HISTORY: Marshall 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 Marshall County, Iowa Please visit the Marshall County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/marshall/ ________________________________________________________ MARSHALL COUNTY. This county is situated very near the center of the state, being in the fifth tier from the north and south boundaries, the sixth west from the Mississippi and the seventh east from the Missouri River. In size it is twenty- four miles square, embracing sixteen congressional or land survey townships, equal to 368,640 acres. The forth-second parallel of latitude passes through the middle of the county. Being thus situated, it possesses natural advantages superior to many and surpassed by no county in the fair, populous and rapidly growing Empire State of the West. STREAMS. The principal stream is the Iowa River, which enters the county near the center of its northern boundary, and, taking a southeasterly course, passes out near the middle of the east line, leaving about one-quarter of the area of the county on its north and east, while the remainder lies on its south and west. It is a pure, clear and rapid stream, preserving a good volume of water through the year, and affords many excellent water powers, only part of which have been improved and compelled to labor in the interests of civilization. Its average width in an ordinary stage of water is about forty yards. Its tributaries water nearly every portion of the county, the principal ones being as follows: From the north and east side, Asher Creek, rising at the north line of the county and discharging its waters nearly opposite Marshalltown, is eleven miles in length; Burnett Creek, rising in the northeast township, flowing southward, enters the river a little below Marshalltown; while Rock Creek, supplied by fine springs, runs but a short distance and joins the Iowa some four or five miles east of Marshalltown. The tributaries from the west and south are Honey Creek, which, rising in Hardin County and running southeasterly, is composed of two branches which unite about one mile from its mouth, the main stream being some ten miles in length. Minerva Creek is made up of numerous small branches, some of which rise in Story County, and all afford fine stock water to several townships in the northwest part of the county. The length of this stream, with its principal branch, is twenty miles. The longest creek in the county is the Lime, which rises in the middle of the western line, meanders eastward a distance of twenty-six miles to its conflux with the Iowa, two miles east of Marshalltown. The largest and most important creek is Timber, which is made up of a large number of branches which traverse the whole southern part of the county, and empties into the Iowa some two and a half miles from the eastern boundary, the entire length of the main stream being twenty-three miles. The southwestern portion of the county is well watered by the North Skunk and some of its branches. It will thus be seen that the county is abundantly watered in every part, nature having done her work most admirably. All the streams mentioned, and many more not named, are living, running streams at all seasons, being supplied in a great measure by springs. TIMBER. The county contains an aggregate of about 33,000 acres of woodland, the greater portion of which is in heavy bodies along the Iowa River. There are several detached groves, the largest being on Timber Creek, which contains some five thousand acres of the best timber in the county. The leading varieties are the different kinds of oak, black walnut, hickory, butternut, cottonwood, soft and hard maple, locust, sycamore, hackberry, ash and elm. It is said that the natural groves are extending rather than otherwise, while the prairies are rapidly becoming dotted with cultivated groves of cottonwood, silver-leaf maple and other fast-growing varieties. SURFACE AND SOIL. Almost the entire length of the county, except immediately along the principal streams, is gently and beautifully undulating, with but few hills, and no rocky glens or deep valleys. Along the streams there are some prairie bottoms, which in places on the Iowa reach nearly two miles in width. These bottoms make excellent meadow lands, and in their native state afford superior early pasture. The greater portion of the surface is, however, the high rolling prairie, which, rising gradually from fifty to a hundred feet above the bed of the streams, stretch away in gentle swells of fine tablelands, intersected occasionally by streams which thread their courses onward through its living verdure to the Iowa River. The soil of the upland prairies is deep and rich, composed of a black, alluvial loam, with a small admixture of sand, is free from gravel or stone, and adapted in every respect to the growth of all cereals, vegetables and grasses common to this latitude. In its natural state it was covered with a fine short grass and an infinite variety of the floral tribe, from the stately rosin weed down to the bright-eyed, lowly violet. No sight is more beautiful