|
The first settlement in Montgomery County was in Jackson
township, now known as East township. The first
town was Rossville laid out by Hiram Harlow, April 28,
1855, just one year after the county had been divided
into townships. There is no record as to the
section on which Rossville was begun but it never became
a town.
There
were various other settlements bearing these names, "The
Valley", "The Ridge", "Hungry Hollow", names that have
long since become obsolete.
Records
disagree as to the first marriages. A Frank Findley and
Miss Margaret Means went from this location and were married
in Page County in 1853. Another record tells of the
marriage of Thomas Means and Miranda Findley in July 1854.
It is said the
first schoolhouse in the county was built by John Ross
in 1853 on
Section 26 (a little south and east of the present site of
Villisca). The building was of cottonwood logs and was paid
for by subscription, the cost being $80. Also in this building,
the first religious services were held, conducted by the Reverend
W. C. Means of Cumberland Presbyterian faith. The third
school in the county was taught by Mr. James F. Ross in 1865.
His compensation was $18 per month and the school term was three
months. There were about twenty-five pupils many of whom
traveled about three miles to attend school. Among the pupils
listed were the following names -- Baker, McMillian, Means,
Carlisle, Findley, Harlow, Moore and Penwell.
In June of 1859, a
little band of people attracted from their homes in Highland county,
Ohio, by the glowing accounts of the new country in Southwest Iowa,
arrived on the banks of the Nodaway River just south of where
Villisca now stands. They unhitched their
horses from the wagons, turned them loose on the prairie, crossed
the river on a big drift that for many years served as a
connecting link between Ross Grove and "The Forks," followed a
footpath through the woods and hazel brush, and came out into a bit
of open country that was selected for the new town of Villisca.
The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad company contemplated a
line through the state and sent an agent ahead to locate the
town sites, one of which was located between the Nodaway and named
Villisca.
A log cabin built by
George West (the original owner of the town site), and a little
frame house built be a man named Scott were the only
residences in the town. They were occupied by the families of Anderson Moore and Aaron Penwell. There was also
a small frame building north of the square used for a store in which Thomas Moore kept a small stock of necessary supplies for the
settlers. These three buildings constituted the town of
Villisca except for the lots surveyed to be sold. A letter
sent to the men who were to arrange for the surveying was miss interpreted.
The letter said to prepare "nicely pointed stakes." This was
read "nicely painted," so the town was painted red once at
least.
For a time the Carlisles and the Moores were the only residents of
Villisca. Nearby lived families of Wests, Dunns, Gourleys,
Meanses, and Bakers.
In the fall or winter of
1861-1862 a steam sawmill was brought overland from Chariton and
located in the south part of Villisca. This marked a new era
-- board fences, frame houses and barns began to appear. Up to this
time there had been an old watermill on the Middle Nodaway known as
the McMillian Mill.
|
