pg 47

It is always a difficult matter to determine when the first settlements in a country were made and by whom they were made, and Louisa county is no exception to the rule. For instance, in the Wapello Republican of October 26, 1867, is the following item.

"Last Sunday we saw the oldest log cabin in Louisa county. It stands near the Toolesboro and Grandview road, in Port Louisa township, and was built some thirty-five years ago."

By a little plain subtraction the date of the erection of this cabin is thus given at the year 1832. This is something like three years earlier than the date given by all the other authorities, as the date of the first permanent settlement here.

Lieutenant Albert M. Lea in an article in "Iowa Historical Records, Vol. 6," relates that during a very cold spell in the month of February, 1836, in making a trip overland along the river, he stopped at the "raw village" of Burlington one night, and next day reached the mouth of the Iowa river at dark. He says that he was refused shelter in the only house there at the time, which was occupied by a drinking crowd of men and women and that he was obliged to go up the narrow, crooked river (the Iowa) on the ice, which was but four inches thick, and with three inches of snow on it, four miles to a snug cabin on the north side, where he arrived at nine o'clock at night. This cabin was undoubtedly the residence of Christopher Shuck, who is now, and has for many years been regarded as the first permanent settler of the county. This settlement was somewhere not far from the farm upon which T. M. Parsons, familiarly known as "Thomps," spent the most of his days.

Of his reception at this cabin, Lieutenant Lea says:

"They received me kindly, gave me supper and a sleep with the hired man, the other two beds being occupied by the squatter and wife and many children, grown daughters included, the cook stove being in the fourth corner, and yet we were all comfortable, and as gay at breakfast as if feasting at a wedding."

William L. Toole, who was himself among the earliest settlers in the county, in an article published in the "Annals of Iowa," for January, 1868, states that the first occupancy of Louisa county was in the year 1835, at and near the mouth of the Iowa river and near the ancient mounds and. fort; also near the Indian villages of Keokuk, Wapello and Black Hawk. He includes the name of Shuck among those of the very early settlers. He says:

"Among the early settlers hereabouts we had the names of Harrison, Creighton, Deihl, Toole. McCleary, ...

pg 48

… Thornton, Parsons, Benson and Shuck, and soon afterwards, Cook, Hale, Guest, Crow, Isett, Bell, Bird and Judge Springer."

The same date for the first settlement of the county is given by Francis Springer in his "Recollections" published in the "Annals," Third series, Vol. 2; and a similar statement was made by Colonel John Bird, also an early settler, in an address delivered at the first meeting of the Old Settlers' Association, in this county, which was held at Wapello, February 22, 1860.

James Thornton, of Ashland, Oregon, now in his eighty-fifth year, in 1910 wrote an article concerning early times, which was published in the Muscatine Journal, and is reproduced in the history of Muscatine county, published by the S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, of Chicago. This James Thornton was a son of Levi Thornton, who was one of the first representatives from Louisa and the adjoining counties, having been elected in 1838. In this article James Thornton says that his father and his two brothers. Err Thornton and Lot Thornton, with their mother and sister, started from Lafayette, Indiana, in the spring of 1835, and came to New Boston, where they resided with a cousin named Jesse Willetts, and there planted some thirty acres of sod corn. After this they decided to take up claims in the Black Hawk Purchase, and in June of 1835, the three brothers, with two other men, whose names are not given, crossed the Mississippi at the mouth of the Iowa. He says there was then a farmer there by the name of Shook and this is the only settler spoken of in the article as being located anywhere in this county. From there the Thornton party proceeded up the bluff, all locating in the vicinity of Whiskey Hollow, the claim taken up by Levi Thornton being now a part of the Dan Westbrook farm. The party then went up the river to Pine creek and took the steamer back to New Boston; Pine creek, or Pine river, where it empties into the Mississippi, is the place called Iowa in Lieutenant Lea's book, and it will be interesting in this connection to note something of what he says about that locality: "Iowa. This is the name of a town to be laid out at the mouth of Pine river about three hundred and thirty miles above St. Louis. From this situation at the apex of a great bend in the Mississippi, it is central to a large district of country, and the near approach of the Iowa just back of it. brings all the settlements along a great part of that stream within a short distance of this place." Further on in the same article, Lieutenant Lea indicates that he expects Iowa to be made a county seat and probably the location of the future capital of the state of Iowa. In a very interesting little book called "Scraps of Muscatine History," by J. P. Walton, we find that he visited Err Thornton in 1891 and that at that time Err Thornton said the Thorntons first came over from New Boston in the spring of 1834 or 1835, but he was not certain which, and Mr. Walton states that he finds by history that it was in 1834, though he does not give his authority. We quote from an article prepared by Mr. Walton in July, 1891, as follows:

"I have just made a trip across the river and called on Hon. Err Thornton, who lives some five miles southeast of here, in Drury township. His postoffice address is Foster. I was in company with John Holliday, an old acquaintance of Mr. Thornton. Both of them came from Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and were old acquaintances before coming here. Mr. Thornton was eighty-four years old yesterday, the 22d. John Holliday is eighty-five years old. Mr. Thornton says that himself, his brother Lot and several others came west and stopped near New Boston
**Facsmilie of Wapello Scrip photo...

pg 49

… Illinois, in the spring of 1834 or 1835, he is not certain which (we find by other history that it was in 1834), and on the fifth day of June he and his brother Lot and three others, five in all, crossed the Mississippi river at New Boston to look for land. They crossed over to Black Hawk, now Toolesboro, and started north. They were joined by a man by the name of Fisher, who belonged to a religious sect called Seceders, and had been over in Louisa county making claims. Acting as their pilot, he took them up about where Grandview now stands and said that they were then up to the north line of their claims. (I think such a sect settled west of the Iowa river near Columbus City; possibly some may have located east of the river). He said they could have all the land they wanted north of that place. Bidding them good-by he left them. While traveling north in the bottom in the rear of the present Port Louisa, they found a Mr. Kennedy and family, a brother of the present William Kennedy of Louisa county, who were camped for the day, boiling coffee, and they treated our party very kindly. They then traveled north to where they afterwards took their claims near Whiskey Hollow. Here was a fine bottom, with plenty of timber—an indispensable article for the pioneer settler. They concluded to investigate the extent of the timber, so they started up Whiskey Hollow and came out to the prairie some where near where the railroad goes out. It was then night. They cut some brush to make beds of and lighted a fire on an old white oak log. In the night Thornton was awakened by distant thunder. He aroused the others and they had but time to draw on their boots and get each to his tree before the storm came. While hugging to the lee of their trees, their fire blew to a great distance and they thought they had lost it all; (a very serious loss when it had to be lighted with flint and steel), but by good fortune some remained in a knot hole, from which they rebuilt another. As soon as it was light enough (about three o'clock) they started on their way. They traveled along the timber until they struck an Indian trail that led them down the bluff some five miles west of our city. Here they found an Indian's wickiup. The Indian, with his squaw and two or three pappooses, were planting corn."

