of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 215-221
MOSCOW TOWNSHIP. MOSCOW TOWNSHIP. This was one of the first townships organized in 1842. It comprises all of township 78, range 2 west, except five sections on the east. The Cedar river enters it on section 6 and flows in a southeasterly direction into section 9, where it takes a westerly course about one mile and then flows south into section 29, thence west, passing into Goshen township on section 30, watering a fine body of land, mostly prairie. Sugar creek, Mosquito creek and Little Mosquito creek flow through these townships and empty into the Cedar river. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad crosses the township from east to west, passing through the southern portion of the village of Moscow. Below is given by William S. Fultz, president of the Old Settlers' Association, a comprehensive history of the early settlers and settlement of the town and township.
MOSCOW. "Henry Webster and Dr. Charles Drury were the first settlers and they laid out the town in the fall of 1836, being the east portion of that now known as Bigalow Addition. During that year the following settlers came and located in the township: William and Ira Leverich, the latter being the father of Professor Leverich, of Muscatine, Thomas McConnell, Irving Reynolds, David Reynolds, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Kilgore, Rev. Martin Baker, Mr. Comstock, Goodwin Taylor, Harvey Hatton, Matthew White and Harvey Mathis. Mathis settled on the Resley farm and Hatton on the Gatton farm. The population was increased in 1837 by the arrival of Samuel Bratt, Benjamin Ludlow, William Reynolds, C. Craig, Alexander C. Ross, G. W. Hunt, William Yeager and a few others, whose names I have forgotten. Alexander Ross started a store in the town, which was the second, Mr. Mitchell having gone into business the fall previous. I never learned the exact location of Mitchell's store but that of Mr. Ross' was a small frame. There was a two-story log house said to be the first residence erected in the town and township. It had two rooms below, which were separated by a log partition. The logs were hewn on both sides and for several years it was known as the block house. In one of the lower rooms of this house the first school in Moscow was taught by Miss May Comstock. The building had two doors, one on the east and one on the south. It was at one of these doors that Ross killed the Indian with a club--I think at the east door. After Ross had built his house and put his goods in, he concluded that he had better move it up nearer to the block house for better protection, and as there were not whites enough in the country to do the job, sev- eral Indians who were camped in Sugar Grove on the Healey farm north of town were asked to help, plenty of whiskey being promised. After the building was moved the whites as well as the Indians partook freely of the whiskey. Ross and another white man--I think Comstock--made a bet as to which could knock an Indian the farthest. Ross, who was somewhat under the influence of liquor, stood in the door and when the inoffensive Indian came toward him, instead of hitting him with his fist as was expected, picked up a club and struck him over the head, killing him. Ross left and was never again heard from. The Indians in revenge soon after killed a young preacher that was traveling on horseback from Davenport to Iowa City. This occurred somewhere not far from where the Davenport and Iowa City road crossed the Scott county line.
POPULATION INCREASES. "In 1838 the following families settled in the township and town: Frank W. Stewart, William Yocum, Edward Yocum, Mr. Patterson, Mr. Whittlesy, Vinton Hughes, Samuel and Thomas Ludlow, Daniel Healey, a Mr. Wilson and few others. Wilson had two sons, two of whom, Samuel and John, soon after married and settled near the town. Whittlesy started a grist and sawmill on Sugar creek, near where the old Muscatine and Tipton road crosses the creek. This location is in Cedar county. The sawmill went out during high water in 1858 and the grist mill followed it in 1858. In 1837 Henry Webster died and was the first buried in the graveyard at Moscow. In 1838 William Reynolds, who lived on Mosquito creek south of Moscow, died and was the first buried in the Klein graveyard. Betsy Yocum, a young woman, also died and was buried in the same graveyard. In October of that year Irvin Reynolds died and was the second buried in the Moscow graveyard.
