Jefferson County Online In Territorial Days

Many of the important happenings in the days of the "Iowa Territory," if not altogether lost, are veiled in obscurity. Only occasional and tantalizing glimpses are to be obtained of them.

Revenue for the current expenses of the county were derived from a poll tax and taxes on lands and personalty, from fines and from licenses for retailing groceries, defined as "spirituous liquors," vending merchandise, hawking wooden or brass clocks, and running ferries. The sheriff was the tax-collector. William Hueston took out on July 29, 1839, the first license to vend merchandise. Others licensed during the year were John W. Edwards, Sullifand S. Ross, David Switzer, Miller and Glasgow, Nathan Beadle and Joseph Cole. The receipts in 1839 were $540.89 from these several sources. The separate amounts have not been preserved. In 1841, there were received $202.50 from all licenses. Until 1843, 5 per cent of the gross amount of county taxes were set apart as due the territory; beginning with 1843, one-quarter mill was assessed for territorial purposes. The annual return to the auditor of public accounts makes a reasonably correct basis for estimating the wealth of the time and its growth. In 1839, this return was $29.89. In 1840, $55.57; in 1841, $86.57; in 1842, $58.92; in 1843, $139.13; in 1844, $226.31; in 1845, $240.56; and in 1846, $350.00. There can be no better evidence of financial "leanness" than is shown by these figures.

Exchanges of labor and property were carried on in primitive ways. Two typical transactions appear of record. Joseph Cole on March 10, 1841, agreed to sell "one sorrel horse, one gray horse and one wagon," and Charles Wells agreed to buy them by delivering "5000 rails before the 1st of April," and a second "5000 before the 1st of June," at Cole's farm two miles east of Fairfield. William Blankenship on April 15th agreed to make "5000 good shingles eighteen inches long, cut, score and hew the logs for a house eighteen by twenty-six feet," one and one-half stories high, with a long partition twelve feet from one end in the lower story, "sleepers and joists sufficient," and "one thousand feet of good flooring," and deliver them before the 25th of June to Samuel Robb on his claim. For doing all this he was to get "a mare and colt."

In the fall of 1841, the merchandise account of E. S. Gage, who was conducting a general store in Fairfield, shows a stock containing books, drugs, groceries, boots, shoes, drygoods, hardware, tinware, and peltries. The peltries were coon, fox, mink, muskrat and deer skins taken in barter.

The personal accounts in Gage's ledger give the selling prices of many articles. Jesse Mitten is charged $1.75 for a pair of shoes. John Young is charged 37 cents for scissors, 25 cents for a bedcord, 25 cents for butts and screws, and 12 cents for a pint bottle. David Bowman is charged 19 cents for pegwood and nails, a purchase indicating that he was a cobbler. Andrew J. Majors is charged $1.00 for a scythe snath. J. F. Chambers is charged 13 cents for six ounces of madder and 40 cents for two ounces of indigo. There were many sales of these pigments which were used in dyeing. William Olney is charged 75 cents for a tin pail. J. W. Nesmith is charged 19 cents for a yard of sheeting, 31 cents for a butcher-knife, 75 cents for a dictionary, $1.00 for five pounds of coffee, $1.00 for eight pounds of sugar, and $1.38 for a bushel of salt. William Waugh is charged 6 cents for an almanac and 13 cents for an elementary spelling book. G. M. Fox is charged 37 cents for a pound of ginger and 25 cents for two almanacs. The difference in the prices of almanacs suggests different publications. Richard Quinton is charged 25 cents for a pound of saleratus, 50 cents for two pounds of candles, 13 cents for six skeins of thread, 12 cents for a twist, 13 cents for a dozen buttons, and 62 cents for a yard of flannel. Ose Mathews is charged 35 cents for a yard of cambric and L. Junkin 38 cents for a yard of calico. Jonathan Turner is charged 25 cents for a yard of muslin, $1.25 for ten pounds of nails, and $4.50 for a pair of boots. Rev. Julius A. Reed is charged 6 cents for a pane of glass, 13 cents for a whetstone, and 75 cents for twenty-five pounds of flour.

