HISTORY: Muscatine 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 Muscatine County, Iowa Please visit the Muscatine County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/muscatine/ ________________________________________________________ MUSCATINE COUNTY. This, one of the oldest counties in Iowa, lies in the eastern part of the state, on the great bend of the Mississippi River; by the township survey, seventy-five miles from Missouri and one hundred and seventy-five from Minnesota. In shape it is nearly a parallelogram, with its southeast angle lying on the Mississippi River. The greatest length east and west on the north line is thirty miles, while the shortest is on the south – fifteen miles; the greatest breadth on the west line is eighteen miles, and nine on the east. It contains ten whole and three fractional townships, making an area of four hundred and thirty- two square miles, or 276,480 acres, which is subdivided into thirteen municipal townships. SURFACE, SOIL, ETC. The general surface of the county is rolling, and in many parts quite rough and broken. The bluffs on the Mississippi are extensive, and frequently rise to an altitude of one hundred and fifty feet above the river, while it is not more than eight or ten miles across some portions of the county to the Cedar River, which is bordered by valuable bottom lands that end in bluffs more or less abrupt. All of the streams are surrounded by these bottom lands, which are among the richest and most productive in the West, while the remaining portion of the county is composed of high prairie, and broken, bluffy lands partially covered with timber. The Government survey divides the land into three classes, about two-tenths being classed as first rate, which consists of the bottom land; seven-tenths as second rate soil, embracing the upland and rolling prairie; while the remaining one-tenth is put down as third rate, and consists of the sand plains and barrens, which are not suitable for cultivation. Muscatine Island, which is formed by the Mississippi River and Muscatine Slough, is some eighteen miles in length, and five in width two miles below the upper end, and contains over twenty thousand acres of land, most of which was originally a level sand prairie, too low and wet to be of much value. The larger portion of it has however been reclaimed, by means of a levee built around the upper portion, so that it now contains some of the best and most valuable farms in the county, possessing as it does an excellent sandy loam soil, peculiarly adapted to the growth of garden vegetables, melons, vines and small fruits, all of which grow with remarkable luxuriance and of superior quality. The soil in other portions of the county is a rich black loam, with a clay sub-soil, while in the bottoms there is mixed with the loam a considerable portion of fine sand. Wheat and corn are the staple productions, while all kinds of grains, grasses and vegetables common to this climate are successfully cultivated. The rolling lands and side hills are well adapted to fruit culture; and grape growing, which is more extensively carried on here than in most portions of Iowa, is really becoming quite an important branch of its agricultural resources. Owing to its varied and excellent soil, its adaptability to the growth of grass, and the abundance of living water found in all sections, it is peculiarly adapted to stock raising; and for a number of years it has stood among the best counties in the state for the number and excellence of its short horned and other classes of thoroughbred stock. Some of the largest and best herds to be found, not only in the West, but in the United States, are in the vicinity of West Liberty. STREAMS AND TIMBER. The Mississippi River, which forms nearly one-half of the eastern and southern boundary, is of course the principal stream. The Cedar River, running through the western or central portion of the county, has an average width of two hundred yards, and is navigable a portion of the year as far as Cedar Rapids, about one hundred and thirty miles from its mouth. The Wapsinonoc, an Indian name meaning white-earth-creek, is the most considerable creek, rising in two principal forks in Cedar County, which unite soon after entering this, and running in a southeast direction some twenty miles, empty into the Cedar. Sugar Creek also rises in Cedar County, and empties into the same river near Moscow. Pine Creek, which rises in Scott County, waters with its tributaries some four townships, and empties into the Mississippi some twelve miles above Muscatine. The remaining streams are Mud, Sweatland, Mad and Pappoose Creeks, which are small, and empty into the Mississippi, except Mud, which swells the volume of Sugar Creek. Muscatine Slough is an arm or bayou of the Mississippi River, and probably may have once formed the main channel, from which it diverges at Muscatine, and running in a southwest, south and southeast direction, unites again with the "Father of Waters" a short distance above the mouth of the Iowa River. It is some thirty miles in length, with an average width of about thirty yards. There is a range of high bluffs which leave the river at Muscatine, and form the western boundary of the slough, at a distance from it of from one-half a mile to four miles, enclosing some of the finest and best improved land in the state. Numerous springs, strongly tinctured with sulphate of iron, are found under the bluffs bordering the river and the slough. The county is well watered with many small lasting streams and springs. Wells are easily obtained in nearly all parts of the county, while pure soft water is found in many places. About one-eighth of the area of the county is timber land, there being 32,053 acres of native timber, and 1,053 acres of artificial or planted groves which consist mostly of soft maple, cottonwood, and other fast growing varieties. The native timber which is found along the streams is well distributed over the county, and consists principally of white, black, red, yellow, and burr oak, hickory, hard and soft maple, black and white ash, black and white walnut, linn, yellow, white and red elm, honey locust, birch, plum, cottonwood, poplar, willow, cherry, with a little cedar and pine. STONE, COAL, ETC. Limestone is found on the banks of the Mississippi, in several places above the City of Muscatine, and also on the Cedar, while sandstone quarries have been opened in a number of places in the county. The Iowa State Geology gives the following description of its geological structure; "This county is chiefly underlaid by limestone of the Hamilton group, which crops out in the adjacent