of
Muscatine County Iowa
1879
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1879 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Historical Section, 1879, pages 394-412
SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY.
INTRODUCTORY. Less than half a century has elapsed since the first cabin was erected in Muscatine County, and many of the settlers who came during the first decade of its existence still live to tell of the events of those days. But even now, at this comparatively early period, some conflicts of statement occur. It is a recognized fact that witnesses of the same scene will not relate the occurrence exactly alike if called upon to do so. Like the blind men of the East in the fable, who attempted to describe the elephant by feeling of him, each tells part of the story aright, while each differs from the others through some mistaken sense of the whole subject. Besides, memory at best is treacherous, and incidents are oftentimes confused with more recent matters, until men are willing to state positively as truth what others are equally ready to pronouce erroneous. It is, therefore, impossible for a writer to satisfy all who contribute to his fund of information. In the preparation of these pages one rule above all others has been adhered to, and that is to give authorities for statements in dispute, and to express opinions only on the side of the preponderance of evidence. Facts are given as such when substantiated by unquestionable records; reminiscences are related on the strength of reliable recitals, and mooted questions are presented with the differing opinions of those who raise the doubt.
As becomes the character of this work, which will hereafter form the standing of historic fact in this county, more care has been given to the obtaining and compilation of data than in any previous work. Several brief sketches have been published, which were more or less accurate, but none of them agree fully with the information gathered by the writer and given in order here. All possible sources of knowledge bearing upon the history of the county have been sought after, and liberal use, with ample credit, has been made of them.
No effort has been made to please all, for such an attempt would prove futile; but a decided effort has been put forth to make this an accurate work of future reference, a readable work for present enjoyment, and a standard work of the history of Muscatine County.
"Had we realized in those early days," remarked one of the pioneers to the writer, "that we were making history, a detailed record of events would have been transcripted from week to week. But what incentive had we for such a task? There were no startling incidents in our daily lives. Many of us came here supposing this would prove to be but a temporary abiding-place. It was a struggle for existence. For one of us to have predicted the development of Muscatine County to its present condition within the life-time of our little company, would have been ample ground for writing him down as either a silly dreamer or a positive lunatic. We began on so small a scale that the idea of preserving our movements in the form of a record never entered our minds. Had we the same experience to go through with again, we would profit by our mistakes of the past, and be able to produce reliable data for the historians who should come after us."
Fortunately for the purposes of history, there still live within accessible range of the writer many of the first settlers, and from them the unwritten part of the history of Muscatine County is gathered.
The history of a county is usually little more than the compilation of imperfect records, partial traditions and vague legends. Very few of the counties have preserved with proper care the archives of the earliest days of their existence. Society was crude, and men were unsuited by experience to places of official responsibility. No one thought that the careless transcripts of primary meetings would one day form the staple of history. The duty of scribe was irksome to the pioneers, when necessity compelled some written evidence of organizing transactions; and brief, indeed, were the minutes of almost every public assembly.
History is but a record of the present when time has made it the past. Each act in one's life may be a topic of importance in the pages yet to be written. Nothing is too trivial or uninteresting in the routine affairs of those who mingle with public men to be unworthy of a place in the diary of the local recorder of events. Some minor matter may serve to corroborate and affirm the time and method of a far mightier occurrence.
The history of Muscatine County, however, differs from the general rule in this important particular. Instead of being dependent upon crippled records or unstable traditions, the story is composed of original statements, gathered expressly for this work, from those principal participants in the thrilling scenes of the past who still live within the county in the enjoyment of the blessings which accrue from 1ives of enterprising industry.
Muscatine County is yet in its infancy, so far as years are concerned; but by its prosperity it holds a commanding place among the counties of the State. The brevity of its political life is not only favorable to the historian, affording him ample opportunities for communion with the original pioneers, but it is also significant in a material sense, inasmuch as it foreshadows a grander development of its inexhaustible resources within the life-time of those who are now partaking of the fruits of their labors here. If but a generation, estimated by the popular standard, is required to redeem the wilderness from a primeval state, clothe the prairies with richest crops and dot them with modern dwelling- houses, may we not reasonably anticipate a far more rapid advancement toward wealth during the quarter of a century yet to come?
Those who entered upon the work of converting the wild lands into civilized abodes, began with no other assistance than strong hands and stout hearts. The patient ox, the sharp ax, the primitive hoe, the cradle and the scythe were man's only dependence. Mechanic art was then in its swaddling-clothes. Cumbersome mechanism had been applied to the planting and harvesting of crops, but those who favored the innovation on time-honored customs were tabooed and looked upon with pitiful astonishment.
But more than all else, the pioneers who made the first bold strokes for homes in the lovely land of Iowa were poor, almost without exception. Had there been unlimited numbers of improved appliances for agriculture at their very doors, they could not have availed themselves of the opportunities, from lack of means. And therein lies the pith and marrow of the credit due the noble vanguards of the West. From nothing but that which nature lavishly supplied, they builded strong and well. They labored with the energy of heroes, and deserve the reward of veterans.
But half a century has passed since the Indians exercised high dominion over these broad prairies and shady groves. Here their feasts were celebrated, their lodges established, their councils held, their dead buried, and, within that time, also, the painted bands of warriors have disappeared on their forced march westward, while the setting sun--typical of the waning glory of their race--threw grotesque shadows of their trains on the crude farms of the venture- some white man.
Brief indeed have been the days between the era of savagery and the era of civilization. But, short as that intervening space has been, it was ample for the sowing of seeds which will, beyond peradventure, bear marvelous fruitage. The hand of intelligent man was laid upon this region, as it were, but yesterday. To-day, one beholds the finest farms, the best tilled acres, the richest orchards, the most substantial buildings and the newest implements of husbandry tbat can be met with throughout the length and breadth of "Beautiful Iowa."
Where once the fierce blasts of winter howled with increasing monotony over unobstructed plains, the dense grove now stands a barrier between man and the elements, in silent protest against the forces of the air. Where once the single camp-fire of the lonely hunter wreathed its slender spire of smoke as he reposed, solitary and silent, near the beaten path of the deer, there now ascend the choking fumes of many furnaces, as they glow and roar in the busy centers of manufacture. Churches and schoolhouses--those edifices which proclaim the moral development of a country and represent the two greatest factors in the problem of civilization--dot the prairie on every hand. At the centers of trade these institutions stand, eloquent evidences of the intelligence of the populace, and point to a still grander outcome.