These accounts disclose how little money was in actual circulation. J. T. Moberly settled a debt of 37 cents "by his medical bill." Joseph Frasey balanced a sum of $10.00 "by dressing buckskins." Even small balances were closed by due bills or notes. A due-bill for $2.67 given by T. M. & H. B. Mitchell and a note for $3.59 given by J. W. Culbertson are illustrative instances. Such paper passed locally from person to person, much as checks do now, until finally redeemed. When Gage in November, 1842, purchased for $1,000 John Troxell's eighty-acre lot west of the town quarter and an eighty acre claim of timber on Cedar Creek, he made a large part of the payment with more than fifty notes like these. The face of the smallest one was but 87 cents, and of the largest but $50.

It is said that Mrs. Sarah A. Lambirth in 1836 brought with her appleseeds, which planted in proper season grew, thrived, and in due time bore fruit. Others whose names are not associated with the fact, may have done the same thing. However this may be, orchards were soon set out. A nursery at Salem in 1841 was reputed to contain 40,000 trees. Its existence indicates a considerable demand for them. John M. Cameron's orchard is referred to in 1845 in a road description. By the early '50s, the bearing trees were furnishing an abundance of cherries, peaches, pears and apples.

In 1838, Sullifand S. Ross began the operation of a sawmill he had erected the previous winter on Brush Creek in Lockridge Township. A few months later Hosea Hall erected a sawmill on Big Cedar Creek. This was afterward used as a flouring mill also. It is sometimes called Goodspeed's Mill and sometimes Standifird's Mills, these names indicating successive owners. Its site is in section thirty-six of Cedar Township. From one of these two mills must have come the lumber used in the construction of the courthouse.

A dam was the visible hope of a mill.

In January, 1839, the Territorial Legislature authorized John Carter to erect a dam on Big Cedar. Its site is on the northeast quarter of section thirty-three in Cedar Township. In January, 1840, the Territorial Legislature authorized both John Troxell and Joseph Clinkenbeard to erect and keep dams across Big Cedar at the points where they had commenced building. The indefiniteness of these locations was because they were on lands as yet unsurveyed. Troxell's site is on the southeast quarter of section three in Liberty Township and Clinkenbeard's on the northwest quarter of section thirty-two in Center Township.

This same legislative body in its regular session authorized William Ingersoll, and in its extra session in July also James Wilson, each to build a dam with a lock twenty-five feet wide across Skunk River. Ingersoll's site is in section one and Wilson's site in section twelve of Lockridge Township. The requirement of the locks was to keep the stream open to navigation. It was not theoretical but actual conservation.

The enactment of a general law relating to mills placed the authority to grant the right to build dams in the District Court. Deed's flouring mill, erected as early as 1842, Mark's sawmill, erected as early as 1843, and Junkin and Pitkin's sawmill, erected as early as 1844, were all probably constructed under this regulation. Deed's site is on Skunk River in section thirty-six of Walnut Township; Mark's site is on Big Cedar in section thirty-four of Locust Grove Township; and Junkin and Pitkin's site is on Big Cedar in section twenty-four of Liberty Township.

Troxell's Mill because it was to be a flouring mill and because it was situated near the center of the county aroused much interest. The public was invited to the "raising," which was made a gala event. There was plenty to eat for all who came and a barrel of whiskey on tap for those who cared to partake. Hilarity and jollity ruled the day. A dance in the new structure completed the celebration.

The dam was of logs pinned together to make a crib which was filled with clay; the building was of logs; the burrs were of native boulders. At best it was a crude affair. It served to crack corn and to produce a coarse meal, which was the limit of its usefulness. Even so it was not be despised (sic). It did not long give service. In the late summer it was partially destroyed by high waters. This discouraged Troxell who disposed of the property to Wesley Depew. Depew converted what remained of the original structure into a sawmill, and on this as a foundation, in 1841, erected above it a frame story for a grist mill, running both with the same water-wheel. Finding the water-power uncertain, he later installed a steam-engine. Here was ground many a bushel of meal. To Depew is credited the distinction of first bringing to the county a pair of French buhrstones which greatly improved the character of the grinding.

