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1914 History of Boone County
Chapter XXIX
  GardenTownship

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From 1849 to 1858 Garden Township was a part of Pleasant Township. From 1858 to 1871 it was a part of Douglas Township. In the last named year Garden Township was organized and its present boundaries established. The first entry of land in Garden Township was made in December, 1848, by Jacob C. Overly, who entered about nine hundred acres in Sections 22, 25 and 28, Township 82, Range 25, which included that beautiful body of timber known as Hat Grove and the prairie adjoining it on the south and west. Hat Grove and the scenery thereabout in pioneer times were very attractive. The grove and a part of the prairie adjoining it passed into the hands of John A. McFarland in 1850, and in 1851 or about that time he built a small log house in the edge of the timber. McFarland held out the idea that he intended to move to Hat Grove and would make his home there. He placed a good number of acres under cultivation, but he never moved there. He remained in Boonesboro and became its first banker. The house Mr. McFarland built at Hat Grove was the first one erected in Garden Township. From the time it was built in 1851 it was occupied by various parties, who leased it from time to time, but none of them became permanent settlers of the township. The Hat Grove farm was well known before any other part of the township was placed under cultivation. The grove is situated on the banks of Big Creek, the only stream in the township. A sketch of this stream will be found in an article under the heading of The Small Streams of Boone County. How Hat Grove received its name is among the unknown things. Some people claim it was because the grove was round like a hat that the name was applied to it. Others say that a hat which was blown from the head of some explorer lodged there and was found by the government surveyors and from this the name originated. Be this as it may, the name still clings to the grove and no one has suggested a change of name. Among those who lived on the Hat Grove farm in the early days was a Swede named Peterson. One winter during his stay there a nice lot of shoats owned by him strayed from the grove and went east. He soon missed them and taking his dog followed their tracks made in the snow. The day was cloudy and dark and a snow storm set in, which in a short time covered the tracks of the shoats. The storm so increased that the man was lost in its blinding fury and did not know what direction to go, for the prairie was open, unfenced and uninhabited. He wandered around with nothing to guide him until the darkness of the coming niglit set in and from exhaustion he sank down upon the snow in a daze and stupor. It was now cold, and before the coming of dawn the poor man was no more. His faithful dog remained with him until about midway in the forenoon of that fatal morning, when he wended his way home and by his whines and actions indicated that something dreadful had happened. Two men arrived at the grove about that time and they followed the dog as he returned on the trail made as he came home; after going about three miles the dog suddenly ran at full speed about a hundred rods, when he reached the spot where his master lay. The poor animal would rub his head against the cold face of his master and then howl piteously. But alas! he was beyond the reach of remedy - stiff and still in the embrace of the piercing frost and deaf to the fond caresses of his faithful dog. It was a sad circumstance and a mournful one for the bereaved wife and children. Garden Township was named from the beautiful lay of its land and the fertility of its soil. The first permanent settler in the township was George Keigley. He built a house on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 18. Township 82, Range 25, and moved into it in 1854. The first birth in the township was that of Norman Keigley, a son of Mr. and Mrs. George Keigley, who was born in 1855. As this son died the same year, his death was the first to occur in the township. Late in the '50s William Goodrich, a family named Myers, Fred Johnson and a Mr. Armstrong all settled along the west border of Garden Township. But the township did not settle up with any rapidity until 1866. From this date on the settlement was rapid. A man named Robins had for years owned a large body of land in the north part of Garden Township, which he offered for sale in 1866. The sale of these lands was very rapid and the purchasers located upon them with equal rapidity, so that a school became one of the things needed in 1868. There was no schoolhouse at that time, but Jesse Goble had an empty dwelling house and it was pressed into the service for a schoolhouse. This house was located about one-fourth of a mile north of where the Garden Prairie Schoolhouse now stands. The teacher was Miss Rachel Patterson, now Mrs. Rachel Reichenbach. This was the first school held in Garden Township and Miss