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Counties
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O'BRIEN COUNTY lies in the second tier east of the
western boundary of the State and also in the second south of the
Minnesota line. It is twenty-four miles square, containing an area
of five hundred seventy-six square miles and was originally one vast
prairie, entirely destitute of timber with the exception of a few
small groves along the Little Sioux River in the southeast corner.
The county was created in 1851 from territory belonging at one time
Fayette and was named for William O'Brien, one of the leaders for
the independence in Ireland in 1848.
The first white settlers in the county were H. H. Waterman and
family who came from Bremer County and settled in a grove in the
southeast corner of the county on the banks of the Little Sioux
River in 1856. Other settlers entered claims in the vicinity and in
1860 a county government was organized by the election of the
following officers: J. C. Furber, judge; H. H. Waterman, treasurer
and recorder; Archibald Murray, clerk and surveyor.
The first county-seat was O'Brien, a village in the southeast
corner of the county, in the vicinity of most of the settlers. Here
the first term of the District Court was held by Judge Henry Ford.
The first school was taught by Mrs. H. H. Waterman and for some
time religious meetings were held in the Waterman cabin. The
O'Brien Pioneer was the first newspaper which was published by
B. F. McCormack and J. R. Pumphrey. At an election held in 1872, it
was decided to locate the permanent county-seat in the center of the
county where a town was laid out by the county officers. The name
for the town was fixed upon in the following manner: the first
letter of the names of the officials and a few others was taken-Pumphrey,
Roberts, Inman, McCormack, Green, Hays, Albright and Renok. These,
P-R-I-M-G-H-A-R, made the name of the new county-seat. The first
house was built by J. R. Pumphrey for the use of the county. A
hotel was erected by C. F. Albright. In 1873 the Sioux City and St.
Paul Railroad was built through the county and the town of Sheldon
was laid out upon the line in the northwest part of the county.
OSCEOLA COUNTY, once a part of Fayette, was created in
1851 and named for an Indian chief. It lies on the Minnesota line
in the second tier east of the western boundary of the State and
contains twelve townships embracing an area of four hundred square
miles, being the smallest county in the State. It was originally a
gently rolling prairie without a tree. The east fork of the Rock
River and the Ocheydan furnish water and drainage.
The first white man who settled within its limits was Captain E.
Huff who in the fall of 1870 took a claim in the southwest corner in
the valley of Otter Creek. In the spring of 1871 D. L. McCausland,
C. M. Brooks, F. M. Robinson, W. W. Webb, A. M. Culver, Frank
Stiles, R. O. Monroe and A. M. Churchhill came from the eastern part
of the State and took homesteads.
The county government was organized in October, 1871, by the
election of the following officers: F. M. Robinson, auditor; A. M.
Culver, treasurer; C. M. Brooks, clerk; D. L. McCausland, recorder;
and Delia Stiles, superintendent of schools. The election was held
in the house of A. M. Culver. In the fall of 1872 the Sioux City
and St. Paul Railroad was built through the town of Sibley which was
laid out upon its line. The town was named for General H. H. Sibley
of Minnesota. The first building was erected the same year by F. M.
Robinson, and the first business house by H. K. Rodgers. Rev. S.
Aldrich, a Methodist minister, organized the first religious society
in June. The first school was taught in the fall of 1871 by Mrs.
Delia Stiles.
The county-seat was located at Sibley in 1872 and the first term
of court was held by Judge Henry Ford in July of the same year. L.
A. Baker established the first newspaper, the Sibley Gazette,
in July 1872. During the same year a court-house was erected
costing $5,000
PAGE COUNTY lies immediately north of the Missouri State
line and in the second tier east of the Missouri River. It was
created in 1847 and named for Captain John Page of the Fourth United
States Infantry who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Palo Alto
in the Mexican War. The area of the county is five hundred
fifty-seven square miles and the eastern portion is well supplied
with timber along the Nodaway River which flows south through the
county.
As early as the spring of 1840 three brothers, George W., Henry
and David Farrens, all young unmarried men, came from Jackson
County, Missouri, took claims near the southeast corner of the
county where they built a cabin and opened farms. In the spring of
1841 George and David Brock settled near them and in 1842 Burket and
Thomas Johnson, William Campbell and Robert Wilson with their
families joined the settlement. In 1843 three brothers, Joseph,
Moses and Larkin Thompson settled a few miles southeast of where
Clarinda stands. Nodaway is an Indian name signifying "vindictive"
and was given by the Indians to the river because in early days its
banks were infested with rattlesnakes.
