Boone County IA Archives History - Books .....County Organization, Chapter 6 1914 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ia/iafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 March 29, 2009, 3:34 am Book Title: HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY IOWA CHAPTER VI COUNTY ORGANIZATION Boone County was established, with its present boundaries, in February, 1847, by an act of the Legislature, about two months after the state was admitted. The county was named in honor of Capt. Nathan Boone, of Company H, First Regiment, United States Dragoons, the youngest son of Col. Daniel Boone, the great pioneer of Kentucky and Missouri. Captain Boone was in the expedition which marched from Old Fort Des Moines, where Montrose, in Lee County, now stands, to Wabasha's village, in Minnesota, located about where the City of Winona now stands. This expedition consisted of three companies of the First Regiment of United States Dragoons under command of Lieut. Col. S. W. Kearney. Company B was commanded by Lieut. Albert M. Lea. This was made necessary by the sickness of Jesse B. Brown, the captain of that company. Company H was commanded by Capt. Nathan Boone, as before stated, and Company I was commanded by Capt. E. V. Sumner. The expedition left Old Fort Des Moines on the 7th of June, 1835. The march was along the divide between the Des Moines and Skunk Rivers. On the evening of the 23d of June this little army camped in what is now Boone County, a little south of the Mineral Ridge and about three miles east of the timber that skirted the Des Moines River. The encampment on the next evening was near the mouth of Boone River. From there the march was northeast to Wabasha's village. The object of the expedition was to become acquainted with Wabasha, who was a great chief among the Sioux Indians, and to make a treaty of peace with him. This being done, the expedition returned, marching almost due west for a few days and then, turning southwest, crossed the West Fork of the Des Moines River near the southeast corner of Palo Alto County, marched then south on the west side of the Des Moines River. On the return trip the little army again encamped in what is now Boone County. These three hundred dragoons, as they rode through the wild country, must have made a deep impression upon the Indians. In 1830, five years before this expedition, Capt. Nathan Boone, under a commission from the Government, surveyed the Neutral Strip. This neutral ground was forty miles wide and extended from the mouth of the upper Iowa River west to the Des Moines River. In doing this surveying, Captain Boone became acquainted with much of the country in Northeastern Iowa. Captan [sic] Boone continued in the service of the Government until 1853 when he resigned and returned to his family. After ten years of private life, he died at his home in Ash Grove, ten miles west of Springfield, Missouri, in the summer of 1863, at the age of eighty-one years. He was held in high esteem by the members of his company and by his fellow officers. He was brave and honest, and our people have good reason to feel proud of the man after whom their county was named. For judicial, voting and revenue purposes, Boone County remained a part of Polk County for two and one-half years after it was located and named. The first settler was Charles W. Gaston, who settled on the southwest quarter of Section 34, in Township 82, Range 26, on the 12th of January, 1846. Mr. Gaston has repeatedly said that the weather was nice and warm, and that he turned his horse out to browse in the timber, while be cut the logs to build his cabin. This was the first log cabin erected in Boone County. He did not locate for a month or a year, but he became a permanent settler. From the date of his location here to the 15th of April, a period of three months, he was the only resident of the county. On the last date named, John Pea, John M. Crooks, James Hull, and their families, located at Pea's Point. They came from the State of Indiana. The settlement of the county was quite rapid, considering the transportation facilities of that time. This is evidenced bv the fact that in 1848 the people began talking about county organization. In the spring of 1849, they went to work in earnest to organize the county. They were tired of voting, transacting their business, and paying taxes in Polk County. By an act of the Legislature, approved February 24, 1847, it became necessary for the judge of the judicial district to appoint an organizing sheriff, whose duty it was to order an election for county officers, post notices at a specified number of places, and in fact discharge all the duties of sheriff until the result of the election should be proclaimed, and his successor qualified, in counties ready for organization. The following is the proclamation of Judge William McKay, judge of die Fifth Judicial District, in which Boone County was at that time situated: "To all to whom these presents shall come: Know ye that I, William McKay, judge of the Fifth Judicial District of the State of Iowa, have and here by appoint Samuel B. McCall, of Boone County, in said district, sheriff to organize said county of Boone according to an act for the organization of Pottawatame [sic] and other counties, approved February A. D. 1847,. to have and hold the said office of sheriff, with all the rights, duties and privileges thereunto appertaining as fully and completely as I have right or power to grant unto him according to said act, and that he have and hold the same until the first Monday in August 1849, and until his successor is duly elected and qualified. "I here by fix the first Monday in August next as the time of holding a special election in said county of Boone, for the election of county