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In pioneer life, there are always incidents of peculiar interest, not only to the pioneers themselves, but which, if properly preserved, would be of interest to posterity, and it is a matter to be regretted that the formation of “Old Settlers’ Associations” has been neglected in so many parts of the country. The presence of such associations in all the counties of our common country, with well-kept records of the more important events, such as dates of arrivals, births, marriages, deaths, removals, nativity, etc., as any one can readily see, would be the direct means of preserving to the literature of the country the history of every community, that, to future generations, would be invaluable as a record of reference, and a ready method of settling important questions of controversy. Such organizations would possess facts and figures that could not be had from any other source. Aside from their historic importance, they would serve as a means of keeping alive and further cementing old friendships, and renewing among the members associations that were necessarily interrupted by the innovations of increasing population, cultivating social intercourse, etc.
Actuated by the purposes suggested in the preceding paragraph, a meeting of the pioneers of Cedar County was held, pursuant to notice, on Wednesday, the 4th of September, 1872, at the Court House, in Tipton. William Baker, Esq., was called to the chair, and William H. Tuthill designated as Secretary. The Committee appointed at a previous meeting to prepare a Constitution for the Association, reported the following:
WHEREAS, By the Blessing of a kind Providence, we, the surviving pioneers in the settlement of Cedar County, whose lives have been graciously prolonged through the privations and toils of the past, to enjoy the prosperity and peace of the present; being admonished by the onward curse of time that our number is gradually diminishing, and that in a few short years we will also be called away from the scenes of our struggles and triumphs. Believing that it would be instructive and beneficial to the rising generation to preserve the historic incidents of that early settlement of our county, that has so steadily and vigorously grown and culminated in such wide-spread and universally prosperity; and feeling that the cherished memories of the past are links that bind us together in fraternal communion; do now organize ourselves as Pioneer Association, and make, ordain and establish the following Constitution.
ARTICLE I—NAME.
This organization shall be known by the name and style of the OLD SETTLERS ASSOCIATION OF CEDAR COUNTY.
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ARTICLE II—OFFICERS.
The Officers shall consist of a President, six Vice Presidents, Secretary and Treasurer.
ARTICLE III—DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
SECTION 1. The President shall preside at the meeting of the Association, and shall have power to call special meetings whenever necessary, or when requested to do so by the Executive Committee.
SEC. 2. In case of the absence or inability of the President, the senior Vice President shall perform his duties.
SEC. 3. The Secretary shall make a faithful record of all the proceedings of the Association and keep a register, called the “Pioneer Record,” in which shall be entered the names, date of birth, place of nativity, time of settlement in the county, and date and place of death of each member, when such death shall occur.
SEC. 4. The Treasurer shall have charge of the finances and render an account thereof at the expiration of his term of office.
SEC. 5. The officers shall be elected annually, and shall hold their respective offices for the term of one year, or until the next ensuing annual meeting. The election shall be by ballot, unless otherwise agreed upon.
ARTICLE IV—COMMITTEES.
SECTION 1. At each annual meeting, the President-elect shall appoint an Executive Committee, to consist of five members, whose duty it shall be to make all the necessary arrangements for the next ensuing Annual Festival.
SEC. 2. The President, at the same time, shall appoint a committee of three members to select a suitable person to deliver an address at the next succeeding annual meeting.
ARTICLE V—MEMBERS.
SECTION 1. All persons of good moral character, who were residents of Cedar County on or before the 31st day of December, 1841, and the wives or husbands of such persons, are eligible to membership.
SEC. 2. The names of persons proposed for membership shall be handed in, in writing, and referred to a committee for examination, who shall report at the same meeting; and if such report be favorable, the application shall be voted upon by the Association, and the applicant shall be declared elected, if two-thirds of the members present shall vote in the affirmative.
SEC. 3. Pioneer settlers in other parts of this State, and persons whose names may be connected with the early history of the county, may be elected honorary members of this Association.
SEC. 4. Any member may be expelled for such cause as two-thirds of the members present at a regular meeting may deem sufficient.
