Chapter VII: William Abbe, the First Settler in the County

William Abbe, we believe, was the first white settler to locate a claim within the boundaries of Linn county. He came as early as the summer of 1836, from near Elyria, Lorain county, Ohio, seeking a location, coming via Rock Island. He followed the Red Cedar river as far as the present site of Mount Vernon, where he staked out a claim adjoining a little creek, which to this day goes by the name of "Abbe's Creek." He returned to his home in Ohio and in the winter of 1837 he again crossed the Mississippi with his family on the ice as early as February of that year, according to his daughter's statement, and in April reached the location he had selected the previous year on Abbe's creek. Here he erected one of the first cabins in the county, being about 12×14 feet square, and covered with birch bark, having no floor. In this little cabin the family lived all summer. In the fall he erected a large double log house with three large rooms and an upstairs which was reached by a ladder from within. On this creek the family lived for five years where Mr. Abbe owned four hundred acres. He disposed of this farm and removed a short distance south of Marion where he purchased another farm where he lived till he removed to Marion.

William Abbe was born in Connecticut April 19, 1800, being of English descent. When a young boy he removed to the state of New York. He was married to Olive Greene in 1824 and by her had four children: Lucy, Lois, Andrew, and Susan. Lois Abbe died young, Lucy Abbe died many years ago, Andrew Abbe passed away at San Juan, California, in 1902, and Susan Abbe-Shields now resides at Hollister, California.

William Abbe brought his wife and children to Linn county in 1837; his wife died in 1839 and was buried in a cemetery located near the farm on which he settled, about two miles northwest of Mount Vernon. He married a second time on September 13, 1840, his wife being Mary Wolcott, also from Ohio, and by her he had two sons, born at Marion: Augustus Wolcott Abbe and William Alden Abbe. William Alden Abbe died several years ago; his widow and one child, a daughter, reside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Augustus Wolcott Abbe, an old soldier, resides in Toledo, Iowa, and has a family of eight children.

Mrs. Susan Shields was born in 1830 and was about seven years of age when she came to Linn county. She was married to John Harman March 16, 1848, who died shortly afterwards, and she later married John Shields, a resident of Vinton, Iowa. In an interesting letter on early Linn county days she writes as follows:

"There were no white people for a long time after we landed
in Linn county; when they did come my mother used to let
them come and stay there until they would find a place to
suit them; it was always a free home for the immigrants.
When we first went there I was but a child seven years old.
The men I remember most were Robert Ellis, one of our first
acquaintances, and Asher Edgerton, the former being with us
a long time when the country was new. Of course we had men
come in, such as horse thieves, and my father had some of
them chained up in one of our rooms for safe keeping until
they could be tried, as there was no jail for some time in
Linn county.

"I went with my father to Marion, a little place then with
one or two houses and a jail. We carried an iron trap door
for the jail; it was in two rooms, one upstairs and one
downstairs. There were two men in the dungeon at the time;
we took the door for this jail. My father was a justice of
the peace for awhile; he was also a member of the state
legislature when the capital was located at Iowa City. Later
father sold our place on Abbe's Creek and purchased another
on the old Marion road, of about three hundred acres,
further north; there was a lovely creek, a grove of maple
trees was on one side and a boundless prairie on the other
side. The Indians used to come in the spring of the year to
camp and make sugar; I have seen as many as five or six
hundred at a time camped near our house in the timber; they
always made it a camping ground at our place and they seemed
to be very fond of my father, who was kind to them and who
spoke and understood the Winnebago language.

"I remember well the first time I went to Cedar Rapids with
my father; this was in the early '40s; there were five
hundred Winnebago Indians camped there at the time. I had
played with the Indians so much that I could talk the Indian
language as well as themselves, so they had me to talk for
them. There were only one or two white settlers there at the
time. By the way, I was the first school teacher they had in
Cedar Rapids; I think it was about in 1846; I still have the
certificate issued to me by Alexander Ely, who was
superintendent at the time. After residing on this place a
short time my father disposed of his farm and removed to
Marion; he also lived for some time at Dubuque where he held
a government position in the Land Office, I think. The
breaking out of the gold fever in 1849 caused him to get
excited and he left for California, leaving the family at
Marion.

