A. T. Andreas
Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa
1875

SHELBY COUNTY.

This county is situated on the Missouri slope, in the fourth tier from the southern boundary line of the state, and in the second east from the Missouri River, is twenty-four miles square, and contains about five hundred and seventy-six square miles. PHYSICAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES. The general surface is rolling, with deeply excavated valleys along the larger streams, while in some portions of the county it is quite rough and broken, with steep precipitous hills and deeply cut valleys. Like in many other portions of the Missouri slope, the universally conceived idea of a prairie is not wholly realized here. If the imagination of the reader will enable him to conceive what a tract of land would be that had been in a liquid state, and had been so violently agitated that high waves ran from east to west, and these had suddenly received a transverse motion and solidified while the breakers were dashing in ponderous masses towards the skies, he will have a tolerable correct idea of the appearance of a large portion of the prairie in the northwestern portion of this county. Although rough, this is a very valuable agricultural section, as the hill sides have an excellent soil, and are peculiarly adapted to the cultivation of fruit of all kinds, and is considered by many as a decided advantage rather than a detriment to the prosperity of Shelby County. The bottom lands usually slope towards the streams, and along the West Nishnabotany, which is one of the finest and most beautiful valleys in the state, average more than one mile in width, and are lined by narrow belts or clumps of timber. Not only this, but all the valleys of the county, possess a soil unsurpassed for fertility, which, like most other portions of the county, is composed of a fine material known as the bluff deposit. The soil of the whole northwestern slope differs from that of the central and eastern portion of the state in this: It has not the heavy sub-soil and under stratum of clay. This peculiarity is quite noticeable in Shelby County, where, after a heavy shower, or a series of rain storms, plowing may be immediately resumed, because the water which falls is soon absorbed by the earth, and sinks rapidly away on account of the absence of clay to stop or impede its progress. The soil here is a rich silicious loam, well adapted to the production of the usual western crops, with the single exception of the tame grasses. Corn, for which there is no better or more favorable soil than is found in these valleys, is probably the staple, while wheat, oats and other kinds of grains, as well as the different grasses and vegetables, grow to great perfection. The county is throughout well watered, the West Nishnabotany River, which flows southward nearly through the middle of the county, receiving from the east the waters of the Middle Nishnabotany, Whitted's and Indian Creeks, while the western part of the county is drained by the affluents of the Missouri and Boyer Rivers, the most important of which are Silver, Mosquito, Pigeon and Picayune Creeks. Mills Creek is a small creek in the northwest which flows into the Boyer in Harrison County, and on which is Garland's Grove, a fine body of native timber embracing nearly one thousand acres. Besides this there are several fine groves bordering some of the other streams, which embrace the varieties commonly found throughout this section of the state, such as burr and red oak, white and red elm, butternut, hackberry, black walnut, ash, linn and ironwood, while there is often found a heavy growth of sumach, hazel, thorn-apple, blackberry, gooseberry and grape. Where now may be observed a little outlying thicket of hazel and sumach -- the pioneers of forest increase -- a few years hence, unless arrested by the devastating fires, a grove of thrifty saplings will have sprung up, and thus in a few years, by the repetition of this process, the beautiful prairie slopes will be converted into forest clad ridges and sombre thicket's dells, as wild and uninviting to the agriculturist as the native forests of the Middle States. The apparent scarcity of timber in this county is no real drawback to its rapid settlement, as building lumber can now easily be obtained from the pineries of the north, and as these vast meadows of unbounded fertility hold out inducements to the settler such as no forest clad region can boast. The entire county is supposed to be underlaid by the upper coal measure, as the strata is known to exist in counties to the south and west, but is here concealed under the post-tertiary deposit not less than two hundred and fifty feet beneath the surface. The supply of building material is limited, yet a fair quality of brick is made of the material of the bluff deposit. The only stone obtained for building are the boulders of the drift formation found scattered in various places. It is related that several years ago a settler, in going from Audubon County to Shelbyville, got lost on the prairie; that in wandering about he accidentally crossed a ravine at a point where a vein of coal was laid bare by the action of the waters of the brook which ran by; that he picked up a specimen of the coal and carried it with him till he reached the settlement, where he showed it to parties who immediately started in search of the "valuable land," taking with them the original "wanderer" as a guide. The exact spot where the treasure lay had not been marked, and the exploring party, after diligent search, were obliged to return without any coal in their pockets! EARLY HISTORY Long before any permanent settlements were made in Shelby County it was frequently visited by trappers and hunters, among whom were two men named Bowman and Beery. In 1852 