The Indian name for corn was tomanock, and as the early settlers found a number of Indian cornfields when they came here, it will be well worth while to preserve in this connection an account of their way of planting corn as related by Mr. Walton in the book before referred to:

"They made their hills three or four feet apart, without any regularity whatever, possibly using the same ground and the same hill that their predecessors had done for ages before. In the spring at planting time, they removed the weeds, usually carrying them out of the field, and dug up the top of the hill and planted their corn. In tilling they would always scrape the earth up to the corn. This manner of tillage kept the hill identical for year after year. I have often thought that this system of growing corn, or these perpetual hills, gave rise to the term, 'hill of corn.' I think that the white man borrowed the term when he borrowed the corn. The corn they raised was a variety of eight-rowed corn; we knew it by the name of 'squaw corn' and raised it for several years for green corn. It was blue in color; when ripe it was quite soft, and when crushed was white and flowery. It produced fairly well: I think thirty or forty bushels could have been gathered from an acre."

pg 50

It may be, of course, that there were permanent settlements in this county in the year 1834 but this is certainly the earliest date which can be assigned for any permanent settlement, and there were likely not more than three or four such settlements within the entire limits of the county that year. It is possible that the old cabin referred to by the Wapello Republican was erected by the Mr. Kennedy spoken of by Err Thornton. This was John Kennedy, a brother of William Kennedy, the latter having been a very prominent figure in the early settlement of the county. He is said to have settled here in 1836.

The first government sale of land in this county was not till November, 1838, and for that reason we have no public land records regarding the ownership and transfer of the various tracts and claims prior to the winter of 1838. The earliest official record of any kind which gives the names of the early settlers in this part of the country is that of the census which was taken in July, 1836. This census was taken in pursuance of the act of congress organizing Wisconsin Territory and was made by Solomon Perkins, who styles himself "sheriff and censor, D. C. W. T.," Mr. Perkins being at that time sheriff of Des Moines county, Wisconsin Territory, of which Louisa county was then a part. There is nothing in the census as recorded to show where the various persons resided, except as to Burlington, and perhaps as to Van Buren county, it being described as in the "western part" of Des Moines county. This census shows the name of the head of each family and opposite the name of the head of the family is given the number of males under twenty-one and over twenty-one, the number of females under twenty-one and over twenty-one: and the total number in the family is also carried out.

The following list appears by itself on page 5 of the census and was taken by Zadok C. Inghram, as assistant to Sheriff Perkins, and we give it with his spelling:

	Males Under 21	Males Over 21	Females Under 21	Females Over 21	Total
Isaac Parson	4	1	6	1	12
John H. Benson	2	2		1	5
William L. Toole		1			1
Orien Briggs	2	2	2	1	7
Christopher Shuck	4	2	2	1	9
Elias Keever		2	1	1	4
William Dunbar		1	1	1	3
James A. Campbell	1	6	6	1	14
James Magers		1	3	1	5
John McClung	3	1	3	1	8
John Ranken	1	2		1	4
James Erwin	2	1	1	2	6
John Reynolds	1	2	3	1	7
Thomas Kellow		1	1		2
Robert Childers	3	2	1	2	9
George Umphrey	5	4	5	1	15
Abraham McClary		2	2	1	5
Levi Thornton	4	1	1	2	8
pg 51
Err Thornton		4		1	5
Silas Richardson		1	1	1	3
Nathaniel Parson	4	3	3	1	11
Samuel Shortridge	3	1	1	1	6
Thomas Starks	1	1	2	1	5
William McClaren	4	2	2	1	9
Joseph Crane		1	2	1	4
Thomas M. Crane		1		1	2
Samuel L. Crane		1	1	1	3
William Starks	1	2	2	1	6
Isaac Lathrop	1	1	1	1	4
John Cobb	1	1	2	1	5
Silas Lathrop		1	3	1	7
James W. Casey		6		1	7
John Vanetty		2	2	1	5
Thomas Burdett		3			3
Adison Reynolds		1	2	1	4
Eli Reynolds	1	1		1	3
James Davis		2		1	3
John W. Furgason	2	2		1	3
totals	52	71	62	38	223

It appears from the census of Burlington that Zadok C. Inghram was then residing in Burlington.

The most if not all of the following names appear in that part of the census book as having been taken by J. & J. Inghram, assistants to Sheriff Perkins:

	Males Under 21	Males Over 21	Females Under 21	Females Over 21	Total
Reuben Westfall	3	2	3	1	9
David G. Blair	3	1	2	1	7
Thomas Blair	2	1	5	1	9
Allen Elliot		1		1	2
W illiam Dupont		2		1	3
Reuben C. Mason	3	1		1	5
Phillip Mascle	5	1		2	8
Phillip B. Harrison		2			2
Joseph Derben	1	3		2	9
John Spence		2		1	3
Jacob Rinearson	2	4	1	1	8
Isaac Rinearson	1	2	1	1	5
Robert Williams	3	3	3	1	10
Wright Williams		1	1	1	3
Rolla Driskall
James Hatcher
Gideon B. Alexander
Thomas Stoddard		2		1	3
pg 52
headings
Joshua Swank	4	1	3	1	9
Westley Swank		1		2	3
William Milligan	5	1	1	1	8
David Russell		2	1	1	4
William Creighton	1	2		1	4
Rufus P. Burlingame		5			5
Hannah Smith	3		2	1	6
Jeremiah Smith, Sr	7	2	2	1	12
Samuel Smith	1	3	1	2	7
James C. Reed		1	1		2
James Crutchfield	4	1	2	1	8
Jackson Dolahite	1	1	2	1	5

In the list of names as taken by Zadok C. Inghram we find a number of very early settlers of Muscatine county and among the names thus taken by J. & J. Inghram, our information is that the Westfalls and the Blairs, possibly some others, lived about the vicinity of Northfield, which is now in Des Moines county, and some of the others lived in the neighborhood of Augusta at that time. This we know to be true of James Crutchfield, and it is possibly true of some of the others whose names appear in connection with his. We have endeavored to give in a separate chapter an account of the earliest settlements that were made in various parts of the county.