A SCHOOL IS OPENED. "In the fall of 1838 the second term of school in the township was started at the house of Vinton Hughes, but owing to some trouble between the teacher, R. H. Patterson, and Hughes, it did not last long. Mr. Hughes lived a short distance north of William Duffield, Sr.'s, residence on the old Kaufman place. The first sermon was preached in the storeroom of Mr. Ross in 1838, by Martin Baker, who was a New Light, or Christian preacher. Mr. Baker did not stay long at Moscow, but went to Rochester. His brother John, who came shortly after, settled on a farm about five miles north of Moscow. Martin Baker died about twelve years later. In 1839, among the arrivals were: William Freyburger, Edwin, Chester and William Healey, William Gatton, Friend Johnson, Benjamin Brooks and others. Gatton went across the Cedar river, buying out Harvey Hatton, who in turn bought forty acres of land from Comstock, about two miles north of Moscow. Friend Johnson bought the land from Goodwin Taylor, which is now known as the original plat of Moscow. Johnson was a gunsmith and worked some at his trade, farmed a little, and spent considerable of his time hunting and fishing. He had a large family, most of which were girls, and in consequence his house was a favorite resort for the young men. The three older girls became the wives of William Dawson, Thannon Hatton and a Mr. Flater, soon after coming to Moscow. Others of the early settlers were Thomas Anthony, Eden Brown, Joel, John and James Boggs, Henry and Nicholas Lang, Will David, Thomas and David Baker, Jerry Barnard, Samuel Knight, John Moore, James Latta, Nathan Brown, Charles Henderson, Daniel Henderson, William L. Bower, Charles Schnier, Joseph Eveland, Ernst Ritter, Conrad Marks, Jesse Stoneburner, William Smith, R. W. and Moses Latta, George W. and Edgar Stearns, William Slater, John Roberts, Jeremiah Dillon, Meyer Dillon, V. W. Engle, Mr. Bishop, Greenberry and Davis Drake, William and George Sparks, William Everhart and William Horsley. I have forgotten the year when each came. Jacob Valet came in 1842, Delevan Bratt and Henry Lang in 1848.
A CHURCH IS BUILT. "In 1845 the Christian or New Lights bought a small log house which stood on the present site of the cemetery and occupied it for church purposes until 1856, when the new church was erected on a lot donated by the town proprietors. From 1845 until 1855 a little old church at the cemetery was used by several denominations but mostly by the New Lights, Campbellites and Mormons. From 1845 to 1848 the Mormons were the most aggressive and had about absorbed all others. Elder Hinkle was their preacher and his followers were termed Hinkleites. After the Mormons left Nauvoo, Hinkle left Moscow and his congregation returned to their old church.
PREACHER A DICIPLE OF WALTON. "In the fall of 1850 I attended a business meeting of the New Lights at their church when a new preacher was hired. In making their bargain the elders were very particular to mention all they expected of the preacher and also his pay. It was agreed the preacher should preach on the first and third Sunday in each month and that he should have one dollar per sermon. The preacher reserved the right to hold big meetings during the winter and asked that he might have all the money raised by collections at such meetings. This was agreed to accept the collections taken at the Sunday forenoon services, which were to be used for the wood and lights. At the end of the year the preacher in making out his bill, added the price of two sermons that were preached on the fifth Sunday that happened to come in certain months of the year. There was some kicking about the manner but at that time the preacher was popular and it was paid. The preacher also retained all of the collections taken at the big meetings in the winter. He explained that there was no expense, as the good sisters had brought candles enough to light the house and that some of the younger brethren had cut the wood in the timber nearby and carried it into the house. A couple of years later some of the congregation became tired of the preacher and preferred charges against him for fishing on Sunday. The charges were sustained and the preacher discharged. It seemed that the preacher, who lived several miles up the river, was in the habit of following down the river when going to preach and of setting his hooks at favorable places and then taking them up as he returned home. Some persons who made it a habit of hunting and fishing on Sunday saw him and reported to the members of the church.
