CHAPTER IV. (CONT'D)
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT.
William S. Townsend, made a settlement and built a cabin on the "Botna" near Indiantown in 1850. He lived here until 1852 when he removed to what is now Edna township. He was a regular pioneer, and was familiarly known as "Buck" Townsend. On taking up his claim in Edna, he selected a small grove part of which he like many others brought up in a wooded country, grubbed out to make a farm, when thousands of acres of beautiful prairie lay all around him. His case, however, is not a singular one, for people who are, at the present day clearing up the heavy forest lands of Wisconsin, cannot understand why so many prefer the prairie land to their woods, contending that where trees will not grow the soil must be poor. Edna township took its name from the wife of Mr. Townsend. In 1858, this old pioneer, pulled up stakes and emigrated to Missouri, and his present whereabouts are unknown.
Vincent M. Conrad, who was probably, the first Gentile to take up a claim in what is now Cass county, came here in the spring of 1850, bringing with him his stock and fixtures. He selected a farm on Section 18, where he built a cabin and resided all that summer. In the autumn he returned to Dubuque county with the intention of spending the winter there, and returning in the spring, but "the well laid plans of mice and men aft gang agley," for the spring of 1851, he found that on account of the heavy rains and melting snow, the rivers and creeks that had to be crossed on his way hither were do high as to bar his way, and he deferred coming until the spring of 1852. He came, however, at the latter date and took up his quarters in the cabin which he had erected, and continues a resident of Cass county, and a prominent one to the present writing. He is treated of in detail in the official chapter.
Peter Hedges located at what was afterwards as Hedge's Grove, on Seven Mile creek, in Union township in the fall of 1850. He died in Missouri in 1882.
Jeremiah Bradshaw landed in what is now known as Cass county, on the 12th day of September, 1851, and on arriving at Cold Spring postoffice, found about seven Mormon families still there. They were the two Pettengills, Marsh, Bunnell, Warner, Ferrin and Wicks and their families. There were also two charming Mormon widows who were supported and cared for by the families named. Mr. Bradshaw asserts that he found the Mormons to be upright people, add good neighbors, and that he liked them all except "old Ferrin," whom he considered to be a scheming, selfish old sinner, who simply stuck to the Saints for the "loaves and fished." Mr. Bradshaw arrived in the spring of 1851, and the last of the Mormons did not leave until 1852, so he had a years residence with them and ample opportunity to learn what kind of people they were.
Besides having his own family with him, Mr. Bradshaw was accompanied by his son, V. M. Bradshaw and wife; Lewis Hyatt and wife; and James Sprague and family. They all located and in Audubon county, near where Oakfield now is, but were prevented from crossing the "Botna river by the high water of that year, when they returned to the place where Mr. Bradshaw settled, as above stated. Mr. Bradshaw recollects of an election being held at his house in the fall of 1851, while Cass was a township of Pottawottamie. At that election, thirteen votes were polled, only nine of which were legal, as four transient young men voted, who were not qualified as to time of residence. Mr. Bradshaw was chosen a justice of the peace, by the voluntarily bestowed suffrages of his fellow citizens.
In 1851, Mr. Bradshaw had seven pet elks, four pet deer, two badgers, and a sand hill crane and longed for an owl and a prairie dog. He had one pair of elks that were taught to work like horses. These he used frequently sleigh-ride behind having had harnesses made to fit them. They could trot as fast as ordinary horses could run. He finally sold the pair for one hundred dollars to a man from Savannah, Missouri.
A full biographical sketch of this old pioneer of Cass county appears under the head of County Judges, in the Representative chapter, he being the first to fill that important office.
William Hamlin came in the spring of 1851, and on May 6, of that year, took up a claim on section 6, Benton township.
James Kincade came in the fall of 1853, and located in Pymosa township, where he died during the winter of 1854-5.
William Mose, an eccentric sort of a genius, lived on section 30, in Atlantic township, in the grove. He did not build a cabin, but lived in a cave or "dug-out." He settled here sometime in 1851, and lived here about a year, when he left, but where he went no one seems to know.
George Reeves, came here from Warren county, and made some improvements on section 31, Atlantic township, breaking the land, but did not plant any grain on it. The exact date of his coming seems to be a subject of dispute, some affirming that he located as early as 1850, while others, just as conscientiously, claim that 1851 was the date. He died in his wagon in 1855, at a place called Sawyer's Grove, and was buried by Eli Watson.