Late in the year 1835 and early in 1836 there had been much agitation both on the east and west side of the Mississippi river for the formation of a new territory. The people found by the decisions of the courts that they were almost entirely without the pale of civilized government, the courts having decided in one or two early murder cases that they had no jurisdiction to try or punish such offenders. We find in Dr. Shambaugh's "History of the Constitutions." page 73, an extract from a memorial to congress adopted about this time bv the territorial legislature of Michigan, as follows:

"According to the decision of our federal court, the population west of the Mississippi are not within its jurisdiction, a decision which is presumed to be in accordance with the delegated power of the court and the acknowledged laws of the land; but that ten or twelve thousand freemen, citizens of the United States, living in its territory, should be unprotected in their lives and property, by its courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction, is an anomaly unparalled in the annals of republican legislation. The immediate attention of congress to this subject is of vital importance to the people west of the Mississippi."

In presenting this memorial in the senate, Senator Clayton, of Delaware, referred to a recent murder in Dubuque, where the murderers had been arrested but had been discharged by the court, Judge David Irvin presiding, for lack of jurisdiction, and Mr. Clayton contended with much force that congress ought not to permit this state of things to exist. As a result of this agitation the territorial government of Wisconsin was created by an act approved April 20. 1836. The new territory of Wisconsin included the present state of Iowa and much other country not necessary to describe. It was to have a governor and a legislative assembly to consist of a council and house of representatives, the...

pg 53

... council to be composed of thirteen members and the house, twenty-six members. It was provided that previous to the first election the governor should cause a census of the inhabitants of the several counties to be taken by the sheriffs thereof and returns made to the governor, and that the election should be held at such time and place and be conducted in such manner as the governor should direct. It was also provided that the governor should declare the number of members of the council and house of representatives to which each county should be entitled, and the governor was required to declare who had been duly elected to the two houses, and to order new elections in cases where there was a tie. It was also provided that after the legislative assembly should meet, these various matters, including the apportionment of representation in the several counties, should be prescribed by law. The governor was empowered to nominate, and with the consent of the council, to appoint all judicial officers, justices of the peace, sheriffs and certain militia officers and all civil officers not provided for in the organic act, but it was provided that township and county officers should be elected by the people. The judicial power was vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts and in justices of the peace, the jurisdiction of the latter not to extend to disputes over land titles, or where the amount claimed exceeded $50.

Section 12 of this act is as follows:

"And be it further enacted, That the inhabitants of the said territory shall be entitled to, and enjoy, all and singular the rights, privileges and advantages, granted and secured to the people of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, by the articles of the compact contained in the ordinance for the government of the said territory, passed on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eightyseven: and shall be subject to all the conditions and restrictions and prohibitions in said articles of compact imposed upon the people of the said territory. The said inhabitants shall also be entitled to all the rights, privileges and immunities, heretofore granted and secured to the territory of Michigan, and to its inhabitants, and the existing laws of the territory of Michigan shall be extended over said territory, so far as the same shall not be incompatible with the provisions of this act, subject, nevertheless, to be altered, modified, or repealed, by the governor and legislative assembly of the said territory of Wisconsin; and further, the laws of the United States are hereby extended over, and shall be in force in, said territory, so far as the same, or any provisions thereof, may be applicable."

The census which was taken under this act, and to which we have before referred, showed the population of Demoine county to be 6,257, and Dubuque county. 4.274, while the population of the four Wisconsin counties east of the Mississippi river aggregated 11,687. Demoine county, of which this county was then a part, was much the most populous county in the territory and in the apportionment of members of the legislative assembly it became entitled to three members of the council and seven members of the house, and at the election on the second Monday in October, 1836, Arthur B. Inghram. Joseph B. Teas and Jeremiah Smith were elected to the council, and David R. Chance, John Box, Thomas Blair, Isaac Leffler, Warren L. Jenkins, Eli Reynolds and George W. Teas were elected to the house of representatives.

This immediate part of the country continued to be a part of Des Moines county until the establishment and organization of Louisa county. This, as we ...

pg 54

... shall see later, was done by act of the Wisconsin legislature, approved December 6, 1836.

Meanwhile the fame of the Black Hawk Purchase had been spreading. New settlers were constantly invading the "Iowa District." Some came in boats, by the Ohio and the Mississippi. Others a little later, came by the Great Lakes and across country; but thousands came in "prairie schooners" by the overland route. A few were well supplied with money, and some had a goodly number' of horses and cattle, but in most cases the team, wagon and contents, represented the sum total of the family's worldly possessions. Each brought with him, as his chief implements of state-craft, an axe and an augur, a froe and mallet, a plow, a log chain, and a shovel. The covered wagon afforded shelter by day, and lodging by night, and the cooking was done on the ground, and their journey often required two months.

Occasionally there would be a family making their long trip with one ox, hitched in the thills of a two-wheeled cart, in which they carried a mat for a bed, and a few boxes. All were actuated by the same purpose. All were seeking new homes where the prairies promised the richest harvest, and where the forests furnished timber for the cabin, and fuel for the fire-place. They were seeking those "gardens of the wilderness, boundless and beautiful, untouched by the ruthless hand of man," and "smiling in all the freshness of primeval beauty."

These families came from many states, from the south and the north, from Virginia and Pennsylvania, from Ohio and Kentucky, from Tennessee and Indiana, from New England and New York. They came from all walks of life. They represented all shades of political opinion and religious belief. They exemplified all phases and conditions of American citizenship—.the good, bad and indifferent. The new settler did not come as an alien, to a new sovereignty; he came as a citizen of the republic, seeking a new domicil in a land of abundant opportunity, and ample elbow room. At the outset the important question was how to obtain a title. True, the Indian title had been extinguished, but the which had not been surveyed, on penalty of forfeiture of all rights or claims, lands had not been surveyed by the government, nor thrown open to settleand with the liability of being forcibly removed.