Wealth has succeeded poverty, and privation has given way to comfort. The children of the pioneers have grown up surrounded by refining influences, and bear the stamp of training in a broader school than their parents were privileged to attend. Books and music have their appropriate places in the farmhouses, and social intercourse is no longer restricted to the range of ox-cart communication. The finest horses, the choicest animals, the largest herds graze in rich pasture-lands. It is no longer necessary to "turn the cattle into the big lot," as a pioneer expressed his early method of caring for his patient oxen. Fences mark the boundaries of farms and subdivisions of farms. As year succeeds year, the flocks increase in numbers and condition, and the markets of the East find profit in choosing the cattle from a thousand hillocks.
Railroads stretch across the county, affording the facilities for transportation so much desired a quarter of a century ago. Villages have sprung up along these lines of traffic and added to the market value of lands in their vicinity. Timber, which was so highly prized when first the region was sought out, now ranks far below the open prairie-lands in point of value. Modern inventive genius has found a way to meet the requirements of the day for fences, and coal is rapidly becoming an article of general use as fuel. Hence, it is found that groves are prized more for the sake of their protective qualities than for the intrinsic worth of their products.
Where formerly the settlers were compelled to traverse the country for flour and provisions--consuming days in the tedious journey--are now busy mills, which supply the local needs of the communities. Nor is it longer necessary to rely upon the uncertain visits of friends to a distant post office for unfrequent mails; for the system of postal delivery reaches to the fartheat limits of the country, and the rapid transit of news matter is an established affair, accepted without surprise, or even a second thought. Thirty years ago, there were few papers received by the settlers, and these few came from other and older localities, while now the press of Muscatine ranks high among the hosts of publications in the State and nation. Daily and weekly issues are scattered broadcast over the region, carrying news from the earth's four quarters, and enabling the pioneers, even, to read the transactions of Church and State simultaneously with the denizens of the great cities of the land. The telegraphic wires bring to their doors tidings from commercial marts, and tell them when and how to dispose of the enormous products of factory and farm. Banking institutions of solid worth exist, and monetary matters are conducted on as large a scale as in many an Eastern city. Social clubs and amusement societies relieve the routine of business after the approved methods of cosmopolitans. Secret societies flourish and celebrate their mystic rites in richly-appointed lodge- rooms, and hold honored rank among the general bodies of their respective crafts.
The social world is as brilliant in its state and as cultured in its character as that which graces the salons of the capitals of the East. Wealth and refinement are evidenced in the bearing of the people. The honest housewife of the olden time may look with distrust upon the grander display at civil ceremonies, but cannot stay the tide as it sets toward the obliteration of simple habits. There may be much truth in the often-repeated assurance that "girls were worth more in the early days," if the estimate of excellence be based upon physical prowess and domestic "faculty;" but it must be remembered that each generation plays its separate part in the drama of life. As the poet writes of individuals.
* * * "All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man, in his time, plays many parts,"
so is society constructed upon a plan that places each succeeding division in a role different from that which preceded it. The standard by which to measure woman's might to-day is not that which tests her qualities as a pioneer, but rather that which proves the use she has made of the advantages of the present. It would be as just to condemn the young man of to-day because he is not drilled in woodcraft and able to read the marks of Nature like the red man. The fathers who paved the way for the introduction of modern ideas, needed, per- force, to know the signs by which the Indian chief governed the warriors of his band; but those symbols are obsolete now, and would lumber the mind with useless information.The man whose genius introduced the principles of mechanics into the working of farms, signed the last pages of the first volume of the history of the pioneers, and inaugurated a new era from which the present power of man must be calculated. The farmer who tills a thousand acres now is surely no weaker than he whose limits were a hundred in the "good old days." Yet the muscular development has not increased during the half-century past. It is mind, not matter, which governs, and the tendency of this age, which is truly termed the mechanical, is to produce maximum results from minimum forces. The laborious method of planting and harvesting by hand has given way to the more admirable plan of employing mechanical devices in the work.
Muscatine County ranks her neighboring counties in just the degree that her intelligence has progressed. The end is far away, for the improvements over the original settlement are insignificant compared with tne capabilities of her men and the possibilities of her resources. Nature has lavished abundant wealth upon her, and it remains for man to extract it from the earth. The farms are inexhaustible in productive qualities, if rightly cultivated. The future promises much more marked changes in every branch of trade and commerce, and there remains for her inhabitants an enviable harvest of results.
Pleasant for situation, rich in material wealth, peopled by intelligent men and abounding in an atmosphere of mental health, the county of Muscatine is destined to become a leading one in the Northwest, as it is to-day a leading one in the State. The responsibility of developing it is intrusted to good men and true, and the dawn of the twentieth century will behold in this fair region a source of constant pride.
WHO WAS THE FIRST SETTLER. It is not unfrequently a most difficult question to determine who was the original settler in even the comparatively young counties of Iowa. Muscatine County presents a case of peculiar embarrassment to one who seeks earnestly to ascertain the truth and to do impartial work as a chronicler of historic events. The writer of these lines found that the prevailing sentiment relative to priority was in favor of Benjamin Nye, when first the labor of compiling these records began; but no sooner was the effort put forth to substantiate the the claim of Mr. Nye, than the subject became one of grave doubt.
It was ascertained that the basis of much of the historical belief was a very carefully prepared sketch of the settlement of the county, gotten up in connection with a directory of Muscatine City, in 1856, by Mr. John Mahin, now senior editor of the Muscatine Journal. Mr. Mahin devoted conscientious labor to his volume, and made it an acceptable authority on all topics embraced in its table of contents. From that book numerous other similar works have drawn liberally in the preparation of historical sketches, and they could do so with safety, as many of the old settlers unhesitatingly pronounced the original Directory an unusually accurate book. Thus it has become generally understood that the party therein accredited with the honor of being the first settler, was in reality the pioneer.
However, the oft-repeated statement has led to the discussion of the question, both in private and through the press, and the writer finds himself confronted at the very outset with contradictory reports which cannot be ignored. In such cases we have but one rule to follow, and that is to give the statements of all parties who are able to throw any light on the subject, and leave the matter in that shape. It is clearly a question which never will be definitely determined beyond the point reached by us in these pages. It is a mooted question, upon which but one party can now be interrogated. There are no witnesses living to substantiate the assertions of either claimants, nor can there be found any documentary evidence to corroborate the declarations of interested parties.