Patterson had the honor of being the first teacher. During the year 1869 the first schoolhouse in the township was erected and is known as the Garden Prairie Schoolhouse. Miss Lucy Lyman had charge of the first school taught in the new building. In this same settlement the first religious services in the township were held. This was in the summer of 1867. The services were held in a private house, one mile north of the present location of the Garden Prairie Church. The services were conducted by Reverend Snodgrass, of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Boonesboro. Two years later, in 1869, Rev. O. C. Dickerson, a Congregational minister, came out from Boone and held the first religious services in the Garden Prairie Schoolhouse. Through the influence of Reverend Dickerson and the families of O. N. Bagwell, Albert Lyman, Jesse Goble, John and Wesley Guthridge, the Garden Prairie Church was organized February 7, 1870, with a charter membership of twenty-seven. Reverend Dickerson was the pastor of the new church until he was called to another field of labor at Marshalltown, Iowa. After him came Rev. A. A. Baker and Reverend Snodgrass, who occupied the pulpit alternately. In 1875 the Garden Prairie Church was erected and on February 6, 1876, it was dedicated by Rev. J. W. Pickett, of Des Moines, assisted by Reverend Hand, of Polk City, Reverend Parmenter, of Madrid, and Reverend Knapp, of Des Moines. Rev. C. O. Parmenter was the first pastor of the church after it became domiciled in the new church building. This was the first and only church building ever erected in Garden Township. The first postoffice in the township was located at the house of James Irving, near the church building, and James Irving was the first postmaster in the township. A few years later he resigned the postmastership and was succeeded by J. B. Strouse, who moved the office to his house, about one mile west of Mr. Irving's. Mr. Strouse continued as postmaster for about two years, when he, like Mr. Irving, came to the conclusion that there was not compensation enough in the office to pay for the time it took to look after it, so he resigned, and from that time to the present there has never been a postoffice in the township. The first justice of the peace in Garden Township was James Irving and the first constable was William Guthridge. For many years George Thrap was assessor and William Tebus was township clerk. T. R. Dresser and J. B. Frise have held township oflices. For a number of years the settlers on the Robins lands in the north part of the township by reason of their numbers took the lead over all other parts. Even the name of the township originated with them. Worth Keigley, son of George Keigley, the first settler, was born in the township September 16, 1857, and still lives at the place of his birth. There is no one in the township who has been a citizen as long as Mr. Keigley. In the south part of the township Eric Croft, Cana Green, P. A. Sholand, William and Lewis Bolle settled late in the '60s and made farms. At an early date a man named Barkley settled in the northeast part of the township and built a small house. He lived so far from any settlement that his was called the "lone house." His team consisted of one horse and one ox, with which he did his teaming and farming. At one time there were two blacksmith and repair shops in the township, one at the north end operated by a man named Churchill; the other at the south end operated by A. Holcraft. In the east part of the township the last settlements were made. Here August Skortman, Henry Anderson, A. J. Cromwell, John Applegarth, L. D. Norris, Chester Norris and many others whose names cannot now be recalled, settled and made homes. A large per cent of settlers of Garden Township were Swedish people who have made nice farms, erected good buildings and have become prosperous and happy. It will be impossible to mention all the names of the settlers who have contributed to the upbuilding of the township. But it must be said that through their industry and energy they now have an agricultural township the equal of any in the county. There are nine school districts in the township and nine schoolhouses, all of which are in good repair. The schools are all in a prosperous condition. Before Garden Township settled up there was a road which started from Madrid and ran northeast diagonally across the township, terminating at New Philadelphia, near the present Town of Ontario, in Story County. This was the first road in Garden Township. It now has three east and west and three north and south roads that run through the township. No town was ever laid out in Garden Township. The Town of Sheldahl extends over the county line and takes in a small piece of land in the southeast corner of Garden Township, on which some houses of that town are built, but this is the only shadow of a town within its borders. It has but one railroad - the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul - which runs across the south end a distance of six miles, but