F (oil afotnell Ittittctaitg Slibtarji Strata, Ken $arfc BOUGHT WrTH THE INCOME OF THE JACOB H. SCHIFF ENDOWMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF STUDIES IN HUMAN CIVILIZATION 1918 '" t^J *a UAIE DUE -.a « "" '■-•'' q^i . ii .. i u iiwie«<# * " Cornell University Library F 627H4 S65 History of Harrison Countv, Iowa, inciud oiin 3 1924 028 914 038 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924028914038 HISTORY HAERISON COUNTY. INOIiUDIMO A COKDEKSED HISTORY OF THE STATE, THE EAKLT SETTLEMEifT OF THE COUNTY, ITS TOPOGEAPHY, AND NATURAL ADVANTAGES; TOGETHER "WITH SKETCHES OE ITS PIONEERS, ORGANIZATION, REMINISCENCES OE EARLY TIMES, POLITICAL HISTORY, COURTS AND BAR, PULPIT AND PRESS, COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS INTERESTS, ETC. By JOE. H. BIVIITH. DES MOINES: IOWA PKINTING COMPANY. 1888. /](nl±^ Entered, according to the act of CoDgresB, in the year 1888, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. 0., BY JOB H. SMITH. PREFACE. Don't run ! I shall not be long-winded. Just hold a minute, as I have but a few words to say, and I always despise long intro- ductions to books as well as to sermons. I will make this brief. My intent has been, on each subject called up, to strike oil in five or ten minutes, and in case there was a failure, then to with- draw my auger and quit "boring." The following pages contain a brief, unvarnished narrative of many of those incidents which took place in the growth of this county, the greater part of which have been under my own im- mediate observation. Having tabernacled with the people of this county continuously for the past thirty-one years, recollec- tion unaided by records would enable me to bring out many of the past transactions, but in that set forth herein I have on every occasion verified by reference to records. At my age in life, I have no enemies to punish, and if per- chance there be in the body of this volume some remark which may not be commendatory to individual or individuals, be assured of the existence of the fact that the record will bear out the assertion. While much time has been spent in the preparation of this 6 PEEFAOE. book, it is the hope of the author that in some time in the future some one will call to mind the facts herein contained, that Har- rison countj' as it now is, is materially different from Harrison county as it was, and that in consequence of the privations of the early settlers, many of those now residing in splendid homes are reaping the reward of the toils and privations of the parents who have passed to the other shore. I trust that this may meet with favor among the people with whomi have lived and mingled for nearly one-third of a century, but should the powers rule otherwise, I will bow in humble sub- mission to the verdict of the people, believing in the maxim, Vox Populi, vox Dei. Job. H. Smith. Logan, Iowa, May 11, 1888. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Harrison County formerly being part and parcel of the French possession — When the same was ceded by France to Spain— When purchased by the U. S. — Cost of the entire purchase — When purchase was made — When the purchase was approved by the U. S. — Its status until 1805 — 1812— and 1819 — Iowa a territorial orphan until 1834 — When becoming a part of the territory of Michigan — When part of Wisconsin — When forming a part of the territory of Iowa — When admitted as a State — The number in the order of admission — Harrison county named — For whom named — ^ Which General Assembly deSned the boundaries — ^The boundary — The names of the Commissioners appointed by the Legisla- ture to locate a "seat of justice " — When located — The name thereof, and by whom named — Contesting points — Number of acres of land in the county — The amount cultivated — Uncultivated — Number of acres of timber — Values of realty and personalty in 1885 — The streams that drain the county — Origin of names — Size of well developed mosquitoes in '47 to '67 — Source of the different rivers and streams — The fall in the Boyer from Dunlap to Missouri Valley — The quantum of water- power wasted by non-user— The difference in altitude between the Clinton bridge and Missouri Valley — Comparative altitudes of Wood- bine and New Jefferson — Where Allen and Steer creeks obtained names — Why the Soldier was named — The fall from Sioux City to Mondamin — Fall from Sioux City to Missouri Valley — Attempted description of the Boyer Valley — Average production — Jackson township as seen from J. T. CofEman's — The Soldier Valley — Little Sioux — At- tempted description of Missouri Bottoms — Nature at work making farm land along the bluffs — The lakes of the county, viz.: Smith's, Eound, Horseshoe, Noble's, etc. — Peculiarities of the soil — Different characters of deposits — Primary origin of the bluff material — Stone quarries in the 8 CONTENTS. county — ^Timber — Names of groves — Artificial groves — Agriculture in 1847 to '57, and '58, '59 to '60— Values of corn, wheat and pork for first seventeen years — First kinds of machinery — Corn is King of the Slope — How manufactured into lard, tallow and muscle — Difference in times of ripening — The hog crop of the county in 1886 and '87 — Railroads get $57,500 for carting the same to market — The sales and shipments of the different stations in the county — Cattlemen, who are — The horse- men, giving names — Fruit growing in the county and the present status — Number of bushel apples grown in 1887 — Quantity of cherries, grapes, plums, etc — Rain-fall and temperature of the county, year by year, for twenty-five years, from 1861 (no place west of Des Moines has this.) CHAPTER II. Settlement — Who built the many artificial mounds — Mounds, where located and description — Stone sledges, hatchets, darts, tomahawks, stone or flint knives, and where found — Stone troughs and stone axes — Old bricks, 8 inches by 2 inches, found on the Locklin farm — None such ever seen in the West — Harrison county disputed territory as between the Sioux and Omahas and Pottawattamies — Battle between the Siouxs and Pottawattamies at Smith's Lake— Disappearance of the Indians — The condition under Indian ownership as compared with the possession of the dominant race — Indian graves — Indian mode of burial — Surface, tree and scaffold burial — Omaha tradition as to fording the Missouri river — Winnebago tradition as to Evil Spirit at Smith's Lake — Shaky foundation on which tradition rests — Indian trails in the county — Manner of Indian transportation. CHAPTER III. Indian villages— Squatters— Who was the first in the county — When the government townshipized the county — When the townships were seotionized — Definition of Squatter, and who were such — Squatters or Regulators, and how titles were supported — What was done to claim-jumpers — Jim Bates on the war-path — Who were the the Regulators, giving names — the first Mormon settlement, and when — The cheapness of Squatter Claims when the Mormon was leaving for the promised land — Description of the Mormon immigration days — Women drawing in harness like cattle in the yoke— Biography of Dan- iel Brown of Calhoun — Of Mr. John A. Parkin — Brown's quarrel with Brigham— Parkins' teams and cane mill— Names of settlers from 1847 CONTENTS. 9 year by year, until 1856. Attempted description of the men of these times— "When land office first opened at Council Bluffs— Time when entries could first be made of Harrison county lands— The Shy- locks of the times— Early industries— Early Courts— Funny trials, rulings and practice in J. P. Courts— Dog case before L. D. Pate, a J. P.— Defendant found guilty of "dog slaughter "—Joke of Norman Hardy and G. R. Brainard on a newly married juror — Judge James Hardy's first marriage ceremony — John Rogers' court enters judgment against the " Youngest Wilson on the Pigeon "—Bolter and Mickel at trial on prairie court, and Mickel states that the Savior was murdered on Christmas day — Post roads and routes — Woodbine named by a woman — How soon the old stage coach vanished when the railroad came — The time the first railroad entered the county— Names of post- offices in county — Prairie life — Engine of the prairie schooner — The first corn cracker in the county — The statements of Grandmother Sally Young — Abun dance of game — The last bear killed in the county — The last buffalo — The beaver — ^numbers — their work — dams etc — Hard winter of 1856 and 1857 — The big fish caught in Sioux and Mis- souri rivers — James Henderson loses his taste for catfish — Chas. Gil- more's hunting stories — Saving the life of his wife — Pioneer customs — Country dance — shooting matches. CHAPTER IV. The organization of the County— When — By whom organized — First elec- tion — Competing points for "seat of justice" — Number of voting precincts — Oath of an election board — Who bore the returns and vote — Where canvassed — First County offioers^Di vision of County into townships — Why named — Origin of name of Raglan township — Of Little Sioux — First division made by Brainard — When each to wnship was made and named — Washington township changed from west to east side of County, and why — Why name of Magnolia was given to " seat of jus- tice" — Hosier township named and name changed — Why Cincinnati was so named — Harrison township named, and by whom, and why — Dif- ferent kinds of land in County — Swamp land and number of acres — Six- teenth section and number of acres — 500,000 grant and number of acres — What was done with swamp lands — Manner of pre-empting — The number of acres given to soldiers as bounties — What the county judge required of pre-emptor — Elasticity of conscience of witnesses — How the settler was benefited by sales — County judgeship — The board of super- 10 CONTENTS. visors and who first elected— County debating society — The same abol- ished when — Resolution of the board giving county bounties to soldiers enlisting— The subject of giving all swamp lands in the County to the C. & N. W. R. R., if road located down the Boyer — Purchase of Poor Farm — The poorest farm in the County — Cost of Poor Farm — Present income from use of same — Geological survey of County by Fox, and the swindle, and who got the "swag" — Rodding court house — Present indebtedness of County — When bonded— How the county order business was manipulated — Early currency of the County — Wild Cat banks and Red Dog money — " Jakey" Pate trading with the boats — Why Sandy Point was named — Prosecuting attorneys — County judges — ^Treasurers — Clerks of courts — Arrest of, Capt. Hill and attempted trial and kid- naping — Recorders — Superintendents of schools — A.uditors — Sheriffs — Representatives — Neely's statement what the population of his county was — Hon. Geo. Richardson slandered — State senators — Judges of courts — Railroads— Number of miles — When first railroad was within 1,000 miles of Harrison county — Price of produce before railroad and after — Effect of the location of Government cavalry at Sioux City on the price of corn — Old Cornelius Dunham preparing for the railroad — His trip to Chicago — His fat cattle in the market — His wanting a fine-tooth comb — How he got his stock so fat — Agricultural society for the past thirty years — Present location and buildings — Money received and paid out for premiums — Present officers — County buildings — Cost of same — Crack- ing of county safe at the Magnolia, in 186S — Cracking of county jail — Prisoner escaping from Capt. Holmes — The Irishman which bid Jno. G. Downs good night — Growth of population — Residents of the county from the different states — Foreign population — Which county has the greater representation — Who will furnish the coming American citizen — Vote of the county from '54 to '87— Peculiar intermixture of Green- backers and Democrats — Prohibitory vote on constitutional amendment June 27, A. D. 1882, by townships — Judge Day beheaded— Prohibition vote in 1870— Vote on " hog law " in 1868— Vote on Magnolia high school in 1871— County seat wars from 1853 to 1887 — Two and three cornered fights — Vote between Magnolia and Missouri Valley in 1870 — Vote in 1875 and the majority for Logan — Joe H. Smith rises to explain —Farmers' Clubs — Harris Grove — When organized — Members — Object — Elk Grove club — When organized — Members — Mill Creek Club — When organized and names of members — Grasshoppers— When first appeared- — Dates of coming — Abundance and devastation of crops — Hatching and CONTENTS. 11 destruction of crops — How captured — Time of winging and their depart- ure — Medical societies— Newspapers published in County— Pirst news- paper—Where printed— Names and number at the present. CHAPTER V. Murders and murder trials in the County— The first person murdered in the County after the first white settler located— Murder of one of La'Pon- teur's wives— Murder of Indian at Sandy Point by Wm. Brown— Old Yellow Smoke— Acting as county superintendent of schools- Murder of Yellow Smoke at Dunlap— Ike DePew's race and sweat when chasing and being chased by the old Indian— First petit jury — First grand jury — First trial — Trial of W. B. Thomson for the murder of Norwood — Trial of Elias Shook for the shooting of a claim jumper — Trial of Jim Triplett for poisoning his wife — Bad conduct of jury and their dis- charge — Trial of James M. Long for shooting and killing Ad. Kuppy — Trial of Wes. Meecham for murdering Geo. Medford — Conviction of Henry Ackerman for bigamy — Trial of Lou Weirich for thrusting a butcher knife into the heart of Steve Ide — His pardon, and by whom — Trial of James A. Bonnell, alias " Big Jim," for rape — Attempted lynching of "Big Jim" and failure — His condition — Trial of Artemus Baker for murdering a young Mr. Crow, son of Stephen Crow, near Woodbine — Trial and incidents of the case of the State vs.' Wm. Sloan — Conviction — Sentence — Reversal in Supreme Court — Trial of S. A. Broadwell — ^The visit of the Governor. His ambition and fall — ^Trial of Alex'r Smith on charge of assault with intent to commit rape — The Case of Dunham vs. Hester & Dennis — Dunham's manner of training his witnesses— Robert Hall vs. James Mathers — the divorce case of Zaver vs. Zuver — Gillingham vs. Gillingham — Divorce case of Pate vs. Pate — an attorney's idea of " irapotency " — Makepiece replevitiing a child and " Habeasing" a calf — The poor boy, orphanized so that he had but one father in Dakota — James Butler's examination as applicant for license to practice law — His theory of " mixed property '' — The attorneys of the county — Wyatt '• drubs " Elder Guylee — W. W. Fuller Hon. Henry Ford— Hon. Alex. Brown — Capt. G. S. Bacon — Mickel — Tommy Brannan — Frank Griffin — Frank Wolfe — His disbarment — G. W. Thompson— Hon. L. R. Bolter— Major Chas. MacKenzie— Mr. J. W. Barnhar^-Mr. H. A. Roadifer— Mr. S. I. King— Mr. A. L. Harvey—' Capt. W. M. Magden— Mr. J. A. PhiUips— Mr. C. R. Bolter— Mr. C. A. Bolter— Mr. L. Brown— Mr. M. Holbrook— Mr. S. H. Cochran— Mr. C. 12 CONTENTS. Arndt— Mr. J. A. Berry, Mr. Thos. Arthur— Mr. P. W. Cain— Col. F. W. Hart— Mr. L. Bassett— Mr. J. A. Traver, Mr. James Dewell and Mr. John McGavren— Mr. M. B. Bailey — Mr. F. M. Dance, L. J. Birdsey, and Joe H. Smith. CHAPTER VI. The names of all the persons living in the county "who were in the Mexican war — Hamilton's defeat on the Willow River — Those in the fight — Shadley on the retreat — His misfortune — Holding prayer meeting — Shadley's prayer— Part of the whites run into canebrake — The retreat — Casualties of battle — Indians stealing horses — Amos Chase shooting the Injun — Red Man's run for Nebraska — Meeting at Council Bluifs — The Indian's mode of proving an alibi— Joe. Copeland drawing an old musket and shooting at venture — The fall of humanity and chickens — The Doctors at Logan extracting shot from a citizen — I'irst thoughts of a people on hearing of the firing on Sumpter — First braves stay at home and make money — The scenes of the old recruiting days — Those who were Democrats and how some were converted — Those who first enlisted — The entire enlistments in the county — Scare in 1862 at Sioux City — Co. C organized — Roll thereof — Leaving for the South — Parting scenes — Knights of the Golden Circle — Where they met — when? — Boys of Co. B, Fourth Iowa — Boys of the Second Iowa Battery — Boys of Co. A, Fifth Iowa Cavalry — Boys of First Nebraska Cavalry — Boys of Co. H, Fif- teenth Iowa Infantry — Boys of Co. K, Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry — Boys of Sixth Iowa Cavalry — Ninth Iowa Cavalry — North Border Brigade — The men drafted in Harrison county — When— Prices paid for substitutes — Joshua Lane, of Little Sioux taking an emetic to make "sick come" — Dan Shearer giving the scheme away — Who drew the names from the Box at Council Bluffs at time of draft in 1864 — Examin- ation before County Board of Surgeons — ^The terrible sickness and defdrmity of the people — Hearing lost — Hernia and lung diseases so prevalent — Men running for Colorado —List of all soldiers in county — Their commands and present postoflBce address. CHAPTER VII. Who entered the land on which the Towns of Logan, Woodbine, Dunlap' Missouri Valley, Magnolia, Modale, Mondamin Little Sioux, River Sioux and Calhoun were located — When these town sites were laid out — The CONTENTS. 13 growth of these places since by decades— Description of each of these places — Their schools, churches, business men, secret societies, time of incorporation, character of city government, etc. CHAPTER VIII. Pioneer school— Who taught the first school in the county— The early teach- ers—How the schools were managed— What power had authority over the teachers— By whom examined — When County Superintendent's office was created — ^The early "threshing machines" in the schools — The comparative difference between schools of that period and the pres- ent—The " fuss " and " feathers " of the present— Dress parade at close of terms — Who taught the first common school in the county — Where— The growth of the common school system in the county — ^ThQ cost of the different school buildings in the county— Missouri Valley at the head — Dunlap school building — Logan school building, when built and corps of teachers — Magnolia schools — Number of persons of school age in the county — Number of persons of school age who have been enrolled as scholars in the common schools — Total cost of school buildings in the county — Taxes paid by the taxpayers for the support of the schools — Tax equals one-half of all the tax paid — Names of the different Boards of Directors in the county for schools in incorporated towns — Missouri Valley and teachers — Dunlap and teachers — Logan and teachers-^Little Sioux and teachers — Mondamin and teachers — Has the quantum of expenditure equalled the expectation of the taxpayer — Woodbine Nor- mal — Teachers Institutes — The years the same have been in active run- ning order — Who benefited, etc. CHAPTER IX. First church organization in the county — Methodists at Harris Grove — At Magnolia — At Woodbine — Dunlap — Little Sioux — Missouri Valley — Logan — Value of church property in the county — Number of church buildings — Parsonages — Values — Number of membership — Number of charges — Number of Sunday-school scholars — First Congregational church organized in the county — Rev. Luddon — Rev. H. D. King — First church erected in the county Congregational — Number of Congrega- tional church buildings in the county — Congregational church at Olm- sted and then removed to Dunlap — Rise and growth of this chrjfch — First class at Olmsted — Names of members — Pastors from 1S58 to 1888 — Who have passed away of this class in the past thirty years — Congre- 14 , CONTENTS. gational church at Mondamin— At Soldier River— First Baptist church in Logan— When organized— When church building was completed— Constituent members— The growth of the church— Numjjer of members Number of Sunday-school scholars — When parsonage was built and cost— Value of church property — Pastors since organization of church First Baptist church at Woodbine— Who constituent members When first organized — When the church building was completed —Character of the church building— The liberality of certain person —Present Eldership of the church — Number of members— Pastors in charge since organization of class— Sunday-school — Number of schol- ars in Sunday-school — Sunday-school Superintendent — At the present — First Baptist church at Dunlap — Constituent members — Time the church building was completed — Value and cost of church building — Pastors from organization to the present— Number of members — First Baptist church at Missouri Valley— Constituent members— When organ- ized — First pastor — Growth of church — Present members^Sabbath- schools — Number of scholars at present in Sabbath-school — Present Superintendent of school — Value of church property — Presbyterians — When First Presbyterian Church was organized in Logan — Names of the organizing members — Who the first Minister — Time of building the church building — Cost of same — Number of members at present — Names of Elders — Thornton K. Hedges as a pioneer Minister — Minis- ters down to the present, etc. — Organization of the First Presbyterian Church at Woodbine — First members — Prosperity of the church — Names of pastors up to the present — When church building was .com- pleted — Cost of same — Number of members at present — Names of Elders — Sunday-school — Missouri Valley — Organization of church — Number of members at the time of organization — Different pastors from first up to the present — When church -building was completed — Number of members at the present — Number of Sunday-school schol- ers — Cost of church edifice — Christians or Disciples — First organization in the county — The first minister in the county — Ministers in county — D. R. Dungan, D. D. — A boy of the times — His joke on John Berrill — What pluck and energy will accomplish — Dungan's ministry — Number of churches in county — Organization and, lapse of part — Building of church at Woodbine — At Missouri Valley — At Modale— At Lo- gan — Number of members — First Pastors-^A pioneer church — VMue of church property — Organization at Modale — At Soldier — Preaching of Dungan the seed sown in good ground — Church of Jesus CONTENTS. 15 Christ or Latter Day Saints — When first organized in the county — num- ber of branches — The presidents of the different branches — Number of membership — The different branches— From what this church takes its rise — The difference between this church and the Salt Lake Mormon — Polygamy wholly ignored — On what founded — Polygamy a doctrine not sanctioned by the Prophet Joseph Smith — The same ah interpola- tion by bad men — The Latter Day Saints the bona fide church organ- ized by the Prophet Joseph Smith, Sen. — Number of members in the county — Number of churches — Value etc. — German Evangelical Asso- ciation at Magnolia — When organized^Names of organizing members — When church building built — Leaders in church — Number of mem- bers at the present — Names of pastors since organization — Value of church property — Salary of pastor — German Lutheran — When first organized at Magnolia — Constituent members — Pastors from organiza- tion to present — When church building was completed at Mag- nolia — Cost of building — Number of members at present, etc., etc. — Roman Catholic — Magnolia the place where first church was built — When completed — First members of the church — Cost of church build- ing — Number of members, etc., etc.— At Missouri Valley — When first organized — First Priest saying mass— First members — When church building built — Value of church building — Priests from organization to the present — Number of members, etc.— At Little Sioux — When first organized — Organizing members — First Priest officiating — when church building was built— Cost of same— Number of members — Priests since organizing churchy etc. — At Dunlap— Organizing members — First Priest — When first organized — When church was built — When rectory was built — Cost of church and rectory — Number of members— Priests since organization to the present— At Modale— When organization was affected— Organizing members— When church building was built— Cost of building— Number of members — Tunkers or Dunkards— When first organized — When— Number at the present— Names of members first belonging to the organization — Sabbath-schools in the county — First Sunday-school Missionary — Jewett, the person blazing out the way for Sabbath-schools — When dying — Prominent Sabbath-school workers in the county — Number of children in Sunday schools in the county — flom- parison between children of school age in county and those attending Sunday-school — Sunday-schoolmissionaries who have been in the county — Their salary — Prominent Sunday-school workers. HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY. CHAPTER I. The State of Iowa formerly constitutedja part of that terri- tory commonly called the " Louisiana Purchase." This territory was originally taken possession of by France. At the close of what is known in our history as the " oldJFrench^War," and in Europe as the " Seven Years War," in 1763, France ceded all the territory west of the Mississippi to Spain. On the 1st of October, A. D. 1800, Spain, by treaty of St. Idlefonso, retroceded this territory to France, and France, by treaty of April 30, A. D. 1803, ceded the same to the United States, the latter paying therefor, as con- sideration, the sum of $11,250,000, and the further sum of $3,750,000 in the extinguishment of certain claims which citi- zens of the United States held against the French government. Thomas Jefferson, then being President of the United States, secured from the First Emperor of France, for the sum of $15,000,000, the wealth of a continent. For a sum scarcely equal to one-fifth of the private fortune of one of the American citizens of the present day, was surrendered to this government the most magnificent land ever bought with money or transmit- ted by inheritance. This land purchase was the first fruits of the reactionary influ- ence of the Revolutionary war. This was the first land ever pur- chased or peacefully acquired from a sovereign civilized power, in the history of the human family, for the purpose of dedica- 2 18 HISTORY OF HAKEISON COUNTY. tion to constitutional government, because it was so guaranteed in the treaty which conferred it. This triumph of diplomacy over a government which was proud of its Talleyrand and Marabois, is of itself suEBcient to immortalize the statesman who brought about such happy results. He who stood at the helm of govern- ment at this time had, prior to this, made himself immortal. The thought of his brain, finding exudation at the point of his pen, when reducing to paper the principles contained in the Declaration of American Independence, will immorbalize him as long as the English language shall last, and will assist in the preservation of the latter. On the 4th of July, 1805, under the act of Congress, approved March 3d,. 1805, the District of Louisiana was organized into a territory of the same name, with a government of its own, in which condition it remained until 1812. By act of Congress, approved June 4, 1812, the Territory of Louisiana was reorganized and called the " Territory of Missouri;" then, again, by act, March 2, 1819, "Arkansaw Territory." By a joint resolution, approved March 2, 1821, the State of Missouri was made a State and admitted into the Union, and from that date up to and until June 28, 1834, all of Iowa was a territorial orphan; this status of orphanage lasting, as above indicated, for the period of thirteen years, when it was taken again under paternal care and constituted part of the territory of Michigan. On the 3d of July, 1836, Wisconsin territory, embracing within its limits the present States of Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, was taken from that of Michigan and made a separate territorj-; and on the 3d of July, 1838, the territory of the State of Iowa, including the greater part of Minnesota, was constituted the Territory of Iowa. On the 28th day of December, A. D. 1846, Iowa was admitted into the Union, as the twenty-ninth star in the national galaxy, which from that day to the present has never been dimmed by any act of her people, but like a bright jewel in the set, beauti- HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTT. 19 fies and adorns, as well as being shown off to great advantage, by reason of the purity and brilliancy of those forming the other parts of the constellation. Harrison County was named by the Third General Assembly of the State of Iowa, which at that time convened at Iowa City, the then capital of the State, for the ninth President, William Henry Harrison, as will be found by reference to section No. 2, chapter No. 9, of the acts of the General Assembly last above referred to; and in which will be found the boundaries of the county, which is in the following words, viz. : "Beginning at the northwest corner of township No. 81, north of range 40, west, thence west on the line dividing townships 81 and 82, to the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river; thence down the middle of the main channel of said river to the intersection of the line between townships 77 and 78; thence east on said township line to the southwest corner of township 78, north of range 40, west; thence north on the line dividing ranges 40 and 41 to the place of beginning." The action of the Legislature of the State, which gave bounds to this county, was approved by the Governor on the 15th day of January, A. D. 1851, left the county statu quo until in the month of January of the date of the 12th, A. D. 1853, when an act was passed, by which a commission of three persons, viz.: Abraham Fletcher of Fremont county, Charles Walcott of Mills county, and A. D. Jones of Pottawattamie county were selected to locate a " seat of justice " for Harrison county, and to proceed to the discharge of this duty on the first Monday of March of 1853, and by the same act declared the county organ- ized from and after the first Monday of March of the same year. By section No. 20 of said act, the name for this embryotic "seat of justice" was, at that time, given by the Legislature, thereby furnishing to the then generation another instance where a name was determined on before birth, viz.: " That the county seat of Harrison shall be called Magnolia." 20 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. The boundaries of the county, then, would be as follows: Mo- nona and part of Crawford counties on the north, the Missouri river on the west, Pottawattamie county on the south, and Shelby county on the east, and were it not for the shortage of the town- ships on the west, made so by the tortuous windings and con- stant cutting of the Missouri river, the county would be twenty- four miles north and south by thirty miles east and west. By the latest measurements the county contains 446,056 acres, of which over 400,000 are under cultivation, and 42,720 native timber. This, and the personalty in the county, as per the assessment of 1885, in value amounts to the sum of $5,514,299. The streams which water and drain the county gain the Mis- souri bottoms within the county, except the Pigeon and Mos- quito. Beginning at the east side of the county, the first stream which is met is the Mosquito, then the Pigeon, Boyer, Willow, Allen and Steer Creeks, then the Soldier and Little Sioux rivers. These all take a southwesterly course until they either empty into the Missouri river in the county or pass the southern boun- dary line. The Mosquito is a small stream, having its rise in Washington and Cass townships, and can scarcely bear the name of a river ; but in a country where every little rivulet is misnomered " river," this importance has attached to this little stream, so that it is called Mosquito river, the named derived from the great abun- dance of mosquitoes which infested the place in the early days of the settlement. They of the settlement days of 1849, in re- ferring to the vastness and size, and numerical strength of the above named bill-posting insect, call to mind the stretch of im- agination of the '49 miners of California. Tradition has it that these mosquitos were of such ponderous size that they kept in their hip pockets a 14-inch file and whetstone, so that they could, during the heat of the day, prepare their proboscis for active duty as the evening and night came on. This only is given as per the statement of one John Q. Jolly, who was a resident on HISTOEY OF HAEKISON COTJNTY. 21 this stream, and whose imagination was known to be very vivid. The Pigeon has its origin in Douglas township, and from its source to the place where it crosses the south line of the county, measures a distance of quite sixteen miles. Why this little stream waS' named " Pigeon " cannot be accounted for; nor is there anyone who can tell the origin of the name, except as above given. Both of these streams last named drain large quantities of exceptionally good land, and afford water supplies for stock purposes which few localities equal. The banks of these creeks are somewhat precipitous, and usually rise to the height of ten to twenty feet, by reason of which the water is carried away without doing damage by overflows, except in very rare cases, when the rain-fall has been so extraordinary as to swell all other streams in the county and produce general havoc elsewhere. The principal water courses, are the Boyer, Willow, Soldier, and Little Sioux. The Boyer in its crooked windings from the northeast corner of the county to the place where it enters Potta- wattamie county, ten miles from the Missouri river and twenty miles from the southeast corner of the county, traverses a dis- tance of sixty miles by measurement of its channel, and only by straight line a distance of twenty-eight. Some have supposed that there is but very little fall to the waters in the Boyer, but in this supposition there is a great mistake. Take for a start- ing point the place where the depot is located at the town of Dunlap in this county, and have measurement made from there to the place where the railroad depot is located at the town of Missouri Valley, there is only lacking the small number of six feet of being as many feet fall as there is in the dis- tance from the depot building at Sioux City to the depot at Missouri Valley. From the depot at Dunlap to the depot at Missouri Valley, a distance by rail of twenty-six miles, there is a fall of ninety-one feet, while from the. depot building at Sioux 22 HISTORY OF HARBISON COTJNTT. City to the depot at Missouri Valley, a distance of seventy-five miles by rail, there is a fall of ninety-seven feet. Within the county there are at the present three good water merchant mills; on the Boyer river, one at the village of Logan owned by James McCoid; one near the village of Woodbine, owned by that old pioneer, John W. Dalley, and Mr. Kellogg; and one at or near the town of Dunlap, owned by Mr. Harvey Bishop, all in successful operation. All these mills above referred to, do not use over twenty feet of the before-named ninety-one, and as a mathematical result, there is a waisture of water power yet on the Boyer sufficient to propel ten more such mills as they that are now in successful operation. Though digressing from the subject, I will take the liberty to state that the depot building at Missouri Valley is 418 feet higher than the Chicago & Northwestern railroad bridge, where the same spans the Mississippi river at Clinton, and that the surface of the railroad at Woodbine in this county is one foot higher than the track at New Jeiferson in Greene county. The Willow is the next stream westward of the Boyer and makes its first appearance in Crawford county, and enters this county in Lincoln township near the west line of section 3, township 81, range 42, quite six miles west of the place where the Boyer crosses the north line. ■ This handsome little stream runs in a southwesterly direction; keeping her distance from the one on her east; leaves Lincoln within one-half mile of the southwest corner thereof, visits Boyer township by cutting aflat-iron out of her northwest corner, then meanders a distance of six miles by sections, through Mag- nolia township, then into Calhoun township and out in a diago- nal course, entering the Missouri bottoms at this place, cuts a little slice off of Taylor, and from thence nearly south until the south line of the county is crossed, and thence emptying into HISTOET OF HARRISON COUNTY. 23 the Boyer a little south of Loveland station in Pottawattamie county. Allen and Steer creeks both have their origin in Allen town- ship, take a southwesterly course, and after having meandered among the hills of Allen, Magnolia and Raglan townships, for a distance of eight to twelve miles, empty into what is known as the Gilmore or Atwood lake, at the foot of the bluffs. These creeks, like the larger ones above referred to, carry within their banks the sweetest and purest waters, and are of immeasurable value to stock raisers along their course. The former was named Allen, for one Andrew Allen, who, in 1851, squatted on this stream, and the latter received the not exceedingly classic name of " Steer," because of the miry condition of the stream at the place where it debouches from the highlands, three or more steers having mired therein while being driven across, in 1849. The Soldier, named because a company of United States reg- ulars encamped on the banks thereof in 1846, has its inception in Ida and Crawford counties, enters Monona county at the east side, north of the centre, and runs in a southwesterly direction until the same passes the north line of this, at which point, viz.: the north- east quarter of section 1, township 81, range 44, it makes a little zag toward the east, then winds like the trail of a serpent in a southwesterly direction until the farms of 0. P. Edmonds and James Roberts, in sections 4 and 5, in township 80, range 44, are reached, and there grooves the Missouri bottoms in a direct south course through Raglan; then turns to a southwesterly course through the northwest corner of Taylor, on through Clay in the same direction, until within one mile of the Missouri river, then in a direct run of five miles east empties into the Missouri river at the northwest corner of Cincinnati township. This stream is nearly the size of the Boyer in the way of volume of water, and drains a large- section of country from the north line of the county to the place where it is lost in the great Muddy. From the Edmonds farm in section 5, township 80, range 44, on the 24 HISTORY OP HARBISON COUNTY. south line of Jackson township, to the mouth of this stream, there is but little fall, and hence the drainage is not as perfect as where the same meanders through the hills. By consulting White's Geological Reports of Iowa, volume 3, page 414, it will be there found that the surface of the S. C. & P. railroad track at Mondamin in this county is nine feet higher than at Modale, a distance of a little over six miles, and that there is a fall of ten feet from River Sioux station to Mondamin, having the same distance as that between Mondamin and Modale. This would average only a fraction over one and one-half feet to the mile, which, to say the least, is not indicative of the best drainage. The statements herein made as to the fall in the Boyer, as well as that of the Soldier, are not based upon guess-work, but are the figures furnished Prof. White, who in 1868 and 1870, was the State Geologist, by W. W. Walker, then Vice President and Chief Engineer of the C. & N. W. railroad, and that of the S. C. & P. railroad by L. Burnett, assistant superintendent of the latter road. While this beautiful, clear, pure stream winds its way in the high lands, the declivity is by far greater than that last above given, and though it affords great opportunities for water power, the same is only utilized at one point, and that at and near the centre of Jackson township, viz. : On the south line of section 14, township 81, range 44, at which place Mr. L. Peyton has in continuous operation a very excellent flouring mill. The Little Sioux river, the father of Harrison county waters, makes the shortest stay in the county of any of those which are designated as rivers. First starting from springs on the south line of the State of Minnesota, and then replenished and fed by the little rivulets of Osceola, Dickinson, Clay, east part of O'Brien, west part of Buena Vista, east part of Cherokee, east part of Woodbury and all of Monona counties, introduces herself into Harrison about eighty rods west of the northeast corner of section. 5, township 81, range 44, in Little Sioux township, and from thence HISTORY OF HABRISOK COTJNTT. 25 steadily keeps a southwesterly direction until finding outlet in the Missouri river at the north half of the northeast quarter of sec- tion 27, township 81, range 45, a distance of ahout two hundred rods west of the depot at the station of River Sioux. The entire mileage of this river in the county will not exceed eight, yet the stay heing so short, it discharges doubly more water into the Missouri than all other streams of the county. The bank on the left of the river, as to this county, is high, in many places hug- ging the bluffs, until it divorces itself from the company of the hills, so that but little overflow therefrom has ever caused any damage. The Wilsey, Col. Cochran and M. Murray farms, which fit up to the margin of the waters of the Little Sioux on the left bank, are as excellently situated as ever came from the hand of the Creator, the gentle declivity, the broad stretch of level prairie, reaching from bluff to river, not afoot in waste; which at gath- ering time yields 100 bushels of corn in the ear, per acre, sug- gests an Eden worthy of the waiting, toil and good judgment of the worthy possessors. The surface of the county presents an appearance as varied as the tastes of man and as diversified as his conduct. So far as the selection of a home is concerned, all can, within the limits of the county, find any quality or character of place, soil or altitude which fancy dictates. The high, rolling upland, far beyond the reach of flood or malaria, the sunny cove nestling in the bluff and protecting the place from blizzards; the broad expanse of level prairie, reaching on and on as far as the eye can measure; the elevated lands on margin of lake or river; the home in the native forests, or if perchance the peculiarities of mind suggest a selection of unfathomable " gumbo," this county possesses all these in certain ratios. The different valleys or bottom lands are known and designa- ted by the names of the rivers or creeks which drain them, viz. : Mosquito, Pigeon, Boyer, Willow, Soldier, and Little Sioux, and 26 HISTORY OF PIAERISOSr COUNTY. vary in dimensions in nearly the same ratio as the streams. The first two last named, differ but little in extent and quality of soil. These valleys are from one-half to a mile in width, and now all improved, the handsome and tasty farm house, broad expanse of corn, wheat and tame-grass fields, make the same a very par- adise indeed. The uplands between these are beautiful rolling prairies, forming well defined divides from which the surface and spring waters are gathered by draws or slight depressions and discharged into small feeders which enter the valleys below. In nearly all of the locations, or nearly all the farms, which are not accommodated by spring, creek or other surface water, the same is attained by wells, scarcely ever exceeding a depth of forty feet, and the greater majority at half that depth, and these are so manipulated by wind-mills that the water necessary for the supplying of house and herd is really as abundant and equally cheap as those who have the privilege of spring or stream. The Boyer valley is the Eden of the county, arrests the eye of every passer and holds the beholder spell-bound while measuring its extent and unsurpassed beauty and fertility. This valley is from one two miles in width, stretches from the northeast corner of the county to the place where the same merges into the Missouri bottom, a distance of over twenty-six miles, thereby furnishing excellent drainage and outlet for this and the coun- try northeast and east, as well as the natural outlet for trans- portation to and fro by rail. The miles and miles of nearly level fields of corn, wheat, oats, tame and wild grasses, tlap extensive and handsomely constructed farm houses, large barns, cribs and sheds, the abundance and pureness of such excellent water, the unprecedented productiveness and inexhaustibility of the soil, places this valley in the lists as equal to any within the states and territories of this Union. The writer of these hastily thrown-together thoughts well remembers the expression of a friend, in the person of B. F. HI8TOKT OF HARBISON COUNTY. 27 Pyle, of Pittsburg, Pa., who, standing on the blu£F at the south- west corner of the village of Logan, which position affords the beholder a view of all the Boyer valley to the southwest, the Missouri bottoms up to and across the Missouri river, as well as the northeast corner of Douglas and the southeast of Washing- ton counties. Neb., and not only this, but the Boyer valley north to quite the distance of Dunlap; — who after surveying this matchless valley, appropriately quoted, as his sentiments and observation, the following stanza: " No fairer land the prophet viewed, When on the sacred mount he stood, And saw below transcendent shine The plains and groves of Palestine." The yield of corn on this valley per acre is from sixty to ninety bushels, the yield being measured by the good judgment of the farmer in the way of the selection of seed, the time the same is placed in the ground and the labor bestowed thereon at the proper season. The yield of wheat varies according to the season, which at times falls as low as twenty, but often reaches thirty or more bushels per acre. The tame grasses often shed three to four tons to the acre, and the wild or native grass, in good localities, two and a half to three. The uplands separating the Boyer from the Pigeon, as well as that separating the former from the Willow river, the same applying to all the divides in the county, are corrugated by small ribs extending out from the backbone or divide, usually in a direction southeast or southwest, as the water-shed indicates. These are more numerous on the north line of the county, viz.: in the townships of Lincoln, Allen and Jackson; yet in these, and all others of the upland townships, whole tracts of hundreds of acres of prairie have been overgrown with thrifty groves within the brief memory of the writer. These tracts of young forests add a very pleasant feature to the landscape, relieve the monotony of the ever present cereal or grass, and paint a green island on the apparent desert of prairie. 28 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. Were any o£ the readers of these pages to stand on the cliff directly north of the residence of Mr. John T. Cofifman, in sec- tion 9, township 80, range 44, the same being in Raglan town- ship, and from that position in the months of June, July or August, look in a direction east of northwest, over Jackson town- ship, a landscape, such as was never painted, aye, such as is be- yond the power of artist to reproduce, would present itself to his or her vision. At the locus last designated, the bluffs of Jackson look like the waves of the ocean, when the wind is driving them fierce and furious, or to the writer it can be more accurately described, by saying that the Creator, at the time spoken of in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, was a trifle short of time; that the week there spoken of closed and that Jackson township had only been poured out of the Maker's ladle and " time " was called before the smoothing process had been applied. Here the divides apparently run in every direction; the little scooped-out valleys seem to have been constructed without refer- ence to direction or symmetry, and, withal, present an appear- ence of such modest neglige as to captivate the beholder. As the years come and go the thrifty growth of young forest trees, springing up spontaneously in every conceiveable place, where protected from the ravages of fire, and to such extent as heretofore named, the feeling can scarcely be avoided, that the primitive beauty and nakedness of these bluffs are soon to receive a forest mantle of nature's own weaving, by which their grace- ful outlines, now cut so clearly against the sky, will be lost for- ever. The Soldier valley is of double the width of the Willow, and is only the superior of the latter in area. The north or west side is bounded by ranges of bluffs unrivalled in variety of pic- turesque scenery by any similar region in the Missouri valley, and what is more striking and interesting, well defined terraces HISTOET OF HAERISOlSr COTJNTT. 29 occupy a large part o£ the valley, which afford very many rural situations. The valley of the Little Sioux is entirely different from any in the county, occasioned by reason of the same being minus any bluffs or highlands on the right bank. This river behaves her- self very handsomely in all her stay in the county, but her bad conduct before reaching the point where lost in the great Muddy creates a prejudice against her, in this, that while passing the boundaries of the county of Monona, in her freaks of folly, mad- ness and power, her banks, in the spring time, are overflowed and the water thus forced out on the surface of the county north, is driven down or onward, to such extent that the one- fourth of the township of Little Sioux receives a baptism from one to five feet of that which the county north should have taken care of. This, by many persons, has been interpreted as a source of great loss to the people in the vicinity, but a moment's reflection will convince the thoughtless that it is not a loss or judgment visited on the locality. All east of this place is quite barren of grass lands, and while these spring freshets cover the surface of this portion of the township and seemingly enjoin the raising of corn or other cereals, yet it brings about just such a condition as best meets the real wants of the farmers, in this, that such a superabundance of grass is grown, and so caused by these annual spring freshets, that all on the bluffs or high lands here find a superabundance of hay for the winter's use, which otherwise could not be had. The Missouri valley comprises more than one-fifth of the area of the county; though all appearing as of the same quality, yet there is such vast difference in short distances, one location may be of very excellent quality, while that which lies tangent thereto is wholly worthless. All along this valley there are draws, or low places, which render the same useless for agricultural pur- doses. These at some point or other ripen into lakes, and they in turn generally find outlet into the rivers which empty into 30 HISTORY OF HABEISON OOTTNTY. the Big Muddy. One singular peculiarity in regard to this Mis- souri bottom land is, that in many places directly up against the bluffs the surface of the soil is lower than the surface of the banks on the margin of adjacent lake or river. As time passes away these low localities fill up by the wash and deposits from the hills, and in turn become the most valuable lands in the en- tire county. To substantiate this assertion, I will instance the farming lands of Mr. Charles Gilmore, in Raglan township, which in 1857 was so low and miry that nothing grew thereon but wild canes, and these to the height of ten to fifteen feet, and so sloshy was the soil that a saddle blanket would mire therein, if left over night. This same low land has been filled during the past thirty years to a depth of six and eight feet, thereby making the owner one of the best corn-producing farms in the entire county. This condition of natural improvemeiit has not been limited to this particular spot, but has been general at every output of stream along the entire bluffs. From the first settlement of the county, up to and until the year 1858, the entire scope of country along the bluffs, from the south line of the county until the Soldier river is reached, was so low and miry that in order to pass from the bluffs to the bottom lands in Cincinnati, Clay and Taylor townships, all were com- pelled to center at the crossing at or west of the farm now owned by Mr. Henry Garner, in Raglan township. This diffi- culty has been remedied by the constant deposits in these low places, as well as by a system of grading, by which every other section line furnishes a good highway to and from the Missouri river. I would not dismiss the reader without calling attention to some of the principal lakes in the county, these all being on the Missouri bottom. The grandest and best of these is " Smith's Lake," in Little Sioux township, located in section 31, township 81, range 45, and section 6, township 80, range 44. This body of water is over 400 yards wide by a mile in length, and in many HISTORY OP HAEKISON OOTJNTT. 31 places 100 feet deep. The water in this lake is furnished by sub- terranean springs, except that which flows therein in the spring freshets from the Little Sioux river. This is the grandest body of water on the entire Missouri valley, and is stocked with the largest and gamiest kind of fish that are known to the waters of western Iowa. This beautiful body of water is located snugly up against the bluffs, in fact so closely hugging the same that the bluffs are apparently so precipitous that an individual could scarcely climb them; then on the eastern bank the same is sel- vaged with a magnificent growth of native timber, reaching far toward the south of the lake, and this seemingly reaching partly up the precipitous bluff, gives to the landscape such a magnificent background, that water, bluff and timber possess such a peculiar blending as to constitute a picture the admiration of all. The eastern bank of this lake, so nicely shaded by forest trees, reaching down to the very margin of the water, invites the lover of fun and frolic to this rustic, cool retreat in the hot summer monthg, to fish, sleep, dream, put up political jobs and " steal a while away from every cumbering care." The pinnacle of these bluffs which so abruptly stop at this lake, furnishes the grandest observatory in the west part of the county. Here the eye first catches, to the west and south, the six-mile selvedge of timber lands along,the Missouri river; this enveloped in the un- certain shimmering haze of a summer's day, looks like a vast rim; over this and to the east and north, the outline is like that of a hollow basin, part of which is made up of graceful, undu- lating prairie swells, which rise and fall, one beyond another, until distance blends the whole into lines of light and shadow. Round Lake, in the center of Morgan township, possesses no peculiarity, except its size and general worth lessness. This was at some time in the past, part and parcel of the river-bed of the Missouri, and by some;freak has been divorced therefrom, and at the present depends entirely on the swells of the Missouri, in the spring time, or June freshets, for existence. 32 HISTORY OF HAKEISON COUNTY. Horse Shoe Lake, in Clay, is of the same character as that of the one last described, except in this, that the latter is supplied with water from the Soldier river, and in spring or June rises of the Missouri, from the latter. Noble's Lake, partly in this and the remainder in Pottawatta- mie county, located in Cincinnati township, is a beautiful body of water, and at all seasons of the year is a resort for those who have piscatorial tastes. This, like the Smith lake, is well stocked with pickerel, bass, cat, buffalo and sun-fish. The bluffs which border the broad flood-plain or bottom-land of the Missouri river along all that part of its course which forms the western boun- dary of this county, are so peculiar in character and appearance that they cannot fail to attract the attention of every one who sees them for the first time. Their strangely and beautifully rounded summits, occasionally mingled with sharply cut ridges, smooth and abruptly retreating slopes, and the entire absence of rocky ledges, except in rare instances, when they appear only at their base, cause them to present a marked contrast with those of the Mississippi and other rivers of the eastern part of the state, where rocky ledges support and compose the greater part of their bulk. PHYSICAL PKOPERTIBS. Some of the physical properties of this deposit are so unus- ual that they merit especial mention. When it is known that there is no rocky support to these Missouri river bluffs, although they are frequently so steep that a man cannot climb them, it is very apparent that the material composing them is different from the earth ordinarily met with, and which it resembles upon its ordinary surface. Its peculiar property, however, of standing securely with a precipitous front, is best shown in artificial excavations. For all practical purposes of building founda- tions, even of the most massive structures, and for all roads, etc., the ground it composes is as secure as any other, yet it is every- where easily excavated with the spade alone. Notwithstanding HISTORY OF HAKEISON COUNTY. 83 this fact it remains so unchanged by the atmosphere and frost, that wells dug in it require to be walled only to a point just above the water line; while the remainder stands securely with- out support of any kind, that the spade-marks remain visible upon it for many years. Embankments also upon sides of roads or other excavations, although they may be quite perpendicular, stand for many years without change, and show the names of ambitious carvers, long after an ordinary bank of earth would have softened and fallen away to a gentle slope. An instance: a well dug by Mr. Ed. Houghten in Cass township in 1857, which for thirty years has remained in good condition, only being walled with rock or brick at the bottom to a distance of ten feet, the depth thereof being forty-six feet, at the present remains in per- fect condition. Indeed, so securely does the material of this strange desposit remain, when excavations are made in it, and so easily is it excavated, that subterranean passages of many miles in length might be readily constructed in -it without meeting any impediment. Any fortifications built upon these hills, which form a continuous line along the greater part of the western border of the county, if future emergencies should ever require them, might be readily undermined by digging such subterra- nean passages; and if there were any cause or use for such works, catacombs might be successfully constructed in any of them that would rival those of ancient Rome. In Harrison county the post-tertiary deposits exhibit their usual characteristics, and besides these we have limited exposures of the upper coal measures which appear in the valley of the Boyer. The drift and bluff deposits are both well developed in Harrison county, where the latter attains near its maximum thickness. The drift deposits comprise both the glacial clays and the modified gravel-beda. We seldom find both these beds well developed at a single locality, and more often they are so atten- uated by denudation as to present a striking contrast to the con- dition they present in central Iowa. The glacial deposit is 3' 34: HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. seldom exposed more than a few feet, and it is doubtless compara- tively thin throughout this section. It fills depressions in the subjacent formations, and in these situations it has been sub- jected to less extensive erosion than it has on the higher points, where indeed this deposit has been generally entirely swept away. In such places the gravel-bed attains, or retains, a thick- ness of several feet^perhaps at some localities as great as thirty feet. At other places, however, even the gravel deposit has been wholly denuded, or is represented by a thin sheet of pebbles and sand which have been converted into a quite durable concrete. Springs are of f reqiient occurrence along the outcrop of the gravel and blue clay deposits, and they always give a reliable horizon, showing the inequalities of the denuded drift surfaces, and also the line of demarcation between these deposits and the bluif formation. On the south side of the Boyer, on the south- ern borders of the county, the drift deposits rise in the base of the bluffs to an elevation of thirty feet above the bottoms. On the opposite side of the valley, in the vicinity of the Missouri valley, the bluff deposit constitutes the entire height of the bluffs, which are here two hundred feet in height above the Mis- souri bottoms. In the valley of the Little Sioux, in the north- ern side of the county, similar exposures of the drift are met with. Three miles above the village of Little Sioux, on the Wilsey farm, a tufaceous deposit is in process of formation at the base of the bluff deposit. It is underlaid by a gravel-bed which in places has been incorporated in the calcareous forma- tion, forming a very durable concrete layer. Similar deposits have been found on the Widow Vanderhoof farm in Harris Grove, and on the farm of Mr. Wm. Morrow in Raglan, and the con- crete bed is exposed at numerous localities in various parts of the county, as in the base of the bluffs on Smith's lak« and elsewhere. The bluff formation, as has been stated already, constitutes the bulk of the rounded divides between the streams, and in the bluffs on the Missouri bottoms it reaches a thickness upwards of HISTORT OF HAEBISOW COUNTY. 35 two hundred and fifty feet. Owing to the tenaceous nature of the bluff material, landslides are of very unfrequent occurrence; and it is also due to the same condition of this deposit, that by the slow process of weathering by the action of atmospheric agencies, and the little rills which issue from the gravel-bed, these bluffs assume the varied and picturesque outlines which form so striking a peculiarity in the topography of the upland border region in this part of the state. The most interesting subject for study presented by this formation in this county are the terraces which occupy the valley of the Soldier river, in township 81, range 44. The lower benches are from thirty to fifty feet in height, and are found on both sides of the stream, which has at different times eroded new channels — the old ones existing to-day as " old river beds," or low meadow lands of surpassing fertility. The main terraces are confined to the west side of the valley, and, compared with similar phenomena observed elsewhere in the state, they are truly colossal. The benches of different elevations are often separated' from one another by deep, narrow ravines, or shallow depressions, which are more or less exaggerated expressions of the identical features associated with these formations in the drift region from which they differ, only in the nature of the material of which they are composed, and possibly in the date of their formation. They have a very gentle, regular inclination from the uplands toward their valley faces which are abruptly terminated by the steep descents peculiar to terrace formations. The intermediate terraces are quite regular in conformation and vary from sixty to one hundred feet in height. The high ter- races are somewhat less distinctly defined, though, varied from the opposite side of the valley, they present no appreciable differ- ence from the lower benches, their upper surface formiug gently undulating or nearly level plains, one hundred and fifty feet above the bottoms, offering a prominent contrast to the very irregularly weathered surface in the upland heights between the 36 HISTORY OP HAEEI80N COUNTY. Soldier and the Little Sioux, which lift their furrowed crests to the height of two hundred to three hundred feet above the valley. These terraces in the bluff deposits, notwithstanding the fact that it is newer than any other deposit except its own alluvium, are certainly of the same age as the other terraces, of the same river, that have. been formed in the drift or any other formation, for they all originated from the same cause, and are nearly or quite simultaneous. The evidence that this deposit was formed as sediment in the fresh water lake, may be summed up thus: The material is very fine and homogeneous, such only as could have been deposited in comparatively still waters. It contains a few shells of fresh water and land mollusks, and no other. It does not contain any marine remains. It is, there- fore, not of marine origin; besides which, no inland deposit of marine origin is known that has, like this, occurred subsequent to the drift period. The material of the deposit is essentially the same as the sediment of the Missouri river at the present time. This sediment is so abundant now in that river, that if it were possible to throw an obstruction across its valley as high as its bluffs it would become rapidly filled with essentially the same material that it originally deposited, and subsequently in part swept out. This is constantly illustrated in the reservoirs of the St. Louis water works, which become filled with the sediment of the water taken from the river, so that they must be periodically re-excavated. The proportion of sediment contained in the water of the river in its earliest history, was probably somewhat greater than it is now, and any lake-like expansion that may have existed in it at that time must have become so quickly filled as to have occupied an insignificant part of the time-history of its valley, although the act was an important one in that his- tory. It seems probable that the broad lake that occupied a part of what is now Western Iowa was mainly filled with sediment while yet the glaciers hovered around the upper course of the Missouri river, and were there grinding the material which HISTORY OF HABBISON OOtJlfTY. 37 served for the filling. The filling was, of course, most rapid in the case of the muddiest rivers, and those which flowed over formations that are not readily disintregated could contain but little sediment. Therefore, their lakes are not filled. If such a river as Missouri had emptied into the great northern chain of lakes, they would have become so completely filled with its sediment that they would never have been known as lakes to civilized man, but tributaries of the St. Lawrence river would have traversed the region they now occupy. PEIMART ORIGIlf OF THE BLUFF MATERIAL. ' Ascending the Missouri river, we find in Nebraska, Dakota, and even in Northwestern Iowa, the source from which the material of the blufi^ deposit was derived. Stretching from here far away to the Rocky mountains, and bordering the great river on either side, is an immense region occupied by the most friable formations on the continent — those of Cretaceous and Tertiary ages. Seeing these, we at once cease to wonder that the waters of the Missouri are muddy, because it is so evident that they could not be otherwise. The Tertiary strata are largely silicious, and the Cretaceous are scarcely less so, but are very nearly pure chalk. It is from the last named strata that the bluff deposit has derived its nearly ten per cent of carbonate of lime. AH these friable strata are even now furnishing abundant sediment to the streams that flow into the Missouri river, but at the close of the glacial epoch, flne sediment was, if possible, still more abundant, because then the whole region was strewn with grind- ings fresh from those " mills of the gods " — the glaciers. The soil in the upland consists of the light colored deposits of bluff formation and only differs from that of the bottoms in the finely comminuted condition of the silicious materal of which it is nearly composed. Both upland and bottom soil are derived from the same sources — that of the Missouri bottom being the coarser, because the finer particles are swept away by 38 HISTOET OP HARBISON COtJNTT. the current of this ceaseless flood. Year hy year, as the annual June rise or flood appears, vast quantities of this filling sediment are deposited in every place where the waters of the Missouri river are forced, and as a consequence, the locations where this annual deposit is made, are fast assuming a higher and more valu-, able condition. It may be truthfully said that this soil is nearly inexhaustible, from the fact that many tracts of land in valley and on the bottoms have been for the past quarter of a century continually planted in corn and without any nourishment to the soil, still yield fifty to seventy bushels per acre. Mr. Isaac Bedsol of Magnolia, having dug a well to the depth of sixty- eight feet, took of the soil from the bottom thereof, Scattered Jt over the surface of part of his lot, to the thickness of twelve inches, sowed oats thereon, and was surprised, at reaping time, at having a really good crop. There are bat two kinds of soil in the entire county, the bluff and the bottom, and as before stated, in these there is no difference of character except the former is the finer material. Stone is only found in two or three places in the county and is restricted to that of limestone. The greatest deposit of this is located at and adjoining the mills of Mr. James McCoid in sec- tion 19, township 79, range 42, at the southeast corner of the town of Logan. These quarries have been quite extensively worked and considerable quantities used for foundations for build- ings in the immediate vicinity, as well as being shipped for simi- lar purposes to Council Bluffs and elsewhere. The stone from this quarry was used for the foundation to the court house and jail at Logan. The same limestone outcrops on the right bank of the Boyer river, one-fourth of a mile below Logan, on the tract of land owned by Mr. Jas. A. Lusk, the same being in sec- tion 24, township 79, range 43. This last bed of lime-stone fur- nishes a tolerable building stone, for which purpose it was quar- ried and used in the old court house in Council Bluffs. The quarry at the McCoid Mill is covered with nearly fifteen feet of HISTORY OF HARBISON COTJlirTY. 