C. Primus

SHILOH TOWNSHIP

Townships 87 and 88-18 were set apart as Melrose Township by the Board of Supervisors in 1858, and the first election was held in C. F. Clarkson's house on April 5th of that year. There were seven supervisors at that time: C. F. Clarkson, of Melrose; Adna Orcutt, German; Henry Hammer, Fairfield, Wm. Meisner, Black Hawk; William Campbell, Palermo; William Vinton, Felix; and C. G. Coutright, Beaver.

There were 156 residents in the entire county at that time as reported by the assessors. In 1867 this township was divided, and the north part was named Shiloh by J. M. Comstock, who lived in it at that time. Among the very early settlers were John W. Long, J. W. Tracy, John Whaley, Martin Bachelor, Martin Quick, I. F. Wood, Anthony Barker, Joseph Wade, Elijah Bachelor and James Reynolds moved into the township in 1862. In 1864 Geo. Wells was assessed with 1200 sheep, 3 horses and 2 mules. Only nine men were assessed in the township that year.

In 1864 the first Germans moved into the township. They were two brothers G. H. and I. H. Heikens. In '65 W. B. Riekena came direct from Germany to Shiloh. The school Sec. No. 16 was offered at public sale August 1st, 1865, and Geo. Wells bought the east half for $4.50 per acre. Another quarter was sold at the same price, but no bids were made for the last quarter of the section, and it was not sold. Winters were very severe. January first, 1864, was a very cold day. The worst snow storm and blizzard the writer ever saw occurred on the 14th of February, '66. Miss Fluth lost her life in a snow storm on Feb. 4th, and O. Oltmans lost his on the 9th of February, 1875, but neither of these days was as bad as those first mentioned. B. Meyer had a small store on the road from Grundy Center to Steamboat Rock on Sec. 29, and J. H. Middendorf had one on Sec. 16. There were only two carpenters in that part of the county, Oldig and Henry Nederhoff. They worked from 6 a.m. until dark for $1.75 per day, and built more than thirty houses in 1867. The first road laid out in the township was that running from Grundy Center to Steamboat Rock, and there was but one house on this road in a distance of fourteen miles in 1865.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 15 May 1924, pg 3