there is no station in the township. The people of this township have been very law-abiding, no serious crimes having been charged against any of them. But there was an incident which occurred in Garden Township which raised considerable excitement. Late in the fall of 1878 two young men, named respectively Garrison and Martin, came across the prairie from the northeast, appropriating turkeys, chickens and other portable property along the route unto themselves. It was Sunday evening and they arrived at the Garden Prairie Church at the hour in which the services were in progress and when all of the attendants were inside of the church. Numerous teams were hitched to the racks, silently awaiting the return of their owners. It occurred to the young criminals that it would be a good plan for them to visit the buggies and wagons standing there and take from them such articles of value as they might find. So they passed around and took whips, robes and blankets, enough in addition to what they had already stolen to fill their wagon box, and got away with them without being seen or heard. The next morning a search for the property and thieves was instituted. The property was found and restored to the owners and the petty thieves were arrested, tried, convicted and punished. They were not citizens of Garden Township. In the spring of 1878 a disagreement arose between A. Richhart and Asahel Rutherford, both of whom were citizens of the south part of Garden Township. A few days later they met in a store at Swede Point (now Madrid), where the trouble was renewed. So abusive and insulting was the language used that Rutherford seized a weight from the scales in the store and threw it with all his strength, striking Richhart near the right eye. The result caused Richhart much pain and the loss of his eye. Some legal proceedings were instituted, but the matter was settled without going into court. The affair caused much excitement at the time. In the early settlement of Garden Township the Indians located in Tama County were in the habit of coming around and camping at Hat Grove, sometimes remaining there for three weeks. During their stay they would hunt, fish and trap in the grove and surrounding country. At one time while encamped here sickness invaded their wigwams and carried off some of the inmates. There was much weeping and wailing among them at that time. Tradition has it that they buried their dead in the edge of the grove, but there is no mark to indicate where the final resting place is. In the east part of Garden Townsliip there were hundreds of acres of swamp lands. Section 13 and parts of 14, 23 and 24, Township 82, Range 25, were surveyed as swamp land and were for the most part covered by a body of water called Goose Lake. In the spring of the year this lake abounded with swans, geese, ducks, mud hens and sandhill cranes. Here, too, the muskrats built their houses and multiplied in great numbers. In the proper season the lake was a famous resort for hunters and trappers. William Guthridge, Byron Fish and George Abraham spent the winter of 1869-70 hunting and trapping at Goose Lake. Their winter's catch was 131 mink, 1500 muskrats, 27 weasels, 29 skunks, 10 prairie wolves and 4 gray wolves. But a great change has taken place at what was once the site of Goose Lake. A great open ditch now runs through the bed of the lake and out across the county line into Story County, taking with it all tlie waters of this swamp land region and discharging them into a tributarv of the Skunk River. This great ditch and its branches were made by the Board of Supervisors of Boone County at a cost of $100,000. Goose Lake is no longer known except in memory. The site it once occupied and the surrounding country no longer produces mosquitoes, frogs, snakes, turtles and wild fowls, but is now cut up into beautiful farms, the fertility of which is unsurpassed by any in the world. It cannot be said that the people of Garden Township, or any considerable number of them, have been aspirants for county offices. But three of them have ever held county office and each of them was a member of the board of supervisors. These were Jesse Goble, O. N. Bagwell and G. H. Simmons. Not one of these is now a citizen of the township. The present population of Garden Township is 914. Of this number 96 are in the limits of Madrid and 35 within the limits of Sheldahl. There were three volunteers who entered the army during the Civil war from what is now Garden Township. These were William Goodrich, W. C. Chambers and Cyrus Myers. The present officers of Garden Township are as follows: Trustees, V. F. Lundahl, A. E. Check and George Burkey; township clerk, J. B. Frise; justices of the peace, W. O. Anderson and R. P. Toll; constables, Peter Harleen and Edward Johnson.

Source: History of Boone County, Iowa
N. E. Goldthwait, Supervising Editor
Illustrated, Volume I
Chicago, Pioneer Publishing Company
1914

Transcribed by Lynn Diemer-Mathews and uploaded September 9, 2024.

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