of
Muscatine County Iowa
1879
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1879 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Historical Section, 1879, pages 418-425
COMMISSIONERS' RECORDS. The first entry in the original record book of the Commissioners' Court was transcribed by S. Clinton Hastings, after he became Clerk. There is no date given, but by inference it can be seen that the meeting was held October 4, 1837. The entry reads: "The Supervisors of the county of Musquitine met this day, at the house of Robert c. Kinney. Present, Messrs. Washburn and Fay." From the succeeding pages, the reader draws the inference that the meeting was held October 4, 1837. The adjournment of the Board was "until the 5th inst.," and the following entry begins with the date, "October 5, 1837."
The only business transacted at the October session Was the issuance of orders on the Treasurer for various sums. No. 1 was for $27, in favor of Thomas M. Isett, for services as surveyor of a county road. Seven orders in all were issued, four of which were for road work; one to James Davis, for summoning grand jury, $28.74, and two to John G. Coleman and Silas S. Lathrop, Justices of the Peace, respectively, for services in the case of the United States vs. John Ruby.
Samuel Parker was allowed $6.50, for "furnishing a room for holding court, etc."
Samuel Shorteridge, James R. Struthers and S. C. Hastings were appointed Assessors of the county, with salary fixed at $2 per day while actually engaged in work. J. R. Struthers was allowed $2 for serving as Clerk of the Board for two days. This entry shows that Mr. Hastings was not Clerk until 1838.
The second session of the Board was an extra one, and convened at the house of J. G. Coleman, on the 17th day of February, 1838. The Board was then composed of John Vanater, E. Thornton and Aaron Usher, with Mr. Hastings Clerk. The session lasted but one day, and no business was transacted other than the allowance of accounts against the county.
March 17, the Board met in the office of Thomas M. Isett, and was composed of Daniel Comstock, E. Thornton and Aaron Usher. John S. Abbott was appointed Clerk.
The official bond of Jonathan Pettibone, County Treasurer, was accepted.
The orders issued to Clerks and Judges of Elections, at this session, show that the county had previously been divided into five election precincts, viz., Clark, Moscow, Montpelier, Fairhaven and Bloomington. No record of the division appears on the Commissioners' books.
The first evidence obtained relative to the appointment of Election Judges and the location of polling precincts is from the proceedings of the session of April 2, 1838. At that time, Bloomington, Fairhaven, Moscow and Montpelier were named, and Clark Precinct was discontinued. The Judges appointed were: E, E. Fay, Samuel Holliday and Thomas Burdett, Bloomington; George Stormes, William Kidder and William Bagley, Fairhaven; Benjamin Ludlow, William Addir and Goodwin Taylor, Moscow; Peter Hesser, William Chambers and Stephen Nye, Montpelier.
On the 8th of May, the Fairhaven Precinct was removed to Wapsenoknock, as it was originally spelled. It is now spelled Wapsinonoc.
July 2, a license was granted James W. Neally to keep a ferry at Bloomington, across the Mississippi, from the lst of August, 1838, for one year. The rates prescribed were as follows: Each footman. 25 cents; man and horse, 50 cents; wagon and two horses, $1.50; each additional horse, 25 cents; wagon and yoke of oxen, $1.50; stock cattle, 25 cents; sheep and hogs, 6 1/4 cents.
The rates of ferriage across Cedar River were then fixed as follows: Each footman, 12 1/2 cents; man and horse, 25 cents; wagon and two horses, 75 cents; additional horse, 12 1/2 cents; wagon and yoke of oxen, 75 cents; additional oxen, 25 cents; loose cattle, sheep, hogs, etc., 6 1/4 cents. It cost $7.50 to procure a license to maintain a ferry across Cedar River.
Alexander Ross was granted a license for ferry at Moscow, across the Cedar River.
July 3, the Board accepted the report of the Assessors, and ordered a tax of one-half of one per cent levied for county purposes.