Nicholas Beery was robbed by the Indians of a large number of pelts which he had collected, and in his attempt to defend his property he was overpowered by the Indians, who kicked and beat him so violently that he soon after died from the effects of wounds received. His remains were buried in the cemetery at Des Moines, and some years after, when his friends wished to mark the grave with a stone the spot could not be identified. Shelby County was organized in 1853, the following being the first who held the county offices mentioned in connection with their names: James M. Butler, County Judge; V. Perkins, Clerk of the District Court; and Andrew Fontz, Sheriff. At that time the Counties of Crawford and Carroll were attached to Shelby for politicalk judicial and revenue purposes. Judge Samuel H. Riddle held the first session of the District Court for the three counties in the grocery of Solomon Hncock, at Galland's Grove. The judge charged the grand jury and then sent them into a smoke house to deliberate, and while they were absent it is reported that the lawyers joined with the judge in a social game of cards "for the drinks." In the mean time the grand jury issued subponeas for witnesses as to the selling of intoxicating liquors by Solomon Hancock. One witness testified that he drank something in Solomon's grocery, but did not know whether it was really liquor or not; it did not intoxicate him, but made him "awful sick." He said water had sometimes served him the same way. "That will do," said the foreman, "pass around the jug." A two-gallon jug was immediately produced from a corner of the smoke house. After it had been passed around the grand jury returned to the grocery, reported that there was nothing before them, and they were thereupon discharged. At this first session of the District Court, the following attorneys were present: H. P. Bennett, of Glenwood; L. M. Coine, A. C. Ford and David Price, of Council Bluffs. When it is stated that at the election which made choice of the first set of county officers, only thirtee votes were polled, it may readily be inferred that it was scarcely practicable to fill all the offices with persons of either legal or literary attainments. It so happened that the education of the sheriff had been sadly neglected, and moreover, he was in the habit of visiting Solomon Hancock's grocery too often to maintain the reputation of a strict temperance man. Some time before the first court convened, as a county official, he received a copy of the code of 1851. He could not read it, but had the good fortune of being the husband of a wife who could. When he would return home under the influence of Solomon Hancock's whisky, she would read to him that section which makes habitual drunkenness a sufficient cause for divorce. His attention was so frequently called to this provision of the Code that it became monotonous to him, and having the impression that Judge Riddell had sent the volume, when he came round to hold court the "High Sheriff" seized the statute and carried it back to the judge, and throwing the book down before him, he exclaimed: "There About the time of teh organization of the county, a town was laid out in the northwest corner township, to which the name of Shelbyville was given, and in 1854 this place was designated as the county seat, but the County Judge being opposed to it, procured Hancock's grocery for holding the first court. The next term of the District Court, however, was held at Shelbyvill. This was the first town laid out in the county, but is now known only in history, as the houses have all been removed to Harlan, and to the neighboring farms. RAILROADS Although there are but a few miles of railroad within the limits of Shelby County, yet it possesses very good facilities for shipping and receiving freights. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, which runs for some eight miles in the county, passing through the town of Shelby, skirts the southern boundary, affording the southern portion of the county several convenient shipping points, while on the north is the Chicago and Northwestern, which furnishes those in that part with equal advantages, while the inhabitants of the central portion, though not being quite so convenient, can have their choice of routes. Shelby County sent forty-seven soldiers into the war of the rebellion, though it had no organized company, the volunteers all joining organizations in the neighboring counies. COUNTY OFFICERS FOR 1875 JOHN H. LOUIS, Auditor. GEO. D. ROSS, Clerk of Courts. CHRIS J. WYLLAND, Treasurer. A. F. HOLCOMB, Recorder. LYSANDER SWEAT, Sheriff. AARON N. BUCKMAN, Sup. Com. Schools. WILLIAM ASKINTLE, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. HARLAN This is the county seat, and is situated a little south of the geographical center of the county, within half a mile of the Nishnabotany, and just below the conflux of the middle and west branches of that river. The town stands on the second bottom, which gradually rises from the river, affording a fine view up and down the valley, while the hills of the high rolling prairie rise above each other until they seem to blend with the distant sky. On the north and west the hills protect the town to some extent from the fury of the prevailing winds of Autumn and Winter, rendering the site a desirable one. The town contains several churches, good schools, a number of business houses, and is destined to become a place of some importance. It has one newspaper, the Shelby County Record, owned and edited by H. L. Wood, who is making it a lively local sheet. It was established in 1870, and has a good circulation in the county.

Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass from "A. T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa", Chicago: Andreas Atlas Co., 1875, pg. 472-473.