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IOWA BIOGRAPHICAL SERIES
EDITED BY BENJAMIN F. SHAMBAUtrH

THOMAS COX

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IOWA BIOGRAPHICAL SERIES
EDITED BY BENJAMIN F. SHAMBAUGH

THOMAS COX*
BY
HARVEY REID

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA
IOWA CITY IOWA 1909

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
Measueed by the careers of eminent men,
Thomas Cox would not be classed among the
great characters of his time. Nor does he
occupy a conspicuous place in the history of
Iowa. At the same time he was not unknown
in the communities and Commonwealths in
which he lived. He was an active, capable
local leader, always identified with the social
forces of the community whose movements
he was often the most influential in direct
ing. History is not simply the biography of
the conspicuously eminent men; it is more
accurately defined as a record of the evolu
tion of mankind. Indeed, the circumscribed
and often inconspicuous careers of local
leaders, builders of neighborhoods and com
munities, and even the simple lives of the
nameless masses are important and in a
sense essential factors in the process of hu-

viii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
man evolution. And so, "as typical of the
lives of the local leaders among the pioneers
of the West and of Iowa the career of
Thomas Cox is worthy of the consideration
of thoughtful students of history."
BENJ. ¥. SHAMBAUGH
Office of the Superintendent and Editok
The State Historical Society of Iowa
Iowa City

AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The career of Thomas Cox was essentially
that of a pioneer. Born in Kentucky before
it was made a State, he became a resident of
Illinois the same year in which that Com
monwealth was organized as a separate Ter
ritory. He served as a member of the first
legislature of the State of Illinois, cam
paigned as a soldier in the Wisconsin coun
try when it was still a part of the Territory
of Michigan, lived for a time in the original
Territory of Wisconsin, and died in Iowa
before the State was admitted into the
Union. It was in the early years of the Territorial
period that Thomas Cox figured in the his
tory of Iowa. He was a member of the first,
the second, the third, the fifth, and the sixth
of the Legislative Assemblies of the Terri
tory. At each session in which he sat as a
member of the House of Eepresentatives he
received votes for Speaker — to which of
fice he was elected in the Third Legislative
Assembly by acclamation. He received votes

X AUTHOR'S PREFACE
for President in the first session of the
Council in which he held a seat; and in the
second he was elected to preside over that
body, despite an adverse party majority.
The Governor and other officials, while
Iowa was a Territory, were appointed by the
President of the United States; so that,
when the people of Jackson, Dubuque, Dela
ware, and Clayton counties elected Thomas
Cox to the Territorial Council and that body
made him their President, he became invest
ed with the highest dignity, with the excep
tion of that of Delegate to Congress, which
could be given to any man by the suffrages
of the people of the Territory.
In native ability and superior intelligence.
in keen energy and forcefulness that defied
opposition, in an imposing presence that
compelled respect, in a winsome geniality
and ready generosity that attracted love and
esteem, in dauntless courage tried on battle
fields, and in an inflexible devotion to law
and order, Thomas Cox assumed a leader
ship that was unquestioned and unfaltering
among the sturdy pioneers who came to con
quer and settle the wildernesses of the West.
The memory and traditions of contem
porary pioneers and their descendants, and

AUTHOR'S PREFACE xi
meager scraps of recorded history tell us
that Thomas Cox stood over six feet tall,
weighed about two hundred fifty pounds,
was erect and portly, with black hair, pierc
ing, dark blue eyes, and a florid complexion.
He was an ardent sportsman and accom
plished horseman, being accustomed when
nearly sixty years old to vault into the sad
dle with his hands upon the horse's withers,
without touching the stirrups.
Thomas Cox died in 1844 and was buried
under a tall young hickory on his farm in
Jackson County, Iowa. A few years later
the surviving members of his family, true to
the pioneer instinct, migrated to California.
Sixty years passed ; and when inquiries be
gan to be made on behalf of the Old Settlers'
Association of Jackson County it was with
difficulty that the exact place of the inter
ment of Thomas Cox was located. Nor was
the task of gathering the details that make
up the man's life story an easy one.
To have acquired the power that he dis
played in later years and to have secured the
respect and confidence that he commanded
from his peers, it seemed evident to the
writer that Thomas Cox must have had a
previous history of experience in public af-

xii AUTHOR'S PREFACE
fairs and of contact with leaders of men.
The deduction was justified by the facts.
Repeated efforts finally resulted in locating
an aged son and daughter and several grand
children in California. Genealogical data
were thus obtained — though incomplete in
earlier details through the loss of books and
letters which fell into the hands of robbers
who destroyed a wagon that the emigrants
were forced to abandon on one of the Nevada
deserts of the California trail in 1849. Then,
out of scraps' and fragments of early west
ern history leading from Kentucky through
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa,
the career outlined in the following pages
was revealed.
Indispensable aid in tracing his public
life came to the writer in many ways.
Through Mr. Charles Aldrich (now de
ceased) the writer was given access to the
Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the
Territory of Iowa. Mr. Frank E. Stevens
of Chicago very kindly loaned from his li
brary a number of rare volumes relating to
Illinois history. The fortune that gives us
the personal recollections of that Nestor of
Iowa historians, Dr. William Salter, seems
almost providential. His unique experience

AUTHOR'S PREFACE -xiii
of having officiated in his sacred calling at
the burial of Colonel Cox and again at the
reburial and the dedication of a monument
sixty-one years later is so rare as to be
phenomenal. Personal memories of Mr. N. B. Butter-
worth of Andrew, Mr. Anson H. Wilson of
Maquoketa, Captain William A. Warren of
Bellevue, and Dr. Theodore S. Parvin of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have been of inestima
ble service. Dr. Benjamin F. Shambaugh's
History of the Constitutions of Iowa, as well
as his Messages and Proclamations of the
Governors of Iowa and his Iowa City: A
Contribution to the Early History of Iowa,
has furnished much needed data on Iowa
Territorial history; and his kindly aid in
searching old documents has brought results
of extraordinary value and interest. Dr.
John C. Parish of The State Historical So
ciety of Iowa has also effectively aided this
research. The State Historical Society of
Wisconsin, by direction of Dr. Reuben G.
Thwaites, has generously supplied items not
available elsewhere. Hakvey Reid
Maquoketa, Iowa

CONTENTS
I. Early Life  1
II. Soldier in the War of 1812  7
III. Member of the Illinois Legislature 24
IV. Register of the Land Office  34
V. Outbreak of the Black Hawk War 40
VI. End of the Black Hawk War .... 51
VII. United States Deputy Surveyor ... 62
VIII. Member of the Assembly  70
IX. Opposition to Governor Lucas .... 83
X. Locating and Naming the Capital . . 89
XI. Surveying the Capital  101
XII. Member of the Second Assembly . . 106
XIII. The Boundary Dispute  113
XIV. A Gang of Thieves and Outlaws . . 122
XV. Battle with the Desperadoes .... 136
XVI. A Frontier Tribunal  149
XVII. The Aftermath  155
XVIII. Speaker of the House  168
XIX. Member of the Council  177
XX. President of the Council  181
XXI. Death and Burial  191
Notes and References  197
Index  241

Early Life
Meager details of the ancestry of Thomas
Cox begin with the migration of his father
Robert Cox, a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian,
from Belfast, Ireland, to Virginia near the
close of the Revolutionary War. Although
a mere boy Robert Cox came to America
alone, leaving in Ireland his widowed mother
and an elder brother Thomas. The exact
locality in Virginia in which he settled is
unknown; but it was evidently where the
story of George Rogers Clark and his
compeers in Kentucky was well known, for
he soon followed in the train of emigration
setting into the "dark and bloody ground." 1
Preceding him to Kentucky was a Vir
ginian by the name of Robinson, whose wife
was the daughter of a wealthy Virginia
planter by the name of Dougherty. Thrown
into contact by the common perils and labors
of the wilderness, Robert Cox met and fell
in love with and married little Jane Robin-

2 THOMAS COX
son, a blonde beauty of the family. Their
home shortly after the marriage was in Dan
iel Boone 's fort on the Kentucky River. We
are not informed just when their marriage
took place ; nor do we have the exact date of
the birth of their oldest son Thomas — ex
cept that it was in 1787,2 the year made
memorable by the framing of the Constitu
tion of the United States and the adoption
of the Ordinance for the Government of the
Northwest Territory.
In the troublous conflicts with the In
dians, in which Kentucky pioneers had to
defend their homes, Robert Cox bore the
part of a soldier ; and he served with General
Anthony Wayne when that sturdy fighter
broke the power of the Indian tribes north
of the Ohio in 1794. But of any further
history of the family while Thomas Cox was
growing into young manhood, tradition is
silent and records are wanting. That he
learned to ride a horse skillfully and shoot
a rifle accurately, his future life testifies.
And he certainly acquired a good English
education, with sufficient knowledge of
mathematics to pursue with success the pro
fession of surveying.
Nor is it known in just what part of Ken-

EARLY LIFE 3
tucky the formative years of Thomas Cox
were spent. His father was an agriculturist
and owned slaves ; for he gave Thomas upon
his marriage in Illinois slaves and a number
of milch cows.3
Early in the year 1809 Congress made a
division of Indiana Territory — under which
name the western portion of the Old North
west Territory had been known since the
admission of Ohio as a State — by forming
a new Indiana Territory with the bound
aries now existing for the State of that
name. This left the vast tract of wilderness,
extending from the Wabash River and lakes
Michigan and Superior on one side to the
Mississippi River on the other, to be pro
vided with a government. It was constituted
Illinois Territory,4 and comprised the pres
ent States of Illinois and Wisconsin, as well
as a part of Minnesota and the Upper Pen
insula of Michigan.
White settlements were almost entirely
confined to the southern end of the Illinois
Territory, the only ones north of a line
drawn east from the mouth of the Illinois
River being a few French trading posts at
Piorias [Peoria], Prairie du Chien, Green
Bay, and Milwaukee, and a United States

4 THOMAS COX
garrison at Fort Dearborn. There were only
two counties in the Territory — Randolph,
which was south of a straight east and west
line from the Mississippi to the Wabash, of
which the north boundary of the present
county of Randolph forms a part, and St.
Clair, which constituted all the remainder
of the Territory. Kaskaskia was the county
seat of Randolph County, and Cahokia that
of St. Clair.
The first appointment made by President
Madison to a position in the government of
the new Territory was that of Secretary in
the person of Nathaniel Pope, a native of
Kentucky, who at the time was pursuing his
profession as a lawyer at Ste. Genevieve,
Missouri. This appointment was made un
der date of March 7, 1809; and Mr. Pope
took the oath of office before a judge of
Louisiana Territory and entered upon the
duties of his office on April 25th of the same
year.5 He thus became Acting Governor of
Illinois Territory until the arrival of the
Governor, Mr. Ninian Edwards, a native of
Maryland who had removed to Kentucky in
1795 and who had become prominent in law
and politics.6 His commission as Governor
of Illinois Territory bore the date of April

EARLY LIFE 5
24, 1809, and he arrived at Kaskaskia to
assume charge of the office on June 11th.7
In the year 1809, or very early in 1810,
Robert Cox and his family (including his
son Thomas who was then past his major
ity) also became residents of Kaskaskia —
the ancient capital of Illinois, situated near
the mouth of the Kaskaskia River and only
seven miles from the Mississippi. It had
been made a French Mission and had re
ceived a small colony of priests and trappers
about 1690. Recognized as the seat of gov
ernment for the Illinois country under the
French and English occupation, it was the
scene of the notable exploit of George Rog
ers Clark in 1778 when he won the North
west for the patriots of the Revolution.
Cahokia and Prairie du Rocher were other
French settlements of the same period on
the east side of the Mississippi, while St.
Louis and Ste. Genevieve were located on the
west bank. The latter was directly opposite
and less than ten miles from Kaskaskia.
Robert Cox was appointed Justice of the
Peace of Randolph County (an important
office at that time) on April 19, 1814; 8 and
still earlier Thomas, then a young man of
twenty-three, entered into political life by

6 THOMAS COX
receiving an appointment to a position in
the .office of the Sheriff of Randolph County.
Here he assisted in taking the Federal cen
sus of 1810 ; and for a part of the extensive
county he collected taxes, which, according
to the custom of the times, were paid in fur
peltries.9 In The Edwards Papers is contained a
"petition of the free male inhabitants of
that part of the County of Randolph which
lies east of Big Muddy", dated June, 1812,
asking for a division of the County of Ran
dolph by erecting a new county or counties
out of its eastern portion, and also asking
that the people be allowed to vote for repre
sentatives to form a Territorial legislature.10
This petition bears the names of both Robert
and Thomas Cox, which would indicate that
their home had been made to the east of the
Big Muddy River, a tributary of the Missis
sippi flowing thirty to forty miles southeast
of Kaskaskia.

II
A Soldier in the War of 1812
Upon his arrival in the Illinois Territory,
Governor Edwards found that the savage
tribes, who occupied the major portion of
the country over which his jurisdiction
extended, were in a state of unrest and dis
content, seriously threatening the safety of
the white settlers. The trading posts in the
Northwest, ceded to the United States at the
close of the Revolutionary War,11 were not
actually given up by the British until 1796.
In the meantime the English traders had
insinuated into the minds of the Indians,
with whom they came in contact, a distrust
of Americans; and even after the cession
they labored to keep up such feelings with
the object of maintaining trade relations
with the Indians through Canada.
The Sacs on the Rock River under Black
Hawk (known as the British Band) kept up
a regular line of communication with Mai
den in Canada over what came to be knoAvn

8 THOMAS COX
as the Maiden Trail. In northeastern Illi
nois and southern Wisconsin the Pottawata-
mies and Winnebagoes were sullen and
treacherous; while farther to the eastward
Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet be
came openly hostile and received condign
punishment by General Harrison in the bat
tle of Tippecanoe on November 6, 1811.
Before Governor Edwards's arrival, Act
ing Governor Nathaniel Pope, deeming
measures of defense necessary, made tem
porary appointments of militia officers as
early as May 1, 1809. Under date of July
4, 1809, Governor Edwards ordered the com
panies to meet and recommend officers by
election.12 Three regiments were organized
at once — two from Randolph County and
one from St. Clair County. In November a
fourth regiment was organized from "the
Wabash country". Early in 1811 an act of
Congress authorized the enlistment of ten
companies of Mounted Rangers, to be styled
the Seventeenth Regiment, over which Colo
nel William Russell of Kentucky was given
command. Four of these companies were
assigned to the defense of Illinois, four to
Indiana, and two to Missouri. The Illinois
companies were commanded by Captains

A SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812 9
Wm. B. Whiteside, James B. Moore, Jacob
Short, and Samuel Whiteside.
A chain of "family forts" was built, ex
tending across the peninsula from the Mis
sissippi, opposite the mouth of the Missouri,
to the Wabash River at Vincennes. These
were generally block houses, one and a half
or two stories high at diagonally opposite
corners of stockades which also enclosed
cabins of those who thus "forted" together.
More pretentious forts were Dearborn at
Chicago, Armstrong at the mouth of Rock
River, Clark at the foot of Peoria Lake,
Madison on the west side of the Mississippi
(now Fort Madison, Iowa) , Shelby at Prai
rie du Chien, and one of the most important,
Camp Russell (named in honor of Colonel
Wm. Russell) at Edwardsville, Illinois,
twenty miles northeast of St. Louis.
The battle of Tippecanoe broke the power
of the Indians in Indiana; and thereupon
the hostile manifestations seem to have been
transferred to the Illinois Territory. Mur
ders of settlers and even threatening move
ments against the forts occurred during the
winter of 1812-1813 around Fort Dearborn,
Fort Shelby, Fort Clark, Fort Madison, and
the Spanish Mines (Dubuque). These hos-

10 THOMAS COX
tilities induced Governor Edwards to order
detachments of the militia to assemble at
Camp Russell, to which place he himself
repaired, practically removing thither the
seat of government.
There exists, moreover, a roster of "the
first company detached from the Second
regiment of militia, Illinois Territory, for
a three months' tour, by order of the Com
mander-in-Chief, 3rd March, 1812. Inspect
ed at Cahokia." In this list of names we find
Thomas Cox enrolled as a private. The com
pany was captained at first by Samuel Judy
and later by Henry Cook.13 Other compa
nies in the detachment were those of Captain
John Scott and Captain Jacob Short — also
from the Second Regiment. William White
side was Colonel of the regiment which con
sisted of three battalions. It is said to have
been the St. Clair County regiment.
Why Thomas Cox should have enlisted
with the St. Clair County regiment rather
than in a Randolph County command we are
not informed. It seems probable, however,
that he chose the St. Clair County regiment
because it afforded opportunity for active
service sooner than any other. A private in
Captain Short's company of this same com-

A SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812 H
mand was Andrew Bankson, of whom men -
tion will be made later in connection with
events in the early history of Iowa.14
There is no evidence that these companies
had any active campaigning to perform dur
ing their three months' tour. A few days
after that time expired, war was formally
declared against England on June 18, 1812,
and the Indians of Illinois became open in
stead of secret allies of the British. On the
16th of August occurred the humiliating
surrender of Detroit by General Hull; and
on the previous day occurred the massacre
by the Indians of the garrison of Fort Dear
born as that garrison was leaving the fort
by order of General Hull to join him at
Detroit. Danger to southern Illinois was evidently
imminent, and Governor Edwards called for
the support of the militia which quickly re
sponded. Colonel William Russell marched
from Vincennes with two small companies
of United States Rangers to join Governor
Edwards at Camp Russell. Governor Shel
by had ordered a force of two thousand
Kentuckians, under the venerable General
Samuel Hopkins,15 to assemble at Vincennes
and cooperate with a force which Governor

12 THOMAS COX
Edwards would lead towards Peoria Lake
to chastise the hostile Indians there concen
trated. Edwards divided his force into two
columns — one, a company under Captain
Thomas E. Craig of Shawneetown,16 being
despatched on two bullet protected boats
(one of them carrying a swivel gun) up the
Illinois River to Peoria Lake to cooperate
with the land expedition and to investigate
reports that the French Colony at Peoria
was giving aid to the Indians as British
sympathisers. The boats did not reach Pe
oria until November 5th, which was too late
to be of service to the Edwards-Russell
column. In the reckless bravado of irresponsible
authority, Craig, on slender evidence of hos
tility, burned half the French village and
took the entire population, seventy-five in
number, on his boats as prisoners.17 Among
these was the American Indian Agent For-
sythe,18 who, for reasons of state, was living
among the French without disclosing his
office. Another of the prisoners was Antoine
Le Claire,19 afterwards government inter
preter and the first settler of Davenport,
Iowa. Governor Edwards selected a mounted

A SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812 13
force of three hundred and fifty men to unite
with Colonel Russell's two companies of
about fifty. He divided them into two small
regiments, commanded by Colonels Elias
Rector (his Adjutant General) and Benja
min Stephenson, and a "spy" or scout com
pany. The latter, captained by Major Sam
uel Judy, had twenty-one privates, one of
whom was Thomas Cox. Captain Henry
Cook and Ensign Samuel Gilham of Judy's
original company of the Second Militia were
also among the twenty-one privates of this
little company of scouts; and another pri
vate was John Reynolds, who in 1830 became
Governor of Illinois and served as such dur
ing the Black Hawk War. The intimate
comradeship of service in this small band
of olden time "rough riders" meant much
to Thomas Cox and his friends when John
Reynolds came into a place of power. It was
in part his connection with this command
that gave to Governor Reynolds in later life
the sobriquet of "The Old Ranger".20
The little army commanded by Governor
Edwards and Colonel Russell departed from
Camp Russell on their dangerous mission
October 18th.21 Their route soon led them
into a part of Illinois entirely unsettled and

14 THOMAS COX
almost unexplored. They crossed the San
gamon River a few miles east of the site of
Springfield, continued nearly north to a
Kickapoo village near where Lincoln now
stands, burned the village which had been
abandoned, and then marched direct for a
village of Kickapoos and Pottawatamies on
the east bank of the Illinois River at the
head of Peoria Lake.
Arriving within a few miles of the village
at nightfall they went into camp, and Gov
ernor Edwards sent five volunteer spies (one
of whom, Thomas Carlin, afterwards became
Governor of Illinois) to learn the situation
of their savage enemy. This, at considerable
peril, they adroitly accomplished, and re
ported to the commanding officer that the
village, though situated on a bluff, was sur
rounded for three miles by swamps so wet
and mired as to be nearly impassable for
man or horse.
The morning broke with a dense fog pre
vailing, under cover of which the force
moved. Captain Judy's scouts led the way.
The obscurity of fog and forest confused
the guide, who led them into swampy thick
ets, the crashing of which gave alarm to the
Indians who had time to plunge into the

A SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812 15
swamp. Governor Reynolds says : "Instant
pursuit was given, and in a short distance
from the village, horses, riders, arms and
baggage were overwhelmed in the morass.
It was a democratic overthrow, for the gov
ernor and his horse shared the same fate as
the subaltern, or the private soldier. We
were all literally swamped." 22
Pursuit on foot was continued with ex
treme difficulty to the river, which most of
the Indians succeeded in crossing. Some of
the troopers were wounded in the charge,
but none were killed. The Indian village
was burned, four prisoners taken, and
eighty horses captured.
Governor Edwards now found himself in
the heart of the enemy's country with less
than four hundred men. General Hopkins's
force had not appeared nor had it been
heard from; and Captain Craig with his
armed boats and supplies for the army had
not arrived at Peoria. The Governor, there
fore, deemed it prudent to return at once.
After an absence of thirteen days they
reached Camp Russell and the volunteers
were discharged.
General Hopkins had found his vaunted
Kentuckians unmanageable and even muti-

16 THOMAS COX
nous. They had crossed the Wabash a short
distance above Terre Haute (at Fort Har
rison commanded by Captain Zachary Tay
lor) and traveled into the prairies about
eighty or ninety miles when the troops,
accusing the officers of being misled by
guides, absolutely refused to brave the' un
known dangers of trackless plains — ren
dered more obscure by prairie- fires set by
the Indians — and insisted upon returning.
And this they proceeded to do — Generals
Hopkins, Ray, Ramsey, and Allen following
meekly in the rear.23
The Illinois militia organization was sub
ject to numerous changes. The Executive
Register shows promotions and appoint
ments of officers with almost daily regular
ity. From these it is learned that Thomas
Cox attained commissioned rank on March,
24, 1813, by appointment as Ensign and was
promoted to a lieutenancy on April 19, 1814,
in the Second Regiment of Militia. On June
3, 1818, he was promoted to a captaincy in
the Third Regiment.24 This was after he
had removed his residence to Jonesboro in
Union County. No records of militia ap
pointment during the first years of the State
organization of Illinois are available, but a

A SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812 17
tradition in his family runs to the effect that
Cox was finally promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel. Letters in The Ed
wards Papers disclose the fact that he was
familiarly known among his associates as
"Colonel Cox" as early as 1820 — a title
which clung to him during the remainder of
his life.25
The military operations of 1812 in Illinois
were too indecisive to afford much security
to settlements exposed to Indian depreda
tions, and many murders and robberies oc
curred in both Missouri and Illinois. Com
panies of Rangers in small parties rode
almost constantly from fort to fort, repair
ing some, enlarging others, removing fami
lies to safer posts, and running down thieves
and murderers. The general government
having made no provision for the support of
the militia, Governor Edwards discharged
them on June 8, 1813. At the same time
Governor Benjamin Howard of Missouri
resigned his office and accepted a commis
sion as Brigadier General in the government
service. He organized two regiments of
Rangers, the First Regiment being from
Missouri and the Second Regiment from
Illinois.

18 THOMAS COX
No full rosters have been preserved of
these commands, but the Illinois regiment
seems to have been largely officered from the
Second Regiment of the militia. Its Colonel
was Benjamin Stephenson, then Governor
Edwards's Adjutant General; its Majors
were John Moredock and William B. White
side, both officers of the Second Militia Regi
ment ; and among its Captains were Samuel
Judy, Samuel Whiteside, Nathaniel Jom*-
nev, and Joseph Phillips, of whom the three
former were from the same regiment.26
There seems to be no information from
the public records, nor from any other
source, as to whether or not Ensign Cox also
joined this regiment of Rangers, but the pre
sumption is very strong that he did. His
old Captain (Judy) was with it as well as
other associates of the militia ; and we may
be certain that only considerations of the
gravest moment would have kept him out of
it. The First, or Missouri Regiment, was
commanded by Colonel Alexander McNair
of St. Louis; and William Christy and
Nathan Boone were its Majors.27
It was in July that Fort Madison on the
west side of the Mississippi was besieged
by the Indians. Supplies were cut off and

A SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812 19
the garrison, hopeless of succor, abandoned
the fort and escaped by a covered way to the
river. Skirmishes with armed bands of In
dians occurred during August on the narrow
peninsula between the Illinois and the Mis
sissippi. The vicinity of Peoria Lake was a rally
ing ground for the hostile tribes, and it was
determined by General Howard to proceed
against them with his entire force. The
movement began on September 16, 1813.
The Missouri regiment moved up the west
side of the Mississippi to about where Quin-
cy now stands, when they crossed and joined
Colonel Stephenson, who had been marching
near the river on the east side. Colonel
Nicholas with two hundred regulars was
sent up the Illinois River in boats. The land
forces kept near the Mississippi until they
reached a point nearly opposite Fort Madi
son, when they turned directly east and
arrived at Peoria on the 29th of September.
Here Colonel Nicholas had already arrived
and built a stockade. The following morn
ing General Howard marched his troops to
Gomo's village at the head of Peoria Lake.
Finding the village abandoned, they burned
it and then returned to Peoria where the

20 THOMAS COX
men were employed in assisting the regulars
to construct an elaborate fort which was
named Fort Clark. This required two
weeks' labor, during which time detach
ments scoured the country to the north and
east, penetrating to within a short distance
of Chicago. No Indians were overtaken dur
ing the expedition, except a few driven by
Colonel Nicholas from Peoria. The mounted
troops returned from Peoria directly south
to Camp Russell, which they reached on the
twenty-first day of October, 1813. Here
they were discharged.
In May of the following year (1814) Gov
ernor William Clark of Missouri took a
force of two hundred men on five barges up
the river to Prairie du Chien, where a small
force of British "Mackinaw Fencibles" was
driven out. Here a strong fort was erected
which was named Fort Shelby in honor of
Isaac Shelby, the Governor of the State of
Kentucky. The mistake was made of leaving only
sixty men to defend Fort Shelby. In July
it was attacked by the notorious Colonel
Robert Dickson, Indian trader and British
officer, with one thousand two hundred In
dians and British troops. Lieutenant Per-

A SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812 21
kins after a gallant defense was compelled
to surrender. In the meantime reinforce
ments were on the way under Lieutenant
Campbell of the Regulars. A little above
Rock Island they were attacked by Black
Hawk with a large body of Indians. Their
boats stranded in shallow water during a
high wind, leaving the devoted little band
exposed to the fire of the savages at close
range. One of the boats was set on fire by
lighted arrows; but the well and wounded
were conveyed to the other boats, which
dropped down the river after nearly three
hours' fighting in which one-third of the
force was killed or wounded. It is from this
bitter conflict that Campbell's Island in the
Upper Rapids of the Mississippi takes its
name. Major Zachary Taylor was immediately
sent with a force of three hundred and
thirty-four men in keel boats to punish the
audacious Black Hawk. Taylor found his
force insufficient. Severe fighting occurred
on small islands near the mouth of Rock
River, in which the American loss was
three killed and eight wounded. It was dis
covered that the Indians had the aid of
English troops and artillery, by which one

22 THOMAS COX
of the boats was badly shattered. A coun
cil of war advised retreat, which was safely
accomplished. Sporadic cases of Indian hostility con
tinued to occur, although more on the Mis
souri side of the river than on the Illinois
side. It was not until 1815, after the treaty
of Ghent had beeri promulgated, that a
treaty was signed with the Sacs at Portage
des Sioux near the mouth of the Illinois
which gave comparative peace to the bor
ders. It is difficult to learn what part, if any,
Thomas Cox took in the active operations of
the last three years of the war. He was an
officer in the militia and ready for any duty
to which he might be called. Moreover, a
tradition in his family credits him with hav
ing carried despatches at some time during
the war from General W. H. Harrison to
the headquarters of the army at Marietta,
Ohio.28 None of the known facts of his ca
reer seem to verify this tradition; but that
he might have carried despatches from Gov
ernor Edwards to General Harrison and re
turned with the General's replies appears
probable. Cox was a young officer, brave
and intelligent, and a prime favorite with

A SOLDIER IN THE WAR OF 1812 23
Governor Edwards. He was also an accom
plished horseman, of commanding physique,
genial manners, and striking personality —
an ideal aid-de-camp for errands involving
diplomacy as well as extraordinary peril. It
is this period of his life at which the portrait
accompanying this volume as frontispiece
represents him.29

Ill
A Member of the Illinois Legislature
Other activities engaged the attention of
Thomas Cox in the intervals of the war
period when he was not engaged in military
duties. His father lost his life by drowning
some time during the War of 1812. He was
crossing a swollen stream on horseback, and,
upon the advice of a companion, took his
feet out of the stirrups, with the result that
he was swept from his seat in midstream.30
Thomas was the oldest son, and in him fam
ily ties were very strong. His widowed
mother and his sisters and brother were
throughout life objects of his tenderest care
and solicitude — in all his changes of resi
dence they were either part of his family or
his near neighbors.
It was about the time of the war that
Thomas Cox began to put into practice his
studies in land surveying. Some work in
that profession led him to the west side of
the Mississippi, in southeastern Missouri

MEMBER OF ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE 25
and northeastern Arkansas, where he ex
plored the strangely altered country about
New Madrid. The great earthquake of 1811
which depressed large areas in that pan
handle of Missouri and formed lakes and
swamps over what was previously dry land
had also been severely felt around his home
at Kaskaskia.
The ancient French village of Ste. Gene
vieve, just across the Mississippi, proved to
be an attractive place for the young soldier
to visit. After the Louisiana Purchase had
transferred the west side of the Mississippi
to American control Ste. Genevieve became
for some time an important political center.
George W. Jones, a young Kentucky gradu
ate of Transylvania University, went there
and began a public career that led to the
United States Senate after he had become
an Iowa pioneer. Henry Dodge, who became
successively General, Governor, and United
States Senator in Wisconsin, was likewise
one of the first American settlers in Ste.
Genevieve. Nathaniel Pope, as pointed out
above, had as a young lawyer lived at Ste.
Genevieve prior to his appointment as Sec
retary of the Illinois Territory.
The restless, enterprising New England-

26 THOMAS COX
ers also sent contingents to redeem the
Louisiana Purchase from both savages and
Latins, and some of these chose the gateway
of Ste. Genevieve. Among them was one
Daniel Bartlett from Rhode Island, born of
old colonial stock at Cumberland Hill seven
miles from Providence. He fought at Bun
ker Hill; was then drafted into the new
navy; and served in several cruises with
Paul Jones. His wife, Phoebe Arnold, came
from a Rhode Island Quaker family.31 It
became an ardent desire with him to remove
to a warmer climate and so he sold his farm
with the intention of settling in the South
and raising cotton.
About the year 1809 he started for the
West, passing through Pittsburg and Mari
etta where he was urged to remain and
invest in land. Cincinnati had just been laid
out as a city; but he continued his journey
to Ste. Genevieve and purchased a French
grant of five hundred acres of land on the
Isle Bois River near the town. Mrs. Bart
lett died soon after their arrival at Ste.
Genevieve. The Bartlett farm on the Isle Bois was
the goal of Lieutenant Cox's frequent vis
its to the ancient French town across the

MEMBER OF ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE 27
river — the magnet which drew him there
being Miss Roba Bartlett, the fourth child
and second daughter of the house.32 They
were married in 1815. For a time they en
gaged in hotel keeping at Kaskaskia,33 but
soon afterward removed to Jonesboro, about
fifty miles southeast of Kaskaskia. Jones
boro was in what was then a part of Johnson
County; but early in 1818 it became the
county seat of the newly organized county
of Union. Here their oldest child Daniel
was born in September, 1816.34
Among the first appointments made by
Governor Edwards after the organization of
Union County became effective was that of
Thomas Cox as Justice of the Peace, April
8, 1818.35 In July of the same year a con
vention met at Kaskaskia to frame a Con
stitution for the State of Illinois in compli
ance with an enabling act which the efforts
of Nathaniel Pope, the Territorial Delegate,
had secured from Congress. The Conven
tion concluded its labors on August 26th;
and on December 3, 1818, Illinois was form
ally admitted into the Union by resolution
of Congress as the eighth new State.
In the election of State officers and a leg
islature to set in motion the new State

28 THOMAS COX
government Thomas Cox presented himself
as a candidate for the office of Senator from
Union County, and was elected. Shadrach
Bond, a native of Maryland, was elected
Governor at this election, practically with
out opposition; and Pierre Menard, a
French Canadian merchant of Kaskaskia,
was chosen Lieutenant Governor.
The first General Assembly of the State
of Illinois, composed of thirteen Senators
and twenty-five Representatives, convened
at Kaskaskia on October 5, 1818. Governor
Bond was inaugurated on October 6th. The
legislature seems to have proceeded to busi
ness at once, without waiting for a formal
resolution by Congress as to the admission
of the State.
On December 4th (the day after that ad
mission but before the news could possibly
have reached Illinois) the legislature pro
ceeded to the election of United States Sen
ators by joint ballot. Ninian Edwards was
elected with but little opposition, and Terri
torial Judge Jesse Burgess Thomas of
Cahokia was chosen to accompany him.
Judge Thomas drew the long or full term,
and Governor Edwards the short term which
expired March 3, 1819. This necessitated

MEMBER OF ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE 29
another election for the full term at the sec
ond session of the same legislature, which
convened January 4, 1819. The election took
place on February 8, 1819, while Edwards
was absent in Washington.
A very active opposition to Edwards had
developed; and Colonel Michael Jones, a
State Senator from Shawneetown, appeared
as a candidate. As a desperate scheme to
accomplish the defeat of Edwards, a propo
sition was made to divide the State into two
Senatorial districts by the line of the Third
Principal Meridian — which only failed in
the House by the close vote of twelve to fif
teen.36 Colonel Cox was an ardent partisan
for Edwards, and a letter written by him to
the Governor reads as follows :37
Kaskaskia, February 8th, 1819.
Sir : — You are re-elected to the United States
Senate for six years, which has completely placed you
out of the reach of your enemies. Col. Jones was
your opponent. He got 19 votes and you 23. There
has been more trickery and intrigue made use of
than you have any idea of. I suppose that some of
your friends will give you the particulars of what has
transpired. If they do not, you will hear it when
you come home. I wish that you could see a letter 1
received from the honorable senator [John McFerron]
from this county a few minutes before the election

30 THOMAS COX
came on yesterday. He protested against me having
a seat in the Legislature because I would not vote for
Jones, for which I intend to impeach him. Your
friend Kitchell has done his D  st to keep you out.
I write you in great haste, mostly to let you know
that you were re-elected again. There is a great many
of them that appear to die very hard deaths. I wish
I was with you one hour, just to give you a history of
matters and things. I write in great haste.
Your friend and humble servant,
Thomas Cox.
P. S. The objections to you are these : That you
will get all those old land claims, that were rejected
by Jones, confirmed; and that you are opposed to the
donation of land that the Legislature has petitioned
Congress for.38
An important problem left by the Consti
tutional Convention for the First General
Assembly to settle was the relocation of the
State capital. A mania for land speculation
was universal, and it was believed that for
tunes might be made by building a new town.
The Convention therefore provided that the
first legislature should "petition Congress
for a grant to the State of four sections of
land for the seat of government" ; and if the
prayer was granted, a town should be laid
out thereon which should remain the capital
of the State for twenty vears. The land was

MEMBER OF ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE 31
to be situated on the Kaskaskia River, pref
erably east of the Third Principal Meridian.
Carlyle on the Kaskaskia and Pope's
Bluff higher up the river were the first com
petitors for the location. Then came a hun
ter who declared that "Pope's Bluff and
Carlyle wasn't a primin' to his bluff". And
they were not. His cabin was located on a
commanding site still farther up the river,
and the commissioners were so pleased with
the beauty of this spot that they were not
long in deciding that it should be the loca
tion of the future capital. Tradition has it
that a wag imposed upon the lack of classical
lore in the backwoods commissioners by urg
ing that the name of Vandalia would pre
serve the memory of the Vandals, an extinct
tribe of Indians who once inhabited the lo
cality, and the commissioners, well pleased
with the euphonious syllables, adopted it.
Just what part Colonel Cox as a member
of the legislature had in this contest and de
cision is not known ; but by one of the curi
ous coincidences with which his life seemed
to abound it happened that twenty years
later, in the first Territorial Assembly of
Iowa of which he was a member, a contest
over the location of the seat of government

32 THOMAS COX
arose and by a compromise exactly the same
solution of the problem was reached as in
Illinois: a site on government land was se
lected and a town built de novo. Colonel Cox
was largely responsible for the solution in
Iowa, and we can readily conjecture that its
suggestion was a reminiscence rather than
an inspiration.
Pro-slavery sentiment was almost univer
sal in that first Assembly of Illinois, the
members being with few exceptions South
ern born. Many of them had brought slaves
into the Territory, and still held them under
a qualified condition that bound the negroes
to service for a term of years. It was not
difficult, therefore, to pass very stringent
"Black laws" which restricted the liberties
of the colored people in the most degrading
ways. Nor were all these laws repealed un
til after the Civil War.
In 1824 the question of calling a conven
tion to amend the Constitution so as to per
mit slavery was submitted to the people.
The proposition obtained a two-thirds ma
jority in the legislature of 1823, and its
friends had no doubt of its success before
the people — incensed as they were by the
attempt in Congress to refuse admission to

MEMBER OF ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE 33
Missouri as a slave State which had just
ended in the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
Colonel Cox appears as a conspicuous ad
vocate of the convention.39 It is a remarka
ble fact that the strongest leader of the free
State forces was Governor Edward Coles, a
Virginian, and that Ninian Edwards and his
son-in-law, Daniel P. Cook, both Kentuck
ians, did not favor the convention. An
ardent partisan in its favor was Elias Kent
Kane, a New Yorker who afterwards be
came a United States Senator. The leader
of the slavery party was United States
Senator Jesse Burgess Thomas, a Mary-
lander, who was a colleague of Ninian Ed
wards. The contest was prosecuted with
fiery zeal and energy on both sides for more
than a year, but at the election the conven
tion was defeated, 4,972 votes being cast in
its favor and 6,640 against it.