officers, within and for the said county of Boone, given under my hand at Fort Des Moines, this 8th, day of May, 1849. William McKay, Judge." In accordance with the order of Judge McKay, S. B. McCall, as sheriff, proceeded to divide the county into voting precincts as directed by law and the necessities of the voters of the county. In the discharge of these duties he divided the county into three townships. The south one-third of the county was named Pleasant Township and the place of voting was Belle Point. The central one-third was named Boone Township, and the place of voting was the house of John M. Crooks, one mile south of Boone, while the north one-third was named Boone River Township and the place of voting was at the house of Thomas McNeal. At the time of his appointment, S. B. McCall had been a citizen of Boone County about two years. His father, Judge Montgomery McCall, then owned and lived on a farm one mile south of Boone. The first election was held August 6, 1849, and the following officers were elected to transact the business of the county: County Commissioners, Jesse Hull, Jonathan Boles, and John Boyles. Commissioners' Clerk, Reuben S. Clark, Clerk of the District Court, John M. Wane. Recorder, Collector and Treasurer, John M. Crooks. Sheriff, Samuel H. Bowers. Surveyor, Thomas Sparks, and Prosecuting Attorney, W. C. Hull. There were ninety votes cast at the first election, and twenty-six of these were cast in Boone Township. We have been unable to find the poll books of Pleasant and Boone River Townships among the county records, which is much to be regretted. However, as there was a total of ninety votes cast at the first election and twenty-six of these were cast in Boone Township, it follows that sixty-four were cast in Pleasant and Boone River Townships combined. The following very interesting record of the election of Boone Township is here given in full. "Organization poll book of Boone County, Poll book of the election held at the house of John M. Crooks, in Boone Township, Boone County, Iowa, on the first Monday and sixth day of August 1849, for the purpose of electing county officers and a hoard of County Commissioners. "Jacob Crooks and George Hull, Judges, and John M. Wane and Montgomery McCall, Clerks of election, were severally sworn by me, as the law directs, previous to entering upon the duties ot their respective offices. John Pea, Judge of Election. "John Pea, Judge of Election, was sworn by me as the law directs previous to entering upon the duties of his office. George Hull, Judge of Election." Following are the names of voters at this first election in Boone 'Township: 1, James Turner; 2, Henry H. Fisher; 3, David Noah; 4, Montgomery McCall; 5, Albert Myers; 6, Samuel H. Bowers; 7, Samuel B. McCall; 8, James Corbin; 9, Henry Hoffman; to, James B. Hamilton; 11, Pembroke Gault; 12, James Hull; 13, Jacob Crooks; 14, George Hull; 15, John Pea; 16, William Hull; 17, Nicholas M. Bonnett; 18, Reuben S. Clark; 19, Thomas Sparks; 20, Lewis Kenney; 21, John M. Crooks; 22, James Hull, Jr.; 23, Felix O'Neal; 24, Uriah Hull; 25, John Gault; 26, John Boyles. The votes were divided as follows: For County Commissioners, Pleasant Chitwood had nineteen votes. James Corbin, twelve votes, John Boyles, sixteen votes, Jesse Hull, twelve votes, and Jonathan Boles, ten votes. For Sheriff, Samuel H. Bowers had twenty-six votes. For Recorder, Collector and Treasurer, John M. Crooks had seventeen votes, and William Sawyer, five votes. For Probate Judge, John Gault had twelve votes and Samuel B. Fisher, nine votes. For Clerk of Court, Philip K. Detrick had fourteen votes and Reuben S. Clark, nine votes. For Commissioners' Clerk, John M. Wane had ten votes and Reuben S. Clark sixteen votes. For School Commissioner, James Hull had twenty-five votes and Montgomery McCall had one vote. For Prosecuting Attorney, Montgomery McCall had twenty-five votes. For County Surveyor Thomas Sparks had twenty votes. For Justice of the Peace James Turner had twelve votes, and Pembroke Gault had nine votes. For Constable, Nicholas M. Bonnett had eighteen votes, and Uriah Hull had one vote. (Signed) JACOB CROOKS, JOHN PEA, GEORGE HULL, Judges of Election. Attest. MONTGOMERY MCCALL, JOHN M. WANE, Clerks of Election. The votes cast at the election in 1850 were as follows: Votes. Pleasant Township 79 Boone Township 137 Boone River Township 35 And in 1851 they were: Votes. Pleasant Township 130 Boone Township 106 Boone River Township 48 This was the last election held in these three original townships. The first meeting of the county commissioners was held on the 1st day of October, 1849, at the house of John Boyles. At that time no county seat had been located, nor had any building been erected. for the county officers. Each officer had to carry his records in his pocket, when out on official business, and when he returned home had to lock them in a box for safe keeping. Discharging the duties of a county officer under these circumstances was rather an unpleasant business. The first orders of the- county commissioners were as follows: No. 1. "Ordered: That Reuben S. Clark purchase two dollars worth of writing paper for the use of the County Officers of Boone County, Iowa, the said Clark to be paid out of the first county funds that may not be otherwise appropriated." No. 2. "Ordered: That the Commissioners' Clerk grant Samuel B. McCall an order for seventy-five cents for an order book." No. 3. "Ordered: That the Commissioners' Clerk use the eagle side of an American half dollar as the seal of the commissioners' court, until otherwise provided for." The next three orders related to the re-establishment of the three townships which S. B. McCall had already established. They are as follows: No. 4. "Ordered: That Pleasant