Iowa
Old Press
THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD
July 11, 1901
IOWA'S FIRST GOVERNOR.
An Interesting Bit of History Concerning the Life of Robert
Lucas. A Grand-daughter, Two Great Grand-daughters and a Great
Grandson Now Residents of This County.
Probably few people of the present generation in Iowa remember
the name of Robert Lucas as that of a former chief executive of
the state. Mrs. J. N. Harris, of Hamburg, is a grand daughter of
this illustrious man; and Mrs. S. C. Rees, of Hamburg, and Mrs.
F. L. Thompson, of Madison township, are great grand-daughters,
while Roy Harris, of Hamburg, is a great grandson. General Lucas
was a man whose memory deserves to be perpetuated. The son of a
revolutionary officer in the United States regular army,
major-general of the Ohio militia in the war of 1812 and twice
governor of that state, chairman of the democratic national
convention which nominated Andrew Jackson for the presidency the
second time, first territorial governor of Iowa, he was certainly
a man above the average. To him belongs the unique distinction of
being the governor of two commonwealths, each of which named a
county in his honor, and each had while he was chief executive, a
boundary dispute, which in both cases Governor Lucas conducted to
a successful issue. He was born in Shepherdstown, Jefferson
county, Virginia, on April 1, 1781. Though it was All Fool's Day,
Robert Lucas was a wise man in his day and generation, and worthy
of every honor which fell to him. His father, who had been a
captain in the continental army, was a descendant of William
Penn, the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania, and his mother was of
Scotch descent. The father had such a strong love for human
freedom that, though Virginia was a slave state, he freed his
slaves who had come to him by inheritance. Robert Lucas was the
inheritor of the same intense love of liberty and human rights.
In the year 1800 the Lucas family removed to Scioto county, Ohio,
locating in what is now Portsmouth. Young Robert was in his
nineteenth year. He had been given the limited education then
available to the children of limited means--reading, writing and
arithmetic--to which he himself added a knowledge of surveying.
This work he took up and found it remunerative. As was natural to
the son of a revolutionary sire, he was of a military turn of
mind, and early joined the Ohio militia. He had reached the grade
of major-general when the war of 1812 come on, and with some 1200
men of his division he was under General Hull on the latter's
expedition into Canada, and was a witness of the inglorious
surrender of Detroit. But he escaped the surrender by hiding his
sword in his brother's trunk, putting on citizen's dress and
walking into Detroit before the British reached it. After taking
notes of the occurrences of the day, he went on a small vessel to
Cleveland. In recognition for his services he was commissioned as
captain in the nineteenth infantry on March 14, 1812. On February
20, 1813, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the same
regiment. He resigned his commission in the regular army on June
30, however, to accept a commission as brigadier-general of the
Ohio militia in defense of the frontier, serving from July 25, to
September 19 of that year. Naturally he drifted into political
life, and was elected to the Ohio legislature in 1814. For
nineteen consecutive years he served in either the house or the
senate, most of the time as the presiding officer of the latter
body. In 1820 and 1828 he was the one of the democratic electors
from Ohio, and in 1832 was made chairman of the national
democratic convention at Baltimore, which nominated General
Jackson for his second term. The same year he was elected
governor of Ohio. He was re-elected in 1834 and declined a third
term two years later. Some years before his election as governor,
he had removed from Portsmouth to Piketon, Pike county, where he
resided until his removal to Iowa. The most important event of
his governorship was the Michigan boundary dispute--a quarrel
between the state of Ohio and the United States, for Michigan was
merely a territory under the direct control of the United States
government, which was responsible for its authorities. The fight
was a hot one and but for the sturda stand which Gov. Lucas took,
Toledo, Ohio, would today be in Michigan. In 1838 the territory
of Iowa was organized and General Lucas was appointed its first
governor. The act creating the territory gave the governor the
power of locating the temporary capital which he fixed at
Burlington which retained the honor until 1841. On March 12,
1839, the first legislature of the territory met in old Zion
church in that city and Governor Lucas delivered his message in
person to the legislature in joint session after having
administered the oath of office to the members individually. In
his message the governor urged that the township system be
orgainzied and insisted that this was indispensible because
without it, it would be extremely difficult, if not impracticable
to establish a regular common school system. Here he had another
boundary trouble. A strip about six miles wide was claimed by
both Iowa and Missouri. The county officers of both tried to
collect taxes from residents of this strip, and the trouble came
as near a conflict at arms as did that between Ohio and Michigan.
