his other busi- 
 ness. In 1880, they sold the bank to Mr. J. H. 
 Henry, and since then have purchased large 
 tracts of land in Northern Iowa, the most of 
 which is located in Pocahontas County. Mr. 
 E. R. Hinckle}- is spending most of his time in 
 the development of these interests, and is at 
 present opening five farms, and has a herd of 
 500 cattle. Becoming interested in the busi- 
 ness of loaning money for Eastern capitalists. 
 
 Jlr. Hinckley has for several j-ears done an ex- 
 tensive business in this line, and is still actively 
 engaged in it. Having acquired a competency, 
 he is now endeavoring to dispose of most of his 
 real estate, and put his business in such shape 
 as to require the least care. Almost every pub- 
 lic institution in Walnut has received liberal 
 donations from him, and, indeed, the town it- 
 self owes its existence to his enterprise and 
 good financiering. But few people are so fort- 
 unate as Mr. Hinckley in tracing their ances- 
 tral lineage back to English origin. If it is 
 any honor to be able to trace one's ancestry 
 back to the early part of the fourteenth century 
 and find that one is a lineal descendant of a line 
 of ancestry of which he may well be proud, then 
 that pleasure or honor is his. The year 1327 is 
 the earliest record of the family found in Eng- 
 lish history. Gov. Hinckley, of the Plymouth 
 Colony, was one of their family, and is in the 
 line of ancestors of our subj,ect. The famil}- 
 were among the early and prominent settlers of 
 the New England States, and the name, so far 
 as the reputation of E. R. Hinckley is concerned, 
 has lost none of its luster, nor will it, as he is a 
 man whose habits and principles are founded 
 upon motives of right and justice. When the 
 best citizens of a coramunit}- have onlj- praise 
 to offer to the name and principles of a man, 
 that man is usually deserving of all that may 
 be said in his favor. This is the position held 
 by Mr. Hincklej- among the citizens of Laj'ton 
 and surrounding townships, and it is ouh' due 
 to him to sa}' that he has earned the position bj- 
 just and honorable measures. 
 
 PETER KOLL, implements, Walnut, is num- 
 bered among the early settlers of Walnut. He 
 is a native of the northern part of Germany, and 
 remained a resident of his native countr}' until 
 he was seventeen years of age. His early life 
 was spent on a farm, though he received a good 
 education in his native country. He settled first 
 in the eastern part of Iowa after arriving in the 
 United States. Being wholly dependent upon 
 
144 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 his own resources, he began work at almost anj"- 
 thing that promised a reasonable compensation. 
 He was industrious and economical, and grad- 
 ually improved his prospect of securing a com- 
 fortable propert}'. In 1874, he became a resi- 
 dent of Pottawattamie County. He settled in 
 Walnut, and for about two years he did a bar 
 business. He has proved himself to be a good 
 business manager. He now owns a farm in 
 Clinton County, Iowa, and has built two good 
 buildings in Walnut, one of which is known as 
 Koll's Hall, and the other is his residence. The 
 two were built at a cost of 85,000. In 1866, he 
 made a visit to his native country, and returned 
 the same year. He is now largely' interested in 
 the agricultural implement business, in which 
 he is doing an extensive business. He is a 
 member of the order of A. 0. U. W., Lodge No. 
 194, of Walnut. He is also a member of the 
 order of L. of H. Lodge, No. 122, of Walnut. 
 Politically, he has' led a quiet life ; is by no 
 means an office-seeker, preferring to attend to 
 his busmess interests rather than to hold an 
 office. Mr. Koll has been twice married. His 
 first wife was Miss Christina Kaufmann, to whom 
 he was married in 1S67, and who died in 1877. 
 Three children are living of this ^marriage — 
 Henry, Peter and Therese. In 1878, he mar- 
 ried Miss Catharine Kaufmann, sister of his 
 first wife, both ladies natives of Germany. 
 There have been no children born of the last 
 marriage. 
 
 WILLIAM H. LINFOK, insurance agent. 
 Walnut, born in England April 25, 1841, son 
 of William and Diana (Kseby) Linfor; he, a 
 retired farmer, born in England August 25, 
 1801, emigrated to Ottawa, III, in 1849, bought 
 a tract of 360 acres of land, lived upon it until 
 1380; was one of the first settlers of the south- 
 east part of La Salle County, 111., and, during 
 the first five j'ears, he labored under great dis- 
 advantages, being twenty-five miles from mar- 
 ket; she, born in England on June 22, 1805, 
 died March, 1880. They had four children, 
 
 viz., John, William H., Sarah and Robert. 
 Subject received a common school education in 
 his native village until he was fourteen years 
 old, afterward attending high school at Ottawa, 
 111., until he was sixteen years old; commenced 
 life farming on the homestead, and married in 
 Illinois, February 22, 1865, Sarah J. Naugle, 
 born in Cayuga County, N. Y., March 30, 1841, 
 daughter of Garnet and Mary Jane Naugle. 
 Mr. Linfor is the father of seven children, viz. 
 Cora, William, Robert, Charles, Claud, Frede- 
 rick and Clara. Subject is a member of the 
 Episcopal Church, a Democrat, an Odd Fellow, 
 a member of the A. 0. U. W., and moved to 
 Wheeler's Grove, this county, in 1869, pur- 
 chased 180 acres of land, continued farming it 
 until 1874, when he sold out, moved to Walnut 
 and engaged in the real estate and insurance 
 business. In 1875, he was elected Justice of 
 the Peace of Layton Township, which office he 
 filled until 1831; in 1877, he was elected Super- 
 visor of this county, and was the first Maj'or of 
 Walnut, holding that office for three consecu- 
 tive terms. Subject's wife died at Walnut 
 January 11, 1875; in September, 1877, he mar- 
 ried Ladema A. Tajior, daughter of William 
 and Betsj- Taylor, of Tama County, Iowa. 
 
 MARK PEATT, miller, Walnut, born in 
 Dexter, Mich., April 20, 1832, son of Thomas 
 and Loram (Brown) Peatt, he a farmer, carpen- 
 ter and miller, born in West Chester County, 
 N. Y., and she, also born in New York, died in 
 1841. They had four children, viz., Sarah, 
 Turzy, Eugenia and our subject, who received a 
 common school education; commenced life as a 
 miller, and continued as such with the excep- 
 tion of three years, when he was in the mer- 
 cantile business at Dexter, Mich.; married, in 
 Manchester, Mich., December 29, 1853, Mary 
 Ann Boyden, born in Pittsfield,Mass.. October, 
 1832, daughter of Pomeroy and Abigail (Ayers) 
 Boj-den, both born in Massachusetts. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Peatt have three children, viz., Ada I., 
 born September 7, 1855 ; Erastas B., born 
 
LEWIS TOWJ^'SHll'. 
 
 145 
 
 January 13, 1859, and Eva, November 30, 
 1806. Mr. Peatt has been au active member 
 of the Methodist Church since 1858, is a Re- 
 publican, a Freemason, a member of the A. 0. 
 U. W.. and a member of the Legion of Honor- 
 
 JOHN SCHLOTFELDT, hardware mer- 
 chant. Walnut, born in Clinton Count}', Iowa, 
 March G, 18G0, son of Jacob C. and Catharine 
 M. Schlotfeldt; he, a farmer, born in Germany 
 October 9, 1829, and she, also born in Germany 
 October 9, 1829, had four children— Henry F., 
 born Januarj' 21, 18G6; Rudolph, born No- 
 vember 7, 1867; Louis, bora March 7, 1868, 
 and John. Subject attended a district school 
 in Scott County, this State, for three winters, 
 and this is all the education he ever received; 
 commenced life by clerking in a dry goods store 
 in Walnut; is a member of the Lutheran Church; 
 a Republican and an Odd Fellow. Subject hired 
 out to the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail- 
 road Companj- as a trackman, receiving for his 
 labor $1 a day; out of this small amount he sent 
 his brothers to school. In 1880, he hired as 
 clerk with Green Bros., hardware merchants in 
 Walnut, and, in 1882, he started a hardware 
 store of his own in Walnut. 
 
 WILLIAM M. SMILEY, farmer, P. 0. Wal- 
 nut, born in Clearfield County. Penn., Septem- 
 ber, 1808, son of Samuel and Elizabeth Smiley; 
 he, born in Ireland in 1764, died in 1824; she, 
 born in Ireland in 17G8. died in 1833. Thej' 
 
 had four children, viz., David, William M., Su- 
 san and Elizabeth. Subject received a com- 
 mon school education; commenced life as a 
 farmer, and married, in Clearfield County, Penn., 
 April 15, 1830, Jane Glas-sglow, born in Hun- 
 tingdon Count}-, Penu., September 12, 1812, 
 daughter of John and Jane Glassglow, both 
 born in Blair Count\-, Penn. Mrs. Smiley had 
 eight children, viz., Elizabeth J., born August 
 4, 1834 ; Hannah, born May 28, 1838; David, 
 born August 14, 1841; John, born Julv 6, 
 1843; Denisha, born June IG, 1848; Emily, 
 born September 12, 1851; Susannah, born Feb- 
 ruary 12, 1853, and William M., born Decem- 
 ber 12, 1839. Subject is an active member of 
 the Presb3'terian Church, a Republican, and 
 when twenty-two years old, he commenced 
 farming on the old homestead, and all the 
 property he possessed in his own right was one 
 horse ; took care of his parents until their 
 death, when the property was sold, except the 
 homestead, and he received $200 as his share, 
 continuing on the homestead until 1SG8. when 
 he moved to Cedar County, this State, where 
 he purchased IGO acres of land, living there 
 until ilarch 4, 1873, when he moved to Wal- 
 nut, this count}', and purchased 240 acres of 
 land, where he now resides. On October 10, 
 1872, his wife died, and, on October 7, 1873, he 
 married Clara A. Guiar. born March 2, 1842. 
 
 LEWIS TOWI^SHIP. 
 
 CHRISTIAN HENRY BECK, farmer, P. 0. 
 Council Bluffs, born in Holstein, Germany, 
 August 22. 1827, son of A. H. and Elziaba 
 (Keckbusch) Beck, both Iwrn in Holstein, Ger- 
 many. They hail ten children, five girls and 
 five boys. Suljject was educated in Germany ; 
 commenced life as a farmer, and married in 
 this countv in June. 1859, S. Young, born in 
 
 Alsace, Germany, in 1845, daughter of Jacob 
 and S. Young, both natives of Alsace. Ger- 
 many, Mr. and Mrs. Beck are the parents of 
 the following children, viz. : Ferdinand, Laura. 
 Margaret, Rosa, Frederick, Gotlieb, Johanna, 
 Christina, John and Adolph. Subject is a 
 School Director, a member of the Lutheran 
 Church, a Democrat ; and came to this county 
 
146 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 in 1856 ; comuiencecl farming and stock-rais- 
 ing ; lives on Section 10, this township; owns 
 340 acres of good farming land, and came here 
 a poor man, but by close application to busi- 
 ness he has made himself a "solid man," and 
 is certainly one of the best farmers in Lewis 
 Township. 
 
 A. DIXON, farmer, P. 0. Council Bluffs, was 
 born in C^hioin 18-tO, and emigrated to Iowa in 
 1859, being employed about twelve years on 
 Des Moines Vallej' Railroad. In 1871, he 
 moved to this county, and went to forming. 
 Bought his place in 1875, and the next year 
 moved to it. He was married, July 20, 1863, 
 in Keokuk, Iowa, to Miss Marilla Jane Wells, 
 born in Missouri in 1843. They have had 
 eight children, seven now living — four boys 
 and three girls. Mr. Dixon began railroading, 
 when about sixteen, in Ohio, and kept it up till 
 he began farming in Pottawattamie County. 
 His father, Jacob Dixon, was a miller by trade; 
 he died in the army in 1862, having gone out 
 with the cavalry from Missouri — Col. McKee. 
 His mother is still living in Iowa. He has 
 alwaj's been Democratic. Belongs to Bluff ^ 
 City, No. 71, Masonic fraternity, becoming a 
 Mason first at Keokuk, Iowa. When coming to 
 his place, it was wild land with no improve- 
 ments whatever. Mr. Dixon has given fruits of 
 various kinds a trial, and has been rewarded 
 with success — blackberries, grapes, plums, etc., 
 of small fruits; and, besides these, he has 
 peaches measuring two and a half inches in 
 diameter and well flavored ; apples four inches 
 in diameter. Such is the success in a country 
 where the theory has been that fruit could not 
 be raised. 
 
 J. D. FROHARDT, farmer, P. 0. Council 
 Bluffs, born in the State of Hanover, Crermany, 
 October, 8, 1810, son of J. D. and Mary (Frye) 
 Frohardt, both born in the State of Hanover, 
 Germany ; he, in 1761, died in February, 1833 ; 
 she, in 1771, died in December, 1832. They 
 had nine children. Subject received his educa- 
 
 tion, principa;llj', in the old country ; com- 
 menced life as a grocer, but only staj-ed in the 
 business for a short time when he commenced 
 farming ; he married in Moniteau Co., Mo., April 
 15, 1845, Miss W. C. Kuuning, born in the 
 State of Hanover, Gerpany, October 30, 1827, 
 daughter of J. H. and M. M. Kuuning, both 
 born in Hanover, German}-, about 1794. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Frohardt have seven children, viz. ; 
 F. W., C. W., L. P., C. M., A. M., Ferdinand and 
 Dora. Subject is a Methodist, a Republican, 
 been School Director for several terms and 
 holds the office now ; has followed agricultural 
 pursuits nearly all his life ; was a member of 
 Compan\' B, under Capt. Rice, of the Home 
 Guards of Moniteau Count}-, Mo. ; located in 
 this county in 1866, moving from Moniteau 
 County, Mo. ; was a leading member and of- 
 ficer of the M. E. Church in Moniteau Countv ; 
 is also greatly interested in the church in this 
 township ; has always been an earnest worker 
 in the cause of Christ, and is a leading and 
 respected citizen. L. P., his second son, is 
 teaching school in St. Louis County, Mo. ; 
 William, his oldest son, lives in Keg Creek 
 Township, this county. 
 
 J. P. HESS, farmer, P. 0. Council Blufls, 
 was born ,\pril 30, 1851, and raised in Lancas- 
 ter County, Penu., and remained there till April, 
 1879; then came to Grundy County, Iowa, and 
 first settled in Holland, but, not liking it there, he 
 came on West, and after looking through Ne 
 braska and the western part of Iowa, he bought 
 his present place, and came to it in the fall of 
 1879. When first buj-ing, he got only eighty 
 acres, and paid .S22.50 per acre. He has since 
 added another eighty to his farm. His farm- 
 ing is quite general now, but Mr. Hess bought 
 it more for fruit and vegetable farm, and lias 
 alread}- man}- grapevines and difi'erent fruit 
 trees, and he finds his farm well adapted to 
 fruit, it being high and well protected by tim- 
 ber on the north, so frost does not strike him so 
 early or so late as most other places. Mr. Hess 
 
LEWIS TOWNSHIP. 
 
 147 
 
 was raised on a farm, and farming has been liis 
 business most of his life. He is a son of Ilev. J. 
 R. Hess, who is still farming in Lancaster, Penn. 
 His mother is also living. Mr. Hess has five 
 brothers ; all are farmers, and live in Lancas- 
 ter Count}-. He was married, spring of 1872i 
 to Miss Susan Konigmacher, who was also born 
 in Pennsj'lvania. in Lancaster County, within 
 two miles of Mi. Hess' birtliplace. Mr. Hess 
 has a familj- record which dates back to 1712, 
 when Samuel Hess came from Switzerland to 
 America, and settled in Pennsylvania, and land 
 that was deeded to some of the original mem- 
 bers of the family still remains in the same 
 name. Other members of the Hess family 
 have deeds given by William Penn. Mr. Hess' 
 wife's ancestry in America dates back to about 
 the same time, and have figured largely in the 
 history of Lancaster County, Penn. Mr. Hess 
 has three boys — John Jacob (born December 
 3, 1873), Eddie A. (born March 26, 1875), 
 Adam K. (born February 12, 1881). He is a 
 Republican in politics, and has alwas-s been. 
 He received his education in the common 
 schools of his native county. The Hess famil}- 
 is of the religious denomination called Men- 
 nonites. The}' were originally a branch of the 
 Waklenses. of Switzerland, afterward Prose- 
 l}tes of the church of Simon Meuuo, a reformer, 
 who left the Catholic Church about the time of 
 Luther. They left the old country on account 
 of religious persecutions. When Mr. Hess 
 came here, there was no school in the Carter- 
 ville School District, but he and Mr. Kich went 
 before the School Board of Garner Township, 
 and through their aid tlie schoolhouse was 
 put in repair and opened for that district, which 
 includes part of Lewis and part of Garner. Mr. 
 Hess' children are of the eighth generation in 
 America. 
 
 J. NORIN, farmer, P. 0. Council Bluffs, was 
 born in Sweden in 1849. In 1869, he came to 
 America; came to Iowa, and was in Burlington 
 for six months, and then came to Council 
 
 Bluffs, and ever since has made Pottawattamie 
 County his home. After one year here, he went 
 into the Deaf and Dumb Institute as chief en- 
 gineer, having charge of their gas works as well 
 as of the heating department. He remained in 
 that for nine years, and then quit on account of 
 health in the fall of 1880, and since that time 
 has been on his farm. In 1875, he bought his 
 farm, and has been having it improved since 
 that time. His main business is hog-raising, 
 and he has been very successful in his business. 
 He also has his place well improved. Mr. 
 Norin was married at the Deaf and Dumb In 
 stitute to Miss Anna E.Johnson ; she was also 
 born in Sweden. They were married in 1875. 
 They have one child — a girl. His father died 
 in the old countr}', but his mother came to 
 America in 1879, and is now living with Mr. 
 Norin. He is a Republican in politics, and his 
 first vote was cast for President Hayes. Mr. 
 N. was educated in Sweden in his native lan- 
 guage. 
 
 H. F. PLUMER, P. 0. Council Bluffs, born in 
 Hanover, Germany, in 1829, son of J. H. and 
 Mary Plumer, both born in Hanover, Ger- 
 many ; he, a farmer, born in 1793, is still liv- 
 ing ; she, born in 1798, died in her sixl3--first 
 j'ear ; thej- had sis children. Subject received 
 his education principally in the old country ; 
 began life as a farmer and married in California 
 Moniteau Co., Mo., August 20, 1849, Miss S 
 Kinnj-, born in Ohio October 12, 1835, daughter 
 of J. H. and Mary Kinn}', both born in Hanover. 
 Germany, and both dead. Mr. and Mrs. Plumer 
 have thirteen children, viz. : Mary, John, 
 William, Emeline, Josephine, Ferdinand, Ed- 
 ward, Corniel, Oscar, Augusta, Tomie. Laura 
 and Henry. Subject is a member of the 
 Lutheran Church, a Democrat, filled the offices 
 of School Director, Road Supervisor ; was first 
 Director of Subdistrict No. 7, at that time be- 
 longed to Kane Township ; came to this coun- 
 ty in spring of 1851 ; built the mill in Council 
 Bluffs, known as the " Crystal Mills." in the 
 
148 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 spring of 1870 ; has a large stock farm in 
 Woodburi' Count}-, this State ; also owns some 
 800 acres of a stock farm in this count}- ; is 
 one of the most prominent farmers in this sec- 
 tion ; when he came to this county there were 
 no Gentiles living in the county ; there was no 
 settlement of any kind, except the Mormons, 
 when he located in this township, in what is 
 called the Plumer settlement ; the only stores 
 that amounted to anything were two small 
 buildings on or near where the Ogden House 
 now stands ; came to America in IB-tO ; lived 
 about ten years in Moniteau County, Mo., 
 when he moved here and has resided ever since ; 
 is one of the most enterprising farmers in the 
 county, and has erected on his farm a fine barn 
 60x30 feet ; he sold, in the spring of 1882, 
 ninety head of fine fat steers, which he had fed 
 on his own farm, the average^ weight being 
 1,600 pounds. 
 
 JESSE BI. SMITH, farmer, P. 0. Council 
 Bluffs, was born in Pennsylvania in 1827, and 
 remained there till he was sixteen years old, and 
 then went to Indiana, in the vicinity of Indian- 
 apolis, and remained there till 1863, when he 
 moved to Iowa, settling in Harrison County, 
 where he remained two years, and then came to 
 Pottawattamie County, and has been here since 
 in different places, and has been on his present 
 farm for about eight years. When buying his 
 home place, he had to pay §10 per acre, there 
 being no improvements whatever. He has since 
 been ditching— making over two miles of 
 ditches on his place, and in that way has re- 
 claimed all of his land. His other improve- 
 ments are also good, having a fine residence 
 and barns. Mr. Smith's farm how consists of 
 400 acres, all under fence and part in cultiva- 
 tion, the remcainder in pasture and meadow. 
 His farming is corn and stock-raising. He was 
 educated in Pennsylvania in the common 
 schools. He was married in Indiana, about 
 1854, to Miss Hannah Ballard. The second 
 time he was married to Miss Nancy Wright, 
 
 also in Indiana, in Indianapolis, in March, 
 1862. He has one son by first wife. He is a 
 Republican in politics. Belongs to the Church 
 of God. 
 
 WILLIAM WRAY. farmer, P. O. Council 
 Blurt's, was born in England in 1833, in Lin- 
 colnshire; came to America in 1851; lived in 
 Indiana till 1858 ; he came to Iowa, and set- 
 tled in Pottawattamie County, and has been 
 here ever since, except three years he was in 
 Montgomery County, Ind. In 1869, he moved 
 to Lewis Township, and has been here ever 
 since. Mr. Wray was educated in England. 
 He has followed farming most all his life, but 
 freighted across the plains for about three 
 years— from the Missouri River to Denver and 
 difierent mountain towns. (3n account of the 
 Indians getting bad, he quit in 1864 or 1865. 
 Mr. Wray's father, Benjamin Wray, died in 
 England, but his mother came to America, and 
 died in Union County, Iowa. He has six 
 brothers and two sisters, all in Iowa. His first 
 farm, in Lewis Township, was in Section 14, 
 and had been improved some by the Mormons, 
 but not enough to help it much. He now lives 
 on Section 13, on the bank of Horseshoe Lake. 
 Till the spring of 1881, the channel of the Mis- 
 souri River was within eight or ten rods of the 
 house, but it has changed till now it is about 
 three miles distant. He was married, in 1865, 
 in Union County, Iowa, to Miss Sarah Barton; 
 she was born in England. They have two chil- 
 dren dead, Ijut none living. He is a Democrat 
 in politics. 
 
 I. S. WRIGHT, farmer, P. 0. Council Blufifs, 
 was born in North Carolina February 23. 1816; 
 moved into Putnam County, Ind., when about 
 ten years old; came to Iowa in the spring of 
 1867; settled in Mills County, and remained 
 till he came to Pottawattamie County February 
 10, 1875, and came to his present place, which 
 he had bought the year before. His farm con- 
 sists of about three hundred and fifty acres on 
 what is called the " Bench." and then he has 
 
LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 149 
 
 about one hundred acres on the river. Of his 
 home farm, about two hundred and sixt>- acres 
 are in cultivation — the remainder in grass and 
 pasture. The K. C, St. J. & C. B. K. R. runs 
 through his farm, and has a station near his 
 house called Wright, in honor of Mr. Wright. 
 The road was located here about five jears ago, 
 when the railroad had to change part of its 
 track on account of the river washing out its 
 former track. His farming is mostly corn- 
 raising. Mr. Wright was married, January, 
 1840, to Miss Doeia Mills; she was born in 
 Kentuck}-, but moved to Indiana when young. 
 They have two children living — one in Colora- 
 do, now Mrs. Elizabeth Smith. Their son, T. 
 A. Wright, lives on the farm ; is also mar- 
 ried. He is Democratic in politics. He is a 
 member of the I. 0. O. F. His business has 
 been farming most all his life; however, while 
 in Putnam County, Tnd., he was in the mer- 
 chandise business for about five years, and was 
 also County Treasurer in Putnam County a 
 term or two, besides other offices. 
 
 WILLI.JlM WEIDNER, farmer and stock- 
 raiser, P. O. Council Bluffs, born in Butler 
 County. Ohio, June 21. 1821, son of J. and 
 Elizabeth (Snyder) Weidner, both born in Sun- 
 bury, Penn. ; he, a farmer, in 1780, died in 
 Butler County, Ohio, in 1847 ; she, in 1783, 
 
 died in Butler County, Ohio, in 1831. They 
 had six children, four boys and two girls. Sub- 
 ject received his education, principall}-, on Elk 
 Creek, Butler Count}-, Ohio; commenced life as 
 a farmer and stock-raiser, and married his first 
 wife, M. A. Brelsford, in Butler County, Ohio, 
 in 1847, daughter of Benjamin and Jane Brels- 
 ford ; married his second wife, Hannah K. 
 Marsh, in Shelb}' County, Ind., in 1858. daugh- 
 ter of John and Sarah Marsh. Mr. Weidner's 
 first wife had four children, viz. : Benjamin, 
 Elizabeth J., A. D. and Katie Ann, and his sec- 
 ond wife's children are John W., died February 
 5, 1882, just twenty-four 3'ears old ; Samuel, 
 Ida May and Mineola. Subject is a member 
 of the Methodist Church, a Democrat, a Free- 
 mason, an Odd Fellow, served as Constable in 
 Shelby County, lad. ; been Township Treas- 
 urer ; moved from Butler County, Ohio, in 
 1849, to Shelb3-ville, Ind., engaging in the 
 stock business ; then moved to Clarinda, Page 
 Co., this State, where, in 1867, he lost his sec- 
 ond wife ; from there he moved to this town- 
 ship, engaging in the stock business, which he 
 still follows ; has been handling stock for J. 
 T. Stewart for four years ; has been a Free- 
 mason for forty years, and is one of the oldest 
 Masons in the State. 
 
 LINOOLK TOWlSrSHIP. 
 
 JOHN M. CHIPMAN, farmer, P. 0. Wal- 
 nut, born in Waukesha Countj^ Wis., Novem- 
 ber 4. 1851, son of <Toim B. and Maria (Chil- 
 son) Chipman, both ,born in Genesee Count}', 
 N. Y.; he, in 1812, is still living ; she died 
 starch 4, 1865, and was the mother of three 
 children, viz., Lysander, Louisa and Carrie. 
 Subject received a common school education, 
 attending school from the age of si.x years 
 until he was fifteen, when he commenced life 
 
 as a farmer, and married in Tama County, 
 this State, November 27, 1872, Sarah Craig, 
 born in Westmoreland County, Penn.. April 
 19, 1852, daughter of John and Elizabeth 
 (Wilie) Craig, both born in Westmoreland 
 Ciiunty, Penn., he in 1808, and she in 1815. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Chipman have three children, viz., 
 Vernon L., Emma L. and Cora M. Subject is 
 a Republican; has filled the offices of School 
 Director and Assessor, a,nd at the age of six- 
 
150 
 
 13I0GKAPHICAL: 
 
 teen lie started business on his own account, 
 working for his father and other parties; when 
 eighteen years of age, he moved to Tama Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, farming for himself and others; in 
 1875, he moved to this township, where he 
 purchased eight}- acres of land, afterwards add- 
 ing IGO acres to it, and now has one of the fin- 
 est farms in the township. 
 
 CHRISTIAN DERMYRE, farmer, P. 0. 
 Lewis, l.iorn in Erie County, N. Y., September 
 26, 1830, son of Frederick and Magdalene 
 (Bower) Dermyre, both born in Germany, he, a 
 ftirmer, died in Januar}-, 1S75; she, born in 
 1802, died February, 1873. They were the 
 parents of Philip, Frederick, Daniel, Christian, 
 Petro. Samuel, Frank, Magdalene, Susan, 
 Christina and Elizabeth. Subject received a 
 common school education; commenced life as a 
 farmer, and married in Erie County, N. Y., 
 October, 1854, Christina Schwingde, born in 
 Buffalo, N. Y., October 5, 1836, daughter of 
 Frederick and Christina (Smith) Schwingde. 
 The following children were born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Derrayer, Frederick, born July 12, 1859, 
 died February 8, 1862; Sarah, born August 13, 
 1861, died September 30, 18(32; George L., born 
 July 1, 1865; Emma L., born October 10, 1868; 
 Susan, born June 19, 1871; Caroline L., born 
 September 12, 1873; Ezra F., born January 11, 
 1876; Daniel D., born September 16, 1878, and 
 Franklin, died September 25, 1881. Subject 
 is a Republican, a member of the Evangelical 
 Society; and when twenty-four years old he 
 started life on his own account, purchasing 
 sixty-four acres of land in his native town; he 
 farmed it for about six years, when he rented 
 his farm and went to Illinois, where he pur- 
 chased eightj' acres of land in Lee County, en- 
 larging this farm by bujMng 120 acres more, 
 and living upon it until 1876, when he sold 
 and moved into this township ; owns 400 acres 
 of as fine land as there is in the township. 
 
 JOHN A. FRANK, farmer, P. 0. Walnut, 
 born in Switzerland December 18, 1845, son of 
 
 Joseph and Ursula (Plaz) Frank, both born in 
 Switzerland; he, a farmer, died October 6, 
 1873; she is still living, and is the mother of 
 five children, viz., Marin. Joseph, John A., 
 Ursula and Margaret. Subject received a com- 
 mon school education; commenced life as a 
 ■farmer, and was married in La Fayette County, 
 Wis., in September, 1870, to Elizabeth Hart, 
 born in AUeghenj' Count)', Penn., February 6, 
 1842, daughter of Augustus and Kate Hart. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Frank have two children, viz., 
 Joseph, born April 20, 1872; Jessie, born Au- 
 gust 1, 1876. Subject is a Catholic, a Repub 
 lican; is School Director; has been Township 
 Trustee and Road Supervisor, and emigrated 
 from Switzerland in 1866, landing in Washing- 
 ton, D. C, where he lived for two 3'ears, being 
 engaged in the brewing and confectionery bus- 
 iness; went to Wisconsin; worlced on the farm 
 as a hired hand for two years, when he, with 
 another party, leased 160 acres of land, and 
 worked it for two years with joint tenant, when 
 he leased 250 acres, and worked it alone for 
 three years; then moved to this township, where 
 he purchased 240 acres, and has since added 
 230 acres. 
 
 HENRY B. JACK, farmer, P. 0. Walnut, 
 born in Licking County, Ohio, April 14, 1834, 
 son of John and Delilah (Dean) Jack; he, a 
 farmer, born in Pennsylvania November 7, 
 1797, died April 28, 1880; she, born in Mary- 
 land March 31, 1788, was the mother of ten 
 children, viz., Perry, Mary A., Cj'nthia, Emily, 
 James, Delilah, Charles H.. Hugh, John W., 
 and Henry B., our subject, who received a com- 
 mon school education in Licking Count}', Ohio; 
 commencing at the age of seven, he continued 
 to attend school more or less until he was twen- 
 ty; commenced life as a farmer, and married, 
 in Moundsville, Mo., June 7, 1870, Ella E. 
 Kellogg, born in Litchfield, N. Y., December 
 21, 1845, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah S. 
 Kellogg; he, born in Paris, N. Y., August 23, 
 1797; she, born in We.stfield, Mass.. November 
 
LINCOLK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 151 
 
 22, 1804. Mr. and Mrs. Jacks have had seven 
 children, viz., an infant son, born December 5, 
 1871, died December 11, 1871; John N , born 
 May 30, 1873, died April 3, 1878; Henry H., 
 born May 26, 1875; Sadie D., born May 24, 
 1877; Lillie E., born January 22, 1879; Charles 
 B., born September 17, 1880; Viola E., born 
 April 25, 1882. Subject is a Republican; a 
 farmer all his life; holds the office of District 
 Township Secretary; enlisted in Compan)- C, 
 Twenty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantrj', on 
 August 2, 1862, for three years. When he 
 was thirty-three years old, he left home, pur- 
 chased 180 acres of land in Jasper County, 
 this State, but previous to this, and when he 
 was eighteen j^ears old, he worked for his father 
 for wages; worked his Jasper County farm un- 
 til 1874, when he sold out and moved to this 
 township, where he purchased eighty acres of 
 wild prairie land, which he broke up and im- 
 proved; sold out in 1866; purchased 160 acres 
 in Section 16; sold out in 1877; has since lived 
 on a leased farm, and is one of the first settlers 
 in this township. 
 
 ALLEN McDANNEL, farmer, P. 0. Walnut, 
 born in Knox Count}', Tenn., February 16, 
 1834, son of John and Nancy (Dail) McDannel; 
 he. a farmer, born in Knox County, Tenn; she, 
 born in Greene County, Tenn., died in Knox 
 County, Tenn., in 1839. They had five chil- 
 dren, viz., James, Allen, Polly Ann, Sarah E. 
 and Nancy. Subject is a self-taught man, 
 never having attended a school; commenced 
 life as a farmer, and married in Jasper County, 
 this State, December 14, 1854, Sarah Murphy, 
 born in Knox County, Tenn., March 26, 1838, 
 daughter of William and Sarah Murphy, both 
 natives of Ireland. Subject enlisted, in 1863, 
 in Company L, Ninth Iowa Cavalry, for three 
 years, or during the war, and was a wagon- 
 master. He is a Methodist, a Democrat; and 
 when quite young his father, who was a planter, 
 lost his property, and in 1852, subject was 
 thrown upon his own resources; emigrated to 
 
 Iowa, working on farms until^he saved enough 
 money to buy fortj' acres of land in Jasper 
 County, this State; improved it; sold out and 
 purchased forty-five acres in same eountj'; sold 
 out in 1871 ; moved to what was then known as 
 Knox Township, but is now Lincoln, in this 
 county, where he bought eighty acres of land, 
 living upon it for a short time; he sold out and 
 purchased 144 acres of land in northeast quar 
 ter of Section 3, Range 38, Lincoln Township- 
 where he now lives. Although not having an 
 opportunity of attending school, he does every- 
 thing in his power to promote education, and 
 agitated the school quescion in the eastern di- 
 vision of his township. Mr. and Mrs, McDan- 
 nel have had fourteen childi-en, viz,, William F.. 
 born January 21, 1856; G-eorge W,, born Jan- 
 uary 12, 1857; Viola, born March 6, 1858; 
 Montgomery, born in 1862; Robert A., born 
 November, 1862, died November, 1864; Mor- 
 rell C, born December 1, 1866; Jessie, born 
 April 3, 1868; Dennis M., born November 24, 
 1870; Evylin, born December 16, 1869, died 
 January 16, 1870; Walter A,, born September 
 21, 1872, died January 28, 1874; Jennie N., 
 born January 28, 1874; one who was never 
 named; Sarah, born January 1, 1877, and 
 Grace M., born March 16, 1879. 
 
 LEMUEL I. POPE, farmer and mechanic, 
 P. O. Lewis, born in Shelby County, Ind., Sep- 
 tember 18, 1825, son of Harvey and Mary 
 (Drake) Pope; he, a farmer and mechanic, born 
 in Connecticut, died in the fall of 1851 or 1852; 
 she, born in Ohio, died in the winter of 1854 or 
 1855. They had eight children, viz., Henry 
 Jefferson, Lemuel I., Harvey D., Hannah K., 
 Mary H., William W., Milton and Lottie. Sub- 
 ject received a common school education, at- 
 tending school when he was about ten years old; 
 be afterward went to a commercial school in 
 Cincinnati; commenced life as a farmer, and 
 married, in Cincinnati, June, 1851, Elizabeth 
 Stone, born in Michigan August 3. 1831, daugh- 
 ter of Edward and Ann Stone, both born in 
 
15;:; 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 England. Mr. and Mrs. Pope have ten children,^ 
 viz., Lollie, Emma, Jerome, Millard, Alonzo, 
 Forest, Ella, Ul}-sses, James and Joseph. Sub- 
 ject is a Hard-Shell Baptist, an Independent in 
 politics; is a descendant of Lord Williams; 
 started in life with nothing Iwit his strong arms 
 and equally strong will ; left home when twenty- 
 one years old; engaged in the mercantile busi- 
 ness in his native State for two years, afterward 
 going to Cincinnati, Ohio, as salesman for a 
 wholesale grocery store there, remaining two 
 3'ears in the position, when he returned to his 
 father's farm, working there for one year, and 
 on other farms for about three years, when he 
 moved to Illinois, where he rented a farm for a 
 year, when he moved to Missouri, taking a home- 
 stead of eight}- acres, living there for six j-ears, 
 when he sold out and moved to Marion County, 
 this State, where he worked different farms; also 
 engaged in coal mining, and at the expiration 
 of eight years, he moved to Wright Township, 
 
 this county, and the next spring, moved into 
 this township, purchasing 400 acres of land. 
 
 ELIAS YOUMAX, farmer, P. 0. Walnut, 
 born in Albany County, N. Y., May 14, 1824, 
 son of Bartholomew and Sally (Saulter) You- 
 man; he, a farmer, born in Greene County. N. 
 Y., died about the year 1862; she, born in New 
 York State, died in 1874, and was the mother 
 of nine children, viz., Samuel, Hannah, Betsj% 
 John, Elias, Stephen, David, Jesse and Am- 
 brose. Subject received a common school 
 education; commenced life as a farmer, and 
 married in Brunswick, Ohio, September 19, 
 1848, Sarah A. Barber, born in New York State 
 April 28. 1831, daughter of Henrv and llebecca 
 Barber, both natives of New York. Mr. and 
 3Irs. Youman are the parents of the following 
 children, viz., Orrin, born May 1, 1851; Mary 
 'E., born May 1, 1853; Adelina, December 12, 
 1861; Clement, March 12, 1SG8. Subject is a 
 Democrat, and was Township Clerk in 1880. 
 
 MAOEDOITIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 A. J. ANDERSON, grain merchant .and 
 farmer, Carson, was born in La Salle County, 
 III.. April 12, 1842. His father, Jacob Ander- 
 son, was born in Norway in June, 1807; 
 emigrated to America when eighteen years old 
 in 1819; settled first in New York, where he 
 remained till going to Illinois in the year after 
 the Black Hawk war. He settled in La Salle 
 County, where he remained till the fall of 
 1848, then removed to Iowa, settling in Grove 
 Township, Pottawattamie County, on a farm 
 of 680 aci'es, which he improved; he remained 
 there till the spring of 1854, when he crossed 
 the plains with ox teams to Napa County, Cal., 
 where he lived on a farm till his death, May 4, 
 1864. The famil}- remained in California till 
 1868, when the mother of our subject, with two 
 children, returned to Iowa, and settled on the 
 
 old farm in Grove Township. Pottawattamie 
 Count}'. Subject's mother was born in Norway 
 January 1, 1814, and emigrated to America 
 with her father's family (said to be the first 
 Norwegian family to come to America) and 
 who became permanent settlers. She is living 
 with the subject of this sketch, her only sur- 
 viving child. Jlr. Anderson began life on his 
 own responsibility in California on a farm; 
 there he remained but a j-ear or two, when he 
 emigrated to Iowa, settling in Grove Township, 
 Pottawattamie Count}% on a farm, where he was 
 engaged exclusively in farming and stock deal- 
 ing till he entered the grain business in Car- 
 son, erecting an elevator, which he owns and 
 operates in connection with his farm. He 
 first bought a partial interest in the old home- 
 stead of 680 acres in Grove Township, Potta- 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 153 
 
 wattamie County, then his mother's interest; 
 since then he has added land until the farm 
 now contains 1,000 acres. This farm consists 
 of what is known as Wheeler's Grove, in Grove 
 Township, and is verj' valuable. There being 
 200 acres of good timber land. Mr. Anderson 
 lives in Carson; he married Miss Melissa 
 Broadhurst. of Napa County', Cal., June 24, 
 1866. She was born in Berrien County, Mich., 
 January 2, 1846; her father Joseph Broadhurst, 
 born in C)hio in May, 1818, lives in California; 
 her mother, Nancj' (Gorham) Broadhurst, born 
 in Indiana June 10, 1826, died March 9, 1854. 
 Mr. Anderson is a member of the church of 
 Latfer Daj- Saints; he is no partisan in politics. 
 J. C. BRADLEY, farmer and stock-raiser, 
 P. 0. Macedonia, was bora in Adams County, 
 III., July 15, 1844 ; his father, E. C. Bradley, 
 was born in Livingston Count}-, N. Y., about 
 1817 ; he emigrated to Iowa in 1834, settling 
 in Davenport when there was but one frame 
 house in that place ; from Davenport he came 
 to Qninc}-, 111., and he now lives in that State ; 
 he was married in 1842 to Mahala J. Foy, 
 mother of our subject ; she was born in Chau- 
 tauqua Count\-, N. Y., about 1827 ; she is the 
 mother of six children, one of whom is dead. 
 3Ir. Bradley worked on a farm a few months, 
 and then, January ], 1862, enlisted in the 
 Tenth Illinois Infiintry, in which he served two 
 years and three months. After returning 
 from the army, he farmed in Illinois one year, 
 then came to Decatur County, Iowa, thence to 
 Marion County, where he was engaged in farm- 
 ing from 1865 to 1871, then he moved to Mills 
 County and settled near Hastings ; came from 
 there, February 22, 1876, and located on his 
 present farm of 120 acres, situated three miles 
 west of Macedonia. Mr. Bradley was married 
 in Knoxvillu, Marion Co., Iowa, F.ebruary 
 6, 1868, to Miss M. E. Carle, born January 25, 
 1840, daughter of Eber and Mary N, (Pastory) 
 Carle ; he. born in Pennsylvania, January 27. 
 1818, now living in Marion County, Iowa ; his 
 
 wife die:l about 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Bradlej' 
 have had seven children, one of whom is dead, 
 their names are Clarence W., Armina M., F. E., 
 Nora G., Roxie and Louetta. Mrs. Bradley is 
 a member of the Christian Church. Mr. 
 Bradley is an Odd Fellow, and a Republican. 
 
 L. D. BULLA, lumber merchant, Macedonia, 
 was born in Tippecanoe County, Ind., January 
 16j^ 1844 ; his father, James Bulla, born in 
 Tennessee, December 7, 1815, but reared till 
 ten or twelve years old in Georgia, whence 
 he emigrated to Indiana. He, with five 
 brothers, landed at Richmond, Ind., when it 
 was a wilderness ; there four of the brothers 
 lived and died strict members of the Quaker 
 Church. Father of subject was a brick-layer 
 and stone-mason by trade, and died in Dan- 
 ville, 111., September 11. 1861. Subject's mother, 
 Abigail (Osborn) Bulla, born in Ohio October 
 28, 1824; she was the mother of four children, 
 of whom subject is the oldest ; but two of the 
 children are living. 3Ir. Bulla's father came 
 to Iowa, and at Des Moines took up land near 
 Fort Dodge in the fall of 1854, which land 
 subsequenth' fell to the heirs. Mr. Bulla at- 
 tended the common schools, and was bound 
 out when :ibout eleven years old, continuing 
 thus till the spring of 1861, when he enlisted in 
 Company G, Twentieth Indiana Volunteers. 
 He served as private for three years and forty- 
 one days ; being in thirteen skirmishes and 
 fourteen pitched battles ; was wounded four 
 times and carries a- buckshot in his face. After 
 returning from the army, he attended school 
 two terms at the State Normal at Kokomo, 
 Ind., then he taught school one winter, and in 
 the spring of 1865 came to Iowa, settling near 
 Fort Dodge on the farm that his father had 
 entered in 1854. He remained in this county 
 three years, sold out and moved to Linn Coun- 
 ty, near Mr. Vernon, where he ran a saw-mill 
 one year, then came to Council Bluffs in 
 April, 1870. There he was engaged in the 
 saw-mill business with Shugart & Lininger 
 
154 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 till the spring of 1876. Then he movecVto 
 Emerson, Mills Co.. Iowa, and started in the im- 
 plement business, in the spring of 1879, adding 
 hardware to his other business, which he con- 
 ducted successfully, till being burned out in 
 September, 1879. Then he rebuilt, took a part- 
 ner, and opened a hardware and grocery- store. 
 He sold out in July, 1880, came to luacedonia, 
 and entered the lumber business with Lewis 
 Hammer, of Council Blutfs, where he still re- 
 mains. Mr. Bulla married Miss Sarah J. Al- 
 bee, at Fort Dodge, March 25, 1866. She was 
 born in Ohio, October 11, 1845; her father, 
 Heiman C. Albee. born at Rutland, Vt., in 1819; 
 emigrated to Ohio when a young man; there he 
 married, raised his family, and from there emi- 
 grated to Fort Dodge, Iowa, with his brother, 
 E. H. Albee, in 1854, and there they still live. 
 Mrs. Bulla's mother, Mary Rowson, was born 
 November 29, 1815, and is the mother of seven 
 children, three of whom are living. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bulla have had three children ; they are, 
 Oliver Morton, Mary 0., Josie Ellen, Lena Abi- 
 gal (deceased). Mr. Bulla is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity, and also of the M. E. Church. 
 He is an active Republican. 
 
 A. M. CALE, fiirmer, P. 0. Macedonia, was 
 born in Preble County, Ohio, January 9, 1840. 
 His father, George F. Cale, born in Pennsylvania 
 in 1812; he emigrated to Ohio when a boy, and 
 there followed farming in Preble County till he 
 died in 1845. Subject's mother, Henrietta 
 McCabe, born in Delaware in 1812, was the 
 mother of six children, and died in 1860. Mr. 
 Cale attended the schools of Lee County, Iowa, 
 then entered Denmark Academy of Lee Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, where he attended four years, and 
 would have graduated in 1862, but he left his 
 class two months before graduation, and en- 
 listed in Company G, Fourth Iowa Cavalry, 
 continuing in the army till the close of the 
 war. He was promoted after a service of nearly 
 three years as a private, to the Captaincy of 
 a company of scouts, which position he held 
 
 till the close of the war. 
 
 teen general engagements. 
 
 Mr. Cale was in nine- 
 After leaving the 
 arm}-, Mr. Cale engaged in carpenter work, 
 which trade he had learned before the war, and 
 this work he followed in Kansas City, Mo., as 
 a contractor for about sixteen months, then re- 
 moved to Lee County, thence to Moulton, Iowa, 
 where he followed contracting for four years, 
 thence to ?Iissouri, and went into the hotel 
 business for about five years, then came to 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and settled in 
 Macedonia Township. He built the hotel 
 known as the Macedonia House in Macedonia. 
 He owns 345 acres of land, valued at $30 per 
 acre in this township. Mr. Cale is a purely 
 self made man. He was married, September 
 4, 1864, in Fort Madison, Lee Co., Iowa, to 
 Miss E. B. Babb, of Denmark, Iowa, who was 
 born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, December 23, 
 1845; her father, Clark Babb, born in Livings- 
 ton County, N. Y., April 7, 1811, died Septem- 
 ber 27, 1865, in Lee County, Iowa; her mother, 
 Louisa A. Case, born in Ashtabula County, 
 Ohio, July 21, 1820, died July 15, 1876; she 
 was the mother of five ciiildren. Mr. Cale is a 
 Republican, and, a member of the I. 0. 0. F., 
 of Macedonia Lodge, No. 421. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Cale have four children — Ada M., born Octo- 
 ber 5, 1865; Lola B., February 11, 1868; Maud 
 L., November 8, 1869, and Charlie F., July 18, 
 1871. 
 
 REV. J. W. CARTER, clergyman, Mace- 
 donia, was born in Clermont County, Ohio, 
 November 25, 1819; his father, John S. Carter, 
 was born in Gloucester County, N. J., Decem- 
 ber 30, 1787, was married in the same county, 
 and emigrated to Ohio in 1810, where he fol- 
 lowed farming, and carpentering till his death, 
 which occurred October 15, 1856. Subject's 
 mother, Ann (Ware) Carter, was born in Glou- 
 cester County, N. J., May 6, 1791; she was the 
 mother of eight children, of whom five are 
 living; she died April 2, 1840. Mr. Carter was 
 educated in the common schools of Ohio, 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 155 
 
 where he taught several j-ears, then entered the 
 Bethel Academy, where he graduated in 1848, 
 then he pursued the studj- of theologj- under 
 the direction of the Presbjter3- of Sangamon, 
 of the Oumberland Presbj'terian Church. He 
 labored within the bounds of that Presb3-tery 
 till coming to Iowa in 1871, when he settled in 
 Macedonia Township, Pottawattamie County, 
 where he organized a church in old Macedonia 
 in April, 1871. Mr. Carter continues as pastor 
 of this church, and he also organized a church 
 in May, 1875, at Wheeler's Grove, in Grove 
 Township. Pottawattamie Co., Iowa. Mr. 
 Carter now lives in Macedonia; he has been a 
 Republican from the first organization of the 
 part}-. He is also a member of the Masonic 
 fraternit}'. Mr. Carter married Miss JIalinda 
 Sargent, in Ohio, August 30, 1842; she was 
 born in Kentucky December 1, 1816; her fa- 
 ther, John Sargent, died in 1852, at the age of 
 about eight3"-five years; her mother, Mary 
 (Lamb) Sargent, died in 1818, when Mrs. Carter 
 was about two j'ears old. Mr. and Mrs, Carter 
 have had eight children, of whom five are liv- 
 ing — Mary E., Joseph E., John E., Soma and 
 Eva, Mr, Carter's life has been an active one, 
 and be is a ver}- worth}- gentleman. 
 
 DR. JOHN CRAIG, farmer, P. 0. Macedo- 
 nia, was born in Indiana, April 23, 1835 ; his 
 father, William Craig, was born in Scotland in 
 1800; came to America in 1820, landing first in 
 Charleston, S. C; from there he moved from 
 place to place, following his trade of weaving, or 
 serving as overseer of power looms. He final!}- 
 moved to a farm in Franklin County, Ind., .and 
 followed his trade in connection with farming 
 for some years; then sold his farm and moved to 
 Decatur County; bought a farm, improved it, 
 and followed his trade and farming again for 
 several years ; then moved into the town of 
 Greensburg, Ind. He lived there for several 
 years, and then moved to the town of Milford, 
 Ind,. where he died in 1879, Subject's mother, 
 Jane Gilchrist, was born in Scotland in 1800 ; 
 
 she and Mr. Craig were engaged in Scotland, 
 and during the religious troubles there Mr. 
 Craig had to fly for his life, being a strong ad- 
 vocate of the Presbyterian Church ; his intended 
 wife soon followed, and they were married in 
 the city of Charleston, S, C; she died about 
 1871, and was the mother of seven children, two 
 of whom are dead. Dr. Craig received a com- 
 mon school education in Indiana ; read medi- 
 cine with Dr. George V. Armington, and fin- 
 ished reading witli Dr. Mitchell ; tlien attended 
 two courses of lectures at the Eclectic Medical 
 Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he 
 graduated in February. 1857. He l^egan prac- 
 ticing in March, 1857, at Milford, Ind.; con- 
 tinued there till 1865, excepting an absence of 
 about two years, which time he spent in Greens- 
 burg, Ind,; then, on account of poor health, he 
 moved to Highland Township, Wapello Co,, 
 Iowa, in 1865, and went on a farm. He man- 
 aged his farm and practiced, remaining tiiere 
 for several years, when he met with an acci- 
 dent, and went to Cincinnati, where he was 
 treated for fifteen months by his favorite sur- 
 geon. Prof Z, Freeman, Recovering, he re- 
 turned to his home in Wapello County, where 
 he remained till 1873 ; then he traded for the 
 farm of 160 acres on which he now resides, 
 moving onto it m the spring of 1875, Since 
 then the Doctor has not been in active practice, 
 but devotes his attention to farming, stock rais- 
 ing and feeding. This farm is three and one- 
 half miles west of the town of Macedonia. Dr, 
 Craig was married in Lebanon County, Ohio, in 
 February, 1857, to Jliss Sarah J, Dyche, of Leb- 
 anon ; she was born about 1832, at State Line, 
 Ohio ; she died in February, 1 859, He married a 
 second time, in 1860, Miss Lydia Richman, born 
 in Ohio, about 1834, and who died in 1863. Dr. 
 Craig married a third time, in September, 1864, 
 to Anna J. Huffer, of Bartholomew County, 
 Ohio ; she was born in same county in 1840 ; 
 her father, David Huffer, was born in 1811, in 
 Ohio ; is now living in Indiana ; lier mother. 
 
156 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Delila Briiner. died in 1846. Dr. Craig has one 
 daughter by his first marriage — F. J. ; two boys 
 b}' his second — -Isadore E. and Charles F.; three 
 bj' his third wife — William D., Claud L. and J. 
 Freddie (deceased). Dr. Craig and wife are mem- 
 bers of the M. E. Church of Macedonia. The 
 Doctor is Master of Kuby Lodge, No. 415, A., 
 F. & A. M., of Macedonia. He is a firm Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 HON. B. F. CLAYTON, farmer, stock and 
 real estate dealer, P. O. JIacedonia, is the pro- 
 prietor of Sunnj'side Stock Farm, situated 
 one and three quarters miles southwest 
 of the town of Macedonia; he is interested 
 in an agricultui'al implement house in Mace- 
 donia, known by the firm name of Clayton 
 & Clark, also in a similar house in Carson, 
 known as the Carson Implement Companj-. 
 Mr. Clayton is a stockholder and Director in 
 the Macedonia Bank. He was elected by the 
 Eighteenth General Assembly of the State of 
 Iowa, served term of six years on the Board of 
 Trustees of the Deaf and Dumb Ayslum. 
 situated at Council Bluffs, of which boaid he 
 is Chairman. Mr. Clayton was born in Nicholas 
 County, Ky., January 10, 1839, and leaving the 
 parental roof at the age of sixteen years, went 
 direct!}- to Decatur County, Ind., and went to 
 work by the month. He remained in Indiana 
 from 1855 to 1873, during which time he served 
 three years on the Board of County Commis- 
 sioner of Decatur County; he followed farming 
 as a business while there. In October, 1873, 
 Mr. Claytou came to Pottawattamie Countj^, 
 Iowa, and settled where he now lives, bu^'ing 
 at that time 320 acres partiallj' improved, which 
 he has since added to till now Sunnyside farm 
 contains over 500 acres, and Mr. Clayton has 
 over 1,600 acres in the county, most of which 
 is improved. His father, William 31. Clayton, 
 born in Virginia in 1788, came to Kentucky, 
 (luriug boj-hood with his parents, was a soldier 
 in the war of 1812, bring under Capt. Metcalf, 
 who was afterward Governor of Kentuck}-; he 
 
 was a mechanic during life, and died in 1852, 
 in Robinson County, Kj-. Subject's mother, 
 Mary (Adair) Cla\-ton, was born in Nicholas 
 County, K}'. Subject has but one full sister, 
 one half-brother and three half-sisters. Mr. 
 Clayton has held some township office ever 
 since he came to the State, and served iu the 
 Seventeenth and Eighteenth General Assem- 
 blies of the State of Iowa, being Chairman of 
 the Agricultural Committee, in the Eighteenth 
 General Assembly. Mr. Clayton is a Master 
 Mason. He is an active member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, and is a Trustee of 
 Simpson Centenary College, situated at 
 Indianola, Iowa. Mr. Olaj'ton was first 
 manned to Jliss Priscilla Martin of Decatui- 
 County, Ind., March 2, 1862; she died in 
 Indiana iu 1868. He married again, Septem- 
 ber 22, 1869, to Miss Nannie M. Hamilton; she 
 was born in Decatur Count}-, Ind., May 22, 
 1852; her father, D. N. Hamilton, born in Har- 
 rison County, Kj-., November, 1817; he is a 
 farmer, living in Indiana; her mother, Martha 
 A. Taylor, born in Harrison County, Ky., in 
 January, 1819, died December 24, 1864. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Clayton have two children — William 
 N. and Mona V. 
 
 LUTHER DOTY, farmer, P. 0. Carson, was 
 born in Richland County, Ohio, August 15, 1826; 
 his father, James Doty, was born in Virginia in 
 1802, and died in Richland County, Ohio, Jan- 
 uarj' 4, 1879 ; he was a farmer b}- occupation ; 
 in 1846, he was elected Sheriff of Ashland Coun- 
 ty, Ohio, being the first Sheriff of that county. 
 Subject's mother, Sarah Croniger, was born in 
 Pennsj-lyania in 1806, and died in 1849 ; she 
 was the mother often children, eight of whom 
 are living, six of them in Iowa. Mr. Doty re- 
 ceived but a limited education in the common 
 schools, but he afterward attended the Ashland 
 Academy in Ohio; hetaught in that State about 
 seven j-ears. He began by farming ; then came 
 to Iowa in the fall of 1853, and settled in John 
 son County, where he farmed and taitght school 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 157 
 
 for awhile ; in that countj' he served as Jus- 
 tice of the Peace for tweutj- j-eavs, and also 
 served as County Supervisor one term. In 
 March, 1876, he sold his propertj- in Johnson 
 Countv. and came to Pottawattamie County, 
 settling in Pleasant Township, five miles west 
 of Avoca, till October 12, 1880, when he came 
 to his present home of 200 acres, about two and 
 one-half miles west of Carson ; the land is now 
 valued at about S45 an acre. Mr. Doty was 
 first married in Ohio, iVugust 23, 1849, to Eliz- 
 abeth A. Kagy, who died August 25, 1850. Mr. 
 Dot}- was married again, in the same State, De- 
 cember 25, 1851, to Mary Hilborn, born in Ohio 
 October 17, 1832, and died February 13, 1832. 
 Mr. Doty has five children^Sarah M., James 
 M., T. E., Mary C. and E. C. The fiimily are 
 members of the M. E. Church of Carson. Mr. 
 Doty is an A., F. & A. M.. and a Democrat in 
 politics. 
 
 SYLVESTER DYE, merchant, Macedonia, 
 was born in Lee County, Iowa, in May, 1843. 
 His father, Henry Dye, was born in Miami 
 County, Ohio, in 1814. From there, he emi- 
 grated to the State of Indiana; thence to Lee 
 County, Iowa, in 1839, where he now lives. 
 He is a member of the Pioneer Association of 
 Lee Count}-, Iowa, being one of the oldest 
 members of the association. He has been a 
 farmer all his life ; has been Justice of the 
 Peace. Subject's mother, Jane (Mlckelwait) 
 Dye, was born in York, England, about 1823 ; 
 she came to America with her parents in 1829. 
 Her father was a farmer ; settled at Jackson- 
 ville, III., remained there about nine years, and 
 subsequentlj- moved to Lee Count}-, Iowa, 
 where he died in 1856. Mr. Dye has four 
 brothers and one sister. He was educated at 
 Denmark Academy, in Lee County, Iowa. From 
 attending this institution, Mr. Dye went to the 
 army, enlisting in Company E, of the Nine- 
 teenth Iowa Volunteers, serving in the capac- 
 ity of a private for three years. After return- 
 ing from the army, he came to Jlills County, 
 
 Iowa, in the fall of 1865 ; there he rented a 
 farm for about six years, then bought in Jlace- 
 donia Township, Pottawattamie County, where 
 he farmed until 1880, when he with his brother 
 formed a partnership in a general store, the 
 firm going by the name of W. Dye & Co. JMr. 
 Dye still owns and conducts his farm of 210 
 acres, situated three and a half miles south- 
 west of Macedonia. The firm of W. Dye & Co. 
 was burned out March 6, 1882, but they have 
 their new brick building now almost com- 
 pleted. Thus we have traced the movements 
 of one of Iowa's most thrifty, self-made busi- 
 ness men. During the time spent in the army, 
 Mr. Dye was taken prisoner in the State of 
 Louisiana in the fall of 1863. and confined at 
 Tvler, Tex., for ten months ; he was at the 
 siege of Vicksburg and various other engage- 
 ments. He is a member of the Odd Fellows' 
 Lodge of Macedonia. He married Miss Mary 
 J. Linville, of Grlenwood, Mills County, Iowa, 
 January 16, 1868 ; she was born in Nodaway 
 County, Mo., in 1851. Her father, George Lin- 
 ville, was born in Tennessee in 1815, and came 
 to Iowa in 1856 ; he still lives in Mills County. 
 Iowa. Her mother, Sarah Burris, was born in 
 Tennessee, and is the mother of eight children. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dye have three children — Claud, 
 Emma L. and Willoughby. Mr. Dye was a 
 successful candidate for the office of County 
 Supervisor in the fall of 1879. He served his 
 constituency very satisfactorily during a term 
 of three years, being elected by the Demo- 
 cratic party, with W. Fay as opponent. 
 
 JOHN DYE, farmer, P. 0. Macedonia, was 
 born in Lee County, Iowa, August 29, 1847 ; 
 his father, Henry Dye, was born about 1815, 
 and is a farmer, living in Washington Town- 
 ship, Lee County, Iowa. Subject's mother, 
 Jane (Micklewait) Dye, was born in England in 
 1822, and came to America when eight years 
 of age; she died about 1858, having given 
 birth to seven children. 5Ir. Dye worked on 
 his father's farm until March, 1873, when he 
 
158 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 migrated to Pottawattamie County and bought 
 160 acres where he now lives, three and a half 
 miles southwest of Macedonia. To this land 
 he has since added 50 acres, paying about $10 
 an acre for the whole. It is now finel}' im- 
 proved and valued at S-IO an acre. January 1, 
 1873, Mr. Dye married Miss Mary G. Snapp, 
 of Lee Count}', Iowa, born February 27, 1851 ; 
 her father, Simpson Snapp, was born in Wash- 
 ington County, Tenn., in 1816, and migrated to 
 Lee County, Iowa, in 1837, where he died in 
 1874 ; her mother was born about 1823, and 
 died about 1868. Mr. and Mrs. D3-e have five 
 children — H. W., born December 10, 1874; 
 Daisy, March 9, 1876 ; George, April 23, 1877 ; 
 H. S., October 10, 1879, and Effle M.. January 
 5, 1881. Mr. Dye is an Odd Fellow and a. 
 Democrat. 
 
 G. D. EUSTIS, furniture dealer and under- 
 taker, Carson, was born in St. Lawrence Coun- 
 ty, N. Y., May 5. 1846, son of George and 
 Jane (McCoy) Eustis, he born in England in 
 September, 1809, was a farmer bj* occupation, 
 and was killed September 5, 1854, by the acci- 
 dental discharge of a blast while he was fore- 
 man of a gang of miners at Brogville ; she 
 born in Ireland in February, 1813, and has 
 given birth to eleven children, two of whom 
 are dead. Mr. Eustis began to work at farm- 
 ing when twelve ^-ears of age, his father hav- 
 ing died. After two years of farm life, he 
 served an apprenticeship of two years at the 
 carpenter's trade, and then, at the age of sis- 
 teen, enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and 
 Sixth New York Infantr}-. During the last 
 3'ear of his service, he was color-bearer for his 
 regiment. Tliis regiment was a part of the 
 Army of the Potomac, and consequently Mr. 
 Eustis was in man}- severe engagements. At 
 the battle of Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864, Col. 
 Townsend, of Mr. Eustis' regiment, was killed, 
 and of the forty-eight men composing Com- 
 pany C, twenty-five were killed, Mr. Eustis 
 himself being wounded. He, with his regi- 
 
 ment, were mustered out at Ogdensburg, X. 
 Y., July 16, 1865. After returning from the 
 army, Mr. Eustis spent about eight months in 
 his native count}-, then came to Montgomerj- 
 Count}-, 111., where he conducted a farm one 
 year, and worked at the carpenter's trade one 
 year. He removed to Galesburg, and worked 
 at his trade from 1868 to 1878, then came to 
 Stuart, Iowa, where he conducted a furniture 
 business till June, 18S1, when he came to Car- 
 sou and opened a furniture and undertaking 
 establishment, where he now is. Mr. Enstis 
 was married, in Galesburg, 111., March 16, 
 1870, to Elizabeth Young, born in 1844' 
 daughter of Robert and Rosanna (Wilson) 
 Young, he born in New York in 1790, was a 
 farmer by occupation, and died July 22, 1877 ; 
 she born in Maryland, and is living with our 
 subject. Mr. and Mrs. Eustis have four chil- 
 dren — Albert, Eddie, Ida M. and Ralph. Mr. 
 Eustis is a member of the I. 0. O. F., No. 444. 
 and is a Republican in politics. 
 
 JOHN F. FENDER, farmer, P. O. Carson- 
 was born in North Carolina about 1832, son of 
 Levi and Jane (Evans) Fender; the former 
 born in North Carolina, where he died about 
 1865; the parents had twelve children, seven 
 of whom are living. Mr. Fender moved from 
 his native State to Hardiu County, Iowa, about 
 1868; thence to Pottawattamie County about 
 1872, where he leased land about one and a 
 half yeai's, then bought eighty acres at $11 an 
 acre. He now has 160 acres valued at about 
 835 an acre. He has a very good young or- 
 chard, and quite a quantity of small fruits.. 
 The cyclone of June 9, 1880. damaged Mr. 
 Fender about $500, a fine colt being killed, and 
 half of his stock being blown a quarter of a 
 mile from the house. Mr. Fender was married, 
 in North Caroline, in 1 866, to Millie Dillard. 
 born in North Carolina about 1834, daughter 
 of James and Polly (Spurling) Dillard, natives 
 of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Fender are 
 the parents of two children — James, born in 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 159 
 
 North Carolina, and Willie, born in Iowa. Mr. 
 Fender enlisted in Company F, Twenty-second 
 North Carolina Regiment in 1861, and was dis- 
 charged in 18l)5. He engaged in the battles of 
 Seven Pines, Chancellorville, Gaine's Mill, Tnr- 
 ke\- Ridge, and many other minor battles. Mr. 
 Fender is a member of the Christian Church, 
 and is a Republican. 
 