A public mill, as Depew's, was one grinding for toll. Those who brought grain to be ground were served in turn in the order of their coming. It was the duty of the miller "to give due and punctual attention" when his mill was not out of repair, a much too common occurrence, and to assist in the unloading and loading. He was accountable for the grain, or for the flour or meal made from it, and for the bags or casks in which it was received, if they were "distinctly marked with the initial letters of the owner's name." His pay was in kind, termed toll. This toll was one-eighth part for grinding and bolting wheat or rye, for grinding malt, and for chopping all kinds of grain, and one-seventh part for griding Indian corn, oats, barley and buckwheat, not requiring to be bolted.

For years, many settlers took their grists of wheat to Brighton, Deedsville or Bonaparte for grinding.

The Town of Glasgow was laid out on July 10, 1840, by Thomas Miller and Ephraim Glasgow. It consisted of four blocks of twelve lots each. Its location was on the northeast quarter of section twenty-one of Round Prairie Township and was about halfway between Salem and Fairfield. The plat was acknowledged before Daniel Sears, J. P., by John Ross, surveyor, and by Miller, one of the proprietors. Miller and Glasgow conducted here a general store.

The Town of Monroe was laid out on July 21, 1840, by William L. Houghton. It consisted of nine blocks each containing eight lots. The central block was donated for a house of worship. This town was situated on the unsurveyed lands of the United States. It did not pass out of the paper stage. Its precise location is not known. It may have been near the center of Des Moines Township, where Cutting and Gordon's store at a later date was located. David Switzer, the deputy of John Ross, was the surveyor. He acknowledged the plat on July 25th before Elijah Chastian, J. P.

The Town of Pleasant Plain was laid out on March 21, 1841, for Isaiah Hinshaw the proprietor by David Switzer, deputy surveyor. It was situated on parts of sections two and eleven in Penn Township. It was platted as a rectangle divided into twelve blocks of eight lots each. There were three rows of blocks east and west and four rows north and south. The plat was acknowledged on July 6th by Hinshaw before Henry L. Notson, J. P.

The Town of Libertyville was platted on March 19, 1846, by David Switzer, county surveyor. It was located partly in section seven and partly in section eighteen of Liberty Township. It was of triangular form arranged about the intersection of the road from Fairfield to Iowaville with the road from Fort Madison to the Agency. The plat was acknowledged on the 24th by John Jewett, the proprietor, before Charles F. Alden, an "acting justice of the peace."

The Town of Creesville, as Batavia was first named, was platted on August 22, 1846, by David Switzer, county surveyor. It had three owners, William M. McKee, Henry Creese and Elijah Obanon. It was located on the west side of the northeast quarter of section thirty-one of Locust Grove Township. It consisted of eight blocks, four on either side of the Agency road each containing four lots. Lots Nos. 1 to 8 and 29 to 32 inclusive were held by Obannon; lots Nos. 9 to 24 inclusive were held by Creese, and lots Nos. 25 to 28 inclusive were held by McKee. The plat was acknowledged before John E. Pitzer, county clerk, on September 12th by Creese and McKee, and on the 16th by Obanon.

Though irregular and intermittent, there was no lack of religious instruction. Itinerant and local preachers, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist, Christian and Presbyterian, ministered to spiritual needs. Itinerants, impelled by the fervency of their zeal, "rode circuits" of hundreds of miles. Wherever listeners could be found or gathered together, in cabin, shop, or barn, or in the shade of trees under the open sky, they held their simple, earnest and impressive services. Their enthusiasm was a living force matched often against trials and discouragements and without hope of material reward: their offering a dedication of body and spirit.

