of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 287-289
NAME CHANGED TO MUSCATINE. On June 6, 1849, a petition was filed with Richard Cadle, clerk of the county court, asking that the name of the municipal corporation be changed from Bloomington to Muscatine. The petition had the signatures of about two hundred citizens and a decree was granted upon the petition by Judge James Grant, June 7, 1849. Below is the petition and the names of its signers:
The State Of Iowa, Muscatine county, ss; District Court of the State of Iowa, within and for the county of Muscatine, June term, 1849:
The undersigned land holders in the vicinity of the town of Bloomington, in the county of Muscatine in the state of Iowa, think it desirable to change the name of the town to that of Muscatine for the following reasons:
1. Frequent miscarriages of letters by mail occur by reason of there being towns in Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois of the same name.
2. Burlington is sometimes mistaken by postmasters for Bloomington, and mail matter is carried to and lies at the former place that is destined for the latter.
3. The reason for adopting the name of Muscatine is obvious--it is the name of one of the most noted and conspicuous landmarks on the Mississippi river, a name coeval with the first discovery of the course of the river by La Salle, at the head of which the town is situated, and is the name of the county of which the town is the seat of justice. There is no other town within the knowledge of your petitioners of the same name. L. C. Hine, Thomas M. Isett, Moses Couch, Adam Ogilvie, Suel Foster, Pliny Fay, Henry Reece, H. H. Hine, J. Williams, F. H. Stone, George Reeder, Richard Cadle, James Swem, Nath Hallock, Stephen Whicher, John B. Dougherty, W. G. Worsham, B. Bartholomew, D. C. Cloud, A. Jackson, Ed Olmsted, Wallace & Breading, J. Scott Richman, John M. Beauman, James A. Humphreys, Thomas Wood, William Sherwood, James Borland, John Lemp, Thomas W. Moore, Lucian Chatfield, Samuel Anderson, Luke Sells, Horace Deming, G. L. Branhams, James S. Aller, T. G. F. Hunt, I. N. Hudson, A. O. Warfield, N. L. Stout, B. F. Howland, Charles Fowler, H. W. Moore, Chester Weed, Jacob Butler, Joseph B. Messick, Charles O. Waters, Andrew Fimple, George D. Stevenson, A. T. Boon, John H. Dayton, E. Hatch, T. M. Barlow, Luther H. Wreys, J. S. Fenimore, Alexander Fulton, J. G. Gordon, W. S. Ayrs, J. A. Green, I. C. Day, William A. Drury, E. H. Albee, James P. Kelly, D. G. McCloud, W. H. Appler, John Reed, W. Binna, G. C. Harvey, Lyman Smith, Jackson Benidger, D. Dunsmore, W. H. Lilly, C. Browning, J. Bennett, Michel Greeno, H. Matthews, A. H. Smith, C. L. Phelps, James B. Foushee, William Gordon, M. Block, John C. Dietz, William Berkshire, G. W. Humphreys, D. R. Warfield, L. D. Palmer, J. Blake, F. Thurston, _______ Becke, P. L. Washburn, Erwin Will, I. S. Lakin, George Stroup, G. W. Willmering, Henry Felchmann, Johann Achter, H. Q. Jennison, Charley Williams, Robert Tillard, James Strong, David K. Waters, John L. Cummins, Jacob Way, Adam Reuling, Devore Palmer, Cyrus Spring, E. Stewart, J. W. Kane, J. C. Webler, T. M. Homlbs, E. Plummer, David H. Shupe, J. W. Richman, Charles Norman, John Dawson, Mark Kirkpatrick, Jeremiah McMinomy, I. McCullough, W. Williams, John Seiler, Ansel Humphreys, W. D. Ament, A. P. Arkin, G. W. Palmer, N. S. Dunbar, Lemuel L. Purcell, D. J. Parvin, Z. Washburn, James Brisbine, G. A. Springer, William Leffingwell, J. H. Dunn, A. Fisher, G. M. Kinsley, C. Hastings, J. P. Freeman, James Dorman, Henry Molis, Jacob Mahin, Barnhardt Beil, A. B. Robbins, Conrad Stahl, G. H. Terry, John P. Fulton, H. W. G. Terry, A. B. Goldsberry, Abram Smalley, John Rukee, Joseph Crane, Franklin Mormon, Malen Brown, Oliver Brisbine, John Fyock, Joseph Brisbine, Joseph R. Reece, William L. Browning, Thomas Crandol, Peter Jackson, S. G. Stein, James M. Jarboe, X. I. Feifer, H. D. LaCossitt, C. H. Grand, M. D., Jacob Hagan, Robert Douglass, L. C. Shite, W. F. Whire, P. Downy, John J. Lucey, Thomas Graham, Noah M. McCormick, B. Cullin, Joseph Bridgman, A. Washburn, Lewis Peterson, Jr., Henry Fowler, John J. Huber, John Roll, A. T. Banks, Carl Kierck, John Zeigler, William Butler, H. H. Garnes, Patterson Simpson, Alfred Purcell.The township officers whose names appear on the back of the petition are: President, E. Overman; trustees, W. St. John, J. G. Gordon, J. Butler; street commissioner, C. Kegel.
The State of Iowa, Muscatine county, ss:
Lyman C. Hine, sheriff of Muscatine county, Iowa, on oath, states that there are the names of at least twelve land holders in the vicinity of the town of Bloomington.
L. C. HINE.
Sworn and subscribed in open court this 4th day of June, 1849.
D. C. CLOUD
Justice of the Peace.The State of Iowa, Muscatine county, ss:
The undersigned citizens of Muscatine county and Bloomington, Iowa, being duly sworn, say that they are satisfied that more than three-fourths of the inhabitants of said town desire the name thereof changed to that of "Muscatine," and they further say that they know of no other town or village in this state of the same name with that which is prayed for in the petition.
ANDREW J. FIMPLE,
J. SCOTT RICHMAN,
STEPHEN WHICHER,
I. C. DAY.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of June, 1849.
D. C. CLOUD,
Justice of the Peace.In 1851, by an act of the legislature, Muscatine was given a special charter and by that act became a city. The names of the chief magistrates since 1850 are given below:
CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF MUSCATINE. 1851, Zephaniah Washburn; 1852, Thomas M. Isett; 1853, John G. Stine; 1854, John A. Parvin; 1855, John H. Wallace; 1856, William Leffingwell; 1857, John G. Stine; 1858-62, George Meason; 1863, Henry Funck; 1864, S. D. Viele; 1865-6, Benjamin Hershey; 1867, George Meason; 1868, E. Klein; 1869, William B. Keeler; 1870-1, S. G. Stein; 1872-3, J. P. Ament; 1874, Richard Musser; 1875, Henry Molis; 1876, J. P. Ament; 1877, T. R. Fitzgerald; 1878, Richard Musser; 1879-81, George W. Dillaway; 1882, T. R. Fitzgerald; 1883-85, R. T. Wallace; 1886-9, J. M. Gobble; 1890-1, Gustav Schmidt; 1892, R. T. Wallace; 1893, John M. Gobble; 1894, Edward B. Fulliam; 1895, A. S. Lawrence. In 1898 the ordinance fixed the term one to two years. Mr. Fulliam was the first. 1896-9, Edward B. Fulliam; 1900-2, Bernard J. Schmidt; 1902-6, Robert S. McNutt; 1906-8, John Asthalter; 1908, Bernard J. Schmidt--died March 27, 1909; William Grossklaus elected by council, 1909-10; 1910-11, William S. Hill.
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