Iowa
History Project
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MOELLER, HUBERT L. Our Iowa Its Beginning and Growth; New York, Newsom and
Company: 1938
Three important dates in Iowa history should be remembered in reading the story of Iowa's Capitals. They are: 1836, when Iowa land became a part of Wisconsin Territory; 1838, when the Territory of Iowa was organized; and 1846, when Iowa became a state.
BURLINGTON TWICE THE CAPITAL
The first legislature of Wisconsin Territory met at Belmont, Wisconsin. The place was not satisfactory to the legislature and they decided on a new location, that of Madison, now the capital of Wisconsin. Since it would take time, however, to build a new capitol, the Hon. Jeremiah Smith, Jr., who was a member of the legislature from Burlington, then called "Flint Hills," offered to put up a building in his city to be used as a temporary capitol. The offer was accepted and the next legislature of Wisconsin met there in 1837. Mr. Smith's building burned soon after the legislature met and the members had to be housed in other buildings.
The third session of the Wisconsin legislature was being held in Burlington during the summer of 1838, when the news came that Congress had organized the new "Territory of Iowa." President Van Buren appointed Robert Lucas, of Ohio, as its governor and told him to select a place for the capital. Gov. Lucas made a trip up the Mississippi River, visited the important towns, and then decided on Burlington for the capital of the new territory.
"CITY OF IOWA" CHOSEN
The first legislature of the Territory of Iowa met in Zion Church in November, 1838. It decided to change the location of the capital, in order that it might be nearer the center of population. Travel at that time was difficult and it took some of the first legislators a long time to get to Burlington. Three members of the legislature were appointed to choose the new location, with instructions to put it in Johnson County. They chose a hill on the Iowa River and called the place, "City of Iowa." There was but one log cabin at the place at that time.
Mr. C. Swan of Dubuque, one of the three men who selected the site, was chosen to plan the city and the new capitol. He was also appointed to oversee the erection of the building. Work on the new capitol was started in 1839 and the cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1840. The stone and lumber for the new building were found near Iowa City. A great celebration was held at the laying of the cornerstone and Governor Lucas delivered an address.
On April 30, 1841, Governor Lucas issued a proclamation whereby the capital was officially changed from Burlington to Iowa City. Since the new building was not yet completed, a large, two-story frame building, called the Butler Hotel, was for a time used by the state officials. Some of the business of the state continued to be done at Burlington for several years.
TALK OF A NEW CAPITAL
Soon after Iowa was admitted to the Union and the boundaries of the state were known, people again began to talk about a new location for the capital, nearer to the center of the state. The legislature in 1847 appointed a group of men to select a location for a new capital. These men decided on a place in Jasper County as the best site and named it Monroe City. The place was surveyed and lots were sold. But the next legislature decided that the capital should not be moved and Monroe City was soon forgotten. It is said that most of those who bought town lots in the "new capital" had their money given back to them.
Other places were now suggested for the capital, among these being Oskaloosa, Pella, Fort Des Moines, and Red Rock. Some legislators were opposed to moving the capital on account of the expense to the state. Because of this, some towns offered free land for the capitol and also offered money with which to build it. Gradually, Fort Des Moines came to be more and more favored as the most desirable place. It had many advantages, such as nearness to the center of the state, a river (the Des Moines) by which it could be reached by steamboat, and location in a rich agricultural region that was covered with timber and underlain with coal.
DES MOINES CHOSEN
In 1854 the legislature decided to move the capital and voted that it should be located within two miles of the junction of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. A hill a short distance from the former river was selected and a three-story brick building erected. Governor Grimes approved the new building, and in October, 1857, state officials began to move the seat of government.
There were no railroads west of Iowa City when the capital was changed and since winter was approaching, the moving became quite a task. The Western Stage Company offered free rides for the officials. The moving of the equipment, however, was not so easy. Four large safes and several loads of furniture were hauled on sleds, drawn by oxen, for a part of the way.
When the third convention met in the "Old Capitol" at Iowa City in 1857 to draft the constitution which we now have in Iowa, it provided in that constitution that the capital of the state should be located at Des Moines. This constitution was adopted by the people at an election held during the summer of 1857 and the location of our capital was thereby definitely fixed, as the legislature had voted.