counties, north and west, but is not seen within the limits of this on account of the heavy superficial deposits. There is a narrow belt of the carboniferous series along the banks of the Mississippi, which appears to be an outlier of the Rock Island coal field. This is finely exhibited in a section made for railroad purposes just below the steamboat landing at Muscatine. The superficial deposit of loamy clay is exposed to the thickness of about fifty feet. It is extremely destitute of foreign boulders, and appears to be made up almost exclusively of detritus formed from the decomposition of the rocks which are in the immediate vicinity, which may be seen in numerous localities, gradually crumbling under the influence of various causes. Beneath their deposit a thickness of about fifty feet of a somewhat argilaceous sandstone may be observed. This sandstone is pretty regularly stratified in its upper portion; but, lower down, it is much disturbed, as if it had been deposited under the influence of varying currents. It contains a great number of spherical concretions, which vary in size from a few inches to eight feet in diameter. Some of them are remarkably symmetrical. These concretions are distinctly stratified, and the lines of stratification pass from the adjacent rock through them without interruption. The material of which they are composed is much harder than that of the adjacent sandstone; contains more calcareous matter, and more sulphurate of iron; indeed, in the smaller ones, a nodule of their substance may not unfrequently be found in the center. The fossil stems which occur in the sandstone are seen to extend directly into, and sometimes through the concretions, which, as well as the other facts mentioned above, show conclusively that they have been formed by segregating agencies, such as are often observed to have been operating in the rocky strata, but which have here caused the aggregation of larger and more symmetrically formed masses than we have elsewhere observed. The sandstone is filled with impressions of stems and leaves of fossil plants of the coal measures, some of which are of considerable size. One was observed which was traced for twenty feet in length. It was eighteen inches in diameter in one direction, and nine in the other; being, like most of the stems found here, considerably flattened by the pressure of the superincumbent material. Beneath this sandstone is a bed of coal, which is not regularly continuous, but is broken up into small independent basins at its eastern extremity. Further west it becomes more regular, attaining a thickness of two and a half to three feet; with the highly bituminous shale which is taken down with it, it reaches a thickness of four feet. Its quality is very poor, as it contains an unusually large proportion of iron pyrites mixed with it. The coal is underlaid by bluish argilacious and shaly beds, and, so far as known, this formation extends down to the level of the river". Coal is found in several places in the Mississippi bluffs, and a number of banks have been worked with fair profit, while one some three miles above Muscatine is now being worked with good success. ABORIGINES. At the close of the Black Hawk war in 1832, the Sac and Fox Indians ceded to the United States a strip of land along the Mississippi River, varying in width from forty to one hundred miles, and extending from Missouri on the south to the Sioux country on the north. In this tract there were several Indian villages, in which they were permitted to remain three years after the making of the treaty. One of these villages or lodges as they were called, was six miles down the Slough road from Muscatine, on the border of Keokuk Lake, and was the home of Keokuk and his band. There was another near Moscow, while Powesheik's village was situated on the west banks of the Cedar farther down. The noted Fox chief, Wapello, dwelt with his band, until 1836, at the place where the Town of Wapello, Louisa County, now stands, while Florence is noted as the home of the warlike Black Hawk, and the place from which he sounded the war-whoop, and rallied his countrymen to the last deadly conflict, in defense of their homes, their hunting grounds, and the graves of their fallen sires. Black Hawk afterwards lived at Wapello, where he was visited by Suel Foster, one of the oldest settlers of this county, who says of him that he was kind and dignified, and could talk both English and Indian. His wigwam was a rude affair, and constructed by setting posts in the ground, over which were lashed pole rafters, which were covered with large pieces of walnut bark. The cracks were stopped with moss and mud, which made it quite tight and comfortable for winter. The roof was as tight as a shingled roof, except a hole in the center for the smoke to pass out. There was no floor, the fire being made on the ground in the center of the cabin. At each side were bunks made of raw hide, which were used for seats in the day time and for beds at night. Black Hawk came out, was introduced, and talked for a few minutes, when he silently returned to his cabin and commenced smoking his pipe. Mr. Foster describes him as being a large, powerful, fine looking Indian, but seemed dejected and broken down, appearing extremely sour, morose, and unsocial, having been deposed, at the close of the war, by Keokuk, who was at that time head chief of the united tribes of Sacs and Foxes. HISTORY. As there was considerable trade with these several lodges of Indians, and as it was more convenient for them to receive their heavy freight at what is now the Muscatine landing, Major George Davenport, whose principal trading post was on Rock Island, sent a Mr. Farnham, one of his agents, down from there in the Fall of 1833, who erected a small cabin on what is now Water Street, a little up the river from Iowa Avenue, and supplied it with a small stock of goods suitable for the Indian trade. He lived and carried on his trade here for some two years, when in the Fall of 1835, he died at Stephenson, now Rock Island, Illinois, and Major Davenport sold the trading house, including a claim of half a mile square, lying a quarter of a mile up and down the river from the cabin, to Colonel John Vanata. The first permanent white settlement made in the present limits of the county was made by Benjamin Nye, at the mouth of Pine Creek, in the Spring of 1834, which was really about one year after the Indians, by the terms of their treaty, had given possession of the territory. He laid off a town at that place which is some twelve miles above Muscatine, and called it Montpelier, which, however, never became a place of much