Township, Boone County, Iowa, shall be as follows: Beginning at the southeast corner of said county, thence north with the east line of said county eight miles. Thence west twenty-four miles to the west boundry of said county, thence south, with the west boundary of said county eight miles, thence east twenty-four miles with the south boundary of said county to the place of beginning, which shall also constitute a commissioners' district, No. 1, of said county." No. 5. "Ordered: That Boone Township, Boone County, Iowa, shall be bounded as follows, to-wit: "Beginning at the northeast corner of Pleasant Township, thence north with the east boundary of Boone County, eight miles, thence west twenty-four miles to the west boundary of said county, thence south along the west boundary of said county, to the north west corner of 1'leasant Township, thence east twenty four miles to place of beginning, which also shall constitute a commissioners district, No. 2 in said county." No. 6. "Ordered: That Boone River Township, of Boone County, Iowa, shall he bounded as follows, to-wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of Boone Township, thence north with the east boundary of Boone County, eight miles, to the northeast corner of Boone County, thence west with the north boundary of said county, twenty four miles to the northwest corner, thence south with the west boundary of said county to the northwest corner of Boone Township, thence east with the north line of Boone Township to place of beginning, which shall constitute a commissioners' district, No. 3, in said county. The next business of tin's session of the commissioners was the approval of the official bond of Reuben S. Clark, commissioners' clerk. The amount of the bond was $2,000 and the sureties were Montgomery McCall and John Pea. This was the first official bond approved in the county. The following bills were allowed at this first session: Samuel B. McCall, for services in organizing the county $21.00 Judges and clerks of election 5.00 Commissioners' fees 3.00 Commissioners' Clerk 1.00 Total claims allowed at the first session 30.75 These claims were very insignificant when compared with the claims of the present time, as our needs have grown greater with the increase of population and more modern improvements. The second meeting of the board was held at the house of John M. Wane, but two members being present, Jesse Hull and John Boyles. Little business was transacted at this meeting. It was ordered that the future meetings of the board be held at the house of John M. Crooks. Three claims were allowed, but only one of them is mentioned in the record. A claim of $1.65 was allowed the Commissioners' Clerk for making out the tax list and making the following record: "Personally appeared John Pea and asserted to our satisfaction that he was grievously assessed in March, 1849, of a sum of $41.50. Be it ordered therefore that the same be remitted." The date of this meeting is not given in the record. The third meeting of the commissioners was held at the house of John M. Crooks, as before ordered, on the 7th day of January, 1850. At this meeting the full membership of the board was present. viz., Jesse Hull, John Boyles and Jonathan Boles. At this meeting of the commissioners we note the first petition for the location of a road in Boone County. This petition was presented by P. K. Detrick and read as follows: "We, the citizens of Boone County, do hereby present to your honors, that a road commencing near section two on the north side of said county, range 26 and township 85, to run southerly, near Henry Fisher's Point, thence to run through section 33, near a school house on Honey Creek, in range 26, township 84, thence by the nearest and most accessible route through sections 4 and 9 of said range in township 83, thence at or near Luther's in section 14 in township 82, thence running by the nearest and most accessible route to intersect with the present county road leading from Panoach, Dallas County, Iowa, to the county line near Bole/ mill site, would tend greatly to the advantage of the public and of utility to us and the public in general. We therefore, the petitioners, pray your honors to appoint suitable persons to view out and locate as much of the said road as may be, from Fisher's Point to intersect with the road leading from Panoach near Boles' mill site." Signed by thirty-eight citizens of the county. This is, in some respects, a very singular petition. Although the settlement of the county began at the south side of the county, this road was to commence at the north side and run south. In the descriptions giving the ranges, the ranges are mentioned first. The town Panoach was at that time the county seat of Dallas County. Panoach is an Indian name, meaning "far away." The name was later changed to Adel. The Board of Commissioners was favorably impressed with this petition and made the following order: "Ordered, That the above petition be granted and that the following named persons he named for viewers: Matthias White, Colonel John Rose and Vickers Preston, and S. C. Wood, Surveyor, of said road. Said viewers and surveyors to meet at Benjamin William's on the first Monday in March, 1850, and having taken to their assistance the necessary hands, shall proceed to view said route and report to this board, as the law directs. (Signed.) JONATHAN BOLES, JESSE HULL." The next session of the board of commissioners was held January 28, 1850, all of the members being present. James Hull presented a petition for a county road, commencing at the terminus of the Polk County road, at, or near, the northwest corner of Polk County, Iowa, and a little south of Swede Point (now Madrid) and running by the nearest and best route to the north line of the