Among this pioneer clergy were Samuel Hutton, John M. Cameron, Jacob Spainhower and B. F. Chastian.

Late in the autumn of 1839, Rev. Joseph L. Kirkpatrick, a Methodist minister of the "Iowa District," which Bishop Morris that year had established, arrived at the cabin of James Westfall in the Round Prairie settlement. His calling and mission were made known. Neighbors were called in to participate in divine worship. At the conclusion of his sermon, he formed a "class" composed of James Westfall, Mrs. Westfall, James O. Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Eli Jones and Mrs. Jones. This was probably the beginning of actual religious organization.

In December, 1839, there came to Fairfield a Congregational missionary, Rev. Reuben Gaylord, who preached the first sermon addressed to the people of the town. On the 21st, in the courthouse, he organized a Congregational Church. Those who then covenanted were Ebenezer S. Gage, James W. Cole and Harriet Cole, Jeremiah S. Waugh and Deborah Waugh, William P. Hitchcock, Charles R. Hitchcock, Jared B. Hitchcock, Louisa Hitchcock, Caroline Hitchcock and David Hitchcock. On November 28, 1840, Rev. Julius A. Reed became its pastor. On February 5, 1842, it was decided to erect a place of worship. Jeremiah S. Waugh donated for a building place the west half of lot No. 6 in block No. 14. As this was not considered a proper location, an exchange was made with Rev. Julius A. Reed for the west half of lot No. 7 in the same block. On this ground, in 1843, was put up a modest frame structure paid for by a fund of $323.40 secured by subscription. On October 19, 1844, Phillips Academy of Andover, Mass., presented the society with a library; on August 2, 1845, the gift was formally accepted. The difference in the dates tells the slowness of transportation. In August, 1845, Reverend Reed resigned his charge, and on November 1st was succeeded by Rev. W. A. Thompson.

In March, 1840, Rev. Jesse Herbert visited Fairfield in the line of his duty as a Methodist minister of the "Iowa District." He conducted religious exercises at first in Thomas Dickey's Hotel. There, on March 16th, he formed a "class" composed of Elizabeth Dickey, David Bowman, Mrs. Bowman, Nancy Shields, Joshua N. Herrington and Elizabeth A. Culbertson. On his circuit were several other "classes" within the county limits. Among these were one in Round Prairie, one in Locust Grove, one at Blue Point, one near Germanville, and one at Richwoods. He was succeeded in the fall by Rev. Moses F. Shinn. Both men while with this charge lived at Richwoods. Following these, each serving a year in turn, came, in 1841, Rev. William B. Cooley and, in 1842, Rev. Robert Hawk. In 1843, a Methodist Mission was founded at Fairfield to provide regular periodic ministrations. Rev. Joel Arrington was then assigned to the Fairfield circuit. On April 2, 1844, Captain Thomas D. Evans presented the society with lot No. 4 in block No. 21. The trustees who accepted the deed of gift were Alexander Fulton, Thomas D. Evans, Rolly Taylor, Job C. Sweet, David Sollanbarger, Benjamin T. Hoxie and Charles Negus. Although its membership had increased to twenty-eight, it was unable for several years to build a home. It continued to hold its meetings at the houses of its members, and in the courthouse and in the Presbyterian Church, when these places were available. In 1844, Rev. Hugh Gibson was appointed minister. The work of the charge so increased that in 1845 two men were sent to care for it, Rev. Micah Reader, and Rev. Alvin Rucker as assistant. At the expiration of their year of service, the circuit was divided into the Fairfield and Locust Grove missions. The next to come to Fairfield was Rev. Joseph Brooks. Methodism was well established.