IV

Register of the United States Land
Office
The regulations first adopted by the govern
ment for the sale of public lands proved a
strong stimulus to speculation. Previous to
1819 the minimum price was two dollars per
acre, payable one-fourth in cash and the
residue in three installments at the end of
the second, third, and fourth years.40 This
induced every settler who could command
$80 (the cash payment on 160 acres) to be
come a quasi land holder and a debtor to the
government. When financial revulsions came, as they
did in 1819 following the close of the War
of 1812, great embarrassment ensued to
those who owed more than they owned and
great losses came to many of the eager
speculators. These considerations brought
about a change in the law by which the price
of land was reduced to $1.25 per acre and
the credit system abolished.41

REGISTER OF LAND OFFICE 35
Under the old system and under the new
Colonel Cox became a heavy speculator in
lands. The knowledge which he obtained in
his surveying tours gave him unusual oppor
tunities for selection ; and at different times
he acquired properties in southeastern Mis
souri and northeastern Arkansas in the re
gion of the "sunken lands" and in southern
Illinois. About 1821 he extended his opera
tions into the region of central Illinois, over
which he had ridden as a scout in 1813. A
new county had been created by the name of
Sangamon, which included all of Illinois
north of Madison and Green counties. The
county seat, called Springfield, had been
tentatively located at a little hamlet near
the Sangamon River.
At the time of this location (June, 1821)
nine families lived there in log huts. A new
United States land district was also formed,
to be called the Springfield District, and it
became necessary for the President to ap
point a Register and a Receiver. For one of
these offices Senator Ninian Edwards recom
mended Colonel Cox. Among The Edwards
Papers a letter from President James Mon
roe relating to this appointment reads as
follows:42

36 THOMAS COX
Confidential Jany 23, 1823
Dear Sir : — On further consideration I think that
it will be best, to withdraw the nomination of Mr.
Cox and Mr. Enos, and to change the order for that
first proposed by you, by nominating Col. Cox as
Register, and Mr. Enos as the Receiver. Should the
nominations be taken up be so kind as to have them
postponed for this purpose, tho' it will be better, to
say nothing as to the motive.
Very Sincerely Yours
James Monroe
Governor Edwards, of the Senate.
Colonel Cox's commission as Register of
the United States Land Office at Spring
field was dated January 28, 1823.43 The
Receiver appointed at the same time was
Pascal P. Enos, a Connecticut man who,
having removed to Cincinnati in 1815 and
afterwards to St. Charles and St. Louis, had
come in 1821 to Madison County, Illinois,
and located near Edwardsville. He obtained
the appointment at the solicitation of the
Vermont delegation in Congress. In Sep
tember, 1823, the Receiver removed with his
family to Springfield.44 Colonel Cox, how
ever, had established his home there some
time in the year 1822. There was no town
site laid out at Springfield until the land
officers entered upon their duties and the

REGISTER OF LAND OFFICE 37
land came into market and government titles
could be given.
Among those whom Colonel Cox found at
Springfield on his arrival was Elijah lies, a
Kentuckian who had been living in Missouri
where he had made some profitable land
deals. In June, 1821, he had removed to
Springfield and opened a store in a little log
hut. Early in 1822 Elijah lies,45 Daniel P.
Cook, Thomas Cox, and Pascal P. Enos pre
empted four quarter sections and laid them
out in town lots. They were the southwest
quarter of section twenty-seven, the south
east quarter of twenty-eight, the northeast
quarter of thirty-three, and the northwest
quarter of thirty-four in township sixteen
north, range five, west of the Third Princi
pal Meridian — being the northeast part of
the present city of Springfield, embracing
the State House site. These proprietors
were all ardent admirers of John C. Cal
houn, then a member of Monroe's Cabinet;
and so they resolved to change the name of
the place from Springfield to Calhoun. But
the change was not satisfactory to the people
of the town. Calhoun having become very
unpopular on account of his stand on the

38 THOMAS COX
nullification question, the new name was
soon dropped; and to-day few people are
aware that the capital city of Illinois bore
his name for a short time, notwithstanding
the fact that land conveyances in that part
of the city still perpetuate the name.46 The
title to the entire town site of Calhoun was
taken "by agreement" in the names of
Elijah lies and P. P. Enos, for some reason
not disclosed in the records.47
In 1825 the legislature appointed three
commissioners to locate permanently the
county seat of Sangamon County. This
opened the location to a competition in
which Springfield was not wholly a favorite.
As a final inducement the town site proprie
tors gave to the county forty-two acres of
land, being parts of sections thirty-four and
twenty-seven and including the present site
of the State House. The portion of this do
nation not reserved for public purposes was
laid off into lots and sold at public auction
on May 2, 1825. The report of these sales
shows that Thomas Cox purchased for him
self Lot 1, Block 23, for the very modest
sum of fourteen dollars.48
Some time during his term of office as
Register of the Land Office it appears that

REGISTER OF LAND OFFICE 39
Cox opened a hotel, which he continued af
ter his service in that office closed on Jan
uary 5, 1827. Dr. John Todd was appointed
to succeed him as Register.49 The extensive
land speculations in which Colonel Cox had
engaged for several years, together with un
wise endorsements for friends into which
his generous nature had led him, culminated
in financial embarrassments from which he
was unable to free himself. Most of his
property passed out of his hands by legal
proceedings and otherwise — Governor Nin
ian Edwards being a creditor who pressed
his claims in the courts.50 In the career of
Colonel Cox this was a period of great gloom
and despondency, which sapped his energy
and almost destroyed his ambition.

V
The Outbreak of the Black Hawk War
In 1827 an outbreak of Winnebago Indians
about Prairie du Chien and at the same time
an attack under Black Hawk upon boats
descending the river at Wabasha caused
alarm at the State capital of Illinois. Gov
ernor Edwards organized a regiment of cav
alry to proceed to the north for protection
of the settlers. The strained relations then
existing between Governor Edwards and
Colonel Cox prevented the latter from ap
plying for service; but his brother-in-law,
Edward Mitchell,51 became a Captain in the
regiment, and his friend, Elijah lies, was ap
pointed as Major. Thomas M. Neale, a civil
engineer who had laid out into town lots the
land given by Cox and his associates, was its
Colonel. Andrew Bankson was another
Captain in the regiment ; and James D. Hen
ry, then Sheriff of Sangamon County and
afterwards the distinguished general in the
Black Hawk War, was its Adjutant. The

OUTBREAK OF BLACK HAWK WAR 41
Indian disturbances soon quieted and the
regiment saw little service.
This was a period of great interest and
excitement in regard to the lead mines
around Galena and in what was then south
western Michigan Territory. About 1826
and 1827 the furore in Sangamon County
and all southern Illinois approached in
intensity the California gold fever of 1849
and 1850.52 Some of those who removed from
Springfield to the lead mines in 1827 were
closely connected politically and socially
with Colonel Cox. Among them were Eben-
ezer Brigham, who located at the Blue
Mounds (now in Dane County, Wisconsin)
and William S. Hamilton, a son of Alexan
der Hamilton. The latter established Ham
ilton's Diggings in what is now Lafayette
County, Wisconsin. Both of these gentle
men became prominent as public men and
soldiers in the early history of Wisconsin.
Other acquaintances from Ste. Genevieve
who located in the lead mining country about
this time were Henry Dodge and George
W. Jones, both of whom ultimately became
United States Senators.
Early in 1831 troubles began with Black
Hawk and his "British Band" of Sac and

42 THOMAS COX
Fox Indians. They repudiated the treaty
made at St. Louis in 1804 and threatened to
reoccupy their old hunting grounds on Rock
River. The settlers in the vicinity of that
river, becoming greatly alarmed and indig
nant, sent urgent complaints to Governor
John Reynolds, the "Old Ranger" who had
taken office in 1830. He in turn applied to
the Indian Agents at Rock Island and to
General Edmund P. Gaines, commanding
the Western Department of the United
States Army. Failing to receive as prompt
response as he deemed the urgency of the oc
casion required, Governor Reynolds on the
26th of May called out the militia to the
number of seven hundred, with instructions
to rendezvous at Beardstown on June 10,
1831. And of these orders General Gaines
and General William Clark, Superintendent
of Indian Affairs at St. Louis, were noti
fied.53 General Gaines proceeded at once to Fort
Armstrong (on Rock Island) and after an
unsatisfactory talk with Black Hawk and
his braves ordered the Illinois militia to join
him. That force was enlisted from those
counties only which were closely adjacent to
Beardstown, and it formed a brigade of two

OUTBREAK OF BLACK HAWK WAR 43
regiments and a spy battalion. Joseph Dun
can, afterwards Governor of Illinois, was
made Brigadier General and placed in com
mand of the brigade. Samuel Whiteside,
who had served in the War of 1812, was
Major of the spy battalion, and William B.
Whiteside was one of its Captains. James
D. Henry was Colonel and Thomas Carlin
a Captain in the First Regiment.
A demonstration by the military force
soon brought the recalcitrant savages to
terms, and they signed a treaty agreeing to
remain on the west side of the Mississippi
River and "to abandon all communication,
and cease to hold any intercourse with any
British post, garrison, or town; and never
again to admit among them any agent or
trader who shall not have derived his
authority to hold commercial or other inter
course with them by license from the Presi
dent of the United States or his authorized
agent."54 The militia forces returned to
their respective counties and were imme
diately disbanded.
The treaty proved to be merely a truce.
In the following April (1832) General
Henry Atkinson, who had succeeded Gen
eral Gaines in command of the Western

44 THOMAS COX
Department, proceeded under orders from
Washington to Fort Armstrong with six
companies of infantry. Before arriving
there he learned that Black Hawk in de
fiance of his treaty had crossed the Missis
sippi with five hundred warriors.
Atkinson demanded of Keokuk and Wa
pello, the Sac Chiefs, that the invaders be
ordered back. Upon their acknowledging
their lack of power to control Black Hawk
and his band, the General dispatched a let
ter to Governor Reynolds asking the assist
ance of the militia, notified the lead mines
district of their danger, and called for rein
forcements from Fort Crawford. Two com
panies came at once, with Lieutenant Colonel
Zachary Taylor at their head. Other officers
of the Regulars who served during the strife
which ensued and whose names have become
familiar from their subsequent careers
were : Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, Aid to
Colonel Taylor; Lieutenant Albert Sidney
Johnston, Adjutant at General Atkinson's
headquarters ; Lieutenant Colonel David E.
Twiggs : Captains William S. Harney, E. A.
Hitchcock, and R. B. Mason; Lieutenants
Robert Anderson, J. J. Abercrombie, and P.
St. George Cooke.

OUTBREAK OF BLACK HAWK WAR 45
Governor Reynolds assembled the militia
promptly at Beardstown and on the 29th of
April was ready to march with four regi
ments of mounted volunteers, two spy bat
talions, and a battalion of infantry. The
latter was sent by boat to guard the military
stores. The mounted men by hard marching
reported to General Atkinson at Rock Is
land on the 6th of May.
As commander-in-chief Governor Rey
nolds accompanied the militia and formed it
into a brigade organization under Samuel
Whiteside, who- was promoted to the position
of Brigadier General. This brigade was all
from the south and central part of the State,
but other detached companies were formed
in Galena, Chicago, and other northern
counties. Sangamon sent three mounted
companies and the infantry battalion of
three companies; and it was one of these
mounted companies that chose as its Captain
a young lawyer by the name of Abraham
Lincoln. The first campaign of the raw, undisci
plined militia was far from successful. Ma
jor Stillman's battalion had an ignominous
experience, preserved in memory by confer
ring the name of Stillman's Run upon the

46 THOMAS COX
little stream on which it occurred. Black
Hawk moved rapidly up Rock River Valley
across the State line, perpetrating several
massacres of helpless settlers on the way.
General Whiteside, a brave and ever reck
less fighter, proved inefficient for a large
command. And the volunteers, enlisted has
tily for a short emergency, demanded
discharge that their spring crops might be
attended to. Governor Reynolds yielded to
the demand, issued a call for a new army to
be formed, and mustered out on the 27th of
May all who had formed Whiteside's brig
ade. To bridge over the interval he called
for volunteers for twenty days.
Enough men responded to make six com
panies, the flower of the first army. They
were formed into a regiment over which
Jacob Fry was placed as Colonel and James
D. Henry as Lieutenant Colonel. The Cap
tain of one of these companies was Eli
jah lies, who had been Colonel Cox's partner
in the Springfield town site ; and among the
privates who enlisted in his company for the
pressing emergency which came upon them
were Samuel Whiteside and Abraham Lin
coln — who had been mustered out as Briga
dier General and Captain, respectively.

OUTBREAK OF BLACK HAWK WAR 47
Captain Iles's company spent nearly all
of its twenty days' service in a dangerous
and arduous march to Galena and back to
reopen communications interrupted by a
bloody raid of Indians upon Kellogg 's Grove
and Apple River. At the expiration of the
twenty days, Colonel Fry's regiment, almost
to a man, reenlisted in the regular levies.
Abraham Lincoln as a private joined the
company of Captain Jacob M. Early of
Springfield; and several other ex-captains,
majors, and minor officers completed their
service as privates. The new enlistments
came forward rapidly and formed three
brigades, containing in all ten regiments and
three spy battalions — all mounted.
When the time came to select the field of
ficers for his new regiments, the thoughts of
"Old Ranger" Reynolds turned to his old
comrade of Captain Judy's little company
of scouts in the War of 1812. Thomas Cox
had now arrived at an age to be exempt from
military duty, but his known zeal and skill
in tactics, the high rank he had previously
attained in the militia, his vigor and force
fulness, marked him as one well fitted to
serve the State in command of a regiment;
and so the Governor proffered him a colon-

48 THOMAS COX
elcy.55 He declined to accept the flattering
offer. His reasons for doing so have not be
come a matter of record — but they are not
hard to conjecture. It was doubtless his
own lack of confidence in Thomas Cox. The
stress of recent financial reverses was still
sore upon him — with consequent depres
sion of spirits and energy. Furthermore,
during his life of political activity he had ac
quired habits of convivial indulgence — al
most universal among public men of the
period — that at this time conspicuously
impaired his usefulness.56 That it was from
no desire to shirk his patriotic duty to his
State and country, nor to take advantage of
his age exemption, he promptly demonstrat
ed by enlisting as a private in the congenial
service afforded by a company of scouts.
His declination of the Governor's ap
pointment was coupled with the recommen
dation that the position of Colonel of one of
the new regiments be given to a young man
who had recently moved from Western Vir
ginia to Macoupin County and had married
Eleanor, the Colonel's favorite sister. The
native ability and fitness of James Collins
for the exalted position was evidently known
to Governor Revnolds as well as to Colonel

OUTBREAK OF BLACK HAWK WAR 49
Cox ; and so Collins was commissioned Colo
nel of the Fourth Regiment, Third Brigade,
Illinois Mounted Volunteers. This brigade
was organized on June 20, 1832, and placed
under command of Brigadier General James
D. Henry of Springfield, who had proved his
prowess and military genius by service in
every position from private to Lieutenant
Colonel. Henry was destined to attain the
distinction of being one of the ablest com
manders which this short struggle devel
oped; and Colonel Collins had the good
fortune, by conspicuous service in General
Henry's brigade, to prove that the confi
dence of his friends in his qualifications as a
commander was well founded.57
Although he had deemed it best to decline
a responsible command — and a similar
event in his Iowa career proved him capable
of such self-abnegation — Thomas Cox was
filled with true martial ardor and a desire to
aid and protect the helpless settlers. It was
not deemed a disgrace by other patriots of
the day, bearing titles of previous high mili
tary rank — like Whiteside and Henry and
Lincoln — to take their places in the ranks
and enroll as privates. Nor was this spirit
lacking in Cox.

50 THOMAS COX
In the adjoining county of Morgan, Cap
tain Allen F. Lindsay was raising a com
pany to serve as scouts in the spy battalion
of Henry's brigade. Such service was con
genial to Thomas Cox's restless, enterpris
ing disposition, and he remembered well the
keen zest with which Captain Judy's
company twenty years before had ridden in
the van of Edwards 's expedition. And so, on
June, 1832, Captain Lindsay's spy company
received upon its rolls the name of Thomas
Cox.

VI
The End of the Black Hawk War58
The spy battalion of the Third Brigade
consisted of two companies — Lindsay's of
Morgan County, and Samuel Huston's of
Fayette. It was placed under command of
Major William Lee D. Ewing of Vandalia,
who had been Receiver of the United States
Land Office and General of Militia. General
Henry's brigade comprised the regiments of
Colonels Samuel T. Matthews, Jacob Fry,
Gabriel Jones, and James Collins, and Ma
jor Ewing 's spy battalion.
Colonel Matthews 's regiment, being partly
infantry, was left to guard the Illinois River
country, and the rest of the brigade joined
General Atkinson's army which moved on
the 23d of June to follow Black Hawk's re
treat up the valley of the Rock River into
the wilds of Michigan Territory or what is
now Wisconsin.
In the preliminary movements the entire

52 THOMAS COX
army concentrated at Dixon's Ferry, whence
General M. K. Alexander was sent on a de
tour guarding the left flank to the Missis
sippi at the mouth of Plum River (now
Savanna, Illinois) and thence via Kellogg 's
Grove to Fort Hamilton in the Wisconsin
lead regions. Here he was joined by Gen
eral Alexander Posey's brigade, which had
marched from Dixon's Ferry directly to
Hamilton, and by Colonel Henry Dodge's
command of Michigan volunteers. Major
John Dement, commanding General Posey's
spy battalion, scouting a day's march in ad
vance, encountered Indians at Kellogg 's
Grove and defeated them in a severe battle
against great odds.
General Henry's brigade and a brigade of
United States Regulars under General
Hugh Brady moved up the east side of Rock
River, crossed the State line at the mouth of
Turtle Creek (now Beloit, Wisconsin) and
on the 3d of July halted on Lake Koshko-
nong or Mud Lake — a large body of water
formed by the enlargement or widening of
Rock River. Here General Atkinson again
concentrated his army by awaiting the ar
rival from Fort Hamilton of the commands
of Alexander, Posey, and Dodge. That

END OF BLACK HAWK WAR 53
accomplished, he moved forward beyond the
lake to the mouth of the Whitewater River,
where he formed a base for supplies.
Scouting parties failed to develop the
movements of the Indians, who were sup
posed to have gone northeastward and to be
in hiding among the swamps around Lake
Horicon. The campaign promised to be a
long and tedious one, and the difficulty of
subsisting so large a force in the wilderness
became a serious problem. Governor Rey
nolds and staff started for home via Galena ;
Captain Early's entire company (in which
was Abraham Lincoln) was mustered out;
and one regiment and all members of the
others who had become horseless or phys
ically disabled were sent back to Dixon's
Ferry. Provisions having become practically ex
hausted, the post at the mouth of the White
water was left in charge of the Regulars;
General Posey was ordered back to Fort
Hamilton to guard the lead mining coun
try ; and the balance of the army — consist
ing of the brigades of Henry and Alexander,
and Colonel Dodge's regiment — was sent
to Fort Winnebago at the portage of the
Wisconsin to obtain rations for twelve days

54 THOMAS COX
and then return to General Atkinson at the
Whitewater. The march to Fort Winnebago, a distance
of sixty or seventy miles, was accomplished
in two days, but a stampede of their horses
on the night of their arrival, July 12th, de
layed their return. In the meantime Win
nebago Indians reported that Black Hawk
was at the rapids on Rock River (now
Hustisford, Wisconsin) directly east of
Fort Winnebago. General Henry, with true
military instinct, conceived it his duty to
take advantage of his army's proximity to
the objective and march at once against the
enemy without regarding General Atkin
son's order. He called a council of war,
including every officer from Captain up, and
disclosed his plan. General Alexander re
fused to disregard orders and proposed to
return to General Atkinson with his brigade.
Henry and Dodge resolved to seek the enemy
and to start at noon on the 15th. Lieutenant
Colonel Jeremiah Smith and most of the
officers of Fry's regiment signed a protest,
to which General Henry replied by ordering
them all under arrest and directing that they
be sent under guard to General Atkinson.
The recalcitrant officers promptly recanted

END OF BLACK HAWK WAR 55
and apologized and were restored to com
mand. Henry and Dodge were three days mak
ing their way through tangled undergrowth
and swamps to the Rock River rapids, and
then they found that the Indians had gone.
By advice of their Winnebago guides they
prepared to follow the savages further up
the river, but despatched two officers to in
form General Atkinson of the situation.
The aids had proceeded only about eight
miles to the southwest on their mission when
they came upon a broad fresh trail of the
enemy leading westward. Evidently the
Indians were aiming to escape across the
Mississippi — the Winnebagoes confessed
that they had given false information to
facilitate the escape of Black Hawk.
Leaving baggage wagons and other im
pediments that might delay a forced march,
General Henry led his command on the
morning of July 19th straight upon the well
marked trail. At nightfall of the next day
camp was made on the east bank of the
Third Lake or Lake Monona. On the morn
ing of the 21st the chase was resumed, with
Major Ewing 's and Colonel Dodge's forces
in the lead. Deployed as skirmishers, they

56 THOMAS COX
swept over the beautiful peninsula between
Third Lake and Fourth Lake — -now occu
pied as the site of the capital of Wisconsin.
The regiments followed in order of battle —
Fry to the right, Jones to the left, and Col
lins in the center.
Little did Colonel Collins imagine that
seven years later would find him, as legisla
tor of a new Territory, in attendance upon a
law-making body convened where now was
an unsettled wilderness. Evidence was soon
found that Black Hawk had camped the
previous night on the banks of Fourth Lake,
and by noon stragglers were overtaken. By
three o'clock they reached the Wisconsin
River at what was called the Heights, and
here the Indians had made a stand to secure
their crossing.
Stevens in his The Black Hawk War gives
the following account of the opening of the
battle of Wisconsin Heights :
Dismounting, every tenth man was detailed to hold
horses, excepting the regiment of Colonel Fry which
was made the reserve and held to prevent the enemy
from turning the flanks of the whites.
The Indians opened fire as the advance guard of
the whites was passing a stretch of uneven ground
through the high grass and low brush. Major Ewing 's
battalion was at once formed in front, where the In-

END OF BLACK HAWK WAR 57
dians poured their fire into it from behind trees. In
a few moments, Henry arrived with the main army
and formed the order of battle, Colonel Jones being
placed on the right, Colonel Collins to the left, Fry
in reserve, and Ewing in front with Dodge on the
extreme right. In this order, Henry commanded the
forces to move. The order to charge the enemy was
splendidly executed by Ewing, Jones and Collins,
routing the Indians who retreated to the right and
concentrated before Dodge's Battalion with the ob
vious intention of turning his flank.59
Colonel Fry reinforced Dodge and to
gether they charged in turn and forced the
savages back upon the river bottom. Here a
determined stand was made by the Indians ;
but a vigorous charge drove them down into
the Wisconsin bottoms where pursuit being
impossible in the darkness, Henry withdrew
his forces and awaited the morning. It was
discovered at dawn that the Indians had all
made their escape over the river. Henry's
army being now almost destitute of provi
sions, he forebore pursuit, falling back to
the new base at Blue Mounds where General
Atkinson had again concentrated the brig
ades of Posey and Alexander. The loss of
the whites in the affair at Wisconsin Heights
was one man killed and eight wounded. The
bodies of ninety-three Indians were found,

58 THOMAS COX
but the survivors had succeeded in carrying
off their wounded.
On rejoining the army at the Blue
Mounds, Henry and Dodge and their officers
met with a certain coolness at headquarters.
They had committed the indiscretion of win
ning a victory without the advice and con
sent of an "educated soldier", and precau
tions were promptly taken that it should
not occur again.
On the 25th of July the army was again in
motion to intercept Black Hawk if possible
before he could cross the Mississippi. The
Regulars led, Posey and Alexander follow
ing; while Henry was given the rear in
charge of the baggage.
The Wisconsin was crossed at Helena.
The trail of Black Hawk having been dis
covered was followed relentlessly until on
the 2d of August the enemy was overtaken
on the Mississippi at the mouth of the Bad
Axe River. General Atkinson had ordered
reveille at two o 'clock that morning, and the
army moved at sunrise. An hour later they
struck a small force of Indians which proved
to have been decoys sent forward to receive
the attack and, by gradual retreats, to draw
the whites up the river three or four miles

END OF BLACK HAWK WAR 59
from Black Hawk's camp on an island and
the river bottoms, thus giving time for a re
treat across the great river. The ruse was
nearly successful.
Dodge, whose scouts developed the enemy,
was ordered to hold his ground, and the
troops as they arrived were deployed suc
cessively to the right — the Regulars under
Zachary Taylor to the right of Dodge, then
Posey and finally Alexander. And when
Henry arrived trudging along with the bag
gage, Fry's regiment was taken from him
and also sent with Atkinson. The Indian
decoys gave way with the whites in hot pur
suit. Major Ewing 's scouts, however, in cover
ing Henry's front, as was their duty, soon
found that the main trail led to the river
farther down. General Henry, divining the
stratagem that was misleading General At
kinson, immediately ordered Collins and
Jones forward, followed the broad trail to
the foot of the bluff, dismounted his men,
deploying to right and left from the center,
and boldly charged through the timber,
driftwood, and underbrush straight upon
the foe.
The Indians were pressed slowly back to

60 THOMAS COX
the river. Atkinson, having been informed
of the situation by a messenger and hearing
the firing, brought his entire force upon the
scene in time for the final charge from which
a few Indians escaped to a small willow
island. A final stand was made by these few red
men on the island ; but they were killed, cap
tured, or driven into the river by Dodge,
Fry, Ewing, and a number of the Regulars,
who plunged through the intervening water
and attacked them in the face of a heavy
fire. General Henry had again, contrary to
plans, been the means of gaining a decisive
victory, but this time he received hearty con
gratulations from every officer in the regu
lar service.
As the situation could now be fully han
dled by the regular troops, the volunteers
were marched at once to Galena and thence
to their places of rendezvous, to be mustered
out. Thomas Cox and Colonel Collins are
both shown by the records to have been
mustered out on August 16, 1832.
Enough of the history of the Black Hawk
War has been given to show that it was the
fortune of Thomas Cox, and of his brother-
in-law Colonel Collins, to have taken part in

END OF BLACK HAWK WAR 61
a conspicuous and dangerous service.60 It
is a fair inference that the opportunity af
forded by a halt at Galena, and perhaps a
more extensive view of the lead mining
regions, led to the removal thither of Colonel
Collins shortly after the war and of Colonel
Cox in 1837.

VII
United States Deputy Surveyor
The pure air and simple living of an army
campaign in the wilderness had sent Colonel
Cox home with restored health and renewed
nerve. He was ready now to attack the
problems of the future with his old time am
bition and force, but felt that he must first
cast off the associations and associates of
Springfield. The opportunity was offered,
and he embraced it, of removing to the old
home of Mrs. Cox on the Isle Bois River
near Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, and joining
forces with his brothers-in-law, William and
Lemuel Bartlett.
One is reminded of the parallel period of
stress in the life of General Grant, when the
farm of his father-in-law near St. Louis af
forded him shelter, while events were form
ing that allowed his great nature to show its
capacity. So likewise was Thomas Cox des
tined for more conspicuous service than
tenant farming might afford. Influential

U. S. DEPUTY SURVEYOR 63
friends and well wishers, who knew of his
capacity and especially of his experience in
land surveying, came into positions of power
within a few years after he had gone to Ste.
Genevieve. General Henry Dodge, made
Colonel of the First United States Dragoons,
a regiment organized expressly for him in
1833, became Governor of Wisconsin Terri
tory on its formation, July 4, 1836 ; George
W. Jones, another Ste. Genevieve man, be
came the first Delegate to Congress from
Wisconsin Territory; and, more important
still, Major W. L. D. Ewing was elected
United States Senator from Illinois in De
cember, 1835, to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of Elias Kent Kane.
On September 21, 1832, a treaty was con
cluded by General Winfield Scott and Gov
ernor John Reynolds with the Sac and Fox
Indians by which a strip of land fifty miles
wide was acquired along the west side of the
Mississippi River, generally known as the
"Black Hawk Purchase".61 After the rati
fication of the treaty by Congress in Febru
ary, 1833, provisions were made as rapidly
as possible for its survey into townships and
sections. The surveys were done by contract,
and each contractor was given the authority

64 THOMAS COX
of a government official by appointment as
United States Deputy Surveyor under in
structions of the Surveyor General of his
district. It was for one of these contracts and its
cognate appointment from the Surveyor
General's office that Thomas Cox became an
applicant. Through the intercession of his
friends, the appointment came from Robert
T. Lytle, United States Surveyor General
for the Territory northwest of the Ohio, un
der date of May 6, 1837; and as United
States Deputy Surveyor Cox entered into
contract with the Surveyor General for
the subdivision into sections of townships
eighty-four and eighty-five north, ranges
two, three, four, five, six, and seven east of
the Fifth Principal Meridian in the then
Territory of Wisconsin.62 The townships
thus described are now Union, Iowa, Wash
ington, Jackson, Van Buren, Fairfield,
Perry, Farmers' Creek, Maquoketa, and
South Fork townships in Jackson County,
Iowa. In anticipation of this appointment and in
order to be nearer the scene of his labors, he
removed early in 1837 to White Oak Springs
in Iowa (now Lafayette) County, Wiscon-

U. S. DEPUTY SURVEYOR 65
sin. This place is in the lead mining region,
being about twelve miles northeast of Ga
lena, Illinois. It had been for several years
the home of his brother-in-law, Colonel
James Collins, who had become a successful
mine operator.
His work of surveying in Jackson County
was prosecuted through the summer and
fall of 1837. Old settlers remember well the
jolly party with their ox team and tents and
hearty Southern hospitality. Cox's chief
assistant was John G. McDonald, a very
competent surveyor who had recently re
moved to Illinois from Indiana. Until the
death of Colonel Cox, John McDonald was
one of his most intimate and valued asso
ciates, and their mutual esteem was mani
fested in many ways.63 Other members of
the party were Peyton Seamands, Enoch
Sells, and Mark Spiles from Macoupin and
Sangamon counties. They all took up claims
in Jackson County, and all became infected
with the California fever of emigration that
raged so virulently in 1849 and 1850.
The two tiers of townships which fur
nished the field for the surveying operations
of Colonel Cox and party are divided nearly
equally by the Maquoketa River, which flows

66 THOMAS COX
in a general easterly direction in that part of
its course. The country south of the river
was, for the most part, treeless prairie
whose gently undulating hills of loess
marked the border land of the Kansas gla
cial drift. North of the river the "beetling
crags" of Niagara dolomite and hills divid
ed by the canon-like gorges of an almost
purely driftless area were covered by dense
forests of oak, hickory, and sugar maple.
Settlements in the county began in 1833
when James Armstrong, William Dyas,Wil-
liam Jonas, and Alexander Reed abandoned
the precarious ventures of lead mining at
Galena, crossed the Mississippi at what be
came the village of "Bellview", and made
claims in its immediate vicinity. The beau
tiful plateau on which the inchoate town be
gan growth the next year, had been the site
at different times of Indian villages as one
tribe after another occupied the country.
Twenty-five miles farther down the river
a grassy plain fronting an opening in the
bluffs suggested another landing place for
river traders and trappers, and the early
French voyageurs had given it the name of
Prairie La Pierre. Directly opposite in Illi
nois, Plum River valley had afforded a high-

U. S. DEPUTY SURVEYOR 67
way to reach the great river, and a settle
ment had been made at its mouth which took
the name of Savanna.
Two adventurers, Hinkley and Dorman,
crossed the Mississippi from Savanna in
1835 and staked out a claim on the west side
of the river. In April, 1836, Dr. Enoch A.
Wood arrived from Ohio, bought Hinkley 's
share of the claim, and built a log cabin.
Charles Swan and W. H. Brown came the
same year, acquired Dorman 's interest, and
together with Wood platted a town which
they named Carrollport. The name was soon
afterwards changed to Charleston; but in
1846 it was again changed to Sabula.
With the exception of those two river
towns, no settlement can be traced in what
became Jackson County until 1836. During
that year a party of Kentucky born pioneers
— who had lived in Henderson County and
in Edgar County, Illinois — crossed the Mis
sissippi at Buffalo, and proceeding directly
north finally halted and made their claims
near the South Fork of the Maquoketa in
what is now Monmouth Township.64 An
other settlement was made by William Mor-
den and others on Farmers' Creek, north of
the Maquoketa.65 Obscure evidence exists,

68 THOMAS COX
also, of a settlement in 1836 on Deep Creek,
near the present south limits of the county.
When spring opened in 1837 emigration
began to flow freely into the Maquoketa
River country. The timbered lands north of
the river received mostly those who had
made halts, long or short, at or about Galena,
and had come through the gateway of Bell-
view. Moreover, these settlers were very
largely men from southern Illinois — Ken
tuckians predominating. Into the more
open country south of the river, emigrants
came direct from the East — New Engend
ers, New Yorkers, and two years later
Canadian refugees of the Patriot War.
Colonel Cox alone brought a veritable colony
of relatives and old neighbors. In 1837 his
brother, John W. Cox, built the first saw
mill in the county. There came also John
Cox's brothers-in-law — Morris, Leonard,
and Thomas Hilyard, Peyton Seamands,
and Samuel McKinley, Ephraim Neville,
who had married Cox's sister, and his
brother Enoch, crippled by an Indian bullet
at Bad Axe, and Seamands 's two brothers.
These were all intimate associates, but
Colonel Cox also met and came into imme
diate contact with every settler who came

U. S. DEPUTY SURVEYOR 69
into the county. His work led to this, and
his genial cordiality gave a welcome that
won the heart of the lonesome new-comer at
once. During that summer of 1837 he selected a
site for his own new home. It was near the
north bank of the Maquoketa, about three
and a half miles east of the forks, where a
trail had already been established leading
from Dubuque to Davenport, crossing the
river by a rocky ford. A ravine leading
down to the river had many fine springs,
near the largest of which a good log house
was built. Into this home the family re
moved in the spring of 1838. It was what
was called a double cabin — two enclosed
buildings connected by a roof which covered
an open entrance in the center.
Cox named the farm and locality Rich
land, and doubtless hoped and expected that
it might become the site of a town ; but the
growth of Springfield and Bridgeport, near
the forks, soon forced the main traveled
road to a crossing a mile and a half farther
up the river, and so his hopes were aban
doned.

VIII
Member of the Legislative Assembly
The first settlers in Jackson County in 1833,
as in all other parts of what is now Iowa,
found no organized government. The coun
try had been acquired by the United States
from France as a part of the Louisiana Pur
chase, which by act of Congress in 1804 was
divided into the Territory of Orleans and the
District of Louisiana — the latter being that
portion lying north of the thirty-third paral
lel. In 1812 its name was changed to Mis
souri Territory. In 1821, however, when
Missouri was admitted as a State, the re
maining portion of the Territory, of which
the present States of Iowa and Minnesota
formed an important part, was left without
any organized government whatever. And
it so remained until 1834 when the bound
aries of Michigan Territory were extended
to the Missouri.
The only white settlements west of the
Mississippi in Michigan's new territory at

MEMBER LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 71
that time were the few that fringed the
Black Hawk Purchase. The Michigan Ter
ritorial legislature, therefore, simply divid
ed the whole vast tract into two counties - —
Demoine County,86 south of a line drawn due
west from the lower end of Rock Island to
the Missouri River, and Dubuque County,
north of that line. The settlement at Bell-
view, therefore, was in Dubuque County,
Territory of Michigan.
On July 4, 1836, the original Territory of
Wisconsin was organized, and the counties
of Demoine and Dubuque were made a part
of it. The First Legislative Assembly of the
new Territory convened at Belmont in Oc
tober of the same year, and the two counties
west of the Mississippi were represented by
six members of the Council and twelve of the
House. Of these Dubuque County sent three
Councilmen and five Representatives; and
they were all from the Dubuque settlement
or its lead mining vicinity, except John
Foley (of the Council) who lived in Bell-
view. A Dubuque man, Peter Hill Engle,
was elected Speaker of the House. Demoine
County had gained in population sufficiently
to justify its division, and the Belmont leg
islature carved it into seven new counties.