ARTICLE VI—FESTIVAL.
There shall be an Annual Meeting and Festival of the Association held at Tipton, on the first Wednesday in September of each year, at which every member and honorary member, with their wives or husbands, are entitled to attend, with such other persons who may be invited by a vote of the Association, and any member may bring a delegate or other female relative in lieu of his wife.
ARTICLE VII—MISCELLLANEOUS.
SEC. 1. It shall be the duty of each member to furnish the Secretary, within six months from the time of admission, a brief sketch of his life, embracing date and place of birth, and such incidents of personal experience in the early settlement of the county as may be pertinent to the objects of this Association, and may be deemed proper to communicate, which shall be carefully preserved by the Secretary.
SEC. 2. Whenever practicable, the members of this Association shall attend in a body the funeral of any deceased member, and, as a token of respect, shall wear the badge of mourning designated by the Association.
SEC. 3. This Constitution may be amended at any Annual Meeting, by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present at such meeting.
RULES OF ORDER.
| 1. Reading the minutes |
| 2. Communications and reports from officers. |
| 3. Reports from Committees. |
| 4. Unfinished Business. |
| 5. Election. |
| 6. Proposals for membership and action thereon. |
| 7. Miscellaneous business. |
After discussion of the same, section by section, on motion, the report of the Committed was approved, and the Constitution and Rules of Order unanimously adopted.
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An election for officers of the Association was then held, and resulted in the unanimous choice of Henry Hardman, President; Washington A. Rigby, John Ferguson, James Poston, John Safley, Abner Stebbins, Samuel P. Higginson, Vice Presidents; William H. Tuthill, Secretary; William Baker, Treasurer.
Upon the President-elect taking his seat, a beautiful silver mounted cedar cane was presented to him by William H. Tuthill, with the following address:
MR. PRESIDENT—Permit me to congratulate you in being the unanimous choice of the Old Settlers of Cedar County as their presiding officer at this their first associated gathering.
You were among the first of that hardy band who pioneered their way to this beautiful and fertile portion of our Western inheritance, at a time when it was a lone and uninhabited wilderness. The changes since then have been truly wonderful, and seem more like the fanciful dreams of an enthusiast than the sober realities of the historian.
The progress of improvement, the constant development of resources and the unceasing march of civilization have been so steadily and untiringly onward that we can scarcely realize the fact that our county, which, in the Spring of 1836, did not contain a single civilized inhabitant, has now a population of over twenty thousand souls, and ranks in wealth and standing as one of the first in the State of Iowa.
How pleasant to recall the memories of the past, the incidents of that early pioneer life, which has resulted so gloriously, and to come together, as we do at this time, in the spirit of friendship and good will, to interchange congratulations and perpetuate these memories.
I now present you with the insignia of your official station, to which may properly be applied the well known remark made by our first Representative to the Territorial Legislature, which, if not grammatical or euphonious, was, to say the least, very expressive and to the point, that “Cedar is in that ar thing”—a cane, manufactured from a native cedar cut from the banks of the river that gave name to the county, and skillfully fashioned and mounted, with its appropriate inscription, is intended to be the badge of your office, to be preserved with jealous care, and transmitted from President to President, successively, as long as our Association continues to exist.
The President then responded in a very happy and feeling manner, expressive of his acknowledgment of the honor thus conferred upon him, and fraternal relations each member of the Association must naturally feel to each other and its gratifying results.
The following persons were then announced as the Executive Committee for the ensuing year: John Culbertson, Washington A. Rigby, William M. Knott, Henry D. Brown, John S. Tuthill; and as the committee to provide a speaker for the next festival: Samuel Yule, John Safley, William Baker.
On motion, the following resolution was unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the hearty thanks of this Association to be tendered to Hon. William H. Tuthill for the beautiful cane, so appropriately presented by him to the President, in behalf of the Society, as the Presidential badge of office.
The committee appointed to make the necessary arrangements for refreshments, reported that a dinner had been provided by them at the Fleming House for all the members of the Association, at 1 o’clock P.M., and that time having arrived, a recess of one hour was ordered to partake of the refreshments thus provided.
