DAVENPORT PAST AND PRESENT

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CHAPTER VI

The act providing for an election for County Seat, to take placein February of 1838, absorbed almost everything else at the commencement of thisyear.  The advantages occurring to the locality which should hold the seatof justice, were sufficiently important to be worthy of now small sacrifice. Appreciating this fact, the inhabitants of both places entered into thecontest with a determination to win at every hazard - and the encounter, headedin each case by men of means, and keen practical sgacity, was no child's play,as will be presently seen.

The leading men on the Rockingham side were Dr. Barrows, WillardBarrows, Gen. G. B. Sargent, Ebenezer Cook, John P. Cook, a Mr. Clark, ofBuffalo; Mr. Robertson, John Sullivan, and a Mr. Theller.

Under the Davenport standard were rallied G. L. Davenport, JamesMcIntosh, Antoine LeClaire, G. C. R. Mitchell, Levi S. Colton, D. C. Eldredge,Sheriff Wilson, and Captain Fitch-although the latter is suspected by Postorityof praying "Good Lord! Good Devil!"

Readers will recognize in the above not only men of shrewdperception and indefatigabel perseverance, but also in the first-named, a fewwho have left their first love, and who now consider Davenport as "fondlytheir own" as ever they did Rockingham.  Headed by such men, thebattle was long, sanguinary and terrific, if one may be allowed thelatitude of moderate hyperbole.

The matter probably began by each party counting noses, and adiscovery upon one side or the other that there was a deficiency.  Whichside first became aware of the fact, and resolved to supply it from abroad, itmay be expedient not to question too closely-suffice it, that a short timebefore the day of election both parties were engaged in recruiting legalvoters-Rockingham in Cedar county, and Davenport in Dubuque.  Anindividual, named Bellows, holding a carte blanche from some seven Davenporters-whosuddenly discovered that Davenport was in want of laborers-started toDubuque in the capacity of recruiting Sergeant.  He proved himself a mostexcellent one, for a day or two prior to the election he returned with elevensleigh-loads of miners, who, in consideration of one dollar per diem, foodand whisky, and all other expenses, had agreed to labor a few days inDavenport, where they had understood there was a scarcity of hands at thatparticular juncture.  To assert that they knew anything of a pendingelection, were, perhaps, unwise, and, mayhap, at the same time, unjust to theworthy gentlemen who had hired them.  Their arrival was the beginning of agrand carnival.  Houses were illuminated, bonfires streaked the face ofscowling night with roseate joy, processions were formed, gunpowder exploded,whisky gurgled everlastingly, and men with tumblers in hand, and elbows bent,were everywhere looking skyward.

The memorable nineteenth of February made its appearance-the dayappointed by Legislative powers as the day of election.  The town wasfilled with miners-roaring, patriotically drunk.  They were Americans-tovote is the glorious, blood-bought, inalienable right of Americans, and so theyvoted.  They were the fiercest, raggedest, most God-forsaken crowd underthe heavens-to challenge them was useless, for to them perjury was nothing; toattempt forcible resistance were madness, and so, what could our citizens do butlet them vote unchallenged and unresisted, as they wisely did?

The miners voted, and left soon after.  They drank duringtheir brief sojourn three hundred gallons of whisky, and other liquors, and costthose who brought them, for transportation, and other expenses, over $3,000! It may be well to state that $1200 of this amount was absorbed by Mr.Bellows - he having received the amount towards paying their expenses, but whichhe put into his own pocket, together with $300 which he received for his ownservices.

Upon counting votes, it appeared that Davenport was ahead - theDubuque miners were too many for the Cedar county wood-choppers.  Thereturns were sent to Dubuque, to the Sheriff and Commissioners, but theirdecision was valueless, for Dr. Barrows had visited Gov. Dodge, and made suchrepresentations of the stupendous frauds committed on the part of Davenport,that the election was annulled.  So ended the first battle - with emaciatedpocketbooks, both parties rested on their arms.  Rockingham, however, hadthe advantage, for the County Commissioners were elected the next month fromRockingham, and also met there.