In 1851 the county was organized by the election of Dr. Alexander
Farrens, clerk; Benjamin W. Stafford, sheriff; S. F. Snyder, John
Duncan and William Shearer, commissioners. The election was held at
Boulwar's mill where for several years the county business was
transacted. The first court was held there in September, 1851, Judge
Sloan, presiding. The commissioners chosen to locate the
county-seat met at Boulwar's mill in March, 1853, and selected a
site two and one-half miles north on the Nodaway River, where a town
was laid out and named Clarinda. In April, 1853, the first house
was built on the plat by Rev. S. Farlow and soon after Judge Snyder
erected the second cabin at the new county-seat. George Rible kept
the first hotel and Isabella Farlow opened the first school in the
summer of 1853. The first mill was built by George Stonebraker in
1846 on the Nodaway River and afterward became known as Boulwar's
Mill, where quite a village grew up. The first orchard in the
county was planted in the spring of 1842 by George W. Farrens.
Shenandoah is a thriving town in the western part of the county on
the line of a branch of the Burlington Railroad. Amity or College
Springs is in the southern part of the county where a college has
been established. The first newspaper was the Page County Herald,
which was established in May, 1859, at Clarinda, by Shoemaker
Brothers.
PALO ALTO COUNTY lies in the second tier south of
Minnesota and in the fourth east of the west line of the State. It
is twenty-four miles square, containing five hundred seventy-six
square miles. The county was created in 1851 and named for the
Battle of Palo Alto, the first fought in the Mexican War. The west
fork of the Des Moines River flows through it in a southeasterly
direction and the broad valley is of unsurpassed fertility. Among
the beautiful sheets of water in the county are Medium Lake, Lost
Island Lake, Silver Lake, Rush Lake and Elbow Lake. There were
originally about 2,000 acres of native timber in the county, mostly
lying along the Des Moines River.
The first settlers were members of an Irish colony who, in July,
1856, made claims in the vicinity of Medium Lake where they built
cabins and opened farms. Among them were John and James Nolan, John
Neary, Martin Laughlin, Edward Mahan, Thomas Downey, Jeremiah Evans,
R. F. and William Carter, John McCormack, R. Shippey and others,
nearly all of whom had families. They came from Kane County,
Illinois, and engaged extensively in stock raising.
The county was organized on the 20th of December at an election
held at the cabin of James Nolan where the following officers were
chosen: James Hickey, judge; John W. Mulroney, treasurer; Thomas H.
Tobin, sheriff. Paoli, the first county-seat, is situated on the
east bank of the Des Moines River near the center of the county.
Here the first court-house was built about two miles from the south
end of Medium Lake.
Emmetsburg was laid out by Martin Coonan at the south end of
Medium Lake but for a long time was a town in name only, though it
finally became the county-seat. Most of the early settlers were
Catholics and their first religious services were held in the cabin
of James Downey, July, 1857. In 1869 James P. White established the
first newspaper at Emmetsburg called the Palo Alto Democrat.
In 1871 the proprietor of Emmetsburg replatted the town in
anticipation of the Milwaukee Railroad which was located through the
county-seat.
PLYMOUTH COUNTY lies on the Big Sioux River in the third
tier south of the Minnesota line and is one of the largest counties
in the State containing eight hundred sixty square miles. It was
created by act of the Legislature in 1851 and named for the Plymouth
Colony of the Massachusetts Puritans. It was attached to Wahkaw
County in 1853. The Little Sioux and Floyd rivers flow through a
portion of the county. In the summer of 1856 J. B. Pinckney, David
Mills, Isaac T. Martin, J. McGill, Bratton Vidito, John Hopkins,
James Dormichy and Mr. Galletin took claims in the valley of the Big
Sioux River and built cabins. In July they laid out a town which
they named Westfield. The same year A. C. Sheets, James B. Curry,
E. S. Hungerford, Joel Phillips and Coryden Hall took claims on the
Floyd River. The county was organized on the 12th of October, 1858,
by the election of the following officers: William Van Linda,
judge; Isaac T. Martin, recorder and treasurer; A. C. Sheets, clerk;
David M. Mills, sheriff, and A. E. Rea, superintendent of schools.