county. This petition was signed by twenty-one citizens of the county. This was a rival of the other road petitioned for, and there arose some bitterness and contention between the advocates of these two roads. However, this petition was also granted and viewers were appointed to view the proposed route and to report their observations to the board at its next meeting as provided by law. The clerk of the board was also directed to set up three advertisements in each township in Boone County within three weeks from this date, forewarning all persons whatsoever from taking timber, or timbers, off of any school land, river land, or other public lands lying in Boone County. So far as this warning related to the river land, it was very much disregarded. At the meeting of the board March 1, 1850, but one order was made. "Ordered; That Tyler Higby, Matthias White, and John Ridpath be appointed as judges of an election to be held in Boone River Township, Boone County, Iowa, in April A. D. 1850." At the meeting of the board held in April, 1850, four orders were made to relieve as many citizens from erroneous assessments: "Ordered, That Matthias Hoffman receive an order for fifty cents, the same being as compensation for an excess of taxation for 1849." "Ordered, That James Hull receive an order for five dollars and five cents, for services rendered as School Fund Commissioner." "Ordered, That two hundred and forty six dollars of the property of Nicholas Bonnett, assessed in 1849, be and the same is hereby remitted, having been satisfied that he was over assessed that amount." "Ordered, That sixty dollars of the value of the property of Isom Hull assessed in 1849, be and the same is hereby remitted, having been satisfied that he was over assessed that amount." At the July meeting of the commissioners the clerk was directed to issue to Samuel H. Bowers an order for $4.00 as payment for assessing Boone County in June, 1850. The clerk was also directed to draw an order in favor of John Gault for the sum of 25 cents in payment for paper furnished to the school fund commissioner. The following is a copy of the order levying the taxes for the year 1850, the same being the first regular tax levy in Boone County: "Ordered; That the Commissioners' Clerk make out a correct list of the state, county and school tax on all real estate and personal property of the county, according to the assessment list returned and made out by the sheriff for the year 1850; and also to levy the same at four mills on the dollar for county purposes, two and a half mills on the dollar for state purposes, and one mill on the dollar for school purposes, for which the said clerk shall take the treasurer's receipt." The fact that this order was for the first tax levy in the county makes it a very historic one. The first acts and the first things done are always things of much interest. Beginnings may at times be awkward and crude, but the historians are always looking for them. At this meeting of the board of commissioners the clerk was ordered to issue notices for the election of officers, for and in the Township of Pleasant, County of Boone, State of Iowa, said election to take place on the first Monday in August, 1850. An election was ordered for the same time in Boone Township, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Pembroke Gault, justice of the peace, in and for Boone County, Iowa. The commissioners seem to have given attention to all matters, however small they may have been, that were brought before them. The board of commissioners was in one sense the legislature of Boone County, and it transacted all such orders and regulations as were at that time really necessary to give the county a start in its business and industrial career. This fact gives to the acts of this first board of commissioners added historical interest. At the next session of the board the report of the persons appointed to view the first road located in the county was presented. The record runs as follows: "The report of the viewers appointed at a former session of the court, to view and locate a road, commencing at Henry Fisher's Point, thence through Section thirty three, near a school house on Honey Creek, in range 26, township 84; thence through section four and nine in said range, township 83; thence through section fourteen, in township 82; near Luther's thence to intersect with a county road from Panoach, Dallas County, Iowa, at the county line near Boles Mill, having been received at a former session of this board, and the said report having been favorable to the establishment of said road, agreeable to the surveyor's plat, of the same, returned to the board, and the said report having been read on three several days, and no objection having been made to the establishment of the same, and none for a review, or for damages having been presented to the board, it is therefore ordered that the report aforesaid he accepted and that the road described therein be established, and declared a public highway, and that road supervisors be required to take notice thereof." John Rose and Vickers Preston were allowed $4.50 each and Matthias White $3.75 as viewers of said road. S. C. Wood was allowed $7.50 for surveying and platting the said road; John G. Adams, Philip Detrick and others were allowed the sum of $9.37 1/2 for services as chain bearers and ax men in laying out the said road. As this was the first public highway established in Boone County, it was thought best to give the full record of the proceedings of the board establishing it. Fisher's Point, mentioned in the petition, and report of the viewers, is the point of timber north of Boone about two miles. The schoolhouse on the route in Section 33, on Honey Creek, was doubtless the first schoolhouse built