Maj. Wilson - now of Rock Island - received the firstappointment of Sheriff in Scott county.

In the Spring of this year, A. LeClaire laid out an addition tothe site of two blocks in width, extending from Harrison street to Brady, and upto Seventh.  It is known as LeClaire's first Addition.  This additionlay upon the Reserve, and as the title was perfect, it was a desirable locality. Lots were sold on long time - in prices ranging from one hundred to fivehundred dollars, with the proviso that each buyer should improve his lot, withinone year, to the amount of five hundred dollars.  Some thirty houses werebuilt upon it during the year, which was the first marked improvement in thegrowth of the place.

It may, perhaps, be not uninteresting to give the first day'sproceeding of the Board of Commissioners.  It met at the store of H. W.Higgins, in Rockingham:

"Present - Benj. F. Pike, and Andrew W. Campbell.

The Board proceeded to the appointment of a Clerk.

Ordered - That Ebenezer Cook be appointed Clerk to the Board

Ebenezer Cook having appeared in pursuance of his appointment,and taken the oath of office, entered upon his duties as Clerk.

Ordered - That the Clerk take the necessary steps to procurefrom the Secretary of the Territory, a seal for the use of this Board.

Ordered - That this Board do meet, at its April Session, in thetown of Rockingham.

Ordered - That Benj. F. Pike be allowed three dollars for oneday's service as County Commissioner.

Ordered - That Andrew W. Carter be allowed three dollars for oneday's service as County Commissioner.

Ordered - That Ebenezer Cook be allowed three dollars for oneday's service as Clerk.

And the Board adjourned to Session in course."

It will be seen that the largest "service" by whichthey claimed three dollars, was the labor of voting themselves the amount. Alfred Carter was the third Commissioner elected, but he did notparticipate in the laborious "services" of the first sitting.

July fourth was marked not only as the era of our NationalIndependence, but as the day also upon which the District of Iowa was separatedfrom Wisconsin, and became the Territory of Iowa; Robt. Lucas, of Ohio, wasappointed Governor, and Wm. B. Conway, of Pennsylvania, Secretary.  TheCounties of Scott, Muscatine, Louisa, Slaughter and Johnson, were constitutedthe Second Judicial District, and were assigned to Joseph Williams.  TheDistrict Court met for the first time, the "first Thursday after the firstMonday in October" at Davenport.  At this time, Wisconsin had thirteencounties, and 18,148 inhabitants; Iowa sixteen counties, and a population of22,859.  Scott and Clinton counties formed one election District, andelected one member to the Council, and two to the House of the TerritorialLegislature.

In the Summer of this year, the first brick house was erected byD. C. Eldredge.  It is still standing on the south-east corner of Main andThird streets.  Nearly at the same time, the brick building, now used bythe Sisters in Catholic Block, was completed as a Church.  The firstPresbyterain organization was completed this year.

At a special session of the Wisconsin Legislature, held in Juneof this year, at Burlington, an act was passed for the holding of a new electionin Scott county, for the seat of justice, to be held on the third Monday ofAugust.  It provided a sixty day's residence as qualification for a voter.

Then the war began again.  The most liberal inducementswere held out for settlers - lots were sold at half or quarter prices, or givenaway to secure residents.  Rockingham, which was subject to partialinundation in times of high water, was subject to many a witticism andcarricature.  Among the latter, was a Mr. Hedges, represented as wading theslough that surrounds the town, with his wife upon his back, and the waterbreast-high - this was founded upon fact.  Another pictured Gen. Sargent,leading a company of men to the polls.  The men hesitate upon the brink ofthe slough, but the General bravely plunges in, and wades to the middle. "Come on, men, its only so deep!" cries he as he turns to hiscompany, with the water reaching close to his neck.  James McIntosh, andothers, commenced the work of a thorough canvass, and the "din ofpreparation" resounded loud and deep from both camps, prognosticatinganother furious struggle.