The place first recognized as the county-seat was the village of
Melbourne on the Floyd River where the first court was held by Judge
A. W. Hubbard of Sioux City. Here the first school was taught by
William Van Linda. Westfield, the competitor of Melbourne for the
county-seat, was abandoned in 1860 on account of a settlement of
half-breed Indians on lands in the vicinity upon which their scrip
was located. The plat upon which Le Mars was laid out was first
owned by Jerry Ladd, Mr. Marvin and B. F. Betsworth. The town was
platted the summer of 1869, soon after the completion of the Iowa
Falls and Sioux City Railroad to that point. John I. Blair, who
built the road, visited the place with officials of the company and
a party of ladies. It was agreed to form the name of the new town
by using the initial letter of the Christian names of the party
which were arranged by them to spell Le Mars. The ladies were Mrs.
Adeline M. Swain, Mrs. Galusha Parsons, Mrs. W. W. Walker, Mrs. John
Weare, Mrs. W. R. Smith and Mrs. John Cleghorn. The letters when
arranged would make the names Selmar, or Le Mars, and the ladies
decided by ballot in favor of Le Mars, which thus became the name of
the town.
Among the firs to open business houses in Le Mars were Blodgett
and Foster, J. W. Young, John Gordon, Orson Bennett and C. H.
Bennett. On the 3d of February, 1871, J. C. Buchanan established
the first newspaper, called the Le Mars Sentinel. At the
general election in 1871 Le Mars was made the county-seat.
POCAHONTAS COUNTY was created in 1851 and named for the
Indian maiden who saved the life of Captain John Smith in the early
years of the settlement of the colony of Virginia. It lies in the
third tier south of the Minnesota line in the fourth east of the
Missouri River and contains an area of five hundred seventy-six
squares miles. The county was attached to Webster in 1855. The
Lizzard and the west fork of the Des Moines River flow through the
eastern part of the county among the small lakes within its limits
are Swan Lake, Clear Lake and Lizzard Lake.
In February, 1855, Michael Collins, Mr. Hickey and families
ascended the Lizzard from Fort Dodge, took claims and built cabins.
The following year John and Patrick Calligan, Dennis Connors,
Patrick McCabe, James Donahue and others joined the settlement and
opened farms near the Lizzard. In May, 1857, Robert Struthers,
William H. Haite, A. H. Malcome and Gurnsey Smith of Fort Dodge
settled in the northern part of the county in what is now Des Moines
township. In 1858 David Slosson, O. F. Avery, Ora Harvey and others
settled in the same vicinity and a county government was established
by the election of the following officers: David Slosson, judge; W.
H. Haite, treasurer and recorder; A. H. Malcome, clerk; Oscar
Slosson, sheriff. In August, 1859, Judge A. W. Hubbard appointed C.
C. Carpenter of Webster County, Miles Mahon of Palo Alto, and Hiram
Benjamin of Humboldt, commissioners to locate the county-seat. They
selected a site near the Des Moines River and gave it the name of
Rolfe. Here a town was laid out which became the county-seat. The
entire county was organized into one school district and Miss Nellie
Harvey taught the first school in the house of W. H. Haite in 1860.
In the fall of that year a brick courthouse was built in which
Judge Hubbard held the first term of court in November. On the 15th
of July, 1869, W. D. McEwen and J. J. Bruce issued the first number
of a weekly newspaper named the Pocahontas Journal, which was
the first in the county.
Unlike the early officials of many of the counties of
northwestern Iowa, those of Pocahontas were honest and competent men
who protected the public interests and labored unselfishly for the
permanent prosperity of the county. The town of Pocahontas Center
was platted by Frederick Hess on land belonging to Warrick Price in
1870. It was near the geographical center of the county and in 1875
was made the county-seat. In 1869 the Iowa Falls and Sioux City
Railroad was built through the southwest corner of the county and
the town of Fonda was laid out on its line. The town of Rolfe was
laid out in September, 1881, where the Rock Island Railroad crosses
the line of the Northwestern, several miles west of the old town of
that name.
Gilmore is a town on the line of the Des Moines and Fort Dodge
Railroad which was platted by L. C. Thornton for a land company in
1884.
POLK COUNTY was established from the territory of the
original county of Keokuk in January, 1846, and named for President
James K. Polk. When first created it embraced a part of Jasper and
Dallas but in 1853 the boundaries were fixed as they now are. It
lies in the sixth tier east of the Missouri River and in the fourth
north of Missouri. The Des Moines River flows through it from north
to south and the Raccoon entering from the west unites with the Des
Moines.