As the population and wealth of our state grew, it became necessary to provide for a larger capitol. The present splendid building was dedicated in January 1884, although it was not completed until 1886. Its total cost was $3,296,256.
The capitol grounds at first covered but four blocks. In order to enlarge it and to make of it one of the most beautiful capitol grounds in the country, the legislature in 1913 added more ground, so that now it includes eighty-four acres.
When Congress in 1834 put all of the vast region north of the State of Missouri under the government of Michigan Territory, the part that was known as the Black Hawk Purchase, west of the Mississippi, was divided into two large counties. The line that separated them ran west from the lower end of Rock Island to the Missouri River. The land south of the line was called Demoine County and that which was north was named Dubuque County. In 1836 these two counties became a part of Wisconsin Territory.
COUNTIES DIVIDED
The legislature of the Territory of Wisconsin, in 1836, divided Demoine (Des Moines) into seven smaller counties, Lee, Des Moines, Van Buren, Henry, Louisa, Musquitine (Muscatine), and Cook. The boundaries for these new counties were not clearly marked. All of them were later changed and Cook County, which was only a little over three miles wide and over fifty miles long, disappeared entirely.
Fourteen new counties were made out of Dubuque County by the legislature of 1837. The boundaries of most of these were changed later. When Iowa was admitted to the Union in 1846 only forty-four counties had been organized. They were all in central, eastern, and southeastern Iowa and covered less than half of the state's area.
COUNTY SEAT FIGHTS
A very interesting phase of Iowa history is the struggle of towns in many counties for the location of the county seat. Groups of men sometimes used guns in an effort to locate the county's capital at their favorite place. Many things were done that were not in accordance with law or with what is generally considered good citizenship. The story of the struggle between Rockingham and Davenport for the county seat of Scott County is an interesting example.
The territorial legislature at Burlington had said that an election should be held in Scott County to determine the location of its county seat.
Willard Barrows says of the election: "Davenport, well knowing her weakness and want of 'material aid,' entered into a contract with a man by the name of Bellows, from De Buque, to furnish voters at so much per head; board, whisky, and lodging to be furnished by the party requiring the service.
"The day of election came, and with it came also the importation of voters by the 'Bellows Express.' They were from Du Buque and Snake Diggings, eleven sleigh loads of the most wretched looking rowdies and vagabonds that had ever appeared in the streets of Davenport. There were the dregs of the mining districts of the early day, soaked in whisky and done up in rags.
"There was no use in challenging such a crowd of corruption, for they hardly knew the meaning of the word perjury. So they were permitted to vote unmolested. Rockingham, at this election, whatever she may have done afterwards, observed a strict, honest, and impartial method of voting. She knew her strength and had it within herself.
"The election being over, the DuBuque delegation of miners returned home, having drunk 10 barrels of whisky and cost the contracting parties over $3,000 in cash."
Davenport won the election but Rockingham protested to Governor Dodge. Another election was held and this time Rockingham won by stuffing the ballot box, whereupon Davenport protested. The commissioners who counted the votes threw out most of the Rockingham ballots and declared that Davenport had won. The legislature then ordered another election. Davenport now offered to build a courthouse if it were chosen as the county seat, and it won the election. The courthouse was built and the fight was over.
COUNTY SEATS CHANGED
The first places to be chosen as the location for the county seats in many counties can no longer be found on the map. "Astoria" was the first capital of Washington County, "Marrietta" of Marshall County, and "Napoleon" of Johnson County. These, as well as other early county-seat towns, are remembered only as names.
Several counties have changed the county seat. Creston, following the example of Davenport, gained Union County's capital from Afton by building a courthouse and giving it to the county. In some counties the first seat was determined by the center of population instead of the geographical center. When such counties later became more uniformly settled the voters demanded a change in the location of the county seat.
In a few counties the place for the courthouse was not easily settled. Lee County, for instance, still has county offices at both Fort Madison and Keokuk, while the County Superintendent's office is at Donnellson. Linn County changed its capital from Marion to Cedar Rapids in recent years.
