HISTORY: Ringgold 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 Ringgold County, Iowa Please visit the Ringgold County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/ringgold/ ________________________________________________________ RINGGOLD COUNTY. Ringgold is in the southern tier of counties, and is the fourth east of the Missouri River. It embraces an area of sixteen congressional townships, but the southern tier of townships is fractional along the state line, wanting the southern tier of sections entirely and nearly half of the second tier, which leaves the county about five hundred and forty square miles of territory. The county is well supplied with living water in every part, and admirably drained by the Platte and the several forks of Grand River and their numerous affluents. The general trend of the streams is southward and they flow to the Missouri River. Water is also readily obtained on the uplands by digging. The principal streams acquire considerable volume before they leave the county, and afford good mill sites and sufficient water power for the uses of the county. The valleys are interesting from the fact that they are the deepest and largest purely drift valleys in Iowa. They are eroded by the action of the water from a depth of one hundred and fifty feet to more than two hundred feet, and yet, except at one or two points, no rock is to be seen in their valley sides which are drift material from top to bottom. From these and other indications the drift is estimated to reach a depth of about two hundred feet. This is the deepest portion of the drift deposit in the state. The highest ridge of land in Southern Iowa, a branch of the great watershed that separates from it in Adair County, passes down into Missouri through this county. Although this county is upon the Missouri slope, the bluff deposit of Western Iowa does not extend so far eastward. RESOURCES. There is considerable timber in the valleys of the streams; elsewhere the surface of the county is almost all prairie, and its general aspect is peculiar and interesting. A stranger passing through the county by the ordinary routes of travel is quite unconscious of the presence within the range of his vision of the deep valleys with their wooded banks, for the general surface upon which his eye rests is apparently all an undulating prairie. Upon approaching the streams he sees them winding through rather narrow valleys, their banks lined with a border of trees, but after crossing them they are soon lost to view again among the general undulations of the surface, and not even the tops of the tallest trees appear in sight. No ponds of stagnant water or wet marshy land are found in this county, and it is particularly well adapted to agricultural purposes. The soil is the common deep rich drift soil characteristic of southern Iowa, capable of producing abundant crops of all products adapted to the climate of that latitude, of corn especially. The native grasses formerly yielded large crops, but as population increased have been gradually superseded to a large extent by the tame grasses which are propagated easily and thrive abundantly. Timothy, clover, and blue grass are extensively cultivated. This has become a prosperous and prominent stock raising county, including cattle, horses, mules, sheep, and hogs. Of late years considerable attention has been given to fruit growing with excellent success. Apples, pears, cherries, and all the small fruits thrive with proper cultivation. Grapes may be produced in great abundance. A good deal of attention has been given to hedging, and hedge fences are becoming numerous in the county. The osage orange is found to answer the purposes admirably, and is chiefly used, although willow is employed to some extent. The hedge is found to afford a good wind-break as well as a good fence. Only two exposures of rock are found in the county. One of them is in a deep valley in the extreme northeast corner of the county, and the other is near its southern boundary, consisting in each case of a few layers of limestone belonging to the upper coal measures. It makes a good quality of quick-lime, and some of it is suitable for building purposes. From the geological character of these exposures it is inferred that coal may be found by deep mining. Good materials for the manufacture of brick are found in various places. EARLY HISTORY. Charles H. Schooler and family, the first residents of this county, settled in the southeastern part in the year 1844. For two years his was the only white family in the vicinity. In 1847, Manoah B. Schooler was born, being the first white child born in the county. In 1846, James M. Tithrow settled near Mr. Schooler, but for several years thereafter there appears to have been no further immigration. In the Spring of 1854, they suddenly found the population of the county increased to nine families, and in the Fall of 1854 and Spring of 1855, there was quite a brisk immigration and four or five settlements or neighborhoods were formed in as many different portions of the county. ORGANIZATION. Until its organization in 1855, Ringgold was attached to Taylor County. In the Spring of 1851, an attempt was made to organize the county. By an act of the Legislature, approved February 4, 1851, John M. Ellis and Reason Wilkinson were appointed commissioners to locate the seat of justice. On the 26th of June of the same year they reported to the Board of Commissioners of Decatur County, as they were required to do by