The evidence before the writer deprives Mr. Nye of the honor of priority and accords it to Err Thornton and his brother Lott Thornton. Mr. Err Thornton is still living, near Drury's Landing in Illinois. From him is obtained the information that he and his brother first came to this region and made claim to lands within the limits of the present county of Muscatine, in the fall of 1833. The site chosen by them was on the slough, about twelve miles south of the existing corporation of Muscatine City. It is not claimed that they brought their families with them at the time, but merely that they made preliminary claims, and erected a cabin on the spot designated. To prove that this assertion is not one of recent origin, but that it bears evidences of having been made to correct the statement in the Directory, the writer has before him a memorandum- book belonging to Mr. J. P. Walton, a gentleman whose tastes and habits in the direction of collecting and preserving memoranda, historic and scientific data, etc., are well known. In passing, we may observe, also, that Mr. Walton's collection of books, papers, and documents is the best and most extensive we have found in Muscatine. Therefore, when it is shown that Mr. W. made entry of a statement uttered to him on February 21, 1863, the reader will perceive that the claim made by Mr. Thornton is no new one. At the time just named, Mr. Thornton declared that he came to this section in the fall of 1833, and at that period there was no cabin standing in the present county limits.
There are several old settlers who remember hearing Mr. Thornton make the same statement, but we have not discovered any written memorandum of the conversation, dating back any considerable time, except the foregoing. Mr. Suel Foster is inclined to believe that Mr. Thornton's claim is good, and numerous others might be mentioned. But, as has been stated, no one can give positive evidence on this point, except Mr. Thornton himself; and while his word is unquestionable and his standing from the first has always been high in the community in which he lived, there is still the possibility of his being mistaken as to the year. If he is in error, it is solely an error of recollection. There is no man foolish enough to assert that the memory is always beyond suspicion.
John McGrew came to this region in December, 1834. His own statement of his arrival here, and whom he found living here at the time, was published in the Journal December 3, 1874. It is as follows: Mr. McGrew crossed the Mississippi at New Boston. He stopped at an Indian village called Blackhawk, and there made arrangements with an Indian to act as guide. He was informed that two white settlers were living about twenty miles above. Following a trail along the river, McGrew and his guide came to the newly-erected cabins of Err and Lott Thornton, who had made a claim about twelve miles below the site of Muscatine. After staying two days with the Thorntons, the prospector continue4 his journey. He found Col. Davenport's man, Farnham, keeping a little trading-house near the mouth of Pappoose Creek. There was no other building on the site of Muscatine, nor any settler as far up as the site of Buffalo. McGrew crossed the river at that point, and returned to New Boston. In February, 1835, McGrew returned to the Thornton settlement and engaged in rail-splitting. In March, he staked out a claim and erected a cabin near Lettsville. This was the first settlement on "High Prairie." In 1836, Mr. McGrew married, and remained on the original claim until 1842, when he bought a farm in Seventy-six Township.
Benjamin Nye, the other claimant, is no longer able to argue his own case. His tragic death occurred in 1852, and is described further on in this work. Like Mr. Thornton, he was a man whose word could be relied upon, and the only possibility of error is through a failure to recollect dates. There is no indisputable evidence as to his arrival in this county. In the Old Settlers' Register, his name appears among those who came in 1834, but the entry was not made until thirteen years after Mr. Nye's death, and was the work of the Secretary. On the opposite page from that entry, Mrs. Nye's name is recorded, under the year 1833. As the pioneer's wife did not, of course, precede her husband by a year, the entry is manifestly wrong. It is not claimed by Mr. Nye's friends that he moved here prior to 1834, and some of the settlers even place his coming in the fall of that year. The custom of the period, and the usual methods of making a claim, aid us somewhat in the solution of the problem. It was necessary for a man to "prospect" and make a selection before he could secure a satisfactory site for a farm. It was customary, also, for men to go into the wilderness in advance of their families, and prepare the way for the more delicate sex. Few pioneers moved their families before determining the exact spot upon which they were to locate, and it is unreasonable to believe that Mr. Nye was one of the exceptional class. He evidently made his claim after careful investigation, because the site chosen was such a one as was then deemed especially good. It embraced the dual advantages of a mill-site and a town site.
When John McGrew made his trip through this region in December, 1834, he discovered no traces of settlement at the mouth of Pine River. It is possible that Mr. McGrew is mistaken as to there being no cabin there. Even the Indians, who were most likely to know of invasions on their domain, might not have learned of the existence of the new cabin, within the few weeks which elapsed between the autumn months and December of that year. It is asserted that they knew of the Thornton claim, but McGrew says that those men had been there long enough to secure a crop of prairie hay.
Charles Drury accompanied the Thorntons acrOss the river, when they moved into the county with their families. That event transpired, according to his recollection, which is shown to be excellent in other matters, in the spring or summer of 1835.
Mrs. Azuba Nye, whose death occurred just prior to the writer's visit to the county, and thereby deprived him of a personal interview, asserted positively that she moved to Pine River in 1834.
In view of all these statements, there remains no alternative but to leave the question of original settlement still undecided so far as the men were concerned, and to accord Mrs. Nye precedence in the line of pioneer women. The right of priority rests between Err and Lott Thornton and Benjamin Nye, and, so far as we can see, there is no possibility of determining beyond cavil which of the men is entitled to the name of first settler. There is nothing shown which proves that the Thorntons came prior to the summer of 1834, but they must have been here as early as that, in order to have secured the hay which McGrew saw in December of that year. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that an error of one year occurred in Mr. Thornton's recollection, and that the first settlement was effected by both claimants, in the summer and fall, respectively, of 1834.
At the beginning of 1835, the settlements in this section were three in number: The Davenport claim, where Muscatine stands; the Nye claim, at the mouth of Pine River, and the Thornton claim, on the slough, toward the south.
In May of that year, the first gentle swell of the tide of immigration was felt. James W. Casey laid claim to the land just south of the Davenport claim, and began improving the same, with the intention of locating a town thereon. This locality was soon known as Casey's Landing, and subsequently as Newburg.
Arthur Washburn moved from New York State, and stopped at Casey's Landing during the summer of 1835.
Dr. Eli Reynolds chose a tract of land three miles up the river from Davenport's trading-house, where he afterward, in conjunction with Harvey Gillett, laid out a town and called it Geneva.
In 1835, Dr. Reynolds was elected, from this section of old Des Moines County, to the Belmont Legislature. In the winter of 1837-38, he attempted to secure the relocation of the county seat at his "town," but failed. The bill authorizing the change was passed by the Legislature, but when the news reached Bloomington, special parties were sent out in all directions, with protests; and so formidable were the expressions of disapproval from the people, that Gov. Dodge vetoed the bill. Geneva is known only in history at the present time.
Benjamin Nye also caused a town to be surveyed, at the mouth of Pine River, about this time, and called the site Montpelier. The only evidence of the existence of such a place is the name, which is attached to the township in which the survey was made. The plat was staked out about twelve miles above the present city of Muscatine.