On October 2, 1841, Rev. Lancelot Graham Bell organized in Fairfield a Presbyterian Church. The members were Solomon Montgomery, Mrs. Solomon Montgomery, John Montgomery, Sullifand S. Ross, Mrs. Sullifand S. Ross, John Hopkirk, Jonathan Young, Mrs. Jonathan Young and James Young. In October, 1842, Rev. Bell assumed the pastorate which he retained until 1849 at a maximum salary of $150 a year. His work, however, was not confined to this place. In 1843, he undertook the task of erecting a building in which to hold religious services. Bills for number and nails he personally guaranteed. Labor of all kinds was contributed. It was a frame structure 24 feet wide and 34 feet long. It stands in its original location on lot No. 8 in block No. 2, and with some additions and alterations remains in use as a residence. With commendable generosity, "Father Bell," as he was familiarly known and called when not occupying his pulpit, freely opened it to the people and preachers of other denominations.

Early in 1841, the Friends who had settled in the vicinity of Pleasant Plain "built a meeting house of hewed logs, 18x24 feet, with clapboard roof." It ws "warmed with charcoal burned in the center of a square of earth left without flooring." Prominent among the sect at this date were William Pickerell, Isaiah Hinshaw, Amos Hoskins, John Jones, John Beals, William Pickering, Jesse Arnold, Phineas Huston, Joseph Roberts, John Andrews, Benjamin C. Andrews, Mary C. Andrews and Jonathan McConnell. Lydia McConnell was their first minister.

In 1843, a German Lutheran Church was founded and a building erected at Germanville. In the same year a Christian Church with fifteen members was organized at Abingdon by Rev. Robert Long, its first preacher. Other particulars of these societies are unknown.

In 1844, Elder George Wolf, of Illinois, a noted minister of his day, effected the first congregation of Dunkers (sic - Dunkards) in Iowa Territory. The meeting was held in a barn near Libertyville. There were eight members. John Barger and Peter Lutz were chosen preachers. At a later date, a church was built in Des Moines Township.

In December, 1844, Rev. William Elliott conducted a service in the Presbyterian Church and organized a Society of Baptists. The members, as long afterward recalled by A. H. Brown, were himself and wife, their children Isaac H. Brown and Ellen Brown, one Smith and wife, "who had settled beyond Cedar Creek in Liberty Township," George W. Vance and wife, William Bunnell and wife, and William McKay. For some length of time the meetings of this church were held only at irregular intervals. In the fall of 1845, Rev. M. J. Post was installed as their pastor. It was he who in 1847 guided the commissioners of the "Holland Pilgrims" from Fairfield to the place which they selected for the abode of their people and where Pella was founded.

At the very close of 1844, Solomon Montgomery and others withdrew from the Presbyterian Society of Fairfield and established one at Richwoods. This became the Presbyterian Church of Salina.

An organization of Cumberland Presbyterians was early formed in the southeastern part of Liberty Township. The date has not been ascertained. Eleanor Steel, on November 11, 1845, deeded it a site for a church in section twenty-seven. The trustees were John M. Cameron, presumably the minister, Greenup Smith, Anthony T. Prewitt, Luke Kunce and Samuel G. Latimer.

There early appeared in the territory a strong sentiment against intoxicating liquors. On November 14, 1839, its advocates held a convention in the hall of the House of Representatives in Burlington. Many prominent men were present. Judge Charles Mason presided. "The Iowa Territorial Temperance Society" was organized with Governor Lucas as president. The immediate progress of the movement was interrupted by the Missouri Boundary war which excited and engaged the public mind.

Toward the end of 1840, interest in the subject revived. On February 22, 1841, a meeting in the temperance cause was held in Fairfield. Rev. Julius A. Reed made the principal address. Forty-eight persons then pledged themselves "to abstain from the manufacture, sale and use of intixicating liquors, except for mechanical, medical and sacramental purposes, and not to allow their use in our families, nor provide them for the entertainment of our friends, nor for persons in our employment, and in all suitable ways to discourage their use in the community." A "County Temperance Society" was organized with Alexander A. Wilson as president, George B. Hitchcock as vice president, and Henry B. Notson as secretary.