in the county, and certainly the first one on this first road. The Madrid Historical Society has among its relics the hand ax used in blazing the trees and driving the stakes in the location of this first road of the county. Although it has been sixty-four years since this road was established, there are a number of sections of it yet in use. One of these sections is four miles in length. The total cost of locating this road, as given in the foregoing proceedings, was $22.37 1/2. At the same session of the board the report of the viewers who were appointed to view the road from Swede Point (now Madrid) to the north line of the county, was received and the road established. The expense in viewing, surveying and platting this second road established in the county was $19.37 1/2. The point from which this second road started was near the northwest corner of Polk County, only a short distance south of Madrid. This point was the terminus of a road established by the Commissioners of Polk County, commencing on the east bank of the Des Moines River on Court Avenue, thence by way of Sailorville, Polk City and the twenty-mile house, and terminated at the point above mentioned. The terminal and commencement of the two roads is a very historical one, from the fact that both roads were used by the Western Stage Company in carrying the mails and passengers in a very few years after their establishment. The Madrid Historical Society has the wedge-shaped stone that stood for years at the point at which these two county roads joined. More than one-half of the second road established in Boone County is still as originally located and is still in use. The next session of the board was held in October, 1850. The official term of Jonathan Boles having expired, he was succeeded by James Corbin, who was elected at the regular August election of 1850. At this session there were petitions presented for changes in certain portions of the two roads established at the previous session. Some of these petitions were granted and the changes made by the board. At the meeting of the board in January, 1851, it was ordered that the sessions of the board thereafter should be held at the schoolhouse on Honey Creek in Section 33, Township 84, Range 26. This continued to be the place of meeting until the county seat was located. At the April meeting of 1851, the following order was made: "Ordered; That Reuben S. Clark, as Commissioners' Clerk, receive an order for $14.00 for services in making out the receipts and expenses and making out the delinquent tax list of Boone County, for advertising the April election, and making out poll books for said election, and making assessors hooks for the sheriff." The work mentioned would now cost not less than $50. The simplicity of living in those pioneer days makes up much of the difference in the cost of work then and now. Tea, coffee, sugar and clothing were higher in price here at that time than the same articles are now. At the April meeting of 1851, a petition for a small change in the road running from Fisher's Point to the Dallas County road was presented. This petition was laid over until the July meeting of that year. It does not appear that any .action was taken at any future session of the hoard in relation to this petition. This seems to have been the first petition upon which the hoard, up to this time, had failed to take favorable action. At the session of July, 1851, the only business transacted by the board was the following order: "Ordered that the Commissioners' Clerk make out a correct list of the state, county and school tax on all real and personal property, according to the assessment list returned by the sheriff for the year 1851, and also make out and levy the same at four mills on the dollar for county purposes, two mills on the dollar for state purposes and one mill on the dollar for school purposes, and deliver the same unto the treasurer on, or before, the 15th of August, 1851, for which the said clerk shall take a receipt for the same." At the time of the organization of Boone County and for some years thereafter the sheriff assessed the property of the county, or in other words the offices of sheriff and assessor were combined in one. COUNTY SEAT LOCATED All these actions of the board of county commissioners, up to the date of July, 1H51, and the official actions of all the other county officers, up to that date, were performed before the county seat was located. A period of about two years had now passed since the first county officers were elected and there was vet no place provided for them to transact the business of the county, or to file away for safekeeping any of the official records or documents. If any one had business with a county officer, he was forced to go to the officer's house in order to transact it. If a young man wanted a marriage license, he had to go to the house of the clerk of the court and in the presence if this family, and any other persons who might be there, name his business. When a citizen wished to pay his tax, he had to go to the house of the county treasurer to do so. This was very unpleasant and inconvenient. The population of the county had by this time increased until a county seat, a place to transact the official business of the county, had become an absolute necessity. So the people took action and sent a petition to the legislature, asking for the establishment of a county seat. This petition resulted in the following act: "Be it enacted by the general assembly of the state of Iowa, that David Sweem, of the county of Marion, S. K. Scovell, of the county of Dallas, and Samuel Haworth, of the county of Warren, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to locate and establish the seat of justice of the county of Boone." This