HISTORY: Union 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 Union County, Iowa Please visit the Union County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/union/ ________________________________________________________ UNION COUNTY. This county is the eighth west of the Mississippi, the fourth east of the Missouri River, and is in the second tier north from the southern boundary line of the state. It embraces twelve congressional townships of thirty-six square miles each, being an aggregate area of 432 square miles, or 276,480 acres. SURFACE CONFIGURATION AND RESOURCES. The general surface of the county is high, gently rolling, and well- drained prairie, pleasantly varied by numerous groves of native timber, which render the landscape one of great natural beauty and attractiveness. The great watershed dividing the drainage between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, passes across the extreme northeast corner of the county, although the most elevated point of land is, however, near the center on the divide between Grand and Platte Rivers, which according to the surveys of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad is 794 feet above low water in the Mississippi at Burlington, and 1,280 feet above the level of the sea, being the highest point on the line of that road between the two great rivers, while the lowest point within Union County on said road is the bed of Grand River, which is about 300 feet lower than the surface at Highland. The valley proper of the Grand River, however, is only from 100 to 150 feet below the general level of the uplands in the neighborhood, and the great height attained at Highland is by a gradual rise of the general surface from the vicinity of Grand River Valley. The county is, throughout, well watered and drained, the largest stream being the Grand River, which rises in Adair County, and enters Union east of the middle of the north line, running in a southeasterly course, and passing out of the county a few rods west of the southeast corner. The principal tributaries of Grand River in this county are, Four Mile and Seven Mile Creeks on the east, and Three Mile and Twelve Mile Creeks on the west side. These creeks were so named by the Mormons, the names designating their respective distance from the old Mormon settlement at Mount Pisgah. The last two named have their sources in Adair County, and run in a southeasterly course to their junction with Grand River, near the southeast corner of the county. The northeast half of the county is well watered by the streams mentioned. The south and southwest parts are watered by West Grand River, which rises near the center of the county, and by Middle and West Platte. These streams all have numerous smaller tributaries, affording water for stock at nearly all seasons of the year, but are not reliable for mill purposes, although several have been erected on Grand River, most of which have since been discontinued. Excellent well-water, pure and cold, is obtained all over Union County at convenient depths, say from fifteen to thirty feet. Highland, three miles west of Afton, is said to be the highest point between the Mississippi and Missouri, and here there is no difficulty in procuring good wells. Springs abound along the streams, and afford water at all seasons. The principal bodies of timber are on Grand River, Twelve Mile, and Platte; but there are some fine groves on the other streams mentioned. The southeast portion of the county may be considered as well timbered, while the southwest corner township of Platte has also a fine body of good timber. The Congressional township in the northwest corner has no timber, and the one south of it but very little. These townships, however, embrace the finest lands in the county, and were the last to be settled, in consequence of their scarcity of timber. The timber of this county consists chiefly of burr and red oak, white oak, black walnut, hickory, linn, hackberry, red and white elm, soft ash, maple, cottonwood and buckeye. The larger bodies of timber are confined to the bottoms along the streams, the oak, only, extending out on the higher ridges. Within a few years, and since the annual prairie fires have been kept out of the timber, it is rapidly extending, and many fine, thrifty young oak and hickory groves have encroached upon, and now cover, what was formerly prairie. Within the last twelve years, hundreds of acres have attained sufficient growth to afford good firewood. As to wild fruits, the plum, crab-apple, black haw and gooseberry are found in profusion along the skirts of the timber. Blackberries are also plenty in some localities. Hazel thickets prevail in many places, while an occasional mulberry is found along the streams, and also a few wild cherry trees. Among shrubs, the sumach is quite common in places. Game of all kinds is becoming somewhat more rare than formerly, although prairie chickens