than the emerald-clothed prairies of summer, with their garniture of flowers, stretching away mile after mile, undulation after undulation, till the eye wearies and the hazy horizon shuts down the vista. PRODUCTIONS, FRUIT AND STOCK. The productions are as various and as valuable as can be raised any where in the same climate, while corn is the decided staple and yields from fifty to eighty bushels to the acre, and that with the indifferent Western cultivation. Wheat is second in importance, while oats, barley, rye, flax and hemp grow luxuriantly and are raised with profit. Tobacco has been grown, and produces well both in quantity and quality, while the culture of broom corn has been a decided success. Melons, squashes, and all kinds of esculent roots and vegetables grow with great luxuriance, and are of excellent quality. Considerable attention has been paid to fruit culture by the farmers of the county, particularly to the apple, which has usually been attended with success. All that is necessary is to exercise a reasonable care in the election of the hardier varieties, and to cultivate them with the care their importance demands. Dwarf pears and cherries are raised to some extent, while grapes are raised in abundance, of superior size and flavor. Small fruits of all kinds grow with the natural luxuriance of their native soil, and produce in unexcelled quantities and flavor. Wild fruits were formerly abundant, but have gradually disappeared before the steady march of civilization, which no longer needs them. In the way of fine live stock, Marshall can make as good a showing as almost any county in the state. Some of the best short horn cattle on the continent were introduced a number of years ago, which greatly improved the grades and have been added to from time to time by new importations, so that poor stock is the exception rather than the rule. In horses there is some good stock of Morgan and Messenger blood, while the recent introduction of the Norman and other heavy draft horses has greatly increased the size as well as the value of this class of stock. Sheep do well, and never deteriorate, while, in common with most other portions of Iowa where corn is the staple, hogs are the most generally raised by the farmers, and are their greatest source of revenue. COAL AND BUILDING MATERIAL. More than half the county lies within the coal fields, as shown by geological research. But no extensive mining has yet been done. Mines have been opened in the county adjoining on the south, and doubtless coal can be found in Marshall in sufficient quantities to pay for mining were the effort to be made. Building stone is abundant and of excellent quality. There are many fine quarries in the eastern part of the county, including the LeGrand marble, properly the Kinderhook beds of limestone, which is highly prized for its beautiful and variegated appearance and for the fine polish of which it is susceptible. In this part of the county is a carboniferous limestone, which is not only excellent for purposes of masonry, but is valued for the fine white article of quicklime that is manufactured from it. Three miles southwest of Marshalltown is an inexhaustible supply of a dark red conglomerate rock, containing a mixture of iron ore. It is easily worked, hardens on exposure to the air, and is valuable for foundations. The finest bricks are made from clay found in various places, and sand is also sufficiently abundant. With her timber clay and sand, this count is not deficient in the building material found in any other county in the state. CLIMATE AND HEALTH. No bluer skies or brighter sunshine are known in Italy or any other land on the globe than the summers and autumns of Iowa present, and no where in Iowa are they bluer and brighter than in Marshall County. Iowa is proverbial for health, and with her fine breezes, pure streams, draining a rolling surface, and the absence of all miasmatic influences, it is perhaps not strange that the health of her people is generally good. In point of health, this county, from the best information that can be obtained, is no exception to the general character of the other counties of the state. MORMONS AND INDIANS. A body of Mormon Pilgrims in their hegira from Nauvoo, spent the Winter of 1847 in this county, having their encampment in the timber just north of where Marshalltown now stands. Many of them died from starvation and exposure, being so destitute of the means of subsistence that they peeled the bark from the red elm trees for food. In the Spring those who survived folded their tents and journeyed westward to assist in establishing the Earthly Paradise of Latter Day Saints in Utah. Prior to the settlement of this county by whites it was inhabited by the Sacs and Foxes, now called Musquakas, remnants of the once powerful nations presided over by the warlike Black Hawk. They were generally friendly to the white settlers, but in May, 1850, some trouble occurred with them, which resulted in no little excitement and alarm in the infant settlement. The difficulty, it appears, commenced between Samuel Davison, a son of