Palo Alto County IA Archives History - Books .....A Decade Of Growth - 1863-1872 1910
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Book Title: History Of Palo Alto County Iowa
CHAPTER X
A Decade of Growth 1863-1872
During the Civil War, while the attention of the whole nation was centered
upon the great question involved in the internecine conflict, there was
practically no movement toward western settlement. Conditions were too unsettled
and the young men of the country who were in the army had little time to think
about going west. Hardly had peace been declared before the people of the
eastern and central states began to follow Horace Greeley's advice to go west
and grow up with the new country. From 1864 on, settlers began to flock in great
numbers into Iowa.
The Homestead Law, approved by President Lincoln May 20, 1862, was another
incentive to settlement after the war. By this law the land was given to the
settler by the government at a nominal price in consideration of settlement and
cultivation. Later enactments made special concessions to soldiers of the Civil
War. Most of the homesteaders went to Fort Dodge to make their proof, but the
extreme western tier of townships in Palo Alto County belonged to the Sioux City
land office.
Another fact of importance is that with the coming of the homesteaders after
the war the building out on the prairie began. Before this the settlement had
been along the lakes and rivers where timber was plenty. The early settlers had
thus abundant material from which to build their houses which were always made
of logs. As the desirable timbered locations were soon all taken up, the
homesteaders were compelled to locate out on the open prairie and build homes of
sod, thatched with hay, and covered again with sod. To the early settlers it
seemed foolhardy to build out on the unprotected prairie without shelter from
the hot sun, the fierce winds and the terrible prairie fires. But these hardy
settlers had come west to build a home and make a farm, and the broad and
fertile plains offered the finest opportunity for the farmer settler. Groves
were soon planted around the little homes and before long the growing trees
formed a windbreak and furnished needed firewood. In a few years these beautiful
groves dotted the landscape, giving a finer appearance to the county and adding
real value to the land.
During the early part of the war practically no settlers came into Palo Alto
County. The whole population in 1863 was only 142 people. In the next two years
the number had increased to 216. From then on an ever-increasing tide of
settlement flowed into the county until in 1870 the census showed a population
of 1,336, and in 1873 the number was about 2,000, although no census figures
were taken that year. From 142 to 2,000 represents a remarkable growth for a
single county in a single decade. It is the history of this period of growth
that is now to be considered in detail.
In 1863, on the last day of July, Geo. J. Jacobs and family of five children
came to West Bend and settled three and a half miles west of where the town of
West Bend now is. Mr. William Carter was postmaster then, the post-office being
located in his cabin and was known as "West Bend." H. H. Jacobs, then a lad ten
years old, in telling their experiences says: "We burned out the first fall we
were here, '63. After we got our hay all up and the sheds fixed, father was up
helping Campbell put up his hay. It was late in the fall and there was a big
prairie fire started down toward Pocahontas, on that side of the river. We could
see the smoke coming. The wind blew terribly, and the grass on the river bottom
was way up. Mother was scared, with no one but just us children home. She put me
on a horse to go after Father about two miles away. I went after him but before
we could get back the fire jumped the Des Moines River and came right up through
there. There was a colt in the stable and a pig in the pen. Mother got the colt
out but could not get the pig out. The pig was in a rail pen and broke out
somehow and did not burn. We burned out slick and clean. Just the house was
left. The grass was all tramped off around the house and of course it was a log
house with a sod roof and it didn't burn, but the family nearly smothered from
the smoke. We were left there without hay or anything. There was a place down on
the river that had burned in July and Father and John McCormick, who had a mower
(the only one in the county) went down and cut hay. Father and Campbell had to
put up all their hay with a scythe. McCormick went down there and cut part of it
with a mower. Guess we got 10 or 15 tons of hay. It helped out some that winter
and then we had to haul hay from Mulroney's and Tobin's and we let out part of
the stock. Let Dawson have one yoke of oxen. Lost horses that winter and lost
two or three head of cattle. Did not have feed enough. That was one of the
hardest winters here. '63 and '64. Joe Mulroney froze his feet. I helped Bickle
to put up hay once after. We saw a fire way off miles away but never thought of
it coming. Along in the evening it kept coming. I don't know why he didn't know
enough to back fire. About midnight it got there and we had a hard time to get
the wagon out with a load on it. Just got it out and that was about all. His
sheds and all went, hay and everything. Fort Dodge was the nearest trading point
and that was forty miles from West Bend. I made several trips there with oxen.
Never had money enough to buy a meal on the road and have ground corn in a
coffee mill for my dinner. One spring, the time the water was so high, Father
and two of the neighbors got the seeding done and started to Estherville to mill
with what little wheat we had left. There came a freshet and they were gone
eight days. Before they got home we were planting corn. The last dinner we had
we ground up what little seed corn there was left, in the coffee mill. When we
got home Mother had biscuits and that is all the supper we had. The men got home
before morning. I broke prairie all one summer with a yoke of oxen. We lived on
johnny cake for a month there. The only time we got any wheat bread was when we
went home. Father could not stand johnny cake only a little while at a time." [1]
[1] Interview with H. H. Jacobs.
In 1864 the Kirby family, Michael, Henry, Thomas, William, and Lizzie, came
and settled near the Tobin-Mulroney settlement at Soda Bar. Jas. P. White was
another settler about this time who soon exerted an important influence in the
county. He was elected county treasurer in 1865 and held the office three times.