are abundant, and wild turkeys and quails are also frequently found at certain seasons of the year. Nearly all the streams mentioned above abound in fish of a small size, and some of the citizens find it a pleasant as well as a profitable pastime to angle in the waters of Grand River, Platte, and the other streams that flow through the county. Nearly all the county west of Twelve Mile, embracing about one half of it, is beautiful rolling prairie, capable of producing abundant crops, with scarcely an acre that might not be easily cultivated. The soil is a deep loam, formed by the decayed accumulations of grasses and other vegetation which have grown and returned to fertilize the soil, year after year, for ages. That portion of the county east of Twelve Mile is more inclined to be broken, and although in this respect there is none of it that would not be regarded as arable land in the Eastern States, yet some portions would be passed over by Iowa farmers as unfit for the plow. The soil is generally deep and rich, except on some points of the ridges, where it is inclined to be gravelly. The valleys along the water-courses are narrow, but extremely fertile. The eastern portion of the county, owing to its abundance of timber, was settled earlier than the west, although the soil is not so fertile. Good building stone is found in sufficient abundance at from six to eight miles from Afton, on Grand River. There are quarries at various points along that stream, from directly east of Afton to where it crosses the south line of the county. A good quality of quicklime is also made from this rock. Thin beds of coal have been found at various places, but none of sufficient thickness to be worked profitably. Brick have been manufactured at several places around Afton and Creston, and several brick houses have been erected. The brick are of a rather inferior quality, but when well burned answer admirably for walling wells and cellars, but do not make smooth and handsome walls for buildings. EARLY SETTLEMENT. The first white settlement in Union County was made by the Mormons in July, 1846. At that time the entire country was a vast wilderness of prairie, with the annual fires sweeping over it down the edge of the timber along the valleys. These adventurous wanderers had forsaken Nauvoo and were on their way to the "Promised Land," only stopping here for a temporary stay. Finding it too late in the season for venturing across the great plains that intervened between them and their destination, about two thousand of the "Saints" pitched their tents at a place which they called Mt. Pisgah, situated some five miles north of the present county seat. They were under the leadership of Bishop Huntington, who died, and was buried at Mt. Pisgah. He was the first white person who is known to have died in the county. Another prominent man among them was Elder Morley, formerly of Hancock County, Illinois. Being compelled during the Winter to live in tents and wagons, their records show one hundred and sixty deaths within the first six months. Their settlement, or improvement, embraced about 1,500 acres, which they broke up and cultivated in patches. Being unable to break up the prairie sod with their light teams, composed mostly of cows, they went into the timber on Grand River and girdled, or deadened, hundreds of acres of the best timber to be found there, and ploughed up the light bottom soil for their crops. In this way they raised a plentiful crop of corn during the season of 1847. They were obliged to remain until the Spring of 18.0, and some of them until the Spring of 1851, in order to raise cattle to enable them to resume their journey. They were very poor. Their prophet, Joe Smith, had once told them at Nauvoo that there were three kinds of poor—God's poor, the devil's poor, and poor devils, and that most of them surely belonged to the last named class. They are represented, however, as being industrious and frugal while they sojourned on Grand River. During their stay here, their only communication with the outside world was at Fort Des Moines. The Mormons built, in 1847, on Grand River, what was afterward known as Peters' Mill. It had one run of burrs, and for several years answered, during the supply of water, the convenience of the early settlers. It was the only mill in the county up to 1853, in which year Amos C. Cooper built another mill on Grand River, in Pleasant Township, near the southeast corner of the county. At the time the Mormons lived at Mt. Pisgah, many Indians of the Pottawattamie and Musquawka tribes occupied and had their hunting grounds along Grand River, and in the timber on the neighboring streams. They were under the leadership of the somewhat noted chief, John Green. Game at that time was abundant here. The relations of the Mormons and Indians were always amicable. Aside from the Mormons, the first white settlement was made in the county in the Spring of 