By the summer of 1838, Basil Berrtly had surveyed township 73 north, as far west as range 6. and William Lee D. Ewing had surveyed townships 74 and 75, as far west as range 7. In 1837, while these surveys were going on. Surveyor General Lytle, in his instructions to some of the surveyors in the field, said: "As it is probable that congress at its next session will pass a preemption law, you are instructed to note, in your surveying, the improvements upon the public lands, their situation, and the names of the claimants. This information is important the better to enable the land office to decide who are entitled to preemptions." We will see later how little the land office had to do with "deciding" these questions.

The first land sale at Burlington, began on November 19, 1838, and the only Louisa county lands sold at that time, were in township 73, in range 4 and 5 ; at the next sale, October 26, 1839, township 74, range 3 was offered, and the remainder was not offered until March, 1840. But the pioneers had not waited for the land surveys, or the sales. The lands were there, the Indian's right to possession had ceased, and the settlers were ready to improve them, and did not ...

pg 55

... purpose to await the action of congress. They decided to make a few laws of their own, believing that they could do so fully as well, and with much less parliamentary circumlocution than their servants at Washington.

CLAIM LAWS.

It was a trying situation that confronted these men. Their occupancy of the land was in defiance of law, and they had no section numbers by which to identify or describe their possessions, nor any means of knowing where the lines would come. It is difficult for us, with our present day ideas of law, and our absolute reliance on record titles, to understand the anomalous and chaotic situation which confronted our forefathers, or to fully appreciate the bold and businesslike manner in which they met it. We shall find that they established a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people;" that, so far as the settlement extended, organizations were formed, and laws and rules were made and enforced. These settler-made laws, founded in necessity and based on justice, had higher sanction, and greater excuse for their existence, than many judge-made laws of a much later date. It is not probable that they had any fear that congress would ever permit, much less compel, them to be disturbed in their possessions. They knew that congress had, in several special cases, granted preemption rights to actual settlers, and they believed that a general preemption law would soon be passed. They also could place some reliance upon the precedent just then established by congress, by the act of July 2, 1836, for laying off Fort Madison, Burlington, Dubuque, etc., which gave the preference in the sales of lots to all persons, "who shall have, by building or enclosure, actually occupied or improved any lot or lots in the said towns," etc.

Lieutenant Lea is an excellent authority on such matters, having traveled extensively throughout the Black Hawk Purchase during the days of its early settlement. He says:

"In the District generally, the land titles are in an anomalous condition. The country was freed from its Indian occupants in 1833; hundreds immediately flocked in, each selecting such place as suited him best, and each respecting the premises of those who had preceded him. It is now clearly understood what improvement it takes to constitute a claim to any portion of these lands; and a claim to a farm, regularly established, is just as good, for the time being, as if the occupant had the government patent for it. An emigrant comes into the country; he looks around him, and finds a situation that pleases him; here, he says, 'I will make an improvement;' and forthwith he goes to work, builds a house, fences a piece of ground, plows and plants it; he stakes out his half a section of land, one quarter section probably being woodland, and the other quarter being prairie; and then his home is secure from trespass by any one whatever, until the government shall think proper to prefer its claims. If he think proper to sell his claim, he is at perfect liberty to do so; and the purchaser succeeds to all the rights of the first settler. It is usual in such sales, for the purchaser to take a bond of the previous occupant, to transfer any right that the latter may acquire, in consequence of his previous occupancy, under the operation of the laws of the United States relative to occupant titles.

pg 56

"Where towns are laid out, as it is not expected that each holder of a lot would be able to obtain a separate title from the government, it is arranged that the proprietor shall secure the fee simple title, in his own name, for the whole site, by the best means in his power; and he gives his bond to make a title to the purchaser, whenever he shall have secured it to himself.

"The people of this whole District have entered into an agreement to support each other in their claims, against any unjust action of the government, or against any attempt at improper speculation by capitalists at a distance. And those who know the potency of such leagues, will feel perfectly assured, that whatever is protected by this one, will be safe from molestation."

Few of the records of these early organizations have come to light, and it may well be doubted if many of them had written records other than the list of those entitled to claims in each congressional township. The records of two such organizations, however, are in existence, one of them being a Johnson county association, and the other, a club having its headquarters at Fort Dodge: and their constitution and by-laws show a very complete and elaborate system of rules and regulations. It may be asked by some what evidence there is of the existence of any such organizations or the enforcement of any such laws in Louisa county. There is ample evidence to this effect. In the first place, the statement of Lieutenant Lea seems to apply to the Iowa district generally. Also Mr. Newhall in his "Sketches of Iowa" evidently means the same thing. He says: "In order to prevent unpleasant litigation and to keep up a spirit of harmony amongst neighbors, and the better to protect them in their equitable rights of claim purchase, each township has its own organization generally throughout the territory, etc."

Mr. Newhall then goes on to say that a called meeting is usually the first step and that at this meeting after a short preamble, resolutions are adopted and a register appointed, whose duty it is to record the name of each claimant, describing his particular claim, and that a bidder is also appointed, whose duty it shall be at the sale to bid off the land registered in the name of each respective claimant.

Concerning this kind of law, Mr. Newhall has this to say:

"Although claim law is no law derived from the United States, or from the statute book of the territory, yet it nevertheless is the law made by and derived from the sovereigns themselves, and its mandates are imperative."

In his recollections, published in the "Annals" for January, 1897, Francis Springer, in speaking of the early courts of Louisa county refers to the claim courts in this way:

"Referring to early courts, I may speak of a sort of provisional court organized by settlers in congressional townships of government lands prior to being first offered for sale—which would be at public auction, at a minimum price of $1.25 per acre. In order to settle claim controversies that might occur among the settlers, and to prevent adverse bidding at the land sales, a 'township claim committee' was appointed, composed of three capable men (of the settlers) whose duty it was to hear and decide upon all contested claims. The parties on due notice would appear before the committee (sometimes with attorney) make their statements, present their proofs, when, after hearing the case, a decision would be made, and whichever way it went the losing party was bound by honor and the unwritten law of the township to...
Photo of FIRST AND LAST PAGE OF CHRISTOPHER SHUCK S BOND AS JUSTICE OF THE PEACE ...

pg 57

… acquiesce in it. He knew he must do this, or expect rough handling at the land sales from the settlers who would be present in force, one of them acting as township bidder for all, as the tracts were called by the register of the land office, giving the name of the settler entitled. The tracts were called and struck off with great rapidity. It would have been dangerous for any one (settler or outsider) to make a bid against the township bidder. This was well understood."