note, and is now known only in history. In May of the following year, 1835, James W. Casey made a settlement and built a cabin a short distance below the trading house, and adjoining the claim of Colonel Davenport, near the foot of Broadway. He chose this spot because he knew it was an important consideration in selecting a town site on the Mississippi to find a place where there was a sufficient depth of water to admit of large boats landing at all seasons, and he had discovered, by sounding, that the deepest water and boldest shore were opposite the highest bluffs extending nearly down to the head of Muscatine Island. Thomas and Lewis Burditt came in a little later that same season and settled about four miles above Levi and Lot Thornton on the slough, while Doctor Eli Reynolds located up the river some three miles above, where he afterwards laid off a town to which he gave the name of Geneva. The next year Thomas M. Isett, Moses Couch, William St. John, Henry Reece, and a few others located at Bloomington, now Muscatine, William Chambers, Sr., with his four sons, Vincent, Anderson, William, Jr., and John Aaron Brewer, James H. Franklin, Henry Mockmore, and Robert Bamford located in the upper part of the county; Captain Samuel Holliday and Doctor Charles Drury, near Moscow; Arthur Washburn, at Montpelier; and Samuel and Hiram Gilbert and H. Burdett, near Muscatine. In the early Spring of 1836, Colonel John Vanata brought on his family and laid out the central part of the town on the claim he had previously purchased of Colonel Davenport, and called it Bloomington. The surveying and platting was done in May by Major William Gordon. Captain Benjamin Clark had an undivided one-sixth interest in the town which he afterwards sold to Suel Foster. A few months afterwards J. W. Casey and others laid out a portion of the town lower down the river which they called Newberry. Charles H. Fish built a log cabin that same Summer on lots since occupied by Judge Woodward, and laid out an addition in the upper part of town, which was also half a mile square from the center of the Court House square east. As these plats were all laid out on claims made some two or three years previous to the government surveys, some explanations of the manner of holding and conveying real estate is perhaps necessary. Previous to July 4, 1836, Iowa was included in Michigan Territory, but at that date the Territory of Wisconsin was formed, of which Iowa remained a part until the creation of a separate territorial government by act of Congress, approved June 12, 1838, and taking effect on the 4th day of the following July. In those early times the laws were but poorly understood and administered, in fact they were not well adapted to the condition of the early settler. In a measure to remedy these defects, a code of laws was invented to protect the rights of the claimant who had staked off, or in any other way marking the boundaries of a claim, which did not exceed certain limits. A clerk was appointed, who platted and recorded the claims, while a committee of arbitration was appointed to settle disputed rights. This court had the power, and sometimes used it, of dispossessing a trespasser by taking him and his family and goods out of the house, and forcibly moving them from the premises. These laws were cheap, simple, short and easy of administration, and it was a sorry undertaking for a settler to dispute their authority. Late in the Fall of 1837, the government surveyors run the township lines in this county, which were subdivided into sections and staked out the following summer. The original claimants, Vanata, Casey, Fish and others, in selling their town lots, sold only their rights under the claim law, to enter and obtain a perfect title by the payment of government prices, and the land office fees. The first public land sales in the territory took place in November, 1838, at Burlington. By the laws of Congress, counties had the privilege of taking a quarter section of land on which to locate the county seat. Muscatine County, by her commissioners, John Vanata, Aaron Asher and Ed. Thornton, selected the quarter on which the court house now stands, lying nearly in the center of the City of Muscatine. There were probably fifty buildings, and some two hundred people then living upon that part of the town plat included in the county quarter. The county commissioners decided to raise eighteen thousand dollars from the residents and lot owners, and accordingly made an equitable valuation of all lots in the quarter. For the other parts of the town, trustees were appointed to purchase the land at the land sales, who severally gave bonds in large amounts to deed the lots to the rightful owners, as should be determined by the claim committee or arbitration. The parties appointed were Charles A. Warfield for the east part, Samuel Foster for the fractional quarter south of the county quarter, and William St. John for all the balance in the north and west part of the town. The county commissioners gave a power of attorney to Adam Ogilvie to make deeds to the lots in that quarter, and to these parties must be traced the titles to all lots except those on the island in South Muscatine. This proved to be a very satisfactory arrangement, as but little difficulty occurred in adjusting the claims of all rightful owners. There was one lawsuit, however, grew out of it in the case of Suel Foster, who refused to deed to the city some unclaimed fractional lots lying between Water Street and the river, that according to the agreement by which Mr. Foster had been appointed a trustee to enter the tract, he was to have sold for the benefit of the city, but which he claimed to hold as compensation for extra time and trouble expended in completing the arrangements, holding that the citizens had no power to invalidate claims, and forfeit lots to the city. The case was decided against Mr. Foster, in the district court in 1847, and upon being carried up to the supreme court, that tribunal re-affirmed the decision in 1851. A post-office was also established at Bloomington early in 1837, with – Stowell as postmaster, but absconding before his commission arrived, Edward E. Fay was appointed in his stead, and was therefore the first postmaster in the county. Adam Ogilvie opened a store in 1837, which was the first one opened by a permanent settler in the county. On the 18th day of August, 1837, the steamer Dubuque, Capt. Smoker, exploded about seven miles below Bloomington, by which twenty-two lives, all deck passengers, were lost. The Dubuque was towed to Bloomington by the steamer Adventure, and seventeen of the dead were buried in one