1850. Among those who came first were Norman Nun, Joseph Nun, James H. Starks, William M. Lock, Benjamin Lamb. The above named persons, with their families, settled at Mt. Pisgah, buying out the Mormons when they renewed their journey westward. Mr. Lock is the only one who remains a permanent settler in the county, but a portion of the family of Norman Nun remain here. Stark went with his family to California in 1858. Henry Peters settled at the old Mormon Mill on Grand River about the same time, or shortly after, and laid out a town which was called Petersville. At one time it contained a store and several small dwelling houses, and was really the business place of the county. Like Mt. Pisgah, but few traces of its ancient greatness are now visible. Except among the Mormons, Henry Peters was the first white person who died in the county, his death occurring in December, 1853. The first birth was a son to William M. Lock, August 6, 1850. A post office was established at Mt. Pisgah in the Winter of 1850, the mail being supplied from Chariton, contract one mile an hour, being transported on a cow. The first election was held in the Fall of 1852, by an order of the county judge of Clark County, Union being attached to that county for election, revenue and judicial purposes. This election was held at Mt. Pisgah, and nine votes were cast. The voters were Norman Nun, Ambrose Nun, James H. Starke, Joseph Ray, Henry Peters, John Edgcombe, A. J. Starke, William M. Lock, and – Canfield. At this election William M. Lock was elected justice of the peace, and Ambrose Nun, constable. The entire county was a township or election precinct, and was called Pisgah. The first road laid out through the county was in 1848, Colonel Stratton being the commissioner to locate the same. Report says that the instrument used was constructed of a tin cup and a darning needle. All the roads were originally run following the divides, and were consequently very crooked. This first road passed across the county in a northwesterly direction. The next located was the one from Glenwood to Chariton. In the Winter of 1852-3, the Legislature passed an act organizing the County of Union, with John Edgcomb as the organizing sheriff. He was an Englishman, and had not yet been naturalized. He officiated as sheriff, but was too conscientious to vote. At this election eleven votes were cast—five Whig and six Democratic. The Democrats elected Edgcomb sheriff. Of the six Democrats, but one could read and write—Henry Peters. They elected for county judge Norman Nun, who signed his name to his official records, as now to be seen, by making his "X." The first official act of the sheriff was to take possession of a colt for debt. Owing to the belligerent character of the defendant, the sheriff deemed it prudent to call a posse to assist him in making the seizure. It consisted of all the men in the county. When the sheriff and his posse visited the premises they found the poor colt dead. Its owner (Samuel Storr), with something of the same spirit that caused the burning of Moscow, had let the dogs on the poor animal and killed it, rather than permit it to fall into the hands of the enemy. The first hotel in the county was kept at Mt. Pisgah, by William M. Lock. Being something of a wag, when travelers called and desired to know if they could be accommodated, he would tell them, "O, yes, if you can put up with wolf meat and poor whisky," and such was the serious manner of Mr. Lock in making a statement of his bill of fare, that travelers were generally inclined to believe him really in earnest. They were compelled, however, to stop with him, making a virtue of necessity, from the fact that the first house east was at Glenn's post office, in Clarke County, forty-two miles distant; and the nearest northwest, at Thomas M. Johnson's, in Adair County, forty-five miles distant. When the real bill of fare was placed before them, his guests were generally very agreeably undeceived. The first district court convened at Petersville, in the Fall of 1853— Judge Allen A. Bradford presiding, and Joseph M. Ray acting as clerk. So few were the voters, that it was necessary to call all the men in the county to serve as grand jurors. The next court also convened at Petersville, in the Spring of 1854—Judge E. H. Sears presiding, and J. F. Ickis acting as clerk. No cases of importance were tried. The first move toward the location of a county seat for Union County, was made through Colonel Henry Allen, who was in the Legislature from Lucas County, in 1852-3. Commissioners, however, failed to meet from some cause, and the matter went by default. At the session of the Legislature of 1854-5, by an act approved January 20, 1855, George A. Hawley, Samuel S. Walker, and Adrian Miller were appointed to locate the county seat of Union County. They made selection of the present site February 16, 1865. The beautiful little stream, known by the unpoetical