About this time, Mr. A. Logan made his appearance with materialsfor a printing office.  There was no little strife between Rockingham andDavenport, as to which should obtain him.  Extremely liberal offers weremade him on both sides - such as now would gladden the heart of the printer witha joy unkonwn to modern supporters of these type-sticking pilgrims.  Bothplaces recognized the infinite benefit which a paper would render them inbuilding up the towns - of the emigration it would influence, and the reputationwhich it would give the place abroad.  Another election was impending forCounty Seat, and the aid of a paper would be to either side invaluable. Whether Mr. Logan was influenced mainly by the liberal offers made him, orby the superior locality of Davenport - certain it is, however, that one fourthday of August, 1838, there appeared the first number of the "Iowa Sun andDavenport and Rock Island News;  which - as we learn from itssalutatory - is designed "to cast its rays over the moral and politicallandscape, regardless of those petty interests and local considerations whichmight contract its beams."  And in order to more readily accomplishthis, we are further told that, "we have selected the center  (Davenport,)of the system around which all our territorial interests harmoniouslyrevolve."

The election was held, and Rockingham had a majority of fifteenvotes.  Mr. James McIntosh, and John Forrest, Esq, after some hard riding,and much swearing, (in a legal way of course,) secured affidavits - in manycases from the voters themselves - proving that twenty fraudulent votes werecast on the Rockingham side.  These being transmitted to the Sheriff andCommissioners at Dubuque, were acted upon by them, and resulted in theirdeclaring, on the eighth of September, that the seat of justice should bepermanently located at Davenport.  Rockingham, however, carried the matterbefore the judicial tribunals, where it remained a year or so, and where weshall meet it again in its proper place.

In dismissing the subject, until it is met again in 1840, itwill not be amiss to insert a note in regard to both places, and the contest,for which we are indebted to the veteran pen of Willard Barrows, Esq., -formerly a resident of Rockingham, but now one of Davenport's most esteemedcitizens:

"Rockingham was laid out by Col. John Sullivan, ofLyonsville, Ohio, and A. H. Davenport, Esq., now of LeClaire, in this County,and although the ground upon which it was located, much of it, was low, andsubject to overflow, yet its situation, directly opposite the mouth of RockRiver, which, at that time, was supposed to be navigable, gave it so muchimportance as to attract attention - so much so, that in 1838 and '9, itcontained some twenty-five or thirty houses.  The early settlers ofRockingham were an enterprising and intelligent people, and noted for theirhospitality and social intercourse with one-another, many of whom are now amongthe most respectable citizens of Davenport.

One of the most prominent causes of its downfall and decay, wasthe long and unsettled question of the County Seat.  For several years thestruggle was carried on between Rockingham and Davenport, with varied success toeither party.  All the ingenuity and wit of the parties were resorted to -the Law of the Territory, at that time, in regard to such questions, wasanything but pointed; and great latitude was given to construe it to suit thewants of either party.  At the elections held for the decision of the casebetween the two towns, the inhabitants of Illinois wer invited over to vote. Men were imported from Dubuque and Galena at great expense - theballot-box was stuffed, and the poll-books showed a population that, for yearsafter, it was hard to find.  The final settlement of the question, however,was arrived at, by the citizens of Davenport agreeing to build the Court Houseand Jail free of expense to the County, which they did.  The treaty ofpeace was made at Rockingham in the winter of 1840, and ratified by a ball givenat the Rockingham Hotel, where not less than fifty couples were in attendance,among whom were some of our *largest and wealthiest citizens.

* Mr. LeClaire

During the whole of this contest, there was the utmost goodfeeling and gentlemanly conduct apparent in the whole transaction, and, to thistime, it is often the source of much merriment among the actors of that day; andis looked upon only as the "freaks and follies" of afrontier life."

In September a stock company was formed to erect a School House- shares ten dollars.  A meeting of stockholders was called the 16th toelect a building committee, &c.  Some members held more than one share,and were thereby entitled to more than one vote, but some ultra-Democrat movedthat all should fare alike in this particular.  It was voted down, and,thereupon, the indignant Jupiter Tonans thus discoursed.  For a specimen oftall traveling by such a varicose-legged apparatus as his Pegasus must havebeen, it is unequalled.