law, that they had selected a place for the county seat of Ringgold County, and had designated the location by setting a stake about four miles south of the center of said county, and that they had named said county seat Urbana. They further reported that they could not give a more particular description of the place for the reason that the land had not yet been surveyed into sections. Probably at this day nobody knows the exact location of Urbana. This first attempt to organize the county was not a success, doubtless for the reason that it did not contain a sufficient population. On the 16th of October, 1852, the County Judge of Taylor County ordered that Ringgold County be a separate election precinct, to be called Schooler Township, and that the place of voting at the presidential election be at the house of Lot Hobbs. This was in the southern part of the county, where there is now a creek that bears the name of Lot's creek, which probably derived its name from this early settler. Charles H. Schooler, Abner Smith, and Jesse Harper were appointed to act as judges of this election. Charles H. Schooler was appointed Justice of the Peace, and Lot Hobbs Constable of Schooler Town- ship. The latter was also appointed Supervisor of Roads, and one Littleton Allen, a Commissioner to locate a road from the state line, in a northeast direction across the county. On the 5th of January, 1855, another legislative act was approved, appointing Commissioners to locate the county seat of Ringgold County. They were George W. Jones, Robert W. Stafford, and George A. Hawley. On the 18th of April of the same year, they reported to the County Judge of Decatur County, as authorized by the act of the Legislature in case there was no County Judge in Ringgold County, that they had selected the southwest quarter of section 6, township 68, range 29, for the county seat, giving it the name of Mt. Ayr. Edward A. Temple and wife deeded the land to the county, June 9, 1855. Soon after the location of the county seat, an election of county officers was held, at which James C. Hagans was elected County Judge; Mathew R. Brown, Clerk; Joseph W. Cofer, Treasurer and Recorder; Hiram Imus, Sheriff and Charles H. Schooler, School Fund Commissioner. June 29th, 1855, Judge Hagans made a settlement of financial matters with Judge Lowe, of Taylor County, when it appeared that there was $1.45 due Ringgold County, and with this small capital she set up for herself. By direction of the County Judge, William McCormick surveyed the land deeded to the county as the seat of justice, into village lots, and filed his report July 3d, 1855. The lots are 66x132 feet, except those fronting the public square, which are 41x132 feet. The streets are 66 feet wide. The first formal meeting of the county officers was held at the house of Ephraim Cofer, about six miles south of Mt. Ayr, July 2, 1855. At this time the County Judge divided the county into four civil townships, or election precincts, named respectively; Sand Creek, Platte, West Fork, and Lot's Creek. Each of these election precincts contained four congressional townships. An election was ordered to be held on the first Monday in August, at the house of Stanberry Wright, for the northeast precinct; at the house of Garret Bird for the northwest; at the house of John McGaughey for the southwest, and at the house of Joseph Strickland for the southeast precinct; returns to be made at the house of Ephraim Cofer. The County Judge, Clerk and Recorder at this time made a dividend of fees received up to date, the share of each being $3.20. The public business was transacted at this place until September, 1855, after which it was transacted at Mt. Ayr. In the Spring of 1856 the County Judge caused the erection of a hewed log house, at Mt. Ayr, for the use of the county officers. It was fourteen feet square, and furnished with two tables, two desks or book-cases, and a small rough-board box or safe for the public revenue. It was occupied by the County Judge, Clerk, Treasurer and Recorder, Surveyor, and one Physician, as regular occupants. This first court house was superseded in 1859 by a frame one erected on the east side of and fronting the public square, two stories high, with four office rooms in the first, and court and jury rooms in the second story. It cost $3,500, which was paid from the proceeds of the sales of town lots. The first District Court for Ringgold County convened at Mt. Ayr, May 25, 1857. Judge John S. Townsend presided; Randolph Sry being the Clerk. John W. Warren was appointed Prosecuting Attorney. The following were the petit jurors; Sanford Harrow, David M. Lesan, John C. Stuart, William Skinner, William Francis, Henry Roland, John L. Rush, C. G. Rowell, Thomas Marshall, Henry Crabbs, William. Water, A. W. Tice, Samuel Allison, A. J. McClerg, and L. S. Terwilliger. Luke Shey was naturalized at this term, this being the first business transacted after organizing the Court. The first Grand jury empanneled was at the October term of the same year, and was composed of the following persons; John Shields, Wm. C. Harvey, Wm. Turner, Michael Stahl, Isaac Oliver, Thomas M. Hall, Henry Arnett, John Morgan, John Carman, Gabriel Huffman, Henry J. Dewitt, Wm. Arnett, Teuben B. Moulton, E. W. Rice, Anderson W. Tice. INDIAN WAR. A number of Pottawattamie Indians remained in the county until the Summer of 1855, when a report was circulated that a white man had been murdered by them. The report created no little excitement, and some