W. P. Wright, of Montpelier Township, still resides upon the farm claimed by his father in 1836. Some time since he celebrated his silver wedding. Mr. Wright's father was a Kentuckian and a slaveholder; but in 1836, he sold his plantation for $19,500, and came to Iowa, to get away from the evils of the "peculiar institution." He never realized more than the $500, the balance being lost by breach of trust. Mr. Wright's homestead is regarded as the oldest in the county.
It is impossible to give a list of those who came to this county in 1835, as there were, doubtless, a few who did not remain long enough to gain even the title of pioneer.
The year 1836 was one of marked improvements in this region. Col. Vanater purchased the claim of Davenport, in February, as is fully described in the chapter on Muscatine City, and many people took up their residence within the limits of the newly-advertised domain.
By an act of the Territorial Legislature, approved December 14, 1838, Joseph Williams and Charles Alexander Warfield were authorized to keep a ferry across the Mississippi, at Bloomington, and for one mile above and below the town, provided horse or steam power was used, and no individual rights of proprietorship in the lands on either side of the river, where landings were made, were interfered with. This license was not improved, however, and lapsed, because of inaction.
By an act of the same body, approved December 29, 1838, Aaron Usher and Thomas M. Groom were authorized to keep a ferry across the Mississippi, opposite the town of Wyoming, with landing at Illinois City.
Benjamin Nye was authorized to construct a mill-dam across Pine Creek, at any point on the northwest quarter of Section 21, Township 77 north, Range 1 east, and to erect mills and other machinery, etc., by act of the Legislature approved January 12, 1839.
THE FIRST POST OFFICE. In 1836, Maj. William Gordon laid claim to the tract of land adjoining, or near to Benjamin Nye's farm, and there opened a little trading-post. Arthur Washburn acted as clerk for the Major. Sometime that year a post office was established at that point, and Mr. Washburn was made Postmaster. The name of the office was "Iowa."
EARLY MILLS. Weare Long built the first saw-mill in the county, in 1837, on Sweetland Creek; but there was not sufficient water to run the machinery at all times. The building fell down and was rebuilt, in 1845, by Calvin Bruce and J. P. Walton, but never amounted to much.
Benjamin Nye's grist-mill, at the mouth of Pine River, was the first grinding-mill erected in the county, in 1837.
In 1837, Eli Reynolds and John Lawson built a steam saw-mill at the mouth of Lime Creek, at Geneva, the first steam-mill in the county. Robert Smith brought up the engine and machinery from St. Louis, and was retained as engineer by Reynolds & Lawson. In the spring of 1838, John Vanater purchased Lawson's interest. In later years, the mill was taken down and removed to Muscatine, where it was changed into a stave-factory.
Vanderpool post office was establisheq early in 1838, and S. C. Comstock was appointed Postmaster. Amos Walton was made Deputy. This was the third post office in the county. Mr. Comstock resigned his position before the year was out, and Mr. Walton succeeded him. The name was changed to Geneva. Mr. Walton remained in office until the time of his death, which occurred in 1841. The office was then discontinued. When Geneva was platted, Harvey Gillett, one of the proprietors, went East to sell lots, and also to move his family, consisting of wife and seven young daughters, to the new "town." He had erected two hewed-log houses, and there was one other small log shanty occupied by James Davis, sheriff of the county. It transpired that Amos Walton was at St. Louis when the Lovejoy murder occurred, and, being an Abolitionist, he feared to settle in a slave State. He met Gillett on a Mississippi steamboat, and was induced to come to Geneva. He reached there in 1838. In 1878, the family of Mr. Walton, twelve in number, celebrated the fortieth anniversary of his landing by a re-union at the deserted village of Geneva. James Davis had a grocery in the place in 1838, and Amos Walton kept the post office in his own little cabin.
J. P. Walton furnishes the following interesting statistics concerning the Vanderpool post office. In those days, it was customary for the receiver to pay the postage on letters, and more than one expectant man has been compelled to leave his mail in the office for weeks, because of his inability to pay the amount due thereon. A letter from St. Louis required 18 3/4 cents postage; one from White Oak Springs, 18 1/4 cents; one from Chicago or Toledo, 25 cents; from Davenport, 12 cents; and from other points, in proportion. There was one copy of the New York Observer, one of the New York Courier and Inquirer, one Temperance Journal and one Olive Branch taken at the office regularly. Thirteen copies of the Perrysville (Iowa) Banner were also received. The Postmaster's average quarterly pay was $1.58 5/8, or $6.34 1/2 per year.
FIRST SURVEY. The first Government lines run in the county were surveyed in the winter of 1836-37. During the following summer, the townships were subdivided into sections. As frequent allusion has been made to the original settlers and "claimants," it may be well to digress from the story of settlement long enough to explain the nature of a "claim," define the process of selection, and tell
HOW "CLAIMS" WERE MADE. The claim making of the early settlers in Iowa was a mode of settlement peculiar to that portion of the public domain which was occupied prior to its being surveyed by the general government. Newhall, in his "Sketches of Iowa," states that by mutual concession and an honorable adherence to neighborhood regulations, claim making was governed by a pro tem law, which answered the purpose of general protection for the homes of the settlers until the land came into the market. So general did this usage become, and so united were the interests of the settlers, that it was deemed extremely hazardous as well as highly dishonorable for a speculator or stranger to bid upon a claim, even though it was not protected by a "pre-emption right." More than one "war" was waged when such attempts as that were made, almost invariably resulting in the rout of the interloper. Blood, in some instances, was shed in defense of their recognized rights. When it was clearly understood that improvements constituted a claim, and when the settler conformed to the "by-laws" of his neighborhood or township, it was just as much respected for the time being as if the occupant had the government patent for it. For instance, if an emigrant came into the country for location, he looked from county to county for a location. After having placed himself, he set about making an improvement. To break five acres of ground would hold his claim for six months; or if a cabin was built, eight logs high with a roof, which was equivalent to the plowing, he held it six months longer. He then staked out his half section of land, which was a full claim, generally one-quarter timber and one-quarter prairie, and then his home was secure from trespass by anyone. If he chose to sell his "claim," he was at perfect liberty to do so, and the purchaser succeeded to all the rights and immunities of the first settler. As an evidence of the respect in which these claim rights were held by the people of Iowa, we quote here an act of the legislature council of the territory, passed January 15, 1839, entitled, "An act to provide for the collection of demands growing out of contracts for sales of improvements on public lands."
