HERITAGE VIGNETTES by Marilyn A. Bekker

COUNTY NOTES

While Iowa was still a part of the Wisconsin territory, Judge David Irving, of the second judicial district of Wisconsin territory, convened the first session of the district court in Bloomington. W.W. Chapman, United States District Attorney, also attended. A small log cabin on Iowa Avenue served as a curt house, while the jurors’ rooms were up a ravine to the west of the building in the open air. A diamond-shaped piece of paper was chosen as a temporary seal of the court. It was attached to documents by means of a wax wafer impressed by the reverse side of a ten-cent piece of silver.

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The term of District Court which opened on January 5, 1921, ushered in a new innovation – women in the jury box. Thirteen women electors assigned jury duty by the jury commission in December, assembled at the Court House with their male colleagues on January 10. Six asked to be excused; seven appeared for duty. They were: Mrs. Ella Frye, Miss Frances Barry, Mrs. Myrtle Bloomer, Mrs. Sarah Johnson, Mrs. Helen Clapp, Mrs. Julia Miller, and Mrs. Emma Hoeflin. Miss Frances Barry was named to the jury in a case in which a woman was also the plaintiff: the case of Mrs. Bessie Farnsworth vs Chapman Brothers and the Joint board of Drainage District No. 13.

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W.W. Webster of Muscatine was responsible for the construction of the soldier’s monument on the court house square honoring the Civil War servicemen. The contract for the monument was for 46,000 and Webster completed the work one year earlier than required. Prior to the completion of the monument, $4,800 had been subscribed. Mr. Webster was to be available at the unveiling festivities on July 3, 1875, to accept additional contributions. The monument was the first of its kind in Iowa. J. G. Evans, a Muscatine photographer, made stereoscopic views of the monument and the ceremony which were made available to the public. Copies of the view were sent to Harpers’s Weekly for possible reproduction in that publication.

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On December 8, 1880, the Muscatine county Board of Supervisors with Auditor McCampbell and George King of the King bridge Company inspected the new bridge constructed over the Cedar at Salisbury’s. County Engineer Lyman inspected it professionally the following week to report on its satisfactory completion prior to their official acceptance of it. The entire bridge, including the approaches at each end, was 1,200 feet long—in 1880, the longest in the State with the possible exception of the bridge at Bonaparte. The road through the bottom was new and somewhat rough, but the bridge and new route of travel were hailed as a great advantage to people of the County.

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On January 26, 1909, suspected murderer, Harry Jones, lost the distinction of being the first prisoner to be house in the new Muscatine County Jail to a drunk. Having pleaded guilty to the charge of intoxication in the court of Judge H.S. Howe, he drew a 10-day sentence. The east side of the new jail had been completed and room was available for 12 prisoners. Consequently, ample space was available to house Harry Jones, the prisoner being returned with Sheriff Benham from Topeka, Kansas, to face charges of murdering Mr. And Mrs. William Van Winkle of Fairport on December 4, 1907. Jones’ trail began on March 2, 1909. The overwhelming evidence mounted daily. On March 10 when the deputy made his rounds at 7:00 a.m. Jones was found hanged in his cell by an improvised rope. He had left statement to Judge D.V. Jackson and his attorney, E. M. Warner, in which he declared his innocence.

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The first permanent highway in Muscatine County was finished on December 2, 1914, when a half-mile of concrete in Moscow Township was completed. This improvement called for an expenditure of approximately $5,000 and made a boulevard of what had been one of the most impassable strips of sandy road in the State of Iowa. This was a test strip of concrete with different mixtures being used. The work was done with hand labor and wheelbarrows. Stories of the time tell that it was difficult to keep workers and anyone who stayed on the job two or more days became a foreman! Before it was poured, those travelers pulling heavy loads with narrow wheel wagons would often have to hitch two teams to pull the load. The half-mile strip is still in use today.

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The County Board of Supervisors in July,1906, approved the installation of Iowa telephones in all offices of the Court House. Before this time, only one phone had been in use, that one in the sheriff’s office. This phone remained and was kept on an independent line. A party line was installed with five phones; one in the recorder’s, treasurer’s, auditor’s and clerk’s offices. And one in the office of Miss Dallas, the court reporter. A call bell was installed in the County superintendent’s office so he could be called to one of the phones with little trouble. The installation of the pones was welcomed b all who had business with the court house offices.

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Rural mail carrier, Frank McCoy, started something new on Saturday, August 18, 1906. He made the first trip over his route in his new “buzz” wagon. The new car was an Orient. There had been considerable discussion among the rural mail carriers throughout the State regarding the use of automobiles for carrying the mail, but up to the time McCoy put his into operation, no action had been taken. The roads were reported in excellent condition and McCoy had no difficulty in traveling his route. He also made the deliveries in several hours less than it formerly took.

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The Board of Supervisors authorized the purchase of a Holt Caterpillar tractor costing $4,250 for use in grading county and primary roads in January of 1921. The tractor was of the crawling type, similar in design and construction to those used for propelling heavy artillery in the army. Delivery was promised for April 1. This was the first tractor the county owned. Previously, the Board of supervisors had contracted with individuals for motive power to pull the large graders but had decided owning and operating their own equipment would be more economical. The purchase of two o three smaller tractors was being considered for later in the year.

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Voting was completed in record time on November 4, 1924. The record turnout and the speed of casting votes were credited to the innovation of the county in the use of the mechanical voting machines instead of the old style hand written ballot. The report of the second precinct was received 15 minutes after the polls had closed. A bitter fight by opponents of voting machines had been waged prior to the election, but the future use of the machines in the county was assured following the 1924. The 29 machines, purchased in 1923, represented a cost of $1, 040 each.

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Shefiff’s officers uncovered a cleverly concealed still in Muscatine County on Thursday, June 11, 1925. Hidden in the middle of a huge straw stack, the raiding officers found a room, 15 x 2 feet, reached by crawling through a tunnel10 feet long. A miniature railroad with wooden tracks on which ran a small wooden truck served to transport the finished products from the hidden distillery. Liquor was found concealed in various places around the farm in Lake Township; 450 gallons of mash, more than 60 gallons of liquor, a still of more than 50 gallon’s capacity and a quantity of jugs and bottles were confiscated in the raid.

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