act was approved January 21, 1851. The time fixed for the meeting of these locating commissioners was between the 1st and the 15th of July, 1851. It appears that a day was fixed for their work through correspondence, but, at the time set, David Sweem was the only one of the commissioners who put in an appearance. There were heavy rains about that time, the streams were all about bank full of water, and this seems to have been the reason the other commissioners did not appear. Mr. Sweem could not locate the county seat without one of the other commissioners being there to unite with him in making the location, so after waiting two days over the time set for the meeting he decided to return home. A number of the citizens came together and appointed Samuel B. McCall to go to Adel and bring Mr. Scovell to his post of duty. They then persuaded Mr. Sweem to remain until Mr. McCall should return, which he consented to do. It was a perilous journey which Mr. McCall took upon himself. After fording a number of deep, swift and unbridged streams, Mr. McCall returned next day, bringing Mr. Scovell with him. It was an heroic act on his part, and that act secured the location of the county seat at that time, which otherwise would have gone over to some future time. The citizens were greatly pleased and they heaped many praises upon S. B. McCall. The two commissioners met that night at the house of Montgomery McCall, father of S. B. McCall, and on the next day subscribed to the following oath, before Reuben S. Clark, commissioners' clerk: "We do solemnly swear that we have no personal interest in the location of the seat of justice of Boone County, Iowa and that we will faithfully locate the same according to the best interests of the county, taking into consideration the future as well as the present population of the county. (Signed.) S. K. SCOVELL, DAVID SWEKM, Locating Commissioners." After taking the oath prescribed by the act of appointment, the two commissioners proceeded to examine the county. There were some faithful guides who went with them and pointed out certain available sites which had been frequently spoken of and discussed around many log fires in log cabins by the settlers. After listening to all the claims and arguments upon the different places and passing over all the surrounding country, the commissioners retired to a room and after a short consultation agreed upon the following report: STATE OF IOWA, ) BOONE COUNTY, ) SS. BOONESBORO. ) "We the undersigned commissioners, appointed by an act to provide for the location of a seat of justice of Boone county, Approved February 21, 1851, do, hereby locate and establish the seat of justice of the said county of Boone, upon the northwest quarter of section twenty nine, (20) in township eighty four, (84) north, and range twenty six (20) west, of the fifth principal meridian, lying and situated in the district of lands subject to entry at the land office at Dubuque. Given under our hands and seals at the place of location this 9th day of July, A. D. 1851. (Signed) S. K. SCOVELL, DAVID SWEEM, Locating Commissioners." There was great rejoicing over the location of the county seat. The people wanted a certain and fixed place for the transaction of county business. On the morning of the day on which the location was made, the locating commissioners drove along the line of settlement for miles and consulted with the settlers in relation to their choice of location, and it seems that a majority of the settlers near the central part of the county favored the location selected by the commissioners. We have been informed bv numbers who were present, that about all the settlers for miles gathered at the place of location in time to see the stake driven which marked the location. A flag was at that moment raised and a shout of exultation went up from those assembled. The stake was driven near where the north wall of the court house now stands. It is said that S. B. McCall suggested to the commissioners the name Boonesboro for the county seat, and by this name the county seat was known until it was changed to the Fifth Ward of the City of Boone, April 8, 1887. At the time of the first election, after the organization of the county, held in August, 1849, the population numbered about four hundred. One year later, in 1850, the population had increased to 756, and in 1851, at the time of the location of the county seat, the population was 890. This was in that day looked upon as a rapid increase in population. The settlers were now prouder of their new homes than they ever were before. On the day of the location of the county seat the board of county commissioners met and passed the following orders: "Ordered: That the Commissioners' clerk issue unto David Sweem forty dollars, and unto S. K. Scovell fifteen dollars as Commissioners to locate the seat of justice of Boone County, to be paid out of the lot fund of said county, for services rendered." "Ordered: That the Commissioners' clerk notify Thomas Sparks, County Surveyor, to take to his assistance the necessary hands on the 31st inst, and lay off two hundred lots near the stake driven by the locating Commissioners of the County Seat, on the northwest quarter of section 29, township 84, and range, 26, and continue from day to day until said number be laid off." "Ordered: That the County Commissioners meet at the designated place for the county seat of Boone County, on the 31st day of July, and lay off the public square, in the town of Boonesboro, the designated place of the Seat of justice of Boone County." "Ordered: That the Commissioners have a called session the 26th of July, at the designated County Seat, called Boonesboro. It seems that Mr. Sparks did not wait until the 31st of July to begin the survey of the county