39 the following substances, viz. : eight feet irregular bedded shaly, impure limestone with clay partings exposed; one foot yellow, marley clay; two feet black carbonaceous shales; six inches yel- low clay; one foot blue impure limestone; 2 feet yellow, indur- ated clay ; fifteen feet limestone deposit. The deposit at the Lusk quarry is a much superior article to that at the McCoid mill, but owing to the vast amount of earth covering the same, makes the cost of quarrying so considerable that the same cannot be successfully operated. In sections 27 or 28, township 80, range 42, in Boyer town- ship, near the old site of Donmeyer mills, a bed of reasonably fair limestone of the thickness of ten or more feet is found. This is located on the left bank of the Boyer river, two miles south of Woodbine and six miles north of Logan, from which considerable quantities of building stone have been quarried, and at which place in the year 1858 one William Evans owned and operated a lime kiln, producing the lime from the rock, then gathered from the bed of the river. Unquestionably there are many other deposits or beds of stone in the county, which up to the present time remain undiscovered. At the mouth of Elk Grove creek, one-fourth mile northeast of Logan, quite a deposit of limestone is found, but at the present not sufficiently worked to give the quantum of deposit. COAL. Up to the present time no coal deposits have been discovered, notwithstanding at and near Logan, and six miles northeast, on the Boyer river, a limited outcrop of upper coal strata appears. It is not improbable that coal may be found by boring, but the productive measures lie at the depth of several hundred feet, and owing to the accessibility of the coal fields in the central and other parts of the state, it will be some time before the demand in this county for coal will justify risks and the great expense incidental to the mining at the depth of four hundred or more 40 HISTOET OF HAKEISON COUNTY. feet, which is the estimated distance from the surface to the deposit, if deposit there be. TIMBER. The finest growths are not very limited in their extent, and the distribution thereof has been governed b,y circumstances fa- vorable to their preservation. In the deep shaded ravines which crowd up into the bluffs bordering the Missouri bottoms, all along the smaller streams, and on the margin of the Missouri river, as before stated, a belt of from one to six miles in width, the most vigorous growth of native timber is found. Well up in the in- terior of the county, in Lagrange, Union and Harrison town- ships, is found Harris Grove, covering an area of not less than 5,000 acres; then Twelve Mile Grove, in Douglas and Boyer townships, with her 1,000 acres; Bigler's Grove, in Boyer and Jefferson townships; Union Grove, in Union township; Spen-. cer's Grove, just north of Missouri Valley, of 2,000 acres;' Brown's Grove, in Calhoun, Taylor and Magnolia townships, the largest of any; Raglan Grove, in Raglan township; the Spink's Grove, in Magnolia and Allen townships; the Flower's Grove, in Jack- son township; and Warner's Grove, in Harrison township; together with the innumerable crystalization of excellent timber in divers other localities, with the artificial groves at each farm house, places this county, as respects timber, beyond want. Many of the leading farmers assert that few outlays yield a better income than that of growing artificial groves. Mr. W. B. Copeland and Mr. John Wood, in the near vicinity of Logan, have experimented on this, and being men of mature judgment, attest that, with reasonable care, a ten-acre ten-year old grove will furnish an abundance of timber for all practical uses of the ordinary farm. There is vastly more timber in the county at the present date than there was in 1852, at the time the lands in the county were surveyed by the government, from the fact that the owners HISTOKT OP HARRISON COUNTY. 41 thereof have kept out the prairie and forest fires, by reason of which the timber belts have spread out in every direction. Again, in the past decade, the substitution of wire fences in lieu of the warping, shrinking cottonwood planks, has given an armistice to the cottonwood and all other groves. The great demands made upon the timber belts on the margin of the Missouri river, and in the canyons along the bluffs, at the time of the building of the Union Pacific railroad, threatened the entire destruction of all this timber. But when this road was completed, nineteen years ago, the demand ceased ; and the substituting of wire, as aforesaid, for fencing, has caused these timber localities to ex- pand and put on a growth, which at the present time far exceeds the quantum at the time of the first settlement of the county. In the past ten years quite a market was at hand for walnut logs, to be shipped to Chicago and other places, by reason of which many of these old monardhs of the forest, four or more feet in diameter, were hewn down and cast upon the cars; still these will soon be replaced by others more numerous and thrifty. The rivalry in the lumber trade, facilities for shipment by rail to the many stations in the county, have placed the pine timber of the north in competition with local mills to such extent that the former can be had more cheaply than the latter, and the local mills have gone out of business. The coal imported out rivals the wood in cheapness, and at a cost of $3.50 to $4 per cord for wood, the hard and soft coal in all villages in the county are jpref erred. STATURAL GAS Has not been as yet a production of the county, unless at the farms of W. H. H. Wright and Mr. S. J. P. Marsh, in Harrison township, in the northeast corner of the county. The citizen- ship of the county at the present have so limited a knowledge in respect to this modern production of nature's great labora- tory, located thousands of feet below the surface, that little or 42 HISTORY OP HARRISON COUNTY. no efforts have been made in order to ascertain its whereabouts. In these times, when the real is so astonishing that in many in- stances fiction is eclipsed, it may not be amiss to suggest that in less than five years there would be such finds of gas in the county as would wholly revolutionize the cost of steam power and the manner of the obtainment of fuel. Until then we will wait and see. In the matter of iron ores, there are none; and as respects the clay for bricks, few localities but are well supplied. Extensive brick manufacturing is profitably carried on at River Sioux, Mondamin, Missouri Valley, Logan, Woodbine, Dunlap and Persia. AGRICULTTJEE Is the chosen means of livelihood of ninety-hundredths of the people of the county at the present day. This, not affording the readiest way to financial greatness, without question, is the most honorable a^ well as the most certain. The wealthy men of this county to-day are they who have ceaselessly toiled from day to day for the past quarter of a century, at each returning spring preparing the surface of mother earth for the reception of the seed, intended to bring forth the golden harvest, and by careful application to husbandry duty, in the way of proper tillage, have reaped abundant harves,ts. Farming in 1888 is very different from the farming of 1850 and up to 1860. The little granger of this present age would smile at the ■ simplicity of the imple- ments used in the early days of settlement. Then the present improved fancy gang plow, the double drag, corn planter, har- vester and binder, mower and separator were not known in these parts, but in lieu thereof the old fashioned, wooden mold-board and bull-tongue plow, a crotch of a tree and wooden pins suf- ficed for drag; the corn planter was a man with double team fur- rowing out the rows, a man or woman to drop by hand and then followed boys with great nigger-hoes, or a i^an with a " go- devil," covering the corn as dropped. HISTORY OF HARBISOK OOTJlirTY. 43 How many of my readers know what a go-devil is? It was an implement of husbandry made in the following manner, viz.: A straight piece of wood for a beam, three or more feet long; to this was attached two handles, then underneath a strong piece of wood ten to twelve inches in length, morticed into the beam, and to this was securely fastened a single shovel such as was formerly used on a shovel plow. A horse was hitched to this and the man operating the same followed along in the furrow just made by the man with the team, the corn being dropped as aforesaid; this go-devil was raised and lowered so as to strike the soil immediately in front of each hill, so that the same again being lifted covered the corn . These kinds of plows, drags, corn covering machines, as well as the old " Armstrong " mowers and grain cradles would somewhat indicate to the present farmer who never used such implements the difficulties under which farming was carried on in the early days. At that time there was no necessity for the improved machinery of the present day, because there then was only necessity for a sufficiency for local use, and the demands for the product of field or herd did not extend beyond the limits of the immediate neighborhood. The yield then was as great as at the present, per acre, but the limited quantity under cultivation served to supply all demands, except in and during the winter of 1856 and '57, at and during which time there was such an extraordinary fall of snow in the early days of this ever to be remembered winter, that stock could not subsist on the rushes along the Missouri bottoms, and there being little or no hay prepared for stock, the entire corn crop in the county was wholly inadequate to supply provender for the thousands of starving cattle then at the mercy of the storm, wolf, Indian and man. During this winter the entire corn crop of the county was consumed in a great measure in supplying feed for these starving herds, and as a sequence, in the early spring this " king of the slope " was readily sold at $2.50 per bushel. I might be permitted this remark right here: that with ii HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY. the railroad facilities which this couaty now possesses, such a condition of things would not happen, from the fact that relief could now be furnished, which under the old order of things could not be remedied. What would our young farmers think of tramping out a grist of wheat for milling purposes by using four or six horses, having them go around and around in a circle until the grain was separated from the straw, in order to have a biscuit for break- fast? How many of these young scions of farmer lineage could stand in front of the cylinder of an old chafF-piler and rake away the straw from the machine, and keep this well up for one or two days at a time? How kindly would they take to the old manner of separating the wheat from the chaff and straw, by working an ordinary sheet so as to produce a sufficiency of wind to drive the chaff and straws beyond the pure golden grains? This was, under the circumstances existing at that time, neces- sitated by reason of the fact that this was the means at hand for the accomplishment of the end, and they of the fifties accepted the conditions as readily as they of the present who load into the wagon the well cleaned bushels of wheat, cart the same to the nearest railroad station, sell the same for cash and then at the nearest provision store purchase the fine flour mauufactured at the mills at Minneapolis. Dakota or in Kansas. Suppose there was neither railroad nor mill within fifty or a hundred miles of the neighborhood — the last particle of flour or meal had been used for the last breakfast; how ancient would it appear for our people to take an old piece of tin — say six inches by ten inches, perforate the same by the use of some sharp pointed instrument and then attach this to some board or other substance, and this when completed, go to work and by rub- bing over the rough surface of this tin mill, grate a sufficient quantity of corn on the cob to provide for a small family of six or ten, and the usual amount of visitors, say half a dozen — would not this seem a hardship that few would like to undertake in HISTORY OF HAERISON COUKTY. 45 these days of advancement? Such was the every day occurrence in this county thirty-six years ago. As before stated, the old plow, drag, scythe and snath, chaff- piler, corn grater and cradle for cutting grain, are thrown aside, being superseded by the single or gang sulky plow, the nicely constructed and efficient drag, the separator which measures into the half bushel the golden grain, threshed and cleaned from the straw, the mower, which by one man and team of horses sever from the surface of the meadow more grass in one day than four men could by the use of the old " Armstrong mower," in the same time, and then the harvester, which one man operates, doing as much labor in a day by the assistance for four horses attached thereto as could be accomplished by ten or twelve men under the old order of things; then the corn planter which now graces the sheds (or is suffered to stand in the fence corners) of nearly every farm, saves much of J;he wear and tear of muscle. One man, team, corn-planter and check-row, now places the corn in the ground more precisely than ever was done by hand, and gives to the farmer a chance to place his crop in the ground as fast as he prepares the soil, so that when done plowing, if a favorable season is had, the portion of the field or crop first planted is ready for the plow by the time the planting is finished. The harvest time, dreaded by all the housewives, no longer ushers in a season of toil, hurry, vexations and unstinted drudg- ery, but in fact scarcely produces any change in the quantum of household duties from that of other ordinary times. The farmer by the use of his harvester and binder quietly severs and binds twelve to sixteen acres of wheat or oats per day, and by the assistance of one or two men, the same is found in shock by the time the day's work is completed. The old-fashioned shovel- plow, which once was supposed to be the embodiment of all that was grand and great in uprooting the belligerent sunflower or glory vine, in the corn field, has been retired on full pay, and the more effective sulky or walking double cultivator substituted in 46 HISTOKT 'OF HAEKISON COUNTY. its place. This implement of husbandry, in a soil like that in this county, enables one man, if diligent in business, fer- vent in spirit and constantly in the corn field, to success- fully farm forty or fifty acres of corn each season. The young farmer, whose only experience has been the sowing of "wild oats," would be entirely out of his latitude in shouldering a bushel of wheat and evenly scattering the same over the soil so as to feel secure of a good stand, yet while there may be an absence of this early art, there exists a practical knowledge of running a seeder, by the use of which the grain is more evenly distributed on the soil, and accomplished without the break- ing of backbone and cramping of limbs, which was the usual experience of those on whom fell the tasks of sowing after the manner of their fathers. ' COEN IS KING, Within the limits of this county, and not this county alone, but within the limits of the entire Missouri valley, and as far west as the corn belt reaches. By the production of this cereal, the farmer lives, moves and has his financial being. In the cul- tivation and production of corn, there is to the farmer a cer- tainty of livelihood such as no other character of grain affords. This is due to the splendid qualities of the soil for this particular crop. That which fits the soil within the limits of the county, as well as in alljother places like circumstanced, for the production of corn and tame grasses, without any seeming diminution from year to year, is the fact that the soil not only withstands pro- tracted drouths without perceptible lessening of production, but also is proof against the drowning out process, which is the curse of so many localities east and elsewhere. And why is this con- dition? Because, it is perfectly under-drained in consequence of the porosity and depth of the deposit of which it constitutes a part, and containing no clay, it never becomes "sticky" and never bakes in times of drouth. In the dry or drouthy time moisture is furnished from the constant and ever present dampness under HISTOKY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. il the surface of the soil, and when rains come with such constancy and in such abundance, as is sometimes experienced, that which is not carried away by the natural drainage is swallowed up by the porosity of the soil. The land which in the early days of settlement was thought to be worthless, has proven to be the best for the production of this crop. Then, all that part of the county which lay tangent to the Missouri river was labelled worthless, but since land has become quite valuable in all other parts of the county, this land, which has been made by accretion, or such locations at places which formerly constituted the old Missouri river beds, being improved and rendered arable, has given back to the person cultivating the same a better yield than in any other part of the entire county. In the townships of Cincinnati, Clay and Morgan, that part thereof which during the year 1887 was planted to corn, though the soil was the old river beds or accretions made by the receding of the Missouri river from the Iftwa shore, has in many instances yielded eighty to ninety bushels of corn in the ear per acre ; while that on the prairie out east from this timber belt, falls short of this twenty or more bushels to the acre. By referring to the former census of this state, I find that in 1860, the live stock and farm production of this county for that year amounted to $115,837, and that in the year of 1880 the same had increased to the sum of $1,277,995. By the same authority, the farms in the county for the year of 1860 were valued at $29,010, and the farming implements for the same year, at $25,596, and that during the next score of years the farming lands had increased in acreage and value, so that the same is returned at $4,994,438, and the value of implements used at farming at $250,377. In 1856 the number of bushels of corn raised in the county is reported at 2,644, while the same returns show that for the year 1880 the county produced 4,363,991 bushels, and the year 1884, 4,282,223, being a slight falling off from that of the year 1880, 48 HISTOKY OF HAEKISOM" COUNTY. The quantity of wheat produced in the county for the year , 1856 is reported at 6,786 bushels, while the census reports show for the year 1884, spring wheat to the number of 232,556 bushels. The yield of corn within the limits of the county during the year 188T will not fall short of 6,000,000 bushels; which at the present price of 36 cents a bushel, gives a return to the farmers in clear cash of over $2,000,000. Of this, nearly 2,000,000 bush- els will find its way out of the county by the different railroads, while the balance, viz. : 4,000,000, will be consumed by the farmers' stock, used for purposes of food, and retained for feeding pur- poses for stock during the incoming year. Nearly all the farm- ers feed their corn crop to the pig or steer, and by this manner of disposing of the surplus, get better returns than by market- ing the entire crop; yet this business of raising hogs is attended with many uncertainties, which at the outset is not contem- plated. ' There were times in this county when farmers felt like flee- ing the country; times when the production of the vast sand plains northwest and west, in the form of the innumerable clouds of grasshoppers, visited the county, in 1858, 1867, 1871, 1875 1876; but the festive grasshopper, in all his power of destruct- iveness, never caused half the loss to the farmer as the " hog cholera." At different times many of the most extensive farm- ers, they who have given hog-raising their most careful atten- tion, have been compelled to stand quietly by and witness their entire herds swept away by this dreaded disease, without being able to stay the wholesale destruction. In a country like this, where the little porker or Durham calf is an object of admiration to the farmer, they receive better care than in places where they are not used as sacks in which the product of the country is carried to market. Mr. Hog, by receiving good care, ripens at the age of ten months or a year, and as soon as such ripening process has taken place HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 49 he affords the owner an opportunity, irrespective of the seasons, to replenish his bank account. Up to 1866 there was only one season in the year when hogs became ripe enough to bring cash, and that was at the first of the winter. This condition has un- dergone a radical change, for now, as above stated, he is in con- dition for market whenever there is ■affieient fat and size. This process of manufacturing corn into lard and muscle re- duces the amount of pounds in the way of shipments, so that in the hog's skin there is placed 200 pounds, which at five cents per pound, would amount to $10; this $10 would represent forty bushels of corn, at twenty-five cents a bushel; and then this corn at seventy pounds to the bushel, would weigh 2,800 pounds; hence, a blind man could readily discover a difference in the way of freightage to the number of 2,600 pounds. By conversation with the different shippers in the county, also aided, indirectly, by the railroad station agents in the employ of the three roads in the county, I find, as nearly as the facts can be gleaned from this source, that during the past year, com- mencing on the 1st day of September, 1886, and ending on the 1st day of September, 1887. there were shipped from this county 1,150 cars of hogs to the different markets, viz. : Chicago, Omaha, Council Bluffs and Sioux City. Each of these contained on an average sixty-five head, which, for the year last named, would make a showing of 74,750 head; then supposing that each an- imal would average 250 pounds, they altogether would sum up 18,687,500 pounds, whicli, at four and one-half cents per pound; would indicate an income of $820,937.50 to the county from this one industry. 50 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. The different places of shipment, during the time last named, make the following showing, viz. : Logan 210 cars. Dunlap 170 cars. Woodbine 150 cars. Mondamin .f 160 cars. Missouri Valley 100 cars. River Sioux 100 cars. Modale 80 cars. California Juncliion 80 cars. Persia ■ 80 cars. This statement would have been backed by the report from the different stations, but this could not be obtained from the rail- roads, from the fact that the several station agents were willing to furnish a statement from the books of the different offices, but were by the orders of the managers of the roads prohibited from so doing. The same is true as to all classes of shipments from the county, respecting the products of the county, which have found outlet over these different roads. Why there should be such reticence on the part of the railroads I cannot conjec- ture, unless they are not desirous that it should be known that from the hog industry of this county alone they are in receipt of the snug little sum of $57,500 per year in the matter of fur- nishing transportation, at the present charge of $50 per car to Chicago. From the 1st of December, A. D. 1886, to the 1st day of Decem- ber, A. D. 1887, there was shipped from this county 1,535,000 bushels of corn, generally finding consignments to Chicago. The following represents the number of bushels shipped from the different stations, viz. : Mondamin 240,000 Woodbine 230,000 Logan 190,000 Dunlap 200,000 River Sioux 160,000 HI8T0KT OF HAEEISON OOUNTT. 51 Modale 150,000 Missouri Valley 120,000 California Junction 125,000 Persia 120,000 And, as above stated, if the fact be true that this is carried to Chicago by rail at the present prices of transportation of nine- teen cents per hundred, from this matter of the shipment of corn alone from this county, the railroads would take as their share $160,407.50. Mondamin, in Morgan township, bears away the palm as the largest corn producing neighborhood and market in the county, and well supports the name of " Mondamin," given it by- those who in the employ of the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad Co. had the naming of the towns along their lines. The name is taken from Longfellow's Hiawatha, and very properly and appropriately names the place. The raising of cattle is next in importance to that of the porker, but within the past three or four years has been attended with financial failure to those engaged therein. This has been occasioned in consequence of feeders paying too high a price for the stock fb be fed, the price of corn, the unhappy «lides in the market at the time of marketing, and the beef furnished by the extensive cattle ranges in the far West. Those who are conversant with the results of feeding stock here during the time last spoken of, can call to mind very good men who have gone to the wall financially, by indulging in this hazardous undertaking. True, many stock raisers have amassed consider- able fortune? in this undertaking, but they are only such as have raised their own stock, fed the corn produced on their own prem- ises, and thus in spite of any slide in the markets, have acquired a healthy bank account. The most extensive cattle shipping point in the county at the present, as well as that which has maintained this place in the past, is Dunlap. B. J. Moore and George Mooreheqd, of this 52 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. place last named, are by far the largest cattle dealers in the county, and have somewhat centralized the shipments at that point. Unquestionably no man in the county has done so much to to improve the blood of cattle as Alfred Longman, now retired from the business, and residing in the town of Logan; James A. Lusk, B. J. Moore, of Dunlap; H. B. Cox, of Missouri Valley; Patrick Morrow and John T. Coffman, of Raglan ; Peter Brady and Stephen King, of Jefferson; and Nelson Boynton of Cal- houn, have all been very efficient in introducing into each respect- ive neighborhood, the best blood of Durhams, Devons and Here- fords; At the present, James McCoid and Frank Dodson, of Logan, are the champions of the Jerseys, yet these are used to a very limited extent at the present. The first to successfully introduce into the county the handsomely squared up Durhams, was William Orr, Esq., who formerly resided on the farm now owned by B. A . Divelbess, of Harris Grove. This gentleman, at one time, 1 think in 1871, collected a considerable number of the best bred he could obtain, as Well as chinking in many a scrub) with handsome form and fatty fjanks and made 'a public sale, and by the use of a little persuasion located near the place of sale, induced such a degree of competition that many of the pur- chasers, on calm reflection, had abundant reason to feel that " blooded " stock had taken a slight advance, if only for one day. In 1884 there were 271 Durhams, 1 Hereford, 2 Holstein, 21 Jerseys, 5 Black Polled, and 1 Red Polled, all thoroughbred, and of all kinds, 10,125. In comparing the horned stock and hog of this date with that of 1856, little resemblance remains. The ox, which had his excellent qualities in length of horn, fleetness of foot, and the pointedness of posterior extremities, as well as the porker of that day, vfhich was considered fit for the butcher when one extrem- ity would balance the other, the dividing line being immediately back of the ears, and v^hich could climb trees, thrust his pro- HI8T0EY OF HAEEISON GOTJNTT. 53 boscis into the woodpecker holes and subsist on the eggs found therein, have forever passed away, and in place thereof on each farm is found the Durham, Devon, Hereford, Holstein, or bright- eyed Jersey, and for hogs, the Berkshire, Poland-China, and an occasional Chester White. John Williams of Harris Grove, Benj. Moore of Dunlap, Mr. Silsby of Jackson, Samuel Baird of Dunlap, Fred Luce of Logan, S. A. Roach of Missouri Valley, James Roberts of Lincoln, J. C. Briggs of Missouri Valley, are at present the representa- tive horsemen of the county. The small breeds in use in 1860 have been entirely supplanted by the larger class. Mr. Williams has been very successful in introducing the large Norman, and in the sale thereof has found the business more remunerative than at first anticipated. Mr. Samuel Baird has given strict attention to the breeding of the Morgan trotting stock, and at present is possessed of a very superior trotter, which up to the present has only begun to make her mark. Mr. Silsby and Mr. C. F. Luse each possesses a very magnificent horse of the Cleveland Bay stock, which for beauty, far leads all else. These animals cost $1,000 each, and though not the strongest or swiftest, yet they are marvels for beauty and docility. FKUIT 6B0WING, In the early days of the settlement, was thought quite impossible from the fact that but few succeeded in the enterprise, but as they who have learned from experience refer back to the manner in which this industry was attempted by themselves or others, are not surprised that there was quite a total failure in the undertaking. The trees which then were experimented upon were brought from a long distance, and the means then at hand for transportation caused the young trees to be so exposed to the air that they were dead and fit for kindling wood before being re-set in the ground. Another mishap was that they who were attempting to grow an orchard, were at the same time raising a 54: HISTOET OF HARBISON COUNTY. herd of young mules or horses, and there never yet has been an individual who could successfully grow an orchard and a herd of mules in the same enclosure. The old rule that the stronger subdues and roots out the weaker held good in this case, for the long-eared non-multiplying mule withered the blast and like Pharoah's lean kine, swallowed up the other. Mr. John A. McKinney (now deceased) who while in the flesh resided in Harris Grove, was the first successful apple grower in the county. As early as 1860 he set out an orchard of the healthiest young trees he could obtain, and in the care of the same exercised his best judgment, and demonstrated to the people of the west that apples could be as readily grown here as elsewhere. The trees transplanted by him put on an enormous growth each year, occasioned by the richness and porosity of the soil, and to remedy this extraordinary growth, the soil at and around the roots of each tree was packed as solid, by the use of maul or other instruments, as could be done, and as a sequence, the trees at the commencement of the cold season were so hard- ened, that the frost of the winter did not kill them. This mode of treatment also put the trees to bearing, and from that time on his trees bore splendidly. Concurrent with Mr. McKinney, in the same neighborhood, were Mr. William Tucker, Mr. James Henderson, Mr. James Rogers and Mr. William Daken, and six or ten miles to the north- west of these Hon. Phineas Cadwell and Elijah Palmer of Big- lers' Grove, Mr. Patrick Morrow, a resident of the Soldier Val- ley, and Josiah Crom, then residing near the old town of Mag- nolia. These gentlemen all had full faith in the productive quali- ties of this soil and climate, in the matter of the successful growing of fruit, and by persistent efforts demonstrated that this was emphatically a fruit growing country. In 1863 there were only 101 bearing trees and 4,424 not bear- ing trees in the limits of the county, and from this small show- ing the same territory in 1884 possessed 31,194 apple bearing HISTORY OF HAKKI80N COUNTY. 65 trees, then yielding 27,410 bushels. At no time in the history of the county has there ever been any yield so abundant as the year of 1887, nor could the quality be surpassed in any place. The yield of apples within this county for the last year named will not fall short of 40,000 bushels, while the varieties and quality equal if not surpass any in the United States. At the Harrison County Fair, held at Missouri Valley in Oc- tober, 1887, the exhibition of apples, cherries, grapes, plums, etc., the production of Harrison county orchard and garden, while not equal in quantity to that on exhibition the same year at Des Moines, during the State Fair, nevertheless very many who compared the qualities at both places, unhesitatingly said that the exhibition of the product of this county surpassed any on exhibition at the State Fair. Thp successful orchardists of the county at the present- are Capt. Geo. S. Bacon of Magnolia, who at the present has nearly 3,500 bearing trees; John W. Wood of the same township, with a magnificent young orchard in fine bearing condition; John Williams, James Rogers, H. V. Armstrong, James Henderson and William Tucker, of Harris Grove; John T. Coffman and numerous others, of Raglan; D. F. Eaton, J. B. Akers, Hiram Smith, Dr. J. H. Rice, all near Magnolia; Col. F. W. Hart, J. H. M. Edwards, James McCoid and Henry Reel, in the near vicinity of Logan; H. B. Cox, and a vast number of others, near Missouri Valley; Mr. Wads worth, at Calhoun; Mr. Henry DeCou and the Pugsley Brothers, Mr. Jas. H. Farnsworth, and an innumerable number of others that time forbids to mention. All produce a large quantity of apples per year; and the citizens of the county are no longer necessitated to send to Missouri or Michigan for this luxury. The names above given only designate the princi- pal apple-growers at this date, while there are hundreds of others who not only produce a sufificiency for their own use, but have parts of their crops for sale. During the fall of 1887, Captain Bacon shipped quite a large 56 HI8T0ET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. quantity of the product of his orchard to Des Moines, from the fact, as was stated by him, that his fruit was the finest to be found in the market at that place. The leading sorts, or varieties, of standard apple trees which weather the blast and land, at last in good shape, in the spring, are the following, viz. : Summer Apples — Astraehan, red; Benoni, Duchess of Olden- burg, Early Harvest and Pennoek, Fourth of July, Golden Sweet, Keswick Codlin, Red June, and Sops of Wine. Autumn Apples — Baily Sweet, Strawberry, Fameuse, Maiden's Blush, Rambo, Twenty-ounce, and Wealthy. Winter Apples — Dominie, English Golden Russet, Golden Pippin, Janet or Janeton, Jonathan, Limber Twig, Ben Davis, Northern Spy, Perry Russet, Utter's Large Red, Seek-no-further, Willow Twig and Winesap. ,These have been well tried by the most competent orchardists and pronounced to be the hardiest and best varieties for this soil and climate. Of all the varieties last above named, none are as profitable to the grower as the Ben Davis, from the fact that this variety is a vigorous grower, hardy, and withal a splendid bearer. While it is conceded that the Ben Davis apple, when compared to the majority of those herein named, bears the same comparison thereto as does the old-fashioned, large, red Irish potatoe, to the Pink-eye, Early Rose, etc., yet there is a charm in the appear- ance of this apple which never fails to procure a purchaser. '^ Some of the readers may think that the above figures, of 40,000 bushels of apples, the product of the county for the year 1887, somewhat strained, but a moment's reflection will convince the most skeptical that the statement is very nearly correct, from the fact that one man alone, viz. : Capt. Bacon, gathered from his orchard 5,000 of winter and 1,000 bushels of autumn apples — this being one-seventh, there can be no question but that the remainder of the orchards in the county produce the other six- HI8TOEY OF HARRISON COUNTY. 57 sevenths. These 5,000 bushels selling at |1.00 per bushel for the winter, and the 1,000 autumn at 75 cents per bushel, makes a very entertaining revenue to the owner. The cherry is a perfect success, and in 188i there were 3,795 bearing trees, furnishing a yield of 1,312 bushels. Grapes are as easily raised as corn. What I wish to say, is this: that but little effort in the way of transplanting of slips is needed, and when once in the ground, the same care given to them as should be given to the corn, assures a vigorous, healthy growth. This county in the year 1884, produced 134,468 pounds of grapes, equal to 672 tons. Plums are natural, and make themselves at home in the soil here as if they had existed soon after Noah's flood. The Miner, Wild Goose, and divers other varieties bear splendidly. Thirty years last past, there could be found among the thickets of wild plum trees more than fifty different varieties, and of such size and flavor as cannot be had at this day and date. Many times those of the freestone quality, and as large as peaches, could be found, then a deep red plum, as round as an unhulled wialnut, and equal the latter in size. These varieties have all yielded to the prairie fires, or the equally unmerciful breaking plow. EAINFALr, AND TEMPERATURE. Through the politeness of Mr. Jacob T. Stern, of Logan, Iowa, I am furnished with a report of the average rainfall and tem- perature of each year, from 1860 to 1885, of this county, for which I at this time tender him my sincere thanks. In 1860, Mr. Stern, then a resident on Lynnwood farm, in Harris Grove, in this county, was appointed by the Smith- sonian Institute to keep a record of the rainfall and temperature of this locality and report the same to that institution, once per month, which Mr. Stern promptly performed until this business was taken out of the hands of the aforesaid institution by the War Department, since which time Father Stern has been con- 58 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. tinned in position and reported as formerly, once per month, to the proper officer. When Mr. Stern first took upon himself this task, there was not another station west of Des Moines, which status continued for more than ten years. This business of keep- a record of the rainfall and temperature of each year, was done by Mr. Stern for his own satisfaction and the reporting thereof to the Smithsonian Institute and War Department, an act pro bono publico, and like the old gospel plan of salvation, without money and without price. I take great pride in having the privilege of inserting this report herein, from the fact that there is not another report of this character of any county west of Des Moines, nor can there be, because no such record was kept. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE. 1861—26. inchea 4S.O80 1862—25.6 1863—20. 1864—24.5 1865—34.1 1866—24.2 1867—28.7 1868—35.7 1869—50.5 1870—24.9 1871-27. 1072—33.9 1873-46.7 1874—28. 45. 40 47. 67 48. 00 49. 90 47. '50 45. 50 45. 85 45. 53 47. 42 48. 60 46. 10 46. 80 48. 44 1875—42. 1876—28.8 1877-45.7 1878—46.9 1879—32.4 1880—25.8 1881—57.5 1882—37.3 18'i3— 39.9 1884-36.6 1885—43.3 Av. 84.6 inches 44.°41 " 46. 88 •■ 49. 41 " 53. 80 " 49. 89 " 50. 55 " 49. 77 " 50. 48 " 48. 53 " 48. 80 " 48. 00 Av. 48.0 CHAPTER II. SETTLEMENT. It has long been supposed that this part, as well as all of Iowa, was inhabited by a race of people prior to the time of its occu- pancy by the Indian or red race. Some suppose that this people were the mound builders, from the fact that there exists at this day very many mounds in different parts of the county possessing a wonderful degree of preservation. These mounds have a uni- form diameter and all measure quite the same height, or so nearly so, that unless resort was had to actual measurement every be- holder would be compelled to say that they were all constructed after the same pattern. The length of time intervening since these were constructed is unknown to the oldest settler, for they who have lived in the immediate neighborhoods of these say that there has not been within the last thirty-seven years the least perceptible change in the appearance of either and that at the present they are the same as they were when first ,seen by the present whites. When built and by whom, neither record, memory nor tradition informs us of the present, but it is improbable to suppose that they are the handiwork of nature, from the fact there would have been some of them located in places not commanding the most magnificent views of the entire surrounding country; for be it known that not one of all these mounds, observatories or burial places exists, without possessing a most magnificent view of the surrounding country. Nature, in the exhibition of her freaks of fancy, would not have selected on each occasion these prominent bluff points. Some contend that these were used as observatories; others advance the opin- ion that they are the ruins of sodhouses, built in the long ago, and (59) 60 HISTOET OF HARRISON COUNTY. •were constructed in a circular form and were drawn in, layer by layer, until the top or orifice, at the top, left sufiScient space for the escape of smoke; while others, seemingly as sanguine, con- tend that these are the burial places of the illustrious dead of some Indian tribe, or some former race ante-dating the Indian. The two largest and most imposing groups of these are located as follows: The first on the farm formerly owned by Mr. Wm. McDonald, near the old town of Calhoun; here ttere are six mounds, each ninety feet in diameter and quite fifteen feet in height, and all in a direct line running north and south, and from fifteen to twenty rods apart. The oth^r bevy is on the farm of Mr. A. W. Locklin, north of those just mentioned, and located on section 7, township 79, range 43. In this row there are twelve of same size and of identical appearance as those on the McDonald farm, and are in a row north and south direct, having the same space intervening. These last named are the most imposing group in the county, for at and near this place, in a ravine or hollow near by, numerous stone hatchets, stone sledges, pieces of pottery of a make unknown at the present, as well as curious specimens of copper, ornamental tools or instru- ments, have been found at the depth of twenty-four and more feet from the surface of the soil. The specimens of pottery taken from this ravine last named are apparently formed by the following method, viz.: the centre of the same is composed of fine gravel cemented together, then a thin layer of earthen substance, and this, without any glazing process, is burned, so that the qualities of the same for preserv- ing fluids from escaping therefrom is in the inside of the mater- ial, rather than on the outside, as is the custom of the present day. These present the appearance of dishes, small skillets, drinking cups and jars. At the same place, just between the res- dence of Mr. H. H. Locklin and his father Mr. A. W. Locklin, the spring rain, freshets and atmospheric action, have excavated or gouged out a gully in the bill, and on the 10th day of May, HISTORY or HA.BEISON COUNTY. 61 1888, at the bottom of this washout, and twenty-five feet from the surface of the earth, a well preserved cedar tree was found, some twenty inches in diameter, and immediately over this stood a large white oak tree, at least four feet in diameter, not less than one thousand years old. Near the same cedar was a number of old buffalo skulls which had washed out of the banks, having been buried in the ground fifteen feet or more. Where did this cedar come from, and how long has it been taking a " Rip Van- Winkle" nap? ' The oak above referred to, without question, has made its growth since the burial of the cedar, and the animal skeletons could only have place by artificial burial, since the growth of the tree, or else have had place there before the growing of this king of the forest. A son of Mr. H. H. Locklin has in his pos- session the under jaw-bone of some animal of wonderful size found in this same place. This bone only represents the one side, is four feet long, with three grinding teeth and one tooth in front, of the tearing kind. The grinders are three inches by two and a half on the cap or crown, and the front tooth is quite three inches in width by quite one in thickness. Near the same place where these mounds last spoken of are located, Mr. P. R. Shupe, who resides adjoining the farm of Mr. Locklin, in the spring of 1886, while plowing in the field of Mr. Locklin, and at a locality quite near the mounds, thought he recognized his plow striking a stone or some other hard substance, and being of an inquiring disposition, went to the house, got a spade and dug down into the earth about eighteen inches and found a sort of furnace constructed of bricks. These bricks were six inches by six inches and two inches think, burned to a deep red, and hard as any of the hardest brick of the present age. This furnace was three feet by two and a half and ran up to the height of four feet. How did this come there, is the query of the neighbor- hood, from the fact that Mr. Locklin has lived upon this farm for the last thirty-five years, was the first settler thereon, and 62 HISTOBT OF HAEEISON COUNTY. no person could have placed the same there unless the same would have been known to him, and besides no such bricks were ever manufactured in the county, unless within the last year, paving brick have been so manufaeted. There can be no question that these bricks have laid hidden in the earth at this place for the last forty years, and how much greater period of time each can guess for himself. An old Indian trail passed withiij twenty feet of both of these groups, being on the east side thereof, and so constantly had been the travel Ihereon, that in 1848 the little path was worn into the soil six to ten inches. There are two mounds in section 35, township 80, range 44, in Raglan township, which are of the same as last described; each in a direct line north and south, and located at the highest point on the bluff, which possess the grandest view of the surrounding country in that immediate neighborhood. Standing on either of these, all the country to the west, northwest and south lies spread out to the view of the beholder, and furnishes such a vast- ness of territory that the eye tires in trying to mark the swells of prairie, the belts of timber that intervene, until all mellow down into lines of light and shadow. It these mounds were used as places for burial, unquestionably some noted old warrior had signalized himself in some conspicu- ous battle, and had been accorded a burial like the triumphs given the old Roman Generals, when returning with the laurels of victory. The opinion which seems to find the greater support is this: that these mounds were ruins of sod-houses, such as were constructed by the Omahas, for there are yet persons residing in our midst who have seen the sod-houses of this tribe, and from their description little doubt remains as to the former use of these ruins, which are so nume rous and of which so little, at the present, is known. Perhaps the most noted mounds in all the neighborhoods are those in or upoa the farm of Mr. Jesse J, Peck, near the line of HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 63 Harrison county on the north, in Monona county. Here are three separate, distinct mounds, which are situate some two hun- dred yards from the bluffs, on the west side or west bank of the Soldier river, and are of such dimensions as to eclipse any on the bluffs in Harrison county. At the locus of these they seem sev- ered from the bluff, and are so situate that it is hard to conjec- ture the purpose and intent of their construction. These evi- dently were not the handiwork of the Creator, but unquestion- ably give evidence of human workmanship, for at the place where the same are located, the Soldier bottoms are nearly one mile in width, three-fourths of this distance being on the right or west bank. These at the base, at the present, are quite two hundred feet in diameter and thirty feet in height, presenting an appearance as uniform as though the same had been made by the deposit of earth at these places by human hands. As in all other mounds in the county, they possess the finest status for an extended view of the country that could possibly be selected. On the farm of Mr. D. W. Kennedy, in section 3, township 79, range 42, on Six Mile Creek, in Jefferson township, there is a large mound which has been the wonder of the people of the county for the last forty years. This, though the very largest in the county, presents, as is the case of all others, such appear- ances as beyond doubt convince the beholder that the same is not the natural condition in which the surface of the land was left by unseen agencies, but was the result of the labor of human hands. Could men, in the rush and hurly-burly of life, spare sufficient time by which to explore these different mounds, much might be learned as to the origin thereof; but so long as the Almighty Dollar is the objective point, and the capture of this the entire business of life, there is little care as to what race of persons constructed this or that mound, so long as it is known that there is not a dollar hid beneath their surface. Some of the most notable implements that have fallen into 64 HISTOBT OF HARBISON COUNTY. the possession of the present residents of this county are now before me, and can be described as follows, viz.: Stone sledges, hatchets, darts of stone, spear heads, stone ripping or butchering knives, and stone troughs used for the purpose of pulverizing or mashing corn or other articles of food. Here is a stone sledge, weighing exactly eight pounds, and a stone hatchet, both found on the farm of Mr. James Henderson, a short distance from Read- ers' Mills. As above stated, the stone hammer weighs exactly eight pounds, and is as justly balanced as any made by the most skillful worker in iron of the present age. This is made out of the hard flint stone, like unto that which is seen so frequently on the surface of the soil in the central or eastern part of the State, and instead of having an eye for the helve, has a large groove cut entirely around it in the middle, to the width of one and one-half inch and to the depth of half an inch. This groove served the same purpose as does the eye to the modern sledge hammer; was the way by which the helve was attached to the implement; for those who have lived thirty-six or more years in the county say at and about the time they first settled here, they often found these stone hammers or hatchets, with the helve attached thereto, in the following manner: the helve nicely fitted in a groove and the smaller ends of the same so skillfully knotted and fastened to the helve that this handle was as firmly fastened to the sledge or hatchet as it could be done in the modern way of placing the helve in the eye. The hatchet is of the same material as the sledge, and is a little beauty, weighing six and one-fourth ounces, and polished as smoothly as the monument in the modern graveyard. These, just de- scribed, belong to a collection of Dr. J. L. Witt, of Logan. Three other sledges are in my possession; one presented me by Lehi Ellison, of Cass township; one by Mr. Snyder, ex-County Surveyor, and the other by Benj. Purcell, jr., of Boyer township. These are the same as the one last described, but vary a little in HISTOET OF HAEEISON COtTNTr. 65 •weight and finish; there being two of them which indicate that they have seen hard service at some time in the far past. Mr. Henry Young, residing one mile north of Logan, presents me a stone hatchet vrhich he found twenty years ago in a spring of water, in a grove of timber near town, known as the Reel's Grove. This is one pound three ounces heavier than the one be- longing to Dr. Witt, yet, in every respect, suggests that it was hewn from the same rock and chipped out by the same or similar hands. The one last mentioned is five and one-half inches in length, with the groove within one-half inch of the poll, the sides nicely rounded and the outer parts concave. Prof. J. D. Hornby has called my attention to one of his col- lection, in all respects similar to those above named, except that it is a medium in size. I have in my possession sixteen speci- mens of the sledge and hatchet variety, all varying in size, and some very handsome specimens of handiwork; but the most peculiar and curious evidence of past conditions that has met my observation, is in the nature of a stone mortar found on the farm of Pierson Vore, in Harris Grove, in 1852. This is a cavity scooped out of a flint stone fifteen inches in thickness, eighteen ' and twenty-eight inches in length and width. This cavity is of the depth of six inches, being an oblong — and Ipoking a little like an old-time sugar trough. This has unquestionably seen hard service as a mortar, in which corn and other articles for food were cracked or pulverized by pestle or stone sledge. In the autumn of 1887, while workmen were excavating the surface of a parcel of ground preparatory to the laying of a foundation for a dwelling house on the very point of the bluff in the southwest of Logan, they at the distance of two feet from the surface exhumed the skeletons of six persons, whose bones indicated that they were of the Indian race. This place has been occupied by Mr. Henry Reel since 1852, and, not to his recollec- tion, neither to the memory of the oldest inhabitant, had ever any person or persons been buried at this particular place. The 5 66 HISTOEY OF HAEEISON OOUNTY. skull of the larger, as well as the skeletons of all of the six, unmis- takably showed that the Indian features were very pronounced. In this grave, or graves, at the same time was found a stone butcher or ripping knife, exactly six inches in length, at the widest place two and three-quarters inches, at no part thicker than one-fourth of an inch, and on the edge, nearly equidistant, two niches are cut so as to fasten the same to the handle. This is of the same flinty material as all the arrow-heads so often found in all parts of this county and the northern states. Whether these mounds were built by the Aztec, Toltec, Mound-builders or the Indian is not known. Each individual is left, as heretofore stated, to form his own conclusions. The stone sledges, hatchets and darts may have been the implements of war or those which were carried in the chase by the Indians, but of what date none can form any accurate opinion. The opinion finds as much credence, that the stone sledges were part and parcel of the Indian war club, as that they were only used for the purpose of mashing the corn or other edibles, and if used as the business end of the war club, a friend at my elbow thanks the good Lord that he was not born until the disappearance of these barbarians. Great doubts exist in the minds of the present residents of the county as to which tribe of Indians occupied these lands up to and until the time of the first settlement in 1847. Some claim that this was the hunting grounds of the Pottawattamies, others the Omahas, and by others, who are equally sanguine, that here the war-like Sioux followed the retreating deer, or woed and won his dusky maid. This county being nearer to the southwestern corner of the state than that of the northwestern, would be really within the territory belonging to the Pottawattamies, because in June of 1846, the Pottawattamies relinquished all of their rights to their reservation in southwestern Iowa- and removed west of the Mis- souri river. The ever treacherous Sioux retained and occupied the north- HI8T0KT OF HAEBISON COUNTY. 67 western part of the state until 1853, and the Omahas on the west side of the Missouri river, having as their central east- ern border the site on which the city of Omaha is now located, up to and until 1854. At frequent intervals since 1849, disintegrated parts of the Omahas and Pottawattamies have hunted and fished in this county, and from them it is learned that at some time during the forties the Omahas and Pottawattamies banded together, met and fought a severe and protracted battle with the Sioux at and near the Smith lake, within two miles of the village of Little Sioux. The question then between these belligerent tribes, was the boundary question, the Pottawattamies claiming that the Little Sioux river was the boundary between them and the Sioux and that the latter had trespassed on the hunting grounds belonging to them, which 'resulted in the Sioux exterminating a party of Pottawattamie braves, whom they caught unexpectedly on the banks of the Soldier not far from the present residence of Freely Myers, near the present site of Calhoun. This so ex- asperated the Pottawattamies that they procured the assistance of the Omahas. The two tribes thus joining their* fortunes and strength, marched against the Sioux when the two armies met as above stated near the Smith Lake and fought the battle to a finish, in which the Sioux were badly whipped and forever relinquished all claim to the territory on the right bank of the Little Sioux river. This statement, though legendary, nevertheless finds confirmation in the present fact that all along the bluffs on the left bank of the Smith Lake, at each recurring year, numer- ous skeletons of the Indian, by the action of the winds and rain, protrude from the surface of the bluff. American history has no more mournful page than that of the gradual disappearance of the Indians, the first proprietors of the soil. This disappearance in civilized America is unique, uni- form, sorrowful and natural. This land, as before stated, was possessed by the Indian; the buffalo, elk and deer were his herds, 68 HISTOEY OF HAERISON COUNTY. partaking of his nature and participating in his nomadic habits. The bear, panther and wolf prowled around his wigwam until the Indian made friends with the wolf, and imparted to him a domestication wonderfully like his own. The pony, wild as the Indian, served him well in the chase. ' The wild apple, plum and grape, with those other fruits that disappear upon. the approach of the plow and other implements of culture, afforded to the Indian his pleasant summer sweets and acids, and here the wild man, the wild fruits and beasts lived and flourished together. But when the white man came, before him the enchanting dream of perpetual dominion fled as a vision forever. The buffalo heard the peculiar strange sound of the voice of the white man, and moved his herds as an army stampeding from an enemy. The Indian saw his herds retreating from him and mounted his pony — the reason was natural — the Indian's food was in the buffalo, deer and elk, and his clothing upon them. Everything since then is changed. The rosin-weed has given place to the corn-field, the natural grasses have been choked out by the timothy, clover and blue grass ; the crab apple has yielded to the Rambo, Pippin and Jonathan; the wild sour grape, that clambered to the pinnacle of the great trees, or grew in such abundance in swamps, has been supplanted by the Concord and Catawba ; there has been a change in the animal domestics; the Durham, the Devonshire, Jersey, the Alderney and the Hereford now peacefully graze, perchance, on the same spot where form- erly the buffalo grazed and rested and fatted in peace. In place of the diminutive mustang, the blooded Morgan, Conestoga and Percheron Clydesdales fill the stalls'; the herds of wander- ing deer are of the past, and are only reproduced by the flocks of the more timid harmless sheep. Greater has been the change in the popular habitations. The wigwam and lodge, the shelter of leaves and caves in the earth, have given away to the neatly furnished cottage and spacious HISTOEY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 69 mansions, as the abiding home oi culture and industry. A change also in the education, keeping step to the music of the times; the war-dance and the chase have been superseded by schools and colleges and universities. The religion of the first possessors, which caused the Indian woman to stand in dread of the medicine man and the prophet of her tribe, and held her child as the offspring of fate, and wor- shiped in the gloomy rites of the Great Spirit; now the white woman bears her child to the temple of the living God, and lays him a sacrifice upon the altar of Christ in baptism. These people are no longer a proud nation, with the history of their warriors preserved in the belt of wampum and repeated on the battle field, but are melting away in numbers more rapidly than their history is fading from recollection; nothing to perpetuate their memories unless a dreamy vocabulary upon which to found a tradition or amplify a legend. Nature is itself destructive, and produces only to destroy, and measures her power to produce by her capacity to destroy. To this law man is no exception to the general rule. The fish eats' the worm, the snake eats the fish, the swine eats the snake and man eats the swine. Men destroy each other until the first victim, the worm, eats the man, and finally the worm imitates the ex- ample of the man and devours each other. In this fearful circle of destruction, nature produces, destroys, reproduces and again destroys herself. When the final ending of this race will be, is only a conjecture, but at furthest it is not far in the future; they, like the herds upon which they subsisted, melt away, and will soon be lost forever. Now driven to the eastern base or beyond the " Rockies," and perhaps within the next two or three score of years, forced into the unfathomable wave of the placid Pacific, shows that but little now remains of that great, brave and war- like people of two and a half centuries ago. For full three centuries the encroachments of the white man upon the Indian has been aggressive and augured the extinction 70 HISTOBT OF HAEEISON COITNTY. of the red race. Where the Caucasian first begged a place to pitch his tent, as a refuge from persecution, a system of espion- age and larceny and unexampled cruelty has characterized his every step. At first a mendicant, then an equal, then a usurper; and while they who took pity on the poor wanderers were being driven from the Hudson, from the Monongahela and the Alle- gheny slopes, the Mingo Flats, the Tygart Valley, the Mus- kingum and the Scioto, the Miami and Wabash, constantly on to the westward until the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers are reached, rivers that reach out their hands and gather up the waters of the lakes, hold up the snow of the mountains to the sun until rivers, streams and rivulets gather from the extremi- ties of an almost unbounded land and water, and replenish a country more varied and productive than the valley of the Nile — on, on toward the setting of the sun. Surely the grandeur, glory and heroism of their nation is no more. The Indian graves so frequently found now in the county were, without question the former burial place of the dead of both Pottawattamie and Omaha, from the fact that the Omahas in selecting burial places, chose the point of land affording the broadest expanse of observation in the neighborhood of the then locus of the tribe or part of tribe. This is instanced in the burial of Blackbird, the chief of the Omahas, at the place where Omaha now stands, who, prior to the time of his death, requested that when he died, he should be taken down to the Missouri river, his favorite resort, and then be taken to the pinnacle of the towering bluff, placed on his milk-white war horse, the horse being alive and there buried, as it were, by surface burial, so (as he expressed it) he might see the Frenchmen passing up and down the Missouri river in their boats. Accord- ing to his request, the ceremony took place in the pres- ence of the whole nation and several of the fur traders and Indian agents. The body was placed astride of the horse and the dead man's bow was placed in his hands, his shield and quiver HISTORY OF HAKEISON COUNTY. 71 slung, and his scalps hung from the bridle. He was provided with flint and steel and tinder to light his pipe, and dried meat for food on his journey through the happy hunting ground to the shades of the fathers. His head was surmounted by a head dress of war eagles' plumes. Then, when the funeral honors had been performed by the medicine men, every warrior painted the the palm and fingers of his right hand with vermillion and im- pressed them on the milk-white sides of the living horse under- neath the dead chief. Sods were next placed around the feet and legs of the horse, and then gradually up its sides, until the whole of its body was entombed, and even the eagle plumes of the chief were hidden by this manner of burial. This mound was plainly visible at Omaha in 1856 and 1857, and for a long time there- after, and the place is still known as Blackbird's grave. The mounds in Raglan and the burial place at the point of the bluff at the southwest of Logan and on the Locklin farm are without doubt those of the Omahas, because in the latter, as heretofore stated, the arrow-points, darts and toma- hawks, indicate the manner of burial as illustrated in the burial of Bluebird, the great chief of the Omahas. The Pottawattamies practiced tree or scaffold burial, for to the memory of some who are yet in the flesh in the county, as well as the aflBrmation of the same subject by Mr. Daniel Brown, Mr. Amos Chase and Robert Neely, who have in the last decade passed away, to their own knowledge and observation, tree and scaSbld burial was practiced by the Pottawattamies in 1849 and 1850. In this character of burial, the corpse was well encased in buffalo robes and blankets, these bound about with thongs of sinews so as to prevent the robe shroud from being unloosened by wind or rain, and when thus enrobed the body was carried high up and placed in the crotch of some old mon- arch of the forest. The scaffold burial was quite the same as the former in the way of the preparation of the corpse, but instead of being lodged 72 HISTOKT OF HAEBISON COrNTT. in tjie crotch of a tree, stout posts or poles, with forked ends, were set in the ground, and upon these a flooring of poles was laid. On this the body of the deceased was laid, and near by were placed buckets containing water and baskets containing food, so as to furnish sustenance for the departed while journeying over the happy hunting ground to meet the Great Spirit. These men have informed me, that in this rude and peculiar character of burial, there was as much real and genuine grief exhibited by the near relatives as is now manifest by those who are denominated the Christian and superior race. These vessels and baskets would be by the mother, father, brother or sister replenished from day to day with as great degree of earnestness and fidelity as if the deceased was in fact in need of the rations so regularly and copi- ously offered. This would continue until decomposition had taken place to such an extent that nothing was left remaining but the skeleton, and this remained until decay and time had wrought such changes that the entire mummy and surroundings returned again to earth — earth to earth and ashes to ashes. In the winter of 1851, at and near the school-house, where Jas. B. McCurley taught school in Harris Grove, there was a large tree, and in the forks of the same there appeared to be a large stick of wood, about the length of cord-wood; this, when re- moved from the tree, was found to be hollow, having been split to halves and the inside scooped out, and when finished so as to suit the fancy of the person making the same, these halves were replaced and put back into the same position as at first, with this exception, that in the hollow of this trunk there had been depos- ited the lifeless remains of some Indian mother's idol. This, when opened at the date last named, possessed the skeleton of a little child. It is traditioned among the Omahas, that at one period of time, within the memory of their old men, all that land lying and being between the bluffs on the Iowa side and the bluffs on the Nebraska side was covered with water; that at that time the HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 73 entire Missouri bottoms were one vast lake; that the Missouri river then had no channel, and the Indians could pass in the summer season from the bluffs of the Iowa side to the bluffs on the Nebraska side on horseback. This, at some time in the past, was undoubtedly true, but whether within the limits of this present century may reasonably be questioned. There must have been a channel to the Missouri river in 1804, for at that date Lewis and Clark ascended the said river to its head- waters; vis- ited the western borders of Iowa; landed at a point a few miles below Sioux City, and buried at that time one of their comrades, Sergeant Floyd, in the bluff at that place, still possessing his name, Sergeant's Bluffs. Among the numerous bands of Winnebagoes that, for fishing purposes, yearly cluster around Smith's Lake, to which the read- er's attention has been heretofore called, there existed a belief that this lake was the place of incarceration of the Evil Spirit, and that from the bottom of this there are subterranean cause- ways which lead to and from the abode of the Evil One, whereby his Satanic majesty is at pleasure permitted to put in an appear- ance at such times as best suits his fancy and convenience. At many times these Indians have imagined that they have seen this monster, and immediately on such appearance they flee the country, telling the resident whites the cause of their violent and tempestuous haste. By this means the residents of the neighborhood have learned this tradition, and some have been even sufficiently credulous to believe the same, illustrating the old maxim, that no matter how improbable and foolish the story, some would be found superstitious enough to believe it. Apropos, this strange story coming to the ears of two young divines of the village, they repaired to the lake to fish, and while there saw some huge fish or animal playfully sporting in the water of the lake; they immediately left the scene and reported what had been seen by them, whereupon a young doctor and two friends from Mondamin, sought the lake so that they too 74 HISTORT OF HARRISON COUNTY. miglit see the "spirit of hell or gobliu damned," and leaving one of their number on the bank on a cotton wood log to guard the baggage, the others took boat and cruised for sight of the mon- ster. While the lone sentinel was keeping watch and guard the monster appears to the guard on the cottonwood log, and is described by him as follows, as well as the manner and weapons he used to save his life : * " How long I watched and waited I do not know, but all at once my attention was attracted by a wonderful commotion in the waters of the lake. I could see by the light of the moon and stars a huge monster which in appearance I can only com- pare to one of those Enaliosaurian reptiles of Mesozoic times. " It could not have been less than one hundred and fifty feet in length, and seemed to be half serpent and half lizard, with huge arms and hands like a man. After lashing the waters of the lake into a soapy foam and playing around for some time it swam directly for the log on which I was sitting. Its move- ments were very rapid. My heart stopped beating when I felt the monster's hot breath in my face. Grabbing for a revolver that I had ready, my hand first struck the quart bottle, and as I had no time to waste I hurled it down the monster's throat with all the energy that fear gives the human arm. The beast stop- ped, gagged, and was evidently choking, and while it seemed to be undergoing its death throes, sought safety in flight. In the morning we three went to the log expecting to find the serpent dead, but it was gone. We found the bottle which had been vomited up, and with it partly digested bologna sausage, cheese, sardines and watermelon seeds." The above article appeared in the columns of The Logan Observer, of date of September 1, 1887, and is inserted here to show on what fickle and flimsy basis tradition rests. On the morning of April 7th of the present year, Mr. Charles Smith, on going to the bank of this lake, within a few rods of his *The above is from the racy pen of Dr. MoFarlane of Mondamin. HISTOET OF HAEEISON OOTTNTT. 