CHICKASAW COUNTY
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OFFICIAL REGISTER OF DISTRICT AND COUNTY

OFFICIALS WHO SERVED DURING THE FIRST
THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN CHICKASAW COUNTY OFFICES

 

CHICKASAW IN FOURTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

  In 1863 Chickasaw County was made a part of the Fourth Congressional District,  and for the first time  elected a representative in Congress.  The first representative elected in the district was Josiah B. Grinnell.  He was a member of the 38th Congress,  serving from 1863 to 1865.    Only Chickasaw county candidate elected-- L. H. Weller of Nashua represented the district  from 1883 to 1885 and was elected on the National Ticket.

 

STATE SENATORS

 1859  The first state senator,  representing Chickasaw County in the General Assembly was elected in 1856.  The candidates were Jeremiah T. Atkinson and William Pattee.   Atkinson was elected and served from 1856 to 1859.

  1860 In the election of 1860 the candidates were J. H. Powers  and Moses Conger.  Powers was elected and took his seat in the extra session of the Legislature,  called by the governor on account of the Civil war.   After the adjournment of this session Senator Powers enlisted in the army,  and he rendered valiant service for his county as  captain of the Ninth Iowa Infantry.

  1862 At the regular session of the Legislature, in 1862,  Senator Powers' seat was declared vacant, and a special election was called for the 25th of February, 1862,  to fill the vacancy. G. W. Howard and A. G. Case were the opposing candidates. Howard  was elected and served the unexpired term.

  1864 and 1868 At the election of 1864,  J. G. Patterson and N. M. Wilder were the opposing candidates for senator. Patterson was elected and reelected in 1868, serving until 1872.

  1872 In the election of 1872 there were three candidates for senator:  John E. Burke,  L. H. Weller,  and William Tucker, with Burke winning and serving one term.

By the redistricting of the state at this time,  the counties of Howard and Bremer were included with Chickasaw as a senatorial district.

  1874 , 1876. 1878 In the election 1874, Hiram Bailey,  of Chickasaw, was chosen and served in the 15th and 16th sessions of the General Assembly.

  1880  Chapman A Marshall of Chickasaw served in session of 1881.

About this time Floyd and Chickasaw counties were made a senatorial district.

  1884  Robert G. Reiniger, of Floyd was elected  senator, serving until 1891.

  1893  William B. Perrin,  of Chickasaw elected and served until 1901.

Record is indefinite to successor in this period until session of 1907.

  1907 and 1909   John Foley of New Hampton served as senator in the 1907 and 1909 sessions.

  1911 and 1913   John G. Legel of Charles City, in the sessions of 1911 and 1913.

  1914  George H. Jackson of Floyd county was elected.



STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

    1856  The first representative in the  State Legislature from Chickasaw County was  E. R. Gillett and he  served for one term.

    1858  W. P.  Harmon was elected. and was followed by George W. Buddick, elected in 1859.  Both were from Bremer County, which was then joined with Chickasaw County in a legislative district.

    1861  John F. Wilson, of Williamstown, Chickasaw County was elected.

    1863  Henry C. Vinton, of Bradford elected and served in the 10th General Assembly.

    1865  Gilbert J. Tisdale, of Fredericksburg elected.

    1867  William Tucker, elected from three candidates, Gilbert J. Tisdale, L. H. Weller and Tucker.

    1869   George W. Butterfield, of Nashua was elected from candidates,  D. B. Hanan,  William Tucker, and Butterfield.

    1871  Darius B. Hanan was elected by a majority of 302.

    1873  Darius B Hanan was reelected with other candidates, F. D. Bosworth and William Tucker.

The increase shown in the vote cast for representative in the ten-year period is indicative of the rapid increase in the population in the county during that time.  Total vote in 1867 was 1, 075 with the total vote in 1877 increased to 2,481.