72 THOMAS COX
The second session of the Wisconsin Leg
islative Assembly convened at Burlington in
November, 1837. This was the same body
which had met at Belmont the previous year,
the Council having been elected for four
years and the House for two years.
A delegate convention of representatives
of Wisconsin Territory west of the Missis
sippi also met in Burlington just before the
convening of the legislature for the purpose
of adopting memorials to Congress on mat
ters affecting the interests of that portion of
the Territory. Memorials were adopted ask
ing for changes in the preemption laws, for
a better definition of the southern or Mis
souri boundary, and for a separate Terri
torial organization. In this convention the
part of Dubuque County now included in
Jackson County was represented by Wil
liam A. Warren, John D. Bell, and John H.
Rose — all residents of Bellview.67 Daven
port was represented by Jonathan W. Par
ker and Joseph T. Fales.
One of the earliest bills passed at the sec
ond session of the Wisconsin legislature was
an act to subdivide the original county of
Dubuque into Benton, Buchanan, Cedar,
Clayton, Clinton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fay-

MEMBER LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 73
ette, Jackson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk,
Linn, and Scott counties. Jackson County
was then given the boundaries which it still
retains, but it held legal jurisdiction for sev
eral years over the territory of Jones and
Linn counties, which lay immediately to the
west.68 The separate organization of Iowa as a
Territory took effect on July 4, 1838, by an
act of Congress passed on June 12th of the
same year. The Organic Act provided that
the members of the first Council and House
of Representatives were to be elected by the
people, in districts designated by the Gov
ernor. In that apportionment a single elec
toral district was made of the counties of
Jackson, Dubuque, Clayton, Delaware, and
Fayette. Moreover, the counties of Dela
ware and Fayette included in their jurisdic
tion the vast extent of Indian lands extend
ing to the British possessions on the north
and the Missouri River on the west, and em
bracing nearly all of the present State of
Minnesota, a part of North and South
Dakota and about one-third of Iowa. The
only election precinct north of the Turkey
River, however, was that of St. Peters or
Fort Snelling. This electoral district —

74 THOMAS COX
vast in area if not in population — was en
titled to send to the First Legislative Assem
bly of the Territory of Iowa two members of
the Council and four members of the House.
And therein lay a political opportunity for
Thomas Cox. His age, his experience as a
legislator twenty years before, and his wide
acquaintance with public men pointed him
out as one specially qualified to serve as a
law-maker for the new Territory ; while the
intimate associations into which his vocation
had led him with the pioneers who were
flooding his county, combined with the large
element of personal friends whose emigra
tion he had induced, made it easy for him to
secure the united support of the voters of
Jackson County.
No reports or traditions of political or
personal contest in this first election in the
Territory of Iowa have been preserved. The
result of the poll was that Dubuque fur
nished the two members of the Council, in
the persons of Stephen Hempstead and
Warner Lewis, while the Representatives
chosen were Colonel Andrew Bankson, Har
din Nowlin, and Chauncey Swan of Du
buque, and Thomas Cox of Jackson County.
That the election of Thomas Cox was not

MEMBER LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 75
wholly agreeable to all of his constituents is
plainly shown by the following letter from
Governor Robert Lucas which was first
printed in Shambaugh's Executive Journal
of Iowa, 1838-1841:
Executive Department Iowa Territory
Burlington, Oct. 4, 1838.
Sib, By last evenings mail, I received your letter of
the 26th Ulto. — • also a communication containing the
affidavits of B. Rodefer and others, complaining of
the ineligibility of Thomas Cox, to a seat in the House
of Representatives of the Legislative Assembly of
this Territory. I also, received a communication some
days since, dated the 20th Ulto. signed by N. Jefferson
and others, containing a similar complaint.
In answer to your enquiries, I can only say that, I
regret that any cause of dis [s] atisf action should arise,
as to the qualification of any member returned elected
to a seat in our legislative Assembly, but it would be
travelling entir[e]ly out of my appropriate sphere of
duty as Executive, for me to express any opinion with
regard to the eligibility of any person that may be
returned as a member elect, to a seat in either branch
of the legislative Assembly of the Territory, as each
branch has the legitimate right to judge as to the
qualification of its own members.
The subject complained of, in your communication,
is one that rests between the person returned elected,
and his constitutory, and as executive, I have no right
to question the correctness of the returns of any elec-

76 THOMAS COX
tion that may be officially transmitted to me in pur
suance of the Organic law of the Territory, and the
Proclamation of the l5th. August issued under it
This being the case you will perceive the impro
priety of my expressing any opinion, with regard to
the qualifications of persons returned, as members
elect of a coordainate branch of the government of the
Territory. With sincere respect,
I am, Your Obt. Sert. Robert Lucas
James K. Moss Esqr
Clerk district Court of Jackson
County, Iowa, Territory.
The guarded language of Governor Lucas
makes it difficult to guess what was the point
of ineligibility as regards Colonel Cox's elec
tion of which complaint was made. It seems
probable, however, that it referred to the
provision in Section 8 of the Organic Act,
which declared that persons holding com
missions or appointments under the govern
ment of the United States should not be
eligible to election as members of the Terri
torial legislature; for Colonel Cox came to
the Territory with an appointment as Dep
uty United States Surveyor, and his work
under that appointment was not finished
until 1838. The House Journal does not in-

MEMBER LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 77
dicate that the question of his eligibility was
raised in any manner when the legislature
met in November, 1838.69
The First Legislative Assembly of the
Territory of Iowa convened at Burlington
on November 12, 1838. The meetings were
held in the Zion Church — a building which
had been rented for the purpose. The Rep
resentatives used as their hall the main floor
of the Church, and the Council met in the
basement. The Council consisted of thirteen
members and the House of Representatives
of twenty-six.70 On the first day of the ses
sion Andrew Bankson was made temporary
Speaker of the House. W. H. Wallace of
Henry County and Thomas Cox were ap
pointed together with a similar committee
from the Council to wait upon the Governor
and inform him of the organization of the
two houses.
It was on the motion of Thomas Cox that
the members of the Council were invited to
take seats in the hall of the House of Rep
resentatives to be sworn into office and to
hear the message of his Excellency, the Gov
ernor of the Territory.71
Robert Lucas, the Governor, was a states
man of experience, having served as legisla-

78 THOMAS COX
tor in Ohio fourteen years and as Governor
of that State four years. His first message
bristled with recommendations of practical
value to the pioneer legislators of Iowa who
had met to launch into being the new Ter
ritory. On the second day of the session, with six
members absent or not voting, the House
balloted for Speaker with the result that
William H. Wallace of Henry County re
ceived eleven votes, John Frierson of Mus
catine County four, Thomas Cox of Jackson
County two, Andrew Bankson of Dubuque
County one, James W. Grimes of Des
Moines County one, and one blank. Wal
lace was a Whig and the political complex
ion of the House was largely Democratic;
but the election was doubtless decided by the
preponderance of the delegations from the
southern counties of the Territory.
On November 14th a select committee on
printing was ordered on motion of Mr. Cox.
He was appointed Chairman, with William
G. Coop of Henry County and Levi Thorn
ton of Muscatine as associates. This com
mittee became at once a storm center of
contests which lasted several days and re
sulted finally in the selection of Clarke &

MEMBER LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 79
McKenny of Burlington to print the Jour
nal of proceedings, and Russell & Reeves of
Dubuque to print the Laws. Cox led the fight
for Russell & Reeves against the efforts of
James W. Grimes on behalf of James G.
Edwards of Burlington.72
As to the standing committees which were
named on November 15th, Cox was made
Chairman of the Committee on Internal
Improvements and given a place on the
Committee on Militia and the Committee on
Roads and Highways. It was on this same
day that the contest over the location of the
capital began by the adoption of a motion by
Mr. Cox "That so much of the Governor's
message as relates to establishing the seat of
Government be referred to the committee
on Territorial Affairs."
The makeshifts necessary to relieve the
poverty of the infant parliament of the Ter
ritory are illustrated by the passage of a
resolution, introduced by Cox on the 16th,
"That a committee be appointed by the
Speaker to borrow from the gentlemen of
the bar of this city, as well as other citizens,
such books as may be useful to the different
standing committees in drafting laws, &c."
Messrs. Cox, Temple, and Delashmutt were

80 THOMAS COX
appointed as the committee, and it is pre
sumed that the patriotic lawyers and "other
citizens" duly ransacked their shelves and
trunks for the valuable literature required.
Later in the winter the House attempted
to hold an evening session. The Journal
records this result: "The hall not being
sufficiently lighted, Mr. Grimes made a mo
tion that the doorkeeper be sent for a box of
candles, which motion was disagreed to." 73
Mr. Cox then moved that the House adjourn,
which was carried on roll call by a vote of
ten to nine. On the next to the last day of
the session it was "Resolved, That J. B.
Whitesides, be allowed the sum of five dol
lars, for furnishing this House with tin
buckets and cups, during the session." Thus
was luxury beginning to creep in — their
fathers would have used cedar buckets and
gourd dippers.
Thomas Cox was ever watchful of the
interests of his own section of the Territory,
and he was not averse to promoting, if pos
sible, his own investments. He procured the
passage of a resolution ' ' That the committee
on Territorial Affairs be instructed to in
quire into the expediency of establishing a
territorial road, on the mail route estab-

MEMBER LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 81
lished by Congress, from Du Buque, Rich
field, Point Pleasant, and Davenport."
Again, he asked leave "to introduce a me
morial to Congress, for the purpose of con
structing a railroad from Rockingham, by
way of Davenport and Richfield to Du
Buque." Leave was granted, and Messrs.
Cox, Coop, and Bankson were appointed a
committee to prepare and report the same.
Richfield undoubtedly means his own farm,
although he afterwards changed the name to
Richland. Rockingham was then a larger
village than Davenport its rival.
The establishment of roads and the im
provement of transportation facilities were
among the most fruitful sources of legisla
tion proposed and passed upon by the legis
lature. Among other measures was a
resolution, moved on November 22d, by Mr.
Laurel Summers of LeClaire, that a memori
al to Congress be prepared asking an appro
priation to improve the navigation of the
"Wabesipinacon" River. Mr. Cox moved to
add the Big Maquoketa, and Mr. S. C. Has
tings asked to have the Cedar fork of the
Iowa included — all of which passed.
On December 28th, Mr. Cox was appoint
ed Chairman of a committee to draft a

82 THOMAS COX
"memorial asking Congress to have the
rapids in the Mississippi River, above Rock
Island, examined and surveyed by compe
tent engineers; and that said memorial ask
of Congress a donation in land of sufficient
value to make a steam boat canal from the
head of said rapids to the foot of the same,
in the territory of Iowa."
The record shows that scarcely a day
passed during the session when Colonel Cox
was not in evidence, alert, vigilant, and in
dustrious in all the duties of a legislator.
He was frequently Chairman of the Com
mittee of the Whole, which was called to
consider nearly every bill that passed; he
was on committees to prepare bills nearly
every day ; and he answered every roll call,
except one, during the session — and they
were much more frequent then than now.
Two notable contests enlivened this ses
sion and did more to bring it into the lime
light of history than any other of its trans
actions. These were (1) the unfortunate
controversy with Governor Lucas over his
exercise of the veto power and (2) the con
test for the location of the capital of the
Territory. In both of these matters Colonel
Cox bore an active and influential part.

IX
Opposition to Governor Lucas
The act of Congress organizing the Terri
tory of Iowa had provided that "The Gov
ernor shall approve of all laws passed by the
Legislative Assembly before they shall take
effect." Governor Lucas exercised this
power somewhat freely, early in the session,
by returning bills for correction and by
criticizing details in a way that he evidently
felt was only offering his wide experience
and knowledge of law to aid in perfecting
the work of men less skilled in legislation;
but his acts sometimes wounded the pride of
the members of the Assembly.74 Then, too,
jealousy was fanned by the bitter persist
ence of Secretary William B. Conway, be
tween whom and Governor Lucas strained
relations had resulted from the Secretary's
presumption in assuming prerogatives of
the Executive before the arrival of the
Governor in the Territory.
Open warfare was precipitated when on

84 THOMAS COX
January 4th the Governor returned without
his approval two joint resolutions. The one
earliest in date had been introduced by
Colonel Cox on December 3d in the interests
of his extensive district and had been passed
by the unanimous vote of both houses. It
read :
Resolved, by the Council and House of Representa
tives of the Territory of Iowa that the postmaster at
Davenport, Scott county, be and he is hereby author
ized to have the mail from Davenport, to Du Buque,
conveyed in two horse post coaches, twice a week dur
ing the present session of the Legislative Assembly,
and that the post master general of the United States,
be memorialized by the Legislative Assembly, to allow
and pay the extra expense that may be incurred under
this resolution.75
On December 10th Colonel Cox was made
Chairman of a special committee to memo
rialize the Postmaster General as provided
by the resolution. This memorial, reported
on the following day, set forth that the mail
was carried from Davenport to Du Buque
once a week on horseback and that letters,
public documents, and newspapers from
members of the legislature to their constitu
ents could not be thus conveyed in due time,
but were often delayed at Davenport from
week to week. They asked, therefore, that

OPPOSITION TO GOVERNOR LUCAS 85
the mail be carried twice a week in two-
horse coaches.
The Governor returned the joint resolu
tion without his approval, giving as a reason
that it assumed authority to instruct the
Postmaster at Davenport — an officer en
tirely under the jurisdiction of the Federal
government. The other vetoed joint resolution decreed
that the Governor should "within a reason
able time" notify the Assembly upon his
approval of a bill. This the Governor de
clined to do, stating that upon his approval
of bills or joint resolutions they were at once
deposited with the Secretary of the Terri
tory as required by law.
Mutterings of the coming storm were
heard when on the 20th of December a com
mittee, of which Cox was a member, was
appointed to prepare a memorial to Con
gress asking that the Organic Act of Iowa
be amended to allow the Legislative Assem
bly to pass any law by a majority of two-
thirds, notwithstanding the veto of the Ex
ecutive. And the storm broke when the two
vetoed resolutions were returned on Janu
ary 4th. Mr. Grimes immediately moved
that a standing committee on vetoes be ap-

86 THOMAS COX
pointed. This was done ; and the Governor's
communication was referred to the commit
tee, which consisted of James W. Grimes,
Chauncey Swan, Gideon S. Bailey, Laurel
Summers, and Hawkins Taylor. Through
their Chairman they made a lengthy report
on January 7th, of which the following por
tion concerns the Davenport mail resolution :
This resolution was unanimously adopted by the
Legislative Assembly, upon the suggestion of Northern
members, that they were unable to receive petitions or
hear from their constituents, or their constituents to
hear from them. It was a matter of notoriety, which
must have been known, as well by the Executive of
this Territory, as by the members of this Assembly,
that the mail from Davenport to Du Buque was ir
regular, — that not a fourth part of the mail could be
carried in the bags at one time — that in requesting
the Post Master General to defray the additional ex
pense, this Legislature had the example of the Wiscon
sin Assembly — and that that request was considered
reasonable and complied with very readily by the De
partment at Washington.
The resolution was nothing more nor less, than a
call upon the Post Master General to establish, for
the present winter at least, a sufficient mail route be
tween Davenport and Du Buque. If power was as
sumed in that resolution which could only be exercised
by the Congress of the United States, the "veto" was
perfectly proper; (if it could be exercised at all), but

OPPOSITION TO GOVERNOR LUCAS 87
your committee are not of that opinion. The Legisla
tive Assembly did not stipulate with the Post Master
at Davenport, that he should be paid for his extra
trouble, by the United States or by the Territory.
This Assembly informed him that should the mail be
carried in conformity to that resolution Congress
should be memorialized upon the subject; but it was
still left discretionary with him.
The report, which condemned the Gover
nor very severely and claimed in fact that he
had no right of veto, was adopted by a vote
of sixteen to six — Cox voting for it, and
also for a motion to order one thousand cop
ies printed.
On the 15th of January a resolution was
introduced by Colonel Andrew Bankson
which declared that "Robert Lucas is 'unfit
to be the ruler of a free people' " and or
dered that a memorial be sent to the Presi
dent asking that he be removed from office.
The resolution was adopted by the close
vote of twelve to ten — Cox voting in the
affirmative. The memorial to the President
demanded by Bankson 's resolution was re
ported on the 21st and received sixteen votes
against eight opposed — Cox again voting in
the affirmative.76
On the 24th there was introduced a ful
some preamble and resolution of thanks to

88 THOMAS COX
Secretary William B. Conway, which con
tained insulting reference to the Governor.
It was voted down by a vote of six to thirteen
— Colonel Cox being one of the implacable
six. And on the last day of the session
(January 25th) his motion was carried that
Messrs. Inghram of the Council and Temple
of the House be appointed a committee to
forward to President Van Buren the joint
memorial of the Iowa Assembly that he re
move Robert Lucas from the office of Gover
nor of the Territory.
The memorial was not successful. The
President accepted the explanations of Gov
ernor Lucas as satisfactory; but before an
other session of the Territorial Assembly
convened Congress had relieved the situa
tion by an act which deprived the Executive
of the indefensible power of absolute veto
and gave to the Assembly the right to pass
measures by a two-thirds vote when re
turned by the Governor with objections.

X
Locating and Naming the Capital City
One of the important matters which Gover
nor Lucas urged upon the attention of the
legislature in his message was the location of
a permanent seat of government for the new
Territory. Under the authority given him
by the Organic Act he had chosen Burling
ton as the temporary capital; but it was
realized that, although settlements were as
yet confined to a strip of country closely con
tiguous to the Mississippi River, jurisdic
tion of the inchoate Commonwealth extend
ed over a vast domain to the westward,
whose future population would demand a
location more central than any town on the
river could be. It was very difficult, how
ever, to find any settlement at a distance
from the river large enough to claim the
distinction of being called a town.
Moreover, there was considerable rivalry
between the northern and southern sections
of the Territory- The old County of De-

90 THOMAS COX
moine had an overwhelming majority of the
population, but it soon became evident that
Bloomington (Muscatine) members were
disposed to join forces with the representa
tives of the northern counties. Mount Pleas
ant in Henry County was the largest village
in the Territory not situated on the Missis
sippi River. It was represented in the As
sembly by two members of the Council and
three members of the House — one of whom
was the Speaker — and they soon secured
pledges from the southern members that
seemed to make the selection of that town a
certainty. The Burlington contingent seems
to have abandoned efforts for their own
town early in the struggle and, with two ex
ceptions, supported Mount Pleasant loyally,
even when tempted by flattering proposi
tions in their own favor. Bloomington, how
ever, was recalcitrant, and its district had
strong men to lend aid to their northern
brethren in the persons of General John
Frierson, S. Clinton Hastings, William L.
Toole, and Levi Thornton in the House, and
James M. Clark in the Council.
The first record of proceedings is on No
vember 15th, when Colonel Cox moved that
so much of the Governor's message as re-

LOCATING THE CAPITAL CITY 91
lated to the establishing of the seat of gov
ernment be referred to the Committee on
Territorial Affairs. But there appears to
have been no report from that committee
until the last day of the year (December 31,
1838) when they brought in a bill providing
that Burlington should be the temporary
capital for three years and that then Mount
Pleasant should be the permanent capital.
The bill being considered in Committee of
the Whole, the Burlington provision was
adopted without much opposition. Then
came motions to strike out Mount Pleasant
and insert some other location. Twenty-
eight different places were thus tried. Mr.
Cox moved to insert Black Hawk ; Mr. Now-
lin moved to insert Bellevue ; and Mr. Sum
mers moved to insert Camanche. And so
the gamut was run. All the motions were
lost and Mount Pleasant emerged from the
Committee of the Whole triumphant.
The question then came before the House
on concurrence in the report of the Commit
tee of the Whole, and the contest was re
newed. The first attack was on the first
section of the bill, and Colonel Cox with
six others voted to substitute Fort Madison
for Burlington as the temporary capital.

92 THOMAS COX
Finally, Colonel Cox came forward with an
entirely new solution for the problem,
drawn, possibly, from his personal knowl
edge of a similar contest twenty years before
in Illinois.
Controversies over the location of the seat
of government were interesting incidents in
the early legislation of nearly all of the new
Commonwealths which the invasion of the
West was bringing into the American Un
ion. The usual and expected result of such
contests had been the choice of an estab
lished town, or at least a regularly surveyed
town site with the nucleus of a settlement.
But there had been a notable exception when
the First General Assembly of the State of
Illinois in 1818 had, through a Board of
Commissioners, located its new State capital
upon four sections of unoccupied govern
ment land and had given it the name of
Vandalia. Thomas Cox was a Senator in that First
General Assembly of Illinois, and he bore a
part in the legislation which decreed that
the seat of government should go into the
wilderness and the capital city be laid out
into lots and sold to its future residents by
the State. Government land stretched in al-

LOCATING THE CAPITAL CITY 93
most illimitable vastness beyond the narrow
fringe of settlements in the Territory of
Iowa in 1838, as it had in Illinois in 1818.
If a central capital be desired, why not take
a leaf from the book of Illinois history:
choose a plat of land and make a capital.
Such were the thoughts, doubtless, that
prompted Thomas Cox to move to amend
the second section of the bill as follows :
Strike out "Mount Pleasant" and insert Johnson,
Linn and Cedar Counties, and that commissioners be
appointed to locate the seat of government at the most
eligible place in either of those counties.77
The motion received only eleven votes as
against fourteen, but the idea was neverthe
less fruitful. It became clear that here was
a rallying ground for all who were not en
tirely satisfied with Mount Pleasant to de
feat the aspirations of that place, and also
avoid favoring any other existing rival.
Nothing more was done, however, in the
House in furtherance of the scheme, but the
struggle there proceeded on other lines. Mr.
Hastings moved to strike out Burlington in
the first section and insert Bloomington;
and on this motion he secured ten votes,
including that of Thomas Cox.
Then a tempting bait was flung out to

94 THOMAS COX
Burlington in Hardin Nowlin's motion to
make Burlington the permanent capital.
Some of the Burlington members were true
to their Mount Pleasant pledges and voted
against this motion, but it received twelve
votes — lacking one only of success. An
other motion intervened ; and then Hawkins
Taylor of Lee County, who had voted
against Nowlin's motion, moved to recon
sider that vote. The reconsideration car
ried; and then the Nowlin amendment was
adopted by a vote of fourteen to eleven. The
vote, arranged geographically was as fol
lows: Ayes (in favor of Burlington) —
Bankson, Cox, Nowlin, and Swan (Jackson,
Dubuque, and Clayton counties), Roberts
(Cedar, Jones, Linn, and Johnson counties),
Frierson, Hastings, Toole, and Thornton
(Muscatine, Louisa, and Slaughter coun
ties) , Taylor (Lee County) , Bailey and Hall
(Van Buren County), Beeler and Blair
(Des Moines County). Noes (in favor of
Mount Pleasant) — Patterson, Brierly, and
Price (Lee County), Parker (Van Buren
County), Delashmutt, Grimes, and Temple
(Des Moines County), Summers (Clinton
and Scott counties) , Coop, Porter, and Wal
lace (Henry County).

LOCATING THE CAPITAL CITY 95
This alignment differed from the first
vote on the Nowlin amendment in that Haw
kins Taylor of Lee County and James Hall
of Van Buren County now voted for instead
of against the amendment.
But the end was not yet. Mr. Taylor
moved that the bill be referred to a select
committee of one from each electoral dis
trict, which motion was carried by a vote of
fourteen to eleven. Mr. Cox voted aye, but
the personnel of the vote was quite different
from the former one. The legislature held
its regular session on New Year's Day, 1839,
and the select committee reported back the
bill "with amendments". The Journal does
not record what the amendments were, but
the inference is that the committee, which
had been appointed by Speaker Wallace (a
Mount Pleasant man) reported back the
original plan of Burlington for the tempo
rary and Mount Pleasant for the perma
nent capital.
The report was adopted by a vote of thir
teen to eleven, and then a motion to amend
by making Burlington the permanent capi
tal was rejected by the same vote. G. S.
Bailey and James Hall of Van Buren and
George H. Beeler of Des Moines, having

96 THOMAS COX
repented over night, reversed their votes of
the day before.
Other routine and dilatory motions fol
lowed until the bill finally passed by the
same vote of thirteen to eleven. Then Har
din Nowlin moved to amend the title of the
bill to read: "A bill to establish two seats
of government and to squander the appro
priation for erecting public buildings."
Six dilatory motions with three roll calls
followed; then Nowlin's motion was lost by
a vote of six to seventeen. The ayes were
Cox, Hastings, Nowlin, Roberts, Taylor,
and Toole.
The contest was now transferred to the
Council, and it became at once evident that
the leaven of Colonel Cox's suggestion had
worked its full effect on that body, and that
a fully detailed plan had received the sanc
tion of all except the members from Henry
and Van Buren counties. On the morning
of January second the Council received a
message from the House that it had passed,
among other bills, "An Act to locate the
Seat of Government of the Territory of
Iowa." James M. Clark of Louisa County and
Stephen Hempstead of Dubuque assumed

LOCATING THE CAPITAL CITY 97
direction of the new plan, which was first
advanced by a motion of Mr. Clark to strike
out the second section of the bill. The vote
on this motion disclosed the full strength of
both factions in the Council, and was as fol
lows : Yeas — Clark, Hempstead, Lewis,
Hepner, Inghram, Ralston, Parker, Whit
tlesey, Browne; Nays — ¦ Hughes, Payne,
Keith, Swazy. Of those who voted in the
negative, the first two were the members
from Henry County while the other two
were from Van Buren County.
Then Mr. Hempstead moved to insert a
new second section, which after several ver
bal changes read as follows :
Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the commission
ers hereinafter mentioned, or a majority of them,
shall, on the first day of May, in the year eighteen
hundred and thirty nine, meet at the town of Napo
leon, and proceed to locate the Seat of Government at
the most eligible point within the present limits of
Johnson County.
This motion was adopted by the same nine
to four vote previously recorded.78
The Henry County members exhausted
every parliamentary device and tested the
endurance of the majority by roll calls on
amendments at every stage of progress of
7

98 THOMAS COX
the bill, but the stalwart nine held their
ground without a break in their ranks. The
bill was perfected to six sections, then re
ferred to the Committee on Territorial Af
fairs and laid over until the next day.
On January 3d the committee reported
the bill with an additional section, which was
concurred in. Other efforts were made by
the Mount Pleasant men to amend or delay
its passage, but on the final roll call it
secured ten votes — Mr. Keith of Van Bu
ren having joined the majority.
The House took up the bill as amended
by the Council on the same day, made some
slight changes and then passed it by the
bare majority of thirteen to twelve. As
compared with the vote on January 1st,
when Mount Pleasant won by thirteen to
eleven, that town lost the votes of George
H. Beeler of Des Moines and Laurel Sum
mers of Scott and gained that of William
Patterson of Lee, who had been absent on
the first.79
When the bill came to Governor Lucas
for approval he pointed out defects — which
he suggested could be cured by a supplemen
tary act — and withheld his approval until
the legislature should perfect their work. A

LOCATING THE CAPITAL CITY 99
"bill supplementary to an act for the loca
tion of the seat of government" was there
fore introduced in the House on the 15th of
January. It provided that so soon as the
place was selected and the consent of the
United States obtained the commissioners
should proceed to lay out a town ; that after
a plat of the town was recorded the Gover
nor should direct a sale of lots to be held
under direction of the commissioners, the
proceeds of which should go into the Terri
torial treasury; that the acting commis
sioner should give bonds ; and that the Gov
ernor should apply to Congress for a dona
tion of four sections of land.80
During the consideration of the supple
mentary bill Colonel Cox moved to insert
in the first section the words, "to be called
Iowa City" — and the motion carried. Thus
was Thomas Cox not only responsible for
the idea which bore fruit in the selection of
a site for the Territorial capital upon un
occupied government land, but it Was he,
also, who gave the city a name. The supple
mentary act was passed by a vote of six
teen to nine — Cox voting in the negative.
The opposition probably expressed to some
extent a feeling of resentment towards the

100 THOMAS COX
Governor on account of what was regarded
as executive dictation in the affairs of the
Legislative Assembly.
On the 18th of January the two houses
met in joint convention to elect the three
locating commissioners, one from each judi
cial district. For the Third District, Colo
nel Cox put in nomination his colleague
Chauncey Swan of Dubuque. Swan was
elected by twenty-nine votes against nine
which were scattering. For the Second
District, John Ronalds of Louisa County
was elected on the first ballot. For the First
District five candidates were put in nomina
tion. Four ballots were taken without re
sult. The fifth ballot stood: Robert Ral
ston of Des Moines County, twenty-three
votes; John Claypoole, thirteen; and Colo
nel Cox, one. The original and the supple
mentary acts were both approved by the
Governor on January 21, 1839.

XI
Surveying the Capital City
The act locating the Territorial capital at
Iowa City provided that the locating com
missioners should employ one or more
competent surveyors and assistants, have
six hundred and forty acres laid out into
lots, out-lots, streets, squares, and alleys,
and have the town platted. Two of the com
missioners (a majority) had, with much
tribulation, succeeded in meeting at the town
of Napoleon by midnight of the 1st day of
May, 1839,81 as required by law, and had
selected as a site for the future city, Section
ten, Township seventy-nine north, Range
six west of the Fifth Principal Meridian.
This site had the Iowa River as its west
ern boundary, and was very near the geo
graphical center of Johnson County. It was
about a mile and a half north of the project
ed town of Napoleon, which contained only
two or three buildings. A part of the site
was covered by the claim of a pioneer

102 THOMAS COX
farmer, but no improvements had been
made. The entire tract was in its wild and
natural state of gently undulating hills, cov
ered with a park-like growth of mingled
forest and prairie.
On the twenty-seventh of June a meeting
of the commissioners was held at which it
was ordered that Thomas Cox and John
Frierson be employed to survey Iowa City
and that L. Judson be secured to draw the
necessary plats. Colonel Cox's colleague as
surveyor had been a consistent opponent of
Mount Pleasant and had supported the
Iowa City idea from its first suggestion. To
assist in the work Colonel Cox brought with
him John G. McDonald, the able deputy
who had aided him in the survey of the
Jackson County townships.
The surveyors began their labor on the
1st day of July, 1839. On the fourth all
work was suspended for a celebration of In
dependence Day.82 The settlers for miles
around gathered on the site of the future
capital. A tall young oak, standing on the
spot which the Old Stone Capitol now occu
pies, was stripped of its branches, and the
stars and stripes were unfurled from its top
to wave for the first time over Iowa's capi-

SURVEYING THE CAPITAL CITY 103
tal city. A picnic dinner was served; the
Declaration of Independence was read;
toasts were responded to; and General
Frierson, standing in a wagon, delivered an
oration "far surpassing in eloquence and
ability the average productions on similar
occasions." Commissioner Swan, who had been se
lected as Acting Commissioner in charge of
the work, in a report to the Assembly says :
It is a well known fact, especially to surveyors, that
this is a very unfavorable season of the year for sur
veying in the western country, in consequence of the
luxuriant growth of vegetation, accompanied by the
heavy dews that prevail at this season of the year,
making it almost impossible to commence the labors
of the day at anything like an early hour, without
exposure to sickness and death. The consequence is
that only about two-thirds of a day's labor can be
performed in twenty-four hours.83
It was necessary to make a special survey
of township seventy-nine at the same time
in order to comply with the act of Congress
which directed that the location of the capi
tal site should be upon surveyed lands. This
township survey was made under direction
of John Frierson, who was appointed by the
Surveyor General of Iowa and Wisconsin
as a special deputy for that purpose.

104

THOMAS COX

The bounds of the capital town were de
fined by the section lines thus established,
and a permanent monument was set up to
mark the southeast corner of the section. It
is a shaft of rough, gray, limestone about
twelve inches square, and about six feet
high. It stands today on the edge of a fine
lawn of one of the beautiful homes on Sum
mit Street and is festooned by a natural
growth of American ivy making it an at
tractive feature of the landscape, as well as
a novel historical relic. There are two in
scriptions on this historic landmark.

EAST SIDE
M. VANBUREN
President of the U. S.
and
R. Lucas
Gov. of the Territory

WEST SIDE
IOWA CITY
The Capital ol
Iowa Territory
as situated on
Section No 10.
Township 79 N. R.
6 W ol the 5th Pr M
located
May 4th 1839
by Messrs
Chauncey Swan
John Ronalds
and
Robert Ralston
Commrs & Surveyed
by Messrs
Cox Frierson & Judson
under the direction of
C. Swan Actg Com

SURVEYING THE CAPITAL CITY 105
On the surveying of Iowa City Acting
Commissioner Swan reports as follows :
It required over two thousand stakes to be used on
the location, and something like fifty hewed posts
from six inches to one foot square, and from six to
nine feet long for the corners of the town plat, the
public square, and reservations. For boarding the
surveyors and hands employed, I paid at the rate of
four dollars per week. The amount paid for survey
ing, including all the expenses of surveyor's hands,
teams, setting of posts, and the necessary plats of the
city, as per receipts in my office, is $1,476.99.

XII
Member of the Second Legislative
Assembly
The Territorial elections of 1839 were held
in August, and so the Democratic caucus
to nominate legislative and other candidates
was held during the absence of Colonel Cox
at Iowa City. A change had been made in
the northern electoral district by which
Jackson County was allowed to elect one
member of the House of Representatives,
the other counties joining in the election of
the other three. Cox entertained no doubt
that his party was united in supporting him
for a reelection. He especially relied upon
the aid of a Bellevue hotel-keeper by the
name of W. W. Brown, with whom he had
associated on terms of cordial friendship.
His surprise and indignation can be imagin
ed, therefore, when he learned that Brown
had so manipulated the convention as to ob
tain the nomination for himself.
Immediately upon his return home the

SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 107
Colonel announced himself as an independ
ent candidate. Suspicions were becoming
rife that Brown was not entirely innocent
of connection with gangs of horse and cattle
thieves and counterfeiters that seemed to
infest the timber country and who were sus
pected of being frequent guests at his hos
telry. Blinded by his liking for the genial
boniface, Colonel Cox had refused to share
in the distrust felt by many of his neighbors
until his eyes were opened by the rank
treachery of his whilom friend. Closer
investigation revealed damning evidence
which was used with effect in the campaign
which followed, and Cox was reelected by a
round majority.
The Second Legislative Assembly of the
Territory of Iowa convened at Burlington
on the fourth day of November, 1839.84
Colonel Cox found among his colleagues in
the House of Representatives only six who
had been members the previous session. Lee
County had returned Colonel William Pat
terson ; Van Buren County, James Hall and
Dr. Gideon S. Bailey; Henry County, Wil
liam G. Coop ; Muscatine County, S. C. Has
tings; and Scott County, Laurel Summers.
Some notably strong men appeared among

108 THOMAS COX
the new members. Shepherd Leffler of Bur
lington became a member and President of
the Constitutional Convention of 1844, was
elected to Congress when Iowa was admit
ted as a State in 1846, and to that position
was twice reelected. Edward Johnston, who
was a leading lawyer of Keokuk, and a mag
nificent specimen of physical manhood, be
came at once prominent in his legislative
career. He was District Attorney for the
Territory in 1845 and 1846.
The Representatives from the Dubuque-
Clayton district — all new men — were:
General James Churchman, a brilliant law
yer, but somewhat eccentric ; Loring Wheel
er, a New Hampshire man who had come to
Dubuque with the first settlers in 1832 and
had previously served in the first Wiscon
sin Assembly; and Edward Langworthy,
also an 1832 settler and one of the principal
lead mine owners. At the close of his leg
islative term, Wheeler removed to De Witt,
in Clinton County, becoming the original
proprietor of that town site.
When the election for Speaker came on,
Mr. Hastings nominated Edward Johnston
of Keokuk. Mr. Wheeler nominated James
Churchman of Dubuque. These were party

SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 109
nominations — Hastings and Johnston be
ing Democrats, and Wheeler and Church
man, Whigs. The result of the ballot was
as follows: Johnston, seventeen; Church
man, six, Thomas Cox, one; Alfred Rich,
one. During the election of minor officers
Mr. Langworthy nominated for Doorkeeper,
John G. McDonald of Jackson County
(Colonel Cox's intimate friend and asso
ciate in his surveying operations) and he
received the whole number of votes given.
On the second day of the session Cox was
appointed on a committee to prepare stand
ing rules for the House and on a committee
to draft a memorial to Congress on the sub
ject of mail routes. When the standing
committees were appointed he was made
Chairman of the Committee on Internal
Improvements, and a member of the com
mittees on Militia and on Territorial Affairs.
The session of the Assembly had but
fairly begun when the members were
shocked by the news of the death of the
brilliant but erratic Secretary of the Terri
tory, William B. Conway. The unfriendly
relations from which Governor Lucas had
suffered during the previous session were
thus ended, but in a way which he could not

110 THOMAS COX
have at all desired. Secretary Conway was
succeeded in office by James Clarke, a native
of Pennsylvania. Clarke had established a
newspaper at Belmont, Wisconsin, in 1836,
when it was made the capital of that Terri
tory, but had removed it to Burlington with
the removal of the capital. His paper bore
the name of the Iowa Territorial Gazette,
and under the title of the Burlington Ga
zette is still published. Mr. Clarke was a
son-in-law of General Henry Dodge, Gov
ernor of Wisconsin Territory, and was af
terwards appointed by President James K.
Polk the third Governor of the Territory of
Iowa. As in the preceding session Colonel Cox,
not being a lawyer, took little part in the
enactment of laws affecting legal procedure,
but in the practical matters indicated by his
committee assignments and in the details of
parliamentary routine he was much in evi
dence and was recognized as a leader. On
the twenty-sixth of November the Commit
tee on Territorial Affairs, of which he was
a member, presented majority and minority
reports on the advisability of seeking for
the admission of Iowa into the Union as a
State.

SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY HI
The conclusions of the majority were that
the time had not yet arrived when the
sparsely settled Territory could safely as
sume the responsibilities of Statehood. This
report was signed by James Churchman,
Thomas Cox, Laurel Summers, and George
H. Walworth. The minority report favor
ing action leading to admission as a State
was made by Alfred Rich of Keokuk. The
majority at the close of their report sub
mitted the following:
Resolved, that it is inexpedient to take any prepara
tory steps for admission into the Union at the pres
ent session of the Legislative Assembly.
This resolution was adopted by a vote of
twenty-one to four — the negative votes be
ing Hall, Patterson, Rich, and Johnston
(Speaker). It may be noted, though prob
ably the fact is without special significance,
that the majority of the committee were
from the northernmost districts, and the
minority votes for Statehood were all from
the extreme south of the Territory.
The changed conditions produced by the
act of Congress in regard to the veto power
of the Governor evidently had little effect
on the mind of Colonel Cox in his view of
the question involved — if we may judge by

112 THOMAS COX
his votes during this session. In no case in
which vetoed measures came up for recon
sideration did the Colonel cast a vote to sus
tain the Executive. The veto by Governor
Lucas of the legislative resolutions on the
Missouri boundary dispute will receive men
tion in another chapter.
A veto, on December 19th, of a bill to
create the office of public printer was made
on the ground that the Organic Act did not
permit appointments by an election by the
legislature on joint ballot. This was a topic
of acute difference at the previous session,
and Cox was one of eight who wished to
overrule the Governor's opinion. An exact
ly similar situation was presented in a bill
to appoint a librarian by joint ballot. The
Governor's veto was sustained by a vote of
sixteen to six — Cox being one of the six.
And when another bill was introduced to
appoint a librarian on the Governor's
terms, Mr. Cox moved to reject the bill; but
in this opposition he obtained the support
of only one other member, Mr. Langworthy.