75 home, noticed a large, apparently bloated body lying near the bank and thinking that one of his yearlings had drowned, shored the same and found it to be the carcass of a very large fish. Its size far exceeded any ever seen or taken in the waters of the Missouri, and the presence thereof caused no little excitement in the neighborhood. It was of the spoon-bill-cat specie, was twenty inches across the forehead, six feet ten inches in length and would have weighed 200 pounds. This, unquestionably was the fish which had created so much excitement in the neighbor- hood, and in a few years would have been large enough to take in another fleeing, disobedient Jonah. IlfDIAN TRAILS, In 1848-9, and to 1855, were well marked, and at even a later date, could be easily distinguished. The first of these trails to 'which I will call attention, is one which followed up the divide near the old traveled road from Harris Grove to Crescent City, in Pottwattamie county; this, in the center of Harris Grove, was intersected by one which followed up the divide, reaching down to the farm of Joe Hills at the brow of the bluffs on the Mis- souri bottoms, on the north line of the county last named. This trail followed up Harris Grove creek on the east bank, crossing the little creek last named, near three-fourths of a mile east of the place now known as Reeder's Mills, thence in a northwest- erly direction to Elk Grove; then a little north of east to Six- mile Grove, crossing Six-mile creek a little west of the farm of Mr. Jason Hunt (the same on which Mr. Hunt has nearly con- stantly resided for the past thirty-three years); thence to a little grove, formerly known as Braden's Grove; thence to Twelve- mile Grove, crossing the farm of Mr. Matthew Hall, as well as the farm of old Mr. Mefibrd; thence crossing the Picayune creek, near or quite at the place where Mr. Samuel De Cou now resides and possesses so handsome a farm; rising the divide from the place last named, the trail parted into three directions, one to Bee-tree Grove, one to Coon Grove and the other direct to 76 HISTOET OF HAEP.I80N COUNTY. Galland's Grove, ia Shelby county. At and near the present location of the correction line in Harris Grove, the trail last spoken of branched off to the east and ran direct, by the divides as nearly as could be had, to the nearest point on the Nishna- botna, in Shelby county. Another trail followed up the brow of the bluffs, from Joe Hills', as herein named, crossing the Boyer river, at a point where the vigorous town of Missouri Valley is now located, then known as Mcintosh's Point; and there rising the bluffs to the high divide, followed on to Spencer's Grove, thence in a northwesterly direction, touching Reel's Grove near the present county seat, Logan; thence along the high di- vide, in a northeasterly direction, to Bigler's Grove, and from that location in the direction last named to what is now known as Weimer's Grove (then known as Dunham's Grove), on the north line of the county, and from there on toward Boyer Lake, the head of the Boyer river. An old trail came in to the bluffs, just west of the present handsome homestead of Mr. Henry Garner, in Raglan township, followed down the edge of the bluffs, along the bottoms until it reached the old farm origi- nally squatted upon and entered by Mr. Ira Perjue, about one- half mile northwest of the present site of old Calhoun, at which point it raised the back-bone or gradually elongated bluff, passed within fifty feet to the east of a collection of mounds, number- ing six in all, which, at the present writing, are as marked and perceptible as they were thirty years ago. To these mounds, the attention of the reader has been called in another part of this chapter. Thence in a direct north direction, passing through Magnolia Grove to Spink's Grove, and thence northeast on the divide west of Elk creek, and east of Allen until the north line of the county was passed. Another trail .branched from the main trail, which came from the Missouri river as last stated, at the point where Mr. Alex. .Johnson formerly resided, near the present residence of Mr. Henry Garner, and rising the backbone of the bluffs at that place, struck Raglan Grove at that place; HISTOET OF HARRISON COIFNTT. 77 thence through the last named grove nearly due north, crossing Steer creek, nearly at the present place of residence of S. E. Streeter, and from there to what is now known as the Coffman Grove, and from this place up the divide on the east side of the -Soldier to the north line of the county; having at many places convenient run-ways across to the trails up the Boyer, and to the other trails last named. These trails, or as we of the present age would say, highways, were not so nicely graded up, streams bridged and as passable as the highways of the present time, but were merely indentures made in the surface of the soil, by the tramping of the ponies' feet and the scratchings occasioned by the tepee-poles which were drag- ged by the ponies, one end of the poles being lashed to the back of the pony and the other end dragging on the ground. At many different parts of the county, farmers while plowing in their fields have unearthed skeletons of the superseded race, and at many times are led to wonder what sort of individual was the possessor thereof, and how many innocent, unoffending whites had been by each different one deprived of life and scalp. Mr. George Hardy in 1854 found the skeleton of one of these abori- gines on little promontory along Allen creek, near Magnolia. Porter Streeter, of Raglan, within the last two years plowed up one in his grain field, and had the skull bone kicking around his door yard as playthings for his children. I might safely say that within the past twenty years not less than four score of these skeletons have been exhumed, which by the shape of the skulls indicate that they were of the Indian race. The Indian manner of transportation of families did not possess the same degree of comfort as is now experienced by the traveling public in the nicely constructed parlor cars; but their modus suffi- ciently satisfied their tastes, and if their tastes were gratified, we of "squatter sovereignty" proclivities, should not now at this late day take exceptions. When the Indian families were moving from place to place, the pappooses were stuck into baskets and 78 HISTOET OF HAEKISON COUNTY. these baskets were tied together and thrown across some pony, and astride of this same pony the old " buck " or father Indian rode as peacefully sublime as though he was the Czar of the Russias; following directly in the wake of this " car " the old squaw, or mother, trudged along on foot, sad and silent, expecting no better treatment from her lord. The camp equipage was transported by being strapped to the backs of ponies, or by being thrown into a sort of receptac le constructed by tying a buffalo robe or blanket to two tent or tepee poles; these were fastened at one end to the back of a pony, the other ends left to drag on the ground; this blanket or robe being fastened to the tent poles nearly equi- distant from the respective ends, so that the seat or sack formed by the spreading of the poles constituted the seat or boot for the camp equipage or the sick of the outfit. CHAPTER III. INDIAN VILLAGES. There are no traces of any Indian villages now in the county, nor has there ever been any person in the county for the past thirty years who could locate any. The stay of the Pottawattamies in the county never was very protracted, from the fact that the Sioux and the Pottawatta- mies were constantly at war, occasioned by reason of a dispute as to the boundary between the two tribes, and this part of the territory being so near the north line of the Pottawattamies, they scarcely dared spend much of their time so near the Sioux. SQUATTERS. All residents of the county from the time the first white set- tler located in the county up to and until the latter part of the fall of 1862 were squatters, according to the definition of the standard authority — Webster. There is some controversy as to the fact of who was the first squatter in the county. Some say that the rough, warm-hearted grand old pioneer, Daniel Brown, who, for more than a quarter of a century, lived at Calhoun, and died there in 1873, was and is entitled to the honor; but others equally as confidently assert that this of right belongs to Uriah Hawkins, who from the 7th day of July, A. D. 1847, lived in Cass township, and died there ten or more years ago. It must be conceded that old Uncle Dan Brown was the first white man to select a claim in the county, but as he, soon after the selection, returned to Florence, Nebraska, and staid at that place until the following spring, and then moved his family to and permanently settled on the claim so selected as aforesaid, (79) 80 HISTOET OF HAKEISON COUNTY. he, during the time of his absence, was not a squatter or settler. Brown's selection was made in the month of June, A. D. 1847, and settlement was perfected on the Tth of April, A. D. 1848. Mr. Uriah Hawkins, on the Tth of July, A. D. 1847, accom- panied by his family, permanently " squatted " on that parcel of land in Cass township upon which he lived for nearly thirty years, and upon which he died. It was an utter impossibility for any one to obtain title to his lands before the latter part of the year 1852, from the fact that no surveys had been completed by the government of these lands prior to that time. The county was townshipized by government surveyors dur- ing the year 1851, and not until the month of November, 1852, was the sectionizing of the county completed by the government surveyors, who held the contract for the sectionizing of this part of the state. Hence, as Webster defines a squatter as " one who settles on new land, particularly on public land without title," there being no one who held title from the government for the land on which they resided, all, per force of circumstances, were squatters. Under the above conditions the terms " squatter " and " early settler " are synonymous, from the fact that there were fifty or more families resident in the county before the government gave opportunity for title to the lands therein. Squatter sovereignty, from 1847 to the spring of 1853, and for a long time thereafter, was exceedingly forceful, from the fact that a country without laws or courts became laws and courts unto themselves. Those of the present day seem to scarcely believe that the early settlers had such unbounded hospitality, charity, respect and good will to each other as was manifest in those days of weakness and dependence. Notwithstanding the selfishness, hypocrisy, dishonesty and depravity of this year of 1888, there was a time in this county, dating from 1847 to the date of the crystalization of the first bank in the county, in 1866, HISTORY OP HABKISON COUHTT. 81 when there was an extreme necessity for the citizens to stay up the trembling hand of the overcome neighbor, to guard the rights of the neighbor with as much sacredness and fidelity and valor as they would their own castles. During all this time, woe be unto the man or men who would even attempt to "jump" another's claim. Such an outrage- would call for the most swift and terrible punishment; "either a surrender of all rights to the claim or swing by the neck to the first and most accessible limb," the former, I am happy to say, was the universal choice. Were any lands to be entered at the government land office at Council Bluffs (then Kanesville and afterwards Bluff City), a council of war would be called, a certain number of men would be selected, whose honesty and courage would meet and over- come any emergency, to go to the land office and either enter the land in the name of the " squatter " or " settler " or accom- pany the party thither and see that his home was secured to him. These trips to Council Bluffs, by the Kegulators (as they were called), were, as far as costs to the settler was concerned, like the Gospel of Salvation, '* without money and without price." Of course, these times somewhat ante-dated the prohibitory law, and the settler was expected to " set it up to the b'hoys once or twice, you know." This " claim law " was the lex non scripta of the country, and I have often thought that if the prohibitory law of the present year could be enforced with the determination and earnestness of purpose manifest in the enforcement of the claim law, the courts of the county would not be burdened by so many indict- ments nor the county pauperized by costs. The "jumping" of a neighbor's claim was not attempted merely for the simple amusement of the hour, neither did the settlers hurry together and defend the rights of the neighbor for the purpose of some popularity at the coming election. The 6 82 HISTOEY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. " home," the absolute right of all, was invaded, when one was in peril. One case of " j u mping " is called to mind, which took place in the winter of 1855, and can be stated like this: A man — the name will not be given — who, being a stranger, and not understanding •the temper of this people, supposed that he could replenish his finances by taking possession of a very excellent parcel of timber land, lying between Magnolia andi Calhoua, thought that because the claimant held down a good hundred and sixty acre tract, that, having spread himself over this number of acres, that there was not enough left of the said claimant to amount to ,much as the additional one hundred and sixty acre claim. Scarcely had he deposited his traps on the premises before the movement was detected. Then there was a hurrying in hot haste. " A claim jumper!" was the cry, " rally, ye regulars!" and in less than half an hour forty men were in. consultation, and in double that time the erring one was arrested, not by an officer with a piece of paper, but by a score of earnest, angry men, who brought the offender to Magnolia and carried him to the Bates House to afford the jumper a " speedy trial by a jury of settlers." Judge Lynch was about to open his court, when some of the regulators more humane than others might have been, called the offender to one side, suggested to him the necessity of relinquish- ing his rights to the claim, to the proper owner in writing, which was speedily done, and as soon as completed a back window was opened, when the prisoner soon caught the suggestion and was on his way to a different climate, where necktie festivals and tight rope performances, in the middle of winter, were not fash- ionable. If any of the readers of these hastily written lines ever knew one James W. Bates, who in the latter part of the fifties, and up to 1862," built, owned and ran the Bates House in Mag- nolia, they only can form any adequate idea of the cords of oaths cut by Mr. Bates, when he learned that the prisoner had escaped. Bates was an awkward professional swearer, and up to the time of HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 83 the close of the rebellion could distance any man in the county in the race of words profanely directed. But in justice to Mr. Bates, I must say, that no warmer-hearted man ever lived on the " slope;" no person ever left his door hungry, and none possessed a heart so easily touched by the misfortunes of others; impulsive, honest, and withal, generous to a fault. • Other occasions, where "jumping" was done, a written notice sent to the party transgressing the claim law, or a notice tacked to the door of the cabin, or on any substance by which the same could be seen, notifying him that if he remained in the neigh- borhood for one week or ten days, without relinquishing all his rights to the claim, transportation would at that time be given him, without expense, to the pearly gates of paradise; which suggestion received due, careful and immediate attention by the party to whom addressed. The men constituting this company of regulators, banded together for mutual protection, were, as nearly as the memory of the writer can call the same to mind, as follows: James W. Bates, George Blackman, Wm. T. Fallon, N. G. Wyatt, Thos. B Neely, James Hardy, Lucius Merchant, Joel Patch, Peter Bar- nett, Solomon Barnett, H. H. Locklin, A. W. Locklin, Ezra Vin- cent, Henry George, Horatio Caywood and two sons George and Frank, Tom Durman, Robert Hall, Jacob Huffman, Chester Staley, Capt. Chester Hamilton, Jacob Minturn, Josiah Crom, Benj. LaPorte, Daniel Brown, Amos Chase, Ira Perjue, — . Burdno, J. W. Chatburn, Stephen Mahoney, Benj. Denice, John Ennis, 0. M. Allen, Gay Cleveland, Eleazer Davis, etc., etc. As before stated, the cases for claim jumping were not prose- cuted for the purpose of gratifying a little petty spite, because at this time all were anxious that settlement should be encouraged as much as possible. There was more country than people, and the sooner the country was settled up by good industrious bona fide settlers, so much the more would the country develop. By treaty of 1830, the United States had obtained a cession of 84 HISTOKT OF HABEISON COUNTY. the southwestern part of Iowa as a reservation for the Potta- wattamies, and from the completion of said treaty up to and until 1846, in the month of June of said year, the Pottawatta- mie Indians held the exclusive use and occupancy thereof, at which time last named the said tribe by treaty with the Grovern- ment relinquished this reservation to the Government, and imme- diately thereafter removed west of the Missouri river. Those familiar with the history of the country at this time will call to mind the difficulties experienced by that sect of people called Mormons, at Nauvoo, in Illinois, and in the immediate vicinity. This sect of people, zealous in many other respects than good works, were by force of circumstances compelled to change base, and as the result of the complications in the " Sucker State," they made their exit from the place above named, jour- neying from thence toward .the setting of the sun, and while in that transitory state the cloud by day was removed and the pillar of fire by night extinguished, when the body of the vanguard reached Council Bluffs. Here a revelation was had from the headquarters of the Mormon god, that they should tarry on this "border of the promised -land — this Pisgah-top — until further directed by Brigham Young and God. (Let it be understood that Brigham, instead of occupying a fourth-class place in the adorable quadruple, was the first personage.) Reaching this place they immediately set about preparing for the coming win- ter, and this resulted in the building of Kainsville, the Mormon name by which this energetic city was known in baptism. This place was made the headquarters of the l^ormon Church; and as a result of the Mormon exodus from Illinois, as last stated, siz thousand people spread over the counties of Pottawattamie, Harrison, Shelby, Mills and Fremont during that fall and the succeeding spring. In the summer of 1847 the "onward to the Land of Promise" was promptly telephoned from the counsels of heaven to the great high priest, Brigham, and they who were the most worthy HISTOBY OF HAEEI80N OOITNTT. 85 were assembled and informed of this revelation, who soon folded their tents and rapidly took their departure to the anticipated rest of the saints, in the basin of Great Salt Lake. From 1847 to 1852 there was a sufficiency of this peculiar element left in the counties above named to control all elections, Harrison county as well as the others. Prior to 1850, few of these squatted on the lands west of the Boyer river, but through all the groves, and on the skirts of timber around all the groves, on that part east of the Boyer, the wayward Mormon was a prominent factor. The fact is, that from 1849 to 1852, at each year, the population of the county during this time was more than one-half greater than in 1853 and 1854. The stay of this peculiar .people in this county from 1846 to 1852 was, in the language of a " quasi lawyer " of this county, only for " temporary purposes " ; and when the revela- tion from headquarters, " onward to the Land of Promise," was had and received, they obeyed the order with more alacrity than did the Israelites in leaving the plague-stricken land of Egypt. At the time of this Mormon exodus from this county, the claims of these religious "squatters" were on the market, and the sale thereof was a matter determined on by the claimant. That they were on the "go," and "go" they would, led many who happened to be in this part of the State at that time to purchase these claims at their own ofifering. Without question, this location was as good as any between this and the setting of the sun; but religious enthusiasm prompted this people to be at the side and under the special teachings of their Prophet, hence, they, like one of old, as respects their teacher, said and acted: " Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried." In the spring of 1852, thirty-three families left Harris Grove and journeyed towards the promised land, which was a rapid de - 86 HISTORY OP HAKEISON COUNTY. population of this part of the county. It must be remembered that the Mormon family, when completed, was not a " society family " of the present status, viz. : one child, but to be a child of Mormon parents was the one-fifteenth or one-twentieth of the family ninit. The little olive plants, or the arrows in the quiver of familyship, were numerous, and indicated a strict obe- dience to the command, " Be ye fruitful and multiply and re- plenish the earth." This vicinity, after the removal of this column, so far as set- tlers were concerned, appeared as though the locality had been swept with plague, or the inhabitants stampeded by news of an Indian massacre, for upon removal as last named there were only five Gentile families left in the entire grove, viz. : Michael Mc- Kenney's, John A. McKenney's, William Howard's, Tommy Reeder's, and a family by the name of Grander. The great outfitting point, to which all Mormondom centered before leaving behind settlement, was Florence, on the right bank of the Missouri river, eight miles north of Omaha. True, as before stated, the five counties forming the south half of the western line of the State, were first settled by this people, yet, notwithstanding this, they all crystalized at the place last named, prior to their final departure, and left this point in vast herds, scarcely knowing for what or whither they were going. That there was a promised land far to the west, to which they should journey, and when once possessed they should find rest, together with the ever present thought, to live under the especial guid- ance and teachings of their Prophet and High Priest, buoyed up their spirits, and caused all to take gladly to the suffering which must be endured in crossing the great American desert. In civilized America the eye of the native-born citizen has never been educated to the sight of beholding the mother, or sister harnessed in leather breast and back-straps, and pulling in hand-carts like beasts of burden. But this was no uncommon sight in the days of 1858 and '59, when there swarmed into this HISTOET OF HARBISON OOtJNTT. 87 country from England, Wales, ptirts of Scotland, Holland, and other European countries, vast consignments of this human freight, destined as recuperatives for the Church at Great Salt Lake. At that time Iowa City was the terminus on the west as to railroads; these people being uncarred here, were, irrespective of sex, worked like beasts of burden to hand-qarts, so as to travel to Florence, as well as transport thither what baggage they possessed. All stations of society made up this conglomerated herd of humanity: the old sire, the old mother, both worn out by the toils and cares of life, halted along, sometimes at the middle, or in the rear of the procession; the middle-aged, full of life and at the meridian of manhood; the buxom lass and beardless boy, though oftentimes weary of the hardships and monotony of the journey, kept the life in the column by the joke or song, the fiddle, or the evening dance. The corner stone of this peculiar church once being laid, the material to complete the building had to be furnished, and to accomplish this end, apostles and teachers were, by the council of the church, sent to foreign lands, and especially instructed to labor with those whom they could the more easily persuade to em- brace this singularly curious faith. As a result the lower strata of society of foreign lands accepted this new doctrine with an alacrity far beyond the expectation of the most sanguine of those who were the originators of the thought. They rallied from the hillsides, from the plains, work-shops, and from every conceivable condition of society, to the belief and support of this new doctrine; and under the glowing ac- counts given them of this land of promise, in the very heart of America's greatest desert, would not rest content until they had seen the Prophet, and partaken of the vine, herd and production of this earthly Eden. Never has the pen of any writer attempted to describe the ter- rible sufferings of these immigrants, religious fanatics, or dupes 88 HISTOET OF HARRISON COUNTY. of designing men, as they traveled from day to day, drawing in harness, like oxen; bearing the heat of the sun and sand, the intolerable thirst of the parched and burning plains; the weari- ness of limb and scarcity of food, towards the anticipated haven in the valley of Great Salt Lake. The 'crusades of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries did not possess greater enthusiasm than that which permeated every muscle and fiber of those who in 1858 and '59 measured the 1,032 miles of tTie trackless desert, step by step, in order to help build and worship in the Temple of the Mormon faith. The Israelites had a Moses to smite the rock and procure the water, with the Almighty at the head of the clothing department; but these dupes were content to transport the fluid to reduce their swollen, parched tongues, and ceaselessly march on and on with blistered and bleeding feet, without rest or recuperation, to Mormondom or death. That Daniel Brown of Calhoun was the first person to select a claim in the county, is now unquestioned, and that Mr. Uriah Hawkins of Cass township was the first person to permanently locate in the county, is conceded by all. Mr. Hawkins located on the claim on which he died, having lived there thirty years, during the former five of that thirty, as isolated from white society as Alexander Selkirk while on the Island of Juan Fer- nandez : " Monarch of all he surveyed, his right there was none to dispute," from Six Mile Grove westward to the Pacific Ocean, to the north pole, east nearly or quite to the present city of Dps Moines. This condition remained until three years had elapsed before there were any additions in this locality in the way of set- tlement, when the spring of 1850, Mr. George Mefford and his family located near him in Twelve Mile Grove, and away to the southeast some twelve or fifteen miles at the same time, Mr. Samuel Wood, Wm. W. Wood and Uncle Billy Cox located at Union Grove, in Union township. Daniel Brown upon settling on his claim about the 7th of April, '48, was not that sort of personage who permitted the affairs HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 89 of this life to cumber his liberty to any extensive degree, and being the first white settler west of the Boyer river, I will take the lib- erty at this time to give the reader a short biographical sketch of this old pioneer from the time of his location here until the time of his death. This warm-hearted old pioneer, having quarreled with the Prophet, Brigham Young, in the spring of 1847, and being of that fearless disposition that would not brook insult from King, President or Prophet, at the date last named, while the Mor- mons were in winter quarters at Florence City just north of Omaha, and west of the old village of Crescent City in Potta- wattamie county in this state, severed his connection from this peculiar people and struck out his own hook to seek a new home for himself and family where he could enjoy greater freedom. To this end he and a few others started out on a tour of explora- tion, crossing the Missouri river at Council Bluffs and from there kept up the Missouri bottoms on the left bank, at which time not a bridge was upon any of the streams between that place and the north pole. How to cross these streams, when the same were swollen to the extent that they were, as full as the banks would hold, was the question, but the ingenuity of the pioneer is nearly always equal to the occasion ; so fastening a large dry log, one to each side of the wagon and then forcing the oxen to swim the river, the driver swimming by the side of the team to give proper direction, brought the craft safely to shore on the side required. In this manner the Pigeon and Boyer rivers were crossed, and the party shortly after their start, camped in Harrison county at or very near the place where now is the residence of Mr. Tim. O'Conner, in section 35, township 79, range 43, at the place where the little stream now know by the classic name of " Hog Creek" emerges from the bluffs and enters the Boyer bottom. At the time of going into camp the sun was a little more than an hour high, and Uncle Dan wishing to have some venison for supper, shouldered his rifle and passed out from camp a short 90 HISTOEY OF HARBISON OOUNTT. Jistance, and ia less than one hour had killed five large fat deer, and as he has frequently said, " It wa'nt a very good time for deer neither." From this camp they passed up the Boyer valley and came to the present site of Logan, at which place they halted and ex- pressed themselves as never having seen so beautiful a situation in all their lives, but supposing that there were better than this jlsewhere,. they followed up the Boyer until they came to the lands on which Woodbine is now situated, and, being highly pleased with this location, thought they were getting too far inland; they struck across to the Willow valley and followed this down to the place where this stream enters the Missouri bottom, and there felt satisfied that they had struck the place, for " which they long had sought and mourned because they'd found it not," but having found this, were wholly satisfied that, bhis of all others, was the -place. Here Mr. Brown staked out his claim and immediately went bo work building a shanty, getting out rails and preparing a place for his family to be properly housed, when they should be brought to this newly discovered " Eden," in the spring fol- lowing. Returning to his home, he spent the following winter there, and early in the spring, with transportation in the form of a covered wagon, and the propelling power two yoke of cattle, the wife and children snugly stowed away under the white canvass, bhe old patriarch, wife, children and all effects are on this un- iimited highway for the "palace" on the Willow, which I bave stated was prepared the year previous. The incidents of travel across swamp, river, and over hill and iale, are the same as before stated, only, in this passenger car, bhe freight is more precious than in that of the year before, but 30on they arrive at this beautiful spot on the table lands of what was once and still is Calhoun, and are now masters of their own HISTORY OF HARRISON- COUNTY. &1 situation, happier than the Czar of the Russias, the Queen o£ England or even the then President of the United States. The will power of this old pioneer was always equal to the occasion, hut, at this time, being thirty miles from any settle- ment and no neighbors but the treacherous " dusky men and squaws " of the western prairies, he, at times, felt a little inse- cure, not on his own account, but for the safety of his wife and children. The corn and potatoes are planted, the fence built, but the meal and flour in the barrel have become nearly exhausted and the last slice of bacon has been fried, and where are we to get a recruit of these until the harvest is come for corn and potatoes? Himself and two of the sons soon started for the State of Missouri, two hundred miles away, there to assist the people in the gather- ing of the harvest, which was then ripe for the sickle. Arriving at that place, they enter heartily into the labor of gathering and soon have earned enough ,to load the wagon down to the guards, and no sooner is the task completed, than they are all on their way home bringing a good supply of food for the hungry ones in the cabin on the Willow; but the incidents of travel caused the utmost vigilance, for upon arriving at one of the branches of the 'Botna, which was bridged by a pole floor, and it having rained only a short time before, the team, consisting of two yoke of oxen, became frightened and began pushing in the yoke, when the floor of the bridge parted and the front yoke, or leaders, slipped through the bridge and hung suspended by their necks until Brown, grasp- ing an axe, drove the staple out of the wooden yoke, and the cattle thus freed, fell into the water below, a distance of thirty feet. Brown was so much interested in the provisions that he did not look after the cattle which had disappeared, and when the substitute for a bridge was so repaired that he could bring over the wheel team and load, he began to look around for his leaders, and to his utter astonishment, saw them quietly grazing on the same side of the river on which he and the commissary 92 HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY. stores then were. But what was his astonishment on arriving at home and learning from his wife that the thieving redskins had visited his place and cabin, and had appropriated to their own nse all the' edibles and clothing belonging to him and the family, and that the family had been for the past three weeks living wholly on milk and young potatoes, the same being not larger than hulled walnuts. Where were the clothing and the corn and flour and bacon for the family during the winter to come from ? The freedom of frontier life was affording more freedom than provisions, and the future did not look very promising; yet out of this dilemma there yet remained a hope, and this last effort was yet to be made. It was this: a hunt on the Sioux river near the mouth thereof. So early in the fall, Brown, with a few others, who had come into the settlement after his return from Missouri, started on a hunt to the mouth of the Little Sioux river, and when arriving there found the game so plentiful, that in a day or two they had their wagons 'loaded with elk and deer and wild turkeys, and Brown had in addition quite two barrels of wild honey. A portion of this he carted to Kanesville, sold the same for a big price, then laid out the proceeds of this sale in cot- ton domestics, jeans, shoes, groceries, etc., etc., and returned to his home with this recruit, the happiest man in all the broad expanse of the United States. After this time the Indians were very troublesome, and greatly annoyed the settlement, but not until 1853 did they and the whites come to open hostilities ; about which the reader s atten- tion will be directed in other portions of this book. The writer hereof has oftentimes heard Mr. Brown say, that on his return from the Bluffs, at the time he sold the honey, he felt like Alexander Selkirk did while on the Island of Juan Fer- nandez. He was " monarch of all he surveyed, his right there was none to dispute." Here on the site selected by the subject of this sketch, in ISil, lived this pioneer from '48 until the time of his death, and here HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY, 93 the family of two boys and four daughters developed into man and womanhood, all marrying at this place with the exception of one of the sons; yet at this date only two of the children are res- idents of the county, the others having gone on toward the set- ting of the sun, like the father, ever looking to the mighty west for better lands and more genial climate. Daniel Brown was a man of tremendous physical power, and a man upon whom nature had been lavish in the way of intellect. His youthful days were spent in his old North Carolina home without any of the advantages of common schools which the boys of the present age and place possess, yet in him was a mind far beyond many of those who had in early life partaken of the birch limb and small slices of old Kirkham, the Western Calculator and Olney's . Geography. And findly, he was at and during all the time of the late civil war one of the most uncompromising friends of the Union, and never could bear to hear any one, at the time the very life of the nation was in peril, say anything against the administration of the sainted Lincoln. Men of this cast are always needed for pioneer life. Men who never yield to any obstacle and finally never surrender until Father Time with his scythe says " 'Tis enough; this is the end." Following the thought as set out in the matter of the abstract of the life of Brown, I am compelled to trespass on the patience of the reader, by here presenting a few thoughts connected with the life of John A. Parkin, of this county, who died in the spring of 1887. This old pioneer was just one decade in the rear of the one just spoken of. Mr. Parkin was born and matured in the Old Dominion, and when settling here brought with him to this new land many of the ideas and customs of the Virginia state. Soon after settling in this neighborhood he was elected as Justice of the Peace, a position he maintained up to the time of his death, and in regard to his doings as a court, I am con- strained to say, that 'while his rulings and decisions, at many times, were not as polished as those of the judges of the courts 94: HISTOET OF HARBISON OOUNIT. of record, nevertheless, they fit as closely to the fact and law of the case. Scarcely had the subject of this sketch settled in his new home in the county, until he suited his wants to the then sur- rounding circumstances respecting his finance, for there are yet, in the flesh, in the neighborhood, many who very vividly remem- ber the peculiar construction of Squire Parkin's teams. Isaiah and Jim Dickinson tell me of the fright they had on the afternoon of the first day they arrived in the Harris Grove. Having struck a fire preparatory for the dinner, as it was the noon hour, and just as they were about to surround the table to partake of that kind of a meal which is indulged in with a relish, they heard such an unearthly noise that they felt like stamped- ing for Michigan; it was not like anything they had ever heard or seen; first, there would be a zip-rattle-te-bang-whoopadora- chug, then the screech, etc., etc. Jim was sent out on a tour of inspection, when, following the noise, in a short time he came to a place where there was a large quantity of crushed sorghum stalks, and quietly approaching, found Squire Parkin trying to express the juice from the sorghum stalks, by grinding them through a cane mill of his own manufacture, the motive power in this primitive manufacturing establishment being a bull and a cow attached separately to a long sweep, which was fastened to the grinder, and corn being scarce and no grease in the neigh- borhood, the absence of this liquid caused this unearthly screech- ing, and the rattle and bang being produced by the slipping of cogs, when the male part of the power was taken with a fit of masculine madness. This old pioneer lived an honest, inoffen- sive life, acted well his part, and at a ripe old age was gathered to his fathers, like a shock of corn in its season. Deeming it part and parcel of the history of the county, I will give as near as possible, the names of the most prominent of the early settlers from the settlement of Havvkins and Brown, the first in 1847 and the latter in 1848, year by year, up to and in- cluding the year of 1854, and possibly some of those of 1855. HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 95 Scarcely had Brown trodden down the ta 11 prairie grass around his cabin door, when Amos Chase, Ezra Vincent, Dick Johnson, Samuel Coon, Ira Perjue and E. T. Hardin loe ated within gun- shot of him. At the present day the accession of a half dozen families to a neighborhood would create but a small ripple on the surface of society; but circumstances alter cases, and this circumstance was hailed with delight by Brown and family. Six additional men in a neighborhood where there is but one, all coming at the same time, figures up an increase of population not frequently met with ; and the more es pecially at a time when there were vast numbers of thieving redskins in the neighbor- hood, watching the time when the corn, calf, potatoes and pigs would ripen so as to furnish them a good meal. The following year of 1849 only two additional families were added to the entire county, making only ten familiea in the county, except such as were here for recuperative purposes, in- tending to pass on to Salt Lake at the first call. They who set- tled in the county as last stated were Jesse Wills, Charles Wills, Cyrus Wills, William H. Wills, John Wills, Erastus Wills and George W. Brigham. ' During all this time Hawkins was holding the fort on the east side, all alone. With the ushering in of the year 1850 these twelve families were blessed with neighbors, as follows, viz. : George Mefibrd of Twelve Mile Grove, together with his sons, W. G. MefFord, Lem- uel Mefford, and "Doc" Mefford; these settled in the. neighbor- hood of Uriah Hawkins. Elijah Palmer located at the same time in Bigler's Grove; Charles McEvers, Nathan Neely, Thos. B. Neely, S. W. Condit and Charles LaPontuer at and on the Little Sioux River, where the town of Little Sioux now is situate; Samuel Wood, William W. Wood and Uncle Billy Cox in Union Grove; David Young, Sr., David Young, Jr., Addison Young, Charles Young and Henry Young about two miles east of Logan; and Anson Belden at Calhoun. In the spring and early summer of 1851 the " prairie schoon- 96 HISTOET OF HARBISON COUNTY. ers " began to land, and the following persons, some with fam- ilies, were added to the settler lists, viz.: James B. MeCurley, William Howard, W. D. Howard, James Dungan (father of David Dungan, D. D.), J. Z. Hunt, George White, Warren White, Jos. McKenney, Michael McKenney, John A. McKenney, all these settling in the neighborhood or near Harris Grove; Richard Mus- grave, Geo. Musgrave, L. D. Butler, John Jeffrey, Matthew Hall, Evan O'Banion and others, in the regions round about the place where Butler subsequently built what is known as Butler's Mills, near Woodbine; and then Lucius Merchant, Donald Maule, Frank Pierce, Dennis Streeter, and others, in and about the timber lands of Raglan; and last, though not least, William Dakan located on the farm now occupied by Mr. Joseph Culver, nearly tangent to the little village of St. John, and P. G. Cooper, Creed Sanders and W. I. Cooper at Magnolia. The year 1852 being, as before stated, the time of the Mormon exodus, brought many into the county, in (jonsequence of the cheapness of squatter claims then on the market, and by reason of the further fact that in 1851 the Government had township- ized the county, and were about to sectionize the same during the year 1852 (a job which was completed as per statement), and thereby afford on opportunity for the entry of the lands. The oldest resident, of those who settled here at that time, is Mr. Henry Reel, now in his 84th year, and quietly sliding down the sunset of life; Benjamin J. LaPorte, Henry McHenry and sons, Wm. H. McHenry and 0. 0. HcHenry, CM. Hunt, Peter Brady and sons, David L. Brady and E. H. Brady, Kirtland Card, Benj. H. Denice, John Ennis, " Burr " Ennis, Hiram Ennis, Samuel Fuller, Stephen King, Edward Houghton, W.B. Copeland, Thos. F. Yanderhoof, G. W. Fry, D. R. Rogers, A. W. Locklin, H. H. Locklin, Stephen Mahoney, J. W. Chatburn, George Blackman, James Hardy, Jacob Huffman, James W. Bates, Wm. T. Fallon, Virgil Mefford, Theodore Mahoney, Samuel Dungan, Henry Kanauss, and others. The greater portion of all these are yet HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 97 alive, and remain, at this writing, residents of the county, and well sustain their part in the make-up of citizenship and perma- nency of good society. Eighteen hundred and fifty-three ushered in the year of the great rush for lands in western Iowa; and as a result, immigra- tion that year far exceeded all that had been in the five preced- ing years. At that time there was no difficulty in entering lands, provided the person wishing a paper blanket, signed by his Ex- cellency, the President of the United States, had the $1.25 per acre. That year there settled in the county the following named persons, viz.: Stephen Hester and family and Thos. A. Dennis; these were the first to locate in the southwestern corner of the county; then J. B. Lytle, Samuel Spinks, Luke Jefferson, J. W. Jefferson, Thomas Thompson, Alma Ellison, Calvin Ellison, M. A. Ellison and Levi Ellison, James H. Farnsworth and Samuel Farnsworth, James Henderson, P. C. Henderson, J. W. Hender- son, Alfred Longman, Sr., Alfred Longman, Jr., James Longman and Wm. Longman, Samuel McGravren and sons George and Scott, Ezra Perry, William, Albert T. and "Doc" Cutler, Peter Deal, Joe. H. Deal, John Deal, John W. Deal and Jas. E. Deal, Samuel Jack, Jeremiah Motz, Levi Motz, George Birchim, Wm. Spencer, Champion Prazier, Henry Earnest, John Earnest and Henry Earnest, Jr., Lowry Wilson, B. A. Divelbess, Sol Barnett, Peter Barnett, Frank Weatherly, and others. At this time the settlement of the county began to assume an air of independence, and during the early part of this year perfected her organization as a county. Those whose names are last above mentioned, came to stay, from the fact that there is not a name mentioned of those who settled here in 1853, but still remain in the county, or dying, left such estates that their heirs are yet in the county, well to do in life and honored members of society. The year 1854 experienced a much greater crystalization of permanent moneyed settlers than any two of the former years herein named, because many of those who had formerly located 7 98 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COTTNTT. here had written to their relatives or acquaintances what a goodly land this was; and doubtless many had visited this place and carried back into the home-land a portion of the grape clus- ters, a taste of the honey, or perchance an ear of corn, sample of wheat, or a statement of the prodigious growth of grass, the everlasting qualities of the soil, and a story of the pureness of the water; these being rehearsed, and believed, caused the white canvass, sheltering the voyager from the sun and rain, to be spread, and the home-seekers of the far east are soon here, mak- ing such selections as best fit their fancy. Those coming and locating here at this time were, as nearly as memory serves, the following, viz. : Hon. Phineas Cadwell and family, S. B. Card and family, Sarah Hall, Jacob Kirk, James D. Rogers, David Gamet, Saul Garnet, David Garnet, Jr., Isaac Garnet and Gilbert Gamet, Dr. J. H. Rice, A. R. Cox, Jacob Cox, H. B. Cox, Wm. H. Branson, Logan Crawford, Wm. McDonald, John Mathews, Job Ross, Wm. H. Sharpneck, David Barnum, Marvin Adams and family, viz. : Frank, Byron, Joe, Addison, Reuben and Evilla (now Mrs. Gay lord of Woodbine); Isaac Childs and family, Col. Asher Servis, and hosts of others, whom I have not the time or space to name. These, though thirty-three years have passed and gone, are still residents of the county, save and except Mr. David Gamet, Mr. Marvin Adams, Mr. Wm. McDonald and Col. Servis, who, within the last decade, have passed the confines of this life, at ripe old ages, leaving behind them names respected by all, and exemplary lives worthy of imitation. Then in 1855 came William Acrea, Thomas J. Acrea, Eras- tus Brown, German Brown, Charles Brown and Willis Brown, Abe Ritchinson, James Evans and William Evans of Bigler's Grove, Henry Hushaw and family. Dr. Cole and family, David Selleck and family, James Selleck and family, and Ellises almost without number, viz.: Ephraim, Samuel, John, Dan, Andrew, and Clark; these all settling in Jackson and Little Sioux townships; Henry Hannaman, John Case, James Case, Jacob Case, and an HISTORY or HAEEISON COtTNTY. 99 army of Purcells, viz. : Jesse, the old father, and boys, Alexander, Samuel, Benjamin, Lewis and William, all locating on the Willow; William Martin, and William Allen on the Soldier, and last but not least Mr. Solomon Smith, who located on the margin of the lake named for him in Little Sioux township. In 1856 the settle- ment was increased by William Me Williams, Jacob Fulton, Isaac Bedsol, Sr., 0. M .Bedsol and Isaac F. Bedsol, Jr., A. H. Glea- son and father of Little Sioux, Jack Conyers, Patrick Morrow, William Morrow, George Main, Silas Rice, Rev. H. D. King, etc. ; time and space failing to name others. These men herein named as settling in the county from 1847 to 1856, were of the true American type and the sons and daughters of these now with us to day are the offspring of a brawny stock; from men who tilled the fields, traversed the hills and valleys in pursuit of game, lined the banks of the streams with their traps, loved the companionship of the ox and horse, and looked upon the rifle and musket in their possession as sym- bols of their manhood and bulwarks of their liberties. The early settlers were not puny men, were not effeminate, were not indoor people, pale of countenance and slender of build, but tall, stalwart, and muscular; some perhaps awkward by reason of excessive development in joints and bone, yet none were feeble, and while the excessive culture of this day and age might laugh at them on the sly, nevertheless they would admire that which seemed to provoke their mirth. LAlfD ENTRIES, During the days of December, 1852, and the first half of 1853, were attended with many difficulties, as the following will show : When the days of entries arrived there was such a rush at the land office at Council Bluffs, that all could not be accommodated the same day; hence, to meet the demands, each person on arriving at the laud office registered his name, and by this rule was forced to await the serving of those who were there first in time. 100 HISTOET OF HAKBISON COUNTY. Henry Reel, Esq., who located and entered the land on which the site of the town of Logan is located, tells me that in order to get an opportunity to enter his claims here, he was com- pelled to wait in Council Bluffs three weeks before his name was called. The reader must not think that by reason of this method they who were first in time had the opportunity of making any selection they pleased, irrespective of the right of settlement or occupancy. Each community had its friends to watch what entries were being made, and one who attempted to take certifi- cate of entry on lands occupied by a settler was immediately mobbed. He who had settled on lands wanted just such land only as he had squatted on, and when this was obtained he was content, and wishing his rights respected was, per force of circumstances, com- pelled to respect the rights of others. There never yet was a better measurement to human conduct than " do ye unto others as ye would that they should do unto you.'" The time when this precept will be obeyed by all has not been approximated to by either Millerite or Adventist, yet let me say to the legal fra- ternity, that when this time does come, courts of justice will be closed, the politician a thing of the past, and the perambulating minister of the gospel left without another soul to save, or the skeleton of another regulation chicken to denude. The Shylocks of this period were as numerous as they were covetous; for be it known that many of the early settlers were not men of great financial standing, so far as dollars were con- cerned, and when it came to the entering of the claim, the government never accepted a written or verbal promise to pay for lands. It was the cash in hand they were selling the land for, and to procure their homes they would permit Mr. Shylock to enter the land in his own name, and this when done, the settler would repurchase it for the money-lender, allowing and promis- ing him forty per cent per annum on the $200 until paid. It only took two years and a half until this interest had doubled HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 101 the purchase of the land, and as a sequence, the money-lender who had come west with a pocket full of land warrants, which had cost him ninety cents an acre, if the squatter paid at the end of two and a half years, was getting |400 for an outlay of $144. That these entries would be eaten up by usury and tax was most evident, unless the location was of such character and worth as to command an immediate sale, which in the fewer instances hap- pened, but in the most cases, the land remained in the name of the party furnishing the warrants for entry. THE INDtrSTEIES Of Harrison county until .two or three years after the organiza- tion of the county were very meager indeed, and never have the people of this locality made any pretensions, other than as an agricultural people. The field and herd are the dependence of all. If the field groans under the weight of the crop produced, and this either in turn in the form of the raw article, or when con- verted into hog or beef, brings a good remunerative price, the producer is happy and they belonging to the tradesman and mer- cantile or professional classes are correspondingly pleased, from the fact, as above stated, this is an agricultural country, and the hopes of the entire country depend on the cereal, either in the raw form or in manufactured condition as found in the hide of Mr. Hog or Steer. A woolen mill was once, I think about 1866, erected, fur- nished and put in operation at Dalley's mill, near Woodbine, and the proprietor, after repeated endeavors, closed the same, because he could not operate it and save himself. The most singular fact in regard to this experiment was, that they of our own vicinity would not patronize the product of this mill because they could purchase the goods of other mills, such as Marshall- town, or Cedar Rapids, and the manufacture of some other mills both in and out of this state, at a few cents per yard cheaper ; and let it be remembered that these mills put their goods upon 102 HISTORY OF HAEKISON COTTNTT. the market here at quite a reduction when comparing the selling price of their goods, to that of the selling price of the same at the place of manufacturing. You ask, " Why did they do such a thing?" This was done in order to starve out the only mill on the slope, and the strategy succeeded as was anticipated, the result being old John W. Dalley could not buck against his own neighborhood and the combined cross lifting of the mills of the State. With the closing of this mill the many flocks of sheep which were growing up in the county and increasing from year to year rapidly, the natural increase as well as theindriving of hundreds of other flocks, were sold to the butcher or shipped to a Chicago market, and as a consequence there is not to-day in the entire county a half a thousand head of sheep. THE rt^FBRIOR COUETS OF THE COUNTY Only have origin from the organization of the county, from the fact that there were no courts in the county prior to the organiza- tion, except Judge Lynch's court, and that was then a court which might be termed a supreme or superior court by reason of the pecul- iar rules of practice which governed. There was no appeal allowed to any human tribunal when verdict was returned and sentence pronounced. To the honor and intelligence and humanity of the people of this county, it can be truthfully said that " no impromptu hanging bees" have ever been had. True, there have been occasions when it appeared to certain persons that they were in dangerous proximity to such taking-off recreation, but the calm and humane spirit which often actuates the human mind always found a way out of these conditions, without the shedding of human blood. " Big Jim," the over grown brute who accompanied a sort of perambulating show which crossed this country by teams in 1870, and who attempted to rape a young girl at the graveyard at Magnolia, after being arrested and brought back, was taken HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 103 from the officer when going from the place of examination to the place where the officer kept him — a rope put around his neck, and barely escaped being hung by reason that too many persons were assisting in the hanging bee. They acting without concert of action — no leadership. Mr. Jacob S. Fountain and some eight others, of Cincinnati township, acting as a court of first resort, in 1862, when the other boys of the county were out in the field, wearing the blue and doing duty at the front, organ- ized an impromptu court near Loveland Mills and determined that the defendant, a man of very pronounced '' secesh proclivi- ties" should ascend the golden stairs. When adjusting the rope around his neck and in the act of placing the same over the limb of a tree near by, the prisoner by a quick move released himself from the cord, leaped into the willows and has not been heard of from that date up to the present writing. The individual who jumped the timber claim between Calhoun and Magnolia in 1855, would have ended his earthly career had he not assigned to the lawful owner all his right and title to the claim and cut dirt for a foreign locality, by first being shown his way out by an opened window. Many of the peculiar rulings of the Justices' courts could be reproduced here at this time which would somewhat amuse, but as there is so little improvement on these courts since that time, it might cast some reflection on these by now stating what was done in the past ; however I will relate a few of the many wise rulings of these courts. A certain Mr. Walden being a Justice of the Peace in Calhoun was, in 1857, called upon to try a case of attachment. The peti- tion of the plaintiff, which stated the cause of action was not sworn to by anyone and no prayer was made for the issuance of the writ of attachment in the said petition ; whereupon the law- yers, one on each side, appeared, and the counsel for the defend- ant filed a motion to " quash the writ " for reasons stated in the motion. The motion was argued with as much force as ability, 104 HISTOEr OF HAEEISON COTTNTT. and when the court came to pass on the motion, he sustained the same, and in order to " quash the writ " he laid the piece of paper called the writ on the table or box in front of him and said — " by virtue of authority vested in me as a Justice of the Peace I squash ye," then striking his hand heavily on the offend- ing writ caught the same in his hand and tore it to fragments. It was "squashed." In the summer of 1861, after the Legislature had passed the act called the " dog law," which shelved for the time being so many politicians, and gave very many others an opportunity to enter the military service and win name and fame on the battle field, a.case for killing a dog was tried before one Lorenzo Dow Pate, a Justice of Raglan, when the court, after hearing the case and being informed by the attorney for the defendant that there was no law prohibiting a man from murdering his neighbor's dog, took up the Code of 1851, and read about fifty pages — read until urged by counsel and clients for a ruling or finding, said, " Gentlemen, I can't find any law here but that the defendant had the right to kill the dorg; it can't be murder, for that must be the premeditated killing of a human being, etc., nor can this be manslaughter, but I think, to the best of my knowledge and belief, that this is a case of dogslaughter, and the defendant is hereby ordered to get another dorg for the prosecutor, a dorg a leetle bigger than the one he killed — provided he can get one." In 1865 a case was being tried before Joel H. Patch, then a Justice of the Peace; a jury was demanded by one of the parties to the action, venire was issued and the constable went eagerly on his errand to procure a jury, and happened to stumble on Joshua B. Akers, who had only a few minutes previously been married; served the writ on him; when the jury was soon made up and accepted. Of this jury, two of the number being known to the fact that Akers had just committed matrimony, viz.: Nor- man B. Hardy and George R. Brainard; the case was called, evi- dence introduced, argument had, and the case submitted to the HI8T0ET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 105 jury by 4 o'clock p. m., but the jurors last named being instigated by the devil, and not haying the fear of Grod before their eyes, did, then and there, willfully and maliciously "hang that jury" all night until 8 o'clock next morning, so as to play a "goake" on the newly married member. It is said that Akers proposed to pay the plaintiff's claim and costs if the jury would agree to this, but Hardy said the defendant shouldn't have a penny, no matter who paid it, and Brainard was equally as obstinate. Shortly after, his Honor, James Hardy, was inducted into the . ofiB.ce of County Judge. In 1854, on a certain day, just as the business was being closed up, a young gentleman and lady en- tered the ofiSce of the aforesaid oflScial, when the following col- loquy ensued: Young Man — " Air you the Jedge of this ere county? " The Court— "Yes sir." Young Man — " Tobitha and me wants to — a — git married, and I want you to say the wurds, if ye will." Court — " You are both big enough and that is all that is re- quired at this time; are you both riddy? " Both answering in the afi&rmative, the Court was a little non- plussed, not exactly having studied his piece yet, could not repeat the marriage ceremony, and as the " court " was presumed to know everything, braced himself for the occasion and said: " Stand up. Join your left hands and each of you raise your right hand;" this being performed, the court used the following words, as the marriage ceremony: "You, and each of you, solemnly swear that you will sup- port the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Iowa, and that you will faithfully and impar- tially discharge the duties of husband and wife to the best of your ability, and never apply for a divorce, here or elsewhere, so help you God— $2.50, please." This, though a little out of form, unquestionably was strong enough for all practical purposes. 106 HISTORY OF HAEEISON OOUMTY. John Rogers, (not the one burned at Stnithfield) of Cass town- ship, being elected to the position of Justice of the Peace in 1864, like many other persons when elected to office, determined to make the office and personage as exalted as possible, was at one time called upon by Isaiah Dungan to act as a court in the collection of a claim against a man by the name of Wilson, whose initials were not known, but whose residence was on a little stream called the "Pigeon." Notice was issued by the court and the case entitled, "Isaiah Dungan against the youngest Wilson on the Pigeon." The day set for trial arrived, and Court, to be certain that his court was convened in due and legal form, before proceeding with the case, passed out of the door of his cabin, climbed to the highest rail on his fence in front of the cabin, and at the top of his voice, said; " Hear ye, hear ye, the Honorable Court of the Hon. John Rogers will begin business in mighfly short meter; come if you want to." The case being thus called the court proceeded to hear the evidence of the plaintiff, when a young scion of the court came to the father and attempted to climb upon his knee, whereupon the court addressed the offending youngster, by saying: " Sonny, stand away; keep off; you retard the administration of justice, besides you are bother- ing his Honor, this ere court." The evidence being heard, the court entered the following judgment, viz. : " It is hereby found that plaintiff git of the defendant, the youngest Wilson on the Pigeon, the sum of ten dollars and six bits and my costs, and the next case is the 'dog case,' " which was a cause set for hear- ing the same day, in which the question to be determined was the value of a " puppy dog," three weeks old, which had been confiscated by one boy from another. Hon. L, R. Bolter and P. D. Mickel, at and during the first half of the sixties, tried a case before a county justice by the name of Isaiah Dungan, on the east side of the county, wherein the pivotal point in the case rested on the time of the happen- ing of a certain event. It was necessary for Mr. Bolter to show HISTORY OF HARRISON COTTNTT. 