By his firmness and judicious action Gov. Lucas again won the
battle and Iowa's ownership of the strip was confirmed by the
supreme court of the United States. Governor Lucas continued in
office until 1841. Being a democrat when General Harrison was
elected to the presidency in 1840 he expressed his opinion to his
friends that his would be the first removal. This did not happen
however. President Harrison made a number of removals during his
brief term of one month, but Gov. Lucas was not removed until
Tyler became president. He then took up his residence on a farm
adjoining Iowa City where he died February 7, 1853. A daughter
and two sons were yet living. The governor himself told the
following story of his first meeting with his second wife, Miss
Amy Summers. While president of the Ohio senate he was returning
from Columbus to his home in Piketon. He was in company of a
fellow member both traveling on horseback. Day was closing as
they neared a farm house. A young woman came out with a milk pail
in each hand. To enter the barnyard she must pass the bars. Lucas
said to his companion: "If that girl springs over the bars I
will marry her." Sure enough she cleared the bars at a
spring. Lucas stopped in front of the house, explaining who they
were and asked to remain for the night. At the supper table Lucas
was introduced to Miss Amy and the two were married later as the
governor had predicted.
[submitters note: Mrs. Harris was the daughter of George
Washington Lucas who lived northwest of Sidney in Lacy Grove.
While serving as a representative in Iowa General Assembly, he
introduced the bill, which--after being guided through the senate
during a nighttime meeting-of-the-whole, by Dr. William Dewey, a
senator from Sidney..which eventually moved the capitol of Iowa
from Iowa City to Des Moines. George Washington Lucas later to
moved to Holt county, Missouri, where he died.--W.F.]
-----
Monday morning the startling intelligence came flashing over the
wire from the coroner of Stanton county, Neb., that Dean Thrapp
had been run over by a freight train and killed. Our townsman, N.
E. Thrapp, father of the boy, at once ordered the remains
embalmed and shipped home for interment. The remains arrived at
12 o'clock Monday night. We have not learned the parrticulars of
the sad accident yet. They are unknown to the family. It is
supposed that the boy was starting for South Dakota to work in
the wheat fields. At least he had told this much to his father in
a letter received only last Saturday. The body was identified by
a letter found that had been crushed and torn. It was a letter
the boy had just received from his father. The paper was so
crushed that only the closing words, "Now, Dean, come home
whenever you get ready," and the name,. "Noah
Thrapp," were plainly read. Also there were printed on the
back several words from his little eight year old sister. The
lower limbs were severed and the trunk cut in twain, also the
back of cranium was crushed and nearly all the bones broken. The
body was no doubt rolled and crushed under the cars and wheels of
the entire train. The funeral was conducted from the home in
Thurman by Rev. C. Ray Murphy. This is one of the saddest affairs
that has happened to our town for many years. The family has the
sympathy of all our people in their sad hour of affliction.
Hamburg News
- Miss Jones of Kansas, is visiting her grandmother, Mrs. Robb...
- Mrs. Allie Harris, nee Emma Welch, of Arizona, visited normal
here the last week....
- Mrs. Fred Helpbringer, of Atchison, Kan., is visiting her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Bentley.
Sidney News
- Mrs. Jones Estes, of Riverton, visited with her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. E. D. Lord, this week...
- After a month's visit with relatives at Maquoketa, Mayor Morgan
returned home Wednesday...
- Mrs. W. A. Penn accompanied her husband to Riverton today and
visited with her aunt, Mrs.
Joe Samuels....
- U.V. Jobe came over from Shenandoah and was accompanied home by
his mother, Mrs. M. C. Jobe...
- Harlan Travis, a former resident of this place, but now of
Malvern, was calling on his many friends Monday....
- Harry Hubbell and wife, of Glenwood, spent Sunday at the Park
House, the guest of Mr. Hubbell's parents....
- Mrs. Morton Adams, Miss Nellie and John Hume left last Friday
for Nicholson, Kentucky where they expect to spend two months
visiting the parents of Mr. Adams and other relatives....
- Mr. and Mrs. W. O. Browns, of Creston, who have spent several
weeks on a pleasure trip through Colorado, having visited
relatives at Colorado Springs and spent the glorious Fourth on
Pikes Peak, are tarrying a few
days in Sidney at the home of Mrs. Browns' parents, J. D. Curran
and wife.
-----
THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD
July 25, 1901
The house of Dudley Thornton on Main Street is nearing
completion.
[all above submitted by W.F, August -Oct. 2003]