XIII
The Boundary Dispute
During the second session of the Territorial
Assembly a dispute which had arisen be
tween the authorities of the State of Mis
souri and those of the Territory of Iowa
regarding the boundary line which sepa
rated the two jurisdictions came to a crisis
which was met in a manner well illustrating
the martial disposition of the early pio
neers.85 The enabling act, by which Congress in
1820 authorized Missouri to form a State
government, in a clumsy attempt to make
the north boundary of that State conform
to what was known as the Indian Boundary
Line or Sullivan Line of 1816 had used the
words "rapids of the river Des Moines" as
a point on that Indian boundary, when in
fact no rapids exist in the Des Moines River.
The term evidently referred to the Des
Moines Rapids of the Mississippi River.
The same ambiguous language defining

114 THOMAS COX
its northern boundary having been incor
porated into the Constitution of the State
of Missouri, the legislature of that State in
December, 1836, ordered a new survey in
which the old Indian boundary line was ig
nored. The surveyor detected a riffle in the
current of the Des Moines River at low
water in the great bend near Keosauqua, and
despite the fact that the term "rapids of the
river Des Moines" had never been applied
to this or to any other point on the Des
Moines River, he selected it as his point of
departure and ran a line due west. This
line was about thirteen miles north of the
old northwest corner of the State of Mis
souri, and so appropriated for that State a
strip of land which had been settled by
claimants who regarded themselves as citi
zens of the Territory of Iowa.86
Threatened attempts on the part of Mis
souri authorities to collect taxes in the dis
puted tract aroused a formal protest by the
County Commissioners of Van Buren Coun
ty to Governor Lucas in July, 1839. This
was followed by a series of proclamations
and counter-proclamations by Governor
Lucas and Governor Boggs of Missouri.87
Lucas insisted that, as a Territory, Iowa

THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 115
represented the United States in the contro
versy and should abide strictly by the de
cision of Congress, but until that was given
the boundary which had been recognized by
the general government would be main
tained. The rumored mobilization of troops on
the part of Missouri to invade the disputed
strip and the serious aspect of affairs on
the border prompted Governor Lucas some
time later to notify the three Major Gen
erals of the militia to hold themselves in
readiness at any time to supply the United
States Marshal for the Territory with what
ever armed forces he might require as a
posse comitatus; and a number of compa
nies recruited for this purpose in different
parts of the Territory took up the march
toward the scene of action in Van Buren
County. Moreover, as a preliminary to any
military operations it was deemed wise to
send an embassy to meet and come to an
understanding with the authorities of Mis
souri. General Augustus C. Dodge, James
Churchman, and James A. Clark were
selected to act as such embassy. They de
parted at once for the hostile camp at
Waterloo, Missouri.88

116 THOMAS COX
The excitement in Zion Church at Bur
lington, where the legislature was in session,
was intense, and is reflected by the records
in the Journal. Near the close of the ses
sion of the House, on December 6th, Alfred
Rich offered the following :
Whereas, we have recently received intelligence
that a certain set of men acting under color of author
ity from the state of Missouri, have been committing
outrages upon the persons and property of our citi
zens. And,
Whereas, companies of armed men are infesting
our southern border, plundering our citizens and stop
ping our mails. And, further, it is expected that a
portion of our Territory will shortly be invaded by
a hostile force, therefore,
Resolved, That it is the duty of this House to ad
journ to some subsequent day to aid in protecting the
rights of our citizens.89
The debate that followed does not appear
in the Journal, but we can well imagine its
character. It ended, however, in the adop
tion of a motion by Hon. James Hall of Van
Buren "that the preambles and resolution
be laid on the table until tomorrow." No
further action on this particular resolution
seems to have been taken, or the matter
brought up again in any form until the
ninth, which was the following Monday.

THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE H7
In the meantime the Iowa embassy, Gen
eral Dodge and his companions, had reached
Waterloo, the county seat of Clark County,
Missouri, where they found that more peace
ful counsels had prevailed: the County
Court had rescinded their order for the col
lection of taxes in the disputed tract; Gen
eral Allen and his forces had withdrawn;
and a special delegation had been sent to
wait upon Governor Lucas and the Iowa
legislature at Burlington. On receiving this
information the embassy returned to head
quarters, and the Iowa forces were dis
banded and permitted to return to their
homes. Colonel McDaniels and Dr. Wayland, the
representatives of Clark County, found
Governor Lucas very firm in his refusal to
negotiate upon any terms, since he con
tended that the dispute was with the United
States, and that the Territory of Iowa had
no jurisdiction or authority in the premises.
Their interviews with members of the leg
islature, however, resulted in action by that
body. It was on the 9th of December that
Shepherd Leffler of Burlington introduced
into the House the following verbose pre
ambles and resolutions:

118 THOMAS COX
Whereas, an unfortunate crisis has arrived in the
difficulties hitherto existing between the State of
Missouri and the Territory of Iowa, in relation to the
boundary line between the two governments; and
Whereas, the Territory of Iowa under any circum
stances, would deprecate any military collision be
tween the forces of said State and Territory, fully
believing that the most friendly feelings exist between
the great mass of the citizens of the respective par
ties; and
Whereas, the organic law of said Territory renders
it impossible for the constituted authorities of said
Territory to accede to the propositions hitherto made
by the citizens of Missouri, although they fully recip
rocate the kind feelings evinced by the late delega
tion, from the county court of Clarke county. There
fore Resolved, by the Council and House of Represent
atives of the Territory of Iowa, That the officers now
on duty on the part of the State of Missouri be
respectfully requested to suspend all further military
operations on the part of the said State until these
resolutions can be submitted to his Excellency, Gov
ernor Boggs.
Resolved, That his Excellency Governor Boggs, be
requested to authorize a suspension of hostilities on
the part of the State of Missouri until the first day
of July next, with a view of having the unfortunate
difficulties now existing between the State of Mis
souri and the Territory of Iowa adjusted by the ac
tion of Congress.
Resolved, That his Excellency the Governor of

THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 119
Iowa be requested to suspend all further military
operations until the decision of his Excellency Gov
ernor Boggs, may be obtained relative to the proposi
tions herein contained.
Resolved, That a committee of three on the part of
the House of Representatives be appointed to act in
conjunction with a similar committee on the part of
the Council to submit these resolutions to the civil
and military authorities of the State of Missouri, and
to confer with the said authorities on the propositions
herein contained.90
The rules were suspended at the different
stages of legislative procedure, and the reso
lutions were brought to a vote without other
business intervening and passed without a
roll call. Leffler, Bailey, and Patterson
were appointed a committee under the
fourth resolution. The Council passed the
preamble and resolutions with amendments
to which the House agreed. During the
same day other startling intelligence must
have arrived, by what during the Civil War
received the suggestive name of "grape vine
telegraph"; for the Journal records that
Dr. G. S. Bailey of Van Buren County of
fered the following:
Whereas, intelligence has just arrived that an
armed force in the State of Missouri, consisting of
six thousand men strong, are on their march to take

120 THOMAS COX
possession of the tract of land now in dispute between
the State of Missouri and this Territory, And where
as, such intelligence calls loudly upon this House for
an adjournment in order to assist our citizens in
maintaining peace or aiding them in the defense of
their rights; therefore
Resolved, by the Council and House of Represent
atives of the Territory of Iowa, That the Legislative
Assembly do now adjourn till the 20th of the present
instant. The rules were suspended, the House went
into Committee of the Whole under the
chairmanship of Loring Wheeler of Du
buque and reported back the subject without
amendment, when, on motion of J. C. Haw
kins of Burlington, the preambles were
stricken out. Finally, on motion of Leffler
the resolution was laid on the table and the
House adjourned until Friday.
Governor Lucas did not take at all kindly
to the Leffler resolutions, since he regarded
them as contravening his position that the
Territory of Iowa had no jurisdiction to
make terms or settle a dispute that belonged
wholly with the general government. He
set forth these views at length in a message
sent to the legislature on the 17th of De
cember, in which he returned the resolutions
without his approval.

THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE 121
In the House a majority sufficient to pass
the resolutions over his veto stubbornly ad
hered to their opinion of the wisdom of the
measure. The vote stood fourteen to six,
Cox voting with the majority. Probably
part of that vote was an echo of the contro
versy of the previous year. Those voting to
sustain the Governor were Churchman,
Langworthy, and Wheeler of Dubuque,
Lash and Myers of Henry, and Walworth
of Jones. On the next day a motion to print
twelve hundred copies of the preamble and
resolutions, together with the veto message
of the Governor, was carried by a vote of
twenty to four, Churchman, Langworthy,
Lash, and Myers casting the only negatives.
Governor Boggs and the Missouri authori
ties took advantage of the conciliatory tone
of the legislative resolutions to retreat with
dignity; and the controversy finally closed
with a decision of the Supreme Court of the
United States in 1848 declaring the Sullivan
Line the true and proper southern bound-
arv of Iowa.

XIV
A Gang of Thieves and Outlaws
When Colonel Cox returned home after the
adjournment of the legislature in January,
1840, he found his county in a state of in
tense excitement over developments in re
gard to the existence within its limits of a
regularly organized gang of criminals^ who
were responsible for thefts of horses and
cattle and the passing of counterfeit money.
These acts which had become alarmingly
prevalent finally culminated in an alterca
tion in which one of the outlaws had been
killed and his slayer, a valued citizen, was in
imminent danger of being sacrificed.
Subsequent developments make it clear
that at this time a tract of country embrac
ing southern Michigan, northern Indiana,
and northwestern Ohio was infested with
gangs of outlaws who, under the guise of
respectable farmers and business men, were
actively engaged in stealing horses, coining-
spurious money, and perpetrating other

THIEVES AND OUTLAWS 123
criminal acts. At convenient points through
out the country there were "stations" —
generally some farm house where horses
were received from a distant point and
those stolen from near by secreted until
they could be removed to another station of
the chain. Thus the stolen property could
be sold at a distance from the locality where
it would have been known and recognized.
As new settlements came into existence
farther west the nefarious scoundrels took
advantage of the opportunity to extend the
field of their dastardly operations. Thus
vice as well as virtue followed the flag to new
acquisitions.91 In 1837 a small party of emigrants came to
Bellevue from Coldwater, Michigan. They
were intelligent men, drove good teams,
brought plenty of furniture, and seemed in
better financial circumstances than most of
the pioneers of the day. The evident leader
of the party was one William W. Brown, a
man of fine personal appearance and engag
ing manners. The party all bought lots in
the village from original claimants — no
land as yet being in the market from the
government. Brown, moreover, purchased
from Peter Dutell a newly erected two story

124 THOMAS COX
frame building and opened it as a hotel.
This business brought him into close contact
with all the settlers of the little village and
new arrivals therein, with whom his genial,
generous disposition made him at once a
prime favorite. His wife, too, was a hand
some, accomplished lady whose womanly
manner and kind ways won her an esteem
and respect which subsequent events had no
power to weaken.
Brown at once became active in political
matters, and his unscrupulous character was
shown in connection with the first organiza
tion of Jackson County. The Wisconsin
Territorial legislature had met at Burling
ton in the fall of 1837, and during that ses
sion had subdivided Dubuque County, creat
ing among others the County of Jackson.
It became necessary for Governor Dodge to
appoint a Sheriff whose first duty would be
to take charge of the organizing of the new
county. When William A. Warren of Belle
vue called upon the Governor to suggest a
candidate for the place he was confronted
with a petition signed by a long list of names
from Bellevue, asking for the appointment
of W. W. Brown. Governor Dodge regard
ed this as so evident an indication of the

THIEVES AND OUTLAWS 125
choice of the people that he resolved to
accede to the prayer of the petition. The
next day he sent for Warren and showed
him his own name signed to the petition, a
matter which had been overlooked on first
examination. The mystery was explained. A petition
had been circulated asking certain action in
regard to the northern boundary of the
county, but the legislature having already
settled the matter the paper was not sent.
Mr. Brown cut off the head of the petition
and attached another asking for his own ap
pointment as Sheriff. The Governor finally
settled the matter by appointing William A.
Warren as organizing Sheriff — a position
which he held by successive appointment
and elections until 1845. 92
During the first winter of his residence in
Bellevue, Brown engaged in cutting wood
on the island opposite the town, which he
sold to steamboats for fuel ; and in this work
he employed about twenty men. Counter
feit money which began to appear in circu
lation at this time was frequently traced to
the possession of Brown's men. Moreover,
there were always boarders in Brown's hotel
whose means of support were not obvious.

126 THOMAS COX
Depredations on the property of settlers
grew frequent, cattle as well as horses being
stolen. Similar complaints came also from the
scattered settlements in Jones, Cedar, and
Linn counties, followed by a proposition
that a Protective Association be formed to
aid in ferreting out the robbers. Colonel
Cox, with Sheriff Warren and James K.
Moss of Bellevue — who in 1838 had been
appointed the first Probate Judge of the
county — ¦ proceeded to Linn Grove, in Linn
County, to assist in the organization of such
a society. They crossed the Wapsipinicon
where Fairview is now located, and were
joined there by some Jones County settlers.
The meeting at Linn Grove was well attend
ed by delegates from Cedar, Linn, and Jones
counties, and a "Citizens' Association" was
fully organized. Colonel Cox made a speech
expressing his strong detestation of the law
less acts that were becoming prevalent and
urging the honest settlers to band together
and stamp out by the most effective meas
ures the criminals who were staining the
fair fame of the new Commonwealth.
Brown's engaging manners, nevertheless,
continued to gain him friends, and in 1839

THIEVES AND OUTLAWS 127
he obtained a commission as Justice of the
Peace. He made a practice, also, of appear
ing before the courts as counsel, or petti
fogger, and in that capacity frequently de
fended his boarders, who could not always
escape suspicion and arrest for the preva
lent crimes that were exasperating the com
munity. Alibis were always proved and by
the same set of witnesses.
Early in 1839 one Thomas Davis, who
lived at the forks of the Maquoketa, lost a
yoke of fine oxen which, however, were
found hidden in Bellevue where they had
been taken by a neighbor named Groff.
Later a horse which Groff claimed to have
bought of Brown was discovered to have
been stolen from Illinois and was given up
to the owner. Davis accused Groff of both
thefts. The two men met in Bellevue in
April, 1839, when Groff shot Davis with a
gun which he had borrowed from Brown.
The trial of the homicide came on at a spe
cial term of court and he was acquitted on
the plea of insanity.93
Thus the suspicion that Brown's hotel was
a rendezvous for criminals and that Brown
was an abettor of their acts if not a leader
grew into conviction in the minds of many

128 THOMAS COX
of the best citizens of the county. Colonel
Cox, however, had great confidence in
Brown's personal probity until his treach
erous character was revealed in the conven
tion of which mention was made in a pre
vious chapter.
It was shortly after this that a former
Sangamon County colleague and intimate
friend of Colonel Cox, Mr. Ebenezer Brig-
ham, then a member of the Wisconsin Ter
ritorial Assembly residing at Blue Mounds,
appeared at Bellevue with a friend in search
of a span of stolen horses. His description
of the animals convinced the Sheriff that
they were a pair that had been taken by him
a few weeks before from one of Brown's
boarders under suspicion that they had been
stolen, but which through the connivance of
Brown had been reclaimed by a pretended
owner and removed across the river. When
Colonel Cox learned the truth in regard to
his friend's loss he declared open war on
Brown, and from that day never relented
in his hostility towards him.
One of the most notorious of the criminals
making his home at Brown's hotel in 1839
was James Thompson. He was particularly
active in passing counterfeit money, for

THIEVES AND OUTLAWS 129
which he was twice arrested — but was dis
charged through the efforts and testimony
of his associates. He was again arrested, to
gether with one William Fox, for robbery
of stores in Galena, W. W. Brown being
charged with receiving the stolen goods. All
were discharged, however, on technicalities.
Among those most active during the fall
and winter of 1839 in efforts to bring to jus
tice the desperadoes was James C. Mitchell,
an energetic business man of influence and
high character. He thus incurred the bitter
hatred of James Thompson in particular,
who at different times indulged in hostile
threats. As Jackson Day, January 8, 1840,
approached preparations were made for its
observance at Bellevue by a grand ball, as
was then the usual custom. Mitchell, as one
of the managers of the occasion, insisted
that Brown and his associates should not be
allowed to participate in the festivities, a
position which was endorsed by the other
managers. Thompson, incensed by this
ostracism and influenced by deep potations
of whiskey, got together a few other desper
ate spirits and proceeded to rob Mitchell's
house during his absence at the ball. Be
sides removing many valuables from the

130 THOMAS COX
house, they found therein a young lady rela
tive of Mitchell's who had remained at home.
To this young lady Thompson offered such
indignities that she escaped in scanty attire
and reached the ballroom nearly dead from
fright and exhaustion.
Mitchell soon learned the damning facts,
borrowed a pistol, and started out alone to
find Thompson who, indeed, had determined
to finish his night's work by killing Mitchell.
Along with Absalom Montgomery — a noto
rious character living near the forks of the
Maquoketa — Thompson started towards the
ballroom, a pistol in one hand and a bowie
knife in the other. The two men met on the
street; and, despite the warning of Mont
gomery who tried to dissuade them from
violence, they approached within a few
paces. Both attempted to fire, but Mitchell's
weapon alone was discharged and Thomp
son fell shot through the heart.
Montgomery found Sheriff Warren and
they were the first to visit the corpse.
Mitchell returned to the hotel in which the
ball was held and surrendered himself to
Deputy Sheriff James F. Hanby. Thomp
son's friends, to the number of fifteen or
twenty, deeply incensed at his death, made

THIEVES AND OUTLAWS 131
their appearance at the place of Mitchell's
refuge and demanded his surrender. Mitch
ell, with two friends who were armed, and
the women of his family, retreated up-stairs.
Here by their threatening attitude they kept
off the assailants until the Deputy Sheriff
brought Sheriff Warren to the scene. He
assured Brown, who was one of the party,
that Mitchell would be kept in custody of
the law; whereupon Brown persuaded his
wild followers to disperse.
There being no jail in the county at the
time, Mitchell was kept in irons in a room
under guard for a time, and then, by the
authority of the County Commissioners, he
was placed under guard in his own house, it
being deemed most necessary to secure his
protection from mob violence as his attempt
to escape was not feared. During his deten
tion a plot was laid by Fox, Long, and three
others to blow up the house and thus destroy
Mitchell and his family. A can of powder
was stolen from the store of James K. Moss
and placed in the cellar; a train was then
laid and fired by the conspirators. But one
of their number weakened and secretly left
a gap in the train of powder leading to the
can ; and so the effort was without result.

132 THOMAS COX
The real facts were not discovered, how
ever, until the next day when the repentant
bandit disclosed to Sheriff Warren the facts
of the plot which were verified by finding
the can of powder in the cellar and by the
discovery that Mr. Moss's powder had been
stolen. No arrests were made, however, as
that would have involved the exposure of
the informer, which at that time seemed in
advisable. About the same time two gentlemen from
Freeport, Illinois, had come to Bellevue in
search of stolen horses and had recognized
their property in a pair that had recently
been sold by Brown. Attempts to reclaim
them were resisted by Brown, who repre
sented that he bought them from two young
men in his employ who had brought them
from Missouri — assertions which were
backed up by the young men and others.
The young men were William Fox and John
Baxter, both of whom were in the gang
which robbed and murdered Colonel Daven
port five years later. The purchaser of the
horses,94 convinced that Brown's story was
not true, gave up the animals.
The number of crimes accumulated. Den
nis Collins, living south of the Maquoketa

THIEVES AND OUTLAWS 133
River, was beaten almost to death by two
men and made to give up what little money'
he had. The men were tracked to Bellevue,
and Mr. Collins, unable to sit up, was taken
there on a bed with an ox team and posi
tively identified the rascals. Three of
Brown's friends swore that they had played
cards with the accused all night on the night
of the robbery, and they were acquitted.
Again, Bartholomew Corwin, a refugee
from the Canadian Patriot War, had a fam
ily of little children and a sick wife. He
was out of money but had a good team of
horses. To procure necessaries for his
family he sold the horses to two men who
paid every dollar of the purchase price in
counterfeit money. He found the horses in
Brown's stable; but Brown refused to give
them up and so the poor man lost both
horses and money.
These crimes and the evidence of an or
ganized band who by false swearing would
prevent the conviction of any of their num
ber by process of law thoroughly alarmed
the honest citizens of the community who
after consultation appointed a committee
consisting of Sheriff Warren, Anson Har
rington, John T. Sublett, and William Dyas.

134 THOMAS COX
The men proceeded to Dubuque to lay their
dilemma before District Judge Thomas S.
Wilson and United States District Attorney
Crawford. Judge Wilson protested against
anything like mob violence and assured the
committee that the arm of the law would
protect the people. He finally advised that
an information be filed charging Brown and
his associates with conspiracy to commit
depredation, and thus prevent them from
testifying in each other's behalf.
Judge Wilson, in a letter written Septem
ber 30, 1879, says of the affairs of this
period :
I was Presiding Judge of your County for several
years prior to 1840, and know that the criminal docket
in Jackson showed the worst state of things there of
any county in my district. The criminal docket
showed crime from the highest to the lowest degree.
A conviction for crimes was simply impossible. Brown
stood ready to prove an alibi, or would manage some
way to obtain an acquittal whenever one of his band
was brought before the courts.95
An information embodying the views of
the Judge was drawn up by District Attor
ney Crawford. It charged W. W. Brown,
William Fox, Aaron Long, and twenty oth
ers as confederated together for the purpose
of thieving, passing counterfeit money, rob-

THIEVES AND OUTLAWS 135
bing, and committing other depredations, to
the great injury and annoyance of the com
munity in which they lived and to the detri
ment of the public in general. It was sworn
to by Anson Harrington (who was honored
the next year by election as Probate Judge
of the county), and the warrant was issued
by Charles Harris, a Justice of the Peace
living in Farmers' Creek Township about
sixteen miles west of Bellevue. This was
on the 25th of March, 1840.

XV
A Battle with the Desperadoes
Brown was soon informed of the existence
of the warrant ; but he bade defiance to the
Sheriff and claimed that the law would not
justify such wholesale arrest. He agreed
to surrender himself if that would satisfy
the warrant, but said that the others named
had sworn they would never be taken alive
and that he must stand by them. The situa
tion being reported by the Sheriff, a meet
ing was held at the store of Probate Judge
James K. Moss which was attended by the
most prominent citizens of the town, by
Colonel Cox, County Commissioner William
Morden, and several others from other parts
of the county. After due deliberation it was
decided that Sheriff Warren and Colonel
Cox should visit the different townships and
invite leading citizens to assemble at Belle
vue on the first of April, and by the show of
force prevail upon Brown and his men to
peaceably submit to the law.

A BATTLE WITH DESPERADOES 137
The gang soon learned what was contem
plated and became boldly defiant, going so
far as to place a red flag in front of Brown's
house inscribed "Victory or Death". This
convinced the Sheriff that his posse should
be well armed, and so he deputized Colonel
Cox to bring in forty armed men. With his
accustomed energy the Colonel rode through
the central and southwestern townships with
a call to arms. In the country south of the
Maquoketa River the response was not at all
hearty. Indeed, there was little community
of interest at that time between the people
on opposite sides of the river. There were
no bridges and few fords, so that, except in
winter when the ice afforded safe crossing,
the inhabitants of the south part of the
county seldom visited Bellevue and there
fore had not shared to any great extent in
the menace of lawlessness that threatened
the people of the county seat.
Among his immediate neighbors, however,
the Colonel found ready support of the most
effective kind. A fortunate chance, too,
brought him the voluntary aid of one whose
presence lent the moral support which high
civic and military honors give. His brother-
in-law, Colonel James Collins of White Oak

138 THOMAS COX
Springs, Wisconsin Territory, was making
a visit with his wife to her mother, Mrs.
Jane Robinson Cox, who made her home
with her son, John W. Cox, about three
miles from the home of Colonel Thomas
Cox.96 Colonel Collins readily volunteered
to join with his brothers-in-law, Thomas and
John Cox, in the demonstration to be made
at Bellevue. There were several other Black
Hawk War soldiers who had made their
homes in Jackson County; and, with very
few exceptions, they obeyed the promptings
of their military training and took their
places in the ranks of Colonel Cox's posse.97
Sheriff Warren undertook a canvass of
the southeastern part of the county, and
spent the night of March 31, 1840, at
Charleston (now Sabula) . His only recruit,
however, was James McCabe — a jolly Irish
man who had fought in the Black Hawk
War and dug lead at Dubuque, but who was
now living on a claim close to Charleston.
When within a few miles of Bellevue they
were joined by Colonel Thomas J. Parks, a
prominent citizen, and by Alexander Reed,
who was one of the very earliest settlers in
Iowa, having crossed the river in 1833. They
also overtook Andrew Farley from the Deep

A BATTLE WITH DESPERADOES 139
Creek settlement (south of the Maquoketa
River) who was on his way to the mill at
Bellevue. Farley had not been notified to
appear in the posse and was unarmed, but
he appeared to be in full sympathy with the
movement and accompanied Warren's party
to the village.98
Arriving at Bellevue they found Colonel
Cox and his posse quartered in a small hotel
four blocks below Brown's house. At the
latter place a red flag fluttered and armed
men were promenading the streets. After
consultation with his friends the Sheriff,
with some trepidation, proceeded alone to
the hostile fortress, with the design of read
ing the warrant and demanding a surrender.
Brown readily admitted him and called up
the parties named, who listened to the war
rant but defied him to take them into cus
tody. Brown was then privately shown the
letters with which the Sheriff had been in
trusted, which advised him not to place him
self in defiance of the law. He then agreed
that if four citizens whom he named would
come and give a pledge with the Sheriff that
his party would be protected from violence
they would surrender as demanded.
The Sheriff returned to his posse and re-

140 THOMAS COX
ported Brown's proposition to be that he
would agree to appear and answer at the
next term of court and would give his own
bond for the appearance of his followers.
This did not meet the approval of the posse,
and discussion followed for nearly an hour.
Colonel Cox urged strongly that Brown's
proposition be accepted, and it was finally
agreed to. John T. Sublett (County Treas
urer), H. R. Magoun, George Watkins, and
Jerry Jonas, the men selected by Brown,
started with the Sheriff to give the pledge
of protection required.
When nearly there they were halted hy
Brown and some of his armed associates,
and Sheriff Warren was asked to come in
alone for a further interview. He complied
and his companions returned to their party.
Upon entering the house he was surrounded
by the inmates, who were becoming very
drunk and boisterous, and was informed
that they proposed to defend themselves
from arrest and that he would be held as a
hostage and would be the first man shot if
the house should be attacked.
Parley ensued. Warren assured the ex
cited men that if he should be harmed, the
force sustaining him was large enough to

A BATTLE WITH DESPERADOES 141
wreak a terrible revenge for their treachery.
Fifteen minutes passed thus, when a cry was
raised from the porch that Cox and his men
were forming in the street for an attack.
Brown ordered his men to their posts and
thrust Warren out with an appeal to go
and stop them. This he made haste to do,
reporting what had occurred.
Colonel Cox called at once for volunteers
to execute the mandates of the law bv force.
Forty men responded, leaving about forty
more partially armed in reserve to protect
the women and children. The volunteers
were addressed by the Sheriff and by Colo
nel Cox. The latter told them that they
were to engage in no boy's play; that they
were to meet a desperate set of men; that
some would probably fall in the fight; and
that, if any were disposed not to take the
risk, they should step out of the ranks.
Every man stood fast.
It was now two o 'clock, the time since ten
having been consumed in parleys to induce
Brown and his men to surrender without a
fight. The force was formed by Colonel Cox
in two ranks and marched in line up the
street towards the outlaw's fort under strict
orders not to fire a gun unless fired upon.

142 THOMAS COX
It was hoped that this display of force would
induce a surrender. But the doomed house
was ominously silent. When within thirty
paces, Cox gave the order to charge. A rush
was made ; the force was close to the build
ing in an instant; but shots had been fired
from the upper windows and Henderson
Palmer fell, mortally wounded. Brown ap
peared before the open door with his rifle
at a ready. Cox and Warren confronted
him and demanded a surrender. Warren
concedes that the beleaguered chief intended
to comply, but in bringing his gun down, it
was inadvertently discharged and the ball
passed through Colonel Cox's coat. Tom
Sublett and Vine. Smith, comrades in Lieu
tenant Kirkpatrick's company at the Battle
of Bad Axe and now shoulder to shoulder,
having reached the open window of the room
in which Brown stood, saw the discharge of
his gun. Instantly their trusty rifles flew
to their shoulders, and the unerring aim of
true backwoodsmen sent two bullets through
the bandit leader's head.99 One entered his
skull and the other severed his jugular vein.
Firing at once became general. Brown's
men retreated to the upper story ; while Cox
and his posse withdrew from the building

A BATTLE WITH DESPERADOES 143
to distances from which they could com
mand the upper windows, sheltering them
selves as much as possible. But they were
exposed to a merciless fire. The bandit de
fenders, too, were backwoods marksmen. J.
Maxwell and John Brink fell dead. Colo
nel Collins was shot through the hand, the
only wound received in his varied military
career. William Vance, another comrade of
Lieutenant Kirkpatrick's company in the
Black Hawk War, was shot in the thigh.
William Vaughn received a wound from
which he died. The posse was suffering
more than the outlaws, who were protected
within the building. Warren, wrought into
fury by the passion of conflict, gave orders
that the house should be set on fire and the
occupants thus driven out. The prepara
tions were seen by the inmates, and they
made a rush to escape to the rear over some
outbuildings. This renewed the battle on more equal
terms. Then occurred an example of heroic
self-sacrifice such as seldom happens in this
selfish world. General McDonald had been
prevented by absence from accompanying
his neighbors, the Coxes, on the previous
day, and no horse was left for him, but he

144 THOMAS COX
started early that morning, traversing the
sixteen miles to Bellevue on foot. He ar
rived on the scene during the conflict, just
in time to see Colonel Cox crouched on one
knee engaged in priming his gun, and to see
that one of the enemy had stepped out from
shelter and leveled a rifle upon him. With
an irresistible impulse to save his aged
leader and friend, McDonald leaped in front
of the Colonel and received the hostile bul
let in his hip.100 He was also, during the
melee, slightly wounded in the left hand.101
Andrew Farley had no gun and took no
part in the conflict, but kept in sight of the
combatants. He saw one of Brown's men
lying wounded and evidently much in need
of help. With the ready sympathy of his
warm Irish nature he hastened to help the
man to an easier posture, when he was
struck by a bullet (whether from friend or
foe was never known) and fell dead in the
street. Pursuit of the fleeing outlaws was given
and thirteen of them were captured.
"Negro" Brown and six others eluded their
pursuers and escaped unscathed. Besides
W. W. Brown, Aaron Day and Samuel
Burtis had given up their lives ; young Tom

A BATTLE WITH DESPERADOES 145
Welch, alias Buckskin Tom, was badly
wounded ; and William Fox and some others
received slight wounds. The captured men
were placed under guard, and the fire which
had been kindled was extinguished. The
feelings of the citizens, armed and unarmed,
who now gathered around were excited to
the highest pitch.
The lifeless, bleeding bodies of some of
their most respected neighbors — all of
them men with families — lay before them.
These men and those suffering from wounds
had been assembled solely for the protection
of society, and were proceeding strictly ac
cording to the forms of law when they were
fired upon by those who were defying the
law. Even those whose lives were sacrificed
on the other side were among the least guilty
of their party. Brown was regarded by
many as more sinned against than sinning;
and old Burtis, whose son was a Justice of
the Peace, had probably committed no
graver offense than the partisan one of de
fending his friend Brown. The prisoners
included nearly all of those whose presence
was a menace to the community, and they
had now added to their previous offenses the
red-handed slaying of valuable citizens.
10

146 THOMAS COX
What wonder then that a cry for ven
geance rose loud and strong. Ropes were
procured and the immediate hanging of
every man of them was proposed. A few
cooler heads urged that nothing be done un
der excitement that they might afterwards
regret, but with no result. Then Sheriff
Warren mounted a box and asked attention
for a moment, saying that Colonel Cox had
a few words to say to them. Warren him
self afterwards wrote of the speech of Colo
nel Cox and subsequent events as follows : in2
The venerable old man addressed them as neigh
bors and citizens, and in a few words told them they
had a higher duty to perform that evening than to
hang the cowardly scoundrels they now had in cus
tody. Pointing to the women and children who were
hovering around the lifeless bodies of those who had
fallen in the fight, saying, "Your duty to them, first,
and to-morrow, whatever a majority of the citizens
may say shall be done, I pledge you my word that
you shall not only have my sanction, but my help."
The earnest and expressive words of Col. Cox had
the desired effect. The prisoners were placed under a
strong guard, and the culprits felt thankful to the
Colonel for this temporary respite, hoping something
might turn up to spare them their lives. . . .
Runners were sent to Galena and Dubuque for
surgeons. Dr. Crawford of Galena and Dr. Findley
of Dubuque promptly put in their appearance, and

A BATTLE WITH DESPERADOES 147
at once went to work dressing and binding up the
wounds of the wounded of both parties. . . . The
dead were taken to their respective homes, and prepa
rations made for their burial. This portion of the
work was assigned to the Rev. Joseph Kirkpatrick,
who did much toward soothing and consoling those
who were left to mourn the loss of relatives and
friends. Jesse Burke,103 with the assistance of a de
tailed force, had, in less than two hours, prepared
meals for over one hundred persons, which was readi
ly disposed of. Precautions had been taken, as soon
as Brown's house had been captured, to knock in the
heads of all barrels containing liquor, and emptying
out into the street every drop of liquor that could be
found  The men were already excited to the
highest pitch, and should they get under the influence
of liquor, the innocent might suffer as well as the
guilty. It was long after midnight before the people
could be persuaded to retire for rest.
Some of the most prominent citizens retired to the
residence of James L. Kirkpatrick to agree upon what
disposition should be made of the prisoners. Among
the prominent men who attended this meeting were
Col. Cox, Alex. Reed, T. H. Parks, Anson Harring
ton, J. K. Moss, H. K. Magoon, Col. Collins, Len
Hilyard, David G. Bates, John T. Sublett and others.
The meeting was organized by calling J. L. Kirkpat
rick to the chair, when I addressed the meeting ask
ing and urging that I should be sustained in main
taining the authority of the law in bringing these men
to answer the charge set forth in the warrant. In
this I was ably sustained by David G. Bates, Alex
Reed, T. H. Parks, and H. K. Magoon.

148 THOMAS COX
Anson Harrington and Col. Cox took the opposite
view of the matter, saying it was utterly impos
sible to hold them under arrest, as we had no jail;
that the prisoners had friends both in the East and
the West, and, in all probability, they might be taken
from us by force, and, in such case, no man's life or
property would be safe, and, as we now had them in
our power, the friends of the fallen demanded that
summary justice be dealt out to each one of them,
and nothing short of death would satisfy the com
munity.

XVI
A Frontier Tribunal
In the discussion which followed Colonel
Cox's address, the proposition was submit
ted that the .citizens meet at ten o'clock on
the morrow, and that the prisoners be then
sentenced as the majority should decide.
And they pledged themselves, one to an
other, that whatever the sentence might be
it should be faithfully carried out. This
was adopted by a unanimous vote, and the
wearied assemblage retired about four
o'clock in the morning for a few hours'
rest. A steamer arrived from Dubuque at eight
o'clock in the morning bringing, among
other passengers, District Attorney James
Crawford and Sheriff Cummins of Dubuque
County. These gentlemen attended the meet
ing of citizens which convened at ten. Colo
nel Cox presided over the meeting and ad
dressed the prisoners who were brought in,
telling them that their defiance of law and

150 THOMAS COX
refusal to submit to the service of a legal
warrant for their arrest had compelled the
citizens to unite in sustaining the arm of the
law; that their resistance had cost the lives
of some of the best citizens of the commu
nity; and that he was directed to say that
the people would now decide what punish
ment should be meted out to them.
Chichester, who was one of the most noto
rious of the unsavory gang, asked and
obtained permission to speak in behalf of
his comrades and himself. He made a piti
ful but rudely eloquent plea for their lives.
admitting that many things charged against
them were true and declaring that they were
ready to submit to the punishment decreed
by law for such offenses. District Attorney
Crawford followed, expressing appreciation
of the dilemma in which the citizens were
placed in having no jail or other means of
detaining prisoners, but urging that no
greater punishment be inflicted than the law
prescribed. Anson Harrington voiced the intense feel
ing of the outraged citizens and their grief
for their slaughtered companions when he
spoke in favor of hanging every one of the
prisoners. "He was opposed to turning

A FRONTIER TRIBUNAL 151
them loose to prey upon some other com
munity. They were all desperate characters.
They were lost to all sense of honor. They
were past reformation. No man's life or
property was safe with them at large. He
was raised and reared in a Christian and
law-abiding State. He had come to Iowa to
make it his home, with the expectation of
meeting with law-abiding and Christian peo
ple, where the law could be enforced and his
life and property could be protected 
The time had come when people would take
the law in their own hands. As much as he
had heretofore deprecated what was termed
mob violence, he was now ready to admit the
law was ineffective in the present case, and
nothing short of the people rising in their
might and taking this case into their own
hands and making an example of the des
peradoes whom they now have in charge
would save society from depredation in
future."104 He closed, however, by making the propo
sition that a decision be made by ballot as
to whether the prisoners should be hanged
or whipped and forbidden to ever enter the
county again. This proposition was put to
a vote and carried ; and every man by a ris-

152 THOMAS COX
ing vote pledged himself to abide by the de
cision thus made. A cup filled with white
and red beans was passed around, each man
taking a bean of each color. Colonel Cox,
as chairman, announced that the vote would
be "white beans for hanging, red beans for
whipping". Another empty cup was then
passed to receive the ballots. It was a tense
and thrilling moment.
Thirteen trembling wretches watched
their fate being decided by silent, stern-
featured men in whom the call for justice
had stifled all thoughts of mercy. All had
voted. The tellers carefully counted the
beans and handed the result to the chairman.
He called upon the prisoners to arise. He
then read the result: forty-two red beans,
and thirty-eight white. Thus by the narrow
majority of four votes an inexcusable trag
edy had been averted. The culprits were
sentenced to receive from four to thirty
lashes on the bare back and to be placed with
three days' rations in skiffs without oars
and floated down the Mississippi River.
As soon as the vote was announced Mr.
Harrington rose to speak. The chairman
informed him that it was not a debatable
case. But he said, "I rise now to make the

A FRONTIER TRIBUNAL 153
vote unanimous." Others shared his revul
sion of feeling, and the motion was ap
plauded all over the house and then unani
mously adopted. The whipping, neverthe
less, was given in full measure and a pledge
demanded and given by each culprit as he
was placed in a skiff that he would never
return to the county. That pledge, so far
as known, was kept by all.
When the spring term of the Territorial
District Court opened at Bellevue two weeks
later, with Judge Thomas S. Wilson on the
bench, a petition was presented asking that
the lamentable affray be investigated. This
led to a motion by District Attorney Craw
ford which stated that, since matters would
be brought before the Grand Jury in which
the Sheriff was interested and since there
was no Coroner in the county, an Acting
Coroner should be appointed for the term.
The motion being granted, the Judge ap
pointed General Francis Gehon of Dubuque
as Acting Coroner ; and he impaneled a new
Grand Jury which had not been implicated
in the affair.
The Grand Jury brought in a report find
ing that the Sheriff and his posse had acted
under legal authority in an effort to enforce

154 THOMAS COX
the law ; that they were guilty of no unlaw
ful act or acts, except in the whipping of
some of the accused after they had been cap
tured and were prisoners; and that that
course had justification in there being no
jail in the county; and that the Sheriff had
acted for the best interests of the county.
A letter of Judge T. S. Wilson under date
of September 30, 1879, written to Captain
Warren says:
The acts of yourself and posse on the memorable
1st day of April, 1840, had my full approval; and
yourself, and all those honorable men that took a part
in that transaction met the approval of a grand jury,
selected at the instance of Brown's sympathizers.
Your court record should show that fact.105

XVII
The Aftermath
The Grand Jury verdict reflected what was
nearly a unanimous opinion in the county;
but there was a feeling on the part of a small
minority of good citizens that the personal
guilt of William W. Brown was not clearly
manifest. He had been genial and courteous
in manner. He had been generous and ac
commodating in business matters. He was
bold and enterprising and had been a liberal
employer of labor. Hence he had friends
who now argued that as a landlord he was
not responsible for the character of his
boarders, nor as an employer for what his
men might be; and, moreover, as a quasi
lawyer he had a right to defend clients with
such evidence as they might put into his
hands. These friends pointed to the fact
that his business rivals and those whose
political ambitions he had tried to thwart
were all to be found in the ranks of his as
sailants; and they insinuated that a desire

156 THOMAS COX
to drive Brown out of the country impelled
the movement, rather than a real effort to
punish for crime.
One of the most outspoken of these critics
was Shadrach Burleson, the proprietor of
the Buckhorn Tavern which was located five
miles west of what is now Maquoketa. Bur
leson was an 1836 settler — a Vermonter
with a mind of his own — who accepted an
appointment as administrator of Brown's
estate.106 Most of those disposed to find
fault with the extreme measures employed
by Cox, Warren, and their associates found
their views materially modified when the
tragedy on Rock Island in 1845 disclosed
the desperate character of the banished men.
The discovery of Colonel Davenport's
murderers brought out a significant bit of
evidence regarding the true character of
Brown. An amateur detective, Edward
Bonney of Lee County, Iowa, tracked and
caused the arrest of nearly all who were
implicated in the robbery and murder. Soon
after the trials he published a book entitled
The Banditti of the Prairies in which he de
tailed his experiences. It appears that he
found William Fox in eastern Indiana, in
the neighborhood of his father's home. He

THE AFTERMATH 157
gained Fox's confidence by claiming to be a
dealer in counterfeit money, exhibiting un
signed bills of the Miner's Bank of Du
buque with which he had been supplied.
Bonney then gives several conversations
held with Fox among which occurs the fol
lowing: Did you ever get caught before you were arrested
at Bowling Green?
Yes; I was at Belleview in Iowa, at the time the
mob shot Brown. They arrested me at the same
time, but could prove little or nothing against me. So
they tied me up to a tree and whipped me nearly to
death, and then let me go. Some of them may have
to pay for it one of these days. I should not have
been caught at Bowling Green if the boys had fol
lowed my advice.
Were you acquainted with Brown who was killed
at Belleview?
Yes, my first horse was stolen under Brown's in
structions. I presume that was not the last one.
No. Not by fifty.
Interesting evidence showing how the af
fray was viewed by some who knew only the
better side of Brown's character has recent
ly been brought to light through researches
among the papers of Governor Robert
Lucas. The following letters were written
from Dubuque to Governor Lucas by J. V.

