Iowa Old Press
Dubuque Weekly Times
Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa
January 13, 1859
DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES IN IOWA
DELAWARE COUNTY
Number of townships, 16; square miles, 576; acres,
368,000; acres assessed, 366,000; assessed value, exclusive of town lots,
$1,174,480.00; assessed value per acre, $3.29; population, 1856, 8099;
population, 1858, estimated, 10,300.
Delaware county is directly west of Dubuque county. The
Maquoketa river runs southward across the central part, the north fork of the
Maquoketa waters the eastern part, and Buffalo creek the western. Two of the
northeastern townships are watered by branches of the Turkey river flowing
northward.
The Dubuque and Pacific Railroad crosses the county near its
center, and is completed two miles west of Nottingham, forty miles from Dubuque.
The Dubuque Western Railroad crosses the southeastern part,
and is completed to Sand Spring, thirty-seven miles from Dubuque. - The Dubuque,
St. Peters and St. Paul Railroad will probably be commenced at a point on the
Dubuque and Pacific Road, near the eastern part of this county, and will run
across it northwesterly. It is tolerably well timbered, and the soil is well
adapted to agricultural purposes. Nearly all the streams are bordered by groves
of oak, maple, white and black walnut, basswood and elm. The soil varies from
sand to clay, with a clay subsoil. Lime stone and brick clay, gently undulating
prairies and a rich soil, besides good water power on many of the streams, are
among the natural advantages of this beautiful county.
DELHI, the county seat, near the center of the county, five
miles from the Dubuque and Pacific Railroad, contains eight hundred inhabitants,
has a newspaper, churches, half a dozen stores, a flouring mill, and saw mills.
Nottingham, Manchester, and Masonville are towns on the Dubuque and Pacific
Railroad. Sand Spring is a new town on the Dubuque Western Railroad, and is
being settled by a colony from New England, under the agency of Rev. L. Bolles,
of Ware, Massachusetts, who has recently purchased several thousand acres of
land a few miles west of Sand Spring, in this county, for another town named
Banks. The other towns in the south half of the county are Hopkinton, Rockville,
Uniontown, Hartwick, Almoral, Coffins Grove, Mount Hope, Coldwater, Poultney and
Forrestville.
Oakland and Colesburg are in the north half of the county.
These villages, including those named on the railroad, contain from one hundred
to three hundred inhabitants. - A literary institution of excellent character is
in operation at Almoral, and schools are established in all the villages.
Good improved prairie land, within a few miles of the
railroads, can be purchased for five to eight dollars per acre; timber land
commands a higher price. The price of cultivated land depends as usual, on the
value of the buildings and other improvements.
DICKINSON COUNTY.
Number of townships, 12; square miles, 432; acres,
276,480; population, 1858, estimated about 400.
This county was organized in 1858. It is watered by a
number of lakes, by branches of the Des Moines river and by the head waters of
Little Sioux river. Spirit Lake, nearly circular in form, about ten miles in
diameter, is partly within this county. Lakes East and West Okaboga, about five
miles in length each, are near the center of the county.
The first settlement was made at Spirit Lake in 1855.
SPIRIT LAKE CITY, situated south of the lake of that name,
is the county seat.
This county is mostly rolling prairie, is sparsely
timbered; and is well adapted to grain and grass. A mail route crosses it from
Sioux City, Iowa, to Mankato, Minnesota.
This county, like the neighboring counties of Emmet, Palo
Alto, Clay, O'Brien and Osceola, is principally government land.
DUBUQUE COUNTY.
Number of townships, 17; square miles, 612; acres,
382,720; acres assessed, 391,680; assessed value, exclusive of town lots,
$7,195,800; assessed value per acre, $18.96; population, 1856, 25,871;
population, 1858, estimated, 33,000.
The county of Dubuque upon its first organization previous
to 1856, embraced the whole northern half of Iowa, and all that portion of
Minnesota west of the Mississippi. It was some years afterwards reduced to its
present limits, being twenty-six miles long upon the river, with an average
width of about twenty-four miles. The land in Jefferson, Peru, Julien, Table
Mound and Mosalem townships, constituting the eastern portion of this county, is
somewhat broken by the bluffs along the river. These townships contain most of
the valuable mines of lead ore which have made this county so famous for its
mineral wealth. Concord and Liberty townships adjoin Clayton county on the
north; Liberty, New Vienna, Dodge and Cascade townships join Delaware county on
the west; Cascade, Whitewater, Washington, and Mosalem townships form the
southern tier and border upon Jackson county on the south; and Vernon, Taylor,
Center and Iowa townships occupy the central portion of the county.