Wade Hampton Holt, a Southerner, lived with Reeves, and remained in the county for a while after Reeves' death. Finally he went South again, and during the rebellion was killed while in the rebel army.
Henry Martin settled at Hedges' Grove (now Gaylord's,) on section 10, Union township, in 1852, and built a small shanty of some kind.
A.J. Millseagel, or "old Slagel, as he was almost universally called, was a distinguished character in an early day. He was the first professional prairie breaker in the county, and was known to be here as early as 1851. He was fond of hunting deer, and was a great eater, and had a reputation in that lie. Hunters who knew him would not allow him to accompany them because it was so hard to fill him. Corn dodgers set before him disappeared as if by magic. A quarter of venison was hardly an appetizer for his wonderfully rapacious gastric organs. One time in the winter of 1853, Jeremiah Bradshaw was many miles north of the Indiantown settlement, on a hunting expedition, and his family started "old Slagel" up to Mr. Bradshaw with enormous supply of provisions. He travel with oxen and very slowly, and when he got up to Bradshaw's camp he had eaten every pound of provision with which Mr. Bradshaw was to have been refreshed. This worthy afterwards removed to Douglas township, Montgomery county, was not improved. While there he bought the wife of a man named Frank Wilson, paying for her a sow, two or three pigs, and a gun; his neighbors became indignant, and a company of them went to his house to mob him. Taking refuge in his house, he barricaded its doors and windows, and commenced shooting at the crowd outside. He killed John Stipe and wounded James Shores. He was arrested and tried for the killing of Stipe, and was sent to the prison at Fort Madison for fourteen years. Another story is told of "old Slagel's" prodigious eating, in which it is claimed that he shot a doe with its fawn, in the late summer, one afternoon, and with what help he could get from one or two other men, he managed to eat the fawn and the forward half of the doe, before dinner the next day. He was like an Indian, could go without eating for a long time, then would gorge himself, and on that sustain life for another long interval.
James L. Byrd, with his seven sons, Clark, Abraham, Aaron, Thomas J., Jonathan, James L. and William, came in the spring of 1852, and staked out a large tract of land in the southwest portion of Pymosa and the northeast of Washington townships. They erected a cabin and in the fall of the same year Mr. Byrd, senior, returned to Wapello county for his family, which he brought out to this locality, and installed in the cabin. R. D. McGeehon, distant five miles, was his neighbors. Mr. Byrd hauled his first seed wheat and potatoes from Des Moines. He sometimes went one hundred and fifty miles, to the Hackberry Ridge, in Missouri, for supplies. He often sent his grain to Rockport, Missouri, to be ground. Mr. McGeehon and the other settlers sent their grists to the same mill. He attended an election at Cold Spring, or Indiantown in the fall of 1852, at which the voters were: J. Bradshaw, V. M. Bradshaw, Thomas J. Byrd, Mason Gill, Abraham Byrd, V. M. Conrad, William Hamlin, and himself. He was a native of Kentucky and one of the pioneers of Indiana.
June 12th, 1852, R. D. McGeehon, Morris Hoblit and George Shannon arrived in the county. They came up through the southwestern portion of the county, having left the river at St. Joseph. These were, at that time, all young, single men, and roamed around considerably before making their claims. McGeehon, finally selected some land near Turkey Grove and began to build a cabin, cutting ad hewing the logs himself, and almost unassisted built the house. It was the first house in the county that had good large modern windows in it. The sash and glass were bought in Glenwood, Mills county, then but a little hamlet of about twenty cabins. Plenty of cash in the pocket of the pioneer was then thing unheard of, and Mr. McGeehon was no exception to the rule, for $52 comprised his entire capital when he landed here. In the fall of 1852, having finished his cabin to his liking, he returned to Logan county, Illinois from which he had come and was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Hoblitt, and at once returned with his wife, staging over four hundred miles. Their household furniture was scanty enough, in those years, and that of the rudest kind, neighbors there were none. Mrs. McGeehon, in the first six months of her residence here seeing but one of her own sex, yet the warm loving heart of this courageous woman bore it gladly for the sake of the man of her choice.
Morris Hoblitt made a claim on section 14, in Atlantic township, but did not build a cabin, but afterwards traded it. To John R. Kirk in exchange for one near the present site of Wiota. George Shannon made a claim on section 13, but built no cabin, and went to Iranistan where he engaged in the blacksmith business, and in 1860 went to California.