After the war several new settlers came into West Bend township. Among them
were C. G. Groves, John DeWitt, Jas. Johnson, Ira D. Stone, Joseph Knapp, John
P. Bickle, Dan Ditch, Jeremiah Kelley, and a man named Herrick. About the same
time Galbraith, B. Franklin, Dr. Underwood, Goldtrap, and H. L. Joiner located
on the west side of the river.
On the east of West Bend in 1865 the Dorweiler family settled in what is now
Garfield township, Kossuth County, there being no settlers nearer than seven or
eight miles.
John M. Hefley, who had been one of the pioneer settlers of Fort Dodge and a
valiant soldier in both the Mexican and Civil Wars, brought his family to Palo
Alto County in 1865.
Among the other settlers of that year were Robt. Carney, Sr., John, W. T.,
and Eobert Carney, Jr., Dennis Carroll and wife and son Patrick, James F. Nolan
and Lawrence Burns.
John Doran came to Palo Alto County in 1865 and settled in Great Oak
township. Only four families were living there then, Jas. P. White, Michael
Kirby, Robert Carney and Lawrence Burns. There were no other settlers on the
west as far as the Little Sioux Biver. [1]
[1] Letter of John Doran.
Mr. Doran, telling about the early settlers' experiences in the county, says:
"Sometimes the winters were very severe. The winter of '66-7 was the longest,
coldest and hardest that I can remember. It set in very cold early in December
and as there was no snow on the ground until about the first of January, the
ground was then frozen about four feet and the ice in the river about three
feet. About the first of January it began snowing heavily and drifting and for
three months there were two blizzards a week of three days each and all the
change was from cold to colder. On the 10th of April there was an average of
three feet of hard snow on the ground and more coming. About April 12th it
commenced raining hard and heavy and kept at it for about two weeks. On the 15th
the river broke up and there was some water on the bottoms about that time." [2]
The severity of these winters out on the open plain can hardly be imagined by
people of the present day. With no groves or wind breaks, the snow drifting and
blowing for miles over the level plains made nearly every snow storm a virtual
blizzard, dangerous to any person caught away from habitation and a serious
menace to the live stock driven helplessly about in the storm. The severe
weather and terrific storms were among the real dangers that the pioneers had to
contend with.
[2] Letter of John Doran.
In 1866 J. G. Crowder, with his wife and four children, together with John
McCoy, came and settled in Great Oak township, and Patrick Lynch returned to his
place.
In June of the same year Orrin Sloan, wife, and two sons, W. S. and David,
settled on a homestead on section 34, Fern Valley township. Shippey and the
McCormicks were the only other settlers in that township and the West Bend
settlers were the nearest neighbors on the south and a man by the name of Hatch
over in Kossuth County was the nearest settler on the northeast. To the
northwest was Bill Crooks's claim and then Neary's on the way to the old town of
Emmetsburg.
Other settlers in 1866 were Michael Martin, his wife, three sons, Jerry, John
and Tom, and six daughters, the Moncrief family, Henry Grace and W. H. Grace,
William, Robert and Thomas Shea, T. J. Lyon and wife, Andrew Lynch, D. H.
Halstead, T. C. Wilson, Chas. Nolan, C. S. Warren, Chas. Hastings, Isaac
Stewart, Levi Ashley, James Brennan, Wm. E. Cullen, Thomas Walsh, Thomas
Laughlin, Myles Eyan, and Patrick Neary.
When Mr. Stockdale was building the old court house at Paoli he brought up
from Border Plain, near Fort Dodge, a steam saw-mill and used it to saw lumber
to use in the construction of the court house and school house. The settlers
used to get most of their lumber there. During the war the old saw-mill lay
unused and neglected, but some time after the close of the war a man named
Martin bought the saw-mill and took it down to Tobin's and Mulroney's and did a
lot of sawing for the people of that neighborhood. Later the old mill was taken
up to Spirit Lake and afterwards bought by Fort Dodge parties and taken down
there. [1] This old mill was of great service to the settlers and many still
recall the hardships and difficulties they encountered in getting logs to this
mill and hauling back the lumber to their homes.
[1] M. M. Crowley's statement.
It was some time in the later sixties that the first threshing machine was
brought into the county by a man named Peterson. It was one of the old-fashioned
horse-power machines, but it was considered a great thing in those days, and it
saved a great deal of work and time over the old methods of threshing out with a
flail or stamping out the grain with horses.
The old court house at Paoli was another source of trouble during these
years. The county judge had in 1859 made a contract with Wm. E. Clark to build a
brick court house and school house at Paoli, the then county seat, and this
contract had been assigned to John M. Stock-dale. The work had been commenced
but lagged along and had finally been abandoned with the buildings still
unfinished.
At an adjourned meeting of the board of supervisors, held on Monday, the 5th
day of January, 1865, the Paoli court house contract came up again. It appearing
that John M. Stockdale, who had bought the rights and title of Wm. E. Clark, the
original contractor, in the contract and the swamp and overflowed lands, had
failed entirely to carry the work to completion within the required time, the
damages to the county were fixed by the board at $1,800 and John F. Duncombe was
employed by them to bring suit against Stockdale and his bondholders. Any moneys
collected on the above suit were to go toward completing the aforesaid court
house or erecting another as the board might direct. [1] Suit was commenced and
judgment secured by the county against the contractor. A special meeting of the
board of supervisors was held at the office of the county clerk on the 14th day
of August, 1866 (James H. Underwood, Joseph T. Mulroney, and John Nolan,
supervisors, and James Hickey, clerk, being present), for the purpose of making
a settlement between the county of Palo Alto and John M. Stockdale and others
about the judgment against said Stockdale and others for $9,750 in favor of said
county for damages for the non-completion of the Paoli court house. After due
deliberation of the board in regard to said matter, said judgment and all
matters and disputes between Stockdale and others and the county of Palo Alto
were settled and compromised.[1a] The terms of the compromise are set out in
full in the legal document printed in Appendix B to this book. [2] Thus ended a
long controversy and a rather expensive and unfortunate experience for the
county. The supervisors advertised for bids and completed the court house for
$1,060.