EARLY COUNTY SCANDALS
The early history of some Iowa counties is notorious for the scandals that took place. Dishonest men went into counties that had few or no people,, for the express purpose of getting control of the local government. Then they made themselves rich from the taxes that were collected from people who owned land in the county but did not live there. A notable case is that of O'Brien County. In 1859 a "band of unscrupulous men" went from Sioux City to that county. At the time there was but one real settler there. The "band" secured his signature to a petition, asking that the county be organized. The election was held and most of the important offices were filled by the "band."
Later, "a gang from Fort Dodge arrived." "A feud sprang up between the two factions," but "a compromise was made." Then, "with united power the ring continued to 'organize' the county." The residents of the "county seat" were officeholders. One honest German settler said "I am der peoples. Der rest all be officers. Don't it?"
When the county was only nineteen months old the supervisors allowed bills totaling $17,500. The largest sum was $8,000, for bridges that were never built. One of the organizers said: "We build a bridge and then made an elaborate report. Then we drew our county warrant. Then we tore down the bridge and built the same bridge-excuse me, another bridge-in another prairie slough and drew another warrant. Why shouldn't we tear it down? Nobody ever crossed it; no road was there even. Finally, with due regard to teh comfort, happiness, and welfare of my dear family, I tore down the bridge and built for myself a home, sweet home!"*
* Josephine B. Donovan. The Palimpsest, January, 1824.
Altogether there was a fraudulent debt of $230,000 incurred by the early officials of O'Brien County. The last of it was not paid off until 1908. This is but one example of several scandals of this sort in the "good old days."
CHANGES IN THE COUNTIES
The names of a number of our counties have been changed. Slaughter County became Washington County, Kishkekosh became Monroe, Yell was changed to Lyon, Wahkaw to Woodbury, Risley to Hamilton, and Fox to Calhoun. The spelling of such counties as Des Moines, Muscatine, Dubuque, Linn, and others, has been changed since early times.
There have been only minor changes in county boundaries since 1851. It has been suggested at times that such counties as Lee, Pottawattamie, and Kossuth be divided. This is not likely to be done now because people are saying that combining smaller counties would lessen the cost of government.
The early Iowa settlers paid little attention to politics or to political parties. They were too scattered to meet in large groups or even to meet often in small groups. Improvement of the home and of the farm was more important to the pioneer than political parties and political rallies.
FIRST POLITICAL CONVENTION
When Burlington became the capital of the Territory of Wisconsin, in 1837, many Iowa people became interested in politics. They knew, however, that it was only a temporary arrangement and that Burlington would lose this position as soon as the new capitol at Madison, Wisconsin, was completed. If Iowa land could be organized as a separate territory, they thought, then Burlington might become the capital of that new territory. The first political convention of Iowa was therefore called to meet at Burlington on November 6, 1837. At this convention a petition was prepared and sent to Congress in which it was asked that the "Iowa District" of the Wisconsin Territory be organized into a separate territory.
Congress recognized the petition of the Burlington Convention and on June 12, 1838, voted to make the Iowa District a separate territory. This action brought about the first great interest in political matters. More counties had to be organized. Districts had to be fixed from which members could be sent to the legislature. A delegate to represent the territory in Congress had to be chosen. The President appointed Robert Lucas of Ohio as governor and Burlington was chosen as the capital.
LOCAL ISSUES ON FIRST ELECTIONS
Governor Lucas look office in August 1838 and called an election for September 10. At this first election party lines were not drawn. All the candidates for Congress and for the legislature ran on local issues. No nominating conventions were held. Five candidates presented themselves for Congress and W. W. Chapman was elected.
Elections to the legislature of the territory were held annually and at the second one, in 1839, party lines were drawn but officials were again chosen on local issues. A pioneer newspaper, The Iowa Patriot, said on June 27, 1839, "We know that the Governor is opposed to carrying national politics into the legislature, and so are we, and shall be until this ceases to be a territory. Should opposition to the Administration develop it will cut off our supplies from Washington." At the 1839 election the Democrats secured a majority of the representatives. They were the ruling party in early Iowa politics nearly all the time until the Republican party came to the scene and the Democrats divided over the slavery issue.