William Davison, and the Musquakas, growing out of some alleged depredations upon stock belonging to the whites, they having killed some hogs and driven off some cattle belonging to John Campbell, one of the settlers, and made some unpleasant threats. By way of retaliation the whites went to the Indian village on the river, while they were absent on a hunting excursion, and burnt their wigwams, corn and other effects. This deed, perpetrated by a portion of the whites, caused the settlers generally to entertain serious apprehensions that the Indians on their return would wreak their vengeance indiscriminately on the whites. The Chief of the Musquakas was at that time absent at Washington. So great was the apprehension of danger upon the return of the chief that the settlers, after consultation, deemed it prudent to prepare for any emergency that might arise. They sent messengers for arms and ammunition, while the rest set about the erection of a stockade fort. It was built of split timbers, or puncheons, and was called Fort Robinson. It was commenced June 11, and as soon as finished twenty-four families took refuge in it. At this time Major Wood was stationed at Fort Dodge with a force of United States troops. The settlers petitioned him for assistance, but he could spare no troops at the time, leaving to the settlers the alternative of helping themselves or removing from the country. Before the completion of Fort Robinson, it is stated that a few of the Indians returned from their hunting party and finding their village burned, went to the white settlement to find out if their suspicions were correct as to who committed the act. The whites told them they were building the fort as a protection against the Sioux, of whom the Musquakas were the hereditary enemies. Upon hearing this the latter offered their services to assist in defense of the whites. This offer, so generously made, was declined, as the whites feared treachery. The Indians, however, instructed the whites how to make loop-holes and then went away. Among those who took refuge in Fort Robinson were the following; W. C. Smith, John Campbell, A. J. Smith, John Braddy, William Ralls, G. S. Ralls, James A. Logan, Thomas Pearson, James Pearson, Blakely Brush, Joseph Cooper, J. Ferguson, S. Myers, Carpenter Geer, Thomas Sherman, William Asher, Washington Asher, John Duck, Riley Majors, Samuel Bowman, and two men named Clifton and Crowder. Perhaps these embraced most of the settlers of the county at that time. James A. Logan was selected as captain of the garrison. After occupying the fort about a month a battalion of United States Dragoon relieved them by removing the Indians west of the Missouri River, after which the heroes of Fort Robinson returned to their farms. FIRST THINGS. The first permanent white settler in Marshall County was Jos. Davison, who located in what is now LeGrand Township in the east part of the county in 1847. He was soon followed by his brother, William, who settled in the same vicinity. In 1848 a number of persons erected their pioneer cabins in what is now Timber Creek Township on the south side of the large grove. Among these settlers were Joseph M. Ferguson and Josiah Cooper. During this and the next year, small settlements were made in various parts of the county. In 1851 Wm. Dishon brought a small stock of goods to Marietta, which had been located that year, and commenced business as the first merchant. He was also the first post master. Mahlon Collins followed soon after with a lot of Yankee notions; and then a merchant by the name of Darlington opened a small store. Doctors Whealen and Nixon located at Marietta, and were the first physicians in the county. A county organization was effected in 1849, J. M. Ferguson acting as Organizing Sheriff; J. Hobbs was the first Probate Judge; Jacob Hauser, first Clerk, Zeno Freeman, first Treasurer; and John Amos, Greenburg Ralls, and William Ballard, first County Commissioners. In the Fall of 1851, the first District Court was held in the county by Judge William H. McKay. Among the attorneys present were Enoch Eastman, Judge Seevers, of Oskaloosa, and Judge Casady, of Des Moines, all of whom have since ranked high in the profession. This court was held in a little log cabin that stood at the edge of the timber just north of the site of the present city of Marshalltown, and was owned by William Ralls. The grand jury met over the slough from the cabin, and were only in session about five minutes. No bill of indictment was found, and only one case tried, which was a divorce suit, and resulted in making William Davison and his wife twain. Some amusing anecdotes are related concerning Judge McFarland, who succeeded McKay in 1853, and was said to be a very strange and excentric man and judge. He once had a divorce suit on the docket where both parties were anxious for a separation. The court was opened in due form, the case called, and the first witness being asked what he knew about the parties, said; "Oh! Not much; they are always a fuddling around." At this Judge McFarland half aroused himself from a sleepy stupor, and, with