Joseph Donner came to Cass county at an early day, locating in what is now Pymosa township in 1852. He is a native of Canada and spent his early life in that province of the British Empire. He died, at his home in Pymosa, leaving a widow and several children, among the latter, Mrs. George Conrad of Atlantic.
Jesse Marshall, with his wife and several sons, settled on section 22, of what is now Atlantic township, on Turkey creek, in 1852. He had a wife and ten children, and lived on this spot until January, 1854, as more fully detailed in the history of Atlantic township, further on.
Dr. Buckham may be mentioned as among the settlers at or near Lewis in 1852, where he kept a store, but is mentioned at greater length elsewhere.
W. C. Croft, came here during the winter 1852-3, and engaged in the blacksmithing business in Iranistan.
F. E. Ball, located at Iranistan in 1852, coming here to oversee the construction of the saw-mill, afterwards sold to S. T. Carey. He remained until the spring of 1856, when he removed to Wisconsin.
Albert and G. W. Wakefield, bot natives of Maine, came to Cass county in spring of 1853. They located upon section 13 and 24, in Atlantic township, entering some six hundred acres of land, and Albert was one of the pioneer teachers of the county. Albert afterwards purchased the lots in Grove City, and turned them into a farm, on the demise of that village, on which he is living at present. Albert Wakefield is noticed at length under the head of county surveyors, he having filled that position. George W. Wakefield had a family when he came here, which his brother lacked, and built a cabin on the south part of section 24.
Thomas Meredith, a native of "white cliffed Albion," but who resided in Wisconsin for several years, determined in 1853, to emigrate to California, the land of gold. He started, but on reaching Cass county, changed his mind and made what he intended should be a temporary settlement at Eight-mile Grove, in Brighton township. Time rolled on, and he still a resident of the same township.
John R. Kirk, one of the pioneers of the county, came here in June 1853, and took up and entered eighty acres of land near the present site of Wiota, which he traded to Morris Hoblitt for the piece of land where he now resides, on Section 14, in Atlantic township.
Eber W. and William Buckwalter came to Cass county in 1853, and located at Iranistan. They were both single men, and carried on various avocations. They left here in 1858, going to Nebraska.
Rev. Bowater Bales, and his sons J. W., H. W., and A. C., came to this county in June 1853, from Indiana. They settled in the vicinity of Indian Creek.
Jefferson Goodale made a settlement upon the southwest quarter of section 1, in Pymosa township, in July 1853, where he lived until October, 1882, when having attained more years than the "three score years and ten" allotted man, he was called on by the grim King of Terrors to cross the dark river, and these summons he obeyed, as all things finite must. Hannah A., a daughter of his, the wife of H. C. Johnson is a resident of Atlantic. Mr. Goodale came here from Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he lived for many years.
Dr. Gershom S. Morrison settled at a place one and half-a-half miles west of the point of Anita now is, in August 1853, being the first settler in that part of the county. He entered a large tract of land and built what was then called a large house. He kept the stage station for many years and in that early day Morrisons's Station or Morrison's Grove was known for many miles around. The Doctor was a great hunter, and during one winter killed one hundred and fifty deer. During the first year or two be hauled his supplies from Adel, Dallas county, and went there for his milling. He had been a practicing physician in Illinois, and after removing to the place named sometimes prescribed for his neighbors. The Doctor died in 1863. Mrs. Lura Morrison, the Doctor's wife, and for who Lura township was named, died in 1867. Mrs. Lura Morrison, the Doctor's wife, and for whom Lura township was named, died in 1867.
J. M. Watson, another of the pioneers of Cass county, came here from Ohio, about the year 1854. He was an intelligent, energetic business man and a great trader. He had a good reputation in every respect. He was a great hunter, and on Jan. 31, 1856, while out on the prairie north of Lewis, a few miles, chasing a wolf, on horseback, his horse stumbled and fell, throwing Mr. Watson violently to the ground, breaking his skull. Not returning home that evening, fears that some accident had befallen him were aroused, and search was made for him. His body was found the next day, cold in death, with his faithful dog by his side. Mr. Watson left three children. Eli Watson, a brother of J. M. Watson's, came to the county with him. Jacob, William and Jessie Watson, also brothers, came to the county in 1855. They settled near a point where the Turkey Creek empties into a "Botna river, and improved a large tract of land there, J. M. and Eli were born in Ohio; the other brothers in Indiana.
William Judd settled in what is now Franklin township, in 1853.