September 8, Sarvim Jenners was appointed Clerk of the Board, but held the office only one session. At this date the precinct of Wyoming was established.
October 1, the Board consisted of Err Thornton, Aaron Usher and John Vanater, and John G. Morrow was appointed Clerk.
John Vanater was allowed $8, for serving as a committee of one to go to Burlington, and advise with the Receiver of the United States Land Office, relative to the purchase of a quarter-section of land for county purposes. This was the first step taken toward the entry of the site of Muscatine.
At this session, it transpired that Err Thornton and John Vanater had each received the same number of votes, at the preceding election, for County Commissioner. The matter was settled, by the men drawing lots for the term of two years, and the same fell to the share of John Vanater.
January 9, 1839, Messrs. Vanater and Thornton were allowed certain expenses for going to Burlington and securing the town site.
It was also ordered by the Board, at that meeting, that a survey be made of the town quarter, and that the proprietors of the claim be allowed the refusal of the lots, at the graduation prices. If that privilege be refused, then the lots to be forfeited. The total sum to be raised on the quarter was $18,000.
FIRST JAIL. At this session, the Board ordered that a Jail be erected, in the town of Bloomington, on the square reserved for public buildings. The structure was described in the specifications as follows: Length, 24 feet; width, 16 feet; floors of timber laid crosswise, each layer 1 foot square; wall of two courses of timber, 12 inches square; 10 inches apart; the space between the timbers to be filled in with broken stone. Posts 10 feet in the clear, two stories high. The inside of rooms planked with 2-inch planks, driven full of 20-penny nails, one on every square inch. The partitions on lower story of 3-inch stuff. A trap-door was placed in the upper floor, and a door of heavy planks opened into the second story, but there were no doors opening on the ground floor. Entrance was effected by ascending outside stairs and passing into the upper rooms, from whence prisoners were dropped down into the lower cells through the trap-door in the floor. The doors were lined with sheet iron, and the exposed wood-work filled with nails. Two grated windows admitted light and air in the lower rooms. The building was ordered completed by July 4, 1839, and stood until 1857, when J. P. Walton purchased it for $30, and afterward sold the solid oak timbers of which it was composed for $800. Mr. Walton still has the old door-key.
Block 24, of the town plat was reserved for the use of the county, in the erection of public buildings.
In March, the Board ordered a survey of Section 35, and appointed George Bumgardner Surveyor.
August, 1839, the Board was composed of John Vanater, Madison Stewart and Moses Perrin, with J. G. Morrow, Clerk.
At the August election there were six precincts. viz., Bloomington, Wyoming, Stormes, Pine, Moscow and Wapsinonoc.
November 4, Edward E. Fay was appointed Clerk of the Board.
SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 1. The Board constituted School District No.1, November 4, the territory embraced in the limits thereof being Township 78 north, Range 2 west.
HIGH RATE OF INTEREST. The Board loaned money, obtained by the sale of lands on Section 35, at the rate of 20 per cent per annum interest.
THE COURT HOUSE. November 6, the Board ordered that proposals for building a Court House in the town of Bloomington be requested, by advertisement in the Burlington Territorial Gazette for the space of five weeks. The bricks were ordered to be ten inches long, five inches wide and two and one-half inches thick. The building to be completed by September 1, 1841. November 23, the plan submitted by Stephen B. Brophy was accepted as the standard of the proposed edifice. Mr. Brophy was allowed $200 for plans and specifications of the building. The Board subsequently modified the order concerning the size of the brick, making them nine inches long instead of ten, and then required the walls to be twenty-two inches thick. William Brownell obtained the job of erecting the Court House. The edifice was built of brick, laid upon stone foundation walls, the latter being hammered for the upper three courses. The brick used were made by Stephen Headly. The building was completed by the required time. The cost was $15,000. In 1864, the greater part of the edifice was destroyed by fire. It was reconstructed at once at a cost of $29,000. Many of the old papers relating to the organization of the county were destroyed by the fire.