A peculiar political attitude of the period is given expression in a resolution adopted Wednesday evening, April 8, 1840, at an anti-caucus meeting in the courthouse at Fairfield. Alexander A. Wilson presided. Richard Irwin was secretary. A committee, on motion of Charles F. Emery, was named to formulate their opinions. Its members were Dr. J. S. Waugh, Thomas Mitchell, Gen. J. D. Learned, Judge Philip Viele and Benjamin F. Gilmore. Their report met with approval and follows.

"Whereas the people of this territory have no voice in the approaching election of President of the United States, and are more deeply interested in laying the foundation for a wholesome system of Laws, and a judicious form of State Government, whenever they shall be required to ask for admission into the Union, than (sic) they are in fomenting political jealousies and bitter party distinctions.

"Therefore, it is Resolved, by this meeting composed of citizens of Jefferson County and its neighborhood,

"That we deprecate the attempts that have been made, and are daily being encouraged by many of our citizens, who profess to be the friends of the present administration of the National Government, to draw the line of party distinction between the citizens of this Territory, as a measure that our political interests do not require, and one that is mischievous in its tendency, and wholly uncalled for."

The Fairfield Lyceum was "a seminary of learning for the instruction of youth of both sexes in arts, science and literature." This quoted description shows the broad and comprehensive view taken of its purpose by its founders. It was established by the Third Legislative Assembly of the territory by an act approved on December 31, 1840, by Governor Lucas. "Its funds, privileges, and immunities could be used for no other purpose than that of education." The incorporators were Samuel Shuffleton, Jeremiah S. Waugh, E. B. Fitch, Charles D. Jones, Henry Temple, James F. Rice, Richard Irwin, William M. Lyons, Charles E. Emery, L. W. Sanders, David Laughery, J. L. Scott, J. F. Chambers, J. P. Cheek, C. W. David, G. M. Fox and T. G. H. Gray. What service, if any, it rendered the community has passed wholly from memory.

The Fifth Territorial Legislature in 1843 established and defined the boundaries of new counties in the lands then recently ceded by the Sac and Fox Indians. Two of these, Wapello and Kishkekosh, the latter now Monroe, were attached for judicial, revenue and election purposes to Jefferson County. It was the duty of the county commissioners, who were E. J. Gilham, B. S. Dunn and Thomas Mitchell, to have their boundaries surveyed and marked out. At a special session of their official body on April 18th they authorized David Switzer, the county surveyor, "to employe five good and sufficient hands to carry chain, mark, blaze, etc., and a team of cattle or horses, sufficient for the conveyance of the necessary tools, provisions, etc., and to proceed" to fix these boundaries. The "hands" were to be allowed $1.50 per day each and Switzer "a reasonable bill for his own services, including the expense of teem (sic), provisions, etc."

On August 21st, the return of the survey was accepted and the fee-bill approved. The "hands" are named as Andrew Kenedy, Samuel Allender, Stephen Cooper, James Chandler and Jonathan Turner, who furnished the "teem." They were out twenty-four days. They were paid $36 each. Turner was paid an equal sum for the use of his "teem." Switzer received $75 for twenty-five days. The cost of "boarding" was $32.50. One dollar went to Martin Tucker for "ferriage." The total expense of the expedition was divided among the three counties according to their respective interests, Jefferson paying $67.60, Wapello $108.17, and Kishkekosh $148.73. In this transaction, Jefferson County acquired about fifty square miles of additional territory.

According to a contemporary account, on July 4, 1844, occurred the first celebration of the anniversary of American independence and the first unfurling of the Stars and Strips in Fairfield.

The day was opened by firing thirteen guns. At 10 o'clock in the morning a procession was formed to proceed to the grove where the exercises were to take place. Capt. Samuel Shuffleton and Capt. Samuel Evans were the marshals. A Revolutionary soldier, whose name unfortunately is not mentioned, was given the place of honor.

The formal proceedings were of the usual character. Col. William Ross officiated as president. Rev. Julius A. Reed pronounced the invocation. Major J. B. Teas read the Declaration of Independence. C. W. Slagle delivered the oration.