"Be it enacted, That all contracts, promises, assumpsits, or undertakings, either written or verbal, which shall be made hereafter in good faith, and without fraud, collusion or circumvention, for sale, purchase or payment of improvements made on the lands owned by the government of the United States, shall be deemed valid in law or equity, and may be sued for and recovered as in other contracts.
"That all deeds of quitclaim, or other conveyance of all improvements upon public lands shall be as binding and effectual, in law and equity, between the parties for conveying the title of the grantor in and to the same, as in cases where the grantor has the fee simple to the premises conveyed."
Previous to lands being brought into market, each township, nearly, had its own organization throughout the territory. This was to prevent unpleasant litigation and to keep up a spirit of harmony among neighbors, and the better to protect them in their equitable rights of "claim" purchase. A "call meeting" was announced something after this fashion: "The citizens of township 76 north, range 2 west, are requested to meet at Squire B-----'s, at Oak Grove (or as the place or the time might be), to adopt the necessary measures for securing their homes at the approaching land sales at B-----." After a short preamble and set of resolutions, suited to the occasion, a "register" was appointed whose duty it was to record the name of each claimant to his respective "claim." A "bidder" was also appointed, whose duty it was on the day of sale, to bid off all the land previously registered, in the name of each respective claimant. Thus, everything moved along at the land sales with the harmony and regularity of clock work; but if anyone present was found bidding over the minimum price ($1.25 per acre) on land registered in the township, woe be to him!
When any controversy arose between the neighbors relative to trespassing (or, in common parlance, "jumping a claim"), it was arbitrated by a committee appointed for that purpose, and their decision was considered final.
Newhall describes a land sale, which may bring up to the minds of some of the old settlers a remembrance of one of those absorbing periods. He says:
"Many are the ominous indications of its approach among the settlers. Every dollar is sacredly treasured up. The precious 'mint drops' take to themselves wings and fly away from the merchant's till to the farmer's cupboard. Times are dull in the towns, for the settler's home is dearer and sweeter than the merchant's sugar and coffee. At length the wished-for day arrives. The suburbs of the town present the scene of a military camp. The settlers have flocked from far and near. The hotels are thronged to overflowing. Barrooms, dining rooms and wagons are metamorphosed into bedrooms. Dinners are eaten from a table or a stump, and thirst is quenched from a bar or a brook. The sale being announced from the land office, the township bidder stands near by, with the registry book in hand, in which each settler's name is attached to his respective half or quarter section, and thus he bids off, in the name of the whole township, for each respective claimant. A thousand settlers are standing by eagerly listening when their quarter shall be called off. The crier passes the well known numbers; his home is secure. He feels relieved; the litigation of 'claim jumping' is over forever; he is lord of the soil. With an independent step he walks into the land office, opens the time-worn saddlebags and counts out the $200 or $400 silver and gold, takes his certificate from the general government and goes away rejoicing."
The meeting of claim holders in each section usually adopted the order of procedure which follows: A register was chosen for each township, whose duty it was to prepare a map, with the several claims indicated thereon; a bidder and assistant bidder were chosen to attend the sale and make the purchases. Conflicts of claimants were submitted to a committee of three, who had the power to settle all disputes. In event of a refusal by both parties to arbitrate, the case was to be submitted to a committee of five. Claimants were authorized to take as much as 320 acres. An equable arrangement was made between adjoining claimants, where their claim lines and the government survey failed to coincide. All persons over eighteen years of age were entitled to the privileges of claimants.
The following is a statistical table of monthly receipts at the Burlington land office during the first year and four months of its existence. Perhaps no safer criterion can be drawn of the preeminent character that Iowa had already attained than the receipts which this table exhibits of a country that, only so late as June, 1833, was first subject to occupancy by the white man. Of every hundred acres, it was estimated that ninety fell into the hands of the actual settlers:
November 19, 1838, sold by public sale.....................................$295,495.61
January, 1839, by private entries and preemption.............................60,751.14
February, 1839, by private entries and preemption............................23,047.31
March, 1839, by private entries and preemption................................8,778.46
April, 1839, by private entries and preemption...............................12,706.77
May, 1839, by private entries and preemption.................................15,675.93
June, 1839, by private entries and preemption................................14,356.52
July, 1839, by private entries and preemption................................24,909.16
August, 1839, by private entries and preemption...............................8,216.32
September, 1839, by private entries and preemption............................8,836.56
October, 1839, by public sales...............................................47,487.91
November, 1839, by private entries...........................................10,564.72
December, 1839, by private entries............................................3,868.11
January 1, 1840, by private entries...........................................4,644.80
February, 1840, by private entries............................................5,420.56
March, 1840, by private entries and public sales, inclusive.................332,222.42
April, 1840, by private entries and preemption...............................29,834.22
June 1840 by private sale and preemption.....................................62,170.62
____________
Total ..................................................................$968,987.14
HOW PIONEERS LIVED. In choosing his home, the pioneer usually had an eye mainly to its location, and for that reason settlers were oftener than not very solitary creatures, without neighbors and remote from even the common conveniences of life. A desirable region was sure to have plenty of inhabitants in time, but it was the advance-guard that suffered the privation of isolation. People within a score of miles of each other were neighbors, and the natural social tendenciesof mankind asserted themselves even in the wilderness by efforts to keep up communication with even these remote families.
The first business of a settler on reaching the place where he intended to fix his residence, was to select his claim and mark it off as nearly as he could without a compass. This was done by stepping and staking or blazing the lines as he went. The absence of section lines rendered it necessary to take the sun at noon and at evening as a guide by which to run these claim-lines. So many steps each way counted three hundred and twenty acres, more or less, the then legal area of a claim. It may be readily supposed that these lines were far from correct, but they answered all necessary claim purposes, for it was understood among the settlers that when the lands came to be surveyed and entered, all inequalities should be righted. Thus, if a surveyed line should happen to run between adjoining claims, cutting off more or less of the other, the fraction was to be added to whichever lot needed equalizing, yet without robbing the one from which it was taken, for an equal amount would be added to it in another place.