"My father was a born pioneer; although born in Connecticut
he went to New York when the country was new, and then to
Ohio, and later came to Iowa. In California he never mined
gold, but teamed and speculated; he was there about two
years, returning to Iowa in 1851, remaining in Iowa only a
short time when he returned to California with his son,
Andrew. My father died in Sacramento, California, February
15, 1854, when about to go to Iowa to bring his family to
California, and he is buried in Sacramento."

This interesting letter from a real Linn county pioneer more than seventy years of age gives only an idea of the hardships of pioneer life, and what this woman has endured as a daughter and wife of the first settlers.

William Abbe's widow, Mary Wolcott, continued to reside in Marion with her family until August 27, 1861, when she died, universally respected by all who knew her.

Mr. Abbe was an old time democrat and as such was in the state senate session, having the honor to appoint Robert Ellis postmaster of the senate, as a reward of friendship and good will. Mr. Abbe also was a justice of the peace for some time, was appointed commissioner to locate state roads, had the contract for the erection of the first jail at Marion, and was otherwise a very useful citizen. He was also master of the first Masonic lodge at Marion, and one of the best known and best educated men in Linn county up to the time of his removal to California. For a number of years Mr. Abbe was the only person in the county having ready money, loaning the same to his friends for the purchase of their claims. He held government contracts for the delivery of meat and provisions to the Winnebago agency at Fort Atkinson and to the troops at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and at other places, and thus was acquainted with many of the military officers in the Black Hawk war and with the Indian chiefs and braves of the Winnebago tribe, as well as the Sac and Fox Indians. It is said that William Abbe conversed freely with the Winnebago Indians, and frequently acted as an interpreter when matters of importance came up between members of the tribe and the white settlers; he was always a friend and protector of the Indians and frequently helped them in securing their just rights when they had been robbed by the white free-booters, hunters and trappers.

William Abbe was a kind and generous man, and his home was always open to the people who came into Linn county at an early day to seek homes. It is also said that Mrs. Abbe was an excellent cook and many of the old surveyors would ride several miles out of their way to get a meal at the Abbe homestead, for the latch string of the Abbe home was always out.

Mr. Abbe rode horseback a great deal and would be gone for weeks at a time, and while he was away the family lived quietly at home awaiting for days for his return when provisions were frequently scarce and when the snow drifts generally were large. During the first two seasons there were very few crops grown, and consequently the father was kept busy earning a livelihood, the family subsisting mostly on the chase. He traded provisions with the Indians, at times bringing home large quantities of honey which was used as sugar in sweetening black coffee as well as in place of butter on the hard johnny cake.

His son, Augustus Abbe, born on Abbe's creek in 1841, later a member of the 9th Iowa Infantry, now a retired farmer residing at Toledo, Iowa, tells the following of his father's life and history:

"There was not a time in my life when I do not remember the
Indian children. I played with them constantly. Those were
my only playmates in the early days. I learned a little of
the Winnebago language, and got along very well. My half
sister, Susan, spoke it fluently, as well as my father. I
remember when I was about five or six years old a number of
Indians were gathered in our house and I climbed a post,
sitting on the same to watch the redskins race their horses.
One of the chiefs, one that had the most gaudy clothing on,
rode by very fast and picked me off the post and put me in
front on his saddle, going at full gallop; he rode a long
ways down through the prairie and my mother expressed much
anxiety, but my father came out and stood there and watched
for me to return. After awhile the Indian came back and put
me safely down in front of the house, to my mother's joy--I,
all the time laughing, thinking that I had had a good time.
The Indian said to my father, 'papoose no 'fraid.' That pony
ride I shall remember as long as I live.

"I also remember my father going away for two or three weeks
at a time, and my mother fixing up his lunch for the
journey. He had a pair of saddle bags filled with papers and
other articles. I still remember when he put on moccasins,
overshoes, and a buffalo overcoat of some kind; he would
bundle up securely, kiss us good-bye and start off across
the prairie at full speed. Many a time I cried, as I wanted
to go along, but on these long journeys I was refused this
pleasure for my father would not neglect business even for
the sake of pleasing his son whom he loved dearly.