After enjoying a pleasant dinner at the Fleming House, the members reassembled at the Court House for social converse and narration of the early incidents of pioneer life, which was participated in by most of the oldest settlers, to the evident satisfaction and enjoyment of all present, until late in the afternoon, when a final adjournment was made, by singing “Auld Lang Syne,” in which the whole company heartily joined.
The second annual meeting was held September 3, 1873, at which John Ferguson was elected President. Nothing of general interest transpired.
The third annual meeting of the Old Settlers’ Association was held pursuant to notice on Tuesday, October 6, 1874, at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Tipton, the officers being all present and a comparatively large attendance of the members, comprising nearly all who remain of the old settlers of the county . . .
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. . . prior to 1841. The worthy President, John Ferguson, Sr., took the chair and made some appropriate remarks suited to the occasion. The Secretary stated that invitations to attend the meeting had been forwarded to several of the old settlers residing at a distance, to which responses had been received, and, it being in order for communications to be presented and considered, he would read the following interesting letters.
MUSCATINE, Iowa, October 3, 1874
DEAR FRIEND TUTHILL: Since I first saw you, I have looked over the old doggerel song known as “John P. Cook, my Jo John,” and I find it so full of spite and ill-feeling that I have been induced to send you an additional four verses, written thirty years afterward. If, at the Old Settlers’ Meeting to be held in your place, the song should be referred to, you may introduce these additional verses, merely to show that the bitter feeling that produced the original is forever buried among the things that were. I may not be able to attend the meeting, but I remain as ever.
Yours truly, JOSEPH CRANE.
PLYMOUTH, WIS. September 30, 1874.
HON. WM. H. TUTHILL—DEAR SIR: Yours of the 7th inst., inviting me, in the name of the Old Settlers of Cedar County, to participate with them in their approaching annual reunion, reached me by due course of mail, but a multiplicity of cares has prevented me giving it such early attention as the compliment deserved, and as I would have been glad to have given it, had I been master of my surroundings.
Let me thank you, my dear sir, and through you, my esteemed old friends and neighbors, for this very grateful testimony of their long recollection of so humble an individual as I am, and one who failed to hold out to the end, but deserted them ingloriously so very long ago. Certainly, such of you as have stood so gallantly by your guns all through “the times that tried men’s souls,” when the privations, wants and miasmas incident to all early settlements were ours in old Cedar, also deserve well of your State and country, and I am proud and thankful that such men and women have testified their esteem for me, by giving me this invitation to be with them once more this side the grave.
Nothing would give me more pleasure than to be in the midst of you and grasp every man’s and every woman’s hand who made one of our company in the old days when Cedar County was . . .
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. . . a vast prairie, with here and there a grove, and here and there a log cabin and a patch of cultivation. My heart urges me to accept the invitation; my reason assures me that in this instance, at least, my feelings point in the right direction, and my dear old lady urges me to go—and take her in company with me. Circumstances, however, the evil demons of my life, sternly forbid me the enjoyment of such pure pleasure; I cannot go. As is ever said on such occasions, I assure you I will be with you in spirit, and will devote the day to thoughts of and prayers for the brave old pioneers of Cedar County. Brave, certainly, they have been; and, when one looks over your beautiful territory, at the magnificent mansions and mammoth barns, and the teeming fields glittering with yellow corn, which have taken the place of the rude dwellings and still ruder outhouses and bleak, wild prairies of my day—all of which they have inaugurated and guided to perfection, it is very evident that they have not only been brave, but victorious. Alas! Like all heroes who assemble after the battle has been fought and the victory won, you will miss many an esteemed comrade—man and woman—who went into the strife with you full of life and vigor, but whose bodies now moulder in the soil which they helped to rescue from a state of nature. They have gone to their reward. They are in the keeping of their God, and we cannot doubt of their happiness in the glorious fields of their new existence; but you, friends, assembled in your earthly circle to commune with each other and celebrate the great work they and you have accomplished, must feel many a bitter pang and wipe away many a falling tear, in view of your thinned ranks and the increased number of empty seats that were wont to be filled with your dear friends and loved companions.