[1] Minutes and Supervisors' Record of Palo Alto County, no. 1, p. 71.
[1a] Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, no. 1, p. 86.
[2] See Appendix B for terms of settlement.
The court house and school house were poorly located and so bleak and dreary
that they could not be used in inclement weather and the county officers
preferred to have offices in a more thickly settled region. At a meeting of the
board in June, 1866, all county officers were ordered to move to the court house
at Paoli, but in November of the same year the board recognized the necessity of
finding more comfortable quarters on account of "no provision for heating." [3]
[3] The records of the county are full of adjournments from the cheerless old
court house to the more comfortable cabins of the settlers.Minutes and
Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, i, pp. 136 and 142.
Some light is cast on the interior and furnishings of this old Paoli court
house in the report of a meeting of the board held on November 10,1868. At one
end was a platform 6x8 feet and 18 inches high. The seating consisted of 12
benches and 24 arm chairs. It was heated by two box stoves. The desks were two
in number, of black walnut. The specifications call for "2 desks and cabinets
made in the same style as the one now in Jas. P. White's house except they shall
be 1/4 larger in all dimensions." [1]
[1] Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, i, p. 146.
The stage that made regular trips was the principal means of communication
and transportation. It was the main artery that supplied the life blood to the
frontier settlements. H. H. Jacobs, who drove stage for years through the
county, says: "I started to stage it in 70 or 71. I ran seven years out of about
nine or ten years. Between 71 and 73 ran pretty much all the time. The
postoffice at the Tobin place was established when we came here in 1863. Called
Soda Bar. Think it was Tom Tobin that was postmaster. Alice Tobin, Tom Kirby's
wife, was postmaster all the time I ran stage. Most of the postoffices were
established in 70 or 71 or along there, because they were there when I
commenced. Joe Mulroney run stage on the west side of the river up to the
beginning of the seventies. Man by the name of Fisher run on the east side,
Humboldt to Estherville. Was running four or five years. Both carried mail. Two
different routes. In 70 and 71 the horses got sick and sometimes I would come
horseback with one horse, and at last they all got sick and I had a pair of
three year old steers and I made four trips with them. Came up one day and back
the next. That was along in the early seven ties. Another fellow drove from
Humboldt to West Bend with a pair of steers. Hickey's postoffice was established
about the same time.
"My stage route was across the river from West Bend to Fiddlers' Green, where
Franklins and all those people lived; there was a postoffice there. Then from
there to Eolfe, then to near Bradgate, then from there to Rutland, and from
there to Humboldt and Dakotah City. I would make a trip on the west side of the
river, start Monday for Emmetsburg and go down to Hickey's, across to West Bend
to change horses. Cross at West Bend bridge. The bridge was built some time in
the seventies. From there down to Kolf e, then the next trip on this side of the
river. From Emmetsburg to Fern Valley and then West Bend, McKnight's Point,
Wacousta, Tueland, then Humboldt and Dakotah City. That would be in the last
part of the seventies. Say from 75 to about '81 that we would run that way.
Before that it was just one mail a week.
"I remember when I was staging, Bill Roper, White, and some one else had been
to Fort Dodge and a blizzard came, and they got storm bound. They stayed at our
house two days. Chas. Ballard was driving stage for me. Think he had made the
south trip and I was at home. They wanted me to drive team for them, thinking I
knew the road better. We started from home in the morning and got eight miles in
the forenoon by working hard. Bill would take butter and put in his coffee,
saying that it was as near cream as he could get. We got into Emmetsburg that
night, just as it was getting dark. We worked hard all day, shoveling to get
through.
"Another time I was driving from Hickey's. Had a little French mare on the
stage that day. The roads were full of water, thawed all day. Just before I got
to Hickey's there was a cloud came up and it started to snow. While they were
changing the mail there at Hickey's it was just one sheet of snow coming down,
big flakes. I started for town, had three miles up that bottom and I drove, and
if it had not been that that mare would just stick to the track, I would never
have reached Emmetsburg. That was the night so many got lost. Lots of farmers
started west and had to come back. I could not look up. Could watch down beside
the cutter and see that we were in the track. If I had had another mile I know
the horses could not have stood it. Their eyes were covered with snow when I got
in." [1]
[1] Interview with H. H. Jacobs.
In the early seventies the principal trading point was at Algona where the
railroad ended. J. J. Wilson had a freight line from Algona to Emmetsburg and
also one from Algona to Dakotah City in Humboldt County and another line to
Estherville. There were no regular roads then and the hauling was done by ox
teams which went overland, hauling loads of lumber, hardware, goods, and
supplies of all kinds which were in great demand. James A. Keeler, who came to
this county in 1871, drove a wagon on this freight line. He kept a dairy and it
is an interesting record of the early days. At places where the road was
especially bad they would double up and put all the oxen on one wagon, and often
had twelve yoke to one wagon to get a load through Cylinder Creek. In June of
1873, the freighters spent several days helping a circus over Cylinder Creek.
This was the first show that ever came to the county. John Donovan and Thos.
Slater were among those whe freighted from Algona at this time. [1]
[1] Interview with James A. Keeler.