"School was taught in the winter in the little old church until 1851, when it was taught in a log house belonging to Delevan Bratt and stood where lot 7, block 23, is now located. School was held here until 1856, when a one-story frame schoolhouse was built on lot 3, block 23. This was used until the present two-story frame was built in 1867.
"At the time when church was held in the little log church there were no buggies or spring wagons in the country but every one went on horseback or in farm wagons. The number of teams there were tied to the trees around that meeting house! Wagon load after wagon load would drive up (some of the wagons drawn by oxen). The women went in and the men waited around until time for service, then if there was room in the house, they, too, went in. If the women filled the house, as was sometimes the case, the men indulged in a horse race, shooting match, or some other diversion until preaching was over. We all sang together without any instrument, not even a tuning fork. Sometimes the tune was pitched too high and we stopped and took a fresh start, and sometimes too low and we stopped at the first verse.
"After the railroad was built in 1855 the town of Moscow grew quite rapidly until 1859, when it began to go down. At the latter date it contained about 400; in 1870 there were 346, and in 1873 there were 222.
EARLY DOCTORS. "I have fogotten the name of the first doctor who located at Moscow, but recall some of the stories told of him by some of the young fellows with whom I associated. In the '40s and early '50s, when the country was settling up, there was a great deal of sickness, mostly fever and ague, and the doctors used a great deal of calomel and quinine. One day when returning from a visit the Doctor saw that the horse he was riding was sick and that he shook like a person with the ague. The Doctor gave him a dose of calomel, then turned him out to graze. In a few days the horse lost every hair that was on his body and ran on the prairie north of town until another coat of hair grew. I do not know how long the Doctor remained at Moscow, but the town was without a doctor for some years previous to 1850. In the spring of that year a young doctor by the name of Baxter located here and remained until the spring of 1852, when he went to Oregon and during the summer of 1852 Dr. W. H. Baxter located here and remained until 1866, when he went to Wilton.
FIRST CHILD BORN IN THE TOWNSHIP. "I am not certain who the first child was that was born in the township but there were three at least born in 1836--a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. David Reynolds, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Mathis, and a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Mathew White. I am inclined to think the latter, who was named Thilda White, was the first child born in the township and was probably the second born in the county.
PIONEER HOTEL. "The first hotel was kept by Mr. Comstock in a two-story log house that stood where Davenport street crossed Second street. Sometime in the early '40s Comstock sold out to Stoneberner, who died a few years later and his widow kept the hotel until about 1854, when it was rented. It burned in 1864, being at that time occupied by William Weise, Sr. and family.
POSTOFFICE IN 1838. "In 1838 the first postoffice was established with Israel Clark as postmaster, and a weekly mail was also established. George McCoy carried the mail from the mouth of Pine creek to Rochester, then the county seat of Cedar county. A couple of years later the mail was carried from Muscatine to Tipton, Moscow and Rochester being on the route. The mail was carried by Charles Sweetland of Tipton, in a two-horse hack. The service called for two trips each week, but when the roads were bad, which was quite often the case, the hack got around but once a week, and sometimes it was two or three weeks in making the trip.
PIONEER STORES. "As before stated, Mr. Mitchell started the first store and Mr. Ross the second. I know of no more until 1852. In 1850 there was no store of any kind in Moscow, nor was there any liquor of any kind kept for sale, but Mr. Barnard, who lived near where the old Tipton road crosses the railroad about a mile east of Moscow, kept liquor in connection with a carpenter and cabinet shop. He also kept a tavern. Dr. Steines, two miles further north on the Tipton road, also kept a tavern and sold liquor. In 1852 Henry Lang moved from Moscow and bought the ferry from William Slater and started a small store, with the usual adjunct of the times, "wet goods." In 1855 several stores and groceries were started, H. U. Roberts and Jennings & Humphries being the largest. A drug store and several saloons were started at the same time and Moscow put on Metropolitan airs.