We may suppose that the same custom which prevailed in Des Moines county also prevailed in this county, and for that reason the statement of Dr. C. A. White, an early resident of Burlington, will be interesting. In an article on "Early Homes and Home Makers of Iowa," in the "Annals" for October, 1899, Dr. White, after referring to these settler organizations and their method of quit claiming lands before the government land sales, says:

"The chief agency of the agreement for mutual protection and the execution of the provisional system of real-estate transfer was an organization called the Squatters' Club, which had its headquarters at Burlington. Every proved holder of a claim upon government land or a town lot was eligible to membership whether he was the original squatter upon his claim or had purchased it from one. The club made regulations which had all the force of laws because the members yielded willing obedience; and it also acted as arbiter in such disputes as might arise between members concerning claims upon other than their already recorded parcels. The members were pledged to protect one another in the tenure of their approved claims, in the transfer of the same if they should desire to sell, and against overbidding at the approaching government sale. They also protected one another, as far as possible, in those cases of ruinously extortionate interest which was charged by the 'land sharks' to every poor squatter who had to borrow money to eke out the payment of government price for his land. But most of, these cases could not be remedied, and the squatter lost his claim or sold it at a sacrifice to obtain enough money to start again as an emigrant and make a new claim farther west. I do not certainly know the date of organization of the club, but I am confident it was not later than early autumn of 1836. My father became a member of it in 1838, he having bought a squatter's claim to eighty acres of land near Burlington and a building lot in the town; and many members of the club thus became personally known to me. He once admitted to me that the club was a secret society, and I have no doubt that their compact was confirmed by solemn oath."

But it is not probable that the making of these claim laws was done by the settlers at first, nor that it could have been accomplished at all until shown to be necessary by the continued influx of newcomers and the numerous disputes and quarrels that occurred over claim locations. More than one tradition has come down to us of cabins destroyed and lives endangered in this county by these land quarrels; but the particulars cannot be obtained with any certainty.

A noted encounter occurred just a few miles southwest of Wapello, near the sand mounds in Ed Jamison's field; this has sometimes been called the "Joy War" and was participated in by Angelo Driskall, the Joys, Gregorys, Lewins and some others. A few shots were fired, but no one seems to have been hurt. Mrs. McDill relates an interesting story of a supposed attempt at claim jumping in the early days. It seems that a Mr. Erwin took a liking to a piece of land in the William Kennedy neighborhood, and went over and plowed a furrow ...

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... around the part that he wanted in order to indicate that he laid claim to it. The land around which the furrow was plowed was a part of William Kennedy's claim. That night the settlers in the neighborhood, of whom Mrs. McDill's father, John Ronalds, "was one, got together and went out and turned back the sod in the furrow which Mr. Erwin had made. It seems that this was notice enough to Mr. Erwin and he made no further claim to the land.

William L. Toole, in the "Annals" for January, 1868, in speaking of the country about Toolesboro and Wapello says:

"In this location, as in others, great strife and contention was kept up here in those early days, through conflicting interest in claims or the encroachments of unprincipled adventurers. Cabins were burned, torn down or unroofed, and the lives of persons frequently in jeopardy in consequence of these contentions for claims. At one time in 1836, contending parties numbering some twenty or thirty on each side met near here on a disputed piece of land, armed with guns, pistols, knives, etc., intending to decide the right of possession by a battle, the victors to be the possessors. Fortunately, however, a worthy and peaceable old gentleman, E. Hook, with some two or three other persons, friendly with both parties, appeared on the battleground, and by their influence prevented a commencement of the conflict, otherwise blood would have been shed on this occasion, and perhaps lives lost. Serious difficulties like this often occurred in regard to ownership of claims, and sometimes occurrences or cases in regard to claims occurred which were more amusing than serious. One I will state wherein a defeated party, through our claim law or regulations refused to leave or give possession of a cabin thereon, and the successful party with a few friends kindly took the opposing individual out of the cabin and carried him from the premises, notwithstanding his struggling, kicking and threatening, greatly to the amusement of the lookers-on, but he finally made a virtue of necessity and submitted to our claim laws, and was protected afterward himself by these claim laws in a claim difficulty. These difficulties continued more or less until the public sale of land by the government. Just previous to the public sale all disputes and difficulties concerning claims were amicably arranged, and the settlers entered into a league for common protection and opposition to speculators, then secured their claims and went on prospering and making comfortable homes."

Long before the land sales, hard times prevailed not only on the frontier but all over the country. This was about the time of the panic, brought on either by President Jackson or the banks, or both, when it was almost impossible to get gold or silver and when the banks were failing so fast that paper money was a dangerous commodity. It was even impossible for the government in June, 1837, to get specie with which to make the payments due the Sac and Fox Indians under the treaties made with them. And this fact caused great dissatisfaction among the Indians and came very near leading to hostilities in the neighborhood of Burlington and in and about the forks of the Iowa and Cedar rivers. But among the early settlers times were much harder than anywhere else in the country, for the reason that, beginning a long time before the land sales, every settler sacredly hoarded every dollar that he could get, so that he would be able to pay for his home when the time came to buy it. When the land sales came at Burlington, the settlers from all this part of the Black Hawk Purchase assembled there. We may suppose that nearly the entire male popu-...

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... lation of Louisa county took up their abode in Burlington for several days at that time. The hotels would not begin to hold the people. Bar rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and even wagons, were converted into bedrooms to accommodate the vast crowd of people gathered there to buy what they called their own homes.