This county is well watered by hundreds of rivulets
supplied by never-failing springs, and the number of good mill-streams exceeds
the number of townships. The smaller streams are so numerous as to furnish a
water power, often within a distance of four or five miles, for saw-mills to
manufacture the abundance of timber that fills the valleys of nearly all the
streams. The Maquoketa river and its tributaries water the whole southern and
western parts of the county, and the Little Maquoketa and its several branches,
water the central northern and eastern portions, reaching the Mississippi about
five miles north of Dubuque. Flouring-mills, saw-mills and some other
manufacturies, are in operation on all the large streams, and there is no spot
in the county more than four or five miles from mills. The timber is principally
oak, but ash, basswood, and elm are abundant on the bottom lands along the
rivers. Limestone quarries are found on the borders of the streams and
frequently but a short distance from the open prairie, still inviting the farmer
to the use of easily cultivated soil, offering no obstruction to the plow, and
rich with the decayed vegetation of ages. Below this fertile mold there is
usually found a clayey subsoil that supplies the reserved moisture for the
porous surface in case of drouth. Only a little over one-fourth of the land is
under cultivation; yet the corn product alone, as shown by the census of 1856,
is a million bushels annually. It appears by the State Auditor's report for
1857, that the assessed value of land is about nineteen dollars per acre, or
one-fifth more than in any other county in the State, and nearly five times as
great as the average assessed value of the land in the northern half of the
State. This latter difference, however, is mainly owing to the less assessed
value of the land in a large number of new counties.
The county seat is at Dubuque, which is included in Julien
township. There are nearly twenty towns and villages, and nearly that number of
Post Offices in that county.- Cascade is a thriving village, in Cascade
township, as well as New Vienna, in the town of that name. Durango is in
Jefferson and Cacota in Center township. The principal villages on the Dubuque
and Pacific Railroad are Julien, ten miles from Dubuque; Caledonia, fifteen
miles from Dubuque; Epworth, twenty miles; Farley, twenty-five miles, and
Dyersville, near the western line of the county, thirty miles from Dubuque.
These towns are surrounded by good agricultural lands, have schools, churches of
different denominations and stores and shops of various kinds. A Female Seminary
has recently been established at Epworth under the auspices of the Methodist
denomination. St. Joseph's Academy is a Catholic Institution for females in
Table Mound township.
One of the greatest sources of natural wealth in this
county is the inexhaustible mines of lead extending through its whole eastern
portion, and yielding, even with the present imperfect mining, a product of
nearly half a million of dollars annually.
Unlike most mining regions the soil is fertile and the
surface is but little disturbed by the working of the mines. Some veins of ore,
yielding several hundred dollars for every lineal foot, are worked beneath
cultivated fields.
Recent experiments have proved that the use of capital in
deeper mining, by the aid of suitable machinery, will be a highly remunerative
investment.
For nearness to market and proximity to a flourishing city,
and in the combination of resources both of an agricultural and mineral
nature, no county in the State surpasses Dubuque.
The position of Dubuque city and county, nearly midway
between St. Louis and St. Paul, and about five hundred miles distant upon the
Upper Mississippi, and also its location on the railroad lines across Northern
Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, have made them the center of trade for this
portion of the Northwest. Sustained as the city is by the trade, to a great
extent of the northern half of Iowa, and a part of that of Minnesota, it must
eventually become the metropolis of the Upper Mississippi.
-----
E.H. HARRISON was on the 3d inst. elected
President of the Keokuk Branch of the State Bank of Iowa, vice S.F. MILLER, who
declined a re-election.
GLEANINGS FROM THE NOTEBOOK OF THE ITINERATING EDITOR.
Manchester, December 23, 1856.
Left Independence, Buchanan county, this morning, with
some reluctance, because we found exceedingly comfortable quarters at the
Montour House, kept by Mr. E.W. PURDY. In our two weeks' ramble in Jones, Linn,
Benton and Blackhawk counties, we have met no where such a crowd at a hotel as
at the Montour. This is doubtless owing in part to the excellence of the house,
and in part to the increase of travel. The roads are good and people are
improving the opportunity to do some business and visiting. Some are trying
runners, other wheels. The Western Stage Company sends out its coaches, which,
being lined inside, are very comfortable. Drawn by fast horses over fine roads,
they afford a delightful method of travel. We came down from Waterloo to
Independence yesterday, a distance of twenty-five miles, in about two and a half
hours. This is good speed for wheels in the winter.
Manchester is in Delaware county, ten miles west of
Nottingham. The Dubuque and Pacific Railroad is graded to this point, and
judging by the immense number of ties which hear find a market daily, we should
suppose that the road would be opened thus far westward in a very short time. A
freight depot is nearly completed; in short the indications are that the road
will soon take another stride toward sunset.