grave in the old cemetery, at the very spot, where the school house in District No. 1 now stands. The first hotel, the Iowa House, which had been partly constructed and opened late the preceding Fall by Robert C. Kinney, was completed early in the Spring of 1837. Among others who came into the county this year may be mentioned Adam Ogilvie, William Gordon, Pling Fay, Suel Foster, Giles Pettibone, Joseph Bridges, H. H. Hine, Myron Ward, Daniel and Isaac Mauch, George Bumgarder and J. Fish. The early growth of the county, which had been from the first quite slow, became more rapid and substantial during 1838. In November of the last named year there were in the town of Bloomington, of all description, eighty- four houses, while good settlements had been made in other parts of the county. Of those who came in during 1838 there may be mentioned J. S. Parvin, Judge Williams, M. M. Berksheer, Samuel Lucas, Thomas Norford, D. R. and A. O. Warfield, and J. P. and J. W. Walton, who located at Bloomington or vicinity, and S. W. Stewart, at Moscow. In 1839, came John A. Parvin, Dr. James Weed, A. Smalley, with his brothers, Shepherd, John, William and Henry, William G. Woodward, S. Whicher, Fred. H. Stone, A. M. Winn, P. Jackson, George W. Humphrey, D. C. Cloud, J. Ziegler, H. Matthews, William Leffingwell, G. Daniels, J. M. Kane, Henry Funk, Mrs. Dibble with her daughter, Mrs. B. S. Olds and daughter, Jacob Israel, J. A. McCormick, G. H. Hunt, H. O. Jamison, John McCloud, G. A. Springer, and P. Fayberget. The Winter of 1838 set in very severe and unusually early, so that navigation was suddenly closed at so early a date that the settlers on the upper Mississippi were prevented from securing their usual winter supplies. Dry goods, sugar, coffee, etc., were conveyed from St. Louis by wagons. Salt retailed at six dollars per bushel, while it is said that two barrels of flour, all there was in the town of Bloomington, sold for twenty-five dollars each. In 1839 occurred the excitement in regard to the Missouri and Iowa boundary line, which was dignified by the name of "Missouri war." The Sheriff of Clark County, Missouri, in accordance with the claim of that state, proceeded to collect taxes in Van Buren County, when he was arrested on the charge of usurpation, and brought to Bloomington for safe keeping. Gen. J. E. Fletcher, of Muscatine, was ordered to call out the Second Brigade of Militia, John Vanata was commissioned Colonel and C. E. Hastings appointed Captain of the horse company, while two infantry companies were raised in Muscatine County by volunteering, and some by draft. They marched to Burlington, where a compromise being effected, they returned, more harmed by whisky than Missourians. Among the early settlers came a man by the name of Dana, with his wife and beautiful boy of five summers. He died of fever after arriving here, and the boy followed him the next day. His widow, Mrs. S. B. Dana, being left alone in a strange land, bore the affliction with becoming fortitude and patience, and as the inspiration of that great grief conceived and wrote that beautiful song, "Pass under the Rod," which has thrilled and soothed so many aching hearts through the land. REMINISCENCES. In the earlier years of the settlement of this county there were many Indians about, who made themselves very troublesome as beggars and petty thieves, but who were never beligerent, as they had not forgotten their dearly bought experience obtained in the Black Hawk war. They were mostly social, and afforded much amusement, in a measure compensating the settlers for the pleasures they had left in their Eastern homes. In the Spring of 1839 Stephen Wicher gave a large social party, which event for those days was of a novel kind. His guests were composed of the entire elite of the town, and about twenty Indians with their squaws, who came dressed in calico breeches, roundabouts, moccasins ornamented with beads, and trinkets of various kinds attached to their persons. The Indians were also rigged out in their best for the party, with painted faces, gay blankets, buckskin breeches, and fantastic wammises ornamented with their war trophies, jewels in their ears and noses, brass bands on their arms, long ornamented pipes, weazel and skunk skin tobacco pouches, war clubs trimmed with feathers, bears' claws and tusks, and strings of highly ornamented wampum. This was probably the most peculiarly constructed social gathering that ever met in the state. The first thing on the programme of the evening was a war-dance by the Indians. The large front room being cleared, and nothing lacking but music, Mrs. W. brought out some tin pans, a fire-shovel and tongs, which with a few sticks made ample music. Kiskekosh, the noble chief, first stepped on the floor alone, divested of nearly all his garments, and presenting a fine, well-formed and powerful form, led the dance in a majestic, savage style. Soon one and another of the men joined, until the floor was nearly filled, the whole circling around in all sorts of savage and fantastic shapes and forms of attitude, keeping time with the din of the pans and tongs, at the same time uttering low gutteral sounds-hew-wa-wa-hew-ha-wa-we-ho-hew-ha-woo— which increased in loudness and tone until it became a savage howl, and then charged at each other until the ladies were greatly frightened. The doors being closely guarded so as to allow no one to escape, the tumult soon became general. As the dance subsided one of the painted warriors suddenly sprang at and kissed one of the fairest of the fair white ladies, who, not appreciating the honor done her, screamed a scream more piercing and frightful than the howling of the Indians. As a return for this extraordinary entertainment, the Indians insisted that the whites, especially the "white squaws," should have a dance. A violin was accordingly procured, and several dances were performed in the most elegant frontier style, which appeared to delight the Indians as much as their performance had the whites. The entertainment was kept up until the wee small hours, when the parties dispersed to their respective homes and wigwams, thus ending one of the most brilliant and social entertainments in the history of Iowa. A good story is told by Suel Foster, of an Indian scare which occurred in the Winter of 1836-7. There was a man by the name of Maine then living on the island some two miles below Muscatine, who kept a barrel of whisky for traffic with the Indians, who were very fond of that article. On one noted occasion, when there had been a new arrival in his family, this old man having taken a little too much himself, was troubled by several