name of Twelve Mile, flows peacefully along on the west and south, within half a mile of the town, its placid waters embowered in picturesque groves as far as the eye can behold. Mrs. James Baker, of Chariton, the wife of one of the proprietors, being an enthusiastic admirer of the Scotch bard, suggested the classical name of Afton—that of the beautiful and romantic little river in Scotland, immortalized in the lines; "Flow gently, sweet Afton, along the green braes; Flow gently, I'll sing the a song in they praise." There was, however, another aspirant for county seat honors. Justus Clark, of Des Moines County, and his brother, Philo Clark, had in the Summer of 1854, located a town, calling it Highland. This point claimed the county seat, and upon a vote of the people of the county being taken, the result was a decision in favor of Afton. The first sale of town lots in Afton was to take place on the 20th of March, 1855, but in consequence of a question being raised as to the regularity of the title to a portion of the land on which the town was located, the sale was postponed until Fall, when the question of title was settled. The original proprietors of Afton were Henn, Williams & Co. And so Union County finally succeeded in getting a permanent seat of justice. In the meantime considerable improvement had been made in the rival town of Highland. Most of the buildings were subsequently removed to Afton, or to other places, to be occupied as farm houses. The first settlers in Pleasant Township, in the southeast part of the county, were Benjamin Lamb, Isaac P. Lamb and Amos C. Cooper. They settled there in 1851. I. P. Lamb was the first School-Fund Commissioner. The first settlers in the northeast portion of the county were William Groesbeck, Lewis Bragg, and a numerous family named Comer. They settled there in 1852-3. The first settlers in the northwest part of the county were Henry Rose, Richard Thompson and Joseph and William Peck, in about 1854. The pioneer settlers in the southwest were Reuben Madden, Reuben Riggs, Frank Berming and Asa Ames, in 1853. The first application for marriage license was for Thomas Nun and Sarah Starr, August 13, 1853. The marriage was duly solemnized, but the records do not show a return of certificate. The next marriage, as shown by the record, was John Armitage and America Lamb, June 5, 1854. The first entry of land in this county was made by Henry Peters, July 21, 1851. There is but a single tract of eighty acres that is called swamp land in the county. The Methodist Episcopal Church was first organized in Union County in 1855. Rev. W. E. Williams, still a resident of the county, was the pastor. His circuit then embraced the counties of Union, Ringgold and part of Decatur. There were four preaching places in the county, as follows; Afton, Pisgah, Ord's and Platte Grove. The total membership in 1856 was 70, and the amount paid the pastor the first year was $91.84. The Baptist Church was organized in Afton, January 1, 1854, by Rev. T. Miller, with a membership of fourteen. Another Baptist Church was organized in Platte Township, in September, 1866, with a membership of eight. The first Sabbath School in the county was a Union Sabbath School, and was organized in Afton in 1856. The first M. E. Sabbath School was organized in 1857. SCHOOLS, RAILROADS, ETC. The people of Union County have taken great interest in education, to which the present healthy and prosperous condition of her public schools is largely due. Every neighborhood has its neat and comfortable school house, in which schools are maintained on an average from six to nine months each year. Institutes have been held in which most of the teachers seem much interested, and from which they have received considerable benefit. Progress is plainly manifest in all things pertaining to the common schools of the county, so that it can now be truly said that few new counties in the West afford superior advantages to those found in Union. According to the census of 1873 there were in the county seventy ungraded and eight graded schools, employing fifty-seven male and seventy-four female teachers, with an enrollment of 2,033 pupils. The annual amount expended is upwards of $20,000, while the permanent county school fund is $35,044.46. The railroad facilities of this county for the shipments and receipts of freights east, west or south are excellent. The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, now operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Company, runs from east to west through the center tier of townships, affording stations at Thayer, Afton, Creston and Cromwell, while the Creston branch of the same road leaves the main line at Creston and runs in a southwest direction, crossing two townships, and having a station at Kent, near the southwest corner. A County Agricultural Society was organized at West Union, January 30, 1858, at which time the officers