107 that such event happened at and on Christmas day, or his case was lost. To prove this circumstance Mr. B. put on the witness stand a man by the name of Draper, who testified that he knew the matter to have taken place before Christmas — when Mr. M. in cross-examination urged the witness to tell how he knew that the act took place before that time; to which the witness replied: " I know it took place before Christmas, because it took place on the 27th of December, and any fool knows that the 27th of December is just before Christmas." Mickel now thought he had his man, and that the backbone of plaintiff's case was broken, and when it came to the argument of the case to the jury, and when the case had been argued by Mr. B., the first sentences uttered by Mr. M. in opening his argument, were these, viz.: "Great God! Gentlemen of the Jury. How can you place any confidence in the statements of the witness Draper? That man Draper is either an unmitigated liar or else a profound ignoramus. Can you believe any man who is so supremely ignorant as not to know the day on which Jesus Christ was mur- dered? " This was a heroic dose dished out to the jury, and as a result Mr. B. won his case; but the sequel showed that Bolter had a willful and malicious intent towards Mickel, even after distancing him in the trial of this case, because he sent Mickel down to stay all night with Eldridge Graham, while he took up his evening quarters at the home of a Mr. Smith, near by, where the beds were good and the food eatable. On the next morning Mr. Bolter drove around to see how Mickel was getting along, and coming in sight of the Graham mansion, saw Mickel stand- ing a few rods from the door, and as soon as Bolter came up, addressed him in this language: " Bolter, you have been guilty of conduct unbecoming a lawyer and Democrat. You infernal hound, you have sent me to a place inhabited, and where the entire family have the itch.'''' Apologies were offered and inno- cence urged, whereat the parties became reconciled. Captain Wm. M. Hill, who for along time in the early days 108 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. acted as clerk of the courts, had some pretensions to a knowl-. edge of the law, and would take cases and attempt to try them before what he called " prairie courts." In the trial of a case before Sam Sharpneck, a Justice of the Peace in and for Clay township, Hill appeared for the defendant, Michael Wallace, and Joe Smith appeared for himself; this ante-dating the present law permitting parties to the action testifying, the case being brought upon a book account. Hill, when Smith produced his book, and was about to testify to the correctness of the account, objected to Smith testifying, and based the objection on the ex- ceptions to the provisions of section 2388, of the Code of 1851, viz.: "But an Indian, negro, mulatto or black person shall not be allowed to give evidence in any cause wherein a white person is a party." "Now," says Hill, after reading the exception, " look at Smith and determine if the objection is not well taken." The court inspected the plaintiff and attorney, and sustained the objection; whereupon Smith hurled a copy of the Code at Hill's head, telling him if he would again open his face he would land, the Code in his stomach, and thereby he would have more law than he ever had. A small row was then in being, when Levi Motz interfered, catching each by the collar, restored order; and the court, without any evidence, rendered judgment for the plain- tiff for half the amount of the claim. In the selection of a jury, in the case of the State of Iowa vs. James Long, brought from Shelby county on change of venue, a long, gaunt fellow, from " Sandy Point," was called into the jury box and interrogated, on his voir dire, as to his qualification to act as a juror in said case. Among other questions put to him touching his competency, the following was propounded: Question by the attorney: '' Are you of foreign birth, or are you a native-born citizen?" Answer by juror: " No, sir; I'm a Missourian." The juror was by both parties excused. A case was being tried before a certain justice in the " Gumbo " HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 109 district, on the south side of the county, the parties to the action heing Seth Chase, plaintiff, vs. Mary Case, defendant. The plain- tiff having introduced his evidence, and the defendant but one witness — the defendant having testified in her own behalf; her testimony being somewhat damaging to the plaintiff, the plain- tiff attempted to impeach her, and in this attempt called a cer- tain witness on the stand, and propounded the usual interroga- tories respecting such conditions, among which questions and answers the following was had, viz. : By the attorney : " Mr. D., are you acquainted with the defend- ant's reputation for truth and veracity, in the neighborhood in which she lives?" Witness: "Well, Squire, she'd tell the truth; but about her veracity, some say she would, and some say she wouldn't.''^ One more citation and I will close this already too lengthy subject. It is this: At a certain election a certain individual was elected to the exalted position of Justice of the Peace, and' be- tween the day of election and the first Monday in January fol- lowing, the time when they appeared before the county judge and qualified, there appeared before this "quasi" court two indi- viduals, a gentleman and lady, and requested the official to marry them. He had some compunctions of conscience at first, and was not really settled in his mind whether at and during this " ad interim " he was clothed with sufficient legal authority to pronounce the ceremony; but a legal friend at his elbow sug- gested that he could marry them ;now, and when he had " qual- ified " he could date the marriage certificate back, and no harm would be done. This counsel was accepted as a legal verity, and the marriage, so far as the saying of the ceremony was concerned by the court, and the assent of the pair uniting their destinies by this act, was to the satisfaction of all considered consummated, when the bride demanded a marriage certificate; whereupon the court gave one, being nearly in the words following, viz. : 110 HISTOET OF HAKEISON COtWTT. ' " This is to certify that Mr. A. B. and Miss C. D. appeared before me this . . day of , 1858, and wanted to git married; whereupon I then and there properly, legally and solemnly pro- nounced to you the marriage ceremony, which you both gladly assented to. This, then, is to permit you to live in this town- ship and do as old folks do, until I get qualified, and when that occurs I will give you a certificate, and date it back to this date, so as to kiver accidents." (Signed) B....W J. P. Dated A. D. 1858. POST KOADS AND POST KOUTES, As well as mail facilities, were luxuries which the early settler did not anticipate, and no matter as to the anticipation, if anticipated, the bottom soon fell out of the anticipation on arriving and settling. From the date of the selecting of the first claim in the county, viz. : in the early spring of 1847, up to and until the month of June, 1855. there was not a postofiBce in the entire county. There were here at that time not less than one thousand of a population, and the nearest postoffice Kanesville, or as now known, Council Bluffs; and this under a Democratic administra- tion. From 1847 to 1855 the only means of obtaining letters from the far off home in the east or from the " faderland," was to patiently wait until the spirit moved some adventurous mind in the neighborhood to journey to Council Bluffs, and while there if perchance he thought of it, call at the office, and having ob- tained the letters or newspaper, carry them to the person addressed in the crown of his hat. The only mail sack used for eight years after the first settlement was the hat-crown route, which during the days of cheap " non-prohibition," very often failed to be on time and make timely connection. During the month of June, 1855, the Western Stage Company put on a daily line of hacks between Council Bluffs and Sioux City, which event was hailed with more delight than was the HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. Ill puffing of the locomotive as the railroad train swept grandly down the Boyer valley in 1866, connecting Chicago via Clinton and Cedar Rapids with Council Bluffs and Omaha, and the govern- ment, at the time of the establishment of said hack line, con- tracted with the stage company to supply the different places along the route with a daily mail. Upon the happening of the above there were only three postoffices in the entire county, viz. : Magnolia, Calhoun and Pontainebleau, the latter being the name of the office at the place where Col. Cochran now occupies as a farm, a little distance up the Little Sioux river, on the same side on which the village of the same name is now located. This Western Stage Company at this time was more arbitrary and dignified than the railroads of the present day, and scarcely had they made a dozen trips by way of Magnolia until Brown, Meeches, and divers other persons of Calhoun, sub- sidized the company, and the result was that the county seat at Magnolia was " star routed " and supplied by a side mail from her rival, Calhoun, and subsequently furnished by a by-path from the old " Oaks Station " at the foot of the bluffs, at the point where Allen creek debouches into and is lost in the Mis- souri bottoms. This treatment to the people of Magnolia was accepted as an unpardonable insult, and to make up for this defect, they went earnestly to work building churches, school houses, a court house, and by these means out rivaled their enemy ; for be it known, that Calhoun, though more than thirty years old has never possessed sufficient religious enthusiasm to have a church building; dispensing with this, she has fallen into inoc- uous desuetude; the other, though a distance of six miles from railroad, telegraph or telephone, still holds a hand unnerved by time or other adverse circumstances. The town of Fontainebleau, or La Ponteur's town, having been laid out contrary to the wishes and expectations of the original settlers o£ the vicinity of the place, and the obtainment of the postoffice at that place, precipitated the building of a bridge 112 HISTOEY OF HAEKISON COUNTT. across the Little Sioux river near the site where the present bridge is now located at the town of Little Sioux, and as soon as this was completed, Hon. Thos. B. Neely, S. W. Condit, David Garnet, et al., all being grade Democrats, brought their united strength to bear upon the department at W^ashington, and had the postoffice changed from Fontainebleau to Little Sioux. The travel then turned from the foot of the bluifs across the Little Sioux river at Little Sioux town, and from this place on north to Ashton, then the county seat of Monona county. This circumstance happen- ing in 1857, the postoffice has remained at the latter place ever since. Fontainebleau lapsed back into her virgin condition and now constitutes a part of one of the best farms in the county. The town of St. Johns, on the left bank of the Boyer river, nearly opposite the present site of Missouri Valley, being laid out in the summer of 1857, soon after birth began to assume metro- politan airs, and by the spring of 1858 had sufficient settle- ment and population to be entitled to postal facilities, and then, as now, the inhabitants being largely of the Democratic political faith, demanded of the bachelor President, James Buchanan, the establishment of a postoffice at that place, which request, as soon as received, was promptly granted, and the Western Stage Com- pany were ordered to supply this place with mail facilities, which was accordingly done, until Missouri Valley swallowed up the sur- rounding country and made such changes that a postoffice at the old town was no longer needed. In the month of May, 1858, two additional routes were let and put in operation, viz.: One from Magnolia to Adel in Dallas county, passing through by way of Butler's Mills, Olmstead, thence to Galland's Grove at Shelbyville, the then seat of justice of Shelby county, and on east through Audubon and Guthrie counties to the terminus last named. At this time postoffices were established at Butler's Mills and Olmstead, and supplied semi-weekly. Several individuals of recent settlement in the county have inquired as to the origin of the name of the HISTOEY or HAEEISON OOUNTT. 113 town of Woodbine, and why so named. In reply I will say, as did old Adam in the garden of Eden, when a certain question was propounded to him, "A woman did it." Mr. L. D. Butler at this time was the owner of and resided with his family at the Butler Mills, and in the spring of 1858, when the question was asked " what shall be the name of our postoffice," Mrs. Butler, who was born in merry old England, and had never forgotten the clusters of woodbine that ran up and clambered around the doors and windows of the old far off home, promptly requested that she should be permitted to name the new postoffice, and when assent was given, she promptly gave the same the name of Woodbine, in consequence of the conditions last above stated. This line was so changed in 1863 as to leave Wood- bine and Manteno off the route, and ran from Magnolia to Whitesboro — then a postoffice; thence to Jeddo, Jason Z.Hunt postmaster; thence direct to Havlan and on to Adel as above stated. Henry Olmstead, who settled in the spring of 1857, at the place where this postoffice was established, had the place or office named after himself, but upon the completion of the Chi- cago & Northwestern railroad down the Boyer, this office was discontinued, and the mail sent to this office was ordered to be sent to Dunlap. The other line, established in 1858, as before stated, had its initial point at Magnolia, and ran semi-weekly towards the west, to De Soto, in Washington county, Nebraska, a distance of quite thirty-five miles by the route then traveled, and many of the settlers of that time will yet remember the " carry-all " of Mr. Jerome Seely, who at that time was the servant of the Demo- cratic administration which compelled him to wade, swim or boat the country through from the edge of the bluffs on the Iowa side so as to land the United States mails safely on the Nebraska side at the place of destination at any bluff where there was sufficient dry land to afford opportunity for distribu- 8 114 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. tion. These routes were continued until the running of mails on the cars on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, and on the S. C. & Pacific railroad, a circumstance which took place in 1866-7. At the inception of the year 1864, the postal department established a post-route from Council Bluffs via Crescent City, Harris Grove, Reeder's Mills, Woodbine, Manteno, and from thence to Olmstead and then on to Ft. Dodge. The first contractor on this route was one James Billings, known by all persons as " Laughing Jim," (the music o£ whose laughter was more forcible than elegant), which provided for a semi- weekly service and continued up to 1866. In 1863 there was also established a weekly route from Mag- nolia to Smithland on the south line of Woodbury county, fur- nishing Preparation, Mt. Pisgah, Belvidere and Castana with postal facilities, which continued up to and until 1867, at the time the Sioux City road began the carrying of the mails. In the fall of 1866, at the time at which the C. & N. W. rail- road began her regular trips down the Boyer Valley and had reached Council Bluffs, the Western stage from the last named place to Sioux City was dispensed with so far as the Magnolia mail was concerned, and Magnolia was supplied with mails from Woodbine by a daily service run and operated by George R. and Orville Brainard, which service was continued up to and until a postoffice was established at Logan, which was in the fall of 1867. And here let it be remembered that the railroads, with all their boasted magnanimity, passed and repassed the town of Logan for nearly one year from the time of the first trip, before any mails were given off for the accommodation of the citizens of the community. Not until there were orders from the postal department of a peremptory character, did this neighborhood receive any benefits from this important factor of the Government. From 1867 up to the present Magnolia has been supplied with a daily mail from Logan, a place which is the depot of, or the HISTOEY OF HAEEISON OOTINTr. 115 greatest distributing point in Harrison county. From this place at the present, the mails for one fourth of the county, at the present, are separated and forwarded to the places of destination. Here all the mail matter for Reeder.'s Mills, Valley View, Persia, Needmore, Beebetown and Magnolia is sacked and forwarded to the respective places of destination. The Calhoun, Whitesboro, Jeddo, Raglan and Harris Grove postofi&ces are discontinued, and in lieu of the old order of things, Dunlap, Woodbine, and Mis- souri Valley are furnished with four mails per day, viz. : two east and two west, alternating morning and evening, so that no better accommodation could now be had either as to the times of mails or gentility of the postmasters. While this is a Demo- cratic administration, no more competent man ever filled the position of postmaster than Doc. Massie, the present official at Logan. California Junction, Modale, Mondamin, River and Little Sioux are equally accommodated in this respect, and all goes merry as a marriage bell. If the reader will pardon a little digression I will relate the thoughts of a few of the " gentler sex " on the old order of postoffices and time of getting letters as to the early days of western Iowa : " Why," says one, " I could never wait for my fellow to go thirty-five miles to a postoffice to obtain my letters, carry them home and then travel a distance of thirty-five miles more to mail the answer — think of the poor fellow travelling 140 miles .to hear from me and answer my let- ters — this life is too short for such circumlocution." The other said, " I would go to my male by the most direct mail route and stay." LIFE OK THE PKAIEIE In the years 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854, and up to 1866, was very different from that of the present day. At the present date, little if any difference exists between the advan- tages of the Slope counties and that of the most refined location of the most fastidious East. But do the people of the present 116 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTT. for one moment think of the embarrassments, barren privileges, isolations from society and hardships the fathers and mothers were compelled to endure while this part of the country was merging from nature's primitive state into that of civilization, a crystalization of society? How many of the present generation would be willing to forego the pleasures and comforts of home and go on a pilgrimage of seventy miles to procure a half bushel of seed corn, so as to have something to place in Mother Earth, in order to have the roasting ear, or when the same became ripened by the lapse of time into the full-fledged ear; then when ripe for the sickle, to pluck the same and then return, either on foot or by ox team the same distance, viz. : seventy miles, in order to have the same crushed into meal to be used for corn dodger, hoe-cake or mush . Daniel Brown, Uriah Hawkins, E. T. Hardin, Ira Perjue, Ezra Vincent, Lucius Merchant, George Blackman, Amos Chase, the father of the Cutler boys, Jerry Motz, Levi Motz, George Mefford, John Jeffrey, and all others who settled in this county prior to 1853, were by force of circumstances compelled to go to Coolidge's rbill on the Pigeon, which was two miles north of the town of Crescent City, or to Coonsville (now known as Glenwood), in order to have any meal ground by the process now in opera- tion. A biscuit of wheaten bread was a luxury that the parents and children of that day and generation did not aspire to, and in case there were such a delicacy as a loaf of wheat bread or a dish of wheat biscuit set upon the table, the immediate inquiry from the children was. Where did this come from, or Who has been married ? Up to the year of 1855 there was not a flouring mill north of the Pigeon, and the only mill north of Council Bluffs at and during the year of 1854 was the one known as the Coolidge mill, just up the bluffs from Cresent City, which was in 1854 pur- chased of Coolidge by one William Reel, a brother to Henry Eeel, who is now a resident of Logan, and built and ran the mill ^ISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 117 near to Logan, known all through the country, for twenty years, as Reel's Mills. Mr. George Blackman, as well as all others who resided here prior to 1854, had quite a gala day in going and returning from mill. The ox team was the propelling power of transportation, and when the Willow, Boyer, or Pigeon was reached, there being at that time no bridges, the ax in the hand of the driver felled the tree across the unbridged stream, the oxen were unyoked and made to swim the river, the wagon taken in pieces and carried by main strength and awkwardness across on the impromptu bridge as well as the grist, and this modus operandi, ad infinitum, until the mill was reached and the return home was consummated. The covered wagon was the car of the prairie, in which the fam- ily and goods pertaining to household affairs were transported, and this was rigged with as much care as to room and comfort as the present palace car. Every nook, cranny or corner was utilized, for those who have experienced this modus of travel say that it is surprising into what smallness of space a small family of ten or fifteen can be stowed away by the experienced conductor or conductoress. These trains, though not traversing more than ten to twenty miles per day, at some time in life generally struck the terminus of the route, yet with all the slowness of the journey, many there are of the present day who would prefer to travel by this kind of conveyance rather than by the rapid going of the lightning train which measures the distances by hours rather than by miles. The constant change of scenery, as well as the independence of owning a person's own train and making out their own time table, possessed a charm fully appreciated by the old-timers of 1847 to 1866. The bill of fare at and during the time last named did not cover the space and contain the Frenchified airs of the present, for at that time a saddle of venison, a cup of cold water, a quarter sec- tion of baked squash and a good hoe-cake, filled the cup of bless- 118 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. ings, and they who subsisted on these were as brave, whole- souled, brawny men as ever located in a new country, shouldered the rifle and built and defended the cabin. All settlers up to the fall of 1853 were, as just before stated, compelled to go to Coolidge's mill or Reel's mill, on the Pigeon, or if there were too many ahead of the party lately arriving, then there was no alternative but to push on to Coonsville (now Glen- wood) and there court the smiles of Dame Fortune. These trips to the mill scarcely ever were completed sooner than a week or ten days, but when the rations of corn meal or the little sack of wheat flour did come, it was far more appreciated than at this date. At and during the fall of 1853, Stephen Mahoney and Jonas W. Chatburn attached a kind of corn cracker to their saw mill, located on the Willow, and during the latter part of a cer- tain day began the grinding of corn. This was hailed as a great benefit to the country, but scarcely had they pulverized a half score of bushels till they were called to supper by their good wives and treated to a nice dish of corn bread, the first ground by the new mill, and as soon as the meal was completed they again returned to the mill to furnish meal for other families, who, like themselves, were anticipating a morsel of this luxury, when returning, to their horror, the infernal wolves had broken the connection between the cracker and the power, by eating the raw hides which had been used as belting. This misfortune caused many a boy to dispense with his corn "dodger" until such times as the proprietors of this merchant mill could butcher another cow and stretch and dry the hide, so as to make desired connection with the corn cracker and saw mill. In the month of December, of the same year, Mr. Henry Reel had his mill on the Boyer, being the same which Mr. James McCoid now owns and operates, in running order, and this gave to all the people on the east of the Boyer and north a chance to get meal, which at that time was run night and day to supply the demands. HISTOET OF HAEKISON COUNTY. 119 At the time Mr. Henry Reel settled here in 1852, there was not another white settler between the present site of Logan town and the residence or tract of land on the Boyer, known as the Joe Hill place, in Pottawattamie county, except the location made by William Dakan, on what is now known as the Joe Culver farm, not far from the old town of St. Johns, on the east side of the Boyer. There was not at the time last named another settler on the Boyer between this location and the north pole; neither were the Pigeon, Boyer, Willow, Soldier or the Little Sioux rivers bridged except during the winter, when nature furnished bridges at little tax to the settlers. In the fall of 1856 Mr. Reel so far improved his mills as to grind wheat, and from that time up to the present the process of swimming rivers to procure milling has been dispensed with. In the fall of 1855 and spring of 1856 Mr. L. D. Butler and a Mr. Coolidge built a mill at or near Woodbine, and this, together with one erected and put in operation on the Willow by Mr. James Hardy and Jake Huffman, in 1856, placed Harrison county so far as milling facilities were concerned, far ahead of any of the sister counties of the slope. Away back in 1856 and 1857 it was as good as attending a circus to listen to Mr. L. D. Butler and Jake Huffman joke each other about the different ways they manipulated the grists of their patrons so as to leave the unfortunate owner a little of the grist and all of the sack. This, though only a war of words, would oftentimes warm up to such a degree of intensity that those not acquainted with the men would suppose that they were about to devour each other. Some one attempting to write a history of Harrison county has said that the saw mill of Maho- ney & Chatburn, at Magnolia, was the first mill in the county to saw a plank, but there are others who claim that the mill built on the Willow, near Calhoun, antedated that of Mahoney & Chatburn. As to this fact I will not now attempt a decision, from the fact that such a circumstance would not at this day 120 HISTORY OF HAEKISON COUNTY. and generation be used as a political fact in the election of a president or in the establishment of a church. In 1853 two men, by the names of Greenman and Allen, con- structed a mill on Allen creek, just west of Magnolia, which proved to be a sort of thundergust arrangement, and would only run for a short time after a rain, because of lack of water, and just below this a mill frame was put up by Jacob Huffman. This never was completed, but was taken down by Hardy and Huffman and rebuilt on the Willow as before mentioned. Owen Thorpe built a saw mill on Six Mile creek in 1856, and at the same time old Grandfather William Reeder erected one on the same creek thtee or four miles further down. These, though not manufacturing lumber with the rapidity which the steam mills of the present do, still for a new county the same served an excellent purpose. At this age these old "up and down " saw mills, in which the saw rose with the sun and set when the sun went down, would tire the patience of "Young America " because of the fast conditions and brevity of human life. As to the hardships of frontier life I cannot better represent the same, than by giving the statements, verbatim, as given me by Mrs. Sally Young, the oldest woman in the neighborhood of Logan, and who has continuously resided in the vicinity ever since the summer of 1850. Mrs. Young is the widow of David Young, deceased; and is the mother, grand-mother or great- grand-mother of the entire Young family: " We located in this county in 1850, and here found, as we thought, the garden of Eden, a vast prairie of beautiful flowers and a great abundance of wild fruits. At this time the country was very thinly settled, our nearest neighbors being six miles away; the nearest trading point Council Bluffs; nearest mill seventeen miles, and flour sixteen dollars per barrel and groceries quite as expensive. By 1851 our provisions were nearly ex- hausted, and the water in the Pigeon being so low they could HISTOEF OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 121 not crack corn, we were compelled to grate all our meal on corn graters made out of old tin, but we had a large supply of meat, including venison, prairie hens, wild turkeys, etc., etc. " We were told, when moving here, that we could not keep horses because the flies were so bad, and we traded our horses for oxen, and when we arrived on the Boyer we found the state- ment to be true, for the flies were so numerous and so plentiful that we could not work the oxen in the heat of the day, when the flies were bad, for they would have been eaten up, and only escaped by hiding themselves in the thickets, and when night came we would have teams hitched up and do our work after dark. The mosquitoes were very bad, and during all of the summer time we were compelled to keep a smoke in the house from sunset until the following morning, so as to keep these insects away. Wolves were quite plenty and very troublesome, for at the middle of a certain day two attacked a yearling calf near our door, and one of the boys ran out with the gun and shot one while the rascal was trying to kill the calf. " I, on my way to the county, had bought a pair of chickens, and in the first fall after locating here a lynx came nearly to the house and tried to carry away the old hen, but the dog rescued her twice, but Mr. Lynx, at the third trial, was determined and finally made a Methodist supper on old ' Speckle.' " The deer were doubly as numerous as wolves, for I could look out of our door at most any time of day and see a herd of them peacefully grazing on the prairies. No bridges, then, on the Boyer; each man made his own bridge, by felling a tree across the stream for his own convenience. Our first home was a little log shanty, covered with puncheons split out of the log with the axe, and the chimney was made of sods. Notwithstanding all that I have said, I do think that these few first years we settled here were the happiest of our lives, because we were anxious to get homes and care for our families, which at times were quite numer- 122 HISTORY OF HABEISON COUNTY. ous, and these cares took up all our time, so that we did not have time to think of hardships or dangers. " With all the deprivations of the early days, viewed from this standpoint of quite forty years, there was much to brighten and cheer the settler, from the fact that there were oceans of game, tons upon tons of summer and fall acids, in the shape of plums, grapes, early strawberries, together with a hundred things of which time and space prohibit present mention. " The thousands of deer which roamed up and down the val- leys, crossed from valley to vale by the very many runways, these to be had at the little cost of shooting and dressing, gave to the larder all, yea, perhaps better than is now experienced by many, who at the present live in this, what is now termed the land of plenty. Great droves of wild turkeys lined the skirts and inter- ior of every timber track, and honey was far more plentiful then than now." Mr. Richard Musgrave of Twelve Mile Grove, Horatio Cay- wood, Daniel Brown, Levi Motz, Jerry Motz, George Blackman, Nephi Yocum, and the Alexander boys, all tell me that at many times the eye taking in the landscape from some little promon- tory would often see as many as two or three hundred deer at a time; would look somewhat like unto a flock or flocks of sheep, all quietly grazing until some old sentinel would give the alarm, when the entire herd would flee with a fleetness for which these timid creatures are so noted. A turkey roast could be had as often as the appetite craved this luxury. In fact the palate was so often regaled by this magnificent diet that the same ceased to be a luxury and at many times became insipid by reason of its bounteousness. The only bear killed or seen in the county was in the winter of 1857 and 1858. It was killed by George Gay wood in the willows in Clay township. 'Tis said that George was the most thor- oughly frightened hunter, at the time he killed the big monster, that ever captured a coon or shot a deer. The circumstances of HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 123 the killing were these : he had been out in the willows which abound so plentifully in that township, all the afternoon of the day, killing wild-cats; his hounds gave tongue, and he, supposing that they had a cat at bay, crept carefully up to the place indi- cated by the dogs, and by reason of the denseness of these willow glades, was within fifteen feet of Mr. Bruin, before he saw the game or the bear saw him. As soon as the bear saw the hunter he rose on his hind feet and in this erect position charged the hunter, when Cay wood, who was so badly frightened that he could scarcely hold his gun, managed to cock and bring the same to his face and fired. He threw down his firearm, ran like a canine to which a can had been attached to his " narrative " for home, a distance of two miles, and told the father and Frank what he had seen and done. The night being then well developed, they all waited until the morning light and then set out for the hunt- ing ground; when arriving at the spot they found the bear dead, and when drawn home it weighed something over 300 pounds. On inspection of the animal, it was found that Caywood had made a capital shot and had perforated the heart of the bear. Many assertions have been made in regard to the presence of the larger game, viz.: buffalo, elk, etc., since the organization of the county in 1853, and no person has hugged the truth as closely as George Musgrave (editor of the Logan Observer), who in 1851 was but a beardless boy and settled with his father, Mr. Uichard Musgrave, in the valley of the Boyer,in Boyer township. This question being under discussion, the following is from the able and racy pen of this veteran editor. It was produced in the columns of the Logan Observer of date of March 6, 1887: "the last BUFFALO. "Reference has been made in the papers to the killing of a buffalo in this county, which occurred about the year 1863, and when alluded to it is spoken of as ' the last of its species ever killed in Harrison county,' which is true enough. But it is also 124 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. true that it was the first buffalo ever killed or seen by any white man, so far as there is any record or proof, inside of this county. The year 1850 is about as early as any settlement is known to have been made in this county, prior to which it was entirely uninhabited and almost unvisited by white men, and yet not one of these first settlers has ever been found who has ever seen or heard of any one claiming to have seen buffaloes here. In 1851 there were plenty of elk and deer, with evidences of their having inhabited these parts for years past, their horns being thickly strewn over the virgin prairies everywhere, in all stages of per- fection and decay. But such evidence of the presence of buffalo was rarely found, which convinces the writer that the home of the king of the plains has been wholly west of the Missouri for the past seventy-five j'^ears at least. The one alluded to as the ' last ever seen here,' was first discovered near the Beyer river in Boyer township, a short distance north of the farm of Josiah Coe. A few of the neighbors got after it on horseback and gave chase in an easterly direction, pursuing it very closely for five or six miles. They chased it around the east side of Twelve Mile Grove, across the farms of Matthew Hall and George Mefford, over on to the south branch of the Picayune, where G. W. Pugs- ley then resided, who happened to be standing in the door of his cabin and saw the horsemen driving the huffalo before them directly towards him. Seizing his rifle he stepped out, and when the buffalo approached within a few rods and stopped, nearly exhausted, he drew a bead and fortunately brought the noble fellow down, when but a few seconds elapsed ere his pursuers were all around and on top of him. Thus the last and first buffalo was dispatched. The writer ate a share of the meat. At this time we thought the county pretty well settled. The elk had all dis- appeared years before and the sight of a deer had become a rare curiosity. Where this buffalo came from remains a mystery, but it had evidently strayed from the herd at least a hundred miles away. None were then known to approach nearer than fifty or HISTORY OF HARBISON COTJNTT. 125 seventy-five miles to the Missouri river from the western plains beyond, where at that time countless thousands of them roamed, almost unmolested." In numerous places in the county, even at present, large quan- tities of the bones of buffalo are found; usually in and near what were formerly marshy places, and along the little creeks where the banks are constantly bdng washed away by the fresh- ets of the country or where the banks are caving in by reason of the frosts and atmospheric agencies. Mr. Jacob Stern tells me of fishing out of a spring along some of the little branches in Harris Grove, about the year 1858, a very large buffalo skull, which from its appearance indicated that it had laid covered up in that place for a long time. Also Mr. William Frazier, an old veteran of the Mexican war, and who has been a resident of this county for the past thirty-three years, informs me that near his residence, a short distance from the place known as " Reeder's Mills," there is a small stream, in the banks of which the soil is full of bones of this animal, so much so that the attention of all is called to the peculiar characteristics, and wonder how this particular spot should contain so many bones. This undoubt- edly was, some time in the past, a very marshy place, and from the manner in which these bones are placed, would indicate that the animals had mired and the skeletons have remained from that date to the present intact. Plentiful as were the deer and elk at the beginning of settle- ment, they have faded out of existence entirely in the State of Iowa at the present; but up to the winter of 1856 and 1857 — a winter which is known by all the old settlers as the " hard win- ter " — they were so abundant that they were scarcely considered as a luxury or even a necessity as a family diet. On the 3d day of December, 1856, a little snow began falling in the morn- ing, increasing in force from minute to minute for three days, and to the fall of the snow was added that terrible gain twist that Iowa winds can produce, and this of such force that neither 126 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. man nor beast could find the path or highway for twenty rods, and lasting as above stated for seventy-two hours without a par- ticle of intermission, heaped and drove the snow high above and over every obstacle, the particles of snow, frozen as hard as the hardest diamonds, cut and drifted into every nook, crevice and cranny, so that when the winds had subsided there was found to be quite a four foot depth of snow all over the county. This great snow-fall being in two or three weeks supplemented by a two days' drizzling rain, and this again freezing, left this surface so encrusted with ice that men, dogs and wolves could travel as readily as though upon the bare surface of Mother Earth, but alas for the poor deer and elk! they were left at the mercy of man, Indian and wolf, for every attempt to flee found them leaping into drifts of snow to the depths above stated, and these encrusted with ice so strong as to bear up a man, the icy surface cut their limbs so that they were wholly at the mercy of every foe. Hundreds of deer were butchered through pure wanton- ness, and nearly exterminated at this period. THE BEAVEK. The beaver (castor, cuv), a fur bearing amphibious animal of the rodent or gnawing order (rodenta). The beaver has the head compressed, with an unbroken line of profile from occiput to muzzle; two large incisors and eight molars in each jaw, with large and powerful muscles, regulating the movements of the inferior jaw; eyes disproportionately small and vision of short range; ears very small but hearing acute; sense of smell power- ful; body short between the fore and hind legs, broad, heavy and clumsy; length when full grown, from end of nose to tip of tail, three feet six inches; weight from thirty to forty pounds. The fore feet of the beaver are digitigrade and the hinder ones plantigrade. The paws are small in proportion to the animal. In swimming they are not used and are folded under the body; but they are capable of some rotary movement, which enables the HI8T0ET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 127 beaver to handle and carry sticks, limbs of trees, mud and stones, and to use his paws as hands while sitting up or walking on his hind legs. The hind feet are the propelling power in swim- ming, and the feet are fully webbed to the root of the claws. The most conspicuous organ, the tail, is from ten to eleven inches long and five and a half broad, nearly flat, straight and covered with black horny scales. The common error that the tail is the beaver's trowel is confuted by the fact that the animal always uses mud and soft earth as mortar, but it serves as a pounder to pack mud and earth in constructing lodges and dams, is used in swimming as a scull, assists in diving, and by striking a powerful blow, the report of which can be heard at a distance of half a mile, it gives an alarm; while the strong muscles enables the beaver when standing erect to use the tail as a prop. The female brings forth from two to six young in May and weans them in six weeks. For commercial purposes, besides its fur, the beaver furnishes captoreum, a secretion used in medicine as an antispasmodic, and its flesh is much esteemed as food by trappers and Indians. The beaver is social, pairs and brings up a family to maturity, and sometimes two or more families inhabit the same pond. The common supposition that beavers live in villages or colonies is erroneous. All the inhabitants may assist in constructing or repairing the common dam, but each family has its own lodge, and burrows and lays in its own supply of provisions for the winter. As their work is carried on by night, little is actually known of their methods except from the examination of what they effect. These peculiar, industrious and harmless animals, as far back as the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, were very numerous along all the streams in the county. The Sol- dier in 1856 and 1857 was an especial resort and home for them. At a point directly in front of the residence of Mr. Abraham 128 HISTOET OP HAERISON COUNTY. Ritchison, in Taylor township, in 1856 and 1857, there were trees then standing on the left bank of the Soldier river that were more than two-thirds gnawed off by these little fellows, ^ome of the trees being sixteen inches in diameter, and the place where the cutting was done looked like some carpenter had tried to fell the trees by the use of a sort of gouge, the marks of their teeth being plainly seen. Here at this place and a short distance below, dams were constructed with as much architectural neat- ness as though planned and executed by the most skillful human hand. Who of the readers of these thoughts ever saw a beaver slide? if not, they could find a reproduction thereof by visiting a swimming place of the boys of the period, constructed by them during a summer's vacation. The Willow has ever been the home of a family of beavers, for since the time of the first settlement along this stream, near the present residences of Michael Doyle and Dr. J. H. Rice, in Calhoun town- ship, each year these curious little fellows have built a dam in this river at this place. Cottonwood, willow and box-elder have been by them felled and carried into the said stream of such size as would astonish any person not acquainted with the habits of these animals. As late as 1886 a very large beaver was killed at the place last named, and being of such monstrous size, the same was shipped to Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, by young Mr. W. G. Rice, and when received there was, by the professors of that institution, skinned and mounted. It was a very handsome specimen and highly prized by the professors. During the past winter (1887) six large, healthy, full-grown ones have been cap- tured at this place, and still the family is not exterminated. In the early days of the county the beavers were so plenty that the skins were not so prized as at the present day, for then it was no uncommon sight to see a man wearing a beaver vest, cap, over- coat and mittens. The Butler boys at Woodbine during the past winter have captured more than twenty of these fur-bear- HISTOET OF HARBISON COUNTY. 129 ing animals in the Boyer since January, and I am informed that there are a goodly number still along this river and its tributa- ries. " A quarter of a century ago the beavers were very numerous along Harris Grove creek, and gave the supervisors great annoy- ance to the public road from being flooded by their dams, on the^ farm now owned by John Reed. If the dams were cut away in the daytime, the beavers would build them up at night. Arnold Divilbess and Tom Reed were two ambitious boys at that time. They volunteered to help the supervisors out of their beaver dam trouble. They constructed a hiding place on the creek and proposed to sit up with the beavers one night. With rifles in hand they kept a quiet watch, but no beavers were seen that night. Then the supervisor hired some old trappers to come and give them attention, and they made it pay well, and soon cleaned out the beavers. The beavers had cut down over one hundred willow trees at that time near the creek, some of the trees ten inches in diameter. I picked up a willow stick four feet long, something larger than a walking stick, to show the children the clear cut marks of the beaver's teeth. It was thrown aside and after a month or two it was seen to be sprout- ing, and was stuck in the ground near the old well. In a few years it grew to be a tree of large proportions, measuring five feet in circumference around the butt. It may yet be seen on the old farm at Linnwood. The beaver is not apt to cut down very large trees or try to dam very large streams. But a mar- velous story is told of their cutting a cottonwood tree on the banks of the Boyer, west of Longman's farm, about twenty inches in diameter, and it fell right across the deep river, and was used by neighbors as a foot-log for some time, it being three or four miles up or down the stream to a bridge. It was sup- posed the beavers intended to try and dam the river, but found the water too deep for them. " The beaver is the best fur-bearing animal in the world. The 9 130 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. Dutch West India company began the trade in America in 1824. They exported that year 400 skins; in 1743 the Hudson Bay company exported 150,000 skins. During the years 1854, 1855 and 1856, this company sold in London 627,655 skins. In order to protect this profitable business, a law was made that after a season's hunting and trapping on a given territory, no more hunting and trapping should be done there for five years. But it is not possible for the beaver to recover its former number in any region. The value of the beaver fur and skin may be esti- mated from the durability of the beaver cap. I wore one nine- teen winters, and it was still good for further service, and Alfred Longman must have worn his nearly as long. No wonder the Dutch used beaver skins as part of the currency in New Amster- dam. Nearly equal to gold and silver." The above is from the pen of J. T. Stern, Esq., on whom I have largely drawn in many matters pertaining to subjects herein mentioned. FISH CATCHING Has been a great source of sport to all who have a taste for this kind of amusement as well as a love for the flesh of the finny tribe. The county being so largely supplied with lakes and lake- lets, as well as being bounded on the west by the Missouri river, together with such streams as the Little Sioux, Boyer, Soldier and the Willow, the same have furnished all piscatorially inclined full sweep for entertainment in this rarest of good sport. The reader must now understand that I am not going to tell a "fish" story, but a true one, and it is this: The first large fish caught in Harrison county waters was in the summer of 1857, just below the mouth of the Little Sioux, by Mr. Henry Herring. Mr. Herring had set a "trot" line, using a number of bed cords for that purpose; to this he firmly attached a considerable number of large hooks, baiting the same with what in fishing parlance is called " dope," a preparation of HI8T0BT OF HAEEISON COUNTT. 131 flour, water and cotton. This is rolled into a ball of proper size and fastened to the large hooks, when the same is placed at the locality where the fisher thinks is the best place for fishing. At the time above referred to, Mr. Herring, having put out his lines the evening before, when morning came went to see the luck of the night's effort, and lo! he thought he had captured a whale or a big cottonwood log, for the fish seemed so large that his eyes bugged out at the sight of the catch. Having got his fish safely on shore and having weighed it, it kicked the beam at 130 pounds It was one of the catfish which accompanied Lewis and Clarke on their exploration trip up the Missouri river in 1804. The same summer, in the Little Sioux river, just opposite the village of Little Sioux, Mr. David Gamett drew the lucky line which brought to the banks so large a catfish that he could not carry it up the banks of this beautiful stream. At this time Moses German and Mr. Perkins were operating a ferry boat at Little Sioux, made necessary in order to detract the travel from along the bluffs, so as to take the wind out of Fontainebleau. Mr. Gamett was setting on his ferry boat manifesting a patience such as only fishermen possess, the remainder of the party, Sol. Gamett, David Gamett, Isaac Gamett and Josiah Crom, having gone out on a foraging expedition to obtain something for them- selves, when they soon heard a terrible cry from the old gentle- man on the boat, and they thinking that some harm had befallen Mr. Gamett, rushed frantically to his assistance, and what was their surprise at seeing the father tugging with might and main to hold this "whale of a catfish," which was still in the water, affording the old gentleman all the amusement he could spare, in holding the fish. The united effort of the boys and Mr. Crom soon brought the fish to shore, landed safely on terra firma. When weighed it marked the figures of 143 pounds by the steel- yards. Mr. Jas. Henderson, of Jefferson township, residing near Reed- er's mills, is a great lover of the sport of fishing, and though at 132 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. present he is in his seventies, his early love for sport of this kind has not abated a whit in his present make up. This good old Democrat during the fall of each year takes a fishing tour to either the Missouri river, the Little Sioux, or to some of the old river beds tangent to the old " muddy." Though still loving the sport of catching catfish, he has lost all the taste for their flesh, which loss of taste therefor was brought about as follows: During the early autumn of 1867, the gentleman last named, Thomas Henderson, and old Uncle Wm. Tucker (all neighbor farmers), were on a fishing excursion to Little Sioux, and when selecting a place where they thought the biggest fish had set- tled, took up their quarters just below the Scofield dam, then in the Sioux river at the mill. Those having supplied themselves with minnows and frogs when crossing the Boyer, found plenty of fun and success as long as the minnows and frogs lasted, but as soon as these were exhausted the fish went on a strike, and would not pay the least attention to the bait on their hooks. They all being somewhat tinctured with Methodism, and recol- lecting how their good wives had prepared dinners for the min- isters, who called frequently at their homes, came to the conclu- sion that probably the catfish were like the ministers, somewhat of specialists in regard to diet, and that yellow-limbed spring chicken would tempt their tastes. As soon as this was deter- mined on in their council of war, one of their number soon had at the tent the requisition more than filled, and the sprightly forms of these young Little Sioux cockerels and pullets were soon transfixed to the hooks and thrown to the supposed hungry, scaleless finny epicureans. Here a half day was wasted, there not being the slightest "nibble" given, and this bevy of gran- gers began to be disgusted with the perversity manifested by the fish, as well as being smoked out by the smell of a putrid dog, which had been shored at a distance of two or three rods from the place where the lines were set. Mr. James Henderson, in order to free the atmosphere from the taint occasioned by this HISTORY OF HAKKI80N COUNTT. 133 eighty pound decaying dog, took a stick o£ wood and rolled the carcass into the river. Scarcely had this mass of putridity floated one rod from shore, when there came to the surface of the water such an enormous fish that at one gulp the carcass of the dog was swallowed down. " What was it? Did you see it ? " was the quick query of all. That evening the party changed bait, and put on their hooks " dope " bait, and in the morning on taking up their lines found on one of the hooks the same identical fish which on the previous afternoon had swallowed the putrid carcass of the dog. This fishy fellow, after taking his dinner of dog, wanted to top off the evening meal with toast, not being sufficiently educated in the sciences as to have formed a reliable taste for spring chicken. When the party had shored this fish they thought it possible that he was the same personage which had appropriated the dog, and immediately set about holding an inquest, and to their astonishment, in the in- testines or stomach of the fish they found the dog which had given them such offense. This fish, when its insides were ex- tracted, weighed 125 pounds; but for all that, Mr. James Hen- derson says he has lost all appetite for catfish, so occasioned by reason of the detestable taste they have for dead dog. While the Schofield dam was in the river at Little Sioux, the fish from the Missouri river would ascend this stream at the time of the spring and June rises of the Missouri, and in the early autumn they would try to make their way back to the deep waters of the '" Big Muddy," and these returning, if the water in the Missouri and Little Sioux were low, they would be taken at and above the said dam by the wagon load. I have seen men stand on a tramway on this dam, at a place where there would be a seeming current through the brush of the dam, and having a spear or hayfork, catch a two-horse load of large, handsome pickerel, catfish and buffalo fish in a half hour. Cruelty and depravity ! In the month of February, 1857, which was during this same 134 HI8T0ET OF HAEEISON COUNTT. hard winter, thirteen large elk made their appearance near But- ler's mills, which had heen driven into the settlement by hunger, and when once in the beaten path, made by persons going and returning from the mill, followed this same path directly into the millyard, when the hands at work there fell upon them with handspikes, crowbars and axes and slaughtered nine of them before the others could make their escape. They that fell vic- tims to this butchery, were those which in attempting to flee, ran upon the ice near to the mill and being incapacitated easily yielded their lives to satiate the cruelty of those who knew no mercy. These animals at this time were so reduced in flesh by the cold and want of food, that they were scarcely able to walk. The saddles or hind quarters were taken for food, the skins used for some domestic purposes or sold, and the remainder of the carcasses were thrown to the dogs or wolves. These are said to be the last elks killed in the county, the entire herds which form- erly were in such great numbers, either freezing or starving to death, or like those that wandered to Butler's mills, yielding their lives for the purpose of gratifying the cruel fancy of heart- less man. The wild prairie hens, up to the year of 1870, were very numerous; so much so that the crops of corn left in the field during the winter, either on the stalk or being cut up and stand- ing in the shock, were eaten up by these pretty little birds. In 1857, 1858, 1859, and during the former part of the sixties, they would, in the fall and winter seasons of the year, congregate in such huge flocks, that they would appear to cover over an entire corn field, and especially if the day was dark and somewhat drizzly, they would take positions on the fences and " paint " these fences by reason of their numbers, for a mile or more. These were caught in traps by the thousand and frequently the bosom part cured and stored away for summer use. Recent set- tlement, by which all the land in the county is farmed or at HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 135 least enclosed, has driven out these birds and the place which knew them so plentifully, now knows them no more. Many hunting stories, which draw on the imagination, are told by many of the old settlers, and somewhat rival those of Arab- ian Nights' Entertainments, but the latter are told to be believed while the former are left discretionary with the reader. Mr. Charles Grilmore, who resides at the mouth of Steer creek, up to the present seems to hold the belt as the champion hunter, gaug- ing powers by his own statement, a few of which will be repro- duced here, only as a sample of what has been done. Mr G., in spinning the occurrences of early times, tells of a peculiar circum- stance which happened the first season he resided at his present place of residence, and is in these words: " One day I was out in my field cutting wheat with one of the old fashioned grain cradles, being the only reaper then in use. The wheat was so very thick on the ground and the heads and straw so large that I would be compelled to set the implement down and rest. The grain was in fact so tall and thick on the ground that old "Boze" and " Yaller " could run across the field on the heads of wheat, just as they stood before cutting, without sinking through to the ground, and while I was taking one of these rests I hap- pened to cast my eye towards the opposite bluff, and there within forty yards of me was the largest living buck I ever saw. I cau- tiously slipped along the fence corners to the place where I had set my rifle, and grasping it I raised it to my face, but being a little nervous by trying to cut the large crop of wheat, I scarcely sighted at all when the gun went off and the deer turned summersault after summersault in the grass and I supposed I had killed him certain; but what was my surprise when approaching him, he jumped up and ran towards the Missouri river. I waited until I put a load in my gun, when I followed, and Sirs, that buck ran all the way to the Missouri river with his back broken to get water that hot day, and I would'nt have got 136 ' HISTOET OF HAEEI80N COUNTT. him at all had it not been for the fact that he ran out on the ice, and being unable to run thereon, I ran up to him with my big butcher knife and cut his hamstrings." This story in some respects resembles a statement made by a Kentuckian, who some years ago brought in a herd of Jerseys to sell in this neighborhood, and while representing the good qual- ities of a certain heifer, sixteen months old, stated that "this heifer when only three months old began giving milk; that she would give milk constantly and never have a calf ; that the peculiarities of the breed were that they never had calves, and this one was just like her mother, had never had a c alf, and never would have one." The story may be true, but there seems to be a lack of tying qualities, or in other words, they don't meet at both ends. Friend Gilmore tells another, though a grade lighter, still it is worth relating, and is as follows: " On a certain day when I had quit work and come into tbe house for dinner, I looked out toward the south, and what was my surprise at seeing a big doe standing not two rods from my door, looking directly into the house. I caught down my gun and found that the same was unloaded. I went to work as rapidly as I could to put a load in the gun, and in my hurry had put the cap on before I had put in the powder and ball, and while I was ramming down the ball I heard my wife who was just over my head in the chamber above call- ing me, which caused me to look upwards, and in the hurry to get the gun loaded I struck the cock against a bench, when the cap busted immediately, and the gun would have been pre- maturely discharged, had I not had the presence of mind to throw all my strength on the ramrod and keep the bullet from coming out of the gun, for had the bullet been permitted to have escaped from the gun I would have killed my wife, who was, as aforesaid, directly over me." These are reproduced here, not that I vouch for the correct- ness and pure unadulterated truth thereof, but to show that this HISTOEF OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 137 part of the country has been repr esented in many other respects than farming and stock raising. PIONEER CUSTOMS Differed largely as compared with those which have been intro- duced into society within the last decade. In the early days there was no such a species of the man as a tramp. This pecu- liar make-up has been a production of a foreign country, trans- planted into this nation since the first settlement of this county, and therefore was not known until the production had spread all over these United States. The weary, way-worn traveler was never refused food or lodg- ing by any one. The usual size of the farm houses until the latter part of the sixties, scarcely ever exceeded twelve feet by twenty feet, and one story high, yet many were not over twelve by sixteen feet. There was something peculiar in the architec- ture of these houses, by which they could hold many more per- sons during a stormy night than the largest farm houses now in all the county, or the difference was in the size of the heart of the lord or lady of the manor. In the winter of 1856 and 1857 L. D. Butler lived at his mills in a little house fourteen feet by sixteen feet, and only one story in height; yet in this the Butler family, numbering ten or twelve, together with quite ten or fifteen more of those who had made their way through the snow-drifts for a little grist, were by Mrs. Butler safely stowed away in some comfortable manner or other in this small space. The same may very truthfully be said of the homes of Mr. Patrick Morrow, on the Soldier river, and that of old Uncle Dan Brown, of Calhoun. These places were constantly, night by night, filled to overflowing during all the winter last named. All the other homes in the county were ever open to the stranger and unfortunate; not the poor, unpal- atable crust was set before the belated or weary stranger, but always the very best that the larder afforded. The charities of 138 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. the old settlers were as large as the demands of humanity, and their generosity measured out of their substance with an un- sparing hand, the larger share to the needy and unfortunate. Perhaps the difference in the circumstances of persons at that time, as compared with those of the present, accounts for the warm, free-heartedness then so proverbial. Neighbors then at the distance of fire, eight or ten miles were considered living in close proximity, and settling within a mile was somewhat crowd- ing on that of one who had settled first. There may be just as much benevolence, good will, charity and friendship to-day as there ever was, because there are so many more persons upon whom to bestow the same, that when once distributed it becomes a little "thin;" yet without hesitation I am free to assert that there is a thousand times more deception practiced at this time than ever was dreamed of by the old settlers, and such hypocrisy as would produce the blush on the cheek of his honor, the Devil. THE OOUNTET DANCE Was the event of the neighborhood — talked over for days and days prior to the happening of the same, and when the time had arrived there would be such a jovial good time that " Care, mad to see a man so happy, E'en drowned himself among the nappy; Kings mav be blessed, but these were glorious, ' O'er all the ills of life victorious." True, there might have been a little more energy than polish in the manner of dancing. This was at that time pardonable, because heavy cowskin boots were usM in the ball room in lieu of the present fancy slipper, made so by reason of the puncheon floors and lack of slippers. Calling the attention of the reader to the music, on these occasions, none who were here in the fif- ties but well remembers the selection known as "Caywood Cross- ing the Bottom." The homespun dress, puncheon floors, Cay- wood's fiddle and all else fit in with dove tail exactness, and all "went merry as a marriage bell." HISTOKT OF HAKEISON COUNTY. 