Jesse Eller and family, and Clayborne and Tipton Marion, came into Case county during the summer of 1853, and located in and around Turkey Grove, on section 24, Atlantic township and 18 of Franklin township. Mr. Eller lived here until his death in July, 1884. Clayborne Marion moved to Colorado, where he died.
James B. Donnell made a settlement in the township now known as Benton, in 1853. He died here in 1854.
Adam Vinnage and his two brothers-in-law, Seth Bray and Benjamin Bales, settled in what is now Cass township, in the spring of 1852, southwest of the site of the town of Lewis. Vintage sold his farm the following year to W. W. Haworth, and moved to Taylor county. Benjamin Bales died while a resident of this county in 1855.
S.M. Tucker, the pioneer lawyer, settled at the town of Lewis, in 1853. His sketch appears in the history of the Bar and it is unnecessary to repeat it in this place.
Jesse Dale came to Cass county in 1853, and entered a claim to a piece of land now known as Sawyer's Grove. He returned to his eastern home with the intention of ringing out his family, and did, indeed, start with them, but died on the road thither.
Dec. 22, 1853, H. Whipple moved into a log cabin not far from the present site of the bridge across Troublesome creek, just north of Atlantic. He had great difficulty in getting across the creek, as there was no bridge. In order to get a crossing made, he built a log-heap fire on either bank, to take the frost out of the ground so that he might dig it away and made a crossing. The second night that the family were there, Mrs. Whipple stayed all night in the cabin with no company but her two small children. Mr. Whipple had gone to Iranistan for lumber with which to make a floor, and did not get home until the next day. The cabin had no door-shutter, and Mrs. Whipple set the kitchen table up to stop the aperture, which it did not quite do. The wolves came around the house and put in the night snapping and growling over the meat rinds which had been thrown out. They made night hideous, and Mrs. Whipple being unused to such things could not sleep. Indeed it was no wonder, for the family were just from a thickly settled part of Ohio, where wolves did not annoy folks in their own homes. It was six months after Mrs. Whipple began keeping house in their cabin, before she saw another woman. Mr. Whipple being a cooper by trade, made the first barrels that were made in the county, more than twenty years ago, and some of those barrels are still in the county, in a good state of preservation and continue to do good service.
Thomas B. Johnson, one of the pioneers of Cass county, was born in Virginia, and when about six years old his parents emigrated to Ohio, where they only remained a few years, when they settled in Indianapolis, Indiana, then a small village. There he lived until a year after his marriage, when he emigrated to Muscatine, then Bloomington, Iowa, in 1839. In 1840, he applied to Government for a contract for establishing the first mail line between Muscatine and Iowa City. In 1841 he received the appointment of U. S. Marshall from General Harrison, an office he held till removed by President Tyler two years later. In 1848, he returned to Indiana to be with his parents who were then quite old, when he received the appointment of mail agent on the Ben Franklin between Cincinnati and Louisville, of which boat he was a part of the time Captain. In January, 1854, he and two nephews, K. T. Murdock and Jeremiah Johnson came to Cass county and purchased all the land from a line in the prairie somewhere near the north edge of what is now Sanborn's Grove and so far south as to include the Shuart farm and a part of the Morrow farm, K. T. Murdock taking the Shuart farm and a part of Morrow farm, Jerry Johnson taking the south part of the Grove and what was known for years as the Keyes farm, and Captain Johnson owning rather more than the north half of the Grove and running as far east as Hickory street, Atlantic. The Grove was known for some years as "Johnson's Grove." He and Colonel Knepper brought the first Durham stock into the county in the summer of 1854; they were brought from Indiana, The nearest neighbors at that time being Donnors, Byrds, Gills, and Joseph Everly. He applied for license at Iowa City to practice law and passed examination before the bar of that place in 1854, and was also Notary Public. In the Fall of 1855 he went back to Indiana and brought his family to Cass county. In the Spring of 1856 he sold forty acres from the northeast corner to William Fansler who immediately built a log cabin upon it. The same spring, he sold the rest of his farm with the exception of 40 acres in the heart of the grove to John Keyes, Oliver Mills, and -----Bartlett. He moved to the other side of the river where he owned a half section of prairie land which he commenced improving at once. He built a good frame house, the only one with the exception of Judge Lorah's, Mat Watson's, and Col. Knepper's in this part of the county. Although he had his field of fifty acres surrounded by a good fence he no enclosure about his house or barn, and so it happened that on the second day of the great snow storm of the first and second days of December, 1856, he and the hired hand on returning to the house from the barn about four o'clock after feeding stock for the night could see nothing for the fury of the storm, for they were facing it, barely missed being lost by Captain Johnson striking his shoulder against the corner of the house, three inches more and he would have died in the storm. In the winter of 1858 the legislature appointed him Commissioner to select the swamp lands in Plymouth, Sioux, Woodbury, O'Brien and Ida counties. He employed William Waddell and K. W. Macomber to do the surveying and a Mr. Jenkins to do the cooking and make himself generally useful. It was five month's job from the middle of May to the middle of May to the middle of October. In the winter of 1858 he concluded to rent his farm and move to Lewis for the purpose of giving his two children educational advantages, a good school being there in the Court House. I the winter of 1860, he went to Des Moines to get his pay for his contract but the Legislature refused to make the appropriation and after being thrown out three times it was finally was allowed near the close of the session, but the anxiety and work was too much and he only lived a week afterward. He died of lung fever at the American House, in Des Moines, on the 2d day of April, his family only getting to see him the day before his death. He was buried on the 3d in the cemetery at Des Moines with the honors of Masonry. It was greatly due to his efforts that the Masonic Lodge was organized in Lewis at the time it was, and after organizing he presented them with a handsome Bible.