elected were; John D. Wright, President; J. F. Bishop, Secretary; Cyrus Stutts, Treasurer; with seventeen members. The first fair was held the next Fall, when there were sixty-five members. The receipts were $61, and the amount paid in premiums $44 Thomas M. Robinson was the next president, and the same secretary and treasurer were re-elected. At the second fair $67 were awarded in premiums. During the war the society failed to hold its annual fairs. The first fair after the war was held in 1866, at which over $300 were awarded in premiums. Last year about $250 were awarded, but the exhibition was better then ever before. Over 400 entries were made, and great interest was taken. Successful fairs have since been held, which have done much to awaken among the farmers a laudable ambition to excel in agricultural pursuits and stock raising. THE PRESS. The first newspaper published in the county was called the Afton Eagle, and was commenced in the Summer of 1859, by Morris & Ryan. In politics the paper was Democratic, and supported Douglas for the Presidency. It was sold to L. Raguet, and after the election of Lincoln was changed to a neutral paper, and assumed the name of Afton Reveille. About 1862, Raguet sold to Henry Emman, who made it a Republican paper. In a short time the office was purchased by a company, and Raguet employed to conduct it in the publication of a Republican paper, although it is said that it did not accord with his political sentiments. In 1864, it was again sold to Robbins & Cornelius, who continued its publication until the Fall election of 1865 as a Republican paper. Raguet then again assumed charge of it as a neutral paper, and as such, continued its publication until the Spring of 1868, when he sold to W. R. Roberts, who changed the name to the Afton Tribune, and made it again a Republican sheet, who is still continuing its publication, and is making it a readable wide-awake local paper. It has a good circulation. The Afton News, a neatly printed liberal Democratic sheet, was established in 1871, by S.W. Morehead, who in 1872 sold to Baxter Bros., who conducted it until 1875, when it passed into the hands of the present editor and publisher, J. F. Bishop, an experienced newspaper man, who is making its influence felt in the county, and has a large and increasing circulation. The Creston Gazette is a spritely, ably conducted Republican newspaper, which made its first appearance under the management of C. M. Schultz, who is still one of its editors and publishers. For a time it was published by Harsh & Schultz, and is now owned and edited by Shultz & Oungst, who are making it a popular paper, and have secured a large circulation in Union and the adjoining counties. In 1872 the Union County Independent made its first appearance at Creston, with the name of W. H. Hoxie—who is its present publisher—at the head of its editorial columns. It has since been continuously published, wielding an important influence in the politics and general welfare of the county. Its editorial columns are now under the management of S. M. Hamilton. COUNTY OFFICIALS, 1875. H. A. BOTLEMAN, Auditor. E. J. EMMONS, Clerk of Courts L. A. HELT, Treasurer. BENJAMIN F. MARTZ, Recorder. F. M. RICHEY, Sheriff. J. M. MILLEGAN, Supt. of Common Schools. GEORGE A. IDE, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. AFTON, The county seat of Union County, is located some two miles east of the geographical center of the county, on a high gently undulating prairie, overlooking a wide extent of country, and commanding a fine view of the beautifully varied of Twelve Mile Creek and the highly improved farms that border it on either side. The location is represented as being very healthy, one having an exhaustless supply of pure air and water. The town was surveyed and platted in the Fall of 1854, by John D. Wright, formerly county surveyor and member of the Legislature from Des Moines County. The original plat embraced two hundred and forty acres—being the southwest of sixteen, and the north half of the northwest of twenty-one, township seventy-two, range twenty-nine. The even numbered lots were donated by the proprietors to the county. The first house was built of logs in April, 1855, by David Fife, and was used as a store and dwelling. It is still standing in the west part of the town. The next was a frame built by Mr. Collins for a hotel, in the Summer of the same year, and during the same season Joseph Norris built a frame hotel, in which D. J. Guthridge, Esq., also kept a store. During the twenty years since its first settlement Afton has become a town of considerable importance, securing and still doing a good retail trade. Numerous handsome business houses and some really elegant residences have been erected. Good churches and school houses ornament the town, showing that the intellectual and moral wants of the community are well provided for. Altogether the town is blessed