At the April election, in 1840, the election precincts were as follows: Pine, Wyoming, Moscow, West Liberty, Stormes and Bloomington.
In April, William Brownell was employed to "dig and wall a good well on the public square," for which he was to receive $1.50 per foot. It was to be an open well, with windlass and bucket.
Thomas M. Isett, at about this time, surveyed the ground for the Court House.
In September, 1840, the county was divided into Commissioners' Districts as follows: Townships 77 and 78 north, Range 1 east; Townships 77 and 78 north, Range 1 west and Township 78 north, Range 2 west, First District. Townships 76 and 77, Range 2, Second District. Townships 76, 77 and 78, Range 3; Townships 76, 77 and 78, Range 4, Third District.
October, 1840, the Board was composed of John Vanater, R. Stewart and Benjamin Nye, with Edward E. Fay, Clerk.
In November, Mr. Nye received seals for the Commissioners' Court, the Probate Court and the District Court, from Joseph M. Isett, then representing this county in the Legislature.
In the summer of 1841, the Board reduced the rates of ferriage as follows: footmen, 12 1/2 cents; man and horse, 25 cents; wagon and two horses, 50 cents; additional horse, 12 1/2 cents; wagon and yoke of oxen, 50 cents; additional yoke of oxen, 25 cents; cattle, sheep, etc., 6 1/4 cents.
In August, 1841, the Board consisted of John Vanater, Benjamin Nye and William Leffingwell, with E. E. Fay, Clerk.
In the years 1842-43, the only change was the election of Abraham Smalley, Clerk.
In 1844, the Board consisted of John Vanater, Milo Bennett and Charles Neally, with Abraham Smalley, Clerk. After August of that year, George Earll was Clerk, and, in July, 1845, William Leffingwell acted in that capacity.
In October, 1845, Milo Bennett and John Zeigler and Charles Neally were Commissioners.
In October, 1846, John Zeigler, Daniel L. Healy and John H. Miller were Commissioners, and Z. Washburn Clerk.
In 1847, John Zeigler, Daniel L. Healy and John H. Miller were Commissioners, and William Leffingwell Acting Clerk. Nathaniel Hallock was Clerk.
In July, 1848, a tax of 2 mills was ordered to be levied for the purpose of purchasing and establishing a Poor-farm.
In 1848, the Board was composed of H. H. Garnes, D. L. Healy and William Beard, with N. Hallock Clerk.
In 1849, D. S. Healy, H. H. Garnes and A. T. Banks, with N. Hallock Clerk.
In 1850, Amos Lillibridge, H. H. Garnes and William Keyes, with N. Hallock Clerk.
THE COUNTY JUDGE SYSTEM. In 1851, the Board of Commissioners was abolished, by act of the Legislature, and the County Judge system instituted. The Court had equal powers with the former Board, in all business matters relating to the County, and had co-ordinate jurisdiction with justices' courts. Preliminary examinations in criminal cases were sometimes made before it. The first Judge elected, by general vote of the county, was Arthur Washburn. In 1856, George Meason was chosen to succeed him, and, in 1857, Edward H. Thayer became Judge. The Court had jurisdiction in all probate matters and the former Probate Court was abolished when the Judge system came into vogue.
THE SUPERVISOR SYSTEM. After ten years of trial, it was discovered that the County Judge system was not entirely satisfactory. One man held too great a power for the general interest of the community. With the usual vigor and impetuosity of Americans, the people of Iowa at once dashed to the other extreme, and delegated one man from each township to serve as a County Supervisor. From 1861 to 1870, the Board was composed in this county of the following members:
1861---John B. Dougherty, Chairman; Evans B. Burgan, Elijah Younkin, Silas Ferry, Joseph Crane, Vernet Tracy, Michael Price, John Zeigler, John R. Merritt, R. H. Patterson, J. E. Robb, Henry Resley, Andrew Heberling, William C. Evans.