139 The shooting matches were then quite numerous, and were better patronized than the Sabbath-schools or churches. The men of the country were then all hunters and truly crack shots; no fooling around with dollars to put up unless you could once out of three times drive a center, otherwise the person was wast- ing his substance in riotous living. Old Uncle Horatio Cay- wood, Levi Motz, John Birchim, David and Isaac Gamett, Harvey Rood, Bill Cooper, Tom Barnett, N. B. Hardy, Robert Hall, John and Tom Durman, Nat McKinimey et al., were the best shots of that day, and any man that got beef or turkeys on such occasions as these without knocking the center was playing with the uninitiated and not with the experienced shots of the land. On the east of Magnolia, in the neighborhood of Harris Grove, there was another team, made up of the Smith boys, Wash and West, Jeff. Norman, the Cases, along the Boyer, and many of the old settlers at and around old St. John, who were crack marksmen and could take the deer on the wing, or knock the center and take first choice in a shooting match without much effort. CHAPTER IV. OKGANIZATIOir OF THE COUNTY. From the passage of the boundary act giving the limits of the county of date of January 16, 1851, up to and until January 12, 1853, the county remained embryotic; at which date last named, the Fourth General Assembly, by chapter 8, section 3', appointed three commissioners to "locate the seat of justice of the county of Harrison," viz.: Abram Fletcher, of Fremont county; Charles Wolcott, of Mills county, and A. D. Jones, of Pottawattamie county. These, by the direction of said act, were ordered to meet at the house of Mr. A. D. Jones, in the county of his resi- dence, on the first Monday of March, of 1853, and proceed to locate and establish a " seat of justice," as near the geograph- ical center of the above boundaries as might be found, hav- ing due regard to the present as well as the future popula- tion of the county, and when so selected, located and established, to call the name thereof Magnolia. The present boundaries of the county as well as the name of the " seat of justice " were not hewn out by pioneer minds nor unskillful hands, but wisely pro- vided for by the assembled wisdom of a now ninety-nine countied State. By the same act last named, an organizing Sherifif was appointed in the person of Robert McKenney, (this is a misno- mer, as the name was intended for Michael McKenney, father of Dr. E. T. McKenny) who acted as per the provision of this act, whose duties were to give ten days ^notice of elections, issue cer- tificates of election and receive the return j)f the Commissioners last named, when place was selected and established as the locus of the county seat. The commissioners above named proceeded (140) HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 141 to the discharge of the duties thus imposed by virtue of the authority to them given, and within the time therein specified; and as a result of their labors selected the southeast quarter of section 32, township 80, range 43, and then and there gave, to the 160 acres thus selected the name of Magnolia, and reported their doing to the above named McKenney, the organizing Sheriff, who proceeded to and did call an election on the first Monday of April of that year, at which time a full corps of county officers were elected and subsequently qualified, notwithstanding by vir- tue of section 8, of the act last named, the county was declared organized from and after the first Monday of March, 1853. At the time of the selection of the county seat there were places to which the attention of the above named Commissioners were directed, viz. : Magnolia (the place selected), the present site of the village of Calhoun, and eifher the present locus of Logan, or on the opposite side of the Boyer river north or north- east of the farm now owned by James Bead, then owned by James B. McCurley. These three places had their respective champiops, James Hardy, who was intimately acquainted with two of the commissioners, Mr. Walcott and Mr. Jones, and under the direction of the organizing act, which provided and directed that the location of the county seat should be as near the geo- graphical center as would warrant, by taking into consideration a due regard for the then and future population of the county, held that Magnolia was the proper place, and by designating that as the place, the commission would be more nearly com- plying with the intent and spirit of their duty than by locating the same at either of the other places. The Calhoun locality was championed by Mr. Daniel Brown, who was among the first settlers of the county, and who at that time claimed that the place of his choice was on the main thor- oughfare from Council Bluffs to Sioux City and northward, that the location was pleasant and sufficiently near the geographical 14:2 HISTOET OF HARBISON COUNTY. center and center of population as to merit and secure the favor- able action of the commission. Messrs. John A. McKinney, Michael McKinney, S. E. Dow, J. B. McCurley, Wm. Dakan, Peter Bradley, Henry Reel and others, claimed for the location near Reel's mill, that nature had carved out their selection as the natural place for a town, and though the place they suggested was only one and one-fourth miles further from the geographical center of the county than Magnolia, and though the place then designated by them was not traversed then by highways to Sioux City, and while no public thoroughfares had yet been located, that within the next score of years there were probabilities for their selection that the other two rivals would never experience, viz.: a great thoroughfare for the world, and while Reel's mill was not the geographical center, yet the center of the then population would be on the east bank of the Boyer river and at and near the location suggested by them. The pros and cons being heard by the commissioners, whether justly or unjustly, the " seat of justice " was by them located at the town of Magnolia, as aforesaid, and at the present day, few only are left as competent judges, as to the wisdom and fidelity of their united judgment. The first election following the organization act, as before re- ferred to, was held on the 7th of April, 1853, at which time there were only two voting precincts in the entire county: one west of the Boyer river, at Magnolia, and the other east of the said river, at Owen Thorpe's, who then resided at Jeddo, at present owned by the Hon. L. R. Bolter. At the former place Organizing Sheriff Michael McKenney was not present to ad- minister the oath to the election board, and to supply the de- mands of the law, Mr. Thomas B. Neely (afterward Hon. Thos. B. Neely) administered to the judges and clerks an oath, that " they should, by virtue of the rules of the Continental Congress and their best knowledge of the Bible, fully and fairly perform HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 143 their duties as such officers." Neither the records, nor does tra- dition, reveal the oath administered to the loyal voters on the east of the classic Boyer, still the presumption exists, though thirty-five years have elapsed, that an equally binding oath was taken by them, and as sacredly observed. This maiden vote was canvassed at the residence of Stephen King, at which place the poll-books for the east side of the Boyer was then held, and Thomas B. Neely was selected by the people of the west side as the bearer of returns. At that date there tv as no bridge on the Willow or Boyer rivers, uniting these two separate divisions of the county, and the party above se- lected had some hesitancy in bearing alone the aforesaid pre- cious freight; but the matter was disposed of by Mr. Jas. Hardy volunteering his services in accompanying Mr. Neely. These hardy pioneers arriving at the Boyer, and there being no bridge, as aforesaid, they staked out their horses, undressed and swam the river, carrying their wardrobe and poll-book above high water mark; and having dressed, proceeded on foot to the place of destination. In the canvass of this vote the following persons were elected, viz.: Stephen King, County Judge; P. G. Cooper, County Treas- urer and Recorder; Wm. Dakan, County Prosecuting Attorney; Chester M. Hamilton, Sheriff, and Wm. Cooper, Clerk of the Courts. These, then, are the frontage of the county at its birth, irre- spective of any embellishments which may have graced the ex- terior or interior of the county from that day to the present; yet in these there existed an honesty and fitness for the time, which the intervening period has not excelled. Division' OF THE COUNTY INTO TOWNSHIPS. At the time of the organization of the county, as aforesaid, there were only two voting places, and these were named Mag- nolia and Jefferson. It is not the wish of the author to have the 144 HISTORY OF HAERISON COUNTY. reader understand that prior to the organization of the county, viz.: March 14, 1853, none of the settlers who resided here prior to that date exercised the right of franchise, because such was not the case, for William Dakan, who now resides in the State of Kansas, and Wickliffe B. Copeland, now residing quite a mile south of Logan, 'the present county seat, where he has resided from the time of his settlement there in 1850, and S. W. Con- dit of Little Sioux, travelled all the distance to Council Bluffs to vote at the Presidential election of 1852 — a distance much shorter than that traversed by Mr. Copeland, and thousands of Iowa boys, in 1864, when they migrated to Little Rock, Arkan- sas, and even into the very heart of the would-be Confederacy, and exercised the right of casting a ballot, as well as the right of casting a bullet, having in view the perpetuation of good gov- ernment, the real object and aim of all true balloting and shooting. On the 4th of February, 1854, P. G. Cooper, then acting County Judge of this county, attempted to organize, or so dis- trict the county, that the same would take the form of five town- ships, viz.: Magnolia, Sioux, Washington, Wayne and .fefferson, but there was some sort of judicial miscarriage, and the three new townships failed to be born alive. Again, in March of the same year, Sioux and La Grange town- ships were created, the former liaving for her territory all of congressional townships 81-44 and 81-45, and La Grange to be taken from that part of Jefferson, on the south end, as might be designated by the organizing Sheriff, one Michael McKenney. Where this dividing line was established between these two townships by this organizing Sheriff, is not now known, and the records of the county are as silent upon the subject as though no action had ever been taken thereupon by any official, and not until more recent times has this line been established, as shall be noted herein at the proper time. Where and in what manner the prefix " Little " was given to Sioux township is not known. HISTOEY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 145 because at the time of ibs creatioQ and baptism the entire name consisted of " Sioux " — no more, no less — and whatever has been added since, either to enlarge or belittle, or added in the way of embellishments, has been the work of unofficial hands, and without the sanction of official authority. At the March term of the county court for the year of 1855, Calhoun township was hewn off Magnolia township, and with such boundaries that I need not now take the time to describe, because of the radical changes in the boundaries thereof since that time, and when the township shall be called iip in the after part hereof the true boundaries will be given. The county remained in statu quo, as far as townships were concerned, until the judgeship of D. E. Brainard, in 1857, when on the 19th day of September, of that year, the entire county was attempted to be re-townshiped, and formed into civil townships, by creating one to each congressional township, as per the following table, viz. : beginning at the northeast corner of the county, and nam- ing the townships from there to west, and then by township tiers, until the south line of the county was taken: Harrison Township, 81 Eange 41 Madison Township, 81 Range 42 Adams Township, 81 Range 43 Jackson Township, 81 Raflge 44 Sioux Township, 81 Range 45 Marcy Township, 80 Range 41 Boyer Township, 80 Range 42 Magnolia Township, 80 Range 43 Raglan Township, 80 Range 44 Washington Township, 80 Range 45 Cass Township, 79 Range 41 Jefferson Township, 79 Range 42 Calhoun Township, 79 Range 43 Taylor Township, 79 Range 44 10 146 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. Clay Township, 79 Range 45 Webster Township, 78 Range 41 Union Township, 78 Range 42 La Grange Township, 78 Range 43 Hoosier Township, 78 Range 44 Cincinnati Township, 78 Range 45 And that for election purposes, Harrison, Madison and Marcy were attached to Boyer. Madison and Marcy never had any but a paper existence, because the territory which was designated as Madison, remained as part of Boyer until the year of 1868, when from the same, or rather out of the same, the Board of Supervisors of the county made a township and gave to it the name of the martyr President, Lincoln. That which under the above abortive order was called Adams, remained under the paternal wing of Magnolia until the year 1872, just eighteen years from the time of the organization of the county, the length of time under our laws for females to arrive at their ma- jority, when the Board of Supervisors shaped it into a civil township and called it Allen, because the stream called Allen Creek (named for Andrew Allen, one of the first settlers in the county, and who resided on the same) had its origin in this boundary. The attempted " Marcy " township righteously met the same fate as the two last named, and in 1868, by order of the Board of Supervisors the same was organized in fact, and given the name of Douglas, in memory of Stephen A. Douglas, the Little Giant of Illinois. All that territory which was under the Brain- ard order last referred to, as being Washington township, was attached to Raglan for election purposes, and which never had had any living existence under that name, was in 1867 born again, and at this birth the whole township 80 of range 45 (except the north tier) and the west tier of sections off the west end of Raglan, viz.: the west row of sections of township 80, range 44, was made to constitute the township of " Morgan," HISTOET OF HARBISON COUNTY. 147 and so named at the suggestion of Capt. John Noyes, a grand, good old man, who resided in this territory from 1855, he hail- ing from Morgan county, Ohio, and suggested this name in memory of the county of his birth. By this same Brainard order, Clay was attached to Cincinnati ■for election purposes, until in 1860, when she broke away from the restraint of the "Buckeye" township and started to keep- ing house on her own hook, having for its bounds township 79, range 45. This was named for Henry Clay, Kentucky's favorite son. Taylor township being by the same authority placed under the protecting wing of Calhoun, remained the ward of the latter until the year 1861, when demanding her constitutional rights, she became a distinct and separate township; being township 79, range 44, except sections 24, 25 and 36, and so called in honor of •Gren. Zachary Taylor, who had been at the head of both the civil and military of the nation. Cass township being by the same authority fastened to the apron strings of old Jefferson, remained in that status until 1859, when she cut loose from her guardian, and under the banner of TJncle " Bubby " Servis, for a decade of years held the proud position of being the " banner Republican township in all the county," aye, as long as Uncle " Bubby " (Asher Servis, Esq.,) retained the place of pilot of the Republican political craft. By this same order. Union and Webster were fastened to la Grange fop political purposes, which by the way, was for all purposes, not being in any form a separate factor, but part and parcel of La Grange, yet for reasons unknown, the territory which upon paper designated the boundaries of Webster, was re- organized by the Board of Supervisors in 1872 and given the name of Washington, so that the name of Washington, so far as the name of the township was concerned, was erased from the county records for the space of five years, and when reinstated, the location was transferred from the extreme west to the ex- treme east side of the county. 148 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. Some philosophical minds pretend to explain this in this manner: ''that the constant encroachments of the Missouri ri-ver on Iowa soil, might, in the future, cause the imperishahle name of the Father of his Country to perish from the county whUe, if the change could be efPected so that this name should be given to a township in the very southeast corner of the county, in the heart of the hills, the Big Muddy might rear and tear, exert all her strength, show all possible powers of madness, yet the name of Washington would remain unharmed until the time when the Angel Gabriel should blow his trumpet." As to the truthfulness of this tradition, I neither answer " yea " or " nay." If this be as above represented, the county power has used more forethought in this particular than they did when the county was plundered by tramp geologists in 1876 — when they bored the banks of the Boyer for coal and the County Supervisors for county warrants to the tune of $800; or sharing out the swamp land fund. Yet, in the former, there are exten- uating circumstances, from the fact that they were unprincipled persons attempting to seek the best interests of the county, and thereby recommended this ten day bore, and before the Supervis- ors had time to examine the report, the boring bill was hurriedly passed through the auditing furnace, the orders issued and the same (said to be) in the hands of innocent purchasers, by the time the County Board had met, which was in at least ten days from the time the report was filed, the warrants issued, and within half of that time after the warrants were sold and the geologist non est. Union township held her own domain, and in the summer of 1859 took separate individuality and held her first election in the fall of 1859. The name of this township was given by the two oldest settlers in the same, viz.: Samuel Wood, Esq., and Mr. William B. Cox, who had the same named after ,the large grove of timber therein, known far and near as " Union Grove." These boundaries of the above named townships remain HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 149 nearly the same as above mentioned; the only changes being as to Jackson, Sioux, Morgan, Raglan, Hosier (now St. John) and La Grange. To equalize the loss to Sioux, occasioned by the shortage on the west and what was being washed away by the current of the Missouri, the row of sections, and sections 5, 8, and 17 were taken from Jackson's northwest corner and added to Sioux, and sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 in township 80, range 45, and to Morgan, for like reasons, six sections were lopped off Raglan on the west and attached to Morgan; and Hosier, because she was older and stronger, kept _ the one-sixth of La Gange, viz. : the six sections on the west side of the latter. The naming of these twenty townships was done by the legal authorities of the county, and why so named, is only at this day (in part) a matter of conjecture. Magnolia took its name from the seat of justice, or more familiarly known to us of the present day, as the county Seat; and this was provided by the legislature of the State at the time the act was passed by which the limits and bounds of the county were designated, being the name of a very beautiful flower which grows in such luxuiiousness in the Gulf States, the aroma of which is so great, that it is said by sailors, that at the distance of ten miles or more from shore the sweet fragrance of this flower can be readily scented. Whether the assembled wisdom of the State of Iowa intended that the uprightness of character of those who should inhabit this em- bryotic flower garden, should so weave into the warp and woof of their lives such characteristics that the same could be known at the distance above designated, history fails to enlighten us. Jefferson was named for the second President, and Jackson to commemorate the name and greatness of the hero of New Orleans. Lincoln, as before stated, for the murdered President, and Cass for the Michigan statesman, Lewis Cass; Sioux for the magnificent river which so proudly passes through her center; Boyer for the Boyer river, which so mildly winds her tortuous course through her entire domain; Raglan, as has been 150 HISTORY OF HAEBISOK COUNTY, stated by some wicked one, was named " Rag-land," on account of the manner of dress of the early settlers therein. This is a will- ful, malicious, false and wicked slander on the early settlers and their families; yet I assert that Raglan, thirty years ago, was not a land flowing with spike-tailed and Prince Albert coats^ nail-keg hats, paper collars, celluloid cuffs and ladies' bustles, tilters, bangs, high heeled shoes and silk dresses and numerous unpaid store accounts, but they were a people genteelly and com- fortably clad, wholly out of debt, no Sheriff dogging their steps daily, nor " buzzardly, tenth rate lawyer " camping in their door- yards, patiently waiting for the time to arrive that his presence would become so obnoxious that the head of the family would pay the debt in order to become rid of this nuisance, more to be dreaded than the yellow feyer or a funeral. The name was given by reason of the suggestion of Capt. John A. Danielson, of Calhoun, for Lord Raglan of Crimean War notoriety, who, at that time, was in the zenith of his military greatness, and being so suggested, as aforesaid, the same was adopted by his honor, D. E. Brainard, then County Judge, and hence the true origin of the name. Calhoun was named for the village of that name, which was laid out prior to the time of the organization of the township, in 1854. By some the impression is had that both the name of the village and the township were named for John C. Calhoun, the father of ''nullification," the man whom Gen. Jackson re- gretted he had not hung, but permit me to say that this impres- sion is without foundation, either in fact or truth. Old Uncle Dan Brown, who caused this village to be platted and laid out, held the name and conduct of this arch traitor in the utmost contempt and abhorrence. In 1854, when the village of' Calhoun was laid out, there was a military post on the right bank of the Missouri river, south- west from the place last named, known as Fort Calhoun, and this place in Iowa being the first inhabited place from Fort Cal- HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY. 151 houn toward the east, the same was called Calhoun, simply dropping the prefix Fort. Hoosier (as it is incorrectly spelled in the records) was named Hosier township, from the fact that more than two-thirds of all the inhabitants within the township at this time were named either Cox, Jones or Smith, and these all hailing from good old Hosierdom, the land famous for honest men, hoop-poles and good farmers, the very material with which to open up and reduce the wilds of the far west so far overshadowed all others that the name Hosier was given to this excellent community long before the township was organized. Cincinnati took its name from the nativity of the majority of its citizens at the time of its organization, because in the spring of 1857 Mr. Jacob S. Fountain led a large number of persons from the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, to this land of prom- ise, and so submerged this locality with Buckeyes that he laid out a town near the present junction of the S. C. & P. R. R. with the P. & M. V. & Elkhorn road, and named the same Cincinnati, in memory of his old home, from which the township took the name she now so handsomely answers to. Harrison township was named for the mother county, and right here let it be truthfully said, that of all the daughters of this county none have excelled the one last named in the way of improvements, schools, morals, good government and bona fide patriotism. THE DIFPERENT KINDS OF LAND GRANTS. Those unacquainted with the history of this State might think that there were only government lands in this county at the time of the county organization, but by reference to the land grants by the Government at and prior to the time of the ad- mission of this State into the Union of States, and those made by the parent government since that time, we find that the fol- lowing classes of land were in the county at the time of the or- 153 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COtJNTT. ganization thereof, viz. : Government, swamp-land, 500,000 acre grant, the 16th section or school lands, and railroad lands. The first mentioned are those which belonged to the Government, not included in any of the grants above named. The 500,000 acre grant seems to have preceded all others as to the date of the do- nation of the same to this State; for by reference to the acts of Congress, I find that on the 4th of September, 1841, this State, upon her admission into the Union of States, was granted, for the purposes of internal improvements, 500,000 acres of land; but the State was admitted by act of Congress of date of De- cember 28, 1846, with a provision in her Constitution diverting these lands from the purposes of internal improvements to the support of common schools throughout the State. These lands were selected by Commissioners appointed by act of the General Assembly of February 25, 1854, and on September 12, 1854, were approved and certified to the State by the Department of the Interior. In Harrison county there was selected, reported and accepted, 7,524.86 acres as belonging to this grant. Many of the most val- uable farms of this county at the present date are of this 500,000 acre grant; as witnessed by the Peter Brady farm, the old Vincent farm, the property which formerly belonged to Isaac Bedsaul, the present farm of Isaac F. Bedsaul, the McBride farm, now touching the county seat, and last, but not least, the land con- stituting the estate of William McDonald, who (while in the flesh) resided tangent to the town of Calhoun. By act of January 25, 1855, these lands were taken from the control of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and placed under the management and custody of the School Fund Com- missioners of the different counties in which the same were sit- uated. With this condition of supervision the same remained until the Legislature of the State, by act of March 23, 1868, abolished the office of School Fund Commissioner, and empowered the County Judge and Township Trustees to sell the 16th sec- HISTOEr OF HAKKISON COTTNTT. 153 tion, but made no provision whatever as to the lands denom- inated the 600,000 acre grant; and as a sequence, this land re- mained in statu quo, without the care and superintendence of any one. But by act of the law-making power of the State, of April 3, 1860, the control of the 600,000 acre grant and the 16th section is given to the Board of Supervisors, and provides for their sale by the Clerks of the District Court of the counties in which the same may be situate, but this under the direction of the County Board, as aforesaid. The act of March 29, 1864, fixed the minimum price of school lands at |1.25 per acre; and, peculiar as it may be, this is the first price put upon these lands by the Legislature of the State. By the act of the Twelfth General Assembly, of date of April 1, 1868, the office of County Judge is abolished, and the duties pertaining to that office, as well as the duties pertaining to the school 'lands (including the 500,000 grant), transferred the same to the County Auditor, which office was ere ated by the Legisla- ture at that session. This matter, however, did not take effect until the elections of the year 1868, and the qualification of the officers elected at that election. Then again, by act of March 21, 1870, the prices of school lands in the State were fixed at no less than $6 per acre, and prohibits the sale of any of the 16th section in any township, unless there are in that township at least twenty-five voters. SIXTEENTH SECTION GRANT. By act of Congress of date of March 3, 1845, the State of Iowa acquired upon her admission into the Union, the six- teenth section in every township in the state. These lands were under the control of the School Fund Com- missioner and Township Trustees, until the time of the legisla- tion of the office of School Fund Commissioner out of existence in 1868,- at which time the same were placed under the superin- tendence of the Clerk of the District Court and Township Trus- 154 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. tees, the same as the lands denominated as the 500,000 grant, and from that time to the present the said sixteenth sections have been under the same management and rule as the last named grant, to which reference is had to the few remarks thereto under the head of 500,000 grant. This county being twenty-four miles north and south by nearly thirty east and west, gives to the school fund of the sixteenth section grant 12,160 acres, which, added to the selection in the county under the 500,000 acre grant of 7,524.86, makes the sum total of school lands in this county 19,684.86 acres. I will not attempt to give the number of acres of land within the county which passed to the different railroad companies under the varied legislation in respect thereto, but simply remark that but very little of the lands in this county passed into the control of said corporations. I do not know that it would be out of place to here remark that there is in the State of Iowa, at the present time, $3,484,411 as permanent school fund, the interest of which annually amounts to $282,902, which sum is divided among the different counties in the state in proportion to the number of persons therein, who are between the ages of five and twenty-one years. SWAMP LAND. By act of Congress approved September 28, 1850, providing that all swamp and overflowed lands within the State of Arkan- sas and other states be transferred and patented to the several States in which the same might be, gave to Iowa all such character of lands as were within her boundaries, and the Fourth General Assembly of Iowa, by chapter 12, and becoming a law February 2, 1853, ceded these lands to each of the several counties in which the same were situated. The legislative act declares that these lands, or the proceeds resulting from the sale thereof, should be used in the construction of " levees and drains to reclaim the same, and the balance, if any, to be expended in the construction HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 155 of roads and bridges across said lands, and if any remained there- after, then the same to be laid out in the building of roads and bridges within the several counties in which the lands are situated." Under this act, as above stated, the County Judge on the 9th of January, 1854, appointed Geo. W. White as agent of the county, to survey, select and report all the lands of this char- acter. Mr. White proceeded to the discharge of his duty, and as a result, on July 5, 1854, reported back as lands of a swamp character within and belonging to the county, 120,635.93 acres. This land which was donated to the several states as by the pro- vision of act of Congress herein stated, that portion thereof which was within the boundaries of the State of Iowa, was by the said State patented to the several counties varying in time, but Harrison county received her patent for that so selected, reported and accepted, which is manifest by virtue of a written document, of date of October 17, 1859, and which was received and filed for record and recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Harrison county on the 24th day of January, A. D. 1860, and appears of record in book number 2, on pages numbers 1 to 11 thereof. Hence, Harrison county came into the county sisterhood of this ninety-nine countied State with a marriage portion, all in the form of realty (which at least in these more degenerate days would develop admirers) to the extent of 120,635.93 acres, as aforesaid, which if sold (as it subsequently was) at the rate of f 1.25 per acre, equalled, in the form of dollars and cents, the snug sum of $150,794.91^, which amount at the present day all would be willing to wager an opinion that such sum would, at least, be a reasonable advancement for starting to keep house. But where is now all this vast treasure; this munificent dower? This land is at the present time the most valuable land in the county, as well as the most productive in the entire State, and any person not conversant with the history thereof, would not for a moment presume that the matchless farms all along the 156 HISTORY OF HAEEISON OOUNTT. Pigeon, Boyer, Willow, Soldier, Little Sioux and Missouri rivers were once overflowed with water and regarded as worthless. If such a presumption should be for a moment indulged, it would be the indulgence of a fancy at the expense of fact, for the reason that the greater portion of these lands at the time of the selection thereof were then, as now, the most valuable and quite free from overflow; but because they were contiguous to lake, or subject to overflow from surface water, when there was no channel to carry off the same, or perhaps away back in the past the "Big Muddy" had so wickedly broken from all restraint as to inundate the entire Missouri bottoms, or that there would no damage result to the county where all the lands denominated bottom lands, and reported as overflowed and swampy, for by such measures the good would pay for the reclamation of the bad, and thus procure the earlier drainage, as well as be a means by which the sanitary condition of the county would be im- proved. The agent of the county had, unquestionably, in view the maxim delineated by one of the characters in the "Hoosier School- master," viz.: " When you are gittin', git plenty"; but the fact is that up to the present time none of the citizens of the county, nor any person within the borders of the State, have as yet ever questioned the honesty and fairness of the report of the select- ing agent, who acted in the capacity as above designated. Following up the thought of this grand donation of swamp land to the county, our first thought is riveted on the act of the guardians of this splendid fund: At and about the month of Au- gust, 1862, at the time when the very life of the Government was in imminent peril; at a time when the Southern States were threatening, and with apparent possibility of carrying the threat into execution, of occupying the very Capital of the Nation; at a time when volunteers were greatly needed to march to the front, and at all hazards defend the flag and liberties so dearly purchased by the Fathers, and transmitted to us; to maintain HISTOET OF HARBISON COUNTY. 157 this Union of States "one and inseparable"; in calling a meet- ing of the Board of Supervisors of the county (for at this time the care, custody, management and sale of these lands, and the keeping of this fund, had passed to the said board); and in re- membrance of the charity of the parent Government in donating these to the county; and by resolution passed at that time by them to the following effect, viz.: Resolved, That all able-bodied male citizens, or those not yet having become citizens, who should enlist in the volunteer service of the United States, and be by the proper authorities accepted as such volunteers, and be ac- credited to this county, should receive a quitclaim deed to any vacant eighty acres of this land in the county; or in lieu thereof, if they so desired, they should have a warrant on the swamp land fund for the sum of $100. The only depreciation of this fund in consequence of this commendable action of the board was the sum of $22,000, leav- ing as a balance the snug sum of $138,794.91^ for the uses and purposes for which the same was donated. At the present date not one cent of this munificent fund remains as a separate fund of the county. Some of the persons who resided in the county at the time the county became the owner in fee of all this vast domain, now have the recollection of the vastness thereof, and though thirty-five years have elapsed since the time the same was selected, and twenty-eight years have passed since the county received a patent therefor, ask (and not unreasonably) what has become of all our "swamp-land and swamp-land funds? " The lands are still here, except that portion thereof which have been carried away by the turbulent and unmanageable current of the Missouri river, and right here let it be known, that while " the wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth," so it is with the falseness and depravity of the Missouri river. At certain times this unmanageable river will be on her good behavior, and then she will manifest such a wild and ungovern- 158 HISTOHT OF HAEEISON COUNTY. able course of conduct as will compel the most unscrupulous to a belief in the doctrine of " total depravity " of rivers. This peculiar river has, within the memory of a vast number of the people of this county, played such " fantastic tricks," as made the owners of land lying on and near her banks weep for losses sustained by reason of their entire farms and buildings being carried away by her treacherous current. Then, again, her crazy current will make a dash for the shores of Nebraska, and in spite of legislative action and the blow and brag of poli- ticians, the banks on that side melt more rapidly than the snow drifts when attacked by an April thaw. Within the past thirty years the cuttings of this river have encroached into the Iowa side to the extent of two miles, and in the same period, at other places the foreclosure on the Nebraska side has been even greater. At the present date there is but little to show, in the way of bridges, ditches and levees, that $138,894.91^ has been expended in that direction. The $22,000 righteously donated to the volun- teer soldier meets the full approbation of all, but as to the bal- ance, as above stated, echo asks, where is it? True, there are three or four levees in the county which furnish a means of travel from and to the different portions of the county, but when I assert that there is not, to-day, a ditch in the county, con- structed by funds arising from the sale of swamp lands, that is of any practical benefit to the lands or public, or is other than dry cavities, I believe I voice the honest observation of every observing man in the limits of the county; but they who ques- tion this assertion must not confound or count in the real ditches constructed by special tax on the adjacent owners of contiguous territory, where these ditches are, which have been constructed by the special tax. It is now impossible from the records or from memory to make a correct statement how and for what this fund had been ex- pended, from the fact that three decades have passed since the HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 159 same came into being, yet let it suffice to say that the character of the men who had the same in charge is sufficient guarantee that all thereof was legally and justly laid out in the way and for the purposes designated by the letter and spirit of the law. The condition of the different porbions of the county must be taken into consideration when investigation is made as to the fairness of all outlays of this fund. Nor shouli it be forgotten that the principal streams and sloughs were of such make-up that at the early settlement of the county they were unfordable, and that lumber at that time was exceedingly scarce, and to pro- vide for the wants and necessities of the traveling public, bridges were to be constructed, and in providing for this contingency, large portions of this fund were used, and at prices which to-day many might think could be largely discounted, but such as now question this are forming opinions from the present con- dition of transportation, backed by railroad facilities, while the expenses and cost of these bridges must be calculated from a standpoint when there were but very few saw mills in the county, no railroads within three hundred miles, and prices were double that of the present day. The wisdom of this act of the government in donating her public domain for the purposes mentioned in the act referred to has been by some quite severely criticised ; however, to the ordi- nary, casual observer, it is fully exemplified by figures, that the revenue received by the government by way of taxes has long since over-reached the purchase price of f 1.25 per acre, besides carrying into efiect that which is the pride and purpose of all good governments, providing homes for the homeless and lands for the landless, thus bettering the condition of the citizen and at the same time largely increasing the wealth and prosperity of the nation. These lands in the condition in which they were at the time of the early settlement of the county, was most fortunate for the settler, because the same were not in the market until in 1858, 160 HISTOET OV HAEEISON OOTTNTT. and had the same been put up for sale, many of the citizens who now are in exceedingly good circumstances in a financial stand- point, could never have secured the homes which they now are possessed of. The Shylocks of the country at that time were ^furnishing money to enter lands, taking the certificates of purchase in their own names, and giving back to the real owner and persons for whom they were entering the same, a bond for a deed, which pro- vided that they would re-convey upon the owner repaying them the $200 purchase for the 160 acres, and forty per cent per year for the use of the money thus advanced, or in other words, they were furnishing $200 for one year, and at the end of that time would receive $280 therefor, or keep the lands thus entered. To remedy this usurious exaction, the guardians of these lands provided a way by which the settlers would be benefited, and at the same time the county perfectly secured, and it was this: every person who was a settler upon these lands, or those about to settle thereon, were permitted to enter the same by paying one- fourth down and taking a deed from the county for the same, and then executing back to the county a mortgage to secure the payment of the remainder. This remainder was evidenced by certain promissory notes, made by the purchaser, and these did not mature for ten years, though the maker paid to the county interest on the unpaid purchase money at the rate of ten per cent. Thus the settler was benefited and the county abundantly secured, for the reason that of all the prairie lands thus entered, the greater the improvements placed thereon, the better was the purchase money secured. It is a gratifying fact, that nearly all of the persons, wealthy in lands and stock, in the county at the present, are those who settled here at or about thirty years since, and in addition to brave hearts and strong arms, did not have in cash over $500 to the head of each family. The Fifth General Assembly, by chapter 156, passed January HISTOEY OF HAKKISON COTTNTT. 161 25, 1855, and becoming a law on the 31st of the same month and year, authorized pre-emptions on swamp lands, and this re- mained in force until its repeal by chapter 115, of acts of the Sixth General Assembly, which last became a law by operation of statute on the 1st of July, 1857. The County Judge of this county, for this interim, made cer- tain rules and required certain things to have been performed by the pre-emptor upon the land before he, in his official capac- ity, would issue to the applicant a certificate, showing that the land had been pre-empted, among which were the following: "A house must be built or foundation thereof laid, not less than 10x10 feet, and in addition thereto improvements in the way of at least a commencement to break prairie, or the foundation for a dwelling house to be laid and at least twenty rods of fence placfed upon the land sought to be pre-empted. This only applied to males of voting age; the female was unprovided for, and in- gloriously left out in the cold, homeless and landless. Notwithstanding these requirements were made for the pur- pose of preventing frauds and impositions upon the Judge, and to have this inure to the benefit of the bona fide settler, still the sharpest ingenuity of the guardian of these lands was, ninety- nine times out of a hundred, nearly wholly ignored. Instead of iona fide actual settlement, and the requisite quantum of " im- provements " upon the land sought to be pre-empted, the pre- emptor would have at his command some individual possessed of an elastic conscience, who, for friendship, favor and affection, when properly sworn, would testify that the foundation for the dwelling house was laid; that twenty rods of legal fence had been placed thereon and the requisite quantity of breaking had been done, while in fact four willow fish poles constituted the foun- dation for the " mansion," and twenty fish poles, sixteen and one-half feet long ^ere placed on twenty-one willow posts, not larger than a walking cane; and the breaking only a path broken through the show. 11 162 HISTORY OF HAEEISOir COUNTY. This evasion of the rule did not, in the end, injuriously affect the county or the settlement thereof, from the fact that when these pre-emption certificates were the most plenteous, the stringency of money matters struck the county and these certifi- cates became nearly worthless, and when the lands were ordered into market, they who held these were compelled to pay the $1.25 per acre, and failing to make payment, the pre-empt- ors' right to the land mentioned therein, caused the right of the pre-emptor to lapse back to the county, and, as a result, only that portion upon which actual settlement was made was entered under the call of the County Judge, and the certificates of pre-emption became worthless. OEGANIZATION' OF THE BOAKD OF SUPEEVISOES. The county being organized under the provisions of the Code of 1851, gave to the people the' District Court, which possessed criminal and civil jurisdiction in all matters, except that of pro- bate, and the management of the affairs of the respective coun- ties. In matters of probate and the management of the business of the county, a County Judge had original jurisdiction, which, with the superintendence of the business pertaining to the finance of the county, was the extent of his official power. This status of affairs lasted until the county judgeship, or, as some termed the same, " the one man power," became obnoxious, perhaps made so by the abuse of the authority vested in the individual exercising the powers, when the hue and cry for a change had ripened into legislative action, as designated by an act of the Legislature of date of March 22, 1860, and taking ef- ' feet July ith of the same year, which curtailed the powers of the County Judge, leaving to that office only the powers of pro- bate, and creating for the different counties a system of govern- ment by which each township in the county should be repre- sented by one representative. This did not take effect until the election and qualification of this county "legislature," which HISTORY OF HAEEISON COFNTT. 163 election took place at the fall election following, and the pre- tended act of " qualification " on the first Monday of January following. That these different persons who reported them- selves to be elected, appeared and. took the oath of office, none have ever questioned, but there have always been some doubts as to whether they ever qualified or not. That they took the oath of office is beyond perad venture of doubt; but "qualification" means more than the simple act of raising the right hand and assenting " to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Iowa," while the party taking said oath scarcely could distinguish the difference between the Constitutions and the Declaration of Independence. And this brings to my mind a circumstance which took place in the very early days of the county. It was this: A certain young "saw- bones " was selected to read the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, 1857, at the Old Hub; the day arrived, and with it there was a meeting of nearly all the residents of the county; the place of meeting was at the present place of residence of Isaac F. Bedsaul, near the village of Magnolia. What was the con- sternation of a " limited few " when young " saw-bones " began and read the Constitution of the United States half through before anyone noticed the difference, when the " readist " was gently plucked by the coat-tail, and informed that he was off his eggs, and when given the proper document, and correctly started, did his whole duty in an admirable manner. The reader will please pardon this digression, as I desired to illustrate the " qualification " of one individual of a professional character, and leave the reader to judge for himself as to the possi- ble qualification of those who come direct from the breaking plow. The thought at the time of the enactment of this law, was that the county government thereby would be more nearly to the people, and therefore retrench the former seeming unneces- sary expenditures, as well as bar the favoritism heretofore lav- ishly dished to the favored ones. 164: HISTORY OF HAEKI80N COUNTY. There is no doubt but that the position ot powers of the County Judgeship was often prostituted to further personal ends and favor a few who were within the ring; but that the new system of township representation remedied this grievance, is only answered by the fact that by the ending of the next decade there was a greater clamor for a change than there was to dispense with the services of the County Judge. This law giving town- ship representation brought to the surface an army of Black- stones, Cokes, Solons, Kents, Cooleys, Addisons, etc., etc., etc., which would have put to flight any litigant or claimant who once had experience in such a court. Instead of being a court it was a county debating society where each representative felt the weighty responsibility which rested oh him to be something equal, if not greater than the burden which rested on the shoulders of Atlas while supporting the earth. The most trivial proposition was discussed by each member making an argu- ment, giving his views as to the law and the constitutionality of the case, and then this repeated for eighteen arguments, gener- ally made the subject under discussion so very plain, or buried it so deep in the slosh of argument that it was never resurrected, or was passed upon some time during the day. Many laughable circumstances might be here related touching this quarterly county congress, in this county, but I will forbear naming individuals or subjects, but will remark that eighteen legislators spent nearly an entire day in discussing the allowance of a claim for a wolf scalp — at another time, half a day as to the allowance of a half dozen or more gopher scalps. The one man power was much preferable to this eighteen man power, from the fact that the Board had more of the trade and traffic of a political convention to i^, than the good of the people. "You give me my road, my ditch, my levee, my bridge, etc., etc., and I will support your measure," and so the trade went on, often regardless of the then wants of the public, but more for the per- sonal benefit of some straw man hid behind the wood pile. This HISTOET OF HAKEI80N OOTTNTr. 165 county legislature was then thrown aside by act of the Thir- teenth General Assembly, as manifest by chapter 148, and in lieu thereof the present system of three or more Commissioners for the different counties, dependent on the population of the county. The office of County Judge was abolished by the Twelfth General Assembly, and a Circuit Judgeship created, and this in turn dispensed with by the acts of the Twenty-first General Assembly. At the present time probate jurisdiction is had by the District Court of the county. PKOCEEDINGS OE THE BOARD OE SUPERVISORS. From the time of their first organization, on the first Monday in January, 1861, which, at that time was made up of the fol- lowing persons, viz. : George H. McGavren, St. Johns township; James Hardy, Magnolia; Jonathan West, Cincinnati; James W. Mcintosh, Taylor; Asher Servis, Cass; Henry Olmstead, Harrison; George Harriot, Jackson; Chester M. Hamilton, Raglan; E. W. Meech, Calhoun; C. M. Patton, La Grange; Theodore Parcell, Clay; John S. Cole, Boyer; Barzillai Price, Little Sioux; Stephen King, Jefferson. Dr. George H. McGavren (then being a Democrat) was elected to the position of chairman of this legislative body, they, from the time of their organization, having but little to do except the auditing of claims against the county and caring for the funds belonging thereto; and those who comprised the above list hav- ing drawn straws as to who would hold for the term of two or one year, at the incoming of the coming year, 1862, a new board was organized, when the following persons constituted the same, viz.: Joseph H. Smith, Magnolia; B. F. Dilley, Cincinnati; Lorenzo Kellogg, Harrison; Asher Servis, Cass; George H. McGavren, St. Johns; B. Price, Little Sioux; Stephen King, Jefferson; Dr. J. S. 166 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. Cole, Boyer; A. Sellers, Union; C. M. Patton, La Grange; Wil- liam McWilliams, Jackson; J. W. Mcintosh, Taylor; Theodore Parcell, Clay; W. B. Copeland, Calhoun;" Donald Maule, Raglan. Joe. H. Smith was elected chairman, during which time noth- ing of special importance occurred, other than the ordinary busi- ness of the board, until a special meeting was called for the 11th of August, 1862, the object thereof being to take some action as to the matter of the enlistment of soldiers on the part of the Federal cause. It will be remembered that at this date there was considerable need of additional enlistments from the fact that the Confederate cause had a little more than balanced all the accounts which the Federals had scored against them from the April days of 1861 up to that date. Furthermore, it was known to all, that many of the boys and men in the county, dating from the month of July, 1861, up to that date, had gone to obher places, viz. : to Council Bluffs, Omaha and divers others places to enlist; and up to that time there had not been a company raised in the same, though, as aforesaid, an hundred or more had already gone to the front. This was partly due to the fact that certain men in power in the county, though belonging to the party in power, whose duty it was to, at all hazards, uphold the cause of the Union, wished to distribute out to their especial friends the highest positions of company offices; and as a result, any person who desired in good faith to enlist, rather than go down on all fours to this would be " big man," chose to take a position in some company then being organized at the nearest point. These or this personage may have been acting in good faith, but at this day all can readily see that if the best interest of the govern- ment was the object of their acts, that judgment was terribly warped and helplessly diseased. As a result, William W. Fuller, Geo. S. Bacon and Joe. H. Smith persuaded the board to call a special meeting of that body on the 11 th day of August, HI8T0ET OF HAEBISON OOTJNTT. 167 1862, at which time the following resolutions were presented and adopted, viz. : ^''Resolved, That any person who will enlist in the present company of Iowa volunteers now being raised in this county, shall receive at the time he is sworn into the service, a good and sufficient warranty deed for eighty acres of swamp and over- flowed lands in the county which at the present remains unsold, and which may be selected by him or his agent, and no swamp land shall be sold or deeded after this date until that provided for by this resolution has been selected, reasonable time being given such to select their lands. " Besohed, That if the person so enlisting shall select in lieu of the land above provided for, a warrant on the swamp land fund for $100, he shall have the same at the time of enlistment, and the same shall be payable for the lands heretofore entered -and be receivable either for principal or interest. " Resolved, That in case the person so enlisting shall prefer, on enlisting, the warrants, then the board hereby instructs the clerk to draw to such a person a warrant on the said fund for f 100, the same being hereby made assignable. " Resolved, That this board will appoint some competent per- son to accompany the soldiers who may enlist under these reso- lutions to the hospitals or battle fields. ''Resolved, That this board will carefully provide for the families of any citizens of the county who will enlist and whose families may be ii* want during the time of said enlistment." All the members of the board voted in ^avor of these resolu- , tions, and scarcely had the same been adopted until there came a deluge of applicants to join the company. A meeting was set for the 18th of August of the same year to complete the organ- ization of the company, and when the day arrived there was such an overwhelming turning out that many who were thought by the younger men to be too old were compelled to return to their homes without " ' jining the army." 168 HISTOET OF HAEEI80N OOITNTT. Mr. Thomas F. Vanderhoof, Peter Brady, Jerry Motz, and a- whole squad of such old men were refused, because there were a better class of more physical young men who could, as was anticipated at that time, stand the roughs of army life much better than these last named. It may be safely said, and truly, too, that there never was a company of one hundred men raised or enlisted in so short a period of time from a neighborhood made up of so few able bodied citizens. In the making up of the company above named only two oi the members of the board enlisted: Wickliffe B. Copeland and Joe. H. Smith. The others, though earnestly pray- ing for the success of the Federal cause, fought the battle at a distance, believing that " distance lent enchantment." This resolution, though a little out of the direct line, and which' in these days of peace might be construed to be passing the Rubi- con of supervisor jurisdiction, yet at the time of the passage of the same there was no time to fool away in discussing fine dis- tinctions and constitutional questions. The war was upon us, and the fact was, somebody had to go to the front; and if I am not now mistaken, the thirteen who staid at home were just as willing that Copelaaid and Smith should enlist as any person. The draft clouds were hovering in the eastern horizon, and then, as now, there were just as many persons who would be willing that somebody else should be shot as to be the victims themselves. The act of the board in granting this bounty was subsequently legalized by the Legislature of this State, and up to the present time there has never been any " kicking " about this procedure. In seven days after the passage of these resolutions one hundred , men, the pick and choice froni the county, were enlisted for three years' or during the war, and has ever since that event been known as Company C, Twenty-ninth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry. The next question of importance which came before the board for adjudication, was that which was presented by those in the HISTORY OF HAKEISON COUNTY. 169 interest of a railroad company, viz.: the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, and this in 1864, when it was said that un- less the county of Harrison donated to this corporation all the unsold swamp and overflowed lands in the same, they would build their line directly west from Denison, and Harrison county would be left out in the cold, so far as railroad facilities were concerned. This proposition barely escaped passage, only being defeated by a rnajority of one. Notwithstanding the assertions of many of the friends of the road, and the agents who sought the bonus, the road was built just as soon as it would have been had the county donated all the unsold swamp land and thrown in a percentage for luck. At the August session of 1861, being the first year of the Board of Supervisors, they selected for the purpose of selling and procur- a poor farm for the county, the following described swamp lands, viz.: the southwest quarter of section No. 7, township 79, range 44, and north half of southwest and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of lot No. 1, in section 15, township 80, range 45, all in the county. This was disposed of between the day of selection and the 1st of January, 1868, and the board, through its committee, Robert McGavren, James L. Roberts and Barzillai Price, selected as a poor farm the following described premises, viz. : the southwest quarter of section 22, in township 81, range 41, in Harrison township, being ap improved tract, and then, as yet, one of the very best one hundred and sixty acres in the entire county, paying to Hammer & Perbs the su m of 122.50 per acre, amounting in all to $3,600. This was used and occu- pied by the county as a poor farm up to and until a time when old Uncle Johnny Harshbarger wished to change his "base, when the Board of Supervisors, through its committee, D. E. Brainard, J. S. Cole and Samuel DeCou, all being then members of the board, exchanged the poor farm last above described, with the said Harshbarger, for the farm now used and maintained by the county as a poor farm. There is not an individual in the entire 170 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTT. county at the present date but would be willing to swear (and some use some harsh language) that the present farm now known as the county poor farm is the poorest farm for the purposes for which it is used, and for the money which it cost the county, in all the county. This sale, or swindle (whatever you may call it), was completed on the 19th of March, 1870, at a time when the tract at and near Dunlap was worth three times the amount of that given in exchange; besides, it was in a more healthy locality, and nearly tangent to the town of Dunlap, which place at that time was struggling under a very healthy boom. The tract now owned by the county is badly cut up by the Boyer river; has but a small selvedge of arable land, through which the Northwestern Railroad passed at the time of purchase, and the remainder, instead of lying, stands on its edge, and is fit only for observatories and bank barns. To this nearly worthless tract of land the different Boards of Supervisors, since the time of purchase as aforesaid, have paid out of the taxpayers' money, in the way of building a dwelling house, the sum of $4,700, and re- pairs yearly on the same not less than $75, as well as repairs to fences and out-buildings, $1,000; so that the present cost of this magnificent swindle to the county at this time is not less than $11,000, which the guardians of the county at this date lease to their present overseer, or steward, at the rate of $200, which he pays to the county in providing support to paupers at the rate of $3 or $3.25 per week. This $200 is beyond question a very small percentage on the $11,000, but this was county funds, and you know that if the county funds are a little carelessly expended, the county being rich, the people would not miss such a trifle. It is too late in the day for any body now to ask an explanation and the public will be left to form and carefully express their judgments as to thein shall seem to be in keeping with the men and times in which the matter took place. The poor house is a creditable building and suits well for the purpose for which it was built, but the same might HI8T0ET OF HAEKISON COUNTY. 171 just as well, so far as nearness to railroads is concerned, be in Allen or Union townships, as where now located. THE GEOLOGICAL SUKYEY OF THE COUNTY was attempted to be made in the late fall of 1876, at the time the following gentlemen were acting as a Board of Supervisors or as guardians of the county's interest, viz. : H. B. Cox, H. V. Armstrong and Amos Chase. A fellow by the name of W. P. Fox, a star in the geological firmament, of about such magnitude as the writer would be in the pulpit, strayed to this county from the back alleys of the city of Des Moines, and through the written recommendation of a great portion of the business men all over the county, procured from this Board a permit to make a geological survey of the county, having in view the discovery of coal. This "fox" was accompanied by a hack driver from Council Bluffs, and after prodding along the banks of the Boyer at not more than a dozen of places with a pole and two-inch auger for two or three weeks, and then making three or more tlrips to the Little Sioux saloons in search of " hardware," and then borrowing Joe. H. Smith's geological reports of the geological survey of the State of Iowa, together with the preparing of their minds by frequent and repeated drunks at the " stone church " (this was a saloon in Logan known by that name) a comprehensive report was made, by copying from the above reports, and filed in the office of the County Auditor, and before the January meeting of the Board in 1877, the bill for such survey was allowed and warrants drawn on the county fund for $700. Through and by these means the county was swindled out of that sum. The Board of Supervisors above named were not so much to blame in this matter as were those who practiced a fraud on them by recommending such worthless tramps, but believing it would be benefical to the county that such survey should be made, and at the same time having no thought but the person recom- 172 HISTORY OF HAKEI80N COUNTY. mended was competent to make a scientific survey, they con- sented, and with the result above stated. This $700 warrant being issued a little out of season, i. e., before auditing by the Board, was as soon as issued sold to a well known firm in the county at a good shave, and hence at the time the Board met this $700 was in the hands of " innocent purchasers." BODDIKG THE COUET HOUSE With lightning rods, happened at a time when there was a "lightning rod revival" all over the county; the advance agent, by some means or other, having secured the written consent of the Board of Supervisors to rod the court house, put his " gang" to work at the job, and when they had finished, the entire roof, chimneys, cupola, etc., etc., were encased in a net work of iron rods, bristling with points and weather vanes. This, when com- pleted was followed by a bill of some $800, which so disgusted the Board and the County Auditor, it being so much more than any one had contemplated it would be, that William H. Eaton, who was then Auditor, paid a part of the bill himself, and Mr. H. B. Cox proposed to the other two members of the Board, that, in his opinion, the Board should pay for this themselves and not call on the county to put up for their want of foresight and discretion, and that if the other two members would each pay their pro rata, he would his, and the next time watch and not be drawn into any such financial .whirlpools: this was not in keeping with the opinions of the other two members and the county compromised with these public vampires, by paying them $575. The^e circumstances last above related, constitute nearly all of the mistakes of the lioard of Supervisors since the time the same was transformed from a " debating society" to a business three, and I unhesitatingly say that there is not a county in the entire state of Iowa, to-day, that has been as well governed as Harrison. HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 173 The only indebtedness of the county at the present, is a bonded indebtedness of $16,500, which at the first thought can readily be understood. All persons who resided in the county in 1885 will remember that during that year the public roads of the county suffered more heavily by reasons of heavy rains and floods, than in all the past years of the county's life: that in all parts of the county the cry came up to these officials, " we must have means of egress and ingress; our highway bridges have been swept away by the floods, we cannot get away from our farms to market, neither can the officers get to our homes; we must have means of travel;" and the Supervisors knowing that these representations were true, and that these people needed this relief, cheerfully bonded the county at that time for $5,500, and again in June, 1886, bonded for $11,000 more, making in all $16,500. It must not be understood that all of this sum last named was used in the building of county bridges, from the fact that a small portion was by the Board ordered to be used in keeping up the par value of county orders: because just as soon as there is a want of cash in the county treasury to cash county orders the same are thrown on the market and the party who served the county in any capacity or rendered any of the many services required, is compelled to suffer the loss of such shave as the money lender or merchant sees fit to allow. These bonds are what are known as three and ten year bonds, being so negotiated and worded, that the county cannot pay the same sooner than three years from date, and the bond holder cannot compel payment sooner than ten years from date. The interest on these bonds runs at the rate of 6 per cent per annum?^ which all persons in the county pay in proportion to the amount of their taxable property. This is infinitely better than that the county warrants should go begging a purchaser and be hawked upon the streets at such price as corners would thrust them. At this date I am informed by the very gentlemanly County Auditor, 174 HISTOET OF HAKRISON COUNTY. Mr. Frank Croesdale, that there is now on hand $5,000 ready for payment on this bonded indebtedness, which would leave the sum of 111,500 yet to be raised and eight years more for pay- ment. :, THE FIKANCES OF THE COUNTT, From what has been said in the last remarks, show that the same could scarcely be in better condition than they are at the present. From the organization of the county up to the year of 1866, being the time when Captain George S. Bacon was sworn into office as Treasurer, county warrants had been walloping round the streets, hedges and highways of the county, alternating in value, in proportion to the proximity of taxpaying time, and the opposition in the matter of procuring the same. It is well recol- lected, that during all the time prior to this the currency of the county was nearly made up by using county warrants, swamp- land scrip and cottonwood lumber. This condition of things afforded a fine opportunity for speculation in the purchase of these county orders, and some of the banking firms, merchants and others were not slow in catching on, and could to-day state that the stepping stone to their present wealth is due to the fact that county orders offered an oppprtunity for investment. This term, viz. : the years of 1866 and 1867, county orders were kept at their par value, and on the incoming of another man, viz.: A. W. Ford, as County Treasurer, they lapsed back to the old low-water mark of sixty cents on the dollar, and continued at that price during all of the year 1869. On the 1st of January, 1870, Captain Bacon came into control of the business of the county treasury, and immediately these county orders went up to par and remained in that position until the latter part of the year of 1871, at which time the bot- tom fell out of the county coffers, there being no funds to redeem the same, but there were several men apparently on other busi- ness passing through the county, yet wherever there was a HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 175 county order found it was immediately purchased by these county order crystalizers, and who it was that made money out of this deal, is left to your own judgment and recollection. Not- withstanding all that may have taken place in the past, Harrison county, in this year of 1888, pays all her debts, dollar for dollar. While the subject of county finance is under consideration, I cannot forbear making a statement of the extent to which the realty of the county is blanketed with mortgages, the same assuming a magnitude far exceeding the thought of the most observing. The real value of the realty of the county is placed at $12,477,090, to which add the value of the personalty, 13,644,571, amounts to 116,121,661; on this there is a tax of $166,035.55 for the year of 1887. The mortgage indebtedness on the lands, represented to be worth $12,477,090, is $1,663,612, which, drawing interest at the rate of 8 per cent, each year amounts to the sum of $183,088, so that by adding the tax assessed for the year 1887 to the interest paid for the same year on the loans, amounts to the nice little sum of $299,124.51. It, at first thought, would hardly seem possible, that a little fraction of this great commonwealth, only twenty-four by twenty-seven miles, really makes and pays out, year by year, a fraction over a quarter of a million of dollars, , but the facts warrant these figures. The further fact must be kept in view, that very many of the farms in the county are wholly free of mortgage embellishments, while many persons have crystalized the thought that interest is much cheaper than the usual rents demanded by the landlords, and, hence the mort- gage indebtedness as aforesaid. Notwithstanding the appalling figures as above stated, very many of those on the west side of the county who, in the spring of 1887, were nearly mired by these loans, by reason of the grand yield of the corn crop of the same year as well as the good price which the same brought in market, applied the money received for the same in the extinguishment of these incumbran- 176 HISTORY OF HA-REIS03Sr COUNTY. ces, and at the present are nearly masters of the situation, and quite free of deht. THE EARLY CURRENCY OF THE COUNTY Up to the year of 1857 was gold and silver, which was occasioned by reason of the fact that persons settling in ttie county brought such with them, and again, because Council Bluffs was the great outfitting point for California and Great Salt Lake. They who came to Council Bluffs by water, would purchase teams, imple- ments, groceries, etc., etc., at this place, sufficient to last the trip, and this put this class of money into circulation, and little, if any, paper money was used as a medium of value until the latter part of 1857, and this became exceedingly plentiful up to the time of the breaking out of the rebellion. The reader must not indulge in the thought that gold and silver was very plenteous up to 1857, and from that to the time of the beginning of the war, for such a condition did not exist. About the beginning of the year 1858 there were a great many saw mills located and running in the county and the timber along the Missouri bottoms and in many places in the groves in the up- lands, which occasioned a trade in this article, which the settlers, with this and swamp-land scrip, and now and then a county order, constituted the great bulk of the currency then in circulation. Bank bills representing money, said to have been issued by good, reliable banks in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Greorgia, etc., etc., etc., with great red dogs, or deers, wild cats, handsome men and beauties of women pictured thereon, were at this time thrown broadcast all over the country, and so uncer- tain was the value of these that the banks, which by the detector and newspaper reports of yesterday were reported to be good, the day following would be wholly worthless. Never was there such uncertainty in monetary matters, and perhaps I could not better illustrate this uncertain condition than by telling a cir- cumstance, true in fact and particular, which occurred at the time I am now speaking of, and 'tis this: HI8T0ET OF HARBISON OOTTNTT. 