An account of its earliest settlements and the establishment of
Fort Des Moines will be found elsewhere. Thomas Mitchell settled at
Apple Grove in April, 1844, and in 1845 John Saylor located in a
grove on the east side of the Des Moines River about six miles north
of the fort. In 1846 Eli Trullinger settled in Franklin township at
a grove which bears his name. Walker Corey and John Fisher with
their families located in Elkhart township in 1846 near Corey's
Grove; Riley Thornton settled in Delaware township, the same year,
on Little Four Mile Creek and George Bebee located in Madison
township. James N. Stewart settled in Camp and James Smith in
Douglass township in 1847. Dr. T. K. Brooks, in 1845, bought a
claim on the east side of the Des Moines River and was the first
postmaster of Fort Des Moines. A town was laid out on the east side
and named Brooklyn which aspired to become the county-seat but
failing disappeared from the map. James C. Jordon took a claim
several miles west of the fort in 1846 on a creek which flows into
the Raccoon River.
The first election in the county was held April 2, 1846, at which
the following officers were chosen; John Saylor, probate judge; W.
T. Ayres, treasurer; Thomas Mitchell, sheriff; Thomas McMullen,
recorder; Benjamin Saylor, W. H. Meacham and E. W. Fouts,
commissioners. On the 25th of May of the same year the county-seat
was established at Fort Des Moines and the first term of court was
held that spring by Judge Joseph Williams, one of the log houses of
the garrison serving as a court-house.
The town of Fort Des Moines was platted by A. D. Jones, county
surveyor, in July, 1846. In July, 1849, Barlow Granger established
the first newspaper in the county which was a weekly named the
Iowa Star. In 1847 Miss Davis opened a school in one of the
government buildings, room No. 26. The Capital of the State was
located at Des Moines in 1857 and the first railroad, the Des Moines
Valley, reached the city on the 29th of August, 1866. This road was
built up the Des Moines valley from Keokuk. The Rock Island
Railroad reached the Capital a year later.
POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY lies on the east side of the Missouri
River in the third tier north of the Missouri State line. It is one
of the largest counties in the State containing an area of nine
hundred sixty square miles. Next the Missouri River are level
bottom lands ranging in width from three to ten miles; while back of
these high bluffs rise abruptly to a height of from one to three
hundred feet. Eastward the surface is broken into steep ravines and
hills gradually becoming gently rolling prairie. As originally
created in 1847 Pottawattamie County embraced the territory now
divided into the counties of Fremont, Page, Taylor, Adams,
Montgomery, Mills, Cass and a portion of Ringgold, Union, Adair,
Guthrie, Decatur and Harrison. Its name is derived from the
Pottawattamie tribe of Indians which formerly occupied that portion
of Iowa. A sketch of the earliest settlements has been given in
another place.
The county was organized in September, 1848, by the election of
the following officers: A. H. Perkins, David D. Yearsley and George
D. Coulter, commissioners; T. Burdick, clerk; Alexander McRea,
sheriff.
The first town laid out was called Hart's Bluff and stood on the
present site of Council Bluffs, which was later called "Traders
Point," and was established by Mormons who were the early settlers.
In 1846 Colonel Kane of Pennsylvania came to the settlement and
organized the "Mormon Battalion" for service in the Mexican War. He
was a warm friend of the Mormons who changed the name of their town
to Kanesville in his honor. It retained this name until 1853 when
the Legislature, acting upon a petition of the citizens of the
village, changed it to Council Bluffs. Evan Greene was the first
postmaster, appointed in 1848. The first court was held by Judge
James Sloan in 1851. In 1849-50-51 vast numbers of gold seekers
passed through Kanesville on their way to California and large
stores were established to furnish supplies for the long overland
journey. It became one of the chief outfitting frontier towns and
was for several years infested with lawless desperadoes who were
strong enough to defy the civil authorities. The citizens finally
organized and resorted to lynch law before these outlaws could be
driven out.
In 1848, Orson Jyde, one of the Mormon leaders, established a
weekly newspaper at Kanesville, named the Frontier Guardian,
which was conducted in the interest of the Mormon church. In 1850
L. W. Babbitt established a weekly Democratic paper the Bugle.
In 1853 a United States Land Office was established at Council
Bluffs.