The journalistic spirit early made its appearance in Palo Alto County. The
first newspaper was the Democrat, the first issue of which appeared December 4,
1869. The editor-owner was James P. White and the paper was published at Soda
Bar. The prospectus issued by the publisher is printed in full in the Appendix
to this book. This paper flourished some time in spite of the difficulty of
having the printing done at Estherville, Algona, or other place where they could
get the work done. The paper continued staunchly Democratic and when the Palo
Alto Advance was published by McCarty & Hartshorn and Harrison & Burnell, June,
1870, there were many lively political contests waged in the columns of the two
papers. When the copy was prepared the editors of the Advance would hitch up and
drive to Humboldt or Algona where the paper was printed, wait for the printed
copies, and bring them back and distribute them throughout the county. The
Advance was a Republican paper.
The Palo Alto Patriot was published at Emmetsburg in 1873. And the Monthly
Enterprise, a small paper, was circulated for a short time during the same year.
The Palo Alto Pilot was started during the last days of the Old Town of
Emmetsburg in 1874, and moved with the town. The Palo Alto Reporter was started
by Henry Jenkins in 1876. Of these early newspaper ventures the Reporter alone
has survived and is still being published in Emmetsburg. The present Democrat,
now published in Emmetsburg, was a later paper started in 1884 by P. H. Ryan.
The board of supervisors, at their meeting in January, 1870, for the first
time authorized the publication of the proceedings of the board and designated
the Palo Alto Democrat as the first official newspaper. The following year the
Palo Alto Democrat and the Palo Alto Advance were named as the official
newspapers. [1]
[1] Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, pp. 175 and 205.
In 1870 Pat Connors and J. B. Guerdett brought a threshing machine into the
county. This was not the first one, however, but there had been no machine
threshing done for several years, and the advent of this threshing machine was
hailed with delight by the farmers. The next spring Pat Connors sold his
interest to C. T. Allen, who owned the machine until it was worn out. C. H.
Giddings worked on this outfit, driving the horse power for five straight years.
Mr. Giddings relates some interesting experiences of the days spent with the
threshing gang and it is through his kindness that the picture of this outfit at
work threshing for Martin Coonan in 1871 is given on another page, Mr. Giddings
having the original picture in his possession.
In the early seventies the county officers had difficulty in finding suitable
offices. The old court house at Paoli was untenantable and so the county
officers were scattered around at whatever places they could find
accommodations. The board of supersisors at their January 1, 1872, meeting made
the following record: "Ordered by the board that the back room and the east
middle room of White & Shea's office be rented by the board for holding court,
meetings of the board and county officers for six months from January 1,1872,
paying therefor the sum of fifty dollars cash, and that M. L. Brown, treasurer,
has permission to hold his office at the office of McCarty & Hartshorn in
Emmetsburg, and Wm. H. H. Booth, auditor, has permission to hold his office at
the office of T. W. Harrison in Emmetsburg. M. D. Daniels, sheriff, has
permission to hold his office at the office of T. W. Harrison in Emmetsburg.
That no office rent shall be paid by the county for the last named officers." [1]
[1] Minutes and Supervisors' Record, Palo Alto County, vol. i, p. 234.
During this period there were several interesting political campaigns. The
Democrats were in the majority in the county and had complete control of the
offices. In the election of 1870 only the clerk and recorder were to be elected
and the Republicans then for the first time perfected their organization and put
a ticket in the field. The Republican candidates made such surprising gains that
with more confidence in 1871 the Republicans again put up a full ticket and
entered upon a vigorous campaign. Geo. B. McCarty describes the issues and the
contest as follows: "In 1870 all county officers were Democrats except one or
two members of the board of supervisors. The board was at that time composed of
a member from each township. In the fall of 1870 the Republicans had formed an
organization and put a printed ticket in the field, appointed a central
committee, etc., but did not elect any officers. The county had been run very
loosely financially and otherwise, the county warrants were selling at $.25 on
the dollar in 1859 and no buyers. During the spring of 1870 John A. Elliott,
land commissioner for the Des Moines Valley Railroad Company, which company had
a large grant of land in this county which had become taxable, authorized the
writer to buy up from $3,000 to $5,000 in county warrants to be used by the
company in paying the county part of its taxes. I bought nearly $3,000 worth of
these warrants at $.25 on the dollar, then another party through Jas. P. White
commenced buying up warrants and the price advanced to $.30, and finally to $.33
1-3, and a few to $.35, when I, having bought up the required amount, stopped
buying and there was no further market for them. Prior to my buying, warrants
had been issued by the board at $.25 on the dollar; that is the county would buy
a bill of stationery amounting to $25. They would then issue county warrants to
the amount of $100 to pay for it. In the spring of 1870 while I was still buying
warrants, I went before the board and explained that it was ruinous to issue so
many warrants. They said they could do nothing else as they received no money,
the county treasurer always turning in warrants for all county taxes. But they
finally agreed to issue no warrants for less than $.35 on the dollar, but this
did not help the matter materially, as there was a large amount of railroad and
other lands unpatented and not taxable, so that the county was each year issuing
warrants far in excess of revenue. In 1871 there was a county treasurer,
auditor, and other officers to elect, and the Republicans, then fully organized,
held a convention and nominated a full ticket at an early date, and the contest
at once became spirited. The Advance, a Republican paper, was started by E. J.
Hartshorn, H. L. Burnell and myself. It was a patent inside and the local pages
were printed first at Humboldt and later at Algona in the Upper Des Moines
office. We would write up our local and editorial matter, ads., etc., hitch a
team and carry it over and have it set up and the papers run off, bring them
back and mail to every one in the county. In the meantime James P. White and W.