 L. S. FIELD, lumber merchant, Carson, was 
 born in Bakersfield, Franklin Co., Vt., May 22, 
 1S46 ; his father, Alanson Field, born in 
 Bakersfield, Vt., July 6, 1820; his forefathers 
 were brought to America as members of Bur- 
 goyne's army, during the Revolution, his father 
 being in the battle of Plattsburg. Subject's 
 mother, P. W. (Cutler) Field, was born in Bakers- 
 field, Vt., Nov. 2, 1817, and is the mother of 
 four children, of whom two are in the West. 
 Mr. Field attended the common schools of his 
 native State, and also the Academ3- of Bakers- 
 field. He worked on a farm in his native State 
 till coming West in 1866, when he landed at 
 Council Bluffs, having come there by boat, 
 there being no railroads at that time. He spent 
 his first winter in a saw-mill, his second as a schooj 
 teacher in Pottawattamie County. The follow- 
 ing five years were spent as civil engineer on 
 the railroad lines of the R. I. & Pacific, B. & M. 
 and various other lines; leaving this he spent 
 about one j-ear in Council Bluflfs. In 1874, he 
 went into the lumber business at Avoca, Pot- 
 tawattamie County, where he remained in the 
 same business till locating in Carson, in 1880; 
 thence he opened the first yard in the town. 
 Mr. Field married Miss Ella T Adams, in Ot- 
 turawa, Iowa, Januarj- 27, 1874. She was born 
 in Ottumwa August 13, 1850. Her father, 
 John J. Adams, was born in Abingdon, Va., 
 April 8, 1807, came to Iowa in 1836, locating 
 at Burlington, then not as large as Carson now 
 is. Her mother, Evaline Trueman Adams, was 
 born in Kentucky February 22, 1812; was the 
 mother of two children. She died August 13, 
 1850, at Ottumwa, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Field 
 
 have four children — John A., Arthur L., Pearl 
 I. and George A. Mr. Field is a Republican, 
 and a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 
 444, at Carson. He and wife are members of 
 the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 G. W. FURROW, merchant, Carson, was 
 born in Shelby County, Ohio. March 28, 1832. 
 His father, James Furrow, was born in Black- 
 ford County, Va., about 1792; he removed with 
 his famil}- to Ohio, where he owned and ope- 
 rated a large farm, and at the same time was 
 Canal Contractor in Miami Extension Canal, 
 north of Dayton; he died about 1842. Sub- 
 ject's mother, Mary (Peterman) Furrow, was 
 born in Blackford Count3', Va-, and died with 
 the cholera. She was the mother of ten chil- 
 dren, all but one of whom married, and raised 
 families of their own. At fifteen vears of age, 
 Mr. Furrow learned the trades of mason, brick- 
 layer and plasterer; these he followed till 1861. 
 April 17 of that year, he first enlisted in the 
 army; the following August he re-enlisted for 
 three j-ears; he next enlisted in the Eighth In- 
 diana Infantry', a regiment organized as vet- 
 erans at Indianola, Texas, Januar}- 1, 1864 
 May 21st of that year, Mr. Furrow was pro- 
 moted from First Sergeant to Captain of Com- 
 panj- F, Eighth Indiana Infantry Veteran Vol- 
 unteers, in which capacity he served till the 
 close of the war. Ma}- 22, 1863, at the siege of 
 Vicksburg, Capt. Furrow received a wound 
 which disabled him three months. From Vicks- 
 burg his regiment went to New Orleans; thence 
 north and joined Sheridan's command. After 
 leaving the army at the close of the war, Capt. 
 Furrow opened a meat market, then, after deal- 
 ing in stock in general for two years, he bought 
 a farm near Wabash, Ind.. where he remained 
 till 1874, then sold out and came to Pottawat- 
 tamie County, Iowa. He farmed first in Knox 
 Township till March, 1882, when he came to 
 Carson, where he owns and operates a grocery 
 store. Capt. Furrow was married in Wabash 
 Countv, Ind.. November 20, 1866, to Elvira 
 
160 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Lewis, bora in Grant County, Ind., December 
 25, 1839, daughter of James and Rosauna 
 (McClure) Lewis; lie, born in Virginia in 
 1805, is now living in Siielbj- County, Iowa; 
 slie, born iu Oliio, died in 1865 in Indiana. 
 Ttie cliildren of Capt. and Mrs. Furrow are L. 
 Editli, James F., Nellie M., Winnie G. and 
 Charles E. (deceased). Capt. Furrow and wife 
 are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. He is a Republican. 
 
 W. J. IIAMILTOX, farmer, P. 0. Macedonia, 
 was born in Indiana in 1842. His father, David 
 N. Hamilton, was born in Kentuck}- in Decem- 
 ber, 1818, and is a retired farmer living in 
 Greensburg, Ind. Subject's mother. Martha 
 A. (Taylor) Hamilton, was born about 1820, 
 and died in 186-4. She was the mother of 
 eleven children, three of whom are dead. Mr. 
 Hamilton came from his native State to Mills 
 County. Iowa, in 1869, settling near Hastings, 
 where he owned and farmed eighty acres for 
 five 3'ears; he tiien sold out and bought another 
 farm near Macedonia, in the township of that 
 name. Afte living on this farm about four 
 years, he sold it to his brother. J. W. Hamil- 
 ton, and then bought his present farm of 400 
 acres. This farm is three and a half miles from 
 Macedonia, and has a verj- sightly location; it 
 is worth S35 an acre. March 12, 1863, Mr. 
 Hamilton married Miss Hattie Phillips, who 
 died in 1866. He was married a second time, 
 in 1869, to Mrs. Hattie (Brown) Tindal, born iu 
 Indiana in 1843, daughter of John C. and Marj- 
 (Hattan) Brown; he, born in Peuns^'lvania in 
 1799, died in Indiana in 1864; she, born in 
 New Jersey about 1802, was the mother of five 
 children, and died in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Ham- 
 ilton have had three children — Myrta C, born 
 January 11, 1871: Pearl, born February 4, 
 1876, died Januar3- 3, 1879; William J., born 
 November 13, 1879. Mr. Hamilton and wife 
 are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. He is an A., F. & A. M., and a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 J. D. HOOKER, farmer, P. O. Carson, was 
 born in Chautauqua Count}-, N. Y., in July. 
 1837. His father, M. H. Hooker, was born in 
 Genesee County, N. Y., in 1810. He was a 
 farmer and lumberman, and came to Iowa in 
 the winter of 1854, settling iu Delaware County, 
 where he died in March, 1874. Subject's 
 mother, Nancy (Palmeter) Hooker, was born 
 in New York State in 1816, and is the mother 
 of ten children. Mr. H loker's first work was 
 in a saw-mill in the pine woods of Pennsjdva- 
 nia, where he continued till coming to Iowa in 
 the spring of 1855. In March of that j'ear, he 
 commenced work in a saw-mill, and continued 
 in the employ of the same man five years; he 
 then bought and improved a small farm, which 
 he sold in 1869. He next spent two years at 
 the coal miles of Fort Dodge, then started for 
 Nebraska, changed his mind. and. in 1871. 
 traded with John Hammer, now of Council 
 Bluffs, for the farm of eight}- acres, where he 
 now lives. He was married, in Delaware 
 County, Iowa, in July, 1861, to Miss T. J. Wil- 
 
 j son, born in England in October, 1843, daugii- 
 ter of John and Jane (Crelling) Wilson ; he. 
 born in Ireland October 5. 1313, died October. 
 
 j 18, 1876; she, born in 1817, lives in Page Co., 
 Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Hooker have eight chil- 
 dren — John M., Charles M., Edward D., Joseph 
 D., Jennie L., Lewis E., Shockey E. and Genie 
 E. Mr. Hooker is a Democrat. 3Ir. Hooker's 
 father was unfortunate in the lumber business, 
 losing his property, with the exception of that 
 in Delaware County, which he had purchased 
 before engaging in the" lumber trade. While in 
 the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, he received an in- 
 jury by a fall, from which he never fully I'e- 
 covered. 
 
 A. R. HOOKER, farmer, P. 0. Carson, was 
 born May 1, 1851, in Gerry, Chautauqua Co., 
 
 , N. Y. ; his father, Myron Hooker, was born No- 
 vember 4, 1809, in Allegany County, N. Y. ; 
 was a farmer by occupation ; came to Dela- 
 
 i ware County. Iowa, in 1856, where he died 
 
MACEDONIA TOWXSHIP. 
 
 101 
 
 March 4, 1873. Subject's mother, Nancy 
 (Palineter) Hooker, was boru in Farmington, 
 Ontario Co., N. Y., March 19, 1816 ; she lives 
 with our subject, and is the mother of ten chil- 
 dren, four of whom are dead. Mr. Hooker 
 attended the common schools of Delaware 
 Count}', Iowa, and after working on his father's 
 place in Delaware County, two years, he came 
 to this count}- and settled on his present farm 
 of sixty acres, situated two miles northeast of 
 Macedonia. Mr. Hooker was married Novem- 
 ber 23, 1878, at Watson, Mo., to Lizzie M. 
 Folts, born in Oneida County, N. Y., April 26, 
 1856. daughter of William A. and Amanda 
 (Denslow) Folts ; he, born in Oneida County, 
 N. Y.. July 9, 1828, died September 25, 1867 ; 
 she. born in Oneida County, N. Y., August 1. 
 1833, is living in Center Township, this county. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hooker have two children, viz. : 
 Emma L., born August 11, 1879, and Crete, 
 born July 2, 1881. Mr. Hooker is serving his 
 third 3-ear as Road Supervisor ; he is a Demo- 
 crat in politics. 
 
 DR. S. 51. JOHNSON, physician and drug- 
 gist. Carson, was born in Ohio, Greene County, 
 April 27,18-10. His father, Christopher G. John- 
 son, was born in Virginia March 15, 1800, and 
 with his parents located in Ohio, Highland 
 County, and a few j-ears after moved to Greene 
 ■County, Ohio, thence, in 1856, came with his 
 family to Iowa, settling on a farm in Wapello 
 Count}", where he died in November, 1857. He 
 was a farmer by occupation. Subject's mother, 
 Lydia E. John.son, was born in Virginia in 
 December, 1806, and is now living in Osage 
 County, Kan. ; she is the mother of ten chil- 
 dren, two of wliom are dead. Dr. Johnson at- 
 tended the common schools, and at twenty-one 
 entered Pennsylvania College at Oskaloosa, 
 Iowa, where he remained three months, then 
 enlisted in the army as a private in Company 
 H, Thirty-sixth Iowa Infantry. He served in 
 this company about one year, then received a 
 commission in a colored regiment as Second 
 
 Lieutenant, where he served till September, 
 1866, when he was mustered out at Little 
 Rock, Ark. He was at the battle of Helena, 
 Ark., July 4, 1863, and also served on the 
 frontier. After coming out of the army he en- 
 gaged in the drug business and read medii;ine 
 under Dr. J. C. Johnson, of Agency City, 
 Wapello Co., Iowa, from 1867 to 1870, and in 
 1871 attended a course of lectures at Keokuk, 
 Iowa ; then went to Kansas for two years ; 
 returned to Keoltuk, and graduated in the 
 Keokuk College of Physicians and Surgeons 
 in 1873. After graduating he went to Kansas, 
 where he practiced medicine and conducted 
 drug business for one year ; he then nsturned 
 to Agency City, Wapello County, Iowa, where 
 he followed his profession for a short time, 
 then became Medical Examiner of the Cen- 
 tennial Mutual Life Association of Burlington. 
 Iowa, which position he held for three or four 
 years. In 1878, he located in Mills County, 
 Iowa; practiced medicine and conducted a drug 
 store in Hillsdale, where he remained till 1880, 
 then came to Carson, where he now follows his 
 profession, and is senior partner of the drug 
 firm of S. M. Johnson & Co. Dr. Johnson 
 was the first man to come from a distance and 
 erect a house in the town of Carson; this he 
 did in April, 1880. He was one of the first 
 School Board of Carson, and a member of the 
 Building Committee that erected the school- 
 house ; he is now on the Board of Health of 
 Carson. Dr. Johnson married Miss Ellen 
 Stephens, of Agency City, Wapello County, 
 Iowa, September 10, 1S68 ; she was born March 
 31, 1852, in Agency City ; her father, James 
 Stephens, a pioneer of Wapello County, Iowa 
 was born in Kentucky May 1, 1822. and was 
 reared in Indiana ; he came to Iowa when a 
 young man and located at Agency City, where 
 he remained till his death, July 3, 1868. He was 
 a blacksmith by trade, and erected a largo plow 
 manufacturing establishment, but died before 
 his business had fully developed. Mrs. John- 
 
162 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 son's mother, Mary A. (Horrow) Stephens, was 
 born in Kentucky, February 27, 1824 ; she is 
 the mother of five children, three girls and two 
 boys, and lives in Agency City. Wapello County, 
 Iowa. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson have had three 
 children — Hamilton C. (deceased), C. Cl5'de 
 and an infant, deceased. Dr. Johnson is a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity of Olive 
 Branch Lodge. No. 21 ; he has alwaj-s been a 
 firm Republican ; he was reared by Quaker 
 parents and ratiier adheres to that lielief Mrs. 
 Johnson is a member of the M. E. Church. 
 
 R. S. JEFPRYES, farmer, P. 0. Carson, was 
 born in Mercer County, III, August 30, 1857 ; 
 his father, T. W. Jetfryes, was born in 1818, in 
 London, England, and came to America about 
 1841, living in different parts of Illinois till 
 1868, when he came to Pottawattamie County, 
 where he still lives. Subject's mother, E. J. 
 (Hamilton) Jeffr}-es, was born in Indiana, 
 December 27, 1830, and is living and is the 
 mother of five children — William T., Robert 
 E., R. S., F. I. and F. H. Mr. Jeffryes at- 
 tended the common schools and then, for three 
 terms, attended the Malvern Normal School, 
 where he intends to graduate. He began life 
 as a farmer in Pottawattamie County, 
 and he now owns 320 acres in Woodbury 
 County, which he is rapidly improving. Mr. 
 Jeflfryes' parents settled on the farm of 160 
 acres on which they now live in 1868 ; it was 
 at that time entirely- unimproved, but is now 
 in a good state of improvement. Mr. Jeffrj'es 
 is a Democrat. 
 
 R. F. JONES, farming, P. 0. Carson, was 
 horn in Ross County, Ohio, July 12, 1846; his 
 father, Joseph Jones, was horn in Campbell 
 Count}-, Va., in June, 1804; came West to Ohio 
 aliout 1839; thence, in 1849, to Davis County, 
 Iowa, where he lived on a farm near Union Vil- 
 lage, till moving to Appanoose County, where 
 he still lives. Subject's mother, Mary E. (Dickie) 
 Jones, was born in Virginia in May. 1804, and 
 is livincr, and is the mother of nine children. 
 
 Mr. Jones began working by the month at farm - 
 ing, in Macedonia Township, this county, in 1866: 
 he worked for A. F.Ra\"burn for four years; then 
 married, and rented a farm in Davis Count}*, 
 Iowa, where he remained about six months; 
 thence to Page Count}' for eighteen months, when 
 he returned to Macedonia Township, this coun- 
 ty, and rented land for one year of »A. F. Ray- 
 burn; then engaged with him in the stock busi- 
 ness one year. He next bought land east of 
 the town of Carson; this he sold in 1873. and 
 bought the farm of 220 acres where he now 
 lives. This farm cost Mi\ Jones about §10.50 
 an acre, and is now valued at about $45 an acre; 
 it is situated in Section 3, one and one-half miles 
 west of Carson; it was raw prairie when Mr. 
 Jones first took possession of it, and it is now 
 one of the finest farms in the township. Our 
 subject was married in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 
 September, 1870, to Miss C. F. Crane, born in 
 May, 1853, in Lancaster, Ohio, daughter of John 
 and Tabitha (Thompson) Crane; he, born in 
 Pennsylvania, and she in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Jones have five children — Ora E., James A., 
 Robert F., Albert L. and Loula M. Mr. Jones 
 belongs to the I. O. O. F. of Carson and the 
 Iowa Legion of Honor. He is a Republican. 
 
 J. M. KELLE Y, banker, Macedonia, was born 
 in Johnson County, 111., March 18, 1852 ; his 
 father, Richard Y. Kelley, was born in Tennes-. 
 see February 14, 1813 ; emigrated from Ten- 
 nessee to Illinois about 1835, where he raised his 
 family. He was a farmer, and died June 10, 
 1860. Subject's mother, Sarah E. F. (Ballowe) 
 Kelley, was born in Virginia July 3, 1814; was 
 the mother of eight children, of whom our sub- 
 ject is the youngest ; she died in Mills County, 
 Iowa, November 14, 1873, where she and her 
 husband had emigrated in 1854. Mr. Kelley is 
 a graduate of the State University of Iowa, of 
 the class of 1876. He is now Cashier of the 
 Macedonia Bank, where he has been for two 
 years. Mr. Kelley has been a law student, but 
 never sought admission to the bar ; he has been 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 IBS 
 
 engaged iu the mercantile business, and served 
 as Deputj- Treasurer of Mills County, Iowa. 
 He is connected with the Masonic Lodge of the 
 place, and is a j'ouug man of verj- high stand- 
 ing and influence iu the communitj-. 
 
 S. P. LEWIS, farmer, P. 0. Macedonia, was 
 born in New Jersej* in December, 1837 ; his 
 father, Samuel Lewis, was born iu New Jersey 
 in 1808, and migrated to Ohio in 1838, settling 
 first in Warren County, then in Shelby Countj', 
 where he raised his family', and where he now 
 lives, employed as a shoemaker and a farmer. 
 Subject's mother, Catharine (Lake) Lewis, was 
 born in New Jersey in 1807, and died in 1862 ; 
 she was the mother of six children, two of whom 
 are living. Mr. Lewis enlisted in the army in 
 September, 1861, and served till July 20, 1865; 
 he was at the battles of Shiloh, Yicksburg, Fort 
 Donelson, Atlanta, Ga., and with Sherman in 
 his march to the sea. After returning from the 
 war, Mr. Lewis remained iu his native couutj* iu 
 Ohio till March, 1866, when he came to Mace- 
 donia Township, first settling west of Old Mace- 
 donia, where he lived till 1872, wheuhe bought 
 his present farm of 1 60 acres, at that time un- 
 improved. Mr. Lewis was married in this town- 
 ship in August, 1866, to Catharine Roush, born 
 in Highland Count\-, Ohio, in November, 1842, 
 daughter of John and Rebecca (Rhodes) Roush, 
 he born in 1800, and she in 1806, both living 
 in Marion County, this State. This union has 
 resulted in five children — George A., Mina L., 
 Frederick W., William B. and Bennett. Mr. 
 Lewis is a Republican. 
 
 WILLIAM LEWIS, farming and stock-rais- 
 ing, P. 0. Macedonia, was born in La Salle 
 County. 111., in 1848 ; son of Charles and Eliz- 
 abeth (Hougs) Lewis ; he, born in Norway in 
 1826, came to America when fourteen years 
 old. settling in La Salle Countj-, where he was 
 engaged in farming, till his death in 1861 ; she, 
 born in Rochester, N. Y., in March, 1827, is 
 now living on the homestead in La Salle Coun- 
 ty, 111. ; she is the mother of seven children, 
 
 five of whom are dead. Mr. Lewis was engaged 
 m farming in his native State till coming to 
 Iowa in 1870, when he bougiit 160 acres, a part 
 of the farm where he now lives ; this land was 
 in an uncultivated condition, and cost Mr. Lewis 
 $8.50 an acre; he has improved his original 
 farm and added to it, until now he has 760 
 acres, worth about §30 an acre. Mr. Lewis was 
 married iu Mills County, Iowa, May 30, 1873, to 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Richards, born in Parke Coun- 
 ty, Ind., February 10, 1844, daughter of James 
 and Alzina (Fisher) Shank ; he, born in Warren 
 County, Ohio, about 1817, is a blacksmith in 
 Mills County, Iowa ; she, born in Brown Coun- 
 ty, Ohio, in 1819. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have 
 four children — Anna W., Arthur C, Laura I. 
 and Charles M. Since coming to Iowa, Mr. 
 Lewis has given his attention largely to stock- 
 raising; he now has 150 head of cattle, besides 
 hogs. Mr. Lewis is no partisan in politics. 
 
 F. LOWE, fixrmer, and merchant of agricult- 
 ural implements, Carson, was born in Bourbon 
 County, Ky., October 6, 1816, son of Seth and 
 Rebecca (Ryan) Lowe; he, born iu North Caro- 
 lina about 1786, and died Ma}- 4, 1871; she, 
 born in Virginia about 1791, died about 1867; 
 was the mother of six children, four of whom 
 are dead. When our subject's father was about 
 twelve j-ears old, he, with his father's family, 
 moved into Kentucky, passing through the In- 
 dian nation. On this journey the family were 
 nearly driven to starvation, being without food 
 seven days; their first food Was a " hoe-cake," 
 baked in the ashes by a squaw. Subject's 
 father moved from Kentucky to Indiana in 
 1820; thence, in 1869, to Glenwood, Mills Co., 
 Iowa, where the family remained till our sub- 
 ject could finish his house, which he was then 
 building on his farm of 320 acres, two miles 
 southwest of Carson ; to this place thej^ moved 
 Maj- 17, 1871. Mr. Lowe's schooling was ob- 
 tained in the da3-s when schoolhouses wore com- 
 posed of puncheon floors, benches made of split 
 logs, and the windows of paper, the school year 
 
164 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 being about three months. Mr. Lowe first 
 worked on the home farm, assisting his parents; 
 then he bought a portion of the place, and took 
 charge of the whole farm till it was sold to 
 Charles Elmore, the former owner of Mr. Lowe's 
 present farm. This was unimproved when Mr. 
 Lowe first took it, but is now in a state of cul- 
 tivation, and worth $35 an acre. January- 30, 
 1854, in Kingston, Ind., Mr. Lowe married Miss 
 Julia A. Sperling, born in Middlesex County, 
 N. J., in 1826; her father was a native of New 
 Jersey, and a farmer and gardener by occupa- 
 tion; her mother, Hannah (Morse) Sperling, was 
 also a native of New Jersey, and the mother of 
 ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe have had six 
 children^Horace G., Oriella, Eddie and Emma 
 (twins, who died in October. 1878), William H. 
 and Alice D. In connection with his farming, 
 Mr. Lowe is a partner in the Carson Implement 
 Company, which began business July 1, 1882. 
 Mr. Lowe is a strong temperance man, and a 
 firm Republican. 
 
 0. P. MACE, farming and mining, P. 0. Car- 
 son, was born in Western Virginia October 17, 
 1835. His father, Henry Mace, was born in 
 Ohio in 1811, was a farmer, and has lived most 
 of his life in Missouri, having gone there from 
 West Virginia in 1844, when he settled in Linn 
 County. He then moved to Sullivan County-; 
 thence to Livingston County, where he still re- 
 sides. Subject's mother, Harriet B. (Gibson) 
 Mace, was born in Ohio in 1811, and is the 
 mother of eight children, of whom one is de- 
 ceased. Mr. Mace began life as a farmer in 
 Missouri, where he continued for three years, 
 then went to Kansas, Bourbon County, where 
 he farmed one year; thence to Allen Countj-, 
 where he worked at the carpenter's trade one 
 year; thence to Mills County, Iowa, in 1861, 
 and the same j'ear came to Pottawattamie 
 Count\- and settled at Wheeler's Grove on a 
 farm, where he continued till going to Council 
 Bluffs in the fall of 1863, when he worked in 
 the City Mills, then operated by J. C. Hofmyre. 
 
 At Council Bluffs, Mr. Mace lost his first wife, 
 Barbara Allen, who died Februarj' 6, 1864. 
 Mr. Mace returned the same spring to Wheeler's 
 Grove, and again engaged in farming. There 
 he married his second wife, Mrs. Martha E. 
 Elswick, in March, 1865. She was born in 
 Kentuckj- March 4, 1833. Mr. Mace remained 
 on this farm till 1874, then moved to where he 
 now lives, two miles northeast of Carson, on a 
 farm of 196 acres, bought in 1873, costing about 
 $1,800, now valued at $40 per acre. The aver- 
 age of crops raised bj- Mr. Mace, for the past 
 twenty years in Pottawattamie County, has 
 been: Corn, 51:^ bushels per acre; wheat, 12 
 bushels; oats, 30, and potatoes, about 75. Mr. 
 Mace, accompanied by Elswick and Bates, of 
 this count}', started for Colorado April 13, 
 1879, and arrived in Gunnison City May 21. 
 From July 2 to July 6, they located eight 
 mines, among which are the famous '• Ruby 
 King " and " Little Crown " of Ruby Mining 
 District. They operated the King mine and su- 
 perintended the operation of the others, till in 
 September, when they leased the King for ten 
 mouths to Henry Lee, of Denver, and Bacy, of 
 Colorado Springs, for S500 cash and one-half of 
 all the ore taken during the lease. They re- 
 turned home, and, in February, 1880, sold the 
 King and Republican lode to Col. W. T. Holt, 
 of Portland, Me., for $25,000. In the spring 
 of 1S80, Messrs. Mace & Elswick returned to 
 Colorado, and located five mines in Red Well 
 Basin, Elk Mountain District, which they still 
 own and operate. Thej- also own the Little 
 Crown in the Ruby Alining District. These 
 mines are all in a prosperous condition, and 
 valued at $200,000. Mr. and Mrs. Mace have 
 eight children — James F., Harriet J., Emily C, 
 Ulysses, Edith B., Ernest A., Trannie Y. and 
 Altie M. Mr. Mace is an Odd Fellow, of Lodge 
 No. 444; in politics, a Democrat. 
 
 E. W. MYERS, farmer. P. 0. Macedonia, 
 was born in Faj-ette County, Penu., June 25, 
 1836 ; his father, Joseph Myers, was born in 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 165 
 
 1806 in Greene Count}-, Penn., where he re- 
 sided until 18-iO ; then he emigrated to High- 
 land Count}-, Ohio, where he remained till 
 emigrating to Des Moines County. Iowa, in 
 1854. There he resided till a short time be- 
 fore his death, when he moved to -Henderson 
 Count}-, 111., and died Januarj- 8, 1879, being 
 buried in Oquawka. He followed various 
 occupations ; was a shoemaker bj- trade. Sub- 
 ject's mother, Sarah (West) Myers, was born in 
 Pennsylvania about 1812 ; was the mother of 
 nine children, of whom five are living. She 
 died in November, 1852. in Putnam Count}', 
 111. Mr. Myers learned engineering, and, after 
 marriage, learned and worked at the carpen- 
 ter's trade, which he followed till 1875, at 
 which time he came to Pottawattamie County, 
 having emigrated from Ohio to ^Marion County, 
 Iowa, in 1865, where he followed the carpen- 
 ter's trade till coming to this county and 
 buying the farm of 120 acres where he now 
 lives. He has constructed a rotary or endless 
 engine, on which he secured a patent January 
 3, 1882. Mr. Myers married Miss Rebecca J. 
 Fernow in Ross County, Ohio, March 27, 
 1857 ; she was born in the same county May 
 2, 1835. Her father, David Fernow, born in 
 Morgan County, Va., February 2, 1798, was a 
 farmer, and died December 8, 1865, in Ross 
 County, Ohio. Her mother, Rebecca Pan-ott, 
 was born in Virginia March 4, 1802, died 
 December 2, 1879, and was the mother of thir- 
 teen children, of whom seven are living. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Myers have five children ; two girls 
 are married — Frances E. McConnaughey, 
 Matilda A. Bates. R. Dudley, Willard D. and 
 Joseph H. Subject is a member of the Odd 
 Fellows Lodge, No. 421. Mr. Myers has been 
 an active member of the Christian Church for 
 over twenty years. He is a strong Democrat. 
 J. H. PERRY, farmer and stock-dealer, P, 
 0. Carson, was born in Belmont County, Ohioi 
 June 2, 1836. His father, Jesse Perry, was 
 born in Pennsylvania about 1816 ; settled in 
 
 Bureau County, 111., in 1852, where he was 
 employed in farming till his death in July, 
 1873. Subject's mother, Malinda (Pool) Perry, 
 was born in Loudoun County, Va., in 1818, and 
 died about 1857, and was the mother of eight 
 children, of whom seven are still living, all in 
 Illinois and Iowa except one in California. 
 Mr. Perry attended the common schools, and 
 began farming in his native county on his own 
 farm, where he continued till moving to the 
 town of Maiden in March, 1875. He then 
 came to this county and bought his present 
 farm of 520 acres, paying $4,160 for the same. 
 It is now valued at $35 or $40 an acre, and is 
 situated on Gray Bill or Second Creek, one 
 and one-fourth miles southeast of Carson. 
 After making improvements on his farm, Mr. 
 Perry brought his family to it in April, 1880, 
 from the town of Maiden, 111. Mr. Perry was 
 married, in Bureau County, 111., January 9, 
 1861, to Arminda E. Hogue, born in Belmont 
 County, Ohio, May 17, 1838, daughter of Nim- 
 rod and Sarah A. (Palmer) Hogue, natives of 
 Belmont County, Ohio ; he, born in 1816. is a 
 farmer, now living in Pottawattamie County, 
 where he moved in 1880, she, born in 1818, 
 died in 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Perry have had four 
 children, two of whom, twins, Elbert and Del- 
 bert, are dead ; those living are Nora and 
 Sarah M. When quite young, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Perry both became members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church in Ohio. Mr. Perry has 
 been Township Trustee of Macedonia for the 
 past two years ; he is a Republican. 
 
 C. M. PRUDEN, miller, Macedonia, was 
 born in Rock Island County, 111., at Rapid City, 
 October 19, 1855. His father, L. S. Pruden, 
 was born in Athens, Athens County, Ohio, May 
 29, 1831 ; he remained in Ohio till twenty 
 years old, then emigrated to Rock Island Coun- 
 ty, 111., in 1850. He, with his father, owned 
 and operated a grist-mill in connection with an 
 oil mill and salt works near Athens ; there 
 subject's father and grandfather, while boring 
 
166 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 for salt, struck one of the first oil wells dis- 
 covered in Ohio, although the substance which 
 proved to be oil, afterward, was not detected 
 as such at that time. This property- was sold, 
 when the family emigrated to Kock Island 
 County, 111. There subject's father bought the 
 place known as " Sulphur Spring Farm," situ- 
 ated about ten miles south of the eitj^ of Rock 
 Island, and near the town of Andalusia. After 
 two 3"ears, he sold his farm and removed to 
 Rock Island County, 111., where he. with James 
 Barber laid out the town of Rapid City in 
 1853. There he built the Rapid City Mill and 
 operated it till April 14, 186(3 ; sold his prop- 
 ertj', aud, with his familj', moved to Potosi, 
 Washington County. Mo., where he engaged in 
 lead raining for two 3ears. He then returned 
 to Rock Island County, 111., where he worked 
 one year in the same mill he had sold; then, in 
 1870, he emigrated to G-leuwood, Mills County, 
 Iowa, where he operated a mill known as the 
 Gordon Mills, for three j'sars; thence he moved 
 to Falls City, Richardson County, Neb. ; oper- 
 ated a mill one year; thence to Fremont Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, and operated a mill. Then he bought 
 a property, and built what is known as the 
 " Sunny Side Mill," situated one and a half 
 miles southwest of Macedonia, Pottawattamie 
 County, Iowa. Here the father's health failed 
 aud he went West, leaving his son, our subject, 
 in charge of the mill. His father recovered 
 partially and returned to Iowa, but on account 
 of a relapse, returned to the West, and died at 
 Boulder City, Boulder Count*-, Col., April 26, 
 1881. Subject's mother, Amelia M. Ruby, was 
 born in Cattaraugus County, N. Y., October 14, 
 1838. She is the mother of three girls and 
 one bo3'. Subject learned the milling trade 
 with his father and was in business with him 
 till his death. Subject is still operating the 
 Sunny Side Mill on Nishnabotna River. Mr. 
 Pruden married Miss J. M. Hogan, of Avoca, 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, January 27, 1881. 
 She was born August 3, 1858, near Avoca, 
 
 Pottawattamie County. Iowa. Her father, 
 James S. Hogau, was born in Indiana, Decem- 
 ber 25, 1825, and died February 15, 1862 ; her 
 mother, A.'Y. (Wilson) Hogan, was born in Ful- 
 ton County, III,, October 14, 1837, and has had 
 three children. Subject and wife have one 
 child — Odessa Maud, born November 20, 
 1882. In politics, Mr. Pruden is a Greenbacker ; 
 he is an Odd Fellow. 
 
 WILLIAM H. RINBHART, farmer, P. 0. 
 Macedonia, was born in New York City Octo- 
 ber 7, 1826, son of John and Susan M. (Livers) 
 Rinehart ; he, born Februar}' 18, 1800. in 
 York Count\', Peun., is a carpenter by trade, 
 living in Illinois. Subject's mother was l)orn 
 in Baltimore, Md., March 5, 1805, and died 
 December 29, 1881 ; she was the mother of 
 seven boj's and three girls. Mr. Rinehart 
 learned the painter's trade in Warrensville, 
 III., which trade he followed in that town and 
 vicinity till about 1852, when he came to Iowa 
 and settled in Manteno, Shelby County. In 
 the latter place he followed his trade for about 
 two years, then rented a farm in Mills County 
 for two years, theuce to Pottawattamie County, 
 where, after renting land for three years, he 
 bought 120 acres where he now lives, on the 
 west bank of Nishnabotna River. This farm 
 which was purchased Maj' 29, 1872, is one and 
 a half miles southwest of Macedonia. Mr. 
 Rinehart enlisted in the Twentj'-ninth Iowa 
 Infantrj-, and served two years and eleven 
 months, the last j-ear of his service he was 
 driver for Gen. Steele. Mr. Rinehart was mar 
 ried in Illinois, Juh- 4, 1850, to Elizabeth 
 Pelham, born in England November 21, 1829, 
 daughter of George and Louisa Pelham ; he, 
 born in England, March 19, 1809, is living in 
 Illinois ; she, born in England, December 28, 
 1809, lives in Illinois and is the mother of 
 six children. Mr. and 5Irs. Rinehart have 
 eight children — George J., born March 8. 1851 ; 
 Henry T., April 14. 1853 ; L3dia Jane, Febru- 
 ary 6, 1856; Almeda L., January 1, 1858; 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 16T 
 
 Adelah E., July 20, 1860 ; Minnie May, Sep- 
 tember 14, 1866 ; Warren L. G., January 13, 
 1869, ancLRose Altha, born July 6, 1S70. Mr. 
 Rinehart is a Mason and a firm Republican. 
 
 J. A. ROADES, merchant, Carson, was born 
 in Champaign County, Ohio, June 18, 1857, 
 son of John and Eliza I. (Burnham) Roades ; 
 he. born in Ohio about 1835. is a farmer and 
 stock-dealer, living in Logan County, 111. ; she, 
 born in Ohio about 1830, is the mother of six 
 children, one of whom is dead. Mr. Roades 
 received a common-.school education, and began 
 the business of life as a farmer in Logan Coun- 
 ty, 111. ; there he remained one year and then 
 came to Iowa in 1877, locating at Wheeler's 
 Grove, Grove Township, Pottawattamie County, 
 where he rented a farm for one year of L. D. 
 Woodmansee ; after renting another farm for a 
 y^ar he bought forty acres for S12.50 an acre, 
 in Belknap Township, this he improved and 
 sold for $26 an acre. In March, 1882, after 
 selling his farm, Mr. Roades bought a half 
 interest in I. Culbertson's store, known as the 
 Farmer's Store of Carson. The firm is now 
 Culbertson & Roades, and deals in groceries, 
 queeusware and notions. In July, 1881, he 
 bought another lot and erected a house upon 
 it in Carson, and in July, 1882, he bought an- 
 other lot and erected a house upon it ; 
 he now rents them for $6 and $7 per 
 month, respectively. In 1879, '^Ir. Roades 
 assisted in the harvesting of oats, where the 
 town of Carson now stands. Mr. Roades is a 
 member of the I. 0. 0. F., No. 444, also of the 
 M. E. Church ; he is a Republican. 
 
 J. H. SMITH, farmer, P. 0. Macedonia, was 
 born in Canada December 4, 1826; son of 
 Robert and Mary (Thompson) Smith; he bora 
 in Ireland about 1788, came to America in 
 1826, settling in Peel County, Canada, where 
 he followed farming till his death, which oc- 
 curred about 1848; she born in Ireland al)out 
 1792, came to America with her husband and 
 three children; after coming to this country 
 
 she gave birth to five more children, of whom 
 our subject was the first born; five of the chil- 
 dren are living, all in Canada except our sub- 
 ject. Mr. Smith commenced his education in 
 the common schools of Canada, and afterward 
 graduated at Toronto Normal School in the 
 class of 1850. After graduating, Mr. Smith 
 taught in Canada till March, 1867, when he 
 emigrated to Cass County, Iowa, and rented a 
 farm for two years near Atlantic, during which 
 time he taught school one terra. He next 
 spent one year on a farm near Lewis, Cass 
 County, then one year on a farm near Mace- 
 donia, Pottawattamie County, thence to Farm 
 Creek bottom for three years, at the end of 
 which time Mr. Smith purchased the farm of 
 160 acres where he now resides. He has taught 
 school the successive winters of these years. 
 In 1848, Mr. Smith married Miss Margaret 
 McElroy of Brampton, Canada West; she died 
 about 1864, and was the mother of seven chil- 
 dren — Mary J. (married to Lorenzo Lewis), 
 Thompson, Alice E.(now in Colorado), Margaret 
 A., Martin, Robert J. and Eliza L. Mr. Smith's 
 next marriage was in March, 1867, to Miss 
 Agues Blain, of Streetsville, Canada West, born 
 about 1826, daughter of William and Jane 
 (Hill) Blain, natives of Ireland; he born about 
 1787, died in 1871; she born about 1790, died 
 in 1831. Mr. Smith lived directly in the path 
 of the cyclone that passed through this region, 
 June 9, 1880; it scattered his house and its 
 contents in all directions. Mr. Smith, with his 
 wife, one daughter and a hired man, fled to the 
 stable and were miraculously saved, the corner 
 of the building in which they had taken shel- 
 ter, remaining, while the rest of the building 
 was swept away. Mr. Smith, wife and one 
 daughter, are active members of the Presby- 
 terian Church of Macedonia. 
 
 W. L. SNAPP, farmer, P. 0. Carson, was 
 born in Lee County, Iowa, February 28, 1850; 
 son of Simpson and Luciuda (Tade) Suapp; he 
 born in Tennessee, September 6, 1816, was a 
 
16S 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 farmer by occupation, settled in Lee Countj', 
 Iowa, in an early day, and lived in that county 
 till his death, May 28, 1874. Subject's mother 
 was born December 3, 1S22, and died in March, 
 1869; she was the mother of eight children, all 
 livinEj in this county, except one deceased. Mr. 
 Snapp attended the common schools of his 
 native county, and then attended Denmark 
 Academy, in Denmark, Iowa; also went to Fort 
 Madison Academy, and took a full course in 
 book-keeping. He first farmed in his native 
 county one year, then in 1876, came to this 
 county and settled on a farm now owned by 
 Adam Ring; there he remained till 1880. when 
 he bought 160 acres where he now lives, one 
 mile west of Carson. Mr. Snapp paid $25 an 
 acre for his farm, which is now valued at S40 
 an acre; he deals extensively, and successfully, 
 in cattle and hogs. He was married in Pot- 
 tawattamie County, June 26, 1879, to Floda I. 
 •Jeffryes, born in Illinois March 15, 1861; 
 daughter of T. W. and Eliza J. (Hamilton) 
 Jeffryes ; he born in England in 1818, and 
 came to America about 18-17; she born in Indi- 
 ana about 1830. Mr. and Mrs. Snapp have 
 one child — Arthur R., born September 4, 1880. 
 W. A. SPENCER, editor, Macedonia, was 
 born in Perry Countj', Ohio, October 9, 1846 ; 
 his father, Edward Spencer, born in 1818 in 
 Pennsylvania, was a miller by trade, went to 
 the army in September, 1862, and died in a 
 rebel prison near Richmond in June, 1863, 
 having been captured b}' " Stonewall" Jackson. 
 Subject's mother, Polly (Fowler) Spencer, was 
 born in Ohio, and died in 1854 ; she was the 
 mother of five children, one of whom died in 
 1856. Mr. Spencer began on a farm as a hired 
 laborer, and continued as such until going into 
 the army in 1862, when he enlisted in the 
 Seventy-sixth Ohio Volunteers, Col. Woods, 
 serving a portion of his time in the Army of 
 the Potomac and the balance in the Arm}- of 
 the Cumberland. He was at the siege of 
 Vicksburg and the battle of Arkansas Post, i 
 
 also in other engagements, serving a period of 
 two years. After leaving the army, Mr. Spen- 
 cer returned to Ohio ; from there, went to Illi- 
 nois with a j'ounger brother and a sister, 
 making his home at Bushnell. In the spring 
 of 1865, he, with his brother, B. F. Spencer, 
 went to the gold mines of Gilpin County, 
 Colo., where they remained till June, 1867, 
 when the Indians drove them out. .Mr. Spen- 
 cer then determined to leave those parts, so he 
 with three other men started in a small l)oat 
 down the Missouri River, and continued the 
 journey to Leavenworth, Kan., making a trip 
 of about twelve hundred miles, occupying 
 about twenty da3-s. After landing at Leaven- 
 worth, Mr. Spencer took a trip through Kan- 
 sas, then returning to Illinois. In March. 1872, 
 he bought a half-interest in the Bushnell Rec- 
 ord, of Bushnell, 111., with S. A. Epperson, with 
 whom he continued till 1874. He next en- 
 gaged in real estate and insurance business. 
 In March, 1878, he established the McDoiwugh 
 Monthly at Bushnell, 111., but, on account of 
 the vast number of papers published in the 
 county, this enterprise proved impracticable, 
 and was discontinued. In June, 1880. Mr. 
 Spencer came to Macedonia and started the 
 JIacedonia Tribune, issuing the first paper 
 August 13, 1880. He also established a real 
 estate, insurance and loan agencj-, and he is 
 now doing a thriving business. Mr. Spencer 
 has had to make his own way in the world 
 since eight years of age, and is therefore a 
 purely self-made man. He married Miss Seril- 
 da Steel, of Bushnell, 111., February 8, 1874 ; 
 she was born February 2, 1855 ; her father, 
 GraflT Steel, was born in Ohio, and is a grain- 
 dealer, living in Illinois ; her mother's maiden 
 name was Poutious ; she died in 1872. Mr. 
 Spencer is purel}' a Republican and edits a 
 Republican paper. He was a correspondent of 
 the Chicago Inter Ocean during his last five 
 years at Bushnell, 111. Mr. Spencer's trip on 
 the river gave rise to the story, written by 
 
MACEDONIA TO W^' SHIP. 
 
 169 
 
 himself, of "A Thousand Miles in a Canoe." 
 He is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge of 
 Macedonia. Mr. and 5Irs. Spencer have four 
 children — Walter Clyde, Lena Mj-rtle, Ethel 
 and Helen. 
 
 J. G. STADTER, blacksmith and wagon- 
 maker, Carson, was born in Prussia February 
 8. 1852 ; his father, F. W. Stadter, was born in 
 Prussia about 1818, came to America about 
 1857, and settled in Davis Count}-, Iowa, on a 
 farm ; there he raised his famil}-, and, in 1878, 
 moved into the town of Ottumwa, where he 
 still lives. Subject's mother, Marj- (Plush- 
 antz) Stadter, was born in Prussia about 1822, 
 and came to this country with her husband ; 
 she has had ten children, six of whom are 
 dead. Mr. Stadter attended the common 
 schools of Davis County, Iowa, and in 1872 
 began serving an apprenticeship at blacksraith- 
 ing and carriage-making at Ottumwa, Iowa, 
 with W. C. Grimes. In 1875, having learned 
 his trade, he opened a shop in Slagle, Keokuk 
 Co.. Iowa, where he remained till 1880, when 
 he came to Carson and opened the first wagon 
 and carriage shop of the place. Mr. Stadter 
 owns three lots in the town of Carson and a 
 farm of 160 acres in Woodliury County, Iowa. 
 He is a member of the Winebrennarian 
 Church, is an Odd Fellow, and a member of 
 the Encampment, also of the Iowa Legion of 
 Honor ; he is a stanch Republican. 
 
 DR. F. S. THOMAS, physician, Carson, was 
 born in Chatham Village, Columbia Count}-, N. 
 Y., September 23, 1845. His father, Caleb J. 
 Thomas, was born in Champlain, Clinton 
 Co., X, Y., March 10, 1807. He was en- 
 gaged in the cotton and woolen factories of the 
 East, in^ which he was very successful until 
 1837, when the financial crisis swept away so 
 many hard-earned fortunes. He was among 
 the unfortunate, but paid every dollar of debt, 
 thus being left without anything to begin life 
 anew. This he did by going onto the railroad 
 as a brakeman, where he continued till pro- 
 
 moted to conductorship; then he left the rail- 
 road and came to Illinois in 1847, and located 
 at Warsaw, Hancock County. There he fol- 
 lowed painting for two years, then bought a 
 farm of eighty acres three miles south of War- 
 saw. Here his children grew up. He moved 
 from the farm back into Warsaw to afford his 
 children better opportunities of education. 
 From this town he moved to Atlantic, Iowa, in 
 1874, where he, with his wife, made their home 
 with their daughter, the late wife pi Hon. J. 
 K.. Powers, until 1878, when they made their 
 home with the subject, then at Walnut, Potta- 
 wattamie County, where his father died July 
 21, 1880. Subject's mother, Catharine (Smith) 
 Thomas, was born in Livingston, Columbia Co., 
 N. Y., September 16, 1806. She died August 
 25, 1881. She was the mother of six children, 
 all of whom are dead but the subject. Three 
 died in New York — Edward, Charles and Will- 
 iam ; one is buried in Illinois — Mrs. M. F. 
 Clark, and one is buried at Atlantic, Iowa — 
 Mrs. Anna L. Powers, late wife of Hon. J. K. 
 Powers, of Atlantic, Iowa. Dr. Thomas began 
 his educational work in the common schools of 
 Illinois ; thence he entered the Warsaw High 
 School, where he graduated in 1864. He then 
 went into the army as a private in the One 
 Hundred and Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, 
 where he continued sis months. The war was 
 then over, and Dr. Thomas clerked about one 
 year in the Keokuk Post Office, Iowa; thence 
 he spent one season on the Keokuk Mail 
 Packet Line as mail agent. Then he entered 
 the drug store of Dr. C. G. Strong, at Warsaw, 
 111., and began reading medicine ; attended 
 two courses of medical lectures at Keokuk 
 Medical College (now College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons), graduating February 21, 1870. 
 He then took a special course in surgery under 
 the late Prof Hughes, of Keokuk. He began 
 practice at Bentonsport, Van Buren Co., Iowa, 
 in April, 1870. He removed to Atlantic in 
 the spring of 1871, entered the drug business 
 
170 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 under the firm name of Tobie & Thomas, con- 
 tinuing there till 1872 and then moving to 
 Macedonia, Pottawattamie Count)', where he 
 practiced medicine, doing remarkably well, 
 but, owing to the ill health of his wife, he 
 moved to Walnut in 1877. There he contin- 
 ued practice until August, 1880, when he 
 moved back to Carson, where he is now locat- 
 ed, and has a very fine practice. The Doctor 
 is the oldest graduate of medicine in this por- 
 tion of Pottawattamie Count}'. He has a fine 
 residence and other property in Carson. He 
 is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows 
 fraternities, and in politics he is a (Blaine) 
 Repulilican. Dr. Thomas married Miss Mary 
 Ella Ferrier at Atlantic. Iowa, October 15, 
 1873. She was born in Platte City, Platte Co., 
 Mo., September 4, 1850. Her father, John 
 Ferrier, born in Virginia April 29, 1819, is liv- 
 ing near Atlantic, Iowa. Her mother, Jane E. 
 (Walker) Ferrier, was born in Virginia Febru- 
 ary 29, 1821, died February 3, 1867, in Des 
 Moines, Iowa. Dr. Thomas and wife have two 
 children — Ethel, born Februar}- 21, 1878, and 
 Edith, November 25, 1880. Dr. Thomas was 
 Coroner of Pottawattamie County from 1873 
 to 1875. He was prominently mentioned for 
 Representative in 1875. He is a member of 
 the Town Council of Carson, also a member of 
 the School Board of that place. 
 
 E. A. VAN VRANKEN, station agent and 
 telegraph operator, Macedonia, was Ijorn in 
 Schenectady, N. Y., March 11, 1848; his father, 
 Abram S. Van Vranken, was born in Niskaj'u- 
 na Township, near Schenectad}', N. Y., June 27, 
 1817; his father, Simon Van Vranken, was born 
 in 1775, and died in 1849; his father, Nicholas 
 Van Vranken, was born in 1745; his father, Abra- 
 ham Van Vranken, was born about 1715. These 
 men were all farmers, and were doubtless born, 
 raised, lived and died in this portion of the coun- 
 trj'. Being originally from Holland, they con- 
 tinued the use of the language of their mother 
 country up to the present generation. All lived 
 
 and died as strict adherents to the Protestant 
 faith. ]\Ir. Van Vranken's father lives in the 
 place of his birth in New York. He was a 
 farmer in the early part of his life, but later 
 3ears has followed carpentering and various 
 other occupations. He is a verj' prominent and 
 zealous lay-worker of the Church. The mother 
 of our sul^jcct, Lydia (Bradt) Vranken, was 
 born in 1823 in the citj- of Albauj', N. Y. She 
 was the daughter of Francis I. Bradt, a promi- 
 nent citizen of Albany, N. Y., and was the 
 mother of six children, of whom four are still 
 living. She and Abram Van Vranken were mar- 
 ried in Albanj', N. Y., in 1839; she died Au- 
 gust 19, 1851. Subject's father next married 
 Silah W. Day, of Connecticut. Subject was ed- 
 ucated in the Union School of Schenectady, and 
 began for himself bj' coming West in the fall of 
 18(37 and stopping at Chicago, where he was 
 engaged in various employments, until the win- 
 ter of 18G8, when he learned telegraphy, and 
 was subsequentl}' emploj'cd as telegraph opera- 
 tor and station agent by the T. P. & W. 11. R. 
 Co. at Watseka and Forest, 111.; he continued 
 in their emploj' about two years; then was em- 
 ployed by the C, B. & Q. R. R. Co. at Middle- 
 town, Mount Pleasant, New London, Hamburg, 
 and finally Macedonia, where he is now located. 
 Mr. Van Vranken married Miss Hannah E. 
 ©ladden, of Middletowu, Iowa, August 12, 1872. 
 Her father, Madison Gladden, born about 1807, 
 is a farmer, living near Middletown, Iowa, 
 where he located about 1862, emigrating there 
 from Jefferson County, Ohio. Her mother, 
 Martha (McElroj-) Gladden, born about 1814, 
 died in 1866. Subject and wife have five chil- 
 dren — Eula M., Frank A., Ernestina A.,Iola B. 
 and Sila D. Mr. Van Vranken is a Republican, 
 and a member of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 R. H. WOODMANSEE, merchant, farmer 
 and stock-raiser, P. 0. Macedonia, was born in 
 New Jersey in 1839; his father, John Wood- 
 mausee, was born in New Jersej' in 1804; he 
 was a sailor for the first fortj' years of his 
 
MACEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 171 
 
 life, and a Captain a good portion of this time; 
 he met with huav}- losses, being shipwrecked oflF 
 the American coast. The loss being total, he 
 emigi'ated to Shelbj' County, Ohio, in 1844, 
 where he located on a farm near Sidney; there 
 he has since followed agricultural pursuits, and 
 has been ver}' successful, being among the lead- 
 ing men of the county. Subject's mother, Har- 
 riet (Piatt) Woodmansee, was born in New Jer- 
 sey in 1808, and is the mother of seven chil- 
 dren, one of whom is dead. Mr. Woodmansee 
 was educated in the common schools of Ohio, 
 and enlisted in the three months' service ; then 
 re-enlisted in the Twentieth Ohio Regiment, 
 where he served as a private until after the battle 
 of Shiloh, when he was promoted to Second Lieu- 
 tenant; he was made First Lieutenant in 1S63; 
 was severel}' wounded at Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 
 18G4. in consequence of which he was disabled 
 two full years, being discharged in 18t)4. Upon 
 being discharged, he was tendered a Captain's 
 commission as soon as he should be able to take 
 command; but he was not able to do so till the 
 war closed. After coming from the armj-, he 
 emigrated to Pottawattamie County, Macedonia 
 Township, and settled at the old town of Mace- 
 donia for one .year, during which time he bought 
 the farm on which he now lives, moving to it 
 the next year, or in the fall of 1866. This farm 
 consistsof 250 acres, and bounds the town of New 
 Macedonia on the west; it was wild land when 
 Mr. Woodmansee settled on it, but now is a 
 beautiful home. Mr. Woodmansee served on 
 the Board of County Commissioners in 1868, 
 
 filling a vacancy, and has served his township 
 in nearly all of its offices. He is a member of the 
 firm of Woodmansee, Knox & Co., of Macedo- 
 nia, and also turns his attention largely to the 
 raising of stock. He is a firm Eepubliean. He 
 married Mi.ss Jennie Robinson, of vShelby Coun- 
 ty, Ohio, in September, 1866; she was born in 
 Shelby County, Ohio, June 30. 1843; her father, 
 Henry Robinson, was born in Shelby Count}', 
 Ohio, February- 17, 1814 ; still lives in the same 
 count}- on a farm near Sidney-; her mother was 
 born in Champaign County, Ohio, Novemljer 
 29, 1817, and is the mother of eleven children, 
 eight of whom are living. ' Mr. and Mrs. Wood- 
 mansee have five children — Frank E., born De- 
 cember 27, 1868; Minuie E., February 28, 1872; 
 Harry L., August 16, 1874; John H., Decem- 
 ber 24, 1876, and Stella Ma}-, born December 5, 
 1878. Mr. Woodmansee carries a scar on his 
 forehead that will go with him to the grave. 
 During the Kansas troubles he, with some other 
 j'oung men, went into that State, and while at 
 Fort Scott they followed a party of Indians that 
 had captured two girls a short distance north of 
 the fort. These Indians were followed b\- a 
 large part}-, all of whom gave up the chase, ex- 
 cept Mr. Woodmansee and his four companions, 
 who continued, and overtaking the redskins, 
 who numbered sixteen, whipped them, recapt- 
 ured the girls, and brought them safely back 
 to Fort Scott, which at that time contained but 
 one small store. During this skirmish, Mr- 
 Woodmansee received a wound, which occa- 
 sioned the scar before mentioned. 
 
172 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 MJl^DEN TOWiq"SHIP, 
 
 ROBERT ALBERCHT, farmer, P. O. 
 Mind en, was born in Kolleda, Germany, 
 May 22, 1839. He is the son of Christian and 
 Elizabeth (Hartroth) Albercht, both natives 
 of Germany. His father was born in 1802, 
 and was Mayor of Kolleda, Germany. He 
 died in 1863, in Sauk County, Wis. The 
 mother was born in 1805, and died in the 
 same place as her husband, in 1865. They 
 had six childien — two boys and four girls. 
 Our subject received his education in his na- 
 tive town and Wisconsin, to which latter State 
 ho went in 1849. In the fall of 1864, he en- 
 listed in the Forty-fifth Wisconsin Volun- 
 teer Infantry, Company K, Capt. Lashe. He 
 fought at Nashville, and was afterward as- 
 signed to railroad duties between Lookout 
 Mountain and Louisville, Ky. He was pro- 
 moted March 1, 1865, after which he did ofiS- 
 cer's duty till the close of the war. He came 
 to this county in 1876, and bought eighty 
 acres of land, paying $10 and $11 per acre. 
 In 1879, he purchased forty acres more, at 
 $11 per acre. The land was all wild, biit is 
 now in a good state of cultivation. He en- 
 gages in general farming. He was married, 
 in Sauk County, Wis., September 3, 1866, to 
 Caroline Meyer, born in Clearfield County, 
 Penn. , December 10, 1846. She • is the 
 daughter of George Hemy and Christina 
 (Ehrhart) Meyer, both natives of Germany. 
 Her father was born in 1820, and her mother 
 in 1826. They are both now living in Thayer 
 County, Neb. Mr. and Mrs. Albercht have 
 five children — Clara, Daisy, William, Hem-y 
 and Fred. In politics, oiu- subject is Inde- 
 pendent. 
 
 A. S. AVERY, farmer, P. O. Neola, was 
 born in Orange County, Vt.. in August, 1841. 
 His father, Christopher Avery, was a farmer, 
 born in Vermont in April, 1805, and has 
 lived in his native State all of his life. The 
 mother of our subject was born in Vermont 
 in June, 1805. They have lived together for 
 fifty-five years, and are the parents of nine 
 children, four- of whom are living. The old 
 folks are still living in their native State. 
 Our subject is the only one of the children 
 living in this State. After receiving a com- 
 mon-school education, he was admitted to the 
 New Hampton College, in New Hampshire, 
 which he attended for two years and a half. 
 In the fall of 1867, he started West, stop- 
 ping in Wheatland, Clinton County, this 
 State. He was book-keeper in the dry goods 
 house of M. S. Rogers & Co. until the fol- 
 lowing spring, when he went to Missoui'i 
 Valley Junction, Harrison County. He was 
 then appointed agent for the American Mer- 
 cantile Union Express Company, which posi- 
 tion he held for five years. He next engaged 
 in the general merchandise business, which 
 he follftwed until 1878, when he closed busi- 
 ness and went to Colorado on account of ill 
 health. He came to this county in the sjaring 
 of 1880, and purchased 200 acres of Irind 
 east of and adjoining the :own of Neola. 
 The land was new, but is now in a good state 
 of cultivation, well fenced, with a fine house, 
 which our subject erected. He is at present 
 giving his attention to stock-raising. Dur- 
 ing our late civil war, oui' subject was Sec- 
 ond Lieutenant of the Fifteenth Vermont 
 Volunteer Infantry, but, owing to ill health, 
 
MINDEN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 173 
 
 he was compelled to retui'n after serving nine 
 months. He was married, in Missouri Val- 
 ley, Harrison County, this State, in 1S72, to 
 Mary Mann, born in New York in Septem- 
 ber, 1852. She is the daughter of Calvin 
 and Sylvia (Newell) Mann. Her father is a 
 mechanic, born in New York in 1815; moved 
 to Michigan, and then to Wisconsin, and 
 finally to Missouri Valley, where he settled 
 in 1867, and followed his trade till about 
 1872, when he went to Nebraska, where he 
 now lives. Her mother was born in Vermont 
 about 1820. She was mamed in 1843, and 
 has raised live children, three of whom are 
 living. Mr. and Mrs. Avery have one child, 
 Hazen L., born in June, 1876. Our subject 
 was Recorder and a member of the Council 
 of Missouri Valley Junction. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic fraternity, and is at pres- 
 ent Worshipful Master of the lodge at Neola. 
 He is a non-professor in religion, and in 
 politics is a Republican. 
 
 G. BENNETT, farmer, P. O. Minden, was 
 born in Buffalo, N. Y., July 11, 184-4. He 
 is the son of Bartlett and Mary Louisa Ben- 
 nett. His father was a shoemaker; moved to 
 Sauk County, Wis., in 1846, and died there 
 the following year. The mother of our sub- 
 ject married Mr. A.lbertus, of Wisconsin, after 
 the death of her first husband. She had 
 three children by her first and fom- by her 
 second husband. She died in Honey Creek, 
 Walworth Co., Wis., in 1862. Our subject 
 went to school in Sauk City and Honey Creek, 
 Wis., till he was fifteen years old. He left 
 home at the age of nineteen, and has since 
 been a farmer. He came to Minden Town- 
 ship June 16, 1874, and piu-chased eighty 
 acres of wild land at $9.50 per acre. He 
 commenced improvements at once — built a 
 house and other buildings, set out a number 
 of trees, and, in 1878, bought forty acres more, 
 at $13 per acre. This was also wild land, 
 
 but is now in a good state of cultivation. 
 He engages in general farming. Oiu- sub- 
 ject had a brother in the late civil war, who 
 died at Memphis, Tenn. He (subject) was 
 married, in Mintien Township, this county, 
 March 28, 1870, to Susannah Nippert, born 
 October 15, 1854. She is the daughtef of 
 George and Sarah (Hershinger) Nippert, both 
 natives of Alsace, France, he born in 1818. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have one child, Charles 
 Ray, born February 4, 1881. In politics, 
 our subject is an . Independent. 
 
 M. BITTNER, farmer, P. O. Neola, was 
 born in Bohemia, Austria, September 29, 
 1843. He is the son of Mike and Anna 
 (Nagelsehmidt) Bittner, both natives of Bo- 
 hemia, Austria. His father was a farmer, 
 born in 1816, and died in the old country in 
 1879. The mother of oui- subject was born 
 in 1822, and died in the j^lace of her birth 
 in 1863. They had thi-ee children — two boys 
 and one girl — of whom our subject is the 
 only one living. He began life as a farmer. 
 In February, 1867, he was married to There- 
 sa Baumgarten, born in Bohemia, Austria, in 
 1843. She is the daughter of Casper and 
 Catherina (Bochmj Baumgarten. Mi-, and 
 !Mrs. Bittner have nine children — Francis, 
 Anna, Elizabeth, Theresa, Wenzel, Mary, Jo- 
 seph, Franzeska and Johan. Our subject 
 came to Minden Township in 1875, and, in 
 August of that year, pui'chased eighty acres 
 of land at $11 per acre, afterward disposing 
 of forty acres at the same price. He made 
 a subsequent piu'chase of forty acres at S12 
 per acre, and, a little later another fort}' 
 acres at $10 per acre. He now has 100 
 acres in good cultivation, and he engages 
 in general farming. He is a member of the 
 Catholic Church, and, in politics, is an Inde- 
 pendent. 
 
 S. BLUMER, farmer, P. O. Minden, was 
 born in Canton Glarus, Switzerland, March 
 
174 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 12, 1827. He is the son of Johannes and 
 Susanna Blumer (see sketch of F. Blumer, 
 of Minden Township). Oiu- subject received 
 his education in his native country. He 
 came to the United States in 1852, coming 
 to Davenport, this State, where he lived'Nin- 
 til 1882. He was engaged in the saw-mill 
 and shingle manufacturing business. Dur- 
 ing the late civil war, he enlisted in the Ja- 
 ger (Hunters) Regiment, Infantry, Battalion 
 Thirty. He was married, in his native town, 
 Sejitember 12, 1849, to Elizabeth Tis, born 
 in the same place in 1828. She is the 
 daughter of Jacob and Susanna Tis, both na- 
 tives of Canton Glarus, Switzerland. Mi', and 
 Mrs. Blumer have ten children — John Fritz, 
 Jacob, Kasper, Samuel, Heinrich, Frank, 
 Sabina, Anna and Siisana. When our sub- 
 ject came to this county, he purchased 385 
 acres of land, 210 acres of which are in a state 
 of cultivation. He has made many improve- 
 ments on his place and engages in general 
 farming. 
 
 FREDERICK BLUMER, farmer, P. O. 
 Minden, was born in Canton Glarus, Switzer- 
 land, April 15, 1833. He is the son of Jo- 
 hannes and Susanna Blumer, both natives 
 of Canton Glarus, Switzerland. His father 
 was a miner, born in 1802, and died in Daven- 
 port, this State, in 1853. His mother died 
 in the same place in 1860. They had three 
 children, all boys. Our subject received his 
 education in his native land, and afterward 
 worked in a slate mine in the same country. 
 He came to Davenport, Scott Couhty, this 
 State, in 1850, and was engaged in shaving 
 shingles by hand in a factory in that city. 
 He was married, in the same city, November 
 17, 1857, to Mary C. Frost, born in Germany 
 in February, 1842. She is the daughter of 
 Peter Frost, who was born in Germany in 
 ISUO. In 1864, our subject enlisted in the 
 Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, Comjiany C, Army 
 
 of the Cumberland. He came to Minden 
 Township, this county, in 1880, and pur- 
 chased 200 acres of wild land at $12 per acre, 
 all of which are now under cultivation. He 
 afterward bought 120 acres at S>13 per acre, 
 fifty acres of which are now improved. His 
 place contains a fine lot of buildings, and he 
 engages in general farming. He has five 
 children — Lena, Friedrich, Johannes, Peter 
 and Heinrich— all of whom were born in 
 this State. Our subject is a member of the 
 United Workmen, and of the Evangelical 
 Lutheran Church. In polities, he is an In- 
 dependent. 
 
 J. M. BUTLER, farmer, P. O. Xeola, was 
 born in Montgomery County, N. Y., Septem- 
 ber 8, 1847. He is the son of J. M. and 
 Ruth (Gates) Butler. His father was a 
 farmer and stock-dealer, born in New York 
 December 17, 1808, and died in Harrison 
 County, October 5, 1866. The mother of our 
 subject was born in Ohio June 19, 1812, and 
 died in Council Bluffs April 16, 1869. She 
 was a relative of Gen. Gates, of Revolution- 
 ary fame. The parents had five children — 
 two boys and three girls. Om- subject re- 
 ceived his education mostly in J. B. Rue's 
 select school in Council Bluffs. He came to 
 this coimty in 1857. In 1862, he went to 
 Idaho, where he was engaged in herding, 
 freighting and butchering up to August, 
 1864, when he returned and settled in Harri- 
 son Coiinty. He was one of the " Pony Ex- 
 press " in Idaho, which freighted across the 
 mountains. He was also engaged in mining, 
 railroading and farming. Upon his return, 
 he pmxhased twenty acres of wild land at $5 
 per acre. He built on it and otherwise im- 
 proved it. In 1871, he bought forty acres 
 more, and has made subsequent additions of 
 twenty, fifteen and forty acres, all of which 
 was raw land, but is now in a good state of 
 cultivation. He engages in general farming- 
 
MINDEN^ TOWXSHIP. 
 
 175 
 
 He has been Jvistice of the Peace for ten 
 years, Township Clerk for six years, and 
 Township Treasurer. He was married, in 
 Harrison County, this State. November 22, 
 1860, to Mary E. Wood, born in this county 
 July 11, 1848. She is the daughter of 
 Samuel and Mary (Mei-rill) "Wood, both na 
 tives of Ohio, he born in May, 1817, and she 
 April 16, 1815. Mr. and Mrs. Butler have 
 had two children — Jeremiah Mayhew, de- 
 ceased; and William H. Our subject is a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 
 politics he is an Independent. 
 
 R. W. CAESON, farmer, P. O. Minden, 
 was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in 
 1827. He is the son of James and Mai-tha 
 (Williamson) Carson, both natives of Ire- 
 land. His father died in Canada in 1864, 
 and his mother in the same country in 1836. 
 They had eight children — three sons and five 
 daughters. Our subject began life as a 
 farmer. He came to Canada in 1841, and 
 clerked in Kingston, Canada, for six years. 
 In January, 1877, he weut to city of Paris, 
 Lamar Co., Texas, where he lived until Jan- 
 uary, 1879, when he came to this county and 
 bought 120 acres of improved land. He was 
 married, in Canada, .^pril 2, 1852, to Har- 
 riett Kussell, born in Canada August 23, 1832. 
 She is the daughter of Timothy and Eliza 
 (Tate) Russell. Her father was born in Uti- 
 ca, N. Y., in 1805. He is a farmer, and is 
 still living, in De Kalb County, 111. Her 
 mother was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, 
 in 1803, and lives in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Carson have had eight children — Sarah Lou- 
 isa, Ann Eliza, Robert Williamson, George 
 Russell, James David, Mary Han-iett, Ernest 
 Edwin and Charles Russell. Ann Eliza, their 
 second child, died in Texas in September, 
 1877. Our subject was a magistrate in Can- 
 ada, and is a member of the Royal Orange 
 Institution of British North America. He 
 
 belongs to the Presbyterian Church, and in 
 politics is an Independent. He is engaged 
 in general farming. 
 