In my far away beautiful northern home, I will sympathize and sorrow with you as if I were in your midst, for none of our pioneer band, neither of those who have gone before, nor of those who remain to commemorate our early friendship, has failed to make an impression on my heart. Even our foolish little quarrels, as I look back over the years and miles that separate us seem only to bind them all to me by a stronger cord of love and friendship.
A generous, self-sacrificing, noble people were those among whom it was my lot to dwell, in the early settlement of Cedar County, and very long may those remaining live to meet in their annual gatherings and reproduce the early days of rude joys and firm friendships, of sturdy toil and much suffering.
How often, in imagination, I leave my body in Wisconsin and go back in spirit to the infant days of Tipton, when I myself took its first census, and when the whole neighborhood—and the neighborhood then comprised nearly the whole county—was in the habit of meeting on and in front of John Culbertson’s porch to talk over the news and discuss the politics of “old Cedar” and the nation. How vivid are those scenes now before me. There stands John P. Cook, the spirit and soul of our young colony, singing “The Tall Young Oysterman” and “Cedar Navigation.” You, yourself, sir, occupying no inconsiderable portion of the holy ground, then sacred to friendly greetings and public discussions on religion and politics, but now desecrated by commercial blocks of material brick and mortar—you sir, are occupied in writing “Hummer’s Bell” and driving jokes at Esquire Dilts for signing a legal document “Peter Justice.” George McCoy and William R. Rankin are there, mustering their grayhounds for a hunt, and O. C. Ward, the cynical, sarcastical O. C. Ward, is annoying them by getting his ironical pups and fishing rods in order to compete with them for the fleet game and finny inhabitants of the slough, which, sometimes at that day, formed a miniature lake just southwest of the old Court House.
John Safley, from the “State of Red Oak” is before me, bargaining with a merchant from Linn County to bring him a wagon load of goods from Chicago, to which place Mr. Safley is going on business. After some considerable talk and bargaining, the fact is divulged that the “goods” consist of barrels of whisky, and now Mr. Safley turns from the merchant in disgust, remarking in the broadest Fifeshire dialect, “Aha! Me friend, its whiskey ye wad hae me bring, is it? I tell ye, sir, the devil may do his ain dirty business; I’ll hae no hand in it.” And so he goes to Chicago and returns empty rather than receive pay for hauling whisky. Have you many such men in Cedar now? One you have, of course, for John Safley still lives.
Asa Young, my old North Carolina friend, is before me, discussing the literary attainments of some public character, and asserts that “he can spell ‘baker’ and ‘brier’ easily enough, and he might get along with ‘crucifix’ and ‘cruelty’, but when he comes to ‘duplicate’ and ‘diaphragm’ he is in swimming water.”
The tall, bony form of John Finch now appears in the crowd with John R. McCurdy in his wake, abusing him for some real or fancied wrong, but failing to attract any considerable amount of Finch’s attention by words alone, jumps two feet from the ground in his rage and kicks him. Finch seems to be unaware of the assault, and, when spoken to about it by a friend who advises him to resent it, appears much surprised, and turning to McCurdy asks, with feigned indignation. “You little devil, have you been kicking me?”
Here comes William M. Knott, the inimitable Bill Knott. An eastern or southern mail only visited Tipton twice a month in those days, and O! how some of us hungered and thirsted after late news and letters from dear friends far away. Bill has the contract to bring this long waited for treasure from the river on horseback. The time has come at last for him to leave Tipton in quest of it. His crop is ready for the harvest, and he wishes to procure a substitute to go for the mail, but failing in this, comes to the conclusion, which he expresses very emphatically, that . . .