H. Shea started the Democrat, which was printed at Fort Dodge. The campaign
became very warm. M. L. Brown was the Republican candidate for county treasurer
and James P. White the Democratic, and the battle waged hottest in this office,
but the others were not neglected. The last five weeks a house to house canvass
was made by both sides and not only the candidates but several others
participatedon the Republican side, E. J. Hartshorn, T. W. Harrison, H. L.
Burnell, J. L. Martin, and myself. While the contest was very spirited, very
little or no personal abuse was indulged in and the workers and candidates on
the different sides often would meet and recite incidents of the campaign in the
most friendly manner. The whole Republican ticket was elected and, as promised
during the campaign, they entered upon a policy of retrenchment of the finances
of the county. First, they carried a proposition for a mill cash county tax and
paid only cash for supplies bought; caused every bill to be paid at 100 cents on
the dollar; refused to permit the county treasurer to turn in county warrants in
lieu of cash collected on county tax from nonresidents and others paying in
cash, but only accepted county warrants when brought to the office by the
taxpayer, for the county part of his taxes, and not for the special county tax.
This brought the credit of the county up and warrants were worth their face. The
old warrants outstanding were bonded and the finances of the county placed on a
firm financial basis. While Clay, O'Brien, Lyon, and other counties in Northwest
Iowa repudiated their indebtedness, Palo Alto County paid hers dollar for
dollar, notwithstanding the fact that most of them had been issued at $.25 and
quite a large amount of them had been issued to hire substitutes during the
war." [1]
[1] "Recollections of Early Palo Alto County," Geo. B. McCarty.
From that time on the county was close on county elections for many years.
Sometimes the Democrats and sometimes the Republicans would prevail and often
party success would be divided. These campaigns were generally animated and
usually fought along the lines of national issues or individual qualifications.
Space forbids any further consideration of this interesting subject. A complete
list of all county officers elected in the county will be found in the Appendix.
The tide of homesteaders that flowed into the county continued steadily on
the increase. During the years 1869-70-71-72 not only the homesteaders, but also
the home-seekers who bought their land, came in great numbers to find locations
on Palo Alto County farms. These newcomers, mostly with large families, seemed
to settle in clusters, forming a sort of community with opportunities for social
intercourse and neighborhood friendships. The day of the isolated settler had
passed and the community period was taking its place. For convenience as well as
for historical accuracy the remaning [sic] part of this decade (from 1868 to
1872 inclusive) will be described by townships.
West Bend township was fairly well settled and most of the new settlers chose
locations in the newer and less settled parts of the county. W. G. Henry was one
who came to West Bend township in April, 1870, together with his brothers. His
brothers, however, returned after the first season and did not come back until
1890. W. G. stayed on his land in section 20 until 1875, when he moved to
Emmetsburg, where he still resides. Among the other early settlers in West Bend
township in 1868 were E. P. Vance, John F. Little, and Frank Little; in 1869,
Geo. Brown, J. E. Stone, and J. C. Fehlhauer; in 1870 W. H. H. Booth and Sam
Post; in 1871 Julius Thatcher, Sol Huntley, F. Dudgeon, and S. W. Ballard.
The first settlers in Ellington township were Ezekiel Randall, his wife, six
boys and one girl. They settled on section 14, May 14, 1868. That fall James
Clemens and John Acker and their families moved in. In the following years, Hud
Acker, the Moffit family, Jacob Harriman, M. Wening, John Truog, Sr., Adam Rund,
John Krieg, Frank Bursell, Nicholas Steil, Anton Seasnbaumer, Mike Schneider, J.
Bart, G. Swessinger, John Rupert, Adam Kress, August Kunz, John Moffit, Wm.
Buchacher, E. Goodlaxon, F. Comer, Henry Munch, John Rogers, H. C. Booth, and
John Leuer, became residents of the township. In the spring of 1870 Peter
Grethen and wife came in company with John Wagner and his wife and two children.
As they drove by, a school house was being built for the towsnhip. [sic] From
that time on a great many settlers located on the fertile plains of Ellington
township.
Rush Lake township was a mecca for newcomers in 1869. A. Griley, D. G. Grier,
A. J. Scofield, H. C. Obert, X. S. Loomis, Philo Sanford, Ed and H. Sanders, M.
Reed, W. H. Cammick, Mike Schuler, Geo. Fries, Linn Loughridge, E. Peterson,
Peter Hartley, M. W. Barker, Isaac Perry, and others came that year. The next
spring B. Vanderryt, R. T. Barnard, S. W. Tressler, and A. V. Lacy joined them.
In 1871 J. P. Stebbins, D. C. Gross, A. Elson, Geo. M. White, Joseph Fish, and
O. O. Williams came. Fred Cross and D. M. Wilcox located in the township the
next year, and from that time on the settlers came in great numbers.
The first settlers in Silver Lake township were C. A. Hoffman, O. A. Sterner,
John Mills, and Joseph Marsh, who moved into the county in the spring of 1869.
Patrick Sherlock selected a location in the fall of 1869, and in the following
April his father, Jas. Sherlock, his mother, and three boys, Dan, John and Joe,
joined him and together took a homestead on section 12. That year quite a number
of prairie schooners moved into the township. E. D. Treat, Hiram Kittlewell,
Seymour Morrison, T. D. Collins, John and Dan Collins, J. E. Phoenix, John Hill,
Chas. Willis, Wm. Wiley, L. B. Colburn, Ovid Hare, Myron Hare, Peter Olesen, Ole
Williamson, G. M. Hamilton, G. L. Dickerman, J. C. Richards, C. L. Harrington,
S. Harrington, G. V. Whitman, J. W. Shepard, and Michael Whelan. The next year
John Boddy, Robt. C. Owens, and H. A. Webster located there; and the next year
H. I. Snow, Rufus A. Hartungs, John Sawyer, and T. W. Lehane, and a large number
of others joined the Silver Lake settlement. A postoffice called "Sherlock P.