 JAMES CROW, real estate, Minden, was 
 born in Licking County. Ohio. March 14, 
 1819. He is the son of James and Anna 
 (Atkinson) Crow, both natives of Virginia. 
 His father was a farmer, and died in 1839. 
 His mother died in 1869. They had ten chil- 
 dren — live sons and five daughters. Our 
 subject received his education in Granville, 
 Ohio. He began life for himself as a sur- 
 veyor in Mercer County, Ohio. He came to 
 this State in the spring of 1852, and followed 
 surveying. He commenced studying law. and 
 was admitted to the bar in June, 1857, and 
 practiced in Cerro Gordo, Hancock and Win- 
 nebago Counties. He has many times filled 
 the offices of Justice of the Peace and County 
 Surveyor, both in Ohio and this State. He 
 was married, August 19. 1847, to Margaret 
 Bonifield, born in Mercer County, Ohio, April 
 6, 1831. She is the daughter of William 
 and Hannah Bonifield, both natives of Ohio. 
 Our subject came to this county in 1872, 
 locating in Neola. He came to Minden in 
 1875, and has since been connected with this 
 town, and helped build it up. He also as- 
 sisted in starting the Sunday rchool. He 
 has seven children — Hannah A., John W.. 
 Francis M., L. G. Benton, James R., Maggie 
 and Ida May. Our subject has been a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He 
 belongs to the Good Templars, and in politics 
 is a firm Democrat. 
 
 P. J. DOTY, farmer, P. O. Minden, was 
 born in Ashland County, Ohio, November 
 12, 1841. He is the son of James and Sarah 
 (Croninger) Doty. His father was a fanner, 
 born in Brooke County, Va., in 1805, and 
 died in Richland County, Ohio, in Febru- 
 ary, 1878. His mother died in Ashland 
 County of the same State. They had nine 
 
176 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 children — six sons and three daughters. Our 
 subject received his education in the schools 
 of Ashland and Kichland Counties. Ohio, 
 and began life as a farmer. He came to this 
 county in June, 1878, and purchased 160 
 acres of wild land at ^9 per acre. He im- 
 proved and fenced ninety acres, and built a 
 house, afterward selling at $33 per acre. He 
 came to Minden Township in 1880, and 
 boiight eighty acres at §19 per acre, all of 
 which are under cultivation. He is engaged 
 in general farming. He was married, in 
 1870, in Mansfield, Ohio, to Arvilla Parsen, 
 bom in Richland County of the same State 
 in 1850. They have four children — Calvin, 
 William, Rolden and Harry. Om- subject is 
 a member of the I. O. O. F., Plymouth 
 Lodge, Richland County, Ohio. In politics, 
 he is a Democrat. 
 
 E. D. DORN, farmer, P. O. Neola, was born 
 in Oneida County, N. Y., May 19, 1847. 
 He is the son of Andrew and Mary Ann 
 (Kilts) Dorn. His father was a farmer, born 
 October 19, 1819, and died in Boonville, 
 Oneida Co., N. Y., in 1857. The mother of 
 our subject was born in Baden, Germany, 
 July 24, 1823, and died in the same place as 
 her husband December 26, 1873. They had 
 six children — three sons and three daughters. 
 Our subject attended school in his native 
 town, and afterward the Utica Academy, and 
 the Commercial College at Rome, N, Y. He 
 first started in business for himself at manu- 
 facturing cheese in Muscatine County, Iowa, 
 where he ran a factory for some time. He j 
 came to this county in April, 1875, and inir- | 
 chased 120 acres of raw land. He afterward 
 added 235 acres more. All of his farm is 
 now under cultivation, which, with good 
 buildings, which he put up himself, gives 
 him a pleasant and comfortable home. He 
 engages in general farming, and also dally- 
 ing. He was married, in Boonville, Oneida I 
 
 Co., N. Y., December 25, 1871, to Elvira A. 
 Jones, born in Boonville September 11, 1853. 
 She is the daughter of David W. and Frau- 
 cil L. (Nelson) Jones, he bsrn in Wales, Eng- 
 land, in 1829, and she in Boonville, N. Y., 
 in 1831. jVIr. and Mrs. Dorn have one child, 
 Arthur E. They are members of the Evan- 
 gelical Association. He has been Inspector 
 of Elections and Road Supervisor. In poli- 
 tics, he is Republican. 
 
 PETER EHLERS, gi-ain- dealer, Minden, 
 was born in Oldenburg. Holstein. Germany, 
 April 4, 1838. He is the son of Jorgen and 
 Dores (Landt) Ehlers, both natives of Olden- 
 burg, Germany. His father is a farmer, and 
 is still living. His mother died in June. 
 1879. They had five children — three boys 
 and two girls. Our subject received a good 
 education in his native country, and started 
 for America in 1852. He came at once to 
 Davenport, this State. In 1858, he went to 
 St. Louis, Mo. , and from there to Mississippi 
 and Louisiana, returning to Davenport in 
 1860. -He came to Minden Township in the 
 spring of 1874, and built a house, into which 
 he, with his family, moved the following 
 year. Oui- subject began life as a farmer; 
 was in the stock business for a number of 
 years, and has been a grain-dealer for ahput 
 twenty years. He has been Township Treas- 
 urer and Township Trustee, which latter 
 office he holds still. His efforts in the inter- 
 ests of the town of Minden have been no 
 small factors in the growth and prosperity of 
 that thriving little place. He was married, 
 in Davenport, this State, in 1867, to Mary 
 Louis, boi'U in Germany, near Hambiu-g. 
 Her parents were born in the same place. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ehlers have had nine childien 
 --six sons and thi'ee daughters — of whom 
 three of the boys are dead. The names of 
 the remaining children ai'e August. Adolph. 
 Louis, Soj)hia, Minnie and Emma. Our 
 
MIKDEN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 177 
 
 subject belongs to the Knights of Pythias, 
 and in politics he is a Republican. 
 
 L. J. ELLITHORPE, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was bom in Canada February 13, 1842. He 
 is the son of O. H. and Adeline E. Ellithorpe. 
 His parents had foui' children — two sous and 
 two daughters. Our siibject received his 
 education in Elgin, Kane Co., 111. He be- 
 gan life as a carpenter, at which occupation 
 he worked till 1860, after which he was en- 
 gaged in farming. He was a Government 
 Recruiting Officer during the late civil war. 
 He came to Iowa in 1875, and, after looking 
 at lands in the northern part of this State, 
 settled in this county. He purchased eighty 
 acres of railroad land at $10 per acre, and 
 sold out in 1880 at twice that figure. He 
 also bought 120 acres of wild land at $12.50 
 per acre, which is now all under cultivation. 
 He has secxu'ed all that he has by his hard 
 labor for many years. He is at present en- 
 gaged in general farming. He was Road 
 Supervisor and School Director in Illinois 
 for several years. He was married, in Frank- 
 lin Grove, Lee Co., 111., on May 11, 1871, to 
 Carrie Gallaher, born in Pennsylvania. She 
 is the daughter of Benjamin and Jane (Ful- 
 lerton) Gallaher, both natives of. the- latter 
 State, he born in 1809, and she in 1808. 
 Both 'are living in Minden Township. They 
 had eleven children — seven sons and foiu- 
 daiighters. JVIrs. Ellithorpe is a sister to D. 
 W. Gallaher of Minden Township. Our 
 subject has four children — Oliver Wilmot, 
 Newton G.,- Myrtle and Alonzo Garfield. In 
 politics, Mr. Ellithorpe is a Republican. 
 
 JACOB ENGLER, farmer, P. O. Min- 
 den, was born in Switzerland, June 15, 
 1834. He is the son of TJlreeht and Els- 
 betha (Rutz) Engler, both natives of Swit- 
 zerland. His father was a carpenter, born in 
 July, 1790, and died in Davenport, this State, 
 in July, 1856. The mother of our subject 
 
 was born February 11, 1802, a".d died in the 
 same place as her husband, in November, 
 1881. They had seven childi-en — five boys 
 and two girls. Our subject began life as a 
 farmer, after receiving his schooling in his 
 native country. He was a soldier in Swit- 
 zerland for two years. He came to Iowa in 
 1856, and farmed with his brother eighty 
 acres of land, which they had pm'chased to- 
 gether. He afterward sold his interest to 
 his rother, and, in 1862, bought eighty acres 
 for himself. He sold this in the fall of 1878, 
 and came to Minden Township, where he 
 purchased 240 acres of land, moving his fam- 
 ily in the spring of the following year. He 
 now has a good farm, with good buildings, 
 and engages in general farming. He was 
 married, October 29, 1859, in Long Grove, 
 Scott County, this State, to Margaretta 
 Marte, born in Switzerland March 17, 1843. 
 She is the daughter of Bartholomaus and 
 Anna B. (Schlager) Marte, both natives of 
 Switzerland. Her father was born in 1819, 
 and her mother March 13, 1823. Mi-, and 
 Mrs. Engler have had six children, two of 
 whom are now living — Bartholomaus and 
 Anna Barbara. Our subject is a member of 
 the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In poli- 
 tics, he is an Indejoendent. 
 
 GEORGE L. FULLERTON, farmer P. 
 O. Minden, was born in Pike Township, 
 Clearfield Co. , Penn. . April 6, 1829. He is 
 the son of John and Elizabeth (Caldwell) 
 Fullerton. His father was a farmer, born in 
 Cumberland County, Penn., December 15, 
 1778, and died in Clearfield County, Penn. , 
 April 13, 1851. The mother of our subject 
 was born in Lancaster County, Penn., Feb- 
 ruary 14, 1785, and died in Clearfield Coun- 
 ty August 28, 1848. The parents had eleven 
 children — five boys and six girls. Our sub- 
 ject received a good education in the schools 
 of his native State. He left Pennsylvania in 
 
178 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 1868, and came to Illinois, where he rented 
 and farmed for seven years. He came to 
 Minden Township in 1875, and piu-chased 
 120 acres of laud. In the following spring, 
 the family came also. The land was raw and 
 uncultivated, but now is all improved, with 
 good buildings, etc. He afterward bought 
 forty acres, which he now uses for a pasture. 
 He is engaged in general farming. He was 
 married, in Clearfield County, Penn., Febru- 
 ary 21, 1850, to Hannah L. Moore, born in 
 Center County, Penn., June 26, 1827. She 
 is the daughter of Robert and Diana (Smith) 
 Moore, both natives of Pennsylvania, he born 
 November 12, 1785, she born November 12, 
 1795. Ml-, and Mrs. Fullerton have ten chil- 
 dren — Diana E., Hattie E., Margaret E., 
 John C, Hardman P., Benjamin F., Sarah 
 J., George A., Robert L. and Richard I. 
 The family are members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Chtu-ch. In politics. Mi-. Fuller- 
 ton is a Republican. 
 
 D. W. GALLAHER, farmer. P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Ogle County, 111., August 16, 
 1851. He is the son of Benjamin and Jane 
 (Fullerton) Gallaher, both natives of Penn- 
 sylvania. His father was born in 1809, and 
 his mother in 1808, and are both living in 
 Minden Township. They had eleven chil- 
 dren — seven sons and foiu- daughters. Our 
 subject received his education in Ogle Coun- 
 ty, 111., and began life as a farmer. He 
 came to this county in 1875, and, in 1879, 
 purchased fifty-nine acres of improved land. 
 In 1881, he bought forty acres more, and, 
 in 1882, added eighty acres of wild land. 
 He engaged in general farming. He was 
 married, in Pierceville, De Kalb Co., 111., 
 November 12. 1873, to Frances E. Wilcox, 
 born in Courtland, 111., in 1857. She is 
 the daughter of James O. and Welthy (Mat- 
 teson) Wilcox, both natives of New York 
 State. Mr. and Mrs. Gallaher have had three 
 
 children — Benjamin Franklin (now dead), 
 James Oscar and Nellie Amelia. In politics, 
 Mr. Gallaher is a Republican. He was at 
 one time School Director. 
 
 CLAUS MARTENS, farmer. P. O. Min- 
 den, was born in Holstein, Germany, Octo- 
 ber 17, 1844. He is the son of Hans and 
 Dorothea (Sebelin) ^Martens, both natives of 
 Holstein, Germany. His father was a ma- 
 son, born in 1782 and died in 1860, in his 
 native land. The mother of our subject was 
 born in 1802, and also died in her native 
 country, in 1876. They had seven children, 
 five of whom are now living — three sons and 
 two daughters. Our subject began life as a 
 farmer. He came to this country in 1866, 
 coming to Rock Island, 111., where he worked 
 in a saw-mill. He moved to Davenport, this 
 State, in the same year, and engaged in 
 farming. He came to this county March 20, 
 1875, and purchased eighty a-jres of wild 
 land in Section 9, Minden Township, at $9 
 per acre. He bought forty acres of wild land 
 in each of the years 1877, 1880 and 1882, 
 making in all 200 acres, which is now in 
 good cultivation. In 1881, he built a bouse 
 and several other good buildings, and set out 
 100 Cottonwood trees and thirty fruit trees 
 during the same year. He now engages in 
 general farming. In religion, he is Luther- 
 an, and in politics a Republican. 
 
 AV. M. PURCELL, farmer, P. O. Minden. 
 was born in Columbus, Franklin Co., Ohio, 
 October 10, 1835. His father was born in 
 Pittsburgh, Penn., in 1791, and died in 
 Iowa City, this State, in 1868. He was a 
 farmer. The mother of om- subject was Ra- 
 chel McDonald, born near Columbus, Ohio, 
 in 1806, and is still living, in Iowa City. 
 The jaarents had nine children. Om- subject 
 received his education in the schools of Co- 
 lumbus, Ohio, and Iowa City, this State. In 
 1859, he went across the plains to California, 
 
MINDEN TOWNSHIP. 
 
 n9 
 
 driving an ox team. He returned in 1863. 
 In the spring of 1873, he went to California, 
 second time, this time by rail, and returned 
 in the fall of the same year. For a time he 
 was engaged in mining in the northern part 
 of that State. Ho came to Minden Town- 
 ship in the spring of 1876, and purchased 
 KiO acres of raw land, all of which is now 
 under cultivation. He engages in general 
 farming. He has tilled the offices of Town- 
 ship Trustee and Supervisor. July 16, 1874, 
 he was married, in Iowa City, this State, to 
 Mary Colwell, born in Jefiferson County, Ind., 
 November 29, 1852. She is the daughter 
 of David B. and Mary Ann (Hicks) Colwell, 
 he born in Edinburgh, Scotland, she born in 
 Monmouthshire, England, in 1823. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Purcell have five children — Minnie, Ed- 
 win, Georgie W., Norman and Rachel. In 
 politics, Mr. Purcell is a Republican. 
 
 CLAUS REIMERS, farmer, P. O. Min- 
 den, was born in Feddering, Holstein, Ger- 
 many, December 30, 1835. He is the son of 
 Hans and Cathrina (Voss) Reimers. (See 
 sketch of Hans Reimers, of Minden Town- 
 ship. ) Our subject received his education in 
 his native land. He came to America in 
 1865, and came at once to Davenport, this 
 State; from there he went to Grinnell, Iowa, 
 where he farmed a short time, and then came 
 to Council Bluffs in 1871, living at the latter 
 place for eight years. He worked for the 
 Union Pacific Railroad Company as transfer- 
 man and watchman. In 1879, he came to 
 Minden Township and purchased eighty acres 
 of land of Barton Brown, for which he paid 
 §15 per acre. He is at present engaged in 
 general farming. He was married, in Grin- 
 nell, Iowa, April 1, 1868, to Mary Brocken- 
 tin, bom in Lehe, Holstein, Germany, Feb- 
 ruary 9, 1840. She is the daughter of 
 John and Maiy (Ludde) Brockentin, both 
 natives of Germany, he born in November, 
 
 1795, and she born April 18, 1800. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Reimers have three children — Kathar- 
 ine M., Mary M. and Fried chen C. The 
 parents are members of the Lutheran Church. 
 In politics, Mr. Reimers is a Republican. 
 
 H. H SOPPE, farmer, P. O. Neola. was 
 born in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, 
 August 14, 1833. He is the son of Hermann 
 and Catharine (Calker) Sopise, both natives 
 of Hanover, Germany. His father was born 
 in 1803; came to America in 1861, and was 
 engaged in farming till his death, which oc- 
 curred in May, 1869. The mother of our 
 subject died iu her native country in 1858. 
 They have had sis children. Our subject at- 
 tended school both in Germany and this 
 country. He worked as a day laborer for five 
 years, when he went to California, and worked 
 in the mines of that State, Nevada and Cen- 
 tral America for seven years. Ho came to 
 Lee County, this State, in 1869, and was 
 married, on November 23 of that yeai'. to 
 Miss Catharine Oststdick, born in Lee Coun- 
 ty in 1849. She is the daughter of Ferdi- 
 nand and Catharine (Schneker) Oststdick, 
 both natives of Germany Her father was 
 born in 1815, and came to America in 1846, 
 and died in October, 1873. Her mother was 
 born in 1819, and came to America with her 
 husband. After his marriage, our subject 
 purchased forty acres of land, upon which he 
 built a brick house, costing $700. He fanned 
 here for five years, when he sold the place 
 for $2,000. He then bought eighty acres for 
 $3,500, which he sold and came to this county. 
 He purchased eighty acres where he now 
 lives, and has since added eighty acres more. 
 He has four children living — Ferdinand, 
 Katie, George and John. In religion oiu" 
 subject is a Catholic, and in politics a Demo- 
 crat. 
 
 WILLIAM SPEARS, farmer, P. O. Min- 
 den, was born in Mercer County, Penn., Sep- 
 
180 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 tember 3, 1836. He is the son of George and 
 Sarah Ann (Churchfield) Spears. His father 
 was a blacksmith, born in Edinburgh, Scot- 
 land, in 1801, and died in Florence, Neb., in 
 1846. The mother of our subject was born 
 in Westmoreland County, Penn., in 1812, and 
 died in this county. The parents had eight 
 children — four sons and four daughters. Our 
 subject received his education in Illinois, 
 Nebraska and this county. He left his na- 
 tive State and went to Illinois in 1839, with 
 his parents. He lived in that State till 1846, 
 when he went to Nebraska, where he lived till 
 he came to this county, in 1848. In 1865, 
 he purchased land in Harrison County, this 
 State, and sold the same in 1871. He now 
 has 320 acres, part of which is under cultiva- 
 tion. He has one of the finest homes in the 
 county, and engaged in general farming. He 
 has been Justice of the Peace, Township 
 Clerk and Township Trustee. He was mar- 
 ried, in Garner Township, this county, May 
 27, 1863, to Luvinia Stoker, born in this 
 county November 20, 1846. She is the 
 daughter of EUer and Margaret (Judd) 
 Stoker. Mr. and Mrs. Spears have had the 
 following children, of whom there are five 
 living — Andrew, Agnes J., Lucretia, Mary 
 Jane, Daisy Ann, Frank, Lizzie, Myrtle, Lou- 
 isa and William H. Our subject is a Gi-an- 
 ger, and in politics a Greenbacker. 
 
 J. F. STRAHL, farmer, P. O. Neola, was 
 born in Cedar County, Iowa, February 14, 
 1848. He is the son of Eli and Sarah A. 
 (Edwai'da) Strahl, both natives of Ohio, he 
 born in 1815 and she in 1822. Both the 
 parents are at present living near Iowa City, 
 Johnson County, this State. They had seven 
 children — three boys and four girls. The fa- 
 ther was a farmer. Oui- subject began life 
 at farming. When only sixteen years old, 
 he went into the army, and remained till the 
 close of the war. He afterward contracted 
 
 for the carrying of the United States mail, 
 from Albany, Mo., to Leon, Decatur County, 
 ihis State. He has also been in the livery 
 business in Iowa City, and the grocery busi- 
 ness in Walnut, this county. He was mar- 
 ried, in Cedar County, this State, March 6, 
 1870, to Eliza Crook, born in Indiana Octo- 
 ber 18, 1852. She is the daughter of Michael 
 and Mary (Hollingsworth) Crook, he born 
 in Virginia in 1823, and she in Ohio in 1820. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Strahl have had foiu' children 
 — Florence (deceased), Walter, Nellie (de- 
 ceased) and Bertie. Our subject came to 
 this county in 1871, and settled near Wal- 
 nut. He bought eighty acres of wild land 
 at S7.25 per acre. He improved this, and 
 afterward sold it for $20 per acre. He then 
 pui'chased eighty acres of improved land, 
 paying $18 per acre, in the same township 
 (Layton). He sold this at the same price 
 that he paid for it. He then bought land in 
 Harrison County, this State, and at one time 
 owned three farms in that county. He also 
 owned a place in Kansas, and one in Linn 
 County, this State. He came to Minden 
 Township in 1882, and purchased 120 acres 
 at $21 per acre, and has since made many 
 improvements. He is engaged in general 
 farming. He belongs to the Good Templai's, 
 and also to the Grand Ai'my of the Republic. 
 In politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 JOCHIM STUHR, farmer, P. O. Minden, 
 was born in Holstein, Germany, July 23, 
 1831. He is the son of Jochim and G. 
 (Plagmann) Stuhr, both natives of Holstein, 
 Germany. His father was a farmer, born 
 March 24, 1791, and died in his native tovra 
 in November, 1866. The mother of our sub- 
 ject was born January 27, 1793, and died in 
 her birth-place in February, 1876. They 
 had five childi-en — two boys and three girls 
 — of whom our subject is the only one liv- 
 ing. He received his education in Germany, 
 
MINDEJ^ TOWNSHIP. 
 
 181 
 
 and has been a tiller of the soil since 1852. 
 He was raan-ied, in Holstein, Germany, Oc- 
 tober 13, 1852, to Miss A. Arp, born in that 
 place. She is the daughter of Hans and 
 Becke (Ladehofif) Arp, both natives of Hol- 
 stein, Germany, he born January 8, 1804, 
 and she in 1800. In 1850, oui' subject en- 
 listed in the Schleswig-Holstein army, artil- 
 lery, and was at the battle of Idstadt. He 
 came to Minden To\\Tiship July 24, 1881, 
 and, in the fall of the same year, purchated 
 280 acres of land at $2i per acre. It is in 
 a good state of cultivation. He engages in 
 general farming. His children are twelve in 
 number — Edward, Emma, Agnes, Johannes, 
 Anansy, Hugo, Gustav, Anna, William, 
 Charles, Gretchen and Minnie. Mi\ Stuhr 
 is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
 Church, and in politics is a Democrat. Mr. 
 Stuhr has held the offices of Justice of the 
 Peace, County Commissioner, Assessor of In- 
 surance, besides several minor offices. 
 
 JOHN P. STUHE, merchant, Minden, was 
 born in Schleswig, Germany, January 12, 
 1844. He is the son of John and Anna (Car- 
 stensen) Stuhr, both natives of Schleswig, 
 Germany. His father was born in 1813, and 
 is a farmer. His mother was born in 1815. 
 Both the parents are at present living in Har- 
 rison County, this State. They had eight 
 children — four sons and four daughters. 
 Our subject received a good education in his 
 native country, and also attended school in 
 Blue Grass, Scott County, this State. He 
 began life as a farmer, and was engaged a 
 short time in that occupation near Daven- 
 port, this State, to which place he came Sep- 
 tember 12, 1863 He went to St. Louis in 
 the following year, but returned shortly after- 
 ward. September 6, 1804, he enlisted in the 
 Eighth Iowa Infantry. Company B, under 
 Gens. J. A. Smith and Canb}^ He fought 
 in the battles of Spanish Fort, Mobile, and 
 
 was wounded in the knee by a bayonet in an 
 engagement in Arkansas, near Island No. 13. 
 He came to Minden in 1875, and, August 1, 
 1881, he bought the store of Bartell & Co., 
 and started in the general merchandise busi- 
 ness, in which he has since been engaged. 
 He has been a Township Assessor in this 
 county, and a Road Supervisor in Scott Coun- 
 ty, this State. He was married, in Daven- 
 port, May 26, 1806, to Amelia Cornelius, 
 born in Germany October 28, 1846. She 
 is the daughter of Marcus and Anna (Mul- 
 ler) Cornelius, both natives of Germany. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stuhr have six children — four 
 boys and two girls — Alvina A., Julius, John 
 M. R., Adelia H., William and Walter. Our 
 siibject is a member of the Lutheran Church, 
 and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. 
 In politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 JAMES TATE, farming, P. O. Minden, 
 was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, on the 
 13th of July, 1814; his father, John Tate, 
 born in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, in 
 1758, and removing to Ireland in 1770, was 
 married to Ann Erwin in 1794. In 1817, 
 our subject, then a boy of three summers, 
 came to Canada with his parents, who settled 
 in Newcastle District, Clark Township. His 
 early education was much neglected. The 
 school was very poor, " the master having 
 more whip than brains." But the active 
 mind of the youth drew a wonderful culture 
 from nature itself, and a seemingly immacu- 
 late inspiration was drawn even from that old 
 spelling book in the log-cabin schoolhouse. 
 Mr. Tate remained with his parents till his 
 father's death, in 1834, and spending two 
 more years on the farm, then entered the 
 army, under Capt. Wilmot, to put down 
 Papineau and Mackenzie's rebellion. He 
 remained there but three months, when he 
 took his leave, and moving to Haldimand 
 Count}', was engaged in the lumber business 
 
183 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 for the next four years. On the 18th of 
 March, 1840, James Tate was married to Ann 
 Evans. She was the daughter of Edward 
 and R. J. Evans, and niece to the founder of 
 Evansville, Ind. , on the Ohio, and was born 
 in County Wicklow, Ireland. May 17, 1815. 
 Mr. Tate jsrosecuted his industries as lum- 
 berman and farmer in Canada until 1856, 
 when he removed with his wife and six chil- 
 dren to the United States and settled in 
 Winneshiek County. Iowa, where he again 
 resumed his occupation as a farmer. There 
 he labored on judiciously in his little home 
 as fortune looked with favor upon them. 
 Two more childi-en were added to the num- 
 ber as time went on, and the little home im- 
 proved. The clay fields gave forth their re- 
 ward for his diligent labor. He met with no 
 reverse of fortune until about 1869, when his 
 barn was burned. On the 23d of March, 
 1871, his wife died, after a long sickness, 
 and broke the union of a happy home. But 
 heavy as was the blow, it did not break that 
 spirit which had a hope in heaven. The ties 
 of friendship and love which had been woven 
 in the home held together. At Postville, De- 
 cember 15, 1872, Mr. Tate was married to 
 his second wife — Miss B. Cooper. She is 
 the daughter of John and Mai'y Cooper, and 
 was born in Canada on the 23d of December, 
 1847. The following winter, IVIr. Tate met 
 with a heavy loss by the burning of his house 
 and some considerable household goods. 
 This was repaired as best it could be. He 
 remained there till the spring of 1874, when 
 he removed with his wife and family to his 
 present home, in Pottawattamie County, hav- 
 ing obtained a location the previous year. 
 His buildings were the first erected in the 
 fertile valley of the Middle Silver, which 
 winds its way through hajipy fields toward 
 the southwest. 
 
 W. S. WHITE, farmer, P. O. Neola, was 
 born in Kentucky in 1829; he came to this 
 State in 1871, settling where he now lives; 
 he cultivates about seventy-five acres of land, 
 whi^h was, at the time of his pxu'chasing it, 
 unimproved, and cost about 110.7:; per acre. 
 He is the son of Joseph and Mary (Jones) 
 White; his father was a farmer, born in 
 Delaware in 1803, moved to Missouri in 1849 
 and died in 1854. The mother of our sub- 
 ject was born in Kentucky in 1802, and was 
 the mother of eight children — five sons and 
 three daughters. She died in Missouri in 
 1854, within twenty-five days of her hus- 
 band's death. Our subject received his edu- 
 cation in the common schools of Indiana. 
 He went to Missoiu'i and began life for him- 
 self by taking up a claim and farming it. 
 He afterward sold it, and went to Nebraska, 
 where he lived for six years. He returned to 
 Missouri and from there to this State. He 
 man-ied his first wife — Alice Linville — in 
 Missouri in 1853. His second marriage oc- 
 curred in the same State in 1862, when he 
 was v/edded to Satah J. McDowell, born in 
 Missouri in March, 1843. She is the 
 daughter of Matthew and Jane (Hughes) 
 McDowell. Our subject has six children — 
 Maggie, Joseph, John, Dolly. Nora and Iva 
 Myrtle. He votes the Democratic ticket. 
 
 J. H. YODEK, Postmaster and merchant, 
 Minden, was born in Somerset County, 
 Penn., September 6, 1853; he is the son of 
 Benedict and Sarah (Millei-) Yoder, both na- 
 tives of Somerset County, Penn., he born 
 August 20, 1817, she born November 20, 
 1825. Both of the parents are now living in 
 their native county. They had twelve chil- 
 dren — six boys and six girls. Our subject 
 received a good education in the common 
 schools, and afterward attended the Commer- 
 cial College at Pittsbui-gh, Penn. , after which 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 183 
 
 be taught school in several places in Penn- 
 sylvania and this State. From 1875 to 1880, 
 he. with his brother, kept a store in Amish, 
 Johnson Co., Iowa. In the latter year, he 
 came to Minden and opened a general store, 
 which he has kept ever since. He is now 
 Postmaster at Minden, which office he has 
 tilled since February 2, 1882. He was for- 
 merly Assistant Postmaster at Amish. He 
 
 was married, in Council Bluffs, June 9, 1881, 
 to Septima I. Shaff, born in Pleasant Hill, 
 Johnson Co., Iowa, April 10, 1854; she is 
 the daughter of H. N. and Anna Shaff, he a 
 native of Canada and she of Ohio. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Yoder ai'e members of the Evangelical 
 Lutheran Church. In politics, he is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 l^EOLA TOWNSHIP, 
 
 MES. BETTY BAKDSLEY, Neola, was 
 born in Cheshire, England, March 26, 1820, 
 daughter of Charles and Ellen (Hibert) Brad- 
 ley, natives of England; he, born in Febru- 
 ary, 1794, was a miner and farmer in Eng- 
 land, and died December 23, 1878; she, 
 born about 1800, was the mother of ten chil- 
 dren, of whom three came to America. Mrs. 
 Bardsley was first married, in England, Au- 
 gust 29, 1841, to John Handbm-y, born in 
 England February 8, 1814. They came to 
 America in 1850, and to Council Bluffs April 
 15 of that year. Mr. Handbury was engaged 
 in farming near Macedonia for eighteen 
 months, when he died, leaving his wife and 
 foiu- children — Elizabeth, David, Ann and 
 Joseph E. Mrs. Handbiu-y kept herself and 
 childi'en until her second marriage, which 
 occurred July 17, 1852. Mr. Bardsley, her 
 second husband, was born in England July 
 21, 1800, and came to America in 1850, set- 
 tling at Highland Grove, where he lived at 
 the time of his marriage to Mi's. Handbury. 
 One year after their marriage, they moved 
 onto the farm where Mrs. Bardsley now lives. 
 There, from 1854 till his death, Mr. Bardsley 
 followed farming. He was Justice of the 
 Peace several years. He died December 20, 
 1800, from injuries received by the kick of a 
 
 cow. Mis. Bardsley has by her second hus- 
 band four childi-en — John J., Charles B., 
 Ellen and Thomas R. ; the latter is at home; 
 Chai'les B. owns a farm of eighty acres ad- 
 joining the home farm. The latter place con- 
 sists of 240 acres in one body, situated on 
 Bardsley's Creek, five miles west of Neola. 
 Mrs. Bardsley has one son in the mercantile 
 business in Neola, and one keeping a res- 
 taui-ant. Charles B. was married, April 1, 
 1880, to Miss M. J. Spencer. James Ward, 
 the husband of Mi-s. Bardsley's eldest daugh- 
 ter, died in the service of his country in 1864. 
 AUGUST BOCK, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Prussia September 4, 1844, son 
 of Fred and Christina (Stephen) Bock; he, 
 born in Germany about 1820, was a day la- 
 borer, and died there when oui- subject was 
 about nine years old; she, born in Germany 
 about 1823, came to America in 1860, now 
 lives in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Mr. Bock is 
 one of five childi-en and was educated in Ger- 
 many. He has supported himself since nine 
 years of age. While in his native country, 
 he worked at farming. After coming to this 
 country, he worked in a brewery in Council 
 Blufl's for several years, then engaged in ao-- 
 ricultm-al pui-suits. In 1878, he pui-chased 
 140 acres of raw prairie, which is now in 
 
184 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 good cultivation. Mr. Bock was mamed, in 
 Mills County, Iowa, in September, 1869, to 
 Annie Frank, born in Germany in 1852, 
 daughter of William and Anna (Apple) Frank, 
 natives of Germany, both Hying with subject, 
 and both hale and hearty, notwithstanding 
 that he is seventy-two and she sixty-nine 
 years of age. Mr. and Mi's. Bock have foiu- 
 childi-en — William, August, Alvena and Mary. 
 They are members of the Lutheran Church. 
 C. D. DILLIN, lumber, grain and coal 
 merchant, Neola, was born in Knox County, 
 Ohio, in 1S42. His father, Israel Dillin, 
 was born in Pennsylvania about 1791, and 
 moved to Ohio at an early date. He was en- 
 gaged in farming and merchandising, and 
 also bought horses and drove them across the 
 Alleghany Mountains to New York City. He 
 emigrated from Ohio to Iowa in 1850, and 
 settled at Marengo, Iowa Co., Iowa, where 
 he engaged in farming until he went to Cal- 
 ifornia, where he died in 1856. Subject's 
 mother. Mary (Hall) Dillin, was born in 
 Pennsylvania in 1795. She moved from 
 Pennsylvania to Ohio with her husband, and 
 from there to Iowa, where she died in 1851. 
 Subject was educated in the common schools 
 of Iowa. At the age of fifteen years, he 
 went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and was clerk 
 in a drug store from 1857 to 1858; was also 
 clerk in a drug store at Crescent City, for 
 Johnson & Blake. In the spring of 1859, he 
 went to Marengo; attended school and clerked 
 till the opening of the war, then he enlisted 
 in the Seventh Iowa Infantry; was first pri- 
 vate, then Corporal, then First Lieutenant, 
 then Captain. He served four years, nine- 
 teen months of which were spent as fol- 
 lows: Nine months in Libby Prison, four 
 at Macon, two in Charleston and four- in Co- 
 lumbia. On retiuTiing from the army in the 
 fall of 1865, Mr. Dillin married Miss Lucy 
 Crenshaw. After this, he served two years 
 
 as Deputy Treasurer in Iowa County, Iowa, 
 and then one year was spent in looking after 
 milling interests; then for about five years 
 he was Deputy Clerk of Iowa County, Iowa. 
 He moved to Pottawattamie County in 1873, 
 located where he now is, and started the 
 leading grain, lumber and coal business of 
 Neola. Mrs. Dillin was born in April, 1845, 
 in Jackson County, State of Indiana. Her 
 father, Josephus Crenshaw, was born in ISll, 
 in Indiana, and now lives at Marengo, Iowa. 
 Her mother, Nancy L. (Reddick) Crenshaw, 
 died when Mi-s; Dillin was but two years old. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dillin have five children — Jo- 
 seph I., John W., Cora B., Nellie R. and 
 Hugo. Mr. Dillin owns a farm of 135 acres, 
 bordering on the south edge of the tovm of 
 Neola, and an elevator with a capacity of 10,- 
 000 bushels. Mr. Dillm is a Republican. 
 
 DRUSILLA DOWNS, P. 0. Neola, was 
 born in Kentucky Febru ry 3, 1827, daughter 
 of William and Rebecca Ann (McGuire) John- 
 ston. Her father was born in Virginia; emi- 
 grated to Kentucky, where he was married; 
 from Kentucky he went to Ohio, thence to 
 Illinois, where he died. Mrs. Downs' mother 
 was bom in Kentucky, and died while the 
 former was quite j'ouug. JIi-. Asa Downs 
 was born March 3, 1816, in Indiana, son of 
 Ezekiel and Charlotte (Rowlands) Downs, 
 natives of Indiana. Mr. Asa Downs began 
 life as a farmer in Illinois, where he re- 
 mained twelve years; then, in 1851, he came 
 to Iowa and bought a claim near Weston, of 
 Absalom Smith, a Mormon. This farm is 
 still owned by Mrs. Downs. When the farm 
 was first purchased, there was a saw and grist 
 mill upon it, which was among the first mills 
 of the coimty, and it was known as the Downs 
 Mill, and was situated on Mosquito Creek, 
 ten miles from Council Bluffs. The mill was 
 destroyed by high water in 1852. Mr. and 
 'Mi-3. Downs were married, in Illinois, De- 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 185 
 
 eember 7, 1845. They had thirteen children, 
 one of whom is dead. They are Mary E. , 
 born January 1, 1844; William, October 7, 
 1848; Emily, April 7, 1849; Anthony W., 
 June 16, 1850; Willis E., June 5, 1852; 
 Marion J., June 5, 1854; Alice J., April 28, 
 1856; Caroline, March 6, 1858; Thomas, 
 November 11, 1860; George, September 17, 
 1862; Sidney, February 27, 1864; Albert, 
 November 12, 1866; Charles, April 28, 1868; 
 and Amy E., December 22, 1869. Novem- 
 ber 3, 1879, ;Mr. Dov?ns died, in Downsville, 
 a village in Norwalk Township named in 
 honor of him, and where he had lived many 
 years. Mr. Downs was miich esteemed by 
 all who knew him, and in his death the coun- 
 ty lost one of its best and most useful citi- 
 zens. Mrs. Downs is a Quakeress. 
 
 JOSEPH ELLIS, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Monroe County, W. Va., in Au- 
 gust, 1824, son of John and Ellen (Rupert) 
 Ellis; he, born in Virginia, was a Surgeon 
 in the war of 1812; she, born in South Caro- 
 lina, is living in Virginia, and the mother of 
 six children — five girls and one boy — our 
 subject. He attended the common schools 
 of his native county, and then went to the 
 seminary in Alleghany County, Va. He went 
 to Missouri in 1844, where he was occupied 
 as a Government land agent till the breaking- 
 out of the war. He advocated the right of 
 slavery, but did not join the Southern army. 
 In 1864, he came to Iowa; lived in Council 
 Bluffs a year, two years at the Eight- Jlile 
 Grove, one year in Crescent Township, 
 thence to his present farm of sixty acres, 
 which he purchased of J. P. Casady. When 
 Mr. Ellis first purchased this land, it was un- 
 improved; he has improved it, and now has 
 a comfortable home there. January 19, 
 1847, in Missovn-i, Mi-. Ellis married 
 Frances Cochran, daughter of James Coch- 
 ran, who was born in Madison County, Ky. , 
 
 and migrated to Misspuri when it was a 
 Territoi-y. By this iinion there are five chil- 
 dren—Mary E., born March 17, 1849; Min- 
 erva A., 1851; Robert S., May 20, 1853; 
 Charles A., April 11, 1855; and Harvey, born 
 in 1856. During his residence in Missouri, 
 Mr. Ellis was atone time Judge of the Coun- 
 ty Com't; he was also Major of militia. Since 
 coming to Iowa, he has been a member of 
 the Board of Supervisors of this county, and 
 has also served as Justice of the Peace, and 
 is now a member of the Board of School Di- 
 rectors. Politically, he is a Democrat. 
 
 G. ^Y. HENDERSON, farmer, P. O. Ne- 
 ola, was born in Crawford County, Mo., April 
 27, 1828, son of Jimmy and Anna (Harris) 
 Henderson; he, born in Virginia, near 
 Jamestown, November 27, 1805, removed 
 with his father to Missouri when quite young. 
 There he remained as a farmer till 1834, 
 when he removed to Illinois and settled on a 
 farm, where he remained till his death, which 
 occurred September 8, 1843. He was mar- 
 ried in Illinois about 1825. His wife was 
 born in Tennessee in 1803, and died in 1843. 
 They raised a family of five girls and foiu- 
 boys, all of whom were married and raised 
 families. They are as follows: Mary, born 
 April 18, 1827; Jane, July 4. 1830; John, 
 December 1, 1831: Nancy J., January 18, 
 1843; Martha, March 12, 1835; Sarah, July 
 1836; Samuel, April 18, 1838; and William, 
 bom June 26, 1840. Om- subject attended 
 the subscription schools of Illinois and East- 
 ern Iowa, and is a man well posted in the 
 affairs of the day. He first learned stone- 
 cutting, then cabinet-making, and then went 
 to farming He subsequently made his home 
 with a sister, and, after the death of her 
 husband, took care of her family till his own 
 marriage, in 1855, his wife being Miss E. L. 
 Galup, a native of New York State. After 
 his marriage, Mr. Henderson located on the 
 
X86 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 farm of eighty acres where he now lives. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Henderson's children are Ed, 
 born in 1S40; Margaret, March 31, 1860; I. 
 N., May 9, 1861; N. I, August 26, 1863; 
 Jimmy, Sejstember 25, 1865; H. A., Febru- 
 ary 23, 1867; W. W., June 13, 1869; Julia 
 K, 1871; Elmira, March 4, 1873; H., Feb- 
 ruary 4, 1877; and Hattie A., April 9, 1879. 
 Mr. Henderson was a minute-man during the 
 rebellion. He has been Road Suiiervisor and 
 School Director. He is a Democrat, and 
 votes for principle, not party. 
 
 J. N. HORN, farmer, P. O. Neola, was 
 born May 12, 1849, in Garner Township, 
 this county, son of John and Bebecca W. 
 (Shuttle) Horn, natives of Dover, Kent, Eng- 
 land. Subject's father was born in 1815, 
 and came to the United States in 1847; set- 
 tled in Garner Township, Pottawattamie Co., 
 Iowa, in 1848. He is a carpenter by trade, 
 but has b -en a farmer since his residence in 
 this country. Subject's mother was born in 
 1815, and has borne eight children — three 
 sons and five daughters; three of the latter 
 are dead. Mi'. Horn attended school till 
 fourteen years of age, and worked on his fa- 
 ther's farm till twenty-one, when be began 
 working by the month in Hazel Dell Town- 
 ship. This he continued three years, and 
 then, after renting land for three years, he 
 moved to Neola Townshiji in 1876, and 
 bought the farm of 190 acres where he now 
 lives. Mr. Horn was married, January 1, 
 1878, in Neola, to Mary Ann Spencer, born 
 in Crescent Township, this county, October 
 6, 1855, daughter of Thomas and Selina 
 (Charles worth) Spencer, natives of England, 
 both now living in tliis county, near our sub- 
 ject. Mr. and Mrs. Horn have had five chil- 
 dren, two of whom are dead. The children 
 are George Thomas, born January 26, 1874; 
 Phillip Jesse, October 26, 1875, died Decem- 
 ber 7, 1876; James Albert, September 13, 
 
 1877, died February 15, 1879; John Robert, 
 September 15, 1879; and Ida Belle, Decem- 
 ber 6, 1881. Mr. Horn was one of the first 
 white children born in this county, and he 
 has never been a mile beyond the county line. 
 He is a Republican in politics. 
 
 E. P. IVINS, editor of the Neola Tribune, 
 Neola, was born in Clinton County, lad.. 
 July 25, 1849. His father. Dr. Daniel Ivins. 
 was born in New Jersey in 1815, and was a 
 pliysician of forty years' practice. He grad- 
 uated at Cincinnati Medical College about 
 1840; p)racticed in the State of Indiana till 
 coming to Iowa, in 1856; remained four 
 years in Bedford, Taylor County, then in 
 Monroe County till tlie breaking-out of the 
 rebellion, when he went into the army and 
 served about three years as Assistant Sur- 
 geon. He then returned to Iowa, where he 
 practiced till his death, which occurred in 
 October, 1880. Mr. Ivins' mother, Eliza- 
 bbth P. (Davis) Ivins, was born near Day- 
 ton, Ohio, March 4, 1828, and died in Feb- 
 ruary, 1881. She was the mother of three 
 boys and four girls; one of the former and 
 two of the latter are dead. Mr. Ivins at- 
 tended the common schools of Albia, Monroe 
 Co., Iowa, and there served an apprentice- 
 ship at printing. In 1862, he entered the 
 army as drummer; remained about three 
 years, and then, returning home, resumed his 
 trade, which he followed until July 1, 1881, 
 when he located in Neola. At that time, he 
 pui'chased and became editor of the paper 
 known, as the Neola Tribune. It was first 
 edited in 1878, by a man named Zenas Brown, 
 and subsequently passed into the hands of 
 Mc Williams & Chapman, whom our subject 
 bought out. The Neola Tribune, as edited 
 by Mr. Ivins, is a wide-awake weekly jour- 
 nal, devoted to general news and matters of 
 local interest. Mr. Ivins was married, at 
 Dallas, Iowa, December 25, 1873, to Maggie 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 187 
 
 Logan, born near Pittsburgh, Penn., March 
 5, 1852, daughter of Hugh andj Marj A. 
 (Hughes) Logan; he, born in Irehmd about 
 1804, was a farmer, and served in the army 
 three years; she, born in Pennsylvania about 
 1813, died in 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Ivins 
 have one child, Hattie L. Mr. Ivins is a 
 Bepublican. 
 
 MRS. MARTHA J. JACKSON, Neola, 
 was born in Logan County, Ohio, November 
 
 24, 1825; her father, J. L. Hemphill, was 
 born in Kentucky October 10, 1796; was a 
 carpenter by trade, but turned his attention 
 to farming in Ohio, where he died December 
 
 25. 1874. Her mother, Elinor (Rittenhouse) 
 Hemphill, was born in Virginia February 9, 
 1794, and was the mother of nine children, 
 six of whom are living. Mrs. Jackson was 
 first married, in Ohio, March 19, 1844, to 
 Samuel B. Kirkland, born March 30, 1822; 
 his father, James Kirkland, was born in 
 Licking County, Ohio, August 30, 1791; hav- 
 ing lost a limb, he tm'ned his attention to 
 teaching, which he prosecuted dm'ing life; 
 he died in Iowa in May; 1870. His wife, 
 Sarah (Smith) Kirkland. was born June 9, 
 1800, and died October 14, 1843, and was the 
 mother of eleven children, nine of whom are 
 dead, two of them dying in the army. Mr. 
 S. B. Kirkland was an engineer for seven 
 years on the Mad River & Lake Erie Rail- 
 road. He then farmed in Iowa till going to 
 the war in July, 1861. He served as Drum 
 Major till taken sick at Vicksburg. He then 
 started for home on the hospital steamer, "R. 
 C. Wood," and died at the landing at Keo- 
 kuk. Iowa, August 30, 1863, leaving seven 
 childi-en — Sarah E., born February 2, 1845; 
 Eliza H., October 29, 1846; Henrietta A., 
 January 18, 1849; Clara J., September 25, 
 1851; Mina, December 19, 1855; William 
 F., July 8, 1857; and Olive F., May 15, 
 1859. Our subject was again married, 
 
 March 30, 1865, this time to Abraham Jack- 
 son, who has since died, leaving two chil- 
 dren—Martha E., born February 10, 1866; 
 and Abraham, born April 13, 1867. Mi-s. 
 Jackson has one son married and four mar- 
 ried daughter.?, one of whom has since died. 
 Our subject lives on a farm two and a half 
 miles northwest of Neola. She is a Predby- 
 terian. 
 
 P. LEONARD, farmer, P. O. Neola, was 
 born in Ireland Mai'ch 18, 1818, son of Mark 
 and Agnes (Diu'kin) Leonard, natives of Ire- 
 land; he, born in 1776, was a farmer, and 
 died in his native country; she died in Ire- 
 land, and was the mother of eight children, 
 two of whom came to America. Mr. Leonard 
 learned theoretical and practical surveying in 
 Ireland. He came to America July 12, 1841, 
 landing at the port of St. John, N. B. , where 
 he remained eight years, teaching school six 
 years of his time. He left New Brunswick 
 in May, 1849, and, after traveling in the 
 States of Maine, Massachusetts, New York 
 and Pennsylvania, ho located in Middlesex 
 County, j)rovince of Ontario, where he taught 
 one school eight consecutive years, and an 
 other seven. While teaching, he boarded on 
 his farm, which he conducted at the same 
 time, walking to and from his farm, a dis- 
 tance of seven miles, each day. He contin- 
 ued farming in Canada till April, 1872, when 
 he came to Neola, Iowa, and settled on the 
 southeast quarter of Section 26, where he 
 still resides. This first quarter has been im- 
 proved, 200 acres added to 't, and the whole 
 inclosed by fence. Mi. Leonard married 
 Miss Ann Van Tassel, born in Queen's Coun- 
 ty, N. B., in 1820, daughter of Reuben and 
 Sarah (Foster) Van Tassel, he born in New 
 Brunswick about 1788, she born in New 
 Brunswick in 1801. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard 
 have had ten children, five of whom have 
 taught school; two are dead. Mr. Leonard 
 
188 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 is President of the Board of School Trustees, 
 which position he has held for the past five 
 years. He is a member of the Catholic 
 Church, and a Democrat in politics. 
 
 N. W. MA.TSON, farmer, P. O. Neola, was 
 born in Georgetown, Harrison Co., Ohio, No- 
 vember 22, 1827, son of Peter and Jane 
 (Dawson) Matson; he born in Virginia in 
 1804, and died in Illinois in 1855; she born 
 in Pennsylvania in 1801, died in December, 
 1876. The pai-ents had ten children, eight 
 of whom are livinsr. Mr. Matson becran 
 farming on his own responsibility in Illinois 
 in 1847, where, for ten years, he rented 
 land. In 1857, he removed to Minnesota 
 and bought land, which he remained uijon 
 and improved for about twelve years. The 
 following live years, he was a freighter in 
 Faribault, Rice County. In 1875, he came 
 to Iowa, and settled upon his present farm 
 of 200 acres, valued at $30 per acre. It is 
 situated in Norwalk and Neola Townships. 
 Mr. Matson raises stock extensively, and 
 sells from eighty to one hiindred pounds of 
 butter per week, in Council Bluffs. March 
 15, 1851, our subject married Miss Sarah C. 
 Romine, born in Indiana in 1832, daughter 
 of Jacob and Elizabeth (Johnston) Romine; 
 he was born in Indiana about 1802; she died 
 in Muscatine, Iowa, about 1839, and was the 
 mother of six children. Mr. and Mrs. Mat- 
 son have one son, Mervin Matson, born in 
 1855. Mr. Matson is a member of the Ma- 
 sonic fraternity, and a Republican in poli- 
 tics. 
 
 B. F. MATTHEWS, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Lincoln County, Mo., May 20, 
 1842. His father was born in Pennsylvania 
 in 1810, and died November 8, 1860; he 
 moved to Kentucky when quite young, thence, 
 in 1825, to Missouri, first settling in St. 
 Louis County, and then in Lincoln County, 
 where our subject was born. His mother, 
 
 Azila J. (Ligon) Matthews, was born in Ten- 
 nessee, and died September 5, 1860. The 
 parents had four boys and four girls, three of 
 whom are living. Mr. Matthews attended 
 school in his native county, and his first 
 work on his own responsibility was as over- 
 seer for a slave-owner in Missouri, which po- 
 sition he occupied eight months, and then 
 entered the Fifth Missouri State Militia, in 
 which he remained is months; was then 
 mustered out and returned home. He soon 
 enlisted in the Third Missouri State Cavalry 
 (Federal); he remained in the service three 
 years, being in several engagements, and, 
 when mustered out in 1865, he went to work 
 on a farm in Missouri. Mi'. Matthews came 
 to Iowa in August, 1873, and located at 
 Council Bluffs, where he worked in a supply 
 store one winter, in a wholesale grocery a 
 short time, and then went onto a farm in 
 Mills County, Iowa. After an absence of 
 sixteen months iu Council Bluffs, during 
 which he worked for J. P. Goldern, he re- 
 turned to Mills County, thence to this county 
 for a year. He next spent two years in 
 Greene County, when, in 1880, he returned 
 to this coiinty, where he now resides. Mr. 
 Matthews was married, January 10, 1867, to 
 Miss Laura Holmes, born in Missouri Au 
 gust 22, 1851, daughter of Lemuel B. and 
 Jane (Keland) Holmes, residents of Missou- 
 ri, where the father was occupied as a farm- 
 er. Mrs. Matthews died May 23, 1869, leav- 
 ing two chikh'en — -Luenda B., born January 
 23, 1868; and James F., born March 19, 
 1S69. While in the army, Mr. Matthews was 
 accompanied by his brother, James C, who 
 has since had au arm blown off while load- 
 ing a cannon at a re-union of the ti'oops. 
 Mr. Mabthews is a Methodist in religion, and 
 a Republican in politics. 
 
 WILL McDonald, Aoiu- merchant, Neola, 
 was born in Illinois September 4, 1856, son of 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 189 
 
 John aud Bessie (McAlhaney) McDonald, 
 natives of Ii-eland; he, boi'n about 1832, is 
 now engaged in business in Oakhmd, Iowa; 
 she, born about 1835, died December 3, 1878, 
 in Washington Territory, where she had 
 gone for her health. The parents had fom- 
 children — Ella, Jennie, Thomas and Will. 
 After a common schooling, Mr. McDonald 
 learned the trade of a miller. He worked at 
 farming till 1878, when he went to Washing- 
 ton Territory tu attend his mother, who was 
 ill; remained there a year, until the death of 
 his mother, and, returning to Illinois, he lo- 
 cated on a farm in Shelby County, near the 
 town of Defiance. After six months in the 
 latter place, he engaged in milling for a 
 short time, and was then appointed manager 
 of the Neola Exchange Mill, which position 
 he fills to the satisfaction o£ all interested. 
 This mill was opened in April, 1880, and 
 does a large business. Mr. McDonald was 
 married, September 1, 1880, in Council 
 Blufis, Iowa, to Lottie Dingman, born in 
 Council Blufis December 28, 1861, daughter 
 of John B. and Martha A. (Bitter) Dingman, 
 he born in Canada October 16, 1828, she born 
 in Virginia Sejjtember 18, 1837. Mr. and 
 Mrs. McDonald have one child, Theodore 
 Lionel, born June 26, 1881. Mr. McDonald 
 is a member of the Iowa Legion of Honor, 
 and in politics is a Eepublican. 
 
 LOWRY McGREW, saloon-keeper, Ne- 
 ola, was born in Westmoreland County, 
 Penn., July 18, 1831. His father, John Mc- 
 Grew, was born in Pennsylvania in 1796; 
 emigrated to Illinois in 1813; remained in 
 Bock Island County till about 1870, when 
 he removed to Pottawattamie County, Iowa. 
 He died in Hairison Count}, Iowa, in 1876. 
 His mother, Elizabeth (Bobbins) McGrew, 
 was born in Pennsylvania; came West with 
 her family, and died in Bock Island County, 
 111., in 18-45. She was the mother of eight 
 
 children — four boys and four girls. Our 
 subject commenced the business of life by 
 mining, in 1860, in Colorado, in the Califor- 
 nia Gulch Gold Mine. After five years 
 spent there, he went to Mexico, where he 
 spent five years in diiferent places and various 
 employments. After leaving Mexico, he 
 spent eight years herding cattle, and then, 
 in 1873, located at St. Louis, Mo., where he 
 was employed about a year as night clerk in 
 a hotel. August 21, 1874, he came to Neola, 
 farmed for a time, and then opened a saloon 
 where he now is. Mr. McGrew was married, 
 in Neola, Iowa, June 28, 1879, to Miss Ida 
 Norris, born in Michigan July 21, 1853, 
 daughter of J. W. Norris. Mr. McGrew is a 
 Bepublican. 
 
 SIMON McGREW, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., 
 ' November 23, 1843, son of John and Eliza- 
 beth (Bobbins) McGrew, natives of Pennsyl- 
 vania; he, born about 1798, died about 1876; 
 was a miller by trade, also a farmer; she, 
 born about 1808, died in 1845, and was the 
 mother of eight children, two of whom are 
 dead. When our subject was one year old, 
 his parents removed to Illinois. He there 
 attended the common schools and worked on 
 his father's farm till he joined the One Hun- 
 dred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry. After serving three years in the 
 army, he returned to Illinois, where he re- 
 mained a year, thence to Iowa one year, and, 
 after a year spent in Illinois, he ag^in 
 farmed in Iowa for a year, and then clerked 
 for three years in his brother's store, after 
 which he broke prairie one year. In 1875, 
 he bought the farm of forty acres on which 
 he now lives. Mr. McGrew was married, 
 November 11, 1875, in Council Blufi's, Iowa, 
 to Emma J. Norris, born November 11, 1855, 
 in Ingham County, Mich. . daughter of J. W. 
 and Electa A. (Greenman) NoiTis, natives of 
 
190 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 New York State, he born September 20, 1824, 
 she born March 24, 1831. Mr. and Mrs. 
 McGrew have three children — Ella G. , born 
 September 3, 1876; Alice M., January 19, 
 1878; and John L.. November 6, 1879. Mr. 
 McGrew is a Republican. 
 
 H. L. McWILLIAMS, attorney, Neola, 
 was born October 2, 1849, near Mineral 
 Point, Iowa Co. , Wis. ; was raised and 
 brought up on a farm near the place of his 
 birth; obtained his early education through 
 the district and normal schools of his native 
 State, and largely through his grandfather, 
 Francis McKenna, who was a graduate of 
 Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland; left home 
 in 1870; came to Iowa; became a school- 
 teacher and farmer; gave that up, and went 
 into the real estate business, and took up the 
 study of the law at the same time; continued 
 in that business about a year; moved to Pot- 
 tawattamie County, Iowa, where he again 
 took up the study of the law, in the office of 
 Flickinger Bros., at Walnut and Council 
 Bluffs, Iowa, and was admitted to the bar in 
 1878; opened an office in Walnut, Iowa, and 
 continued in the practice there about six 
 months; came to Neola, his present residence, 
 in March, 1879; formed a copartner.ship with 
 Mr. J. C. Chapman, under the firm name of 
 McWilliams & Chapman, attorneys at law 
 and real estate agents. The above firm have 
 built up a large business since coming here. 
 Was married, at Walnut, Iowa, April 29, 
 1882, to Miss Anna Stuart, a descendant of 
 the Stuarts of Scotland. 
 
 HERMAN MENDEL, merchant, Neola, 
 was born in Holstein, Germany, March 11, 
 1846, and came to America when twenty-one 
 years of age. After clerking for two years 
 in the city of New York, he came to Council 
 Bluffs, Iowa, in July, 1869, and, soon after, 
 entered the employ of Langdon Bros., deal- 
 ers in groceries and liquors. In December, 
 
 1869, he came to Neola and opened the first 
 mercantile establishment in the place, buy- 
 ing the first load of corn ever sold there. 
 The business was started with a capital of 
 about $300, and was conducted under the 
 firm name of H. Mendel & Co. In 1870, 
 Thomas McGrew became a partner, and the 
 firm continued, under the name of McGrew 
 & Mendel, until 1874, when Mr. Mendel 
 sold his interest to his partner, and, with 
 Mr. Roane, started a similar business in his 
 present location. The firm of Mendel & 
 Roane continued until 1876, when Mr. Men- 
 del became sole proprietor, and has since 
 conducted business under the name of H. 
 Mendel. In 1881, he visited his father, who 
 lives in Germany, and is seventy-two years 
 old. November 18. 1875, Mr. Mendel mar- 
 ried Miss Augusta Biu-ke, born in Ohio about 
 1851, daughter of John Biu'ke, a resident of 
 Ereeport, 111. Mr. and Mrs. Mendel have two 
 children — Gracie and Max. Mr. Mendel is a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 
 politics is a Democrat. 
 
 JOHN W. NORRIS, huckstering, Neola, 
 was born in Penfield, Monroe Co., N. Y., 
 September 20, 1824. His father, John Nor- 
 ris, was born in New Jersey May 8, 1778. 
 When quite young, he went to New York 
 State, where he was engaged in farming. In 
 the spring of 1834, he moved to Michigan, 
 where he died in 1862. Subject's mother, 
 Mary (Hall) Norris, was born in New York 
 State April 27, 1780, and died about 1834. 
 She was the mother of thirteen children, of 
 whom our subject is the youngest. Mi-. Nor- 
 ris was a farmer for seventeen years, and then 
 learned blacksmithing. After serving an ap- 
 prenticeship of three years, he started a shop 
 of his own, in Nankin, Wayne Co., Mich., 
 v.here he worked at his trade about three 
 years, and then bought a farm, on which he 
 lived till about 1855. He then sold his first 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 191 
 
 place, and bought another near Lansing, 
 Mich., where he remained till 1863, then 
 went to California, remained ten months, 
 and returned to Michigan. In 18t34. he sold 
 his property in Michigan, and, coming to 
 Iowa, located at Council Blnffs, and worked 
 at blacksmithing two years ; then, after farm- 
 ing in Harrison County for three years, he 
 came to Neola, in September, 1869, his be- 
 ing the first American family to settle in that 
 place. Mr. Norris was married, in Nankin, 
 Wayne Co., Mich., March 18, 1849, to Electa 
 A. Greenman, born in New York State March 
 29, 1831. daughter of Hiram and Henrietta 
 (Belong) Greenman; he, born March 23, 
 1799, died about 1861 ; she, born in New 
 York State September 7, 1802, died in 1842. 
 The children of this marriage are as follows: 
 Hattie, bom January 28, 1850, died Septem- 
 ber 13, 1852; George O., December 10. 1851, 
 died September 13, 1852; Ida J., born July 
 21, 1853; Eva J., November 11, 1855; and 
 Henrietta, July 12, 1860. After first settling 
 in Neola, Mr. Norris worked at his trade one 
 and a half years, then farmed six years, and, 
 in December, 1878, returned to Neola. where 
 he has since followed huckstering. In poli- 
 tics, he is a Democrat. 
 
 THOMAS EISHTON, merchant, Neola, 
 was born in Manchester, England, July 11, 
 1840, son of Henry and Mary (Bland) Eish- 
 ton, natives of England, he born April 10 
 1810, she born May 9, 1815. The parents 
 were married in England November 11, 
 1832, and have eight children. The father 
 was a block printer in England, which occu- 
 pation he followed when first coming to this 
 country, in 1844. He was one of the first 
 seven printers who came to America. His 
 wife came over the year after he did, and he 
 worked at his trade in Ehode Island and 
 Massachusetts until May 15, 1850, when they 
 started for Council Bluffs, the journey occu- 
 
 pying over six weeks, their express team be- 
 ing two cows yoked together. Our subject 
 began life as a farmer in this county. This 
 occupation he followed till 1864, when he 
 went to Montana Territory, where he re- 
 mained on a ranch till 1867. He then re- 
 turned to Springfield, 111., remained a year, 
 and settled, in 1868, in this county, on a 
 farm, where he remained five years. In 
 1873, he went to Council Bluffs and clerked 
 for Gould & Johnston for a year, then kept 
 a gi'ocery for four years, the firm name being 
 Mullis & Eishtou. In 1878, the firm of 
 Eishton Bros, opened their business in Ne- 
 ola. Our subject continued a member of this 
 firm till Aiigust, 1881, when he started a sep- 
 arate store, which he still continues. He 
 was married, in Council Blufis, in March, 
 1863, to Mary Breckinridge, born in Sanga- 
 mon County, III, January 15, 1841, daugh- 
 ter of Preston and Catharine (Moler) Breck- 
 inridge; he, born near Paris, Bourbon Co., 
 Ky., August 5, 1807, died July 25, 1880; she, 
 born August 30, 1804, died February 4, 
 1847. Ml-. Eishton is aa Odd Fellow and a 
 Democrat. Mrs. Eishton's maiden name, 
 Breckinridge, had the following peculiar or- 
 igin: A family in Scotland by the name of 
 Mcllvain, while participating in one of the 
 wars between the Protestants and Eoman 
 Catholics, were defeated, and sought refuge 
 lender a species of low shrub called brack, 
 which grows on the. ridges of the Highlands 
 of Scotland; hence the name Mcllvain 
 changed to Brack-on-ridge, and finally 
 merged into Breckinridge. The same family 
 took part in some of the religious wars of 
 Ireland, in which they were eventually de- 
 feated. The great-grandfather of Preston 
 Breckinridge (father of Mrs. Eishton) was a 
 leader in these wars, and, upon being defeat- 
 ed, fled, with his brothers, to America. One 
 of the brothers settled in Pennsvlvania and 
 
193 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 the other in Virginia. The latter raised a 
 family, among whom was one son, Alexander, 
 who had a son Robert, who was the father 
 of John, who had two sons — Robert J. (bet- 
 ter known as Rev. R. J., D. D.) and Joseph 
 Campbell, the latter of whom was the father 
 of John C. Breckinridge, ex- Vice President 
 of the United States. Alexander (before 
 mentioned) was the father of George, who 
 had a son Alexander; he was twice married, 
 and the eldest child by ihe second wife was 
 Preston, father of Mrs. Thomas (Breckin- 
 ridge) Rishton. Preston Breckinridge mar- 
 ried Catharine Moler, in Kentucky, Novem- 
 ber 17, 1827. They had twelve children, 
 who were born and married as follows : Alex- 
 ander, born October 31, 1828, married. May 
 25, 1852, to Martha H. Barnhill, they had 
 eight children; Hugh, born December 9, 1829, 
 married, February 22, 1855, to Sarah M. 
 Randolph, have two children; Cornelius, 
 born March 12, 1831, married, September -1, 
 1855, to Elizabeth L. Barnhill, they have five 
 children; Joseph, the last, born in Kentucky, 
 was born on July 17, 1832, married, March 
 28, 1855, to Sarah J. Matthew, had two chil- 
 dren; Elmore, born November 4, 1834, the 
 first of the family born in Sangamon County, 
 111., married, November, 1857, to Susannah 
 Randolph, had six children; Cleophas, born 
 August 7, 1836, married, after serving in the 
 army, to Lilian T. Cave, have two children; 
 Catharine, born June ,19, 1838, married, 
 January 30, 1856, to Simon P. Randolph, 
 they have six children; Elizabeth and Mary 
 were twins, born January 13, 1841; Elizabeth 
 married, April, 1862, to James H. Abell; 
 Mary married, March, 1863, to our subject; 
 Preston, born December 11, 1842, was in the 
 army, returned home sick, August 7, 1865, 
 and died the following day; Jane, born Feb- 
 ruaiy 9, 18l5, married, August, 1864, to 
 William Kamlage. Mr, Breckinridge's sec- 
 
 ond marriage was with Lucy Robb; she died 
 November 18, 1854, leaving two children — 
 David, born December 28, 1850, lives in 
 Texas, unmarried, and Lucy D., born August 
 13, 1854, married, October 13, 1874, to W. 
 H. Hunter. Mr. Breckinridge was a man of 
 political notoriety, having opposed Abraham 
 Lincoln for the State Legislature of Illinois,' 
 and was elected over him and served during 
 the years of 1851 and 1852. 
 