"That insatiable thirst for power, which is so dominant inman as well as beast, requires an argus to watch and detect its Jinius (!)windings, and a Herculean force to destroy its hydra machinations!  If thatnoble and magnanimous bird, which we have adopted for our emblem, should hearsuch sentiments avowed, and would not eagerly part with every quill to recorddamnation to the principle, I would pluck her from her towering Eriy, andmake her the companion of owls and ravens!  Is there a star in the splendidgalazy which bespangles our banner, that would not blush in token ofdisapprobation to such sentiments, I would blot it forever from the pureetherial ether in which it shines!"

The assertion, ex nihilo, nihil fit seems contravened inthis case - for all this burst of eloquence about that conirostral bird - theEagle - and the bannered-star and Jinius (!) and Argus, grew from the resolutionof a company of stockholders to allow a member having four shares to have fourvotes!  Sorry is my pen that it cannot confer immortality upon the writerof the above, as cotemporaneous records make no mention of his name - nor dothey even mention whether the eagle handed over the quills, or the "starblushed," or whether either or both received the dire punishment which"Anthony"* threatened.  We but know that the Eagle still roostsin the solitary grandeur of her "Eriy," and that the Star stillwaves proudly in "etherial ether" over the "land of the free andhome of the brave."

*This was the name appended to the communication.

The county commenced improving rapidly - roads were laid to itslimits from all parts, and emigration began slowly to dot the back county withlog-houses and wheatstacks.  The village for two years had passed from itsruder character, and was beginning to assume prominence abroad as a healthy, andone of the most beautiful localities on the Mississippi.  A writer, inAugust of that year, thus says of Davenport:

"Two years ago it had but one family, now upwards ofthirty, and three large store buildings, a large hotel, two groceries, twoforwarding and commission houses, and an elegant brick chapel has beencommenced:  and more than one hundred dwellings will be under contract theensuing year.  Now, as I stand here overlooking the rapid increase andimprovement, (in spite of all the uncertainty of preemption titles,) I think itrequires but little faith to call Davenport an embryo Cincinnati."

Keen-visioned seer!  Posterity will, undoubtedly, at somefuture time, recognize his prophetic character.

A writer in the "Army and Navy Register," ofthat date, says:  "At our feet, and on the gentle declivity betweenthe bluff and the river, is situated the village of Davenport.  Thelocation is not exceeded by any on the Mississippi, or in the world, either forhealth, beauty, or the fertility of its soil."  Any quantity ofextracts similar in import, might be given from cotemporary papers, showing thehigh position which our place at once took in the public estimation, as beingunequalled in the superb beauty of its location.

In regard to the fertility of the soil, the Sun, ofSeptember, says:  "We yesterday saw a Water Melon, raised about oneand half miles west of the village, which measured four feet one way, and threeand a half the other - and weighed fory and a half punds.  Anothergentleman has a pumpkin vine, on which, he says, he counted sixty-eight goodsized pumpkins!"  These facts speak volumes for the farmingcountry adjacent to Davenport.

The editor of the Sun has not a few articles in his sheeteulogistical of the mammoth vegetables which, from time to time, were laid uponhis table, by subscribers anxious for a "puff" - of the soil.  Hewas once, however, badly sold.  Mr. D. A. Burrows resolved to astonish him,and for this purpose stuck a half dozen, or more, large potatoes so nicelytogether with pegs, that they seemed one growth.  The editor was hugelydelighted with the present.  It was to other potatoes what elephants are tomice - and he trumpeted the fact accordingly, defying any other soil under thesun to produce its equal.  It hung in the sanctum a long time, and was asource of patriotic pride both to the worthy editor and all spectators. But one day a peice of the monster fell off - and revealed a hard woodysubstance protruding, which excited curiosity.  A nearer examinationrevealed a peg, and a little more revealed the entire internal economy of thepotatoe.  The worthy votary of the Quill was highly incensed at thedenoument, and did not puff a mammoth vegetable for three whole weeks.