158 THOMAS COX
Berry, who was Public Prosecutor under
Territorial appointment, and by John King,
who was then Postmaster at Dubuque : 107
Du Buque April 4, 1840.
Dear Sir,
I am under the painful necessity of informing
you that Jackson County in this Territory is in a
state of a complete disorganization. The Sheriff
Judge of Probate and the celebrated Col Cox on the
first day of this month headed a mob at Bellview and
attacked a peaceable citizen of that place with a view
of driving him out of town. The result was that a
most disgraceful fight took place, and as a report
says from six to nine lives lost and several wounded.
It is currently reported at this place and very
generally believed that Warren the Sheriff went
about the county procuring the names of persons
pledging themselves to support the mob several days
previous to the day of the assembling of the most
infamous mob that ever was assembled in this or any
other country. The mob with their infamous leaders
have since the killing been engaged in holding a citi
zens court as they call it and have tried and punished
several individuals. It is also understood at this place
that this triumvirate composed of Cox Warren and
Moss are about to divide the property of Brown who
happened to be the special object of their vengeance
& who had considerable property Mitchell the man
who committed the murder last winter and who has
been held in mock confinement by this infamous Sher
iff is now let loose rejoicing with the good and pious

THE AFTERMATH 159
mob citizens at this freedom from all the restraints
of regulated society, law and good order. A court as
you must be aware of under the existing laws of this
Territory is appointed to be held on the 13th instant
at Bellview. Since I have set down to write this let
ter I learn from two gentlemen who have just re
turned from the seat of war that the mob boast that
they had all of the Grand Jury for the next court to
act with them except Brown and that he was killed.
It will be impossible if not impossible utterly useless
to hold a court in a community composed of such
brutish beasts, when blood and murder is the order
of the day. In such a state of things you must be
aware that those base and foul felons cannot be pun
ished in their own county. I have therefore deemed
it a duty of mine to acquaint you with the facts and
if you have any powers vested in you as the Governor
of this Territory to aid and assist the laws I hope
you will exercise them in bringing to justice base and
foul murderers and to wipe off the disgraceful stigma
that has evidently been thrown upon the people of
this Territory by this most disgraceful tradgedy.
Yours in haste
To his Excellency Robert Lucas J V Beery
Dubuque I. T.
April 6, 1840.
To His Excellency Robert Lucas
Sir I regret to state to you, that a more disgraceful
affair, has never been recorded in the annals of his
tory, than that which I am about to relate. It oc
curred on the 1st ultimo at Bellview Jackson Co. I. T.

160 THOMAS COX
about seven miles below Galena A mob collected
calling themselves the people — headed by — • War
ren, the sheriff of the above named county, and Col.
Cox (so called) member of the Legislature, Gen Mc
Donald, and James K. Moss. The mob proceeded to
the house of Mr. Brown (inn keeper) and informed
him, through, Warren, that he must leave the Ter.
immediately — Brown replied, that if he (Warren)
had any legal demand against him, he was willing to
go with him and be tried — but that a mob could not
take him — However they were not satisfied with this,
and made a rush to capture him — and in trying to
effect their object, six persons were killed, and three
wounded, one having since died ! ! ! What the charac
ter of Mr. Brown was, I am unable to say — He was
certainly hospitable, and obligeing to strangers, and
affectionate to his family, he was also industrious,
which is certainly one good quality — His wife was
of a reputable family and understood the duties of a
hostess, well. Brown fell like a brave man, defending
his wife and child from insults, and his property
from the ravages of a reckless and lawless mob. Mrs.
Brown was conducted to this place by a gentleman, at
whose house she has, and will receive the most kind
treatment. On Saturday evening last, the citizens of this place
assembled at the Presbyterian Church, (tho' large it
could not contain near all) to express their deep ab-
horance of the murderous conduct of the mob at
Bellview, by strong resolutions, which will be pub
lished in the papers of this Ter.
The people at the meeting expressed their unani-

THE AFTERMATH 161
mous wish, that you would promptly remove from
office Warren & McDonald.
Our Legislators, will be instructed at the extra ses
sion, to expel from their body Col. Cox. And we will
endeavor to have /. K Moss removed forthwith, from
the office of P. M. I have just learnt, that the latter
gentleman (or rather the man) holds the office of
Judge of Probate, if so he should be removed from
that office also. I have just had a conversation with
Mr. Petriken, who feels indignant at the outrage —
and thinks those villians if possible should be arrested
— and that there are two ways of having it done,
first, that by removing Warren, and having a new
sheriff appointed, they could then be arrested Sec
ondly that your Excellency can command Gen. Lewis,
to raise the militia, and arrest them, — others think
Chief Justice Masson is authorized to act in this mat
ter — but all agree, that your long experience in pub-
lie business, gives you the advantage of us all, in
knowing how to dispose of those persons, who have
committed the most wilful and premeditated murders,
and have brought a stigma and a disgrace upon our
young and beautiful Ter. that years cannot efface.
Your Obdt. Servt.
John King P. M.
Gov. Lucas (Private)
When Brown was killed, Mitchell who assassinated,
Thompson last summer, in Bellview, was immediately
turned out of prison and is now walking the streets —
Several in our village, have strong suspicions, that
Mitchell Bribed, Warren to dispose of the only two
11

162 THOMAS COX
witnesses who could convict him of the murder of
Thompson — -those two witnesses were Brown and
Montgomery — Brown is now dead and on Saturday
last — a company started from the scene of action to
' ' either drive Montgomery, from the Ter. or kill him. ' '
What the fate of Montgomery is I have not learnt
but I fear the consequences — circumstantial proof
of what I have hinted at above, can, I am told be
produced — but of this we will say nothing —
The day of reckoning is not far distant I trust
with the instigators of the mob.

J. K

Gov L.
Please excuse I write in a hurry

The reply of Governor Lucas to J. V.
Berry was as follows:
Executive Departm[en]t Iowa Terrty
Burlington April 7th 1840.
Sir I received your letter of the 4th Int by Captain
Smith of the Steam Boat Brazil — I regret extremely
to hear of the transactions in Jackson County detailed
in your letter. — It reflects a disgrace upon our Ter
ritory; and I trust, that the persons, who may be
found guilty of so great a violation of the laws of the
Territory may ultimately receive the punishment the
law prescribes, — but this is a subject, that is entirely
under the control of the Judicial Branch of the Gov-
[ern]m[e]nt. The law gives to the Judiciary, the
power to inforce obedience to its mandates, by fines
and penalties — The Executive Branch has no such

THE AFTERMATH 163
power, The Executive may issue his Proclamation,
but he has no power to inforce it, he has neither
funds, men, arms or am [m] unition under his control.
The law vests the Civil Ministerial office, with the
power of the County and the Judiciary is vested
with power to impose fines and penalties for diso
bedience to their command — However desirous I may
be, to check such outrageous proceedings — yet I see
no way in which an Executive interference could be
of any benefit. The duty is devolved upon you, as
District prosecutor, to bring the subject before the
proper Judicial tribunal for investigation which I
trust will be promptly and efficiently done — The
account of the disgraceful affair, as published in the
Iowa Territorial Gazette of the 4th Inst differs mate
rially from the one given in your letter. How far
these accounts may be correct, I do not pretend to
decide but one thing is certain (That is) that a most
disgraceful, outrage has been committed upon the
laws of the County by some body, and it becomes your
duty as the legitimate prosecuti[n]g officer to have
the subject impartially and legitimately investigated
— and to cause the guilty persons, whoever they may
be, to be prosecuted and brought to Justice — This
should be done without prejudice or favour to any
one, but with a single eye to the maintenance of the
Supremacy of the laws. With sincere respect
I am your obt st
Robert Lucas
J. V. Berry Esqr
Distr Prosectr 3d Judi
Distr Du Buque

164 THOMAS COX
The Court records do not show that Mr.
Berry took any initiative in investigating
the affair. The motion to appoint an Act
ing Coroner and impanel a new Grand Jury
was made by District Attorney James Craw
ford, and the record does not show that any
other prosecutor officiated. The language
used by Berry would indicate that he did not
feel friendly towards Sheriff Warren, and
the fact that when Warren appeared in
Dubuque at the head of a committee of citi
zens he called upon Crawford instead of
Berry would lead to the inference that the
dislike was mutual.
It will be observed that the letters of Mr.
Berry and Colonel King were written when
they had no other knowledge of the affray
than what was brought by Mrs. Brown and
her companion. That public sentiment in
Dubuque and in the Executive Office under
went some modification soon afterwards
seems certain. Sheriff Warren and Probate,
Judge Moss were not removed from office
and the militia commission of Brigadier
General McDonald was not revoked. Nor
was Judge Moss removed from the office of
Postmaster. The legislature met in special session in

THE AFTERMATH 165
July of that year. No proposition to expel
Colonel Cox from his seat was brought for
ward ; on the contrary, he was made tempo
rary speaker on the opening of the session
and received votes on three ballots as a can
didate for the full honors of that office.
And, moreover, at the regular election in
August he was reelected by the people of
his county as their Representative.
That there was a degree of lawlessness in
the proceedings which swept that gang of
criminals out of Jackson County can not be
gainsaid. That short but desperate conflict
which cost more in human lives than any
other battle ever fought in Iowa since white
settlement, except the Spirit Lake Massacre,
has always been known locally as the
"Bellevue War". No other term so well
expresses the character which it assumed.
The demon which enters men's souls in the
ardor of conflict must be reckoned with.
Colonels Cox and Collins and a large pro
portion of the posse had previously seen
service in regular warfare, and their attack
was made with a bravery and persistence
that compels admiration. They fought
against those whom they knew to be skilled
marksmen, sheltered by the walls of a build-

166 THOMAS COX
ing; but there was no shrinking or falter
ing until the outlaws surrendered.
The Sheriff's posse became at once, with
out the formality of organizing, as typical
a vigilance committee as ever were those
which in California, in northern Indiana,
and in other primitive communities pro
tected society when the law was powerless.108
The Jackson County vigilants dissolved as
quickly as they assembled. Their one exhi
bition of power sufficed ; no perpetuation of
their authority became necessary or advis
able. Mr. Berry states that it was reported
that every one of the Grand Jury summoned
for the next term of court was acting with
the mob — except Brown, and he was killed.
There seems to be no record of the names of
those summoned for that term, but there is
great probability that Mr. Berry's state
ment is very near the truth.
An examination of the history of those
within the ranks or aiding and abetting this
"most infamous mob" of "brutish beasts"
shows that there were legislators, present
and prospective, of two Territories and two
States. Three of the number as delegates
helped to frame Constitutions for Iowa.
The names of the Probate Judge, Sheriff,

THE AFTERMATH 167
Recorder, Treasurer, Clerk of Courts, Sur
veyor, and Coroner of the county, with two
of the County Commissioners advising and
consenting, and nearly all of the panel of
Grand Jurors are discovered in the list.
There were also two former Colonels with
army service, a Brigadier General and a
Captain of Iowa militia, another who be
came a Brigadier General in California, one
who became Probate Judge, two who became
Sheriffs, a prospective Recorder, Clerk of
Courts, and County Commissioner.109 Sure
ly it was a body of men who did not need
instruction from the hysterical Berry or the
equally excitable postmaster of Dubuque.

XVIII
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Among the acts passed by the second Terri
torial legislature was one to locate the
county seat of Jones County. It named as
the commissioners for that purpose John G.
McDonald of Jackson County, Franklin
Moffatt of Delaware, and Thomas M. Isett
of Muscatine. General McDonald and his
associates first chose as the county seat an
incipient town of Scotch Highlanders from
Selkirk's Settlement in Canada. The town
had been given the name Scotch Grove,
which it still bears. But the commissioners
called it Edinburg ; and they employed Colo
nel Thomas Cox as surveyor to lay it out
into lots and blocks. The canny Scots, how
ever, were evidently not good at town build
ing; for no function of county government
and no term of court was ever held at Edin
burg, and no county officer ever lived or
transacted public business there.
So the countv commissioners soon after-

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 169
ward selected Newport as the county seat,
and a term of the District Court was ap
pointed to be held there. Judge T. S. Wil
son arrived at the designated time to find
that the town consisted of a single log cabin,
of too scant dimensions to contain even the
officers of the Court. In great disgust he
ordered the Court adjourned to meet in Lex
ington, and that place, under its present
name of Anamosa, has ever since maintained
its dignity as the capital of Jones County.
Colonel Cox and General McDonald, during
their trip to Jones County, were also em
ployed as surveyors to lay out the town of
Lexington, which lay at the junction of Buf
falo Fork with the Wapsipinicon River.
On January 15, 1840, the Second Legisla
tive Assembly had passed an act to provide
for an extra session of the legislature. This
extra session convened in Burlington on
Monday, July 13, 1840.110 Contrary to the
practice of the present day the officers of
the regular session of the body did not hold
over for the extra session. Stephen Hemp
stead of Dubuque had been President of the
Council, but he was not even a candidate for
reelection when that body reconvened. Ar
thur Inghram, the oldest member of the

170 THOMAS COX
Council, was appointed President pro tern;
but eight ballots were required before a per
manent presiding officer was elected in the
person of James M. Clark.
In the House, Thomas Cox was chosen
Speaker pro tern on the first day of the ses
sion, and the balloting to fill that office reg
ularly was had on the second day. Edward
Johnston of Lee, who had been Speaker at
the regular session, was elected after three
ballots, on each of which Cox received votes.
The standing committees were appointed
on the 15th, and Colonel Cox became Chair
man of the Committee on Internal Improve
ments and a member of the Committee on
Militia and the Committee on Territorial
Affairs. He gave notice on that day that
"on to-morrow" he would introduce a bill
to relocate the county seat of Jackson Coun
ty, and he made a routine motion on another
subject. On the 16th Mr. Loring Wheeler,
in accordance with previous notice given by
Mr. Cox, reported a bill to relocate the seat
of justice of Jackson County.
During the whole of the remainder of the
session, which lasted until August 1st, Colo
nel Cox does not appear to have answered a
roll call. On the 17th a call of the House

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 171
was ordered and Cox, Hall, and Rich were
granted leave of absence. On the 20th a call
was again ordered and Cox with others was
excused. On the 28th Mr. Cox alone of the
absentees was excused. All of which indi
cates that he was probably absent on account
of sickness, but no other information on the
matter has been discovered.
At the regular election, held in October,
Colonel Cox was again presented as a can
didate for Representative in Jackson
County, and was elected. No records can be
found naming his opponent or giving other
information concerning his election.
When the Third Legislative Assembly of
the Territory convened at Burlington on
November 3, 1840, Colonel Cox found many
changes among his colleagues. Of those who
served with him in the previous Assembly
seven were returned. Two more had been
his colleagues in the First Assembly. But
the Council was well filled with members
who had served in the House for either the
First or Second Assemblies. Eight out of
the thirteen in that body had been his col
leagues in the House in former sessions.
The Journal of the House of Representa
tives for the opening day of the session con-

172 THOMAS COX
tains the following entry regarding the elec
tion of the Speaker:111
Mr. Summers nominated Thomas Cox. The mem
bers then proceeded to ballot, after which, upon
counting the same, it was found that Mr. Cox had
received a majority of the whole number of the votes
given, and was therefore declared duly elected
Speaker. Thus, while the record does not show by
a detailed vote how nearly it approached
unanimity, it does indicate that no other
nominations for Speaker were made and
that the election was accomplished on the
first ballot. In other words it indicates that
Colonel Cox was elected as their presiding
officer by his colleagues practically without
opposition. It was an endorsement of his
abilities as a legislator and parliamentarian
and of his worth as a man of which he may
well have been proud — especially if he
knew, as he must have known, of the efforts
made to discredit him a few short months
before by men high in official position.
Being Speaker, Colonel Cox introduced
no bills, and made no motions during the
session, but the Journal shows his vote on all
matters on which a roll call was demanded.
There is little in the record to show the

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 173
motives or reasons for his votes. Few ques
tions arose which bear indications of being
decided by party feeling — except the fre
quently recurring contests on public print
ing. Cox generally seems to have voted on
the "economy" side of propositions to ex
pend money. He voted in one case against
authorizing a lottery.
During the last ten days of the session the
attention of Colonel Cox to his legislative
duties was interrupted by illness. The first
record on Tuesday morning, January 5,
1841, is this: "In consequence of the ab
sence of the Speaker, Mr. Lash was appoint
ed Speaker pro tempore." Later in that
morning session, however, "Cox, Speaker",
voted on a roll call. At the afternoon ses
sion, a call of the House was ordered on
assembling which disclosed four absentees,
Cox being one. The Sergeant-at-Arms was
directed to require the attendance of absen
tees, and they all appeared.
On the 6th, a roll call shows no vote from
Cox; and on the 7th, leave of absence was
granted to him, but not to seven other absen
tees. On the 8th, he appeared after a call
of the House, but was not present again
during the remainder of the session, which

174 THOMAS COX
closed on the 15th day of January. On the
12th, leave of absence was granted to Mr.
Cox alone of several absentees. On the 13th
Mr. Robertson offered the following: "Re
solved, that the Hon. Thomas Cox be
allowed the sum of three dollars per diem
extra pay for his services as Speaker of this
House from the 2nd day of Nov. 1840, until
the 4th day of January 1841."
John B. Lash received extra pay for six
days' service as Speaker pro tern, and Lau
rel Summers for five days. On the last day
of the session (January 15th) a vote of
thanks was given to Laurel Summers as
Speaker pro tern. His farewell remarks to
the House begin: "Gentlemen: Our ses
sion has at length come to a close, and on
account of the indisposition of the Speaker,
it has become my duty to adjourn this
House." Local sources contribute no infor
mation about this illness.
At the election in August, 1841, Colonel
Cox was again a candidate for the legisla
ture, and again he was elected to a seat in
the House; but in this case also it is not
known whether or not he had an opponent
or what the vote was. The county records,
however, do contain an entry regarding

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 175
this election. On the record of deeds for
Jackson County, Book A, page 97, we find
the following:
Belleview, Jackson County, Iowa Territory. James
C. Mitchell Esq. Clerk of the Board County Commis
sioners' Court.
Sir. Please accept of this as my resignation as
member elect of the House of Representatives from
Jackson County at the late general election on August
last. Yours respectfully,
Thomas Cox.
Recorded November 2, 1841.
John Howe, Recorder.
Persistent inquiries from every accessi
ble survivor of those resident in the county
at that period have failed to find one who
remembers the fact of that resignation or
could give any known reason for such ac
tion. It is not improbable that the myste
rious indisposition that seems to have crip
pled his usefulness at the extra session of
1840 and again shortened his career as
Speaker was the controlling factor in his
now giving up the honorable position to
which he had been reelected.
Nine years before at Springfield, Illinois,
he had had the good sense and courage to
turn aside a high military command to

176 THOMAS COX
whose duties he felt that he could not give
his full powers; so now he feared that he
could not go with his colleagues to inaugu
rate as a capital the little city he had plan
ned and platted, with the full vigor of the
Thomas Cox that his friends and the Com
monwealth had a right to expect him to be.
Whether warned by illness or weakness we
know not, but he was man enough to tell his
constituents to take back their commission
and send some one to represent them whose
powers were equal to the task which they
should demand.
A special election was held on November
29, 1841. It resulted in the election of James
K. Moss of Bellevue — the compatriot of
Colonel Cox in the stirring events of the
Bellevue War — as Representative in the
Fourth Legislative Assembly. This was the
first legislative body to meet and hold ses
sion at Iowa City.

XIX
A Member of the Council of the
Territory
The election of members of the Council
occurred in 1842, and Colonel Cox, having
regained his health and courage, presented
himself as a candidate for promotion to the
higher legislative body. The Council dis
trict included Jackson, Dubuque, Delaware,
and Clayton counties "and the country
thereunto attached".112
-The Democratic nominating convention
was held in Dubuque ; local influences being
predominant, it chose two citizens of that
county, General Francis Gehon and Mr.
Hardin Nowlin, as the regular party nomi
nees. The Whigs were not strong enough
to make a fight, so Colonel Cox and another
disappointed aspirant, Stephen Hempstead,
who had just closed the service of a term
in the Council, presented themselves as in
dependent candidates. Jackson County vot
ers now had an opportunity to show their
12

178 THOMAS COX
loyalty to one of their own citizens and their
respect for and confidence in Thomas Cox.
Practically the solid vote of both parties
was cast for him, which elected him over all
opponents. By a singular chance the number of votes
tallied for Stephen Hempstead and Har
din Nowlin was identical, and was greater
than the number received by General Ge
hon. Tradition says that Hempstead, in a
spirit of old fashioned courtesy, voted for
his opponent, thus creating a tie that re
sulted in his defeat.113 For, on a special
election being called to decide the tie, Colo
nel Cox rallied his friends in Jackson
County to support his old associate, General
Gehon, and their vote again decided the
contest, giving the victory to the candidate
who had the fewest votes at the first elec
tion.114 The Fifth Legislative Assembly convened
at Iowa City on the 5th day of December,
1842. Colonel Cox found among its thirteen
members four with whom he had previously
served in the House.
Others in the Council besides Colonel Cox
had been elected on independent tickets, and
so that body could not be strictly classed as

MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL 179
either Democratic or Whig. Newspapers of
the day agreed that there were six Demo
crats and six Whigs, but Joseph B. Teas of
Jefferson County was claimed by both
parties.115 William H. Wallace was appointed Presi
dent pro tern when the Council convened on
the 5th of December, and on the next day
came the regular election for President.
Shepherd Leffler, an astute politician,
sought to land Mr. Teas securely in the
Democratic camp by placing him in nomi
nation for the high office.
The Whigs did not make a formal nomi
nation, but most of them seem to have voted
for Francis Springer. Three ballots were
taken during the day without result.
On the next day the Whigs dropped
Springer and voted for Dr. John D. Elbert
of Van Buren. After the fifth ballot, "Mr.
Gehon withdrew the name of Joseph B.
Teas, and nominated Thomas Cox for Presi
dent." The sixth ballot gave Elbert seven,
Cox four, W. H. Wallace one, and one
blank ; and so Dr. Elbert was elected.
When the election of the minor officers
came on, Colonel Cox tried to secure the po
sition of Sergeant-at-Arms for his Bellevue

180 THOMAS COX
compatriot, Lieutenant James L. Kirkpat
rick, but without success.
In the assignments on standing commit
tees, Cox was made Chairman of the Com
mittee on Military Affairs and member of
the committees on Roads, Territorial Af
fairs, and Agriculture. He took a leading
part through the session in matters of par
liamentary routine and frequently presided
over the Committee of the Whole. He in
troduced a bill to organize new counties "in
the late cession from the Sac and Fox In
dians", and was appointed on a committee
of conference when the House disagreed
with the Council on the bill. He introduced
a bill to organize, discipline, and govern the
militia, and made a persistent fight to en
courage the introduction of sheep raising
into the Territory by exempting large flocks
from execution. The Journal affords almost
certain evidence that he was present at
every session of the Council.

XX
President of the Council
The Sixth Legislative Assembly convened
at Iowa City on December 4, 1843. The
Council having been elected for two years,
no changes appeared in its personnel. For
its temporary organization on the first day
Francis Springer was chosen President pro
tern without opposition. Uncertain party
affiliation of some members seems to have
been a disturbing factor from the beginning
of the session. Mr. Teas did not yet appear
to be properly branded, and skillful finesse
must be used to keep him within the party
pasture. The election of President should
have occurred on the second day of the ses
sion, but General Gehon of Dubuque, a valu
able Democratic leader, had not yet arrived ;
so Colonel Cox moved to postpone the elec
tion until "Thursday next", which was
agreed to.
On that day the matter was taken up,
although as yet only twelve members were

182 THOMAS COX
present. John P. Cook for the Whigs put
in nomination Francis Springer. The
Democrats made no formal nomination, but
resumed their tactics of the preceding ses
sion by voting for Joseph B. Teas. The first
ballot was as follows: Springer four, Teas
six, and two blank.
On the third ballot the name of Thomas
Cox appeared with one vote. Then the
Council proceeded to the election of Secre
tary and other minor officers, but resumed
balloting on President at the afternoon ses
sion. Four ballots were taken with Cox
showing increasing strength at the expense
of Teas. Balloting was resumed on Decem
ber 8th, when the Democrats swung back to
Teas. The opening ballots were as follows :
eighth ballot, Springer 5, Teas 5, blank 2;
ninth ballot, Springer 6, Teas 3, blank 3. The
tenth ballot was unchanged except that Cox
took one of Springer's six. Then the Demo
crats definitely abandoned Teas and took up
Cox as their candidate.
The eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth bal
lots were identical with Springer five, Cox
five, and two blank. Then Mr. Cook moved
to indefinitely postpone the election of
President, but his motion received the votes

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL 183
only of himself and Mr. Wallace. Mr.
Leffler followed with a motion to postpone
the election until the second Tuesday of
January, 1844, which was carried.
The Council then proceeded with the regu
lar business of the session ; and the appoint
ment of standing committees shows that Cox
was made Chairman of the Committee on
Internal Improvements and a member of
the committees on County and Township
Boundaries, on Agriculture, and of the joint
committee to prepare rules. The Journal
shows him to have been present at every
meeting of the session and to have taken an
active part, as usual, in the parliamentary
routine. The struggle to elect a President was
resumed on the 9th of January, all of the
thirteen members being then present. Seven
ballots were taken on that day. Cox seems
to have had practically the full Democratic
support, having six votes on three of the
ballots. Springer's highest vote was four
on the fourteenth ballot. He received three
votes on three ballots, two on the seven
teenth and nineteenth and only one on the
twentieth. Mr. Teas seems to have been
coquetting with the Whigs, since he received

184 THOMAS COX
two votes on four ballots. Other Whig votes
were cast for John P. Cook and J. D. Elbert.
On January 10th three ballots were taken,
on all of which Springer received his full
strength of six votes while Cox dropped
back to four. Teas received one vote and the
others were blank. On January 11th Mr.
Springer withdrew his name and Mr. Teas
fully changed front by appearing as the
Whig candidate. The twenty-fourth ballot
resulted: Teas five, Cox four, and four
blank. After two more futile ballots Mr.
Teas withdrew. A motion to take up the
regular order of business was lost, and bal
loting resumed with the Whigs all at sea.
The twenty-seventh ballot stood: Cox five,
Teas one, Wallace one, Cook two, W. Pat
terson two, Robt. Christie one, and one
blank. On the twenty-eighth ballot the
Whigs generally rallied to the support of
W. H. Wallace, the vote being Cox five,
Wallace four, Cook one, Christie one, and
two blank.
The deadlock was finally broken on the
thirty-first ballot. Colonel Cox received
seven votes, Mr. Wallace four, and two were
blank. The persistence of blank votes on
every ballot would indicate that civilization

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL 185
had not advanced in those days sufficiently
to allow a candidate to vote for himself.
The Journal informs us that Colonel Cox
returned thanks for the honor conferred
upon him, and that his place on committees
was given to Mr. Springer.110
In his message to the Assembly, Governor
Chambers strongly recommended that meas
ures be taken to secure the admission of the
Territory as a State.117 In furtherance of
that object the Council appointed a select
committee on the 12th of December, to
which was referred that part of the Gover
nor's message relating to State government.
Colonel Cox was made a member of that
committee. The committee reported for
consideration a memorial to Congress rela
tive to the formation of a constitution and
State government and suggesting boundary
lines. During its consideration on January
4th Cox moved to amend the memorial by
substituting the forty-fifth parallel of north
latitude as the northern boundary of the
State. This amendment was passed by the
Council, and the boundary lines suggested
to Congress by the Legislative Assembly
were as follows :
Beginning in the middle of the main channel of

186 THOMAS COX
the Mississippi River at a point east of the middle of
the main channel of the Des Moines River where it
empties into the Mississippi River, thence up the Mis
sissippi River, following the middle of the main chan
nel of the same to the forty-fifth degree of north
latitude, thence on the parallel of said forty-fifth
degree of north latitude to the source of Cactus River,
an east branch of Calumet or Sioux River, thence
down said river following the middle of the main
channel thereof to the middle of the main channel of
the Missouri River, thence down the Missouri River
following the middle of the main channel thereof to
a point west of the line that may be established by
Congress under the act approved, June 18th, 1838,
entitled an act to authorize the President of the
United States to cause the southern boundary line
of the Territory of Iowa to be ascertained and marked ;
thence east with said line to the middle of the main
channel in the Des Moines River, thence downward
along the middle of the main channel of the Des
Moines River to the place of beginning.118
But the Constitutional Convention which
met at Iowa City in October, 1844, adopted
as the northern boundary of the proposed
State the St. Peters (Minnesota) and Blue
Earth (Mankato) rivers, which had been
proposed in the memorial before the adop
tion of the Cox amendment. Mr. Lang
worthy of Dubuque advocated in the Con
vention the forty-fifth parallel boundary,

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL 187
but could not secure votes enough to carry
it. Congress further limited the boundaries
on the north and west and this was so deeply
resented that the Constitution was rejected
by popular vote.
A lively contest in this session of the As
sembly arose on the bill providing for a Con
stitutional Convention, as to the number of
delegates who should compose it. Cox
fought strenuously for an apportionment
that would give a liberal number of delegates
to the northern counties. Ten different
propositions were voted on. On January
11th an amendment carried which received
the vote of Cox, fixing the total number of
delegates at sixty-five and giving Jackson
three, Clinton two, Dubuque and counties
north seven. But on January 20th the south
ern counties gained an advantage by carry
ing an amendment to give Jackson two dele
gates, Clinton one, Dubuque three, Delaware
and Buchanan one, Clayton and Fayette
one, and raising Lee, Des Moines, and Van
Buren each from six to eight. Cox voted
against this amendment, which carried by a
vote of seven to six, and then he voted
against the bill which received seven affirma
tive votes and five negative.

188 THOMAS COX
The Assembly adjourned on February
19th. Cox had served as President for
thirty-eight days, and Springer for thirty-
seven. On motion of Dr. Elbert the follow
ing resolution was passed:
Resolved, that the thanks of the Council are hereby
tendered to the Hon. Thomas Cox for the able, im
partial and highly satisfactory manner in which he
has discharged the duties of President of the Council
during the present session.
On adjournment, the President addressed
the Council as follows :
Gentlemen, As the time for our separation is draw
ing nigh, I ask your kind indulgence a few moments
before we separate. We have, in the discharge of our
duties as Representatives of the people, passed a great
many general and local laws, all of which, I hope,
may have a salutary effect upon our constituency.
Gentlemen it gives me great pleasure to say that
in our intercourse with each other, in the discharge of
our official duties, I have seen nothing to disturb that
social and friendly feeling that ought to exist in a
deliberative body. If we have differed on minor
points, it was but for the moment, and I am in hopes
it will remain within these walls.
Gentlemen, I feel much affected in taking my leave
of you; I have been associated in either House with
several of you ever since we became organized as a
Territory, and with you all for the last two sessions;
you appear to me as part of my family, and my asso-

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL 189
ciations with you will long be remembered by me in
my retirement.
Gentlemen, be pleased to accept my thanks for the
kind indulgence I have received from you, individu
ally, as your presiding officer. You carry with you
to your homes, my best wishes for your future health
and happiness.
Among the acts passed by the Sixth Leg
islative Assembly was one approved Febru
ary 15, 1844, entitled "An Act to provide
for taking the Census, and an Extra Session
of the Legislative Assembly of this Terri
tory." Section four of that act provides for
an extra session to "be begun and holden at
Iowa City on the sixteenth day of June,
1844, for the purpose of making an appor
tionment of members of the Council and
House of Representatives among the several
counties of the Territory, giving to each sec
tion of the Territory representation in the
ratio of its white population as nearly as
may be, according to the census taken under
the provisions of this act."
This extra session began on June 17, 1844,
and before its adjournment eighteen acts
and two joint resolutions were passed. The
Journals of the session were not printed;
nor can they now be found in manuscript.

190 THOMAS COX
The only official record of its existence is the
printed Laws of the session, from the title
page of which it is seen that, like the extra
session of 1840, the organization of the regu
lar session was not recognized, but new pre
siding officers were elected in each branch.119
General Francis Gehon, Colonel Cox's col
league from Dubuque whom he was so large
ly instrumental in electing, became Presi
dent of the Council ; and the Speaker of the
House was the Representative from Jackson
County, the Colonel's neighbor and intimate
friend, John Foley of Bellevue.
We have, indeed, no positive evidence
from any source that Colonel Cox was pres
ent at this short extra session, although we
have no reason to believe that he was not.
The precedent of the extra session of 1840
accounts fully for the fact that his holding
over as President from the regular session
was not recognized. The same was true in
regard to the Speaker of the House, Hon.
James P. Carleton of Johnson County hav
ing been Speaker at the regular session.

XXI
Death and Burial
Colonel Cox watched with keen interest
the proceedings of the Constitutional Con
vention which began its meetings on the 7th
of October, 1844. By strenuous efforts he
had secured for his county the ample repre
sentation of three delegates to the Conven
tion, and those elected were all his intimate
personal and political friends. They were
Rev. Joseph Scott Kirkpatrick, William
Morden, and Richard B. Wyckoff, a New
Yorker who had recently been commissioned
as Colonel in the Territorial militia. It is a
family tradition that these and other influ
ential friends were planning to bring out
Colonel Cox as a candidate for Governor
from the north part of the Territory at the
first election of State officers, should the
Constitution be adopted.120
But before the time fixed for the vote
upon the adoption of the Constitution the
stalwart old pioneer had obeyed a more im-

192 THOMAS COX
perious mandate. An attack of pneumonia
complicated with liver congestion termi
nated his life on November 9, 1844. He was
buried under a handsome young hickory
tree which he had selected to mark his last
resting place.121 The officiating clergyman
at the funeral, which occurred on the after
noon of Sunday, November 10, 1844, was
Rev. William Salter, a young Congregation-
alist who as one of the "Iowa Band" had
come to the Territory of Iowa in the fall of
1843. He had been assigned to the settle
ments of Springfield and Andrew in Jack
son County and had begun his work on No
vember 10, 1843.
Long years passed. The Cox family
moved west. And men's minds turned away
from the lonely grave under the hickory
tree.122 The double log cabin of the pioneer
lawmaker disappeared and was succeeded
by the pretentious frame residence of new
owners of Richland Farm. A generation
had come which "knew not Joseph", and in
1904 it was no easy task for the Jackson
County Historical Society to find the last
resting place and to trace the personal his
tory of him who sixty years earlier had
been the county's most prominent citizen.

