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1914 History of Boone County
Chapter XXV
  Amaqua Township

At the time of the first election in Boone County, held August 6, 1849, the present Township of Amaqua was divided as follows: The north two-thirds of it were included in Boone River Township, and the south one-third was in Boone Township. This division continued until March 8, 1852, at which date Boone River Township was discontinued, the boundaries of Boone Township were changed and Yell Township was laid out and named. At that date Yell Township contained all of the present Township of Amaqua, except the south tier of sections, which were still contained in Boone Township. This division continued until March, 1858, the date in which Boone Township passed from the map of the county and Des Moines, Marcy and other townships were established. At this last-named date the south tier of sections of the present Township of Amaqua were included in Marcy Township. This division continued until 1871, when Amaqua Township was established within its present boundaries and named. The Indian name of the beautiful little creek that runs through this township from north to south is Amaqua. As the township south of this one received the English name of the creek, this one was given the Indian name - Amaqua. It contains a full congressional township. Amaqua is bounded on the east by Yell Township, on the north by Grant Township, on the west by Greene County and on the south by Beaver Township. Among the first settlers may be mentioned John Smyth, M. K. Beck, Capt. G. W. Leonard, David Van Pelt, A. T. Shadle, J. R. Doran, Hans Hagge, Daniel Powers, who, along with many others, settled in the township about the time it was organized. The first board of trustees elected in the township were: George Wood. D. M. Girard and D. B. Carrey. John Smyth was the first township clerk, and Gilbert H. Pardell was the first assessor. It must be borne in mind that but little of the history of the pioneer times can apply to Amaqua Township. The first settlers of the county located in and along the belt of timber situated along the Des Moines River. This they had to do in order to get fuel to supply their wants and logs to build their cabins. There was no fuel in those days in the county but wood. Another reason for settling in or near the timber was to secure shelter and protection for themselves and stock from the cold piercing wind of the winters that swept the open prairies. Union Township was only six miles from Amaqua Township, but it had settlers as early as 1849. This was because of the body of timber along the Beaver in that township, known as Buffalo Grove. Amaqua had no groves of timber to attract the settlers. The few clumps of low willows along the Beaver were rather more of a detriment than a blessing. For these reasons Amaqua Township was not settled until good flouring mills were running in the county, good stores were selling all necessary supplies and good transportation furnished by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, which was built through the south end of the township in 1866. This saved the settlers of Amaqua Township from the hardships and privations of the pioneer days. The hunters and trappers were often on the banks of the Beaver plying their trade and capturing the fur-bearing animals. The sportsmen of Bonesboro and vicinity frequently went out to the Beaver in what is now Amaqua Township to shoot geese, ducks and prairie chickens. Judge C. J. McFarland, Col. John Rose, J. H. Upton, C. Beal, C. W. Williams, Dr. P. S. Moser and George Haskell were the main sportsmen. They usually were out on these hunting expeditions two days at a time. The territory now contained in Amaqua was one of their favorite places to hunt. The Indians who reside in Tama County for years were in the habit of erecting their wigwams on the Beaver, in what is now Amaqua, to trap, hunt and fish. They had many feasts upon the game they captured. But those times have passed and gone, never to return again. M. K. Beck, in his biographical sketch given by the Union Historical Association, says that when he settled on Section 4 in Amaqua Township in 1869, there were not over three houses in sight of his home. This was twenty years after the first settler in Union Township located there. Amaqua Township settled up very rapidly after getting a start and in a few years the whole township was changed from a wilderness of wild grass to a solid block of farms. Although this township was slow in making a start in its settlement, it made up for this in the rapidity of its settlement. Amaqua is made up exclusively of prairie land. It is an agricultural township in the fullest sense of that term. The soil is very fertile, which is evidenced by the crops which are produced every year. The farmers are industrious and energetic, as the splendid farms and beautiful homes in the township abundantly prove. The Beaver is the only stream in the township. It furnishes good drainage facilities for the entire township. The people of Amaqua have proved their faith in the good of educating their children by locating nine school districts in the township, of building nine schoolhouses and keeping them in repair. They also have eight months of school each year. Their schools are well regulated and their teachers are among the best. No coal mines have ever been developed in Amaqua Township. The people here are dependent on other parts for their fuel. Amaqua Township contains 23,040 acres of land, nearly every acre of which is profitably utilized. Under the present drainage system there are perhaps as few acres of waste land in Amaqua as in any township in the county. According to the census of 1910 the population of the township was 803. If the lands of the township were equally divided among the inhabitants, there would be a fraction over twenty-eight acres for each one. The present township officers are as follows: Clerk, William Heineman; assessor, William Paulson; trustees, John Paulson, Albert Rinehart and Will Berger. In the year 1912 Amaqua Township paid out more money on roads and drainage than any other township in the county. Notwithstanding this, the balance on hand at the end of the year was $395.98. The postoffice at Beaver is the only one in the township. The people are supplied by the lines of rural delivery, one of the greatest blessings which has come to the people of the country in recent years. The people of the country districts now have daily mails. This and the telephone system have added much to the pleasure and facilities of the country homes. The Northwestern Railroad is the only one that crosses the borders of Amaqua. It runs across the south end of the township, Beaver being the only station within its borders. The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at the Center schoolhouse in 1869, which was the first church society in the township. Reverend Snodgrass was the first minister and at the time of the organization of the church the membership numbered twenty-five. The society now