Jones Township, Union County, IA

 

        By 1850 Union county was beginning to open up a roadway to the west. It was receiving a new crop of travelers every day, some decided to stay on. In Feb., 1850 Norman Nunn came south from Madison county where he had lived for two years. Originally Nunn had hailed from Putnam County, Indiana. He, his wife, and nine youngsters moved into Union county with few belongings and desire to work. He was a blacksmith by profession and by working long hours and turning no one away, Mr. Nunn soon realized the rewards of his work. By the time the snows, fell, Mr. Nunn found it a necessity to build a strongbox to hold his $2500 fortune.

       In the spring of 1850, Nunn was joined by Joseph Nunn and James Stark. Stark came from Mahaska County, Iowa. William Locke, a native of Massachusetts came over from Illinois to join the new community in late spring.

      By 1851 the community was growing enough to need a post office. William Locke was the first postmaster. His salary was less than $7.00 the first year. Mail came in weekly from Chariton, sometimes only one letter was in the bag.

     In July 1851, Henry Peters bought the first parcel of land in Jones Township. He platted twenty-five lots and named the place Petersville. The land was around the spot where the Mormons had built Pisgah. A.R. Brown, Alex McGaha, John Edgecombe, Samuel Starr, and David Anderson were the first investors in Petersville.   At that time, Petersville was the county seat.

     It proved to be a growing town and soon could brag about the modern businesses which included a mill, a general store, a blacksmith shop and even a log house which had been constructed to hold court.   Petersville remained the main community of the county until 1855, when Afton sprang up to take over the county seat. Records show some taxes were paid in Petersville until 1858.

      In 1856, Petersville boosted the only ferry that was ever used to ferry emigrants across Grand River in Union County. At that time, the rush to California and the west was on and it was a very profitable business.

       Other early settlers around Jones township included: I.K White, E. Dye, Jr., J.S. LaFavre, I.F. Bishop, Stephen White, D.C. Lowe, J.S. Power, W. J. Bishop, N. Thompson, C. Slutts, I.S. Smith, A P. Porter, A. G. Reed, C.W. Smith, W. C. Stalcup, W. C. Chaney, R. A. Bottleman, A. I, Patterson, I. Cunningham, H. James, Jacob Evans, John Doner, H. A. Bottlemen, H. Weaver, W.H.H. Rogers, S.C. Messenger, H. Stark, J. Buskirk, A. B. Brown.

      Jones Township was named in 1852 for one of the prominent settlers of the time, Harve Jones. He lived around Four Mile Creek.

      There were two railroads in the county. The C.B. & Q. ran across the county from the east to the west. Thayer, then a thriving town, became the station for the C. G. Q which ran from the north to the south.

      In 1856, the township decided to build a school house. J.K. and Stephen White were hired to build it. They were paid $40.00 to complete the job. They had to haul lumber form a mill which was located south of Hopeville (about 25 miles to the south in Clarke County). Samuel Riggs was hired to teach the first term at the new school. He was paid $15.00 per month.

      Thayer became the second town in Jones Township. In 1853, J. F. Bishop settled on land where the town now sits. James Reed erected the first house here in 1868.  John Daley and John McGowan settled in Thayer in 1868 and purchased land from C.S. Perkins. By 1869

     The remainder of the town was settled. L.A. Willard, A. Downing, E.W. Clark, O.B. Gibson, all of Boone County, Iowa and James Brogan were the first settlers.

      In 1868 the nearest post office was a little building called Alaska. By 1869, it had moved to Thayer.

      The first mayor of Thayer was F. Hendricks. He was elected in 1985.

      Other small towns soon followed. Talmage was built in 1887. Dr. J.C. Beebe owned the land and gave the town its name. Talmage was located just to the north of what is now Highway 34.

          In 1864 another small town had sprung up to contend with Petersville. It was called West Union. There were 136 lots in the town and it was surveyed by James M. Campbell and Andrew S. Stitherm.

      West Union quickly grew in size and soon had a school house, a general store and a saw mill which was run by steam power, a hotel and a blacksmith shop. A post office was added within a year.

     The second cemetery was located about halfway between Petersville and West Union. It was on a high ridge. A number of the earliest settlers are buried here.

     By 1883, the town of West Union had disappeared entirely.

     From early records, the early settlers which we have been able to find records for were: James Campbell, J.D. Wright, J.S. Power, A.S. Stitherm, Reeber Reid, Wm. Collins, Jacob Elliott, Frank Voodry, A.R. Brown, James Beale, William Willis, J.W. Dawdon, Cyrus Slutts, J.W. Ball, J. M. Campbell.

     Today we can locate only seven cemeteries in Jones Township.  Bethel Cemetery is located in section 3 of Jones Township. Beulah is located in section 4 of Jones Township. It is on Highway 69, south of Lorimor. Mt. Pisgah is located just to the west of highway 169.  Thayer cemetery is located in section 14.  It is also known as the Catholic Cemetery.  West Union Cemetery is the second oldest cemetery in Jones Township.  It has a number of very old stones. It is located in section 21 of Jones Township.

     Claypool Cemetery is located in section 24.  Otterbein Cemetery is also known as Buzzards Roost. It is located in section 28.

 

 

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