HISTORY: Tama 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 Tama County, Iowa Please visit the Tama County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/tama/ ________________________________________________________ TAMA COUNTY. This county is the fifth west from the Mississippi River, in the center of the state north and south, and contains twenty congressional townships, or an area of seven hundred and twenty square miles. The general surface of the county is undulating or gently rolling, except in some places along the streams. Along the Iowa River in the northwest, and also in the southeast, there are some high bluffs, which are quite abrupt and precipitous on the side facing the river, and rise to the height of one or two hundred feet. There are quite a large number of low bluffs, or a series of low hills, in the eastern part of the county west of Salt Creek, and in the southern part south of the Iowa River, and some in the west, while a few of this class are also found in the northern part. They are susceptible of cultivation, and many of them have been converted into finely improved farms, which, though not containing quite as rich a soil as the more even portions, are, however, better adapted to the multifarious wants of agriculture, being more suitable for stock raising and not so easily affected by the extremes of wet or drought. The principal streams are lined with beautiful, gently sloping bottom lands, from one-eighth of a mile to two miles in width, the greater part of which are susceptible of the very highest cultivation, only a small portion being too wet or marshy. The remainder of the surface may be termed slightly undulating, sufficient to afford good drainage to almost every eighty acres in the county, and yet but little of it is so steep as to wash or wear away when visited by heavy rains. STREAMS. The most important stream is the Iowa River, which enters the county on the west side and flows in a southeasterly direction across it, and in its various meanderings affords a river line of at least thirty-five miles. This river and its various tributaries drain nearly four-fifths of the county and afford many excellent water powers, only a portion of which have as yet been improved. The principal tributary from the south is Richland Creek, which rises in Marshall County, and entering on the west passes in an easterly direction nearly three- fourths across the county to its junction in Richland Township. Beaver and Raven Creeks are also tributaries from the south, and drain a portion of the southwest. Several large tributaries flow in on the north, the most important of which are Salt, Otter, Deer and Sugar Creeks, all flowing in a southeast direction. The northern portion of the county is watered by Wolf Creek, which is quite a stream, running entirely across the county, in a winding course, from west to east, emptying into the Cedar River in Benton County. Besides these principal streams there are a great many others of considerable size and importance emptying into them, which are in many cases fed by living springs and afford excellent water for stock at all seasons. While these streams do not flow with the rapidity which is usual with streams in a mountainous country, they can by no means be denominated sluggish, as the currents are quite swift and the waters clear and pellucid, except in time of freshets. Perhaps few counties in the state are so well watered, in proportion to the large amount of good prairie lands. Although there are a great many fine springs in the county, the greater portion of water for domestic and household purposes is obtained from wells at a depth varying from twelve to thirty feet, which is of a good quality and sufficiently soft to not be in the least objectionable for drinking or culinary purposes. TIMBER. There is a plentiful supply of excellent timber well distributed over most parts of the county, but especially so in the southern townships along the Iowa and its tributaries. Many of the bluffs are covered with a heavy growth of timber. One mile west and northwest of Toledo is the eastern boundary of a large body of the county, containing at least ten square miles. There is some timber in the north along Wolf Creek, while probably seven-eighths of the native timber is in the southern portion. The leading varieties are white, black and burr oak, black walnut, hickory, cottonwood, linn and white elm, while, less plenty, may be found soft and hard maple, honey locust, ash, umberry, red elm and butternut. The natural fruit-bearing trees and shrubs are thorn apple, crab apple, chock cherry, plum, grape and hazelnut. In addition to the native timber, which can not be estimated at less than 75,000 acres, the prairies in the northern part are dotted with numerous groves of silverleaf maple, cottonwood and other fast-growing woods, which not only lend great additional beauty to the landscape, but materially increase the wealth and resources of the county. RESOURCES. The soil is purely western, of almost inexhaustible fertility, especially