As both Mr. Newhall and Dr. White attended these land sales, we will let them describe them: Dr. White says of the land sales:

"The crucial test of the squatters' compact was to come at the time of the government land sales, and it did come then. The club prepared an engrossed copy of its list of members with the descriptive formula of each member's claim opposite his name. They then appointed a public bidder who should, with this list in hand, in the presence of the settlers assembled at the sale, bid off each parcel or lot in the name of its recognized claimant the instant it was offered by the register. No other bids were to be allowed, and even the claimant himself, if he were present, was required to remain silent. I did not witness the sale which was held at Burlington in November, 1838, which was the first sale of public lands held in Iowa, but I was present at the second one held there a few months afterward, in 1839. The land office then occupied a one-story frame building, long since removed, which stood on the lot at the southeast corner of Third and Columbia streets. When the hour appointed for the sale arrived, Bernhart Henn, the register, took his stand at an open window facing the yard within which many settlers and citizens were assembled. The club's bidder had a small stand erected outside in full view of the assembly and close to the window where the register was standing, each having the list before him. Those lists tallied exactly with each other because they had been carefully compared before the day of sale arrived that there might be no confusion while the sale was in progress; a fact that showed the club and government officials to have been in good and proper accord. The sale began by the register offering a parcel of land, reciting its well understood descriptive formula, and the instant response of the club's bidder who, in a distinct voice, named the claimant and the minimum price. The register at once accepted the bid and the entry was checked off on both lists. As there was no waiting or invitation for higher bids the sales were rapidly and almost perfunctorily made. Still, it was possible for an outsider to get in a higher bid if he spoke quickly and was willing to take the risk of personal injury, which every one knew he would incur. I was listening to the monotonous progress of the sale when a violent commotion suddenly took place near me. Some one had dared to risk an overbid, but before it was distinctly uttered he was knocked down with hickory canes, which many of the settlers then carried, for his intention was suspected and they were ready for him. He was not killed, but his injuries were such that he could take no further action that day, and when he recovered he did not press his demand for government title to the land he coveted. Here was apparently a dilemma, but the case was promptly met by the register who ignored the outside bid and accepted that of the bidder appointed by the club. When his attention was afterward called to the matter he declared that he heard no other bid than that of the club's bidder, and his decision was final."

Mr. Newhall says: "The sale being announced from the land office, the township bidder stands near by with the register book in hand, each settler's...

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… name attached to his respective quarter or half section, and thus he puts in the name on the whole township for each respective claimant. A thousand settlers are standing by, eagerly listening when their quarter shall be called off. Finally, when his quarter or half is reached and called off to him by the register, with an independent step he walks into the land office, opens the time worn saddlebags and counts out the two hundred or four hundred dollars of silver or gold, takes a certificate from the government and goes away rejoicing."

At the time Wisconsin territory was organized it ought to have been, and perhaps was, evident that it would not be long before a division would become necessary. It was three or four times as large as the average of the states in the Union and was divided by the great Mississippi river. Besides this, the population of the territory was diverse in character and so scattered in locations as to make it almost certain that the purely local laws and customs suitable to one community would not be suitable to the others. The people of the Iowa District were enthusiastic for a division of Wisconsin territory from the very start, and the people of Louisa county did their part to agitate and carry out the project.

The first public meeting was held in Des Moines county in September, 1837. The committee on resolutions was composed of David Rorer, W. W. Chapman, William Morgan, Arthur B. Inghram and Dr. George W. Teas, and their report, which was adopted, urged the organization of a separate territorial government west of the Mississippi river as the only means of immediately and fully securing to the citizens thereof the benefits and immunities of a government of laws.

These resolutions also referred to the efforts of Missouri to extend her northern boundary line. They also declared that settlers on public lands were entitled to the protection of the government in their homes and to the improvements made by them, and recommended that county meetings be held in the counties west of the Mississippi to appoint delegates to a convention to be held in Burlington in November following. The next county meeting was held at Dubuque, October 13, 1837; and on October 21, 1837, a public meeting of the citizens of Louisa county was held at Wapello, the proceedings of which were published in the Wisconsin Territorial Gazette and Burlington .Advertiser, of November 2, 1837, but we copy them from the "Iowa Journal of History and Politics" for July, 1911:

"At a large and respectable meeting of the people of Louisa county, held in the town of Wapello, on Saturday the 21st inst. in pursuance of previous notice, William Milligan, Esq., was called to the chair, and Z. C. Inghram appointed secretary. The object of the meeting was briefly and appropriately stated by James M. Clark, Esq. It was moved by Daniel Brewer, and seconded by J. M. Clark, that a committee of five be appointed to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting: whereupon the chair appointed Daniel Brewer, John H. Benson, R. S. Searls, Isaac H. Rinearson and William H. R. Thomas said committee, who, after having retired for a short time, returned and presented the following resolutions, which, after due deliberation, were unanimously adopted.

"1. Resolved, That we highly approve of the objects and motives of the Territorial Convention, to be holden in Burlington; and that so far as lies in...

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… our power we will heartily cooperate with our brethren in the adjoining counties, in carrying these motives into effect.

"2. Resolved, That we deem it highly essential to the interest and convenience of our Territory that a division of the same take place, and that, in our opinion, the Mississippi suggests a very natural and proper line of separation.

"3. Resolved, That the deficiency of postoffices, the inequality of mails, and the apparent gross delinquencies of mail contractors in this western part of our Territory, are evils, which call loudly for redress, and that we would suggest to the Territorial Convention the propriety of using their influence and exertions to have these abuses ferreted out and corrected.

"4. Resolved, That we look upon the attempts of a portion of Missouri to encroach upon our Territory, as highly unjust and aggressive, and that however much we may regret that any difficulties should arise between us, we are determined to resist her encroachments by every just and honorable means.

"5. Resolved, That, as settlers upon these frontiers, enduring the privations and hardships always incident to the settling of new countries, we are justly entitled to be secured in the possession of our homes and improvements by the passage of a preemption law in our behalf.

"6. Resolved, That we would suggest to our own delegates, and the convention at large, the propriety of calling the attention of Congress to this subject by memorial or otherwise.

"7. Resolved, That we deem this a fitting occasion to express our entire satisfaction with the present boundaries of our county, and look upon those who are endeavoring to effect a division of the same as acting contrary to the best interest of the county at large.

"The committee reported the following list of delegates, viz: William L. Toole. James M. Clark, Esq., and John J. Rinearson, who were chosen by the meeting.

"8. Resolved. That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the Burlington Gazette.

“William Milligan, Chairman,
“Z. C. Ingrm, Secretary

We may note in passing, resolution No. 7, opposing any change in the boundaries of the county as they then existed. This indicates that the movement to divide the county had already gained some force, and later on we will find that the county was despoiled of more than one-half of its territory.