with a pleasant and healthful climate, good schools, churches and society, in fact everything desirable to make it a pleasant and attractive place of residence. CROMWELL. – This town is near the west line of the county, about fifteen miles from Afton, and 195 miles from Burlington. It was laid out in October, 1868, and the first business house erected by W. A. Ballard. The cars commenced running to the place about the first of June, 1869. THAYER. – This is on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, nine miles east of Afton. It is on a gentle slope rising from the valley of Four Mile Creek. It was selected as a railroad station by D. N. Smith, in June, 1867, but the village was not laid out until in October, 1868. The first house was built by J. H. Reed during the same year. KENT. – This is a station in the southwest part of the county, on the Creston Branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. It is in a rich farming portion of the county. CRESTON. Among the enterprising, attractive and promising business centers of Southwestern Iowa, none have had a more healthy, rapid and substantial growth than Creston, which is situated a little west of the center of Marion County, on the line of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, on a tract of table-land which is about the highest point on that road between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. It is surrounded on all sides by a beautiful undulating prairie, which handsomely slopes in all directions just enough to give an excellent natural drainage, and is being rapidly settled up and put in a high state of cultivation by an enterprising and intelligent class of farmers. The town was laid out in the Summer of 1869 by the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, the first house being erected by them during the Fall of that year, since which time the per cent of its increase had been more rapid than its most enthusiastic friends had dared to hope. It now contains a population of upwards of 2,000, and is steadily increasing, and constantly acquiring new and increased advantages for making it a pleasant and desirable place of residence. The principal division and machine shops of the Iowa Division of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad are located here, as well as a large round house and stock yards, while the Creston and Kansas City branch of the above named road intersects the main line at this place, making it permanently a railroad town. A gap of only thirty-six miles intervenes between this place and Winterset, which, when completed, will give direct communication, over the line of the Winterset branch of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, with the State Capital. Aid has been voted to the St. Paul and Southwestern Railroad, and it is confidently expected that it will be completed to this point at no very distant day. The improvements throughout are of a much better character than those of most new Western towns, showing that men of means have invested their capital, feeling assured that the future growth of the town would be such as to yield them a good return. Great energy has been displayed by the citizens in building up churches, schools, and other public institutions, without which no place can permanently prosper or be in considerable degree successful. There are three handsome churches, viz; the Methodist, Congregational, and Catholic, while the Baptists, Evangelists and Christian denominations have organizations. A public library, containing upwards of one thousand volumes, has been established, the association owning a substantial two-story building with hall above, and reading-room, which is open during all business hours and a portion of each Sunday, below. The public schools, of which the citizens are justly proud, are in a flourishing condition under the charge of a corps of six experienced and thoroughly competent teachers, there being two buildings, one on each side of town. Besides the usual number of business houses, there are three large grain elevators and one flouring mill, while the town has made ample arrangements for security against fire by the purchase of a good fire engine and other apparatus. The streets are wide, well graded, and provided with substantial sidewalks, while public wells are conveniently situated, and shade trees planted on nearly all the streets. While few if any towns in the state can show so rapid a growth, none can boast of a more liberal, public-spirited, wide-awake and go-ahead class of business men than those who have been instrumental in securing the rapid and substantial growth of this town. With such men as have thus far been the leading spirits, and with the start it has already attained and the natural resources within its command. Creston will, without doubt, at a period not far in the future, assume a position among the most important inland towns of the state.