 E. REICHART, merchant, Neola, was born 
 in York County, Penn. , June 4, 1844, son of 
 
 i Henry and Catharine (Gaytross) Reichart, he 
 
 I born in York County, Penn., in April, 1795; 
 
 I she, born in Germany in 1789, came, when 
 fifteen years old, with her parents, to Amer- 
 ica, Subject's father raised his family and 
 tilled the soil in his native county till 1869. 
 when he settled in Norwalk Townshij), this 
 county, on a farm, where he died in April, 
 1881, and his wife in January, 1877. They 
 had six children. Subject's grandfather was 
 one oE the first settlers of Y'ork County, 
 Penn., coming there from Germany and lo- 
 cating on a farm in a very early day of this 
 country's history. Mr. Reichart was edu- 
 cated in the common and high schools of 
 York, Penn., where he served an apprentice- 
 ship of two years, learning the trade of a 
 millwright. At this time, the war broke out, 
 and Ml-, Reichart, with all his comrades in 
 trade, enlisted in the One Hundred and 
 Forty- third Pennsylvania Infantry, Col. Day- 
 ley. He joined the army as a private in 
 1862, and was discharged as Orderly Ser- 
 
 'geant in 1865. 'Mi-. Reichart was at the sec- 
 ond battle of Bull Run; also at Fredericks- 
 burg, Culpepper and Gettysburg. At the 
 latter battle, he was captured, and paroled 
 on the field. He was in the battle of the 
 Wilderness; also at Cold Harbor, whore he 
 was wounded. He was discharged in Har- 
 risburg, Penn., June 19, 1865, shortly after 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 193 
 
 the surrender of Lee's army. Upon leaving 
 the army, he retm'ued to Iowa, and, shortly 
 after, bought a farm near Council Bluffs. 
 This he improved and lived on till 1877, 
 when he came to Neola and opened a general 
 hardware and agricultural implement store, 
 under the firm name of Reichart Bro.s. IMr. 
 Reichart was married, in June, 1868, in 
 Council Bluflfs, to Eliza J. Ritter, born in 
 this county in 1849, daughter of Adam and 
 Nancy (Ward) Ritter; he, born in Virginia 
 in 1812, came to Iowa in 1847 and located in 
 Garner Township, where he has since been 
 engaged in farming; she, born in Virginia 
 in 1818, is the mother of eight children. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Reichart have four children — 
 Laiu-a, Carrie, Sadie and Elizabeth. Mr. 
 Reichart was the first Justice of the Peace in 
 Norwalk Township, and served in that ca- 
 pacity foiu- years. He was one of the first 
 Aldermen of Neola, and served on the Board 
 of Trustees of Norwalk Township for six 
 years. He is an Odd Fellow, and a Demo- 
 crat in politics. 
 
 G. W. RODGERS, stock-dealer, Neola, 
 was born in Ohio Couaty, W. Va. , May 28, 
 1831; his father was born in West Virginia 
 March 28, 1799, was a farmer and blacksmith 
 and died in his native county June 15, 1845. 
 The mother of our subject, Mary (Taylor) 
 Rodgers, was born February 14, 1804, and 
 died in 1879; the parents had nine children, 
 seven of whom are living. When fifteen 
 years of age, Mr. Rodgers moved fiom West 
 Virginia to Illinois, where he worked thi*ee 
 years as a hired man and then rented a farm 
 till March, 1860, when he came to Appanoose 
 County, Iowa; he remained there till Septem- 
 ber 1, 1800. when he moved, with an os- 
 team, to Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie Coun- 
 ty; there he spent two years on a farm owned 
 by Joseph Foreman, then two years on Thomas 
 Coplan's farm: there, April 8. ISO:?, he lost 
 
 his first wife, Ellen (Miller) Rodgers, born in 
 Illinois in 1836; she was the mother of five 
 children. After spending a short time in his 
 native State, visiting friends, Mr. Rodgers 
 returned to Iowa, and worked for two years, 
 at $25 per month, for Dr. Robert McGovern, 
 of Harrison County. After spending three 
 months in Virginia, Mr. Rodgers worked 
 four months for William Keline, of Iowa, at 
 $40 per month. He then went into farming 
 and stock-raising for himself. April 1, 1875, 
 Mr. Rodgers located on his present farm ; 
 from March 1 to July 18, 1882, he shipped, 
 from Neola, 1,500 head of cattle and about 
 5,000 head of hogs; he has at present 300 
 head of stock cattle; he owns 1,030 acres of 
 inclosed land in one body, valued at about 
 $25 an acre. Mr. Rodgers was married a 
 second time, November 28, 1878, to Miss 
 Amelia Ward, born in England February 22, 
 1850, daughter of George and Martha (War- 
 ton) Ward; he was born in England and died 
 in this country; she died at the home of our 
 subject, February 22, 1882. Mr. Rodgers 
 has sis children — Martin L., Mary C, George 
 C, Nancy E. , Charlie and Viola. The family 
 are members of the M. E. Church. Mr. 
 Rodgers is a Republican. 
 
 S. ROUSH, farmer, P. O. Neola, was born 
 December 8, 1835, in Highland County, 
 Ohio, son of John and Rebecca (Rhodes) 
 Roush, he born in Virginia about 1799, went 
 to Ohio when three years of age and remained 
 upon the same farm fift_y years, coming to 
 Iowa, Mai-ion County, where he now lives, in 
 1854. Subject's mother, of German descent, 
 was born about 1802, and is the mother of 
 fourteen children, two of whom are dead. 
 Mr. Roush had but little Bchooling in his 
 younger days, but he is a good business man 
 and well informed upon to^^ics of general in- 
 terest. He first rented a farm in Marion 
 County, Iowa, in 1855: there he continued 
 
19i 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL: 
 
 about twelve years, when he removed to this 
 county, and after renting for two years, 
 bought forty acres, which he imjjroved and 
 sold six years later; after renting land three 
 years, he bought eighty acres, which he sold 
 after farming one season; he rented three 
 years more, and then, in 1880, bought his 
 present farm, situated two and one-half miles 
 north of Neola. Mr. Koush was married, in 
 Marion County, Iowa, in 1858, to Amanda 
 M. Hughes, born in Iowa about 1839, daugh- 
 ter of Asa and Sarah (Parker) Hughes. This 
 union has been blessed with twelve children, 
 two of whom are dead. Those surviving are 
 Sarah J., William, John, Martha P., Robert, 
 Chester K., Harlow, Harry, Jennie L. and 
 George. Mr. Roush is a Democrat. 
 
 H J. SCHIERBROCK, blacksmith, Neo- 
 la, was born in Lee County, Iowa, March 29, 
 1859; his father, Christian Schierbrock, was 
 born in Germany October 10, 1809; he came 
 to America in 1857, and settled in West 
 Point, Ijee Co., Iowa, where he has since fol- 
 lowed the carpenter trade, being a hale, 
 hearty man, desjjite his age; he was married, 
 in Germany, about 1817, and his wife has 
 blessed him with nine children — Catharine, 
 Adolph, Mary, Herman, William, Henry J., 
 Lizzie, John and Annie; seven of them are 
 living, of -whom our subject is the youngest 
 son. The latter left home when twelve years 
 of age, and went to Missovrri, where he 
 worked two summers in a brick-yard; then 
 worked two years with his father at carpen 
 tering. At the age of sixteen, he began as 
 an apprentice at blacksmithing, ser\'ing his 
 time with George Vandahar, at West Point, 
 Iowa. He worked at liis trade for seven 
 months at Quincy, 111., then came to Neola 
 March 5, 1878, and after working as a jour- 
 neyman for ten months, opened on his own 
 account and has since conducted the leading 
 blacksmith shop of the place, having all the 
 
 appurtenances of a ftrst-elass shop. He owns 
 320 acres of land, in Dakota; he is a Catholic 
 in religion and a Democrat in politics. 
 
 LEVI W. TODD, physician and sm-geon, 
 Neola, was born in Jennings County, Ind. , 
 in September, 1854 The family originated 
 in Scotland, but subsequently removed to 
 Ireland, where a man by the name of Todd 
 (his first name believed to have been David) 
 married Hannah Owen, and came to this 
 country with other members of the family 
 previous to the American Revolution. They 
 settled at Pequea, Lancaster Co., Penn. , and 
 had three sons — John, Robert and Levi — who 
 were educated by their uncle. Rev. John 
 Todd, who conducted a literary institute in 
 Virginia. About 1778, the thi-ee brothers 
 emigrated to what became Fayette County, Ky. 
 They were influential in forming the institu- 
 tions of the State, and took an active j^art in 
 the Indian wars of those days. John Todd, 
 under commission from Patrick Henry, Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, was authorized to establish 
 the cotinty of Illinois. In the commission, 
 dated December 12, 1778, at Williamsburg, 
 then the capital of the State, he was styled 
 County Lieutenant Commandant, and as such 
 organized the county, and thus became in 
 fact, though not in name, the first Governor 
 of Illinois. At the outbreak of the Indians 
 west of the Ohio, he was commissioned 
 Colonel, and was slain at the battle of Blue 
 Licks, August 18, 1782. Robert Todd, the 
 second brother, acquired the title of General, 
 in connection with the Indian wars and later 
 military operations in Kentucky. One of 
 his daughters became the wife of Gen. Will 
 iam 0. Butler, of Carrollton, Ky. Levi 
 Todd, the youngest of the three brothers, was 
 engaged in the early Indian wars in Ken- 
 tucky, and was a Lieutenant under Col. Clark 
 in the expedition that captured Fort Gates 
 and the village of Kaskaskia July 4, 1778. 
 
NEOLA TOWXSHIP. 
 
 195 
 
 Lieut. Todd afterward acquired the title of 
 General. He was Clerk of the Circuit Court 
 of Fayette County, Ky. ; spout the most of 
 his life at Lexington, Ky., where he died. 
 His daughter Hannah was the mother of Hon. 
 John T. Stuart; his son, Robert Todd, was 
 the father of Mrs. N. W. Edwards, Mrs. Dr. 
 William S. Wallace, Mrs. C. M. Smith and 
 Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, all of Springfield, 
 111. Gen. Levi Todd, the third son, before 
 mentioned, was the head of the family of our 
 subject. Dr. Levi W. Todd, youngest son of 
 Levi W. and Demia (Butler) Todd, he born 
 in Ohio in 1807, was Treasurer of Jennings 
 County, Ind., for foiu-teen years, diu-ing 
 which time he studied medicine, afterward 
 graduated at Cincinnati, and is now practic- 
 ing at Litchfield, Minn. Our subject's 
 mother was born in New York State in 1812, 
 and died in 1876; she was the mother of ten 
 ehildi-en, one of whom is dead. Our subject 
 began his education in the common schools 
 of Jennings County, Ind., and afterward 
 spent two terms in Franklin College. John- 
 son County, Ind. He came to this county in 
 1870, and, after teaching school for two years, 
 returned to Indiana and read medicine with 
 his father. He graduated in 1879 at Hahne- 
 mann Medical College, Chicago; then located 
 in Neola, where he has since practiced medi- 
 cine. Dr. Todd was married, in Council 
 Bluffs, Iowa, in 1878, to Fannie Foot, born 
 in Connecticut July i, 1855, daughter of 
 Reuben M. and Nancy (Taylor) Foot, natives 
 of Connecticut. Dr. andjVlrs. Foot have one 
 child — an infant daughter, Demia. Mem- 
 bers of the Christian Church. The Doctor 
 is a member of the I. O. O. F., of the Iowa 
 Legion of Honor, and is a Republican. 
 
 J. A. UPSON, farming, P. O. Neola, was 
 born in Ohio August 10, 1837, son of Reuben 
 A. and Jane (Fiirber) TJpson; he, born in Con- 
 necticut about 1808, emigi-ated from there to 
 
 Ohio, where he was occupied as a farmer and 
 raised his family; he is now living in Henry 
 County, 111. Subject's mother was born in 
 England about 1810, and when ten years old 
 came to America with her parents; she had 
 seven children, three of whom are dead. 
 Mr. Upson was engaged in farming; rented 
 land in Illinois till he joined the army, in 
 1862: he enlisted in the One Hundred and 
 Fifteenth Ohio Volunteers, and served three 
 years. He was taken prisoner by Hood's 
 forces, near Nashville, Tenu., and after about 
 seventeen days he escaped from the enemy 
 and returned to the Union lines. The faith- 
 fulness of the negroes to the Union cause is 
 illustrated in the following incident: In De- 
 cember, 186-4, some Federal soldiers, among 
 whom was our subject, were confined in an 
 old court house in Columbia, from which Mr. 
 Upson escaped while after water; he was 
 taken in by a colored family and secreted for 
 eight or nine days in their garret. Gen. 
 Thomas then took the town, and Mr. Upson 
 was restored to his regiment. After return- 
 ing from the war, Mr. Upson settled in 
 Hampton, 111., and worked in a mill one 
 year, then engaged in farming two years, 
 after which he spent two years farming in 
 Iowa; thence to Nebraska, where he spent 
 five years on a homestead and timber claim; 
 sold this and returned to Iowa: spent five 
 years in Harrison County, and in the fall of 
 1881 came to Pottawattamie County. Mr. 
 Upson was married, in Rock Island County, 
 111., in 1861, to Delia Richardson, born in 
 Rock Island County, HI., in 1838, daughter 
 of Stephen and Nancy (Deby) Richard»uu; he, 
 born in Connecticut in 1809, lives in Illinois; 
 she, born in Pennsylvania, died some years 
 since. Mr. and ilrs. Upson have eight chil- 
 dren — George, Ida M., Nellie L., Sarah J., 
 Bennie L., Minnie, Lily N. and Kate. Mr. 
 Upson is a Republican. 
 
196 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 J. H. WATKINS. farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in London, England, February 18, 
 1838, son of William and Maria (Gypp) Wat- 
 kins, natives of London, England: be was 
 born about 1801, and died in Brigham City, 
 Utah, in 1865 ; he came to America in 1842 ; 
 while in England, he worked as a brick-layer 
 and plasterer; also a cabinet-maker; in this 
 country, he was mostly occupied as a farmer. 
 The mother of our subject was born about 
 1802, and died in Brigham City, Utah, in 
 1867; she came to America with her husband, 
 whom she blessed wiih thirteen children, 
 four of whom are living. Mj\ Watkins' 
 father first settled in Illinois, and in 1847 
 removed to Iowa, near Crescent City, where 
 he remained until 1852, when he went to 
 Utah; there our subject was employed as a 
 trader till 1858. when he returned to Iowa 
 and rented a farm in Fremont County, till 
 1863. During the summer of the latter year, 
 he drove team to Denver City, making two 
 trips; during 1864, he fanned, and the fol- 
 lowing year lumbered and mined in Montana 
 Territory. After a short time spent in Utah, 
 he returned to the Montana mines, thence 
 back to Iowa, where he rented a farm till 
 moving to Pottawattamie County, where, after 
 renting a farm of Mr. H. Rishton, Sr., for 
 four years, he bought 120 acres, where he 
 now lives. Mr. AVatkins was married, in 
 Utah, in December, 1858, to Mary E. Ettle- 
 man, born in February, 1840, in Illinois, 
 daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Smith) 
 Ettleman, he, born in Pennsylvania, was a 
 hotel-keeper and died at the age of eighty- 
 six; she is still living, at the age of eighty- 
 two. Mr. and Mrs. Watkins' children are 
 Joseph H., Margaret M., Rosy E., Eudora, 
 Hiram A., Lucy E., Nettie A., Perry J. and 
 Jessie. Mr. Watkins is a Democrat. 
 
 H. S. WATKINS, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in London. England, January 2, 
 
 1840; his father, William Watkins, was born 
 in England about 1801, and came to America 
 about 1842, settling first in Hancock County, 
 111., thence to Iowa, where he lived near. 
 Crescent City till 1852, when he emigrated 
 to Utah and located in Brigham City, where 
 he died in 1865. He was a plasterer, brick- 
 layer and cabinet-maker, but farmed in this 
 country. Subject's mother, Hannah M. 
 (Gypp) Watkins, was born in London, Eng- 
 land, in 1802, and came to America with 
 her husband and three children; she died in 
 Brigham City, Utah, in 1867, and was the 
 mother of thirteen children. Mr. Watkins 
 began as a day laborer in Utah, in 1859, and 
 was employed in various places in that Ter- 
 ritory and Montana until 1860. when he mar- 
 ried and came to this county, and was en- 
 gaged in farming until 1863, when he again 
 turned westward and for two years engaged 
 in mining and freighting in Colorado, Mon- 
 tana and Utah. In the fall of 1865, Mr. 
 Watkins returned to Iowa, and bought a 
 farm in Pottawattamie County, and remained 
 upon il till 1881, when he bought the farm 
 of 320 acres where he now lives. It is situ- 
 ated about four and a half miles northwest of 
 Neola. Mr. Watkins was married, in Utah, 
 in I860, to Sarah T. Jones, born in Wales in 
 1844; her father, John Jones, was born in 
 Wales, and came to America in 1849, settled 
 first in this county, and then went to Utah in 
 1852; her mother, Jane (Taeharn) Jones, 
 was born in Wales and came to America with 
 her husband; she was tlie mother of seven 
 children. Mr and Mrs. Watkins have four 
 children — Estella E., Maria J., Mary A. and 
 David \. Mr. AVatkins is not a partisan in 
 politics. 
 
 G. J. AVILLIAMS, farmer. P. O. Xeola. 
 was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, May 14, 
 1855; his father, Thomas Williams, living on 
 a farm in Pottawattamie County, was born in 
 
NEOLA TOWNSHIP. 
 
 197 
 
 England about 1827; is a blacksmith and 
 farmer; also a musician; he came to America 
 in 1851 with his father, who lives with our 
 subject; his mother, Anna (Jones) Williams, 
 was born in Wales about 1832; she came to 
 this country with her parents, who, after 
 spending one year in Council Bluffs, located 
 in Salt Lake City, where they still reside. 
 Mr. Williams attended the common schools 
 of Pottawattamie County,"where he is now an 
 active farmer and stock-dealer. Ho first en- 
 gaged in stock-dealing, by which occupation 
 he cleared enough in four years to purchase 
 his present farm of eighty acres, situated two 
 miles south of Xeola. Mi-. Williams was 
 married, in Norwalk Township, this county, 
 December 25, 1877, to Sarah E. Minturn, 
 born in this county September 13, 1862, 
 daughter of Benjamin and Sarah A. (Pickets) 
 Minturn; he, born in Illinois in 1812, is a 
 farmer by occupation, living in this county; 
 she, bom in Prince Edward Island in 1821, 
 died in Iowa in 1872. Mr. and ilrs. Will- 
 iams have one child — Clara S., born June 12, 
 1881. Mr. Williams is an Odd Fellow and 
 a Republican. 
 
 CHARLES M. AVITT, merchant, Neola, 
 was born in Prussia January 2, 1853; his 
 father and mother were natives of Germany, 
 the former bom in 1853 and the latter in 
 1856. Subject's grandfather, Frederick 
 Witt, was a soldier in the allied army of 
 Blucher's Division, and in the battle of 
 Waterloo was taken prisoner. About 1856, 
 Mr. Witt came to America with his parents, 
 who, after spending two years in Newark. N. 
 
 J., removed to Chicago, where they still re- 
 side. Mr. Witt has five brothers and five 
 sisters, all living in America. Our subject 
 obtained his education by attending night 
 school in Chicago, while in the employ of 
 Sinclair & Moore, proprietors of a planing- 
 mill. He commenced working for them when 
 ten years of age, and finally became foreman 
 of the mill, which position he held for two 
 years, or until the mill changed hands, when 
 Mr. Witt went to Ottawa, 111. , where he was 
 foreman of a large lumber yard for two years. 
 From Ottawa, Mr. Witt returned to Chicago, 
 and entered the hardware fij-m of Georee 
 
 o 
 
 Rehm & Co., with whom he remained one 
 year; then, in 1879, he came to Neola, Iowa, 
 and opened a hardware and furniture store, to 
 which he has since added farm implements; 
 he has built up a large and lucrative trade. 
 Mr. Witt was married, in Ottawa,' 111., to 
 Miss Adeline Jacob, born in Lancaster Coun- 
 ty, Penn., February 11, 1858, daughter of 
 Henry and Catharine (Machedance) Jacob, 
 who came to America from Germany in 1840; 
 he is a dyer by trade, born January 10, 1823; 
 they are now living on a farm in Illinois. 
 This union has resulted in two childi-en — - 
 Frederick H., born November 24, 1878, and 
 Adeline E., born August 12, 1880. In 1880, 
 Mr. Witt erected one of th: linest houses in 
 the town of Neola; he also has a fine double 
 store in which to conduct his business. He 
 is a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the 
 Legion of Honor; in politics^ he is a Repub- 
 lican, and in religion, Methodist Episcopal. 
 
198 
 
 BIOCtRAPHICAL: 
 
 NORWALK TOW:t^SHIP. 
 
 JEREMIAH ANEY, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Cherry Valley, Otsego Co., N. Y., 
 July 17, 1832; he is the son of Jacob and 
 Angeline (Putnam) Aney; his father and 
 mother were both born in Cherry Valley, N. 
 Y., he Si^ptember 6, 1798, and is still living 
 in New York; she about the year 1803. Our 
 subject received a common school education 
 and lived at home till he was twenty-one 
 years of age; he was maiTied, December 7, 
 1854, in Otsego County, N. Y., to Ellen Peai-- 
 son, born in Cherry Valley July 14, 1835. 
 She is the daughter of John Pearson, who 
 was born in Mohawk. Montgomery Co., N. 
 Y., SejDtember 16. 1804; he is still living in 
 Otsego County, N. Y. Her moth<!r, Mary 
 Keeling, was born in Staffordshire, England, 
 October 15, 1806. Our subject lived and 
 farmed in Otsego County, N. Y. , until 1874, 
 when he came to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Here 
 he lived for four years, after which he came 
 to this county. He owns 200 acres of land 
 in Section 11, Norwalk Township, and en- 
 gaged in general "farming. He has one child 
 — Elmer F., who was born in Roseboom, Ot- 
 sego Co., N. Y., November 9, 1857; he was 
 married, in Council Bluffs. September 5, 
 1880, to Mary Charles, who was born in 
 Wayne County, lud., March 3, 1863. They 
 have one child — Jeremiah Atwood, born May 
 9, 1881. Our subject is a member of the 
 Society of Friends. Tu politics, he is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 E. B. ASHLEY, farmer, P. O. Weston, 
 was born in Darke County, Ohio, August 1, 
 1839; he is the son of Joel L and Mary 
 Annie (Martin) Ashley; his father was born 
 
 in Massachusetts about 1816; he was a stone 
 and brick mason and an early settler of Ohio. 
 His (subject's) mother was born in Ohio in 
 1818. Our subject had a limited common- 
 school education; he worked at home on his 
 father's farm until he was twenty-one years 
 of age. He was married in Logan County, 
 111., May 20, 1860, to Martha N., daughter 
 of William and Elizabeth D. (Alsop) Shirley. 
 She was born in Scott County. Ky., July 19, 
 1837. Both of her parents were natives of 
 Kentucky. Our subject's parents moved to 
 Logan County, 111., in 1857. After his mar- 
 riage, Mr. Ashley farmed in that State for 
 about sixteen years; he then came to this 
 county, March 8, 1876, and has been engaged 
 in farming ever since. He has made a spe- 
 cialty of raising corn, but contemplates going 
 into the stock-raising business. He has six 
 childi-en — Frank, born March 15, 1861; 
 Rose, born February 26, 1864; Dolly, born 
 March 1, 1866; Lena, born November 28, 
 1869; Cora, born September 11, 1871, and 
 Birch, born July 27. 1874. Mr. Ashley is a 
 member of the Christian Church. He votes 
 the Republican ticket. 
 
 C. BRADFIELD, farmer. P. O. Ne9la, 
 was born in Newberry, Berkshire, England, 
 about 1842; he is the son of George and 
 Sarah (Vockins) Bradfield, both of whom 
 were natives of England, the father of Berk- 
 shire and the mother of Wiltshire. Our 
 subject was raised in England and received 
 h«s education in the common schools of that 
 country. He came to the United States in 
 1861, and after living in New Y'ovk for one 
 vear, he went to LTtah. From Florence, 
 
NORWALK TOWXSHIP. 
 
 199 
 
 Neb., he traveled by ox teams. He lived at 
 Salt Lake for eigbt years, at theeudof which 
 time he came to Council Bluffs by rail. Here 
 he stayed for one year, when he came to the 
 eastern part of Norwalk Township, where he 
 has eighty acres of laud. He has been en- 
 gaged in farming and blacksmithing for 
 nearly the past twelve years. He was mar- 
 ried, in Newberry, England, in 1860, to 
 Maria Cuin, who was born in Hampstead, 
 England, about 1840. They have had four 
 children — all sons, of whom but one is living 
 — Franklin Thomas, born in Utah November 
 22, 1867. In religion, Mr. Bradfield is a 
 Mormon, and in politics a Greenbacker. 
 
 F. L. CHILDS, farmer, P. O. Neola, is 
 one of the most enterprising farmers of this 
 township, born in Jacksonville, Windham 
 Co., Vt., Februaiy 26, 1843; he is the son of 
 L. J. and Betsey (Bassett) Childs; his father 
 was born in Windham County, Vt., March 
 16, 1815; his mother was born June 9, 1821. 
 •His father was a farmer, but was engaged at 
 different times in various other occupations. 
 He was a merchant, tavern-keeper and baker. 
 While engaged in the latter capacity, he 
 founded, in connection with his four brothers, 
 the Mechanical Bakery of Chicago. Our 
 subject's parents emigrated from Wilming- 
 ton, Vt. , to Chicago, when he was a small 
 boy. From this place, they moved to St. 
 Charles, Kane Co.. 111., where they lived for 
 nine years. They then came to this county, 
 locating in Norwalk Township in 1856. A 
 brother and sister of our subject's mother ac- 
 companied them. The brother enlisted as a 
 volunteer m an Iowa regiment and was killed 
 at the battle of Pea Ridge. When our sub- 
 ject tirst came to this county, the country- was 
 wild and unsettled. Deer, elk, buffalo and 
 lynx held full sway on the prairie, while 
 catamounts, wild cats and wolves prowled 
 about. While cutting timber, om* subject 
 
 killed a large catamount, and at one time, 
 while coming home from school, he was fol- 
 lowed by a lynx for a mile. Mr. Childs' 
 farm now consists of 400 acres, all of which 
 is under cultivation. He makes a specialty of 
 feeding stock, for which he raises tame hay. 
 This spring (1882), he has the credit of ship 
 ping the fattest cattle that were shipped from 
 this county. He has always lived on his 
 present place since coming to Iowa and is 
 forward in improvements. His early edu- 
 cation was received at Tabor, Fremont Co.. 
 Iowa. March 16, 1865, he was married, in 
 Norwalk Township, to Margaret G. Dewey, 
 who was born in Cambridgfeshire, England, 
 November 5, 1844. They have had five chil- 
 dren, four of whom are living, viz., Ellen 
 Dewey, born May 18, 1869; Bradford F., 
 born July 27, 1874; George S., born Jan. 
 19, 1877, and Naomi Emily, born December 
 8, 1879; Charlie L. is dead. In religious 
 matters, Mr. Childs is not denominational, 
 and in politics, he is a Republican Green- 
 backer. 
 
 WILLIAM CLE ARY, farmer, P.O. Downs- 
 ville, was born at Shawbridge, Terre Bonne 
 Co., Canada, December 28. 1859; he is the 
 son of William and Ann Jane (Shaw) Cleary; 
 his father was a farmer and was born in the 
 northern part of Ireland inlSlO; his mother 
 was born in Shawbridge, Canada, in 1826. 
 Her father, William Shaw, built a bridge 
 over the North River, from which circum- 
 stance the place was named Shawbridge. 
 Our subject's parents had seventeen childi-en 
 — -nine sons and eight daughters. Of these 
 there are sixteen at present (1882) living. 
 Om- subject received a very limited education 
 in the common schools of Canada. He 
 worked on his father's farm until he was 
 twenty-six years of age. In 1878, he came 
 to Council Bluffs, and was engaged in team- 
 ing for two years. He then worked at the 
 
200 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 creamery of C. H. Wheeler for one year. In 
 January, 1882, he bought eighty acres of 
 land in Norwalk Township, where he now re- 
 sides. He was married, April 4, 1882, to 
 Maggie A. Tindele, who was born at Shaw- 
 bridge, Canada. Mr. Cleary is a member of 
 the M. E. Church. 
 
 HEXKY G. FISHER, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in York County, Penn., June 18, 
 1837; he is the son of Robert and Catha- 
 rine (Gatrost) Fisher. His father was a na- 
 tive of New York, and his mother of Hazen, 
 Germany, and she was born about 1812. 
 Our subject's education was wholly acquired 
 in that practical school which has experience 
 for its teacher. While a boy, he lived with 
 his grandfather, who taught him the butcher's 
 trade. At the age of sixteen, he apprenticed 
 to a carpenter for three years, named Charles 
 NeflF, of Dallastown, York Co., Penn. He 
 came West in 1856, traveling by rail from 
 Harrisburg to Iowa City ; at the latter place, 
 he paid out his last money for a passage by 
 stage to Des Moines. At this place, he was 
 compelled to part with a good watch, in order 
 to secure a stage ticket to Council Bluffs. 
 He arrived at the latter place on a very 
 stormy winter day, December 19. 1856. The 
 balance of that winter he spent with his un- 
 cle, Philip Gatrost. For several years fol- 
 lowing, he worked at his trade — carpenter- 
 ing. September 25, 1862, t-is miles east of 
 the Bluffs, he was married to Hannah Gray- 
 bill, who was born in Hancock County, 111., 
 August 3, 18-1:2. She is the daughter of 
 George and Mary (Smith) Graybill. Her 
 father was a native of Ohio and her mother 
 was born near Indianapolis, Ind. They were 
 among the iirst settlers in Pottawattamie 
 County, coming here when Mrs. Fisher was 
 only three years old. Shortly after his mar- 
 riage, oui' subject began farming. He rent- 
 ed land for four years of Dr. Phillips. One 
 
 year, he sub-rented the farm, and 500 bush- 
 els of corn, along with the stable, was burned 
 by the carelessness of the renters. He theu 
 purchased part of his present farm, and im- 
 proved it. In 1867, he was engaged in 
 butchering for the Chicago, Rock Island & 
 Pacific Railroad while it was being construct- 
 ed through this county. This adventure 
 proved to be very successful to our subject. 
 He owed at times as high as §3, 000 for cat- 
 tle, and hold accounts amounting from $5, - 
 000 to S6. 000. Part of this was lost, how- 
 ever, by the dishonesty on the part of one of 
 the contractors. The nest year, he moved to 
 Neola and engaged in the grain business, 
 which he followed for three years. He lost 
 two car loads of wheat and the same of corn 
 in the great Chicago fire. In the spring of 
 1873, a fire destroyed his house and effects 
 in Neola. He went back to his farm, and 
 after living there .for two years, was again 
 bm-ned out. on July' 3, 1875. He then 
 bought an addition to his farm, and built the 
 house in which he now resides. In 1881, he 
 biitchered fur the. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul Railroad while it was in course of con- 
 struction through this county. The present 
 year, he has completed a canal for the same 
 railroad through a portion of his own place. 
 This vas imdertakeu and' made a success after 
 the failure of seven other contractors. Mr 
 Fisher has six children — George E.. born 
 November 15, 1863; Manuel D., born Febru- 
 ary 15, 1865; Lucinda E., born June 18, 
 1868; Mary C, born June 20, 1870; Massa 
 Anne, born October -L, 1873, and Stephen Ira 
 Isaac, born August 23, 1881. In politics, 
 Mr. Fisher is a Republican Greenbacker. 
 
 CORDOVA FLECK, miller, Downsville, 
 was born in Richland County, Ohio, in No- 
 vember, 1843; he is the son of G. W. and 
 Elizabeth (Hedi-ick) Fleck; his father was 
 born in Pennsylvania in 1820; his mother 
 
XORWALK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 201 
 
 was a native of Ohio, born in 18 IS, and died 
 in 1860. Our subject owns and operates a 
 mill on Mosquito Creek at Downsville. He 
 is also Postmaster. He was married, iu Greene 
 County, Iowa, October 30, 1S64, to Matilda 
 A., born in Putnam County, Ind., the daugh- 
 ter of L. N. and Tabitha Wright. They 
 have four children — Warren M. , Elizabeth 
 E., Jennie F. and Ida I. 
 
 HENEY GATROST, farmer, P. O. Wes- 
 ton, was born iu this cOunty July 31, 1848; 
 he is the son of Philip and Catharine 
 (Graybill) Gatrost His father was a native 
 of Germany and came to Pennsylvania when 
 he was a boy. From there he moved to Illi- 
 nois and afterward to this county, locating in 
 Garner Township in 1846. His mother was 
 born in Ashe County, N. C, in 1814; was 
 brought to Ohio when an infant, and is still 
 living in this county. Our subject was edu- 
 cated in the common schools of this county, 
 and was an unusually diligent and attentive 
 student. He worked on his father's farm till 
 he was twentj' years of age, when he was 
 married to Emily, daughter of Asa and Dru- 
 silla Downs, who settled in this county in 
 1852. Our subject then farmed his father's 
 place for five years, since which he has been 
 engaged in farming on lands which he rents. 
 His mother became connected with the Latter- 
 Day Saints Church, in Ohio, in 1883; came 
 to Caldwell County, Mo., where she experi- 
 enced all the hardships of that people. They 
 were mobbed and driven out of Missouri, 
 when they went to Adams County, 111. , near 
 Quincy. She came with the colony that 
 founded Kanesville, this county, in 1846. 
 Our subject's father was connected with the 
 same church, after coming to Iowa, and died 
 in that faith, November 5, 1870. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Gatrost have eight children— Alvin J., 
 Michael E., Ii-a E., John W., Forest A. , Ada A., 
 Laui'a M. (deceased), Caroline I. and Eva 
 
 J. ]Mr. Gatrost is a member of the Latter- 
 Day Saints Church. In politics, he is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 FRED S. GROTE, farmer, P. O. Weston, 
 was born in Germany September 10, 1850; 
 he is the son of Fred and Eureka Grote; 
 his father was a brick-maker, was born in 
 'Germany about 1819, and is now dead; his 
 mother was two weeks older than her hus- 
 band. Om- subject's parents came from Ger- 
 many to Coiincil Bluffs in 1858, when he was 
 a boy. He received a common-school educa- 
 tion, and spent his youthful days in helping 
 his father in the brick business. He was 
 married, in Council Bluffs, in 1873, to 
 Lena Lubbers, a native of Hanover, Ger- 
 many. She was born in 1848, and came 
 alone to Council Bluffs about 1871. She is 
 the daughter of John and Angella Gertrude 
 (Haka) Lubbers. Her father was born in 
 Altenberg, in January, 1820. He came to 
 Council Bluffs in 1876, and died May 18, 
 1882. Her mother was born in the same 
 place in 1821, and died in Germany Septem- 
 ber 20, 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Grote have four 
 children — Henry, born January 9, 1874; 
 Minnie, born April 18, 1876; Fred, born De- 
 cember 30, 1877, and Harmon, born June 9, 
 1881. Mrs. Grote is a member of the Cath- 
 olic Church. In politics, Mr. Grote is an In- 
 dependent. He has 160 acres of land. 
 
 JAMES HEY WOOD, farmer, P. O. Coiin- 
 cil Bluffs, was born in this county August 15, 
 1848. He is the son of Jonathan and 
 Mary (Matheson) HejTVOod. His father was 
 a shoemaker by trade, but was engaged most 
 of his life in farming. He was born in Ver- 
 mont in 1806. He came to this county 
 thirty-seven years ago, and is still living 
 three miles east of Council Bluffs. Our sub- 
 ject's mother was born in New York about 
 1824, and died at the age of thirty-six. Our 
 subject received a common-school education 
 
202 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 and worked on his father's farm until he was 
 nineteen years of age, at which time he be- 
 gan farming for himself. He was married, 
 in Xorwalk Townshii^, February 10, 1870, to 
 Euth J. Price, born in Dowliss, "Wales, Au- 
 gust 29, 1848. She is the daughter of 
 Bees D. and Jane (Jones) Price. Her father 
 was born in Wales in 1812, and her mother 
 in the same country in 1813. Mrs. Heywood 
 was but five months old when her parents 
 brought her to America. They came all the 
 way to Cou.ncil Bluffs by water, and was on 
 board the first vessel that had ascended the 
 Missouri to Traders Point. Our subject has 
 240 acres of land, most of which is in a good 
 state of cultivation. 
 
 F. T. C. JOHNSON, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Augusta County, Va., June 16, 
 1834. He is the son of Francis and Mary 
 Jane (Hall) Johnson. His father was an old 
 Virginia planter, and was born in Augusta 
 County, Va. , in 1808. The old Johnson 
 homestead is known in Virginia as Bushy 
 Neck. It is a tract of land lying in a loop 
 of the Middle River, a branch of the Shen- 
 andoah. It has come down through the family 
 for 200 years, and was granted as a considera- 
 tion for services rendered the crown of Eng- 
 land. Onr subject's father had two brothers, 
 both of whom died in the West Indies. Neither 
 raised any childi-en. Our subject's mother 
 was born in Albemarle County, Va., in 1810. 
 His advantages for an education were very 
 limited, being confined to the old subscrip- 
 tion schools. At the age of seventeen, he 
 began an ajjprenticeship of three years to the 
 carpenter's trade. For two years and eight 
 months, he attended the University of Vir- 
 ginia, at Charlottsville, near Monticello, the 
 home of Thomas Jefferson. Our subject con- 
 cluded to come West, and arrived in Council 
 Bluffs March 4. 1855. He came as far as 
 Rock Island, 111., bv rail, crossed the Missis- 
 
 sijjpi on the ice; came as far as Winterset, 
 Madison Co.. Iowa, by stage, and walked the 
 balance of the distance, arriving several days 
 ahead of the stage. The fii'st summer he 
 worked at his trade, doing the first work on 
 the capitol at Omaha, and also working on 
 George Izzard's house, the first Governor of 
 Nebraska. The following winter he spent in 
 Eastern Iowa He returned the next spring 
 and worked at his trade as a contractor. He 
 built the court house and nearly all the 
 schoolhouses uj) to 1870; also the residences 
 of P. Batehell, John Bearsheim, L. Kirch 
 and William Groneweg, together with most 
 of the business houses on Broadway, up to 
 1870. He then settled on his present farm, 
 Section 17, Norwalk Township, and has re- 
 sided there since. September 20, 1857, he 
 maiTied Caroline, daughter of Col. L. W. 
 and Mary Ellen (Farmer) Babbitt. She was 
 born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 30. 1836. 
 Her father was born in Ovid, Seneca Co., N. 
 Y., January 30, 1812. He was one of the 
 first settlers of this county. He first came as 
 Register of the Land Office; was afterward 
 the editor of the Council BhiSs Bugle. Mrs. 
 Johnson's mother was born in West Virginia. 
 Our subject has had six children, five of whom 
 are living — Lysander, born July 4, 1858; 
 Alexander, born November 29, 1859, and died 
 in December, 1861; Mary Ellen, born July 
 30, 1861; Francis Lee, born April 7, 1863; 
 Julian, born October 3, 1864, and Da'sy, 
 born December 9, 1873. In politics, Mr. 
 Johnson is an old school Democrat. 
 
 PATRICK KENNEDY, farmer, P. 0. 
 Neola, was born December 15, 1814, within 
 one mile of the seashore, at Inniscron, 
 County Sligo, Ireland. He is the son of 
 Thomas and Hannah (Fox) Kennedy. His 
 father was a farmer and was bom in Ireland 
 about 1782. His mother was also born in 
 Ireland about 1782. His parents had three 
 
XORTVALK TOWXSHIP. 
 
 203 
 
 children — two sons and a daughter. Ouv 
 subject was educated in subscription schools 
 in Ireland. He lived and worked with his 
 father until his marriage, which occurred in 
 1844 at the place of his birth. His bride was 
 "Winifred Bourke, born September 20, 1815, 
 the daughter of Thomas and Bridget (Fox) 
 Bourke. The parents were both natives of 
 County Sligo, Ireland. Oiu' subject came to 
 America in 1847, accompanied by his brother. 
 He landed in New York City, and lived over 
 three years in Pennsylvania. He then moved 
 to Clark County, Ohio, where he lived about 
 twenty-one years, afterward going to Caldwell 
 County, Mo., where he lived about three 
 years. An investment in land proved disas- 
 trous to the extent of S9,(j00, which repre- 
 sented his all. He then came to Council 
 Blufl's, arriving in 1872, at which time he 
 had just ten coppers left. He went to work 
 with a will, and this year (1882), he was 
 able to pui-chase 160 acres of well-improved 
 land, for which he paid S3, 500. Mi-, and 
 Mrs. Kennedy have had eight childi-en, three 
 of whom they have buried in Ohio. Those 
 living are Mary, born March 25, 1845, she 
 is the wife of Patrick Hannan; Margaret, 
 born March 25, 1858, she was married to T. 
 C. Brougham, and bore him three children, 
 she died in February, 1880; Thomas, born 
 September 18, 1847; John, born February 
 22. 1860, and Kate, born May 21, 1862. In 
 religion, ]\Ir. Kennedy is Catholic, and in 
 politics, a Democrat. 
 
 AUGUST KLOPPING, farmer, P. O. 
 Downsville, was born in Prussia. Germany. 
 July 20, 1835; he is the son of Frederick 
 and Sophia (Lukermann) Klopping; his fa- 
 ther was a fai'mer and was born in Prussia 
 about 1807, and died in that country about 
 1862. His mother was born in Prussia 
 in 1810; she came to this country from 
 Prussia in 1881, being in her seventy- 
 
 second'year, and is still living. Our subject 
 was educated in his native land, and worked 
 at home until he was twenty-one years of age. 
 In April, 1854, he came to the United States, 
 arriving in New York in May of the same 
 year. He went at once to Freejaort, 111., 
 where he lived for one year. He then came 
 to Council Bluffs, where he worked as team- 
 ster for about two years. He was married, 
 in Council Bluffs, November 21, 1858, to 
 Maria Hatcher, who was born in Prussia May 
 2, 183S; she is the daughter of Peter and 
 Maria (Myers) Hatcher, both of whom were 
 natives of Prussia and both died in that 
 country. Mrs. Klopping came from the old 
 country to New Orleans in 1856. From 
 there she went to Quincy, 111., and finally, 
 to Council Bluffs in 1S57. After his mar- 
 riage, our subject farmed for four years in 
 Shelby County, Iowa. He then went to 
 Freeport, 111., where he stayed nearly a year. 
 He then lived one year in Jasper County, 
 Iowa, after which he returned to this county. 
 He rented land for two years, and in 1866 
 he purchased 120 acres of his present farm. 
 He then went to the Bluff;-', and teamed again 
 for two years. In the spring of 1869, he re- 
 turned to his farm, and by successive pur- 
 chases now has 520 acres, over 300 of which 
 are under cultivation, the balance being in 
 grass and timber. His specialty is raising 
 cattle. Mr. and Mrs. Klopping have had ten 
 children, seven of whom are living — Sophia, 
 born November 27, 1S59; Henry F., Decem- 
 ber 6, 1861, died January 28, 1863: Karl, 
 born December 15, 1863; Edward, February 
 21, 1866, died July 27, 1867; Adolph, born 
 March 25, 1868; Anna M., July 17. 1870; 
 Emma, September 12, 1872; Louis, March 3, 
 1875; August, March 6, 1877; Louisa, July 
 18, 1880, died May IS. 1881. 
 
 F. A LARKIN, farmer, P. O. Downsville, 
 was born in Jackson County, Iowa, October 
 
204 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 23, 1857; he was the fourth child of Arthur 
 and Bridget (McGivern) Larkin. His father 
 was born in County Armagh, Ireland, March 
 1, 1829, and died in Jackson County, Iowa, 
 April 1, 1873. His mother was also born in 
 County Armagh, Ireland, February 1, 1828. 
 The parents were married in 1852, in the 
 Catholic Church, in Elgin, 111., by the Rev. 
 Father Pheely. They had nine children, of 
 whom but four are now living — Felix A. (our 
 subject), Ai-thiir J., James E. and Alice E. 
 The others were Peter, Michael, Margaret, 
 Mary Ann, and John Frank. Om- sub- 
 ject lived with his parents until his fa- 
 ther's death, but is now working a farm of 
 his own, consisting of 160 acres, as well as 
 120 acres in Hardin Township, owned by his 
 mother. Mrs. Larkin, mother of subject, 
 came to America in 1849, and her lato husband 
 when he was quite young, living at various 
 places from New York City to Clinton, Iowa. 
 The family are members of the Catholic 
 ChurcL 
 
 J. P. MAXFIELD, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Prince Edward's Island in Au- 
 gust, 1839; he is the son of William and 
 Sarah (Pickets) Masfield. His father was a 
 farmer and was born in England April 1, 
 1809, died in September, 1850. His mother 
 was born on Prince Edwai-d's Island Nov. 
 1, 1818, and died in November, 1S71. Oiu- 
 subject received his early education in the 
 common schools of this county. His parents 
 left Prince Edward's Island June 1, 1850, and 
 arrived in Council Bluffs July 17, of the same 
 year. When a boy, our subject lived at home 
 and worked upon his father's farm. He soon 
 afterward made a start in life for himself, 
 and was engaged in threshing for nine years. 
 He now owns 195 acres of land, 120 acres of 
 which are under cultivation, the balance being 
 in timber and pastiu-e. December 28, 1865, 
 he was married, in Council Bluffs, to Sophro- 
 
 nia E. Mott, born July 9, 1842, in the State 
 of Illinois. She is the daughter of Lyman 
 and Electa (Parish) Mott. Her father was 
 born in Canada April 27, 1804, and died in 
 January, ISSO. Her mother was a native of 
 New York. Mr. and ^Lvs. Maxfield have four 
 children — Frank Albert, born October 9, 
 1867; Charles Edwin, born July 5, 1870; 
 Nellie May, born November 1, 1874, and Ada 
 Caroline, born June 21, 1877. In politics, 
 Mr. Maxfield is a Democrat. 
 
 WILLIAM PHILLIPS, farmer, P. O. Ne- 
 ola, was born in Carmarthenshire, Wales, 
 October 27, 1836. His father, William Phil- 
 lips, was a farmer, and was b'^rn in Glanmor- 
 ganshire, Sotith Wales. He came to the 
 United States in 1854, and located in the 
 northern part of Utah, where he died about 
 1862. Our stibject's mother, Gwenfred 
 Thomas, was born in Glanmorganshire, South 
 Wales. She died in Idaho, in November, 
 1873. Our subject was educated in select 
 schools in Wales, which he attended until he 
 was twelve years of age. He was then ap- 
 prenticed to a cabinet-maker for four years, 
 during which time he attended evening 
 schools. After he had learned the trade, he 
 worked at the same till he came to America 
 with his father. He followed his trade for 
 about two years in Utah, after which he was 
 engaged in freighting, farming and stock- 
 raising until 1S65. Mr. Phillips raised all 
 kinds of grain, but mostly wheat, oats and 
 barley. A half of an acre sowed in corn was 
 considered a good acreage. The land was 
 fertilized by iiTigation. He botight and sold 
 freight from Utah to Montana, and in 1803 
 started for the Yellowstone mines, taking his 
 freight train and cattle with him. He 
 learned from the prospectors that the mines 
 were not a success, and he was obliged to 
 take a large portion of his freight to Virgin- 
 ia City to get rid of it. He also sold his 
 
XOPiAVALK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 205 
 
 cattle on the Gallatin Kiver. After giving 
 up the idea of mining, he tm-ned his atten- 
 tion to gardening and dairying, about eighty 
 miles northeast of Virginia City, in which 
 latter place he paid §75 for the last pound of 
 onion seed in the market. In the summer, 
 he sold his claim and garden. That summer 
 the Crow Indians made a raid through the 
 country, but did not disturb hire. Mrs. Phil- 
 lips was with her husband during these times, 
 and was one of five women who constituted 
 the feminine population of Gallatin Valley. 
 After selling out, our subject went to Virgin- 
 ia City. He returned to Utah and engaged 
 in freighting and dealing in stock until he 
 left that State, He was married, in Utah, in 
 March, 1S59. to Amelia Morgan, who was 
 born in Glamorganshire, South Wales, March 
 22, 1843. She is the daughter of John and 
 Mary (Meredith) Morgan, both of whom were 
 natives of Wales. Her mother died in her 
 native land when Mrs. Phillips was an infant. 
 Her father came to Conesville, Muscatine Co., 
 Iowa, in 1850. He farmed two years on Lit- 
 tle Mosqiiito Creek, when he went to North- 
 ern Utah, where he farmed and raised stock 
 for a good many years. In 1865, he went to 
 Idaho; where be died in 1869. Our subject 
 left Utah and came to this county in Septem- 
 ber, 1865. He spent the summer in traveling 
 through several States, looking for a location. 
 He returned to this county, gnd in the fall of 
 1866, he bought and settled upon his pres- 
 ent farm, in Norwalk Township, which con- 
 sists of 400 acres. Here our subject has lived 
 and farmed ever since he first pm-chased it. 
 His specialty is raising corn, of which he has 
 about 370 acres. Mr. Phillips has been 
 Township Clerk, School Director, Trustee 
 and Eoad Supervisor. He has seven children 
 —Thomas William, born December 12. 1860; 
 John M., born Febniaiy 11, 1862; Mary A., 
 born Jamiary 12, 1864; Evan, born March 6, 
 
 1867; Celia, born February 7, 1869; Morgan, 
 born April 23, 1871, and Howell, born Octo- 
 ber 13, 1872. Mr. Phillips belongs to the 
 Masonic order and also to the I. O. O. F. 
 
 HENRY SHARP, farmer, P. O. Downs- 
 ville, was born in Lincolnshire, England, 
 June 3, 1857. He is the son of SjDencer 
 and Martha (Holmes) Sharp. His father was 
 a farm bailifl', was born in England about 
 1820, and died in 1866. His mother was 
 born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1825, and 
 died in 1863. He received his education in 
 Christ's Hospital, London, which was founded 
 in 1552 by Edward the VI. Leaving school 
 at the age of sixteen, he came to America. 
 He left Liverpool May 6, 1873, arriving in 
 New York the 17th, and in Council 
 Blufis the 24th day of the same month. 
 From this time until 1875, he worked at 
 home. In 1875, he and his brother rented 
 the home farm. In 1877, in company with 
 an elder brother, he rented a farm near Wes- 
 ton. During the year 1878, he worked for 
 Mr. Heywood. He rented land for the fol- 
 lowing two years. In December, 1880, he 
 bought forty acres of land from a brother, 
 and in the spring of 1882 he added forty 
 acres more, and is engaged in breaking the 
 same. Mr. Sharp is not married. He is a 
 member of the M. E. Church, and in jjoli- 
 tics a Republican. 
 
 D. J. SMITH, farmer. P. O. Neola, was 
 born in Blue Rock Township, Muskingum 
 County, Ohio, May 28, 1851. He is the son 
 of Jonathan and Lois (Allen) Smith. His 
 father was born in Virginia, January 16 
 1804, and died April 19, 1875. He was one 
 of the early settlers in Muskingum County, 
 .Ohio, emigi-ating from Virginia in 1808. 
 Our subject's mother was a native of Massa- 
 chusetts, and was born September 4, 1811; 
 she is still living. Our subject received his 
 education in Ohio. He lived at home till 
 
20G 
 
 BIOGRAPUICAJ.: 
 
 twenty-two years of age, when be went to 
 Kansas, where he remained for two years. 
 He then came to Page Connty, this State, 
 where he lived for two years. He was mar- 
 ried, at Clarinda, Page County, this State, in 
 October, 1S75, to Miss Sarah 0. Galhip, who 
 was born in Kingston, De Kalb Co., 111., De- 
 cember 17, 1857; she is the daughter of Oli- 
 ver K. and Mary (Anderson) Gallup; her 
 father was born in Cambridge, Guernsey Co., 
 Ohio, May 1, 1825; her mother was born in 
 the same place May 1, 1831. Both the par- 
 ents are living. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have 
 three children — Ira M., born July 30, 1877; 
 Nathan O. , born March '2-4, 1879, and Mary 
 L., born December 16, 1881. After his mar- 
 riage, oiu" sixbject came to this county. He 
 rented land for three years, after which he 
 purchased the farm on which he now resides, 
 on which he has made substantial improve- 
 ments. He votes the Rejaublican ticket. 
 
 GEORGE T. WARD, farmer, P. O. 
 Downsville, was born in Tazewell County, 
 Va., October 15, 1837; he is the son of 
 Milton and Martha D. (Thompson) "Ward. 
 His father was born in Tazewell County, 
 Va. , March 29, 1797, and died in February, 
 1879. His mother was born in the same 
 county, in Virginia, in May, 1801, and died 
 October 29, 186-4. The Thompsons were one 
 of the first families of Virginia. Oiu- sub- 
 ject's grandmother, Rebecca Peery (maiden 
 name), was born in a block-house in Tazewell 
 County, Va. His grandfather Thompson 
 was a Major in the Provincial militia. 
 While out as a scout and in search of deer, 
 he narrowly escaped captiu'e and probably 
 death at the hands of the Indians. The 
 string of one of his moccasins fortunately be- 
 came loosened, and, in stopping to tighten it, 
 he fell considerably behind the rest of the 
 little party, who were surprised by a band of 
 Indians in ambush, who fell upon them, capt- 
 
 uring live and killing the balance of three. 
 Our subject's advantages for an education 
 were extremely limited, there being no com- 
 mon schools in Virginia at that time. He 
 worked at home with his father, who was a 
 farmer and cattle-raiser, until the breaking- 
 out of the war of the rebellion. In 1861, he 
 enlisted as a private in a confederate regi- 
 ment, but ranked as Lieutenant Colonel in 
 the militia of his native State. According 
 to newspaper reports, at the time the Union 
 forces were driving Gen. John S. Williams 
 out of the Sandy Valley, our subject was the 
 bearer of a dispatch from Gen. Marshall, 
 ordering "Williams thi-ough the mountains, 
 from Kentucky to Virginia. Our subject was 
 promoted to the rank of Captain. After be- 
 coming disabled, he sent in 'his resignation, 
 which was never accepted, so he remained a 
 conunissioned officer till the close of the war. 
 He was with Gen. Morgan at Greenville, 
 Tenn., at the time the General was killed. 
 At the close of the war, in June, 1865, he 
 surrendered at Charleston, W. Va. He was 
 married, in Buchanan County, Va., November 
 12, 1861, to Jane Ratliif, who was born in 
 Buchanan County, Va., May 29, 1843. She 
 is the daughter of Abednego and Louisa 
 (Matney) Ratlifi'. Her father was born in 
 Tazewell County, Va., in 1801, and is still 
 living. Her mother was also a native of 
 Tazewell County, Va., and was born in 1799, 
 and died December 3, 1868. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ward have had five childi-en, of whom three 
 are living — George E. (deceased), Archibald 
 N., Eliza R., Lydia and Sarah E. (deceased). 
 In religion, Mr. Ward is a Quaker, and in 
 politics, a Democrat. 
 
 D. E. ^VIGHTMAN, farmer, P. O. Downs- 
 ville, was born at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., 
 December 8, 1833. He is the son of David 
 and Elizabeth (Degroif) Wightman. His 
 father was born in Pawlet, Vt., in 1806, and 
 
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 307 
 
 died in 1856. His mother was born in Con- 
 necticut in 1813, and died in 1848. Our 
 subject emigrated from his native town, with 
 his parents, tc the western part of the State 
 of New York, when he was a boy. A.t the 
 age of sixteen, he went to Ellicottsville, the 
 then county seat of Cattaraugus County, N. 
 Y. , to learn the carpenter's trade. When 
 he became twenty years old he went to Otta- 
 wa, La Salle Co., 111., where he stayed for 
 one year. He then went to Rock Island, 
 111., where he worked at his trade for four 
 years, thence going to Iowa City, Iowa, where 
 he remained for four months, finally return- 
 ing to Ottawa, 111., where he engaged in 
 building houses and barns for the farmers. 
 Dm-ing this stay in Ottawa, he married 
 Amanda L. Millikin, at Bruceville, La Salle 
 County, February 1, 1860. She was born 
 near Ottawa, 111., .January 21, 1838, and is 
 the daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (Will- 
 iams) Millikin. Her father was born in 
 Greensburg, Westmoreland Co., Penn., No- 
 vember 24, 1801, and died February 25, 
 1866. Her mother was born in Etna, Licking 
 
 Co., Ohio, February 24, 1807, and is still 
 living in Ottawa, 111. Before her marriage, 
 Mrs. Wightman was engaged in teaching 
 school. She is a very intelligent lady, and 
 is decided and earnest in her advocacy of re- 
 ligion and temperance. After the birth of 
 two children, our subject went to Nebraska, 
 with the intention of settling in that State, 
 but not liking the country, he returned East 
 as far as Council Bluffs, where he worked at 
 his trade for six years. At the end of this 
 time, he moved on to his present farm, in 
 Norwalk Township, where he and his family 
 have resided for the past ten years. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wightman have had four children — 
 Mary E., born November 14, 1860; Rebecca 
 E., born March 10, 1864: Charlie E., born 
 July 17, 1867; and Ada, born July 4, 1869, 
 died Ji^ly 16, 1873. Mary E. is married, 
 but her place at home is filled by her little 
 son — Edward, a bright and interesting boy, 
 who is the delight and pride of his gi'and- 
 parents. Mr. Wightman is at present Justice 
 of the Peace. 
 
 PLEASAI^T TOWNSHIP. 
 
 F. BENEDIX, farmer, P. O. Avoca, was born 
 in Mecklenburg, German}-, April 23, 1844; son 
 of F. and Friedriche (Ripke) Beiiedix, both na- 
 tives of Mecklenburg, Germany; he was born in 
 November, ISIO; is a cooper by trade; she, born 
 in October, 1S14. Both the parents are still liv- 
 ing, in Rock Island County, 111. Tbey are the 
 parents of eight children, three sons and five 
 daughters, of whom one son and four daughters 
 are deceased. Our subject received his educa- 
 tion in Scott County, this State, and started in 
 life as a farmer, in which occupation he has 
 since been engaged. He came to the United 
 
 States in 1852, and lived in Scott Countj-, this 
 State, till 1865, and afterward in Illinois, until 
 1872, when he came to Pleasant Township, and 
 in the following j'ear purchased eight}' acres of 
 wild land at $10 per acre, which he built on and 
 otherwise improved. In 1874, he bought forty 
 acres at §10 per acre, which he also improved. 
 He now carries on general farming. He was 
 married in Scott County, this State, October 20, 
 1871, to Christina Johnson, born in Schleswig, 
 Germany, January 23, 1848, daughter of Henry 
 and Christina (Hull) Johnson; he, a native of 
 Denmark, and died in 1876; she, born in North 
 
208 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Schleswig, German}'. Mr. and Mrs. Benedix 
 have nine children — Mary, Anna, Lena, Emma, 
 Dora, Christina, Ida, Friedrich and Henrj-. Our 
 subject has filled several townsliip offices, in- 
 cluding Constable, Road Supervisor and School 
 Director. In religion, he is a Lutheran, and in 
 politics a Republican. He is also a member of 
 the A. H. T. S. 
 
 A. C. BERGMAN, farmer. P. 0. Avoca. was 
 born in Wehrden. in Prussia, German}', August 
 24, 1833. and received his German education in 
 his native town, but in the English language he 
 has educated himself. He is a son of Henry 
 and Carolina (Hesse) Bergman, natives of Wehr- 
 den, Prussia, Germany, who had a family of 
 five sons and two daughters. Henry Bergman 
 was born February 4, 1794; his wife, who was 
 born in June, 1799, died April 9, 1869; they 
 both died in their native place. In May, 1855, 
 Mr. Bergman came to the United States, land- 
 ing at New Orleans, La., and thence proceeded 
 to St. Louis, Mo., where he remained three 
 mouths; then went to Knox County, III, where 
 he engaged in farming. He remained in Illi- 
 nois for seventeen years, traveling, however, in 
 1865-66, in ^linuesota and Missouri, and in 
 1870 in Kansas, looking for a suitable place to 
 locate. In 1871, he came to Pleasant Township 
 and bought eighty-three acres of laud at $9 per 
 acre, improved it, and built on the place a house 
 and other buildings. In 1872, he bought forty 
 acres at $9 per acre, which he improved. He 
 set out 2,000 shade trees — maples, bos-elders, 
 black walnut and Lombard poplar — and also 
 many fruit trees, and in 1881 liuilt a large one 
 and a h.alf story frame dwelling-house, 18x28 
 and 14x22 feet, with two porches. This is one 
 of the finest residences in this township. At 
 La Fayette. Stark County, 111., December 27, 
 1859, he married Katy Johnson, a native of 
 Sweden, born August 22, 1841, daughter of 
 Peter and Catharine (Olson) Johnson, natives 
 of Sweden; lie, born JIarch 11, 1800; she, born 
 July 15. 1798. By this union they have one 
 
 son, Edgar Augustus, born February 11. 
 1862. They have also an adopted daugh- 
 ter, Lizzie Clark, born in Jasper County, Iowa, 
 born April 14, 1838. Mr. Bergman has held 
 the office of Township School Director and 
 President of the Board; was Township Trustee 
 two years; has been Justice of the Peace five 
 years, and still holds that office, and is a leader 
 in township affairs. He is a member of the 
 Catholic Church; is an A.. F. & A. M.; iu poli- 
 tics, a Republican. 
 
 WILHELM BOHLE, farmer. P. 0. Avoca. 
 was born in Waldeck, Germany, May 24, 1853. 
 son of Friedrich and Louise (Roch) Bohle, both 
 natives of Waldeck. Germany; he, born in De- 
 cember, 1823, is a cabinet-maker, and is still 
 living; she, born in March, 1824, and died in 
 the place of her birth iu 1880. They were the 
 parents of Ave children — two sons and three 
 daughters. Our subject went to school iu his 
 native country, and commenced life as a farmer. 
 He emigrated to America in 1872, and lived in 
 Scott County, this State, for six years. He came 
 to Pleasant Township in 1878, and purchased 
 eighty acres of improved land at S22.50 per 
 acre; nearly all the branches of farming claim 
 his attention. He was married in James Town- 
 ship, this county, March 11, 1879, to Anna Bock- 
 enthen, born iu Holstein, Germany, November 
 2, 1863, daughter of C. and Dora (Bilenberg) 
 Bockentheu, both natives of Holstein, Germany. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bohle have one boy, Friedrich. 
 born September 4, 1881. In religion our sub- 
 ject is a Lutheran, and in politics a Republican. 
 
 SAMUEL BRINGOLF. farmer. P. 0. Shelby, 
 was born in Jasper County. Mo., Angiist 1. 
 1846 ; son of A. and Mahala (Mann) Bringolf. 
 who were the parents of ten children, six boys 
 and four girls. His parents are now residing 
 in Polk County, Iowa. A. Bringolf, subject's 
 father, a farmer and stock-dealer by occupation, 
 was born in Lancaster County. Penn., in 1810 : 
 his wife, a native of Indiana, was born in 1830. 
 Subject left Missouri with his parents in 1855. 
 
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 209 
 
 after being one-half a j'ear in Warren Count}-, 
 and came to Polk Countj', Iowa, where he 
 received his education, and where he engaged 
 in the stock business, and was also a merchant 
 in Des Moines for one and a half years. In 
 IST'J, he moved to Shelby County, Iowa, where 
 he had the previous 3-ear bought 160 acres of 
 wild land at $9.50 per acre, aud, after improv- 
 ing the land, setting out 1,000 shade trees and 
 planting over 100 fruit trees, sold the place in 
 November, 1881, at $35 per acre. He then 
 bought his present place in Pleasant Township, 
 consisting of 167 acres, for which he paid $40 
 per acre. On the place are a one and a half 
 story frame house 16x30 feet, and a large barn 
 40x50 feet. Mr. Bringolf has devoted the 
 greater part of his time to the stock business, 
 but for the last five years has followed general 
 farming. At Des Moines, Iowa, May 20, 1874, 
 he married Caroline Woods, born in Ohio, Sep- 
 tember 17, 1855, daughter of H. M. and Lotta 
 (Boyd) Woods, he born in Pennsylvania in 
 1820 ; she born in Maryland in 1822. By this 
 union they have had three sons. Mr. Bringolf 
 held several township offices while in Polk 
 County. Iowa. He is a Democrat, and a mem- 
 ber of the A., F. & A. M., I. O. 0. F., I. 0. L. 
 aud A. 0. U. W. 
 
 C. H. BROWN, farmer, P. 0. Avoca, is a 
 native of Hubbardston, Worcester Co., Mass., 
 born June 3, 1822, and is a son of J. M. and 
 Kate (Upham) Brown, who were the parents of 
 two sons and one girl. J. !M. Brown, who was 
 a shoemaker b}- trade, was born in Worcester 
 County, Mass., in 1788, aud died in Windham 
 County, Vt, October 12, 1861 ; his wife, who 
 ■was born in Hubbardston, Worcester Co., 
 Mass., June 9, 1802, died in Knox County, 111., 
 in 1872. Subject was educated in Wmdham 
 Count}', Vt., aud began life as a farmer, which 
 occupation he has since followed. In 1826, he 
 left Massachusetts and went with his parents to 
 Vermont, where he remained till 1864, when he 
 came West and settled in Knox County, 111 , 
 
 where he farmed for eight years, thep came by 
 rail to Pleasant Township in tlie spring of 1882. 
 "Here he bought eighty acres of wild land at $8 
 per acre ; improved it, set out three acres of 
 forest trees and one acre of an orchard con- 
 taining apple, cherry, peach, pear and plum 
 trees, and all kinds of small fruits. In 1874, 
 he bought forty acres of wild land at $7 per 
 acre, aud devotes his attention to general farm- 
 ing. All his shade trees were raised from the 
 seed. He has been Township Trustee, is a 
 member of the Presbyterian Church, and is, in 
 polities, a Republican. 
 