in the prairies and bottom lands, which are evidently of alluvial formation, except perhaps the higher points of the former. Clay predominates to quite a large extent in the bluff lands, and the quality of the soil is not quite as good as in the prairies and bottoms, but cannot by any means be called poor. The county has an abundant supply of good building stone, and also stone suitable for the manufacture of lime. Good deposits of building stone are found in various places, but in the vicinity of Orford and Indian Village there are extensive quarries of oolitic limestone possessing peculiar compactness of formation, and is so easily quarried in any shape required as to render it of great value. It is entirely free from sand or quartz, which render it easily dressed, while it is at the same time susceptible of a high polish, and when so finished is equal in beauty to the finest foreign marble. It is found of a variety of colors and shades in the same quarry, and will eventually be a source of great wealth to the county. Occasional boulders are found, the remains of some anterior glacial period or some other commotion that has brought them from the mountain ranges away to the northwest. The county is well adapted, both by the nature of its soil and climate, to raising all kinds of grain usually grown in this latitude. Wheat and corn are the staples, which are usually grown in large quantities, while oats, barley and rye do well, but are considered less remunerative. Much of the corn is fed to hogs and cattle, which, with sheep, are extensively bred, the county having few superiors for stock grazing. Fruit trees, which are cultivated on nearly every farm, grow with thrift and exuberance, and when of proper age yield abundantly. Some care is, however, required in selecting the hardier varieties and in giving them the proper culture. EARLY HISTORY. The first entry of land within the limits of the County of Tama was made by Horace N. Atkinson, May 18, 1848, and was in section thirty, township eighty-three, range fifteen. A few more entries were made in 1849-'50, but the greater portion of the land was entered subsequently to that date. The first death in the county, of which we have any account, was that of Miss Mariah Blodgett, at Indiantown, in the Fall of 1852. From the best information that can now be obtained, it appears that Isaac Asher and family were the first white persons who permanently settled in Tama County. They had been living in Marshall County, near the line of Tama, and, in the Fall of 1849, moved over into the latter county and settled an Indian Village Township. Just about the same time—in October, 1849—a settlement was commenced in what is now Richland Township, by three brothers named Anthony, William and Robert Wilkinson, from Coshocton County, Ohio. They were accompanied by their mother and three sisters. Anthony and William had been soldiers in the Mexican war, and had just received their land warrants for that service. They located their warrants on land in Richland Township, while Robert also purchased land in the same vicinity. There were but few, if any, more settlers until 1851. In the Summer of this year John Duly, Eli Daily and Anthony Brisher settled in Indian Village Township, and David D. Jacob and Levi Applegate, a little further north in what is now Carlton Township. During the Fall of the same year, N. L. Osborn settled on Wolf Creek, in the present Township of Perry, and David Dean in the present Township of Buckingham. During the same Fall a settlement was commenced on Deer Creek, in the present Township of Howard, by Christian Bruner. In the Spring of 1852, Col. John Connell and William Hitchner settled in Perry Township. Among the early settlers of Indian Village Township may be mentioned the names of William Taylor, N. J. Blodgett, William Houston, J. H. Voorhees, Isaac Butler, and Washington Abbott. Among the early settlers in the vicinity of Toledo and Tama City, were John C. Vermilya, J. H. Hollen, George Carter, R. A. Redman, Myron Blodgett, B. A. Hall, John Ross, Judge Graham, and Dr. Wesley Daniel. After 1852, settlements were made in various other parts of the county, and those already commenced continued to grow and prosper. FIRST ELECTION AND ORGANIZATION. Previous to the organization of Tama County it was attached to Benton County for revenue, election and judicial purposes, and while thus attached the first election was held at the house of R. A. Redman, near Iowa River, on the first Monday in August, 1852, at which time the three civil townships of Howard, Indian Village and Buckingham were organized. Since then, however, their boundaries have been greatly reduced. A temporary organization was effected on the first Monday in May, 1853, at which time an election was held for county officers, with the following result; John C. Vermilya, County Judge; John Ross, Treasurer and Recorder; David D. Applegate, Clerk; Myron Blodgett, Sheriff. These were the first county officers, but in conformity with the statute they could only hold