1862---John B. Dougherty, Chairman; E. F. Burgan, Elijah Younkin, Silas Ferry, Joseph Crane, Vernet Tracy, Michael Price, Marshall Farnsworth, J. E. Robb, William Hoyt, R. H. Patterson, William C. Evans, George W. Hunt, Andrew Heberling.
1863---Joseph Crane, Chairman; Thomas M. Isett, E. F. Burgan, R. H. Patterson, John Fullmer, Silas Ferry, A. Heberling, E. Younkin, G. W. Hunt, William C. Evans, J. E. Robb, William Hoyt, Vernet Tracy, Marshall Farnsworth.
1864---Joseph Crane, Chairman; E. Younkin, Vernet Tracy, George Chase, John Fullmer, M. Farnsworth, R. T. Thompson, Richard Musser, J. E. Robb, William D. Viele, Thomas M. Isett, George W. Hunt, William D. Cone, E. F. Burgan.
1865---R. F. Thompson, Chairman; J. D Walker, William F. Tolles, William D. Viele, M. Farnsworth, George Chase, J. A. Purinton, Michael Price, William H. Stewart, Richard Musser, A. Cone, William H. Hazlett, George W. Hunt, Thomas Boggs.
1866---James E. Robb, Chairman; Stephen Herrick, Nathan Brown, R. T. Thompson, Charles Page, Andrew Dobbs, C. M. McDaniel, William H. Hazlett, J. A. Purinton, A. Cone, Michael Price, J. D. Walker, William H. Stewart, George Chase.
1867---James E. Robb, Chairman; Nathan Brown, George Chase, A. Cone, Charles Cope, Andrew Dobbs, William H. Hazlett, Stephen Herrick, Charles Page, J. A. Purinton, Jacob Snyder, W. H. Stewart, J. E. Walker, James A. Eaton.
1868---J. D. Walker, Chairman; A. Cone, B. S. Cone, Charles Cope, Andrew Dobbs, J. A. Eaton, E. E. Edwards, Caleb Elliott, W. H. Hazlett, C. C. Horton, George Metts, J. A. Purinton, Jacob Snyder, W. H. Stewart.
1869---W. H. Stewart, Chairman; Charles Cope, J. A. Eaton, E. E. Edwards, Caleb Elliott, H. S. Griffin, Daniel Harker, W. H. Hazlett, J. A. Purington, C. C. Horton, Mathew Porter, Joseph Nelson, J. S. Riggs, A. Dobbs.
1870---J. A. Parvin, Chairman; Byron Carpenter, James A. Eaton, Daniel Harker, H. S. Griffin, William Fultz, W. H. Hazlett, C. C. Horton, Joseph Nelson, J. A. Purington, M. Porter, J. S. Riggs, W. H. Stewart, Alonzo Shaw.
In 1871 the system was changed again to one similar to the original Commissioners' plan. By legislative enactment, it was made optional with the people whether they had three or five Commissioners, or Supervisors, as they are called. This county chose the smaller number, and, since 1871, the Board has been composed of the following members:
1871---William H. Stewart, Chairman; Byron Carpenter, James E. Robb.
1872---William H. Stewart, Chairman; James E. Robb, Byron Carpenter.
1873---A. F. Demorest, Chairman; J. E. Robb, Byron Carpenter.
1874---A. F. Demorest, Chairman; J. E. Robb, Byron Carpenter.
1875---A. F. Demorest, Chairman; Thomas Birkett, J. E. Robb.
1876---J. E. Robb, Chairman; Thomas Birkett, I. L. Graham.
1877---Thomas Birkett, Chairman; A. Cone, I. L. Graham.
1878---I. L. Graham, Chairman; Thomas Birkett, A. Cone.
1879---Thomas Birkett, Chairman; A. Cone, Cornelius Cadle.
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