HISTORY: Crawford Co., IA From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875 This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Pat April 2003 ************************************************* Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net//copyright.htm ************************************************* ________________________________________________________ NOTE: For more information on Crawford County, Iowa Please visit the Crawford County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/crawford/ ________________________________________________________ CRAWFORD COUNTY. This county lies on the western slope, is the second east from the Missouri River, and is in the fifth tier from the northern and southern boundary line of the state. It is twenty-four miles north and south by thirty east and west, and contains twenty congressional townships, or a superficial area of seven hundred and twenty square miles. PHYSICAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES. Like most of the counties of Western Iowa, Crawford is well watered by running streams, the largest being the Boyer River, which meanders diagonally through the county from northeast to southwest, entering five miles west of the northeast corner, and passing out three miles east of the southwest corner. East Boyer River is a fine tributary which enters Crawford from Carroll County, and flowing in a southwest direction forms a junction with the main stream at Denison, a little southeast of the center of the county. The other important tributaries of the Boyer watering a large portion of the county, are Dunham's, Walnut, Ernst, Buss, Welsh, Paradise, Buffalo, Otter, Boone, Coon, and Buck Creeks. The southeast part is watered by the Nishnabotany River and Williams Creek, with the several branches of both. Soldier River crosses the northwest corner where it receives a large number of tributaries, including a stream called Beaver Creek. A branch called East Soldier, also waters the northwest part of the county, with a considerable sized tributary called Spillman Creek. Willow River rises in the southwest part of the county, watering a considerable portion of one township. Except Boyer River, the above streams are small, but all of them afford abundance of water for stock the year round. Fine springs are found in a number of places, and good well water is obtained at moderate depth, say from twenty to thirty feet. Indeed it is a rare thing to find any locality on the prairies of Iowa where good wells are not easily obtained. The water of these running streams in this part of the state is excellent for drinking and domestic uses, being usually clear and cold, owing to the fact that they are supported by springs. One of the finest springs in Crawford County is at what is called Spring Grove, a mile and a half south of Denison. The finest groves of timber are found on Boyer and East Boyer Rivers, but there are some good groves scattered along some of the smaller streams. The largest body of timber in the county is what is called Mason's Grove, commencing about five miles northeast of Denison, and embracing about 2,000 acres along the east side of Boyer River. Dunham's Grove, on the East Boyer six miles east of Denison, contains about 300 acres, including some fine black walnut. There are good groves of timber situated in other parts of the county, principally on or near the Boyer River. The aggregate of timber land of the county embraces about sixteen sections or 10,240 acres, being about one acre of timber to each forty-five of prairie. The timber embraces the following varieties: Black oak, bur oak, black walnut, black and white hickory, linn, hackberry, soft maple, ash, elm, cottonwood, cherry, etc. Among shrubs are principally ash, sumach, hazel, pithalder etc. These generally grow in the valleys, or about the edges of the timber. Walnuts, hickorynuts and hazelnuts are plenty. The wild fruits most abundant, are plums, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, crab apples and cherries. There are also wild currants, and in a few places blackberries are found. Wild plum, grapes and strawberries rarely fail to mature in great profusion. Owing to the scarcity of native timber a large number of the more thoughtful farmers of the county have planted groves of silverleaf, maple, cottonwood, black walnut, and box elder, which have grown with such rapidity that the boundless expanse of treeless prairie, which a few years ago stretched in every direction as far as the eye could reach, are now dotted with beautiful groves, which not only add much to the natural beauty of the landscape, but greatly increase the resources and wealth of the county. The surface configuration of the county is rolling, the divides separating the streams being bulky masses of earth which sweep down into the valleys over beautiful declivities from the undulating plains above. Near the headwaters of the streams the surface is more rolling and broken than on the main divides, in a few places being too uneven and precipitous for successful cultivation. The soil is almost uniformly composed of the light-colored, fine silicious material of the bluff deposit peculiar to the Missouri slope, is of great fertility, and in places is largely mixed with sand, and sometimes, though rarely, gravel plots are met with. The Boyer valley is one of the finest in Iowa, and when brought into thorough cultivation will present one of the most attractive farming portions of the state. Compared with the size of the stream its valley is wide, and has a deep, rich soil well adapted to the production of the finest crops of corn, wheat, oats and other kinds of grain. Extending as it does some thirty miles through the county, it embraces a large area of land of unsurpassed fertility. It must not, however, be understood that the upland prairies are sterile, as the greater portion of them are but little inferior to the bottoms. The best upland prairies are in the east, north and northwest portions. In the smaller valleys and ravines extensive accumulations of black soil or vegetable mold is often found, which probably comes from the washing of the rains from the adjacent slopes which bear evident signs of having been thus denuded of their coating of dark humus. The vivid imagination of the enthusiastic lover of nature can scarcely picture a more pleasing rural landscape than that afforded by the valleys of the Boyer Rivers, viewed from the upland ridges at almost any point along their courses, overlooking miles of their park-like valleys, embellished with clumps of trees, well improved farms, orchards, rural homes and tasty villages, which are rapidly springing into existence throughout this truly beautiful region. Stone suitable for building purposes is not abundant, the only quarry worked in the county being situated about four miles southwest of Denison on a branch of Buck Creek. It is a species of limestone that answers for ordinary purposes. There are indications of the existence of the same formation in Spring Grove, Burnt Woods and at other points in the county. Clay and sand suitable for the manufacture of brick are sufficiently plenty, and a number of buildings in Denison and in some other places have been constructed from brick manufactured in the vicinity. No veins of coal have as yet been discovered in this county, and it is probable that if the productive or lower formation of the coal measure underlie the area embraced in Crawford County it is at so great a depth beneath the surface as to render its development for the present impracticable. The soil and climate are well adapted to the production of wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn, beans, peas, potatoes and other vegetables, and grains indigenous to the temperate zone. The yield of spring wheat, which is the variety principally raised, has been from fifteen to forty-five bushels to the acre, with a probable average of about twenty-five bushels. Only a few farmers have engaged in the cultivation of tame grasses, but it has been fully demonstrated that timothy and blue-grass will succeed well, while clover does well so far as it has been tried. There are a number of orchards in the county which have been fruiting for a number of years, and give promise of assured success in the future. Considerable attention is being paid to fruit culture, and there is no doubt but what it will soon become one of the important resources of that section. Cherries, vines, and all the small fruits do well, growing luxuriantly, and produce an abundance of excellent flavored fruit. The Chicago & Northwestern Railroad enters the county a little north of the center of the eastern boundary line and running southwest down the valley of the Boyer River, a distance of over thirty-one miles, makes it exist near the southwest corner, affording good communications with the eastern or western markets. EARLY HISTORY. In May, 1849, Cornelius Dunham, of Jackson County, Iowa, brought Franklin Prentice and his wife to the county, and left them at the place known as Dunham's Grove, on East Boyer River, about six miles east of the present town of Denison. Mr. Prentice built a cabin for Dunham, who came with his family in the autumn of the same year, accompanied also by a man named Reuben Blake. This was the first settlement in the county. The same year Prentice took a claim at the mouth of Otter Creek, on Boyer River, near Mason's Grove. The next settlers were Jesse Mason and family, and George J. and Noah V. Johnson, all of whom came in June, 1850, and settled at Mason's Grove. In the Fall of this year Levi Skinner and Calvin Horr settled at the same place. The next settler was Thomas Dobson, in the Spring of 1851, who also settled in the vicinity of Mason's Grove. In the Fall of 1853, Edward Howorth, with his sons, Edward and Daniel, located at a place called Three Bee Grove, in the south-west part of the county, not far from the present thriving town of Dunlap. In 1854, the settlement at Mason's Grove received the following additional members; Benjamin Dobson, A. R. Hunt, D. J. Fowler, Clark Winans, B. F. Wicks, and E. W. Fowler. During the same year Benjamin Dobson erected the first saw mill at this place, and the following located in other parts of the county, to-wit; John Gilbreath, John R. Bassett, and Moses and Daniel Riddle at Coon Grove, four miles south of the present town of Denison; Mathias Didra, at Buck Grove, in the south part of the county; Charles Kennedy and Robert D. Butterworth, at Three Bee Tree Grove; and William H. Jordan, at Lost Grove, near the present town of Crawford, on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. John A. Dunham and Rufus Richardson came the same year. Those mentioned were all the settlers in the county up to 1855, during the Spring of which year the following came: Reuben and John Vore, S. C. Dow, S. J. Comfort, Cyrus B. Whitmore, John Poordy, Isaac B. Goodrich, S. B. Greek, S. S. Sisley, John Sisley, Edward Van Vleet, James Slater and H. C. Laub. The last named settled at Mason's Grove, and the others at various places in the county. In 1856, there were but few additions to the settlers, the following, with their families, it is believed, comprising all: Geo. C. King, Wm. J. Todd, John B. Huckstep, Edwin Cadwell, Tracy Chapman, Morris McHenry, Esau McKim, and Joseph Brodgen, all of whom located at Mason's Grove; and R. B. Alexander, S. Bell, B. B. Bishop, and Wm. Wilkie, who settled in the south and south-west parts of the county. Hon. J. W. Denison came to the county in the Fall of 1855, and during that year and the next, selected a quantity of land for the Providence Western Land Company, and in September, 1856, commenced the settlement of the town of Denison. He brought with him Francis Reynolds and John B. Swain, who erected a steam saw and grist mill in the new town. The first births in the county were David and George Jesse Mason, twin sons of Jesse and Eliza Ann Mason, born in 1852. The first matrimonial transaction took place at Mason's Grove, Oct, 12, 1853, at which time and place Rev. Thomas Dobson tied three silken knots, binding six willing hearts, as follows: George J. Johnson and Elizabeth Ann Mason; Noah V. Johnson and Jane Mason, and Calvin Horr and Elizabeth Mowery. The first death was that of John A. Dunham, in the Winter of 1854-5. The first entry of government land was made August 21, 1854, by John Gilbreath. The first school house erected was at Mason's Grove, in the Fall of 1856, in which Morris McHenry taught the first school, a term of three and one-half months, commencing Nov. 4, 1856. The first sermon was preached Sunday, Oct. 19, 1856, by Rev. William Black, of the M. E. Church, and the same day, after the sermon, the first religious society was organized, with seven members, as follows; George C. King, Mrs. E. R. King, O. S. Wright, Tabitha Wright, John B. Huckstep, Martha A. Huckstep, and Rufus Richardson. The first Sunday School was organized at Mason's Grove, Jan. 7, 1857, George C. King, Superintendent. It was organized under the auspices of the M. E. Church, and had twenty pupils. The first lawyer was S. J. Comfort, who was also the first acting Prosecuting Attorney. Dr. David McWilliams was the first physician. Up to April, 1855, Crawford County was attached to Shelby for civil purposes. At the April election of that year the following county officers were elected; E. W. Fowler, Sheriff; Isaac B. Goodrich, School Fund Commissioner; Cyrus Whitmore, Prosecuting Attorney; Samuel Kennedy, Surveyor; L. Skinner, Coroner; and John R. Bassett, Drainage Commissioner. There was at this time only one election precinct in the county, all the votes being cast at Coon Grove, in what is now Denison Township. New county officers were chosen at the following August election, at which time John R. Bassett was elected County Judge who transacted his first business September 3, 1855, which was to act upon a petition for a county road, which he refused for the following reasons, which appear of record: "I set the road petition aside on these grounds: In the first place, I can not find out that there were notices as the law prescribes in three public places in the county. Secondly, the notices not agreeing with the petition. Thirdly, and the greatest objection, is that there is no one offered to enter bonds for the security of the payment of the Commissioner, providing the road was not finally located. For these objections I thereby set the road aside and pronounce not in accordance with law." On the third of December of this year the Judge, Clerk and Recorder met and reported their account of moneys received from August 1st to December 1st, the Judge having received $5.75; Clerk, $3.00; and Recorder $8.70. total, $17.45. They made an equal division of the amount and appropriated it toward the payment of their salaries. William L. Henderson, having been appointed Surveyor and agent to select the swamp lands, made his report Dec. 5, 1855, and was allowed $150 for his services. The first estate administered upon was that of Cyrus B. Whitmore, John Vore being appointed administrator. The location of county roads constituted a large proportion of the business to the County Judge. Judge Bassett continued to serve in this capacity up to the organization under the supervisor system. The following persons constituted the first Board of Supervisors; Thomas Dobson, Millford Township; Henry C. Laub, Denison Township, and Daniel Howorth, Union Township. At their organization in January, 1861, Daniel Howorth was chosen President. S. J. Comfort was their Clerk. Their first session continued six days, during which time various county matters received attention. The court house in Denison was finished in the Fall of 1858. It is built of brick, is 30x40 feet, and two stories high. The various county officers are in the lower story, and the upper story is used as a court room, and for various public meetings. The cost of the building was about $6,000. It stands in the middle of the public square, a beautiful rolling tract of ground, now set with handsome shade trees and enclosed in a neat and substantial fence. Good bridges have been erected on all the principal roads over the streams. About five miles below Denison, in the Boyer Valley, there is a semi- circular group of ancient artificial mounds. There are about nine of them, situated on a plateau or table rising above the lower bottom. They are about five feet high above the general level of the ground. Another group of similar mounds is located on a second bottom at the mouth of Paradise Creek. Human remains have been found in some of them, showing that they were burial places. THE PRESS. The first newspaper was established October 1, 1860, by J. W. Denison. It was a twenty-eight column sheet, Republican in politics, and continued about a year and a half. The next paper was the Denison Review, the first number of which made its appearance May 3, 1867, under the management of Money & Stephens. In the Fall of 1868 Money disposed of his interest to R. W. McNeal. The Review is a neatly printed, readable, and thoroughly local paper, Republican in politics, and now under the able editorial conduct of J. Fred Meyrs, late of Washington, D. C. The Crawford County Bulletin is a reliable and well conducted local paper, receiving a good degree of well deserved patronage. It was established in 1873, is independent in politics, and editorially is controlled by Stephens & Keith. COUNTY OFFICIALS FOR 1875. ANDREW D. MOLONY, Auditor. WALTER S. WILSON, Clerk of Courts. LEWIS CORNWELL, Treasurer. JOHN B. POITEVIN, Recorder. ALL C. SMITH, Sheriff. NEWTON F. SMITH, Supt. of Com. Schools. ROBERT HOPE, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. DENISON. This place is the county seat, and is situated a little south of the center of the county, at the junction of the Boyer and East Boyer Rivers. A portion of the town, rising upon the slopes adjacent to those streams, commands magnificent views of the valley of the Boyer, with its rapidly improving farms, the railroads, line of telegraph, groves of timber, and other objects, adding variety and beauty to the scene. The railroad passes along the south edge of the town, where it makes a bend directly southwest, leaving Denison well situated as a trading point for a large district of country unsurpassed in fertility. Its agricultural resources, when developed, can not fail to make Denison a point of great importance. It is one hundred and fifteen miles from Des Moines, eighty from Fort Dodge, seventy-five from Council Bluffs, seventy-five from Sioux City, and forty-five from the Missouri River. As has been before stated, the town was laid out in 1856, by J. W. Denison, from whom it derived its name, and at that time became the county seat. The town plat embraces about seven hundred acres, the general size of lots being 50x150 feet, the principal streets being one hundred feet wide and the others eighty. Handsome and eligible blocks have been reserved for public parks and other purposes. A number of elegant residences and business blocks have been erected, which would be a credit to any city in Iowa. Among the first settlers were Francis Reynolds and John B. Swain, who put up the first steam saw and grist mill in the place, R. W. Calkins, O. S. Gates, F. W. Buescher, Jacob Whitinger, Morris McHenry, J. F. Seagrave and Eli Baer. Mary Louise Seagrave, born November 13, 1856, was the first birth in the town, while the first death was that of a child of Francis Reynolds. DELOIT. – This is a village and post office near Mason's Grove, six miles north of Denison. It was laid out by Benjamin Dobson, in 1857. The other villages and post offices are; Boyer River, Dowville, Kiron, Vail and West Side.