G. I. Chizum, now the County Treasurer, was among the in-comers of the year 1854, settling at Lewis. He has held several of the more prominent offices in the county, and is noticed, at length, under the caption of Treasurer, in the chapter entitled "National, State and County Representations," further on.
John Cooper came to Indiantown in 1854, and opened a store for the sale of general merchandise. He remained but a few months, when he returned to Rockport, Missouri, from whence he had come.
Horatio Ferrell came to the village of Indiantown in the fall of 1854, and engaged in the mercantile trade, and remained about a year. He removed to Colorado.
Peter Kanawyer located upon section 1, Atlantic township, in the spring of 1854, and opened it up, making some improvements. He sold this to Henry Michael in 1855, and settled on another place east of the present site of Wiota, in Franklin Township. In 1860 he moved to California, where he now resides.
William W. Haworth came to Cass county in the spring of 1854, and in July purchased the farm of Adam Vinnage, on section 20, in Cass township. Here he resided until his death.
John Brenton and his son, William F., located in what is now Edna township, on October 14, 1854, where the former lived until his death, in 1869. The son is still a resident of the old homestead.
Zadoe Stewart settled upon a tract of land on what was called Middle Turkey Grove, in 1854. He had a numerous family of one son and five or six unmarried daughters, nearly all of whom had attained the age of manhood and womanhood, and so many enchanting damsels in one house, drew many of the young men of the settlement in that direction.
Edwin Gingery, a native of Ohio, came here in 1854, and worked on the farm of Doctor Ballard, lying partly in this and partly in Udubon county. He afterwards located on a farm in Pymosa township, where he now resides.
A Mr. Egan commenced some improvements in 1854, on a farm in Benton township, but was killed that same year by his tram running away with him.
William Millholen located, in 1854, in the same township, upon the farm afterwards known as the L. D. Pearson land.
Renssalear Silver was also a settler of 1854, in this part of the county.
Anson Brown located on Crooked creek, in 1854.
During the year 1854, a man by the name of William Fansler, lived in a cabin in the grove, on the site of the present city of Atlantic. He owned no land, but simply lived on this property. Then belonging to Thomas B. Johnson.
A.J. and John Irwin made a settlement within the limits of the present township of Edna during the year 1854.
John A. Spoor located on section 31, on Indian creek, in Washington township, in the year 1854. He is a native of the State of Massachusetts, born in 1835.
Doctor Swisher located at Lewis in 1853, and settled permanently. He died while there, early in the sixties. Both of these gentlemen are noted in the medical chapter of this volume.
Joseph Northgraves built a house in Benton township in 1854 but did not occupy it until 1855, passing the interval between the building and the occupancy, in Cincinnati, his former home. His daughter Ellen, now Mrs. Albert Wakefield, of Grove City, taught school at Hamlin's Grove, Audubon county, in the s[ring of 1856, which was the first school taught in that settlement.
L.L. Alexander came to Cass County in 1855, and entered a claim on the north part of section 4, in Atlantic township, and 33, of Pymosa township, just north of where the city of that name is now located. He did not build any house at that time, but boarded with H. Whipple. He remained but a short time when returned to Michigan and remained there until 1859, when he returned to reside permanently, and died a citizen of Cass county. Mr. Alexander, in after years, figured quite prominently in the official life of the county being the last county judge and first auditor, and in connection with the latter office is mentioned in full detail in the Representative chapter.