PARTY LINES DRAWN
Party lines and organizations became distinct for the first time in 1840. Feeling against the Democratic President, Martin Van Buren, reached its height in the campaign that year. He was blamed for the panic of 1837, criticized for the spoils system, and accused of doing many things that Western people did not favor. The criticism resulted in the development of a strong Whig party, which reached its strength in Iowa that year. Augustus C. Dodge, Democratic candidate for delegate to Congress, defeated Alfred Rich, the Whig candidate by only 615 votes. Fifteen Democrats and eleven Whigs were elected to the House of Representatives in the legislature, with six Democrats and seven Whigs to the Council, or Senate, as it is now called. This was the only time that the Whigs had a majority in either legislative house in the Territory of Iowa.
When William H. Harrison, the Whig candidate, became President he appointed John Chambers of Kentucky to succeed Robert Lucas as governor of Iowa Territory. The Democrats complained bitterly of this appointment of a "foreign ruler" as they called it. Chambers was later reappointed by President Tyler. He served from May, 1841, until November, 1845.
STATEHOOD THE ISSUE
The struggle for statehood, between 1840 and 1846, overshadowed national issues. Generally speaking, it may be said that the Whigs were against statehood while the Democrats supported the cause. During the years immediately following Iowa's admission to the Union, a number of political parties or factions developed in the North.
MANY PARTIES
The year 1854 was a time of political revolution. It was also the year in which the present Republican party was born, although that party was not organized in Iowa until later. The political parties and factions in this state that year were: two factions of the Whigs, the "Silver Greys" and the "Seward Whigs"; the regular Democrats, the "Free Soilers" or "Free Democrats," and the "Americans" or "Know Nothings."
The last Whig state convention met at Iowa City on February 22, 1854, and nominated James W. Grimes for Governor. The "Free Soilers" held a convention at Crawfordsville on March 28, 1854. They nominated a candidate for governor but later withdrew and supported Grimes, who was elected over Curtis Bates, the Democratic candidate.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
The first call for the organization of the Republican party, as such, in Iowa was issued on January 3, 1856. The meeting was called to be held at Iowa City on February 22. The call appeared in several newspapers. No one knew who issued it, although Governor Grimes was suspected of doing so.
While the Republican party is usually said to have had its birth elsewhere, there are those who say Iowa should have the credit. O. A. Garretson, is discussing a mass convention held at Crawfordsville in February 1854, says: "Owing to the different organizations represented, and the divergence of views, the committee deliberated a number of hours before the members finally agreed and reported the platform to the convention. Here it was warmly discussed, amended, re-amended, and adopted. It was well toward morning when the convention adjourned, and the child thus born was christened "Republican." I am not unmindful of the fact that the usual claim is that the Republican party was born at Ripon, Wisconsin, on March 20, 1854. The convention at Crawfordsville antedated the Ripon meeting at least one month, and as the union here perfected was named Republican party, Crawfordsville is fairly entitled to the distinction of being the birthplace of this organization.
Boundary lines of farms, counties, and even states, were, in early days, poorly measured and marked. Pioneers often measured land by having someone "step it off." Who cared just where the line between lands was? The land was cheap and there was plenty of it.
THE SULLIVAN SURVEY
The beginning of the trouble over the Missouri boundary dates back to 1816. In that year the United States Government hired a Mr. J. C. Sullivan to survey and mark the boundaries of the Osage Indian lands. Mr. Sullivan marked his line with mounds of earth and blazed trees. Both kinds of marks were soon gone.
When Missouri became a state in 1820, its northern boundary was described as "The Northern Boundary of the Indian lands" or, as it became known, "The Sullivan Line." Later, in 1837, when the markings had disappeared and no one knew where the line was, the Missouri legislature ordered the boundary resurveyed. A surveyor named Brown was hired to do the work.