Most of the Mormon settlers who founded Kanesville and were among
the pioneers in that part of the State eventually joined their
brethren in Utah and were among the founders of Salt Lake City.
The Methodists of Kanesville organized a society in 1850 of which
Rev. William Simpson was the first pastor. In 1853 they built the
first church in Council Bluffs. The Rock Island Railroad was
completed to Council Bluffs in May, 1869.
POWESHICK COUNTY was created on the 17th of February,
1843, and named for a chief of the Sac Indians. The name signified
"Roused Bear." This county is in the fifth tier west of the
Mississippi River, in the fourth north of the Missouri State line,
is twenty-four miles square and contains five hundred eighty-two
square miles.
Richard B. Ogden was the first white settler, taking a claim in
Union township in the spring of 1843. Daniel and Joseph W. Satchell
and Richard Cheeseman settled near him the same year. In 1844
Mahlon Woodward, Thomas Rigdon and others arrived. William English
settled on Mill Creek in 1845 where he built the first sawmill in
the county. Martin Snyder, in 1846, took a claim adjoining the land
upon which Montezuma stands. Henry Zook settled in a grove on Bear
Creek in 1845 and in 1846 John J. Talbott with his wife, seven sons
and six daughters came from Ohio, locating in a grove which took the
name of the family and which was near where Brooklyn stands. Talbott
entered the first tract of land in the county in 1851 and became the
first postmaster. The survey of public lands was completed in 1847.
The first school was taught in the winter of 1847-8 by Stephen
Moore in a log cabin in Union township. In 1847 the first mail
route was established from Iowa City to Fort Des Moines, running
through Poweshiek County, over which the mail was carried on
horseback.
The county was organized in April, 1848, by the election of the
following officers: Richard B. Ogden, Martin Snyder and Jacob
Yeager, commissioners; Stephen Moore, clerk; Isaac G. Wilson,
treasurer, and William English, sheriff. The county-seat was
located at Montezuma where land was entered by the county and
platted for the town. Lots were sold to raise money to build a
court-house. William H. Barnes erected the first building at the
new county-seat in 1848. Isaac G. Wilson built a log hotel the same
year and in June, 1850, the first store was opened by Gideon Wilson.
In 1856 John Cassady established the first newspaper, the
Montezuma Republican.
In March, 1854, J. B. Grinnell, Dr. Thomas Holyoke, Rev. Homer
Hamlin and Henry M. Hamilton from the States of New York and
Massachusetts laid out a town for the purpose of planting a colony
and founding a college. The town was named Grinnell for the
projector of the enterprise. During the year several buildings were
erected; a store was opened by Anor Scott, a hotel was started by
George Chambers and a small building erected for school and church
purposes. Grinnell college was founded in 1855.
Brooklyn was platted by Robert Manatt in April, 1855, and the
first house built the same year by Robert Shimer. Malcom was laid
out in 1866 by Abel Kimball and Z. P. Wigton. The Rock Island
Railroad was built through the towns of Grinnell and Brooklyn in
1863.
RINGGOLD COUNTY was created in 1851 and named for
Major Samuel Ringgold who was mortally wounded in the Battle of Palo
Alto in the Mexican War. It lies on the Missouri State line in the
fourth tier east of the Missouri River and contains five hundred
forty-two square miles. The Platte and several branches of the
Grand River flow through the county in a southerly direction. Belts
of native woods are found along the water courses but a large part
of the county is rolling prairie through which the larger streams
cut the drift to a depth of from one to two hundred feet.
The first settler was Charles H. Schooler who, in 1844, located
with his family in the southeast corner of the county, they were for
two years the only white people. In 1846 James M. Tithrow and
family settled near them. In the spring of 1848 several families
took claims in various portions of the county. In 1851
commissioners chosen by the Legislature located the county-seat four
miles south of the center of the county where a town was laid out
and named Urbana.
In October, 1852, while Ringgold was attached to Taylor County,
Judge Taylor ordered an election district to be made of Ringgold to
be called Schooler township and a voting place to be at the house of
Lot Hobbs where the citizens might vote at the presidential election
in November. In January, 1855, commissioners were again chosen to
relocate the county-seat. The place selected was on a farm
belonging to Edward A. Temple, who sold it to the county. Here a
town was laid out and named Mount Ayr. Soon after an election was
held at which the following officers were chosen: J. C. Hagans,
judge; M. R. Brown, clerk; J. W. Cofer, recorder and treasurer, and
Hiram Imus, sheriff. A log court-house was erected in the spring of
1856 where the first court was held by Judge J. S. Townsend in May,
1857. The first settlers in Mount Ayr were David Edwards, Oran,
Give, Chester Stancliff, B. B. Dunning and A. G. Beal who located
there in 1855. Dr. E. Keith was the first physician and Henry Crabb
the first merchant.