Indians, who, having already drank enough to make them feel quarrelsome, insisted upon having more whisky, which he refused. The Indians, determined not to be refused, threatened him to such an extent that he started towards town to secure help. As he left, an Indian fired – at the whisky-barrel, and tapped it in the head. The crack of the rifle brought a neighbor woman who was helping in the house to the door, and finding the Indians sucking at the bullet vent in the whisky-barrel, she resolutely caught up a hoe, drove the Indians off, and set the barrel on end. But the affrighted Maine, when he heard the rifle imagined that his family and the woman there were being murdered, and he alone would escape to tell of their fate. The nearer town he got the faster he ran, and the more piteous were his cries for help. The villagers were alarmed, and as soon as he could get breath to utter an audible word, he said; "The Indians have murdered all my family, and as I ran they fired at me, but I have out-run 'em. Go down! Go down"!! There was a hasty gathering of guns and what means of defense could be found, and guards were placed to protect the village. The "landlord," R. C. Kenney, who is said to have been the fattest, laziest, quietest, can't-run-man in the town, exclaimed: "God of Heaven, what shall we do! John Champ, take my horse, and go to Moscow and give the alarm; tell them that the Indians have killed all the folks on the island, and that we will run in that direction, and they must come and meet us." The braves who charged on the whisky-barrel got so shot with the fire-water, that they set fire to the rank grass, discharged their guns, and after screaming and yelling at a fearful rate for a while, quietly entered their canoes, and left for Coa-Kack Island. ORGANIZATION, ETC. The origin of the word Muscatine, or Musquitine as it was formerly called, is somewhat uncertain, and is differently explained by those who ought to be informed, though there are none who doubt that the county and town both derived their name from the island. According to the historian Bancroft, the name was derived from a tribe of Indians who were located near the great lakes two hundred years ago. Antoine Le Claire, founder of Davenport, who for years was very familiar with the languages spoken by the Indians that once occupied this country, and was himself of French and Indian extraction, says it is a combination of an Indian and French word: Mus-quo-ta, the Indian word, means prairie; to which was added the French termination "tine," forming the compound word Musquotine, or Musquitine, meaning little prairie. He further says that the Indians used to call the island Mus-quo-ta-menis, which means prairie island. FIRST COURT. The first District Court ever held in Muscatine County, was convened at the house of Samuel Parker, in Bloomington, now Muscatine, on Monday, April 24, 1837. Honorable David Irwine, Judge of the Second Judicial District, and Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Wisconsin, presiding; W. W. Chapman, U. S. Attorney; John S. Abbott, was appointed Clerk. The following is the first grand jury empaneled for the county, and on the part of the United States: Robert Bamford, foreman, Benjamin Barton, Edward E. Fay, Robert C. Kinney, Jonathan Pettibone, Eli Reynolds, A. L. McKae, Joseph Mounta, Thomas I. Starks, Nathan Paisons, Samuel Parker, William Sparkes, Christopher Barnes, John Briggs, Levi Chamberline, Norman Fullington and Andrew Pace. Alexander W. McGregor was admitted to the bar during this term, while the principal other business transacted was granting licenses to different parties to run ferries across the Mississippi River. Judge D. Irwine held a second term, in May, 1838; while the first one under the territorial government of Iowa, was convened October 8, 1838, by Honorable Joseph Williams, who was one of the Judges of the Iowa Territorial Supreme Court, and presiding Judge of the Second Judicial District. The first meeting of the Supervisors was held at the house of Robert C. Kinney, in Bloomington, at which session Samuel Shorteridge, James R. Strithers and S. C. Hastings, were appointed assessors of the County of Muscatine, and were allowed two dollars per day. The first taxes were collected by James Davis, for which service he was allowed fifteen dollars. In 1838, an annual license tax of one hundred dollars was assessed on liquor saloons and peddlers of brass or wooden clocks. FIRST THINGS. The first school in the county was taught by George Bumgardner, in the Spring of 1837. The first birth was a daughter of Samuel Kinney, the same spring, and the first death that of Mrs. J. W. Carey, which occurred a little earlier. The first sermon was preached by a Baptist minister by the name of Lowren, in the house of Samuel Kinney, early in the Spring of 1837, while the first regular preacher stationed here was Reverend Norris Hobert, a Methodist, who came later the same year. The first church organized was the Methodist, in 1839, while the Presbyterian was organized the next year, with Reverend John Stocker as pastor. The first school house in the county was built in Bloomington, in 1839, and was used for a long time for a church, school house, public hall, etc. RAILROADS. But few counties in the state have better railroad facilities than Muscatine. The main line of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific passes through the northern tier of townships, while the southwest branch of this road intersects the main line at Wilton, and running in a southwest direction, passes through the City of Muscatine, and the eastern portion of the county. The main line of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota passes through the western townships, crossing the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad at West Liberty. The Muscatine Western Railroad, starting at Muscatine, and running west, has been completed across the county, crossing the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota at Nichols, and has penetrated quite a distance in Johnson County. COUNTY BUILDINGS. The court house was built in the Summer and Fall of 1867, on the site of the one previously burned, is one of the best and most convenient in the eastern part of the state, and cost thirty thousand dollars. It is a handsome two story brick building, surmounted with a well proportioned and neatly designed dome, whose crest is ornamented with a large and elegant statue of the Goddess of Justice, who continually poises her balance over the wall dedicated to justice. It is situated a little east of the central portion of the city, in a beautifully shaded park that occupies a commanding position. The jail, a substantial brick building, with stone cells, is in the block back from the court house, and is still a serviceable building, although built in 1855 or 6. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. The Muscatine County Agricultural Society was organized June 4, 1853, held a fair the following Fall, and continuously ever since, although for a number of years during the war and prior to 1867 or '8, it was not in a very flourishing condition. They now have a beautiful fair ground containing forty acres, adjoining the city, on a high tract of ground, which commands a beautiful view of the river and a portion of the surrounding country. They have a fine track and good buildings, and are financially in a prosperous condition, with a very flattering future before them. SCHOOLS. The public schools are in a flourishing condition, and are on the whole making gradual and permanent improvement in all respects material to their prosperity and success. Old school houses are being replaced with new and elegant structures, containing all the modern conveniences calculated to improve the condition of the teachers and scholars. Successful institutes and normal classes are held, doing much to advance the standard of excellence sought to be obtained by the teachers. WAR RECORD. Muscatine County has a war record of which it may well be proud. Probably no county in the truly patriotic and loyal State of Iowa, responded more promptly, or furnished more men for the late war of the Rebellion. When treason reared the bloody arm of rebellion, and the muttering thunder of civil war reverberated along the horizon of the republic, the noble, heroic young men of this county, sprang to arms, their country's honor to maintain, and more than four hundred of those brave heroic hearts now sleep beneath the sod whose sacred soil they stained with their life's blood, that the beautiful banner of liberty that has so often carried peace and joy to many fainting ones, might still wave pure and untarnished over the land they loved so well. About eighteen hundred men went from this county to swell that grand host of noble patriots who, when the dark clouds hung the thickest, begged to be allowed the proud honor of dying for their country and liberty. Two companies for the gallant Iowa First, and one for the graybeards' regiment, show how fearfully in earnest they were. Not content with sending their volunteer soldiers, the proudest, most soldierly soldiers the world ever saw, the mothers, sisters and wives at home were among the most zealous in rendering aid and assistance to all philanthropic institutions which had for their object the improved condition of the soldiers or their families. The City of Muscatine has the proud satisfaction of being the first in a commonwealth which ---d the sisterhood of states in providing home comforts and educational advantages for the children whose fathers' strong arms held the bayonet at the breast of armed treason. Their last, though not least, praiseworthy act, was to rear an elegant monument in the shady court house park, to the memory of their heroic slain, which was dedicated and unveiled July 3, 1875, by Iowa's War Governor, honorable Samuel J. Kirkwood. It is a beautiful marble shaft, surmounted by a life-size statue of a "volunteer soldier," standing at parade rest, where he will stand on his eternal pedestal as long as the virtuous and heroic deeds of the dead are cherished by the living, proclaiming to generations yet to be, that America will ever cherish and hold sacred the memory of those who fell in the holy cause of freedom. MUSCATINE. This beautiful city, the county seat of the county of the same name, is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi at the apex of the great bend, and at the head of the island from which it derived its name. The natural location, in a business point of view, is the best in Iowa on the Mississippi, being located at a point where that river penetrates nearest to the center of the state, which fact gives it superior advantages as a distributing center, while it has an excellent landing, and is more healthful than most river towns, owing to its elevated position and superior drainage facilities. It is surrounded by a good farming country, besides being convenient to Muscatine Island, which, for garden purposes and melon culture, has no superior if it has an equal in the Northwestern States. The ground naturally very rough and broken, lying on both sides of Pappoose Creek, has been greatly improved by grading, so that it now presents a fine location for a large and healthy city. The streets are regularly laid out, parallel with and at right angles from the river, the principal business street—Second Street—being the second from and parallel with the river, contains many fine buildings, and is probably as handsome a street as can be found in the state. A considerable portion of the buildings in some parts of the city are old, and show somewhat the ravages of time, while it also contains many new and elegant buildings, both business houses and residences. BLOOMINGTON. Muscatine was first surveyed and laid out in 1836, by Colonel Vanata and others, and was named Bloomington. The first name given it by the Indians was Wall-wall-tuckel-wam, which, being interpreted, signifies horse-tooth-corn. This name was given it from the fact that the Indians received most of their provisions here, which consisted largely of the long gourd seed corn raised in Kentucky and Tennessee. General Pike, who explored the Mississippi River in 1805, gave it the name of Grindstone Bluffs, an account of the height and boldness of the shore and overhanging bluffs. It was incorporated as a town of the second class in February, 1839, and on the 6th day of the following May, Honorable Joseph Williams was chosen the first president or mayor. The other officers elected at that time were; Trustees, Arthur Washburn, Benjamin P. Howland and Henry Reece; recorder, Moses Couch; constable, John Marble; street commissioner, Giles Pettibone. The population of the town was then seventy-one, mostly men with only a very few women and some four or five children. From the time of its incorporation the growth was more rapid, so that in 1843 it had a population of nearly one thousand. The subject of changing the name of Bloomington to Muscatine was agitated for some time during 1842, but meeting with so much opposition, the matter was dropped until in June, 1849, when in accordance with the prayer of a petition numerously signed, it was changed by the district court of Muscatine. During 1849 and '50, the California excitement