of the settlers were panic stricken. Finally fifty or sixty of the more courageous banded together and proceeded to the Indian camp in the northwest part of the county, where they demanded the surrender of the murderer. A careful investigation failed to discover the guilty party, whereupon the entire band was directed to leave the county, and were escorted to St. Joseph, Mo., and across the river to the reservation of their nation in Kansas. Thus ended a bloodless Indian war, and soon after the return of the escort, information was received of the safe arrival of the supposed murdered man in an eastern state. Some property of the Indians, consisting of three guns and sixteen steel traps, was sold at auction by the Sheriff of Ringgold County, on the 5th of November, 1855, toward defraying the expenses of the removal. The Indians, however, afterwards frequently made excursions to their old hunting grounds in the county. PROMINENT MEN. One of the most prominent men in the early history of the county was Judge Hagans, who wielded great influence from the time of his first election as County Judge until his death. He came to the county from McDonough County, Ill, in June, 1854, and was a native of Kentucky. He served the people three terms in the office of County Judge, and was elected State Senator at the general election of 1857, from the district composed of the Counties of Ringgold, Taylor, Adams, Union, and Clarke. He served with ability in the Eighth and Ninth General Assemblies. He discharged his last senatorial and official duties at the extra session of September, 1862. Soon after this time his health began to fail. He died Sept. 7, 1863, at his home in Mt. Ayr. Another of the prominent men of the county, was Captain A. Z. Huggins, of Co. G., 19th Iowa Infantry. He died in the Spring of 1866, shortly after his return from serving as a member of the Eleventh General Assembly. A neat marble monument, erected at a cost of $600, marks his final resting place in the beautiful cemetery near Mt. Ayr. FIRST NEWSPAPER. The first newspaper published in the county was called the Mt. Ayr Republican, and was commenced in the Spring of 1861, by P. O. James as publisher, and George Burton as editor. It was continued only about six months, when both publisher and editor entered the military service, the former as a private, and the latter as a captain. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. As early as 1859, Ringgold county organized an agricultural society. On the 18th of June of that year a formal organization was completed, with the following board of officers; I. W. Keller, President; E. Sheldon, Vice President; A. Z. Huggins, Secretary; and J. C. Hagans, Treasurer. Eight directors were also elected. The first annual fair was held October 14, 1855. The society purchased a beautiful forty-acre tract of land about one mile northeast of Mt. Ayr, on which they located their fair grounds, and have made good improvements. The affairs of the society are in a prosperous condition. COUNTY OFFICERS, 1875. JOHN McFARLAND, Auditor. ALLEN HIGGINS, Treasurer. GEO. S. ALLYN, Clerk of Courts. BENJ. F. DAY, Recorder. JOHN R. HENDERSON, Sheriff. ROBERT F. ASKREN, Superintendent of Schools. AARON NASH, Chairman Board of Supervisors. MOUNT AYR. This place is pleasantly situated on a high, rolling prairie near the head of the Middle Grand River, three-quarters of a mile south of the geographical center of the county, and within a mile and a quarter of Walnut Creek. The nearest timber is about one mile distant. The site of the town commands an extensive view of the surrounding country in different directions. The first settlement was made in 1855 by David Edwards, Oran Gore, Chester Standcliff, B. B. Dunning and A. G. Beal. In the Spring of 1856 the county judge, clerk and treasurer made their homes in Mount Ayr, and about the same time Henry Crabb, a merchant, and Dr. E. Keith, settled in the place, being respectively the first merchant and physician. It is a town of considerable business, notwithstanding the absence of railroad communications. The various mercantile branches are well and prosperously represented by enterprising business men. The professions are also well represented. The public schools are liberally provided with good school rooms, furnished with all the modern improvements. The schools are maintained at a high standard of excellence by the aid of competent teachers. Churches and Sabbath schools provide equally well for the spiritual welfare of both old and young. The citizens of Mount Ayr have displayed great taste, as well as a proper regard for the dead, in selecting and ornamenting their cemetery, situated on a conspicuous piece of ground near town. It contains three and a half acres, enclosed with a willow hedge planted in the Spring of 1867. NEWSPAPERS. In April, 1865, the Ringgold Record, was established, with W. R. Turk as publisher, and I. S. Beall as editor. They were succeeded about the 1st of June, 1866, by Geo B. Roby as publisher and editor, by whom it was sold to the present editor and proprietor, D. D. Pratt, who enlarged the paper to its present size in June, 1874. The Record is a newsy, enterprising Republican sheet of four pages, eight columns to the page, published weekly, and enjoys a prosperous business and a liberal patronage. The other villages and post offices are Bozzaris, Caledonia, Clipper, Cross, Eugene, Goshen, Ingart Grove, Marena, Redding, Ringgold City, Union Hill, Bloomington, Tingley and Marshall.