seat, for when the called session of the board met, on the 26th of July, the two orders passed by them related to the sale of town lots, giving the numbers of them. The orders passed are as follows: "Ordered: That lots nos. 3 and 4, in block 12, in Boonesboro, Boone County, Iowa, be granted to Wesley C. Hull, lot 4, valued at $35, and lot 3, at $45, one fifth in hand, one fifth in six months, one fifth in twelve months one fifth in eighteen months, and the balance in two years with ten per cent on each payment after due until paid, and said 1 lull is to furnish a suitable room in said Boonesboro to hold court at the October term, free of charge." "Ordered: That the Commissioners' Clerk cause to be published a sale of lots in the town of Boonesboro, Boone County, Iowa, on the first Monday in October next, and on Tuesday and Wednesday following, the same to be published in each of the Fort Des Moines papers, and in the paper published at Oskaloosa; the payment; one fifth in hand, one fifth in six months, one fifth in twelve months, one fifth in eighteen months, and the balance in two years. If the last payment when due, with all former payments and interest thereon, at ten per cent, after due, is not made, then the same will fall back to the county." This called meeting on July 26, 1851, was the last one held by this board of county commissioners. The meeting called for July 31, 1851, to lay out the public square, was never held. The reason most certainly was that the laying out of the public square was the business of the county surveyor, and not of the county commissioners. A law passed the Legislature at the session of 1 850-1, abolishing the commissioner system and substituted for it the office of county judge. At the election on the first Monday in August, 18^1, Samuel B. McCall was elected county judge and entered immediately upon the discharge of the duties of that office. This brought to a close the labors of the pioneer board of county commissioners. The first session of this board was held on the first Monday in October, 1840, and the last one was on the 26th of July, iSqi. It was in official existence two years. It held nine meetings during that time and passed upon twenty-one orders. Not one of these meetings was held in a public office, or a public place of meeting. Every one of its twenty-one orders were passed upon either in a private house, or in the little schoolhouse on Honey Creek, in Section 33, Township 84, Range 26. It is very doubtful if a more faithful discharge of duties, in any two years of official work, can be found in any other county of the state. As elected in 1849, the board consisted of Jesse Hull, John Boyles and Jonathan Boles. At the end of one year the official term of Jonathan Boles expired and at the election on the first Monday in August, 1850, James Corbin was chosen his successor. These commissioners, and the faithful commissioners' clerk, Reuben S. Clark, have left a good record behind them. It is a record of good and faithful work for which they received slight compensation. Although all of them have passed and gone, their memories still live in the official records they have left behind. Jesse Hull never missed a session of the board. He settled at Belle Point, five miles north of Madrid, in 1847. The first post-office in the county was kept in his house. From 1854 to 1864 he kept a station of the Western Stage Company. He passed away at his Belle Point home in 1874. John Boyles settled in what is now the north part of Worth Township in 1848. Shortly after the close of his official term as county commissioner, he moved to the Pacific Coast, where he spent the remainder of his life. Jonathan Boles settled at Elk Rapids in 1848, where he and his brother, Adam Boles, built a mill on the Des Moines River, which was the first mill built in the county. Later he exchanged his interest in the mill for land in Marcy Township, where he spent the remainder of his life. James Corbin lived in what is now Yell Township, near the site of the Village of Centerville, when he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and he possessed considerable local influence. Along in the '70s he moved to Kansas, where he passed the remainder of his life. Reuben S. Clark came from Indiana and settled in Boone County in 1847. He was a man of good ability and had acquired a good education. He began his official career in Boone County in 1849, when he was elected commissioners' clerk. His two years' term in that office came to a close with the outgoing of the commissioner system. On the first Monday in August, 1851, he was elected treasurer and recorder of Boone County, to succeed John M. Crooks. So he passed from one office into another. At the close of this term of office he rested one year, but at the election of 1854 he was elected clerk of the District Court, and re-elected in 1856 and 1858, finishing his official career January 1, 1861, making in all ten years of official life in Boone County. In 1868 he sold his farm and moved to Ray County, Missouri, where he became the owner of a fine farm and there departed this life some years ago. John M. Wane, who was elected clerk of the District Court in 1849 and the pioneer in that office, came to Boone County in 1848 and settled two miles south of where is now the City of Boone, where he made a beautiful farm. Before coming here he had been a printer in the office of the New York Tribune, and was well acquainted with Horace Greeley, whom he held in high esteem. Mr. Wane was well qualified to fill the office to which he was elected, but there was little business to transact during his official term. There was but one session of the District Court while he was in office and that was the first term of that court held in this county. Not being an office seeker, Mr. Wane never held another county office. He preferred to remain upon his farm and follow his chosen occupation. Here his life came to a close but a few years ago. He was held in high esteem by all his neighbors. John M. Crooks came from Indiana in April, 1846, and located a mile south of where the City of Boone now stands, on what has since been known as the Michael Myers farm. At the first election in 1849, he was chosen treasurer and recorder, which proves that he was held in high esteem by the voters of the county. Some time after the close of his official term he moved to the Pacific coast, where he spent the remainder of his life. Samuel H. Bowers moved to Boone County in 1848 and settled less than a mile due south of the site of the present hospital in Boone. He was a man who had sufficiently impressed himself upon his fellow citizens to induce them at the first election, in 1H49, to select him for sheriff of the county. It does not appear that there was much business to transact in this office in that early time, but it does appear that Mr. Bowers had some other things in mind which he wished to bring to a successful termination. During his term of office he succeeded in getting a postoffice established at his house. This office was named Booneville. By this action he expected to secure the location of the county seat at Booneville, but when the time came for such location to be made he had the influence of the McCalls, Reuben S. Clark, Col. John Rose and others with which to contend, and in the shuffle of conflicting interests his hopes were defeated. Shortly after this Mr. Bowers was taken sick and died. He was the first of the original nine county officers to pass away. Thomas Sparks, who was elected county surveyor, at the organizing election in 1849, was a native of the State of Pennsylvania and came to Boone County in 1846. After carefully looking the country over he located in what is now Worth Township. Mr. Sparks was a man of more than ordinary attainments. He was a practical bookkeeper and he was often called upon by the other county officers for assistance in their official work. He understood the art of surveying, and when the time came to select one to fill the place Mr. Sparks was chosen county surveyor. He filled the office with marked ability, but he declined another term of office, preferring to use his time in improving his farm. Mr. Sparks was also a good educator and taught many terms of school in various parts of the county. He assisted numbers of the youths of the county in their private studies, which was of much benefit to them. When Mr. Sparks could no longer attend to the duties of the farm, he moved to Boone, where he died only a few years ago. He was the last of the pioneer officers of the county to pass away. Wesley C. Hull, who was elected prosecuting attorney at the organizing election, August 6, 1849, settled in Boone County in 1848. He was a man of considerable ability and he was an active worker in the beginning of the county organization. Mr. Hull built the house in which the first two terms of the District Court were held in this county. The first term was held in October, 1851, and at this term Wesley C. Hull was admitted to the bar. P. M. Casady and Barlow Granger, of Fort Des Moines, examined him as to his legal ability and made a favorable report to William McKay, the presiding judge, and it was then, "Ordered; That Wesley C. Hull be admitted as an attorney at law and solicitor in chancery in this court." Whereupon he appeared in court and took the oath required by law. Mr. Hull practiced but little, if any, in the county. About a year after his admission to the bar, he moved to Oregon and died there years ago. Of the two commissioners who located the county seat we can say but little. We can only say that David Sweem was a citizen of Marion County and of sufficient ability to be appointed a commissioner to locate the county seat of Boone County. That he came at the time appointed and discharged his duty faithfully and well. Of Mr. Scovell, we know at the time he was appointed locating commissioner he was clerk of the District Court of Dallas County. He did not appear at the appointed time to discharge his duties, but had to be sent for. He came with the messenger and discharged his duty well. After his term of office in Dallas County expired, Mr. Scovell moved to the Pacific coast and permanently located there. Around the old county seat, located by these commissioners, and where the final work of the first officers of Boone County centered, there has gathered a sincere respect and a halo of sacredness, which commands the affections of the people of the county. Having given most of the official acts of the first board of county commissioners, it seemed appropriate to give a brief sketch of each member of the board, and the other county officers elected in 1849, as these men did the first work in shaping the business and laying the foundation upon which the government of the county has been built. Tt is but fitting that a sketch of their lives be given on the pages of the new history of Boone County. [Many of these men were known to the editor as well as to many others now living in the county.] Additional Comments: [Transcriber's note: The first 5 chapters have to do with a brief and very general history of Iowa, geology, and Native American sociology. These chapters will not be transcribed.] Extracted from: HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY IOWA N. E. GOLDTHWAIT SUPERVISING EDITOR ILLUSTRATED VOLUME I CHICAGO PIONEER PUBLISHING COMPANY 1914 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ia/boone/history/1914/historyo/countyor58nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/iafiles/ File size: 47.7 Kb