and the appearance of cholera, had the effect to, in a measure, retard the growth and prosperity of the town, which afterwards advanced with no rapid strides, but has, however, made a more healthy and substantial growth than most of the towns in Iowa can boast. INCORPORATION. On the 21st day of February, 1851, Muscatine became a city upon the adoption by its citizens of a special city charter, which had been approved by the Legislature on the first of the same month. The first election for city officers was held March 5, at which time Z. Washburn was elected mayor; G. S. Branham, Marshal; C. F. Browning, Wharf Master; Thomas Crandol, Recorder, L. C. Hine, Treasurer, with the following City Council; Henry Reece, John L. Irwin, John B. Dougherty, M. D. Cossitt, A. Fisher and B. Bartholomew. Washburn soon resigned, when the Council appointed A. McAulay in his stead. The cars on the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad, now the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, reached Muscatine November 20, 1855, and their arrival was signalized by a grand celebration. The city was first lighted by gas, August 18, 1857, which event was appropriately celebrated by a gas-light illumination. GROWTH AND BUSINESS. Although Muscatine has always had a steady, substantial growth, yet from 1856, until some two years since, its progress was so slow that many who did not look at the matter closely were accustomed to think that it was really retrograding, and would often remark that "Muscatine had seen her best days." During 1873 and '4 a discernible change took place which was exceedingly gratifying to those interested in her future. Business revived, and unusual activity in building was manifested, while the constantly increasing demand for real estate, showed that the unequaled inducements it presented to those seeking homes in the West were beginning to be understood and appreciated. The improvements, while they have been more numerous than formerly, have been of a much better class. New enterprises are constantly being started, while old ones are more vigorously and successfully prosecuted. The leading business interest is probably the lumber trade, which for years has been the largest in the state, excepting only Clinton, has lately assumed such astonishing proportions as to amaze any one not in a measure familiar with its magnitude. There are now three large mills running constantly, which in 1874 cut 37,000,000 feet of sawed lumber, besides manufacturing 20,547,000 shingles, and 6,885,000 lath, and furnished employment for nearly four hundred men. Five wholesale and retail yards sold during the same time, of lumber manufactured in the pineries and rafted to this place, 22,170,000 feet of sawed lumber, 7,100,000 lath, and 6,235,000 shingles, besides some 5,000,000 feet of lumber and 1,000,000 lath and shingles that have been landed here and shipped to dealers in the interior. The grain interest is not small, as will be seen by the following amount purchased and forwarded from here during 1874; Wheat, 127,874 bushels; oats, 171,142 bushels; corn, 62,250 bushels; rye, 36,635 bushels; barley, 73,656 bushels; live hogs, 18,700; potatoes, 68,000 bushels, while one large hay pressing establishment have shipped 3,757, bales. The freight paid on the shipments made by railroad, during the same year, have been $318,080.80. Among the manufacturing interests may be mentioned five large sash, door, blind and scroll manufactories, three carriage and wagon shops, four large merchant flouring mills, one agricultural implement, and one large furniture manufactory, one boiler works, two foundries and machine shops, a wash board, shirt, knitting and broom factories, besides many other smaller enterprises that are necessarily found in a city like Muscatine. An inventory of the commercial and remaining interests show it to contain nine dry goods and notion stores, eight drug stores, five jewelry and six millinery stores, twenty nine retail and three wholesale groceries, six boot and shoe stores, three book stores, four hardware houses, sixteen hotels and boarding houses, eighteen saloons, nine restaurants, six sewing machine offices, seven saddlery establishments, eight barber shops, six cigar manufactories and tobacco dealers, eight liveries, four bakeries, six meat markets, four printing offices, three agricultural warehouses, five insurance agencies, three banks—two national, one marble yard, while the professions are well represented by fourteen lawyers and fifteen physicians. SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES. Being settled largely from the east, the citizens of Muscatine have not neglected the educational interests of their children, and several handsome school buildings, containing all the modern improvements, beautify the city and furnish ample free school accommodations for all those who see fit to enjoy their munificent advantages. The religious and moral wants of the community are well provided for by the following religious denominations, who all have good houses of worship, hold regular services, and each sustaining one good Sunday school, besides assisting in the management of three mission schools in different parts of the city; First Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, United Brethern, Episcopal, Friends, Catholic, African M. E., German M. E., German Evangelical, German Congregational, Lutheran, German Presbyterian, Albright German, Holland Church, and Musserville Methodist. THE PRESS. The first newspaper published in Muscatine was the Iowa Standard, issued by Crum & Baily, October 23, 1840. Early the next year it was removed to Iowa City, then assuming prominence as the capitol of the state. One week after the appearance of the Standard, the first number of the Bloomington Herald was issued, by Hughes & Russell. This paper was a fair specimen of the newspapers of that day, though it lacked much of originality of thought and expression found in the average country press. In 1845, Russell disposed of his interest in the Herald to Doctor Charles O. Waters, who, assuming editorial management, greatly improved the character and tone of the paper, and conducted it for about one year, when the establishment passed into the hands of M. T. Emerson, a practical man of good judgment. Death ended his career and connection with the paper at the same time. He changed the politics of the Herald, which had always been Democratic to Whig, and it has never since been the organ of the Democracy. After Mr. Emerson's death, the Herald became the property of N. L. Stout & Wm. P. Israel, who ably conducted it as a strong Abolition organ until 