emphasis, exclaimed; "Fuddling around, and around! Clerk, I grant a decree for divorce. Call the next case." In attendance upon court at the same term was a lawyer from Burlington, who was facetiously named by his professional brethren, "Old Timber." This lawyer was submitting a cause to the jury with fine rhetoric and forensic eloquence, when a large mule, thrusting his head through the court house window, brayed loudly. The judge cried out; "Hold on, Old Timber; this honorable court can not entertain both of your opinions on this question at the same time." The effect was such on the jury that "Old Timber" lost his case, to his infinite disgust and chagrin. Another day the judge came in so drunk he could scarcely sit on the bench. The court was called in due form, when his honor, staring vacantly around, exclaimed; "Well, gentlemen, (hic) adjourn this court till to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock," and walked out. In September, 1855, an attorney in arguing a demurrer, made frequent use of the Latin quotation, "Ad quod damnum," was stopped by the judge who vehemently exclaimed; "I am going to knock your case higher than a liberty pole. Get out of court with your ad God damn 'em, and don't you ever use so much profanity in my presence again." The attorney attempted to sustain his point by a decision of the Supreme Court, when he was summarily stopped by the judge, who said "he did not care a d—n for the Supreme Court," and ordered the Clerk to call the next case. The county seat was located at Marietta in 1851, by commissioners appointed by the Legislature for that purpose. It was surveyed the same year by Hobbs & Dawson, and receiving numerous accessions from the East was for some time the most important place in the county. Two years had however, scarcely passed before it was drawn into one of the most fierce and bitter county seat fights that the historian of Iowa has been called upon to relate, which was waged with a determination worthy of a better cause, until December 31, 1859, when, in accordance with a decision of the Supreme Court, the records and county property were removed to Marshalltown, where they have since quietly remained. Arguments more forcible than words were often used, and at one time hundreds of armed men, with an order they had forcibly exacted from the county judge for the removal of the records, went to Marietta with the intention of taking forcible possession of the county property. The Marietta people, not to be outdone, had placed a keg of gunpowder under the safe containing the county records, and would have fired it had not the Marshalltown forces been stopped at the critical moment by an injunction from Judge Thompson, of the District Court, restraining the removal of the records. RAILROADS. Few counties in Iowa have superior railroad advantages, situated as it is on the line of the Chicago & Northwestern, which passes from east to west through the middle of the county. It was completed to Marshalltown in 1863, where it crosses the Central Railroad of Iowa, which enters the county near the southeast corner, and running in a northwesterly direction passes out a little west of the middle of the north boundary line. THE PRESS. The first newspaper that made its appearance in Marshall County was the Iowa Central Journal, established in 1855 at Lafayette-now Albion-by T. J. Wilson, who conducted it about one year when he sold to E. N. Chapin & R. N. Barnhart. Barnhart afterwards became sole proprietor, and removing the office to Marshalltown in 1857, issued the first number of the Marshall County Times. After running it some two years he sold to W. H. Gullup, who conducted it for about one year, when it passed into the hands of E. N. Chapin, who had it about one year when he sold back to W. H. Gallup, who conducted it another year, when J. S. Britton became publisher, and Thomas Clark editor. They changed the name to the Union, and run it only a short time, when it was merged with the Marshall County Express, and again passed into the control of E. N. Chapin, who changed the name back to Times, and associated George Barnhart with him as publisher. They afterwards sold to H. C. Henderson, and he in 1866 to Charles Aldrich, who very successfully managed it for several years. The present publishers are Chapin & Lower. The Marshall Republican was established in July, 1871, by Mercer & McCracken, who in the Fall of 1873 sold to T. E. McCracken & Co., the company consisting of M. Waterman. In April, 1874, A. H. Neidig purchased McCracken's interest, and the name of the firm was changed to A. H. Neidig & Co., who are the present editors and publishers. In the Spring of 1875 they commenced the issue of a semi-weekly edition, which they have since continued with good success. The State Center Enterprise first appeared in October, 1871, with E. A. Lacey as editor and publisher, who conducted it one year, when it passed into the hands of the present editor, J. W. Merrill, who in November, 1874, enlarged it from a six-column folio to a five-column quarto. COUNTY OFFICERS, 1875. ALFRED N. FRENCH, Auditor. EDWIN