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. . . his harvest is of more importance than the reading of a few newspapers, and so he goes to gather it. Neither the unasserted words used by me as mediums to express my feelings on this occasion, nor the more gentlemanly-like bitterness which gave vent to yours, sir, will ever be the occasion of either of us being canonized as a saint. The thing is intolerable! What will be done? ‘Wait a fortnight, by golly,” Bill remarks. This is not satisfactory, but what can we do? Bill is a general favorite, we all like him. He is the soul of wit and repartee, and so he fairly jokes us into good humor, and we are propitiated.
But my vision of the past, I fear, will tire you, and yet very many esteemed friends, still unnamed, are passing rapidly before. How pleasant it is to look back upon them. The dead and the living are all there as they were when Tipton and I were young. Capt. Higginson, William K. Whittelsey, Preston J. Friend, Benjamin Frazeur, Joseph K. Snyder, Daniel Davis, Solomon Knott, Solomon Aldrich, Capt. Lewis, Robert and James H. Gower, Henry Hardman, William Mason, Christopher Platner, Jackomyer Baldwin, Jacob Davis, and all the men and women of Red Oak, Sugar Creek and the Wapsie, and all the dwellers beyond the Cedar—all are there and I am with them. * * * * *
The enchantment has vanished. In my dream my hair was black and glossy, now it is dry as leaves of Autumn, and as white as the flocks on the hill-side. I am passing away to meet the friends that have gone before. It is well. Bear my blessing to those who remain with you, and ask them to remember me when kneeling before the Father. Yours, Edward M. MacGraw.*
The announcement was then made of the decease, since the last meeting, of the following members of the Association: Mary Hardman, September 15, 1872, aged 75; Robert Dallas, Nov. 15, 1873, aged 86; Simeon E. Bagley, Dec. 3, 1873, aged 75; Joseph K. Snyder, March 26, 1874, aged 76; Robert Gower, April 2, 1874, aged 72; Benj. Frazier, May 15, 1874, aged 82; Solomon Aldrich, May 16, 1874, aged 78; Elizabeth Safley, Aug. 8, 1874, aged 61.
In view of the gradual but certain diminution of the members of the Society, which is now beginning to be felt, it was, without a dissent,
Resolved, That the limitation to membership be extended, and the Constitution so amended that all persons of good moral character who were residents of Cedar County at any time before Iowa became a State (December 28, 1846) are eligible to membership.
By a unanimous vote of all the members present, the Constitution of the Association was amended by changing the time of each annual meeting from the first Tuesday in October to the first Tuesday in June of each year.
A recess of one hour for the purpose of refreshment and social intercourse was then had, and upon again assembling at 1 ½ o’clock P.M., the annual election of officers for the ensuing year was held, and resulted in the choice of the following: President, Washington A. Rigby; Vice Presidents, Samuel Yule, John Safley, Richard C. Knott, John Boydston, Ebenezer A. Gray and John Casebeer; Secretary, Wm. H. Tuthill; Treasurer, William Baker.
The President-elect, on taking the chair, was presented with the “Cedar cane”, the insignia of his office, by the retiring President, and acknowledged the honor conferred upon him in a few short but expressive remarks.
The following persons were then announced as the Executive Committee for the ensuing year: John Culbertson, John S. Tuthill, William M. Knott, John Ferguson and Henry D. Brown.
An address was then delivered by Hon. J. Scott Richman, in which he graphically portrayed the pleasures and enjoyments as well as the wants and privations of the early settlers, bringing in review most of the old familiar faces of the residents of 1840, during the time that he himself was a citizen of the county, referring to many little incidents and recalling to mind many amusing anecdotes and interesting episodes of that time, that found a responsive chord in the hearts of his hearers, who seemed to fully appreciate the admirable manner in which he narrated his experiences and recollections of our pioneer life.
*Mr. MacGraw was a resident of Tipton in 1842, as a wagon maker, but after a few years’ residence, he moved to Muscatine; he now resides at Plymouth, Wisconsin. He was the well-known “log cabin poet’ of Detroit in 1840.