The next important business was to build a house. Until this was done, some had to camp on the ground or live in their wagons, perhaps the only shelter they had known for weeks. So the prospect for a house, which was also to be home, was one that gave courage to the rough toil, and added a zest to the heavy labors. The style of the home entered very little into their thoughts--- it was shelter they wanted, and protection from stress of weather and wearing exposures. The poor settler had neither the money nor the mechanical appliances for building himself a house. He was content, in most instances, to have a mere cabin or hut. Some of the most primitive constructions of this kind were half-faced, or, as they were sometimes called, "cat-faced" sheds or "wikeups," the lndian term for house or tent. It is true, a claim cabin waS a little more in the shape of a human habitation, made, as it was, of round logs, light enough for two or three men to lay up, about fourteen feet square--perhaps a little larger or smaller--roofed with bark or clapboards, and sometimes with the sods of the prairie; and floored with puncheons (logs split once in two, and the flat side laid up) or with earth. For a fire-place, a wall of stone and earth-- frequently the latter only, when stone was not convenient--was made in the best practicable shape for the purpose, in an opening in one end of the building, extending outward, and planked on the outside by bolts of wood notched together to stay it. Frequently, a fire-place of this kind was made so capacious as to occupy nearly the whole width of the house. In cold weather, when a great deal of fuel was needed to keep the atmosphere above freezing-point--for this wide-mouthed fire-place waS a huge ventilator--large logs were piled into this yawning space. To protect the crumbling back wall against the effects of fire, two back logs were placed against it, one upon the other. Sometimes these back logs were so large that they could not be got in in any other way than to hitch a horse to them, drive him in at one door, unfasten the log before the fire-place, from whence it was put in proper position, and then drive him out at the other door. For a chimney, any contrivance that would conduct the smoke up the chimney would do. Some were made of sods, plastered upon the inside with clay; others--the more common, perhaps--were of the kind we occasionally see in use now, clay and sticks, or "cat in clay," as they were sometimes called. Imagine, of a winter's night, when the storm was having its own wild way over this almost uninhabited land, and when the wind waS roaring like a cataract of cold over the broad wilderness, and the settler had to do his best to keep warm, what a royal fire this double-back-logged and well-filled fire-place would hold! It must have been a cosy place to smoke, provided the settler had any tobacco; or for the wife to sit knitting before, provided she had needles and yarn. At any rate, it must have given something of cheer to the conversation, which very likely was upon the home and friends they had left behind when they started out on this bold venture of seeking fortunes in a neW land.
For doors and windows, the most simple contrivances that would serve the purposes were brought into requisition. The door was not always immediately provided with a shutter, and a blanket often did duty in guarding the entrance. But as soon as convenient, some boards were split and put together, hung upon wooden hinges, and held shut by a wooden pin inserted in an auger-hole. As a substitute for window-glass, greased paper, pasted over sticks crossed in the shape of sash, was sometimes used. This admitted the light and excluded the air, but of course lacked transparency.
In regard to the furniture of such a cabin, of course it varied in proportion to the ingenuity of the occupants, unless it was where settlers brought with them their old household supply, which, owing to the distance most of them had come, was very seldom. It was easy enough to improvise tables and chairs; the former could be made of split logs--and there were instances where the door would be taken from its hinges and used at meals, after which it would be rehung--and the latter were designed after the three-legged stool pattern, or benches served their purpose. A bedstead was a very important item in the domestic comfort of the family, and this was the fashion of improvising them: A forked stake was driven into the ground diagonally from the corner of the room, and at a proper distance, upon which poles reaching from each were laid. The wall ends of the pole either rested in the openings between the logs or were driven into auger-holes. Barks or boards were used as a substitute for cords. Upon this the tidy housewife spread her straw tick, and if she had a home-made feather bed, she piled it up into a luxurious mound and covered it with her whitest drapery. Some sheets hung behind it for tapestry added to the coziness of the resting-place. This was generally called a "prairie bedstead," and by some the "prairie rascal." In design, it is surely quite equal to the famous Eastlake models, being about as primitive and severe, in an artistic sense, as one could wish.
The house thus far along, it was left to the deft devices of the wife to complete its comforts, and the father of the family was free to superintend out-of-door affairs. If it was in season, his first important duty was to prepare some ground for planting, and to plant what he could. This was generally done in the edge of the timber, where most of the very earliest settlers located. Here the sod was easily broken, not requiring the heavy teams and plows needed to break the prairie sod. Moreover, the nearness of timber offered greater conveniences for fuel and building. And still another reason for this was, that the groves afforded protection from the terrible conflagrations that occasionally swept across the prairies. Though they passed through the patches of timber, yet it was not with the same destructive force with which they rushed over the prairies. Yet from these fires much of the young timber was killed from time to time, and the forest kept thin and shrubless.
The first year's farming consisted mainly of a "truck patch," planted in corn, potatoes, turnips, etc. Generally, the first year's crop fell far short of supplying even the most rigid economy of food. Many of the settlers brought with them small stores of such things as Seemed indispensable to frugal living, such as flour, bacon, coffee and tea. But these supplies were not inexhaustible, and once used were not easily replaced. A long winter must come and go before another crop could be raised. If game was plentiful, it helped to eke out their limited supplies.
But even when corn was plentiful, the preparation of it was the next difficulty in the way. The mills for grinding it were at such long distances that every other device was resorted to for reducing it to meal. Some grated it on an implement made by punching small holes through a piece of tin or sheet-iron, and fastening it upon aboard in concave shape, with the rough side out. Upon this the ear was rubbed to produce the meal. But grating could not be done when the corn became so dry as to shell off when rubbed. Some used a coffee-mill for grinding it. And a very common substitute for bread was hominy, a palatable and wholesome diet, made by boiling corn in a weak lye till the hull or bran peeled off, after which it was well washed, to cleanse it of the lye. It was then boiled again to soften it, when it was ready for use, as occasion required, by frying and seasoning it to the taste. Another mode of preparing hominy was by pestling.
A mortar was made by burning a bowl-shaped cavity in the end of an upright block of wood. After thoroughly cleaning it of the charcoal, the corn could be put in, hot water turned upon it, when it was subjected to a severe pestling by a club of sufficient length and thickness, in the large end of which was inserted an iron wedge, banded to keep it there. The hot water would soften the corn and loosen the hull, while the pestle would crush it.
When breadstuffs were needed, they had to be obtained from long distances. Owing to the lack of proper means for threshing and cleaning wheat, it was more or less mixed with foreign substances, such as smut, dirt and oats. And as the time may come when the settlers' method of threshing and clearing may be forgotten, it may be well to preserve a brief account of them here. The plan was to clean off a space of ground of sufficient size, and if the earth was dry, to dampen it, and beat it so as to render it somewhat compact. Then the sheaves were unbound and spread in a circle, so that the heads would be upper- most, leaving room in the center for the person whose business it was to stir and turn the straw in the process of threshing. Then, as many horses or oxen were brought as could conveniently swing round the circle, and these were kept moving until the wheat was well trodden out. After several "floorings" or layers were threshed, the straw was carefully raked off, and the wheat shoveled into a heap to be cleaned. This cleaning was sometimes done by waving a sheet up and down to fan out the chaff as the grain was dropped before it; but this trouble was frequently obviated when the strong winds of autumn were all that was needed to blow out the chaff from the grain.