0." was established at Mr. Sherlock's house in 1874 and remained there until
Ayrshire was founded in 1882. [1]
[1] Since the above was written, a continued article, "Some Early History of
Silver Lake Township," by an undisclosed author, has appeared in the Ayrshire
Chronicle, June 9 and 16, 1910.
In addition to the settlers already mentioned in Fern Valley there were many
homesteaders in Fern Valley and Fairfield townships during this period. Dr. A.
C. Young and Mrs. Young and son Jerry (J. C), came to Palo Alto County in 1869
and settled on the northwest quarter of section 6-95-31, the father taking the
north half and the son the south half. The father died in 73 and the mother and
Jerry sold out in 76, the latter moving to Emmetsburg, the mother returning to
Michigan where she still lives. [2] Some of the other settlers in these two
townships during the early seventies were the following: J. M. Thompson, Rufus
Miller, Kelly Bros., Geo. Pugsley, J. R. Frame, J. P. Davidson, Wesley Davidson,
John Schneider, Thos. Cullen, Thos. Richardson, Andrew Satter, Wm. Richardson,
Ralph Richardson, John and Steve Hoskins, T. J. Cates, F. E. Walker, W. H.
Melon, Simpson La Bar, Fred Falb, Wm. R. Acres, John E. Martin, and Wm. T. Drennen.
[2] Statement of J. C. Young.
With the great tide of settlers that came into the county in 1869, the best
lands were early picked out. A few of the best locations in Independence and
Fairfield townships were thus selected. Some of the settlers of that year may be
mentioned. C. O. Erstad, A. C. Erstad, L. Seely, James B. Elliott, John
Jenswold, Fred Wagener, and Henry Hullen. During the next two years a large
number found homes there. John Higley, Jacob Mathieson, Julius Mathieson, Peter
0. Peterson, Paul T. Hougstein, S. A. Rustabakke, C. P. Yeager, Freeman Woodin,
A. P. and Douglas Beck, Geo. L. Clarke, P. C. Forrest, Hans Hansen, Adam Domek,
Mat Grappa, Geo. Kleigle, and many others.
Aside from the very early settlers who had selected good river locations,
there were not many people in Nevada township. John McCormick, E. J. King, A. L.
Sprout, L. N. Sprout, C. N. Sprout, settled there in the early 70s and made
their permanent home on the broad prairies.
In Emmetsburg township David and J. H. Millea were with the hardy pioneers of
1868 and settlement was slow there until 1870 when J. J. Kane and 1871 when
Myles McNally and their families were the forerunners of the extensive
settlement of later years.
In Great Oak township, in addition to those already mentioned, several
families came in 1868Terrence, Robt. and John Walsh, Thomas Egan; and a large
number in the next few years, John Wooley, Sam Dyer, James Brennan, Thomas
Martin, John S. Martin, John Groff, Milo Gardner, Edward Kelley, Philip Wessar,
Theo. Wessar, G. Wessar, B. Quigley, Peter Quigley, Thos. Conlon, Martin
McCarty, Geo. H. Beach, and John Jennings. In October, 1872, Peter Jones, James
Keenan, and John Hand with their families, moved in. Peter Jones, in describing
the condition of the country at that time, said: ' * There was high water from
within a mile of my house, up to Cullen's corner, when I came here and from the
foot of Burns's hill up to Coonan's corner before the town was moved up here and
even after it was moved. The wagon boxes would be down in the water and the
water up to the horses' sides. One year a man stayed there as guide. He was one
of old man Owen's sons. When we would come into the water at Cullen's with the
team, he would take care of the team until he put us on the bridge. He was a
sort of pilot. That was before they got the grade in." [1]
1 Interview with Peter Jones.
In 1869 Hiram Millerke built a house on a claim in Freedom township. It was
then the only house east of the lake except Michael Jackman's on the east shore.
Later John Donovan settled on section 26 and became a prominent figure in the
life of the township and of the town of Emmetsburg. In 1870 John and Pat
Galleger settled on section 28 and later John Lane, Terence Cullen, Orin and Wm.
Ryder, Patrick C. Nolan, John Nolan, Wm. Harrison, Albert Harrison, Amos Letson,
Tom Prouty, Chester Prouty, and others came to that neighborhood. T. W. Harrison
bought a farm in section 28-96-32, and J. N. Prouty homesteaded an eighty near
by, but as his wife objected to living in a sod house, he sold out and moved
back to Humboldt.
In the fall of 1869 several homesteaders met at Fort Dodge while selecting
land, became acquainted and together came out to Palo Alto County and settled in
the northwest part of the county. These were L. C. Christensen, James Olsen, L.
P. Duhn, John Nelson, J. J. Skow, P. C. Adamson, and Lars Olsen. The next year
they were joined by J. S. Duhn, Thos. Peterson, Nels Jensen, Peter Anderson.
Later Lars Thoreson and Simon Thoreson came. This was the beginning of the
Scandinavian settlement in the north part of the county and from this sturdy
stock has come some of our very best citizens, and this community has been a
power for good in the affairs of the county.
