of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 18-20
CIVIL GOVERNMENT FOR TERRITORY AND STATE. After the "Black Hawk Purchase" immigration to Iowa was rapid and steady, and provisions for civil government became a necessity. Accordingly, in 1834, all the territory comprising the present states of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, was made subject to the jurisdiction of Michigan territory. Up to this time there had been no county or other organization in what is now the state of Iowa, although one or two justices of the peace had been appointed, and a postoffice was established at Dubuque in 1833. In September of 1834, therefore, the territorial legislature of Michigan created two counties on the west side of the Mississippi river--Dubuque and Des Moines--separated by a line drawn westward from the foot of Rock Island. These counties were partially organized. John King was appointed chief justice of Dubuque county and Isaac Leffler of Des Moines county was appointed by the governor.
In October, 1835, General George W. Jones, in recent years a citizen of Dubuque, was elected a delegate to congress. April 20, 1836, through the efforts of General Jones, congress passed a bill creating the territory of Wisconsin, which went into operation July 4th of the same year. Iowa was then included in the territory of Wisconsin, of which General Henry Dodge was appointed governor; John S. Horner, secretary; Charles Dunn, chief justice; David Irwin and William C. Frazer, associate justices. September 9, 1836, a census of the new territory was taken. Des Moines county showed a population of 6,257, and Dubuque county 4,274.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY OF IOWA. The question of the organization of the territory of Iowa now began to be agitated and the desires of the people found expression in a convention held November 1st, which memorialized congress to organize a territory west of the Mississippi river and to settle the boundary line between Wisconsin territory and Missouri. The territorial legislature of Wisconsin, then in session in Burlington, joined in the petition. The act was passed dividing the territory of Wisconsin and providing for the territorial government of Iowa. This was approved June 12, 1838, to take effect and be in force on and after July 3, 1838.
The new territory embraced "all that part of the present territory of wisconsin west of the Mississippi river and west of a line drawn due north from the headwaters of sources of the Mississippi river to the territorial line." The organic act provided for a governor, whose term of office should be three years; a secretary, chief justice, two associate justices, an attorney general and marshal, to be appointed by the president. The act also provided for the election, by the white citizens over twenty-one years of age, of a house of representatives, consisting of twenty-six members and a council to consist of thirteen members. It also appropriated $5,000 for a public library and $20,000 for the erection of public buildings. In accordance with this act, President Van Buren appointed ex-Governor Robert Lucas of Ohio, to be the first governor of the territory; William B. Conway, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, secretary; Charles Mason, of Burlington, chief justice; Thomas S. Wilson, of Dubuque, and Joseph Williams, of Pennsylvania, associate justices; Mr. Van Allen, of New York, attorney; Francis Gehon, of Dubuque, marshal; Augustus C. Dodge, register of the land office at Burlington; and Thomas C. Knight, receiver of the land office at Dubuque.
On the 10th of September, 1838, an election was held for members of the legislature and on the 12th of the following November the first session of that body was held at Burlington. Both branches of this general assembly had a large democratic majority but notwithstanding that fact, General Jesse B. Brown, a whig, of Lee county, Des Moines and Dubuque counties having been previously divided into other counties, was elected president of the council, and Ron. William H. Wallace, of Henry county, also a whig, speaker of the house. The first session of the Iowa territorial legislature was a stormy and exciting one. By the organic law the governor was clothed with almost unlimited veto power. Governor Lucas was disposed to make free use of this prerogative and the independent Hawkeyes could not quietly submit to arbitrary and absolute rule. The result was an unpleasant controversy between the executive and legislative departments. Congress, however, by act approved March 3, 1839, amended the organic law by restricting the veto power of the governor to the two-thirds rule and took from him the power to appoint sheriffs and magistrates. Among the first important matters demanding attention was the location of the seat of government and provision for the erection of public buildings, for which congress had appropriated $20,000. Governor Lucas in his message had recommended the appointment of commissioners with a view to selecting a central location. The extent of the future state of Iowa was not known or thought of. Only a strip of land fifty miles wide, bordering on the Mississippi river, was alienated by the Indians to the general government and a central location meant some central point within the confines of what was known as the "Black Hawk Purchase."
The friends of a central location favored the governor's suggestion. The southern members were divided between Burlington and Mount Pleasant but finally united on the latter as the proper location for the seat of government. The central and southern parties were very nearly equal and in consequence much excitement prevailed. The central party at last was triumphant and on January 21, 1839, an act was passed appointing commissioners to select a site for a permanent seat of government within the limits of Johnson county. All things considered, the location of the capital in Johnson county was a wise act. Johnson county was from north to south in the geographical center of the purchase and as near the east and west geographical center of the future state of Iowa as could then be made. The site having been determined, 640 acres were laid out by the commissioners into a town and called Iowa City. On a tract of ten acres the capitol was built, the corner stone of which was laid, with appropriate ceremonies, July 4, 1840. Monday, December 6, 1841, the fourth legislature of Iowa met at the new capital, Iowa City, but the capitol building not being ready for occupancy, a temporary frame house erected for the purpose was used.
In 1841 John Chambers succeeded Robert Lucas as governor and in 1845 he gave place to James Clarke. The territorial legislature held its eighth and last session at Iowa City in 1845. James Clarke was the same year appointed the successor of Governor Chambers and was the third and last territorial governor.
Back to Historical Index Page