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At intervals, during the day, the audience were regaled with choice music, the best vocal talent of Tipton having volunteered to give a number of beautiful songs peculiarly appropriate to the occasion, which were executed in a truly artistic and excellent manner, and were greatly enjoyed by the admiring assembly. On motion, it was unanimously
Resolved, That the hearty thanks of the Association be tendered to Judge Richman for his able and interesting address, and also to the ladies and gentlemen who, by the exercise of their musical talent and skill in our behalf this day, have afforded us so much pleasure and gratification.
On motion the meeting was then adjourned.
Tuesday, June 1, 1875, the fourth annual meeting of the Society occurred, at which the attendance of many members was prevented by a storm. John Ferguson was elected President for the ensuing year.
The meeting for 1876 was held on July 4, in connection with the celebration of the anniversary of Independence.
An amphitheatre was erected in the Court Square at Tipton, where the old settlers sat, and from which the speeches of the day were delivered, the principal exercises being the reading of an interesting account of the county seat war, by Hon. William H. Tuthill, Secretary and Historian of the Old Settler’s Association. This article has been referred to in a chapter devoted to that subject. At a business meeting held on the same day, John Safley was elected President.
The sixth annual meeting was held at the Court House, October 17, 1877, at which the usual interest was manifested.
At this time, the following resolutions were passed:
Resolved, That the eligibility to membership be so enlarged as to admit all persons who became permanent residents of the county prior to or during the year 1846.
Resolved, That hereafter the annual meeting of the association be held at Tipton, on the first Wednesday of June of each year.
The following officers were elected: President, Samuel Yule; Vice Presidents, Henry Hardman, Samuel P. Higginson, Richard C. Knott, Abner Stebbins, Edward M. MacGraw; Treasurer, John Ferguson; Secretary, Wm. H. Tuthill.
The seventh annual meeting of the Association occurred June 5, 1878, in which a large number of members participated. Besides the usual interesting reminiscences of members, Rev. Edward B. Cousins delivered an eloquent, able and interesting address. A resolution of thanks was passed and a copy of the address requested to be placed on record among the archives of the Society.
William Baker was elected President, the other officers remaining as before.
At this meeting the following named persons were present, all of whom claimed homes in Cedar County prior to the admission of Iowa as a State, the year of their settlement or birth being given in regular chronological order:
In 1836—Henry Hardman, W. A. Rigby, Lydia Rigby (his wife), Parmelia Knott, William M. Knott, William Baker, John Baker, J. J. Porter.
In 1837—Samuel Yule, Thomas E. Mathews, John Safley, John Ferguson and wife, William Coutts, H. D. Brown.
In 1838—Asa Young, Sarah Bunker, O. M. Culver, Luther Bradley, Brazilda Bradley, David McCroskey, Nancy McCroskey.
In 1839—Charles Foreman, Margaret Foreman, John Casebeer, Gordon Dallas, Wm. C. Long and wife, Dorothy Tuthill, Silas Hardman (born in county).
In 1840—Wm. Emery, Gilbert Johnson, James Safley, Moses Bunker, John Culbertson, Margaret Culbertson, J. W. Brown, Mary C. Brown (his wife), Ellen McClure, Rawley Ford, W. H. Tuthill, John S. Tuthill.
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In 1841—Mary J. Bates, Eliza J. Knott, Barbara C. Culver (wife of O. M. Culver), Anna Dallas, Rev. E. B. Cousins (born in the county).
In 1842—Sarah Baker, George Safley, Andrew Walker, Orlando Howe, Margaret M. Walker (born in county).
In 1843—Lurenda Casebeer, Mrs. D. Goodrich, Catharine Thompson, Mrs. Mary Walters, Mrs. Jane Keith.
In 1844—Mrs. Amanda Dolan, John Finefield.
In 1845—Nancy Mathews, Elizabeth Weaver, Benjamin Weaver, Mrs. Angeline Walter (formerly Angeline Weaver).
In 1846—Nehemiah Storey, Jane Storey, Henry Walters, Belinda Baker (wife of William Baker), William Neely, W. H. Rigby, S. M. Storey, George Beatty (born in county), Noah Walters.