DEATH AND BURIAL 193
By the aid of a pioneer who had worked on
the farm fifty years before, and who remem
bered the exact location of the fringe of
stones which bounded it, the position of the
grave was located. Then it was resolved
that the remains should be removed to
Mount Hope Cemetery, in the city of Ma
quoketa, and marked by a suitable monu
ment. Through the generosity of Mr. William
F. Jones, a monolith of singular appropri
ateness was soon provided. Jackson County
lies principally within the anomalous
"Driftless Area of North America". Thin
patches of glacial drift of the Kansan age
are found in the southern and western parts
of the county, indicating that the boundary
of the driftless area lies within its borders.
About a mile north of the old farm of
Thomas Cox there is deposited a collection
of boulders of unusual size. The glacial
clays and gravels in which they must have
once been imbedded have, in the course of
ages, been washed away from the hillside
on which they lie ; but the size of the rocks
and their position strongly indicate that
they mark a terminal moraine and are, in
fact, on the boundary line of the driftless
13

194 THOMAS COX
area. It was one of these giant boulders, a
gneissoid granite, about six and one-half
feet in height by about three and one-half
feet in each of the other dimensions, that
Mr. Jones exhumed from its bed and do
nated to the Historical Society as a memo
rial to the oldest pioneer of the neighbor
hood. The ceremony of unveiling this unique
monument occurred on the Fourth of July,
1905. Nearly sixty-one years before Rev.
William Salter had officiated at the funeral
of Thomas Cox ; and now this venerable man
stood in Mount Hope Cemetery, at Maquo
keta, and assisted in the unveiling of a
monument under which the remains of
Thomas Cox had been reinterred.123
Possessed of faults that were largely the
outgrowth of the pioneer environment in
which his entire life was spent, Thomas Cox
was ever trusted and honored for his strict
integrity and his force of character. He was
a representative of the Southern element
that furnished so large a proportion of the
earliest settlers of Iowa. His career is in
terwoven with the earliest events in the
making of Iowa, and with those of the mak
ing of Illinois as well. As typical of the

DEATH AND BURIAL 195
lives of local leaders among the pioneers of
the West and of Iowa the career of Thomas
Cox is worthy of the consideration of
thoughtful students of history.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

NOTES AND REFERENCES
CHAPTEE I
1 Kentucky was at this time a county under the
jurisdiction of Virginia. Its full separation was not
effected until 1790 ; and it did not become a State in
the Union until 1792.
2 The children of Robert and Jane [Robinson] Cox
were: (a) Thomas, born 1787
(b) Sarah, married  Lucas
(c) Eleanor, married (1) Isaac Betts, (2) 
Young, and (3) General James Collins; died
childless.
(d) John W., married Margaret Hilyard; died
near Hanford, California, 188 —
(e) Rachel, married Ephraim Neville
3 Mr. S. B. Cox, son of Thomas Cox, wrote in 1905 :
' ' One of the former slaves visited us when we lived in
Iowa". 4 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. II, p. 514.
5 James's The Territorial Records of Illinois (Pub
lications of the Illinois State Historical Library, No.
Ill), p. 3. This slender but very valuable volume,
which is edited by Edmund J. James, contains the
Executive Register for the entire Territorial period
and the Journals of the "Executive Council and House
of Representatives for the year 1812.

200 THOMAS COX
6 His home in Kentucky had been at Russellville, a
town southwest of Louisville and near the Tennessee
line. We have no evidence that Robert Cox lived in
the same part of the State; but that he was well ac
quainted with Governor Edwards, and that his re
moval to Illinois was a consequence of that gentle
man's appointment and change of residence is at least
a plausible conjecture that finds support in the fact
that both Robert and Thomas Cox received official
appointments at his hands at early periods in their
residence at Kaskaskia.
7 James's The Territorial Records of Illinois (Pub
lications of the Illinois State Historical Library, No.
Ill), p. 6.
8 James's The Territorial Records of Illinois (Pub
lications of the Illinois State Historical Library, No.
Ill), p. 32. On the same day Thomas Cox was ap
pointed to a lieutenancy in the Second Regiment. He
had been made ensign in this regiment on March 24th
of the preceding year. — See James 's The Territorial
Records of Illinois (Publications of the Illinois State
Historical Library, No. Ill), p. 29.
9 ' ' Col. Cox told me that he had acted as Sheriff of
one of the two counties that constituted Illinois in
early times, and had taken the census when it had
only 6000 population." — Letter from William Salter
to the writer.
The census of 1810 found 12,282 inhabitants in
Illinois Territory.
The regular Sheriff, Colonel Benjamin Stephenson
also emigrated from Kentucky in 1809 and was a very

NOTES AND REFERENCES 201
intimate friend of Governor Edwards. James Gil-
breath was appointed Sheriff of Randolph County by
Acting Governor Pope as one of his first official acts,
April 28, 1809. Governor Edwards removed him on
June 28, 1809, and appointed Benjamin Stephenson.
— James's The Territorial Records of Illinois (Publi
cations of the Illinois State Historical Library, No.
Ill), pp. 4, 8.
Stephenson became a Colonel of militia in the War
of 1812, Adjutant General of Illinois Territory in
1813, and Delegate to Congress in 1814-1816.— Wash-
burne's The Edwards Papers (Chicago Historical So
ciety's Collection, Vol. Ill), p. 120; James's The Ter
ritorial Records of Illinois (Publications of the Illinois
State Historical Library, No. Ill), p. 30.
Gilbreath had quite a different record. The Terri
torial Records (pp. 18, 38) disclose that on February
3, 1811, the Governor remitted a fine imposed upon
him for breach of the gambling act, and that in 1815
he was expelled from the Territorial House of Repre
sentatives — offense not stated.
10 Washburne 's The Edwards Papers (Chicago His
torical Society's Collection, Vol. Ill), pp. 72-78.
Ninian Edwards, who was Governor during the en
tire Territorial period, became one of the first two
United States Senators from the State of Illinois and
in 1826 was elected Governor of the State in whose
Territorial career he had so largely figured. His
papers, which fill a volume of over six hundred pages,
are a most valuable source of information concerning
early Illinois and western history.

202 THOMAS COX
CHAPTER II
11 These forts were : Michilimackinac, Detroit, Ni
agara, Oswegotche, Point au Fer, Dutchman's Point,
and Prairie du Chien. — Stevens's Illinois in the War
of 1812-1814 in Publication No. 9 of the Illinois State
Historical Library, p. 62.
12 James's The Territorial Records of Illinois (Pub
lications of the Illinois State Historical Library, No.
Ill), p. 8.
13 This roster is given in Stevens 's Illinois in the
War of 1812-1814 in Publication No. 9 of the Illinois
State Historical Library, p. 179. The company is
listed as Captain Henry Cook's Company with the ex
planation that it was formerly the company of Cap
tain Samuel Judy. Captain Judy was appointed
Major of the Second Battalion of the Second Regiment
on April 12, 1812, and his lieutenant, Henry Cook,
succeeded him. Judy had been one of Acting Gover
nor Pope 's first appointees, having been made Lieuten
ant of a cavalry company on May 3, 1809. His com
mission as Captain of the militia of St. Clair County
came January 2, 1810, and he became Colonel of the
Second Regiment on the death of Colonel William
Whiteside in March, 1815. On January 11, 1816, he
was appointed Judge of the County Court of Madison
County. — James's The Territorial Records of Illinois
(Publications of the Illinois State Historical Library,
No. Ill), pp. 5, 12, 24, 36, 39.
14 Bankson, who had been a Lieutenant among the
temporary appointments in 1810, became Second Lieu
tenant, United States Rangers, in 1813, Major in the

NOTES AND REFERENCES 203
Second Regiment of Illinois Militia in 1817, and
Colonel of the Tenth Regiment in 1818. — James's
The Territorial Records of Illinois (Publications of
the Illinois State Historical Library, No. Ill), pp.
17, 47, 56.
15 Samuel Hopkins, born in Albemarle County, Vir
ginia, rose to the rank of Colonel in the Revolutionary
War, served with distinction at Trenton, Monmouth,
and Brandywine, and was severely wounded at Ger-
mantown. He settled in Kentucky in 1797, served in
its legislature for several terms, and was a member of
Congress from 1813 to 1815. In 1819 he died in Ken
tucky, in Hopkins County — named in his honor.
16 In the roster of Captain Craig's company we find
the name of Robert Cox; but it may be doubted
whether this was the father of Thomas Cox, since he
must then have been over 'fifty years old and did not
live at Shawneetown. — Stevens's Illinois in the War
of 1812-1814 in Publication No. 9 of the Illinois State
Historical Library, p. 185.
17 See letters from Thomas Craig to Governor Ed
wards, November 16 and December 10, 1812, reporting
his actions at Peoria. — Washburne's The Edwards
Papers (Chicago Historical Society's Collection, Vol.
Ill), pp. 85, 86-90.
18 Thomas Forsythe was later appointed agent for
the Sacs and Foxes at the important post of Fort
Armstrong. This position he retained until 1831
when he was superseded by Felix St. Vrain.
19 Antoine LeClaire, a Canadian-French half breed,
established a trading post at Milwaukee in 1808 and

204 THOMAS COX
was later connected in the fur business with John
Kinzie of Fort Dearborn. He espoused the American
cause in the War of 1812, and afterwards entered the
government service as interpreter. He served in this
capacity at Fort Armstrong in 1818, was married to
the granddaughter of Acoqua, chief of the Sacs, in
1820; and in the same year made an expedition to
Arkansas to watch the movements of the Indians. He
returned later to Fort Armstrong and acted as in
terpreter at the treaty of 1832 by which the United
States came into possession of the Black Hawk Pur
chase. He was one of the proprietors and founders of
the town of Davenport and one of its leading citi
zens for a long period of years.
20 ' ' Deposit a letter in any post office of Illinois,
however remote or obscure, with no other superscrip
tion than these three words — 'The Old Ranger7 —
and it would go straight to him at Belleville." —
Quoted in Snyder's An Inquiry in Publication No. 9
of the Illinois State Historical Library, p. 59.
Governor Reynolds afterward (August 22, 1815)
became Judge Advocate of the Second Regiment of
the Illinois Militia. He was a Pennsylvanian, born
in 1789 ; and he came to what is now Madison County,
Illinois, with his father about 1807.
21 The details of this expedition as given by Reynolds
and by Edwards are presented in Stevens's Illinois in
the War of 1812-1814 in Publication No. 9 of the Illi
nois State Historical Library, pp. 131-138.
22 Quoted from John Reynolds in Stevens's Illinois
in the War of 1812-1814 in Publication No. 9 of the
Illinois State Historical Library, p. 133.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 205
23 See letter from General Samuel Hopkins to Gov
ernor Shelby, October 6, 1812, printed in Stevens's
Illinois in the War of 1812-1814 in Publication No. 9
of the Illinois State Historical Library, pp. 128-131.
24 James's The Territorial Records of Illinois (Pub
lications of the Illinois State Historical Library, No.
Ill), pp. 29, 32, 59.
25 See letter from Ninian Edwards to President
James Monroe, December 22, 1820, and letter from
President James Monroe to Ninian Edwards, January
23, 1823.— Washburne's The Edwards Papers (Chi
cago Historical Society's Collection, Vol. Ill), pp.
173, 205.
26 See the rosters given in Stevens's Illinois in the
War of 1812-1814 in Publication No. 9 of the Illinois
State Historical Library, pp. 171-197.
27 Nathan Boone, who was a son of Daniel Boone,
became, in 1832, Captain in a battalion of Ranger
companies under command of Major Henry Dodge,
and was sent to Fort Gibson, in the present confines of
Oklahoma. A year later he enlisted with the same
rank in a regiment of Mounted Rangers commanded by
Colonel Henry Dodge, which accomplished a number
of important marches in the years 1834 and 1835 ex
tending over an area covering five of the present
States of the Mississippi Valley. — See Pelzer's A
Journal of Marches by the First United States Dra
goons, 1834-1835 in The Iowa Journal of History and
Politics, Vol. VII, No. 3, pp. 331-378.
28 "In an obituary written by Maj. Ben. C. Free
man [who married Augusta Mallard, granddaughter

206 THOMAS COX
of Colonel Cox] at my brother Thomas' death, he
mentioned my father as having carried despatches
from Gen. Harrison's army near the Lakes, presuma
bly to the headquarters of the regular army at Mari
etta, Ohio, during the War of 1812." — Letter from
S. B. Cox to the writer, August 2, 1905.
29 The original of this portrait is an oil painting
executed about 1813 when Cox was twenty-six years
old. The canvas was badly wrinkled and marred dur
ing the journey of the family across the plains to
California. It was restored in later years by a some
what unskilled artist. CHAPTEE III
30 Genealogy of the Cox family by S. Bolivar Cox
and Thomas E. Nichols, published in the Jackson Sen
tinel in June, 1905. The mother died in 1843 at
Bellevue, Iowa.
31"Mrs. Cox told me that she was a native of Rhode
Island, her mother a Quakeress, and that she came at
the age of sixteen to Ste. Genevieve, Mo. ' ' — Quoted
from a letter by Rev. William Salter to the writer.
32 Daniel Bartlett 's children were :
(a) Daniel, who went south to look at the coun
try shortly after the family reached Mis
souri and died in Little Rock, Arkansas. He
never married.
(b) William, who married in Cincinnati when
the family was on the way to Missouri. He
: separated from his wife, and there were no

NOTES AND REFERENCES 207
children. He died on the Bartlett farm near
Ste. Genevieve, in 1837.
(e) Susan, who married Elijah Carter and went
to Cincinnati to reside.
(d) Roba, born at Cumberland Hill, Rhode Is
land, 1793; married Thomas Cox, 1815, at
Kaskaskia, Illinois ; and died in Los Angeles,
California, August 18, 1883.
(e) Deborah, who married Thomas Carter, the
brother of Elijah, and went to Cincinnati to
reside.
(f) Lemuel, who married in Missouri and had
one child. He separated from his wife and
died on the Bartlett farm, near Ste. Gene
vieve, in 1836.
(g) Rowena, who never married. She was a por
trait painter, and painted the pictures of
several members of the family. She went to
Cincinnati to live, and died there.
(h) Mary, who married Edward Mitchell and
died in Springfield, Illinois.
83 "July 31st [1816] furnishes the same tedious
advertisements, tells the same negro stories, but
flashes a new light by stating that Benjamin Munn has
150 barrels of Kanhawa salt for sale, while Thomas
Cox advertises at Kaskaskia, a tavern on the bank of
the river, where he intends keeping the best viands
the country affords, not forgetting to state that he is
'well supplied with the best of liquors.' " The above
is quoted from Burnham's An Early Illinois News
paper in Publication No. 8 of the Illinois State His-

208 THOMAS COX
torical Library, p. 185. The article consists of extracts
from, and comments upon the files of the Western
Intelligencer, the successor of the Illinois Herald
published at Kaskaskia.
34 Thomas and Roba [Bartlett] Cox had seven chil
dren. The mother died at Los Angeles, California, at
the age of ninety years. Mr. S. B. Cox of Los Angeles,
supplies the following list of the children of Thomas
Cox: (a) Daniel, born at Jonesboro, Illinois, Septem
ber, 1816; married  Gates, in Jefferson
County, Missouri, in 1838 ; died in 1841, leav
ing one child that died in infancy.
(b) Florida, born at Kaskaskia, Illinois, January
7, 1819; married John Gregg Nichols on
March 15, 1838, at White Oak Springs, Wis
consin; and died May 31, 1877, at Los An
geles, California, leaving the following six
children :
i. Daniel Bartlett born at Bellevue, Iowa,
in 1843 ; married Ada McDaniels. Three
daughters.
ii. Roba, born at Andrew, Iowa, in 1844;
married to John Carlin. No children.
iii. John Gregg, born at Los Angeles, Cali
fornia, 1851; married Cornelia Stan
ford. One son, two daughters. John
Gregg Nichols was the first child of
American parents born in Los Angeles.
iv. Florida, born at Los Angeles, Califor-

NOTES AND REFERENCES 209
nia, 1855; and married John S. Carr.
One son and two daughters.
v. Thomas Edwin, born at Los Angeles,
California, January 6, 1858; married
Ella Galloway at Tucson, Arizona,
March 2, 1883. Two sons, three daugh
ters.
vi. Elmer Ellsworth, born at Los Angeles,
California, June 2, 1860; and married
Nellie Thayer; died at Los Angeles,
California, February, 1901, leaving one
daughter, Corinne.
Note — Florida Cox Nichols had
three other children, who died before
her, Cordelia and Augustus, both born
before Daniel Bartlett, and both of
whom died in early childhood; and also
Lewis Cass, born at Andrew, Iowa, 1848,
and died at Los Angeles, California,
May 1, 1872, unmarried.
(c) Mary Alexandria, born September 26, 1820,
at Jonesboro, Illinois; married Jonathan
Rensselaer Scott, June 12, 1851, at Los An
geles, California; and died September 4,
1891, at Los Angeles, California, leaving the
following five children:
i. Frances, born at Los Angeles, Califor
nia; and died February 2, 1899, at Los
Angeles, California. Unmarried.
ii. Jonathan Rensselaer, born at Los An
geles, California; and married Lucy
14

210 THOMAS COX
Darby Connell. One son and two
daughters.
iii. Harriette, born at Los Angeles, Califor
nia ; and married Bowles E. Taney. One
son, two daughters.
iv. Emily, born at Los Angeles, California ;
and married Du Ray Smith. Two sons.
v. Rowena, born at Los Angeles, Califor
nia; and married William Ewen. One
son, four daughters.
(d) Cordelia, born December 7, 1822, at Spring
field, Illinois; married Joseph Stillman Mal
lard at Richland, Iowa, May 1, 1845; died
at Los Angeles, California, May 14, 1899,
leaving the following children :
i. Mary, born at Andrew, Iowa; married
Isaac R. Dunkelberger. Three sons, two
daughters.
ii. Augusta, born at Andrew, Iowa; mar
ried Ben C. Truman. One daughter.
iii. Josephine, born at Lugo's Ranch, San
Bernardino County, California, Janu
ary 6, 1850. Unmarried.
iv. Belle, born at San Gabriel, California;
married James Fulton. One son.
v. Henry, born at Los Angeles, California,
November 12, 1856; died near Indio,
Riverside County, California, on July
18, 1895. Unmarried.
vi. Walter, born at Los Angeles, Califor-

NOTES AND REFERENCES 211
nia; married Alice Whipple. No chil
dren.
vii. Clarence Stillman, born at Los Angeles,
California. Unmarried.
Note — Cordelia Cox Mallard had two
other children, who died before her,
Thomas and Tucie, both of whom died
in infancy.
(e) Thomas, born November 9, 1824, at Spring
field, Illinois; died May 1, 1897, near Los
Angeles, California. Unmarried.
(f) Simon Bolivar, born at Springfield, Illinois,
September 16, 1832; married Arlena Emery,
1878 ; and had five children, Mildred, Roba,
Emma, Arthur, and Horace. The last two
died in infancy. S. B. Cox died at Holly
wood, California, March 24, 1906.
(g) Phoebe, born on the Bartlett farm, on the
Isle Bois River, Missouri, on January 8, 1835.
Unmarried.
35 James's The Territorial Records of Illinois (Pub
lications of the Illinois State Historical Library, No.
Ill), p. 57. The name is there spelled "Coxe" but
there can be little doubt of the identity.
30 Washburne 's The Edwards Papers (Chicago His
torical Society's Collection, Vol. HI), p. 149.
37 The letter is printed in Washburne 's The Ed
wards Papers (Chicago Historical Society's Collection,
Vol. Ill), pp. 153-155.
38 Washburne makes the following comment upon

212 THOMAS COX
the matter contained in the postscript: "This must
have been a gross misrepresentation, for Governor
Edwards was always most liberal in his support of all
donations of public lands."
39 Washburne 's The Edwards Papers (Chicago His
torical Society's Collection, Vol. Ill), p. 153.
CHAPTEE IV
40 Donaldson 's The Public Domain in House Mis
cellaneous Documents, 2nd Session, 47th Congress,
1882-1883, Vol. XVI, pp. 201-205.
41 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. Ill, p. 566.
42 Washburne 's The Edwards Papers (Chicago His
torical Society's Collection, Vol. Ill), p. 205.
43 Letter from Mr. W. A. Richards, Commissioner of
the General Land Office, Washington, D. C, to the
writer, April 22, 1905.
The appointment of Cox was perhaps decided upon
more than a year before, if one may depend upon the
date of a letter written by Senator Edwards to Presi
dent Monroe which is given in The Edwards Papers
(p. 173) . A controversy had arisen between the Sena
tor and the President in regard to appointments. Mr.
Monroe seemed to feel that Governor Edwards was
disposed to assume an absolute right of selection of
officials in his State. The feeling became so bitter as
to elicit the interference of Attorney General Wil
liam Wirt, who was an intimate personal friend of
Ninian Edwards.
There was also a growing feeling of rivalry and
jealousy between the two Illinois Senators — Ed-

NOTES AND REFERENCES 213
wards and Thomas. Indeed, during the Monroe ad
ministration (that era of good feeling when political
parties almost ceased to exist) the only line that
seemed to divide voters in Illinois was that between
adherents of the two Senators. The letter in question,
which bears date of December 22, 1820, was written
by Edwards primarily to protest against an appoint
ment to a land office of one Philip Foulke, who had
been recommended by Senator Thomas. The Sena
tor discusses the matter of appointments, defends
himself from imputations of unworthy motives, and
warmly presents the claims of a friend of his own.
In the letter occurs the following sentence: "As
to Gen. Smith's nomination, . . . his is the only
nomination to a land office appointment out of the
last seven that have been made in Illinois which the
Representative of the State and myself together are
to have the credit of having been able to procure, for
the most extraordinary efforts are making to show
that the appointment of Col. Cox was procured
through the influence of my colleague although you
know to the contrary."
This language is not easy to understand when we
reflect that the appointment of Colonel Cox at Spring
field was not made until January, 1823. A possible
explanation is that it was not practicable to establish
the land district sooner.
44 Power's A History of the Early Settlers in Sanga
mon County, Illinois, p. 289.
45 In 1827 Elijah lies became Major in a regiment
of militia in the Winnebago Indian War of that year.
In 1832 he was commissioned Captain of a company

214 THOMAS COX
raised for temporary service of twenty days in the
Black Hawk War. Abraham Lincoln enlisted in this
company as a private after having been mustered out
as Captain. From 1826 to 1830 Major lies was State
Senator and was one of the "Long Nine" delegation
(of which Lincoln was also a member) which secured
the choice of Springfield as State Capital.
46 Power's A History of the Early Settlers in
Sangamon County, Illinois, pp. 44, 289, 397-399. See
also Washburne 's The Edwards Papers (Chicago His
torical Society's Collection, Vol. Ill), p. 211.
47 Power 's A History of the Early Settlers in
Sangamon County, Illinois, p. 398.
48 Power's A History of the Early Settlers in
Sangamon County, Illinois, p. 356.
49 Letter from Commissioner of the General Land
Office, Washington, D. C, to the writer, April 22,
1905. His successor, Dr. John Todd was a Kentuckian
who had seen service in the War of 1812, and at the
time of his appointment was living at Edwardsville,
Illinois. He was an uncle of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.
50 Washburne 's The Edwards Papers (Chicago His
torical Society's Collection, Vol. Ill), pp. 336, 337.
CHAPTEE V
51 Edward Mitchell married Mary Bartlett, a sister
of Mrs. Thomas Cox, who died in 1830. He was
Postmaster at Springfield under John Quincy Adams,
and Recorder of Sangamon County from 1827 to

NOTES AND REFERENCES 215
1835. He died in 1836.— Power's A History of the
Early Settlers in Sangamon County, Illinois, p. 54.
52 Collections of the State Historical Society of Wis
consin, Vol. II, p. 329.
63 Stevens's The Black Hawk War, pp. 81-91.
54 Stevens's The Black Hawk War, pp. 96-98. This
treaty was negotiated at Fort Armstrong on June 30,
1831, and signed by Edmund P. Gaines, John Rey
nolds, and twenty-eight chiefs, braves, and warriors
of the Sacs and Foxes, among them Black Hawk.
BB A letter from Mr. S. B. Cox states that his mother
had informed him that Thomas Cox was proffered the
position of Colonel by the Governor in the Black
Hawk War.
56 Compare letter by Hooper Warren to Governor
Ninian Edwards, April 1, 1828, in Washburne 's The
Edwards Papers (Chicago Historical Society's Col
lection, Vol. Ill), p. 336.
57 The fact that Colonel Collins was given his com
mission at the solicitation of Thomas Cox was related
to Mr. S. B. Cox by his mother, the wife of Colonel
Thomas Cox. CHAPTEE VI
68 A very detailed account of the Black Hawk War
is given in Stevens's The Black Hawk War — a vol
ume containing material of great value. Much of the
information contained in the present chapter was ob
tained from this source.
59 Stevens's The Black Hawk War, p. 217.

216 THOMAS COX
00 The rosters of Illinois soldiers in the Black Hawk
War show that all of Lindsey's company were pres
ent at the battle of Wisconsin Heights, except one
discharged, three detailed, and one furloughed; that
on July 20, 1832, four were furloughed at "Casle-
man" ; and that Thomas Cox was not one of those who
thus left the company. CHAPTEE VII
" Kappler 's Indian Affairs, Vol. II, p. 349.
02 The information concerning the work of Colonel
Cox as United States Deputy Surveyor was obtained
from a letter by J. H. Fingle, Acting Commissioner
of the General Land Office at Washington, D. C, to
the writer, June 14, 1904.
03 General John G. McDonald was born in Scot
land, December 19, 1798. Of his early life we only
know that he lived in Indiana before he came to Illi
nois. He served in the Black Hawk War as a Lieu
tenant in Major Henry Dodge's battalion of United
States Rangers, organized about the close of that
struggle but employed in garrison and scouting duty
under General Scott. Colonel Cox became acquainted
with him and learned of his ability as a surveyor in
Illinois, and so secured his services for the work in
the Black Hawk Purchase.
64 They were Solomon, Gabriel, and Allen W. Pence,
David Scott, Joshua Beers, Joseph Skinner, Pingry,
and Perkins. The Pences came first in May from
Henderson County, Illinois, planted some sod corn,
then returned to Illinois for their families. They met

NOTES AND REFERENCES 217
the other five families in Illinois and directed them to
a location. 65 William Morden was a Canadian who had lived
for several years near Cleveland, Ohio. He became
immediately prominent in pioneer politics ; was chosen
as one of the first Board of Commissioners when Jack
son County was organized in the spring of 1838 ; and
was a member of the Constitutional Convention of
1844. CHAPTEE VIII
66 The name of this early county under Michigan
Territory was spelled in one word without the letter
s. In December, 1836, the county was reduced in size
and the spelling of the name changed to Des Moines.
67 W. A. Warren was appointed by Governor Henry
Dodge as the first Sheriff of Jackson County and con
tinued in that office under the Iowa Territorial organ-
ization until 1845. He was a member of the Iowa
Constitutional Convention of 1844. During the Civil
War he served as Captain and Assistant Quarter
master by appointment from President Lincoln.
John H. Rose was the first Clerk of the Courts of
Jackson County and held a commission as Colonel
in the Iowa Militia.
John D. Bell in 1834 was, in a sense, the proprietor
of the town site which took its name Bellview from
him. The name was afterwards changed to its French
spelling Bellevue, which better expresses the charm
of its delightful situation.
68 For a discussion of Iowa counties see Garver 's

218 THOMAS COX
History of the Establishment of Counties in Iowa in
The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. VI,
No. 3, July, 1908, p. 375; Garver's Boundary History
of the Counties of Iowa in The Iowa Journal of His
tory and Politics, Vol. VII, No. 1, January, 1909, p.
3; and Garver's A Critical Study of the Definition
and Alteration of County Boundaries in Iowa in The
Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. VII, No.
3, July, 1909, p. 402.
69 James K. Moss, to whom Governor Lucas's letter.
was addressed, was the first merchant who brought a
stock of goods to Bellevue (in 1836). He became a
member of the Territorial House of Representatives
in 1841, being elected at a special election after Colo
nel Cox who had been chosen for the place resigned.
Nic. Jefferson also kept a store in Bellevue, having
arrived there a few months later than Moss. Of the
residence and history of B. Rodefer nothing has been
learned. 70 A detailed record of the members of the First
Territorial Assembly is given by Charles Negus in his
The Early History of Iowa in the Annals of Iowa,
Vol. VII, No. 4, October, 1869, pp. 322-324.
71 Journal of the House of Representatives of the
Territory of Iowa, 1838-1839, pp. 3, 4.
72 Journal of the House of Representatives of the
Territory of Iowa, 1838-1839, p. 28.
73 Journal of the House of Representatives of the
Territory of Iowa, 1838-1839, p. 201.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 219
CHAPTEE IX
74 The controversy between Governor Lucas and the
Legislative Assembly is discussed in chapters XVIII-
XXII of Parish's Robert Lucas. Many of the docu
ments are to be found in the Journals of the Council
and House of Representatives, in Shambaugh's Mes
sages and Proclamations of the Governors of lowa,
Vol. I, and in Shambaugh's Executive Journal of
Iowa, 1838-1841.
75 Journal of the House of Representatives of the
Territory of Iowa, 1838-1839, p. 61.
76 This memorial may be found in the Journal of
the House of Representatives of the Territory of
Iowa, 1838-1839, p. 257. Leave was asked by John
Frierson to present a minority report upholding Gov
ernor Lucas, but the privilege was denied.
CHAPTEE X
77 Journal of the House of Representatives of the
Territory of Iowa, 1838-1839, p. 157.
78 The section as first proposed by Mr. Hempstead
provided that the location should be within twenty
townships named, which would have included the
southern tier of townships in Linn County. Mr.
Clark moved to strike out the limits mentioned and
to insert "within the present limits of Johnson Coun
ty", which was carried by a vote of ten to three.
Hempstead himself voted for it, as did also Mr. Keith,
one of the Mount Pleasant adherents.
79 Theodore S. Parvin has made a singular error in

220 THOMAS COX
writing about the part borne by Colonel Cox in this
capital locating contest. Mr. Parvin as a young man
acted as private secretary to Governor Lucas, and was
therefore present in Burlington during the session of
that first Territorial Assembly and familiar with its
proceedings. The imbroglio of the Governor with
Secretary Conway involved also a hostility on the
part of the Secretary towards young Parvin, which
was manifested in some reports made to the legisla
ture which afford some of the raciest reading that
ever appeared in public documents. Colonel Cox was
a bitter partisan in the controversy as a friend of
Conway's and was not, therefore, at all friendly to
Parvin. That this fact had any influence upon Par
vin 's memory of the facts is not probable, but it per
haps did prevent his having had at the time personal
knowledge of Colonel Cox's ideas and efforts.
The first public utterance by Parvin on the subject
was in an address before the Iowa Pioneer Law
makers' Association in 1892, when he said: "His
¦ [Colonel Cox's] vote was the turning point in the
location of the Capitol at Iowa City, and the Terri
tory and State became indebted to him by whose vote
the location was determined." Again, in an address
before the same body in 1900 Parvin told a graphic
story of the efforts made by the adherents and the
opponents of Mount Pleasant to gain votes. In this
he made the assertion that the result hung upon the
vote of one man (without naming him), and that his
vote was won and retained by sinister means in which
the celebration of Jackson Day (January 8th) bore
a part. A letter written by Parvin to Rev. William

NOTES AND REFERENCES 221
Salter in November, 1900, which the writer has been
permitted to copy, tells the same story with Colonel
Cox as its subject, and by this letter it appears that
Mr. S. C. Hastings, then a member from Muscatine,
was authority for the incidents upon which it was
based. Now the evidence of the House Journal, which has
been fully presented in the text, shows that the con
test was all over and the last votes taken on the 3d
of January. Jackson Day had no part or lot in it.
The Journal shows, too, that so far from the vote of
Colonel Cox being an uncertain factor to be competed
for, he was from the first a leader of the forces ar
rayed against Mount Pleasant, active, vigilant, and
resourceful. The wavering votes clearly show in the
record, and it would be difficult to center the final
result upon any one man.
In this connection we would cite the assertion of
Hawkins Taylor, who in a letter to the Pioneer Law
makers' Association in 1894 says that during that first
Territorial Assembly he did not see a single member
intoxicated. The Journal record demonstrates that it
was a busy session; every member was on his mettle,
intensely interested in his new duties and unwilling to
allow extraneous pleasures to divert him therefrom.
It is due Parvin, however, to say that internal evi
dence in the Journal of the session of 1839-1840, of
which Assembly also Colonel Cox and Mr. Hastings
were both members, would indicate that a convivial
observance of Jackson Day in 1840 is inherently
probable. So we are compelled to believe that Hast
ings's story, filtered down through sixty years of the

222 THOMAS COX
memory of Parvin, related to the second year of his
joint service with Colonel Cox instead of the first, and
that the Territory and State did become indebted to
Colonel Cox for the location of the capital at Iowa
City, but in the wider sense of his having created the
idea rather than his having cast a reluctant ballot
which determined such location.
80 Laws of the Territory of Iowa, 1838-1839, p. 437.
CHAPTEE XI
81 A courier had ridden thirty-five miles and re
turned in twelve hours to secure the attendance of
John Ronalds of Louisa County, who with Chauncey
Swan of Dubuque constituted the necessary quorum.
See Shambaugh's Iowa City: A Contribution to the
Early History of Iowa, pp. 21, 22.
82 Shambaugh's Iowa City: A Contribution to the
Early History of Iowa, pp. 26, 27.
83 This report of Chauncey Swan is printed in the
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Terri
tory of Iowa, 1839-1840, pp. 121-125.
CHAPTER XII
84 A vote taken on the last day of the session, Janu
ary 17, 1840, on a resolution approving of the message
of President Van Buren on the currency question,
would indicate the political affiliations of the House
to have been as follows : Democrats — Bailey, Biggs,
Brewer, Coop, Cox, English, Fleenor, Langworthy,
Leffler, Mintun, Myers, Patterson, Robertson, Sum
mers, and Johnston (15) ; Whigs — Churchman, Hall,

NOTES AND REFERENCES 223
Hawkins, Owen, Rich, Ross, Walworth, and Wheeler
(8). Clark, Hastings, and Lash did not vote, but
we have information from other sources that they
were Democrats. CHAPTEE XIII
85 The history of the Missouri-Iowa boundary dis
pute has been very fully and fairly given in Chapter
XXII of Parish's Robert Lucas in the Iowa Biographi
cal Series, in which the part taken by Governor Robert
Lucas is especially set forth. Dr. Louis Pelzer in
Chapter VI of his Augustus Caesar Dodge, published
in the same series, has made a comprehensive resume
of the dispute, in which the controversies which it
evoked in Congress and the part borne therein by
Delegate A. C. Dodge have adequate treatment. In
both of these presentations the sources from which our
knowledge of the several phases of the controversy are
derived have been thoroughly sifted and citations duly
set forth.
The writer has prepared for publication in a volume
on the Early Military History of Iowa in the Roster
and Record of Iowa Soldiers (which series is being
published by the State of Iowa) an account of the
part taken in the affair by the Iowa Territorial Mili
tia, with which are embodied some documents from the
office of the Adjutant General of Iowa not previously
available. Colonel Cox comes in touch with this lively episode
in Iowa history only through his share in the part
taken in it by the Territorial Assembly. His county
(Jackson) shared in the military ardor aroused by

224 THOMAS COX
the call upon the militia, and two or three companies
assembled there and drilled until the truce was pro
mulgated. 86 Parish's Robert Lucas, p. 237.
87 Shambaugh's Messages and Proclamations of the
Governors of Iowa, Vol. I, pp. 124-130, 217-241.
88 Pelzer 's Augustus Caesar Dodge, pp. 81, 82.
89 Journal of the House of Representatives of the
Territory of Iowa, 1839-1840, p. 98.
90 Journal of the House of Representatives of the
Territory of Iowa, 1839-1840, pp. 102, 103.
CHAPTER XIV
91 Mr. Charles Blacksten of Jackson County, Iowa,
remembers that in the early fifties vigilance commit
tees were organized in all of the northern Indiana
counties, with the tacit consent of the State authori
ties, and continued in existence several years, during
which time they succeeded by most strenuous means
in ridding their country and southern Michigan of
those detestable gangs of thieves.
92 History of Jackson County, Iowa (1879), p. 324.
^History of Jackson County, Iowa (1879), p. 364.
The statements in this work in regard to the Belle
vue 'War are all based upon an account written by
Captain W. A. Warren who was Sheriff at the time.
Warren had first written his account in 1865 for pub
lication by Henry Howe in the Loyal West. — See An
nals of Iowa, Vol. VII, No. 2, April, 1869, p. 188.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 225
94 The purchaser was Thomas Graham who in 1845
was nominated for Representative in the Territorial
legislature. He died before the election day, and his
son of the same name was elected in his place.
95 Letter from Judge T. S. Wilson to Captain W. A.
Warren, September 30, 1879.
CHAPTER XV
00 From his home in Iowa County, Wisconsin Ter
ritory, Colonel Collins had been elected in 1838 to
serve in the third session of the legislature of Wis
consin Territory, a vacancy having been occasioned
by the resignation of George F. Smith. This session
was held at Burlington where he met and became ac
quainted with some of the men with whom he was
now to act in a tragic drama. During the same year
he was elected to the Territorial Council of Wiscon
sin, and was a member of that body at the time the
events at Bellevue occurred. He served in all six
sessions in the Council and became its President in
1839.— See Journal of the House of Representatives
of the Territory of Wisconsin, Extra Session, June,
1838, p. 3 ; Journals of the Council of the Territory of
"Wisconsin, 1838-1842; Strong's History of the Ter
ritory of Wisconsin, pp. 267, 269, 280, 302.
97 The members of the Sheriff's posse who had seen
service in the Black Hawk War were, so far as can
be recognized from the lists in Adjutant General
Elliott's Illinois Soldiers in the Black Hawk and
Mexican Wars, the following:
15

226 THOMAS COX
Thomas Cox, private in Captain A. F. Lindsey's
Company of Major Ewing 's Spy Battalion.
James Collins, Colonel of Fourth Regiment, Third
Brigade, Macoupin, Pike, Sangamon, and Alexander
Counties. Hastings Sandridge and Joshua Seamands, pri
vates in Captain Bennet Nowlen's Company, Ma
coupin County, Fourth Regiment, Third Brigade.
The Third Brigade was commanded by Brigadier
General James D. Henry.
John D. Bell, Sergeant in Captain M. M. Maugh's
Company, Twenty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Mili
tia, Jo Daviess County.
James Beaty and John Stukey, privates in same
company. Enoch Neville, private in Captain Nicholas Dow-
ling's Company of Artillery, Twenty-seventh Regi
ment, Illinois Militia, Jo Daviess County.
Thomas Graham and James McCabe, privates in
Captain Jonathan Craig's Company, Twenty-seventh
Regiment, Illinois Militia, Jo Daviess County.
William Dyas, private in Captain Benj. J. Alden-
rath's Company, Twenty-seventh Regiment, Illinois
Militia, Jo Daviess County.
J. S. Kirkpatrick, private in Captain James Craig's
Company Mounted Volunteers of Jo Daviess County
attached to command of Colonel Henry Dodge.
James L. Kirkpatrick, First Lieutenant in Captain
Enoch Duncan's Company of Mounted Riflemen at
tached to command of Colonel Henry Dodge, Jo Da
viess County.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 227
John Foley, Sergeant, and William Jonas, Vincent
Smith, Thomas Sublett, and William Vance, privates
in Captain Duncan's Company.
William A. Warren enlisted in a local organization
in Galena, commanded by Captain John Jameson
when there was an Indian alarm in 1831 ; but the com
pany was not mustered into United States service and
therefore its roll does not appear in General Elliott's
Record. Other Black Hawk War soldiers in Jackson County
at the time who for various reasons did not appear in
the posse were so far as ascertained:
Rev. Nathan Said, Sergeant, and his brother Jesse
Said, Corporal of Captain Reuben Brown's Com
pany from Sangamon County, in Colonel Collins 's
regiment, who lived near the west line of the County.
Charles Bilto, of Captain Jonathan Craig's Galena
Company lived in Bellevue but took no part on either
side. William L. Potts, who lived on Deep Creek, but
just over the line in Clinton County, had the inter
esting experience (which he probably regarded of no
importance at that time) of serving in the same com
panies with Abraham Lincoln, in Captain Elijah
Iles's Company, and in Captain Jacob M. Early's
Company. He was also enrolled in Captain L. W.
Goodan's Company, and transferred from it to Cap
tain John Dawson's Company of a mounted spy bat
talion. 98 Captain Warren states (History of Jackson
County, Iowa (1879), p. 396) that Mr. Farley had

228 THOMAS COX
promised his attendance; but the account given by
Joseph Henry, an eye witness of the battle (Annals
of Jackson County, Iowa, No. 2, 1906, p. 80) and a
statement in the biography of Farley's son (Bio
graphical Album of Jackson County, Iowa, p. 616)
lead one to believe that he had no knowledge of the
gathering until he met Warren. None of the other
Deep Creek settlers were there, but from what is
known of their character it is probable that they
would not have allowed Mr. Farley to go alone if
they had been notified.
99 The writer has followed the version of Constable
Joseph Henry, published in J. W. Ellis's interview
in the Annals of Jackson County, Iowa, No. 2, 1906,
p. 79. All agree that V. K. Smith was one of those
who shot Brown, but Warren says that "the ball
from Sheriff James Watkins gun killed Brown";
while N. B. Butterworth had heard that Peter Mul
len was Smith's companion.
100 This story of McDonald's heroic action was told
by N. B. Butterworth of Andrew. Mr. Butterworth
was a boy of only ten years at the time, but his father
kept a public house near Andrew where the events
of the Bellevue War were discussed by guests in the
boy's hearing for years afterwards. Thus there is no
one now living who is so well informed on all phases
of that remarkable event as Mr. Butterworth, and most
of the incidents herein related have been verified by
his phenomenal memory.
101 Letter from his son, R. H. McDonald of Halsted,
Kansas, to the writer.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 229
102 From History of Jackson County, lowa (1879),
p. 399, quoting from William A. Warren's history of
the Bellevue War as published in the Bellevue Leader
in 1875.
103 Jesse Burke was a runaway negro slave who had
come to the Territory as early as 1837.
CHAPTEE XVI
104 From History of Jackson County, Iowa (1879),
p. 401, quoting from William A. Warren's history of
the Bellevue War as published in the Bellevue Leader
in 1875.
105 History of Jackson County, Iowa (1879), p. 617.
Judge Wilson was mistaken in supposing that the
court record would show the report of the Grand
Jury. The record shows that two bills were returned,
but is silent in regard to any case which may have
been investigated but in which no bill of indictment
was found.
Captain Warren, in a letter published in the His
tory of Jackson County, Iowa (1879), p. 617, states
that Anson Harrington, who was one of the parties
chiefly implicated, addressed the court and for himself
and associates consented to and demanded that a spe
cial Sheriff be appointed, a new Grand Jury impanel
ed and their conduct fully investigated. Warren also
states that Rev. J. S. Kirkpatrick was appointed spe
cial Sheriff, and that he impaneled a new Grand
Jury. This is contradicted by the court record which
shows that Francis Gehon was appointed "acting
Coroner." It was necessary to have a Coroner to
serve papers on the Sheriff if it became necessary.