C. S. Duncan, in the spring of 1871, drove through from Wisconsin to Palo
Alto County and located a homestead on the land which is now a part of the north
side of Graettinger. After building a shack he sent for his wife and children.
They struck Iowa at a very inopportune time, as the grasshoppers took their crop
year after year and even the hardest kind of work failed to accomplish much
against such a serious handicap. Mr. Duncan, telling of his experiences soon
after they arrived in Palo Alto County, says: "I had saved up ten dollars and I
hitched up and drove to Fort Dodge, bought potatoes at $.45 a bushel and brought
them to Emmetsburg near the river, and peddled them off at $1 about as fast as I
could pour them out of a sack. I made three trips." [1] By teaching, as both Mr.
and Mrs. Duncan were excellent teachers, they managed to get ahead and after
having lived on their homestead a year (Mr. Duncan having served in the army
four years, and Mrs. Duncan also having had experience as an army nurse), they
proved up, raised $500 on the place and built a very comfortable house. In 1876
he sold his place in Walnut township and bought a place in Ellington township,
in the south part of the county, where he lived until he moved to the city of
Emmetsburg. [1]
[1] Letter of C. S. Duncan.
Lost Island township at first contained all that is now Highland and Lost
Island, as they were not divided until 1878. John A. Anthony, who settled on the
north side of Lost Island Lake, was the first settler in this township. He used
to keep a postoffice called Lost Island and it was headquarters for the stage
line from Algona to Spencer. James Freeman, brother-in-law of Anthony, located
on the eastern side of Lost Island Lake; Cruikshank and Amos J. Miller settled
there soon after. In 1870 McLaughlin came, and in the fall of 1871 the Barringer
boys, Emmet, Clayburn and Lyman, located in the township. Dwight Goff also came
that year. The Ruthvens home-steaded there in 1870, but went back east and
worked on the railroad all summer, coming back to the homestead in the fall and
resided here permanently from that on. [1]
[1] Interviews with Amos Miller, E. P. Barringer, Alex Ruthven, and others.
In Lost Island township in addition to those already named, James Spaulding
and John Cruikshank came in 1869.
Others coming to Lost Island in 1870-71 are as follows: Torry Knutson, P. H.
Funkley, Warren Goff, Halver Rierson, W. I. Perry, J. B. Fellows, Anfin Rierson,
Severt Johnson, A. Simonson, G. Gunderson, Torkel Larson, and many others too
numerous to mention in the brief space at our command.
In Highland township in addition to those already referred to the following
became residents in 1870: J. T. Soners, Chas. Harris, John Brennan, Thos. Lee,
Martin Doyle, P. Radigan, P. McAlhany, D. Foly, Michael Fleming, John Fleming,
James Lynch. In the following year many more came: Alex Ruthven, John Ruthven,
Robt. Ruthven, Joseph Damon, James Currans, J. M. Carpenter, James McBride, Lars
Bargstrom, Silas Ryder, F. O. Howe. In 1872 Peter Hanson and John W. Hovey cast
their lot with the people of this township, and the settlers began to come in
great numbers. [1]
Walnut township has already been referred to, but besides the earlier
settlers already mentioned, D. M. Leek and the Conway family settled in Walnut
township in 1870, and in the following year E. P. McEvoy, a well-known settler,
located near the present town site of Osgood. L. M. Cooley, a retired Baptist
minister, also came there to live. Thomas Moran, James and Thomas O'Connor, made
their home in that township that year. P. F. Van Gorden and family in the same
year settled on a farm near the present site of Graettinger.
Vernon township with its fertile lands did not long evade the homeseekers. In
1869 David G. Baker came from Wisconsin and in the early spring settled in
Vernon township. He has kept a careful diary throughout his life and the little
book that records the daily events of the trip to Palo Alto County and their
first experiences there is an interesting and valuable historical record. J. C.
Baker was another prominent settler of that township. Other settlers there in
1869 were Chas. C. Gibbs, H. E. Boardman, S. Hammond, and Rev. B. C. Hammond, H.
F. Giddings, U. Butler, H. T. Allen. In the following year B. Bradley, C. T.
Allen, and L. C. Barnum settled there, and from that time on the settlers came
in ever increasing numbers.
Thos. Slater tells his story as follows: "In the year of 1871, the last of
March, we moved from Wisconsin to Vernon township and took up a homestead on
section 30, five miles north of the present town. After having gone to Algona to
purchase lumber to build a house, I began its erection about the seventh of
April. It was not a mansion, however, the boards were set up end ways, the roof
was shingle and the one-story home was soon ready for its occupants. On the
ninth of April my family and I began life anew in this humble hut, on a treeless
prairie. The following morning we were welcomed to our new dwelling place by a
blinding blizzard that lasted three days. We awoke on the first day of the
sweeping storm to find the floor and bed covered with six inches of snow that
had made its way through the open cracks between the boards. We had on hand only
a half bunch of shingles for firewood, so I was obliged to walk a quarter of a
mile to Rev. B. C. Hammond's to get wood to build a fire. At first I lost my way
in the raging blast, but finally succeeded in reaching Rev. Hammond's house.