    1875  John Mc Hugh, of Lawler was elected over Francis Dane.

    1877  William B. Perrin, of Nashua elected by a majority of 271 over O. K. Hoyt.

    1879  William B. Perrin reelected over candidates George Mc Aughey and Michael Ries.

    1881  James F. Babcock, of New Hampton by a majority of 347 over Buel Sherman.

    1883  John M. Gilliland, of New Hampton won over Dr. H. M. Mixer.

    1885  H. H. Bailey, of Williamstown  won over C. T. Hasket.

    1887  John Foley, of  New Hampton was elected and served in the 22nd General Assembly.

    1889  William Glattley of Lawler was elected over William P. Perrin.

    1891  William Glattley was reelected for the 24th General Assembly.

    1893  John Frazee was elected to  the Legislature.

    1895  John Frazee was reelected.

Following are the names of representatives,  and the year in which served since 1895:

     1897  John Kreiger of New Hampton.

     1899   F. E. Ayers of Lawler.

     1901  John H. Kolthoff of Dresden.

     1903, 1905, 1907  Tim C. Clary, of New Hampton.

     1909,  1911  Frank A. O'Conner, of New Hampton.

     1913  Christian Saltzman of Lawler.

     1915, 1917  Presley L. Kepple, of Ionia.

 

COUNTY JUDGES

   There is no record of the election of a county judge in the first two years after the organization of the county, and the only evidence to show who served in that capacity is obtained from signatures to public documents.  From this it appears that the first judge, who was elected or appointed,  was James Lyon.    Judge Lyon's name appears as the officiating magistrate at the first marriage in the county,  and on several official documents at that time.

     October 1, 1855  B. E. DePuy served until April 7, 1856 when he resigned.

     1856  W. E. Andrews, who was at that time prosecuting attorney,  became ex-officio judge and served the remainder of DePuy's term.

     1856 to 1858  Lorenzo Bailey elected and reelected as judge.

     1860  C. H. Dore elected to judge

Prior to this time all management of county affairs was in the hands of the county judge, and that was his principal function.   By a change of the law, a board of supervisors was created who were given the management of county affairs,  and the county judge was given probate jurisdiction.  The Legislature of 1869 abolished the office of county judge and placed the duties pertaining to that office in the district judge. The others who held the office of county judge,  prior to its abolishment were:

      1862 to 1863  Caleb Arnold

      1864 to 1865  S. G. Mariam

      1866 to 1869  G. A. Hamilton



DISTRICT CLERK

  1854  At the organization of the county,  April, 1854,  it appears that S. C. Goddard was elected clerk and  from evidence of official documents on file, that he served until August 14, 1854.

  1856  By same evidence, that J.  A.  J. Bird  acted as clerk until election 1856.

  August 1856  George W. Reed was elected  clerk of district court over Wesley Swazee.

  1857   George W. Reed  reelected.

  1858   C. O. Case was elected clerk at the October election and reelected until  the election of November 1868.

  1868   Zelotes Bailey was elected clerk and served the next three terms.

  1875  J. M. Gilliland

  1881  J. M. Lynch

  1887  Tim Donovan, Jr.

  1891 to 1893  J. H. Penberthy

  1912  John Rink, who was elected clerk with a   4 year term.

The present clerk of the District Court is Alfred Kelson,  who was elected in 1916 for term of four years

 

TREASURER AND RECORDER

  At the organization of the county,  and for about ten years thereafter,  the office of county treasurer and recorder were combined and the duties performed by one official. 

  April 3, 1854  John Campbell was elected to this office,  at the organization election and served until he resigned on August 28, 1854.

  1854  E. A. Haskell was appointed by Judge Lynn, the county judge to fill the unexpired term.

  1856  George W Howard was elected treasure and recorder.

  1858  F. D. Bosworth  was elected in the August election.

  1860   W.  E. Beach

  1864   A. E. Bigelow served until 1867 when the office of treasurer and recorder was divided and made two separate offices.

 

COUNTY TREASURER

   1867  The first to serve as county treasure under the new order was B. E. Morton who served two terms.

   1871  C. A. Harris, was elected and served  for five terms.

   1881  A. H. Wright, who served two terms.

   1887  John Tooley, elected and reelected until 1891.

   1916  E. N. Olmstead, served one term.

   1918  George E. Wilkins, the present treasure.

 

COUNTY RECORDER

   1867  B. E. Morton, was the first county recorder, serving after this office was separated from that of treasurer.  He served two terms.

   1871   C. A. Harris, elected and served five terms.

   1879   John A. Green, served two terms.

   1881  A. H. Wright, elected and served two terms.

   1885  T. H. Schulte, served two terms.

   1889  J. H. Noble, served two terms until 1891.

   1916  Sam Shortly, served one term.

   1918  Alva A. Miller, the present recorder.

 

COUNTY CORONER

  At the organization election,  April 3, 1854--Dr. D. S. Haynes was elected county coroner.