 CHRISTIAN BRUENE, farmer, P. 0. Shel- 
 by, was born in Waldeck, Germany, September 
 20, 1839 ; son of William and Louise (Schnave) 
 Bruene, both natives of Waldeck, Germany; he, 
 born in 1813, is a carpenter and farmer ; she 
 was born in 1807. They are both still living 
 in their native country. They were the pareuts 
 of five children, three sons and two daughters. 
 Our sulyect received his schooling in his native 
 land, and started in life as a farmer. He came 
 to this country in 1869, and lived in Scott 
 County, this State. He came to Pleasant 
 Township in 1874, and purchased eighty acres 
 of land at $8 per acre. He returned to Daven- 
 port, where he remained one year, and then 
 came back and improved his land. In 1882, 
 he bought 100 acres at $17 per acre. Silver 
 Creek runs through his present place, which is 
 given to general farming. He was married, in 
 Pleasant Township June 17, 1876, to Augusta 
 Messerschmidt, boru in the Province of Poseu, 
 Germany, August 27, 1849, daughter of Gott- 
 lieb and Henrietta Messerschmidt, both natives 
 of Poseu, Germany, he born in 1822, and she 
 in 1826. Mr. and Mrs. Bruene have one child 
 — Minnie, born November 2, 1881. In religion, 
 our subject is a Lutheran, aud iu politics a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 WILLIAM BUCKLEY, farmer. P. 0. Shelby, 
 was born in Huntingdon County, Penn., July 
 19, 1834 ; son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Booher) 
 
210 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Buckley, natives of Huntingdon County, Penn. 
 Jacob Buckley, who was a farmer, was born 
 May 11, 1807, and died July 13, 1878, in Ful- 
 ton County, Penn., where his wife, who was 
 born April 10, 1810, died also, September 15, 
 1855 ; they were the parents of eight sons and 
 two daughters. Mr. Buckley received a good 
 education in the schools of Fulton County, 
 Penn., and began farming on his father's farm, 
 where he remained till he was twentj'-five years 
 of age. In Franklin County, Penn., January 
 26, 1860, he married Nancy W. Campbell, a 
 native of that county, born April 4, 1832, 
 daughter of Robert and Jane (Linn) Campbell, 
 also natives of Franklin County, Penn., he 
 born February 16, 1798, she born in 1800. By 
 this union they have been blessed with four 
 children, two of whom are deceased — Asburj- 
 Wilbur (deceased), John Emorj- (deceased), 
 William Brewster and Charles Everlett. Sep- 
 tember 26, 1864, Mr. Buckley enlisted for one 
 year's service in Company H, Ninetj'-third 
 Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, 
 under Capt. J. H. Johnson ; was wounded in 
 the battle before Petersburg, and was dis- 
 charged near Washington, D. C., June 20, 1865. 
 In 1866, he moved to Carroll County, 111., 
 where he followed farming till 1872, then moved 
 to Iowa, and, after sta3'ing one 3'ear in Shelb}', 
 came to this township. Here he had, in 1870, 
 bought eightj'-six acres of wild land at §10 per 
 acre ; moved onto the land in 1873, set out 
 trees, and built a frame house 18x28 feet by 16 
 feet in height, and other buildings. Mr. Buck- 
 ley was Justice of the Peace of this township 
 in 1872, and has filled other minor township 
 otBces. He is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, and of the A. 0. U. W., and 
 in politics is a Republican. 
 
 E. P. COOPER, farmer, P. O. Shelby, born 
 May 6, 1837, in Beverl}', Ohio, son of John and 
 Frances (Petty) Cooper; he. a farmer, born in 
 England, December 4, 1806, is still living in 
 Marion, Linn Count}-, this State; she, born 
 
 April 16. 1809, in Tennessee, is still living in 
 \ Linn Count\-. They have had ten children, 
 seven boj's and three girls. Subject went to 
 school in Ohio, commenced life as a farmer, and 
 married, in August 22, 1861, in Ohio, Mai'v E. 
 Brabham, born in Loudoun County, W. Va., Sep- 
 tember 19, 1843, daughter of Thomas Jefferson 
 and Martha (Stevenson) Brabham, he, born in 
 West Virginia June 30, 1818; she, in Loudoun 
 County, W. Va., September 14, 1820. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Cooper have two children, viz.. Flora E., 
 born April 20, 1864, and Willraer, born April 
 29, 1867. Subject is a Republican, an A. H. T. 
 S., and came from Ohio to Linn County, this 
 State, in 1859; went to Illinois in 1868, from 
 there to this township in 1872, bought 160 acres 
 of wild land at $9 per acre; went back to 
 Illinois, lived there two years, returned to 
 this township in 1874, built a house and 
 other buildings himself, set out a number of 
 trees, and has the farm almost all under culti- 
 vation. 
 
 JOSHUA DAVIS, farmer, P. 0. Avoca, was 
 born in Fayette County, Penn., January 16, 
 1848, and is a son of G. W. and Mary (Gibson) 
 Davis, natives of Fayette County, Penn., who 
 both died in Pleasant Township, this county. 
 G. W. Davis was born February 14, 1819. and 
 died October 7, 1871; his wife, who was born 
 July 20, 1816, died December 7, 1881. They 
 had eight children, three boys and five girls. 
 Subject received his education at Newtown, this 
 county, and has always been a farmer. He 
 came to this township with his parents, and has 
 been on the farm ever since. He now owns the 
 home farm of 180 acres, of which sixty-five 
 acres are broken; there is running water on the 
 farm, which is well adapted to stock-raising 
 purposes, and on which he carries on general 
 farming. His two brothers and five sisters are 
 — Michael J., William A., Martha, Mary, Sarah, 
 Esther and Louisa. Mary A. Patterson, an 
 adopted girl, is also a member of the familj'. 
 Mr. Davis is a Republican. 
 
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 211 
 
 JOHX DIRGO, farmer, P. O. Avoca, was 
 born in Germany June 18, 1832; son of George 
 and Katharine Dirgo, both natives of Germanj-, 
 he born in 1816 and died in 1876; she born in 
 1808 and died in 1872. Both died in their na- 
 tive country. They were the parents of three 
 children, two boj-s and a girl. Our subject re- 
 ceived his schooling in his native country, and 
 has been a farmer all his life. He came to the 
 United States in 1855, and was married, in the 
 fall of that year, in New York City, in which 
 place he had landed, to Anna Mary Henu, born 
 in Germany in November, 1830, daughter of 
 John and Katharine (Wilberan) Henn. both na- 
 tives of Germanj', he born in 1792, she in 1800. 
 Our subject lived in New York State, near Troy 
 for fourteen years. He came to Scott County, this 
 State, in 1868, where he farmed until coming to 
 Pleasant Township in 1875, where he purchased 
 120 acres of wild land at S12.50 per acre. He 
 has made improvements, including a one and a 
 half storj- frame house, 16x24. He now car- 
 ries on farming iu nearlj- all its branches. He 
 has four children — John, Katie, George and 
 Charlie, who are aged respectively twenty-seven, 
 twenty-five, twenty-two and twenty years. In 
 religion our subject is a Catholic, and in poli- 
 tics a Republican. 
 
 JOSEPH FRUM, farmer, P. O. Shelby, was 
 born in Monongalia County, W. Va., December 
 15, 1810, son of Samuel and Catharine (Bland) 
 Prum, natives of Berkele}' County, W. Va. 
 Both the parents died in Monongalia County. 
 W. Va., he April 28, 1856, she born in 1792, 
 and died in January, 1 874. The}- were farmers, 
 and the parents of eight children, three sons 
 and five daughters. Our subject received his 
 schooling in his native count}-, and has been 
 engaged in farming all of his life. He was mar- 
 ried, in his native county, December 24, 1844) 
 to Mary Boyd, born in the same place Septem. 
 ber 14. 1819, daughter of William and Marga- 
 retta Boyd, both of whom are deceased. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Frum have eiirht children — Samuel 
 
 B., Catharine, Joseph Ezra and John N. (twins), 
 Vian, Anna, Christopher C. and George D. 
 Our subject was engaged in farming before he 
 left his native State. He came to Iowa in the 
 fall of 1868, and to Pleasant Township in 
 1872. He purchased 320 acres of wild land at 
 $8.50 per acre, and improved it. At one time 
 he and his sons owned 1,300 acres, which they 
 divided, and now our subject has 160 acres, 
 which he improved years ago by setting out 
 2,000 shade and 225 fruit trees. In 1875, he 
 built a large one and a half story frame house, 
 16x24, with large kitchen and cellar. He has 
 retired from active farm work, the place being 
 run by his son, George D., who also owns 160 
 acres adjoining on the west. Our subject has 
 filled township offices in his native State, and 
 has been School Director in Pleasant Township. 
 From 1861 to 1863, he was in the employ of 
 the Government. In politics, he is a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 S. B. FRUM, farmer, P. 0. Shelby, born in 
 Monongalia County, Va., September 22, 1844, 
 son of Joseph and Mary Jane (Boyd) Frum, 
 both born in Monongalia County, W. Va., in 
 1818, are still living on their farm in this 
 township. They are the parents of five boys 
 and three girls. Subject was educated in 
 Monongalia County, Va. ; is self-educated ; 
 commenced life as an engineer, following that 
 business for two years, when he came to this 
 State iu 1867, where he commenced farming ; 
 married in Avoca, this State, January 8, 1879, 
 Anna G. Aldrich, born in Montrose, Lee Co., 
 this State, August 28, 1859, daughter of P. J. 
 and Melissa R. (Peck) Aldrich, both born in 
 Berkshire County, Mass.; he, August 15. 1823. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Frum have one child, Edwin 
 Joseph, born October 23, 1879. Mrs. Frum is 
 a member of the Episcopal Church ; her hus- 
 band is a Republican, a Knight Templar, a 
 member of the Legion of Honor, been Town- 
 ship Clerk for seven years. School Treasurer 
 for eight years, a member of the Board of 
 
212 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL: 
 
 Supervisors for three }'ear3 ; enlisted August 
 14, 1862, in Company C, Fourteenth West 
 Virginia Infantry (Capt. 0. P. Jollitfe); was in 
 the battles at Cloyd Mountain, Lynchburg, 
 with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley^ 
 wounded July 20 at Winchester, was a color 
 bearer in his regiment for three years. He 
 came to Poweshiek County, this State, in 1867; 
 to this township in 1871 ; bought 320 acres of 
 wild land in partnership with his brothers and 
 father at S8 per acre ; they improved the land, 
 divided it and subject got 80 acres as his share ; 
 since then he has bought four other tracts of 
 eighty acres each, one of which was improved, 
 paying, on an average, SI 5 per acre. 
 
 MARY ANN GROSS, Avoca, is a native of 
 Alsace, Germany, born August 2, 1823, only 
 child of Joseph and Mary Anna (Gaettli) Gross, 
 natives of Alsace, German}-, where they both 
 died. Her father was a shoemaker by trade ; 
 was born in 1771 and died in 1847. Subject 
 received her education in her native town in 
 Alsace, Germany, where she was married May 
 7, 1846, to Dominick Gross, a carpenter by 
 trade, born in 1822, son of John and Regina 
 (Kaelin) Gross, natives of Alsace, German}-. 
 The}- resided in Scott County, Iowa, from 1853 
 to 1873, farming there for seven years, the re- 
 mainder of the time residing in Le Claire, that 
 county, where Mr. Gross followed his trade. In 
 1873, they removed to this county and settled 
 in this township, where Mr. Gross bought 160 
 acres of land at $8.50 per acre ; in 1876, bought 
 160 acres at SIO per acre, and, in 1877, 160 
 acres at $10 per acre. Mr and Mrs. Gross 
 were blessed with seven children — Dominick, 
 Joseph, John, Delia, Helena, Julia and George. 
 They also took two children to raise — Michael 
 Morrison and Maggie Senn. The boys have 
 improved the farm, and two of them — Joseph 
 and John — have bought 160 acres of land, pay- 
 ing SI 7 per acre for forty acres and for the 
 remaining 120 acres S20 per acre. The home 
 farm is well improved ; there is a good dwel- 
 
 ling house and a large number of trees on the 
 place. Mrs. Gross is a member of the Catho- 
 lic Church. 
 
 DOMINICK GROSS, farmer, P. 0. Avoca, 
 was born in Alsace. France, April 21, 1848, son 
 of Dominick and Mary Ann (Ledolph) Gross, 
 also natives of Alsace, France, and parents of 
 eight children, four boys and four girls. 
 Dominick Gross — subject's father — who was 
 by trade a cabinet-maker, was born in 1822, 
 and died in Avoca, this county, November 20, 
 1880 ; his wife, who is still living in Pleasant 
 Township, this county, was born in 1824. In 
 1853. subject came to the United States with 
 his parents; landed at New Orleans, La., and 
 thence went to Le Claire, Scott County, Iowa. 
 He received a good education in the schools of 
 Le Claire, Iowa, and began the business of life 
 as a farmer, and has since pursued that occu- 
 pation. He remained in Le Claire till 1870, 
 then moved to Butler Township, Scott County, 
 Iowa, and after remaining there two years, 
 came to Pleasant Township May 7, 1872. 
 Here he has bought eighty acres of wild land at 
 $8.50 per acre, in 1871, and improved the place. 
 In 1877, he built a one-story house,J16x22 feet, 
 and in 1882 erected a new two-story dwelling, 
 16x28 feet, at a cost of $1,000. On his farm 
 he has a grove of two acres of shade trees, con- 
 sisting of maples, box-elders and cottonwoods, 
 and has also an orchard containing eighty 
 trees. In this township, April 17, 1877, he 
 married Josephine Weiseman, born in Prince- 
 ton, Scott Co., Iowa, October 22, 1858, daugh- 
 ter of John and Barbara (Goelf) Weiseman ; 
 he, a native of Bavaria, Germany ; she, also a 
 native of Germany, born July 24, 1832. By 
 this union they have been blessed with three 
 children — Mary, born April 24, 1879 ; George, 
 born May 19, 1831, and Charley, born June 29, 
 1882. Mr, Gross has held the oflSce of Con- 
 stable in this township ; he is a member of the 
 Catholic Church; is a member of the A. H. T. S., 
 and in politics is a Democrat. 
 
PLEASAXT TOWXSHIP. 
 
 213 
 
 JOHN F. GRONE, farmer, P. 0. Minden, is 
 a native of Bremen, Germany, born October 
 14, 1823, onl\- son of John P. and Christina 
 (Angustiue) Grone, natives of Hanover, Ger- 
 many ; he, a tailor by trade, born December 
 29. 1797. went, in 1836. to New Yorli City, 
 where he died July 18, 1845; his wife died in her 
 native counti'y. Subject received his German 
 education in his native city, and was educated 
 in the English language in Duane Street 
 School in New York City, to which city he 
 came in 1837. He worked at the tailor's trade 
 in New York. and. in 1847, moved to Wiscon- 
 sin, where he followed farming, and where he 
 was a township officer for twenty-five years. 
 In 1873, he came to this township, bought 136 
 acres of land at $8 per acre, and the same day 
 bought another tract of 136 acres at $9 per 
 acre, which latter tract he sold in 1878 at $16 
 per acre. He has improved the first 136 acres; 
 has set out an orchard of 106 trees and has a 
 three-acre grove. He keeps Berkshire hogs 
 and raises good stock generally. 3Ir. Grone 
 has been twice married. In New York, March 
 4, 1844, he married Johanne K. Albertus, who 
 died August 31, 1847, and in Honey Creek, 
 Sauk Co., Wis., December 26, 1849, he married 
 Wilhelmina Albertus, born in Germany August 
 11. 1834. Mrs. Grone is a daughter of Carl H. 
 and Christiana (Becker) Albertus. natives of 
 Germauj- ; he, born May 16, 1801, she born 
 May 14, 1799. Mr. Grone has nine children — 
 Johanna Carolina, Christina Augustina, John 
 F., Carolina, Mary 31.. Arthur N., Wilhelm H., 
 George W. and Franz Joseph. He is a mem- 
 ber of the German Evangelical Association; he 
 votes the Republican ticket. 
 
 CHRIS HAGEDORN, farmer, P, O. Shelby, 
 was born in Holstein. Germany, January 1, 
 1838, son of Detlef and Katharina Hagedorn, 
 both natives of Holstein, Germany, he, born 
 November 5, 1805, and is still living in his 
 native country, a farmer by occupation; she, 
 born in 1815. and died in the place of her 
 
 birth in 1864. They were the parents of four 
 children, three sons and one daughter. Our 
 subject received his education in his native 
 land. His knowledge of English he acquired 
 himself. He served two years, 1860-01. in the 
 Danish Army at Copenhagen, and afterward 
 turned his attention to farming. He was mar- 
 ried in Holstein, Germany, March 1, 1862. to 
 Sophia Grote, born in that province in 1829, 
 daughter of Henrj- and Katharina (Ronfeld) 
 Grote, both natives of Holstein, Germany, he, 
 born in 1805, and she in the same j'ear. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hagedorn have seven children — Dora, 
 Henry, Lewis, Clara, Minnie, Johnny and 
 Laura. Our subject came to the United States 
 in the spring of 1863, and came to Davenport, 
 this State, where he lived for nine 3'ears, after 
 which he lived in Council Bluffs for two years. 
 He came to Pleasant Township in 1874, and 
 purchased 120 acres of wild land at S9 per 
 acre, which he improved; setting out four acres 
 in trees and an orchard. In 1879, he bought 147 
 acres of wild laud at $11.50 per acre. He now 
 has a fine farm, which contains good buildings 
 and other improvements. He carries on farm- 
 ing in nearl}' all its branches. In religion, he 
 is a Lutheran, and in politics a Democrat. He 
 is also an I. 0. 0. F., Lodge No. 423. 
 
 JACOB HARDER, farmer, P. 0. Avoca, 
 was born in Mecklenburg, German}-, June 17, 
 1825; son of Jacob and Mary f Jurden) Harder, 
 both natives of Mecklenburg, Germanj-. where 
 thej- also died. They were the parents of three 
 children, of whom our subject is the only boy 
 and the only one of the children now living. 
 He received his education in his native coun- 
 tr}-, and began life as a farmer. He was mar- 
 ried in his native country, in October, 1853, to 
 Mary Hoppner, born December 28, 1826, in 
 Mecklenburg, Germany, daughter of Christian 
 and Mary (Laasch) Hoppner, both natives of 
 Mecklenburg, Germanj'. Mr. and Mrs. Harder 
 have five children — Christina, Sophia, Mary, 
 Charley and William. Our subject came to the 
 
214 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL: 
 
 United States iu 1857, and located near Chicago. 
 He came to Pleasant Township iu the spring of 
 1874, and purchased 320 acres of wild land at 
 $8 per acre, selling one hnndred acres at $19 
 per acre in 1881. He bought 240 acres at $12 
 per acre. His present farm of 460 acres is 
 well improved, and a fine stock and grain farm. 
 He set out a grove, and at present engages in 
 general farming. He has filled several town- 
 ship offices. In religion, he is a Lutheran, and 
 in politics a Republican. 
 
 JOHN HEESCH, farmer, P. 0. Avoca, was 
 born iu Holstein. German}-. September 21, 
 1843, son of Hans and Anna (Timm) Heesch; 
 both natives of Holstein, German}-, he, born in 
 1817, and died in 1855; she, born in 1819, and 
 died as did her husband also, in their natives 
 countrv. They were farmers, and the parents 
 of sis children, five sous and one daughter. 
 Our subject received his education in his native 
 countr}-, and started in life as a farmer. He 
 came to the United States iu 1865, and lived 
 in Davenport, this State, for eight jears. Here 
 he was married, June 5, 1869, to Wilhelmina 
 Freese, born in Waldeck, Germany, April 23, 
 1849, daughter of Friedrich and Wilhelmina 
 (Roch) Freese, both natives of Waldeck, Gei'- 
 many. Mr. and Mrs. Heesch have five chil- 
 dren — Anna, Louisa, Katharina, John and 
 Wilhelmina. Our subject came to Pleasant 
 Township in 1873, and purchased 160 acres of 
 ■wild land at $8 per acre. In 1875, he added 
 eighty acres of wild land at $12.50 per acre. 
 He set out a gi'ove of two acres, an orchard of 
 140 trees, and has made man}- other substantial 
 improvements, including good farm buildings. 
 He carries on general farming. In religion, he 
 is a Lutheran, and in politics a Republican. He 
 is at present Road Supervisor. 
 
 CLAUS HORST. farmer, P. 0. Avoca. was 
 born in Holstein, German}-, March 20, 1830, son 
 of E filer and Anna (Stauben) Horst, natives 
 also of Holstein, Germany: he, born in 1802, 
 ■was a wood-carver, and died June 6, 1874. in 
 
 Pleasant Township; she. born in 1801, and died 
 in her native province in September, 1856. 
 They were the parents of seven children — five 
 sons and two daughters. Our subject received 
 his education in his native country, and carpen- 
 tering was his first occupation. He was mar- 
 ried. April 14, 1858, in Holstein. Germany, to 
 Lena Alpen, born in that province April 19, 
 1826, daughter of Marx and Katharina 
 Alpen, natives of Holstein, Germany; he, born 
 in 1790; she, in 1794. Our subject worked at 
 carpentering until 1863, when he turned his at- 
 tention to farming. He was in the Danish 
 Army for over two years; was a soldier in 1850, 
 and took part in the battle of Idstadt and other 
 engagements. He came to the United States 
 iu 1863. and lived ten years in Scott County, 
 this State. He came to Pleasant Township in 
 1874 and purchased 160 acres of wild land at 
 $8 per acre. He set out two and one-half acres 
 in shade trees, one acre in an orchard, and 
 otherwise improved the place. In 1875, he 
 bought forty acres at $11 per acre, and in the 
 following year sixty -seven acres at $9 per acre. 
 He now has 267 acres of well-improved land. 
 He erected a large house iu 1881. He has four 
 children — Ehler, born May 2, 1859; Marcus, 
 born Juue 22, 1860; Henry, born December 25, 
 1864; and Lena, born May 26, 1865. Our sub- 
 ject has filled several township offices, including 
 School Director and Road Supervisor. In re- 
 ligion he is a Lutheran, and politics a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 MIKE KANE, farmer, P. O. Avoca, born iu 
 Cook County, 111., September 20, 1853, son of 
 John and Katharina (Cody) Kaue. both natives 
 of County Clare, Ireland; he, born June 14, 1814, 
 and is still living in Pleasant Township; she, 
 born iu June, 1814, and died iu James Town- 
 ship, this county. They were the parents of 
 eight children, of whom four sons and one 
 daughter are still living. Our subject received 
 his schooling in Cook County, 111., near Chi- 
 cago, and has been engaged iu farming all his 
 
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 215 
 
 life. He came to tins State in 1865, and lived 
 in Scott, Cedar and Clinton Counties, coming to 
 this county in 1873, and lived in James Town- 
 ship for four years. In 1882, he purchased 160 
 acres of partly' improved land at $20 per acre 
 He erected a large house, and has otherwise im- 
 proved the place. He engages in general farm- 
 ing. He was married, November 27, 1879, in 
 Avoca, to Delia Gross, born in Le Claire, Scott 
 County, this State, in December, 1854, daugh- 
 ter of Dominick and Mary A. (Ledolph) Gross, 
 natives of Alsace, Germany; he, born in 1822; 
 she, in 1824. Mr. and Mrs. Kane have one 
 child, John Edward, born January 15, 1882. 
 In religion our subject is a Catholic, and in pol- 
 itics a Democrat. 
 
 J. L. KEIL, farmer and inventor, P. O. Shel- 
 by, was born in Clayton Countj-, this State, 
 November 16, 1857, son of John and Felizidas 
 (Santy ) Keil. The father was born on the Atlan- 
 tic Ocean, whilst his mother was on her way to 
 the United States, March 8, 1834. He is a 
 farmer, and is living in Pleasant Township. 
 The mother of our subject was born April 
 3, 1839, near the Rhine, in Germany, and died 
 in Polk County, this State, July 28, 1871. 
 The}' were the parents of four children, three 
 sons and one daughter. Our subject went to 
 school in Polk Count}-, this State, and began 
 life as a farmer. He came to this county in 
 March, 1878, and has lived in Knox, Valley and 
 Pleasant Townships. His two brothers and 
 sister are living — Solomon Abraham, born in 
 Clayton County, this State, August 10, 1866; 
 Edward L., born in Polk Count}-, this State, 
 October 29, 1869; and Mabel, born in Sauk 
 County, Wis.. September 25, 1860. Our sub- 
 ject is an evangelist, and will continue to en- 
 gage in that work. He is also at present work- 
 ing on a " self-feeding " threshing-machine, for 
 which he has applied for a patent. Mr. Keil is 
 a member of the M. E. Church, and also the 
 Greenwood Lodge of Good Templars. In poli- 
 tics, he is a Republican. 
 
 JOCHIM LAGE, farmer, P. 0. Shelby, Shel- 
 by Count}', was born in April,1842, in Schonberg, 
 Holstein, Germany, where also his parents, A. 
 and Katharina (Horst) Lage, were born, and 
 there they died. A. Lage was born in 1816, 
 and died September 9, 1878; his wife died in 
 1844. They had five children — four boys and 
 one girl. Subject received his education at 
 Schonberg and Goorden, near Kiel, Holstein, 
 Germany, and was a Government forester for 
 nine years. In 1869, he left his native coun- 
 try and came to America, landing at New 
 York; thence he came to Davenport, Iowa, where 
 he followed farming till 1872 ; then moved to 
 Benton County, Iowa, remained there a year; 
 then went to Shelby County, Iowa. After re- 
 maining in Shelby County one year, he came to 
 Pleasant Township in 1876, and in 1879, bought 
 Sighty acres of land there at $12.50 per acre. 
 The place is improved and there is a fine grove 
 of trees around the house. Mr. Lage carries on 
 general farming. At Davenport, Iowa, Febru- 
 ary 14, 1877, he married Bertha K. Wiese, born 
 November 6, 1857, daughter of Peter and Ber- 
 tha (Stolteuberg) Wiese, natives of Germany. 
 By this union they have had two children — 
 Miua Ottelle, born March 14, 1879, and Peter 
 Alfred, born July 26, 1880. Peter Wiese, Mrs. 
 Lage's father, was born ui Schonberg-Holsteiu, 
 Germany, in 1826, and served as Sergeant dur- 
 ing the Schleswig-Holstein war of 1848-51, par- 
 ticipating in the battles of Duppler and Fried- 
 erichstadt. Mr. Lage has always been a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 PATRICK LANE, farmer, P. 0. Shelby, 
 Shelby County, was born in County Limerick, 
 Ireland, son of John and Honora (McCarty) 
 Lane, natives of County Kerry. Ireland. John 
 Lane was born in 1799, was a farmer by occu- 
 pation, and died in County Limerick, Ireland, 
 in 1850. His wife died in New York City 
 They had two sons and two daughters, and of 
 this family one son is deceased. Mr. Lane was 
 educated in Ireland, and began life as a farm- 
 
210 
 
 BIOGBAPHICAL: 
 
 er. which occupation he followed in his native 
 country. In 1847, he came to the United 
 States, came to Clinton Count}- in 1849, and 
 the following year went to Tennessee, where he 
 worked in the tunnel at Tunnel Hill, and while 
 working there saved the life of a fellow-work- 
 man — an act which he considers the best of his 
 life. Returning to Iowa in 1851, he bought 
 320 acres of land in Clinton Count}' at $1.25 
 per acre, sold one-half of the land for $6.15 
 per acre, invested the proceeds in stock, and 
 succeeded well in all his undertakings. He 
 was a foreman on the North- Western Railwaj' 
 for some time. In 1874, he came to Pleasant 
 Township where, in January. 1872, he had 
 bought of J. P. Casady and Mr. Haas, of 
 Council Bluflfs, 640 acres of wild land at S6.50 
 cash per acre. He at the same time owned 
 200 acres in Clinton County, one of the best 
 farms in that county, which he sold in Maj-, 
 1874, for $9,500 cash, then moved to his section 
 in this township. In 1874, he bought 830 acres 
 of wild land at $9.50 cash per acre ; in 1881, 
 bought 80 acres of wild land adjoining the 
 home farm at $16 cash per acre, and he now 
 owns 1,550 acres of laud, all clear of incum- 
 brance, one of the finest stock or grain farms 
 in the county. The Big Silver Creek runs 
 through the farm, one-half of which is valley. 
 The farm is located four and a half miles west 
 of Avoca, and two and three-fourths south of 
 Shelby. Mr. Lane carries on general farming, 
 and frequently goes to Chicago to bu}- cattle. 
 At Lyons, Clinton Co., Iowa. November 14, 
 1853, he married Mary Shannon, born in 
 Count}' Clare, Ireland, in March, 1832. daugh- 
 ter of Michael and Mary (Neylon) Shannon, 
 natives of County Clare, Ireland, he born in 
 1796, she in 1806. By this union, they have 
 been blessed with the following children : 
 James, Patrick Henry, Mary, Margueretta, 
 Katy and John (deceased). In politics, Mr. 
 Lane is a Democrat, but conservative in his 
 views. 
 
 WILLIAM LEIGH, farmer, P. 0. Shelby, 
 was born in Somersetshire, England, October 
 2, 1831, son of Thomas and Jestina (Cox) 
 Leigh, natives of Somersetshire, England, he, 
 born August 24, 1804, was a merchant, and 
 died, as did his wife also, in the land of their 
 birth. The father died in 1875. They were 
 the parents of seven children, three sons and 
 four daughters. Our subject received a good 
 education in Taunton, England. He came to 
 the United States in 1855, landing in New 
 York. He lived in Connecticut for two years, 
 where he clerked in a grocery store in Bridge- 
 port, that State. He came to Johnson Coun- 
 ty, this State, in 1857, and was a merchant in 
 Iowa City for eight years. He came to Pleas- 
 ant Township in 1875, aud purchased 160 acres 
 of land at $12.50 per acre. He built a one- 
 and-a-half-story frame house, 32x16, 16x20 
 and 10x16, set out a grove, and built a large 
 barn and other buildings. He has a farm in 
 Shelby County of 220 acres, aud one in Harri- 
 son County of 240 acres. He carries on gen- 
 eral forming aud deals in stock and grain. He 
 was married, in Bridgeport, Conn., June 16, 
 1856, to Johanna Doray, born on the Isle of 
 Jersey, England, April 20. 1828, daughter of 
 John and Harriet (Winsey) Doray, he born on 
 the Isle of Alderney, England. June 20, 1801, 
 she born in Guernsey, England, September 19, 
 1803. Mr. and Mrs. Leigh have three children 
 —Thomas Doray, born May 31, 1857 ; Alfred 
 Henry, February 28, 1865, and Ada Eliza, 
 November 6, 1866. In religion, our subject is , 
 an Episcopalian, and in politics he is a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 F. W. LIPPOLD, farmer, P. O. Hancock, 
 was born in Davenport, Iowa, January 1, 1856, 
 son of William and Hannah C. (Burecamper) 
 Lippold, natives of Prussia, Germany, and the 
 parents of seven children, five sons and two 
 daughters. William Lippold, who is a farmer 
 by occupation, is still living in Pleasant Town- 
 ship, where his wife died in June, 1878. Our 
 
I 
 
 PLEASAXT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 217 
 
 subject received his education in the schools of 
 Davenport and Le Claire Township, Scott 
 Count}', Iowa, and began life as a farmer. 
 In November, 1872, he came to this township, 
 bought 160 acres of wild land at S9 per acre 
 in ISSO, and has improved the place, erecting 
 on it a frame dwelling-house one and a half 
 stories, 16x24 feet, besides other buildings, and 
 has set out a good orchard. He devotes his 
 attention to general farming ; he also runs a 
 threshing-machine. At Avoca, Iowa, January 
 1, 1880, he married Hannah C. StofTels, born 
 August 25, 1863, in Holstein, Germany, daugh- 
 ter of JI. and Jlarj- (Jacobson) Stoftels, he a 
 native of Prussia, she of Holstein, Grermany. 
 Bv this marriage, they have one son — Florenz, 
 born April 22, 1881. Mr. Lippold is a Demo- 
 crat. 
 
 GILBERT MANNING, farmer, P. 0. Avoca, 
 was born in Clinton County, N. Y., April 19, 
 1840, and is a son of Edgar and Sallie (Thew) 
 Manning, who is still living in Clinton Countv, 
 N. Y. Edgar Manning, a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, was born in Vermont December 23. 1817; 
 his wife was born in Clinton Count}-, N. Y., 
 August 19, 1817; they had a family of two 
 sons. 5Ir. Planning was educated at Peru, 
 Clinton Co., N. Y., and taught school three 
 years, and has since devoted his attention to 
 farming. He left New York Februarj' 20, 
 1878, came to Pleasant Township April 10, 
 that year, and bought 160 acres of improved 
 land at S21.87|^ per acre. He sold that place 
 February 27, 1882. for 830 per acre and bought 
 his present farm of 2U0 acres of improved laud 
 at S30 per acre. His farm, which is one of the 
 finest in the township is well supplied with liv- 
 ing water, is well adapted for stock-raising or 
 for raising grain, and is situated two miles,west 
 of Avoca on the main road from the east to 
 Council Bluffs. He carries on general farming. 
 At Peru, Clinton Co., N. Y., November 27, 
 1866, he married Rachel Muzzy, born in Sar- 
 anac, Clinton Co., N. Y., July 12, 1842, daugh- 
 
 ter of Milton and Esther (Nichols) Muzzy, he 
 born in Vermont December 15, 1811, she born 
 in Essex County, N. Y., August 17, 1811. Mr. 
 Mannning was Justice of the Peace in New 
 York for four years. He is a member of the 
 Methodist Church and an A., F. & A. M., Peru 
 Lodge. No. 281, Peru, N. Y., and in politics is 
 a Republican. 
 
 PHILIP SYDNEY McCANDLBSS, farmer, 
 P. 0. Shelby, was born in Washington Count}-, 
 Penn., December 15, 1844, son of Alexander 
 and Wanzy (Scott) McCandless, he a miller and 
 farmer, born in Pennsylvania in 1813, died in 
 Douglas County, Kan., March, 1882; she, born 
 in Washington County, Penn., in 1812, died 
 there in 1850. They had seven children, four 
 boys and three girls. Subject received his 
 education in Henry County, 111., commenced 
 life as a farmer, and married in Rock Island 
 County, 111., February 12, 1879, Nellie J. Mor- 
 gan, born August 30, 1857, in Shropshire. Eng- 
 land, daughter of Thomas and Emma (Tim- 
 mis) Morgan, both born in Shropshire, Englandi 
 in 1827. Mr. and Mrs. McCandless have one 
 child— Guy Sydney, born May 7, 1881. Sub- 
 ject is a Presbyterian, a Democrat, a member 
 of the A. H. T. S.; been School Director, Jus- 
 tice of the Peace, and enlisted March 18, 1865, 
 in Company E, Eightenth Illinois Infantry 
 (Capt. Brewer), and got an honorable discharge 
 in February, 1866. He went to Illinois in 1854, 
 living there until he was twenty-five years old, 
 when he came to Pleasant Township in 1869, 
 buying 160 acres at $8.50 per acre, went back 
 to Illinois, the next year, came back to this 
 township again and broke eighty acres of land, 
 when he went back again on July 1, but re- 
 turned in the spring of 1871 and improved the 
 farm; there is an orchard and fine grove on the 
 place. He went to Colorado in 1877 with the 
 intention of mining, but returned the same year. 
 He does general farming and has a good farm. 
 
 GEORGE NIPPERT, farmer, P. 0. Minden, 
 was born in Alsace, Germany, March 11, 1819, 
 
218 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL: 
 
 son of Jacob and Eva Elizabeth (Lisher) Nippert, 
 natives of Alsace, German3', and parents of five 
 sons and two daughters. Jacob Nippert, who 
 ■was a farmer b}' occupation, was born in Janu- 
 ar}', 1784, and died in Monroe County, Ohio, 
 August 31, 1844: his wife, who was born in 
 1784, is still living in Ohio. Our subject re- 
 ceived his education in his native country, and 
 acquired the English language without a 
 teacher. His fiist occupation was that of a 
 blacksmith. He came to the United States in 
 1837. and lived three j-ears in Pittsburgh, 
 Penn., three years in Ohio, when he went to 
 Freeport, 111., where he remained until 1847, in 
 which yesLT he removed to Wisconsin, where he 
 resided until he came to Pleasant Township in 
 1874. He purchased 160 acres of wild land at 
 $8 per acre. He set out a two-acre grove, 240 
 fruit trees and otherwise improved the place. 
 He has a good house, and carries on farming 
 in its various branches. He was married in 
 Monroe County, Ohio, November 27, 1842, to 
 Sarah Hirchinger, born in Alsace, Germanj^ 
 August 11, 1821, daughter of Michael and 
 Sarah (Bay) Hirchinger, natives also of Alsace, 
 Germany, he born in 1784, she in 1795. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Nippert had nine children, of whom 
 one — Sarah, is deceased. Those living are 
 Caroline, Michael, Lizzie E., Henry W., Rosan- 
 na K., Jacob, Emma E. and Charles E. Our 
 subject has filled township offices in Sauk 
 County, Wis., and has been Township Trustee 
 in Pleasant Township, In politics, he is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 J. F. PARKER, farmer, P. O. Shelby, was 
 born in Vermont September 27, 1837, son of 
 Abel and Fanny (Farnsworth) Parker; he, a 
 farmer and mason, born in New England Octo- 
 ber 6, 1790, died in Lake County, 111., March, 
 1857, she also died in Lake County, 111. The}- 
 had a family of five boys and two girls. Sub- 
 ject is self-educated, commenced life as a car- 
 penter and married in Newton, Jasper Count}-, 
 this State, September 18, 1862, Nellie Bettise, 
 
 born December 22, 1842, in Detroit, Mich., 
 daughter of John and Malizann (Cook) Bet- 
 tise, he born in New England October 5, 1793, 
 she in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., February 7. 
 1804. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have two children, 
 viz., Aimer A. Clifton and Blanche M. Edith. 
 Subject is a carpenter as well as farmer; has 
 been Township School Treasurer and held other 
 offices, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, is a Republican, a member of the 
 Grange; and came from Jasper County to this 
 township in 1874; bought eighty acres of wild 
 land for S8 per acre, built a one and one-half 
 story frame house on it 14x22 feet, with a 
 kitchen 14x22 feet, costing in all $800, besides 
 other buildings, all built by himself Mrs. 
 Parker's father went through the war of 1812 
 with Capt. Tanner. 
 
 A. D. PEDICORD, farmer. P. 0. Shelby, 
 born in Morgan County, Ohio, October 23, 
 1836; son of Thomas and Susannah (Crossen) 
 Pedicord; he, a farmer, born in Maryland in 
 1806, is still living on the old homestead in 
 Morgan County, Ohio; she, born in Ireland in 
 1801, still lives on the old homestead. They 
 have had six children, three boys and three 
 girls. Subject went to school in Morgan 
 County, Ohio, commenced life by running on 
 the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers from Zanes- 
 ville to Pittsburgh, from 1856 till 1865, and 
 married his first wife on the old homestead in 
 Morgan County, Ohio, January 23, 1855, Sarah 
 Brabham, born in Loudoun County, W, Va., in 
 1841, daughterof T. J. and Martha (Stevenson) 
 Brabham, both born in West Virginia; he, June 
 30, 1818 ; she, September 14, 1820. Mrs. Pedi- 
 cord died September 2, 1869. Subject was 
 married the second time in Henry County, III., 
 January 18, 1870, his present wife being a 
 member of the Presbyterian Church, He is a 
 Democrat, a Freemason, a member of the A. H. 
 T. S., and is the father of the following chil- 
 dren : Thomas J.. Mary Ann, Martha Susan- 
 na, Elizabeth Edna, John and Ella Bell, 
 
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 219 
 
 who died August 8, 1878. Subject was tax 
 clerk ill Illinois, Assessor for this township, 
 and filled several school offices for a lyimber 
 of years. He left Ohio in the fall of 1864, 
 going to Rock Island County, III., forming there 
 eight years, came to this township in the spring 
 of 1872, bought 160 acres of wild land at $9 
 per acre, improved it, built a house and out- 
 buildings, set out 2.0U0 shade and 300 fruit 
 trees, which are in bearing condition, besides 
 small fruits, bought forty acres of wild land at 
 $7.50 per acre, from the Chicago, Rock Island 
 & Pacific Railroad Company, bought forty 
 acres of improved laud at $15 per acre, from 
 John K. Cooper, Company Superintendent, and 
 130 acres also improved at $22.75. He built a 
 fine two storj' residence in 1882, 18x28 feet 
 and 18x18 feet with bay window, which cost 
 $1,000. 
 
 WILLIAM V. ROCK, farmer, P. 0. Avoca, 
 is a native of Waldeck, German}-, boru March 
 19, 1S51, son of Frederick and Louisa (Schnane) 
 Rock, natives of Waldeck, Germany. Frederick 
 Rock was born September 26, 1818, is a farmer 
 by occupation, his permanent residence being 
 in his native country', though he is at present 
 on a visit to the United States; his wife, born 
 in 1822, died in Waldeck, Germany, in 1865; 
 they had eight children, five boys and three 
 girls. Subject left Germany in 1866, came to 
 this country, and settled in Scott County, Iowa. 
 He received his education in German}-, and in 
 Scott County, Iowa, and began life as a farmer, 
 which occupation he has since pursued. In 
 the spring of 187-4, he came to Pleasant Town- 
 ship where he had the previous year bought 
 160 acres of wild land at $9 per acre, improved 
 the place and broke eighty acres in 1874. He 
 set out 2,000 shade and fruit trees, buill a 
 house and farm buildings, and, in 1880 erected 
 a more commodions frame dwelling house, one 
 and half stories high, 18x28 feet at a cost of 
 $1,100. He carries on general farming: his 
 farm is well supplied with water and is well 
 
 adapted to stock raising purposes. Mr. Rock 
 has now one of the finest farms in the county, 
 consisting of 240 acres, he having bought eighty 
 acres in 1881, paying $20 per acre for one-half 
 of it. and $21.25 per acre for the other half 
 In Avoca, this county, March 8, 1875, he mar- 
 ried Louisa Prese, born in Waldeck, Germany, 
 January 9, 1856, daughter of Ludwig and 
 Wilhelmina (Rock) Frese, also natives of that 
 country. By this union, they have had three 
 children — Minnie, born November 15, 1865; 
 Frederick, born September 12, 1877, and Henry, 
 born January 23, 1800. Mr. Rock has been 
 highway Supervisor and Assessor of the town- 
 ship, and is now Township Trustee. He is a 
 member of the Lutheran Church, is a member 
 of the A. H. T. S., and is in politics, a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 ALEXANDER M. SCOTT, farmer, P. 0. 
 Shelby, Shelby County, Iowa, was born in 
 Washington County, Penn., February 9, 1847, 
 and is a son of Archibald and Elizabeth 
 (McCandless) Scott, natives of Allegheny 
 County, Penn., and now residents of Henry 
 County, 111., he, a farmer by occupation, 
 born in December, 1808; she, born in 1810. 
 Subject's parents had seven children, two boys 
 and five girls. He received his education in 
 his native State, and in Henry County, 111., 
 began life as a farmer, and still follows that 
 occupation. He moved from Pennsylvania to 
 Illinois in the spring of 1857. He farmed for 
 several years in Illinois, and in 1872 came to 
 this township, -where, in 1 870, he had bought a 
 tract of land, half of which he broke in 1871, 
 and on which he built in 1872. His farm 
 consisted of 160 acres of land which cost $8.50 
 per acre, and, in 1873, he bought eighty acres 
 at $8 per acre. In March, 1877, he sold his 
 personal property, rented his farm, and re- 
 moved to Lake City, Hinsdale Co., Colo., but re- 
 turned in November. He built a one and half 
 story frame dwelling house on his place. 16x26 
 feet and 10x26 feet, at a cost of S700. In this 
 
220 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 township, January 7, 1880, he married Anna 
 Frum, born in Monongalia County, W. Va., 
 March 2i, 1857, daughter of Joseph and Mary 
 (Boyd) Frum, natives of that county, and both 
 born in the year 1820. By this union two 
 children have been born — Archie Boyd, born 
 December 9, 1880, and Clifford, born July 22, 
 1882. Mr. Scott has been Township Trustee, 
 President of the Board of Directors two j'ears, 
 and also School Director for one year. He is a 
 member of the Presbyterian Church, is a Good 
 Templar and member of the A. H. T. S., and in 
 politics, votes the Democratic ticket. 
 
 WILLIAM SIMPSON, farmer, P. 0. Shelby, 
 Shelby Count}*, was born in Onondaga County, 
 N. Y., May 18, 1821, and is a son of Benjamin 
 and Elizabeth (Redman) Simpson. Benjamin 
 Simpson, who was a farmer by occupation, was 
 born in Orange County, N. Y., November 21, 
 1782, and died at Elbridge, Onondaga Co., N. Y., 
 September 30, 1822; his wife, who was also 
 born in Orange County, N. Y., October 15, 
 1790, died in Clinton County, Iowa, April 30, 
 1864; they had seven children, five boys and 
 two girls. The subject of this sketch received 
 fcis education in the schools of Elbridge, N. Y., 
 and early engaged in farming; he also followed 
 boating several j-ears, owning and running 
 several boats on the Erie Canal. In Onondaga 
 County, N. Y., December 1, 1842, he married 
 Julia Gregoire, born in Canada October 24, 
 1825, daughter of Theodore Gregoire, a black- 
 smith by trade, who was born in Canada April 
 22, 1786. By this union nine childi-en have 
 been born, six of whom are living, four of 
 whom reside in this county — Nicholas P., Ben- 
 jamin E., Eltnor U., Sarah E., Elnora E., John 
 W., Albert 0., Nettie M. and Gratia A. He 
 came to Pleasant Township in 1870, bought 
 488 acres of wild land at $10 per acre, which 
 he improved, and on which he erected a frame 
 house, 26x32 feet, two stories high, with kitchen 
 14x16 feet, at a cost of $2,000. Mr. Simpson 
 is engaged in general farming. When he came 
 
 to Pleasant Township, there were only three 
 voters, but at the last election 150 votes were 
 cast, and then all the voters in the township 
 did not vote. He is a supporter of the Dem- 
 ocratic party. 
 
 HIRAM STEWART, farmer, P. 0. Shelby, 
 was born in Athens County, Ohio, December 
 24, 1835, son of Alexander and Clara (McGee) 
 Stewart, he a native of Athens Count}-, Ohio, 
 born August 30, 1806; was a merchant, boat- 
 man and a farmer, and is still living in this 
 State. The mother of our subject was born in 
 Pittsburgh, Penn., January 8, 1815, and died in 
 West Point, Lee County, this State, in June, 
 
 1840. They were the parents of ten children, 
 five sons and five daughters. Our subject re- 
 ceived his schooling in his native county, and 
 in Lee and Henry Counties, this State. He 
 started in life as a drover and farmer. He was 
 married in Van Buren County, this State, Feb- 
 ruary 21, 1861, to Esther L. Bennett, born in 
 Athens County, Ohio, January 8, 1837, daugh- 
 ter of P. W. and Martha A. (McLain) Bennett, 
 he a native of Massachusetts, born in 1812; she 
 born in Athens Count}-, Ohio, June 1, 1822. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have four children — 
 Clara Frances, born February 23, 1862; John, 
 born June 29, 1864; William A., born June 
 29, 1866, and May Anna, born July 3, 1869. 
 Our subject came to Pleasant Township in the 
 spring of 1868, and bought a school claim of 
 eighty acres. April 20, 1875, he purchased 
 forty acres of improved land at $20 per acre, 
 and March 1, 1882, he made another addition 
 of forty acres at $16.50 per acre. His present 
 farm, of 160 acres of good land, is situated, 
 120 acres in Section 16 and forty acres in Sec- 
 tion 15. He carries on general farming. He 
 has been Road Supervisor for a number of 
 years, and also a Director. In politics, he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 JOHN H. C. STUHR, farmer, P. 0. Shelljy, 
 was born in Holstein, Germany, Februarj- 27, 
 
 1841, son of Adam and Mary (Bocher) Stuhr, 
 
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 321 
 
 both natives of Holstein, Germany, he born ia 
 1801, she in 1809. Both died in their native 
 country'. They were the parents of seven chil- 
 dren, four boys and three girls, of whom one 
 son and a daughter are deceased. Our subject 
 received his education in his native country, 
 and emigrated to America in 1857, landing in 
 New York. He came to Davenport, this State, 
 from which place he went in the army, return- 
 ing to the same count}', after serving through- 
 out the entire time of the war. He enlisted in 
 the fall of 18(51, in the Twelfth Missouri Infan- 
 trj' Company I, Capt. Alefeldt. He took part 
 in the engagements of Pea Ridge, Vicksburg, 
 Lookout Mountain, Atlanta and others. He 
 was married in Davenport, this State, October 
 2, 1866, to Eva Katharina Wilhelmina Arohn, 
 born April 24, 1844, in the same place as her 
 parents — G. and Mrs. (Atzman) Arohn, who 
 were natives of Schleswig, Germany. Mrs. 
 Stuhr came to the United States in 1866, and 
 lived in Scott County, this State, till the time 
 of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Stuhr are the 
 parents often children, eight of whom are liv- 
 ing — Emma, Willie, Mary, Clara, Kathrina. Ma- 
 tilda, Dora and Johanna. Our subject came to 
 Pleasant Township in 1875, and purchased 205 
 acres of land at $11 per acre, fiftj^-five acres for 
 $1,000, and also made a purchase of 160 acres 
 of wild land in Harrison County at $9 per acre, 
 fifty-five acres of which were, however, some- 
 what improved. His present farm property is 
 now well cultivated. He set out a grove and a 
 three-acre orchard of small fruit. He pays at- 
 tention to most all kinds of farming. Mrs. 
 Stuhr died in Pleasant Township August 17, 
 1882, and her funeral was attended bj- lai'ge 
 numbers, who have always held her in the 
 highest esteem. Our subject h.as filled many 
 township offices. He was Constable two j-ears, 
 
 Trustee three years. Assessor two years, and 
 School Director two j-ears. He is an I. 0. 0. 
 F., Helvetia Lodge, No. 423. In religion, he is 
 a Lutheran, and in politics, a Republican. 
 
 CHARLES WASSER, farmer, P. 0. Avoca, 
 is a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, born 
 January 19, 1827, and is a son of Erhart and 
 Rosina. (Stein) Wasser, also natives of Wurtem- 
 berg, German}-. Erhart Wasser was born in 
 1794: was a shoemaker by trade, and died in 
 Pennsylvania in 1857; his wife, who was born 
 in 1802, died at Blue Island, 111., in 1868; they 
 had three children, two boys and one girl. 
 Subject received his education in Wurtemberg, 
 Germany, and learned the shoemaker's trade 
 in Germany. In 1853, he left his native coun- 
 try and came to the United States, locating at 
 St. Clair, Penn., where he worked at his trade 
 ten years. In 1863, he moved to Illinois, where 
 ■he worked at his trade, and, in 1871, came to 
 Pleasant Township, bought eighty acres of land 
 at Sn per acre, improved it and remained on 
 the place two years. He then worked at his 
 trade for three years, renting his farm mean- 
 while, and, at the end of that time, returned to 
 the farm. In 1880, he bought eighty acres of 
 improved land at $18.50 per acre, and carries 
 on general farming. There is a good supply of 
 living water on the farm, which is well adapted 
 to stock-raising. Mr. Wasser has been Road 
 Supervisor. In Germany, in 1851, he married 
 Kate Anna Gebel, a native of Germany, born 
 January 30, 1823, daughter of Elias and Katha- 
 rina (Hiventhal) Gebel, natives of Germany, he 
 born in 1790, she in 1798. Mr. Wasser was 
 again married in Pennsylvania in 1857. He 
 has three children — Lizzie, Jacob and Conrad 
 Philip. He is a member of the Lutheran 
 Church, and in politics, is Republican. Mrs. 
 Wasser is a member of the Reformed Church. 
 
223 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 ROCKFORD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 H. L. ALDRIPGE. farming, P. 0. Loveland, 
 was born in Indiana in 1846, came to Potta-. 
 wattamie County in 1854, and, with the excep- 
 tion of a few j-ears he lived across the line in 
 Harrison County, this township has been his 
 home ever since. His business has alwa3-s 
 been that of farming and stock-dealing. He 
 received his education in this county, but, for 
 several 3'ears after coming here, there was no 
 school that he could attend. His father, John 
 S. Aldridge, died while he was very young. 
 The mother is still living ; she is a native of 
 Indiana, and is now Mrs. Josiah Skelton, one 
 of the old settlers of Pottawattamie County. 
 Mr. Aldridge was married in this county, in 
 1867, to Miss M. E. Selvy. He was first farm- 
 ing in the Missouri River bottom, where he still 
 has 156 acres of land, and also has a arm at 
 his home place of 44 acres. This he bought 
 more for a fruit farm, on which he now has 
 quite a good many apple and other fruit trees. 
 He has been engaged in buying and selling 
 cattle, and now has about one hundred head of 
 cattle, besides hogs and other stock. He is 
 Democratic in politics, and is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity. He has held different 
 township offices, and is now one of the Trust- 
 ees. His first farm was raw prairie when he 
 bought it, paying from $10 to $20 per acre. 
 It is now well improved. His present home 
 place cost $25 per acre. Mr. Aldridge started 
 out for himself with but little, and his present 
 success he has gained by his own energ}- and 
 perseverance. He is also in the bee business, 
 having a number of stands, which are pa3'ing 
 well. He also has an orchard of about five 
 hundred trees, which is doing finely. 
 
 ELIHU CARTER, farmer, P. O. Loveland, 
 was born in New York in 1827, son of Henry 
 
 Carter, who died in January, 1872. The 
 mother of our subjfect is still living, and was 
 seventy-five years old in March, 1882. Our 
 subject came to this State in 1875 from Winne- 
 bago Count}', Wis., and settled on his present 
 place. He purchased 160 acres of land, for 
 which he paid $3,000. There were no fences 
 or other improvements with the exception that 
 80 acres were in corn, which he secured, and a 
 house which was not completed. Our subject 
 moved with his parents from his native State 
 to Pennsylvania when he was about two years 
 old. He lived there eight j-ears, afterward 
 moving to Wisconsin, and finally to this State, 
 as before stated. He received his education 
 mostlv in Wisconsin, in which State he was 
 also married to Miss Lucinda Knapp, a native 
 of Pennsylvania, daughter of Hosea Knapp, 
 who is still living, and was eighty-three years 
 old in December, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Carter 
 have four children living, three boys and one 
 girl, of whom one boj* and one girl are mar- 
 ried and are living in Rockford Township. 
 The}' have buried one daughter, who died in 
 September, 1881. When our subject first 
 movted to Wisconsin, the Winnebago and Me- 
 nomonee tribes of Indians were respectively 
 located on the south and north sides of the 
 Fox River. They would steal from each other, 
 and both from the white population. Mr. Car- 
 ter lived in Waljjvorth, Fond du Lac and Win- 
 nebago Counties, Wis., to which latter county 
 he moved in 1850. In September, 1861, he 
 enlisted in the Fourteenth Wisconsin lufantrj', 
 Company C, and served eight months under 
 Col. Wood. The battle of Shiloh was the 
 principal engagement in which he took part. 
 He gives but little attention to political mat- 
 ters, having voted but once in this State, except 
 
ROCIvFORD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 223 
 
 on questions pertaining to local school affairs. 
 His present farm consists of his original pur- 
 chase of 160 acres, which he has put in plow- 
 land and meadow, and a subsequent purchase 
 of 20 acres, which is in timber. He raises 
 principally corn. 
 
 SAMUEL CLARK, farmer, P. 0. Missouri 
 Valley, Harrison Count}', was born in Ne\v 
 York State in 1818. His parents moved to 
 Indiana when he was a small boy. There he 
 grew up, was married and made his home till 
 about 1853. He was married, in 1840, to Miss 
 Sarah Harding, born in New York State in 
 1820, daughter of William Harding. Mr. 
 Clark has always followed farming. From 
 Indiana, they moved to Wisconsin and lived 
 tliere about a year, and then came to Eastern 
 Iowa, where thev lived till the fall of 186-1 
 when they came to this county, and have made 
 this their home ever since. The first j'ear, 
 they rented a farm, and then came on to their 
 present farm. They bought it the first fall 
 they came, but rented for a j'ear, while they 
 were making improvements on their own place. 
 It was all raw prairie at that time. He paid 
 $4.50 per acre for land, and bought 122 acres 
 at first. His farm now consists of nearh- 200 
 acres, which he bought of J. C. Foreman, of 
 Council Bluffs. They have reared four chil- 
 dren, three girls and one bo}'. All were mar- 
 ried. The eldest daughter, who died in Feb- 
 ruary, 1881, was living in Nebraska; their 
 son is living in Kansas, one of the girls is in 
 Iowa, and the other is in Nebraska, At first, 
 Council Bluffs was their trading point. After 
 buying his place, he did not have much mone^' 
 left, so for some time they had a pretty hard 
 lot of it, but, by hard work and economj', they 
 soon were in comfortable circumstances. For 
 some time after coming, he was in the stock 
 business, but now he does not farm himself, so 
 he sold off his stock and rents his land. He 
 is Republican in politics, but does not take 
 much interest in political matters. He is a 
 
 member of the Masonic fraternity. His first 
 house wa.s 16x20 feet, and was made of cotton- 
 wood, the lumber being sawed near here, and 
 cost about $25 per thousand. Even the shin- 
 gles were of the same material. The same 
 housathey still use, but they have made con- 
 siderable additions to it. Mr. Clark is a son 
 of Erastus Clark, born in Connecticut, and one 
 of a familj' of eleven children, who are scat- 
 tered over the United States, Mrs, Clark is 
 one of six children, one sister and one brother 
 being deceased. When our subject and wife 
 moved to this county, thoy came with a team 
 of horses and two yoke of cattle, Mr, Clark's 
 father came with them, and drove a light bug- 
 gy, our subject driving one team of cattle and 
 Mrs, Clark the other, while their son, L, H. 
 Clark, drove the loose cattle, 
 
 THOMAS N, COPELAND, farmer, P, 0, 
 Loveland, was born in North Carolina in 1811, 
 but was raised in Indiana, to which State his 
 parents had moved when he was seven years 
 old. He lived in Indiana until he came to this 
 State in 1852, He was married in 1835 to 
 Miss Barbara Frazier, born in Tennessee in 
 1816, She moved to Indiana with her parents 
 when she was small. Mr. and Mrs. Copeland 
 have five children living, four daughters and 
 one son, all of whom are married and are living 
 near them. They have buried four children — 
 three boys and one girl ; the oldest son djiug 
 in September, 1881. Our subject's oldest sou, 
 J. A. Copeland, two sons-in-law and four 
 brothers were in the late civil war, which they 
 went through without receiving a scratch. Our 
 subject arrived in this county in the fall of 
 1852, He came across the country in wagons, 
 and made the trip of 500 miles in just four 
 weeks. The winter following his arrival he 
 passed just over the line in Harrison County, 
 In February, 1853, he bought a 700-acre claim 
 of Isaac Cox, for which he paid $470. He 
 entered this, and shorth' afterward moved on- 
 to it, living the first two 3-ears in a Mormon 
 
224 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 cabin. His farm now consists of 260 acres. 
 With the exception of seventy acres which 
 he sold, the balance of his original farm has 
 gone to his children. His present home was 
 built in the summer of 1855. It was con- 
 structed mostly of Cottonwood. Part of the 
 , original siding is still on. The house is 32x 
 32, part of which is two stories high and has a 
 basement. Our subject has been engaged in 
 farming ever since coming to this couutj-. He 
 also ran a mill for nine \ears. The mill was 
 erected by Loveland & Craj-ton, our sub- 
 ject purchasing the interest of Mr. Crayton. 
 For nine years the firm name was Copeland 
 & Loveland. His partner failing our subject 
 took the mill, afterward selling it to Hawthorne 
 & Co., who are its present owners. Our sub- 
 ject has always taken an active interest in 
 school and township affairs, and has done 
 much toward the prosperity and advancement 
 of his section. Although seventy-one j-ears 
 old, he can read readilj' without the use of 
 glasses, and his eyes appear to be stronger than 
 they were forty years ago. In politics, he was 
 first a Whig and afterward a Republican. 
 
 BASEL FOX, farmer, P. 0. Loveland, was 
 born in Putnam County, Ind., in 1827, son of 
 James S. and Elizabeth (Enoc) Fox ; he, born 
 in New Jersej-, she a native of Pennsylvania. 
 They were marrie'l in Ohio and emigrated to 
 Indiana in 1826. Both are deceased. Our 
 subject has one sister living, 3Irs. Eliza 
 Mullinix, who resides in Harrison County, this 
 State. He was educated in his native State, 
 where he lived until he was twentj--flve years 
 of age, when he started across the country' with 
 an ox-team and settled on his present farm in 
 1852. His resources at the time he arrived 
 were S20.50 in cash, half-interest in the three 
 yoke of oxen and wagon and a note against his 
 brother for $55. They purchased together a 
 claim of 400 acres at a cost of |20 in money 
 and two yoke of cattle. Our subject bought 
 his brother's interest for §110, and the wagon. 
 
 He then got Judge Casady to enter eighty 
 acres of the land on time, paying him forty per 
 cent interest. In this manner he struggled on, 
 and now owns 385 acres of the original 400, 
 most of which is fenced and is in a state of 
 cultivation. He has made man}^ substantial im- 
 provements, including two barns, one of which 
 is 22x75, and a two-story residence. Mr. Fox 
 was married in Indiana in 1849 to Amanda J. 
 Bell, born in the same State. They have had 
 twelve children, of whom four boys and four 
 girls are living; the eldest born in December. 
 1850, and the youngest September 16, 1879. 
 April 7, 1862, our suljject enlistee! in the 
 Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, Company H, and 
 after three years' service was mustered <?ut at 
 Davenport, this State. He took part in many 
 heavy engagements, including Corinth, luka. 
 Miss., Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. He 
 was twice captured, once at Spring Place, G-a., 
 and again at Tilton, Ga. He was five and a 
 half months in Andersonville Prison, and was 
 under medical treatment for ten mouths, being 
 moved from one hospital to another. He is 
 now a member of the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public, and in politics is a Republican. 
 
 A. FRAZIER, Postmaster and farmer. 
 Honey Creek, came from Putnam County, 
 Ind., in the fall of 1854, and settled on his 
 present place, his father entering the same. 
 Our subject was born in Indiana in 1837 ; sou 
 of J. T. Frazier, a native of Tennessee, but 
 who was raised in Indiana, and is still living on 
 the place they first settled. The mother of our 
 subject is dead. He (subject) received his edu- 
 cation in his native State. He was married, in 
 1857, to Miss Juliana Wild, a native of Eng- 
 land. They have three children, one sou and 
 two daughters, all of whom are at home. 
 When our subject and parents came to this 
 county, the}' traversed the country in wagons, 
 and were four weeks in making the trip. They 
 purchased the improvements which the Mor- 
 mons had made on the place, and entered it 
 
ROCKFORD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 225 
 
 afterward. Council Bluffs was their trading 
 point at this time. Our subject started a gen- 
 eral store in Honey Creek in 1867. He is also 
 the Postmaster at the latter place. His busi- 
 ness, however, has been principally farming. 
 He deals mostly in cattle, hogs and corn. His 
 farm consists of 450 acres, 200 of which are 
 under cultivation. He is a member of the Ma- 
 sonic fraternity, and in politics is a Republican. 
 M. H. FRENCH, blacksmith, P. 0. Loveland, 
 is a native of New York ; born in 1838 ; son 
 of Adoniram French, a native of Connecticut, 
 and a farmer by occupation. The parents are 
 both deceased. They had eleven children, six 
 sons and five daughters, of whom six are now 
 livina;. Our subject received his education in 
 the common schools of his native State, which 
 he left in November, 1867, and came to this 
 State, settling in Loveland with just $7 in his 
 pocket. He was married, in 1858, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Johnson, a native of Ireland. They 
 have the following children : Bdwiu C, born 
 September 9, 1859 ; Ella M., born January' 18, 
 1861 ; Willie L., born November 9, 1865 ; Jen- 
 nie E., born April 22, 1870, and Arthur M., 
 born August 30, 1873. The first three named 
 were born in New York, and the latter two in 
 this State. Ella M. was married, in September 
 1879, to F. I. Haldemaa, who is station agent 
 at Clear Water, Neb., where the}- are now living. 
 Our subject never fiirmed but one j-ear. He 
 sailed the lakes for three years, after which he 
 settled on terra firma and went into the black- 
 smithing business, which he has followed for 
 about twenty-five j-ears. He runs a shop at 
 present but seldom does any work in it himself, 
 being engaged in partnership with his son 
 in a general merchandise business in Loveland, 
 in which he carries a stock of over $2,000. He 
 is also agent for the Shugart Implement Com- 
 pany of Council Bluffs. Mr. French also has 
 109 acres of land in timber, from which he 
 cuts from 200 to 250 cords per season. He 
 also owns a good residence and two lots near 
 
 the depot. Mr. and Mrs. French are members 
 of the M. E. Church. In politics, he is a Dem- 
 ocrat, and has alwa\-s voted that ticket. 
 
 H. W. A. GOSS, farmer, P. 0. Loveland, was 
 born in Illinois in 1845. His parents came to 
 Iowa when he was but five j-ears old, and set- 
 tled in this county on his present place in 
 April, 1851. This has been his home ever 
 since, except one j^ear he lived in Missouri 
 Valley, Harrison County. He is the son 
 of Sherman Goss, who died in 1855 ; the 
 mother died in 1881, aged seventy-seven years. 
 Our subject was educated in this county. His 
 business has always been farming. He has 
 three brothers, one in Council Bluffs, one in 
 Missouri Valley, Harrison County, and one 
 in La Veta, Colo. Mr. Goss was married, in 
 this county, to Miss Ella Boyd, of Harrison 
 County, daughter of John Boyd. They were 
 married in 1874, and have two children, both 
 boys. Our subject had four brothers who 
 went into the. army ; one was killed. Mr. Goss 
 was too young to go at the time. He is Re- 
 publican in politics. The Mormons had been 
 here before Mr. Goss came, but all the im- 
 provements they had made was to break our 
 garden spots in the hollows, for thej- did not 
 have teams sufficient to break up the heavy 
 sod. They also had log huts covered with 
 boards, and on these dirt. Mr. Goss' father 
 bought a claim from the Mormons, and then 
 entered land in 1853, as soon as it was open for 
 entr}'. Entering at first 160 acres, most of it 
 lying in the Boyer River bottom, but after- 
 ward entered more. Mr. Goss now has 106 
 acres. He is now living on the old place first 
 settled. He remembers how they had to do 
 the first j'car they were here. The verj' high 
 waters washed out what mills there were within 
 reach of them, so the}' did their own grinding, 
 by putting corn in a large iron kettle and 
 pounding it with an iron wedge. The finest 
 the}- would sift out and make bread from, and 
 the coarse they would make into mush and 
 
226 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 hotninj. Hogs were so scarce it was almost a 
 sight to see oue, but game was very plent}^ 
 When comiag here. Kauesville or Council 
 Bluffs only had one hewn-log house, and that 
 was a store. The rest were all round logs, and 
 covered with dirt. 
 