On November 6, 1837, a convention of delegates from the portion of Wisconsin Territory west of the Mississippi river, met in Burlington and was attended by delegates from the counties of Dubuque, Des Moines, Van Buren, Henry. Musquitine. Lee and Louisa. C. S. Jacobs was made president, J. M. Clark and W. H. Wallace, vice presidents, and J. W. Parker and J. R. Struthers, secretaries. The convention was in session for three days. On the second day, after inviting the governor, members of the legislative council, judges and members of the bar of Burlington to take seats in the convention, three committees were appointed as follows:

(1st). A committee of seven to draft a memorial to congress on the subject of the attempt of Missouri to extend her northern boundary line. Mr. Toole was the Louisa county member of this committee.

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(2d). A committee of six was appointed to prepare a memorial to the congress of the United States for the passage of a preemption act, Louisa county was not represented on this committee.

(3d). A committee of seven was appointed to draft a memorial to congress in relation to the organization of a separate territorial government in that part of Wisconsin west of the Mississippi.

The report of the convention states that this committee consisted of Messrs. Rorer, Hastings, Caldwell, Myers, Claypool, Harris and Rinearson, the latter being the Louisa county member. This was undoubtedly John J. Rinearson, though his name is given as S. J. Rinearson in one place. These committees prepared memorials on the subjects assigned to them, each of which were unanimously approved by the convention.

There is no better way for one to get a fair idea of the conditions then existing west of the Mississippi river, and of the ability and character of the men who composed this assembly than by reading the memorials adopted. There is history in every line of them. The following is the memorial adopted by the convention in regard to the division of the territory:

"To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled:

"The memorial of a general Convention of Delegates, from the respective counties in the Territory of Wisconsin, west of the Mississippi river, convened at the capitol in Burlington, in said territory, November 5, 1837,

Respectfully represents:

"That the citizens of that part of the territory west of the Mississippi river, taking into consideration their remote and isolated position, and the vast extent of country included within the limits of the present territory, and the utter impracticability of the same being governed as an entire whole, by the wisest and best administration of our municipal affairs, in such manner as to fully secure individual right and the right of property, as well as to maintain domestic tranquility, and the good order of society, have by their respective representatives, convened in general convention as aforesaid, for the purpose of availing themselves of their right of petition as free citizens, by representing their situation and wishes to your honorable body, and asking for the organization of a separate territorial government over that part of the territory west of the Mississippi river.

"Without, in the least, designing to question the official conduct of those in whose hands the fate of our infant territory has been confided, and in whose patriotism and wisdom we have the utmost confidence, your memorialists cannot refrain from the frank expression of their belief that, taking into consideration the geographical extent of her country, in connection with the probable population of western Wisconsin, perhaps no territory of the United States has been so much neglected by the parent government, so illy protected in the political and individual rights of her citizens.

"Western Wisconsin came into the possession of our government in June, 1833. Settlements were made, and crops grown, during the same season; and even then, at that early day, was the impulse given to the mighty throng of ...

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… emigration that has subsequently filled our lovely and desirable country with people, intelligence, wealth and enterprise. From that period until the present, being a little over four years, what has been the territory of western Wisconsin? Literally and practically, a large portion of the time without a government. With a population of thousands, she has remained ungoverned, and has been quietly left by the parent government to take care of herself, without the privilege on the one hand to provide a government of her own, and without any existing authority on the other to govern her.

"From June, 1833, until June, 1834, a period of one year, there was not even the shadow of government or law, in all western Wisconsin. In June, 1834, congress attached her to the then existing territory of Michigan, of which territory she nominally continued a part, until July, 1836, a period of little more than two years. During the whole of this time, the whole country west, sufficient of itself for a respectable state, was included in two counties, Du Buque and Des Moines. In each of these two counties there were holden, during the term of two years, two terms of a county court (a court of inferior jurisdiction), as the only sources of judicial relief up to the passage of the act of congress creating the territory of Wisconsin. That act took effect on the 3d day of July, 1836, and the first judicial relief afforded under that act, was at the April term following, 1837, a period of nine months after its passage; subsequent to which time there has been a court holden in but one county in Western Wisconsin only. This, your memorialists are aware, has recently been owing to the unfortunate indisposition of the esteemed and meritorious judge of our district; but they are equally aware of the fact, that had western Wisconsin existed under a separate organization, we should have found relief in the services of other members of the judiciary, who are at present, in consequence of the great extent of our territory, and the small number of judges dispersed at too great a distance, and too constantly engaged in the discharge of the duties of their own districts, to be enabled to afford relief to other portions of the territory. Thus, with a population of not less than twenty-five thousand now, and of near half that number at the organization of the territory, it will appear that we have existed as a portion of an organized territory, for sixteen months, with but one term of court only.

"Your memorialists look upon those evils as growing exclusively out of the immense extent of country included within the present boundaries of the territory, and express their conviction and belief, that nothing would so effectually remedy the evil as the organization of western Wisconsin into a separate territorial government. To this your memorialists conceive themselves entitled by principles of moral right—by the sacred obligation that rests upon their present government to protect them in the free enjoyment of their rights, until such time as they shall be permitted to provide protection for themselves; as well as from the uniform practice and policy of the government in relation to other territories.

"The territory of Indiana, including the present states of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, and also much of the eastern portion of the present territory of Wisconsin, was placed under one separate territorial government, in the year 1800, at a time when the population amounted to only five thousand, six hundred and forty, or thereabouts.

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"The territory of Arkansas was erected into a distinct territory, in 1820, with a population of about fourteen thousand. The territory of Illinois was established in 1809, being formed by dividing the Indiana territory. The exact population of Illinois territory at the time of her separation from Indiana, is not known to your memorialists, but the population in 1810, one year subsequent to that event, amounted to but eleven thousand, five hundred and one whites, and a few blacks—in all, to less than twelve thousand inhabitants.

"The territory of Michigan was formed in 1805, by again dividing the Indiana territory, of which until then, she composed a part. The population of Michigan, at the time of her separation from Indiana, your memorialists have been unable to ascertain, but in the year 1810, a period of five years subsequent to her separate organization, her population amounted to but about four thousand, seven hundred and sixty; and in the year 1820, less than nine thousand— so that Michigan existed some fifteen years, as a distinct territory, with a population of less than half of western Wisconsin at present; and each of the above named territories, now composing so many proud and flourishing states, were created into separate territorial governments, with a much less population than that of western Wisconsin, and that, too, at a time with a national debt of millions. Your memorialists therefore pray for the organization of a separate territorial government over that part of the territory of Wisconsin west of the Mississippi river."

