Chapter XIX: Some of the Old Settlers (2)

"About 1852 Major J. M. May came to Cedar Rapids from
Janesville, Wisconsin. The Major was a stirring man with a
head full of schemes. He said that Cedar Rapids was a place
of immense possibilities and only wanted enterprise to make
it the great town of Iowa. He bought land at the lower part
of town adjoining that owned by my father, and land on the
west side adjoining the river and below that owned by David
King. He platted out town lots on both sides of the river,
and induced my father and King to do the same, which were
the first additions made to the original town. He also
surveyed the island, sent a plat to the general government
and took possession of it, much to the chagrin and surprise
of the old settlers. Then he began to agitate the question
of a free bridge. Everyone wanted a free bridge but were
undecided as to the location. The Major induced my father to
subscribe $1500.00, and he gave $1000.00, which with sums
contributed by others in the lower end of the town secured
the location below the island at the narrowest place in the
river. The bridge was completed and thrown open to the
public, I think, in the late fall of 1852, and proved a
great convenience. The construction was defective and when
the ice broke up in the spring, the heavy cakes knocked down
two of the piers, and destroyed the greater part of the
bridge. All the people of the town were collected on the
bank of the river watching the event, and two young women
who were crossing went down with the structure and were
drowned. This was the first bridge built at Cedar Rapids.
The next was a bridge of boats at the foot of Iowa avenue
which I believe was also swept away by ice."

Dr. Carpenter speaks next of the formation of the real company who had money and who meant business in the formation of what was then known as the "Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railway," which built from Clinton to Cedar Rapids and to the Missouri river. "Cedar Rapids was given first directors as follows: Geo. Greene, John Weare, H. G. Angle, S. C. Bever and S. D. Carpenter, which positions we held till the road was built to Cedar Rapids."

In speaking of the amount of money put up by these men in order to get this railway it is said that $200,000.00 was pledged by Cedar Rapids, which amount was raised as follows: $100,000.00 by private subscription and $100,000.00 by city bonds. Greene & Weare, then bankers, subscribed $10,000.00; George Greene, $5,000.00; John Weare, $5,000.00; N. B. Brown, $5,000.00; S. C. Bever, $5,000.00; Gabriel Carpenter, $5,000.00, and numerous other smaller sums to make up the amount. Then a city election was had and the $100,000.00 voted by an overwhelming majority. Surveys of the route were begun at once, and from Mount Vernon and Cedar Rapids two lines were seen; one by the way of Marion, and the other by the river. It was ascertained that the latter route would be the shorter and cheaper by $100,000.00 than the former, but the company proposed to adopt the Marion route if she would subscribe $100,000.00. This she declined to do, and the river line was chosen. Work progressed slowly and the first year found the rails no further west than De Witt, Clinton county.

Dr. Carpenter speaks of another railroad venture when a company was formed known as the "Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad Company" with L. B. Crocker, of New York, as president, and with Major Bodfish and a number of Cedar Rapids men as directors.

"When the legislature assembled in 1859 and 1860 we invaded
the capital, and established our headquarters in an old
hotel near the river, the name of which I have forgotten.
Major Bodfish was the commissary of the body. We had no
money to expend, but determined to be hospitable. The Major
laid in a barrel of old rye whiskey; as it was before the
war, whiskey was cheap; also several boxes of cigars. One of
our strongest henchmen was J. W. Woodbury, a leading man
from Marshalltown, and with him Peter Hepburn, now an
honored congressman, then a very stripling, but showing
evident signs of what was in him. John A. Kasson was then a
young lawyer in Des Moines, and we secured him as our
attorney....

"The lawmakers were not in a hurry, but towards the last of
the session they passed our bill, and you may be sure there
was great rejoicing in Cedar Rapids. On our return the
citizens gave us a grand banquet in Greene's Hotel, and we
felt that we had at last secured a substantial victory for
our city, as in fact it was, for thenceforth Marion could no
longer be our rival. The cars came to Cedar Rapids in the
summer of 1859, just ten years after we had our first
railroad meeting, and we felt at last that hope had ended in
fruition. An immense concourse greeted their arrival from
all parts of the surrounding country. General D. N. Sprague,
then mayor, welcomed the guests, and the citizens threw open
hospitable doors to all comers. From that time forward Cedar
Rapids assumed metropolitan airs as the leading town of the
Cedar valley."