their offices until the next general election, which took place on the first Monday of the following August, at which time there were seventy-two votes polled in the county. At this general election there were three voting precincts, to-wit; Howard, Indian Village and Buckingham. The electors in Howard Township met at the house of R. A. Redman; those in Indian Village at the house of Eli W. Baily; and those of Buckingham at the house of N. L. Osborn. In the Summer or early Fall of 1853, Hon. James P. Carlton, then district judge of the 4th judicial district, appointed Joseph M. Ferguson, of Marshall County, and R. B. Ogden, of Poweshiek, commissioners to locate the county seat of Tama County. Accordingly, on the 20th day of the following October, they met at the house of County Judge John C. Vermilya, and, being duly qualified, proceeded to the discharge of their duty. They spent some time in making examinations of the different points suggested, going first to an elevated quarter-section about one mile north of Christian Bruner's mill, which they concluded was entirely too far northwest. The second point examined was near the residence of David Bruner, and was objected to on the same ground. They then went to the present site of Toledo, in township eighty-three of range fifteen, where they determined to locate the permanent seat of justice, and called the place Toledo. The first county business after the location of Toledo seems to have been transacted at the house of the county judge, John C. Vermilya, and September 15, 1854, the first district court was convened in the same place by Judge James P. Carlton. INDIANS. Before the settlement of this county by the whites, the Musquaka band of the Sac and Fox Indians lived on the south bank of the Iowa River, near the western boundary of the county, where bluff, bottom, river, and timber land all blend in one beautiful landscape. They were removed with the rest of their tribe in 1845-'6 to their reservation in Kansas beyond the Mississippi River, but many of them wandered back to their old hunting grounds. For a time the government declined to allow them a pro rata share of the annuity, unless they would return to their reservation. They, however, persisted in remaining, and from time to time acquired the title to several tracts of land now amounting to 419 acres, when the government finally changed its policy towards them, appointed an agent, and now pays them their equal proportion of the annuity, and allows them to remain in Iowa so long as they may demean themselves properly and are permitted by the state authorities. They cultivate a portion of their lands, and give their white neighbors no trouble, as during the winter season most of them go off to different parts of the state hunting and trapping, and return home again in the Spring. They are not numerous, and are fast passing away; the braves that Black Hawk led on to battle have disappeared, and their number has diminished more than half in the last fifteen years, and but few years will pass before the whole tribe will be extinct, the last warrior having gone to the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit. THE PRESS. The first newspaper started in Tama County was the Toledo Tribune, which made its appearance in the Spring of 1856, with M. V. B. Kenton as editor. In the following Fall he sold to H. T. Baldy and T. W. Jackson, who run it some two months, when Jackson's interest passed into the hands of Joshua Burley. This firm continued until February, 1857, when I. L. Allen bought Burley's interest, and a few weeks later the whole establishment passed into the hands of Boleus & Sowers, who continued its publication until the Fall of 1858, when N. C. Welting purchased the office and changed the name of the paper to the Iowa Transcript, which he continued for eight years, when in 1866 the office was removed to Belle Plaine. A Democratic paper called Tama County Farmer was published at Toledo during the political campaign of 1860 by A. J. Kenney, but was discontinued soon after the Fall election. A number of other papers have been published in the county, in regard to which the historian is unable to obtain any satisfactory information. There are at the present time five newspapers published in the county, as follows; At Tama City, the Tama Citizen, established in 1866, and now ably conducted by W. G. Cambridge, and the Tama Press, which first appeared in 1873, and is now under the editorial management of Chapman & Grove; at Toledo, the Toledo Chronicle, first issued in 1867, and now successfully managed and ably edited by J. B. Hedge, a young, forcible, and spicy writer, and the Tama County Independent, which appeared in 1874, and is in the hands of an experienced and popular newspaper man, R. Reichman, who is making it a success; while at Chelsea the Bugle first sounded its clarion notes in 1874, and is now piped by an experienced quill-driver, I. A. Barker, who is making it a wide awake local sheet. RAILROADS. The county has very good railroad facilities, the Chicago & Northwestern passing through the southern portion. Toledo, the county seat, is connected with this road at Tama City, by a short line called the Toledo & Northwestern, which is operated by the Chicago & Northwestern Company. Traer, in the northeast part of the county, is the terminus of the Pacific Division of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota, which, running some eight or nine miles in this county, gives that portion excellent advantages. COUNTY BUILDINGS. When Toledo was laid out a beautiful block 312 feet square was reserved, on which in 1869 a fine court house was erected at a cost of $25,000. It is of brick, two stories high, and 40x70 feet on the ground. There is a stone basement used for storage, while the first or ground floor is divided into spacious and comfortable offices for the use of the county officials, and the upper floor into court and jury rooms. The whole building is a model of neatness and taste, both in architectural design and beauty of finish. Except an appropriation of $5,000, the county is indebted to the liberality of the citizens of Toledo and other private contributions for this fine structure, of which the citizens of the county may feel justly proud. The grounds that surround it have been ornamented by the planting of various kinds of ornamental trees and shrubs. COUNTY OFFICERS FOR 1875. JOSEPH A. BOWDLE, Auditor. C. J. STEVENS, Clerk. DANIEL FORKER, Treasurer. JOHN B. M. BISHOP, Recorder. ROBERT E. AUSTIN, Sheriff. ALBERT H. STERRETT, Supt. Com. Schools. GAMALIA JAQUA, Chairman Board of Supervisors. TOLEDO. This is an incorporated town, the county seat of Tama County, and is beautifully situated on high rolling ground, some two miles north of the main line of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, with which it is connected by a branch road. It is surrounded by a good farming country, which is well improved, and presents to the eye of the beholder an agricultural scene of great beauty and attractiveness. It contains several good business houses which do an extensive retail trade, three large elevators, several handsome churches, a fine school building, good residences, etc., etc. TAMA CITY. This is a thriving town, containing some fifteen hundred inhabitants, and well located on the main line of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, 133 miles west of Clinton. It is handsomely situated on the north side of the Iowa River, the business portion of the town being about half a mile from that stream. A portion of the plat is on high bottom land, extending northward upon a fine elevation overlooking the valley, and is surrounded by a rich, well improved agricultural country. There are some valuable groves of timber on the river easy of access to the town. It was laid out in the Summer of 1862, just previous to the completion of the railroad, and was at first called Iuka. The original plat embraced land owned by J. H. Hollen, but purchased by John I. Blair, of New York, for the purpose of laying out a town. A number of additions have since been made, so that the town plat now embraces several hundred acres. The name was changed to Tama City some two or three years after it was first laid out. The town contains a large public school building a handsome hotel, several fine business blocks, and a number of elegant residences, that of J. H. Brooks costing $25,000. The improvements are all substantial and superior in character to most towns of its size in the West. Early in 1874 a corporation was formed with a capital of $100,000, called the Tama Hydraulic Company, who during that season erected an expensive dam across the Iowa River nearly four miles west of Tama City, a large reservoir on the bottom a little southwest of town, which they connected with the dam by a large and strong acqueduct, and have thus secured a magnificent water power, and during the Summer of 1875 several large manufactories have been erected and are now being operated by this power. This is an important improvement, and will be a source of great adventure to the town for all time to come, and has already given all kinds of business a new impetus. TRAER. This is a thriving young town in the northeast part of the county, at the terminus of the west branch of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota Railroad. It is surrounded by one of the best improved, fertile and wealthiest farming sections of Iowa; is an important shipping point, and probably has a larger retail trade according to its size, than any other town in the northern part of the state. It now contains some thirty-five business houses, and is rapidly growing. OXFORD. --This place is on the railroad, seven miles west of Tama City, in the valley of Iowa River. The extensive oolitic limestone quarries are in the vicinity, and large quantities of lime are manufactured and shipped from this point. CHELSEA.—This is a thriving station on the railroad, twelve miles east of Tama City, and was laid out in 1864, the first building being erected the same year, by W. H. Graham.