K.W. Macomber and his family came in Cass county direct from Northampton, Massachusetts, arriving here on the 21st of July, 1855, and settled on the land taken up by brother-in-law, L.L. Alexander, on section 4, at Atlantic township, and section 33, of Pymosa. He built a frame, or partly frame house in 1857, on this place, where he continued to reside until 1860, when he removed to the town of Lewis, and is a resident of that place at present. Mr. Macomber, having represented this district in the legislative halls of the State, is noticed at length among the members of the General Assembly, in the chapter under the caption of National, State and county representation, further on.
Samuel L. Lorah in the early summer of 1855 came to Cass county in search of a home. On the 1st of June, of the same year, he entered a claim on the northeast quarter of section 17, of Pymosa township, where he still resides. Having had large official experience in Ohio, where he was clerk of court of common pleas of the county in which he lived, fifteen years, and probate judge for three years, Judge Lorah was soon to official position in the township and county here. His services were valnable in bring order out of chaos, in the county's affairs, after he became county judge. He continues to occupy the house he built in 1855, the lumber for which he hauled from the Iranistan saw mill. For the first few years he did his trading at Council Bluffs. His daughter, (now Mrs. Peter D. Ankeny, of Des Moines) taught the second school that was taught in Pymosa. A biographical sketch of Judge Lorah will be found under its proper head in the chapter entitled ".National, State and county Representation."
David A. Barnett with his family took up a claim and located on the northeast quarter of section 10, in Atlantic township, in 1855. He, too, is mentioned at the length in connection with the office of county judge further on. He died here in 1868.
Christopher Stuart came to Lewis in 1855. He was superintendent of the Western Stage Company's line from Des Moines to Council Bluffs. He was in the company's employ twelve years. He thinks there was but one house in Lewis when he looked in upon the village first in the year named. The stages need to drive thirty miles without passing a house, and used to frequently camp on the prairie.
W. W. Jameson and his brother, R. L., together with D.D. Morris, located on section 7, in what is now Franklin township, on the 4th of May, 1855. W. W. Jameson is still a resident of the same place. D. D. Morris lives at or near Grove City and R. L. Jameson id dead, having died in 1873.
John Rose was the first to make a settlement in what is now Noble township, locating there in the year 1855. He continued to reside there until 1857, when he was killed in the Lewis grist mill, the scarf about his neck catching in the machinery and strangling him.
William Gardner was among the earliest settlers of Edna township, settling there in 1855, and ranks among the first settlers of the county. He had many trials and hardships to contend with, as in fact they all had. He built one of the first (if not the first) bridges across the Nodaway and built in entirely at his own expense. He hauled his first corn and other supplies from Missouri, sometimes making trips in the most inclement weather. Mr. Gardner frequently served his township as justice of the peace, clerk, etc. In a later year he sold his farm in Edna and bought another in Atlantic township, in Turkey Grove, being the place now by Dr. Bruington. In 1871 Mr. Garner was elected county auditor, and was twice re-elected. He was born near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in the year 1829.
Samuel Whistler, a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, came from Indiana in 1855 and located upon section 16, in Edna township, where he lived until the day of his death, in 1876.
Rev. W. F. Arnold, a clergyman of the Baptist denomination, came from Ashtabula county, Ohio, in the spring of 1855. He engaged at once in the laudable undertaking of building up and strengthening several organizations of that faith in this and adjoining counties.
Henry Bappy came from Indiana in 1855.
John C. Cannon, a native of North Carolina, settled in Benton township, in 1855, and section 3.
Walther F. C. E. Marsh made a settlement in Benton township in 1855.
Henry Michael in 1855 took up and improved a farm, which he afterwards disposed of to Clark Byrd, and removed to Nebraska.
James Lockwood settled in 1855, in Franklin township.
Jacob Seltzer, a native of Ohio, located at Indiantown during the year 1855, and opened a blacksmith shop.
This brings the settlement of the whole county up to January, 1856, after which time immigration set in rapidly. It is unnecessary to carry the settlement any further in this chapter, as this subject is treated at length in the history of the various townships, where the most pioneers who have been here briefly treated, and those who may have been omitted, will receive due and lengthy notice.
Transcribed by Deb Lightcap-Wagner, January, 2014 from: "History of Cass County, Together with Sketches of Its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens", published in 1884, Springfield, Ill: Continental Historical Co., pp. 244-254.
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