This mode of preparing the grain for flouring was so imperfect that it is not to be wondered at that a considerable amount of black soil got mixed with it, and unavoidably got into the bread. This, with the addition of smut, often rendered it so dark as to have less the appearance of bread than mud; yet upon such diet the people were compelled to subsist for want of a better.
Not the least among the pioneers' tribulations, during the first few years of settlement, was the going to mill. The slow mode of travel by ox-teams was made still slower by the almost total absence of roads and bridges, while such a thing as a ferry was hardly even dreamed of. The distance to be traversed was often as far as sixty or ninety miles. In dry weather, common sloughs and creeks offered little impediment to the teamsters; but during floods and the breaking-up of winter, they proved exceedingly troublesome and dangerous. To get stuck in a slough, and thus be delayed for many hours, was no uncommon occurrence, and that, too, when time was an item of grave import to the comfort and sometimes even to the lives of the settlers' families. Often a swollen stream would blockade the way, seeming to threaten destruction to whoever should attempt to ford it.
With regard to roads, there was nothing of the kind worthy of the name. Indian trails were common, but they were unfit to travel on with vehicles. They are described as mere paths about two feet wide--all that was required to accommodate the single-file manner of Indian traveling.
An interesting theory respecting the origin of the routes now pursued by many of our public highways is given in a speech by Thomas Benton many years ago. He says the buffaloes were the first road engineers, and the paths trodden by them were, as a matter of convenience, followed by the Indians, and lastly by the whites, with such improvements and changes as were found necessary for civilized modes of travel. It is but reasonable to suppose that the buffaloes would instinctively choose the most practicable routes and fords in their migrations from one pasture to another. Then, the Indians following, possessed of about the same instinct as the buffaloes, strove to make no improvements, and were finally driven from the track by those who would.
When the early settlers were compelled to make these long and difficult trips to mill, if the country was prairie over which they passed, they found it comparatively easy to do in summer, when grass was plentiful. By traveling until night, and then camping out to feed the teams, they got along without much difficulty. But in winter such a journey was attended with no little danger. The utmost economy of time was, of course, necessary. When the goal was reached, after a week or more of toilsome travel, with many exposures and risks, and the poor man was impatient to immediately return with the desired staff of life, he was often shocked and disheartened with the information that his turn would come in a week. Then he must look about for some means to pay expenses, and he was lucky who could find some employment by the day or job. Then, when his turn came, he had to be on hand to bolt his own flour, as, in those days, the bolting machine was not an attached part of the other mill machinery. This done, the anxious soul was ready to endure the trials of a return trip, his heart more or less concerned about the affairs of home.
These milling trips often occupied from three weeks to more than a month each, and were attended with an expense, in one way or another, that rendered the cost of breadstuffS extremely high. If made in the winter, when more or less grain-feed was required for the team, the load would be found to be so considerably reduced on reaching home that the cost of what was left, adding other expenses, would make their grain reach the high cost figure of from $3 to $5 per bushel. And these trips could not always be made at the most favorable season for traveling. In spring and summer, so much time could hardly be spared from other essential labor; yet, for a large family, it was almost impossible to avoid making three or four trips during the year.
This description of early milling applies rather to the pioneers west of this county than to those who sett]ed near the Mississippi and Skunk Rivers, but it was not uncommon for people here to cross over into Illinois to get their grinding done.
Among other things calculated to annoy and distress the pioneer, was the prevalence of wild beasts of prey, the most numerous and troublesome of which waS the wolf. While it was true, in a figurative sense, that it required the utmost care and exertion to "keep the wolf from the door," it was almost as true in a literal sense.
There were tWo species of these animals--the large, black, timber-wolf, and the smaller gray wolf, that usually inhabited the prairie. At first, it was next to impossible for a settler to keep small stock of any kind that would serve as a prey to these ravenous beasts. Sheep were not deemed safe property until years after, when their enemies were supposed to be nearly exterminated. Large numbers of wolves were destroyed during the early yearS of settlement --as many as fifty in a day in a regular wolf-hunt. When they were hungry, which was not uncommon, particularly during the winter, they were too indiscreet for their own safety, and would often approach within easy shot of the settlers' dwellings. At certain seasons, their wild, plaintive yelp or bark could be heard in all directions, at all hours of the night, creating intense excitement among the dogs, whose howling would add to the dismal melody.
It has been found, by experiment, that but one of the canine species--the hound--has both the fleetness and courage to cope with his savage cousin, the wolf. Attempts were often made to capture him with the common cur, but this animal, as a rule, proved himself wholly unreliable for such a service. So long as the wolf would run, the cur would follow; but the wolf, being apparently acquainted with the character of his pursuer, would either turn and place himself in a combative attitude, or else act upon the principle that "discretion is the better part of valor," and throw himself upon his back, in token of surrender. This strategic performance would make instant peace between these two scions of the same house; and, not infrequently, dogs and wolves have been seen playing together like puppies. But the hound was never known to recognize a flag of truce; his baying seemed to signify "no quarter," or at least so the terrified wolf understood it.
Smaller animals, such as panthers, lynxes, wildcats, catamounts and polecats were also sufficiently numerouS to be troublesome. And an exceeding source of annoyance was the swarms of mosquitoes which aggravated the trials of the settler in the most exasperating degree. Persons have been driven from the labors of the field by their unmerciful assaults.