On politics Dr. Carpenter speaks as follows:

"From the first, on my arrival at Cedar Rapids, I became an
active partisan. General A. J. McKean of Marion was the
acknowledged leader, but the following was small. At the
state convention in 1851, held in Iowa City, I was the sole
representative from Linn county, and there were not more
than fifty delegates from the whole state. State officers
were nominated and also a candidate for congress. Colonel
Henderson, the father of J. W. Henderson of Cedar Rapids,
was named for congress, and without much opposition I
secured the nomination for secretary of state for my friend,
Isaac Cook, who up to that time was entirely unknown. I well
remember with what surprise he received the news. Although
there was no chance for his election it was the beginning
with him of a long and useful career in many offices of
trust, alike honorable to him and his constituents. As time
rolled on and our population of immigrants from the north
and especially from the New England states, and with the
bearing of the whig party towards slavery, they became more
hopeful, and by the year 1853 or 1854, the whigs carried the
county, electing both members of the legislature and the
county officers. John P. Conkey was the first member of the
legislature living in Cedar Rapids, and at the same election
Isaac Cook was chosen for a county office.

"About this time Charles Weare, Isaac Cook and many others
cut loose from their old convictions and became ardent free
soilers."

Dr. Carpenter speaks of how he abandoned medicine, how he opened a banking house in 1855, and became a land owner, having at one time as much as 1,600 acres of land near where the town of Norway now stands. He was first connected with Lehman & Kreider, later forming the partnership of Carpenter, Stibbs & Company, the firm doing business until 1861. Dr. Carpenter attended the convention at Chicago that nominated Lincoln and was one of the first to enlist in the Civil war as a surgeon. He was mustered out in 1865.

Henry E., Harvey G., Wellington W., and Major M. A. Higley were for a generation merchants, financiers, and leaders in many enterprises in Cedar Rapids. They were born in the state of Connecticut, coming to this county in the early '40s. Henry and Harvey Higley for some time operated a line of stages from Dubuque to Iowa City, and for that reason knew personally nearly all the prominent men of Iowa in the '40s and '50s. Iowa City being the capital and Dubuque the most enterprising city in the territory and state, the public men frequently travelled to and from these cities. Harvey Higley "got caught" with the gold fever and went to California, returning in a few years to Cedar Rapids. The Higley brothers made large fortunes in real estate which have descended to their children.

The brothers, C. J. and Jacob A. Hart, natives of Maryland, came to Cedar Rapids in the early '50s, and for a generation were two of the most successful lumber dealers in Cedar Rapids.

Alexander L. Ely was one of the early millers, who died in the '40s. His brother, Dr. J. F. Ely, came later to look after the business interests of his deceased brother, and for some fifteen or twenty years was a successful practitioner in Cedar Rapids. He and his wife for a generation were leaders of the business and social life of this city.

Homer Bishop was an old-time merchant, arriving in the early '40s, and for eight years was postmaster of Cedar Rapids. He was a congenial person, well known, and an enterprising and free-hearted man who did his best to build up a city on what was then thought to be the western frontier.

No doubt the first Scandinavian settler to locate within the confines of Linn county was Nels C. Boye, a native of Denmark, who emigrated to the United States in 1827 and arrived in Muscatine in 1837 and located in the vicinity of Lisbon in 1838 where he purchased land and engaged in farming. Being brought up as a merchant he removed with his family to Iowa City in 1843 and for a time operated one of the most up-to-date stores in the new capital. On a business trip to St. Louis in 1849 he fell a victim to the cholera and died there on June 23. A number of his children continued to reside in Linn county, and a number of relations are still residents of this county.