LATER HOTELS. "The hotel started by Comstock was the only one in town until 1855, when Rev. H. U. Roberts built a large frame building on the south part of block 2, in which he kept a hotel and store and the postoffice. This building he called the Cosmopolitan House. Jacob Smith had a hotel on lot 2, block 3, and there was a hotel and grocery on the corner of Davenport and Fourth streets kept by Conrad Miller, and a hotel and store on the southwest corner of Fourth and Cedar streets kept by Bunch and Shepard. John Hershman kept a candy store and saloon just west of the Cosmopolitan House near the railroad. A drug store was started on lot 9, block 3, by James Baxter.
CANAL PROJECT. "The Moscow and Muscatine canal was not the only canal project that drew the attention of the people of Moscow. In 1840 a project was started to turn Sugar creek into Cedar river at Moscow. It was claimed that by building a dam across the creek that a fourteen-foot fall could be obtained. When we consider that the creek at that time was fully three times as large as at present, it will be seen that a water power of good dimensions would have been obtained. The project got no further along than the Muscatine and Moscow canal has. It died a "bornin'."
CEDAR RIVER. "When I first saw the Cedar river in 1850 it flowed a great deal more water than at present and continued to do so for several years. At the time there were no islands or sandbars visible above the water and the slough above the railroad bridge was fully twenty rods long and ten feet deep at any ordinary stage of water. It was a favorite place to fish with a seine. During 1851 the river was very high and nearly overflowed the farms on the east side of the old ferry landing. There was a tradition left by the Indians that in 1823 the river was so high that the water flowed across to Sugar creek at that place, but the probability is that the depression in the ground at that place was considerably lower then, it having filled up since. It was lower in 1851 than at present.
SITE OF THE OLD INDIAN FORT. "There was a fort built by the Indians several years prior to the first settlement of whites. It stood between the river and Sugar Creek not far from the west end of Bigalow addition. In 1850 all that part of the town between the river and Fifth street and from the railroad north to Washington street, as well as above Henderson and Bigalow additions, was covered with a big grove of trees and underbrush, so that no two of the six or seven log cabins in the town could be seen at the same time. What is now Bratt and Henderson additions was then a cultivated field."
MOSCOW CANAL PROJECT. Almost from the beginning of things in Muscatine county there has been a project on foot for the building of a canal from the Cedar river at Moscow to the Mississippi river at Muscatine, known as the Moscow canal. As a matter of fact, an act of the territorial legislature of Iowa was approved January 12, 1839, incorporating the Bloomington & Cedar River Canal Company. The capital stock of the company was fixed at $200,000, with shares at $100 each. Joseph Williams, John Vanatta, Adam Ogilvie, Charles A. Warfield, Suel Foster, William Gordon, Harvey Gillette, William D. Velie, Stephen Long, James W. Talman and John G. Foy were the commissioners named in the act to receive subscriptions of stock for the construction of a navigable canal from Bloomington to Cedar River. A section of the act also provided for collecting toll and borrowing any sum of money needed. Another section provided for the commencement of the work, which was to be within three years and the completion within ten years. Section 23 of the act provided for the transfer of the canal to the state of Iowa after the territory should be admitted to the Union.
It is said that a survey had been made previous to the action of the legislature but the canal question lay dormant from 1839 to 1865, when a few citizens, principally Captain A. Kennedy, J. A. Parvin, John Mahin, J. G. H. Miller and J. P. Walton made an inspection of the grounds, with the object in view of having a survey made. A sum of money was raised by subscription and a corps of engineers headed by Captain Kennedy was placed on the work. The report of the chief engineer at that time was to the effect that the fall of water from Cedar river at Moscow to the river at Muscatine was 84 feet and the estimated cost of excavation and embankment, raising the Moscow dam, up-rapping at the entrance of Sugar creek, Mad creek and others, reservoir dam and engineering, $750,000.
Nothing of a material nature has been accomplished on the long-lived and persistent Moscow canal project. The subject is revivified at regular intervals, and although it is not so prominently before the public at the present time, it is not by any means dead but simply dormant and liable to be brought into a lively existence at almost any time.
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