THE BROWN SURVEY
Mr. Brown found that the Missouri constitution said the northern boundary was the parallel of latitude which passed through the "rapids of the River Des Moines." He therefore, when he began his survey, looked for these rapids. Indians, French traders, and early travelers had for many years spoken of the rapids in teh Mississippi that were just above the mouth of the Des Moines River, as the "Des Moines River Rapids" and it was to those that Mr. Sullivan referred in his survey. Surveyor Brown, however, did not know of the rapids in the Mississippi and began looking for some in the Des Moines River. Near the present site of Keosaqua he found, in the Des Moines River, a riffle which he supposed were the rapids mentioned by Sullivan. He then ran his line straight west from there.
The new Brown line was about thirteen miles north of the Sullivan line and added to Missouri some 2,600 square miles of land which, up to that time had been claimed by the Territory of Iowa. In 1838 the Missouri legislature declared the Brown line to be the northern boundary of their state and ordered officers of northern Missouri to collect taxes, maintain peace, and perform other official duties in the strip of land between Brown and Sullivan lines.
HONEY TREES
Most of the disputed strip of land contained timer in which bees were plentiful. Since honey was used by pioneers in place of sugar, honey trees, that is trees in which bees store honey, were highly prized. A man from Missouri came into the disputed land, chopped down three bee trees, and fled back to Missouri with the honey. When Iowa settlers, who claimed the land belonged to Iowa, found out about the three bee trees, they became furious and demanded that something be done. That is how the boundary quarrel came to be called "The Honey War."
SHERIFF ARRESTS SHERIFF
The dispute over the boundary became a serious matter for the local officers of both the state of Missouri and of the Territory of Iowa. If the disputed land belonged to Missouri then it was the duty of the officers to collect taxes from the people. But, if it did not belong to Missouri, then the people would not want to pay taxes to that state and it became the duty of the Iowa officers to support them. In October 1839, Uriah S. Gregory, Sheriff of Clark County, Missouri, tried to collect taxes north of the Sullivan line. The settlers refused to pay. In November of that year he again tried to collect the taxes. This time the sheriff of Van Buren County, Iowa Territory, by order of Governor Lucas, opposed the Missouri sheriff and finally arrested him.
TROOPS ORDERED OUT
A special session of the Clark County Court was called on November 23. Orders were issued to General Willock and General Allen to muster the Missouri militia. They soon had together over two thousand men and General Allen took more than one thousand of them to Waterloo, Missouri.
News of Missouri's action was taken to Rober Lucas, Iowa's new governor. Lucas had gone through a similar dispute when he was governor of Ohio. Furthermore, he was a soldier and a man of quick action who was not easily bluffed. On December 6, therefore, he issued orders to the commanders of the Iowa militia to muster their men. Although it was in the dead of winter, twelve hundred men promptly answered the call and companies were organized in every county of southeast Iowa.
This was the first time that Iowa's militia had ever been called together and it was a queer-looking army. Each man had to furnish his own uniform and gun. There were no two men dressed or armed alike. They carried whatever they owned, rifles, muskets, shotguns, pistols, and even pitchforks. In one county the commander was given six wagons in which to take supplies. He says that he loaded five of them with whisky, "to keep up the spirits of the men."
Major General Browne took about five hundred of the Iowa militia to Farmington, Iowa, just north of Waterloo, Missouri. The two armies were only a few miles apart and were watching each other, eager for the fight. Fortunately, there were wise men at the head of each army. They saw that nothing could be gained by fighting and bloodshed. General Browne sent a peace commission to the Missourians and these men found upon their arrival, that General Allen had already sent some men to the Iowa legislature, which was meeting an "Old Zion" Church at Burlington, with suggestions for a friendly settlement. So both armies were sent home.
SUPREME COURT DECIDES
The boundary dispute remained unsettled for a number of years. Both Iowa and Missouri finally agreed to let the United Stares Supreme Court decide it. In 1849 that tribunal held that the "Sullivan Line" should be the boundary and so the disputed territory remained a part of Iowa, much to the satisfaction of the settlers. It is said that one good woman hoped that her land would not be put into Missouri because she had been told, she said, that the climate of that state was too poor for good crops.
After the question was settled, surveyors were ordered to mark the line again. Iron posts were put up between the states, at intervals, for over two hundred miles. The Supreme Court approved the work in 1851. Since then, Iowa has never had a serious dispute with a neighbor.
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