177 Old Uncle Jakey Pate and Mike Wallace kept a wood-yard at a place now known as Sandy Point (the same being named for Mike because of his terribly red hair), and one day while th^y were at dinner a steamboat landed at their yard, and before they could put in an appearance the boatmen had ten or fifteen cords of dry wood carried on board of the boat, and when Uncle Jakey came he says, " Well, well, what are ye a-doin' here at my wood- pile, taking it without leave or license? " To which the clerk of the boat replied, "We will make it right, siir — all right, sir; you'll take paper money, won't you? And if you accept the paper money, about how much will you allow us for it, eh?" To which Mr. Pate replied, after squirting about a quart of tobacco juice on the gang-plank, "Allow you? Well, let me see; how many cords of wood did you take?" '' Fifteen," says the clerk. " Well, well," says Pate, " I think we could about afford to take it cord for cord; what do you say, Mike? " "Yes, fif- teen cords of red dog, wild cat or any other good paper money youVe got will be all right, won't it Mike? " Payment was made in gold at a little less than cord for cord. Attacks have been made on the moneys paid into the county treasury at frequent intervals since the first payment was made of taxes in 1854. It will be remembered that P. G. Cooper was the first County Treasurer elected, and that upon the resignation of Stephen King in October of 1853 as County Judge, that P. G. Cooper was appointed Clerk of the Courts, and his brother, William V. Cooper, was appointed Treasurer and Recorder. During the first part of the year of 1854, and up to and until the 1st of Septem- ber of the same year, this condition continued, and what little taxes were paid, were received by Wm. V. Cooper. At this time the county records were kept in a little log house quite near to the spot where Mr. I. V. Stewart now resides, in Magnolia. All of the county officers then occupied offices in this little building, and while the two Coopers were holding watch and vigil over the rec- 12 178 HISTOET OF HABKI80N COUNTY. ords and cash of the county, during the month of September of the year last named, by some mysterious providence, the build- ing caught fire, and the building, records, cash, etc., were burned. It is said that Judge Cooper was full of ^'Paddy's eye- water," and came nearly perishing in the scorching flames, and while the principal part of the money then in the treasury was " gold," by reason of the heat of the burning building the gold was melted and was afterwards found in a conglomerate shape- less mass, nevertheless, when subjected to scientific test, provect to be the remains of an old brass candle-stick, which had found its way from Virginia and into these offices, and lastly into the scorching flames. The county then rubbed out all old scores and commenced in business de novo. The next ripple upon the surface of county tax deposits was at the March meeting of the county court of 1858, when D. E. Brainard, then County Judge, requested the then Treasurer, John W. Cooper, to make report of the status of the funds in his hands, he Cooper having failed to make any report to the County Judge. Matters passed for three successive days, at which time Mr. Brainard became oblivious as to accommodations and caused the Sheriff of the county to serve on the Treasurer a written notice demanding the immediate appearance of the custodian of the funds and the instantaneous report as provided by law. Mr. Cooper having used some of the funds and then being unable to make immediate replacement, suffered suit to be insti- tuted against him and his bondsmen in the district court, but before the same ripened into hearing, came forward with the proper report and cash, and the case was dismissed. From the date last named until the last of the year 1865, no crookedness in the County Treasurer's office is found of record, while during the year of 1865, as well as the years 1866 and 1867 and that of 1868, the Board of Supervisors of the county for the year 1870 seem to have concluded that there were funds remain- ing in the hands of R. Yeisley for 1865, to the amount of HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 179 1459.37; in the possession of Captain Geo. S. Bacon, for the year of 1866, the sum of $519.71, and for the year 1867, $753.28, and that A. W. Ford had failed to turn over, for the year 1868, the sum of $674.57, due from all former Treasurers, in all making the sum of $2,407.93. This searching of the records was had prior to and reported to the Board at the October session of 1870, at which time the county was represented by seventeen members, all of whom being present at said meeting passed the following resolution, which to-day stands upon the minutes of said Board, viz.: Wheeeas, The committee on county officers have reported to the Board, that they find that Reuben Yeisley has received $459.37 more than his salary for the year 1865 — also find that Geo. S. Bacon has received $519.71 more than his salary for 1866, and $753.28 more than his salary for the year of 1867; that A. W. Ford has received $674.57 more than his salary for the year A. D. 1868. Now therefore be it Resolved hy the Board of Supervisors, That said Yeisley, Bacon and Ford be and are hereby requested to pay the above amounts into the county treasury between this and the first of January, A. D. 1871." The recorded vote on this resolution was as follows, viz.: Yeas — Braiuard, McGavren, Meech, Harvey, DeCou, Wallace, Williams and Hutchison — 8. Nays — Goodenough, Ellis, Wills, Church, Johnson, Milliman, Cobb and Jed Smith — 8. This left the measure before the body a tie, when the chair- man of the Board cast his vote " Yea," and the resolution stood adopted. The Chairman at this time was Dr. J. S. Cole. This resolution was never heeded by Yeisley, Bacon or Ford, and the same stands to day on the records as unpaid. As to the merits of this finding or resolution, each reader is left to formulate his own conclusions as to the merits of the respec- tive parties; however, I am constrained to say that the persons 180 HIBTOET OF HAERISON COUNTY. who constituted this Board were of the very best talent of the county, and men whose judgment would not be warped by either fear, favor, fraud or affection. In justice to Messrs. Yeisley, Bacon and Ford I am in duty bound to state, that the seeming difficulty in these sums- arises by reason of .the vague and uncertain verbiage of the statute with reference to the fees to which the different Treasurers were entitled in the matter of Treasurers' tax deeds. On the night of the 17th of February, 1868, the County Treas- urer's >afe met with just such a " scald " as was experienced at the time the county offices, records and money ware consumed by fire, during the "Cooper" administration in 1854 — gutted. At this time there was more money in the hands of the treasurer than there would be at any other period of the year, so occa- sioned by the payment of taxes, for after the 1st of February, on all taxes which were not paid by or during the month of Janu- ary, penalty began accruing, and further, the middle of the month of February was just the time when the Treasurer was supposed to have cleared up the receipts for money paid during the month of January. Whoever planned the robbery set the job for the time when the Treasurer's safe was in the most pleth- oric condition, and struck it to the tune of nearly $14,000, but which at the present time has by the statement of some, been reduced to only |11,000. The artistic work in the manner of the breaking 'of the safe was most bunglingly performed; in fact so much so as to give a thought that the workmen were amateurs, and had it not been for the quantum of funds extracted, the opinion would have received reasonable credence. Some persons living in the immediate neighborhood of the old court house reported on the following day, or pretended to say, that they heard the noise of the pound- ing, but presumed that this noise arose from some horse or other animal which had wandered into the hall-way of this old temple of justice; and was stamping around there at night, to while HISTOEY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 181 away time. By 9 o'clock of the 18th the town was all agog with the news of the robbery, and there were as many theories as to the persons perpetrating the act as there were dollars stolen. The safe in which this money is said to have been kept was not blown open, but partially sprung apart by the use of iron wedges, and the money drawn through these crevices by using wires or some such appliances. On the 24th of the same month the Board of Supervisors con- vened and the result of this meeting was the appointmeut of a committee to ascertain the amount of money taken, and from what funds; the committee being the Chairman of the Board, D. E. Brainard; the Clerk of the Board, John W. Stocker, and the then Treasurer, A. W. Ford. This committee, so far as the records of the proceedings of the Board show, never reported their findings, and those who now inquire as to this matter are compelled to seek hearsay evidence in. lieu of record testimony. The committee of the Board at their report at the January term, 1869, when reporting on county officers, state that the fol- lowing sums were stolen and locate the different amounts as of the following funds, viz: Bridge Fund $1,085.64 Teachers' Fund 1,692.42 County School Fund 1,302.87 School House Fund 1,245.23 Road Fund 789.57 District School Fund 165.70 Insane Fund 513.98 Poor Fund , 8.27 State Fund 2,S62.66 This last only being obtained from Chapter 41, acts of the Sixteenth General Assembly, passed on the 4th of March, 1876, whereby this county is credited with this amount while no part of the amount was ever paid. The balance, whatever it may have been, must have been from 182 HI8T0ET OF HAEEISON COITNTY. the county fund, for at this time there was not a cent left of all the moneys derived from the sale of the 121,000 acres of swamp lands ; and there could not have been much of the county fund, for at the time the treasury of the county was turned over to the then Treasurer, viz. : on the 1st of January, 1868, the amount of this fund so turned over to Ford by Captain Bacon, reached the enormous sum of two cents, besides at this same time there were half cords of county orders outstanding, the same hawked on the market at sixty cents on the dollar. The current of opinion seemed to center on Michael Rogers, and a'gang which was under his leadership, as the perpetrators of the robbery, while at the same time there were a few wh6 on this subject were like doubting Thomas, would like to have put their fingers into Mike's side (pockets) before being convinced' Rogers was indicted but never caught, and in the course of time the ease of " The State of Iowa v. Mike Rogers" was dropped from the docket and the whole transaction dismissed from the minds of the tax-paying public. Neither the Treasurer nor his sureties were ever required to make good the losses, the same being regarded as a public rather than a private calamity. This brings the reader down to the present and compels state- ment to be made as to the defalcation of Mr. I. P. Hill. Mr. Hill was elected at the fall election of 1875, and was his own successor during five terms, having held the office for twelve years, when, upon turning over the same to Mr. Lew Massie, on the first Monday in January, 1888, greatly startled our usually quiet citizens, by making the statement that there was a short- age of funds to the extent of $20,000 to $25,000. The author of these hastily crystalized thoughts has known Mr. Hill for a period of thirty-two years, and from this long acquaintance would be sluggish in forming the belief that one who has always been Harrison county's most trusted guardian is criminal. But should it appear that there is a defalcation, and that Mr. Hill has been the trusted friend of the county and can- HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 183 not make a showing as to the present finance which has been paid him by the hard worked, and, as I might say, " over taxed peo- ple," then let stern justice be meted out to him without stint or pity. Each individual who assumes the duties and responsibilities of an officft should know whether or not he pos- sesses the proper qualification in order to discharge the duties thereof, and at this day when taxes assume the dignity of rent, it will not suffice to say, " I was iacompetent,"*more es.pecially, when twelve years of honesty and ability have been sounded through the entire county as the passport to position and trust. At the present, while there is an indictment pending against Mr. Hill, and, especially while experts are busily at work in examining the last half of his terms of office, I deem it impru- dent to say aught but this; "Let justice be done to the public and the defendant Mr. Hill, though the heavens fall." THE IMPEACHMENT OF I. P. HILL, TEBASUKEK OF HARRISON COUNTY, AT THE INSTANCE-OE JOHN HUIE AND A. 0. GILCHRIST. This matter was brought before the District Court of the State of Iowa for Harrison county, at the August term, 1879. The accusers were men of excellent standing in the county at the time of the inception of the case, and it was brought about through the instance and superintendence of Mr. Issacher Seho- field, then member of the Board of Supervisors, and a resident of Dunlap, who was elected to, and did at that time, represent the second supervisor district of this county. Mr. Schofield took his seat at the incoming of the year of 1879, and soon pre- sumed to have good reasons to believe that the accused was deal- ing unfairly with the people of the county, or in other words, was favoring a few of those to whom he was under especial obligations and giving the cold shoulder to very many who were equally entitled to share alike with the favored few last named, and hence the accusation against the defendant, which was in the following words, viz. : 184 HISTORY OF HAERISON GOTJNTT. The accusers ask that the accused be removed from the office of Treasurer of the county, for the following reasons: For habitual and willf al neglect of duty in this — 1. By failing to apportion consolidated tax each month; 2. By failing and neglecting to report to the County Auditor the apportionment tax for the year 1878; 3. By failing to keep the different funds separate; 4. By.paying warrants drawn on one fund out of the cash of another and different fund; 5. By holding $6,000 in county warrants and refusing to can- cel the same, as provided by law; 6. By depositing county and other funds intrusted to his care in banks as his own private funds, and drawing interest thereon; 7. By loaning out public funds for firivate purposes; 8. By holding county warrants and refusing to cancel same, or permit cancellation; , 9. By paying out county orders which had been taken in and paid by him ; 10. By refusing to report to the County Auditor, weekly, the county orders received by him as Treasurer, and neglecting to endorse thereon the word " paid," as provided by law; 11. By showing partiality in office in this, viz.: by paying to certain parties cash on county warrants and refusing others; 12. By holding tax receipts and tax certificates for friends and not requiring the full amount at date of delivery, when no money had been paid thereon at the date of receipt of certifi- cate; 13. By holding county warrants purchased by friends at great discount, and paying the same out of other and different funds than those upon which said warrants were drawn — the fund on which the warrants were drawn being exhausted; 14. By failing to produce and fully account for all public funds at inspection or legal settlement with the Board at the January meeting in 1879; HISTOEY OF HARRISON COUNTY. 185 15. By exhibiting bankers' certificates of deposit in lieu of the money representing the public funds, belonging to the county and State. A joinder of issues was completed on the above charges, and the case came to trial at the August term of the said court in 1879, in which cause the State was represented by attorneys J. H. Henderson, of Marshalltown, and S. H. Cochran, of Logan, and the defendant by J. W. Barnhart and W. S. Shoemaker, of Logan, and Mr. Monk, of Onawa. The jury selected to determine the facts were as follows, viz.: William Elliott, A. Jewel, Thos. F. Vanderhoof, .Henry Weed, N. B. Wadsworth, D. A. McDermot, G. W. Noyes, jr., James Norman, J. A. Deal, John A. Reel, G. W. Smith and H. P. White, who, after patiently listening to the evidence introduced, and the argument of the representative counsel, and being instructed by the court, only tarried in their consultation room a short time when they returned into court with a verdict: " We the jury find the defendant not guilty." . Perhaps I might state that there never was a case tried in the courts of the county which elicited so much interest for the moment as this, for the fact that the prosecution was instituted at the latter part of the second term of office of the accused, who, being a personage having grown up under the eye of the public, the party to whom he had attached his political faith and worshiped with, were bitter in denouncing the accusation as being more for political purposes than pro bono publico, and again among his adherents there were numerous personages who had a mercenary purpose in refuting the charges, irrespective of guilt, for by so doing they were accommodating their own private and personal interests. Charges 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were passed over because, if the charges were true, the commission of these acts had been indulged in by former county treasurers so long back that the memory of man ran not to the contrary; and it was especially 186 HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY. urged on trial, as a matter of justification, that when Hill's pre- decessor went out of officCj there were large amounts of county warrants, approximating nearly fll,000, turned over to him in settlement with Mr. Wood, or rather by the Board of Super- visors in settlement with Mr. Wood as cash, the same, though nearly four years had intervened, these remained uncancelled, and nothing but the full fledged honesty of the present incum- bent prohibited this large amount of negotiable paper from being again thrown upon the public as a circulating medium of value. That the presence of this bundle of honesty was proof positive of his innocence, etc. Specifications 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 were regarded by the jury as not sufficiently proven, while the charges 14 and 15 were not in any substantial manner relied on by the accusers. The greater stress in the entire case was based on those charges alleging that the public funds had been placed in the banks of the county contrary to law, and that interest had been collected thereon by the accused, and this interest appropriated by the accused to his own use. From the present light which has been, within the last six months shed on this case, there would be little hesitancy in saying that, had the accusers centralized their prosecution on the Mth and 15th charges, and pushed the case vigorously, the result of the verdict of the jury might have been materially different, yet with this opinion 1 h^ve little sympathy, for should the same elements now combine and foreordain that an acquittal should be had, the result might be a verdict of similar import as that copied in the foregoing remarks. The prosecution had no faith in maintaining charges 14 and 15, or else they would have pushed the accused to the wall on the same, but in this they were like a blind steer in a forty- acre cornfield, simply wandering about hoping to find their way to a conviction. The present Board of Supervisors now claim that the accused, HI8T0EY OF HAKEISON COUNTY. 187 at the January settlement of 1879, was short of funds to the extent of $2,131.78; that at the June settlement of 1881 there was a deficit of $3,200; the same at the January settlement of 1882; $4,000 at June of the same year; $4,800 at January, 1883, $5,000 at June, 1883; $7,500 at January, 1884. At the January meeting of 1884 all funds belonging to the county were produced and counted by the Board, while at the January meeting of 1883 the $4,800 was obtained by executing a promissory note of I. P. Hill to the Harrison County Bank, and this note was taken up by the Treasurer immediately after the settlement of that month. The settlement of the January session of 1885 was balanced up by using $7,200 of checks held by the Harrison County Bank, which bore date of the 21st of January, and was taken up as shown on the 22d of the same month. At the June meeting of 1885 the settlement was made by using $1,300 of cash put in on the 17th day of June and drawn out on the same day by the Harrison County Bank, and $6,500 in checks on the Harrison County Bank, these bearing date of the 17th day of June and drawn out on the 19th of the same month. January settlement of 1886 was a cash counting term. At the June settlement of 1886 the Harrison County Bank was represented by $10,500 in cheeks of date of the 22d of Jiine, and the same drawn out on the 24th of the same month. On the 18th day of January, 1887, I. P. Hill executed his promissory note to the Harrison County Bank for $9,000, and the same was paid by Mr. Hill three days thereafter. At the June session of 1887 Mr. Hill was behind in funds to the amount of $14,500, and the deficiency held in abeyance by the Board counting as funds in the hands of the Treasurer, $7,000 in checks held by the Harrison County Bank; $2,500 in certificates of deposits at the Cadwell Bank, and at the same time counting as cash a check held by Cadwell's Bank drawn by the County Treasurer on the Harrison County Bank calling for $5,000- 188 HISTOET OF HARRISON COUNTY. Mr. P. Cadwell held on deposit at that time the sum of $2,500 belonging to the funds of the county, and this $2,500, added to the check of the Treasurer on the Harrison County Bank of $5,000, made a showing of $7,500, from which these balances were made. There can be no question but that the Cadwell Bank acted in this matter with the utmost good faith and that there was no other thought in the mind of the Cadwell Bank but that the check of the Treasurer on the Harrison County Bank was in good faith and represented the cash as stated, viz. : so much money of the funds belonging to the county which had been deposited in the afore- said bank. It must also be remembered that at this time Mr. Cadwell was one of the bondsmen of the County Treasurer, and would not even squint at any crookedness on the part of the principal whom he was securing. No character of gossip every startled the people of the county like unto that of the statement made at the meeting of the Board of Supervisors in January, 1888, when it was made known that Mr. Hill was a defaulter in the sum of $20,000 to $25,000, but the reports of the Treasurer and Auditor would not balance by this amount above spoken of, and hence, when the outgoing Auditor told that Mr. I. P. Hill was lacking that amount of funds to come up even with the tally sheets in his ofBce, there was no longer any doubt as to the truth of the statement. It might be profitable for those who bank on the funds belong- ing to the county to go upon the bonds of the County Treasurer, yet this little escapade has settled a fact in the minds of some few of Harrison county's best citizens, — that if the greater share of the public funds are to be used by the firm not holden on the Treasurer's bond, the sooner relief is had from the bond the more wisdom the parties would manifest. Parties and persons may settle the thought as to where the deficiency first began by accommodating their own fancy, but HISTOBT OP HAEEISON COUNrT. 189 this truth must not be forgotten. When the Board of Super- visors settled with Mr. Hill's predecessors, why was not the $11,000 of warrants then turned over, cancelled and placed be- yond the reach of ever afterwards being counted or even estimated as cash? The Boards of Supervisors who have held that position since the 1st day of January, 1879, are quite as much to blame as any party to the defalcation, in not requiring at each settlement re- quired by law, semi-annually, to demand even peremptorily, to see that the money representing each fund be brought into the Supervisors' court and then and there counted. While it is true that on the incoming of each year of a new term of office, Mr. Hill was promptly on hand with cash balances, yet had they demanded the payment of these certificates of deposit or even the checks, at any or all the intermediate settlements, " some American citizen of African descent would have been smoked out of the fuel pile." This propping arrangement would not have survived more than one terra, and as a result, the incompetent or dishonest would have been at an early day estopped in plying their game at the expense of confiding bondsmen. On whom rests the burden of guilt in this case, is left to each person to form opinions for himself, but this fact is fixed beyond doubt, that they who are the bondsmen of the subject of these remarks, have, both in and out of season, persistently proclaimed the honesty of Mr. Hill. Another fact may be stated : it is one which will bear the most severe ordeal, and it is this: there has never been a time in the political history of the county, when the banks of the county united on a candidate for County Treasurer, but that the person of their choice was elected by most handsome majorities, and the further fact may be truthfully stated, that Mr. Hill has been 190 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTT. could not be censured for giving him a united support, unless this party was cognizant of the fact of his dishonesty or incom- petency, but there have been numerous persons in the party which opposed Mr. Hill, who, forgetting their own nominees, and for mercenary and personal purposes, have thrown^ very many good Republicans into political fence corners, because they had tried and proved Mr. Hill, and had found in him a friend who was ever ready to supply funds for pecuniary purposes, not- withstanding the funds so furijished belonged to the public. This incumbent had been in office since the 1st of January, 1876, and who would " swap " a good, well-tried trick " boss " for one not accustomed to the collar or even broken to lead? Hence the numerous political graves, freshened every odd year by party, suicidal, political hands. Xhe records now plainly show that Mr. Hill had become quite serviceable to a limited number of the Republican party, who were ever pushing him to the front, recommending his honesty and ability and if aught was said against him, were crying " persecu- tion," but these were either serving their own pecuniary purpose or turning the political grindstone for some one who expected to reap a rich promised or anticipated reward. At the time of the trial of the accusations of 1879, and from that time up to and until the 1st of January, 1888, there never was a time when aught derogatory to the character and standing of Mr. Hill was noised abroad, but all the ex-County Treasurers of the county (excepting Judge King and Judge Brainard) would shield the person of the accused by a solid embankment of body so and characters, that it was impossible for the spears of honest, well meaning accusers to touch the sacred person of the money- collecting friend. Formerly, it was said : " Not all who cry Lord ! Lord! shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven;" so, at the present day, it is not universally the case, that they who pump political wind HISTOET OF HARRISON COUNTY. 191 with the greatest persistency, and assume a rich politico-sancti- fied look, have the best interests of the public at heart. Much has been said in regard to the investigation ordered by the Board of Supervisors, in June of 1879, at which time Mr. J. C. Milliman, of this county, and E. H. Hibben, of Marshall- town, were selected^ as the experts to examine and report the condition of the Auditor's office. These men, after careful examination made report to the Board as to tjie condition of the records of the office to which their attention was directed, viz. : the Auditor's, and it was impossible for them to make a showing as to the condition of the business and status of the books of the Treasurer's office, from the fact that they never were clothed with authority to investigate the status of the finance of the County Treasurer. The fault, if fault there be, lies largely at the door of the Board of Supervisors, for had they acted on the 1st of January, 1879, and semi-monthly thereafter, as the law directed them to act, viz.: to count the funds in the hands of the Treasurer, and not take the certificates of deposits of bankers as money or con- sider as cash a draft drawn by the Treasurer on a bank, not even seeking to inquire of the bankers if such draft would be hon- ored if presented, the defalcation of the present would not have assumed the magnitude of $25,000. The law presumes every man to be honest until the contrary is proven, and the different Boards of Supervisors adopting this theory have been careless of duty, supposing that it would be sufficient time to determiine an indvidual dishonest after the act constituting the dishonesty was perpetrated. It is an old maxim, "An ounce of preventive is equal to a pound of cure," and had the preventive been rigidly applied, there would have been no necessity for any curing appliances. 192 HISTOEY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS. The first personage to adorn this exalted position was Mr. William Dakan o£ Jefferson township, he being elected at the first election held in the county, which occurred, as before stated, on the 7th day of March, 1853. Lawyer Dakan qualified and discharged the onerous duties of this position by drawing the salary provided therefor, and when informed that Stephen King had resigned, possessing a modesty worthy of imitation in these latter days, rather than take upon himself the duties of County Judge (for he, by reason of his position, was County Judge ad interim), also resigned the office of County Prosecuting Attorney; and as a result one Richurd Humphreys (called Dick Humphreys) was, on the 5th day of December, 1853, appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Dakan. Mr. Dakan, though not a lawyer, possessed, largely, the symptomsj except that he was a strict temperance man; but outside of this was as windy as the most " gassy " professional lawyer in all the State of Iowa,' not ban- ing the other thirty-seven States of this glorious Union. There is a certain peculiarity touching the first Prosecuting Attorney of this county, and the individual who was appointed to fill his unexpired term, in this : Mr. Dakan was one of the most liberal, enterprising, faithful and upright, uncompromising men of this part of the State, but to him reverses came, matters over which he had no control, and by reason of miscalculation, failed financially, to the utter astonishment of all his friends and neighbor^, fled from the face of his creditors, while there was an abundance of property to much more than satisfy his every debt. But the man who had moved in the highest circles of the county, when misfortune crossed his pathway had not the courage to stand faithfully at the financial helm and shore a craft that would have more than paid every obligation, but chose to let it sink without witnessing the scene. Richard Humphreys, who succeeded Mr. Dakan by appoint- HISTORY OF HAEEISON CO0NTY. 193 ment, was a mau of reasonable legal qualifications, but there was a disposition in the man that he could not control, and this con- trolling power was manifest in the year of 1855, when he had migrated to the State of Missouri, and there like Zaccheus climbed a tree, but Zaccheus came down alive, a matter which this limb of the law wholly forgot, for while attached to the limb of the tree, there happening to be a peculiar attachment of this limb of the law to the limb of the tree, that unfortunately broke the neck of the law-limb. At the April election of 1854 Mr. T. B. Neely was elected to serve out the unexpired term of Mr. Dakan, which he did with credit to himself and the gratification of the entire citizenship of the county electing him. James W. Bates was elected at the April election of 1855, and drew his salary for the two years following. This gentleman was not a lawyer by profession, but in this matter, like the old- fashioned " Buckeye " when requested to attend church, replied, " I will either go or send a hand," and while Mr. Bates did not in person superintend and discharge the duties of the ofBce to which he was elected, he furnished a hand to do it. William T. Raymond, then living three miles north of Mag- nolia, was at the April election of 1857 elected to this position, and though a real good farmer, and lately hailing from the land of wooden nutmegs and basswood hams, discharged the duties of this office with ability, fairness and impartiality, which to-day is worthy of imitation. Here let it be said that Mr. Raymond, during his term of office, was frequently called upon to perform the functions of the office of County Judge, and ^hile so acting was occupying the position of D. E. Brainard, but whenever so administering justice or otherwise so acting, his acts were always such as to meet the approval of Mr. Brainard. The ending of the year of 1858 ended the office of County Prosecuting Attorney, an office having its inception not only on 13 194r HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. the adoption of the Code of 1851, but dating back to the time of the admission of this State into the Union. The following is a list of the Prosecuting Attorneys of this Judicial District: 0. H. Howe, elected Oct. 12, 1858; Henry Ford, Oct. 14, 1862; Orson Rice, Oct. 9, 1866; C. H. Lewis, Oct. 11, 1870; George B. McCarty, Oct. 13, 1874; S. M. Marsh, Oct. 8, 1878, re-elected Nov. 7, 1882. Then the Twenty-first General Assembly, by act, determined that this ofBce was no longer necessary, and the courts and peo- ple, after an experience and trial thereof for the period of twenty-eight years, fell back on the early wisdom of the State, and rejuvenated the office of County Prosecuting Attorney, to which position J. A. Phillips, an attorney of Dunlap, was chosen at the general election of 1886, and entered on the discharge of his duties on the first Monday of January, 1887. THE COUSTTT OFFICERS elected at the time of the organization of the county, on the 7th of April, 1853, were as heretofore given, viz.: Stephen King, County Judge — Mr. King resigned this posi- tion in August of the same year, and one P. Green Cooper, whether by appointment or by reason of being in a position to hold the office ad interim, officiated as County Judge until August election of 1854, at which time James Hardy was elected to fill the vacancy. At the August election, 1855, James Hardy was re-elected and held this office until the election of D. E. Brainard in August of 1857, the general elections being the time provided for the elec- tion of county officers by act of the Seventh General Assembly, passed March 23, 1858. D. E. Brainard was again elected at the general election of 1859. Jonas W. Chatburn, elected, 1861. Samuel Moore, elected, 1863. HISTORY OF HAERI80N COUNTY. 195 Jamas Harvey, elected, 1865. H. C. Harshbarger, elected, 1867. This person last named took the oath on the 1st of January, 1868, and held the position until the taking effect of the act passed by the Twelfth General Assembly, which legislated all the County Judges in the State out of office. The records kept by these courts of their proceedings are unique, many of them as hard to interpret as the hieroglyphics on the pyramids or the characters on the copper plates found by Joe Smith; more conspicuous for what is not recorded than for the facts set forth. The laws of the State did not require the County Judge to reside at the seat of justice, and to that end Mr. James Harvey during the term of his office resided on his farm in Raglan, but made occasional visits to the county seat to learn if anybody had departed this life so that executors or an administrator would need be appointed, but while at his business of farming a cer- tain gentleman from the old Buckeye State made a trip to this county in order to settle up an estate which had been hanging fire for a considerable time, when not finding His Honor at his office, made search for him among the hills of Raglan, and on his return stated that the County Judge of Harrison County was precisely like a pony he owned. "Why?" was the ready question of a bystander. Said the stranger, " In the first place he is very hard to catch, and in the second place when you do catch him he is not worth a d — n." COUN'TT TKBASUEEE. Whoever was elected to this position at the April election of 1853 is not shown by the records, but on the 5th of December, 1863, there being no person acting in such capacity, and there being a vacancy declared by the ad interim County Judge (P. r, The county seat of Harrison county, Iowa, is located on the east one-half of the southwest one-fourth of the southwest one- fourth of section 18, and the northwest one-fourth of section 19, 79, 42, and northeast one-fourth of section 24, 79, 43. This land was originally entered or purchased by Mr. Henry Reel, of the Government, in 1854 and 1858, the former at a time when there was not a bridge on the Boyer river from the place where the same empties into the Missouri river in Potta- wattamie county to the Boyer Lake, the source of the said river. Mr. Reel settled on the site of this town in 1852, and held the land as a settler until the 20th of February, 1864, before entry, which would cause some at this day to wonder how this could be done; but to those who are familiar with the early settlement the matter is quite plain, for at this time the fact of settlement furnished as good a title for the time being as though the squat- ter had and held the fee of the land. If a real bona fide settler's claim was jumped, the " jumpist " had a free passport to that place " where the wicked cease from troubling and the jumpers are at rest." In 1852 when Mr. Reel first built his cabin on the banks of the Boyer at the present town site of Logan, there was not another settler between this place and Joe Hill's, which place is some two miles below the present station of Loveland in Pot- tawattamie county. This might in 1888 be considered an enlarged neighborhood, but the extent of a neighborhood depends on the condition of settlement. If there were no neighbors (373) 374 HISTOKT OF HAERISON COTJNTT. within fifty miles, then the length and breadth of such a neigh- borhood would necessarily extend to such settlement. Here Mr. Reel liv^ed and prospered, opening up a large farm' built a grist and saw mill, until the breaking out of the war, when his son John became the very first of those who enlisted in Company B of the old glorious Fourth Iowa Infantry, was captured and yielded his young life in Anderson villa for the cause of the country and good government. Then in August of 1862 the second son Henry enlisted in Company C of the Twen- ty-ninth Iowa, and was among the first to die of disease and exposure. Then again when the draft was had at Council Blufis in November of 1864, the last and only son, 0. P. Reel, was drafted and would not suffer the shame of purchasing a sub- stitute, and manfully entered the service as a private, at which time being nearly dead with that dread disease, consumption, soon fell a victim to exposure and died, so that this old patriarch and his good wife were left sonless. Passing from this to the time when the C. & N. W. railroad built their track down the Boyer valley, by some misunderstanding or quarrel between the said company and Reel, the cars for nearly one year passed the town of Logan without deigning to stop to take on or put off freight or passengers. This status continued until in 1867, when Mr. Reel applied to the Interior Department and had a postoffice established at this place, which compelled the railroad company to stop here and change the mails. Then followed the laying out of a town, which was done in July, 1867, and named by Mr. Reel " Logan," in remembrance of Gen. John A. Logan, of Illinois, for whom Mr. Reel had a respect and love bordering on adoration. Many persons have come to the conclusion that the place was named Logan for Mr. Thomas MacDonald Logan, .formerly of this place but now of River Sioux, but this is a mistake, for the HI8T0BT OF HAEEISOK COUNTY. 375 further fact that the place was born into existence prior to the time of Mr. Thomas Mc Logan locating here. The first house or place of business iu the town was that of a drug store, by one Geo. F. Waterman, and was directly west of the present location of what is now known as the Logan House. Within a few weeks after this Messrs. Rudasill, Wood & Lowe, of Magnolia, put up the building now used as the Logan Hotel, and placed therein a large well selected stock of dry goods and groceries. Then came Messrs. Cole & Fish, who moved their building down from a place then known as Whitesboro, formerly Buena Vista, and located on the east side of the public square, on or adjacent to the place where the public hall is situated, and filled the same with dry goods and groceries. Soon after this came Broadwell & Gavin, removing their stock of goods from Reeder's Mills, having built what is now used by the Lusk Hotel as a sample room, and opened the third store in Logan. Mr. George W. White built a brick building, being part of the old Vore Logan house, and was the first man to keep hotel in the place. Mr. T. Mc Logan, in company with Judge Leach, of Cedar Rapids, started out in the business of grain merchants and vending agricultural implements, which was soon purchased by the former and by him sold, about 1873, to Messrs. Seekell, Luce & Co. The first hotel following the White House, was built by Mr. James A. Lusk the same as is now known far and near as the Lusk Hotel. From 1870, men and business began to multiply in Logan, and so continued up to the fall election of 1875, at which time the seat of justice was brought to the place, which occasioned quite a stir in business, as well as a rise in the values of town property. Indeed, so elated were some of the property holders at this time, that their property would not bring more in the market now than was offered for it then, notwithstanding thirteen years have gone the way of all the earth. Prom the time of the laying out of the town site by Mr. Reel 376 HISTORY OF HAEBISON COUNTY. up to and until the removal of the county seat to this place, there were two firms purchasing grain, viz.: Logan & Leach, and their successors G. B. Seekell & Co., and Vanderhoff & Co. This last was sold to P. J. Rudasill & Co. ; one blacksmith shop, one drug store by Waterman, who sold to Kelly, one lumber yard by Seekell; three dry good stores and numerous places furnishing poor whisky; one livery barn, run by the world renowned Yankee Robinson, whose peculiarities are remembered by many of the persons who first located in this place. In 1874, the bank of Cadwell and Fiske began business, the same as now known as Cadwell's Bank. I had in a measure forgotten to mention the name of a firm in the dry goods and clothing business who were the successors of Broad well and Cavin, viz. : the firm of Gavin, Foreman & Beno, of Council Blufis. This firm built a large, commodious building on the east side of the public square, and ran business at high pressure for a decade and then retired, sell- ing out to Messrs Hull & Parker Bros. Mr. G. B. Cadwell, the old reliable hardware man of Logan, has been in business in this place longer than any man of the town. With the exception of one year's rest, he has been behind his counter and at his desk for the past twenty years. In 1876 the town incorporated, and from that time to the present has maintained a city government, which, though lax at times, is perhaps better governed than many of the other towns of the county. The town is now well protected from fires by the water works which were built in the latter part of 1884,. at a cost to the property owners of the town in the sum of |8,000, which upon each trial has proved all that was claimed for such undertaking at the time they were built. The reservoir is sit- uated on the hill west of the town, and having more than a hun- dred feet of fall, throws a stream of water 74 feet high, and with such power as to tear away the shingles on the roofs of houses when the stream is directed against the same. HI8T0ET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 377 A Methodist Church was built iu 1872 and dedicated in the month of January, 1873, costing $1,200. » A Baptist Church was built ia 1870, costing $1,800. These were the only churches built prior to the time of the removal of the county seat to the place. In 1877 the Presbyterians built a very commodious church building, and in 1879 Mr. Henry Reel, at his own expense, built the church building, known as the Regular Predestination Bap- tist Church. In the building of this many conjectures have been made, as to what caused Father Reel to build it at his own expense. By some 'tis said that some persous wishing the use of some of the church buildings in the town for the purpose of preaching, were denied the use of these pulpits, because their doc- trines were scarcely orthodox, and for this reason this building was built, so that no matter what ism was wanting an opportu- nity for hearing, this should be free to all, which has been bestowed free of charge to any and all persons who desired to be heard in Logan. Another reason has been assigned, and 'tis this: the thought had entered the mind of Mr. Reel that seats were furnished in accordance with the apparel, i. e., that those attend- ing church who were clad in silks and fine robes or a plug hat, were assigned the better seats, no respect being shown to age, bodily infirmities or morals. The true status of the case is, Mr. Reel took it into his head to build a church building, and when this opinion was once formed, the die was cast and of course the church was soon built. In this building this old patriarch wor- ships with a degree of satisfaction not excelled by any other per- son in all this broad land. In 1879 the Adventists built a small brick church near the Logan school house, at a cost of some $500. From this time until 1887 the church building rested, when the same was revived by the Latter Day Saints and Christians, each building neat comfortable churches, each costing, when seated, the sum of $1,500. 378 HisTOET or haeeison county. So that Logan, while not being built on seven hills, has seven churches built on one hill. At present there are the following business firms: Banks — Cad well's Bank, P. Cad well; Harrison County Bank, A. L. Harvey, A. W. Ford. Dry Goods and Groceries — Burkley & Co., money in business, 120,000; Read & Massie, money in business, $15,000; P. R. Cross- wait & Co., money in business, $15,000 (own building), |4,000. Clothing — Emil Reutlinger, money in business, $5,000. Groceries — Vanscoy Bros., own buildings valued at $15,000, money in business, $10,000; John W. Stocker, owns building, $7,000, money in business, $20,000; L. -J. Paul, money in busi- ness, $6,000; F. P. Clizbe, money in business, $1,500; Milliman & Co., money in business, $1,500, own building, $1,000. Millinery Goods — Miss Effa Adams, Mrs. Eaton, Mrs. Leyshon. Furniture —Henry Lenz, own building, $2,000, money in busi- ness, $3,000; K. E. Webber, money in business, $1,000. Restaurants — C. I. Hall, Mrs. Haden. Drug Stores — Witt & Massie, money in business, $2,500; F. A. Comfort, money in business, $2,000; Wm. Giddings, owns building, $6,000, money in business, $5,000. Elevators, Grain and Lumber — -Rudd & Bunton, own building, $6,000, money in business, $6,000; C. F. Luce & Co., own build- ing, $8,000, money in business, $20,000. Hardware — Vanduzen & Parker, own building, $1,200, money in business, $4,000; G. B. Cad well, owns building, $2,000, money in business, $4,000. Mr. Cadwell is the oldest man in business in the town. Grain Dealers— 3. W. Stocker, C. F. Luce & Co. and Rudd & Burton. Stock Buyers—^. W. Stocker, Adams Bros. Livery, Feed and Sale Barns— Geo. Curtis, F. P. Feighley. Harness, etc.— I. Huber, money in business, $2,000. HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 379 Hotels — Lusk House, landlord' at present, Dr. A. White. Logan House, landlord at present, Wm. Davison. Meat Markets — Adams & Co. Jewelers— -yj . E. Reeves, F. Clizbe. Blacksmith (S/io/JS— Benj. LaPorte and Bobby Shields. Carpenters— Lindsay, Penrod, Kirkendall, Welsh, Cronb, etc. Plasterer — J. E. Townsend. Painters — Milliman, Hill, Iden and Crombie. Physicians— 3. L. Witt, P. A. Comfort and I. P. Wood. Lawyers — Joe H. Smith, L. R. Bolter, J. W. Barnhart, S. L King, H. H. Roadifer, C. R. Bolter, C. A. Bolter, J. A. Berry, L. J. Birdseye, S. H. Cochran, P. W. Hart and A. L. Harvey. Newspapers — Observer, edited by George Musgrave; Democrat, edited by R. V. Smith. Feed Store — H. A. Kinney. Dentist — Dr. E. Griddings. Wagon Shops — Dan Stewart and Geo. Hill. Photograph Galleries — J. P. Creager, Frank Hoyer and Charles Lenz. Land & Loan Agents and Abstracters — Stern & Milliman. This firm is reliable, one of the members of the firm being a portable encyclopedia of all the kinks in the chains of title in the county. F. W. Hart, E. G. Tyler and Duren Stearns. Ministers— K. Thornbrue, M. E.; F. J. Bryant, Baptist; 0. A. Elliott, Presbyterian; J. R. Harlan, Christian; Joseph Richard- son, Hard Shell Baptist. Post Master— T. E. Massie. The Secret Societies in Logan, are as follows: I. 0. 0. R, No. 355, organized in 1878, Joe Creager, N. G., 65 members. A. F. & A. M., Chrysolite Lodge, No. 420— A.. L. Harvey, W. M., organized in 1882, now with forty members. Of these, Mr. S. I. King, Mr. J. W. Barnhart, Mr. L C. Wood and Geo. Soper are members of Triune Chapter 81, at Missouri Valley, and 380 HISTOET OF HAKEISON COUNTY. members of Ivanhoe Commandery No. 17, at Council Bluffs* Iowa. Iowa Legion of Honor — D. S. P. Michael, President. Num- ber of members, 25. Fuller Post, G. A. R —Organized 1878, Col. French, Com- mander. Number of Comrades, 43. Camp Stacker, Sons of Veterans — J. P. Creager, Commander. Number of members, 22. Independent Order of Good Templars — Mr. Guy Petrie, W. C, with 60 members. MISSOURI VALLEY was for twenty-five years last past known as Mcintosh Point, and to the casual observer presented no distinctive features except that it was the place where the Boyer river debouches into the Missouri Bottoms. Notwithstanding the general suppression of the surrounding country, any person having sufficient per- ceptive faculties would soon arrive at the conclusion that in case a railroad should strike out from the Mississippi river for the mighty West, this place was constructed by the Maker as the best and most practicable route for such an undertaking. This fact was soon caught sight of by the railroad creators, and in 1866 a puifing, screaching, full grown engine came snorting down this matchless valley and brought up at a dead halt at the place last named. Following this in 1867 the-Sioux City & Pa^ cific Railroad Company completed their road from Sioux City to this place, and soon thereafter the C. & N. W. Railway extended their road bed to Columbus, Nebraska, then on to Chadron, and thence onward toward the Black Hills. In 1868 the Company commenced the building of round houses and machine shops, which at the present time gives employment to over 200 men. Missouri Valley at the present time has over ten miles of side track and switches within her corporation, and as far as the hurry and bustle of railroad life are concerned is to-day the live- HI8T0EY OF HARRISON COUNTY. 381 liest railroaci town in the county. While this place does not command the extent of trade in grain and stock that many other portions of the county possess, nevertheless the employment given to men in the employ of the railroad, and the money spent by these men in the way of the necessaries of life, give this locality a cash trade such as is the envy of the other rural dis- tricts. Eliminate from the Valley the support furnished by the railroad employes and the locality would fall into " inocuous desuetude." The junction of the roads at this place and the necessaries attendant on railroad enterprises, will always furnish employment at that place for a goodly number of men, and this will increase as the trade and traffic of the West increase. The only drawback to this will be the building of other bridges across the Missouri river at points higher up the stream, but these can only in a feeble measure affect this established trade. The land upon which the town is located was entered by numer- ous persons, among whom is Mr. Boone Mcintosh, now deceased, and Samuel Addis. Part of the town is located on disputed ter- ritory, but the question of title has been twice before the Supreme Court of the State, carried there by Henry Kittering- ham, and is now said to be on the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. This should not give much uneasiness to the property holders, from the fact that this case will be a legal miscarriage or else still-born when the opinion is rendered therein. This place is situated in sections 15 and 16, and by the county records shows a muchly additioned city, having only seven additions marked on the records — not taking into consid- eration the grave yards added; and was incorporated in 1872 with a population of 759, and a present population of 2,700. In 1868 the following business firms stood at the head of the list, and are here mentioned to show what Vast changes have taken place during the past score of years: Dealers in Hardware and Agricultural Implements—^. McGavern & Co., D. A. Babcock. 382 HISTORY OF HARRISON OO0NTT. Drug Stores.— Kciiayren & Hull, McBride & Birchard. General Merchandise — H. C. Warner. Saddler— J. M. Riley. Carpenters — Smith & Cogswell. Attorneys atLato—T. E. Brannon, P. D. Mickel. Physicians—Brs. Coit and G. H. McGavren. The growth of this place has been steady and healthful, and at the present there is a population of 2,700 and with a busi- ness as shown by the directory hereto attached. Six churches, viz.: The M. E. church, Presbyterian, Chris- tian, Roman Catholic, Baptist and Lutheran, have all good com- modious buildings; and the two school buildings of the place far outreach any of the other towns in the county. The public enterprise of the place is manifest in the erection and completion of a building known as the Town Hall, costing the tax-payers of the city not less than $5,000. It is two stories high. In the front of the lower story is kept the fire-engine; back of this is the calaboose (but that is tenantless since prohibition came); the front room in the second story is used for a library room, in which 2,500 volumes of a Public Library are maintained for the benefit of the public and those who are literarily inclined. This library is a great recommendation to the intelligence and benevolence of the people of the place, from the fact that it indicates the make-up of the persons who have control of the business and morals of the locality. This library is under the immediate supervision of Mrs. Annie Shultz, and the manner in which it is controlled by her speaks volumes in her praise. Two newspapers are published at this place, viz.: The Harri- son County News and Missouri Valley Times, the former Republican and the latter Democratic. The editor of The News came from the school room and has only had two years experi- ence in wielding the shears and pen, while the editor of the lat- ter may claim an experience as an editor of more than a quarter of a century. Both these sheets are well supported by the busi- HISTOKT OF HARBISON COUNTY. 383 ness men of the place and both are non-compromising in their views on National matters. The following is a list of the present business firms of Mis- souri Valley, viz.: General Merchandise— '^'hi&Us & Massie, stock $12,000, build- ing owned by Shields; C. A. Walker, stock $5,000; Comiskey & Bloski, stock |6,000; B. Cohn, stock $8,000; G. B. Smith, suc- cessor of Bump & Smith, stock $18,000; M. E. Smith & Co.. stock $25,000. Jewelry — J. H. Crowder, stock $8,000. Hardware — Boies & Anderson, oldest firm in the town, stock f 12,000: Carlisle Bros., stock $12,000. Boots & Shoes — J. C. Caley, owns the building, stock $4,000; Perry & Wilkins, stock $4,000; Adlum & Hopkins, $4,000; J. J. Sullivan, owns his brick block, $4,000. Drug Stores— J. W. Huff, stock |5,000; B. A. McKay, stock $3,000; Shiley Bros., pioneer drug store, own building, stock 11,000. Clothiers— Cramer Bros., stock $5,000; D. Baum, stock $1,000. Hotels — Cheeny House, 4 stories, 40 rooms; St. Elmo, form- erly known as the Sutter, or American. Dentistry — H. N. Warren. Agricultural Implements — Boies & Anderson, C. H. Deuer, Carlisle Bros., E. F. James. Groceries — W. H. Fensler, (owns building), $3,000; J. D. Tamasia, $2,500; Perry & Wilkins, (Kreeder's building), $4,000; A. G. Brown & Co., $2,000; J. C. Prater, $2,000; L. N. Good- rich & Co., $4,000. Harness Shops— A. L. Tamasia, John Crossley and R. McTwiggin. Land and Loan Agencies— F. L. Davis and Dorr & Walbum. Merchant Tailors — D. G. Herron, owner of a fine two story building on Fifth and Erie, stock $2,000; M. O'Rorke & Son, stock $2,000. 384 HISTOBT OF HAEEISON COTTNTT. Butchers — Briggs & Son, also dealers in fine horses; Williams & Watkins, oldest market in town. Billiard Halls— KcQavren & Griggs, W. H. Harmon, in Masonic building. Gunsmith — J. Jordaa, old timer. Restaurants— i . A. George, L. Breed and J. Dooley. Postmaster — T. 0. Carlisle; 0. B. Walker, cigars and sta- tionery in postoffice building. Millinery Goods — Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Seely and Mrs. Bresee. Marble Works — J- A. Starlin. Lumber d: Coal — R. Newton; 0. H. Deuer, successor of Kel- logg & Hibbard. Furniture — T. Foss, owns the building, stock $5,000. Merchant Mills— 'Edgcomh & Kellogg, capacity 125 bbl. per day, and has roller process. Livery Stables — Pickett and Rans Beebee, at old court house building: Evans Bros., on Erie street. Lawyers — Dewell & McGavren; James S. Dewell & John McGavren; L. Brown; Cy Arndt; F. M. Dance. Physicians and Surgeons — Dr. Geo. W. Coit, Dr. E. J. Chap- man, Dr. George McGavren, Dr. C. W. McGavren. Veterinary Surgeon — H. J. Moss. House, Sign & Fancy Painter — G. M. Goodrich. SECRET SOCIETIES. Valley Lodge No. 232, A. F. and A. M., meets every Thursday evening on or before full moon in each month. G. W. Bur- bank, W. M. F. M. Dance, Secretary. R. A. M. — Triune Chapter No. 81, R. A. M., meets every second Tuesday evening. Visiting companions welcome. M. Weston, H: p. C. S. Hoar, Secretary. Valley Chapter No. 26, 0. E. S., meets first Friday evening in each month. Mary E. Boies, W. M. Anna Schultz, Secretary. Missouri Valley Lodge No. 170, \. 0. 0. F., meets every Wednes- day evening. F. C. Humphrey N. G. W. F. Blain, Sec'y. HI8T0ET OF HAEBISON OO0NTY. 385 Eed Cloud Encampment No. 97, 1. 0. O.F., meets regularly every second and fourth Friday of each month. All Patriarchs are invited. Wm. Neufind, C. P. Geo. Burbank, Secretary. Lillian Lodge No. 20, Daughters of Rebekah, meets every first and third Saturday evening in each month. Mrs. W. H. Bradly, N. G. J. H. South, Secretary. Anchor Lodge No. 66, K. of P., meets every Monday evening. Visiting Knights always welcome. Dr. H. N. Warren, C. C. Dr. Warren, K. of R. and S. I. 0. of G. T., meets every Tuesday evening in the Good Temp- lars Hall. H. 0. Smith, G. T. CHURCHES AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS. Presbyterian Church — Services every Sunday morning at 11 o'clock; Sunday evening services at 7 o'clock. Sabbath-school at 2 o'clock, immediately after the morning services. Preaching at the Christian church in Missouri Valley each alternate Sunday through the year. Services in the morning at 1 1, in the evening at 7:20. Sunday-school at 10 a. m. J. Hurd, Pastor. Methodist Episcopal Church— Corner of Third and Superior streets. Preaching at 11 a. m. and 7:30 p. m. Class meeting at 12 M. ; Sunday-school session at 10 a. m. H. D. Meech, Class Teacher. H. B. Coe, Superintendent. Rev. J. H. Hestwood, Pastor. St. Patrick's Church — Divine service every Sunday and Holi- day, except the third Sunday of each month. Rev. Father P. J. Morrin, Pastor. DUNLAP Is located on part of the west portion of the southwest quarter and on a part of the west portion of the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 2, and on a part of the east por- tion of the southeast quarter and the east part of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 3, in township 81, 25 386 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. range 41, the north line of the town site being 110 rods south of the north line of the county. This land was first entered from the Government by and came into the hands of John I. Blair, and by him was laid out into town lots and platted and recorded as a town at and about the day of' , 1866. The town site is one of the most beautiful in the West, is situated on a well ele- vated second bench, and by reason of the turn in the Boyer valley at this place, afibrds a magnificent view of all the Boyer valley for ten miles up or down the same, then to the west and northwest, the wavy like appearances of the bluffs suggest the rolling of the waves on a somewhat broken surface of the ocean; then far away to the east and south, the long expanse of prairie, so thickly dotted with farms and farm buildings, convince the beholder that this is a very paradise. Scarcely had the Blair Town Lot and Land Company placed the lots in market until there was a rush for property in this place, and by the fall of 1867 a snug little town appeared on the hill above the railroad. The Railroad Hotel and the Lawson House were in full blast, and Wheeler & Warner, as well as Coldren & Swart offered in the market a large, well selected line of lumber. At the same time the Pioneer Drug Store of Cotton & Manning offered their stock to the public, and J. J. Williams & Son opened a well selected stock of groceries, etc., etc. Mitchell & Bryant were the first dry goods merchants and Dwight Saterlee, M. D., the first physician in the place. Tommy McDonald's saloon, under the head of a " Respectable Place" was the first gin shop in the town . Passing from 1867 to 1877, finds Dunlap at the zenith of her greatness, for at that time this town had by far the largest trade of any town in the county, occasioned by reason of the quantum of territory which was dependent on her for supplies; but when the Maple branch of the C. & N. W. R. R. was built a great part of this northern trade was held at home, and also when the Chi- cago and Milwaukee passed east of the place, her towns spring- HI8T0BT OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 387 ing up every eight miles, captured another slice, and crippled the trade in proportion to the extent of the country cut off. In 1877 the old wooden buildings began to give place to and disappear on the approach of the large brick blocks, viz.: The Taylor block, the Hillas block, the Sherman building, the Exchange Bank, the Lehan block and the Patterson and Moore block. These are such buildings as do great credit to the push and energy of the people of the place, and though at the present, the town not commanding such a scope of country for trade as formerly, yet the more thickly settled condition of the country and the great improvements therein, give the town a magnifi- cent support. There is at present a stability of men and capital at Dunlap that makes Dunlap one of the best towns in the country for trade. Dunlap ships twice the amount of cattle of any one locality in the county, and stands third in the matter of ship- ment of grain. At the present Dunlap possesses the following conditions : — One Opera House, value, $10,000; M. E. Church Building, value, $5,000; Congregational Building, value, $6,000; Catholic Building, value, $5,000; Catholic Parsonage, value, $5,000; Baptist Church, value, $2,000; Free Methodists' Church, value $1,500; High School Building, value, $20,000. There are three resident ministers. Rev. H. H. Barton, M. E.; Rev. J. C. Cummings, Congregational; and Father MacCormack, Catholic. In the Dry Goods and Grocery trade are the following: Barrett & Sons, buildings and cash in business, $45,000; Mr. M. C. Dalley, & Co., buildings and cash in business, $20,000. Hardware— 0. W. Taylor & Co., buildings and cash in busi- ness, $35,000; J. A. Moore & Co., buildings and cash in business, $5,000. Drug Stores — D. & E. S. Saterlee, cash in business, $5,000; L. G. Tyler & Co., cash in business, $5,000; F. A. Dean & Co., $4,000. 388 HI8T0ET OF HAEEI80N OOUNrT. Newspapers — Dunlap Reporter, Editor, J. H. Purcell, circula- tion, 1,600. Hotels — Depot Hotel, C. L. Chapman, proprietor; City Hotel, Edward Murphy, Proprietor. Banks — Exchange Bank, Hon. H. B. Lyman, President, L. A. Sherman, Cashier; Dunlap Bank, Lorenzo Kellogg, President, S. J. Patterson, Cashier. Grocers — Samuel Liscomb, cash in business, $2,000; D. A. Mires, cash in business, $2,000; L. H. Pepper, cash in business, 12,000; J. H. Reed & Co., cash in business, $3,000; William Forest, cash in business, $2,000. Boots and Shoes — Fox & Davelstein, cash in business, $5,000; Jacob Stilt, $600. Restaurants — J. M. Tanner, Samuel Ettenger. Livery — Mr. Samuel Baird, cash in business, $5,000; H. E. Pease, cash in business, $3,000; J. B. Frazier, cash in business, $1,000. Agricultural Implements — A. D. Jones, cash in business, $3,000; all the hardware firms deal in this line. Millinery Goods— Mrs. L. A. Ballard, Mrs. M. A. Tyler. Wagon Manufactories — G. W. Pease, cash in business, $6,000; John Gall, cash in business, $2,500; Joseph Wettengell, $1,000; L. Dickson, blacksmith. Grain and Lumber — Col. J. R. Wheeler, cash in business, $50,000; A. J. McMartin, cash in business, $10,000; Benjamin Jackson, cash in business, $iO,000; Clement & Mace, $4,000. Lawyers — Major Charles McKenzie, P. W. Cain, L. S. Ams- den, J. A. Phillips, M..B. Baily, J. A. Travers, S. E. Wilmot. Dentist— B. P. Philbrook. Physicians—I). Saterlee, S. J. Patterson, C. F. Clark, G. B. Christy, P. Cavenaugh and D. L. Livermore. Butchers — J. M. Roskoph, Dago & Fagan. Furniture — S. Jenson, Charles Reiker & Son. Loan Agents — Reuben Ballard, W. H. Squire. HISTOET OF HAEEISON COtTNTY. 