Manchester has about six hundred inhabitants, and is
growing rapidly. It is most charmingly located in a burr oak grove on the south
fork of the Maquoketa, which affords excellent water power here. The village is
but three years and a half old. We notice many beautiful dwelling houses,
painted white, with yards and gardens around them showing a good deal of taste.
A cemetery of four acres, three fourths of a mile from the village, has been
laid out and protected by a picket fence, another evidence of the refinement of
the people. A Lyceum has recently been formed and is well attended. Its
President, Mr. H.M. CONGAR, is just the man to be as the head of such an
institution. He has several earnest co-workers, and among them are Rev. Messrs.
FIFIELD and AMSDEN. The former is the pastor of the Congregational church, and
is well known in Dubuque. He has a well selected library, secolar as well as
religious, and is a man of extensive reading. Mr. AMSDEN preaches every other
week at Delhi.
The religious societies of Manchester are Baptist,
Congregational and Methodist.- No houses of worship have been erected, but
probably some will be in another summer. There is one large school house in the
village, where religious and literary meetings are held. Two select schools are
being taught, by skillful educators.
Messrs. TOOGOOD, BROTHER & BOARD have a tannery nearly
completed. It will tan by the new process, E. DANIELS'S patent, of which we have
repeatedly spoken of in the Times. - The building, which they have erected, is
22 by 40 feet. Mr. T. KELLY has a saw-mill, and GILBERT & KELLER a
brick-yard. There are three hotels in the place, the Clarence, Messrs. TOOGOOD
and BETHELL, proprietors; the Exchange, kept by Mr. PATTERSON, and the Baldwin
House, G.J. BALDWIN. The Clarence Hotel is being re-fitted and is a fine House,
large, commodious and well kept. Mr. TOOGOOD, whose acquaintance we have this
day formed, is almost too good to us- but we believe it is his way to treat
everybody to the best of his ability.
We saw this afternoon a very disgraceful and painful scene
in Manchester- such an one as has never been known in the place before. We refer
to a general fight among the little club of saloon-frequenters. Two men,
partially intoxicated, came out of one of the two or three "hells" of
the place, and commenced fighting, several persons following and surrounding
them. After they had bruised each other's faces considerably, an effort was made
to separate them, when Mr. BURRINGTON, the first settler in the place, came up
and interfered, he evidently being determined that the fighting should progress.
As one man, a little more intoxicated than himself, approached him, he struck
the poor fellow over the head with a club which broke in twain. The man fell
upon the ice and we supposed was killed, as the blood spurted from his head in a
stream. He soon rose, however, and seemed very much bewildered. He was soon led
away from the scene. Mr. BURRINGTON meanwhile seizing a much heavier club - a
stake from an ox sled - threatened to kill the first man who laid hands on him!
- More than once he raised the frightful weapon, and seemed to be on the point
of striking down a neighbor. Officer Reeves being notified of what was going on,
came and took Mr. B. away. We hope he will have to suffer the penalty of law for
his brutal conduct. He is disgracing a town which was once called by his name.
In striking contrast with this scene was one witnessed here
this evening - a large school house full of well-dressed, intelligent and
refined people, listening to a lecture on "The Educated Man." A more
attentive audience we never saw. The mass of the settlers in Manchester are
Eastern people, and have cultivated most carefully the social graces. They feel
most pungently the disgracefulness of the bloody scene of which we have spoken.
-----
DELHI, January 4, 1859.
Delhi, the seat of justice of Delaware County, is a quiet
village of a little less than a thousand people. Like most of the towns west of
the Mississippi, it feels seriously the heavy financial pressure. Town lots have
greatly depreciated in value, and rents are moderate! Men are much more
temperate in their expectations of speedily realizing a fortune, than they were
eighteen months ago. Some of them would be contented with the assurance that
they will be independently wealthy, and prepared to retire from business in two
years from this date!
Delhi has been settled about ten years. C.W. HOBBS, now of
the Osage Land Office, was, we believe, the original squatter. Among the other
early settlers were Dr. JAMES WRIGHT, F.B. DOOLITTLE, Z.A. WELLMAN, E.C.
HARDING, JOHN W. PENN and JOHN H. PETERS. Most of these gentlemen are still
living here. Dr. WRIGHT is the newly-elected Clerk of the District Court. Judge
DOOLITTLE is a farmer and horticulturist, he having a large orchard of apple
trees adjoining the village on the east. Mr. WELLMAN was late Prosecuting
Attorney. Mr. PENN is a wealthy farmer in this township. Mr. PETERS is an able
attorney, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention.