1857 -  Edward Cudworth  or F. K. Figons, the record is somewhat indefinite.

1859 to 1864 - Dr. J. Marsh

1864 to 1865 - Buel Sherman

1865 to 1867 - L. H. Weller

1867 to 1869 - William Everingham

1869 to 1873 - Dr. Amos Babcock

1873 to 1883 - Dr. I. K. Gardner

1883 to 1885 - Dr. E. H. Olmstead

1885 to 1887 - G. F. Phillips

1887 to 1889 - Dr. A. H. Wright

1889 to 1891 - Dr. J. D. Horton

1916 - F. S. Feeney   The present coroner was reelected in 1916

 

COUNTY SHERIFF - APPOINTED AND ELECTED

  By virtue of the power vested in him by the code of Iowa, Thomas Woodle, county judge of Fayette County,  appointed John Bird as organizing sheriff for the organization of Chickasaw County,  under date of June 30, 1853.

April 3, 1854 - Andrew Sample was elected at the organizational election as first sheriff of Chickasaw County.

1856 to 1858 - A. E. Bigelow

1858 to 1860 - F. Paden

1860 to 1862 - Patrick Galligan

1862 to 1868 - John Dixon

1868 to 1870 - J. A. Albertson

1870 to 1872 - Earl W. Beach

1872 to 1882 - R. O. Sheldon

1882 to 1884 - H. Manderville

1884 to 1890 - James Stanton

1890 to 1892 - F. W. Brown

1916  F. H. Kezar, present sheriff

 

COUNTY AUDITOR

  Those who have served as county auditor, since 1870, are the following:

1869 - G. A. Hamilton elected in 1869 and served until 1877.

1877 to 1881 - Lee Chapman

1881 to 1885 - E. P. Sheffield

1885 to 1889 - Arthur McCarten

1889 to 1891 - J. A. McClurg

1910 to 1916 - P. E. McGinn

1916 H. W. Tank, present  county auditor.

 

COUNTY SURVEYOR

 The distinction of having been the first county surveyor of Chickasaw County was Oscar Cooley.

1854 to 1856 - Oscar Cooley

1856 to 1858 - C. M. Webster

1858 to 1860 - A. W. Billings

1860 to 1862 - E. W. Davis

1862 to 1864 - Charles Fitch

1864 to 1868 - S. H. Young

1868 to 1872 - H. H. Potter

1872 to 1874 - C. Seeber

1874 to  1878 - W. R. Geeting

1878 to 1880 - W. A. Eastman

1880 to 1882 - A. E. Quaife

1882 to 1890 - G. W. Cotant

1890 to 1892 - H. A. Scales

  The present county surveyor, or county engineer as now termed, is E. J. Vaughn, who has held that office for several years.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS    1861 TO 1891

  By act of the Legislature of 1859,  a board of supervisors in each county was created,  consisting of one member to be elected from each township.  In Chickasaw County,  with twelve townships,  the board of supervisors was composed of twelve members.  Following are the names of those who have been elected to that office,  and the township each represented,  beginning with 1861.

1861 - C. D. Johnson  Bradford     E. Perry    Fredericksburg     E. Darst         Dayton

           J. H.  Vantassel   Washington  Bosworth    Richland.      E. W. Davis    Stapleton

           William Tucker   Chickasaw     M. L. Palmer   Jacksonville   Vinal Thayer  Dresden 

           Gideon Gardner   New Hampton    A. Harris   Deerfield       D. R. Kirby    Utica

 

1862 - The new members elected to the board were:

            William B. Grant  Richland     T. G. Staples   Stapleton     Russel Baldwin Chickasaw

            D. A. Jackson    New  Hampton   M. P. Choat   Deerfield

 

1863 -  The new members elected:

            L. S. Thomas    Bradford     M. B. Taylor   Dayton    Daniel Kepple   Washington

            Thomas McCarten    Jacksonville   Martin Langdon  Dresden    Terance Commerford  Utica

 

1864 -  The new members of the board were:

             G. W. Butterfield    Bradford   James Upham    Dayton     Hiram Bailey   Richland

             William Tucker    Chickasaw    J. K. Kroniger    New Hampton   W. H. Laribee    Deerfield

1865 -   The new members elected were:

              E. D. Woodbridge  Bradford   William Haslam  Dayton Jonathan Dickerson Washington

              Michael Burns   Stapleton   William Palmer   Jacksonville   James Goss  Utica

 

1866  -   The new members were:

              Buel Sherman   Fredericksburg     E. K. Morrill  Washington   Robert Johnston  Richland

              James Cunningham  Chickasaw    W. E. Beach   Jacksonville    W. H. Linderman  Dresden

              Gideon Gardner   New Hampton    B. R. Darrow  Deerfield

 

1867 -   The new members were:

              E. H. Hall        Bradford   George McCaughey  Dayton  B. G. Crofts  Dresden

              E. Shepard   Utica

1868 -   The new members elected were:

              L. Nourse    Fredericksburg   H. H. Blodgett    Richland   Patrick Mangan   Stapleton

              C. P. Warner   Chickasaw   Francis  Dane   Jacksonville   D.A. Jackson   New Hampton

              Frank Loveless   Deerfield   G. C. Cleghorn  Utica

 

1869 -    The new members were:

               L. H. Weller  Bradford     Bradford Thayer   Dresden      T. Commerford Utica

 

1870      The new members were:

               L. S. McCrary  Bradford   J. J. Simmons    Richland    Michael Burns   Stapleton

               B. G. Crofts     Dresden   Gideon Gardner  New Hampton     R. A. Cornish    Deerfield

 

  A change in representation of the board was made in 1870.  Instead of a membership composed of one from each township,  the number of members was reduced to three,  and the election of these was by the county at large.  The following are the names of those elected under this law,  and the years in which they served:

William B. Perrin      1871 to 1873

J. A. Green       1871 to 1873

D. B. Hana    1871

J. F. Babcock     1872

W. D. Stafford      1872to 1874

E. C. Abbott    1874

E. R. Dickerson  1874

  The only change in membership of this board in the years 1878,  1879,  and 1880 was the substitution of C. P. Warner for E. C.  Abbott in 1880.

  Another  change in the law relating to supervisors was made in 1880,  increasing the membership to five,  and this law has been in force since that time.  Under this law the following have composed the board in the years designated:

1881 - Thomas Kenyon,  C. P. Warner,  John Hauser,   Hiram Bailey,  and  Charles Commerford.

1882 - Thomas Kenyon,  C. P. Warner,  John Hauser,  Charles Commerford,  and  C. L. Gabrielson.

1883 - Charles Commerford,  John Hauser,  C. L. Gabrielson,  T. S. Bradford,  and  Leonard Nourse.

1884 - Charles Commerford,  T. S. Bradford,  C. L. Gabrielson,  Louis Nourse,   and  John Frazee.

1885 - T. S. Bradford,  Louis Nourse,  George McCaughey,  John Frazee,   Charles Commerford.

1886 - John Frazee,  Charles Commerford,  H. H. Kenyon,  H. J. Ditmas,  and  Peter Maires.

1887 - H. H. Kenyon,  H. J. Ditmas,  Peter Maires,  Francis Dane,  and   H. A. Conklin.

1888 - H. J. Ditmas,  Peter Maires,   H. A.  Conklin,    Francis Dane,  and  H. H. Kenyon.

1889 - H. A. Conklin,  Francis Dane,  H. H. Kenyon,  Peter Maires,  and   H. J. Ditmas.

1890 - Peter Maires,  H. J. Ditmas,  H. H. Kenyon,  Alf Oleson,  and  E. Prudhon.

1891 - Same  members as in 1890.

1919 - T. W. Munson,  W. A. Shilling,  W. B. Smith,  J. C. Hewitt,  and   William Drape.

           Mr. Schilling  is chairman of the board.   Mr. Hewitt succeeds   John F.  Gray,  who was chairman of the board in  1916.   All other members were on the previous board of supervisors.

Check our Biographies Index as some of these individuals may have biographies on this web site.

Source:
History of Chickasaw and Howard Counties (1919) Vol. 1, Chapter 5, Pages 177 and 180 to 185
Synopsis of Pages Transcribed by Lookup Person,  Leonard Granger jmclaw221@gmail.com


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