One of the old settlers of Ivanhoe was Dr. S. Grafton, who arrived there in 1843 and travelled horseback up and down the Cedar and Iowa river valleys as far as Jones or as far northeast as half way to Dubuque in the practice of his profession. He was born in Ohio in 1800, and died during the typhoid epidemic in 1845 and 1847. He was one of the best known of the early physicians, a gentleman, a scholar, and a man who did, perhaps, more during the few years of his practice to help the poor and the needy than any other of the early settlers. He was married to Isabelle Patterson, also a resident for many years of East Liverpool, Ohio, but born in Pennsylvania. After the death of Dr. Grafton she married Herman Boye, a son of Nels C. Boye. Mr. Boye was a cabinet maker and farmer. He got caught with the gold fever and emigrated to California in 1850, returning to Ivanhoe within a few years. It is said that he made more money in California seining for fish, which he had learned in Denmark, than he did in digging gold. He died in 1880 at the age of sixty-two years. The widow died January 11, 1897, at the advanced age of eighty years, and is buried at Mount Vernon.

Another of the old settlers of Bertram may be mentioned--Joseph Crane, a cousin of James Doty, who has the honor, at least, of obtaining the first license to marry within the Territory, viz: in 1840 when he was married to Agnes Boghart.

The first settlers seem to have been William Abbe, Daniel Hahn, C. C. Haskins, and Edward M. Crow. Which one of these men actually was the first settler within the confines of the county may ever remain a disputed question. We have the record when they entered lands, but this does not at all indicate that they did not live on these lands for several years before actual entry was made. The first settler in the vicinity of what became Mount Vernon was, no doubt, Charles Haskins, who located about a mile and a half east of the village in the summer of 1837. He was at least one of the first to locate in that vicinity. It is said that Daniel Hahn came in the spring of 1837, made a claim and built a log cabin, his wife assisting him in building the house. Edward M. Crow has been supposed to have been the first settler, but it seems that he came in July, 1837, in company with his brother, and located near what later became known as Viola, where he made a claim and erected a small shanty. He returned to the Fox river settlement for provisions and did not come back until in August, when he was accompanied by his brother and by James Dawson. About this time also came Joselyn and Russell. Their cabins were located in the back woods in Brown township and was called "The Settlement" for some time.

Later in the fall of 1837 arrived Jacob Mann, having resided previously in Jones county. He located on what was known as "Big Creek" in Linn county, but he did not take possession of his rude cabin or claim until in February, 1838, when he and his daughter, Sarah, moved onto the claim and began housekeeping. He afterward built a grist mill on Big creek or purchased one built by John Oxley which was swept away in the spring of 1851, when Mann lost his life, refusing to leave his mill which, he said, "was dearer to him than his own life."

Sally Mann is supposed to have been, if not the first white woman in the county, at least one of the first, and many are the stories told of Sally, or rather Sarah, Mann. She was more masculine than feminine in her make-up and knew few of the customs and manners of good society. She raised cats for a living and used to sell these at fancy prices to the pioneer settlers. There was nothing attractive about Sally, for she was noted more for her strength and endurance than for grace and beauty. But even though Sally had very little to recommend her, women were scarce in those days and the settlers were, perhaps, not so particular as they later became, and on July 21, 1840, Sally Mann and Aaron Haynes were duly married by John Crow, a justice of the peace. Sally Haynes nee Mann, had many good traits of character. No one was turned away from her door hungry and she would help neighbors with any kind of work if necessary. The western life appealed to her, as it had to the members of her family, and when settlers came thick and fast she and her husband left for the far west in order, it was said, that they could breathe the pure air of the frontier. It was always thus.

"'Tis not the fairest form that holds
The mildest, purest soul within;
'Tis not the richest plant that holds
The sweetest fragrance in."

Gabriel Carpenter, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was born in 1801. He arrived in Cedar Rapids in 1852 and invested all his funds in 500 acres of land in what has now become the heart of the city. Various additions in this city have been named in honor of this early real estate owner, who devoted all his time in the upbuilding of this city until his death in 1881. Mr. