HISTORY: Lucas 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 Lucas County, Iowa Please visit the Lucas County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/lucas/ ________________________________________________________ LUCAS COUNTY. Lucas is the center county in the second tier from the south line of the state. It embraces twelve congressional townships, or an area of about 276,480 acres. PHYSICAL FEATURES. The great watershed between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers traverses the county east and west in a somewhat irregular course, near the north line of the southern tier of townships, constituting a high, narrow tract of comparatively level land. The steeper face of the watershed is upon the south side, at the foot of which flows Chariton River. This stream rises a few miles west, in Clark County, and its course soon after leaving Lucas County turns southward. The affluents which it derives from the watershed are few and small; those which it receives from the opposite side are more numerous and important. On its northern face the descent of the watershed is less abrupt, and here among the undulating slopes are many sources of streams which flow northward to the Des Moines River. For three-fourths of the length of the county these small streams are gathered up by the two forks of Whitebreast Creek, which in turn unite in one channel near the north line of the county. The northeast and northwest corners of the county are drained by other affluents of the Des Moines. Between the forks of Whitebreast the great watershed breaks its general east and west course, and makes a sharp curve or angle of several miles toward the north, and the course of Chariton River conforming to the watershed displays a similar peculiarity, which gives the topography of the county an interesting outline in the form of a pyramid with its base upon the south line. No county in the state has a more thorough and complete system of natural drainage, every township being supplied with one or more of the principal water courses, with numerous small affluents traversing nearly every section. The general elevation of the county is high, being about one thousand feet above tide-water, although the highest point upon this east and west line across the state is in Union County. The surface of the tract known as the great watershed has been already described as comparatively level: that of the subordinate divides leading from it and forming the uplands between the streams to the north is of similar character. As they approach the water courses they are broken and furrowed by deep ravines, in which frequently young forests are rapidly growing. The valleys are rather narrow, flat surfaces distinctly defined by these more or less abrupt declivities upon either side. The valleys of the larger streams are fully two hundred feet below the average level of the uplands. The surface, therefore, presents all varieties of configuration, from the level surface of the valleys and principal divides to the more rolling formation of the uplands between them which become broken upon some of the valley sides. Something of the terrace formation, rarely seen in this part of the state, is observed in the valley of Whitebreast Creek, in Liberty Township, where a wide level plain or bench stretches across the valley at an average height of about thirty feet above the level of the stream. The drift deposits are distributed to considerable depth over the surface of the county generally, but the gravel beds, which are a conspicuous feature in this deposit in other parts of the state, are but slightly developed here. The principal streams have excavated Their channels entirely through the drift, and to considerable depth into the shales of the coal measures, and their valleys are composed of an alluvial deposit derived from the drift and the disintegrated shales and other soft friable materials of the coal formations. Some of the valleys are rather low and liable to overflow, especially that of the Chariton. They possess everywhere, however, a deep, finely grained soil, richly charged with humous or vegetable mold, and produce most valuable crops of both native and tame grasses. A large portion of these tracts is occupied by excellent forests of timber, and for this reason they have not been cultivated in an equal proportion to the uplands, although they are all suitable and valuable for that purpose, and are considerably cultivated when not occupied by timber. The soil of the uplands is deep and contains a large portion of vegetable mold, and is generally found very reliable and productive. The subsoil is also of the drift formation, except where it has been carried away from the slopes to enrich the valleys. In such places it is of a decided argillacious character, a sort of yellow clay probably derived from the shales of the coal measures. The uplands are almost all prairie surfaces. The broken lands upon their borders and the valleys are often densely wooded, and the county is supplied with timber sufficient for the ordinary uses of the inhabitants, so distributed as to be easy of access in all portions of the county. The lower, middle, and upper coal measures are all found in this county. The lower formation occupies a tract in the east or northeast part, with an irregular western boundary; the upper formation occupies the west part of the county. The only point where exposures of the rocks of this formation have been observed, however, is upon Long Branch, in the north part of English Township. Between these two the middle coal measure occupies an area not yet fully ascertained. It is evident that the county possesses an abundance of mineral fuel, although mining of considerable depth may be required to reach the productive coal beds in the west part of the county. Several mines are worked in the northeast part of the county, the beds being from two to three feet thick, and the coal of good quality. Veins of coal from one foot to twenty inches in thickness, belonging to the middle measure, are also worked to a limited extent in several places. Some of suitable quality for durable building stone or good quick lime is found in several places. Good limestone is found two or three miles northeast of Chariton on Whitebreast Creek, and a very good sandstone is procured in the northeast corner of the county. Materials suitable for the manufacture of good brick are abundant in all parts of the county. PRODUCTIONS. The soil and climate of Lucas County are well adapted to the production of most kinds of grain, but corn is the grain chiefly cultivated, oats being next in importance, and after that wheat. The county formerly produced considerable wheat for exportation, but its great adaptability for grass and stock raising has led its farmers to bestow their attention largely to this very profitable branch of industry in connection with the cultivation of corn and oats. For further particulars in relation to the extent of stock raising in this county see Census Tables for 1875 in another part of this work. Many miles of excellent hedge are to be seen in the county. The farmers early turned their attention to raising hedge, owing to the facility with which the Osage Orange thrives here and the valuable and permanent fence which it makes in a very few years after planting. It is also found to be desirable in point of economy. Fruit growing also receives considerable attention, and the county is found to be well adapted to the production of the principal varieties common to this latitude. RAILROADS. The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, affords the county excellent means of communication and transportation, and brings it upon one of the direct lines of trans-continental travel. A branch of this road extends southwest from Chariton in this county to Leon in Decatur County, and is quite an important feeder to the main line. EARLY HISTORY. Lucas County was upon the route of the Mormon exodus of 1846-7, and a party of these emigrants located a few miles southeast of the site of the present city of Chariton at a place formerly called Chariton Point, where they erected some rude log huts and sojourned for about a year when they again proceeded westward. They were the first white settlers in the county. In September, 1847, Wm. McDermott and wife with four small children settled in Cedar Township, nearly ten miles east of Chariton, and named the place Ireland. In March, 1848, Elijah Baldwin and family settled a little west of McDermott, and in June James Roland and family settled about a mile south. During the same year John Ballard, Thomas Wilson, James Barker and some others settled in the county. James Barker officiated as preacher for the new settlement, and it is said could preach a very good sermon when he happened to be sober. Buck Townsend made a claim at nor near the site of the abandoned Mormon settlement. He wanted the county seat located on his claim, and was charged with sending a spurious petition to the Legislature in order to influence the location. He afterwards mysteriously disappeared from the county. McDermott was an Irishman and claimed to have done much toward shaping the destiny of the county. He was once elected prosecuting attorney, but did not qualify; although if he had, it is said that his knowledge of Blackstone and Kent would not have saved him from the necessity of signing his pleadings with an "x." At the close of 1848 there were eight families clustered around Ireland. In 1849 Union Township was permanently settled by Jacob Fudge, S. B. Chapman, and Hiram and Joseph Holmes. Otter Creek the same year, by Nelson Case. Jackson Township was settled by Joseph Mandill. English Township by John Ballard, Joseph Stuart and Isham Hodgen. (1849.) Among the new comers this year were William and John McKinley in Washington Township. James B. Custer in Liberty Township, Beverly Searcy, Nelson and Jonas Wescoat in Chariton Township. First settler in Chariton Township was Wm. S. Townsend, better known as "Buck" Townsend, in 1848, at what was then known as Chariton Point. The same year Washington Township was settled by Xury E. West and Samuel McKinley, and Liberty Township by James M. Brown, Peter M. Barker, Wm. R. Meyers, John Meyers and T. Robbins. Union Township was also settled by a man from Missouri, named McAllister, about the same time. But he remained only a short time. Whitebreast (1848) by Daniel Phillips and family who settled one and a half miles west of Chariton, and Ellis Meyers and family about six miles west of Chariton. Others probably settled same year, but names not to be obtained. None of the townships had yet been named. In Spring of 1849 Dr. W. W. Waynick and Iverson Waynick settled three miles east of Chariton. They were accompanied by Samuel Francis who located near them. Lucas was attached to Monroe County prior to its organization, and during its early days the nearest post office was at Albia. In 1849 the number of settlers increased rapidly, and the county was organized under an act of the Second General Assembly, approved January 15, 1849. It was previously formed by an act of the Legislature, approved January 13, 1846, and named in honor of Robert Lucas, the first territorial governor. In August following an election was held for the purpose of choosing county officers. The county commissioners chosen were William T. May, Jacob Phillips and James G. Robinson. Their first meeting was held at the house of William S. Townsend, August 10, 1849. Their first business was to appoint William H. Moore, Clerk pro tem, and their next act was to direct an order to be drawn for $18 in favor of H. B. Notson in payment for services rendered in organizing the county, to be paid out of the first money accruing from the prospective sale of lots at the county seat. The commissioners appointed to locate the name of "Polk." The citizens of the county at a meeting held November 5, of the present name of Chariton. It should not be confounded, however, with the place once designated Chariton Point, already referred to, where the first settlement was made. At a meeting of the county commissioners, September 12, 1849, they provided for the survey of town lots at the county seat, and directed that a public sale of lots should be held on the first Monday in December of the same year. Wm. S. Townsend was appointed agent for their sale. On the 5th of November, the order appointing Townsend to act as lot agent was revoked, and W. W. Waynick was appointed in his place. Waynick was also at the same time appointed clerk of the board of commissioners, and James G. Robinson was appointed by the board to go to Fairfield to enter for the county the quarter section embraced in the town plat. At the meeting of the board held in April, 1850, steps were taken for the erection of the first court house on lot six in block nine, to be paid for out of the proceeds of the sale of lots. The contract for building was let to Beverly Searcy at $374. Searcy completed the job, and the commissioners received it, but for some reason obtained a reduction of $14 on the contract price. This first temple of justice erected in Lucas county, according to the specifications on record, was of hewed logs, eighteen by twenty-two feet, and a story and a half high. It was "pointed" with lime and sand, had a door in the front end and a window in each side, and one in the back end. In July, 1851, a contract was let for furnishing the court house with "sixteen benches six and a half feet long, made from hewed linn, with good oak legs." The contract also provided for the "construction of a good and substantial pulpit in the court house, of a cheap dimension." Lucas County may well remember the injunction, "Despise not the day of small things." The above described court house subsequently gave place to the present commodious edifice constructed of brick, sixty feet square, and two stories high. The lower story is occupied by the several county officers, and the upper story embraces the court room, and two other rooms. The court house stands at the center of the public park in Chariton. The ground on which it is situated in 524 feet above the Mississippi river at Burlington, and so near the Summit that, it is said, the water falling from the roof on the east side flows into the Mississippi, and on the west side, into the Missouri. The first district court convened in this county May 22, 1851. William McKay presided as judge. There were but two cases, and one of them was for divorce. The first saw and grist mill in the county was built by Isaac C. Cain and Pleasant Williams on Whitebreast Creek in Liberty Township. It was rude in construction, small, and run by water. In the Winter of 1852-3 Mr. Crawford Sellers taught the first school in the county in the log court house in Chariton. First school house in the county, built in Union Township, built of round logs, put up by the citizens of the neighborhood. The first birth of a white child in the county was that of a daughter of James Roland, in 1848. The first marriage that was solemnized in the county was that of Samuel A. Francis and Luisa J. Waynick, November 15, 1849. In the Spring of 1853 the land office was located at Chariton, Mr. Gillam being the Register, and Colonel Isaac Leffler, Receiver. They were soon displaced by the appointees of President Pierce, Rev. R. Coles and Dr. N. G. Sales, who continued in their positions until the office was discontinued. Colonel Leffler died here in the Winter of 1866, at the age of 78 years. The county had her first representative district in the Third General Assembly. Monroe and Lucas was the representative district, and N. B. Preston was representative. The era of speculation in western lands was at its height during the early settlement of Lucas County. A class of men whom the settlers gave the disrespectful appellation of "land sharks" concentrated about the land office at Chariton and beset every man who came to purchase lands. If the purchaser desired to view the premises before buying they stood ready to show him a desirable tract, sometimes several miles away from the one which his description called for. A beautiful tract some three miles west of Chariton, called Hickory Point, is said to have been thus disposed of to at least fifty persons. The "land sharks," however, did not have matters all their own way, for nearly all the early settlers engaged in speculation by practices peculiar to themselves. Each man had an indefinite number of "claims," which he was ready to dispose of to new comers, and as early as 1850 it is said to have been difficult to find a desirable location not already claimed, and if an immigrant purposed remaining in the country he soon found he must conform to the rules and regulations of the "settlers' club" or "Home Protection Society," which seems to have become in this county to a great extent a vehicle for speculation. This society and the land sharks were constantly at enmity until both classes disappeared before the incoming tide of honest and industrious settlers who came to locate and improve permanent homes, and compelled honester practices. To this latter class the county is mainly indebted for the steady progress and development which had been maintained for many years. CHARITON. This enterprising young city is delightfully situated upon the high plain of the great watershed and it is the only city or town of importance in the state so situated. The gentle undulations of the town site are only sufficient to afford its streets adequate drainage. The location affords a good view of the surrounding country, especially toward the southwest, where the valley of Chariton River approaches the city. The place is regularly laid out with wide, handsome streets, which are kept in good condition and extensively lined with ornamental and shade trees. Many handsome residences are also embowered among trees and shrubbery which lend their scenery the charm of Sylvan beauty. The place has many fine business blocks as well as elegant residences. The business blocks are chiefly built upon the streets surrounding the beautiful square upon which the court house stands. They are chiefly constructed of brick, and many of them are three stories high. Chariton's extensive and varied mercantile trade is represented by numerous substantial firms, who carry large and well settled territory tributary to it. It is necessarily an important shipping point, and its shipping facilities include a large elevator furnished with steam power, and several warehouse and banking institutions. A half dozen good hotels, lumber depots, establishments for the sale of agricultural implements and flouring mills are among the business facilities of the place. The railroad depot is an extensive building of two stories constructed for the doable purpose of a depot and hotel or eating house. INSTITUTIONS. The public schools of Chariton are an honor to the place. They are graded upon the most approved plan, and employ a principal and six assistants as instructors at very liberal wages. The course of instruction embraces several of the higher or academical branches, among which are the Latin and Greek languages. The school building is one of the finest in this portion of the state. It was erected in 1858. It is situated in the west part of town on a fine, dry, rolling site, containing three and a half acres. Its size is 38 by 73-1/2 feet, with a front projection or vestibule of 8 by 19-1/4 feet. Its height is three stories, with a tower. The first two stories are each 12 feet, and the third 11 feet high. The entire building is constructed and furnished with all the modern improvements. Its cost was about $20,000. There are numerous church societies and Sabbath schools which are well maintained by the good people of Chariton. The Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, United Presbyterian, Christian, Episcopalian and Catholic denominations all have good houses of worship. Chariton has three newspapers, the Patriot, Republican, established in 1857, and the Leader, Democratic, established in 1872. The Patriot is published Wednesdays, by W. H. Maple, who is editor and proprietor. It is a folio sheet, size 28x40 inches, with eight columns to the page. It has a large patronage and a prosperous business. Terms, $1.50 per annum. The Leader is published Saturdays, by Best & Baker. It is a handsome eight-column folio sheet, and enjoys a good circulation and a prosperous business. It was established April 27, 1872, by E. T. Best and W. D. Axline, with D. M. Baker as editor, Mr. Axline subsequently retiring. The paper has been once enlarged since its inception. The Lucas County Republican was started in August, 1875, by a joint stock company, and under the management of T. W. Fawcett. The Chariton cemetery contains thirty acres situated about half a mile southwest of the town on a high rolling prairie. The entire grounds are enclosed with a fine Osage Orange hedge, and planted with maples set in regular order along the streets and avenues. The grounds are well taken care of, and this cemetery is a model that many other towns might well imitate. RUSSELL is a station and village on the C. B. & Q. R. R., seven or eight miles east of Chariton. LUCAS is a village and railway station upon the same line about an equal distance west of Chariton. DERBY is a village and station upon the Iron Branch in the southwest part of the county. Lagrange, Freedom, Belinda, Whitebreast and Norwood are villages or post offices.