The location of Delhi is very pleasant, it being an oak
opening, and beside Silver Lake, said to be a very lovely sheet of water.It is a
mile or more in length, and half a mile wide. It has been used to-day for a race
course - though we did not witness the trotting match. The lake has an abundance
of excellent fish of about every species found in western waters. Near the lake
is the old log Court House, still standing, though in a dilapidated state.
Another Court House has been erected and also a jail. The County buildings
adjoining the Court House, are excellent, being built of brick.
We find in Delhi five grocery and dry good stores, a drug
store, a hardware store, shoe shops and the usual number of other mechanic
shops. SYLVESTER BRADY & CO, have an excellent steam flouring mill. The
Hardin House, kept by WM. WILSON, is the only hotel in the place. There is a
good public school here, and a select school which we hear highly praised, kept
by Prof. HARGER. The Methodists have a fine church edifice here, and the
Presbyterians and Baptists have organizations. The Methodists and Baptists are
holding a series of religious meetings in concert.
Delhi has but one newspaper, the Democrat, published by
Messrs. HAYS & CORBITT. It has been negotiated for by MR. ASHBAUGH, and will
make its appearance as a Republican paper on the first of February.
Two lines of hacks run between Delhi and Nottingham, and as
they are in opposition to each other, they make brisk business. We believe that
Mr. N. McCORMICK, the mail carrier and proprietor of the regular line, was the
means of securing a daily mail between this point and Dubuque. Delhi is four
miles south-west of Nottingham.
For much of the information embodied in these notes we are
under obligation to S.G. VAN ANDA, Esq., one of the Justices of the Peace, and
most respected citizens of Delhi. He has taken much pains to make our first
visit to this place pleasant, and to furnish us with the knowledge of which we
are in pursuit. He is one of the most active members of the Literary Association
formed here the early part of the winter, and in which many of the citizens of
the place, old and young, take a deep and commendable interest.
-----
HOPKINTON, January ?, 1859.
Came to this place this afternoon, from Delhi, with Mr.
MARVIN HUTCHINS, of the Harding House. He drives fast horses, and we came down,
a distance of eight miles, in one hour. The road leads, most of the way, through
the valley of the Maquoketa, and is a pleasant route. In the summer, it must be
charming.
Hopkinton is delightfully located in an oak opening, like
Delhi and Manchester, in the same county, and is the prettiest site for a
village that we have found in these parts. It can be made a town unsurpassed in
beauty in Delaware county. Appreciating the natural advantages and attractions
which their town possess, the citizens have laid the foundation for a splendid
institution of learning. A large brick edifice is enclosed and will be finished
and ready for use early in the spring. It is located on an eminence, and has a
very commanding appearance in this young country. It will cost about ten
thousand dollars. It is one of the best buildings of the kind in the interior of
the State. The citizens have shown much enterprise in starting such an
institution.
Hopkinton is located on the north-east side of the south
fork of the Maquoketa, which affords good water power at this point.- NICHOLS
& HOLMES have a flouring mill here, and there are two water and three steam
saw mills; also a lath and shingle mill connected with every one of them.
There are two hotels in the place, kept by ROY JACKSON and
WILLIAM HOLT; five grocery and dry goods stores; a drug store; a hardware store;
a gun shop; a jeweler and dentist; two blacksmith shops; two brick yards; two
cabinet shops; and a broom factory.
The Presbyterians have a small brick church; and the
Reformed Presbyterians, sometimes called "Covenanters," have laid the
foundation of a church. Their pastor, Dr. ROBERTS, whose hospitality we are
sharing in, is a learned and most worthy man. The United Brethren, Methodists,
and Baptists, have organizations in Hopkinton. The Sons of Temperance are
numerous here. Mr. M.S. BUTLER teaches an excellent district school in this
place, having about eighty pupils. Aside from the common English branches, he
has classes in philosophy, algebra and Latin.
In April, 1855, Hopkinton had but eleven dwelling houses.
It has since improved seven hundred per cent, it now having at least eighty
private dwellings.
A flourishing literary society has recently been formed
here. A lecture was delivered before it this evening. Before the speaker
commenced, a lad or man about eighteen months old, took possession of the steps
leading into the pulpit and the speaker refused to proceed until this gentleman
in small clothes was removed. The lecture commenced, and so did the prattle of
the little man, now in the rear of the house. The lecturer, thinking that it was
needless for two persons to talk simultaneously to the same audience, held up,
until a man, older than the garrulous one, removed the rising genius from the
meeting-house. At the close of the lecture, Mr. W.A. ROBERTS, by request of the
audience, sang PARK BENJAMIN'S noted song, "The Old Sexton," We have
never heard it sung better.