The trials of the pioneers were innumerable, and the cases of actual suffering might fill a volume of no ordinary size. Timid women became brave through combats with real dangers, and patient mothers grew sick at heart with the sight of beloved children failing in health from lack of commonest necessaries of life. The struggle was not for ease or luxury, but was a constant one for the sustaining means of life itself. Illustrative of those days, the following incident is related, which is but one of thousands of similar character which might be told:
A settler, in the northwest part of the county, had labored hard to improve the last fine days of autumn, preparing to shelter his wife and little ones from the approaching storms of winter. While thus employed, he had not noticed the rapidly decreasing store of provisions in his house, until his attention was finally forced to the subject. He then hastily provided himself with such an outfit as was required to make the journey into Illinois, and started with his team, expecting to be gone but three or four days. He reached hls trading- place in safety, and started to return home, laden wlth the meager supplies which then served to sustain the lives of such brave men as himself, and to render at least endurable the existence of the pioneer wives and children. No sooner had he turned his face toward home, than a terrific storm set in, from the northwest. Winter came down suddenly that year. The Mississippi froze over so rapidly, that boats were ice-bound, and stores, destined for the new localities above on the river, had to be hauled for miles on sleds. When the pioneer reached the Mississippi, he found it filled with huge masses of floating ice. The ferry-boat was no longer in operation, and crossing was impossible. In vain he offered extravagant sums to the ferryman, if he would but land him upon the solid ice on the Iowa bank. No proposition that he could make, was tempting enough to induce the carrier to cross the stream. Meanwhile the storm continued, and the prospect of relief grew blacker. The pioneer realized the desperate strait into which his family had fallen, because of the limited store of provisions, and the lack of fuel to keep the cold from the miserable cabin he called home. For eight long days the river continued impassable, and by that time the man became desperate. He resolved to cross, even at the risk of life. During those days of waiting, other men had congregated at the ferry, and were also impatient to make the passage over. The hero of this sketch had vainly tried to induce those men to aid him in cutting the ferry-boat loose from the ice, and force a way to the open water; but they had laughed at the possibility of such a feat, and had refused to comply with his request. Unaided and alone, the man performed the laborious task, and was at last rewarded, by seeing a path made open to the unfrozen current. No sooner had this been accomplished, than one of the most indolent of the crowd hastened to harness his own team and drive upon the small boat, which would accommodate but one at a time. Our pioneer sprang forward, to prevent the outrage on his rights, and a scene ensued, which was most disastroos to the cowardly intruder. After a most tedious and perilous fight with the ice, the pioneer landed in Iowa, and pushed eagerly on toward home. When he reached the Cedar, the ice had rendered the passage of a team impossible. The ferryman, with true Western generosity, offered to cross with the pioneer in a skiff, but refused to take pay for his services, because the deed was such as hazarded life, and money, he said, was no inducement to him to make the trial. Making a small package of provisions, and strapping it to his back, the pioneer and his friend set out on their desperate undertaking. Fortune favored them, but the skiff was drifted far below the usual landing-place. The two men dragged the boat on the shore ice, to a point considerably above the landing, so that the ferryman might the more readily regain his home. The pioneer waited, until a shout from the ferryman told him all was safe, and then started on his weary tramp homeward. Snow had fallen to the depth of several inches, while in places it was drifted into enormous banks. Hour after hour the lonely man plodded on; now falling from exhaustion, and again toiling along in utter desperation. At last, when strength and hope alike were failing him, he came upon a well-known land- mark. Courage returned, and through the darkness of the night, he saw, with joy, many a familiar object. As he approached his cabin, he saw that neither light nor fire betokened the presence Qf his loved ones. With trembling hand he shook the frail door, while he feebly called upon his wife, fearing that no voice would answer. But kind providence had willed that no harm should befall the little group about that desolate hearth. A moment more, and the devoted wife was locked in the embrace of her husband. It transpired, that a distant settler had heard of the danger in which the family stood, and kindly rendered them the required aid.
AN INCIDENT IN 1839. There lies upon our table, as we write, a hand-bill which is just forty years old to a day, and which has something of a history. The bill bears the imprint "J. G. Edwards, Printer, Burlington, I. T.," and is upon heavy, tough paper, which appears almost like parchment. The letterpress is inclosed by an ornamental border composed of square cuts, nearly an inch in size, representing a female face surrounded by radiating lines, which are in turn encircled by a vine with leaves. Leaves of similar form, at each of the corners of the cut, give a square face to the same. This quaint border is relieved at the top and bottom of the bi1l--which is 12x15 inches, and reads the long way of the sheet--by a section of smaller pieces, of fanciful design, in the midst of which, at the top, is inserted a small steamboat cut, and at the bottom, the imprint. The letterpress of this bill reads as follows:
"STOP THIEF.--A heavy Reward.--The subscriber was robbed, on the 10th inst., of 220 dollars in Gold Coin (English, French and American) 50 dollars in bank notes of Indiana, Illinois and Green Bay, an One Patent Lever Gold watch, Gold face, with plain cases, made at Troy, New York. The name of the thief is said to be MOSES ELROD. He stammers very bad when speaking, has a light complexion, stout built, round shoulders, about five feet, nine or ten inches high, and is about 30 years of age. He wore away a new light silk Hat, a brown coarse coatee, jeans vest and trowsers, with Brogan shoes. He was seen the same day in a canoe going down the Mississippi, below Bloomington. A generous reward will be paid for the apprehension of the thief or the recovery of the money and watch, or for either, by the subscriber. Please inform Messrs. Warburton and King, St. Louis, Messrs. Lamson, Bridgman and Co., Burlington, I. T. or the subscriber. HARVEY GILLETT. "Geneva, Muscatine Co., I. T. April 11, 1839."
The particular bill in question was handed to Amos Walton, the Postmaster at Geneva, who posted it up in his house in that place, soon after it was issued. J. P. Walton, then a young lad, saved the bill, and a long time after the theft was committed, he chanced to show the bill to a party who was acquainted with the matter. From him the history of the escape of Elrod was obtained. In 1839, incidents, which would to-day seem trifling, were of great moment, and when it was known that a robbery had been committed, public feeling ran high. As soon as Mr. Gillett missed his property, the little village of Geneva was in a whirl of excitement. Mr. Gillett himself started at once for Burlington, for the purpose of heading-off the culprit, and there obtained the bills of which we make a copy. The trip was wasted, however, for before he returned certain parties had effected the arrest of Elrod near New Boston. The guilty man was placed in the hands of James Davis, then Sheriff, who was expected to keep him safely until the next session of the court. There being no jail in the county at that time, the task of guarding the prisoner was anything but easy or agreeable. During the interval of waiting, Davis handed Elrod over to his Deputy, who was obliged to resort to the primitive method of chaining him up, like a dancing bear. At night, the prisoner was chained to his bed-post, and by day was obliged to carry about a huge log-chain attached to a stone. The citizens began to grow impatient over the law's delay, and finally resolved upon disposing of Elrod after the summary fashion much in vogue in new countries. The threat of lynching reached the ears of the Deputy's wife, who was not disposed to submit to anything of the sort. She, therefore, prepared some provisions, and persuaded her husband to leave the chain unfastened that night. Then informing the prisoner of the arrangements, and where he could find the food, the family retired. The next morning, it was discovered that the man had escaped, and, as the money and watch had been recovered, no further effort was made to capture him. Probably this prudent act on the part of the Deputy's wife saved Muscatine County the disgrace of a lynching. No violent demonstrations against prisoners were ever made, nor was there ever an execution in this county --a fact that few counties can boast of in this State.
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