"I also remember Robert Ellis, the Ashertons, Willitts,
Clarks, and many others who came to our house and talked way
into the night about trips they had taken over the wide
prairies of Iowa. Our cabin was full of people most of the
time; they would come in late in the night and in the
morning, much to my surprise, I would find a number of
people at breakfast, I not knowing when they came during the
night. I never knew or heard of my mother making any charge
for keeping anyone over night, whether they were strangers
or acquaintances, whether they were poor or rich made no
difference; whatever she had she would divide with a
traveller or other stranger who came to her hospitable home.

"I do not know that my mother understood much of the Indian
language, but she was kind to them and the squaws used to
sit on our door steps more than once. She gave them food
that she had prepared, sweetened with honey which they liked
very much.

"I remember going to Marion with my father many times when
it was a very small village with a jail which my father
always pointed out as having built. He also taught me that I
must do right or else I might have to stay in that jail or
some other jail if I did not. These lessons were certainly
deeply impressed on me for life. I remember, also, when we
removed from Marion to Dubuque. I think that was in 1847,
and we remained there for some time, but I think less than a
year, when we removed back to Marion. My father held a
government position there in the land office, I think.

"My two uncles, Charles and Eliezar Abbe, resided in Ohio,
one later removing to Michigan. The latter visited my father
frequently. He was related, also, on his wife's side, to Ed
Clark, an early settler in Linn county. These men were much
taken up with the country and we had hoped that they would
come here to locate, but they did not.

"I also, with my father, visited Cedar Rapids many times,
and I do not believe I was more than five or six years of
age, hardly that, when I first saw Cedar Rapids, where I was
much interested in the dam and the mills. The town then
consisted of a few log houses along the east bank of the
river. The remainder of the town was a mass of sand burrs,
weeds, and timber, and along Cedar Lake and along the river
large numbers of Indians were camped, especially up along
the Cedar Lake and along what is now known as McCloud's
Springs. In this locality several hundred Indians would camp
in the winter and spring of the year, trapping, hunting, and
trading skins with the whites for red clothing, guns, and
ammunition. They would hang around the flour mills during
the day time where there were always a lot of people
gathered.

"My mother was a member of the Lutheran church, which church
she now and then attended, but there were not many churches
in that day. My father was not a church member.

"I remember my sister, Susan, teaching one of the first
schools in Cedar Rapids, much to the satisfaction of the
members of our family. In politics my father was a stanch
democrat and an admirer of Andrew Jackson. He also became
acquainted with most of the officers who remained in the
west after the close of the Black Hawk war, on account of
his government employment in which he was engaged. He was
also personally acquainted with the persons who had charge
of the Winnebago school, as well as those in charge of Fort
Atkinson. Nearly all the people who rode horseback from Iowa
City to Dubuque came by way of Mount Vernon, and would
generally stop over night at our home. I remember my father
and the strangers talking over politics until way into the
night, and still remember many of these discussions as to
the future of Iowa and as to the political aspirations of
the various parties. My father took a lively interest in
politics, as well as in the development of the west, and
when it was settled up he had a longing for starting another
pioneer settlement. He used to say when the land was pretty
much taken that it was too close, he had to get away, as he
wanted more room. By training and environment he was a true
pioneer and full of enthusiasm for the upbuilding of a
pioneer country.

"When he was away in California we were much interested in
his letters and we all wanted to go. When our father
returned we asked him all sorts of questions about the gold
camps of the west, and what he had experienced, and we spent
whole evenings listening to his conversations. He did not
take us at that time, but wanted to seek out an ideal
location and get settled before he took us out there. But
the day never came, and we never saw him again when he left
on his second trip to California in 1852. All that we knew
was that my mother received a letter from a Masonic order in
Sacramento that the order had taken care of him in his
sickness and had seen that he received a suitable burial. He
was sick only a short time and none of his old friends was
with him when he died. Robert Ellis came to Sacramento
looking for his old neighbor and heard to his sorrow that
his friend had died only a week before. He came into
Sacramento from the camps on the American river.