389 This town is well governed, and contains a population of 1,700, and was incorporated in 1872 with a population of 450. WOODBINE, located in the center of section 14, township 80, raage 42, was laid out in 1866, and was named for the old Postoffice at But- ler's Mills near hy. If the reader remembers, it has been form- erly stated that the naming of the Postoffice was the work of, or at the suggestion of, Mrs. L. D. Butler, and hence, indirectly, Woodbine was named by hqr. There is not a more beautiful location for a country town in all the United States than that of Woodbine, and it is perhaps the best locality for trade in the county, where such trade is based on the interchange of the product of the country for the goods of the merchant and the labor of the mechanic. This town got fairly on its feet during the year of 1868, at which time the business of the place was represented by the following: Woodbine Hotel — Gr. W. Pugsley. Physicians and Druggists — Cole & Crosswait. Woodbine Mills— J. W. Dalley. Lumber — Wheeler & Warner. Dry Goods, Groceries, etc. — Herman Bros. & Davis. Dry Goods and Notions — T. H. Abbott. Saddler and Harness Maker— D. S. Forney. There has been a radical change in Woodbine since that time, for this little village produces a very creditable showing, which is as follows: Dry Goods, Groceries, efc.— Kibler Bros., own building, $10,- €00, money in business, $20,000; C. D. Stevens, owns building, $3,000, money in business, $7,000; W. D. Crommie & Co., money in business, $4,000. Groceries and Provisions— F. A. Folts, money in business, $2,000. 390 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. Dry Goods, Boots and Shoes — L. Crane & Son, own building, $2,000, money in business, $2,500. Banks — Boyer Valley Bank, P. Cadwell, President, Wm. C. Cadwell, Cashier; own bank building, f 5,000, money in business, $10,000; Commercial Bank, Josiah Coe, President, H. M. Bost- wick. Cashier; own building, $3,000, money in business, $11,000. Drug Stores — J. Giddings & Co., own building, $2,000, money in business, $2,000; Wm. Sass & Co., own building, $1,000. money in business, $1,500. Lumber, Wire and Agricultural Implements — Mathews & Kling, own elevator, money in business, $25,000. Hardware — J. A. Boies, money in business, $2,500; T. J. Can- field; money in business, $2,500. Harness, etc. — S. L. Jefferson; money in business, $900. Boots and Shoes — Lennox & Co. ; money in business, $900. Furniture — N. L. Cole; money in business, $1,500. Jeweler — F. M. Smith; money in business, $1,500. Hotel — Woodbine House; proprietor, A. F. Clark. Attorney at Law — Wm. M. Magden. Physicians and Surgeons — T. M. Edwards, E. J. Bond, L. H. Buxton and W. C. Sampson. Loan and Insurance Agent — J. V. Mallory. Land and Insurance Agent — A. H. Williamson and L; W - White. Postmaster — L. W. White. Justice of the Peace — J. S. McClain and J. D. DeTar. Barber — A. F. Schuler. Auctioneer, Livery, etc. — E. R. Hefflin. Butcher — J. J. Weiss. W. J. Callender is now erecting a $2,500 building, and by the first of July, will have a $2,000 stock of groceries. In this village, during the fall of 1887, was established a Nor- mal School, which, from the outlook at the present, bids fair to become a permanent factor in the make-up of the town, and HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 391 though at the time of the beginning it showed some signs of weak- ness, it has received that encouragement that indicates the staying qualities sufficient to warrant the prediction that this institution will live and greatly benefit the place, and not only this, but the western part of the State. In another part of this work, the attention of the reader has been called to the cost and the pres- ent prosperity of this laudable undertaking in which the whole county should manifest a deep and abiding interest. There are at the present four handsomely constructed church edifices in'the town, each of which, as well as the membership and Sunday-schools connected therewith, are favorably noted in the Ninth chapter hereof, to which the attention of the reader is now respectfully directed. The farming lands in the immediate locality of Woodbine, are of the very best quality, as is manifest by reference to the amount of corn marketed at this place between the 1st of November, 1887, and the 1st day of April, 1888, the same amounting to 200,000 bushels, with 100,000 of the last year's crop, to be sold by the 1st of July. Mondamin is closely pressed by Woodbine, in this particular. LITTLE SIOUX First had an existence on the records of the county on the 1st of October, 1855, at which time the plat of the town was filed and placed on record. The land on which this town was located was entered by S. W. Condit. The money necessary for the entry thereof was furnished by said Condit and the Hon. Thos. B. Neely. This village is the only place in the county which has stood the storms and weathered the blasts of a railroad rivalry, for it was the deliberate purpose and intent of the S. C. & P. R. R. Co. to knock the enterprise out of this place by the location of the tracks southwest of this town, but fortunately for the latter the make-up of the country was an injunction on the purpose and as 392 HISTORY OF HARBISON COITNTT. subsequent events panned out, the location of the railroad station at old River Sioux, at a point so unwisely selected in the Gumbo, it became necessary for the railroad company to change its first selection and relocate the same on the left bank of River Sioux. Notwithstanding the railroad company has done all in its power to wipe out the village of Little Sioux, the place has grown and kept an even pace with the development of the surrounding country, and to-day is as lively and exhibits as much kicking propensity as any of those places situated on the railroad. Little Sioux has grown and prospered in spite of the railroads and will continue to exist until the present town of River Sioux merges and becomes part and parcel of the present town. In 1858 the business on Little Sioux was quite circumscribed, as manifest by the names of the following firms, viz.: D. M. Garnet, general merchandise; William Allen, Sea Foam saloon; Scofield & Son, flouring and saw mills; Hotel, Bonney House; Dr. Drake, physician and surgeon. Little Sioux was incorporated in 1880 with a population of 369 and at present is possessed of 800 inhabitants. The business firms of the present are as follows: General Merchandise — Murray & McWilliams, money in bus- iness $12,000; G. M. Scott, money in business $5,000; Minturn & Bonney, money in busihess $1,500; G. H. Noyes & Co., money in business $2,600. Druggists— Ro^B Bros., money in business $2,000; Clark Ellis, money in business $2,000. Hardware— Q. L. Jones, money in business $4,000. Boots and ^/loes— Setchell & Son, $2,000. Lumber — A. M. Jones, money in business $3,000. Grocers— 3. W. Alton, money in business $500; T. J. Lanyon, money in business $1,500. flbfefe— Bonney House, F. M. Lanyon; City Hotel, J. E. Hunt. Banking— Q. F. Freeman, President; F. L. Ellis, Cashier; money in business $20,000. HISTORY OF HARRISON OOUNTT. 393 Graded school building cost $4,000; Catholic church building, $1,600; M. E. church building, $1,500; Latter Day Saints church building |2,00O. Meat Markets— John Crabb, money in business $800; Old Reliable, Geo. McEwen, money in business $200. Millinery and Dress Goods— Mrs. P. R. Long, $2,000. Dress Maker — Miss Laura Stewart. Physicians — Wallace & Silsby; Miller & Cad well. Attorneys — Linus Bassett. Livery — H. H. Bonney, KiyBR SIOUX, as known at the present, is the Railroad Company's second addition, from the fact that the first place known by this cog- nomen was so located in the Willows and Gumbo that it was impossible for passengers and freight to make the station, and hence when Samuel Dewell, Esq., had purchased and laid out a town, which was the rival of the last named place, and had christened the same " Malta," the Railroad Company purchased his interest in the same and removed the station to its present site, still retaining the name of River Sioux. This was done in 1875. This place at the present is represented by the follow- ing firms, viz.: General Merchandise — Ed. Califf, money in business $6,000; Henry Herring, $6,000. Groceries and Drugs — G. W. Chace, money in business, $2,000. Hardware— B.a,rnson Driggs, money in business $2,000. Elevator — T. McLogan, money in business $40,000. At the two places last named there is in store at the present 200,000 bushels of corn in the ear, waiting for better prices in the way of shipment and at the end of the roads. 394 HISTOET OF HAEEI80N COTJNTT. MAG] 1 i Value of Church Property. 2 I' s: § 1 00 No. of Sab- bath-School Scholars. Rev. A. Thornbrue Rev. H. H. Barton Rev. D. M. Helmick. . . . Rev. Wilber Pisk Rev. W. A. Wilker Rev. J. Hesfcwood Rev. P. H. Hai-vey Rev. M. A. Wright Logan Dunlap Beebetown. . Little Sioux. Magnolia . . . Mo. Valley . . Persia Woodbine . . Valley City.. 215 110 141 133 116 124 120 156 42 $ 1,200 5,000 1,400 1,200 1,500 2,500 3,000 1,000 1 1 1 1 1 1 $ 1,200 600 1,000 800 500 1,000 318 160 187 143 200 130 75 1 1,000 100 50 Nine Mininsters 1,157 10 $ 16,600 7 $ 5,900 1,263 This, then, represents the whole of Methodism in this county at present. 426 HSITOET OF HARRISON COTTNTT. CONGKEGATIOlirAllSTS. The first organization of the above named Christian denomina- tion, in this county, was perfected in the month of April, A. D., 1855, at Magnolia. There were only three persons constituting the same whose names are as follows, viz. : Dr. J. H. Rice, John Danielson and Rev. W. W. Luddon. Mr. Luddon was a man of ripe education, of excellent character, though not fluent of speech. In the early spring of 1856 this church received addi- tions to their strength by the following persons uniting there- with, viz. : Mr. Silas Rice and wife, Mr. S . E. Hillis and wife, Miss Julia Hopkins, and Mrs. Irish, a sister of Mr. Silas Rice. In the early fall of this same year, Mr. Luddon resigned his place in the pulpit, and the Rev. H. D. King, of Trumbull county, Ohio, asumed charge of this part of the moral vineyard. Here this branch of the church hopefully and earnestly labored for the good of the Master, worshiping in such houses as could be had, which, at the present day would appear very primitive, but their hearts and souls were in the work, as well as a determina- tion to succeed, the foundation of their every thought. Mr. King and his estimable wife were a very God-send to many of the people of that place, for it is not the eloquent manner in which words are spoken that always reaches the conscience and works a change of heart, because, more frequently, the kind act, the word fitly spoken, the kindly advice, the unassuming, real bona fide interest in the moral welfare of others, works a deeper conviction than all the flowery, high-gauged eloquence, studied and dealt out for an especial occasion. So it was with Mr. and Mrs. King; they practiced none of the subtleties of the hypo- crite, but out of the real happiness they possessed and antici- pated, wished, and prayed, and acted so that others might enjoy, possess and have a hope for a like measure. Though one-third of a century has passed since the arrival of these persons, the minister and his good wife, at Magnolia, and though twenty-five years have elapsed since their return to their native State, how HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 427 very many of those who formed their acquaintance while in the little village of Magnolia, can call up, in imagination, the forms and kind acts of this most godly pair? In 1859 Mrs. Caroline Cutler, Mrs. Joe. H. Smith, Mr. William Cutler, Mrs. Geo. G. Downs, Mr. John G. Downs, and Miss Hattie Lawrence, since Mrs. John G. Downs, and Miss Mary Downs, Harris Day and Mrs. Harriet Day, and many others united with this church; and during the same year there was completed the first church building in Harrison county at the village of Magnolia. This church was dedicated in the fall of 1859 by Rev. John Todd, of Tabor, Iowa, preaching the dedication sermon, and real well can the author of these hastily written thoughts remember the great satisfaction experienced by very many on this occasion, by reason of the fact that they were now so circumstanced that they had a house in which they and their children could comfortably worship. After the resignation of Mr. King, which was occasioned by the loss of health, one W. S. Black became the shepherd of this flock, and so remained until he was caught in an act which was thought of such disreputable character that warranted the Asso- ciation in silencing him, which was accordingly done. Rev. Mr. Morley was chosen in place of the latter, when he resigned, the Rev. Mr. Hayward filled the pulpit and from that on to the present, the same has been at times possessing the utmost prosperity, then some hitch in the machinery would occur and despondency would for a time be experienced, yet out of the most severe trials the good of the church has risen triumphant over all and at the present is one of the strongest branches in the county. In 1876, a new church edifice was built, costing $3,500 when completed. It is handsomely located and very comfortably fur- nished. The minister now in charge is Rev. C. P. Boardman, who divides his time between this place and Soldier River. This church at Magnolia has a membership of 83, and a Sabbath- school the glory and pride of a community. 428 HISTOET OF HARRISON OOUNTT. THE COKGEEGATIONAL CHURCH AT DUNLAP First had its origin at what was formerly the village of Olmsted, in the year 1858, at which time the following named persons organized a branch of this church, viz. : Mr. T. P. Kellogg and wife, Mr. James L. Roberts and wife, Mr. H. B. Lyman and wife, Mr. P. D. Kellogg, Miss Mary G. Roberts and Miss Jane M. Lyman, being nine persons, which organization was under the superintendence of the Rev. H. D. King, spoken of in con- nection with the Magnolia charge. At this place this organiza- tion was well sustained. Scarcely in the history of a new set- tlement was there greater effort to maintain a church organiza- tion, and in no place in the west has there been better results. Here in a little cluster of settlers, quite isolated from settle- ments, the first business of the people is to build up, and have the advantages of church and schools, and though at the time of the said organization, there was no expectation that the Boyer Valley would become the foundation of one of the greatest arteries of National Commerce, these determined few never felt but that great good would grow out of their united efforts. In October, 1866, the place of worship was changed to the,town of Dunlap, and in 1867 a house for worship was erected, at which place at the present, this branch has one of the neatest as well as the most commodious and costly church buildings in the county, costing when built, the sum of $6,000. From 1868 to 1866, Rev. H. D. King, Rev. W. S. Black and Rev. Hitchcock supplied the pulpit; then Rev. J. B. Lowry to 1867; Rev. Free- man the last half of 1867; Rev. C. N. Lyman, 1868 to 1870; Rev. McDermot, to 1874; Rev. Copeland, to 1877; Rev. Mills, to 1883; Rev. Rogers, to 1887, and the person at present occupy- ing the pulpit is Rev. J. M. Cummings. At present, there are 125 members, paying their minister the sum of $900 per year, and parsonage free, which, by the way, is a great change from that of the last thirty years. Since the time of the crystaliza- tion of the above named handful of earnest Christians, of those HISTOBT OF HAKKISON COUNTY. 429 ■who subsequedt to that time have become members thereof, the following have peacefully and triumphantly passed to the better world, viz.: Mrs. Julia Olmstead, Mrs. Hattie Hatch, Mrs. Mary Ettinger, Mr. Henry W. Gleason, Mrs. Sarah M. Hyde, Mrs. Eliza Johnson, Mrs. Helen E. Liscomb, Mrs. Mattie M. Mitchell, Mrs. Eleanor Herd, Mrs. Ella Moore, Mrs. Esteila M. Richardson, Mrs. Marcia Roberts, Mr. William Roberts, Mrs. Edith Sherman and Mrs. Phoebe Smith. MONDAMIN. Mondamin in 1877 organized a class and during the same year erected a church building, costing $1,200. This building, while not very large, is neat and commodious, and at the time of build- ing, perhaps drew quite largely on the purses of those at whose expense the same was constructed. The following are a portion of the names of those constituting the first membership: P. C. Spooner and wife, Alfonso Spooner, Mr. Nat. Shepard and wife, and Mrs. Dr. Jamison. The minister in charge of this place at the present, is Rev. C. N. Lyman of Onawa, and the membership numbers 23. In connection with this church is a very interest- ing, well conducted Sabbath-school. SOLDIEE KIVEB. Soldier River Charge was organized in 1885 and a church building erected the same year. Tlie persons who constituted the organizing class were: Charles S. Brown and wife, Frank Land and wife, E. H. Mosier and wife, J. B. Warren and wife, et al. This charge has at the present some 20 members and have for their minister Rev. C. P. Boardman of Magnolia. The church building cost $1,200 and is a neat, handsome structure, fully supplying the present wants of the neighborhood. The mem- bership of this denomination, in the county, at the present, num- bers 251 and have places of worship costing $11,600. 430 HISTOKT OF HAEEISON COUNTY. HBST PRESBYTERIAN- CHURCH AT LOGAN. The first organization of the Presbyterian Church at this place was completed on the 28th day of August, 1869, bj- Rev. Geo. H. Carroll, and consisted of the following named persons, viz.: Mr. Andrew Barr, Mr. and Mrs. C. N. Cadwell, Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Rugg, at which time the fol- lowing named Elders were elected: Mr. C. N. Cadwell and Mr. E. L. Rugg. Immediately following the organization, this branch of the church acted with considerable zeal, kept their organization in a healthy, lively status, which soon resulted in bringing many persons into the fold, among whom were the fol- lowing, viz.: Mr. and Mrs. William Riddle, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Vanderhoof, Mrs. Dorcas Vanderhoof, Mr. and Mrs. James M. Latta, etc. Rev. Thornton K. Hedges, who located in this county in 1870 and died at Logan in 1881, was the first resi- dent pastor of this people; and very acceptably served this branch of the church for five years. During the year 1876 a large, handsome, commodious church building was completed in Logan, and when furnished had cost the church and those con- tributing, the sum of $3,000. Following the ministry of Rev. T. K. Hedges, the pulpit was filled by the Rev. J. B. Welty, and when he resigned, by Rev. Geo. R. Carroll, and Mr. Carroll by Rev. H. C. Gillingham, and Mr. Gillingham by Rev. 0. A. Elliott, the present incumbent. Rev. Thornton K. Hedges was a good, true man, earnest, zealous, learned and eloquent, but by reason of disease contracted by him while acting as Chaplain in a Federal'regiment, during the late Rebellion, an active, useful life was materially shortened, a wife widowed and children made fatherless. The eldership of this church at the present are as follows: Mr. J. M. Latta, William Riddle, J. D. Rogers, T. F. Vanderhoof and A. W. Ford. The membership is 60 and the church has an excellent Sabbath-school numbering 125 pupils. The yearly salary of the pastor is, at the present time, $800. HI8T0KY OF HAEEISON OOUNTT. 431 WOODBIlirE PKESBTTEBIAN CHURCH. On the 28tli day of March, 1880, the following named persons, viz.: Mr. C. M. Gilky, Mrs. S. M. Gilky, Mr. W. H. DeCou and Mrs. Georgia DeCou, Mr. L. D. Willett and Mrs. Frances E. Willett, Mrs. Nettie Pugsley, Mr. John Mann, Sr., Mr. John Mann, Jr., Mrs. Sarah Mann, Mr. Thomas Thompson and Mrs. Agnes Thompson, Miss Eva Thompson, Mrs. Laura Donaldson, Mrs. James S. Bostwick, Mrs. Marea Chaffee, Mr. A. Donaldson and Mrs. Sarah Sharp; 18 in all, organized a Presbyterian Church at the above named place, under the auspices of the Rev. J. B. Welty. At this place Mr. Welty acted as pastor for this organization until about the 23d of April, 1881, at which time and from that date until about the 1st of January, 1884, the pulpit was occupied by the Rev. George R. Carroll, the same minister spoken of in connection with the Presbyterian Church of Logan. Rev. R. M. Coulter was the first installed pastor of this church, and in an able and satisfactory manner per- formed the duties of this position until the 1st of October, 1887, when the present pastor in charge, viz.: Rev. D. W. Cassett removed to Woodbine and was installed on the 28th day of said month of October 1887. From the date of organization this branch of the church has increased with a steady, healthy, nat- ural growth, as shown by the records of the church, winch desig- nates a membership of 60, and, at the present, worship in a very tasty, neat commodious church building, costing at the time of completion the sum of $2,000, to which might be added the sum of $600 in the way of furnishing the same.^ It might be truth- fully said that there is scarcely a locality in Harrison county, which has been as successful in the selection, ability, piety and general good qualities of her ministers as Woodbine. Mr. Welty was a man learned, eloquent and zealous. Mr. Carroll, the em- bodiment of goodness and gentleness, recommended his cause quite as much by good example as while in the pulpit. Mr. Coulter, learned, logical, fearless for the right, and generous; 4.33 HISTOBT OF HAEEI80N OOUNTT. and the present, Rev. Mr. Cassett, witli the recommendations by him presented, his unassuming manners, his experience in the ministry and his undoubted ability, learning and real goodness can not fail to maintain the good record of the three who pre- ceded him at this place. The elders of this church at the present time are as follows: Mr. L. D. Willett, Mr. A. A. Williamson, Mr. Charles E. Baldwin and Mr. J. B. Lowry. A Sunday-school is maintained by this church and has upon the rolls thereof 117 scholars. Pastor in charge, JRev. D. W. Cassett. No. of mem- bers 60. Sunday-school scholars 117. riRST PRBSBTTEBIAN' CHURCH OF MISSOURI VALLEY. This church was organized on the 13th day of February, 1869, and had for its organizing membership the following persons: J. S. Wattles, Jane M. Wattles, Dr. Geo. W. Coit, Anna A. Coit, Caroline M. Carroll, Mollie " A. Ellis, Carrie Du Boies, L. A. Simons and Hattie C. Justice. Following this organ- ization, they struggled along as best they could, when in the summer of 1870 a neat, cosy and comfortable church was erected at a cost of $1,200. In the sumnier of 1887 a parsonage was added to the church property, costing $1,100. The same per- sons who were elected as Elders at the time of the organization, nineteen years ago, still serve this church in that capacity, viz. : J. S. Wattles and Dr. Geo. W. Coit. The membership at the present, numbers forty-one, and though not so great in numbers as many other branches of religious denominations, still, they exert a good influence in the community, which cannot be meas- ured at the present. A healthy, well organized Sabbath-school is had in connection with the church, the scholars attending the same numbering not less than eighty. The ministers who have occupied the pulpit are as follows: Rev. Wm. M. Pelan, frdm March, 1869, to 1872. Rev. H. A. Barclay, from November, 1872, to November, 1878. HISTOKY OF HARBISON COTINTT. 433 Rev. R. S. McCune, from March, 1873, to December, 1874. Rev. A. N. Darley, from May, 1874, to March, 1875. Rev. J. B. Welty, from fall of 1876, to August, 1878. Rev. C. C. Wellen-, from fall of 1880, to December, 1881. Rev. S. N. Vail, from May, 1882, to April, 1885. Rev. N. Chesnut, from November, 1885, to September, 1887. Rev. P. S. Davis, from April 20th, 1888, and is at present ministering to the spiritual wants of the people of that vicinity. DISCIPLES, OK CHEISTIANS, Which by some, are perhaps known as Campbellites, have taken a strong hold on the people of the county, as is manifest by their progress and present number of membership and church buildings. The first branch of this church was organized in this country on the 1st day of December, 1854, at the residence of Rev. James Dungan, in Elk Grove, near the place now known as Reeder's/ Mills, in Jefferson township. The charter members, viz.: Samuel Dungan and wife, James Dungan, Mary Ann Dungan, Jane Dungan, Israel Evans and wife, and Miss Clement Evans. Rev. James Dungan was the first minister of this denomination who preaphed in the county, and though at that time engaged in farming, found time to study his sermons while following the plow. Father Dungan was quite talented, and was very zealous in the work of reformation, as harmless as honest, and set an example which to the present is felt in the community where he resided. In this class just spoken of, were the following named individuals, as now best recollected by those present, viz. : Father Israel Evans and his family, James Briggs (noW deceased) and family, Mrs. Marion Richison (now Mrs. Scofield), Mrs. William D. Frazier, etc. Following this, a branch was organized at* the Dr. Cole school house, at the place now known as Woodbine, which first came into existence in 1856, and continued in successful operation until 1858, at which time the removal of the greater portion of 28 434 HISTOKT OF HAEEISON COUNTY. the class so weakened the branch, that it remained somewhat dormant for a time. Those who constituted this iirst organiza- tion at Woodbine, were as follows, viz.: C. A. Kinnis, Dan N. Kinnis, Miss Jessie Kinnis (now Mrs. Josiah Coe), Miss Mary Kinnis (now Mrs. David R. Dungan, of Des Moines,) Mr. Nich- olas Francis and family, and the Johnson family, together with many others. About this time, March 31, 1858, David R. Dungan, D. D., son of the Rev. James Dungan, and brother to Mrs. Thos. P. Vanderhoof, began his ministry in this county, and while to-day he is one of the brainy men of this State, yet when a boy, was very much like the boys of the present. I will relate an anecdote which took place in this county at an early day at a camp meeting, in which this embryotic D. D. figured quite conspicuously, and played a good joke on an unsuspecting victim, who at the time was a seeker after religion; and 'tis this: While a protracted meeting was being held in the neighborhood of Elk Grove, among those who felt like repenting and find- ■ ing forgiveness for their sins, was Mr. John Berrill, who having gone to the altar, soon had young Dungan at his side, the latter then not feeling religiously inclined, and while at the side of the unsuspecting Berrill, cautiously and secretly placed a deck of cards in his pocket, expecting that when Berrill would begin to feel real sorry, he would turn on the water works, and therefore would need his handkerchief, and hence placed the cards in the same pocket where the handkerchief was kept. The plan was well laid, and as successfully executed, for soon Berrill began to shed copious quantities of tears, and when drawing his handkerchief, scattered a deck of cards in every direction, to the consternation of all '' meetin' folks " and the infinite amusement of those who loved harmless fun. The father feeling indignant at the reported conduct of the son, would not believe the accusation, and called the future Divine, and asked, " Be these things so?" to which the son replied much after the fashion of one, who a long time ago was asked a ques- HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 4:35 tion and answered the same by asking another. David said: " Father, do you think that I would be guilty of such infamous conduct?" The father having faith in the son's innocence, dis- missed his informant by saying, " I do not think David guilty.' The efforts of Mr. D. R. Dungan were especially blessed and in a marvelous degree successful, for though thirty years have rolled into the past since the above occurrence there are here at present many old gray headed veterans of the Cross, that date their change of heart to the preaching of the subject of which refer- ence is here made, none of whom are more enthusiastic than Mr. Josiah Tuffly of Modale. As illustrative of what perseverance, industry and determination will accomplish, I will say that the boy who, in Harrison county in 1856 and 1857, was the captain commanding a breaking plow, has for the past eight years been and still is the first personage in the Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa. Rev, C. P. Evans, son of Israel Evans of Elk Grove, as well as liindley M. Evans, were among the pioneer preachers of this vicinity, and somewhat antedated the preach- ing of Rev. D. R. Dungan. From 1858 to 1860, branches had been organized at Calhoun and divers other localities in the county which during the next score of years were" suffered to die out, occasioned more by the location and building of the rail- roads in the county, than by want of religious zeal of members. This fact is not strange, for it is the history of railroads to make and break country towns. Places where there is a stabilty and a permanent and fixed place of trade compel the roads to approach; but not so with country towns. There is not a town in Harrison county to-day, with but one exception, but has been torn to fragments, like the destruction of a cyclone, by the rail- roads. Those who formed the Calhoun branch drifted to Mis- souri Valley and at the present belong to this branch. The early members of this locality were Mr. Champion Frazier and family of which sons and daughters being married formed quite an assembly, together with the Dartings and a host of others 436 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. make a healthy branch at the Valley at present. The first organization in Clay township was in 1858, under the preaching of D. R. Dungan, the names of those first on the church rolls at this place being Mr. Josiah Tuffly and wife, Mr. Thompson and wife and family and a family by the name of Fredrickson. This branch has been transferred to Modale and is at the present in excellent condition. A good church of sixty members and a magnificent Sabbath-school. Mondamin organized in 1878 with the following named members, viz.: Jacob Beaman and wife John Beaman and wife, Calvin Beaman and wife, Jacob Stine and wife. At the present this denomination have seventy members, a good church building costing $1,000, and a Sabbath-school of forty -seven. All the church organizations of this denomination were in a chaotic state for a decade preceding 1881, at which time a re-or- ganization of the entire county was effected, and from that time summarizing and stating the present conditions, the same may be stated as follows: There are the following branches in this county: Woodbine, with a good church building; Logan, with a new church building erected and completed in 1887, especially by the efforts of Archie Johnson, Wm. Logan, Clayborn John- son, Charles Scofield and wife, Mrs. Briggs, James Moreland, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Michael Doyle and Mrs. Willson (mother of George Willson), costing when completed, $2,000; Missouri Val- ley, a good commodious church; Mondamin, with a good healthy membership, and a good church building, and Modale, headed by Josiah Tuffley, and a class of as earnest workers as ever graced an undertaking. This particular denomination in the county sustains five distinct branches, with good commodious church buildings, together with as many more different local branches which are not able financially to erect churches for worship. In 1884 these different branches formed a co-operat- ive association, holding meetings semi-annually at the different churches, of which association B. W. Crewdsen is President and HISTOET 01- HARBISON COUNrT. 437 Mareellus Pugsley, Secretary. The value of church property at the different places herein named is placed by those belonging at $9,000, and the number of members at 517. At neither of the principal places of worship, nor at any of the little branches, IS the Sabbath-school .work neglected by these people. Scarcely a more healthy condition exists, as to the prosecution of the moral work in the county, than that manifest by the Disciples, ■or Christian Church of Harrison county. Woodbine is now supplied by non-resident ministry. Mis- souri Valley, Modale and Mondamiu are furnished spiritual food by Rev. J. Hardman, and Logan by Rev. J. R. Harlem. GEEMAK EVASTGELISTS. The first and only church of this denomination in the county was .organized at Magnolia during the former part of the year 1858, the first members being as follows: Fred W. Hauff, Jr., and wife, Casper Hauff, Henry Hannaman and wife, George Niece and wife, Peter Smith and wife, Henry Lawrence and wife et al. For seven years this little band of Christians worshiped as best they could, without a public building, when •during the year of 1867 they erected a very commodious church building at Magnolia at a cost of $1,200. From that date to the present they have increased in numbers and wealth, so that at the present time few individual religious organizations in the ■county possess a more healthy tone. At the church at the place last designated, religious service is had each Sabbath, where assemble a membership of 115, with a very excellent Sunday- school of 80 scholars. During the first year of their organ- ization, Rev. J. F. Scheiber occupied the pulpit in 1859 to 1860; Rev. H. Kleinsorge, 1861 and 1862; Rev. J. F. Beener, 1863 and 1864; Rev. H. Bunce, 1865; Anton Hulster, 1866; Rev. H. Bunce, 1867, 1868 and 1869; Rev. L. Scheurer, 1870; Rev. Otto Rail, 1871; Rev. H. Kohl, 1872; Rev. G. Gunner, 1873; Rev. H. Stellrecht, 1874 and 1875; Rev. H. Witte, 1876 and 1877; Rev. 438 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. H. Stellrecht, 1878, 1879 and 1880; Rev. J. Pflaum, 1881 and 1882; Rev. H. Bunte, 1883, 1884 and 1885; Rev. G. Koehn, and 1886 and 1887, Rev. J. M. Zellhoefer who at the present date is the shepherd of this flock. In 1870 this class purchased a par- sonage at a considerable cost and have their minister residing in. their midst. The present class leaders are as follows: Glass number one, G. F. Reinhart; class number two, John Lentz; class nnmber three, F. W. Hauff, Jr. ; class number four, Charles- Fisher. Church Trustees at present, are F. W. Hauff, Jr., G. F. Reinhart, H. Unmach, John Steffon and John Alter. MAGNOLIA. GERMAN LtTTHEKASr. The first organization of the above named religious denomina- tion which became permanent, was effected at the village of Magnolia in the early part of the year 1872, and consisted of the following named persons: Mr. Charles Michael and wife; Mr. Fred Michael and wife; Mr. Charles Platband wife; Mr. Charles Dane and wife, and Mr. Herman Plath. These people kept- their organization well in hand, worshiping at school houses and at private families until the year of 1884, at which time having increased the membership, and by their frugality and almost unparalleled industry, they had become sufiiciently wealthy so as to build a church building, which was accordingly done at- Magnolia in the year last-named, 1884. This building is a com- modious, handsome and well-arranged church, and cost these people f2,000, in which thej' worship Sabbath to Sabbath, and have the services of a very able minister in the person of the Rev. Mr. Newoffer. The membership at the present is fifty-five and the class is in excellent condition both financially and spirit- ually. In 1870, at the town of Dunlap, a temporary organiza- tion was had, under the efforts of a Rev. Ludwig, of Cleveland, Ohio, one Mr. Charles Dux being the President or Chairman,. Mr. Fred Kimpel of the same place. Secretary, and numbering HISTOKT OF HAEEI80N COUNTY. 439 thirty-two members, but by reason of the " tastes" of the greater , portion of the above membership, the minister came to the con- clusion that he was casting his pearls before a disobedient and over reckless class, and as a consequence, played a trick on them which the devil has never done, i. e., left them. As soon as the minister abandoned the locality, the class disintegrated, and up to the present date has never been reorganized. TUN'KEKS, Or Dunkards, as they are often called, have had an organization in the county for the past twenty years, but up to the present, have never become sufficiently strong to build a church. Perhaps this class do not number beyond twenty-five at the present, and even the names of all these cannot now be learned, unless more time be taken to collect the same from the records of the Church. Most prominent among these are Mr. Lewis S. Snyder, who at times acts as the minister, and Mr. Jeremiah Motz and family, Mr. Isaac Teeter, Levi Miller and wife, 1. 1. Stevens and wife, A. Plynn et al. BAPTISTS. The first church building erected and completed, dedicated by the Baptists of the county, was at the town of Logan. Perhaps none in the entire county took more interest in the undertaking than did Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Rudasill, though Mr. Stephen Crow, Mr. John W. Wood and many others were very willing workers in this laudable enterprise. That which tended more to bring about the erection of a church building, the organization of a class of this denomination at the time and place about which I am relating, was the fact that, at this time there was not a Bap- tist organization in the entire county. An organization was effected on the 14th day of July, A. D., 1867, at which time the following named persons constituted the constituent members thereof: Mr. P. J. Rudasill and wife, Mr. Stephen Crow and wife, 440 HISTORY OK HAEEISON COUNTY. Elizabeth Crow, Franklin Crow, M. D. S. Crow and Mr. John W. Wood and wife. Soon very many were added to the above list, among whom were Mr. W. B. Copeland and wife, Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Paul, etc., and the church was able to stand alone. As soon as there was the faintest probability of ability to build a church building, the same was agitated, and many, though not belonging to this particular denomination, assisted in this laud- able enterprise, which resulted in the building of the present Baptist Church of Logan, and the completion thereof by the 24th day of December, A. D., 1867. This building cost, at the time it was constructed, the sum of 11,800, and was used by. many other denominations for a decade after completion, for the reason that the same preceded any other church building in Logan by five years. A very substan- tial parsonage has been added to this church property since the building of the church, costing $900, and withal, places the Bap- tists of Logan well to the front in religious work and liberality. The first Baptist minister at this place, and perhaps one that did as much as any one in the crystalization of this class, was Rev. George Scott; then followed Rev. J. E. Lockwood, Rev. E. G. 0. Groat, Rev. Sanders, Rev. J. C. Carter and, finally, Rev. F. J. Bryant. This church has one hundred and fifteen members, and a Sab- bath-school of the same number, viz. : one hundred and fifteen. Value of church property, $2,700. Members, one hundred and fifteen. Sabbath-school scholars one hundred and fifteen. WOODBIlirB. The First Baptist Church of Woodbine, was built and dedi- cated, free from debt, on the 29th day of October, 1882. This organization dates back to the 29th of January, 1870, at which time the organization was effected, the following named persons being the constituent membership, viz. : Mr. Stephen Crow and wife, Elizabeth Crow, Mr. Edmond Benton, Mr. John, Benton, HISTOEY OF HARRISON COTJNTT.' 441 Thomas Butler, Frauklin Crow, Marquis D. S. Crow, Byrou Crow, Joseph N. Chapman, Lucius E. Eecleson, Mrs. Elizabeth Chapman, Mrs. Rosanna E. Eecleson and Lucinda Foster. This meeting was presided over by Rev. E. Gr. 0. Groat as Moderator and Rev. J . E. Rockwell, Clerk, at which time and place articles of faith were adopted and the above class was recognized as a regular Baptist Church. This branch of the church, through great perseverance and self-sacrifice, has built at the place desig- nated a neat, handsome, well-constructed brick church and fur- nished the same in a very comfortable manner, at a cost of $1,400. In the matter of providing funds for the above enter- prise. Rev. Ira E. Kinney not only contributed of his own funds to the amount of f 100, but at a time when the class was so weak that they could not afford the necessary means for paying their minister, served them very acceptably as pastor. Deacon Stephen Crow and Mr. S. Pelton, both members of the church, as well as Mr. David Barnum, the latter though not a member, gave liberally, even beyond expectation, toward the payments for the material necessary for the proper completion of this building. Since the organization the following named persons have occupied the pulpit, viz.: Rev. J. E. Rockwell, Rev. E. G. 0. Groat, Rev. Ira E. Kenney, Rev. A. J. De Lano, Rev. J. C. Carter, Rev. T. P. Thickstun and the present incumbent Rev. W. P. Gray. The following persons served the church as Deacons, viz.: Mr. Stephen Crow, Mr. Joseph N. Chapman and T. J. Berkley. The present membership is 46; and the charge is in a flourishing condition at the present, both financially and spirit- ually, and has in successful operation a first-class Sabbath-school, under the management of young Mr. S. L. Berkley, with a membership of 63. 442 HISTOEY OF HAEEI80N COUNTY.. DUNLAP. Following the organization of the Baptist church at Wood- bine, Dunlap fell into line and on the 27th day of July, 1872, the First Baptist Church of Dunlap was organized, having for their constituent members the following named persons, viz.: Eev. E. G. 0. Groat and Bros. J. A. Ostrom and wife, Mrs. M. J. Ostrom, Mrs. Pickett, S. J. Kelley and Mrs. G. W. Chamber- lain. From 1872 up to and until the year 1879, this class, like all church organizations made the best of conditions and had worship at places as best suited the conveniences and surround- ings, at which time, viz.: 1879, they completed a church build- ing within the town of Dunlap, at a cost of $2,000. This caused considerable sacrifice on the part of the membership, from the fact that they were not very numerous, but on account of the zeal of those who were the members of this denomination, they were the more determined, and as a consequence the building was completed at the cost above stated. This denomination were very earnest in their work and have built up a very pros- perous crystalization, but at the present are without a pastor, which is only temporary. Scarcely any community in all the West has been more devoted to reform than this branch of the church, and all join in the hope of this organization, that the good influences so shed abroad by both members and ministers may be blessed an hundred fold in the moral reclamation of fallen humanity. No. of members 43. Sunday-school scholars 59. THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH AT MISSOURI VALLEY Was organized at that, place on the lith day of October, 1887, the constituent members being Mr. E. J. Cobleigh, Mrs. E. A. Cann, Mr. T. J. Berkley and Mrs. N. D. Berkley, Mr. M. H. Goul- try, Mr. Charles Berkley (now deceased), Mrs. Hattie Chapman, Mrs. Laura Blake, Mrs. E. Augusta Levingston, Mrs. T. C. Berk- ley, Mrs. S. Z. Hileman, Miss Jennie Berkley (now Mrs. Miles), Miss M. L. Berkley (now Mrs. Cheever). The first pastor at HISTORY OF HAEKISON COUNTY. 443 this place was Rev. William Sears, who in turn was followed by Rev. J. M. Bay; then Rev. W. E. Randall, then Rev. Taylor, then Rev. T. F. Thickstun and finally Rev. J. B. Murch. In the spring o£ 1883 a church building was put under contract, completed by the first of July, and dedicated on the 8th of the same month, which building cost the good people of Missouri Valley the sum of $1,000. This church at present numbers twenty-six members, all wide awake, active, earnest working persons whose efforts are more telling than in many other church organizations where the numerical strength is double that number. The present minister's salary is $800, barely suf- ficient to keep the wants of any reasonable family in moderate ordinary working condition. The first Sabbath-school was organized under the immediate superintendence at this place, on the 28th day of May, 1876, with the following roll of officers, viz.: E. J. Cobleigh, Superintendent; Mrs. M. Holbrook, Assistant Superintendent; F. M. Dance, Secretary; Mrs. E. A. Leviugston, Treasurer, and Miss Addie Hobbs Librarian, and at the present time, Mr. Ed Sherwood is the Superintendent, with a good corps of teachers and 57 scholars. Value of church property $1,100 No. of members , 230 Sunday-schools 4 Sunday-school scholars 294 LATTEK DAT SAINTS. The people styling themselves Latter Day Saints are among the strongest religious societies of Harrison county. They claim to be the rightful and only legitimate successors of the church founded by Joseph Smith, at Palmyra, New York, in 1830. The persecutions following Smith's death at Carthage, Illinois, in 1844, compelled his adherents, then many thousands in number, in Hancock county, Illinois, and the adjacent territory in Illi- nois, Missouri and Iowa, to seek new locations on which to settle. 444: HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTT. Brigham Young, as subsequent events proved, turned his eyes to California, then a Mexican Province, doubtless v?ith an eye to the establishment of his peculiar doctrines with reference to polygamy and kindred iniquitous ideas, beyond the bounds of the Federal Government. But rigorous weather overtook them on the way and they went into winter quarters at Council Bluffs, in 1846. Thousands had refused to follow Brigham Young on his Western journey, and dispersed themselves at once from their Illinois rendezvous through nearly every State East of the Rocky mountains, to await the coming one in whom they could repose confidence as being the legitimate successor of their late lamented leader. Thousands more whose acquired habits of obedience to priestcraft had yet control of their judgment, fol- lowed Young to these winter quarters, but time and opportunity to observe, coupled with a growing lack of confidence, combined to cause hundreds to abandon him at the breaking up of camp in the spring of 1847. These naturally dispersed themselves into all the counties adjacent to Council Bluffs. In this manner was the seed sown from which has sprung the many prosper- ous churches of Western Iowa and Eastern Nebraska. These old adherents oE Smith and the early church all unite in saying that polygamy was never openly, at least, taught as a religious tenet prior to Young's settlement in Utah. They deny that it was ever countenanced in the least degree by the church authorities prior to the prophet's death; that Young's promulga- tion of this and kindred evil doctrines constituted him and his adherents apiostates from the true church, and that Joseph Smith, the son of the original prophet, is alone the legal successor of his father and the original church, and as a distinguishing mark, they style themselves the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints. The first branch to organize was at Union Grove, which organization has had a somewhat checkered career — sometimes being very prosperous and at other times in an almost disorgan- ized condition. This branch claims the distinction of being the HI8T0ET OF HARRISON C0T7NTT. 445 only branch in Harrison county with which the General Confer- ence of the church has ever met. This branch is now in a very flourishing condition, with a membership of 33. Thomas Thomp- son, President, and P. C. Kimmish, Clerk. The next branch to organize in the county was at Little Sioux, which though more than one quarter of a century has passed away since the first organization, is still in a lively condition, having a membership of 207, amd a commodious church build- ing, costing $1,200. Rev. J. P. McDowel is President, and Wm. Stewart, Clerk. In the early part of the sixties, the Raglan branch was organ- ized and maintained an active existence, but became disorganized on the 3d day of June, 1871, its members at that time uniting with the Magnolia charge. On the 23d day of February, 1863, a branch was organized at Bigler's Grove, under the name of the Bigler's Grove Branch, and on the 27th of April, 1865, the name was changed to the Morning Star branch, and this faded out of existence in December, of 1872, its members like the Raglan branch uniting with the Saints at Magnolia. A branch was organized at Twelve Mile Grove, April 24, 1864, and contin- ued for ten years, when the charge became disorganized by the members thereof uniting with the branch at Six Mile Grove. The Magnolia branch was organized on the 17th day of March, 1870, and still flourishes with an active, energetic membership of 167. At this place, these people worship in a large commo- dious church building costing $1,600. Donald Maule, President and Clerk. The Six Mile Grove branch was organized on the 3d day of April, 1870, and continued for fifteen years, and was discontinued on the 5th day of December, 1885. An organiza- tion was effected at Reeder's Mills in 1870, which continued until May, of 1874, when the same lapsed by reason of removals and lack of interest. Spring Creek branch, now known as the Persia church, was organized on the 18th day of October, 1876, and within the last five years has erected a large, handsome and 44:6 HISTORY OF HAEKISON OOITNTT. commodious church building, costing f 1,800, at which place, at the present, there is a wide awake active membership of 90. David Chambers, President and Clerk. October 14, 1877, the Whitesboro branch was organized under the name of Buena Vista charge, and only kept up this organi- zation until the 13th of July, 1879, when by reason of removals the charge was disbanded. Sometime in the spring of 1878, a branch was organized in Raglan, with the name of Pleasant View, but being within a few miles of Magnolia, the larger crystalized this and it became non est in 1883. The Evening Star branch, of Morgan town- ship, was organized on the 26th day of March, 1872, and by rea- son of weakness caused by removals, was discontinued in 1882. On the 13th day of February, 1887, a branch was started on the Willow, in Magnolia township, known as the Willow branch. This is now in a healthy condition, with a member- ship of 48. John Hunt, President, and Henry C. Purcell, Clerk. The last branch of the Latter Day Saints organized in this county was had at Logan on the 20th day of February, 1887, and the membership, in order to manifest their zeal for the cause which they had espoused, immediately set to work to build a house in which to worship, which undertaking was accomplished by the 10th of December, 1888, the same costing |1,600. At present there are 59 of a membership, and an excellent Sabbath- school Sabbath by Sabbath. Hon. P. Cad well, President; Wm. R. Davison, Clerk. The following is a recapitulation of that which has been stated, which shows the strength of the different branches: Membership. Little Sioux 207 Union Grove 33 Magnolia 167 Spring Creek 90 Willow Valley 48 Logan 59 Total 604 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 447 There is unquestionably enough in this country who are of- the belief, though not attached to the church in the way of having their names on the records of the church, to biing the menjbership up to 650. Rev. J. C. Crabb is now District Presi- dent, and Mr. William C. Cadwell, of Woodbine, District Sec- retary, the latter having continuously served in that capacity for the eight years last past. Very many of the oldest residents of this county are of this religious faith, and if I was required to select men whose every day life was to be the gauge for moral worth, I would be free at the present to say that I could find none in the county superior to the following, viz.: Mr. George Black- man, Mr. Lucius Merchant, Mr. A. W. Locklin, Mr, Donald Maule, Hon. P. Cadwell, Mr. David Chambers. Of this religious faith was Mr. David Garnet, Stephen Mahoney, Marvin Adams, etc., etc. These all lived active, useful and blameless lives, have been gathered to their fathers like a shock of corn in its season, and left to all an example of honor, honesty and fidelity worthy of imitation, and a consolation in the hour of death. EOMAN CATHOLIC. From the time of the early settlement of the county up to 1865, there were numerous persons in the county who were members of the above church, but not until that time did they feel that they were financially able to erect a building in which to worship, hence, in the early spring of the year last named, the following named persons, viz.: Mr. William Kennedy, wife and family; Mr; James Kennedy, wife and family; Mr. William Ferguson, wife and family; Mr. Patrick Morrow, wife and family; Mr. William Morrow, wife and family; David Morrow, Joseph Morrow, Mr. Timothy O'Connor, wife and family; and numerous others of the county, formed an organization in the year last named, and built at Magnolia, the first Catholic Church ever built in the county. This building cost, at the time the same was completed, the sum of |1,300. The first priest to 448 HISTOET OF HAEEISON OOUNTT. minister to these people was Father Kelley, who was followed by- Father Dexiker, and at present, religious services are held at this place three Sabbaths of each month, by the priest in charge, viz.: Father Hayes. The present membership is 125. « Dunlap was the next to follow, from the fact that the com- pletion of the railroad to this place, and the establishment of a division of the road ab Dunlap, brought many persons of this religious faith as settlers into the neighborhood and as citizens of the town. Dunlap is perhaps the wealthiest organization of this belief in the county, and few neighborhoods can boast of better or more law abiding citizen's. Here, in 1872, the following named persons, viz.: Michael Barrett, Jacob Barrett, Ed. Lehan, Mrs. R. B. Hillas, James Cormmie, S. J. P. Marsh, the McNalleys, etc., etc., etc., contributed of their means so freely, that in the year last aboved named, a Catholic chapel was completed, cost- ing |5,000, to which was soon added a rectory costing a like $5,000. They of this denomination have contributed at this locality with a liberal hand in the matter of providing a place of worship, as well as comfortable rooms for the priest. Since the time of the first organization here, the Church has made a splendid growth and at the present stands as above stated, first in the county as to this denomination, having a membership of 190. The first priest stationed at Dunlap was Father Annan, followed by Father Gennahan, then Father Moran, then Father Lynch, then Father MacCormack, the present incumbent. The Little Sioux Catholic Church was built at or near the year of 1883. The building of this place for worship was occas- ioned by reason of the distance many of the members were from any other place where such privileges were enjoyed, and hence, in order to keep pace with the times, this class built for their use a very neat church costing |1,000. Number of membership 46. Modale also is graced by a Catholic Church building, which came into being during the year 1883, and though not of the greatness in size which is cause for boasting in many denom- HISTOEY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 449 inations, still possesses as true and faithful a membership as evei met for worship in any building. The flock at this plade is .cared for by the same Priest that preaches to the church at Magnolia, viz.: Father Hayes. The .church cost when built $1,000. Number of membership 37. KOMAK CATHOLIC CHURCH AT MISSOUBJ VALLEY. By the time this town was one year old there was a church building of the above denominational character eVected in the place costing the sum of $2,500. Prior to this time religious services were had at this place, at which the Rev. Father John Dexiker offici9,ted, and since the completion of said building the following named Priests have filled the pulpit, viz.: Father Eagan, Father McMamamie, Father Lynch, Father JDunn, Father Urbay, Father Garrahan and Father P. J. Morrin, who at pre- sent is officiating. Those who constituted the first membership of this part of the Missouri Valley parish, were Mr. Edward Burke and family, Mr. John Tamassia, Mr. J. D. Tamassia, Messrs. John and Locklin Moreton, Michael Doyle, Mr. J. Dayton, Mr. William Kennedy and family, Mr. James Kennedy and family, Mr. James Dough- erty and family, Mr. Patrick Snyder, et al. Soon after the con- struction of the church building, a parsonage was purchased at a cost of $1,800 and donated to the church, and then a bell was purchased for the church building and placed in position, which up to the present is the largest . church bell in the county, the weight thereof being 2,700 pounds. It can be distinctly heard for a distance of fifteen miles on a reasonably favorable day. This church numbers 300 members, and unless Dunlap is in the advance, is the preferable charge in the county of this denom- ination. As a summary, then, of the value of church property of this religious denomination in this county at the present, the same equals $17,800, and, a membership of 698. It might not be out of place to here state that the membership of the above 29 *' 450 HISTOET OF HARBISON COVNTY. denomination includes those of the children of parents belong- ing to this church who have been confirmed. Were those of the other religious denominations in the county to include in the number of their membership the children of religious parents, who are members of the church, it would make quite a differ- ence in the numbers herein given. SUNDAY-SCHOOLS, which in this county had their origin at Magnolia at the time of the organization of the Methodist and Congregational churches at that place, have grown to such importance in the county at the present time that Harrison stands nearly at the front as to Sunday-school work in the State. It may be said (not in the way of boasting) that Harrison county was the first county in the State" to have and sustain a Sunday-school mission- ary, which was inaugurated in the spring of 1882, at which time a young man of Chicago, by the name of F. H. Jewett, came as aforesaid and labored for nearly two years as a Sunday-school missionary, within the boundaries of this county, the success of which undertaking far surpassed the hopes of the most sanguine, for in the incredibly short space of time in which this young hero labored among this people, a purer and more moral atmosphere permeated the entire county, and set in motion a work, which, being ably seconded by his successors, D. W. Gomstock, R. A. Shaw and John A. Howard, calls together on each Sabbath 78 schools, with a force of teachers to the number of 351, and an attendance in the way of pupils to the number of 3,952, Sabbath by Sabbath. In calling attention to the undertaking and success of this work of love, I cannot forbear making favorable mention of this Mr. Jewett, who blazed out the by-paths to the different localities in the county, where he established or organized these schools, for be it known that in very many other vocations in life his mental and moral qualities would have commanded much greater remuneration, and by far less hardships, but he, feeling thai duty called him to the work, HISTOET or HAREISOIJ OOUNTT. 451 labored with such diligence, faith, love and earnestness, that his labors were abundantly rewarded by the unprecedented gather- ing of the youths of the land into the Sunday-schools, as well as a goodly number into the different churches. Two years of hard, unremitting toil in this field of labor and success, so under- mined a constitution not very rugged, that at the end of that period, he yielded his young life a sacrifice for the good of others. In the middle of 1884, Rev. D. W. Comstock took charge of the field made vacant by the death of Mr. Jewett and he in turn was followed by Rev. R. A. Shaw, who took charge of the work on May 20, 1885. On April 1, 1888, he was relieved by John A. Howard of XJnionburg, Harrison county, Iowa, who is at the present time in charge. The following table will show the Sabbath-schools in the county by townships: Allen Township— No. of schools 4, teachers 11, scholars 111. Boyer Township— Schools 9, teachers 40, scholars 415. Cass Township — Schools — , teachers 4, scholars 114. Clay Township — Schools 3, teachers 10, scholars 120. Cincinnati Township — Schools 2, teachers 7, scholars 80. Douglas Township — Schools 5, teachers 19, scholars 186. Harrison Township — Schools 4, teachers 21, scholars 387. Jackson Township — Schools 2, teachers 9, scholars 119. Jefferson Township — Schools 9, teachers 50, scholars 508. Lagrange Township — Schools 3, teachers 11, scholars 83. Lincoln Township — Schools 3, teachers 10, scholars 86. Magnolia Township — Schools 10, teachers 44, scholars 574. Morgan Township — Schools 3, teachers 25, scholars 175. Taylctr Township — Schools 1, teachers 6, scholars 86. St. John Township — Schools 4, teachers 19, scholars 224. Union Township — Schools 4, teachers 24, scholars 246. Washington Township — Schools 3, teachers 13, scholars 163. Calhoun Township — Schools 1, teachers 4, scholars 39. Raglan Township — Schools 1, teachers 4, scholars 58. 452 HISTOEY OF HABEISON COUNTY. The different denbminations, as to these schools, as well as the names and postoffice address of the Superintendents are as fol- io ws, viz.; Congregational— I) . Saterlee, Dunlap; N. S. Lawrence, Mag- nolia; C. P. Spooner, Mondamin; J. B. Warren, Modale. Methodist— Br. P. R. Crosswait, Logan; Dr. C. Clark, Dunlap; Rev. J. T. De Tar, Woodbine; W. B. Donn, Woodbine; Missouri Valley; H. D. Meech, Missouri Valley; J. Losh, Missouri Valley; Mrs. Davis, River Sioux; G. H-. Gibson, Little Sioux; Mr. Fisher, Little Sioux; Mrs. Ellen Main, Mag- nolia; J. L. Beebe, Beebetown; John Williams, Reeder's Mills; L. M. Dakan, Reeder's Mills; W. S. Grosbeck, Persia. Presbyterian — Rev. Cassett, Woodbine; A. W, Ford, Logan. Baptist — W. H. Garrett, Dunlap; Rev. Gray, Woodbine; 0. P. Copeland, Logan ; F. R. Coit, Missouri Valley. Non-Denominational or Union Schools — T. P. Kellogg, Levi Stewart, Mrs. W. H. H. Wright and James E. Evans, Dunlap; J. Holeton, Hattie Witters, J. Smith, T. J. Powell, George Abrams, Henry DeCou and Mrs. G. W. Selleck, Woodbine; L J. Paul, J Z. Hunt, George Finley and C. Children, Logan; Wm. Bassier, Cal. Junction; George Green, Missouri Valley; Wm. Dixon, Cal. Junction; W. W. Morton and A. D. Hutchison, Modale; E. R. Thomas, Mondamin; R. Moss, River Sioux; Miss Mary Raymond, George Tuffley and George Reinhart, Magnolia; J. A. Howard, Washington township; C. S. Greenfield, Cass township; J. W. Plummer, Persia, and Rev. J. K. Jackson, Valley View. These are nearly all in the neighborhood of the different addresses, and are country schools. Latter Day Saints— B.on. P. Cadwell, Logan; C. P. Kimmish, Unionburg; David Chambers, Persia; Rev. J. P. McDowell, Little Sioux; J. F. Minturn, Magnolia. There are three or more schools in the county that do not keep up during the winter seasons that are not included in the above report. HISTOET OF HAKRISON COUNTY. 4:53 The Sabbath-school missionary is supported by the donations of the people interested in the Sabbath-school work in the county, and receives a salary of $600 per year for his services, but if this sum is not raised ia the county then the mission pays the difference. This personage is ably assisted in the' work and labor of love by very many good people within the county; fore- most among these are Mr. Casper Cadwell of Logan, Miss Mary Kaymond, of Magnolia, etc., etc., as well as all the mininsters of the different denominations located in the county. While every reasonable effort has been made to build up the morals of the different communities where Sunday-schools have been organized or attempted by visiting families, circulating religious literature, urging all, young and old to attend and assist in the maintenance and crystalization of this labor of love, many have remained wholly indifferent as to the good resulting therefrom and as a consequence, nearly one-half of the children of school age in the county have never entered a Sabbath-school. The question suggests itself to each reader, would it not be in keeping, and especially in harmony with scriptural teachings, for the good people of the county to direct the attention to the real wants of our own immediate neighborhoods, rather than to be constantly soliciting funds for the purpose of sending mission- aries to China and other foreign fields and particularly when half the crop of humanity at home remaips unharvested? THE LAST SAD RITES. MEMORIAL SERVICES IN HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, SATI]R- DAY, AUG. 8, 1885. LOGAN S GIFTED ORATOKS DO HONOE TO THE OCCASION — SPEECHES IN FULL. From the Harrison County Courier, Aug. 13, 1885. There was a strict observance of memorial services through- out Harrison county on Saturday last, sacred to the memory of the late deeply lamented Ulysses S. Grant, in whose departure the Nation mourns the loss of one to whom, more than all others, its existence as a united and happy Republic is due. At Dunlap, Woodbine, Logan, Missouri Valley, Modale, Mondamin, Little Sioux, Magnolia and Persia, the day was appropriately observed. At the county seat our people were astir with prepar- ations at an early hour. Stores, dwellings and public buildings were suitably draped and decorated. The city park was prepared with seats, platform, etc., in the inviting shade of its overhang- ing trees, and by ten o'clock .a large gathering was in attendance to listen to the exercises, which were opened by Marshal-of-the Day Hon. P. Cadwell, who announced the programme and intro- duced the speakers. Music was furnished by the cornet band and glee club. The services opened and closed with prayer by Rev. J. C. Carter. Five minute addresses were delivered by our gifted fellow citizens, Joe H. Smith, F. W. Hart, J. D. Hornby, (454) HISTORY OF HARBISON COUNTY. 455 H. H. Roadifer, A. W. Clyde and S. I. King, all of which we report in full, as follows: J. D. HORNBY. • Mr. President and Fellow Citizens: — Death is the only impar- tial power we know of. From the beginning and in all ages his step has been unfettered. There is but one agency to whom he has ever yielded homage, and at whose fiat he has relaxed his grasp. And so effectually does he close his door of egress that no word from his victim ever returns. All we can do is to stand without, and in grief and sorrow gaze through the eye of faith. Naught but the blood on the .door post (and that a temporary check) has ever turned aside his entrance from cottage or palace. Such has been the observation of all ages. Horace, two thou- sand years ago, in a Latin ode to his friend Sestimus, wrote: " Pale death, with impartial step, knocks at cottages of the poor and the palaces of kings. The short sum total of life, happy Sestimus, forbids that we should form remote expectations." In presence of this power we are helpless; and instinctively we turn to the individual friend, to the family circle, to the society or organization, to the tribe, to the state or nation, for sympathy. Individual sympathy has not been wanting. The news of the death of U. S. Grant brought to my mind the musical and poetical composition of P. P. Bliss, in memory of William B. Bradbury. The genius of Bradbury had filled our land with song, whom none appreciated more than Bliss. List to his beautiful tribute : "He's gone, he's gone, Gone to the silent land, Over the river of death, Into the silent land. Glad are the heavenly choirs; Sad is our pilgrim band." The amount of tribute bestowed has almost universally been commensurate with the good done. He whose death we deplore 456 HISTOET OF HAEEISON OOITNTT. to-day, on account of having been an almost universal bene- factor, is mourned by all. His knovfledge of the governments of the world made him attached to his own. The seat of the crowned monarch was not loftier thah the presidential chair, surrounded on the same plain by fiftj' millions of people. This explains why a nation in thousands of gatherings do reverence to his memory. The tribute to Bradbury, the composer and songster, above referred to, contains these thrilling words: "Close to the great white throne, Thousands of children stand." When we consider the position held by Grant in this country, and the peculiar and trying crisis through which he passed, how appropriate this tribute by the change of a single word. "Close by the great white throne, Thousands of soldiers stand; ■ ' Welcome, oh, welcome, they sing, Home to the beautiful land." " Marching along on our way, Pilgrims and strangers we roam, Soon shall we join the glad throng, Soon shall be resting at home." H H. EOADIFEE. Ladies and Gentlemen: — It is seldom an entire nation mouijis the loss of a single man as we do to-day. But few have ever had such a funeral procession as that which to-day follows the remains of U. S. Grant to the final resting place". Fifty-five mil- lion people in mind and sympathy, are in that grand procession. Why is this ? Young as I am I can well remember when the name of Grant was unknown. Even in Illinois, the State of his residence, outside of the immediate vicinity of his home, no one had ever heard of him. Twenty-five years ago, had a list of the great men of this country been made, U. S. Grant's name would not have been found in that list. Had a list of the rising, promising men been made, his name would not have been found HI8T0ET OF HAEE180N COTJNTT. 