230 THOMAS COX
The Acting Coroner summoned a venire of twenty-
two persons as a Grand Jury and it would appear
from the court proceedings recorded on page 149 of
the Jackson County District Court Record Book No.
1 that the entire list acted in the consideration of
cases brought before them. Only one of the number
(H. G. Magoun) has ever been credited with having
been a member of that Sheriff's posse at Bellevue.
The following is the venire with their residence
within present township boundary lines so far as
iknown: Peter Sahramling (Union), Anson New
berry (Iowa), H. K. Magoun (Tete des Morts), N.
Butterworth (Perry), Levi Decker (Maquoketa),
Fielden Breeden, Thomas Owen, Jones Edwards, Rich
ard Breeden, R. 0. Breeden, Thomas Furnish (Farm
ers' Creek), Shadrach Burleson, Thomas Coffee, J. S.
Mallard (South Fork), Nathan Said, Caleb Said
(Brandon), William Jones (Perry), G. Carr, Abner
Wilson, U. P. Boon, Henry Field, A. P. Field (resi
dence unknown to the author).
CHAPTEE XVII
100 A sketch of the life of "Old Shade" Burleson,
as he was generally known, has recently been written
by John 0. Seeley, under the pen name of "Farmer
Buckhorn", and published by the Jackson County
Historical Society in the Annals of Jackson County,
Iowa, No. 2, 1906. This marshals the facts and argu
ments in defense of Brown so far as known. In the
same pamphlet is reported an interview by J. W.
Ellis with. Joseph Henry who was a constable in

NOTES AND REFERENCES 231
Bellevue and an eye-witness of the battle. Henry
also defends Brown.
107 These letters are to be found in a collection of
the Letters and Papers of Robert Lucas, in the pos
session of The State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa
City, Iowa.
108 A regularly organized Vigilance Committee ex
isted in Jackson County in 1857, which conducted the
lynching of two murderers ; but so far as can be ascer
tained no one engaged in the Bellevue War had any
connection with it.
109 Two of the Sheriff's posse,- Colonel Cox and
Colonel Collins, were members of the law-making
bodies of Iowa and of Wisconsin. Collins became
President of the Territorial Council of Wisconsin,
was the Whig candidate for Delegate to Congress from
that Territory in 1845, when Morgan L. Martin of
Green Bay was elected, and in later years he was a
member of the State legislature of California and
Brigadier General of Militia in that State. He also
served as Colonel of the Sixth Illinois Infantry in
the Mexican War, and in common with other colonels
in that war was presented with a sword by the legis
lature of the State upon his return.
John Foley, a participant, had been a member of
the first legislature of Wisconsin Territory which met
at Belmont and Burlington. In 1843 he was elected
to the House of Representatives of the Territory of
Iowa. He was also Sheriff of Jackson County from
1853 to 1855, and again in 1859 to 1861.
Sheriff William A. Warren held the office of Sheriff

232 THOMAS COX
continuously from 1838 to 1845. In 1857 he was
elected a member of the Iowa Constitutional Conven
tion which met in that year, and rendered useful and
conspicuous service. In 1860 he was a delegate to the
Republican National Convention which nominated
Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States.
In 1862 he was commissioned by President Lincoln as
Captain and Assistant Quartermaster of United States
Volunteers and served in that responsible position for
three years, during which time he handled millions of
dollars worth of government property. He served as
Justice of the Peace in Bellevue almost continuously
for over twenty-five years.
General John G. McDonald was Lieutenant in a bat
talion of United States Mounted Rangers under com
mand of Major Henry Dodge in 1832, and later be
came a Brigadier General in the Iowa Territorial Mili
tia. He was County Surveyor of Jackson County from
1839 to 1843, served for a short time by appointment
as Clerk of the Courts (1841-1842) and became County
Recorder from 1842 to 1845. In 1849 as Deputy
United States Surveyor he had charge of the survey
of nine townships in Allamakee County. The quality
of General McDonald's heroism in the Bellevue battle
will be better appreciated when we know that his
honeymoon was scarcely over, his marriage to Mar
garet A. Hildreth at Burlington having taken place
on January 16, 1840.
James K. Moss was appointed Postmaster of Belle
vue, November 1, 1839. He was also appointed, dur
ing the same year, Probate Judge for Jackson County
by Governor Lucas. In the fall of 1840, having been

NOTES AND REFERENCES 233
succeeded as Judge by Anson Harrington, he was ap
pointed Clerk of the District Court. In 1841 he was
elected a member of the Territorial House of Repre
sentatives. Rev. J. S. Kirkpatrick did not handle a gun that
day, but he was an adviser and sympathizer. He was
elected to the Territorial Council in 1840 from the dis
trict which included Dubuque County ; and in 1844 he
became a member of the first Constitutional Conven
tion. Colonel Samuel W. Durham, who was a fellow
member of that Convention in a recent address before
the Linn County Historical Society, said of him:
"Rev. Scott Kirkpatrick, of Jackson County, an Illi-
noian, was the largest and tallest and jolliest member
and a good speaker." Kirkpatrick was a man of
magnificent physique, six feet four inches in height,
and of prodigious strength, it being said of him that
he could lift a barrel of lead mineral. He had served
in the Black Hawk War, as did also his brother, Lieu
tenant James L. Kirkpatrick, an active participant,
who had been County Coroner. In 1846 he became
one of the Board of County Commissioners.
John T. Sublett, a very active participant, was
County Recorder at the time ; and John Howe, another
participant, was County Treasurer. George Watkins
became one of the board of County Commissioners at
the election in 1840 ; and his son, James Watkins, also
a participant, was Sheriff of Jackson County from
1847 to 1853, from 1855 to 1857, and from 1861 to
1865. Another participant, Captain L. M. Hilyard, was
Captain of a company in the First Regiment. Third

234 THOMAS COX
Division, Iowa Territorial Militia. He carried a
tomahawk in his belt during the battle and had its
handle broken by a bullet. His militia company be
came the most thoroughly organized one in the county,
and took the name of "Brush Creek Rangers".
William Morden was not present on the 1st of April
so far as we know, but he had advised and helped plan
the movement. He was one of the County Commis
sioners at the time, and later was a colleague of
Scott Kirkpatrick's in the first Constitutional Conven
tion. He was also in 1856 elected a member of the
Sixth General Assembly of Iowa.
CHAPTEE XVIII
110 The Journal of this extra session was discovered
in the office of the Secretary of State by Theodore S.
Parvin, and was published for the first time in 1902 by
the Historical Department of Iowa.
111 Journal of the House of Representatives of the
Territory of Iowa, 1840-1841, p. 4.
CHAPTEE XIX
112 Laws of the Territory of Iowa, Extra Session,
July, 1840, p. 22.
113 Knoll's Governor Stephen Hempstead in Proceed
ings of the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association of Iowa,
1898, p. 139. Mr. Knoll's sketch, however, is largely
from memory and is inaccurate in several particulars.
114 These facts concerning the election are mostly
taken from a letter bv Colonel P. W. Crawford.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 235
printed in the Annals of Jackson County, Iowa, No.
1, 1905, p. 64.
115 Dr. John C. Parish of The State Historical So
ciety of Iowa kindly supplies the following memoran
dum: The following is in reply to your questions regarding the
Deadlock of 1842 to 1843. The two opposing papers of Iowa
City, the Standard (Whig) and the Capitol Reporter (Demo
crat), agree as to party affiliations of the members of the Fifth
and Sixth Legislative Assemblies, with the exception of Joseph
B. Teas. Mr. Teas is claimed as a Democrat by the Capitol
Reporter in the issue giving the results of the election, and
just as stoutly claimed as a Whig in the Iowa Standard in the
next issue. Teas, however, was nominated for President of the
Council for the Fifth Legislative Assembly by Shepherd Lef
fler, Democrat, and was, as the records of the Council show,
the principal opponent, for that office, of Springer and Elbert,
both Whigs. The following is the party affiliation of the
Council as agreed to by both party papers of the time:
Cook Whig

E. G. Patterson

Whig

Elbert

Whig

Wallace

Whig

Springer

Whig

Christie

Whig

Harris

Democrat

Leffler

Democrat

Wm. Patterson

Democrat

Jenkins

Democrat

Cox

Democrat

Gehon

Democrat

Teas

Claimed by both parties

Neither of the Iowa City papers discuss the deadlock at all
Teas also voted with the Democrats on one of the
last days of the session on a joint resolution relative to
the fine imposed upon General Jackson.

236 THOMAS COX
CHAPTEE 'XX
116 Journal of the Council of the Territory of Iowa,
1843-1844, pp. 65, 66.
117 Shambaugh's Messages and Proclamations of the
Governors of Iowa, Vol. I, pp. 269-277.
118 Journal of the Council of the Territory of Iowa,
1843-1844, pp. 46, 47.
119 The information in regard to this session was sup
plied by Professor Benj. F. Shambaugh of the The
State University of Iowa. CHAPTEE XXI
120 Theodore S. Parvin states that when the first
Governor of the State of Iowa was chosen in 1846
Jackson County was conceded by the Democratic nomi
nating convention the privilege of naming the candi
date. The choice was Ansel Briggs, a neighbor of
Colonel Cox, who had served in the House of Repre
sentatives of the Fifth Legislative Assembly when
Cox was in the Council. It is probable that Cox
would have been the candidate thus chosen if he had
been living. — See Parvin 's Hon. John James Dyer in
the Iowa Historical Record, Vol. XIII, No. 1, January,
1897, p. 3.
121 "Don't shoot into that tree, my boy. I am going
to be buried under it." These words, according to
Charles W. Farr of Maquoketa, were uttered by Colo
nel Cox less than a year before his death and applied
to a young hickory, smooth and straight and symmet
rical, which grew upon the summit of a bare dome-

NOTES AND REFERENCES 237
like hill on his own farm. Charles Farr was a son of
Daniel T. Farr who owned the Cox claim for a short
time. 122 The family of Colonel Cox remained for a time
after his death upon the claim at Richland. The eldest
son-in-law, John G. Nichols, was elected Sheriff of
Jackson County in 1846. The second son-in-law, Jos
eph S. Mallard, was an attorney at Andrew, which had
become the county seat. In the fall of 1847 the older
son, Thomas, enlisted in Captain James M. Morgan's
company of Iowa Mounted Volunteers to serve during
the Mexican War. The company was assigned to duty
at Fort Atkinson, in the Neutral Ground of Iowa, to
take the place of Captain Senett's company of the
First United States Dragoons which was sent to Mex
ico. Thomas Cox, Jr., was appointed a Corporal in
the company; and in the removal of the Winnebago
Indians to the Crow Wing Reservation in Northern
Minnesota, which Captain Morgan's company accom
plished in the summer of 1848, Corporal Cox had the
honor of rendering very important service.
During that year the discovery of gold in California
became known; and by the spring of 1849 the "gold
fever" was raging in Jackson County in its most viru
lent form. Among the earliest of the migrants from
that county was the family of Colonel Cox. It con
sisted of his widow, Mrs. Roba Cox ; her married
daughter, Mrs. Florida Nichols and her husband, John
G. Nichols, late Sheriff of Jackson County, and three
children; her married daughter, Mrs. Cordelia Mal
lard and husband, J. S. Mallard, and two children;
her sons, Thomas and Simon B. ; and her unmarried

238 THOMAS COX
daughters, Mary and Phoebe. In the same party were
the Colonel's brother, John W. Cox and family, and
other old time neighbors. They left the village of
Andrew on the first day of May, 1849, for the long
journey over the vast wilderness inhabited only by
savages and wild beasts. Their mode of conveyance
was by ox teams and covered wagons. They crossed
the Missouri River at Trader's Point about six miles
south of Council Bluffs and proceeded up the Platte
Valley on the trail first used by the Mormons in their
famous emigration of three years previous. This
took them up the North Platte and Sweetwater rivers,
over the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains and into
Salt Lake City.
Here they stopped about three weeks to rest and
recruit their stock and then, alarmed by reports of
the fate of the Donner party of the previous year,
they resolved, as advised by the Mormons, to take a
southern route and strike the old Spanish pack trail
leading to Southern California. This led them past
the Mountain Meadows scene of the fiendish massacre
of an emigrant train eight years later and over the
Mojave Desert.
They reached the Cajon Pass just before New Year 's
Day, 1850, camped there for some weeks, and finally
arrived at Los Angeles about the first of May, having
been one year in making a journey which can now be
accomplished in three days. There the family re
mained and assisted in making the obscure Mexican
hamlet into the modern American city.
123 George L. Mitchell, Iowa legislator of 1889, pre
sided, and representatives were present from the Pio-

NOTES AND REFERENCES 239
neer Lawmakers' Association, including Samuel W.
Durham, member of the Constitutional Convention of
1844, Charles Aldrich of the Historical Department of
Iowa, and John Wilson, an early Jackson County leg
islator. The flag was removed from the monolith by
Mrs. Josie Warren Dorchester of Bellevue, daughter
of Captain W. A. Warren, compatriot of Colonel Cox
in the Bellevue War. A large collection of letters
received from the Governor and other State officers
from pioneer lawmakers, and from officers of The
State Historical Society unite in commendation of the
efforts put forth to preserve to future generations the
memory of one who aided in the building of the State.

INDEX

16

INDEX

Aberorombie, J. J., in Black Hawk
War, 44
Acoqna, 204
Adams, John Quincy, 214
Aldenrath, Benj. J., 226
Aldrich, Charles, 239
Alexander, M. K., 52, 53 ; refusal
of, to disregard orders, 54; brig
ade of, 57 ; references to, 58, 59
Allen, General, retreat of Kentuck
ians under, 16; reference to, 117
America, migration of Robert Cox
to, 1
Anamosa (Iowa), 169
Anderson, Robert, in Black Hawk
War, 44
Andrew (Iowa), 192, 238
Apple River, Indian raid at, 47
Arkansas, surveys of Cox in, 25 ;
reference to, 35
Armstrong, Fort, 9 ; conference at,
42; reference to, 44, 203, 215
Armstrong, James, migration of, to
Iowa, 66
Arnold, Phoebe, descent of, 26
Atkinson, Fort, 237
Atkinson, Henry, succeeds General
Gaines, 43 ; at Rock Island, 45 ;
army under, 51, 52, 58; orders
of, disregarded, 54; notified of
General Henry's movements, 55 ;
reference to, 59, 60
Bad Axe, battle of, 68, 142
Bad Axe River, Indians overtaken
at, 58
Bailey, Gideon S., on Veto Commit
tee, 86; reference to, 94, 95, 107;
resolutions offered by, 119; vote
of, 222
Banditti of the Prairies, The, book
by Edward Bonney, 156
Bankson, Andrew, service of, in
War of 1812, 11; service of, in
Winnebago War, 40 ; reference
to, 74, 77, 78, 94, 202; resolu
tion of, concerning Robert Lucas,
87
Bartlett, Daniel, migration of, 26 ;
reference to, 206
Bartlett, Deborah, 207
Bartlett, Lemuel, 62, 207
16*

Bartlett, Mary, 207, 214
Bartlett, Mrs. Daniel, death of, 26
Bartlett, Roba, marriage of, to
Thomas Cox, 27; reference to,
207
Bartlett, Rowena, 207
Bartlett, Susan, 207
Bartlett, William, 62, 206
Bates, David G„ part of, in Belle
vue War, 147
Baxter, John, implicated in murder
of Davenport, 182
Beardstown (Illinois), rendezvous
at, 42, 45
Beatty, James, 226
Beeler, George H., 94, 95, 98
Beers, Joshua, 216
Belfast (Ireland), migration of
Robert Cox from, 1
Bell, John D., 72, 217, 226
Belleville (Illinois), 204
Bellevue (Iowa), settlement at, 66;
reference to, 68, 71, 72 ; men
tion of, for capital, 91 ; Brown
a hotel keeper at, 106; immi
grants to, 123 ; reference to, 124,
125, 126, 127; ball at, 129;
reference to, 133, 135, 136;
Bellevue War at, 136-167; ref
erence to, 137, 138, 139, 144,
153, 157, 158, 159, 160, 175,
179, 190, 206, 217, 230; first
merchant at, 218
Bellevue War, account of, 136-167;
reference to, 165, 176, 239
Bellview (See Bellevue)
Belmont (Wisconsin), legislature at,
71 ; newspaper at, 110 ; reference
to, 231
Beloit (Wisconsin), 52
Benton County (Iowa), 72
Berry, J. V., letter from, 158; let
ter to, 162 ; no investigation by,
164; reference to, 166, 167
Betts, Isaac, 199
Big Maquoketa River, 81
Big Muddy River, 6
Biggs, Uriah, 222
Bilto, Charles, 227
Black Hawk, Indians under, 7;
regulars attacked by, 21 ; attack
upon boats by, 40 ; troubles with,

244

INDEX

41; crosses Mississippi River, 44;
movements of, 46; retreat of, 51;
at Rock River, 54 ; pursuit of,
55; camp of, 56, 59; intercep
tion of, 58; reference to, 215
Black Hawk (Iowa), mention of,
for capital, 91
Black Hawk Purchase, 63, 71, 204
Black Hawk "War, service of John
Reynolds in, 13; outbreak of, 40;
account of, 60; veterans of, 138,
225, 226; reference to, 214, 216
Black Hawk War, The, quotation
from, 56, 57
"Black laws" in Illinois, 32
Blacksten, Charles, 224
Blair, Thomas, 94
Bloomington (Muscatine, Iowa), at
titude of, toward choice of capi
tal, 90, 93
Blue Earth River, 186
Blue Mounds (Wisconsin), base of
army at, 57; reference to, 128
Boggs, Lilburn, in Missouri-Iowa
boundary dispute, 114; requested
to authorize suspension of hos
tilities, 118, 119; action of, 121
Bond, Shadrach, election of, as
Governor of Illinois, 28
Bonney, Edward, detective work of,
156, 157
Boon, U. P., 230
Boone, Daniel, fort of, 2; son of,
205
Boone, Nathan, service of, in "War
of 1812, 18; sketch of, 205
Bowling Green (Kentucky), arrest
of Fox at, 157
Brady, Hugh, march of regiment
under, 52
Brazil, steamboat, 162
Breeden, Fielden, 230
Breeden, R. O., 230
Breeden, Richard, 230
Brewer, Daniel, 222
Bridgeport (Iowa), 69
Brierly, James, 94
Briggs, Ansel, choice of, for Gov
ernor, 236
Brigham, Ebenezer, migration of, to
Wisconsin, 41; search of, for
stolen horses, 128
Brink, John, 143
British, relation of Indians to, 11
British Band, Indians known as,
7; troubles with, 41
Brown, Mrs. William W., 124, 160,
164
Brown, "Negro", escape of, 144
Brown, Reuben, 227
Brown, W. H.p migration of, to
Iowa, 67

Brown, William W.f nomination of,
for legislature, 106 ; suspicions
concerning, 107; migration of, to
Bellevue, 123; character of, 124,
12.6; petition concerning, 124,
125; suspicions concerning board
ers of, 125, 127; attitude of Cox
toward, 128; crimes charged
against, 129, 134; persuades his
men to disperse, 131; reference
to, 133, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141;
called upon to surrender, 142 ;
death of, 142, 144, 228; opinion
concerning, 145, 154, 155, 156,
230, 231; reference to, 154, 156,
157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 166
Browne, Jesse B., 97
Buchanan County (Iowa), 72
Buckhorn Tavern, kept by Shadrach
Burleson, 156
Buckskin Tom, wounded in Belle
vue War, 145
Buffalo (Iowa), 67
Buffalo Fork, 169
Bunker Hill, battle of, 26
Burke, Jesse, food prepared by,
147; reference to, 229
Burleson, Shadrach, Brown favored
by, 156; sketch of life of, 230
Burlington (Iowa), Convention at,
72 ; letter written from, 75 ; leg
islature at, 77, 107; printers at,
79; named as capital, 89; atti
tude of, toward choice of capital,
90, 91, 93, 94, 95; removal of
Clarke to, 110; reference to, 116,
117, 120, 124, 169, 171, 231
Burlington Gazette, 110
Burtis, Samuel, death of, 144, 145
Butterworth, N. B., knowledge of,
of Bellevue War, 228; reference
to, 230
Cactus River, 186
Cahokia (Illinois), county seat of
St. Clair County, Illinois Terri
tory, 4 ; location of, 5 ; militia
inspected at, 10; reference to, 28
Cajon Pass, 238
Calhoun, John C, popularity of, 37
Calhoun, old name for Springfield,
Illinois, 37, 38
California, gold fever, 41, 65 ; vigi
lance committees in, 166
Calumet River, 186
Camanche (Iowa), mention of, for
Territorial capital, 91
Camp Russell, 13 ; volunteers dis
charged at, 15, 20
Campbell, Lieutenant, 21
Campbell's Island, conflict at, 21

INDEX

245

Canada, communication of Indians
with, 7; referenoe to, 168
Canadian Patriot War, 133
Canadian refugees, 68
Capital of Iowa, location of, 82, 89-
100, 219, 220, 221
Capitol, Old Stone, 102
Carleton, James P., 190
Carlin, John, 208
Oarlin, Thomas, service of, in War
of 1812, 14; service of, in Black
Hawk War, 43
Carlyle (Illinois), competition of,
for capital, 3 1
Carr, G., 230
Carr, John S., 209
Carrollport, early name for Sabula,
Iowa, 67
Carter, Elijah, 207
Carter, Thomas, 207
"Casleman", 216
Cedar County (Iowa), 72, 93, 94;
depredations in, 126
Cedar Fork of Iowa River, 81
Census of Iowa, act to provide for,
189
Charleston, early name for Sabula,
Iowa, 67, 138
Chicago, scouting near, 20; com
pany formed at, 45
Chichester, Mr., speech of, 150
Christie, Robert, 184, 235
Christy, William, service of, in War
of 1812, 18
Churchman, James, 108, 109 ; re
port signed by, 111; in Missouri
boundary dispute, 115 ; reference
to, 121, 222
Cincinnati, laid out as city, 26 ;
reference to, 36
Civil War, reference to, 32, 119
Clark, Fort, reference to, 9 ; con
struction of, 20
Clark, George Rogers, the story of,
1, 5
Clark, James A., in Missouri bound
ary dispute, 115
Clark, James M., 90, 96; part of,
in choice of capital, 96, 97;
election of, as President of Coun
cil, 170 ; connection of, with
choice of capital, 219
Clark, T. T., 223
Clark, William, expedition of, to
Prairie du Chien, 20 ; notified of
Indian hostilities, 42
Clark County (Missouri), 117, 118
Clarke, James, appointment of, as
Governor, 110
Clarke and McKenny, firm of, 78
Claypoole, John, votes for, as capi
tal commissioner, 100

Clayton County (Iowa), 72, 73, 94,
177, 187
Clinton County (Iowa), 72, 94,
108, 187
Coffee, Thomas, 230
Coldwater (Michigan), migration to
Iowa from, 123
Coles, Edward, leader of free State
forces, 33
Collins, Dennis, beaten by outlaws,
132, 133
Collins, James, marriage of, 48;
commissioned as colonel, 49 ; regi
ment of, 51, 56; part of, in bat
tle of Wisconsin Heights, 57;
reference to, 59, 199, 226, 227;
part of, in battle of Bad Axe,
60; removal of, to lead regions,
61; mining operations of, 65;
part of, in Bellevue War, 137,
143, 147; military service of,
165; sketch of, 225, 231
Commissioners to locate Territorial
capital, election of, 100
Congress, military act passed by, 8;
enabling act for Illinois passed
by, 27; admission of Illinois by,
27, 28; petitions to, 30; treaty
ratified by, 63; memorials to, 81,
82, 185 ; infringement upon au
thority of, 86 ; enabling act pass
ed by, 113 ; action of, in Mis
souri boundary dispute, 118 ; ac
tion of, concerning boundaries of
Iowa, 186, 187
Connecticut, 36
Connell, Lucy Darby, 210
Constitution of United States, 2
Constitution of 1844 (Iowa), rejec
tion of, 187
Constitutional Convention of 1818
(Illinois), 27
Constitutional Convention of 1844
(Iowa), 108, 186, 187, 191, 234
Contents, table of, xv
Conway, William B., relations of,
with Governor Lucas, 83 ; reso
lution of thanks to, 88; death of,
109; quarrel of, 220
Cook, Daniel P., attitude of, to
ward slavery in Illinois, 33 ; land
acquired at Springfield by, 37
Cook, Henry, company of , 10 ;
military service of, 13 ; reference
to, 202
Cook, John P., Springer nominated
by, 182 ; vote for, for Presidency
of Council, 184; reference to, 235
Cooke, P. St. George, in Black
Hawk War, 44
Coop, William G., 78, 94, 107, 222

246

INDEX

Corwin, Bartholomew, swindled by
Brown's men, 133
Council Bluffs (Iowa), 238
Cox, Arthur, 211
Cox, Cordelia, 210
Cox, Daniel, 27, 208
Cox, Eleanor, 199
Cox, Emma, 211
Cox, Florida, 208
Cox, Horace, 211
Cox, Jane, 199
Cox, John W., migration of, to
Iowa, 68; reference to, 138, 199,
238
Cox, Mary, 238
Cox, Mary Alexandria, 209
Cox, Mildred, 211
Cox, Mrs. Jane Robinson, 138
Cox. Mrs. Thomas, home of, 62 ;
reference to, 206, 238
Cox, Phoebe, 211, 238
Cox, Rachel, 199
Cox, Roba, 211
Cox, Robert, migration of, 1 ; mar
riage and home of, in Kentucky,
1, 2 ; military service of, 2 ;
slaves owned by, 3 ; appointment
of, as Justice of Peace, 5; peti
tion signed by, 6; death of, 24;
reference to, 199, 200
Cox, Sarah, 199
Cox, Simon Bolivar, 199, 206, 211,
215, 238
Cox, Thomas, characterized as a
typical local leader, vii; portrait
of, frontispiece, 206; ancestry of,
1, 2, 3, 5 ; birth and early life
of, 2; marriage of, 3, 27; ap
pointment of, in Sheriff's office,
5, 6 ; petition signed by, 6 ; mili
tary service of, in War of 1812,
10, 18, 22; enlistment of, in
Judy's company, 13; military of
fices of, 16, 17; title of, 17; sur
veying work of, 24, 65, 168, 169;
death of father of, 24; trips of,
to Ste. Genevieve, 26; appoint
ment of, as Justice of Peace, 27;
election of, to Illinois legislature,
28; favors Edwards for Senate,
29 ; letter of, to Edwards, 29,
30; part of, in Illinois capital
contest, 31; part of, in Iowa
capital contest, 32, 96; pro-
slavery sentiments of, 33; specu
lation of, in land, 35; appoint
ment of, as Register of land of
fice, 35, 36 ; purchase of land
by, 38; hotel opened by, 39;
financial losses of, 39; strained
relations between Edwards and,
40; associates of, 41; partner of,

46; offered a colonelcy, 47, 48;
enlistment of, in spy company,
50 ; part of, in battle of Bad
Axe, 60; removal of, to lead min
ing region, 61; restored health
of, 62; removal of, to Isle Bois
River, 62 ; appointment of, ^ as
Deputy Surveyor, 64; migration
of, to Jackson County, Iowa, 68;
location of, in Jackson County,
Iowa, 69 ; election of, as Iowa
legislator, 74 ; - eligibility of, to
seat in House, 75 ; seat of, in
legislature, 76 ; legislative activi
ties of, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82,
84, 85, 87, 88; attitude of to
ward choice of Territorial capital,
91, 92, 93, 95; vote of, 94; sug
gests name for Iowa City, 99 ;
Swan nominated by, 100; sur
vey of Iowa City by, 102, 104;
candidacy of, for Second Legis
lative Assembly, 106, 107; early
friendship of, for Brown, 107,
128; voted for, as Speaker, 109;
part of, in Second Legislative
Assembly, 110, 111; votes of,
112, 121; return of, from legis
lature, 122 ; aids in organizing
Citizens' Association, 126; citi
zens assembled by, 136-138; at
tack on Brown's house led by,
141, 142; life of, saved, 143,
144; speech of, to mob, 146; in
meeting after Bellevue War, 147,
148; view of, as to hanging of
Brown's men, 148 ; speech of,
to prisoners, 149, 150 ; presides
over frontier tribunal, 152 ; meas
ures employed by, 156; part of,
in Bellevue War, 158, 160; sug
gestion for expulsion of, 161 ;
no effort to expel, 165; election
of, as Speaker pro tern, 170; ab
sence of, from session, 170, 171,
173, 174; election of, as Speak
er, 172 ; resignation of, from leg
islature, 175, 176; candidacy of,
for Council, 177, 178; legisla
tive activities of, 180, 181; can
didacy of, for Presidency of
Council, 182, 183, 184; position
of, on committees, 183, 185;
boundary amendment proposed
by, 185 ; votes of, on Constitu
tional Convention bill, 187;
close of term of, as President of
Council, 188 ; present at extra
session of 1844, 190; interest of,
in Convention of 1844, 191 ;
death of, 192; family of, moves
west, 192; reburial of, 193, 194;

INDEX

247

characterization of, 194, 195 ;
son of, 199; offices of, 200, 212;
father of, 203; tavern of, 207;
reference to, 208, 213, 215, 216,
220, 221, 222, 223, 226, 231,
235, 236, 239
Cox, Thomas, Jr., 211, 237
Cox, Thomas, uncle of Colonel
Thomas Oox, 1
Craig, James, 226
Craig, Jonathan, 226, 227
Craig, Thomas E., expedition of,
12 ; not yet arrived at Peoria,
15 ; reference to, 203
Crawford, Dr., arrival of, at Belle
vue, 146
Crawford, Fort, 44
Crawford, James, information drawn
up by, 134; arrival of, at Belle
vue, 149 ; motion by, in court,
153, 164
Crawford, P. W., letter from, 234
Crow Wing Reservation, 237
Cumberland Hill (Rhode Island),
26
Cummins, Sheriff, arrival of, at
Dubuque, 149
Dakota, North, 73
Dakota, South, 73
Davenport, George, murder of, 132,
156
Davenport (Iowa), 12; road from,
69 ; reference to, 72 ; railroad
through, 81; reference to, 81;
postal routes from, 84; post
master at, 85 ; mail service from,
86, 87; reference to, 204
Davis, Jefferson, in Black Hawk
War, 44
Davis, Thomas, shooting of, 127
Dawson, John, 227
Day, Aaron, death of, 144
Dearborn, Fort, garrison at, 4; ref
erence to, 9
Decker, Levi, 230
Declaration of Independence, 103
Deep Creek, 68, 227
Deep Creek Settlement, 138, 139
Delashmutt, Van B., 79, 94
Delaware County (Iowa), 72, 73,
168, 177, 187
Dement, John, spy battalion of, 52
Democratic nominating Convention,
177
Demoine County (Michigan Terri
tory), 71, 89, 90
Des Moines County (Iowa), 78,
94, 100, 187
Des Moines River, rapids of, 113,
114; reference to, 186
Detroit, surrender of, 11 ; reference

to, 202
De Witt (Iowa), 108
Dickson, Robert, attack on Fort
Shelby by, 20
Dixon's Ferry, army concentrated
at, 52 ; reference to, 53
Dodge, Augustus Caesar, in Mis
souri boundary dispute, 115, "117;
reference to, 228
Dodge, Henry, at Ste. Genevieve,
25 ; migration of, to lead coun
try, 41; volunteers under, 52;
regiment of, 53; reference to, 54;
in pursuit of Black Hawk, 55,
57; part of, in battle of Wis
consin Heights, 57; return of,
to Blue Mounds, 58 ; reference
to, 59, 60; regiment organized
for, 63 ; Clarke a son-in-law of,
110; Sheriff appointed by, 124,
125; reference to, 205, 216, 226,
232
Donner party, fate of, 238
Dorchester, Mrs. Josie Warren, 239
Dorman, Mr., claim of, in Iowa, 67
Dougherty, Mr., ancestor of Thomas
Cox, 1
Dowling, Nicholas, 226
Dubuque (Iowa), Spanish Mines
at, 9; road from, 69; reference
to, 71, 74, 79, 81; mail routes
to, 84; mail service to, 86; ref
erence to, 96, 100, 108, 120, 134,
138, 146; letters from residents
of, 157-162; reference to, 158,
164, 167, 169, 177, 186
Dubuque-Clayton district, 108
Dubuque County (Iowa), 72; divi
sion of, 72 ; reference to, 73, 74,
94, 121; subdivision of, 124;
reference to, 177, 187
Dubuque County (Michigan Terri
tory), 71
Duncan, Enoch, 226, 227
Duncan, Joseph, service of, in
Black Hawk War, 43
Dunkelberger, Isaac R., 210
Durham, Samuel W., 233, 239
Dutchman's Point, 202
Dutell, Peter, hotel purchased from,
123
Dyas, William, migration of, to
Iowa, 66 ; on committee to inter
view Judge Wilson, 133 ; refer
ence to, 226
Early, Jacob M., company of, 47,
53; reference, to, 227
Edgar County (Illinois), 67
Edinburg (Iowa), 168
Editor's introduction, vii
Edwards, James G., 79