There was a public dinner prepared by Thomas Dickey. After this, a number of toasts were read, the most significant one being, "The Mississippi Valley -- peopled by men who know their rights and knowing them dare maintain them -- the march is onward." These were followed by volunteer toasts offered by Samuel Shuffleton, J. P. Rice, D. V. Cole, William G. Ross, J. G. Crocker and George Acheson.

The holiday had a greater value than its pleasure and entertainment and the cultivation of patriotic instincts. It brought the settlers and their families together in close social intercourse. It induced and promoted camparisons of views and developed a sense of community interest. It was a melting-pot for ideas assembled from many sections.

Prairie wolves abounded. They were the same, or very like, the coyotes of the plains. Gray wolves occasionally appeared. While the presence of these carniverous animals indicate an abundance of game on which they fed, it is probable that they committed depredations upon young domestic stock. In July, 1844, the county commissioners began paying bounties for their scalps. The scalp of a wolf under six months old drew 50 cents, of an adult prairie wolf $1.00, and of an adult gray wolf $2.00. Hunting them was not alone an amusement but a quite profitable occupation as well. Properly attested certificates were often assigned and helped to meet debts which otherwise might not have been extinguished. Some of the most successful hunters were Daniel Vorhies, Butler Delashmutt, Jonathan Dyer, Samuel Whitmore, Joseph Scott, Morgan Keltner and William McKay. About $1,000 were expended for wolf scalps in less than a decade.

On January 6, 1845, "on petition of divers citizens" residing on the two western tiers of sections in township number seventy-two north range ten west, it was ordered by the county commissioners that the township line dividing ranges ten and eleven west be the boundary line between Fairfield and Locust Grove townships, and that the old line be annulled. This no doubt was a suggestive cue to the residents in the northwest corner of the county. On the 28th of the month, township number seventy-three north range eleven west, at a special session of the county commissioners, was set off from Blackhawk Townhip and called Polk Township. The election place was fixed at the house of George Emerick. James B. Davis, Isaac Campbell and Robert Long were named as the judges.

This year an effort was made to have the Legislative Assembly of the territory change the eastern boundary line of Jefferson County from the range line to the channel of Skunk River through townships numbers seventy-two and seventy-three, Lockridge and Walnut. On May 15th, Norton Munger, a member from Henry County, presented in the House of Representatives a petition of thirty-eight citizens of Henry County and a petition of ninety-three citizens of Jefferson County, both praying for this petition. The latter is a choice collection of autographs. The petitions were referred to the committee on township and county boundaries. At this point activity in the matter ceased. Although Ruben R. Harper, the representative from Jefferson County, and Charles Clifton, a representative from Henry County, were the ranking members of the committee, no action was taken.

On September 13th a company of immigrants, twenty-five in all, having walked from Burlington, found a temporary home in a deserted roofless log cabin on Brush Creek in Lockridge Township. These folk, who spoke a strange language, were objects of curiosity to the neighboring settlers. They were Swedes, the first of that nationality to effect a permanent settlement in the Mississippi Valley. With a touch of homesickness, it may be assumed, or with grim irony, they called this stopping-place "Stockholm." They had few possessions and little money. When their situations was realized (sic), help with sympathy, that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin, was freely and generously extended them. Sturdy, industrious, economical and honest, they won respect and prospered. Two among them, Frank O. Danielson and Andrew F. Cassel, buys just entering their teens, rose to substance and wide influence. To the latter came the enviable distinction of representing the county three times in succession in the General Assembly of the State.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was the first of the secret societies to be established in the county. Jefferson Lodge, No. 4, was organized at Fairfield on March 10, 1846, under a charter issued on June 25, 1845, by authority of the Grand Lodge at Baltimore, Maryland, directed to W. I. Cooper, W. L. Orr, T. D. Evans, C. Kiefer and N. W. Wiles. In order to accomplish the organization, Orr, Kiefer and Wiles were obliged to go to Burlington to be previously initiated. W. I. Cooper was installed Noble Grand and T. D. Evans, Vice Grand.