IAGenWeb - Marion County |
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Union Township was erected by order of the county commissioners on October 7, 1850, in response to a petition signed by a number of persons residing in townships 76 and 77, range 20, south of the Des Moines River, asking that the territory above mentioned be organized into a new township, to be known as Union. It was further ordered that the first election should be held on the first Monday in April, 1851, after which date the organization of the township should be regarded as complete. For some reason not plain the date of the election was changed to Wednesday, April 2, 1851, when Andrew Stories, Alfred Rees and William Ballard were elected trustees; Simeon Reynolds, clerk; James Amos, treasurer; Samuel E. Teter and William M. Norris, justices of the peace; John W. Broadess and Robert Gusten, constables; Andrew Stories and Samuel Ballard, road supervisors.
On the north, Union is bounded by the Des Moines River, which separates it from Red Rock Township; on the east, Polk; on the south by Knoxville, and on the west by the townships of Pleasant Grove and Swan. Its area is about twenty-six square miles. Along the Des Moines River the surface is somewhat hilly and was originally covered with timber. The southern portion is mostly upland prairie, well adapted to agriculture. Ballard and Teter creeks are the principal streams.
Foremost among the pioneers were: George, Samuel E. and Wesley Teter, John Butcher, Hiram Steel, Duncan Neil, John Flanders, Robert Gusten, Andrew Stories, Simeon and George Reynolds, Richard and William Butcher, William Leuty, and a man named Vandenford.
Simeon Reynolds was a rather prominent character. He was a native of Dutchess County, New York, where he was born in March, 1786. After a residence of several years in Ohio, he came to Marion County in the fall of 1845, and in 1847 was elected a member of the lower house of the State Legislature. He was the first clerk of Union Township after it was organized and held the office at the time of his death on April 21, 1852. Upon arriving in Marion County, in November, 1845, he moved into a little cabin that had been erected by one of the Butchers, to whom the Government had granted the privilege of settling there as early as 1843 in consideration of services he |p. 133| had rendered in making or repairing roads. The claim was at the time of Mr. Reynolds' arrival occupied by Hiram Steel and Duncan Neil, of whom he bought it, but not long afterward was surprised to learn that a man named Vanderbilt had entered the land and secured a title therefor. This Vanderbilt then took a fortified position on the north side of the Des Moines River with a view to holding possession, but was finally persuaded to deed the land to Reynolds, who paid him the entrance money. Soon after his arrival, and the adjustment of the title to his land, Mr. Reynolds built a hewed log house, 18 by 24 feet, which served as a house of entertainment for immigrants going up the Des Moines Valley. It is said that this house was often so full of nights that late comers found it difficult to find a place large enough to lie down.
Wolves caused considerable annoyance to the early settlers, the timber along the river being one of their favorite haunts. During the winter of 1848-49, which was one of unusual severity, with a great deal of snow, many of these animals were slaughtered. Weakened by starvation and impeded by the deep snow, they were easily run down and killed by men on horseback. William Ballard and his two sons killed nine in one day, and others were equally active in exterminating them.
The Indians were also a source of trouble, on account of their disposition to appropriate anything that could be used for food. On one occasion a party of them, during the absence of Andrew Stories from home, decided to help themselves from his corn crib. Mrs. Stories, seeing that their supply of corn would soon be carried away, worked like a Trojan to save some of it from the thieving savages. Having no sacks to carry it in from the crib to the house, she took one of the bed ticks and in this way managed to preserve several bushels for the use of the family.
Samuel Teter was the first blacksmith and gunsmith in the township. His first shop was under a tree, and a stump was used for an anvil block. Here he sharpened plow points and repaired guns for his neighbors until a shop could be erected. In the fall of 1848 he went to Iowa City, a distance of about one hundred miles, to enter his land, and for fear that someone would get ahead of him he traveled night and day, making the trip in forty-eight hours.
The first school was taught in the western part of the township, in 1848, by Nancy Beckwith, the schoolhouse having been a small cabin on the farm of Jacob Haynes. In 1914 there were six school districts in the township, in which seven teachers were employed, and the schoolhouses were valued at $3,900. |p. 134|
Union is one of the three townships in the county that has no railroad. Knoxville and Pleasantville are the most convenient railroad stations. In 1910 the population, according to the United States census, was 425, and in 1913 the property was assessed for taxation at $661,196.