248

INDEX

Edwards, Jones, 230
Edwards, Ninian, appointment of,
as Governor of Illinois Territory,
4; arrival of, in Illinois Terri
tory, 7 ; early acts of, 8 ; militia
assembled by, 10, 11; march of,
12; expedition of, 13, 14; retreat
of, 15 ; reference to, 17, 18 ; des
patches from, 22 ; Cox a favor
ite of, 22; appointments by, 27;
election of, as United States Sena
tor, 28, 29; opposition to, 29;
attitude of, towards slaves in Il
linois, 33; Cox recommended by,
35; a creditor of Cox, 39;
strained relations between, and
Cox, 40; reference to, 200, 201,
204, 205, 212, 215
Edwards Papers, The, petition of,
6; letters in, 17, 35
Edwardsville (Illinois), Camp Rus
sell at, 9; reference to, 36
Elbert, John D., election of, as
President of Council, 179 ; votes
for, for Presidency of Council,
184 ; motion by, 188 ; reference
to, 235
Ellis, J. W., 228, 230
Emery, Arlena, 211
Engle, Peter Hill, elected Speaker
of House, 71
England, war declared against, 11
English, aid to Indians by, 21
English, L. N, 222
Enos, Pascal P., appointment of, as
Receiver of land office, 36 ; a
founder of Springfield, 37, 38
Ewen, William, 210
Ewing, William Lee D., spy bat
talion of, 51; forces of, 55; bat
talion of, 56 ; part of, in battle
of Wisconsin Heights, 57; part
of, in battle of Bad Axe, 59, 60;
election of, as United States
Senator, 63
Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838-
1841, quotation from, 75
Executive Register, for Illinois Ter
ritory, 16
Fairfield Township (Jackson Coun
ty, Iowa), 64
Fales, Joseph T., 72
Farley, Andrew, part of, in Belle
vue War, 138, 139; death of,
144; reference to, 227, 228
Farmers' Creek, 67
Farmers' Creek Township (Jack
son County, Iowa), 64, 135
Farr, Charles W., 236, 237
Farr, Daniel T., 237
Fayette County (Illinois), 51

Fayette County (Iowa), 72, 73,
187
Field, A. P., 230
Field, Henry, 230
Fingle, J. H., letter from, 216
Fleenor, Isaac, 222
Foley, John, 71; Speaker of House,
190; reference to, 227; sketch
of, 231
Forsythe, Thomas, taken captive at
Peoria, 12 ; reference to, 203
Fort Armstrong, 9 ; conference with
Black Hawk at, 42; reference
to, 44, 203, 204, 215
Fort Atkinson, 237
Fort Clark, reference to, 9 ; con
struction of, at Peoria Lake, 20
Fort Crawford, reinforcements from,
44
Fort Dearborn, garrison at, 4; ref
erence to, 9 ; massacre of garri
son at, 11; reference to, 204
Fort Gibson, 205
Fort Hamilton, 52, 53
Fort Harrison, Wabash River
crossed at, 16
Fort Madison, 9 ; siege of, 18, 19 ;
reference to, 19
Fort Madison (Iowa), mention of,
for capital, 91
Fort Shelby, at Prairie du Chien,
9 ; reference to, 20
Fort Snelling, precinct of, 73
Fort Winnebago, 53, 54
Foulke, Philip, 213
Fourth Lake (Wisconsin), 56
Fox Indians, 42; sale of land by,
63; reference to, 203, 215
Fox, William, crimes of, 129; plot
of, 131; reference to, 132;
charged with crime, 134; slight
wounds received by, 145 ; traced
by Bonney, 156, 157
France, Louisiana sold by, 70
Freeman, Ben C, 205
Freeport (Illinois), 132
Frierson, John, 78, 90, 94; survey
of Iowa City by, 102, 104 ; speech
by, 103 ; minority report of, 219
Fry, Jacob, regiment of, 46, 47,
51, 54, 56, 59; part of, in Bat
tle of Wisconsin Heights, 57
Fulton, James, 210
Furnish, Thomas, 230
Gaines, Edmund P., command of,
42; reference to, 43, 215
Galena (Illinois), lead mines near,
41, 65 ; company formed at, 45 ;
march to, 47 ; reference to, 53,
60, 61; mining at, 66; reference
to, 68, 129, 146, 160

INDEX

249

Galloway, Ella, 209
Garver, Frank H., 217, 218
Gates, Mr., 208
Gehon, Francis, appointment of, as
Acting Coroner, 153 ; candidacy
of, for Council, 177; election of,
178; reference to, 181; chosen
President of Council, 190; ap
pointed Acting Coroner, 229; ref
erence to, 235
Ghent, Treaty of, 22
Gilbreath, James, 201
Gilham, Samuel, military Bervice of,
13
Gomo, village of, 19
Goodan, L. W., 227
Graham, Thomas, 225, 226
Grant, U. S., 62
Green Bay, French trading post, at,
3
Greene County (Illinois), 35
Grimes, James W., 78, 79; motion
of, 80, 85 ; placed on Committee
on Vetoes, 86; reference to, 94
Groff, Mr., Thomas Davis mur
dered by, 127
Hall, James, 94 ; vote of, 95 ; ref
erence to, 107; vote of, on State
hood, 111; reference to, 116, 222
Hamilton, Fort, 53
Hamilton, William S., migration of,
to Wisconsin, 41
Hamilton's Diggings (Wisconsin),
establishment of, 41
Hanby, James F., surrender of
Mitchell to, 130
Harney, William S., in Black Hawk
War, 44
Harrington, Anson, goes to Du
buque, 133; reference to, 135;
part of, in Bellevue War, 147,
148; speech of, 150; motion by,
152; investigation asked by, 229;
appointed Clerk of District Court,
233
Harris, Charles, warrant issued
by, 135
Harris, Pleasant, 235
Harrison, Fort ( See Fort Harri
son), 16
Harrison, William Henry, punish
ment of Indians by, 8 ; despatch
es to and from, 22; reference to,
206
Hastings, S. C, motion of, 81, 93;
reference to, 90, 94, 96, 107,
108, 109; story of, 221; refer
ence to, 223
Hawkins, J. C, motion of, 120;
reference to, 223
Helena ( Wisconsin ) , 58

Hempstead, Stephen, 74 ; part of,
in choice of capital, 96, 97, 219;
reference to, 169; candidacy of,
for Council, 177, 178; sketch of,
234
Henderson County (Illinois), 67,
216
Henry, James D., adjutant of regi
ment of cavalry, 40 ; service of,
in Black Hawk War, 43 ; volun
teers under command of, 46 ;
brigade commanded by, 49, 50,
51, 52, 53; council called by, 54;
orders disregarded by, 54; pur
suit of Black Hawk by, 54, 55,
56, 57; part of, in battle of
Wisconsin Heights, 56, 57, 58;
return of, to Blue Mounds, 58 ;
part of, in battle of Bad Axe,
59, 60; reference to, 226
Henry, Joseph, 228 ; Brown de
fended by, 230
Henry County (Iowa), 77, 78, 90,
94, 96, 97, 107, 121
Hepner, George, 9 7
Hildreth, Margaret, marriage of,
232
Hilyard, Leonard, migration of, to
Iowa, 68; part of, in Bellevue
War, 147; sketch of, 233, 234
Hilyard, Margaret, 199
Hilyard, Morris, migration of, to
Iowa, 68
Hilyard, Thomas, migration of, to
Iowa, 68
Hinkley, Mr., claim of, in Iowa, 67
Historical Department of Iowa,
Journal published by, 234
Historical Society of Iowa, State,
Lucas papers in possession of,
231; reference to, 239
History, definition of, vii
Hitchcock, E. A., in Black Hawk
War, 44
Hopkins, Samuel, Kentuckians com
manded by, 11; meeting of troops
under, 15; retreat of, 16; sketch
of, 203; letter of, 205
Horicon, Lake, Indians near, 53
Howard, Benjamin, commissioned
as Brigadier General, 17; attack
of, upon Indians, 19
Howe, Henry, 224
Howe, John, 175, 233
Hughes, Lawson B., 97
Hull, William, surrender of De
troit by, 11
Hustisford (Wisconsin), 54
Huston, Samuel, company of, 51 -
lies, Elijah, a founder of Spring
field, 37; transfer of land by, 38;

250

INDEX

service of, in Winnebago War,
40; company of, 46, 47; refer
ence to, 213, 214, 227
Illinois, 13, 14; Cox in legislature
of, 24-33 ; Constitution of, 27,
32; admission of, as State, 27;
General Assembly of, 28 ; elec
tion of United States Senators
from, 28 ; location of canital of,
30, 31, 32. 92, 93; pro-slavery
sentiment in, 32; land in, 35;
Indian alarm in, 40 ; mining in
terest in, 41 ; militia of, 42 ; re
moval of McDonald to, 65 ; set
tlers from, 68; reference to, 175,
194, 201
Illinois River, settlements near, 3;
reference to, 12, 14, 19, 22
Illinois Territory, creation ~of, 3 ;
counties of, 4; appointment of
Governor of, 4; Kaskaskia, the
ancient capital of, 5 ; arrival of
Governor Edwards in, 7 ; de
fense of, 8; Indians in, 9, 11;
militia of, 10, 16, 17 ; military
operations in, in 1812, 16 ; Sec
retary of, 25 ; census in, 200
Indian Boundary Line, 113, 114
Indiana, removal of John G. Mc
Donald from, 65 ; outlaws in,
122 ; vigilance committee in, 166
Indiana Territory, division of, 3 ;
defense of, 8 ; Indians in, 9
Indians, conflicts with, in Ken
tucky, 2 ; relations of British to,
7 ; defeat of, at Tippecanoe, 9 ;
hostility of, 9, 12, 17, 47; in Il
linois Territory, 11; expeditions
against, 11-16; prairie fires set
by, 16; disturbances by, 41;
treaties with, 43, 63 ; movements
of, 53 ; losses of, at Wisconsin
Heights, 57; intercepted at Bad
Axe River, 58; defeat of, at
Bad Axe River, 59, 60
Inghram, Arthur, 88, 97, 169
Iowa, surveys in, 64 ; no organ
ized government in, 70 ; large
counties of, 73 ; legislators of,
78; Surveyor General for, 103;
admission of, 108, 110, 111,
185; Governor of, 119, 236;
early settlers of, 138, 194, 195;
reference to, 151, 156; bound
aries of, 185, 186, 187; troops
of, in Mexican War, 237
Iowa, Historical Department of,
publication of, 234
Iowa, Territory of, 11, 73, 74 ;
legislature of, 75, 77, 83 : Or
ganic Act of, 73, 76 ; capital of,
82, 89-100; Third Governor of,

110; boundary dispute of, with
Missouri, 113-121; reference to,
159, 162, 167, 186
Iowa, The State Historical Society
of, papers in possession of, 231
Iowa Band, William Salter a mem
ber of, 192
Iowa City (Iowa), name of, sug
gested by Cox, 99 ; survey of,
101-105; Colonel Cox at, 106;
legislature at, 176, 181; extra
session at, 189; reference to, 222
Iowa County (Wisconsin), 64
Iowa-Missouri boundary dispute,
113, 121
Iowa Pioneer Lawmakers' Asso
ciation, 220, 221
Iowa River, 81, 101
Iowa Territorial Gazette, 110 ; ac
count of Bellevue War in, 163
Iowa Township (Jackson County,
Iowa), 64
Ireland, migration of Robert Cox
from Belfast, 1
Isett, Thomas M., a commissioner to
locate county seat, 168
Isle Bois River, 26, 62
Jackson, Andrew, fine of, 235
Jackson County (Iowa), surveys in,
64, 65; settlement in, 67; in
1833, 70; reference to, 73, 74,
78, 94, 102, 106, 124; crime in,
134; reference to, 138, 158, 159,
162, 165, 166, 168, 170, 171,
175, 177, 187, 190, 192; gold
fever in, 237
Jackson County Historical Society,
192
Jackson Day, 1840, 129; celebra
tion of, 220, 221
Jackson Township (Jackson County,
Iowa), 64
James, Edmund J., 199
Jefferson, Nic, 75, 218
Jenkins, James H., 235
Johnson, Albert Sidney, in Black
Hawk War, 44
Johnson County (Illinois), 27
Johnson County (Iowa), 73, 94,
190; location of capital in, 93,
97, 101, 219
Johnston, Edward, 108, 109; vote
of, on Statehood, 111; chosen
Speaker, 170; reference to, 222
Jonas, Jerry, part of, in Bellevue
War, 140
Jonas, William, 227
Jones, Gabriel, regiment of, 56;
part of, in battle of Wisconsin
Heights, 57; reference to, 59
Jones, George W., a resident of Ste.

INDEX

251

Genevieve, 25 ; migration of, to
lead country, 41; Delegate to Con
gress, 63
Jones, John Paul, 26
Jones, Michael, candidacy of, for
United States Senate, 29, 30
Jones, William, 230
Jones, William F., monolith pre
sented by, 193, 194 ; reference
to, 230
Jones County (Iowa), 73, 94, 121;
depredations in, 126; reference
to, 168, 169
Jonesboro (Illinois), residence of
Thomas Cox in, 16; removal of
Cox to, 27
Joseph, 192
Journey, Nathaniel, company of, 18
Judson, L., Iowa City platted by,
102, 104
Judy, Samuel, company of, 10, 13,
14, 18; reference to, 202
Kane, Elias Kent, pro-slavery senti
ments of, 33 ; death of, 63
Kansan age, 193
Kansas glacial drift, 66
Kaskaskia (Illinois), early history
of, 4, 5 ; removal of the Coxes
to, 5 ; earthquake felt at, 25
constitutional convention at, 27
hotel kept by Cox at, 27, 207.
legislature at, 28 ; letter from,
29; reference to, 200
Kaskaskia River, 5, 6, 31
Keith, J., 97, 98, 219
Kellogg's Grove, Indian raid at, 47;
reference to, 52
Kentuckians, assembling of, at Vin
cennes, 11; mutiny of, 15, 16;
migration of, 68
Kentucky, George Rogers Clark in,
1; pioneers of, 2; Ninian Ed
wards in, 4; reference to, 8, 20,
25, 199, 200
Kentuckv River, Daniel Boone's
fort on, 2
Keokuk, unable to control Black
Hawk, 44
Keokuk (Iowa), 108
Keokuk County (Iowa), 73
Kickapoo village, 14
King, John, letter from, 158, 159
Kirkpatrick, James L., 142, 147,
180, 226, 233
Kirkpatrick, Joseph Scott, 147, 191,
226, 229, 234; sketch of, 233
Kitchell, Mr., opposition of, to Ed
wards, 30
Knoll, Mr., sketch of Stephen
Hempstead by, 234
Koshkonong, Lake, 52

Langworthy, Edward, 108, 109 ;
vote of, 112; reference to, 121,
186 222
Lash, John B„ 121, 122, 173, 174
LeClaire, Antoine, a captive at Peo
ria, 12, 203
LeClaire (Iowa), reference to, 81
Lee County (Iowa), 94, 95, 98,
107, 156, 170, 187
Leffler, Shepherd, election of, to leg
islature, 108; resolutions intro
duced by, 117; reference to, 119,
120; nomination by, 179; motion
of, 183; reference to, 222, 235
Legislative Assembly of Iowa, part
of, in Missouri boundary dispute,
116-121
Lewis, Warner, in Council of Iowa,
74; reference to, 97
Lexington (Iowa), old name for
Anamosa, 169
Lincoln, Abraham, service of, in
Black Hawk War, 45, 46, 47, 49,
214; reference to, 53, 227, 232
Lincoln (Illinois), site of, 14
Lincoln, Mrs. Abraham, 214
Lindsay, Allen F., company of, 50,
216; reference to, 226
Linn County Historical Society, ad
dress before, 233
Linn County (Iowa), 73, 93, 94;
depredations in, 126; reference
to, 219
Linn Grove ( Iowa ) , Citizens' As
sociation organized at, 126
Local leaders, importance of, in his
tory, vii
Long, Aaron, plot of, 131; charged
with crime, 134
Los Angeles, 238
Louisa County (Iowa), 94, 96, 100
Louisiana, District of, 70
Louisiana Purchase, 25, 70
Louisiana Territory, 4
Lucas, Mr., 199
Lucas, Robert, part of, in Missouri
boundary dispute, 114, 115, 117,
120 ; letter of, 75, 76 ; message
of, 77 ; veto power of, 82 ; oppo
sition to, 83 ; vetoes of, 83, 84-
88, 112; memorial for removal of,
87, 88 ; suggestions of, on bill,
98; reference to, 104; relations
of, and Conway, 109; papers of,
157; controversy of, 219; quar
rel between Conway and, 220
Lytle, Robert T., 64
McDaniels, Ada, 208
McDaniels, Colonel, member of em
bassy from Missouri, 117
McDonald, John G., surveys of, 65 ;

252

INDEX

assists Cox in survey, 102 ; elec
tion of, as doorkeeper, 109 ; Cox
saved by, 143, 144; part of, in
Bellevue War, 160 ; removal of,
from office advocated, 161; ref
erence to, 164; a commissioner
to locate county seat, 168 ; sketch
of, 216, 232; reference to, 228
McDonald, R. H., 228
McCabe, James, part of, in Belle
vue War, 138; reference to, 226
McFerron, John, Illinois senator, 29
McKenny, firm of Clarke and, 79
McKinley, Samuel, migration of, to
Iowa. 68 /
"Mackinaw Fencibles", defeat of,
20
McNair, Alexander, regiment of, 18
Macoupin County (Illinois), 48, 65
Madison County (Illinois), 35, 36
Madison, Fort, 9, 18, 19
Madison, James, appointments of,
in Illinois Territory, 4
Madison (Wisconsin), site of, 56
Magoun, H. R., part of, in Bellevue
War, 140, 147 ; reference to, 230
Mail routes, 80, 81, 84, 85
Maiden, line of communication with,
7
Maiden Trail, reference to, 8
Mallard, Augusta, 205, 210
Mallard, Belle, 210
Mallard, Clarence Stillman, 211
Mallard, Cordelia Cox, 211, 237
Mallard, Henry, 210
Mallard, Joseph S., 210, 230, 237
Mallard, Josephine, 210
Mallard, Mary, 210
Mallard, Thomas, 211
Mallard, Tucie, 211
Mallard, Walter, 210
Mankato River, 186
Maquoketa (Iowa), 156, 193, 194
Maquoketa River, 65, 67, 68, 69,
127, 132, 137, 139
Maquoketa Township (Jackson
County, Iowa ) , 64
Marietta (Ohio), headquarters of
army at, 22; journey by way of,
26; reference to, 206
Martin, Morgan L., 231
Maryland, Ninian Edwards, a na
tive of, 4; reference to, 28, 33
Mason, Charles, 161
Mason, R. B., in Black Hawk War,
44
Matthews, Samuel T., regiment of,
51
Maugh, M. M., 226
Maxwell, J., death of, 143
Menard, Pierre, election of, as Lieu
tenant Governor of Illinois, 28

Mexican War, 231, 237
Michigan, upper peninsula of, 3;
outlaws in, 122 ; reference to, 123
Michigan, Lake, reference to, 3
Michigan, Territory of, 41, 51, 70,
71
Michilimackinac, 202
Militia, Committee on, 79
Militia, Iowa Territorial, 191
Milwaukee, trading post at, 3 ; ref
erence to, 203
Miners' Bank, bills of, 157
Minnesota, 3, 70, 73, 237
Minnesota River, 186
Mintun, Jacob, 222
Missouri, 4, 17, 20, 22, 24; pan
handle of, 25 ; struggle over ad
mission of, 33; reference to, 35,
37; admission of, 70; reference
to, 113, 114, 115, 116; Consti
tution of, 114; reference to, 117,
118, 119, 120, 132
Missouri Compromise, 33
Missouri-Iowa boundary dispute,
112-121; bibliography on, 223
Missouri River, 70, 71, 73, 186,
238
Missouri Territory, defense of, 8;
reference to, 70
Mississippi River, 3, 4, 6 ; chain
of forts from, 9 ; reference to, 19,
24, 25, 43, 44, 52, 58, 63, 66,
67, 71, 72; rapids of, 82; refer
ence to, 89, 90, 113, 152, 186
Mitchell, Edward, service of, in
Winnebago War, 40 J reference
to, 207, 214
Mitchell, George L., 238
Mitchell, James C, enmity of
Thompson toward, 129; Thomp
son shot by, 130; attempts to
kill, 131; held in mock confine
ment, 158; killing of Thompson
by, 161 ; reference to, 175
Moffatt, Franklin, a commissioner to
locate county seat, 168
Mojave Desert, 238
Monmouth Township (Jackson
County, Iowa), 67
Monroe, James, letter of, 35, 36;
cabinet of, 37; reference to, 205,
212
Monona, Lake, 55
Montgomery, Absalom, present at
shooting of Thompson, 130 ; ref
erence to, 162
Moore, James B., company com
manded by, 9
Morden, William, settlement started
by, 67; reference to, 136, 191;
sketch of, 217, 234

INDEX

253

Moredock, John, military service of,
18
Morgan, James M., 237
Morgan County (Illinois), 51
Mormons, trail of, 238
Moss, James K., letter to, 75, 76;
aids in organizing Citizens' As
sociation, 126; powder stolen
from, 131, 132; meeting at store
of, 136 ; part of, in Bellevue
War, 147, 158, 161; removal of,
from office advocated, 161; not
removed, 164; elected to succeed
Cox, 176; sketch of, 218, 232
Mountain Meadows, 238
Mount Hope Cemetery, 193, 194
Mount Pleasant (Iowa), competi
tion of, for capital, 90, 91, 93,
94, 95, 98; reference to, 102,
219, 220, 221
Munn, Benjamin, store of, 207
Muscatine County (Iowa), 78, 94,
107, 168
Myers, Jacob L., 121, 222
Napoleon (Iowa), Capital Commis
sioners to meet at, 97; meeting
of Commissioners at, 101
Neale, Thomas M., service of, in
Winnebago War, 40
Negroes, held under qualified con
dition in Illinois, 32
Neville, Enoch, migration of, to
Iowa, 68; reference to, 226
Neville, Ephraim, migration of, to
Iowa, 68; reference to, 199
Newberry, Anson, 230
New Englanders, migration of, 68
New Hampshire, 108
New Madrid, country about, 25
Newport ( Iowa ) , county seat of
Jones County, 169
New Yorkers, migration of, 68
Niagara, Fort, 202
Niagara dolomite, 66
Nicholas, Colonel, sent up the Illi
nois River, 19; reference to, 20
Nichols, Augustus, 209
Nichols, Cordelia, 209
Nichols, Corrinne, 209
Nichols, Daniel Bartlett, 208
Nichols, Elmer Elsworth, 209
Nichols, Florida, 208, 209, 237
Nichols, John Gregg, 208, 237
Nichols, John Gregg, Jr., 208
Nichols, Lewis Cass, 209
Nichols, Roba, 208
Nichols, Thomas E., 206, 209
North America, driftless area of, 193
North Dakota, 73
North Platte River, 238
Northwest, trading posts of, 7

Northwest Territory, Ordinance for
Government of, 2 ; division of, 3
Nowlen, Bennet, 226
Nowlin, Hardin, 74; motion of, 91,
94 ; reference to, 94, 95 ; candi
dacy of, for Council, 177, 178
Nowlin amendment, the, 95
Ohio, admission of, as State, 3 ; ref
erence to, 22, 67; service of
Robert Lucas in, 78 ; outlaws in,
122 "
Ohio River, Indians north of, 2 ;
reference to, 64
Oklahoma, 205
Orleans, Territory of, 70
Oswegotche, 202
Owen, Joshua, 223
Owen, Thomas, 230
Palmer, Henderson, death of, 142
Parish, John C, letter from, 235
Parker, Jonathan W., 72
Parker, Samuel, 94
Parks, Thomas J., part of, in Belle
vue War, 138, 147
Parvin, Theodore S., mistake of,
219, 220, 221, 222; Journal dis
covered by, 234; statement by,
236
Patriot War, Canadian, refugees
from, 68; reference to, 133
Patterson, R. G., 235
Patterson, William, 94, 98, 107 ;
vote of, on Statehood, 111; ref
erence to, 119, 184, 222, 235
Payne, Jesse D., 97
Pence, Allen W., 216
Pence, Gabriel, 216
Pence, Solomon, 216
Pennsylvania, 110
Peoria (Illinois), French trading
post at, 3; French colony at, 12;
movement of troops toward, 15 ;
return of General Howard to, 19;
reference to, 20, 203
Peoria Lake, Fort Clark at foot of,
9 ; military movements toward,
12 ; Indian villages on, 14 ; a
rallying ground for Indians, 19
Perkins, Lieutenant, 20
Perkins, Mr., 216
Perry Township (Jackson County,
Iowa), 64
Petriken, Mr., 161
Phillips, Joseph, captaincy of, 18
Pingry, Mr., 216
Piorias (Peoria) French trading
post at, 3
Pittsburg, journey by way of, 26
Platte Valley, 238
Plum River, 52, 66

254

INDEX

Point au Fer, 202
Point Pleasant (Iowa), 81
Polk, James K, appointments of,
110
Pope, Nathaniel, appointment of,
as Secretary of Illinois Territory,
4 ; appointments by, 8 ; at Ste.
Genevieve, 25 ; efforts of, to se
cure enabling act, 27; reference
to, 201, 202
Pope's Bluff (Illinois), a competi
tor for capital of Illinois, 31
Portage des Sioux, treaty signed at,
22
Porter, Asbury B., 94
Posey, Alexander, brigade of, 52,
57; sent to Fort Hamilton, 53;
reference to, 58, 59
Pottawatamies, 8, 14
Potts, William L., 227
Prairie du Chien, French trading
post at, 3 ; Fort Shelby at, 9 ;
British driven from, 20 ; out
break of Indians near, 40 ; ref
erence to, 202
Prairie du Rocher, location of, 5
Prairie La Pierre, settlement of, 66
Price, Calvin J., 94
Prophet, hostility of the, 8
Protective Association, organization
of, 126
Public lands, 212
Quakers, of Rhode Island, 26
Ralston, Robert, 97; chosen Com
missioner to locate Iowa City,
100 ; reference to, 104
Ramsey, General, retreat of Ken
tuckians under, 16
Randolph County (Illinois Terri
tory), extent of, 4; reference to,
5 ; regiments organized in, 8 ;
reference to, 10
"Ranger, The Old", 13, 42
Rangers, act authorizing enlistment
of, 8; organization of, 17
Ray, General, retreat of Kentuck
ians under, 16
Rector, Elias, regiment commanded
by, 13
Reed, Alexander, migration of, to
Iowa, 66 ; part of, in Bellevue
War, 138, 147
Reeves, firm of Russell and, 79
Revolutionary War, 1, 7
Reynolds, John, military service of,
13; quotation from, 15; Gover
nor at outbreak of Black Hawk
War, 42 ; letter to, 44 ; militia
assembled by, 45 ; call of, for
troops, 46; appointments of, 47,

48 ; reference to, 53 ; treaty nego
tiations of, 63 ; reference to, 204,
215
Rhode Island, 26, 206
Rich, Alfred, 109; minority report
of, 111 ; resolutions offered by,
116; granted leave of absence,
171; reference to, 223
Richards, W. A., letter from, 212
Richfield (Iowa), 81
Richland, farm of Cox named, 69;
reference to, 81
Richland Farm (Iowa), 192
Roads, Territorial, 80, 81
Roads and highways, committee on,
79
Roberts, Robert G., 94, 96
Robertson, Joseph M., resolution of
fered by, 174; reference to, 222
Robinson, Jane, marriage of, 1
Robinson, Mr., father-in-law of Rob
ert Cox, 1
Rockingham (Iowa), railroad from,
81
Rock Island, 21; Indian agents at,
42 ; reference to, 45, 71 ; rapids
above, 82 ; murder on, 156
Rock River, Indians on, 7; Fort
Armstrong at mouth of, 9; ref
erence to, 21, 42, 51, 52
Rock River Valley, 46
Rocky Mountains, 238
Rodefer, B., 75, 218
Ronalds, John, chosen Commissioner
to locate Iowa City, 100; refer
ence to, 104, 222
Rose, John H., 72, 217
Ross, William R., 223
Russell, Camp, at Edwardsville, Il
linois, 9 ; reference to, 10, 13
Russell, William, regiment command
ed by, 8 ; Camp Russell named
for, 9 ; march of, from Vin
cennes, 11; expedition of, 13;
march of, 13
Russell and Reeves, firm of, 79
Sabula (Iowa), founding of, 67;
reference to, 138
Sac Indians, on Rock River, 7;
treaty with, 22 ; reference to, 41 ;
chiefs of, 44 ; sale of land by, 63 ;
reference to, 204, 215
Sacs and Foxes, 203
Sahramling, Peter, 230
Said, Caleb, 230
Said, Jesse, 227
Said, Nathan, 227, 230
St. Charles, 36
St. Clair County (Illinois Terri
tory), extent of, 4; regiment or
ganized in, 8; regiment from, 10

INDEX

255

St. Louis, location of, 5; reference
to, 9, 36; treaty at, in 1804, 42;
reference to, 42, 62
St. Peters, precinct of, 73
St. Peters River, 186
St. Vrain, Felix, 203
Ste. Genevieve (Missouri), Nathan
iel Pope a lawyer in, 4; location
of, 5; history of, 25, 26; settlers
from, 41; reference to, 62, 63,
207
Salter, William, at funeral of Cox,
192; at reburial of Cox, 194;
reference to, 200, 206
Salt Lake City, 238
Sandridge, Hastings, 226
Sangamon County (Illinois), crea
tion of, 35 ; county seat of, 38 ;
James D. Henry, Sheriff of, 40 ;
mining fever in, 41 ; companies
from, 45 ; reference to, 65, 128,
227
Sangamon River, 14, 35
Savanna (Illinois), site of, 52; set
tlement of, 67
Scotch Grove (Iowa), 168
Scotch Highlanders, 168
Scott, David, 216
Scott, Emily, 210
Scott, Frances, 209
Scott, Harriette, 210
Scott, John, company of, 10
Scott, Jonathan R., 209
Scott, Jonathan R., Jr., 209
Scott, Winfield, treaty negotiated
by, 63
Scott County (Iowa), 73, 84, 94,
98, 107
Seamands, Joshua, 226
Seamands, Peyton, member of sur
veying party, 65; migration of,
to Iowa, 68
Seeley, John O., sketch of Burleson
by, 230
Selkirk's Settlement, 168
Sells, Enoch, member of surveying
party, 65
Senett, Captain, 237
Shambaugh, Benj. F., editor's intro
duction by, vii; reference to, 75;
information given by, 236
Shawneetown, 12, 29, 203
Shelby, Fort, at Prairie du Chien, 9
Shelby, Isaac, Kentuckians assem
bled by order of, 11; fort named
in honor of, 20; reference to, 205
Short, Jacob, company commanded
by, 9; company of, 10
Sioux, Portage des, 22
Sioux River, 186
Skinner, Joseph, 216
Slaughter County (Iowa), 94

Slavery, in Illinois, 32, 33
Smith, Captain, 162
Smith, Du Ray, 210
Smith, General, 213
Smith, George F., 225
Smith, Jeremiah, protest signed by,
54
Smith, Vincent, part of, in Bellevue
War, 142; reference to, 227, 228
Snelling, Fort, precinct of, 73
South Dakota, 73
Southern California, 238
South Fork of Maquoketa River, 67
South Fork Township (Jackson
County, Iowa), 64
Spanish Mines, Indian hostilities
near, 9
Spiles, Mark, member of surveying
party, 65
Spirit Lake Massacre, 165
Springer, Francis, candidacy of, for
President of Council, 179, 182,
183, 184; chosen President pro
tern of Council, 181; takes place
of Cox on committees, 185 ; refer
ence to, 235
Springfield (Illinois), 14; location
of, 35; founding of, 36, 37;
not a favorite for county seat,
38; gift of land to, 38; reference
to, 41 ; town site of, 46 ; refer
ence to, 47, 49, 62, 175; choice
of, as capital, 214
Springfield (Iowa), 69, 192
Springfield District, 35
Stanford, Cornelia, 208
Stillman, Major, defeat of, 45, 46
Stillman's Run, 45
Stephenson, Benjamin, regiment
commanded by, 13, 18 ; move
ments of, in War of 1812, 19;
reference to, 200, 201
Stevens, Frank E., quotation from,
56
Stukey, John, 226
Sublett, John T., on committee to
interview Judge Wilson, 133;
part of, in Bellevue War, 140,
147; sketch of, 233
Sublett, Tom, part of, in Bellevue
War, 142; reference to, 227
Sullivan Boundary Line, reference
to, 113; declared the true line,
121
Summers, Laurel, resolution by, 81;
on Veto Committee, 86 ; refer
ence to, 94, 98, 107, 111; Cox
nominated by, 172; reference to,
174, 222
Summit Street, Iowa City, Iowa,
104

256

INDEX

Superior, Lake, reference to, 3
Supreme Court of United States, de
cision of, in Missouri boundary
dispute, 121
Swan, Charles, 67
Swan, Chauncey, 74; on Veto Com
mittee, 86; reference to, 94;
chosen Commissioner to locate
Iowa City, 100; report of, 103,
105, 222; reference to, 104
Swazy, E. A. M., 97
Sweetwater River, 238
Taney, Bowles E., 210
Taylor, Hawkins, on Veto Commit
tee, 86 ; motion of, to recon
sider, 94 ; reference to, 94 ; vote
of, 95; reference to, 96, 221
Taylor, Zachary, garrison command
ed by, 16; expedition of, against
Indians, 21 ; in command of re-
enforcements, 44; reference to, 59
Teas, Joseph B., candidacy of, for
President of Council, 179, 182,
183, 184; party alignment of,
179, 181, 235
Tecumseh, hostility of, 8
Temple, George, 79, 88, 94
Terre Haute (Indiana), 16
Territorial Affairs, Committee on,
79, 80, 91
Thayer, Nellie, 209
Third Lake (Wisconsin), 55, 56
Thomas, Jesse Burgess, election of,
as United States Senator, 28 ;
slavery party led by, 33 ; rivalry
between Edwards and, 213
Thompson, James, character and
history of, 128, 129 ; enmity of,
toward Mitchell, 129; shooting
of, 130
Thornton, Levi, 78, 90, 94
Tippecanoe, battle of, 8, 9
Todd, John, appointment of, as
Register of land office, 39; suc
ceeds Cox, 214
Toole, William L., 90, 94, 96
Traders, relations of Indians with
English, 7
Traders' Point, 238
Transylvania University, 25
Truman, Ben C, 210
Turkey River, 73
Turtle Creek, 52
Twiggs, David E., in Black Hawk
War, 44
Union County (Illinois), 16, 27;
represented by Thomas Cox, 28
Union Township (Jackson County,
Iowa), 64
United States, Louisiana acquired

by, 70 ; position of, in boundary
dispute, 115 ; Supreme Court of,
121
Vance, William, shot in Bellevue
War, 143; reference to, 227
Vandalia (Illinois), choice of, as
capital of Illinois, 31; location
of capital, at, 92
Vandals, 3 1
Van Buren, Martin, memorial to,
88; reference to, 104, 222
Van Buren County (Iowa), 94, 96,
97, 98, 107; protest by Com
missioners of, 114; armed forces
in, 115; reference to, 116, 119,
179, 187
Van Buren Township (Jackson
County, Iowa), 64
Vaughn, William, death of, 143
Vermont, 36, 156
Vermont delegation in Congress, 36
Veto power, exercise of, by Gover
nor Lucas, 82-88
Vincennes (Indiana), chain of
forts to, 9 ; march of troops from,
11
Virginia, migration of Robert Cox
to, 1; reference to, 48
Wabasha, Indian attack at, 40
"Wabash Country, The", regiment
organized in, 8
Wabash River, 3, 4; chain of forts
to, 9 ; reference to, 16
Wallace, William H., 77, 78, 94,
95 ; president pro tern of Coun
cil, 179 ; votes for, as perma
nent president, 179; reference
to, 183, 184, 235
Walworth, George H., Ill, 121,
223
Wapello, unable to check Black
Hawk, 44
Wapsipinicon River, 81, 169
War of 1812, service of Thomas
Cox in, 7-23;, opening of, 11;
reference to, 24; financial trou
bles following, 34; reference to,
204, 214
Warren, Hooper, 215
Warren, William A., 72; appoint
ment of, as Sheriff, 124, 125;
aids in organizing Citizens' As
sociation, 126; reaches scene of
shooting, 130; Mitchell rescued
by, 131; plot disclosed to, 132;
reference to, 133; assembling of
recruits by, 136 ; negotiations of,
with Brown's men, 139, 140,
141 ; in charge upon Brown's
house, 142 ; order for burning of
house given by, 143 ; quotation

INDEX

257

from, 146; letter from Judge
Wilson to, 154; reference to,
156; part of, in Bellevue War,
158, 160, 161; relations of Ber
ry and, 164; sketch of, 2r7, 231,
232; history of Bellevue War by,
224, 227; reference to, 225, 228;
military service of, 227; refer
ence to, 239
Washington, D. 0., Ninian Edwards
at, 29; reference to, 44; Post
Office Department at, 86
Washington Township (Jackson
County, Iowa), 64
Waterloo (Missouri), 115, 117
Watkins, George, part of, in Belle
vue War, 140; reference to, 233
Watkins, James, 228, 233
Wayland, Dr., member of embassy
from Missouri, 117
Wayne, Anthony, Indian campaign
of, 2
Welch, Tom, wounding of, 145
Wheeler, Loring, 108, 109, 120,
121, 170, 223
Whipple, Alice, 211
White Oak Springs (Wisconsin),
64, 137
Whiteside, Samuel, troops command
ed by, 9 ; company of, 18 ; serv
ice of, in Black Hawk War, 43;
promotion of, 45 ; reference to,
46, 49
Whiteside, William B., military
service of, 9, 18; regiment com
manded by, 10 ; service of, in
Black Hawk War, 43 ; reference
to, 202

Whitesides, J. B., motion concern
ing, 80
Whitewater River, 53, 54
Whittlesey, Charles, 97
Wilson, Abner, 230
Wilson, John, 239
Wilson, Thomas S., relation of, to
Bellevue War, 134; action of,
after the Bellevue War, 153 ;
letter from, 154 ; court adjourned
to Lexington by, 169 ; reference
to, 225, 229
Winnebago, Fort, 53, 54
Winnebago Indians, 8 ; outbreak
of, 40 ; report by, 54 ; informa
tion given by, 55
Winnebago Indian War, 213
Wirt, William, 212
Wisconsin, 3 ; Indians in, 8 ; ref
erence to, 25 ; early history of,
41; reference to, 51, 56, 71, 72;
lead regions of, 52 ; legislature
of, 86; reference to, 103, 108
Wisconsin, Territorial legislature of,
124, 128
Wisconsin, Territory of, Governor
of, 63 ; reference to, 64, 71, 110
Wisconsin Heights, battle of, 56,
57, 216
Wisconsin River, 56, 58
Wood, Enoch A., claim in Jackson
County, Iowa, 67
Wyckoff, Richard B., 191
Young, Mr., 199
Zion Church, legislature in, 77, 116

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