In 1852 L. P. Allen came to Ringgold County from North Carolina,
bringing with him two slaves, a boy fourteen and a girl sixteen
years of age. Finding that he could not legally hold slaves in
Iowa, he sold them to a man in St. Josephs, Missouri, for a thousand
dollars.
The Mount Ayr Republican was the first newspaper in the
county and was established in the spring of 1861 by P. O. James with
George Burton as editor. The Burlington was the first railroad in
the county.
In 1852 L. P. Allen came to Ringgold County from North Carolina,
bringing with him two slaves, a boy fourteen and a girl sixteen
years of age. Finding that he could not legally hold slaves in
Iowa, he sold them to a man in St. Josephs, Missouri, for a thousand
dollars.
The Mount Ayr Republican was the first newspaper in the
county and was established in the spring of 1861 by P. O. James with
George Burton as editor. The Burlington was the first railroad in
the county.
RISLEY COUNTY was created in 1851 and embraced the
territory now constituting the county of Hamilton. It was attached
to Polk and afterwards to Boone for election, revenue and judicial
purposes. In the same month, by an act of the Legislature, the
county of Webster was created embracing the territory of both Risley
and Yell counties by which act these two ceased to exist. An act of
the same session which took effect before the union of these two
counties, changed the name of Risley to Webster, so that for a
period of five months and nine days the former county of Risley (now
Hamilton) was Webster County. This came from the fact that the act
changing the name of Risley to Webster took effect upon publication
January 22, 1853, while the act consolidating Yell and Risley did
not become a law until the first of July following.
SAC COUNTY was created in 1851 and named for the Sac
Indians. It lies in the fourth tier south of Minnesota and in the
third tier east of the Missouri River, is twenty-four miles square
and embraces five hundred seventy-six square miles. The county is
watered by branches of the Boyer and Raccoon rivers flowing in a
southerly direction through the county which is on the divide
between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; the waters of the
Raccoon flow into the former and the Boyer into the Missouri.
The first settler in the county was Otho Williams who, in 1854,
located at Big Grove in the southeast corner on the North Raccoon
River, where he cleared a farm in the woods while thousands of acres
of fertile prairie ready for the breaking plow surrounded the grove
on all sides. Soon after F. M. Corey, Leonard Austin, Joseph
Austin, W. F. Lagourge and Seymour Wagoner settled in various parts
of the county. Mr. Wagoner became major of a cavalry regiment
during the War of the Rebellion and was killed while gallantly
leading his command in battle. On the 4th of July, 1855, a town was
laid out on the banks of the Raccoon River for the county-seat and
named Sac City. Previous to 1856 Sac had been attached to Greene
County for judicial, election and revenue purposes.
The first election was held April 7, 1856, at the house of Eugene
Criss, at which the following officials were chosen: Samuel Watts,
judge; Francis Ayers, clerk; F. M. Corey, recorder and treasurer; W.
F. Lagourge, sheriff, and H. C. Crawford, prosecuting attorney. The
first term of the District Court was held at Sac City by Judge C. J.
McFarland in June, 1857.
For many years the settlers were obliged to go to Fort Dodge, a
distance of fifty miles, for goods, groceries and mail. The first
house at Sac City was built by Eugene Criss for a hotel, which was
for many years the station for the semi-weekly stage line running
between Cedar Falls and Sioux City. In 1863 Grant City was laid out
in the southern part of the county on the Raccoon River. The first
newspaper was the Sac Sun, established in July, 1871, by J.
N. Miller of Sac City. Odebolt, in the western part of the county,
was laid out by the Blair Land Company in 1877 on a branch of the
Northwestern Railroad. The town of Wall Lake was platted by the
Blair Company in 1877, three miles south of the famous lake of that
name in the Maple valley.
SCOTT COUNTY was created in 1837 from territory belonging
to the original counties of Dubuque, Cook and Muscatine. It lies on
the Mississippi River in the fifth tier north of Missouri and
contains four hundred fifty-five square miles. The county was named
for General Winfield Scott who was in command of the department of
which this county was a part in 1832. An account of the earliest
settlements and the contests for the county-seat have been given
elsewhere.