At the first election, held under the new territorial law, inSeptember, P. H. Engle, for delegate to Congress, received three hundred andnine votes.  The whole number of votes cast for Delegate was four hundredand twenty-six.  J. W. Parker, for member of Council, two hundred andforty-four - for Representatives, J. A. Burchard, and G. W. Harlan received, theformer, two hundred and thirty-four, the latter, two hundred and three. The District included Scott and Clinton counties.

In the next month the first District Court met.  On motionof G. C. R. Mitchell, Esq., W. B. Conway, James Grant, Rufus Harvey, SimonMeredith, Edward Southwick, and J. Wilson Dewy, Esqs., were admitted. This, from the Iowa Sun, is all the notice we have of the doings ofthis, our first District Court Organization.

We are also informed in the same paper, that the editor,"after considerable enquiry," has ascertained that "sheep do wellhere."  This is not particularly important, save that it recalls ananecdote of that well-known gentleman, Mons. A. LeClaire - as he was termed inthose days.

It seems that some one engaged in the sheep business, hadsecured Mr. LeClaire's service to transport a large flock of sheep across theriver - as he wished to reach some point on this side, and the only availableferriage was to be obtained here.  After getting them over, the sheepdriver sheared them, and was indebted to Mr. LeClaire also for pasture duringthe operation.  Upon leaving, he presented Mr. LeClaire the fleeces aspayment for his trouble, and went on.  Wool was then worth some forty centsa pound, and the large pile was almost a moderate fortune to any one.  ButMr. LeClaire did not then know as much of wool as he did of interpreting - itseemed simply a huge pile of refuse, utterly valueless.  Accordingly hesummoned his men, ordered them to pile brush on the wool, and set fire to it! It was done, and, as he traveled off, with fingers upon his nose to shutout the itolerable fume of the burning wool, he concluded that "such acursed stench was poor pay for all his trouble!"  Most readers, whohave ever "smelt wollen," will heartily in his conclusion.

D. C. Eldredge was appointed P. M. this Fall.  Mails camefrom the East and left via Stephenson, Sundays; to and from the North viaDubuque, weekly; do. West via Sanbornton, weekly; and do. from South viaBurlington, twice each week.

On the third of October, Black Hawk breathed his last, at hisvillage on Des Moines River.  He was buried near the banks of the river, ina sitting posture, as is customary with his tribe.  His hands grasped hiscane, and his body was surrounded by stakes, which united at the top.  Alarge number of whites were present, and did honor to the occasion of hisinterment by their sympathy and numbers.  No monument rears itself to markthe resting-place of his dust - nor does he need it.  His deeds haveconferred a name upon him, which will outlast a dozen granite piles - a namewhich will last as long as Patriotism shall be remembered as a Virtue.

The Burial place of Davenport was, at this time, on the Bluffs,near the corner of Sixth and Farnam streets, on the ground now occupied by thehouse and lot of Willard Barrows.  Dr. Emerson, a gentleman well-known asthe original owner of Dred Scott, was buried here.  The remains have sincebeen removed.  The same spot was also the target-ground for the cannon ofthe Fort, before it was dismantled.  Many an iron relic will yet be exhumedwhen the bluff is graded - if such ever will happen.

The population of the County at the close of 1838, was onethousand.  The number of boats passing averaged about five per diem. The river closed December seventeenth.  Wheat was worth twenty-fivecents per bushel; Oats thirty-five cents; Potatoes one dollar.  Pine lumberwas brought from Cincinnati, and was worth from forty dollars to sixty dollarsper thousand.  Oak lumber was sawed in the neighborhood, and was worththirty-five dollars per thousand.  About two thousand bushels of wheat wereraised in the County.  The number of buildings in the village was aboutfifty.

The receipts of the County were four hundred ninetyseven dollarsfifty three cents, and its expenses seven hundred eighty-one dollars fiftycents.