R. JONES, Clerk. HENRY A. GERHART, Treasurer. NICHOLAS C. MESSENGER, Recorder. ELI C. McMILLAN, Sheriff. MISS ABBIE GIFFORD, Supt. of Com. Schools. WILLIAM W. STEWARD, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. MARSHALLTOWN. This city is situated on a high rolling prairie, on the east side of the Iowa River, and near the center of Marshall County, of which it is the seat of justice. The general appearance of the town is fine, being regularly laid out in handsome, wide, and well-graded streets, and for natural beauty of location, character of improvements, and attractiveness of appearance, it is not surpassed by any other city in Central Iowa. It was surveyed and laid out in the Summer of 1853 by -- Risdue, of Iowa City, under the direction of Henry Anson and John Childs. It was named after Marshall, Michigan, by Henry Anson, who had some pleasant memories of that place. The terminus "town" was afterwards affixed in order to remedy difficulties which sometimes occurred in securing mail matter, as there was a post office of the same name in Henry County. The first settlement was made in the Spring of 1851 by Henry Anson, who built a small log cabin, made a claim, and afterward, the same year, entered the land at the land office in Des Moines. There had been, however, previous to this, a squatter who had made a claim and erected a rude cabin near the south side of the town, which claim Anson had purchased, paying for it $50. The land on the north side of what is now Main Street, was first owned by William Ralls, who sold to John Kelley, and he in turn to John Childs, who, as before stated, with H. Anson laid out the original town. It is reported that he arrived here after traveling over a considerable portion of Iowa, and was so pleased with the natural beauty of the spot, that, in a fit of enthusiasm, he caught his hat from his head, and throwing it high in the air, exclaimed; "I've found the prettiest place in Iowa, and here I'll live and lay my bones." A post office was established in the Fall of 1854, and Wells Rice was the first post master. The first white child born in Marshalltown was Adrian, a son of Henry Anson, in 1851; while the first death was a daughter of Silas Shorn, who passed away August 10, 1853. The first wedding was a double one, the happy parties being Miles Rice and Miss Anson, and Horace Anson and Miss E. Smith. They took a short bridal tour in a two-horse open buggy, which was considered very stylish at that time. That same Fall W. Rice started a couple of deer near Lime Creek, which, turning westward, galloped down Main Street, now the busy mart of a city of some six thousand inhabitants. Little more than a score of years have passed, and yet how changed. Where then stood the traditional log cabin, with its puncheon floor and glassless windows, now stands the palatial residence, the home of wealth and refinement; where then roamed with unrestrained liberty those wild animals that habitually shun the habitations of men; where the painted warriors performed the wildly savage and weird war dance, and where the young braves wooed and won the dusky maidens of the forest, now stand in architectural beauty massive stone and brick blocks, crowded with costly merchandise from all parts of the known world. Marshalltown is settled by a class of liberal spirited, enterprising men, who always "go in to win," never recognizing such a word as fail in their public enterprises or private undertakings. Elegant and commodious school buildings have been erected, while teachers of acknowledged ability and experience render the schools of this city equal to any in the state. The leading religious denominations all have organizations, and many of them large memberships, while a number of handsome church edifices adorn and beautify the city. They have just secured the location of the machine shops of the Central Railroad of Iowa, for which the city gave $75,000 in bonds. There are a number of expensive buildings among which may be mentioned the Boardman House, which cost $80,000, and is one of the finest hotels in the state, the post office block, and many others. A severe fire occurred May 4, 1872, which burned over about fifteen acres, consuming five elevators, three lumber yards, two hotels, and a large number of stores and dwellings, causing a total loss of nearly $200,000. Most of the buildings have been re-built, so that the city is really handsomer now than before the fire. Situated near the center of the state, surrounded by an agricultural region unsurpassed in the West, having good railroad communication, and possessing a class of business men who have no superiors, the future of Marshalltown, as one of the principal cities of Iowa, is an assured certainty. STATE CENTER. – This is a thriving town and good shipping point on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, in the western part of the county. The other villages and post offices are; Albion, Bangor, Bivin's Grove, Edenville, Gilman, Green Mountain, Illinois Grove, Lamoille, Laurel, LeGrand, Liscomb, Marietta, Minerva, Quarry, Stanford, Timber Creek, and Vienna.