1848, when F. A. C. Foreman became the sole editor and publisher. Whisky was too much for Foreman, and he was obliged to succumb to financial fate in about four months, when the publication of the Herald was discontinued, never to be resumed under the same name. Some six months after the Herald had been suspended, the material was purchased by Noah N. McCormick, who revived it under the name of the Muscatine Journal, and ran it until July, 1852, when he sold it to Jacob and John Mahin, father and son, who jointly conducted the paper until September, 1853, when they took in a partner, Orion Clemens, a brother of "Mark Twain," and the style of the firm became Mahin & Clemens. In June, 1854, they commenced publishing a tri-weekly edition. Their partnership lasted until January, 1855, when J. Mahin & Son sold to Chas. H. Wilson, and the name of the firm was changed to Clemens & Wilson, during whose administration in June, 1855, the first number of the Daily Journal was issued. Later the same year, Clemens sold his interest to James W. Logan, who conducted the paper until the following January, when Wilson sold to D. S. Early, who only held it a short time, when he sold to John Mahin, and F. B. McGill. The firm of Logan, Mahin & McGill managed the paper till August, 1857, when John Mahin assumed sole charge, and continued its management without change of proprietorship, till January, 1866, when L. D. Ingersoll purchased a half interest, and assumed editorial charge, remaining with the paper just two years, when James Mahin took a proprietory interest with his brother, and the style of the firm has since been Mahin Brothers. They still continue the publication of the weekly, tri-weekly and daily editions. The Democratic Enquirer was started in July, 1848, by H. D. LaCossitt, who remained connected with it, excepting a six-months' administration by W. B. Langridge, in 1853, until 1854, when it was purchased by Jerome Carskaddan & T. Meason Williams, who in June, 1855, gave way to Williams, Gibson & Co., the senior member of the firm being Robert Williams, present police judge. In January, 1856, Daniel S. Biles and E. W. Clark took charge of the Enquirer. Clark retired in a few months, and was succeeded by Samuel McNutt, who edited it for a short time, when he sold to Biles, who had the sole management of the establishment until 1860, when it was suspended. John Tranior King then bought the office and established the Daily Review, and was succeeded in 1861 by Edward H. Thayer, who changed the name to Courier, and in 1864 sold to the Barnhart Bros., who, with W. W. Whitmer, now of the Des Moines Leader, continued its publication till 1873, when they sold to Geo. W. Van Horne, who consolidated it with the Weekly Tribune. The Telegraph was started in 1870, by E. O. Upham and Charles Sibley, who run it for six months, when it was bought by Geo. W. VanHorne, who commenced the publication of the Weekly Tribune, which about one year later he consolidated with the Courier and published as a weekly until April, 1874, when, associating himself with E. H. and Wm. Betts, he commenced the publication of the morning Daily Tribune, which has since met with flattering success. In 1860, a campaign paper called the Messenger, was published for a short time by Samuel C. Dunn, since which several minor publications have appeared, such as the Roaring Rag, issued semi-occasionally, by B. F. Neidig; the New Era, an advertising sheet, published in 1872-3; the Humming Bird, a neat little paper, possessing considerable literary merit by O. G. Jack, has been published monthly for a year or two past. The German Press was first represented by the Zeitung, established by Charles Rotteck, in 1857, but the following year was removed to Keokuk. In the Spring of 1874, J. W. Weippiert issued the first number of the Weekly Deutsche Zeitung, which has since steadily grown in patronage and general favor. WEST LIBERTY. A flourishing town containing some eight or nine hundred inhabitants, is situated in the northwest corner of Muscatine County, at the crossing of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota railroads, and is surrounded by an excellent farming country. It is a pleasant village, regularly laid out, and is steadily improving with a substantial and healthy growth, keeping step with the advancement of the surrounding country. It contains a large steam flouring mill, a carriage manufactory, five dry goods stores, ten groceries, three hardware houses, one tin and stove store, one notion store, one millinery and notion establishment, three drug stores, two saddlery and two agricultural implement establishments, four grain elevators, four hotels, three jewelry stores, three blacksmith shops, one wind-mill factory, one lumber yard, one bank with a cash capital of $100,000, and the other necessary branches of industry usually found in towns of this size. The different religious denominations are well represented, and have erected five handsome churches which are an ornament to the village, as well as the large and commodious public school building, which furnishes ample accommodations for the education of the children and youth. The West Liberty Enterprise was first established as a seven-column republican sheet, in April, 1868, by Barker & Eaton, who in March, 1870, sold to George Trumbo, and he enlarged it to a nine-column paper, in November, 1872. It was purchased by its present able manager, J. W. McElvary, in February, 1874, who in the Spring of 1875 changed the form to a six-column quarto. It is a live, wide awake local paper, fully alive to the best interests of West Liberty and Muscatine County, and is receiving as its deserves, a liberal support. WILTON. This is an enterprising, well built village, containing a population of some twelve hundred, and situated on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad at the intersection of the southwest branch with the main line. It is surrounded by a rich, productive and rolling prairie, except on the west, where the timber runs up to the outskirts of the village. The town was laid out in 1855, by S. Butterfield, S. Tufts, and Greene & Stone, and a settlement commenced the following year, the first settlers being P. S. Corey, J. J. Rider and W. McNaughton. It has a good retail trade, and is a large shipping point for grain, hogs and cattle. It contains a large flouring mill, several handsome churches, good graded schools, and all the advantages usually possessed by other Iowa towns of its size and importance. Two newspapers are published here; the Herald, by J. E. Stevenson; and the Exponent, by J. M. Rider & Co., both of which are good local papers.