has a buihfing of its own. There are three cemeteries in the township - one in Section 13, one in Section 14, and one in Section 16. The Town of Beaver was laid out June 30, 1879. It is located in the southwest corner of Section 32, Township 84, Range 28, and is in the midst of a rich farming section. It was not long in becoming a trading point of considerable importance. Beaver draws considerable trade from Greene County. Thus we see that the town is not altogether dependent upon Boone County for its trade. Beaver has a population of about one hundred. It has two churches and two church buildings, both of which are frame structures. One is a Methodist Episcopal Church, with forty members and a good Sunday school. The other society is of the denomination of Dunkards, with a membership of fortv and a well-attended Sunday school. Both of the churches have regular services. There are two general stores, a barber shop and pool hall and three grain elevators. The Beaver Cooperative Association does a very extensive business in shipping grain and stock and in furnishing supplies to the farmers. It is owned by ninety farmers. Last year, it is claimed that this association transacted over four hundred thousand dollars' worth of business. Beaver also has two blacksmith shops, one garage and one bank. It has one school building with two departments. It has a consolidated district of eight sections, four of which arc in Amaqua Township and four in Beaver Township. The name of this district is Dewey, so called in honor of the hero of Manilla Bay. This school has an enrollment of sixty-five scholars. The citizens here are well pleased with the plan of consolidation. The town was incorporated about three years ago and is now a well-regulated little town. The present officers are as follows: Mavor, H. D. Hagge; clerk, C. A. Black; assessor, Lafe Shadle; marshal, Cleve Starks; councilmen, D. T. Anderson, C. H. Last, Chris Harten and L. D. Henry. The impression in various parts of the county has been that Senator Justin R. Doran resided in the Town of Beaver. Such, however, is not the case. He resides just across the line in Beaver Township, while the Town of Beaver is in Amaqua Township. Mr. Doran's farm on which he resides joins the Town of Beaver and his residence is only a few rods distant. Mr. Doran settled where he now resides in November, 1874. At that time he was the only settler in District No. 3, Beaver Township. He is one of the four Boone County men who have been honorcd with the office of state senator. The first was J. D. Gillett, oi Ogden; the second, D. B. Davidson, then of Madrid; the third, C. J. A. Ericson, of Boone; and the fourth, Justin R. Doran, of Beaver Township. Mr. Doran owns large tracts of land in Beaver and Amaqua townships, amounting fo 3,100 acres. This land is all under cultivation. Northeast of Beaver, in Section 16, is located a German Lutheran Church, which has a membership of about fifty and a good Sunday school. The first citizen of Amaqua Township to be honored with a county office was John Smyth, who, in 1873, was elected a member of the board of supervisors. The people of Amaqua have as a rule been very peaceable and law-abiding and there is little in the way of criminal proceedings against any of its citizens. But there is a very interesting scrap of history of a stage robbery which occurred in Amaqua Township in the time preceding its settlement. From 1854 to 1866, a period of twelve years, the carrying of the mails and the conveyance of travelers from one point to another in Iowa, and particularly in Central Iowa, was done by the Western Stage Company. Early in the year 1855 it established a line between Des Moines and Fort Dodge by way of Boonesboro, and as the latter point was about half way between Des Moines and Fort Dodge, it was made the division point on this line. About the year 1858 a line was established between Boonesboro and Jefferson, the county seat of Greene County, a distance of about twenty-four miles. This line crossed the Beaver Creek, about one mile north of the present Town of Beaver, and in the present Township of Amaqua. Over half of this line passed through a wild and unsettled country. The route to travel upon was simply horrible. Great complaint was made by the drivers on this line and particularly of the crossing of the Beaver. The authorities of Boone County were appealed to, but nothing was done. Finally the company built a barn a short distance east of the crossing on the Beaver and arranged that the teams should stop over night there, resuming the journey next morning. They also built quarters for a station agent, whose duty it was to take care of the passengers over night. This was called the line barn, or line station. This made the trip from point to point much easier for both drivers and teams. When the construction of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad commenced, there was considerable travel between Boonesboro and Jefferson. This made it necessary to put on this line a four-horse stage. M. L. Burke, one ot the famous drivers, was on this line a part of the time. One fairly nice day the stage left Boonesboro at 1 o'clock P. M. with the mail and four passengers. It arrived safely at the line barn and lodged for the night. Next morning the start was made for Jefferson, but just as the stage emerged from the Beaver and reached the west bank, some robbers came from a clump of willows, and presenting their guns, called upon the driver to stop the stage. Instead of doing so, he struck the lead horses with his whip, intending to escape the robbers by increasing his speed. But before he got under headway the robbers shot one of the lead horses, which fell dead upon the spot, and the stage came to a standstill. The robbers entered the stage, cut the mail pouch open and took all the valuables out of it. They next compelled the passengers to turn over all their pocket change and then made their departure. Although diligent search was made, none of them were ever found. The driver left the dead horse and harness and immediately returned to Boonesboro. This was the trip which M. L. Burke should have taken, but other business detained him. Had it not been for this, he would have been the man the robbers encountered instead of the other driver. The agent who had charge of the station at the time of the robbery was a man named Shipman. Years after this incident Shipman became a transgressor of the law and officers undertook to place him under arrest. He resisted, and in so doing, shot one of the officers. The house in which he took refuge was surrounded by armed men, but he still refused to surrender to the officers. The cellar in which he had taken refuge was flooded with water. He then undertook to make his escape by flight, but in doing so his body was riddled with bullets. It was thought bv some that Shipman was a confederate in the stage robbery which occurred in what is now Amaqua Township.

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 August 5, 2024.

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