The survey of the public lands of Iowa began in the fall of 1836
and was completed in Scott County, by A. Bent, in March, 1837. The
first county officials were appointed by Governor Lucas in 1838 and
consisted of Ebenezer Cook, probate judge; A. H. Davenport, sheriff;
and Isaac A. Hedges and John Porter, justices of the peace. D. C.
Eldridge was the first postmaster of Davenport. In October, 1838,
Judge Thomas S. Wilson held the first term of court in the county.
Alexander McGregor opened the first law office in 1836. The first
steam mill was built by A. C. Fulton in 1844. The first church was
organized in the spring of 1838 by Father Samuel Muzzuchelli, and
Italian Catholic priest. A Presbyterian church was organized the
same year with ten members. The first sermon was preached by the
noted pioneer Congregational minister, Rev. Asa Turner, in Pleasant
Valley in the summer of 1836.
The Wapsipinicon River forms a large part of the northern
boundary of the county, while the Mississippi flows along the
eastern and southern limits. These rivers are bordered with fine
bodies of native timber while several groves are found in the
interior of the county.
SHELBY COUNTY was embraced in the original county of
Keokuk when it extended west to the Missouri River. In 1850 the
county was organized with present boundaries and named for General
Isaac Shelby, an officer of the Revolutionary War. It lies in the
second tier east of the Missouri River and in the fourth north of
the Missouri State line, is twenty-four miles square, embracing in
its area five hundred ninety square miles. The entire surface is
rolling and was originally largely prairie with numerous small
groves of native woods scattered over it. The West Nishnabotna and
numerous branches of the Missouri and Boyer rivers furnish a water
supply.
The first white men known to have made homes in the county were
two hunters and trappers, Nicholas Beery and Mr. Bowman, who built a
cabin near the Nishnabotna in the fall of 1847 and spent several
years at their occupation along the numerous water courses. In 1851
Mr. Beery was attacked by a wandering band of Indians, robbed and
beaten so brutally that he died of his injuries. The next settlers
were largely Mormons who separated from the main body who, in
1848-9, made settlements in several of the Missouri River counties.
Abraham Galland and his son-in-law, William Jordan, made claims at
a large grove in the northwest portion of the county in the fall of
1848, built a log cabin and became the first permanent residents of
the county. Galland's Grove contained about a thousand acres of
timber land and attracted about it many families. Among the
earliest settlers were William Felshaw, Solomon and Joseph Hancock,
Joseph Roberts, James M. Butler, Andrew Foutz, Franklin Rudd, Mansel
Wicks and John A. McIntosh. The latter was a noted Mormon pioneer
preacher.
The county was organized in 1853 by the election of the following
officers: William Vanausdall, judge; Andrew Foutz, sheriff; Vinsan
G. Perkins, clerk; Alexander McCord, recorder and treasurer, and
James Ward, prosecuting attorney. There were but thirteen votes
polled at this election. The first court was held in 1853 by Judge
Samuel H. Riddle in a building used for a grocery and saloon at
Galland's Grove. A location was chosen for the county-seat in what
is now Grove township, where a town was laid out and named
Shelbyville. Several buildings were erected and for five years the
new town grew into a thriving village. But, on losing the
county-seat, the town soon became deserted and finally disappeared
by the removal of the buildings to other places. In 1857 the town
of Simoda was platted near the center of the county with the
expectation that it would become the county-seat. A newspaper was
established by Samuel Dewell named the New Idea; the first
number was issued early in 1858. This town attained a size of
twenty buildings and made a vigorous fight to secure the county-seat
but failing, fell into decay, the buildings were for the most part
removed to Harlan and the town entirely disappeared. In 1858 the
town of Harlan was laid out near the geographical center of the
county and named for the first Republican United States Senator in
Iowa. The first building was erected by Isaac Plum and in the fall
of 1858 William W. Newton built a hotel. In January, 1859, the
Shelby County Courier was established at Harlan by J. B. Besack
and a determined campaign opened to secure the county-seat which was
successful before the end of the year. In 1878 a railroad was built
from Avoca, on the line of the Rock Island, to Harlan; in 1881 a
branch of the northwestern was built through the northeastern part
of the county; and the next year the Milwaukee road was built
through the northwestern portion of the county. Shelby is a
flourishing town in the south side of the county on the Rock Island
road.