 W. E. HOYT, boarding house and confec- 
 tioner}', Loveland, was born in Illinois in 1850, 
 but came to Iowa when about five j-ears old. 
 His parents first settled twenty miles west of 
 Iowa City, on the banlis of the Iowa River. 
 He is the son of H. B. Hoyt, who is still living. 
 The mother died about 1866. In 1863, they 
 moved to this county, and he has lived here 
 ever since, except two years; one spent in the 
 eastern part of the State and the other in Kan- 
 sas. He was educated mostly- iu the schools of 
 this countj-. He has three brothers and two 
 sisters. He was raised on a farm, and for the 
 first two or three years after starting out for 
 himself, he followed farming. In 1879, he 
 bought out the grocery stock of Mr. Joseph 
 Moss, and continued in that business in Love- 
 land for two j'ears, then sold that out and 
 started his present business of boarding house, 
 restaurant and confectioner}-. He also owns 
 and runs the Town Hall. He commenced on 
 his present building March 1, 1881; the hall is 
 20x50, twelve-foot ceiling, and the restaurant 
 department connected with the hall is 14x50. 
 He was married, in 1875, to Miss Ellen Moss, 
 daughter of Joseph Moss. They have one girl 
 and oue boy. He is Democratic in politics, 
 and at present is Justice of the Peace; also, has 
 a blacksmith and wagon repairing shop. 
 
 HARDIN JONES, farmer, P. 0. Loveland, 
 was born in 1810, in Keutuck}-, on the Green 
 River, Case}' Count}'; then moved with his 
 father to Orange County, Ind., in 1817, and 
 then to Putnam County, lud., the fall of 
 1826. and remained there till the fall of 1855, 
 when he came here. All of his family came at 
 the same time, except one daughter, who came 
 before. His onlv son now living, has been liv- 
 
 ing by him ever since, their farms adjoining 
 each other. He first bought 280 acres of Cal- 
 vin Beebe, paying $2,650. and siuce that, he has 
 added to his farm. He and son together have 
 since had over 1,000 acres. Our subject now 
 has 435 acres. Their farming is stock and 
 grain. Mr. Jones served as County Judge one 
 year. Auditor one year. Justice of the Peace 
 for about twenty -one years. He was elected 
 to the offlce of Justice of the Peace six days 
 after he was eligible, and has been in county 
 and township offices of •some kind ever since 
 till within a year. In moving here, they came 
 in wagons, starting September 11 and arriving 
 October 22, 1855. They camped out whenever 
 night overtook them, and followed what was 
 called tlie old Mormon trace. He is Demo- 
 cratic in politics. His first vote was for Gen. 
 Jackson. He is a member of the Baptist 
 Church. He was first married, October 18^ 
 1832, to Asenath DuWeese. She died Feb- 
 ruary 12, 1860, He was afterward married to 
 Mrs, Mary Skelton, October 18, 1860, She died 
 in March, 1881, He was again married to Mrs, 
 Brunetta Moss. He had five children by his 
 first wife; both his other wives had five children 
 each when he married them, and he had no chil- 
 dren by either of them. 
 
 JOHN GREEN JONES, farmer, P. 0. Love- 
 land, came to this county in the fall of 1855, 
 He was born in Indiana in 1834, son of Harden 
 Jones, who is still living in this township. Our 
 subject lived in Putnam County till coming to, 
 this State with his father. He bought from a 
 man by the name of Beebe, who had improved 
 the place to some extent, having about forty 
 acres fencej and broken, and containing a log 
 cabin 12x16 feet, in which our subject lived for 
 two years. His father's cabin was about 16x20 
 feet. They bought about 280 acres when first 
 coming, paying about $9 per acre. Although 
 there was plenty of land that could be got for 
 less, yet this suited them, and they were willing 
 to pay the advance, Mr. Jones was married, in 
 
ROCKFORD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 227 
 
 Indiana, in the fall of 1854, and then came West 
 the following year. He was married to Miss 
 Mary Ann Mace, born in Tennessee, but came 
 to Indiana while small. Her parents moved to 
 this State and lived here till they died. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Jones have six children, Ave sous and 
 one daughter. Two sons are married, and the 
 others are all at home. Mr. Jones has three 
 sisters living, but no brothers; four sisters came 
 West with them, two of whom were married. 
 Mr. Jones has a farm of 525 acres, about 250 be- 
 ing in cultivation, the remainder is in timber and 
 grass land. He is Democratic in politics. 
 
 OSCAR KELSEY, merchant and Postmas- 
 ter, Lovelaud, came here and located perma- 
 nently in the fall of 1875. He was born in 
 Dearborn Countj', Ind., in 1847. He was 
 raised on a farm and lived there until he came 
 to Council Bluffs in 1871. He was educated 
 in Moore's Hill College, Ind., which he left in 
 his junior year on account of ill health, and 
 came West and taught school till the spring 
 of 1876, when he accepted a position as a book- 
 keeper in Copeland & Loveland's mill, in which 
 capacity he was engaged up to 1880, when he 
 and his brother bought their present store, 
 where they carry a $1,600 stock of general 
 merchandise, with annual sales of $5,000, 
 which are steadil}' increasing. They purchased 
 the store of J. A. Copeland, and have since 
 continued in the business. They also run a 
 farm. Our subject was married, December 25, 
 1875, to Miss T. E. Copeland, daughter of 
 Thomas N. Copeland, whose biograph}' appears 
 elsewhere. They have three children — two 
 sons and one daughter. In politics, our sub- 
 ject is a Republican, and has been such since 
 John C. Fremont ran for President, for whom 
 he and his brother were the only boys in the 
 district school who would hurrah. Our sub- 
 ject is the present Postmaster of Loveland, 
 having been appointed in the summer of 1880. 
 His father, L. H. Kelsey, and his (subject's) 
 mother are still living in Indiana. 
 
 HENRY LOWE farmer and charcoal dealer, 
 Houe}' Creek, was born in England in 1844, 
 and came to America, when he was six 
 years old, with his parents. The}- stopped in 
 Fall River, Mass., for about two years, during 
 which time the father followed his trade of 
 boss-carder in a cotton factory. The}- then 
 moved to St. Louis, Mo., where they remained 
 until 1854, when they came to the present 
 place in Rockford Township. Our subject re- 
 turned to St. Louis, coming back in 1857, and 
 remained here ever since. He is the son of 
 William Lowe, who is now a teacher of phonog. 
 raphy in Ogden, Utah. The father was in the 
 army; he belonged to the Seventh Missouri 
 Cavalry, and went through the entire service. 
 Our subject's grandfather, Lowe, was in the 
 cavalry at the renowned battle of Waterloo 
 The mother of our subject died in St. Louis 
 about 1855. Her parents — Mr. and Mrs. Allen 
 — came West about 1850, and both died on 
 our subject's place. He was married , August 
 24, 1862, to Esther Aveyard, who was born iu 
 England in the same house as he was. Hiram 
 Bostwick took her when she was six vears old 
 and raised her. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe have had 
 ten children, nine of whom — four boys and five 
 girls — are living, and are all at home. The farm 
 now consists of 220 acres, of which fifty acres 
 are in tillable land, the balance being in timber 
 and meadow. Our subject started iu life with 
 nothing save determination to win. When he 
 first came here. Mormon huts were the only im- 
 provements, and there was a Mormon Church 
 on his present farm. He started into the char- 
 coal business in 1879, in which he has con- 
 tinued since. He now has contracts for about 
 6,000 bushels. In politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 JOSEPH MOSS, agricultural implements, 
 Loveland, was born in Greene County, Ind., in 
 1834, son of Aquilla Moss. His parents arc 
 both dead. He was educated in Indiana and 
 was married in Putnam County, of the same 
 State, to Miss Mary Jane Joues, March 30, 
 
238 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 1854, and the nest year came West, settling 
 in Harrison County, wliere he lived two years, 
 and then sold out and came to this count}' 
 and bought laud, but sold out and went back to 
 Indiana, where he remained four years aud 
 then came back in the fall of 1864, and has 
 been here ever since, bu3'ing a place about two 
 and a half miles south of Loveland. Was ap- 
 pointed Deputy Sheritf, and served four years 
 under George Doughty, and then came back to 
 Rockford Township and has lived in the town- 
 ship since, but as he has two farms and prop- 
 erty in Loveland his time has not been given 
 to either. In the two farms he has 380 acres, 
 about 200 acres being in cultivation, forty in 
 timber and the remainder in grass land. In 
 1878, he moved into Loveland and went into 
 the grocery business for two years, aud also 
 was in his present business of agricultural im- 
 plements. After two 3'ears, he sold his stock 
 of groceries, and since has been giving his 
 time to the implemeiit business and to the carry- 
 ing on of his farms. When he got to this State 
 first, it was with a wagon and team and 30 
 cents in money. The first winter in Iowa was 
 his hard winter, for he had no money, but 
 worked at anything he could get to do. Shocked 
 corn in the snow, bare handed, for John S. 
 Goss, and got 11 per day. Game of all kinds 
 was plenty aud that furnished them meat. 
 Paid $9 per hundred for flour. Pork 9 cents 
 per pound. In the next spring he went to 
 work his father-in-law's farm and made his 
 start that way, for part of the corn he raised 
 he sold for $3 per bushel. With this he en- 
 tered land, improved and sold, aud kept this 
 up for some time, buying and selling. He has 
 been a Democrat all his life, and has held of- 
 fices of some kind for over twentv years, is 
 now a Justice of the Peace. He was at one 
 time engaged in buying and shipping stock and 
 trading of all kinds, but for four years he 
 has uot been engaged in any verj' active busi- 
 ness. He aud wife are both very active mem- 
 
 bers of the Baptist Church. They have had 
 ten children, four married, four at home and two 
 are deceased. 
 
 JOSEPH SEEBOLD, farmer, P. 0. Love- 
 land, was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., in 
 1826, and went to Michigan while small. He 
 made Michigan his home till 1850, when he 
 crossed the plains to California, stopping in 
 Iowa for some weeks. He remained in Cali- 
 fornia for five years. While there, he was min 
 ing most of the time. Then he returned to 
 Michigan in June, 1855, remaining there till 
 December bf the same year, and then came to 
 this count}-, arriving here about the 1st of 
 January, 1856. He crossed the State by 
 stage. It was storming badly, and the driver 
 got lost on the prairie and night came on. Mr. 
 Seebold was the only passenger, so they tied 
 the horses to the coach and went inside, tore 
 up the carpeting of the stage, aud in that and 
 what robes they had they wrapped up for the 
 night, but it was all thej- could do to keep from 
 freezing. The next morning, aid was sent for, 
 but they had managed to find the wa}- into the 
 station before it came. He was married at 
 Magnolia, Iowa, Januarj- 12, 1856, by Judge 
 Hardy, then Judge of Harrison County, to 
 Miss Jane Palmer. She had come to Harrison 
 County, with her uncle, from Michigan, in 1852. 
 They have nine children, five boys and four 
 girls, all of whom are at home. lu April, 1856, 
 our subject came to Rockford Township, and 
 has been in it ever since, and about tweutj'- 
 three years on his present farm. In 1864, he 
 went into the service, going into the Third 
 Iowa Battery, 0. H. Lj'ous commander, in 
 Gen. Solomon's division, then at Little Rock, 
 Ark., and then removed to Fort Smith, Ark. 
 This was the last battery mustered out of the 
 Seventh Armj- Corps. He is Republican in 
 politics. His farming is general, but for a few 
 3-ears he has turned his attention to sorghum, 
 raising sorghum cane to quite an extent. His 
 farm is well improved. When first coming 
 
ROCKFORD TOWNSHIP. 
 
 229 
 
 here, in 1856, there was onl3' one house on the 
 Missouri bottom between Loveland and Cal- 
 houn, Harrison County. 
 
 CtEORGE west, farmer, P. O. Loveland, 
 was born in Ohio in 1825, son of Harmon AVest, 
 a native of Virginia, and a descendent of Gov. 
 West, who was Governor of that State while it 
 was a British colon}-. Our subject's parents 
 who are both deceased, had fourteen children, 
 of whom six are now living. Our subject re- 
 ceived his education in his native State, and 
 was raised on a farm. He came West, and 
 settled in Illinois in 1850, where he remained 
 until 1856, when he came to this State, and 
 located across the line, between this and Har- 
 rison Counties. He was married, in Illinois, in 
 1851, to Miss Susan Drumnj. TLey have eight 
 children, four sons and four daughters, of whom 
 one son and a daughter are married. Our sub- 
 ject first settled in Cincinnati Township. Har- 
 rison Count}', adjoining Rockford Township on 
 the north. He settled on the bottoms, to the 
 west and north of the Bojer, but was unable to 
 secure a title to the land, as it was undecided 
 whether it was swamp or Government land. 
 At that time, most of the settlers here were 
 formerlj- Mormons, who had become dissatis- 
 fied with that religion and had not gone to 
 Salt Lake with the balance. Our subject did 
 not secure a title to the land until about 1860. 
 He sold his first land and went to the river, 
 where he had a tract of timber. Here he ran 
 a saw-mill for about two years. In 1868, he 
 sold the mill and timber to the railroad com- 
 pany for $15,000 ; after which he went to 
 steamboating on the Missouri River. In the 
 following }-ear. his boat, which carried both 
 freight and passengers, was burned at Omaha, 
 Neb., with a loss to himself of about $9,000. 
 This was the Lydia Grace. He had previously, 
 in 1863, lost another boat, the Emma, which 
 sank in the river, he losing about $2,000. In 
 1869, he came to his present farm, which now 
 consists of 400 acres, which is mostlj' in corn. 
 
 The life of our subject shows what a man 
 with perseverance and energy can accomplish. 
 He has made and lost two or three fortunes. 
 His various occupations have subjected him to 
 all kinds of exposure ; he has employed from 
 twenty to thirty men at a time. After a resi- 
 dence in this part of the State for about twenty- 
 eight years, he concluded that one who has a 
 home in Pottawattamie County cannot better 
 himself in any part of this terrestrial sphere. 
 In politics, he is a Republican. 
 
 JACOB J. ZAHNER, farmer, P. 0. Love- 
 land, is a native of Switzerland. He was born 
 in October, 1818, and came to America when 
 he was about twenty-six years of age. About 
 two 3-ears later, he was married in Michigan, in 
 which State he had first settled, to Miss Kath- 
 arine Mundinzer, a native of German^-, who 
 came to this country pi-evious to our subject. 
 They were married at the house of a Mr. Lusts. 
 They came from Michigan to Dubuque, this 
 State, about 1851, and lived there till about 
 1856, when he came to this county, and settled 
 on his present farm, which now consists of 220 
 acres. Our subject was in the military school 
 in the old country with Gen. Sigel, of rebellion 
 fame ; he also served his time in the Swiss 
 Army ; he is a Catholic in religion and in pol- 
 itics a Republican. 
 
 FRANK ZAHNER, farmer, P. 0. Missouri 
 Valley, was born in Dubuque Count}-, this 
 State, December 26, 1852; son of Jacob J. 
 Zahner, who came to this county about 1856. 
 Our subject came here with his parents, and 
 has since lived here. He was educated in this 
 county, going three miles to school in winter, 
 and working in the summer. When he was 
 nineteen years old, he went to Jewell County, 
 Kan., and took up a pre-emption claim of 160 
 acres, which he kept for five years, finally trad- 
 ing for 140 acres of his present place, paying 
 $800 difference. He made a subsequent pur- 
 chase of 160 acres, and of his present fiirm 130 
 acres are in cultivation, the balance being in 
 
230 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 pasture and meadow. He was married, March 
 29, 1875, to Miss Clara Kirkland, born in Logan 
 Count}-, Ohi^, daughter of Samuel Kirkland, 
 who came to this county about the time our 
 subject did. He died in the army. Mrs. Kirk- 
 land is still living near Neola, this count}-. 
 Our subject has three children, two boys and 
 one girl. He and his brotlier-in-law, W. T. 
 Roden, are engaged in stock-dealing, in which 
 business our subject has been for about three 
 years. In the winter of 1880, they shipped 
 1,600 head of cattle, besides hogs. Mr. Zahn- 
 
 er's farming consists principally in raising corn 
 for his stock. Though j'oung at the time, Mr. 
 Zahner remembers the winter of the deep 
 snow, when his father, in company with four 
 others, started to mill, with four yoke of cattle, 
 and some corn. They set out for what was 
 then called the Willow Mill, a distance of 
 ' twelve miles, which took them all daj' to travel. 
 Our subject has three thoroughbred cattle, which 
 came from Corbin & McClintock, Kentucky. 
 He is Republican in politics, and in religion a 
 Catholic. 
 
 SILYEE CREEK TOWl^SHIP. 
 
 SHADRACH AUKLAND, farmer. P. 0. 
 Living Spring. Mr. Aukland is a native of 
 England, born in 1844 in Lincolnshire; came 
 to America in 1852, stopping in Zauesville, 
 Ohio, where they remained about one and one- 
 half years. Soon after settling there, his father, 
 William Aukland. was thrown from a horse 
 and was killed. Mr. Aukland and his mother 
 moved to Peoria Count}', 111., about eighteen 
 months after this, and his mother still lives 
 there. 3Ir. A. came to Pottawattamie County 
 in 1869, and has made this his home ever since. 
 He received his education in Illinois in com- 
 mon schools. He was married in Peoria Coun- 
 ty, 111., in 1866, to Miss Priscilla A. Evans; she 
 was born in Ohio. They have three children 
 living and one dead, all boys. He is Repub- 
 lican in politics. He and wife are members of 
 the Church of God. Farming has always been 
 his business. In 1864, he enlisted in Company 
 I, One Hundred and Forty-sis Illinois Infan- 
 try (Col. Dean); served till close of war. Most 
 of the time they were at Springfield, 111., doing, 
 provost duty. Jlr. Aukland's farm consists of 
 160 acres. It was raw prairie when he bought 
 it; he gave $8 for the first eighty and 812.50 
 per acre for the second eigbty; most of it is 
 
 now in cultivation. Mr. A. has just completed 
 a residence 18x26, one story and a half, his 
 being one of many neat farmhouses rebuilt in 
 this township in the last few years. 
 
 J. A. BROCKMAN, farmer, P. 0. Carson. 
 Mr. Brockman is a German by birth, and was 
 born in 1841 in Holstein, and came to America 
 in 1852. His own parents being dead, he was 
 adopted by his aunt, and after she was married 
 came with her to America; they settled in Iowa. 
 His father, Frederick Brockman. was in the 
 Holstein and Denmark war in 1847, and died 
 during the war. Mr. Brockman was educated 
 in Iowa. August, 1861, he enlisted in Com- 
 pany E, Second Iowa Cavalry. He served 
 three years, serving under Col. Elliott and Col. 
 Hedge, in Gen. Hooker's division; Atlanta was 
 the leading engagement. He stood on guard 
 at Memphis when Gen. Forrest made his raid. 
 After his discharge, he returned to his home in 
 Scott County, Iowa, and remained there till he 
 came to Pottawattamie County in 1869. fall of 
 the year. He was raised on a farm but had not 
 followed farming for himself till he came to 
 this county. He had been in the hotel busi- 
 ness in Davenport. In Durant, Cedar Co., 
 Iowa, he ran a hotel for about eighteen months. 
 
SILVEE CREEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 331 
 
 and was burned out May, 1869, and then came 
 out here. He was married in Scott Countvi 
 in 1868, to Miss T. G. Suser; she is a native 
 of Grermany, coming from near Mr. Brock- 
 man's old home. They have six children, two 
 sons and four daughters. When he came to 
 his present farm, it was wild land. His farm 
 now consists of 136 acres, all in cultivation; 
 corn and hogs are his principal business. He 
 is Republican in politics. He and wife are 
 members of the Lutheran Church. He is one 
 of the Township Trustees, and has been three 
 years. Mr. Broekman has been influential in 
 bringing in about twenty families who have 
 settled in Silver Creek, Keg Creek and Wash- 
 ington Townships. 
 
 CHARLES CASSON, farmer, P. 0. Living 
 Spring. Mr. Casson is a native of Yorkshire, 
 Eng., born in 1826. When he was eleven 
 years old, he went into a woolen mill, where 
 they made the finest woolen goods, and contin- 
 ued to work in the same mill till 1869, where 
 he quit and came to America, giving himself 
 only about a week to prepare from the time he 
 left the mill till he started. He was married, 
 in 1851, to Miss Eliza Wood ; she was born iu 
 the same shire. They brought nine children 
 with them to America, and one was born since 
 coming, but the oldest sou died in Iowa ; five 
 sons and four daughters still living. One son 
 married. When he came to America, he settled 
 first in Logan County, 111., where he remained 
 one year ; then went to Fa3-ette County, 111., but 
 was there only two years, when he returned to 
 Logan County, and made that his home till he 
 came to his present farm in 1877, but had 
 bought it in 1875. His farm consists of 160 
 acres. It was raw land when he bought it, and 
 paid $10 per acre. Since coming on to it he 
 he has been steadily improving ; now it is all 
 in cultivation. Corn-raising is most of bis 
 farming, and then feeding part of the time. 
 Mr. Casson's object in coming here was to 
 make a home which should be his own, and he 
 
 has succeeded. He is Republican in politics. 
 He also has 160 acres in Wayne County, Neb. 
 JOHN CLARK, farmer, P. 0. Macedonia. 
 Mr. Lyman Clark, the father of John Clark, 
 was born in New York State February 12, 
 1811. Lived there till about 1851, and then 
 went to Perry County, Ohio ; was in Ohio for 
 .about eight years, and then went to La Salle 
 County, 111., and was there about twentj' j'ears, 
 and then came to Iowa in 1879, settling in Sil- 
 ver Creek Township. He was married, in New 
 York Januarj- 15, 1832, to Miss Betsey Cran- 
 dall. She was born in New York February 8, 
 1814. January 15, 1882, they passed their 
 fiftieth wedding anniversary, both quite active 
 and strong. They have had seven children, 
 four sons and three daughters, two sons and 
 two daughters now living — Charles H.. Frances 
 J., Wilson M., Is.adora 0., Floretta Geraldus 
 E., John. Charles H. died when he was a boy. 
 All the others lived to be grown, and all were 
 married except John, he living at home. 
 Except three years that he worked at black- 
 smithing, Mr. Clark's whole life has been spent 
 in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Clark began their 
 life together with nothing, but have lived to see 
 their children doing well, and have made a 
 good property for themselves. All their chil- 
 dren were born in New York, except the 
 youngest, and he was born in Ohio in 1857. 
 Mr. John Clark was educated in Illinois in 
 common schools. He has alw.aj's followed 
 farming, and has remained at home. He and 
 his father have each 160 acres of land in a 
 body — 260 in cultivation — the remainder in 
 pasture and hay land. His business is raising 
 corn and feeding cattle and hogs — -feeding 
 thirty-five head of cattle, besides hogs. He is 
 Republican in politics. His father also has 
 been a Republican since the party started. His 
 father worked for three 3-ears for Moses and 
 Henrj- Tilden, brothers of Samuel J. They 
 were then in their manufacturing business, 
 Mr. Clark being boss on the Tilden farm. 
 
232 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 JAMES A. FRAZIER, stockman, Silver 
 f'ity. Mr. Frazier was born December 31, 1848, 
 in Obio, and lived there till he was twenty 
 years old, and then came to Marion Countj', 
 Iowa, and was there for four 3'ears, and then 
 moved to Mills County, where be remained for 
 one year, and then came to Pottawattamie 
 Count}-. He is the son of John R. Frazier. wbo 
 was born in Indiana. Mr. Frazier's mother 
 was born in Ohio, his parents are both living, 
 and just across the line in Mills County. He 
 is one of seven children, five sons and two 
 daughters, only one of the family dead, a sister 
 of Mr. Frazier's; while he was a small boy, he 
 always said he was going to be a stock dealer, 
 and he worked for that all his life. First be- 
 ginning by raising sheep, an uncle gave him 
 one lamb and from this he made a start, selling 
 the first fleece of wool for a dollar, and invested 
 that in another lamb, and then he let out his 
 three or four lambs to a farmer to keep on the 
 shares, and kept on in this waj' till he had 
 about 500 head, when he left Ohio. In Marion 
 County, Iowa, Mr. Frazier and two of his broth- 
 ers, Randall and William, went into partner- 
 ship and rented a fiirm ; James was only twenty- 
 two, Randall, eighteen, and William, sixteen 
 years old. From this time till 1878, these 
 three brothers were in together. They farmed 
 and fed some cattle for themselves, and some 
 for their landlord. In this way, they learned 
 the business of buying and feeding cattle. 
 After coming to Mills Countj', thej' continued 
 in the same way, only steadilj' increasing, and 
 begun buying and shipping cattle and hogs, 
 J. M. Strahan, of Malvern, Mills County, fur- 
 nishing the money and getting half the profits. 
 As they accumulated means of their own, 
 they made use of it, and finally got enough to 
 carry on business on their own account. In 
 1878, they dissolved partnership, but in the 
 spring of 1881 James and William again went 
 in together, and continue. William carries on 
 the business in Nebraska, where they have 
 
 bought 1,600 acres of land, besides leasing 
 3,400 acres of school and college lands. Of 
 their land there, above 400 acres are fenced, 
 and 200 in cultivation, and have cattle sheds, 
 etc., to make a complete cattle ranch, and have 
 on hand there now over 400 head. James 
 Frazier tends to the business on this side of 
 the river. He used to think that if he had a 
 team of horses, he would be all right, but now 
 he and his Ijrother have thirty-nine horses, 
 mules and colts. His leading business here is 
 buying and shipping stock. This summer, he 
 has fed about 550 head of hogs, and shipped 
 about 5.000 head, and of cattle fed about 100 
 head and shipped 800. Randall Frazier has 
 continued in the same business, but alone since 
 1878, and has made a success also, having 
 now a section of land, joining the town of 
 Wayne, Wayne County, Neb., which is his iiome. 
 Mr. James Frazier was married in Marion 
 County, Iowa, 1873, to Miss Mary M. Cross, 
 who was born in Ohio. They have six chil- 
 dren, three girls and three boys. He is Re- 
 publican in politics; came to his present farm, 
 spring of 1874. His independent farm here 
 consists of 200 acres, well improved with fences, 
 orchards, groves, etc. 
 
 JURGEN HEESCH, farmer, P. 0. Council 
 Blutfs. Mr. Jurgen Heesch was born in Ger- 
 many in 1848, Holstein being his native State. 
 He came to America in the fall of 1870, settling 
 in Scott Count}', Iowa; was there about fifteen 
 months, and then came to Mills County, where 
 he remained for one year, and then moved 
 to Pottawattamie County, to his present farm. 
 His parents both died in the old country; he 
 was educated in his native land. Was married, 
 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, June 12, 1873, to Miss 
 Anne Schmielan; she was born in Germany 
 also. They have four children, four girls. He 
 is Republican in politics. His farm consists of 
 240 acres, 140 in cultivation, the remainder in 
 pasture and meadow. He bought it when it was 
 raw prairie, paying $10 for the first eighty and 
 
SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 233 
 
 $15 per acre for the last IGO. His farming is 
 general corn-raising, and feeding to bis stock 
 his leading business. When he came to this 
 country in 1870, he had about S700, and the 
 remainder he has made in this country. 
 
 JAMES W. HOLMES, farmer, P. O. Silver 
 City, Mills Co., Iowa. Mr. Holmes was born 
 and raised iu Tazewell County. 111., born 1842. 
 In 1856, his father moved to Page Count}-, 
 Iowa, but is now living in Council Bluffs. In 
 18(51, Mr. Holmes went to California, and re- 
 mained there for seven years. By trade he is 
 a carpenter, and learned his trade by working 
 with his father. While in California he was 
 mining, and also following his trade. In com- 
 ing back to Page County from California, he 
 went the longest way round, going to South 
 America, England, Scotland and Ireland, and 
 back through Canada to the United States, 
 having been more than a year on the trip. He 
 was married, in Page County, January, 1870, to 
 Miss Millie Worthington, who was born in 
 Pennsylvania. They have four children, all 
 boys. He has alwaj-s been Democratic, in poli- 
 tics. Is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
 joining that societj- in Oregon when twent3--one 
 years old. His farming is principally raising 
 corn and feeding to hogs. Mr. Holmes has 
 been in Pottawattamie County for twelve years, 
 and has been in this township ever since, and 
 now there are only seven or eight families in 
 this township that were living here when he 
 came. Mr. Holmes has seen more of the world 
 than most men of his age, and his own experi- 
 ence would make a volume in itself His farm 
 consists of 1 20 acres. 
 
 L. F. HUSZ, farmer, P. O. Council Bluffs. 
 Mr. Husz was born in Germany January 1, 
 1850. He was born on the Island of Fehmarn; 
 came to America in 1867. settling in Daven- 
 ix)rt. Iowa, and lived there till the spring of 
 1875; he came to this county and settled on his 
 present farm. He was married, in Pottawatta- 
 mie County in 1881, to Miss M. L. Bebensee: 
 
 she was born in Germanv also. They have two 
 little children, both girls. His farm consists of 
 360 acres, 200 in cultivation, 160 in pasture. 
 His farming is general, but mostly corn and 
 stock. He is Republican in politics; his mother 
 is still living, and in this count}'. Since com- 
 ing here, farming has been his business, 
 while in Davenport he was teaming. When he 
 reached New York City, he had $5, and was 
 seventeen years old; all that he has, he has 
 made himself in this countr}'. In the old 
 country he began to hire out, and worked hard 
 when he was only about ten years old. He has 
 had to make his own way by hard work and 
 perseverance. 
 
 O. LAWSON, farmer, P. O. Living Spring. 
 Mr. Lawson is a native of Norway, his early 
 home being about seventy miles east of Chris- 
 tiana. He was born in 183-1; came to America 
 about 1853; landed at Quebec. Soon after this, 
 came to Chicago, where he remained about six 
 years, leaving Chicago in 1859, and went to 
 Pike's Peak. For eight or nine years he was 
 in the West, being in Colorado, Utah, Idaho and 
 Portland, Oregon, during the time, putting in 
 the time mining, freighting, prospecting, and 
 working at his trade of carpentering ; came to 
 Pottawattamie County about 1866, and has been 
 here ever since. First, bought the present 
 place of John Van Kirk, buying of Judge Brat- 
 ton. He was married, in Mills County, Iowa> 
 February, 1871, to Miss Viola Orr; died July 
 13, 1881; she was born in Ohio. He had four 
 children, two are now living, both boys. In 
 1869, he moved to his present farm, and has 
 been on it since, except one year he lived in 
 Mills Count}'. His farm consists of 320 acres; 
 his principal business is raising corn and feed- 
 ing. All of his farm but fifty acres is in culti- 
 vation, and good improvements. He is Re- 
 publican in politics. Mr. Lawson was raised 
 on a farm in the old country, but never followed 
 farming till he came to Iowa. While in Chica- 
 go, he had learned the carpenter's trade, and 
 
234 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 followed that for some }'ears. Mr. Lawson is 
 one of the oldest settlers now living in the town- 
 ship. There were only six or seven houses in 
 the township when he came, and some of them 
 but the rudest of shanties, being mostlv situated 
 along the old stage road. Between Keg and 
 Silver Creeks, there was no house in this part 
 of the count}-, and east of Silver, Macedonia 
 was the nearest settlement, and Taj^lor Station 
 on the north; Keg and Silver Creek Townships 
 were in one at that time, and had onlj- seven- 
 teen or eighteen voters. 
 
 MALCOLM McKEXZIE, farming, P. 0. Liv- 
 ing Spring. Mr. McKenzie was born in Scot- 
 land August 8, 183-1, and came to Prince 
 Edward's Island in 1836 with his parents, who 
 lived there as long as thej- lived. He came to 
 Maine in 1853, and has lived in the United 
 States ever since, coming to Council Bluffs in 
 1855, but remained there onl}- a short time, and 
 then went to Minnesota and followed lumber- 
 ing for five vears; then went to Colorado with 
 the gold-seekers; from here he went to Idaho, 
 on Salmon River; then to Washington Territo- 
 ry, and then to Portland, Ore., where he re- 
 mained for some time, and then back to Idaho, 
 where he was mining for two j-ears; then came 
 back to Denver, Colo., where he remained for 
 three years, and was engaged also in mining; 
 then drove stage for one ^ear from Britcher 
 Path to Green Iliver for Wells & Fargo. In 
 fall of 1867, October, was married at Golden 
 City. Colo., to Miss Elizabeth Braekej', a native 
 of Prince Edward's Island. That same fall 
 they came to their present place, which was raw 
 prairie, and there was not a house in sight at 
 the time. They have five children — three boj-s 
 and two girls. Mr. McKenzie was more suc- 
 cessful in his mining than many gold-hunters. 
 He and a partner in thirty-one days took out 
 $17,780; but most of this was paid out for a 
 claim which proved worthless; but striking an- 
 other rich deposit, thej- got about $4,000 
 each before the season closed. Mr. McKenzie 
 
 had a partner and mining interest in Colorado, 
 and as this partner had a good chance to make 
 a sale, Mr. McKenzie, wiio was in Idaho at the 
 time, sent him a power of attorney. His part- 
 ner made the sale for .$80,000. and left with the 
 proceeds. Mr. McKenzie found that he was 
 gone, and traced him to New York City, where 
 he had managed to escape on a vessel a few 
 hours before. Mr. McKenzie's life has been one 
 of varied experience and of much interest, 
 leaving his home young, and spending so much 
 of his life in the wilds of the West. His farm 
 consists of 250 acres. He pa3-s attention to 
 stock and farming, having at present about 100 
 head of cattle. He has been in this township 
 long enough to see all the improvements that 
 have been made, as there were but few shanties 
 in the township at the time he came. He is a 
 Democrat in politics, but votes for what he con- 
 siders the best man. 
 
 A. AND D. McKENZIE, farmers, P. 0. Car- 
 son. Messrs. McKenzie are natives of Prince 
 Edward's Island, Queens County. A. Mc. was 
 born in 1845, and D. Mc. in 1849. Mr. D. Mc. 
 came to the United States May 22, 1869, com- 
 ing to Massachusetts, and thence to Iowa July 
 27, 1869. Mr. A. Mc. came direct to Iowa 
 Januar}' 15, 1870. Both have been here ever 
 since, and have been in Pottawattamie County, 
 the first two 3-ears in Macedonia Township, and 
 then to Silver Creek Township. January 18, 
 1874, they bought their present farm, it being 
 raw prairie, pa3-ing §10.25 per acre, buying 240 
 acres, nearly the whole being in cultivation 
 at present. Their principal business is raising 
 corn and feeding to stock. Mr. A. McKenzie 
 was married January 28, 1879, in Pottawatta- 
 mie County, to Miss Rhoda Ann Jones, born 
 in Indiana. They have one child, a boy. The 
 McKenzie brothers received their education in 
 Prince Edward's Island. The}' are Scotch de- 
 scent, their parents coming from Scotland ; 
 both parents now are dead. They are Repub- 
 lican in politics. Mr. A. Mc. has always fol- 
 
SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 235 
 
 lowed (arming, but Mr. D. is a shoe-malver by 
 trade, having served five years as an appren- 
 tice, but since coming here has followed farm- 
 ing all the time. Most all that they now have 
 they have made since coming to Pottawattamie 
 County, and have made it by farming. 3Ir. A. 
 Mc. was at work for three j^ears running the 
 mail from Cape Traverse to Cape Tormentine, 
 across the Straits of Northumberland. In win- 
 ter, they have to carr}' the mail, from about the 
 10th of December till the 10th of Jlay, across 
 the ice. The mail would be put into a boat, 
 and the men would put straps around their 
 shoulders and draw the boat after them, where 
 there was ice, and then, if the}' went through, 
 they could catch on the boat, and use that, if 
 there was water. Often, when the ice was 
 good, they could make it across, the distance 
 of nine miles, in three hours, but sometimes it 
 would take them three daj's, waiting, when the 
 sea was rough and the ice would be breaking 
 up. Once, after they had crossed in three 
 hours one waj-, and started back immediatel}', 
 the ice broke up on the return, and they were 
 floated back and forth till about 12 o'clock at 
 night, and then landed about nine miles from 
 home ; he has seen the ice piled up thirty or 
 forty feet above the water and as much below 
 the water. When the ice begins to break up, 
 they can hear it for as much as ten miles. 
 
 JACOB NISEWANGER, farmer. P. 0. 
 Macedonia, was born in Shelby County, Ohio, 
 in 1831. In 1857, he moved to Illinois, and 
 settled in Logan County, and he remained there 
 for six years, and then returned to Ohio, and 
 remained at home with his father for two years, 
 and then went back to Logan County, 111., 
 where he stajed for one season, and then came 
 to Iowa. In the fall of 18G1, before going to 
 Ohio, he was married, near Lincoln, 111., to 
 Miss Sarah J. Woods. She was born in Ohio. 
 In the fall of 1864, he came to Mills County, 
 and the next year came into Pottawattamie 
 County, and has been in Silver Creek Town- 
 
 ship ever since, and is perhaps the oldest set- 
 tler in the township now. In 1867, he came to 
 his present farm. The nearest settlement to 
 him was over four miles. The first eighty 
 acres of land he got he traded for without ever 
 seeing it. His farm now consists of 160 acres, 
 well improved. He has just completed a large 
 two-story residence, and has a bearing orchard 
 and forest groves, etc. His farming is mixed, 
 raising grain, also stock. He has nine children, 
 six boys and three girls, and one son dead ; he 
 is Democratic in politics. His father, William 
 Nisewanger, lived on the old homestead in 
 Shelby County, Ohio, till his death, in Febru- 
 ary, 1880. Mr. Nisewanger's mother died only 
 a few da3's before his father. Mr. N.'s ances- 
 tors were Germans, but his father was born in 
 Maryland ; he was educated in the common 
 schools of Ohio, going to a log schoolhouse, 
 with a big fire-place, and sat on puncheon seats. 
 H. OUREN, farmer, P. O. Living Spring. 
 Mr. Ouren was born in the suburbs of Chris- 
 tiana, Norway, in 1835. Most of his early life 
 was spent in Christiana, being educated there ; 
 his parents died when he was joung, and he 
 was apprenticed to a merchant, where he served 
 over three years ; he came to this countrj- when 
 he was seventeen 3 ears old ; he is the youngest 
 of nine children, five of whom are dead, the 
 other four in America, Mr. Ouren being the 
 first to come ; he landed in Quebec with 82 in 
 his pocket, and then worked his way on to 
 Chicago. He made Chicago his home from 
 1853 till 1S61, but was awa}- part of the time, 
 being in Wisconsin, lumbering, sailing on the 
 lakes, etc. Was married in Chicago, March 1 4, 
 1857, to Miss Aurora F. Peterson ; she was 
 born in Sweden, but had come to America 
 when she was about ten or eleven years old. 
 They have seven children, six sons and one 
 daughter, all at home. The first year after 
 coming West, thej' wintered in Nebraska. In 
 the spring of 1862, they moved to Colorado, 
 and remained there till the fiill of 1865. when 
 
236 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 they returned to Nebraska ; spent the winter 
 in a house belonging to Samuel Dodge. The 
 next spring, they moved to Silver Creek Town- 
 ship, and have been here ever since. Mr. 
 Ouren and Mr. Lawson bought first 300 acres 
 together. It was the Judge Bratton farm, now 
 owned bj- John Vankirk. While there, they 
 kept stage station and farmed. This place was 
 an old Mormon settlement, and there were still 
 a number of their huts when they moved there, 
 and a hewn-log hut built by the Mormons, and 
 this was used as the first schoolhouse on Silver 
 Creek. In the spring of 1869, he moved to 
 his present farm, the "Living Spring" farm. 
 Between the Big and Little Silvers there was 
 no settler when he moved in, except J. J. Clark, 
 till seven miles to the north, and the nearest 
 neighbor on the east was about three and a 
 half miles. His farm now consists of 740 
 acres, 160 being in Washington Township. It 
 is all under fence, about 400 acres being under 
 plow and tame grass, the remainder in pasture 
 and meadow land ; his farming is mostly rais- 
 ing corn, and feeding to cattle and hogs. Mr. 
 Ouren has made a success, and has done it all 
 by farming, not speculating any, and it has 
 mostly been made in this county ; he has al- 
 ways taken an active part in developing the 
 township and helping its schools and improve- 
 ments ; he is Democratic in politics ; he has 
 been Township Treasurer for ten ^-ears, and 
 besides has held other township offices. Mr. 
 Ouren is one of the leading citizens in the 
 township. 
 
 JOHN C. PONTIOUS, farmer,?. 0. Silver City, 
 Mills County, born in Jefferson County, Ohio, 
 January 27, 1830, son of George H. and Hannah 
 (Call) Pontious; he, a mechanic, born in Penn- 
 sylvania December 12, 1795, is still living in Win- 
 field, Cowley Co., Kan.; she, born in Ohio in 
 1797, died in Jefferson Countj-, same State, in 
 1849. They had eleven children— eight boys 
 and three girls. Subject was educated in Jef- 
 ferson County, Ohio; commenced life as a me- 
 
 chanic, and married in Cincinnati, Ohio, Janu- 
 ary' 21, 1852, Kebecca Smith, born in Reading, 
 Ohio, February 16, 1832, daughter of James 
 and Margarette (Brown) Smith, he born in New 
 Jerse)' in 1795, she in Philadelphia, Penn., in 
 1807. Mr. and Pontious have one son, Harvey 
 W., born in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 24, 
 1852. and was educated in Bloomingtou and 
 Lincoln, 111. Subject is a member of the 
 Christian Church; a Republican; has filled town- 
 ship offices; has been a mechanic, a farmer, 
 stockman, real estate dealer, and is largely in- 
 terested in Colorado mines ; he lived in Lin- 
 coln, 111., until 1876, when he moved to Council 
 Bluffs; thence to this township, where he has a 
 fine farm of 200 acres, in a good location, well 
 improved, and feeds and deals in Short-Horn 
 cattle and Poland-China hogs; is greatly inter- 
 ested in all educational matters, and has the 
 interests of his township at heart. 
 
 A. T. RAINS, farmer, P. 0. Living Spring, 
 born in Cedar County, Mo., April 29, 1849, son 
 of Lawrence and Mary (Froth) Rains; he, a 
 farmer, born in Ohio in 1812, is still living on 
 the old homestead in Mills County, which he 
 entered in Council Bluffs in 1851; she, born in 
 Ohio in 1820, died in Mills County, this State, 
 in 1876, and was the mother of seven children — 
 three girls and four boys. Subject received his 
 education in Mills County, this State, attending 
 school a part of the time in a log cabin; com- 
 menced life as a farmer, and married in Mills 
 County, January 13, 1876, Johanna Wolfe, born 
 in Mills County December 25, 1858, daughter 
 of James and Sarah (Creech) Wolfe, she liorn 
 in Kentucky, and he born in Missouri; was a 
 member of Company A, Fourth Iowa Infantry, 
 and died while in the army. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Rains have four children, viz.: William Clar- 
 ence, born September 12, 1876; Lavonia Alice, 
 born October 30, 1877; Eddie H., born March 
 25, 1879; and Alta Pearl, born January 5, 1SS2. 
 Subject was a member of the Home Guards; a 
 Republican; lived in Mills County until 1876; 
 
SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 237 , 
 
 bought a farm of 140 acres in 1874, partly im- 
 proved, at $15 per acre; rented it for two }-ears; 
 moved onto it again in 1876, and greatly im- 
 proved it since; set out a grove and an orchard, 
 has good buildings, deals in stock, feeds cattle 
 every winter and does general farming. 
 
 JAMES F. SMITH, farming, P. 0. Carson. 
 Mr. Smith was born and raised in La Porte 
 County, Ind.; born 1835; lived in Indiana till 
 1877; he sold out and came to Iowa, settling in 
 Mills Count}', where he remained till spring of 
 1882, when he came to his present farm in Sil- 
 ver Creek Township; he had lived in La Porte 
 County till about 1870; he went to Porter 
 County, and lived there till he came to Iowa. 
 He bought his present farm in 1879; but it was 
 raw prairie, so he did not move to it till 1882. 
 His farm consists of 250 acres, ten of it being 
 timber land, all but about iifty being in cultiva- 
 tion, 140 in corn, besides wheat. He is doing 
 considerable feeding. He was married in La 
 Porte County, Ind., in 1856 or 1857, to Miss 
 Sarah J. Cooper; she was also born in La Porte 
 County. They have four children, two girls 
 and two boys; one girl married. He is Repub- 
 lican in politics; farming has always been his 
 liusiness; he was educated in Indiana; his 
 mother died when he was only three years old, 
 and his father was killed when he was five, and 
 from that time he has had to look out for him- 
 self 
 
 JAMES A. SUMMERS, forming, P. 0. Mace- 
 donia. Mr. Summers was born in Ohio in 1847. 
 His father moved to Iowa when he was about 
 eighteen months old; then settled in Jefferson 
 Count}-, Iowa, when he was about ten years old. 
 When he was about nineteen years old, Mr. 
 Summers went back to Illinois, where be re- 
 mained about five years. He was married, in 
 Logan County, III, 1869, to Miss Huldah Ann 
 Wickersham. born in Indiana; they have two 
 children, one boy and one girl; came to Potta- 
 wattamie County, Iowa, June, 1871, settling on 
 his present farm, which was raw prairie, pay- 
 
 ing $12.50 per acre. He has a farm of 120 
 acres, all in cultivation. His farming is raising 
 corn and feeding it to stock. He is Republican 
 in politics; is one of the Township Trustees; 
 his farm is well improved with orchards, groves 
 and good farm buildings. When he settled on 
 his present farm there were but three farms in 
 the present School District, which is 2x3 miles; 
 now it is all improved. Mr. Summers' father, 
 William Summers, is still living, and resides in 
 Jeflerson Count}', Iowa, and is in his eighty-first 
 year. 
 
 JOHN VANKIRK, farming and stock, P. (). 
 Silver City, Mills County. Mr. Vankirk, one of 
 the oldest settlers now in Silver Creek Town- 
 ship, came here March, 1869; he is a native ol 
 Washington County, Penn., and was born in 1835. 
 Mr. Vankirk was out here and bought his pres- 
 ent home farm in the lall of 1868, buying of 0. 
 Lawson. His farm is perhaps the oldest settled 
 farm in the township, Mr. John Bratton settling 
 it, Mr. Bratton getting it from David Johnson 
 July 25, 1855; Mr. Johnson had entered it May 
 20, 1854. This was a stage station for a num- 
 ber of years on the old Des Moines and Council 
 Blufls road, and along Silver Creek and in the 
 woods of this farm was quite a Mormon settle- 
 ment, and there is one of their burying-grounds 
 on the place. Mr. Vankirk lived on the old 
 home place in Pennsylvania till he moved to his 
 present farm. He was raised on a farm, and 
 has always made farming and stock his busi- 
 ness. His farm, which lies part in Mills and 
 part in Pottawattamie County, contains about 
 1,700 acres, on which he carries on feeding and 
 stock-raising. Mr. Vankirk was married in 
 Washington County, Penn., in 1856, to Miss Anne 
 Vankirk, who was also born in the same county 
 as Mr. Vankirk. They have three children liv- 
 ing, two boys and one girl. He is a Democrat 
 in politics. In the fall of 1857, Mr. Vankirk 
 came out through this country, passing througli 
 his present farm on the stage. Mr. Vankirk's 
 parents are still living, their home being in 
 
238 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Mills Country, Hamilton Vaukirk being his fath- 
 er's name. They are about 9event3' years old. 
 When he settled here there was a bridge across 
 Silver Creek on the old stage road, and then 
 
 over three miles north another, and on the south 
 it was eight miles to another. Mr. Vankirk is 
 one of the most sueeessfiil men in Silver Creek 
 Township, and has one of the largest residences. 
 
 VALLEY TOWS"SHIP. 
 
 W. G. ACKER, farming, P. O. Hancock, 
 was born at Beardstown, Cass Co., 111., in 
 1838, son of John Acker, born in New York 
 State at the head of Lake Champlain ; he is 
 a retired farmer; his wife, our subject's 
 mother, is dead. They had eight children, 
 one of whom is dead. Our subject was educat- 
 ed at Mt. Morris Seminary, Illinois, and moved 
 with his father, in 18-1:2, to Oregon, Ogle 
 Co., 111. There he remained till about 1853, 
 when he went to Chicago and served an ap- 
 prenticeship at carriage- making; he resided 
 in Chicago about seven years, it being a 
 small place at that time. In 1865, he came 
 to Iowa, and built the first carriage shop 
 erected in the town of Boone. In the fall of 
 1875, Mr. Acker sold out his business in 
 Boone, came to Pottawattamie County and 
 bought his present farm of 240 acres, situated 
 in Valley Township. This land, then in a 
 wild state, was worth from S5 to $8 per acre; 
 now. in a state of cultivation, it is worth 
 from §25 to §30 per acre. When Mr. Acker 
 first settled here, this part of the township 
 was but thinly settled^ and he circulated pe- 
 titions for roads and schoolhouses. He was 
 married, in 1855, to Miss S. L. Vanloon, a 
 native of Ohio, daughter of Isaiah Vanloon. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Acker have five children — W. 
 C, born September 15, 1858; Elwood W., 
 February 2, 1861; Estella M., May 5, 1865; 
 Belle L.. December 4, 1869, and May E., 
 born May 11, 1872. Mr. Acker is a member 
 of the A. H. T. A. In politics, he is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 SAMUEL ARMSTRONG, hotel, Hancock, 
 was born in Ohio in 1834, son of Samuel and 
 Rosie (Wheeler) Armstrong; his mother is 
 living in Wisconsin; his parents moved to 
 Southern Illinois when our subject was about 
 four years old, then into Jo Daviess County, 
 111. . and afterward, back to Portage County, 
 Ohio, where they lived two years, and then 
 to Wisconsin. Our subject went to school in 
 Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin. He has two 
 half-sisters and one half-brother. His father 
 was a farmer, and Mr. Armstrong has fol- 
 lowed the same occupation most of his life. 
 He enlisted, August 14, 1862, in Company B, 
 Thii'ty-third Wisconsin Infantry, and served 
 three years, or until the close of the war, com- 
 ing home in August, 1865. At first, he was 
 under Grant, at Vieksburg, McPherson being 
 the Seventeenth Corps commander, in which 
 he was a member; he was at the taking of 
 Spanish Fort; his regiment went on the Red 
 River eipedition. but Mr. Armstrong was 
 regimental Postmaster at the time, and was 
 left behind with the sick at Vieksburg. He 
 was also under Sherman in his Meridian ex- 
 pedition, under Gen. Smith at Tupelo, Miss. , 
 and in other engagements. At Vieksburg, 
 he was wounded in the hand, losing a finger. 
 Mr. Armstrong was married, first, in 1857, 
 to Miss Nancy Jane Loney, of Wisconsin; lie 
 has three children by this wife — one boy, 
 Charles O. , living in Pottawattamie County, 
 and two daughters. His wife died in 1863, 
 and he was married the second time, in 
 April. 1866. to Miss Lydia E. Millard, of 
 
VALLEY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 239 
 
 Ohio, who died in August, 1867. Mr. Arm- 
 strong was married to his present wife in 
 IStiO; she was Miss Mary J. Fitzgerald, born 
 in Wisconsin; her parents are both dead; she 
 is the daughter of Peter Fitzgerald, born 
 in Kentucky; her mother was born in Ohio. 
 Mrs. Armstrong has three brothers and four 
 sisters. In 1871, Mr. Ai'mstrong came to 
 Iowa, and settled in what is now Valley 
 Township, where he followed farming till the 
 fall of 1880, when he sold his farm, came to 
 Hancock and built the first dwelling-house 
 erected in the town after it was laid out. 
 After coming here, he dealt in coal for about 
 a year, bat now devotes his attention to th e 
 hotel business and is having good success. 
 Mr. ami Mrs. Armstrong are members of the 
 Methodist Church. Mr. Armstrong is an 
 Odd Fellow and a Republican. 
 
 I. L. BAIR, farming, P. O. Hancock, was 
 born in Knox County, Ohio, in 1843, son of 
 David Bair, a blacksmith by trade, now liv- 
 ing in retirement in Johnson County, Iowa, 
 where he was one of the early settlers. Mr. 
 Bair had seven brothers, one of whom is dead, 
 and one sister. In 1854. he, with his par- 
 ents, left Ohio and settled in Johnson County, 
 Iowa, thence, in March, 1877, he came to 
 Valley Township, Pottawattamie County. In 
 August, 1862, Mr. Bair enlisted in Company 
 K, Twenty-second Iowa Regiment, continu- 
 ing in the same till the close of the war; he 
 was in the Vicksburg campaign, under Grant, 
 and in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, 
 under Sheridan: became out without a wound. 
 Mr. Bair was married, in 1868, to Miss Al- 
 mina E. Pophan, born in Kosciusko County, 
 Ind., daughter of Richard Pophan. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bair have four children — Louisa Ellen, 
 Charles R. . Clinton H and Howard P. Mr. 
 Bair and wife are members of the M. E. 
 Church, of Hancock. Mr. Bair's farm con- 
 sists of 120 acres, all well under cultivation. 
 
 and the acquirement of his own industry. 
 Mr. Bair is a member of the Masonic fra- 
 ternity and of the A. H. T. A. ; in politics, he 
 is a Republican. 
 
 W. C. BARTON, farming, P. O. Hancock, 
 was born in New York State in 1833, son of 
 James and Dorcas (Akley) Barton; he was a 
 lumberman and farmer, and died in Wiscon- 
 sin in 1861; she died in Wisconsin, and was 
 the mother of foiu-teen children, five of whom 
 are dead. Mr. Barton received an ordinary 
 education in his native State, and then en- 
 gaged in farming till he became twenty-one 
 years of age, when he moved to Wisconsin 
 and engaged in farming till 1867, when he 
 came to Mitchell County, Iowa, thence to his 
 present place in Pottawattamie County. Mr. 
 Barton's farm of 650 acres was, when he 
 bought it. wild prairie; now it is in a good 
 state of cultivation, and has excellent build- 
 ings erected upon it, Mr. Barton's projterty 
 is entirely self -acquired; he has an orchard 
 of about 300 trees and quite a vineyard; he 
 raises considerable stock, having on hand at 
 present about one hundred head of cattle. 
 Mr. Barton was married, in Wisconsin, in 
 1857, to Diantha Dewey, born in Vermont, 
 daughter of Horace and Sophia (Felt) Dewey, 
 he a native of Vermont and she of Massachu- 
 setts. Mr. and Mrs. Barton are the parents 
 of live children — ^Marion L., Rosa, Aaron, 
 Roscoe and Florence, all at home, except the 
 eldest son, who is married and lives in Knox 
 Township, where he owns and conducts a 
 farm. Mr. Barton is one of the most suc- 
 cessful farmers of Valley Township. Polit- 
 ically, he is a Republican. 
 
 A. M. BATTELLE. farmer, P. O. Avooa, 
 was born in Washington County, Ohio, in 
 1830, son of C. D. and E. G. Battelle; sub- 
 ject's father is living at Columbus, Ohio, and 
 is seventy-six years old; he was a Methodist 
 minister until 1881, when he retired. Mr. 
 
210 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 Battelle was well educated in Ohio and West 
 Virginia, and first started in life in 1849, as 
 a telegraph operator, which ocouiaatiou he 
 followed nine years. The first office he had 
 charge of was at Portsmouth, Ohio; from 
 there he went to Brownsville, Penn., but the 
 greater portion of his life as an oj^erator was 
 spent at Washington, Ohio, and Wheeling, 
 W. Va. The last two years spent in Wheel- 
 ing, he was engaged in the grocery business, 
 coming from Wheeling to his present place 
 in 1855; he pre-empted his land. Mr. Bat 
 telle was married, in 1852, in Washington, 
 Ohio, to Miss Aramintha Beymer, born in 
 Ohio, daughter of William and Julia Bey- 
 mer. Mrs. Battelle's father is still living. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Battelle have seven children — • 
 three boys and four girls; two of the daugh- 
 ters are married and one son is in Hancock. 
 Mr. Battelle's farm consists of 200 acres, all 
 in cultivation and meadow. He was a mem- 
 ber of the Board of County Supervisors for 
 seven years, being Chairman of the board for 
 five years; he has held various township 
 offices, and has been on the School Board for 
 many years. Mr. Battelle had the first pine 
 house in Pottawattamie County; it was 
 fi-amed in Wheeling, W. Va, shipped on the 
 river, and landed at the old landing at Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. Mr. Battelle is a Mason and a 
 Kepublican. 
 
 W. H. BENJAMIN, hardware, H&ncook, 
 came to Pottawattamie County in 1864, set- 
 tling in Valley Township on a farm, where 
 he remained till 1881, with the exception of 
 a short time he was in business in Avoca, in 
 the early settlement of that place. He was 
 born in Orange County, N. Y., Ajaril 22, 
 1832, and lived in ^different parts of the State 
 till 1864, when he came to Iowa. His father 
 was a carpenter and farmer, and Mr. Benja- 
 min followed the same occupation; he re- 
 ceived his education in New York; he is the 
 
 son of S. H. and Magdalen (Forshee) Ben- 
 jamin, natives of Orange County, N. Y. Mr. 
 Benjamin is one of ten children, eight of 
 whom are living, six of them being boys; his 
 youngest brother is an attorney in Avoca ; he 
 also has a sister there; his father was born in 
 March, 1800, and died in 1872; his mother, 
 born in September, 1808, is living. Mr. 
 Benjamin went out with the One Hundred and 
 Seventh Regiment of New York, enlisting in 
 1862 for three years, but was in service only 
 sis months; he passed through the battle of 
 Antietam before being discharged. Mr. 
 Benjamin was married, in Steuben County, 
 N. Y., October 28, 1857, to Miss Maggie 
 Travis, born in Putnam County, N. Y. , July 
 3, 1838. daughter of Elisha and Clara Tra- 
 vis, natives of Delaware County, N. Y. ; he, 
 bom September 18, 1793, died August 18, 
 1879; she, born June 15, 1795, died May 7, 
 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin have had five 
 childi'en, four boys and one girl — T. W., H. 
 H., A. M., Clara M.,and B. W. ; one son is 
 married and lives at Avoca, Iowa. Mr. Ben- 
 jamin came to Hancock in 1881, and started 
 the second business establishment in the 
 town. He has a two-story building, forty- 
 two feet front and forty feet deep, and has 
 two storerjoms; in one he has hardware, of 
 which he carries a large stock, including all 
 kin Is of necessary hardware. He also re- 
 tains his farm of 120 acres, well improved. 
 Mr. Benjamin took the first load of produce 
 into Avoca that was ever delivered there. He 
 has held township offices, such as Assessor, 
 Justice of the Peace, etc. In 1873, Mr. Ben- 
 jamin assessed Knox Township, when it in- 
 cluded the present Knox, Pleasant, Layton, 
 Lincoln and two-thirds of Valley Townships. 
 H? is a msmber of the I. O. O. F. and A. 
 H. T. A. In politics, he is a Republican, 
 and cpst his first vote for John C. Fre- 
 mont. 
 
VALLEY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 241 
 
 I. G. CARTER, fanning. P. O. Hancock, 
 ■was born near Dresden, Ohio. February 20, 
 1831; moved from Ohio to Chicago in 1853, 
 and lived there five years; from there to Mc- 
 Donough County, 111., and then to Jasper 
 County, Iowa; thence to Columbus, Neb., 
 where he lived for one year, and then moved 
 to Valley Township, in 1872. Mr. Car- 
 ter served three years in the war, going out 
 ■with Company C, Seventy-eighth Regiment 
 of Illinois, staying with his company three 
 months, when it was all captured except Mr. 
 Carter and one other man, who escaped. Mr. 
 Carter was then transferred to the Engineers' 
 Corps; wac wounded, in the fall of 1863, at 
 Carter's Creek, Tenn. , by a bridge timber; 
 he was then transferred to the Invalid Corps 
 at Louisville, Ky. He was mustered out at 
 Clinton, Iowa, in July, 1865, having been in 
 the battles of Fort Donelson, Stone River, 
 Lookout Mountain, Franklin, Tenn., and the 
 battle of the Wilderness. Before going into 
 the army, he had followed his trade of car- 
 pentering, but on account of the injury re- 
 ceived at Carter's Creek, Tenn., he had to 
 give up carpenter work, and has since fol- 
 lowed farming, doing his first farming in Jas- 
 per County, Iowa. He now has a farm of 
 120 acres, adjoining the town of Hancock, on 
 which he has lived since 1872; he does gen- 
 eral farming, but pays most of his attention 
 to corn. He is the son of Albin and Nancy 
 (Clark) Carter, natives of Ohio; he was one 
 of the old settlers in Ohio, and died in 1842; 
 she died in 1842. Mr. Carter was married, 
 November 13, 1851, to Miss Lucinda Dowell, 
 born near Dresden, Ohio, October 16, 1835, 
 daughter of George and Grace (Helms) Dow- 
 ell, he, born in Virginia, died May 14, 1868, 
 she, born in Pennsylvania, died April 25, 
 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have one son in 
 Oregon, general agent of the Retailers' 
 Union; their oldest daughter married George 
 
 Payne, and lives in Harrison County, Iowa; 
 one son is a drayman in Hancock; the young- 
 est son and two daughters are at home; the 
 children are Harrison A, Charles E.', George 
 W., Retta, Eva M., Ida M., Jennie, Howard 
 R. , Florence M. and Hugh E. ; two of the 
 children are deceased. Mr. Carter has al- 
 ways taken an interest in political affairs; he 
 was County Treasurer of McDonough Coun- 
 ty, 111., for two years; Trustee for two years 
 in Jasjser County, Iowa, and has held various 
 other county and township offices. He is a 
 Methodist and a Republican. 
 
 URIAH CLARK, farming, P. O. Oakland, 
 was born in Pennsylvania in 1835, son of 
 Charles and Sarah (McCreary) Clark, both 
 born in Pennsylvania, and are now living in 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Father was a 
 farmer, but now has retired. Mr. Clark 
 moved with his parents to Illinois in 1850, 
 and settled in Mercer County. He was edu- 
 cated in Pennsylvania and Illinois. Began 
 for himself by farming in Illinois, and con- 
 tinued till the war broke out, when he en- 
 listed in the army, in 1862, and served three 
 years, going in with the One Hundred and 
 Twenty-fourth Illinois Infantry, under Col. 
 Howe, of Chicago. He was at the siege of 
 Vicksburg, Champion Hill, Black River, and 
 at Jackson, Miss. ; stormed the works and 
 went right over the breastworks. Mr. Clark 
 came home with a bullet-hole through his 
 coat, but not a scratch on his body. Was 
 discharcred at Vicksburg; in 1865. He was 
 with Sherman on his march to the sea, but 
 was taken sick and sent back to Vicksburg. 
 He was married, June 25, 1857, to Miss Sa- 
 rah E. Noble, daughter of Joseph and Ellen 
 Noble; she was boi'n in Illinois; she has two 
 brothers and five sisters in Iowa. Mr. Clark 
 has two brothers and three sisters living, and 
 three sisters and three brothers dead. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Clark have seven childi-en living 
 
243 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL : 
 
 and one dead — Mary ^dda, married E. M. 
 Burch December >i, 1876, born October 28, 
 1858; Josie Ellie, born March 16, 1861, 
 died Jnne 20, 1881; Charles E., at home, 
 born April 2, 1863; Minnie Kate, at home, 
 born March 23, 1866 ; Hattie B. , at home, born 
 January 9, 1868; Cora M., at home, born Oc- 
 tober 13, 1870; Fannie G. , at home, born July 
 2, 1873; Bertha M. , at home, born November 
 15,1876. Mr. Clark is a Republican; he also 
 belongs to the Baptist Church. After com- 
 ing from the army, he moved to Iowa, start- 
 ing from Illinois in October, 1865. When 
 tirst coaiin^'Tiere, he settled two miles south 
 of Oakland, where he had a farm of eighty 
 acres, living on that till he came to his pres- 
 ent farm, in November, 1873, buying 160 
 acres first, paying $25 per acre, it being part- 
 ly improved. He has since added another 
 eighty acres to it. His farm is now all im- 
 proved, having a good orchard of about three 
 acres and five acres in forest trees, etc. 
 When first startincr to farming in Illinois, it 
 was with Ml-. R. M. White, they two renting 
 a farm together. When coming out of the 
 army, it took almost all he had to buy his 
 outfit to move to Iowa, so he has made his 
 farm since coming here. His farming is 
 general. When tirst coming to his present 
 place, there was no schoolhouse here, and 
 not enough scholars for a school, but with 
 his children they had scholars enough to start 
 a school. So Ml-. Clark, Mr. McG-ee and Mr. 
 Pullen met at Mr. Clark's house, and Mr. 
 Clark was elected sub-director. The house 
 was built and school started. Those three 
 were the only voters in the district at that 
 time. 
 
 WILLIAM CLARK, farmer, P. O Oakland, 
 was born in Ohio, near the Pennsylvania 
 line, March 1, 1837, son of Charles and Sarah 
 (McCreary) Clark. Mr. Clark had six sisters, 
 three of whom are dead, and five brothers. 
 
 three of whom are dead. The parents make 
 their home with our subject. When fifteen 
 years old, Mr. Clark moved, with his parents, 
 to Illinois; in 1860, they moved to Kansas, 
 remained there a short time and then came 
 to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where Mr. 
 Clark has since engaged in farming and 
 stock-raising. In 1863, in Mercer County, 
 111., Mr. Clark married Miss Martha A. Hum- 
 bert, born in Indiana, daughter of E. M. 
 Humbert, who died in March, 1881. Mrs. 
 Clark has three sisters and three brothers liv- 
 ing, and is the mother of five children — Fred, 
 Sarah, Carrie, William and an infant. Mr. 
 Clark has lived in this county twenty-one 
 years, and on his present farm six years. He 
 commenced with nothing, and now has a 
 farm of 400 acres, all in cultivation and past- 
 ure; he raises a tine grade of cattle, feeding 
 most of his grain. He has one of the largest 
 dwellings in the townshif), and has on bis 
 place a tine orchard of two and a half acres. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Clark are members of the Bap- 
 tist Church. 
 