"After my father's death my mother resided in Marion with
her family where she died August 27, 1861, at the age of
fifty-eight years. As I felt downhearted at the time I
joined the army and went to the front. November 29, 1865, I
was joined in marriage to Cynthia Walker, daughter of an old
Linn county pioneer.

"My father was also sheriff of Linn county. However, of this
there does not seem to be any record, as I have been
informed. He may have been appointed sheriff to fill a
vacancy, or he may have been a deputy, I am not certain
about that, but I know he was acting, at least, in the
capacity of sheriff and caused the arrest of a number of
horse thieves and other alleged criminals. My father was
over six feet tall, straight as an arrow, rather slender,
but very active, and I never saw a horse that he could not
mount and ride at any time without the least effort.

"We used cattle for plowing, but generally kept also several
horses, but these were used to drive and ride and not to
work very much.

"I believe that among the early settlers of the '30s and
'40s my father had the good will of all law-abiding
citizens. He was affable to strangers and true as steel to
his friends, and was universally respected."

William Abbe will be remembered as one of the most prominent of his day and generation in Linn county, for his kindness, his uprightness, his never wavering from the path of right. Whether amid the influences of the home circle or surrounded by the temptations of the mining camp, he was always the same sturdy, upright citizen, wanting to do right and helping his fellow men who were more unfortunate than himself.

One of his old and true friends, speaking of his long deceased friend, expressed words of deepest feeling which can be only expressed in the well known stanzas:

"Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days,
None knew thee but to love thee,
None named thee but to praise."

While a great many are now of the opinion that William Abbe was the first actual settler within the confines of Linn county, a number are still of the opinion that Daniel Seward Hahn was the first settler. He came here, accompanied by his wife, Parmelia Epperson Hahn. John J. Daniels, an old settler in Linn county, and a son of Jeremiah Daniels, who came to Linn county in 1844, was pretty good authority on the subject of the early settlers. In a number of conversations had with him on this subject and from what he wrote for the _Annals of Iowa_, Vol. VI, p. 581, and for the Iowa _Atlas_, 1907, it is gathered that he was of the opinion that Daniel Hahn was the first actual settler, at least the members of the Hahn family, of whom there are a number still living in Linn and adjoining counties, claim that their ancestor, Daniel Hahn, should be awarded the honor. In the _Annals of Iowa_ Mr. Daniels has the following:

"Daniel Hahn and his brother-in-law, Charles Moberly, came
to Linn county in the spring of 1837, made a claim and built
a cabin upon it, did some breaking, and in August removed
with wife and five children from Mercer county, Illinois. At
this time there was no house in Linn county to his
knowledge."

This, Mr. Daniels says, was the statement made to him and others in the lifetime of Daniel Hahn.

This may be true, that in the early day very little, if any, social intercourse was had among the early settlers and no one paid any attention to time or place, and it might be that Mr. Abbe, Mr. Hahn, and Mr. Crow might have settled at the same time, one never having known that the others had located here.

Quoting from Mr. Daniels's articles, the following might be stated:

"Edward M. Crow came to the county in July, 1837, in company
with his brother, locating near Viola where they made a
claim and erected a shanty; they remained there only a few
days, returning to Fox river to obtain provisions, having
decided to locate in the county. In the latter part of
August Edward Crow and his brother and James Dawson began to
work on their new possessions; about this time there came
also two other pioneers by the name of Joslyn and Russell;
they remained in the crude cabin during the winter and their
time was spent mostly in hunting, tanning pelts and trading
with the Indians. Their cabin was erected at the edge of
what was known as the 'Big Woods' in Brown township."

Thus it would seem that William Abbe in point of time was the first actual white settler to locate a claim and later to settle on this claim with his family, within the confines of Linn county. True, hunters and trappers may have been here earlier, but no actual _bona fide_ settler, as far as we have been able to ascertain. The testimony of Mrs. Susan Shields, a daughter still living, would seem to suffice as to the time when the great river was crossed and as to the time the family came to Linn county.