Brighton Township - Towns Histories
Last updated 04 March 2021
Brighton
Brighton has always been proud of her claim of being the oldest town in Washington County. Although the town was not laid out until 1840, the first settlers came to Brighton in 1837.
Silas Washburn was one of the first settlers coming on foot and alone early in 1837. His claim was just below the C. R. & P. Railroad bridge across Skunk River and included the land which was the mill site for many years. In April of 1838 a relative, Seneca Beach arrived bringing his family and also Mr. Washburn's.
These families came up river from Fort Madison in a "mackinaw" boat. Much of the way the boat had to be pulled along with rope fastened to trees ahead as it was impossible to paddle against the current of the river.
Washburn's house was a one story structure built on legs covered with clapboards and had a sod chimney.
It was Beach's home that in 1839 held the first religious services. The Congregational Church was organized in 1841, and the names of Seneca Beach and Eliza Beach are listed among the organizers. Mr. Beach was the first justice of the peace.
Another one of the earliest settler was John Brier, Sr., who was rated the richest man in the county according to the first tax list published in 1839. It was he who loaned money to Mr. Pickerell to build the first Brighton Mill. In 1841 Pickerell established the first ferry across the skunk river. The ferry was in operation for twenty-five years until the bridge was built.
The first mercantile establishment in Brighton was owned and operated by John Lewis. It was a one story log structure 16 x 20. Lewis was also the first postmaster with the mail arriving semi-monthly from Mt. Pleasant.
Philo Dray born in 1840 was the first male child born in Brighton Township.
Eldridge Reed is supposed to have been the first person to have taught a school here. The school was held in a building which tradition tells us stood in the northeast part of town. About 1841, a school house was erected just west of town, the people of the neighborhood all helping to build it.
Of the churches in Brighton, the Methodist is the oldest. It was organized about 1842-1844, but worshiped in a schoolhouse until about 1856 or '57 when the first church was erected in 1856.
The Christian Church was organized in 1848 and erected their first brick building in 1850.
Hugh Henry owned and operated a book bindery at one time.
It was in July 1854 that Brighton was visited by an epidemic of cholera which raged for a month causing death deaths at the average of one a day. The first victim, a little daughter of Wm. Trine who came by boat from Ohio was thought to have been exposed on the way. The nature of her illness was not fully determined until her funeral. There was no known remedy for the disease. Whiskey and camphor were used internally and externally.
George Trine, a cabinet maker could not supply the demand for caskets, but rather than risk delay, the bodies wee buried in rough boxes and graves were kept open in advance.
Brighton was the scene of a famous shoot-out. Dr. Hough killed Dr. Sales on Main Street in August of 1868. Dr. Hough escaped.
Source: WCGS Fall/Winter 2005 newsletter and Atlas of Keokuk and Washington Counties, Iowa (1971). This page was prepared and posted by Norma Jennings Dec 2012
Sandy Hook
May 5, 1841, Sandy Hook aspired to civic greatness. It had been an Indian village and wished to try the whites awhile. Jesse Hiatt and Thomas J. Gordon set the yeast in that wee bit of sponge. The future city was placed on a sandy ridge, two miles northeast of Brighton. The founders admired President Martin Van Buren and would honor him by perpetuating through all the future years the name of his residence, "Kinderhook" but as they could not think of the name, remembering only that there was a "hook" to it, they rallied on the sand heap and let'er go as Sandy Hook. A town was planned before 1849 by William Hesseltine and another man. Tom Kyle laid out the plat and did the surveying. As nearly as can be remembered its location was on a flat area south of the Hesseltine home near the railroad.
One of the earliest settlers in this community was Jeff Gordon. Mr. Gordon came to Sandy Hook in 1838, living in a log house. At one time the Geff Gordon farm cover about 240 acres. The orginal deed, still in the hand of relatives, was written on buckskin, an official government document.
Source: WCGS Fall/Winter 2005 newsletter and Atlas of Keokuk and Washington Counties, Iowa (1971). This page was prepared and posted by Norma Jennings Dec 2012
Sharpsburg
In workVerdi
The original name of the place known as Verdi was McJunkin named in honor of Hon. J. F. McJunkin. The town boasted a post office and general store, which was also used as a waiting room for those waiting on the train. Because of the similarity of the name of McJunkin to another Iowa town, the name was changed to Verdi.
The Rock Island Railroad ran through Verdi, trains stopped for passengers only when flagged.
About a quarter of a mile northwest of Verdi, the first school was built. Later Memorial Miller deeded land for a school.
Mr. and Mrs. Al Logan were the last to operate a store in Verdi.
The place known as the James Baird farm is the only one in the community that in 1936 still belonged to the heirs of the party who purchased it from the government. In 1844, William Lewis and his neighbors, Logan and Ritchie, came from Illinois by horseback to look at Iowa land. Mr. Lewis purchased land northeast of Verdi for $1.25 an acre. The men built their cabins while here and returned to Illinois to bring their families.
Source: WCGS Fall/Winter 2005 newsletter and/or Atlas of Keokuk and Washington Counties, Iowa (1971). This page was prepared and posted by Norma Jennings Dec 2012
Winchester
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