 WILLIAM CONVERS, farming, P. O. 
 Hancock, was born in Crawford County, 
 Perm., October 20, 1831, son of Erastus and 
 Elizabeth Convers, he born in Vermont, died 
 March 12, 1848, she born October 10, 1813, 
 in Pennsylvania. Our subject came to Iowa 
 when he was nine years old, and never had 
 the advantages of school to any extent; he 
 was raised on a farm and started in life as a 
 farmer and veterinary surgeon. When he, 
 with his parents, came to Iowa and settled in 
 Iowa County, the nearest store was at Bur- 
 lington, seventy miles distant, and Indians 
 were so common that Mr. Convers became 
 quite conversant with their language, speak- 
 ing it quite well. He lived in Iowa County, 
 Iowa, for thirty years, except one year spent 
 in Minnesota with the regular army; he was 
 not enlisted, but in 1848, when only seven- 
 
VALLEY TOWXSHIP. 
 
 343 
 
 teen years old, he di'ove teams iu winter and 
 cooked in summer, while Fort Gaines was 
 building in Minnesota. He had three broth- 
 ers in the war of the rebellion and only one 
 came out. Mr. Convers is one of six children; 
 his only sister died many years ago; he has 
 one lirotlier in Lyons County, Iowa, and one 
 in California. Mr. Convers is a Good Tem- 
 plar, Mason, Odd Fellow, a member of the 
 A. H. T. A. ; he has been a temperance 
 worker for twenty- three years, and took a 
 very active part in working r'or prohibition 
 in Iowa. His father died when he was only 
 fourteen rears old, but his mother is still 
 living, Mr. Convers was married, May 23, 
 1851, to Miss Jane C. Heniy, born in Picka- 
 way County, Ohio, May 24, 1836. Subject 
 came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 
 1870, and bought his present place, which 
 was not improved. He has a farm of 325 
 acres of land, upon which he has sixteen 
 acres of groves and orchards, and has erected 
 good buildings. Mr. Convers has always 
 followed farming and dealing in stock; also 
 practicing as a veterinary siu'geon. He has 
 one son — Charles H. — in California, teaching 
 school; another — John — in Avoca, Pottawat- 
 tamie County, as baggage master; he has 
 also four daughters — Mary, Emma, Ella and 
 Clara Mr. Convers has tilled various town- 
 ship offices, and in politics is a Eepublican. 
 I. X. GARDNER, fai-ming, P. O. Han- 
 cock, was^born in Ohio in 1841; his father, 
 John L. Gardner, was a farmer and railroad 
 contractor; he located at Marengo, Iowa, 
 when it was a small place, and there owned 
 quite a body of land which was afterward 
 divided into lots. Our subject remained in his 
 native State till he became eighteen years of 
 age, when he went to Pike's Peak, at the 
 time of the gold fever. He remained in the 
 West two years, and then, retm-ning to Ohio, 
 enlisted, in 1SG2, in the Twenty-seventh Ohio 
 
 Regiment, Col. Blackburn, serving till mus- 
 tered out at the close of the war; he entered 
 as a private, but came out as Second Lieitten- 
 ant; he had foiu" brothers in the army — one a 
 Captain in the Twenty-ninth Iowa, and an- 
 other in the Sixty-fifth Ohio Regiments; three 
 of the brothers were wounded, one of them 
 severely, the latter is now in the employ of 
 the Government at Washington. After the 
 war, Mr. Gardner went to Missouri ; thence, 
 in 1871, he came to this county and bought 
 120 acres, which is now quite well improved. 
 Mr. Gardner was married, in 1879, to Miss 
 Emma Kearney, born in New York City; they 
 have two children-^Frank and Gerald. Mr. 
 Gardner received his education in Ohio and 
 Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and completed it at Hills- 
 dale College, Mich. He is a member of the 
 A. H. T. A., and in politics is a Republican. 
 CHARLES \V. HARDMAN. physician, 
 Hancock, was born in Tazewell County, III., 
 in 1853, son of Samuel B. and Maiy F. Hard- 
 man; he is a farmer and Methodist preacher; 
 she is the mother of three children — our 
 subject, one son, a druggist, in .Avoca, Iowa, 
 and a daughter living in Davenport, Iowa, 
 the wife of Mr. Hancock, who founded the 
 town in Iowa which bears his name. Dr. 
 Hardman was raised on his father's farm, in 
 Tazewell County, and subsequently took a 
 course in Rush Medical College, Chicago, 
 graduating from the same in 1878. After 
 graduating. Dr. Hardman located in Pawnee 
 County, Kan., where he practiced till 1881, 
 then came to Hancock, Pottawattamie Coun- 
 ty. Iowa, where hei.s tie only physician, and 
 has a good practice; he and his brother are 
 preparing to go into the dtug business in 
 Hancock. Dr. Hardman was married, in 
 Kansas, in 1879, to Miss Mary Lula Pugh, 
 of Chicago, 111.; the}' have one daughter — 
 Mary Grace. Dr. Hardman is a member of 
 the I. O. O. F., and in politics is a Democrat. 
 
344 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 JOHN B. HARROD, teacher, Parma, 
 was born November 24, 1829, in Logan 
 County, Ohio, son of James and Isabel Har- 
 rod, both living in Ohio, he born in Knox 
 County, Ohio, in 1808, she born in Licking 
 County, Ohio, in 1810. Mr. Harrod is the 
 oldest of seven boys and one girl, and was 
 educated at Geneva Hall College, Ohio; be- 
 gan life teaching in 1849; taught three years 
 in Ohio, and then went to Indiana and taught 
 eight years in Hancock County; then the 
 war broke out, and Mr. Harrod enlisted as a 
 private, August 13, 1862. in the Ninety-ninth 
 Indiana Infantry. He was commissioned 
 Quartermaster for the One Hundred and 
 Thirteenth Indiana Infantry in September, 
 
 1863. This was called into service for forty 
 days, and after they were mustered out, Dr. 
 William E. Wall, now of Trader's Point. 
 Iowa, J. C. Rardin and Mr. Harrod, or- 
 ganized a company of cavalry. Dr. Wall 
 was elected Captain; Mi-. Rardin, First Lieu- 
 tenant, and Mr. Harrod, Second ^Lieutenant. 
 After about a year. Dr. Wall was promoted 
 to the position of Major, Mi-. Rardin Captain 
 and Ml-. Harrod, First Lieutenant; all served 
 through the war and are living yet, Mr. Har- 
 rod being the only one wounded. Their regi- 
 ment went into the field in the spring of 
 
 1864, and were at once pitted against For- 
 rest, Wheeler and Anderson, raiders in the 
 rear of Sherman. They first started out in 
 Tennessee, and on through Alabama. Mr. 
 HaiTod and others were taken prisoners, in 
 September, 1864, at Sulphur Branch, seven 
 miles north of Athens, Ala., Forrest captur- 
 ing them, he having 10,000 men and the 
 Federals only 500, but they fought six houi-s 
 before surrendering, and the officers were al- 
 lowed to retain their side-arms. Loss of 
 Federals, ninety-six, in those that were killed 
 and died from wounds; confederate loss, 200 
 killed and 1,100 wounded. From the field. 
 
 our subject and the other prisoners were taken 
 to Meridian, where they were kept in the 
 stockade for a week, and then taken to En- 
 terprise, Miss. , and kept for a little over two 
 months, one of the terms of capitulation be- 
 ing that they should be retained in Missis- 
 sip[.ii; they were paroled at Memphis, Tenn., 
 but remained in the service till their regi- 
 ment was mustered out, September 9, 1865. 
 at Indianapolis. Mi-. Harrod remained un- 
 der medical treatment for over a year before 
 being able to do anything, and in September, 
 1866, he came to Pottawattamie County, and 
 has i-emained here since, most of the time en- 
 gaged in teaching, but his health being so 
 seriously affected since his being a prisoner, 
 he is unable some years to follow his adopted 
 profession of teaching. He has, served two 
 terms as Justice of the Peace, and has been 
 identified with the school interests most of 
 the time. His Ikst vote was for Franklin 
 Pierce, but since he has not voted for a 
 Democratic President; for other officers, he 
 votes for what he considers the best man. 
 He was married, November 18, 1851, to Miss 
 Matilda Ann Hukill. of Ohio, born November 
 12. 1833, daughter of Stephen Hukill. 
 There is one .son by this marriage — Robert F., 
 now living in Ohio. His wife died July 11. 
 1853. In May, 1854, Mr. Harrod married 
 again, this time to Miss Jane A. Lafiort, born 
 Januarj' 1, 1835, daughter of John L. and 
 Virlind (Harrison) Laport. There is one son 
 and one daughter by this marriage-— Charles 
 B. and Maggie M. ; the latter was married, 
 m January, 1878, to Mr. Isaiah Morris, son 
 of Reuben Moms, of Center Township. 
 
 JOSEPH HEADLEE, farmer, P. O. Avo- 
 ca, was born in Pennsylvania in 1826, son of 
 Joshua and Dorothy (Jones) Headlee, he a 
 farmer, died in Indiana; she is living in 
 Avoca, Iowa; the parents had three daugh- 
 ters' and five sons. Mr. Headlee removed, 
 
VALLEY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 345 
 
 with his parents, from Peansylvania to Indi- 
 ana, remaining in the latter till he was about 
 fifteen years old, when he came to Iowa. 
 He lived nine miles fi-om Keokuk till 1S52, 
 when he settled in Knox Township, Potta- 
 wattamie County; thence, in 1862, he came 
 to his present fann of 160 acres, in Valley 
 Township. !Mr. Headlee was married, in 
 1862, near Keokuk, Iowa, to Esther Lewis, 
 born in Ohio; she has blessed him with 
 eleven children — five boys and six girls, one 
 of each sex being dead. When ]VIr. Headlee 
 first came to Pottawattamie County, he had 
 a yoke of cattle and a wayon, which he 
 bought in a year's time, and 15 cents in 
 money; he now has a good property. Mi*. 
 Headlee espouses the Republican cause. 
 
 A. C. HOLWAY, farming, P. O. Avoca, 
 was born in 1845 in Maine, and came to this 
 county in 1870, from Minnesota, where he 
 had lived for about five years previous; his 
 father and mother are living in Pottawatta- 
 mie County. Mr. Holway. was educated in 
 Maine, and has always followed farming. 
 He came here in 1870, and bought forty 
 acres of unimproved land; he now has eighty 
 acres, mostly under cultivation. Mr. Holway 
 was married, in Maine, in 1865, to Lovina 
 Williams; they have one son — Charles L., 
 and two daughters — Anna M. and Laura 
 Ella. Mr. Holway is a member of the 
 A. H. T. A., and his wife of the Presbyter- 
 ian Church. Mr. Holway has one brother 
 and one sister living in this county. He is a 
 Democrat in politics. 
 
 C. O. KING, farming, P. O. Hancock, 
 was born in New York State in 1837, son of 
 Wells and Jane (Look) King; his father is 
 living in Iowa County, Iowa. Mr. King has 
 one brother, D. C. King, in Montgomery 
 County, Iowa. Our subject was educated in 
 New York State and remained there till he 
 was twenty-two years of age; he then went to 
 
 Michigan and enlisted in the Third Michigan 
 Cavalry, September 17, 1861, being dis- 
 charged March 16, 1866; Hamburg Iiand- 
 ing, luka, Corinth and Mobile were the 
 leading engagements he was in. He entered 
 as a private, and subsequently received a com- 
 mission from Gov. Crapo, of Michigan; this 
 commission was to take effect November 8, 
 1865, but the war closing, prevented Mi-. 
 King from making use of it; he was Regi- 
 mental Commissary when mustered out. 
 After the war closed, he soon came to Iowa 
 County, Iowa, bought and settled there. He 
 remained in Iowa County till 1873, when he 
 sold out, came to Pottawattamie County and 
 settled on a place which he has since sold; 
 he then bought another farm of 240 acres, on 
 which he now lives; the farm is well im- 
 proved. Mr. King was married, in 1870. to 
 Miss Mary L. Archer, born in Ohio; her 
 father. Oliver Archer, is dead; her mother is 
 in this township. Mr. Kinghas twochildipen 
 — Hattie J. and Lucy A.; he has also lost two 
 children. Mr. King's business has always 
 been that of farming. He is a member of 
 the Masonic fraternity and of the A. H. T. 
 A. He has held township offices, being As- 
 sessor of Knox Township before Valley was 
 separated fi'om it ; he is at present Trustee of 
 Valley Township. He was one of the most 
 active in getting Valley Township set off by 
 itself. In politics, Mr. King is a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 JOHN KNIERIEMAN, groceries and 
 queens ware, Hancock, was born in Germany 
 in 1845, son of F. J. Knierieman, who was a 
 farmer by occupation, now dead. Subject's 
 mother is also deceased, ilr. Knierieman 
 took a complete coui'se in the public schools 
 of Germany, and afterward learned the mil- 
 ler's trade. He has two brothers who are 
 farmers in Germany. Our subject came to 
 America in 1868, locating first in Philadel- 
 
246 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 pliia, where he engaged in milling. Since 
 1870, he has lived in Iowa, and for the past 
 five years in Pottawattamie County. He came 
 from Avoca to Hancock in April, 1882; while 
 in Avoca, he conducted a mill. 3\Ii-. Knier- 
 ieman was married, in 1879, to Miss Dora 
 May Kinney, of Avoca, born in Oskaloosa, 
 Iowa, daughter of W. S. Kinney, a Methodist 
 minister, who has retired from the pulpit and 
 from business on account of his health; he 
 owns the grocery, queensware and notion 
 store in Hancock, of which our subject has 
 charge; they carry a stock of about $2,000. 
 ]VIi'. Knierieman is Deputy Postmaster of Han- 
 cock. He has visited the largest cities of all 
 the Northern States, and has crossed the 
 ocean three times. He is a member of the I. 
 O. 0. F. ; takes no particular interest in poli- 
 tics, but generally votes the Democratic 
 ticket. 
 
 JOSEPH MOOEE. farming, P. O. Han- 
 cock, was born in Ireland in 1816; came to 
 America with his parents in 1849, and settled 
 in Newry, Blair Co., Penn. In 1858, he 
 moved with his parents to Lee County, 111., 
 where they remained two years. Of the two 
 years oui' subject remained in Lee County, 
 he lay twenty-one months with fever and 
 ague. In 1860, he again moved with his 
 parents to Scott County, Iowa, where his 
 parents still live; his mother is seventy-eight 
 years old and his father seventy-nine. When 
 the war broke out, oiu- subject's three brothers 
 enlisted, but Joseph being too young to en- 
 list, remained at home with his parents till 
 he was of age, and then went to farming. 
 In February, 1871, he came to Pottawattamie 
 County, and settled eight and a half miles 
 south of Avoca and built a house eight by 
 ten feet. He lived alone one year, and then 
 was married to Miss Hattie H. Sautelle, who 
 was born in Bangor, Me. Mr. Moore has 
 resided on his farm up to the present time. 
 
 bu.t iiow has built a residence in the town of 
 Hancock, and intends to make that place his 
 future home. He has a well-improved farm 
 of 120 acres, besides his town property. He 
 is a Rejiublican and also a member of the I. 
 O. O. F., Valley Lodge, No. 439. They 
 have live daughters. One of Mr. Moore's 
 brothers died in the army; one lives in Dav- 
 enport, Iowa, and one in Moline, 111. Mr. 
 Moore has always had to depend upon his 
 own resources, and has made most of his 
 money in raising hogs in Pottawattamie 
 County. He was educated in Scott County, 
 Iowa, in the common schools. 
 
 ISRAEL MORROW, farmer, P. O. Avoca, 
 was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., in 
 1831, son of John and Sarah (Hamilton) 
 Morrow, he a boatman and farmer by occupa- 
 tion, was a native of Westmoreland County, 
 Penn. ; the parents had thirteen children, 
 ten boys and three girls. Mi\ Mon'ow re- 
 ceived an ordinary education in Pennsylva- 
 nia, and was there engaged in boating on 
 the canal till he became twenty- one years old, 
 when he moved to Henry County, 111. After 
 settling in Illinois, Mi\ Moitow followed 
 farming and also ran a coal mine for some 
 time; he next engaged in the milling business 
 for about a year, in Geneseo, Henry Co., 111. ; 
 thence he went to Scott County, 111., where 
 he owned and conducted a flouring-mill for 
 eight years. July 4, 1876, Mr. Morrow 
 came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and 
 purchased his present farm of 100 acres, now 
 all under cultivation. "When the late war 
 broke out. Mi". Morrow and six of his brothers 
 being old enough to enlist, they cast lots to 
 see who should remain at home, it being nec- 
 essary for one of them to do so; the lot fell 
 upon our subject, and his sis brothers enlist- 
 ed in Company B, Ninth Illinois Cavalry, one 
 entering as a Corporal. Two of his brothers 
 died in the army; the others came out, after 
 
VALLEY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 247 
 
 serving three and foiu- yeara. INIr. Morrow 
 was married, March 19, 1857, to Miss Mar- 
 garet Ann Linton, born in Philadelphia, 
 Penn., daughter of Robert Linton, a boatman 
 and mechanic, and for fourteen years a po- 
 liceman in Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Morrow have been blessed with nine childi-en, 
 five boys and four girls; they have lost two. 
 Mr. Morrow and wife have been members of 
 the M. E. Church for many years. Mr. Mor- 
 row is in politics a Republican. 
 
 ROBERT MOTHERAL, farming, P. O. 
 Hancock, was born in Pennsylvania in 1834, 
 son of Thomas and Martha (Aken) Motheral; 
 he, a farmer by occupation, was born in 
 Pennsylvania and died in Missouri; she, 
 born in Pennsylvania, is also dead; was the 
 mother of twelve children, six of whom are 
 dead. When live yeara old, Mr. Motheral 
 moved, with his parents, to Illinois, where 
 he received an ordinary schooling. In 1854, 
 he came to Iowa and located in Poweshiek 
 County, where he engaged in farming till 
 1871, when he located on his present place 
 in Pottawattamie County. Mr. Motheral's 
 farm consists of 410 acres, mostly under cul- 
 tivation, and supplied with good buildings; 
 when he fii'st took this farm it was wild 
 prairie. He conducts general fai-ming and 
 trades some in cattle. Mi-. Motheral was 
 married, in Iowa, in ISfiO, to Miss Sarah M. 
 Clark, born in New Jersey, daughter of John 
 and Mary Clark, residents of Iowa. This 
 union has been ble.ssed with foui- children — 
 Florence E., Sarah M., R. Franklin and 
 Mary J. Mr. Motheral is a Mason and a 
 Democrat. 
 
 CHARLES W. NEWMAN, general repair 
 shop, Hancock, was born in England June 2, 
 1843, son of William and Bridget (Parkin- 
 son) Newman, he dead, she still living. Our 
 subject's father was the sou of a "gentle- 
 man " in England, and. being possessed of 
 
 considerable wealth, never engacjed in labor 
 
 ■ Or? 
 
 till he lost his f)''opei-ty and emigrated to 
 Canada, where he engaged in milling. Our 
 subject has a brother in Ontario, Canada, in 
 the shoe business; one sister living in De- 
 troit, Mich., and another in Canada. Mr. 
 Newman's other relatives all live in England, 
 except one iincle, residing near Troy, Mich. 
 When Mr. Newman was six years of age, he, 
 with his parents, came to Canada, and there 
 served an apprenticeship of three years at 
 blacksmithing. In 1862, he moved to Michi- 
 gan and worked at his trade for several years; 
 then retui'ned to Canada and was married, in 
 January, 1869, to Miss Mary J. Bingham, a 
 native of Canada; her father, Robert Bing- 
 ham, is a native of Ireland, and came to Can- 
 ada, where he was married. Mra. Newman's 
 parents are residents of Valley Township, 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa. After his mar- 
 riage, Mr. Newman remained in Canada till 
 1876, when he came to Iowa, located in 
 Avoca and ran a blacks cnith shop for nearly 
 two years, then came to Valley Township, 
 purcliased a farm, erected a shop on it, and 
 continued at his trade. In the fall of 1880, 
 Mr. Newman removed his shop to Han- 
 cock, and also engaged in the coal business 
 with Ml'. Armstrong. After engaging in 
 the coal business a little less than a year, 
 he sold out his interest and turned his 
 whole attention to his shop, which he still 
 continues. Mr. and Mrs. Newman have 
 three children, all girls; they are members 
 of the Methodist Church. Mr. Newman is 
 a member of the Masonic fraternity and is 
 a Republican. 
 
 MARION PALilER, farming, P. O. Par- 
 ma, born in Mercer County, 111., in 1851, son 
 of M. T. and Caroline (Tuel) Palmer. Mr- 
 M. T. Palmer was born in Indiana in 1822. 
 Mr. Palmer's parents ai-e both living in Pot- 
 tawattamie County; he is one of nine chil- 
 
248 
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL: 
 
 di'en, seven still living, seven boys and two 
 daughters; two of the boys are dead. They 
 came to Conncil Bluffs in 1853, and have 
 lived in this county ever since. 'Mi: Palmer 
 was educated in the common schools of the 
 county. They only lived in Coiincil Bluffs 
 for a short time, and then came to near Oak- 
 land and bought a farm there. Mr. Palmer's 
 father has lived on the original place ever 
 since, and in connection with the farm he has 
 a store, which he has kept for about twenty 
 years. With the exception of one brother 
 and sister, in Harlan, Shelby Co. , Iowa, the 
 family all live in Pottawattamie County. 
 Ml". Palmer started in life as a farmer, and 
 has followed the same ever since, escejjt one 
 yeai-, when he was in the grocery business at 
 Oakland. Mr. Palmer was married, Decem- 
 ber 25, 1873, to Miss Susanna Davis, born in 
 Illinois, daughter of W. B. and Elizabeth 
 Jane Davis, doth dead. ili'. Palmer's wife 
 died April 26, 1882. They had one girl, 
 who died September 6, 1876, and one son, 
 died May 20, 1882. l\Ii-. Palmer came to his 
 present farm April 8, 1876. For two years 
 before he had farmed on Section 28, Valley 
 Township. TV'hen first coming to his pres- 
 ent farm, he bought forty acres, paying $8 
 per acre. Since, he has added to it till he 
 now has a farm of 160 acres, all imjwoved. 
 He is a Republican in politics. Is also a 
 member of the A. H. T. A. When he start- 
 ed in, it was with nothing, and has made 
 what he has by farming. Does general 
 farming. 
 
 W. H. PATTERSON, attorney, Hancock, 
 is a son of Thomas Patterson, and was born 
 in Ireland in 1849. In the fall of 1853, he 
 came with his parents to America, and set- 
 tled in Newry, Blair Co. , Penn. j\L-. Pat- 
 terson was educated at Washington and Jef- 
 ferson College, Pennsylvania, graduating in 
 the class of 1874. He then entered the law 
 
 office of Judge Black, of York, Penn. He 
 was admitted to the Blair County bar August 
 24, 1877; practiced law in that county two 
 years, and then came West, locating in Avo- 
 ca, Iowa. He remained in Avocatill the fall 
 of 1881, when, his health being poor, he 
 farmed for a year. He now has a law office 
 in Hancock, and is Justice of the Peace. 
 Mr. Patterson's parents, as well as his five 
 brothers and four sisters, are living in Penn- 
 sylvania. Jlr. Patterson was admitted to the 
 Pottawattamie County bar on the motion of 
 Col. Keatley, of Council Bluffs. Mr. Patter- 
 son is a member of the Presbyterian Church; 
 also of the I. O. O. F. ; and in politics is a 
 Republican. He is one of he rising young 
 men of the county. 
 
 JOHN SCHULZ, farmer, P. O. Avoca, 
 was boru in Prussia in 1827. He was edu- 
 cated in his native country, and left there 
 when twenty-six years of age, coming to this 
 country in 1853, and settling in Chicago, 
 111., where he lived thi-ee years, employed as 
 a musician. In 1856, he moved from Chi- 
 cago to Davenport, Iowa, where he contin- 
 ued as a musician for almost twelve years. 
 He nest moved, in 1868, to Benton County, 
 Iowa where for thi-ee years he engaged in 
 farming, then returned to Davenport for six 
 months, thence to Omaha in 1871, where he 
 resided four years, engaged as a musician. 
 In 1875, Mr. Schulz came from Omaha to 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, bought 160 
 acres of prairie, erected buildings, and now 
 has his farm mostly under cultivation. In 
 1861, he joined a military band, thus serving 
 his country until receiving an honorable dis- 
 charge, in 1862, on account of sickness. Mr. 
 Schulz was married, in 1856, in Chicago, to 
 Miss Sophia Presler, daughter of John G. 
 Presler, of Germany, for many years a soldier 
 in the German Army, going with Napoleon 
 to Russia, and remaining with his armv uu- 
 
VALLEY TOWNSHIP. 
 
 249 
 
 til Napoleon was banished. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Schiilz have four children — Lizzie, Emily, 
 John and Caroline; the eldest is married. 
 In politics, Mr. Schulz is a Republican. 
 
 A. W. WARNER, farmer, P. O. Hancock, 
 born in Indiana in 1850, son of Alphens and 
 Catharine (Hnxford) Warner; was educated 
 in the common schools of Indiana; began by 
 working by the month; cam» to Iowa in 1874, 
 to Marion County, and was in Marion County 
 for about sixteen months, then came to Pot- 
 tawattamie County and settled on his pres- 
 ent place. Parents both dead. When he 
 came to present farm, it was partly broken 
 oiit, and a house, 12x16, on it; but that was all 
 the improvements. Was man-ied, in spring 
 of 1877, in Pottawattamie County, to Miss 
 Mary Victoria Griffith, born in Iowa. They 
 have three children — two girls and one boy. 
 His farming is mostly grain -raising. His 
 farm here consists of eighty acres, buying in 
 December, 1875, when land was high, and 
 paid $20 per acre. 
 
 CHARLES WARNER, farmer, P. O. Han- 
 cock, bom in Indiana in 1852, son of Alph- 
 eus and Catharine (Huxford) Warner; came 
 here in 1876, and bought a farm with his 
 brother, and farmed together for some years, 
 and then sold out to brother, and bought an- 
 other farm bj' himself, now having a farm of 
 120 acres. Generally votes the Democratic 
 ticket; is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of 
 the A. H. T. A. His farming is mostly grain- 
 raising. He was educated in Indiana, in 
 common schools. When he and brother 
 bought their first farm, it was partly broken 
 and had a house on it 12x16 feet, but no other 
 improvements. He is one of four own broth- 
 ers and three half-sisters and one half-broth- 
 er, but there are now living but the two own 
 brothers and one half-brother. 
 
 JOHN WATTS, farmer, P. O. Hancock, 
 was bom in Indiana in 1843, son of John 
 
 and Ruth (Cox) Watts; he was born in Vir- 
 ginia, and came to Polk County, Iowa, in the 
 fall of 1849, being one of the early settlers 
 in that county; there he died in 1855. Sub- 
 ject's motherwas born in Kentucky; was the 
 mother of ten children, and died in 1878. 
 In 1849, Mr. Watts came with his parents to 
 Polk County, Iowa, where subject received 
 an ordinary education, and engaged in farm- 
 ing till 1872. when he came to Pottawatta- 
 mie County and settled on his present farm 
 of 146 acres. When Mr. Watts fu-st settled 
 on his farm, it was unimproved; it is now in 
 a good state of culti ration, and has good 
 buildings erected upon it. He has an or- 
 chard of 160 trees, just beginning to bear, 
 and other improvements. Mi'. W^atts has one 
 brother, a dentist, in Des Moines, Iowa, and 
 one sister, Mrs. Carter, who resides in Cali- 
 fornia. In 1861, Mr. Watts enlisted in 
 Company B, Tenth Iowa Infantry. After 
 serving about a year, he received an honora- 
 ble discharge, having been incapacitated for 
 duty by being shot through the wiist while 
 on picket duty at New Madi-id, Mo. Mr. 
 Watts was married, in 1866, in Polk Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, ta Miss Sarah J. Eairleywine, a na- 
 tive of Ohio, daitghter of Abram and Eliza- 
 beth Eairleywine, natives of Ohio. The re- 
 sult of this union is one daughter, Orie A., 
 born September 1, 1868, and one son, Char- 
 lie M., born August 22, 1870. Mr. Watts is 
 •a member of the I. O. O. F. , and is a Demo- 
 crat. 
 
 H. C. WETMORE, farmer, P. O. Hancock, 
 was born in Ohio in 1848, son of O. E. and 
 M. F. (Williamson) Wetmore. He was edu- 
 cated mostly in Ohio, but also attended Ab- 
 ingdon College, Illinois. The mother of sub- 
 ject is still living. His father died when 
 owe subject was but eight year sold. Mr. 
 Wetmore attended school till about twenty 
 years of age, and then went to teaching and 
 
250 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 farming, which occupation he has continued 
 since. He has two sisters — one near Carson, 
 Pottawattamie Co. , Iowa, and the other in 
 Michigan. Mr. Wetmore was married, in No- 
 vember, 1874, to Miss Emma E. Peterson, born 
 in New York; her father and mother are livino- 
 in Summit County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wetmore have no children of their own, but 
 have a girl which they are raising. Mr. 
 Wetmore came from Ohio to Pottawattamie 
 County, Iowa, in the spring of 1878, and set- 
 tled on his present farm of eighty acres. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wetmore are members of the Chris- 
 tian Chiu-ch. Politically, Mr. Wetmore is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 WILLIAM W. WHIPPLE, farmer, P. O. 
 Hancock, was born in McKean County, 
 Penn. , in 1837, son of Samuel and Mercia 
 Whipple; mother died in 1842, father in 
 1867; for most of his life, the latter was a 
 lumberman, but, a few years before his death, 
 he followed farming. Mr. Whipple has one 
 brother and two sisters in Wisconsin. He 
 received his education in Pennsylvania; 
 moved from there when he was seventeen 
 years old. and went to Portage County, Wis. , 
 and remained five years, engaged in lumber- 
 ing. He next went to Adams County, Wis., 
 and went to farming; remained in Adams 
 County till 1864, when he enlisted in Com- 
 pany E, Thirty-seventh Wisconsin Volun- 
 teers, and served till the close of the war. 
 He was in the battle of Fort Steadman, be- 
 fore Petersburg and at its capture. After 
 the close of the war, he stayed in Wisconsin 
 about one year, and then went to Minnesota, 
 where he followed farming most of the time. 
 In 1860, Mr. Whipple was married to Miss 
 Phylena Seward, born in New York, daugh-, 
 ter of Enos Seward, and slightly related to 
 William H. Seward. Mrs. Whipple died 
 March 11, 1863, and was the mother of one 
 son, who died October 17, 1864. Mr. Whip- 
 
 ple was again married, in Minnesota, in 1869, 
 to Miss Annie E. Holloway, born in Maine, 
 daughter of Levi Holloway. By his second 
 wife Mr. Whipi^le has two children — Eugene 
 W., born August 6, 1871; and Albert L.. 
 born in December, 1876. Mr. Whipple lived 
 in Minnesota till 1869, when he moved to 
 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and settled in 
 Valley Township, one and a half miles east 
 of Hancock. In 1872, he bought eighty 
 acres of prairie at $9 per acre, and, in 1874, 
 forty acres at SIO per acre. His farm is all 
 under cultivation, with good improvements, 
 good buildings and orchards. He sold his 
 farm in 1882 for i30 per acre. He is a 
 member of the A. H. T. A.; also a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 of Hancock, and Superintendent of the Sun- 
 day school. In politics, he is a Republican. 
 J. M. WHISNAND. dry goods and grocer- 
 ies, Hancock, was born in Monroe County, 
 Ind., February 9, 1859, son of Granville and 
 Louisa Whisnand, natives of Indiana, who 
 are living on their farm near Sheridan, Iowa. 
 Our subject attended school at Sheridan. 
 Iowa, and completed his business education 
 at what is known as Mrs. Steward's Academy. 
 Mr. Whisnand removed with his parents from 
 Indiana to Lucas County, Iowa, about 1865; 
 thence, in 1879, he went to Cass County, and 
 remained there till coming to Pottawattamie 
 County, He has three brothers and two sis- 
 ters — one brother in this county, one sister in 
 Guthrie County, and the others in Lucas 
 County. Mr. Whisnand was engaged in 
 farming till early in 1881, when he went into 
 a store at Griswold, Iowa, remaining there 
 till starting his present store in Hancock, 
 December 1, 1881. His tii-st partner was 
 Mr. Gordon, who subsequently sold out his 
 interest, and the firm is now Whisnand & Ar- 
 cher. They keep dry goods, boots and shoes, 
 and a comjjlete stock of groceries, their stock 
 
VALLEY TOWXSHIP. 
 
 231 
 
 invoicing at §3,200. jVIt. Whisnand lias 
 charge of the business, his partner being on 
 a farm. Mr. Whisnand is a member of the I. 
 O. O. F., and in politics he is a Republican. 
 R. -M. WHITE, farmer, P. O. Oakland, 
 barn in Pennsylvania in 1833; lived in 
 Pennsylvania till 1853, and then went to Ill- 
 inois, and was there till 1800, and came to 
 Kansas and then to his present place the 
 same year, and this has been his home ever 
 since. He was raised on a farm: was edu- 
 cated in Pennsylvania, in common schools. 
 He has always followed farming. When 
 first .starting for himself, he went to Illinois 
 and worked by the month for about a year 
 and six months. The first land he ever 
 bought was his present place. He is a son 
 of Samuel and Mary (Leslie) White; father 
 born in Washington County, Penn. ; parents 
 both dead. Mr. White is one of seven chil- 
 dren — three sons and four daughters. Six 
 are still living. He has one brother in Iowa 
 now; one sister in Virginia; the other mem- 
 bers of family in Pennsylvania. He is Re- 
 publican in politics. He had two brothers 
 go through the war. Was married, in 1858, 
 to Miss Martha Clark, daughter of Charles 
 and Sarah Clark, both living. Mr. and Mrs. 
 White have five children living and one dead, 
 all boys — Charles, Warren, Uriah, Leslie, 
 Edmond. Charles is married and lives in 
 Valley Township. The others are all at 
 home, except what time Warren is off at 
 school. When Mr. White came here, he 
 bought land, paying §2.50 per acre. He has 
 now 800 acres in a body, and his oldest son 
 160 adjoining. Besides his home farm, he 
 has other lands. When first settling, he only 
 bought eighty acres — the remainder after the 
 country began to settle up. When Mr. 
 AVhite came to Iowa, it was with nothing ex- 
 cept a good team of horses, two or three cows 
 and a few household goods. He had moved 
 
 in wagon from Illinois to Kansas, and then 
 to Iowa. After crossing the Missouri River 
 into Iowa, he had only 25 cents in money, 
 and provisions for a week. He bought his 
 first eighty acres of Ephraim Bird on a year's 
 time. Mr. Bird was to pay the taxes the 
 first year, and also for recording the deed. 
 Mr. White paid for the laud in stock and 
 grain in about fifteen months from buying 
 it. Mr. White has always followed stock and 
 grain raising. When first coming here, he 
 did considerable hauling between Big Grove 
 and Council Bluffs. While in Illinois, he 
 worked by the month till he could buy a team, 
 and then rented land and farmed, making 
 money pretty fast till going to Kansas; he 
 lost all his money, and has made what he 
 now has in Iowa. In 1875, Mr. White was 
 run by the Republican party for Representa- 
 tive for this district for the State Legislat- 
 ure, but, it being an otice he did not desire, 
 and his other business needing his attention 
 at the time, he paid no attention to the can- 
 vass, so was beaten by the opposing candi- 
 date, Mr. Hunt, of Avoca, by one vote. In 
 the first two elections in the district, called 
 then No. 3, in Center Township, there were 
 only two voters — Mr. White and Mr. Strong. 
 This was in 1866 and 1867. Mr. White was 
 then Secretary of the School Board, and his 
 vote elected Mr. Strong Sub-Director for two 
 years. Then Mr. White and Mr. Strong 
 voted a 5-mill tax on their subdistrict. Their 
 subdistrict then was three by three and a half 
 miles. In 1868, they got their schoolhouse, 
 and at the time the tax was voted, there were 
 but two scholars; but, in 1868, as soon as the 
 school was opened, there were eleven scholars, 
 for people began to settle near the school. 
 Mr. White has been Township Clerk for all 
 but one year since 1865. 
 
 PETER WIESE, farmer, P. O. Hancock, 
 was born in Holstein, Germanv, in 1848, and 
 
353 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 received his eduation there. He came to thia 
 country in 1868, locating first in Davenport, 
 Iowa, where he engaged in farming three 
 years; thence he went to West Liberty, Mus- 
 catine Co., Iowa, and engaged in farming 
 till 1872, when he came to this county and 
 purchased eighty acres in Knox Township. 
 In 1878, he sold his farm in Knox Township, 
 and, coming to Valley Township, bought 
 eighty acres in Section 13. Here he has 
 since conducted farming. Mr. Wiese was 
 married, in Davenport, to Mrs. Sophia L. 
 Hansan, daughter of Henry W. T. Bein, a 
 farmer of Scott County, owning 200 acres. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wiese have four children — Au- 
 gusta T., Jacob H., Eggert and Ida L. — two 
 of them being Mi-s. Wiese's children by her 
 first husband, Hans J. Hansan. The parents 
 of Mr. Wiese are living near West Liberty. 
 He has one sister living in Avoca, and one 
 brother in Knox Township. Mr. Wiese was 
 naturalized May 19, 1882, and votes the Dem- 
 ocratic ticket. 
 
 W. S. WILLIAMS, farmer, P. O. Han- 
 cocky.was born in Indiana in 1848. His fa- 
 ther, S. G. Williams, was born in Maine, and 
 emigrated to Indiana when that State was 
 almost entirely inhabited by Indians. He 
 now lives in retirement, in South Bend, Ind., 
 huving been a farmer forty years. He and 
 ex- Gov. Garcillon, of Maine, were schoolmates. 
 Mr. Williams has one brother and two sisters. 
 He received a good education in Indiana, 
 and, leaving that State in 1872, came to 
 Iowa and located on his present place in Pot- 
 tawattamie County. Mr. Williams' farm 
 consists of seventy acres, well improved, and 
 a 81, 500 residence upon it. Besides his farm, 
 he owns considerable town property. He is 
 Postmaster of Hancock. Mr. Williams was 
 married, in 1873, in Avoca, Iowa, to Miss S. 
 E. Sanders, a native of Michigan. They have 
 five children — Mabel, Frank, Winfield, Grove 
 and Clara. Mr. Williams is a member of 
 the I. O. O. F. , serving as Permanent Secre- 
 tary. He is a Republican in politics. 
 
 WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 
 
 J. K. ANNIS, farmer, P. O. Taylor Sta- 
 tion, was born in the State of Maine in 1835. 
 Before he was a year old, his parents moved 
 to Knox County, 111. , and that was his home 
 till he came to Iowa in 1871. The first two 
 years he lived in Mills County, and then came 
 into Pottawattamie County, living one year 
 in Hardin Township, and since that he has 
 lived in Washington Township, and at the 
 time of coming there was but little settle- 
 ment in the township, there being but about 
 sixteen voters. When buying his farm, he 
 went back from the main traveled road for 
 some distance, thinking that he would al- 
 ways have all the range he wanted for his 
 
 stock, but in six months other houses began 
 to go up around him, and soon the entire 
 prairie was inclosed. Mr. Annis was mar- 
 ried, in Illinois, to Miss Drusilla A. Essex, 
 in 1867. They have two children, both girls. 
 He was educated in Illinois. He enlisted in 
 the First Illinois Cavalry in 1861, Col. Thom- 
 as A. Marshall. In the same year, they were 
 taken prisoners at Lexington, Mo., and were 
 paroled, but not exchanged, and were again 
 called into service, and were stationed at St. 
 Louis most of the time, but were again mus- 
 tered out in 1862. He is Republican in pol- 
 itics, and is a member of the Masonic frater- 
 nity, becoming one in Illinois, and still keeps 
 
AVASHINGTOX TOWXSHIP. 
 
 253 
 
 his mpmbership there. His farm consists of 
 eighly acres, and he does general farming. 
 By trade he is a mason, aud followed his 
 trade for about fifteen years, and occasion- 
 ally since. Mr. Annis has taken an active 
 part in township affairs since coming here, 
 and is now one of the Trustees of the town- 
 ship, and Justice of the Peace. 
 
 A. S. CAJRTER, farming and stock, P. O. 
 Neola, was born in Ohio in 1837, son of 
 Samuel Carter, who was born and raised in 
 Maryland, and is still living and in good 
 health, although seventy-eight years old. 
 Mr. Carter's mother died when he was young. 
 Mr. Carter was educated in Ohio, in common 
 schools. He was raised on a farm, and such 
 has been his occupation all his life. He was 
 married, in Ohio, in 1860, to Miss Malinda 
 Hartley, born in Ohio, in the same county as 
 Mi\ Carter — Guernsey County. They have 
 ten children — seven boys and three girls — 
 all at home but one daughter, and she is 
 married, and living in New Sharon, Mahaska 
 Co., Iowa. Mr. Carter first moved to Noda- 
 way County, Mo. , where he lived for three 
 years, and then came to his present place, in 
 Washington Township, getting here in De- 
 cember, 1869. He had bought the land, 
 however, before he had moved from Ohio. 
 There were no improvements on the farm 
 when coming here, so j\Ir. Carter went to 
 work to make him a home, planting out 
 groves, orchards, and building farm build- 
 ings, till now he has a well-improved farm. 
 
 His farm now consists of 360 acres — 160 in 
 Section 3, and 200 in Section 4. Mr. Car- 
 ter's business is raising corn and feeding 
 stock, and has made a success of it. He is 
 Republican in politics. In township affairs 
 Mr. Carter has taken an active part always, 
 and has held most of the township offices. 
 When he first started on the place, there were 
 no groves, but now has eight acres in culti- 
 vated forest trees, besides roads lined with 
 trees. His orchard consists of about two 
 acres, with trees in bearing. When he set- 
 tled in the township, there was no settlement 
 in sight, and no roads in this part of the 
 township. Mr. Carter has also been land 
 agent for a number of years. He was here 
 where he could learn the corners of all pieces 
 near him, and where such tracts lay, so was 
 appointed agent. Although Mi\ Carter is 
 not a member of any chvu'ch, yet his stand 
 ard is morality. No one ever heard him ut- 
 ter an oath, or never was drunk. When he 
 came to this place, in December, 1869. he 
 had only S37 with which to begin building 
 and improving. Of his farm, 270 acres are 
 in cultivation, 225 in corn — the remainder in 
 pastm-e and grass. His farm is splendidly 
 watered — two fine springs, three wells and 
 the Middle Silver Creek through the fai-m. 
 Neola is the nearest town of importance, 
 and he is nine miles south of that place, 
 nearly the same distance west of Oakland, 
 and eighteen miles northeast of Council 
 Bluffs. 
 
354 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 WA.TELAI^D T0W:JTSHIP. 
 
 HENRY BARNES, farmer, P. O. Elliott 
 Montgomery, Co., Iowa, was born in Mont- 
 pelier, Vt., August 16, 1836. His father, 
 Hanry Y. Barnes, was born in Vermont in 
 1796. He was a harness-maker, and died in 
 Vermont in 1872. Subject's mother, Caro- 
 line (Yale) Barnes, was born in Chittenden 
 Coimty, Vt., about 1803, and died in Ver- 
 mont in 1881. The parents had nine chil- 
 dren, four of whom are living. Mr. Barnes 
 began business as a harness- maker in 1857, 
 in Vermont, and followed that trade twelve 
 years. Then he moved to Iowa and became 
 a farmer in Pottawattamie County in 1869, 
 and has continued farming since. He has 
 held divers offices in the township, such as 
 Justice of th<^ Peace, Trustee, etc., etc. He 
 was married, fii'st to Miss Mary E. Gentle, 
 October 7, 1858; she was born in Canada in 
 1835, and died in Vermont in October, 1864; 
 her parents are Hiram and Mary (Bateman) 
 Gentle, natives of New York State. Mr. 
 Barnes was married to Miss Emma S. Sti'at- 
 ton, May 23, 1866. She was born in Green- 
 wich, Mass., July 26, 1840; her father, Na- 
 thaniel H. Stratton, a silver- plater, was born 
 in Rutland, Mass., February 12, 1818; her 
 mother, Susan H. (Lt^gg) Stratton, was born 
 in Orange, Mass., November 25, 1816. Mr. 
 Barnesjhas three children by his first wife — 
 Henry, born July 21, 1859; Charles, born 
 November 1, 1861; and Fred, born Decem- 
 ber 3, 1863. By his second wife Mr. Barnes 
 has two children — Frank, born June 30,1867; 
 and Nellie, born October 21, 1877. Mr. 
 Barnes bought eighty acres in Pottawattamie 
 County, Iowa, in May, 1869. at about 17.50 
 
 per acre; he now has 185 acres, valued at 
 S35 per acre. The family of Mr. Barnes are 
 members of the Congregational Church. He 
 is a Republican. 
 
 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, farmer. P. 
 O. Griswold, Cass County, was born in 
 Northern Scotland in 1845, son of Simon and 
 Isabella (McKenzie) Campbell; he was born 
 in Scotland in 1822, and now lives in that 
 country; she was born in Scotland in 1825, 
 and died in Iowa in 1877. ili-. Campbell 
 was an only child, and began life as a fisher- 
 man. He emigrated to this country and be- 
 gan work as a farm hand in Illinois in 1868. 
 In 1871, he bought 160 acres of land in 
 Waveland Township, Pottawattamie Co., 
 Iowa. This farm he moved onto in 1877. 
 Mr. Campbell paid $6.50 per acre for his 
 farm. He now has 547 acres, valued at about 
 $35 an acre. He has two very fine orchards, 
 and some artificial groves. He has fifty-five 
 head of cattle, ten horses and 100 head of fine 
 hogs — a cross between Berkshire and Poland. 
 The cyclone of 1873 passed near Mr. Camp- 
 bell's place, but he fortunately escaped dam- 
 age. In 1876, Mr. Campbell returned to 
 Scotland, and, after a thirteen years' separa- 
 tion, married Miss Mary Ann McKenzie, born 
 in Elgin, Scotland. October 24, 1852, daugh- 
 ter of William and Betsey McKenzie; he died 
 in Scotland in 1863; she was born in Scot- 
 land in 1822. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have 
 four children — Bella, William J., Betsey and 
 Janet — all born in Pottawattamie County, 
 Iowa. When Mr. Campbell came to Iowa to 
 buy land in 1S71, there was not a house to 
 be seen on Walnut Ridge, and he ha i to use 
 
AVAVELAND TOWNSHIP. 
 
 255 
 
 his compass to find his way back to a settle- 
 ment. He is a member of • the Presbyterian 
 Church, and is Independent in politics. 
 
 THOiLlS N. CHRISTIAN, farmer, P. O. 
 Griswold, Cass County, was born in Indiana 
 February 2, 1836, son of Lewis and Levina 
 (Frazier) Christian; he, born in Tennessee 
 in 1811, is a farmer by occupation ; she, born 
 in Tennessee in 1812, is the mother of ten 
 children, two of whom are dead. Mr. Chris- 
 tian came to Missom-i with his parents in 
 1S49, received a common-school education, 
 and afterward taught. In August, 1802, he 
 enlisted in Company F, Thirty-fifth Missou- 
 ri Infantry, and was mustered out at St. 
 Louis in 1863. After returning fi-om the 
 army. Mi-. Chi-istian came to Cass County, 
 Iowa, in 1866, and engaged in teaming till 
 1867, when he moved to Pottawattamie Coun- 
 ty and rented land. In 1869, he bought 124: 
 acres at $5 an acre. He now has 244 acres, 
 valued at ?30 an acre. He has a tine young 
 orchard of 100 trees, and small fruits, be- 
 sides twenty acres of grove. He raises con- 
 siderable stock, now having forty head of 
 cattle and fifty hogs. Mr. Chi-istian was 
 married, in Missouri, May 23, 1861, to Re- 
 becca Cranor, born in Indiana November 24, 
 1841, daughter of Joshua and Deborah (Pot- 
 ter) Cranor, natives of New Jersey; her moth- 
 er died in July, 1882. Mi-, and Mrs. Chris- 
 tian have had ten children — Weltha, Ida, 
 Newton, Alner, Lewis, Manlove B., Melcina, 
 Belle, Alice and Flora; the last two died in 
 Missoui-i; the rest of the ehildi-en were born 
 in Iowa. Mr. Christian has held some 
 township offices; he belongs to the Masonic 
 fraternity; is a Baptist in religion, and a 
 Republican in politics. 
 
 CHESTER M. CLARK, farmer, P. O. 
 Elliott, Montgomery Co., Iowa, was bom in 
 Peacham, Vt., September 24, 1845. His fa- 
 ther, Gideon H. Clark, was born in Vermont 
 
 February 9, 1805; he is a farmer. Subject's 
 mother, Harriett (Watts) Clark, was born in 
 Peacham, Vt., September 3. 1825. His par- 
 ents had eight children, seven of whom are 
 living. At the age of seventeen, Mr. Clark 
 began business for himself as a farmer, and 
 has thus continued since. He married Miss 
 Dora Kinkade March 12, 1870. Her father, 
 William D. Kinkade, was born in Belmont 
 County, Ohio, February 10, 1819. Her 
 mother, Emily (Ross) Kinkade, was born in 
 Ohio August 18, 1820. Mrs. Clark was born 
 in Rose Hill, Ohio, April 28, 1847. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Clark have one child, Jennie, born 
 August 31, 1872. In 1870, Mr. Clark moved 
 to Boone County, Iowa, from which place he 
 moved to Audubon County, Iowa, thence to 
 Montgomery County, Iowa. In 1873, he 
 moved to Pottawattamie County, where he 
 bought eighty acres at $10 per acre. He now 
 has 230 acres, worth about $35 per acre. In 
 1873, Mr. Clark's residence was completely 
 destroyed by a cyclone of that year, which 
 damaged him more than $500. 
 
 BARNARD CLUSKEY, farmer, P. O. El- 
 liott, Montgomery Co., Iowa, was born in 
 Ireland in 1832. His father, George Cluskey, 
 was born in Ireland, and died in his native 
 country about 1857. Subject's mother, Nancy 
 (Conlan) Cluskey, was born in Ireland, and 
 resided there until her death, which occm-red 
 about 1840. The parents had five children, 
 three of whom are still living. In 1851, Mr. 
 Cluskey was married, in Ii-eland, to Miss 
 Rose Brennen, a native of Ireland, as were 
 her parents. Four ofifspring are the result of 
 this happy union — Thomas, born in Ireland 
 in 1851; George, also born in Ireland; Ann, 
 born in Massachusetts in 1863; and Rose, 
 born in Illinois in 1867. Mr. Cluskey is a 
 member of the Catholic Church He emi- 
 grated to this country in 1854, settling in 
 Massachusetts, where he pui-sued farming as 
 
25G 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 a laborer for others. He next remover! to 
 Illinois, pursuing the same course of employ- 
 ment, until, by economy, he accumulated 
 enough to purchase a pleasant home. In 
 1S76, he removed to Iowa, Pottawattamie 
 County, Waveland Township, where he pur- 
 chased a farm of 160 acres, situated in Sec- 
 tions 31 and 32. This land cost Mr. Clus- 
 key about §10 per acre, and it is now worth 
 at least S30 per acre. 
 
 SOLOMON DILLAED, farmer, P. O. 
 Griswold, was born in North Carolina No- 
 vember 21, 1851, son of James and Polly 
 (Spurling) Dillard; he was born in North 
 Carolina about ISIO. The parents had ten 
 children, four of whom are dead. Sir. Dil- 
 lard attended common school, and began the 
 business of life as a farmer. In 1869, he 
 moved from North Carolina to Hardin Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, and rented land till 1875, when he 
 and his father bought 160 acres at SI an 
 acre. He now has eighty acres, valued at 
 about 837 an acre. He has an acre of or- 
 chard, and the same amount of grove. His 
 farm is well stocked. Mr. Dillard was mar- 
 ried, in Iowa, December 21, 1876, to Miss 
 Ella Stidham, born in Iowa, daughter of D. 
 G. and Susan L. (Winegar) Stidham. Mr. 
 Dillaa'd and wife are members of the Chris- 
 tian Church. 
 
 CLAEKSON GODFEEY, farmer, P. O. 
 Griswold, Cass County, was born in Tippe- 
 canoe County, Ind., July 17, 1835. His 
 father, Elijah Godfrey, was born in Mary- 
 land in 1796, and, when about ten years 
 old, emigi-ated to Ohio, settled in Eoss 
 C unty (1806), where he married; thence to 
 Indiana, where he remained till emigrating 
 to Illinois in 1855, when he settled in War- 
 ren County, and there remained till his death, 
 which occiuTed in October, 1877: he was a 
 farmer by occupation. Subject's mother, 
 Eleanor Davis, was born in Ohio about 1805; 
 
 was the mother of nine children, of whom 
 three are in Illinois, one in Missouri, two in 
 Kansas, and the subject in Waveland Town- 
 ship, Pottawattamie Co., Iowa. His mother 
 died May 22, 1849. He began life in Illi- 
 nois by renting land of his father; contin- 
 ued this about tive years, then he bought 
 forty acres in Warren County, 111., farmed 
 it for about three years, then went to the 
 army, enlisting in the Forty-seventh Illinois 
 Infantry, Corapany H, in which he served 
 one year, or till the close of the war. After 
 returning from the army, he bought eighty 
 acres and went to farming in Illinois, con 
 tinned this till 1873,^when he sold out and 
 came to where he now lives, in Waveland 
 Township, Pottawattamie County, thirty- 
 five miles east of Council Bluffs. Here he 
 bought 160 acres, to which he has added 285, 
 making 445; this was wild land, but is all 
 improved now. j\L'. Godfrey married Miss 
 Ellen Dehart. in Illinois, March 14, 1868. 
 She was born in Indiana March 23, 1844; her 
 father, Lai'kin Dehart, born in North Caro- 
 lina March 19, 1804, died August 6, 1875; 
 her mother. Sarah (Collett) Dehart, was born 
 in Kentucky June 20, 1812, and lives in Potta- 
 wattamie County, Iowa. Mr. and Mi-,s. God- 
 frey have had seven children, five of whom 
 are living — Mary Maud, Irene I., Charlotte 
 I., Elijah F. and Albert H. Mr. Godfrey is 
 a man who votes for principle and not for 
 party. He is not a professor of religion, but 
 does his utmost to help every good cause. 
 
 E. T. GEAHAM, farmer, P. O. Griswold, 
 Cass Co., Iowa, was born in Coles County, 
 111., in 1830; his father was born in Ken- 
 tucky in 1816, and died in Illinois in 1863: 
 his mother, Laurana L. (Sawyer) Graham, 
 was born in Kentucky, and is still living; 
 the parents followed farming, and had twelve 
 children, eight of whom are still living. Mr. 
 Graham received a common-school education. 
 
WAVELAND TCWNSHIP. 
 
 257 
 
 and, at the age of eighteen, began life for 
 himself as a farmer on rented land in Illi- 
 nois. He afterward pre-empted 160 acres of 
 land in Coles County, 111. In 1852, he went 
 to California, prospecting, and retarned to 
 Illinois two years later. In 1853, he built 
 a saw-mill in Coles County, 111. Four years 
 later, he sold his mill, and built another, 
 which he ran two years, then traded it for 
 eighty acres of land in Illinois. He after- 
 ward sold this land, and, in 1862, engaged 
 in a woolen manufactory in Mattoon, 111., 
 the firm name being Linder & Graham, 
 ■which firm did a flourishing business. In 
 1872, he moved to Pottawattamie County, 
 Iowa, and rented a farm, on which he re- 
 mained nine years. In 1881, he bought a 
 beautiful farm of 240 acres at §25 per acre, 
 ■which is to-day worth at least $10 per acre. 
 He was married to Miss Maranda Dickey in 
 1849. She was born in Ohio, and died in 
 Illinois in 1850. Hor parents were born in 
 Ohio, where her father died. Her mother 
 died in Kansas about 1878. Mr. Graham 
 married his second wife, Miss Emily J. Rog- 
 ers, in 1861. She was born in Kentucky in 
 1842. Her parents were born in Kentucky, 
 and are still living. Mr. Graham has had 
 eleven children— four by his first wife and 
 seven by his second wife. Eight of the chil- 
 dren are living. Mr. and Mrs. Graham were 
 formerly members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Chiu'cli. Mr. Graham has eighty head of 
 very tine cattle, fifty head of hogs and eleven 
 head of first-class horses. 
 
 DR. J. W. HEMSTED, physician, Gris.- 
 ■wold, Cass County, was born in Johnson Co., 
 Iowa, in May, 1849; his father, F. W. Hemsted, 
 was born in York Co., Penn., in 1818, emigrat- 
 ed to Ohio in 1840, stojDped at Columbus till 
 1846, when he came to Iowa, landing at Iowa 
 City, where he worked at his trade; has retired 
 to private life. Subject's mother, Elizabeth 
 
 (Akers) Hemstead, was born in Wayne Coun- 
 ty, Penn., in 1816; she is the mother of seven 
 children. Dr. Hemsted first attended the 
 district schools of Iowa; then he spent three 
 years in the State University of Iowa, after 
 which he took , a course in medicine in the 
 same institution, graduating in 1873; he first 
 practiced one year at Tiifin, Johnson Co., 
 Iowa, then moved to Pottawattamie County 
 and located where he now lives, on a farm of 
 320 acres, situated thirty-eight miles east of 
 Council Bluffs, in the Walnut Creek Valley. 
 After Dr. Hemsted came to Pottawattamie 
 County, he engaged in practice for several 
 years, diu'ing -which time he established a 
 wide reputation by the many skillful ojaera- 
 tions he performed in this section; he is 
 doubtless as well equif)ped for siu'gical opera- 
 tions as any jjhysician in the West. Dr. 
 Hemsted married Miss Eva L. Thorn, of 
 Johnson County, Iowa, in 1876, who was born 
 November 24, 1854; her father, Graham 
 Thorn, born in New York in 1824, emigrated 
 to Illinois in 1853, settling in Du Page 
 Count}-; in 1864, he came to Johnson County, 
 Iowa, where he still lives. Mrs. Hemsted's 
 mother, Laura (Bailey) Thorn, was born in 
 New Yofk in November, 1831, and died in 
 1878. Dr. Hemsted and wife have three 
 children — Ellen M., Bessie May and Samuel 
 B. The Doctor is a Democrat, and was a 
 candidate, in the fall of 1881, for Represen- 
 tative on the Democratic ticket, but was de- 
 feated. 
 
 JAMES HORNBY, farmer, P. O. Elliott, 
 Montgomery Co., Iowa, was born in England 
 August 9, 1825; his father was born in Eng- 
 land in 1774, and was a farmer; he died in 
 1865. Subject's mother, Elizabeth (Bramble) 
 Hornby, was born in England in 1769, and 
 died in 1844; the parents had twenty children, 
 two of whom are living. Mr. Hornby received 
 a common-school education, and began life as 
 
258 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 a farmer, which ha has sincd continued. He 
 has never become naturalized, but is of the 
 Republican persuasion. He has been twice 
 married — first, in 1845, to Miss Minerva Gral- 
 tress, whose parents were natives of England. 
 Mr. Hornby was married to his second wife, 
 Miss Jane Spence, in 1854; her parents were 
 English. Mr. Hornby is the father of the 
 following childi-en: Robert, born January 25, 
 1846; Faithful, August 19, 1849; Faith, Jan- 
 uary 31, 1850; Minerva, June 4, 1852; 
 Thomas, February 13, 1857; Hope, Febru- 
 aiy 5, 1859; Jane, July 14, 1862; Greorge, 
 December 25, 1863; Elizabeth, January 14, 
 1865; William, March 7, 1867: Harry. May 
 24, 1868; Eddie, July 24, 1870; Maiy, Sep- 
 tember, 1872; Elsie, July 7, 1873, and James, 
 July 1, 1876. Mr. Hornby is a Presbyterian. 
 He emigrated to Canada in 1848, and ten years 
 later, he moved to Pottawattamie County, 
 Iowa, where he now resides. 
 
 J. W. JOHNSON, farmer, P. O. Griswold, 
 was born January 31, 1845, in Warren 
 County, 111., son of Evander and Edith 
 (Reed) Johnson, natives of Kentucky. The 
 parents had seven children, two of whom are 
 dead. Mr. Johnson began working bv the 
 month on a farm in Illinois; he moved from 
 that State to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 
 1869, and bought sixty acres at $10 per acre; 
 he now has 160 acres, valued at §40 per acre 
 and a fine residence. He has an orchard of 
 inO trees, besides other fruits; also one acre 
 of artificial grove. Mr. Johnson was married, 
 in Illinois, in 1869, to Delpha Dehart, born 
 in Illinois in 1852, daughter of Larkin and 
 Sarah Dehart. Mr. Johnson lost his fu'st 
 wife in 1871, and March 31, 1872, in Iowa, 
 he married Caroline Stidham, born in Iowa 
 May 21, 1853, daughter of David G. and Su- 
 san Arm (Winegar) Stidham. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Johnson have had four children — Rosetta, 
 Edith L. , John D. , who died November 22, 
 
 1881, and Franklin E., the latter born in 
 .Pottawattamie County, Iowa, the others born 
 in Montgomeiy County. Mrs. Johnson be- 
 longs to the Christian Church. 
 
 J. S. JACKSON, farmer, P. O. Griswold, 
 Cass County, was born in Sweden in October, 
 1843; he came to America in 1868; landed at 
 Galesburg, 111., where he remained, employed 
 as a day laborer, for about six years; then he 
 rented a farm in Illinois one year; then sold 
 out and came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, 
 with his brother, N. Jackson. They bought 
 160 acres in 1874; since then they have add- 
 ed 160 acres, all of which they have placed 
 in a good state of cultivation. Mr. Jack- 
 son's sister Celia came to America in 1873, 
 and keeps house for the brothers. Mr, Jack- 
 son turns his attention largely to raising and 
 feeding stock. Mr. Jackson's father, Swan 
 Jackson, born in Sweden about 1813, died in 
 1858. His mother, Ellen Peterson, born in 
 Sweden about 1822. died in 1860. The par- 
 ents' children are J. S., Peter, Nelson, An- 
 drew and Celia. In politics. Mr. Jackson is 
 a Democrat; religiously, he is a Lutheran. 
 These two brothers and their sister are de- 
 serving of great credit for their industry, en- 
 terprise and improvements. Their parents 
 died when the children were small, and left 
 them to care for themselves, which they have 
 nobly done. 
 
 ROBERT LARINGTON, farmer, P O. 
 Griswold, was born in England March 18, 
 1830. son of Robert and Ann (Smith) Laring- 
 ton, natives of England; he died in England 
 about 1838; she died in Minnesota in 1879. 
 and was the mother of nine children, two of 
 whom are dead. Mr. Larington began life 
 as a sailor, at the age of thirteen; he came 
 from England to Chicago, 111., in 1849, 
 worked in a car foundry one year, and then 
 went to Minnesota, thence to Clayton Coun- 
 ty, Iowa, and engaged in farm work. About 
 
WAVELAND TOWNSHIP. 
 
 259 
 
 1S70, he moved to Pottawattamie County and 
 bought 120 acres of land. This he has im- 
 proved and added to till he now has 226 
 acres, worth about S3 2 an acre. He has a 
 beautiful grove of maples of about three and 
 a half acres, and some fruit He has sixty- 
 three head of cattle, ten horses and 135 hogs. 
 Mr. Larington was teamster for the Govern- 
 ment dui'ing the greater part of the rebellion. 
 He was married, in Chicago, 111. , in 1855, 
 to Mary Ann Archer, born in Canada in 1833. 
 They have foiu- children living — Wilbert, 
 Anna, Maiy Jane and Eugene — one of whom 
 is an adopted child. They lost two children 
 in infancy. Mr. Larington is a Republican. 
 W. Z. LLOYD, fai-mer, P. O. Elliott, 
 Montgomery Co., Iowa. Was born in Ohio 
 Jane 26, 1840. His father. David Lloyd, 
 was born in England, and was a farmer; he 
 died in Iowa in 1863. Subject's mother, 
 Anna (Williams) Lloyd, was born in -Eng- 
 land, and died in Kansas in 1872. His par- 
 ents had ten children, all of whom are living. 
 Mr. Lloyd has a common-school education. 
 He began life for himself as a renter in 1865. 
 He has served his township in the capacity 
 of Postmaster, Justice of the Peace, Treas- 
 urer, Collector, etc. He enlisted in Company 
 K, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, 
 Fourth Division and Seventeenth Army 
 Corps. He served three years, and was mus- 
 tered out at Louisville, Ky., in July, 1865. 
 On September 2, 1868, he was married to 
 Miss Hannah Hughes, born in Burlington, 
 Iowa, November 6, l8-t7; her father, John 
 Hughes, was born in England, and died in 
 Iowa in 1848; her mother, Winifred (Owens) 
 Hughes, was born in England, and is living 
 in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd have five chil- 
 dren — Gracie, born January 20, 1871; Win- 
 ifred, February 11, 1873; Ernest, March 7, 
 1875; Mary Ida, March 17, 1877; and David 
 Garfield, September 27, 1880. Mr. Lloyd 
 
 located in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 
 1871, buying eighty acres at $12 per acre, 
 and he now has 320 acres, worth about $40 
 per acre. His residence is beautifully orna- 
 mented on the west by a grove of about two 
 and a half acres. He has on his farm seventy 
 head of fine cattle and about one hundred 
 and fifty head of hogs. He is a Republican. 
 
 LEVI A. PERSONS, farmer, P. O. El- 
 liott, Montgomery Co., Iowa, was born in 
 Vermont October 10, 1822. His father was 
 born in Vermont in 1790; was a fai'mer, and 
 served a short time in the war of 1812. Sub- 
 ject's mother was born in Vermont in 1793, 
 and died in 1860. His parents had five chil- 
 dren, four of whom are living. Mr. Persons 
 has a common-school education. He was in 
 Company H, Forty-ninth Wisconsin Infantry, 
 during the rebellion. He was married to 
 Miss Betsey Moore in 1850. She was born 
 in Vermont, of which State her parents were 
 also natives. Mr. and Mrs. Persons have had 
 five children — Zedora L., born January 23, 
 1851; Susan E., August 27, 1852; Hattie A., 
 June 3, 1855; Herbert H., February 27, 
 1857; and George A., born April 13, 1859. 
 died June 3, 1864. Mr. Persons emigrated 
 from Vermont to Wisconsin, thence to Potta- 
 wattamie County, Iowa, in 1870, where he 
 bought ten acres of land at 110 per acre. 
 He no^v has fifty acres, worth at least $40 
 per acre. 
 