Loading myself with all the cordwood I could carry on my back, I started for
home. I arrived home about nine o'clock after having been gone an hour. I
immediately set about cleaning snow off the floor and made ready to build a fire
so that the rest of the family could get up and not perish from cold. At the
time of the storm the grain was nearly all sowed and up, and as the snow melted
away nature showed forth its beautiful garments. The fields were turning green
and bright blades of grass shone in the sunshine. In 18711 was able to secure
work of John Robbins at $1.50 per day, walking five miles morning and evening to
and from the Old Town. In 1872 I worked for McKinley, who ran an implement shop
or hardware store. For two years I teamed it to Algona for Mr. McKinley. In the
winter of 1873 another severe storm swept the prairie, a blizzard lasting the
length of three days. During the afternoon of the first day about four o'clock I
started to the barn, hoping that I would be able to reach it in safety as my
stock was badly in need of attention. Having gone as I thought in the direction
of the barn and far enough as I supposed to have reached it, the thought
suddenly filled my mind that I had lost my way and I began plodding back in the
tracks I had already made in the snow to find myself running against the barn
which I had previously been within one foot of without knowing it. I set about
feeding the stock, but immediately the question arose, how will I find my way
back to the house? I called and my wife came at once to the door and responded.
So I asked her to keep up a yell until I reached the house. I resolved, however,
to not attempt another trip to the barn until the storm had abated. After the
storm the snow being very deep, I could not reach the river, the accustomed
place for procuring my wood. Passing Pat Nolan's on the way to the Old Town, I
spied a half cord of rotten wood near the house. I asked Pat what he would take
for it. His reply was three dollars. I told him that I thought that pretty
steep, but he assured me that it was very cheap at that price. I purchased the
wood, however, and on returning home from town loaded it on my sled. Later on I
found a job with Nolan hauling hay. I helped him six days and was allowed three
dollars for my work, which exactly paid for my half cord of wood. And by this
time the wood was burned. For three successive years the grasshoppers took the
crops. After having sold the cows and calves to get seed again, I lost all.
After the grasshoppers had taken their flight, naught remained but a wife, two
children, and a yoke of cattle. And so with my small start I made my way for the
Old Town to begin life anew after many hardships. And here I have remained until
the present day." [1]
[1] Letter of Thomas Slater.
Mrs. Slater writes as follows: "I too shared the hardships of my husband in
those early days when there was a constant struggle with poverty. It was not an
easy thing for me to see my husband, thinly clad, wend his way across the bleak
prairie in search of work. How often, lonely and afraid, I sat by the roadside
with my two children awaiting his return, when the weather was such that we
could wander out-doors. Sometimes we sat for hours until far across the fields I
heard a whistle that made my heart glad, for then I knew that he was returning
to his little flock at home. I wanted to do something to help him in his
struggle to earn a living, but I could think of only a few ways that a woman
with a family could earn a dollar. I asked him to inquire of Mrs. McKinley, for
whose husband he was working at the time, if there was any work she could give
me to do. She sent me a sack of carpet rags which I sewed and was given a dollar
in return. This dollar was not spent for luxuries I assure you, but it was
carefully invested in some of the common necessities of life. After the
grasshoppers had destroyed our crops and we had taken up our residence in the
Old Town, I continued to earn a dollar at every opportunity. I was ambitious and
desired to work and save that in later years we might have a comfortable living.
I was also anxious for my children's welfare. I was willing to toil if they,
through my help, might be able to acquire an education. But I realized that we
were poor, very poor, and that only through hard work would we be able to rear
our family and keep back the wolf from the door." [1]
[1] Letter of Mrs. Thomas Slater.
"Perhaps it will be interesting to know something of the prices in those
times. In 1871 we paid five dollars and fifty cents a hundred for flour and then
could only get a few pounds apiece. This being brought by a mail carrier, from
Estherville. We paid one dollar per bushel for corn, seventy-five cents per
bushel for oats and a dollar and a half a bushel for potatoes. In that year I
paid one dollar and half per bushel for potatoes and after they were raised I
could only get ten cents a bushel if I were able to sell them. But no one wanted
them even at that. We had a larger crop of potatoes that year than we have ever
had since. There was also a large crop of other kinds of grain." [2]
[2] Statement of Thos. Slater.
The prairies were covered with a luxuriant growth of grass in the early days.
The surface water collected in ponds and these tended to produce large and rank
growths of grass and vegetation. The grass in turn prevented rapid evaporation,
so that the prevalence of tall grass and numerous sloughs was one of the
characteristic features of those periods. These numerous ponds were prolific
breeding places for mosquitoes. All the old settlers have vivid remembrances of
these pests, and they describe the monstrous size, strenuous singing power, and
keen penetration with feelings intensified by years of experience on the
frontier plains.
The pleasures of these people were very simple, and their gala days were few
and far apart. The youths of those days, now at a ripe old age, recall with
smiles the frolics that lightened the long days of heavy toil and privation.
The women of these families were among the bravest and most self-sacrificing
in time of need or danger. It is no easy lot to be cast upon the broad prairie
of a new country surrounded by the broad expanses of land and sky, with scarcely
an object to break the monotony of the prospect. Often the nearest neighbor was
miles away, and only at long intervals came the news from the east that was so
eagerly awaited. Provisions and fuel were sometimes scarce and the good wives
often had to work and save to eke out the scanty living in times of scarcity.
Content with little of the material things of life, but possessed of boundless
hope and courage, the good women of the pioneer days shared the dangers and
hardships of the frontier and thus contributed to the making of history on the
western prairies.
This decade from 1863 to 1872 was indeed a period of growth for Palo Alto
County. In population, organization and material prosperity, the advance had
been substantial. The reverses and hard times of the year 1873 brought this
growth to an abrupt stop. During the next few years everything was at a
standstill, and this interval was the time of quiet that preceded the next
period of development so soon to follow.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
History of Palo Alto County Iowa
BY
DWIGHT G. MCCARTY
THE TORCH PRESS
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
1910
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