The legislative assembly of Wisconsin which was then in session in Burlington, immediately took this matter in hand, resulting in the adoption by it of a memorial to congress, strongly urging a division of the territory. Among other things this memorial states:

"That owing to the great extent of country embraced in the limits of Wisconsin territory, and that vast extent of territory being separated by a natural division (the Mississippi river), which renders the application of the same laws oppressive or unequal to one section or the other; the true policy of the two sections of the territory being as widely different as their locations; and the impracticability of the officers of the general government to administer the laws; render it highly important in the opinion of your memorialists that that portion of the territory lying west of the Mississippi river be formed into a separate territorial government."

The memorial further stated that the territory of Wisconsin at that time contained fifty thousand inhabitants, at least one-half of whom resided on the west side of the Mississippi, and that the population of Wisconsin was increasing with a rapidity unparalleled in the history of the country. This memorial further states: "Without any intention of censuring the official conduct of the officers in whose hands the administration of our infant territory has been entrusted . . . your memorialists would respectfully represent, that the western portion of Wisconsin, with a population of twenty-five thousand souls, reaps but a small portion of the benefits and advantages of the fostering care and protection of the mother government."

The memorials adopted by the territorial convention and the legislative assembly with petitions on the same subject, were referred to the appropriate committees in the house and senate. There was considerable opposition in congress to the formation of Iowa territory and it will be interesting to us to know ...

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... what some of the members of congress thought of the men who were then trying to build up this great commonwealth. Many questions seem to have entered into the matter other than those which relate to the necessities of the people who were asking for a new territory, such as the slavery extension, the annexation of Texas, and the preservation of the balance of power between the northern and western states on one hand and the southern states on the other. The most violent and virulent objector seems to have been Mr. Shepard of North Carolina. This is a fair sample of his speech:

"Who are these that . . . pray for the establishment of a new territory? Individuals who have left their own homes and seized on the public land. . . . These men pounced on the choicest spots, cut down the timber, built houses, and cultivated the soil as if it were their own property. . . . Without the authority of law and in defiance of the government, they have taken possession of what belongs to the whole nation, and appropriated to a private use that which was intended for the public welfare. These are they who require a governor and council, judges, and marshals, when every act of their lives is contrary to justice, and every petition which they make is an evidence of their guilt and violence. We, who are insulted, whose authority is trampled under foot, are asked for new favors and privileges; the guardians of the law are approached by its open contemners, and begged to erect these modest gentlemen into a dignified government. ... I cannot sanction their conduct: if they would not move peaceably, they should go at the point of the bayonet; if they forget what is due to their country and their distant fellow citizens, they ought to be punished The majesty of the laws should be vindicated."

Dr. Shambaugh, in his "Constitutions of Iowa," from which we have taken the foregoing and some other quotations on this subject, speaking of the debate in congress, says: "The spirited debate, which took place in the house of representatives, on the question of the establishment of the territorial government of Iowa disclosed the fact that the creation of a new territory at this time west of the Mississippi and north of Missouri was of more than local interest; it was, indeed, an event in the larger history of America. Some few men were beginning to realize that the rapid settlement of the Iowa country was not an isolated provincial episode but the surface manifestation of a current that was of national depth. Far-sighted statesmen whose eyes were neither blinded by the lights of the moment nor yet always riveted upon that which for the time was most brilliant, saw that a plain, common looking pioneer farmer from across the Mississippi had come upon the stage of national politics and had already begun to play a role in the great drama of American democracy."

On June 12, 1838, President Martin Van Buren approved "An Act to Divide the Territory of Wisconsin and to Establish the Territorial Government of Iowa." This act, usually called The Organic Law of Iowa, was built upon the same general lines as the organic act of Wisconsin. Two amendments were made to it by congress on March 3, 1839, and these amendments, together with the act itself, are to be found in numerous state publications, and especially in the Code.

There is more than one opinion as to the origin of the name Iowa as applied to this territory, but the best opinion seems to be that the author of the name as thus applied is Lieutenant Albert M. Lea, and that the name was given, not ...

pg 66

... after the Wisconsin county of that name, but after our own beautiful river Iowa. In the first chapter of "Notes on Wisconsin," Lieutenant Lea, after speaking of the treaty of 1832, says:

"General Scott was one of the commissioners appointed by the president to make this treaty; hence, the district under review has been often called 'Scott's Purchase,' and it is sometimes called the 'Black Hawk Purchase;' but from the extent and beauty of the Iowa river, which runs centrally through the district and gives character to most of it, the name of that stream being euphoneous and appropriate, has been given to the district itself."

It is believed that this is the first instance of this name being applied to this district in any published work.

In a brief article in the "Annals of Iowa," Third Series, Vol. 3, Page 641, Dr. Shambaugh states that for at least a century before Lieutenant Lea's publication, the river that runs centrally through Iowa was generally indicated by the name of "Ioway." Back of this, however, are the very natural questions of how and whence did our beautiful river get its name? There are, of course, many explanations both as to the meaning of the word Iowa, and as to the particular place, at which and to which, it was first applied. As these explanations are all based upon tradition, we shall take it for granted that that tradition is best which is best located. Here is what William L. Toole says:

"It is conceded that the name Iowa arose in this way: Many years ago, and before any Indians had fixed their homes in what is now Iowa, some Indians in search of a new home, encamped on the high bluff of the Iowa river near its mouth, and where those ancient mounds are, and being much pleased with the location and country around it—in their native dialect exclaimed—Iowa, Iowa, Iowa (beautiful, beautiful, beautiful), hence the name of Iowa to the river, and to those Indians, a remnant of which tribe are now in Kansas. Another company of Indians afterward, on the same errand, in search of a new home, ascending the Iowa river in their canoes, at some point that they were pleased with, made a similar exclamation, adding, 'This is the place for us!' And still another band or tribe, with similar exclamation, continued the name to the river, and so on by Black Hawk, Keokuk, Wapello and Poweshiek, each of whom had their villages on the banks of the Iowa river, up to 1836. And the ancient mounds and fort on this high bluff of the Iowa near its mouth, show that this was a favorite location by the ancients who made these mounds." The most competent authorities say that the word "Iowa" means: "This is the place;" some are of the opinion that the original word was "Kiowa," but they give it the same meaning as is given to the word "Iowa."

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