 H. C. POTTER, farmer, P. O. Griswold, 
 Cass County, was born in Genesee County, 
 N. Y., July 17, 1816; his father, William 
 Potter, born in Boston, Mass., in 1780, set- 
 tled in Western New York on a farm, where 
 he died in 1864; he served a short time in 
 the war of 1312. Subject's mother. Charity 
 (Skinner) Potter, born in Kings County, N. 
 Y., in 1790, was the mother of thirteen chil- 
 dren, of whom but five are living; she died 
 in 1846. Mr. Potter began life on his own 
 
260 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 responsibility in Erie County, N. Y., farming 
 the old homestead, which he had purchased 
 of the heirs. This he sold, and came to Iowa 
 in 1852, settling in Jackson County, near 
 Andrew. He remained on this farm for 
 four years, then moved to Minnesota; re- 
 mained eleven years; returned to Lucas 
 County, Iowa: farmed a rented farm three 
 years, then came to where he now lives; 
 bought the land, but lived on a rented farm 
 for three years, while improving the present 
 homestead, which consists of "255 acres, val- 
 ued at about $30 per acre. Mr. Potter mar- 
 ried Miss Caroline Parmely, of Erie County. 
 N. Y,, in October, 1S4L She was born in 
 
 Erie County, N. Y., in January, 1823; her 
 father, Lemuel Parmely, born in 1779, in 
 Maine, died in 1868; her mother, Sally 
 (Brown) Parmely, born in Vermont aboixt 
 1789, died in 1827. Mr. and Mi-s. Potter 
 have had seven children, of whom five are 
 living— Ray S., Clark, Sally M., Ellen B. and 
 William. Mr. Potter has served his town- 
 ship as Justice of the Peace ; has been Town- 
 ship xissessor for six years, and Township 
 Trustee for several years, thus being a very 
 active and useful citizen. He is an active 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 and always votes the straight Republican 
 ticket. 
 
 WEIGHT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 S. H. ALBRIGHT, farmer, P. O. Lewis, 
 Cass Co., Iowa, was born in Crawford Coun- 
 ty, Ohio, November 12, 1845. He is the son 
 of Joseph and Catharine (Darger) Albright. 
 His father was born in Dauphin County, 
 Penn., December 7, 1817, and is still livincr 
 in Crawford County, Ohio. He is also a 
 farmer. The mother of our subject was a 
 native of Pennsylvania, born October 29, 
 1815, and died in 1862. Our subject re- 
 ceived a common -school education, and began 
 working out at the age of eleven. He worked 
 in Ohio for about seven years, when, in 
 1861, he came to this State, and worked in 
 Cedar County for over eight years. He then 
 came to Mills County, where he farmed 
 rented land for two years. He then pur- 
 chased his present farm, which consists of 
 180 acres of land, situated in Section 5, 
 Township 75, Range 38, where he moved in 
 the fall of 1875. With the exception of his 
 house, he has made all the imj^rovements 
 himself. He was married, at Malvern, Mills 
 
 County, December 31, 1874, to Mary E. 
 Snodgrass, born in York County, Penn., Oc- 
 tober 2, 1843. She is the daughter of Will- 
 iam and Jane Ellen (Johnson) Snodgrass, 
 both natives of Penn.sylvania. Her father 
 died in his native State, and her mother died 
 near Burlington, 111. Mr. and Mrs. Albright 
 have had two childi'en — Alva and Alma, 
 twins, born July 2, 1876. Alva died July 
 29, 1877. Om- subject is an Odd Fellow, 
 and in politics is a Republican. 
 
 M. P. BLACK, farmer, P. O. Griswold, 
 Cass County, was born in Franklin County, 
 Ohio, December 29, 1820, son of John and 
 Margaret (Petriej Black, he a native of Vir- 
 ginia, and she of German descent. His fa- 
 ther died in Union County, Ind., about 1862. 
 The mother of our subject is now over eighty- 
 thi'ee years of age, and resides in Indiana. 
 She sent her son a quilt, which she pieced 
 after she was eighty-two years old. Our ' 
 subject reeeived his education in a log school- 
 house. In 1842, he began farming for him- 
 
WltlGlIT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 261 
 
 self, on a little 2^iec6 of rented land. He 
 left Indiana and came to this State; winter- 
 ed in Warren County, and then came to this 
 county, locating in Waveland Township in 
 1853. He made improvements on Section 
 11, Township 74, Range 38, pre-empted the 
 same, and entered it the following year. 
 Here he lived until the spring of. 1857, when 
 he went to Buchanan County, Mo., raised a 
 crop, and returned to Warren County, this 
 State, in the fail of the same year. In 
 1861, he enlisted as First Sergeant, Company 
 B, Tenth Iowa Infantry. He was in the en- 
 gagements attending the expedition to open 
 the Mississippi, under Eosecrans; was also 
 with Sherman thi'ough Alabama and Georgia, 
 and also in the siege of Vicksburg. His 
 time having expired, he was mustered oat at 
 Kingston', Ga., in the fall of 1864. He re- 
 turned home, sold his place and moved to 
 Harrison County, this State, where he lived 
 for three years, when he returned to this 
 county, in October, 1869, and, after renting 
 for three years, he purchased his present 
 homestead. He was the first Justice of the 
 Peace in Walnut. He was married to Eliza- 
 beth Moore, a native of Pennsylvania, by 
 whom he had three childi-en — Climpson B., 
 Margaret Jane a ad Mary Ann. The mother 
 died in 1848. His second marriage was with 
 Mary Highner, a native of Indiana; she died 
 in 1853. By her he had two children — Ros- 
 alinda and John R. Our subject was mar- 
 ried a third time, to Mrs. Tabitha Lipp, n^e 
 Pierson, a native of Kentucky. By her he 
 had seven children — William, Leonard, 
 Elizabeth, Rosa B., Cora, Susan and Frank. 
 All of the twelve children are now living, out 
 of a family of fourteen. In politics, our sub- 
 ject is a Democrats 
 
 L. A. BURNHAM, f ai-mer, P. O. Griswold, 
 Cass Co., Iowa, born in Oswego County, N. 
 Y., September 23, 1834, son of Philo and 
 
 Sarah (Rice) Burnham, he born in Greene 
 County, N. Y., September 16, 1793; she a 
 native of Connecticut, and died December 15, 
 1862, at the age of sixty-eight years. The 
 father was a farmer, and followed that voca- 
 tion until he was nineteen years of age, when 
 he entered the service of the Government in 
 the war of 1812. In 1818, he experienced 
 religion, and, up to his death, was a devoted 
 follovver of Christ. He was married to his 
 first wife March 4, 1818. They had six chil- 
 dren — Alma, born July 9, 1820; Sarah M., 
 born June 23, 1825; John R., born June 24, 
 1827; Philo H., born January 1, 1832; Lorin 
 A., our subject; and Charles H., bom De- 
 cember 9,'1S40. The three latter are living 
 — Philo H. and Charles H. are living in 
 Scriba, Oswego Co., N. Y. March 18. 1864, 
 our subject's father united in marriage to his 
 second wife, Lydia Miner, born in Berkshire 
 County, Mass., November 22, 1800. He had 
 four memberships in the American Bible So- 
 ciety, and bequeathed to them $250, aad also 
 a like aniount to the Home Missionary So- 
 ciety. For sixty years he had been a mem 
 ber of the Presbyterian or Congregational 
 Church, and died in the faith February 7, 
 1878. Oiu: subject received a common-school 
 education and worked on his father's farm 
 till the age of twenty-one. He came to this 
 county in 1857, and, during the summer of 
 that year, worked in Lewis, Cass County. 
 In the fall he purchased 100 acres in Section 
 35, Township 75, Range 38. He added sixty 
 acres the following year. He was among the 
 first settlers of Wright Township. He was 
 married, in Council Bluffs, in July, 1860, to 
 Mrs. Caroline Burnham, n6e Miner, born in 
 Delaware County, N. Y., March 15, 1882. 
 She is the daughter of Isaac and Ann M. 
 (Halleck) Miner, both natives of New York. 
 Her mother was a niece of Gen. Halleck, and 
 died in December, 1880. The father is still 
 
2G2 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 living in Greene County, N. Y. ; is a miller, 
 as are also his three sons. Our subject now 
 owns 240 acres of land in Sections 34 and 
 35, Wright Township. He is a farmer of 
 the first order; has good buildings on his 
 place, and feeds most of the grain which he 
 raines. He has been Town Trustee for sev- 
 eral years. Has three children — Adelbert 
 L., born December 9, 1S61; Fred A., born 
 December 29, 1863; and Carrie E., born July 
 23, 1876. Subject and wife are members of 
 the Presbyterian Chxirch of Griswold, Cass 
 County, of which he is an Elder. In poli- 
 tics, he is a Republican. 
 
 JOHN BLAKELY, farmer, P. O. Lewis, 
 Cass Co., Iowa, was born in Peny County, 
 Ohio, in 1843. He is the son of Andrew and 
 Catharine (Gilchrist) Blakely. His father 
 died in Pennsylvania when our subject was 
 about ten years old. His mother is a native 
 of Pennsylvania, and is now living in Pitts- 
 bm-gh of that State. Our subject lived with 
 an uncle from the time he was six till he was 
 "twenty years of age. He then leai-ned the 
 carpenter's trade in Alliance, Stark Co., Ohio, 
 and worked at that trade for about eight 
 years, part of the time in Ohio and the bal- 
 ance in Pennsylvania. He then went to Mis- 
 souri and worked at his trade in that State 
 for several years. In the spring of 1872, he 
 settted down in Cass County, this State, 
 where he piu'chased eighty acres of land. 
 Here he lived until the spring of 1876, when 
 he bought his present place of eighty acres, 
 situated in Section 5, Township 75, Range 38. 
 He was married, in Cass County, February 4, 
 1874, to Lucina Ingram, born in Hamilton 
 County, N. Y., March 2, 1855. She is the 
 daughter of Clai-k and Lucina (Grinnell) In- 
 gram. Her father was born in Massachusetts 
 about 1821. When a young man, he moved 
 to New York, where he was married. Her 
 mother was a native of Vermont, born March 
 
 2, 1825, and died in New Y'ork . State Jan- 
 uary 19, 1862. INIrs. Blakely's father moved 
 to Henderson County, 111., in the spring of 
 1802. He came to Cass County, this State, 
 February 25, 1870, and is still living about 
 five miles from Griswold. Our subject has 
 three children — Ettie Belle, born May 20, 
 1875; Lenora, born February 14, 1877; and 
 Elizabeth Jane, born January 4, 1879. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Blakely are members of the Pres- 
 byterian Church of Griswold. He is a mem- 
 ber of the I. O. O. F., and in politics a R'r- 
 publican. 
 
 JAMES BOILER, farmer, P. O. Griswold, 
 Cass Co., Iowa, was born in Pike County, 
 Ohio, March 26, 1848. He is the son of 
 William and Caroline (Umphreys) Boiler, 
 both natives of Ohio, he born AjDril 3, 1808, 
 and she (his second wife) May 20, 1822. 
 They moved from their native State to Iowa 
 in 1850, locating in Muscatine County, where 
 they lived till 1865, in that year removing to 
 Marshall County, living there for four years. 
 They returned to Muscatine County, where 
 they remained until 1871. at which time 
 they ca7ne to this county, locating on the 
 place our subject now owns. It consists of 
 320 acres, the south half of Section 20, 
 Townshijj 75, Range 38. The parents are 
 living, and reside at Walnut Station. Our 
 subject received a common-school education, 
 and lived with his father till he was twenty- 
 one years of age. He began life for himself 
 by working at carpentering in Marshall 
 County, this State. He afterwai'd went to 
 INIuscatine County, and there worked at 
 farming with his brother for two years, after 
 which he came to this county with his father, 
 and worked the farm with him until the lat- 
 ter moved to Walnut, since which time he 
 hasruu it himself. He was married, in Mus- 
 catine County, Iowa, January 25, 1876, to 
 Sarah Jane Nolty, born in Jeflerson Connty, 
 
WRIGHT TOWNSHIP. 
 
 263 
 
 Ind., September 17, 1849. She is the 
 daughter of Harmon H. and Sarah Maria 
 (Padgitt) Nolty. Her father was born in Ger- 
 many January 13, 1822. He came to the 
 United States at the age of twenty, and, after 
 stopping awhile in Pennsylvania, came to In- 
 diana, where he was afterward married to 
 Miss Padgitt, born near Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 March 25, 1831. They came to Muscatine 
 County in 1865, where they still reside. 
 They have twelve children — seven sons and 
 five daughters, all living. Our subject's par- 
 ents have five children living, all sons. Mr. 
 Boiler's children are two in number- -Orphe 
 L. , born November 1, 1876; and Glen Ira, 
 born May 22, 1878. Our subject is a mem- 
 ber of the A. H. T. A., and in politics is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 GEORGE L. IVOLES, farmer, P. O. 
 Lewis, Cass County, war bom in Steuben 
 County, N. Y., April 15, 1857. He is the 
 son of William and Nancy E. (Parker) Miles, 
 both natives of Steuben County. N. Y., he 
 bom in 1822 and she in 1829. His father 
 has been engaged in the lumber business 
 most of his life, part of the time in New 
 York, and latterly in Princeton, Bureau Co. , 
 111., to which place he removed in 1866. Up 
 to the last few years, he dealt extensively in 
 lumber and lands in Michigan. He has now 
 retired from active life, and is still living in 
 Princeton, 111. The mother of our subject is 
 also living. Our subject's advantages for an 
 education were good. He graduated from 
 the Princeton (111.) High School in 1875. 
 The following year, he came to this county 
 to oversee his father's farm, and ran it in hi^ 
 father's interest up to 1881, since which time 
 he and his brother have been operating it for 
 themselves. Our subject owns 200 acres of 
 land in Section 11, and, with his brother, has 
 the management of 1,400 acres in Sections 
 11. 14 and 15, Township 75, Range 38. 
 
 Their specialty is fine stock, which includes 
 Cotswold sheep, Poland-China hogs, Short- 
 Horn cattle, and the Percheron breed of Nor- 
 man horses. They own the pure-breed Norman 
 stallion Marquette, as it i.= their intention to 
 breed draft hoi'ses also. Our subject was 
 married, in Princeton, 111., in May, 1881, to 
 Flora M.' Priestly, born in Princeton July 
 25, 1858. Her father is C. M. Priestly, a 
 native of Cambria County, Penn. He once 
 owned the land on which Johnstown, Penn., 
 is now located. He has been in the lumber 
 business most of his life, and is now enlaced 
 in the hardware business in Princeton, 111. 
 Mrs. Miles' mother was a Miss Crissy, a na- 
 tive of Ohio. She died about 1864. Our 
 subject's parents had seven children — George 
 L. , Lucius P., William L., Edwin, James, 
 Hattie M. (Mrs. Beach) and Louisa. Our 
 subject is a member of the I. O. O. F., and 
 in politics is a Republican. The following 
 is the pedigree of Marquette as officially re- 
 corded: " Marquette (1657), gray, foaled 
 1880; got by Valiant (473), dam Julie (568), 
 by Malbranche (293): second dam Jeanne 
 (560), bred by W. H. Winter, Princeton, 111., 
 and sold by him, in the spring of 1882, to 
 George L. Miles and Lewis Jones." It is 
 claimed that Marquette is the only jsui-e -breed 
 Norman stallion in this section of the State. 
 WILLIAM MORFORD, farmer, P. O. 
 Griswold, Cass Co., Iowa, was born in Ohio 
 County, Ind., March 22, 1837. He is the 
 son of Thomas and Sarah (Stooj^s) Morford, 
 both natives of Greene County, Penn. His 
 father was a farmer, born August 13, 1805. 
 He moved to Indiana in 1835, and to this 
 State in 1838, locating in Muscatine County. 
 There^he died December 12, 1868, on the 
 same place that he first settled upon. The 
 mother of our subject was born June 2'J, 
 1810, and is still living on the old homestead 
 in Muscatine County. Our subject received 
 
264 
 
 BIUGUAPIIICAL: 
 
 a common- school education, and afterward 
 attended the Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, 
 Linn County, this State, for one year and a 
 half. At the age of twent^'-one, he began 
 life for himself as a farmer. February 23, 
 iSfiO, he was married, in Muscatine County, 
 this State, to Susan E. Rider, born in Vir- 
 ginia February 3, 1839. She is the daugh- 
 ter of William C. and Sarah (Callahan) Ei- 
 der. Her father was born April 7, 1797. 
 He was a farmer, and at present resides in St. 
 Joseph, Mo. Her mother was a native of 
 Virginia, and was born about 1802, and died 
 in McHenry County, 111., at the age of forty- 
 eight years. After his marriage, our subject 
 followed farming for four years, when he 
 moved to Iowa City and was there engaged 
 in the insurance business for a like period. 
 For the nest six years he was engaged in 
 farming in Muscatine County, this State. 
 and Knox County, 111. In 1873, he came to 
 this county, locating on his present farm, 
 which now consists of 120 acres of land, sit- 
 uated in Section 15, Township 75, Range 38. 
 His farming has been principally in grain. 
 He has filled several town offices. He hag 
 five children living — William H., born De- 
 cember 21, 1860; Edward E., born May 10, 
 1862; Frank S.. born March 5, 1864; Clara 
 B. , born November 19, 1867; and Mary C, 
 born January 15, 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Mor- 
 ford are members of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church. He is a member of the A., F. 
 & A. M., I. O O. F. and A. H. T. A. 
 
 SAMUEL B. PASSMORE, farmer, P. O. 
 Whipple, was born in West Nottingham 
 Township, Chester Co., Penn., December 27, 
 1827. He is the son of John W. and De- 
 borah (Brown) Passmore, both natives of 
 Chester County, Penn., he born October 31, 
 1802. and died in his native county June 26, 
 1848; and she born January 12, 1801, and is 
 still living. The parents were farmers, and 
 
 had four children. The mother is now re- 
 siding in Rising Sun, Cecil Co., Md. She 
 visited her son in 1881, coming and return- 
 ing by herself. Our subject received a dis- 
 trict-school education, and worked on his fa- 
 ther a farm till the age of twenty-one, when 
 he began life for himself as a farmer. He 
 was married, in New Garden Township, Ches-- 
 ter Co., Penn., March 28, 1850, to Hannah 
 M. Jackrion, born in the same county March 
 19, 1829. She is the daughter of Joshua 
 and Sarah C. (Cook) Jackson, both natives of 
 Chester County, Penn. Her father was a 
 physician, born in 1793, and died February 
 2, 1842. Her mother was born in 1794, and 
 died September 17, 1850. Our subject left 
 his native State and moved with his family 
 to Bureau County, 111., where he lived until 
 1870. when he came to this county, locating 
 on his present j'lace. in Wright Townsliij), 
 having purchased the land the year previous. 
 His farm now consists of 320 acres of land, 
 in a good state of cultivation. It is situated 
 in the east half of Section 21, Township 75, 
 Range 38. Mr. and IVIrs. Passmore have ten 
 children — Amos C, born March 12, 1851; 
 Ella D. (Mrs. Lipp). born September 17, 
 1852; Orlando C.,'born August 6, 1854; Ida 
 A. (Mrs. Morris), born July 8, 1856; Elwood 
 L., born January 13, 1858; Anna M. \^Mrs. 
 Nolta), born September 8, 1859; Ellis P., 
 born July 29, I860; William T., born July 
 8, 1863; IJmma L. , born January 6, 1866; 
 and Lincoln G , born December 22, 1867. 
 Our subject has been Town Trustee, and also 
 a member of the School Board. He and wife 
 are members of the Society of Friends. He 
 is an A. H. T, A. , and in politics a Repub- 
 lican. 
 
 HENRY W. RAREY, farmer, P. O. Whip- 
 ple, was born in Franklin County, Ohio, 
 June 2, 1839. He is the soikof W. H. and 
 Eliza (Rine) Rarey. His father was born in 
 
WRIGHT TOWXSHir. 
 
 205 
 
 Franklin County, Ohio, February 22, 1812. 
 He was one of the originators of the Rarey 
 sTsteoi of training horses, and, according to 
 the report of the Ohio State Board of Agri- 
 culture in 1855, owned more fine horse stock 
 than any other man in the State. He com- 
 menced traveling in 1858, which he contin- 
 ued until 1870, visiting, during the time, a 
 dozen or more States in the Union. He died 
 in February, 1877, at his old home in Grove- 
 port, Franklin Co., Ohio, a town which he 
 laid out himself. He was a brother of J. S. 
 Rarey, the great American horse- trainer, but 
 who traveled mostly in Europe. The mother 
 of our subject was a native of Ohio, and died 
 in 1844. Oiu' subject received but a limited 
 education, and, at the age of twenty-two, be- 
 gan life for himself as a farmer. He was 
 married, in Xenia, Greene Co., Ohio, No- 
 vember 9, 1801, to Eliza McCoy, born in Ross 
 County of the same State. After his mar- 
 riage, our subject oj>erated his uncle's (J. S. 
 Rarey's) farm for four years. He came West 
 in 1871, stopping in Oska.loosa, Mahaska 
 County, this State, till the spring of the fol- 
 lowing year, when he came to this county, lo- 
 cating oil his present farm, in Wright Town • 
 ship, July 4 of that year. He has made all 
 the improvements himself. He was one of 
 the first Justices of the Peace of Wright 
 Township. He has three children — Estella, 
 William Elmer and Jennie May. Our sub- 
 ject joined the Cadets of Temperance at an 
 early age, and throughout his life has lived 
 up to its obligations. He is also an Odd 
 Fellow. He and wife are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, 
 he is Republican. 
 
 JOHN R. SCHOFIELD, farmer, P. O. 
 Griswold, C^s Co. , Iowa, born in Yorkshire, 
 England, in 1841, son of Joseph and Elea- 
 nora (Rhoades) Schofield, both natives of 
 Yorkshire, England. His father was a farm- 
 
 er; left his native laud and came to Ra- 
 cine, Wis., in July, 1842, where he died 
 about five years after. The mother died 
 shortly afterward, from a broken heart, caused 
 by her husband's death. After the death of 
 his parents, our subject lived with a Scotch- 
 man by the name of Stenhouse for twelve 
 years, after which he worked out by the 
 month for two years. He then enlisted in 
 the First Wisconsin Infantry, Company C, 
 Capt. Sheldon. Their principal engagement 
 was at Perryville, Ky., October 8, 1862, where 
 three-fourths of the company were either 
 killed or wounded. He was also at Stone 
 River and Chickamauga, at which latter 
 place he was taken prisoner, together with 
 C. S. Chapman, T. Anderson, L. McDonald 
 and J. Leach, all of Company C. They were 
 first taken to Libby Prison, where they re- 
 mained about six weeks, during which time 
 they were in the " Sugar raid." They were 
 then removed to Danville, where they were 
 kept until April 20, 1864, when they escaped. 
 They were " shipped " from Richmond, Va. , 
 in grain cars, with three or four guards in- 
 side each car, and others on top. On the 
 way, one " reb " lost his haversack, the con- 
 tents of which the prisoners had shared. 
 He began a search for it, and, while stoop- 
 ing over, our subject drew from his (the 
 guard's) pocket a dirk, with a lock-spring, 
 which was afterward of invaluable service in 
 their effort to escape from prison. This 
 dirk our subject managed to secrete, though 
 the prisoners were carefully ins^jected several 
 times. Once he avoided inspection by claim- 
 ing to have the small-pox, which, at the 
 time, was quite jwevalent. During his im- 
 prisonment, he was detected in two " serious 
 misdemeanors." One was stealing a loaf of 
 bread, and the other was breaking into the 
 Sutler's store, which joined the prison. For. 
 each of these offenses he was " bucked; " that 
 
366 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 is, his wrists were tied together and his legs 
 put up through his arms, and a stick put 
 through under the knees, in which knotted 
 condition he was rolled about for a long time. 
 There were fifteen other prisoners who es- 
 caped at the time om- subject did, including 
 all who belonged to Company C. They dug 
 a tunnel from the vault of the prison privy 
 up into an old shop, from which they cut 
 through by means of the stolen dirk. They 
 made good their escape just a day or two be- 
 fore they were to be removed to that most 
 cruel and uncivilized institution, Anderson- 
 ville Prison. After his escape, our subject 
 rejoined the Union army, and, at the end of 
 his service, returned home for a short time. 
 He then farmed a few years in Cass County, 
 and, in March, 1868, bought and settled on 
 bis present farm, situated in Section 34, 
 Township 75, Range 38, on which he has 
 since resided. It now consists of 280 acres. 
 Our subject was first married, August 6, 
 1867, in Racine County, Wis., to Almira 
 Mead, born in Rochester, Racine Co., Wis., 
 in April, 1849, and died in this county April 
 26, 1868. His second marriage occurred 
 February 22, 1871, in Atlantic, Cass County, 
 this State. He wedded Mary E. Bell, born 
 in Madison County, this State, January 31, 
 1854, daughter of Elisha and Abigail (Wat- 
 son) Bell, who were early settlers in Cass 
 County. Mr. Bell was twice elected Judge 
 of Cass County, but died before the expira- 
 tion of his second term. Mrs. Bell is still 
 living on a farm in Cass County. The par- 
 ents were natives of Greene County, Ohio, 
 and came to Wiuterset, this State, thirty- 
 three years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Schofield 
 have three children- -Edgar A., born July 7, 
 1872; Almira B., born August 17, 1874; and 
 Ralph F., born January 19, ]876. Our sub- 
 ject is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
 and in politics is a Republican. 
 
 W^ILLIAIVI H. SMITH, farmer, P. O. 
 Griswold, Cass Co., Iowa, was born in Ver- 
 million County, 111... May 16, 1842. He is 
 the son of Hiram and Naomi (Dillon) Smith. 
 His father was a native of Virginia. He 
 came to this State in 1855, locating in Cass 
 County, where be died in 1858, at the age of 
 about fifty years. The mother of our subject 
 was born in Clinton County, Ohio, in 1815, 
 and is still living on the old homestead in 
 Cass County. Our subject attended the 
 common schools until he was twelve years 
 old. July 28, 1862, he enlisted in the 
 Twenty-third Iowa Infantry, Company I, 
 Capt. Coe. He took part in many heavy en- 
 gagements, including Vicksburg, Fort Gib- 
 son, Black River Bridge and Spanish Fort. 
 He was mustered out of service at Daven- 
 poit, this State, August 18, 1865. He was 
 married, in Grove City, Cass Co., Iowa, 
 March 18, 1868, to Amanda Mewhirter. born 
 in Van Wert County, Ohio, in March, 1849. 
 She is the daughter of William and Eliza- 
 beth (Walters) Mewhirter. Her parents left 
 Ohio in 1854, aud came to this county, 
 where they have lived ever since. After his 
 marriage, our subject worked his mother's 
 farm for one year, and afterward his broth- 
 er's for two years. He then purchased his 
 present place in Wright Township, where he 
 now resides. It consists of 120 acres of land 
 in Section 24, Township 75^ Range 38. Our 
 subject has been School Director, Road Su- 
 pervisor, and is at present Constable. He 
 has six children — Edward A., born January 
 20, 1868; Mary E., born October 17, 1869; 
 Franklin A., born January 11, 1872; Nora E., 
 born March 19, 1875; Maggie M. , born Au- 
 gust 2, 1877; and Willie S., born March 5, 
 1880. Mr. Smith is an Odd Fellow, and in 
 politics a Republican. 
 
 THUSTON S. WRIGHT, farmer, P. O. 
 Griswold, Cass Co., Iowa, born in Noble 
 
WRIGHT TOW^'SHIF. 
 
 267 
 
 Covmty, Ind., September 1, 1855, son of Sim- 
 eon and Emeline (Arnold) Wright. (See 
 sketch of W. W. AVright, M' right Township.) 
 His father, after whom this township takes its 
 name, has been Justice of the Peace for ten 
 years, and was also a member of the Board 
 of Supervisors. Oui- subject received such 
 an education as his limited advantages would 
 admit. He worked with his father till he 
 was eighteen years of age. Was married, at 
 home, September 14, 1S73, to Jessie B. Van 
 Riper, born in Wright Township May 22, 
 1858, daughter of William Van Riper. In 
 November of the same year, our subject pur- 
 chased his present place, and has resided on 
 it ever since. It consists of eighty acres, 
 situated on Section 26, Township 75, Range 
 38. ]Mr. and Mrs. Wright have two chil- 
 di-en — Viola Frances and Edith Pearl. In 
 politics, our subject is a Republican. 
 
 WILLIAM W. WRIGHT, farmer, P. O. 
 Grriswold, Cass Co., Iowa, was born in Noble 
 County, Ind., Sejjtember 9, 1860. He is the 
 son of Simeon and Emeline (Arnold) Wright, 
 he born in Massachusetts in 1827, she in 
 Cattaraugus County, N. Y., in 1832. They 
 moved to Indiana with their parents, and 
 from there to this county in 1865, locating 
 on Section 25, Township 75, Range 38, 
 where they lived until the spring of 1882, 
 when they went to Griswold, Cass County, 
 thi-ee miles fi-om their original location in 
 this county, and here they at present reside. 
 The father was Justice of the Peace for ten 
 years, and has served one term on the Board 
 of Supervisors. Our subject had a common 
 school education, and worked at home till 
 the age of twenty years. He was married, 
 at the residence of William Deans, Wright 
 Township, September 11, 1881, to Carrie E. 
 Strandell, born in Sweden May 13, 1863, 
 daughter of Louis A. and Catharine Chris- 
 tina Strandell, both natives of Sweden. 
 
 They came to the United States about 1869, 
 locating in Cass County, but are at present 
 residing in Des Moines, this State. Our 
 subject farms principally in grain. In poli- 
 tics, he is a Republican. 
 
 JOHN M. WORK, farmer, P. O. Walnut, 
 was born in Orange County, Vt., March 21, 
 1832. He is the son of Elias and Sarah 
 (Tuffts) Work, both natives of Connecticut. 
 His father died when he (subject) was four- 
 teen years of age, and the mother died shortly 
 afterward. The father was a cabinet-maker 
 by trade. Our subject was educated in the 
 schools of Williamstown, Orange Co., Vt. 
 After the death of his parents, he worked with 
 his brother in a wagon shop until he (sub- 
 ject) came West in 1855. He was married, 
 the previous year, in Vermont, to Martha D. 
 Conner, born in the same State April 25, 
 1832. She is the daughter of Gideon and 
 Betsey (Tovmsend) Conner, both natives of 
 Vermont, and both died in Bureau County, 
 111. The year after his marriage, our sub- 
 ject moved to Sheffield, Bureau Co., 111., 
 where he started a wagon shop, which he 
 operated for about fifteen years. In 1871, 
 he came to this county, locating near Walnut, 
 where he farmed till the spring of 1881, 
 when he traded for his present place, which 
 consists of 114 acres in Section 7, Wright 
 Township, where he at present resides. He 
 has six children living — Charles E., born May 
 30, 1855; Laura N., born August 18, 1«858; 
 Willie D., born October 18, 1860; Perley M., 
 born August 21, 1863; Ella E., born No- 
 vember 12, 1869; and Hem-y T., born Sep- 
 tember 12, 1873. In politics, our subject is 
 a Republican. 
 
 C. C. WEAVER, farmer, P. O. Lewis, Cass 
 Co., Iowa, was born in Franklin County, 
 Ohio, July 18, 1840. He is the son of Giles 
 and M. J. (Webster) Weaver, both natives 
 of Franklin County. Ohio, he born in 1813 
 
268 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 and she about 1S20. Her father was a mer- 
 chant, but has now retired, and resides in 
 Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, this State. Our 
 subject received a common- school education, 
 and afterward clerked in his father's dry 
 goods store in Ohio, until he was maiTied, in 
 his native county, in 1862, to Miss S. J. 
 Rarey, born in Franklin County, Ohio. She 
 is the daughter of "\V. H. and Eliza (Rine) 
 Rarey. (See sketch of H. W. Rarey, of 
 Wright Township. ) After his marriage, our 
 subject clerked for awhile. He was a Sut- 
 ler in the army during most of our late war, 
 after which he engaged in farming and gar. 
 
 dening in Ohio, which occupation he fol- 
 lowed for three years. He then came to this 
 county, locating on his present farm, situat- 
 ed in Section 9, Township 75, Range 38. It 
 consists of 108 acres, which has been brought 
 to its present state of cultivation by his own 
 labors. He raises principally grain. He 
 has been Township Trustee for seven years, 
 and at present fills that position. He has 
 three childi-en — M. G., born April 18, 1864; 
 W. G., born March 3, 1879; and C. C. born 
 March 16, 1880. Mr. Weaver is a member 
 of the I. O. O, F., and also the Anti-Horse 
 Thief Association. Politically, is Republican. 
 f 
 
 YOEK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 S. J. ATKINS, farmer, P. O. ^IJeola, was 
 born in Morgan County, Tenn., May 19, 
 1888. He is the son of Charles and Sarah 
 (Brewer) Atkins. His father was a farmer, 
 Ijorn in Tennessee in 1807, and died in 1816. 
 His (subject's) mother was born near Athens, 
 Clark Co., Ga , in 1811. Our subject re- 
 ceived a very limited education in the old 
 subscription schools. He lived at home till 
 he was twenty-two years of age, when he be- 
 gan farming for himself. He was but two 
 years old when his father moved to Putnam 
 County, Mo. He moved with his parents to 
 Texas at the age of fourteen. In 1857, he 
 leturned to Missouri by himself. In 1860, 
 he went to Arkansas, where he farmed until 
 the opening of the war. He joined the First 
 Arkansas Cavalry, Company F, and served 
 imtil the close of the war. He was at the 
 battles of Prairie Grove, Ai'k., Newtonia, 
 Mo., and Fayetteville, Ark. He spent thirty- 
 seven days with a scouting party, which went 
 east from Fayetteville, which was almost 
 daily engagea in spirited skirmishes. At the 
 
 close of the war, he returned to Putnam 
 County, Mo. , and afterward to Saline County. 
 Mo. He came to this county in 1870. His 
 specialty is raising grain. His tirst mai'riage 
 took place in Crawford County, Ark., where 
 he was married to Nancy Childers, born in 
 Indiana. She was the daughter of Joel and 
 Dolly (Sizemore) Childers. His second mai'- 
 riage occurred in 1867, in Missouri. He 
 married Nancy Young, born in Missouri in 
 1836. She is the daughter of Michael and 
 Elizabeth (Stump) Young, both natives of 
 Kentucky. Mi". Atkins has seven childi'en — 
 Stephen, George F. , John H., James H., Jo- 
 sephine, Annie and Nancy E. Mr. Atkins' 
 last wife has two sons — Henry S. and Marion 
 D. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BUTLER, farmer, P. O. 
 Neola, was born in Montgomery County, N. 
 Y., March 15, 1833. He is the son of J. 
 M. and Ruth (Gates) Butler, both of whom 
 were born in Montgomery County, N. Y., he, 
 December 17, 1808, and she in the year 1812. 
 She is the daughter of William Gates, a 
 
YORK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 269 
 
 son of Gen. Gates, of Revolutionary fame. 
 Our subject received his education in the 
 common schools, and afterward taught sch ool. 
 He lived at home until he was twenty-one 
 years of age. During the holidays, in 1854, 
 his parents left New York and came to Adams 
 County, 111. They kej)t a hotel in Quincy 
 for three years, on the corner of Sixth and 
 Hampshire streets. In 1857, his father came 
 to this State, and the next year the family 
 followed. They were in the hotel business 
 in Council Bluffs for three years — two years 
 in the old Waverly House, on Main street, 
 and one year in the Robinson House, on 
 Broadway. They then moved on their farm 
 in Union Grove, and afterward to Walk- 
 er's Grove, where the father died, Oc- 
 tober 5, 1866. He was biu-ied at Union 
 Grove. Our subject was married, April 30, 
 1861, to Elizabeth Seater, born in the county 
 of Orkney, Scotland, January 20, 1832. She 
 is the daughter of William and Ellen (Reid) 
 Seater. She came to America in 1852. After 
 his marriage, our subject followed farming, 
 at first working part of his father's place. 
 In 1862, he bought forty acres of land on 
 Mosquito Creek, in Shelby County. Dm-ing 
 the summer of this year, he freighted for 
 Charles Bond. He then lived on his farm 
 during the year 1863. He sold out and 
 bought land at Walker's Grove. From here 
 he moved to Honey Creek. While here he 
 bought sixty acres of his present place, to 
 which he moved in the spring of 1867. He 
 now owns 460 acres, besides some fine prop- 
 erty in Neola. He raises large quantities of 
 grain and also stock. The only child of the 
 family is Charles Reid, son of Mrs. Butler 
 by a former marriage. Mr. Butler has been 
 Town Clerk, and is at present Treasurer of 
 the School Board. 
 
 MARY DELANTY, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born at Fox Lake, Dodge County, Wis., 
 
 February 29, 1848. She is the daughter 
 of John and Ellen (Mahanoy) Bowe. Her 
 father was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, 
 about 1797. He was a farmer, and was also 
 engaged in railroading. He came to Wis- 
 consin when there was but one house in Mil- 
 waukee. Was in the United States Army five 
 years, and served in the Florida war against 
 the Seminole Indians. He has crossed 
 the ocean four times, and is still living in 
 Wisconsin. Our subject's mother was born 
 in County Cork, Ireland, about 1827; she is 
 also living. Our subject was married at the 
 age of fourteen, in Wisconsin, Aj)ril 14, 
 1863, to John Delanty, born in County Kil- 
 kenny, Ireland, about 1835, and died Sep- 
 tember 29, 1881. After her marriage, our 
 subject, with her husband, lived a short time 
 in Minnesota. They came to this county 
 about 1874. Mrs. Delanty has lived on her 
 present farm about three years; she has had 
 twelve children, of whom nine are living — 
 William, born December 4, 1864; Mary 
 Clarissa, born September 9, 1867; John, 
 born March 17, 1869; Michael, born May 1, 
 1871; James, born April 25, 1873; Ed- 
 ward, born May 25, 1875; Thomas, born 
 September 22, 1878; Mark, born September 
 29, 1879, and Catharine Agnes, born July 9, 
 1880. Mrs. Delanty is a member of the 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 JAMES FLYNX. farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in County Kerry, Munster, Ireland, 
 May 26, 1827. He is the son of Michael 
 and Honora (Murphy) Flynn, both natives of 
 Ireland. His father died while he (subject) 
 was small. His mother and her father before 
 her were born in the same house as our sub- 
 ject. She died before her son came to Amer- 
 ica. Our subject had no advantages for an 
 education. He lived at home till his father 
 was turned out of house and home while on 
 his sick bed, from which sickness he never 
 
270 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 recovered. He was turned out by six police- 
 men and the landlord, Maj. Daniel Mahoney, 
 of Dunlow, for not paying the rent, which he 
 was unable to do on aceouut of sickness. At 
 this time our subject was nine years and ten 
 months old. He was obliged to go out into 
 the world and earn a living for hunself and 
 parents during the year tha* his father lived. 
 He received 72 cents and his board for the 
 first three months' work. He labored in this 
 manner for one year. As he grew older, he 
 received more pay, but the highest he ever 
 commanded in Ireland was $24 a year. After 
 his parents' death, he helped to send some of 
 his sisters to the United States. He came 
 himself to this country in 1856. Landed in 
 New York City and stayed in Brooklyn, N. 
 Y., from. September 13, 1856, to March 5, 
 1857. He then came to Dyersville, Delaware 
 County, this State. He worked two weeks at' 
 loading cord wood for 75 cents per day, pay- 
 ing S3 a week for board. He then hired out 
 to Dr. Laird, for $150 per year. He worked 
 for seven months at this rate of wages; he 
 then worked three months for Judge Dyer at 
 $1.25 per day, and boarded himself. After 
 this, he engaged himself to William Dyer, 
 for foui' or five months, at $20 per month. 
 Then he was in a livery stable, in the same 
 town, receiving $20 per month and board. 
 He then worked as a grader on a railroad, 
 for six months, at $1.25 per day. After this 
 he burned lime for the use of the railroad, 
 receiving $3 for a night and a half day, sleep- 
 ing the other half day. After this he worked 
 for several years at various occupations. He 
 rented land and farmed in Jones County, this 
 State, until 1868, when he came to this 
 county, having traded eighty acres of land in 
 Jones County for 120 acres in this. He now» 
 owns 560 acres, 300 acres of which is under 
 cultivation. Mr. Flynn has male his fai-m 
 what it is to-day from out of the raw prairie. 
 
 He raises large quantities of grain and also 
 stock. He was married, in Jones County, 
 Iowa, August 23, 1859, to Julia Buckley, 
 born in County Cork, Ireland, in January, 
 1835; she is the daughter of Patrick and 
 Catharine (Reirdon) Buckley, both natives of 
 County Cork, Ireland, and both died in that 
 country, when Mrs. Flynn was nine years 
 old. "A lady took her and kept her for two 
 years, when her uncle hired her at 1 shilling 
 a month. She worked for him two years. 
 She then went to London, where she worked 
 for five years in a private family. For the 
 first three years she received 1 shilling a 
 week, after which she was paid 1 shilling 
 6 pence. Every summer for three seasons 
 she sent 10 shillings to help support her 
 brother. Notwithstanding this, she saved 
 enough to visit her home and to come to 
 America. After her arrival in this country, 
 she worked for a private family, in McHenry 
 County, 111., for three years, receiving $1.50 
 per week, for the first year, and $2 per week 
 thereafter. She nest came to Jones County, 
 this State, where she worked in a hotel for 
 seven months, at $2 per week. Here she met 
 Mr. Flynn and they were married. They 
 have had twelve children, of whom all, ex- 
 cept one, are living — John, born May 27, 
 1860; Michael, born November 11, 1861, 
 died in October, 1862; Honora, born April 
 11, 1863; Mary E., born July 17, 1864; Cath- 
 arine, born September 17, 1865; Julia, born 
 February 13, 1867; Margaret, born March 2, 
 1868; James A., born April 28. 1869; IJaniel, 
 born July 12, 1871; Anne, born October 20, 
 1872; Patrick; born May 2, 1874, and Mi- 
 chael J., born February 18, 1876. The fam- 
 ily all belong to the Catholic Church. In 
 politics, Mr. Flynn is an Independent. 
 
 J. E. FOLLETT. farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Noble County, Ind., August 14, 
 1849. He is the son of M. V. and Laura 
 
YORK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 271 
 
 (Carothers) Follett. His fathei? was born in 
 Ohio in February, 1813. He was a farmer 
 and was an early settler in this county; he 
 is still living; his (subject's) mother was also 
 a native of Ohio, born in 1818, and died in 
 this county, December 16, 1881. Our subject 
 received his education in the common schools 
 of this county, and lived at home till he was 
 twenty-three years of age, when he engaged 
 in farming for himse!f . He was married, in 
 this county, December 30, 1871, to Alice, 
 daughter of Phillip and Sarah (Gilbert) Moo- 
 maw. Her father was a native of Virginia. 
 Her mother was born and raised in Marion 
 County, Ind. After his marriage, oiu- subject 
 f ai-med two years on his father's place, which 
 was situated east of the Bluffs. In the fall 
 of 1873, he moved onto his present farm, 
 which now consists of 160 acres on Big Keg 
 Creek. His specialty is raising grain. He 
 has four children — Martin, Laura, Willie and 
 Eugene. Mr. Follett belongs to the I. O. 
 O. F., and is Republican in politics. 
 
 GEORGE M. GRIFFITH, farmer, P. O. 
 Neola, was born in Van Buren County, Iowa, 
 May 26, 1850. He is the son of Mahlon and 
 Elvira (Mathew) Griffith. His father was a 
 potter by trade, was born in Licking County, 
 Ohio, in 1817, and is still living in Harrison 
 County, Iowa, and is engaged in raising stuck. 
 Our subject's mother was born in Virginia, 
 near North Pass, in the Alleghanies, in 
 March, 1828, and is still living. His parents 
 had eleven children, live sons and six daugh- 
 ters, all of whom are living. Our subject re- 
 ceived a common school education and worked 
 at home until he was twenty- one years of 
 age. He began life for himself by farming, 
 threshing and dealing in stock. He was mar- 
 ried, in Knox Township, this county, April 
 26, 1875, to Mary Randal, born in Peru, 
 Hardy Co., W. Va., September 20, 1858; she 
 is the daughter of Jacob and Leah (Stick- 
 
 ley) Randal, both of whom were natives of 
 Virginia. Her father was a farmer and an art- 
 ist, born in October, 1828, and died in Wash- 
 ington County, Iowa, in 1871. Her mother 
 was born June 30, 1828, and is living near 
 Avoca, in this county. Our subject's parents 
 came :rom Ohio in 1850. stopped in Van 
 Buren County a short time, and then went to 
 Iowa County, finally coming to this county 
 in 1853, locating about one mile east of Avo- 
 ca. The family went back to Ohio in the 
 spring of 1858, but returned the following 
 year to this county. In 1876, the father 
 moved to Harrison County, Iowa, where he 
 still resides. After his marriage, our subject 
 settled down to farming on his own place, 
 south of Avoca. He sold out, however, and 
 moved nearer Avoca, shortly after which he 
 moved to Lynn Grove, and farmed the Taylor 
 ■place, on Silver Creek. After this he bought 
 and improved a farm in York Township. 
 A year afterward, he sold it and moved back 
 to about four miles south of Avoca. After 
 this he bought and improved his present farm. 
 He has had three children, but one of whom 
 is living — Claude, born February 26, 1877, 
 died October 4, 1880; Guy, born November 
 17, 1878, died September 8, 1880, and Wal- 
 do M., born March 10, 1881. Mrs. Griffif.h 
 is a member of the church of the United 
 Brethren in Christ. In politics, Mr. Griffith 
 is a Republican. 
 
 EDWARD E. HARRIS, farmer and teach- 
 er, P. O. Neola, was born in New Philadel- 
 phia, Tuscarawas Co., Ohio, December 22, 
 1849. He is the son of John and Lucinda 
 (Edmonds) Harris. His father was born in 
 Cumberland County, Penn. , April 1, 1826. 
 His (subject's) mother was born in Tuscarawas 
 County, Ohio. March 29, 1826. Both of the 
 parents are still living in Lucas County, this 
 State. Our subject received his early educa- 
 tion in the common schools, and afterward at- 
 
273 
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL; 
 
 tended the High School at New Philadelphia, 
 but waa obliged by circumstances to leave three 
 months before his time for graduation. He 
 lived with his parents during his youth. 
 They came to Illinois in 186S, and lived near 
 Pana, in Christian County, until 1870, when 
 they came to Lucas County, this State. Our 
 subject taught school during the winter of 
 1868-69. He taught two terms in Illinois and 
 two in Iowa. He came to this county Novem- 
 ber 11, 1876, and commenced teaching Novem- 
 ber 13, of the same year, in District No. 9. 
 He has taught one season since, the balance 
 of the time being engaged in farming. He 
 bought the farm on which he now resides in 
 1880. He was married, in Douglas County. 
 Neb., December 25, 1876, to Hannah A, 
 Richards, born December 19, 185-1; she is the 
 daughter of William and I'idelia (Gould) 
 Richards. Her father is a native of Eng- 
 land, and her mother of New York. Both are 
 living in York Township, this county. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Harris have four children — Francis 
 Burt, born October 25, 1877; Eugenia May, 
 born April 25, 1879: George Edward, born 
 August 4, 1880, and John Ralph, born Octo- 
 ber 3, 1881. Our subject's parents had seven 
 children, three sons and four daughters, of 
 whom Mr. Harris was the eldest. He is a 
 member of the I. 0. O. F. In politics, a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 ALBERT HORN, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Hamburg, Germany, May 22, 
 1845. He is the son of John F. and Fried- 
 erika (Lohnau) Horn. His father was born 
 in Oldenburg, Germany, September 18, 1804, 
 and died in Council Bluffs December 5, J 
 1880. His (subject's) mother was born in 
 Hamburg, Germany, January 1, 1803, and 
 died in Council Bluffs May 30, 18G8. Our 
 subject received a common school education 
 in this country. In 1858, he came with his 
 parents to Council Bluffs. He lived with 
 
 them on a farm for three years. The family 
 then moved to Harrison County, this State, 
 while our subject went to teaming on the 
 plains. He followed this occupation until 
 1864, in which year he went to Montana, 
 stopping at Virginia City, where he butchered 
 for about one year. The following two 
 years he was engaged in the same business in 
 Helena, Montana. He then established a 
 ranch on the Helena & Diamond City Stage 
 Route. In 1868, he went to Salt Lake City, 
 and the following year returned to Council 
 Bluffs. He was married, in Omaha, Neb., 
 April 28, 1870, to Clara Siegismund, born at 
 Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany, October 11. 
 1853. She is the daughter of August and 
 Augusta (Schithauf) Siegismund, both of 
 whom were natives of Saxony, Germany. 
 Her father was born August 2, 1821, and her 
 mother October 3, 1818. The parents came 
 to America in 1863, lived in Indiana two 
 years, when they came to this county, where 
 both are at present living. Our subject was 
 engaged in various occupations up to 1873, 
 when he went to Texas, returning, however, 
 in September of the following year. During 
 the year 1875, which was known as t'ae grass- 
 hopper year, he was engaged in farming. 
 He was variously engaged up to 1880, since 
 which date he has resided ot> Mr. Brewer 
 Geise's farm, which he (subject) had formerly 
 broken and improved in 1870. Mr. andMi's. 
 Horn have had ten children, only two of 
 whom are living — Augusta and Conradtine. 
 Mr. Horn's father, John Horn, established 
 and improved " Horn's Park," of Council 
 Bluffs. The site of this park was originally 
 the bed of Indian Creek, and was brought to 
 its present state of beauty by the enterprise 
 and energy of its founder. 
 
 JAMES S. HOWARD, farmer, P. O. Oak- 
 land, was born in Aurora, Erie Co., N. Y., 
 in December, 183^ He is the son of Jo- 
 
YORK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 273 
 
 seph B. and Lucy B. Howard. His father 
 
 was born at Paris, Oneida Co., N. Y., and 
 
 died in Aurora, N. Y.. about 1840. ITe was 
 
 a prominent merchant in his day. He moved 
 
 to Erie County, N. Y., at an early day, and 
 
 enwaged in merchandising;, afterward becom- 
 es O O' 
 
 ing a heavy business man, having as many 
 as three branch stores. He manufactured 
 the first saleratus in Western New York in 
 1818. He was a personal friend of Presi- 
 dent Fillmore, and was a leading spirit in 
 his native county, being the prime instigator 
 in the establishment of the Aurora Academy. 
 His (subject's) mother was born in Rome, 
 Oneida County, N. Y. , aud died in his na- 
 tive State. Our subject received a common 
 school education. His father died when he 
 (subject) was young. He apprenticed as a 
 salesman, and followed this profession in 
 New York and several of the Western States. 
 He was at one time station-master at Com- 
 stbck, Wapello Co., Iowa, on the Des Moines 
 Valley Railroad. From 1853 to 1858, he 
 was mining in California. He came to this 
 county and located on his land, in Lynn 
 Grove, which he had pui'chased eight years 
 previous. Here he has since ' lived and 
 farmed. He has held various township offi- 
 ces—Trustee, School Director and Road Su- 
 pervisor. He has had six childi-en. four of 
 whom are living — two sons and two daugh- 
 ters. Mr. Howard has a brother in the Chi- 
 cago Post Office, and a sister, who is the wife 
 of Hon. William Aldrich, who represents the 
 First District of Illinois in Congress. In 
 politics, IVIi'. Howai'd is a Republican. 
 
 DAVID T. JONES, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in South Wales August 7, 1838; he 
 is the son of John and Jane (Treohorn) 
 Jones; his father was a native of Wales. He 
 was a farmer, and died in Council Bluifs in 
 the fall of 1850. His (subject's) mother was 
 also born in Wales in ISOO. She died in 
 
 Norwalk Township, this county. July 12, 
 1871. Our subject's advantages for an edu 
 cation were very meager, owing to his parents' 
 continually traveling during his school years. 
 He came to Council Bluffs with his parents 
 in 1849. In 1850, the father died. In 
 1852, the family moved to Utah, where they 
 lived for nine years. In 1857, one of the 
 brothers was killed at Gravelly Ford, probably 
 by bandits. Our subject was married, in 
 Box Elder County, Utah, July 24, 1859, to 
 Mary Mason, born in Wales March 15, 1836. 
 She is the daughter of John and Anne 
 (Davis) Mason, both of whom were in the 
 employ of Lord Crosier; her parents came to 
 America in 1850, and to Council Bluffs the 
 following year. In 1861, our subject retm-ned 
 to Council Bluffs, and in the winter of that 
 year moved onto his present farm. He 
 bouo-ht 120 acres at first, but has since made 
 additions, until now he has 400 acres of im- 
 proved land, part of which is in timber. His 
 farm is situated on a tributary of Keg Creek. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jones have had ten children — 
 John, born in Utah June 17, i860; Mary A., 
 born in December, 1861; Jane R., born Sep- 
 tember 19, 1863; Ida L., born October 1, 1865; 
 Albert, born July 28, 1868, died July 12, 
 1869; Sarah, born January 31, 1870, died 
 November 10, 1881; Ellen, born November 
 16, 1871; William H, born February 16, 
 1874; Franklin, born December 2, 1875; 
 Charles E , born March 16, 1878. In politics. 
 Ml'. Jones is a Democrat. 
 
 M. P. KRYSELMIRE, farmer, P. O. Ne 
 ola, was born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., 
 June 15, 1852: he is the son of Philip A. aud 
 Mary Margaret (Deahm) Kryselmire; his 
 father was born in Germany October 23, 
 1818; he is a farmer, and was a sharpshooter 
 in the German Army. He came to America 
 about 1844, and is at present living in Mills 
 County, this State. His (subjecfs) mother 
 
374 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAJ.: 
 
 was a native of Germany, and died November 
 10, 1S61. Our subject received a common 
 school education and lived at home until he 
 was twenty-three years of age; his parents 
 and family went to Tazewell County, 111., in 
 185fi. Four years afterward, they moved to 
 Woodford County, in the same State, where 
 they lived five years; here the mother died. 
 The next move was to McLean County, 
 111., where they lived four years and a half, 
 and then came to Mills County, this State. 
 Our subject has two sisters, older, and two 
 brothers, younger, than himself. He was 
 married, in Gleuwood, Mills County, this 
 State, July 14, 1875. to Margaret S. McLean, 
 born in Jackson County, Ohio, March 4, 
 1855. She is the daughter of William and 
 Susannah (Finfrockj McLean. Her father 
 was born in Fayette County, Penn., Decem- 
 ber 24, 1814. Her mother was bom in Bel- 
 mont Coimty, Ohio, July 4, 1818. Both of 
 the parents are still living in this county. 
 Since his marriage, om- subject has been en- 
 gaged in farming. He farmed a year in 
 Mills County, and afterward in several other 
 townships in this county, before settling in 
 York, where he now resides. He has three 
 children living — Olive L., born January 22, 
 1877; Emma L., boru December 15, 1878, 
 and George L., born March 10, 1882. In 
 politics Mr. Kryselmire is a Democrat. 
 
 P. A. KILLION, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Scott County, Iowa, June 29, 
 1856; he is the son of John H. and Catha- 
 rine Killion. His father was born in Ireland 
 in .1827; he was a farmer and an early settler 
 in Scott County, Iowa, and also came and lo- 
 cated in this county at an early day; he is 
 still living in this county; he landed in 
 Rhode Island when he came from the old 
 country, while he was a boy. He worked in 
 the Philip Island Print Works for twelve 
 years, when he came to Scott County, as be- 
 
 fore stated. His (subject's) mother was a 
 native of Rhode Island, born about 1829, and 
 died November 2, 1868. Our subject received 
 a common school education. He lived at 
 home until he was twenty -two years of age, 
 when he began farming for himself in this 
 county; he is unmarried: he has five brothers 
 and two sisters — James, John, Henry, Charles, 
 George, Annie and Emily. John lives in 
 Speartish Valley, Dakota, Charles in Cass 
 County, this State, while the rest are in this 
 county. Annie is the wife of Samuel Gay- 
 man, and Emily keeps house for our subject, 
 who owns 120 acres of improved land in Sec- 
 tion 3, York Township. 
 
 C. D. MARTIN, farmer, P. O. Minden, 
 was born in Franklin County, Mass., in 1834; 
 he was the son of Orra and Polly (Mitchell) 
 Martin; his father was born in Connecticut 
 in 1791; he was a minister by larofession, but 
 has engaged in farming during the latter 
 part of his life; he is still living in Wiscon- 
 sin, an active man for his age. His (sub- 
 ject's) mother was born in Bristol, Conn., in 
 1799 : she was a niece of the original publisher 
 of " Mitchell's Atlas," and a cousin of the 
 present one. She died in W'isconsin in Jan- 
 uary, 1875. Our subject received his .early 
 schooling at home, afterward attending, for 
 two terms, at the Janesville Academy, and 
 two terms at Lawrence University, at Apple- 
 ton, W'is. He began life for himself by 
 working his father's place, in Walworth 
 County, Wis., to which State his father 
 moved when our subject was but six \ ears 
 old. He was one of the earliest settlers in 
 Wisconsin. In 1870, our subject came to 
 Cedar County, Iowa, and shortly afterward 
 to Jones County, this State, where he stayed 
 for four years. In 1875, he came to Council 
 Bluffs. He lived for three years on a farm 
 in Lewis Township, adjoining the latter city. 
 In 1878, he bought eighty acres of land in, 
 
YORK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 275 
 
 aud moved into. York Township, this county, 
 where ~ he now resides. He is at present 
 (1882) a Trustee of ihe township and Justice 
 of the Peace; has been President of the 
 School Board. He was married, in Wiscon- 
 sin, in January, 1859. to Mary J., born in 
 New York December 21, 1832, daughter of 
 Solomon and Naomi Westfall, both of whom 
 were natives of New York. Her father still 
 lives at the age of seventy-five. Her mother 
 died in the spring of 1876, aged seventy- 
 eight. Our siibject's parents had nine chil- 
 (b'on, five of whom — four sons and one daugh- 
 ter — are still living. Mr. and IVIrs. Martin 
 have two children — Frank Orra, born July 
 9, 1861, and Ella S., born July 30, 1864. 
 The parents are members of the Baptist 
 Church. In politics. Mr. Martin is a Demo- 
 crat. 
 
 UEIAH McLEAN, farmer, P. O. Neola, 
 was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, Sep- 
 tember 7, 1846. He is the son of William 
 and Susana McLean, of York Township, this 
 county. He had the advantages of a com- 
 mon-school ediication. He lived at home 
 until he was twenty years of age, when, until 
 1868, he was engaged in teaming across the 
 plains. During this latter year, he farmed in 
 this county, north of Glenwood. The follow- 
 ing year, he crossed the plains to Denver, 
 Colo., where he hired out as a teamster on 
 the " fast " freight line between that city and 
 Georgetown. He retiu'ned to Mills County, 
 this State, in the spring of 1870, and farmed 
 that season for his father, after which he 
 started in for himself. In 1872, he put out 
 a crop in Mills County in the spring, and 
 then went to Efiingham County, 111., and 
 sowed some land to winter wheat. He was 
 married, at Altamont. Effingham Co. . 111. , 
 January 2, 1873. He farmed in that county 
 with poor success until 1877, when he came 
 to this county and rented land for three years 
 
 of James Tate, in Minden Township. In 
 August, 1880, he bought his present farm of 
 eighty acres, situated in Section 22, York 
 Township. Oui- subject's wife was Eliza 
 Ellen Fry. born in Effingham County, 111., 
 September 17, 1855. She is the daughter 
 of Frederic and Susana (Stallings) Fry. Her 
 father was born in Franklin County, Penn., 
 and her mother was raised in Jasper County, 
 111. Mr. and Mi's. McLean have five chil- 
 dren — Ida Maranda, James Harvey, Sarah 
 Elizabeth, Nellie Susana and Madie Ella. In 
 politics, Mr. McLean is a Democrat. 
 
 AVILLIAM McLEAN, farmer, P. O. Oak- 
 land, was born in Fayette County, Penn., 
 December 24, 1814. He is the son of Will- 
 iam and Mary Anne (Biu-ker) McLean. His 
 father was born in Fayette County, Penn. 
 He was a tanner by trade, but was generally 
 engaged in farming. He died in Louisiana 
 while on a visit to his two sons in that State. 
 His (subject's) grandfather, Alexander Mc- 
 Lean, was one of the early settlers in West- 
 ern Pennsylvania. He was a surveyor, and 
 assisted in running the " Mason and Dixon 
 Line." He took the line at the western ex- 
 tremity of Mai-yland, and carried it thi'ough to 
 the lakes. He held the offices of Register 
 and Recorder of Fayette County, Penn. , for 
 over fifty years. He was also a Colonel in 
 the Revolutionarj- war, and died in Fayette 
 County in his eighty- eighth year. His (sub- 
 ject's) mother was born in Lancaster County, 
 Penn., the daughter of George Bui-ker, who 
 was a native of Germany, and who came to 
 America when he was a babe. Our subject's 
 pai'ents had eleven children — six sons and 
 five daughters. Their circumstances dm-ing 
 his boyhood prevented our subject from get- 
 ting any education. He made a start in the 
 world for himself at the age of seventeen. 
 He teamed over the mountains to Pennsyl- 
 vania, and worked at whatever he could get. 
 
276 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL: 
 
 He went to Muskingum County, Ohio, at the 
 age of twenty- one. Here he was engaged in 
 farming and teaming for about six years. In 
 1838. he made a trip to Jackson County, 
 Iowa. He returned to Portsmouth, Ohio, 
 where he worked on a farm about eighteen 
 months. He went to Wheeling, W. Ya., and 
 came back again to Muskingum County. 
 Here he lived until the fall of 1852. He was 
 married, ten miles east of Zanesviile, Ohio, 
 on March 12, 1844, to Susana Finfrock, born 
 near St. Clairsville, Ohio, July 4, 1818. She 
 is the daughter of John and Rebecca 
 (Haines) Finfrock, both of whom were na- 
 tives of Lancaster County, Penn. They 
 were of French descent, and moved to Ohio 
 at an early day. After his marriage, our sub- 
 ject worked by the month most of the time 
 that he stayed in Ohio. In 1853, he moved 
 to Jackson County, Ohio, where he lived for 
 four and a half years. He came to Iowa in 
 the spring of 1858. He was compelled by 
 high water to stop in Montgomery County 
 from July 17 till the March following, when 
 he came to Mills County and moved onto S. 
 D. Davis' farm. Shortly afterward, he bought 
 land and went to farming for himself. He 
 lived in Mills County till 1877, when he sold 
 out and came of this county, near Lynn 
 Grove, where he still resides, on a farm con- 
 taining 160 acres. Mr. and Mrs. McLean 
 are a pleasant old couple. They have had 
 seven children, five of whom — three sons and 
 two daughters — are living — Robert, Uriah, 
 James, Samantha Jane (deceased), William 
 (deceased), Margaret Susana and Sarah Eliza- 
 beth. James is the only child at home. He 
 has charge of the whole farm business, and 
 is industrious and energetic. The balance 
 ot the children are all married. In politics, 
 Mr. McLean is a Democrat, and, with his 
 wife, is a member of the Christian 
 Church. 
 
 MICHAEL MINAHA.N, farmer. P. O. Ne- 
 ola, was born in County Cork, Ireland, Sep- 
 tember 29, 1845. He was the son of Jere- 
 miah and Mary (McCarthy) Minahan. both 
 natives of Ireland. His father was a farm- 
 er; was born about 1820, and came to this 
 county in 1872; he died in October, 1878. 
 His (subject's) mother was born about 1824, 
 and is living with her daughter in Neola 
 Township, this county. Our subject received 
 his education in the common schools of Ire- 
 land, and was raised in that country, living 
 at home till 1868. In May of that year, he 
 came to the United States, locating in Penn- 
 sylvania. He came to this county in 1871. 
 For several years up to the spring of 1872, 
 he had followed railroading. In that yeai", 
 he bought eighty acres of his present farm 
 and commenced farming. He now owns 200 
 acres of impioved land, most of which is un- 
 der cultivation. He was married at Council 
 Bluffs, January 27, 1878, to Mary Stawart. 
 born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in March, 1858. 
 She is the daughter of Francis and Ellen 
 (Crampton), Stawart. Her father is a native 
 of Ohio, and her mother of Ireland. They 
 are both living in Neola. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Minahan have one child, James, born Febru- 
 ary 19, 1879. ilr. Minahan has held the 
 office of Township Clerk for four years, and 
 has also been Treasm'er of the School Boai-d 
 for two years. He is a Catholic in religion, 
 and a Democrat in politics. 
 
 R. H. RUCKER, farmer, P. O. Oakland, 
 was born in Highland County, Ohio, October 
 27, 1835. He is the son of J. and Antoi- 
 nette (Cowthon) Rucker. His father was born 
 in Rockbridge County, Va., near the re- 
 nowned Natural Bridge, in March, 1808. 
 He moved from Virginia to Ohio, from there 
 to Minnesota in 1855, and died in the latter 
 State in March, ''872. His (subject's) moth- 
 er was born in 1809, in the same county as 
 
YORK TOWNSHIP. 
 
 377 
 
 her husband. She is at present living in 
 Olmsted County, Minn. Our subject re- 
 ceived a common-school education in Ohio 
 and Minnesota. He lived at home till he 
 was twenty-two years of age, when he began 
 life for himself. He hired out for five 
 months, after which he purchased 120 acres 
 of land for $116 in Minnesota. He was en- 
 gaged in buying and selling land until the 
 opening of the civil war. He enlisted in the 
 Eighth Minnesota Regiment, and served three 
 years, under Col. Thomas and Maj. Camp. 
 He was in the engagement at Murfreesboro 
 December 8, 1864, and at the battle of Kings- 
 ton, N. C. He was mustered out of service 
 in the fall of 1865. He retui'ned to Minne- 
 sota and farmed one season in that State, 
 when he came to Buchanan County, Iowa. 
 Here he bought and broke land, afterward 
 selling it. He then went to Jackson County, 
 Minn., where he acquired about five hundred 
 acres of land. The winter of 187 1-7 2 was 
 
 unusually severe. The storms raged for 
 days at a time. The snow, assisted by the 
 wind, came down in blinding sheets, rendering 
 the house invisible at a distance of ten feet. 
 Mr. Kucker had to connect his house and 
 barn with a rope cord, in older totindhis 
 way to and fi'o. The following spring, the 
 grasshopjiers carried away his entire crop, 
 whereupon he came to Council Bluffs. In 
 the fall of 1872, he rented a farm of Pleas- 
 ant Taylor for two years. In 1877, he pm-- 
 chased 120 acres of his present farm, and the 
 balance the following year. He now owns 
 240 acres and rents lifty acres. His spe- 
 cialty is corn and stock. He has eight chil- 
 dren, the result of two marriages — John, 
 Levi. Eugene. William, Jay, Cora, ElKe and 
 Nettie — all of whom are at home. Mr. 
 Rucker is a member of the Masonic frater- 
 nity. . In politics, he is a Republican. At 
 one time he was School Treasttrer for two 
 townships in Minnesota. 
 
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