SIOUX COUNTY was at one time included in the original
county of Fayette and was created in 1851. Its western boundary is
the Big Sioux River and it lies in the second tier south of
Minnesota. The county has an area of seven hundred sixty-nine
square miles and was named for the Sioux Indians who, at one time,
occupied northwestern Iowa. The Rock and Floyd rivers flow through
it in a southwesterly direction and the surface is rolling prairie
with but little native timber. There are bluffs along the Big Sioux
River rising to a height of from one to two hundred feet.
Among the first settlers in the county were E. L. Stone, F. M.
Hubbell, W. H. and Francis Frame and Joseph Bell. They located in
the valley of the Big Sioux River in 1859.
In 1860 the county was organized by the election of the following
officers: W. H. Frame, judge; F. M. Hubbell, clerk; E. L. Stone,
recorder and treasurer. There were but fifteen persons in the
county at this time and for many years the danger from attacks of
the Sioux Indians was so great that but few settlers ventured so far
on the frontier. In 1860 a town was laid out on the Big Sioux named
Calliope. It was in the southern part of the county and became the
first county-seat, remaining such until 1872. There the first
school was taught in 1867. A newspaper was established at Calliope
by John R. Curry named the Sioux County Herald. In 1869
Henry Hospers and others from Pella visited the county and made
arrangements to establish a colony of Hollanders. Five hundred
sixty-two preemptions were filed on Government lands in the vicinity
of the Floyd River in the southeastern part of the county and in the
spring of 1870 forty families from Pella settled upon them. During
the summer Henry Hospers laid out the town of Orange City, which, in
1872, became the county-seat and the Sioux County Herald was
moved to that place.
SLAUGHTER COUNTY was created in January, 1838, and
embraced a portion of the territory now included in the counties of
Louisa, Muscatine and Henry. It was named for William B. Slaughter,
Secretary of the Territory of Wisconsin. The county-seat was
located at Astoria where the first courts were held in 1837 by
Judges Irwin and Williams. The citizens of the county were
dissatisfied with the name which had been secured through the
manipulations of the obscure official whose name it bore and, upon
petition the Legislature relieved them by changing the boundaries of
the county and naming it Washington.
STORY COUNTY was created in January, 1846, and named for
Chief Justice Joseph Story of the United States Supreme Court. It
lies near the geographical center of the State, being in the fifth
tier both from the north and south and in the sixth from both the
east and west boundaries. It contains an area of five hundred
seventy-six square miles. The Skunk River and several tributaries
flow through it in a southeasterly direction, the shores of which
are bordered with native woods.
On the 4th of April, 1848, William Parker settled in a grove near
the southeast corner o the county and was the first white man to
make a home within its limits. In 1850 James C. Smith of Indiana,
with a family of five sons, opened a farm. In the spring of 1851 D.
W. and Mormon Ballard, William Brezley and Isaac Atkinson settled in
a body of timber which was given the name of Ballard's Grove. The
same year J. K. Keighley and S. M. Cary made claims on the Skunk
River and G. N. Kirkman settled on Indian Creek.
In 1853 commissioners selected for that purpose located the
county-seat and gave it the name of Nevada. In June the land thus
chosen was deeded to the county by J. W. Mortis and a town laid out
in which he was the owner of every alternate lot. The first
election was held in April, 1853, at which the following officers
were chosen: E. C. Evans, judge; Franklin Thompson, clerk; John
Zenor, recorder and treasurer; Eli Deal, sheriff, and John Keagley,
school fund commissioner. The first term of court was held in a
little log cabin at the new county-seat in August, 1854, at which
Judge J. C. McFarland presided. The first house in Nevada was built
in October, 1853, by T. E. Alderman who was the first store-keeper
and postmaster. The first court-house built in 1856 was burned on
the night of December 31, 1863. The State Agricultural College was
located in Story County in 1859 on a farm of six hundred forty-eight
acres lying on Squaw Creek. Story County secured the college by a
donation to the institution of $10,000 and several tracts of land
from citizens. In 1857 the Nevada Republican, a weekly
newspaper, was established by R. H. Shrall. The Northwestern
Railroad was extended to Nevada in the summer of 1864 and the town
of Ames laid out on its line near the Agricultural College in
February, 1865. This town was named for Oakes Ames one of the
largest stockholders in the construction company. |