457 even in that list. He was then unknown. He had but few if any influential friends to assist him. He was not born to greatness, neither had he greatness thrust upon him. Yet at the time of his death no man on either continent was so well known and so highly honored throughout the entire civilized world as he. What name and fame he had he acquired by his own genius and personal exertion. In less than five years from the time he was commissioned colonel and placed in command of a regiment, he was commander-in-chief of one of the largest armies of modern times. His advancement and success in every position in which he was placed was truly wonderful. His military career is familiar to us all, — no need to repeat it here. We all feel proud of, and admire him for his brilliant record as a general. But there was something grander and nobler in him than merely a successful general. He was a true man, just to his friends and generous to his enemies. While he did much for his country as a general, I apprehend he did equally as much by his unselfish, generous conduct at the close of, and after the war. Find if you can a higher type of manhood than that displayed by him at Appomattox. Eealizing that the war was over, his only thought seemed to be how he could best make those who had so recently been his enemies feel at home with us once more; how he could best blot out every ill feeling; not even allowing his own army to celebrate the victory, lest he might unnecessarily wound the feelings of those to whom he was willing to extend the hand of friendship, and greet as his countrymen. Friends, had we of the North and they of the South aided with the same unselfish, generous spirit that he did, much of the sectional strife of the last twenty years might have been avoided. By his conduct he builded better than he knew. And by reason of the treatment extended to his conquered foe, the people north and south, those who fought in the gray as well as those who fought in the blue, to-day unite in honoring his memory. And while we meet here 458 HISTORY OF HAKEISON COUNTY. to do honor to his memory, let us realize that in no way can we so well perpetuate it as by imitating his actions toward a con- quered foe; realize that through him and his patriotic army, this is an undivided country; realize that we of the North and they of the South are all citizens of this great republic; be united in fact and in spirit as we are in name, — then we will profit not only by what he did, as a warrior, but as well by his example. And in conclusion, let us ever hold dear the memory of the man whom we to-day consign to his last earthly resting place. Let us remember him, not only as the greatest of generals, not only as a statesman, but above all, let it not be forgotten that he was one of America's truest, noblest men, one who was charitable to all and held malice toward none. Peace to his ashes. JOE. H. SMITH. Commander and Friends: — Respect for the dead is a pervad- ing instinct of our common humanity. To honor the memory of the departed is regarded as ,a sacred trust. To the. faithful discharge of affection and friendship we are irrevocably com- mitted. Nor is the good name, fame and memory of him whose name is being to-day pronounced by every American tongue, left to the guardianship of those alone who knew and loved him in life. There is something in the silent helplessness of the coffin and sepulchre that appeals with peculiar and pathetic force to the chivalry of our human nature. The discord of party passion, the conflict of individual interest, the fierce rivalry of personal ambition, and all that is base and unworthy in the eager struggle for precedence and supremacy, retire in silence from that presence whose majesty over the combined forces of nature is attested by the unnumbered dead of all nations. If these proceedings to-day were but meaningless ceremony, if public business has been suspended that we might take part HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 459 in mere empty pageant, we should do scant honor to the mem- ory of him whose death is the theme of the occasion. Brought face to face to the sum and end of human hopes, so far as they center in this life, who shall say that the contemplation of that result may not guide us to loftier heights of purpose and effort by inspiring us with fresh zeal and devotion, make us fitter for the time when we, too, in an humble way, shall be the text for funeral discourse? Death has brought rest and tranquillity to a busy, restless soul, and changed duty on earth to higher duties in realms above. Of the subject, for which a nation is in tears, it can be said, there was no Levitical blood lodged in his veins. He was the same in camp, battle, at the pinnacle of military glory, at the top round of political greatness, as when in, the humblest walks of life. In each capacity there was a grandeur and honesty of pur- pose that shed over each station a halo of glory and sublimity which is without parallel and challenges the admiration of all. Upon the acceptance of each trust in the military, he main- tained his exalted position with a grandeur, glory, reticence, and sublimity worthy of the man; maintained his place on the apex, wrapped in the thought of his own originality and the consummation of his wise purposes, with that unflinching fidel- ity and honesty of purpose which challenges the admiration of all for his originality and prophetic vision, for his far-seeing intellect, which all now know was the " sesame " that opened the door of the American heart to a realization of his worth and greatness. His whole soul was in the cause of a united and unsevered country, and those whom the exigencies of events thrust into thd foreground as owners in fee of their own bodies and souls, will, and must ever look back to him for whom the nation to-day mourns, as co-equal to him who caused the consummation, in this our land " of God's great purpose, the equality of race and broth- erhood of man." These labors have borne fruits, which have 460 HISTORY OF HAEEISON OOtTNTT. ripened ia the sunshine of human progress and have been gar- nered by a progressive, busy, prosperous nation. From the " tanner's vat " to the plains of Mexico, from Mex- ico to the woodman of St. Louis, and from thence to the carn- age of Belmont, Fort Henry, Donelson, Shiloh, and ah unpre- cedented career to Appomattox, he bore the banner with the strange device, "Excelsior." Let us not blame him for it: Ambition is one of God's best gifts to man. It forces them out of low surroundings, out of ignorance and sloth, into the higher sunlight of the hills. It has its victims : DeLong dying in the snows, Gordon going to the rescue alone of an outlying post, Stanley permeating the wilds of Africa, Greely amid his dying qpmpahions in the frigid regions of the everlasting ice and snow of the north; not less, but greater than these, are those who from religious duty permeate the untrodden paths of uncivilization and surrender their lives as an offering on the altar, for the betterment of the race. But the world is better for them. It raises and builds temples to their memory, sacred places wherein to worship and give thanks, that patience, heroism and high aspirations are still omnipotent in the soul of man. While the nation to-day is draped in mourning, no respect being had to former differences, all, like 'twas said of Csesar, " beg a hair of him in memory, to bequeath it as a rich legacy unto their issue," or as was said of Maribeau, "the people crowd around the house of their tribune, as if to catch inspira- tion from his coffin," reveals to our limited vision and compre- hension the fact that greater and more abiding is the love of the American people for the fallen chieftain than the ancient columns or colossal monuments reared in memory of their illustrious dead. The memory of Gen. Grant, which to-day lives in the hearts of 55,000,000 of Americans, educated and enlightened, permeated as they are with a love of liberty as HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 461 sacred as each individual life, casts up a monument' high as the very heavens, and broad as the portals of the universe. Once the royal American eye looked to him for hope and sal- vation with the same strange devotion and faith as did the weary pilgrim to Mecca, for scarcely had the army of the North crossed the Rapidan, till hope and fear mingling, caused each cheek to be blanched with fear, and every heart to be almost frozen in despair until hope, intermixed with fact, brought to all a full fruition of success, which forever set at rest all fear as to the ultimate result. Magnanimous as brave, for when the sword of that well be- loved leader of the South was tendered him, with a magnanimity co-equal to the occasion and the relation of the former foe, waives the formality of surrender and ameliorates the humility of his former citizen and friend. Two decades go by, the honors of state are his, but no bribe ever sullied his hand, or a thought of illicit gain dimmed or scarred his pure, upright manhood. At the ripe age of 63 he dies at the altar of his country and not at its portals. Lived and acted well his part, at a time which tried men's souls, and gave his manhood and genius to the solving of the greatest of problems, viz.: " Man's capability of self government," and died in the bosom of a sorrowing family, honored and respected by all, and his grave baptized by the tears gratefully shed by more than one hundred million of American eyes. "Comrade! Rest in peace! Nor wreck, nor change, nor -winter's flight Nor Time's remorseless doom, Shall mar one ray of Glory's light, That gilds, thy deathless tomb." In life, we were proud of him. As an American citizen, the 462 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COTJNTT. homage paid to him at the courts of foreign nations, was an honor to us. Dead, we honor and revere his memory. "Suoli-was he, hia work is done, But while the races of mankind endure, Let his great example stand Colossal, seen of every land. And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure, 'Till in all lands and thro' all story The path of duty be the way to glory." A. W. CLYDE. This day recalls to mind two other days when all true hearts throughout this nation united as one family of mourners at the grave of a fallen chief. There were signs of a keener sorrow when the body of Lin- coln was committed to its last resting place. There was the hush of a deeper pathos on the spirit of his countrymen when Garfield was followed to the tomb. For their lives went out amid the flames of civil strife, with their work unfinished. They were victims of contending passion, and the dread of an awful tragedy weighed down every mind with its menacing import. Unlike them. Grant bade farewell to earthly scenes in the ripe- ness of years and honors, in the tranquillity of home, surrounded by the tenderest care that love can bestow. The regretful assem- blage of to-day in every part of this broad land is therefore the more remarkable as a feeling tribute to the greatness of the man. And it tells in language more eloquent than words that his great- ness was not of a kind that removes its possessor away from other men, but of a kind more worthy of admiration that draws him near to their hearts. It is testimony unimpeachable that his unparalleled success was not achieved for himself, but for his countrymen; that he wrought for the safety of their homes and their most cherished institutions; that his cause was their cause, and that his greatness is therefore esteemed as their priceless heritage and common glory. HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY. 463 This is true of his success in arms. To those who know of his triumphs only from the printed reports or view them in the perspective of time wij;h all the difficulties which surrounded him, brought into full relief, his success is a wonder and a mys- tery whose secret is untold, while to those who marched in his campaigns and fought in his battles, it sometimes appears to be a matter of course without any very remarkable features. Neither is the correct view. Both leave out of sight a most important fact which is even yet but half understood. Although educated in the profession of arms, Grant was no carpet knight, but essentially a man of the people. With him war was not merely a trade. He resumed the sword long cast aside in the same spirit that summoned the boys in blue everywhere from peaceful homes to the dangers of camp and field. He appre- ciated the difference between a citizen soldiery and a regular army. He alone of all who rose to high command seemed to comprehend fully the strength and steadfastness of the patriotic spirit that animated the volunteers. He alone seemed to fore- see clearly the energy of action and the certainty of achieve- ment that lay in the encouragement and employment of that masterful impulse. So out of the hosts who came to put down the rebellion, rose one who had the wisdom, and the courage and the ability to employ and direct them according to their wish in putting down the rebellion. And he became their commander by becoming their leader. To this appreciation of his soldiers he united a wonderful quickness of perception in discovering the weak point in his adversary's position. There he arrayed his battle without hesitation or delay, and there dealt the conquer- ing blow. He relied on the patriotic spirit of his army with the faith that dared to lead on to victory. It repaid him with a kin- dred confidence and an ardor and devotion that never failed him in the hour of sorest need. The bracing tonic pervaded its ranks and imparted a steadiness of nerve against which the utmost 464 HISTORY OF HABEISON COUNTY. desperatidu of his enemy, stimulated by whisky and gunpowder, dashed out its spasmodic force in vain. So while others were content to blockade the way of the enemy toward the north. Grant seized the gateways to the south. While others were hesitating and calling for help, or staggering under the enemy's blows, he went on conquering. While the army of the Potomac was disputing the advance of Lee from Rich- mond to Grettysburg, his army of the Tennessee cleaved the Con- federacy in twain, received the surrender of the enemy's last stronghold on the Mississippi, joined hands with the beleaguered army of the Cumberland, and hurled the concentrated forces of the enemy from Mission Ridge back into the mountains of Georgia. So strong was the bond of mutual confidence thus welded between Grant and his victorious armies, that when he was sum- moned to answer Lee's knocking at the gates of Washington, there was only one harassing doubt in the minds of the soldiery of the West. Around a thousand camp-fires it was the daily theme of debate, until one day the cry of the newsboy rang out that " Grant was across the Rapidan.'" Then a cheer rose in a hundred thousand electrified throats, but it was only half uttered. For again came that anxious doubt: " Will the Army of the Potomac fight on southern soil ? Will it stand true to its new commander?" And the wish was unanimous that Grant had his old army there. Then two days of excitement over, the reports of that terrific battle in the wilderness. Then the result. Grant on the march toward Richmond. All doubt is dispelled. The cheer rings forth in full chorus over valley and hill. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat. Our Grant is marching on. ' And with this inspiring thought the old army strode forth to sweep its enemy from the mountains, " from Atlantic to the sea," and then on to meet its old commander on the James. Grant had indeed become master of the situation by his first HISTORY OF HiEEISON COUNTY. 465 move. He trusted the patriotic spirit of the Army of the Potomac as he had trusted the conquering armies of the West. He arrayed it against his great enemy with like confidence and celerity. And under the new inspiration, that army repaid him by rising in a moment superior to all discouragement and dis- aster to go on its conquering way until the end. But the more remarkable evidence that his greatness sprung from his appreciation of his countrymen, from his sympathy with their higher impulses, from his faith in their fidelity and intelligence, and from his desire for their common advancement father than his own, is to be found in his moderation and mag- nanimity toward the conquered, in his desire to see them return reunited under the peaceful folds of the old flag; and in his con- duct during the crisis brought on by the murder of Lincoln. It will never be forgotten by a grateful people how in the hour of that dreadful calamity, which seemed about to drag down the pillars of state at the moment of apparent triumph into the vortex of the expiring Confederacy,. all eyes were instinctively turned upon the chief of the conquering armies, with a helpless- ness of appeal for rescue, seen only when dismay paralyzes the hearts of men; how some there were who, in momentary despair, see him seize the occasion like Caesar, draw to him those armies, mount the rein of free government and rule the land by the sword — how they quickly put away the dream as unworthy of the man, and took heart with the great majority, who looked to see him " Bid the rising tumult cease, Calm the storm and hush to peace." How the people of the conquered South as instinctively looked to see him interpose to stay the wrath of vengeance which their fear saw ready to burst upon their defenseless heads in expia- tion of the crime, and how calmly and completely, in that crown- ing emergency, he met the expectations of both friend and foe, and added to his splendid success in arms a mightier, and more 30 466 HISTORY OF HAEEISOIT COUNTY. enduring triumph achieved over the hearts of all men, both con- quered and conquerers, by invoking their better impulses. Although he has been called away, the virtues which he made resplendent remain conspicuous in the character of the Ameri- can people, adorning the humblest as well as the highest posi- tions, and while cherished will ever prove the steadfast guardians of the free government under which they have grown so great. COL. F. W. HAET. We stand to-day in the shadow of a great sorrow. He, who a few days ago was honored as the foremost citizen of the Republic, is now no more, and the nation mourns. From all sections of this country, and from every civilized nation of the globe, come testimonials of universal sympathy in this, the nation's hour of deep bereavement. The press everywhere vie with each other in expressions of their appreciation and the worth of our fallen chieftain. The London Globe alone refuses to render the need of praise where praise is due, and seeks to dim the luster that encircles his brow. It tauntingly, yea, in- sultingly, remarks that " Grant was neither a Wellington nor a Napoleon." How different are the facts of history. With her Majesty's press, comparisons with America are odious, whenever by such comparison she is likely to be humiliated. The future historian will, in my judgment, accord Gen. Grant a place among the heroes of the world second to none other since the days of Csesar. Of his illustrious achievements on the field of battle, where his marshalled hosts outnumbered far the boasted forces of a Wellington or Napoleon, I will not at- tempt to speak, but confine myself to the unfolding of some of his noble traits of character. Of his early life and mature years we are all familiar. His birth was of humble origin. His life " in low -estate be- gan, and on a simple village green." He was not rocked in the cradle of luxury, but was early filled HI8TOET OF HAEEIBOS- COUNTY. 467 with a spirit of noble daring, which was both a prophecy and promise of the future man. He made his own destiny, he carved his own monument. From the humblest walk in life he attained the highest pinnacle of fame, and "from the topmost round of fame's ladder, he stepped to the skies." When the dark cloud of war had passed, and the roar of musketry and cannon died away across mountain and plain, with the shout of victory on the lips of all, came the ever memorable declaration from the hero of battles: "Let us have peace." Peace hath its victories as well as war, and the grandest victory of modern times, greater than the achievements of war, was the peaceful arbitration at the Geneva convention. At this conven- tion questions of momentous import were adjusted without a resort to the arbitrament of the sword. Peace triumphed and nation's honor was maintained. The South will ever hold in grateful remembrance the name of Gen. Grant for the magnaminity and consideration shown by him to a fallen foe. This was notably so at Appomattox, at the fall of Yicksburg, and at Donelson. At the surrender of the latter named place. Gen. Buekner charged Gen. Grant with be- ing uachivalrous, which was untrue. After the lapse of twenty years and more, it is pleasant to reflect that at the bedside of the dying hero, at Mt. McGregor, Gen. Buekner hastened to correct his mistake, and make proof of his high esteem and consideration. A spirit of amicable relationship was ever cultivated by Gen. Grant towards the South. He gave tangible proof of his friendship by sending to the people of Virginia his compliments with $500 inclosed, to aid in building a home for the aged and infirm Confederate soldiery. Gen. Grant was not only a man of generous impulses, but was also a man of religious convictions. While not a pro- nounced Christian, yet the whole tenor of his life was in har- mony with the Golden Rule, which bids us " do unto others as 468 HISTORY OF HAEEI80N OOUNTT. we would have others do unto us." He also was a strict observer of the Christian's Sabbath, which he knew from the history of Athens and Rome was the bulwark of a nation's existence. When in Paris, Gen. Grant was invited by Marshal McMa^ hon, the President of the French Republic, to participate in some base amusement on the Sabbath. The General declined, and with his declination stated that as an American citizen he could not desecrate the American Sabbath. Another commend- able trait of his character was his entire freedom from all pro- fanity and obscenity. What a noble example for all to follow. Into the sacred precincts of the General's home we will not intrude. It could have been none other than the abode of peace and love, the sweetest of all boons to mortals given, endeared by affections, and hallowed by the associations • of happy by-gone years spent within its sacred shrine. The fragrance of such an influence will be ever known and felt in all the homes of this broad land of ours. But he is gone, and the brevity of life forces the conviction that, " The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth 'ere gave, Await alike the inevitable hour, The paths of glory lead but to the grave." We devise our plans and enter upon our life-work in joyful anticipations of the unfolding beauties of future years, when suddenly, perhaps, our lives are required of ^us, and the brilliant hopes of former years fade away in the nothingness of death. But to the good man, death is not the end. Bulwer has feelingly expressed: "There is no death. The stars go down To rise upon some fairer shore, And bright in heaven's jeweled crown, They shine forevermore." Gen. Grant rests in the beautiful park on the classic Hudson, near the shadow of his late home, surrounded by those he loved HISTOET OF HAEEI80N COUNTY. 469 and served so well. The night of slumber will be short, when the morn of eternity's dawn shall awake him to an eternal day. Upon^the hearts of all should be impressed the sentiments of the poet Bonner, that, " Beyond the smiling and the weepins. We shall be soon. Beyond the waking and the sleeping, Beyond the sowing and the reaping, We shall be soon. Love, rest and home! Sweet home! Lord, tarry not but come. Beyond the blooming and the fading. We shall be soon. Beyond the shining and the shading, Beyond the hoping and the dreading, We shall be soon. Beyond the parting and the meeting. We shall be soon. Beyond the farewell and the greeting, Beyond the pulse's fever beating, We shall be soon. Beyond the frost-chain and the fever. We shall be soon. Beyond the rock-waste and the river. Beyond the ever and the never. We shall be soon. Love, rest and home; sweet home! Lord, tarry not, bat come." S. L. KING. Ladies and Gentlemen: — Our duty, afflicted fellow citizens, on this occasion, is dictated by the dignity, wonderful achievements and resplendent virtue of the beloved man whose death we deplore. We assemble to pay a debt to departed merit, to present to departed excellence an oblation of gratitude and respect. In this let there be sincerity in our grief, and consideration in our effu- sions of gratitude. Well may we mourn the loss of a man, who, in time of peace is inflexible, in war invincible, calm in defeat, and in victory magnanimous. With these characteristics associate the public 470 HIBTOET OF HAERI80N COUNTY. services and grand achievements of the departed, and it can be truly said that General Grant belongs to his whole country. Must we, then, realize that Grant is no more ? Must the sod, not yet scarcely more than cemented on the tomb of Garfield, still moist with our tears, be so soon disturbed to admit his beloved companion, the partner of his dangers? Insatiable death ! It is decreed that General Grant shall die, but that his death shall be worthy of his life. Whilst we confide in his arm, and are marshalling our warriors to march under his banners, the God of Armies, whose counsels are beyond the scrutiny of man, prepares for us the test of our submission to his chastening rod. The rapid disease which is selected as the instrument of his dissolution, instantaneously seizes him. Possibly his humanity delays the immediate aid to whi,ch it alone might have yielded. " At length science flies to save him. Alas, what avail its skill against the mandates of heaven? It comes too late. It is fin- ished. ' ' For him no more the blazing hearth shall burn, Or tender consort wait with anxious care; No children run to lisp their sire's return, Or climb hia knees, the envied kiss to share." The universal sorrow manifested in every part of this broad land is an unequivocal testimonial of the opinion of the worth of this great man. The place of his residence is overspread with gloom, which bespeaks the presence of a public calamity, while the prejudices of party are absorbed in the overflowing tide of national grief. That he was dear in thehearts of all his countrymen is demon- strated by the universal expressions of sympathy during his last sickness and the unity of sentiment manifest in this general and popular observance of these last sad rites. To observe that such a man was dear to his family would be superfluous; to describe how dear, impossible. Come, then, warriors, statesmen, philosophers, citizens, assera- HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNrT. 471 Ue around the tomb of this favorite son, with all the luxury of sorrow, recollect the important events of his life, and partake of the greatest legacy which a mortal could bequeath you, in the contemplation of his example. Whilst we solemnize this act, his disembodied spirit, if it be permitted to retrace the scenes of its terrestrial existence, will smile with approbation on the in- structive rite. Remember the time when Providence directed to his appoint- ment as the commander-in-chief of our Federal army. Perhaps some of you, my fellow townsmen, were then languishing under the fetters of tyranny, or were imprisoned within the joyless confines of Libby or Anderson ville. Your hope was fixed on him. A veteran army lay under his eye, strongly fortified. Yet did his victorious sword relieve you. To trace the life of General Grant from the time of his ap- pointment as commander-in-chief of the Federal army, to the surrender of Lee at Appomattox would be to name the varying history of the war of the rebellion for that period. It is not our purpose to recount the career of this, the greatest of military captains, nor enter into a dissertation upon his ser- vices as chief executive of this great nation. Sufficient is it to say, that in official life, and as an honored private citizen, his work was well and faithfully performed. Then, " Peace — let the sad procession go — While cannon boom, and bells toll slow; And go, thou sacred car, Bearing our woe afar. " Gro, darkly borne, from place to place, Whose loyal, sorrowing cities wait To honor, all they can. The dust of that good man. " Go, grandly borne, with such a train As greatest kings might die to gain: The just, the wise, the brave, Attend thee to the grave. " And you, the s&ldiers of the wars. Bronzed veterans, grim with noble scarg, Salute him once again, Your late commander. " 4Z3 HISTOET OF HAEKISON COTJNTT. ADDEESS. n The following address was delivered at Logan, May 22, 1886, by Capt. Joe H. Smith, on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Veterans of the Mexican War, and was published in The Missouri Valley Times by request: ^* Mr. Chairman and Ex-Soldiers of the Mexican War: Two score years have passed sin'ce the time of the happening of the events for the commemoration of which you are- assembled here to-day. The circumstances and causes therefor are fresh in the memories of but few in this intelligent audience; other matters of greater or less importance have crowded out of sight the stirring events of forty years ago. Diversified as were the opinions then, of the American people as to the cause, origin and justness of that war, the same has not been as yet settled and solved by those who have come upon the stage of action since. The great question in certain parts of the country then was the extension of territory and to extend the territory would be the extension of the national curse of slavery. Others opposed the war for the reason last stated, viz. : the extension of slavery . — that slavery could, and of right should not exist in the terri- tories, that existing at all must and could only so exist in that part of the States where it was recognized at the time of the confederation. But say they, who were the men in favor of war measures? The Mexican republic is owing us seven and one- quarter millions of dollars, and they have neglected to pay us the same, and this debt must be paid; that by act of Congress Texas had been annexed as one of the States of this Union, and therefore we, as a government, must at all hazards protect its citizens and territory. To this the others reply by saying that Texas has not been legally annexed, for the reason that the Republic of Texas, at the time she accepted the terms of annexation, was a part of the Republic of Mexico, had never HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 473 been by the parent government acknowledged as a republic, and that acceptance of the terms of annexation the same should have been accepted by Mexico instead of Texas. And besides, they say, what are the boundaries of your Texan re- public—the Neuces or Rio Grande? And besides, by adopting the policy and position that the Rio Grande is the boundary between the two Republics, rather than the Neuces, we are, by adopting the latter, by only the right of superior force, wrest- ing this territory from weak and helpless Mexico. Hence, then the causes of that war were, first, failure to pay a national debt; second, pretended protectioli of property either belonging or not belonging to the United States; third, to possess ourselves of this territory either by rightful or wrongful means. All this' domain lying and being between these disputed lines was coveted by the administration then in power, a land of genial sunshine and never failing flowers; a land where "every pros- pect pleases and only man is vile." Our good government, like historic Ahab, determined to take possession of this " Naboth " plot, and at once proceeded to carry into execution that determi- nation by the use of men, cannon and muskets. It is not my object to-day to discuss the causes of the war, but content myself by calling to mind the bravery and glory of those who were the soldiery in that sanguinary contest. Before me I see a little band of the remaining ones who so materially assisted in establishing the valor, bravery and glory of the American soldiery; here is E. E. Ervin, Nathan Myers, J. B. Baker, Wil- liam Frazier, D. P. McDonald, Elon A. Sample, Samuel Purcell, Samuel Vititbe, James Muncy, James Munroe, Babb, Baggs, Daken, William Spencer, E. Patridge et al, many of whom, at a more recent day, when the government was imperiled, without home or comfort, were the first to again fall into the ranks with regard to shouldered muskets and maintain inviolate, not only this sunny land above conquered, but the entire Union, one and indivisible. 474 HISTORY OF HAEEISON COTJNTT. That which elicits our admiration most in all the battles of the Mexican war, is the fact that in each and every battle, in every engagement, be the same great or small, the American soldier was more than master when pitted against the foe, though that foe was two or three to one. Take, for instance, the first battle of the war, viz.: Palo Alto, a little place near the mouth of the Rio Grande, that grand old hero. Gen Taylor, with a little hand- ful of men numbering 2,300, everlastingly put to flight Aristas, with a force of over 6,000, put the Mexican forces to utter rout on their own chosen battle ground, (but to-day when we read the account of this battle, as it was 'then called, it sinks into utter insignificance, as compared to some of the little skirmishes of the late rebellion, and would not be a breakfast appetizer.) From here to Resaca de la Palma 1,700 Americans whip 7,000 Mexicans out of their boots, supply and succor a besieged garrison, and then soon cross the Mexican Rubicon, the Rio Grande, and carry the war into the very heart of the latter's country. On the bights of Monterey the invincible Yankee, with only 6,000 regulars and volunteers, wrap in a girdle of grape and bayonets a fortified city of 15,000, and defended by 10,000 Mexi- can soldiers; here again, by the bravery and valor of the Yankee, the " eagle of the prickley pear and snake is captured by the eagle of the olive branch and arrows." * Pass with me if you please to the greatest prodigy of that memorable contest, viz. : to the battle of Buena Vista. After the battle of Monterey, the grand army of veterans, who had won for themselves and their country so signal a victory, was depleted and called away by Gen. Scott to open a new path of glory from Vera Cruz to the capital of the Montezumas. But 4,073 men were left,»and these instead of remaining pent up in the citadeled safety of Monterey — without infantry, only artillery and horse, go to the furtherest out-posts of Anga Neuva to watch the designs of the wily Santa Anna, who was in command of 20,000 men. This apparently deserted army, among the Mexican HISTORY OF HARRISON OOtriirTT. 475 mountains, many long and weary miles from Monterey, and far from the Rio Grande, fearless and brave, apparently retreats, falls back behind the Sierra Madre mountains, into a little pass — a Thermopylae, is attacked by Santa Anna, the first day's battle is closed, the little, though gallant, army is only at bay — night and darkness close around them, there in the shadows of the moun- tain peaks and on the verge of deep gorges, not a man is driven from his post, not a man unemployed save those in the cold embrace of death. The second day is the repeating of the first, and as they witness the closing of this, exhausted but ever courageous, they fling themselves under their cannon's mouth for rest, expecting the morrow to usher in the scenes of the two days last past, but when the morrow's sun rose over mountain crag and flowery plain, the Mexican army had fled, leaving alike exposed his dead, wounded and rear of his army, to the mercy of the brave invaders. Pass from here if you please, and for a few moments contem- plate what is taking place in another part of the Republic. There is Gen. Scott at Vera Cruz, disembarking his troops — only 10,000, against a nation of seven to eight millions of inhabit- ants. Now he captures the city with 5,000 prisoners; then on to Contreras, and from there to Cherubusco; this taken, he is thundering his cannon within the shadow of the Nation's Capi- tol. Here let me give you a specimen of the bravery and pluck of the usual American volunteer, a story that is related by a no less personage than Gen. Grant. The place is Molino del Rey; the actors are Grant, a volunteer, and a score of Mexican soldiers sit- uated on the top of the building captured. Grant was looking upward, and happened to notice a score of Mexican soldiers on the top of the building, and determining to capture them, he improvised a ladder by backing up a cart to the wall and then ascending by climbing the shafts, when on the roof, there found this private soldier, having already captured this entire gang, 476 HISTOBT OF HAEEI80N OOUMTT. and was then standing guard over them. From Molino del Rey thence to Chepultapec and then to the Capital of the Nation — they capture it and take up their abode in the Palaces of Axyacatl and Montezuma. In all these engagements the Americans were outnumbered from three to five, but the intrepidity and perseverance of brave boys at each occasion was equal to the task be the way over mountain crag, through deep defile, morass or summer's trop- ical hottest gun; ever the same brave and determined boys. I can truthfully say that in Gen. Scott's first three battles he cap- tured more men than constituted his entire army. February 1848, after nearly two years a treaty was signed, and the war with Mexico was a matter of the past — had gone into history, but the cost thereof was a matter of uncertain compu- tation. In the matter of dollars and cents the government paid Mexico fifteen millions; to this add the 5i millions due this gov- ernment for claims allowed, the cost of the war 120 millions and 25,000 soldiers' lives; then again, add to this the 10 millions that the government paid Texas in the settlement of boundaries. What is the consideration this government receives in return for this 150 millions of dollars? The present State of California and the territory of New Mexico — the former extending along the Pacific coast for 750 miles, and reaching into the interior 250 miles — now having a population of over one million, and the wealth at the present is beyond the conception of the human mind. At the time of this treaty and the payment thereof, many of the statesmen of that day called this vast extent of territory wholly worthless, and no less a personage than the great Thomas Benton, more familiarly known as " Old Bullion," de'clared that it would be impossible to ever utilize the same, and the land was without value whatever; but how short-sighted are many of our wisest men on many of the new subjects that come to the surface in this day and age of American politics and American policy? HISTORY OF HAEEISON OOUNTT. 477 The State o£ California of to-day is of untold value to this Union. What outlet would this great Nation have on the west were it not that we had access to the Pacific coast, together with her magnificent bays? Through this great national artery pours in and out the commerce, of not only this nation, but the ' commerce of the world. See the great, grand cities which have spiung up as if by magic since the discovery of gold in Califor- nia—since the treaty of peace, called the " Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo" in February of 1848. Never had it entered the mind of any of those who were so in favor of the war, that a city like San Francisco would rise on the margin of the bay of that name, which in two score years would rival the great city of New York? Never did it enter into the conception of those of the South, that in two years after the treaty of peace between this and the Mexican govern- ment, that Upper California, with a sufficient population, would be knocking at the doors of Congress' and be admitted into the sisterhood of States as one of the free States ? That which was then declared as utterly impossible, viz.:. The building of a railroad across the Sierra Nevada mountains, connecting the far west with the home east, was in a few years, (say 20) to the astonishment of the old fogy, performed, and Palmer, in 1881, swept across the continent in. his palace car with the swiftness of the falcon when pursuing his prey. California is in fact to-day the key of the west just as truly as the city of New York is of the east. Farther up inland, sits Sacramento, grand and beautiful, a fairy queen, fanned by the health inyigorating breeze from the placid waters of the mighty Pacific, and hedged around by an ocean of flowers and superabundance of fruit — truly a land flowing with milk and honey. " No fairer land the prophet viewed When on the sacred mount he stood, And saw below, transcendent shine The groves and plains of Palestine." 478 HISTOBT OF HAEEISON COUNTr. Galifornia with her 120 million acres of land is no small part in the great domain of this government; and when you add to this the acreage of the territory of New Mexico as origi- nally bounded, comprising all of the present territory of the present New Mexico and all of the territory of Arizona with their 165 millions of acres of land, we have, as an increased domain, to the amount of 285 million acres of land, the value thereof can never be fully estimated so far as the same is of value to this government. This, then, is the real product of the war with Mexico. I can safely assert that ia no war was there ever that value resulting from the same as in this, when we come to compare or determine the value of the same now to this people as a nation. What think you of the area of all this vast domain as compared to that of the old world, viz: England, France, etc. Again let me ask what have the soldiers of this war received from the hands of this government for the sacrifices and sufferings en- dured during this two years war? Their treatment has been, and is, a burning sljame and disgrace to the nation which has reaped the reward and benefit of their bravery and hardships. A few have been pensioned at a very late day, but these were only the few who could prove away back in the past forty years, that the pains and aches, the halting of the step or the sleeplessness by night and pains by the day were the direct result of wounds or disease contracted while in the line of duty in the service, aud this must be additionally supported by evidence that this disability did not exist at the time of entering the service, and to do this made the case an utter impossibility, for the men of forty years ago are not all, but are nearly all passed away. The galley slave at the oar or the convict in the mine has nearly received the same amount of assistance as has the good, brave, enduring and uncomplaining soldier of the Mexican war. Why not pension one and all? Their conduct and hardships, and the vast and valuable domain resulting to this government HISTOKY OF HABEISON COUNTY. iTW through their acts, richly merits aud demands the protection and bounty of this Nation. While millions of dollars— the income of this war, are yearly being thrown away, or frittered out in needless expenditures, they who brought these captives home to Rome pass down to their graves unnoticed, unhouored, unwept, unpaid and unsung. Shame to the government that will thus neglect her bene- factors—that will permit her brave defenders to pass to the poor house and a pauper's grave. This vast domain, annexed and purchased, is of such magnitude that seven such States as that from which hails the Great Chief of our now enlarged Union could be easily constructed. Seven States as large as the Empire State. And with this, a free, untrammeled inlet and outlet from the West to the East, from the Golden Gate on the west to Hell Gate on the east, a highway of not only this but of all nations, a wealth of cereal, fruit, flower, fish, herd, mine, which, added to what was formerly possessed, makes these thirty-eight States and nine territories the most varied, healthful and wealthy of any of the nations of the earth. What would be the result if the boundaries of this republic were shortened on the west to what they were at the inaugura- tion of the war in 1846 ?' What would be the result if the sixteen iron bands that bind the Atlantic to the Pacific were now severed, and all trans-con- tinental trade, traffic and travel forever suspended? Infinitely better for us who reside in Iowa, that the mouth of the grand Mississippi, the " father of waters," should be dried up. Infinitely better for the East that the great outlet, viz. : water to the gulf, should be under tribute, than that the four Pacific rail, roads should be destroyed and discontinued forever. Such, then, my Mexican army friends, are some of the great benefits that you, in your day, have been instrumental in })ring- into being: You should have. a just, a glorious pride in thus 480 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COITHTT. benefiting the government that has received the reward of your noble and heroic deeds, while suffering you to starve and die in poverty and neglect. MEMOKIAL ADDEESS, Delivered by Joe H. Smith on Memorial Day, 1S86, at Dunlap, Iowa. {Editor Harrison County News : — We, the undersigned, com- rades of Shields Post, G. A. R., of Dunlap, Iowa, would respect- fully request the publication of the address delivered by Joe H. Smith, of Logan, on last Memorial Day, to the comrades of Shields Post and the citizens of Dunlap, firmly believing that the perusal of the same would not only be instructive, but highly entertaining, as the same breathes the spirit of true patriotism. Signed by S. P. Patterson, Charles Taylor, J . B. Patterson, P. P. Eaton, W. H. Dedrick, Samuel Baird, W. H. Squire, P. JB. Wiles, S. L. Manning, Charles Mackenzie.] Happy is the people who know of war only through the bloom of Decoration Day. They halt not through life with crippled limb, so made by the bullet's furrow or disease of swamp; scarcely ever in this beautiful land of sunshine and plenty do they feel the gnawings of hunger, nor wear away the live-long night with sleepless eye, to lull to softness the pain of severed limb or broken bone or aching muscle. They hear not the tolling of the funeral bell, which for a score and more years has followed along the lonely way of that widow, so made by war and battle's carnage; each stroke upon the brim thereof seems to her to be the restoration of that time when her hope, support and heart had fled at the news of death of him who was the idol of her life. Many a biWe-hearted woman, whose hands have been hardened by labor and roughest toil, that but for bloody strife, all would have been lovingly done for her by those stronger hands which, during all this time, have HISTORY OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 481 been lying folded beneath the Southern sod. And let it be the earnest prayer of us all that the generation now coming upon the stage of action may know nothing of the suffering, carnage and desolation of war except by report. Twenty-six years this month, while standing on this identical spot where your pleas- ant village is now situated, viewing the beautiful flowery car- peted prairies, and speculating in my own mind as to the proba^ ble future of this matchless valley, little did I then think, little did you who were my comrades in arms, little did you who were civilians at home looking after the wants and necessities of the helpless at home, for a moment suppose that in less than one year would this great Government be surging in the vortex of internecine war. Yet unexpected and awful as the change, the same was thrust upon us. Those opposed to and entertaining opinions foreign to our Government, predicted that the weakness of this form, viz.: the total lack of standing armies, would cause the same to crumble into dust at the first approach of internal dissension; that man was incapable of self government, and that all the bright hopes of the " fathers " would vanish at the approach of civil dis'sen- sion as does thedew before the morning sun. What has been the sequel? At the first sound of the tocsin, the minister invokes God's richest blessing on his flock, his support in the maintenance of this Government and the assisting power to break in pieces the shackles which held four millions of human beings in involuntary servitude — to forever wipe out of statute books that blackest and foulest blot on this free land, the mart and traffic in human flesh — then leaves the pulpit for the tented field; the farmer leaves his plow in the furrow, his crops ungath- ered, his home unfinished; the lawyer hastily shelves his books, the causes so carefully briefed are stowed away, the case is left untried, the high and worthy ambition for legal fame and renown is laid aside; the merchant closes his place of merchan- dise, hastily casts up his accounts, leaves a pittance with his 31 482 HiSTOET or haeeison cotinty. wife, so that for a time the wolf of hunger would not haunt her door; the physician turns his patients over to less skillful hands; the mechanic with hurried excitement casts his planes, saws, square and hammer aside; the anvil no longer rings out the merry sound of home, peace and plenty; they of the hum- bler walk and condition of life are all alike akin to the former; all catch the contagion of love of country; the secular affairs of life become matters of little or no importance when compared to that one great thought of love of country and the permanency of Government — the scream of the ear-piercing fife, the blare of trumpets, and the roll of drums were our matins and vespers. The great heart of the Nation was beating with unwonted rapid- ity, and the universal impulse was akin to that which moved men when they cried out " What shall we do to be saved." The inheritance which was purchased by the blood of the fathers was imperiled; all zealously and fearlessly_ left these homes of comfort and care for the time, expecting that sometime in the future when this fratricidal rebellion was trampled into the dust, they would again return to that home with a Government the mor« strongly and the more firmly knit and cemented together by suffering and blood, thereby transmitting to their children that inheritance bequeathed them by the patriot fathers. What was the condition of this fair and formerly peaceful land at that time? Courts of justice were closed; schools, the nursery of the nation, were unattended; the temple of "Janus" had every aperture thrown wide open, every cheek was blanched with fear, every heart was frozen in despair, and all over the whole land the hand of infuriated passion, prejudice and crime was waving with a vulture's scream for blood. What prompted this unparalleled rising of the loyal strength? Was it love of HISTOET OF HAEEISON OOUNTr. 483 country? Yes. Well and truly did the sweetest Scottish poet say: " Breathes there a man with soul so dead Whenever to himself hath said: ' This is my own, my native land? If such there breathe, go, mark him well- For him no minstrel raptures swell. ' High though his place, proud his name; Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; Despite that wealth, power and pelf, The wretch concentered all in self. Living shall forfeit fair renown, •And doubly dying, shall go down To the vile dust from which he sprung, Unwept, vmhonored and unsung." Who were those who then were seeking to destroy the life of the nation? They were those who were sworn to support the Constitution of our land— those who were holding offices of trust and responsibility therein — they who had been nurtured and fed under the very shadow of the capitol — they who were nutured and fed at the expense of the Grovernraent they were now attempting to destroy. Who are those which constitute that vast loyal soldiery, pour- ing down from the loyal North to the sunny, seceding, erring South ? The old man, grey-headed, bent and worn with the ser- vitude to which he is unequal, is there. The young boy, fair, golden-haired, with the farewell kiss of a mother's lips yet warm upon his forehead, is there; and the strong man, in all the pride and glory of his lusty manhood, is there; they all marched to the brink of life — stepping into the awful chasm to death. This is the material upon which is encircled the laurel wreath of fame, which crowns the victorious brow of war. Hardly had the head of the column entered the rebellious States — hardly had the keel of the war ships cut the southern waters, when the roll of the dead was begun. Henceforward it lengthened year by year through four years of warfare. Dead on the slippery decks; dead by the campfires of the night; dead in the smoke-clouded battle; dead in the murderous prison pens. Time, which has hidden the trenches under the green, and plowed over the track 484 HISTORY OF HAEBIgON OOUNTT. of the heavy guns, has softened the first violence of mourning into gentle sadness, and is healing a nation's wounds. But wherever loyal men and true comrades are to-day, a people brings its offering with which to garland the graves of their dead heroes. The 300,000 graves filled by this war with the most loyal and the best of this land, to-day, from their bright repose, call us and our thoughts to the cause for which they sacrificed life and all. We pause by these graves, imagining that" we are there, comrades and citizens, for a parting service. We could not find all the graves to-day. You know where they are. The waters are the restless graves of some; the bluifs of the quiet rivers cover some; the thronged burial place, where drooping captives mustered strength to bury the starved dead, hold some in end- less captivity. So, now you have decked the graves of those who sleep at home, pause and here honor the graves of those who sleep afar off. This is no time for many words. Sometimes words are help- less, because the great idea disdains the bondage of language. The men whom we remember were not men of words, but deeds. All their words were written with their bayonets. With their sabres they shaped the destiny of their land. " They died in defense of their country." What is more eloquent than the majestic simplicity of that phrase — " their country ?" Let not him try to measure the length and breadth of these words, who thinks of his country only as a place to buy and sell and get gain; let him not try to sound the depth of these words, whose idea of his country is only that therein he shall get public office and honor and profit; let him not aspire to the heighth of these words, who thinks that peace is better than righteousness, safety better than manhood. They who endured hardship and daunt- lessly met the fiery storm, and poured out their blood, and lay with their white faces upturned to God, they knew — in their life-time knew — what " our country " means. They, in their HISTOET OF HA.EEISON COUNTY. 485 graves, tell us that no country can live without law and liberty and true manhood, and because they saw in the flag the soul of the great Republic, with strong hearts and chivalric daring they planted themselves by the Stars and Stripes, and now sleep 'til the reveille of the resurrection morn. This service which we all witness to-day is peculiarly under the auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic — the rem- nants of that mighty army which swept along from Atlanta to the sea, from Washington to Richmond and to Appomattox, from St. Joseph, Mo., to the Gulf, and thence to the heads of all the tributaries of the Great Father of Waters. This service says that the old soldiery do not forget their com- rades. Fresh in memory are those who were once with us in march and battle. True men do not forget those with whom they stood shoulder to shoulder in the greatest, hardest times this land ever saw. The fellowship of the living, wedded in fire, still endures. Some men look angrily on the great brother- hood of former soldiery which now covers the loyal land. They afiect to feel danger from the hundreds of thousands who link their hands under the leadership of the Grand Army of the Republic. But pause and think you — you who frown — are the fellowships of the battlefields, made in love of the flag, sworn to on the altar of death, to fall asunder like blades of grass mown down? Think you that men who rested together on the hard ground, stood in the same line, followed the same flag) charged together when death was in every step; men who were deprived of home, and had no friend but each other, and closed up as the dying fell — do you ask that they shall throw aside these ties of life and death? Can you not instinctively feel that they cannot do it— that they cannot abandon their needy and often friendless comrades and the widows and orphans of the dead— that they cannot dishonor themselves by destroying the sympathies of a glorious cause? Bear with us, we pray you, in this thing. Think not hard of us for our soldierly care of 486 HISTOET OF HAEEISON COUNTY. comrades. If it be a weakness in us to cherish old memories, yet deal tenderly with us, and grant us this one little boon, for once you needed us, and then nothing was too much to promise us when you asked us to encounter death. We did it. When we ask you to let us keep fresh the ties of death, will you not do it? Be not jealous because we remember each other. Dan- gerous ! Yes, once dangerous to the traitor and rebel. But not now. Men who periled life for law may be trusted in peace. Dangerous only to those who are the law breakers. See, only the color guard carry muskets, and the muzzles are filled only with flowers. There is no danger in these flowers, no bullets hid under them. Peacefully, loyally and reverently we lay the flowers on the graves of our dead. The Grand Army of the Republic is wholly different from all other military organizations. No accessions to its ranks but those who have had service in the Federal cause, and who are possessed of honorable discharge; even the sons of these veterans cannot keep step with their illustrious sires; no recent, con- versions to the Union cause can break bread with them; patriotic service and honorable discharge is the sesame that opens the great door to their temples. They jog along with crippled step, and each year at roll call they find their ranks melting away like the roll call of the " Light Brigade after the charge of Balaklava." When they fall out of the ranks it is to take a rest forever, from which no blare of bugle call, nor roll of drum will ever summon them again. Seventeen thousand were by the Great Captain mustered out during the past year, and 40,000 must respond to the same inexorable order the present year. We of the Grand Army would not claim, nor would we garner for ourselves, all the glory and laurels won in the late National conflict. Many, very many, acts of bravery, hardship, privation and pure devotion to the cause were daily enacted at the home, which challenge the admiration of all, and outstrip the abandon of the van man in the forlorn hope. See that wife and little ones HI8T0KT OF HAEEISON COUNTY. 487 left to her care, while the husband, father and patriot is at the front. The last particle of meal in the measure is exhausted; the last drop of oil in the cruse has been used; the monthly pay of the husband and father has by some means been delayed; not a dime of "fractional currency" in her once well-filled purse; the larder is wholly depleted, and nothing to replenish the same; the children and herself are pinched with hunger and chilled with cold; the desire to provide for children and self drives her forth for food; hunger, want and desperation nerve her sinking self; the pittance grudgingly dealt out by miser hand wounds more the heart than stays the self; with the last expiring effort she reaches home; faint and weary, unattended, she sinks on her own threshold— dies— in a land of plenty— dies of utter want. The nqon of her life, the meridian of her ambition, hope and joy — her very life, is as much a sacrifice as though she sank in the forefront of battle. All honor to the brave and loyal women of our land. It was they who sent to us the well filled letters of such encouragement — these more potent for good than all the medi- cines of the surgeon's chest. It was they who petitioned the Throne of Grace for the protecting care of hti'sband by Him who holds the destiny of nations in His hand — by Him who will not even let the sparrow fall to the ground without His notice. Who bnt those offering, or they like circumstanced, or even Deity, could measure the intensity and earnestness of that prayer? What has been the consideration for all this suffering — death — this expenditure of blood and treasure? To-day we who are in the flesh enjoy the blessings of a Gov- ernment, not only free in form but free in fact; a Government where the vast natural boundaries mark our national lines; a Government where all love and revere the grand, beautiful Stars and Stripes. Beautiful? That flag is always beautiful, whether it be fresh from the hands of loyal, loving women, or bleached by storm, or torn in shreds by whistling bullets and shrieking shells. Beautiful, because it is the emblem of liberty, for which 488 HSITOEY OF HAEKISON COUNTY. sixty millions of free people are ready to fight and, if necessary, die. Beautiful, because our forefathers fought under it and con- quered our independence. Beautiful, because from 1861 to 1865 it was carried from battle field to battle field through the blood- iest war the world ever saw. Beautiful, because more than a quarter of a million of loyal lives were freely given in its defense. Beautiful, because to-day it floats triumphantly over our whole country, loved by every American citizen and respected by the whole world. Was the cause for which those whose graves we to-day deck with choicest flowers — those who willingly yielded life therefor — a just one? More easy would it be for the child's hand to pluck up Lookout Mountain by its rocky raots, or dry up the Mississippi with its infantile breath, than for us to change the irreversible verdict of mankind, " the wae foe the Uition' was FOEETEE EIGHT, AND THE EEBELLION WAS FOEETEE WEONG." True, he who was the head center of that rebellion, may gather a few lingering lovers of the " lost cause " around him at Mont- gomery, yet they lack crystalization; they perish before the flag; they melt into nothingness before the righteous indignation of an outraged people, like the foreign anarchists at the Chicago Haymarket before the officers of the law. It was the old Jewish legend that Nimrod, the mighty hunter, took Abraham and cast him into a furnace of fire. But, lo! its flames all turned into roses, and the old patriarch lay down oA a bed of flowers. The fierce fires of our afiliction have already been turned into flowers of peace and memory and joy and hope. The rain which descends upon the swelling turf above our dead is not the iron rain of death, falling amid the crash of destruc- tion and the thunder of battle, but tiie rain that brings from the bosom of the earth her fairest floral gifts. The torn hem and jagged fibre of every tattered and smoke-begrimed flag speak the praise of these illustrious dead. Every remembrance of these patriotic dead is an arsenal: every cemetery is a fort. Like the HISTOET OF HAEEISON OOtTNTT. 489 chariots of fire and the horses of fire ahout that ancient moun- tain, are these invisible, but living and resistless, defenders around the mountain of our liberties. The dear form of Lib- erty, 'with the wounds she may yet have to receive, when asked, "What are these wounds in thine hands?" shall never again among us reply: "These are they with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." Her hands, her heart, may bleed again, but only when she leads a united people, at the command of the God of Freedom, to the immediate and universal emanci- pation of the race. A word retrospectively and then I've done. The past rises before me like a dream. Again we are in the great struggle for National existence. We hear the sound of preparation, the music of boisterous drums, the silver voice of heroic bugles. We see thousands of assemblages, and hear the appeal of orators. We see the pale cheeks of women and the flushed faces of men, and in those assemblages we see all the dead whose dust we have* covered with flowers. We lose sight of them no more. We are with them when they enlist in the great army of freedom. We see them part from those they love. Some are walking for the last tijne in the quiet woody places with the maid they adore. We hear the whisperings and the sweet vows of eternal love as they lingeringly part forever. Others are bending over cradles, kissing the sleeping babes. Some are receiving the blessings of old men. Some are parting with mothers who hold them and press them to their hearts again and again, and say nothing. Kisses and tears, and tears and kisses— divine commingling of agony and love. And some are talking with wives, and endeav- oring with brave words, spoken in the old tone, to drive away the awful fear. We see them part. We see the wife standing in the door with the babe in her arms, standing in the sunlight, sobbing. At the turn of the lane a hand waves. She answers by holding high in her loving arms the child. He is gone, and forever. 490 HISTOET OF HARBISON 00I7NTT. We see them as they march proudly away under the flaunting flags, keeping time to the grand wild music of war, marching- down the streets of the great cities, through the townsand across the prairies, down to the fields of glory, to do and to die for the eternal right. We go with them, one and all, by their sides in the gory fields, in all their weary marches. We stand guard with them in the wild storm and under the quiet stars. We are with them in the ravines running with blood, in the furrows of the fields. We are with them between contending hosts, unable to move, wild with thirst, the life ebbing slowly away among the withered pines. We see them pierced by balls and torn with shells, in trenches, by forts, and in the whirlwind of the charge, where men become iron with nerves of steel. We are with them in the prison pens — and here language fails me. We are at home when the news comes that they are dead. We see the silvered head of the old man bowed down with his last and greatest grief. The past rises before me and we see four millions of human beings governed by the lash; we see them bound hand and foot; we hear the crack of whips; we see the hounds tracking women and men through the swamps; we see the babes sold from the breasts of mothers. Cruelty unspeakable. Outrage infinite. The past rises before me. We hear the roar and shriek of the bursting shell. The broken fetters fall. These heroes die. We look: instead of slaves, we see men, women and children. The wand of progress touches the auction block, the slave pen, the whipping post, and we see homes, and firesides, and schools, and books; and where all was want, crime, cruelty and fear, we see the faces of the free. These heroes are dead. They died for us. They died for liberty. They are at rest. They sleep jn the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, by the sad hemlock, the weeping willows and embracing HIBTOET OF HAEEISON COTJNTY, 491 vines. They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or storm, each in the windowless palace of rest. Earth may run red with other wars — they are at rest. In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death. Soldier, rest; thy warfare o'er; Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking, Dream of battlefields no more. Days of danger, nights of waking. In our isle's enchanted hall, Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, Fairy strains of music faU Every sense in slumber dewing. Soldier, rest; thy warftire o'er; Dream of fighting fields no more. Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking, Morn of toil, nor night of waking.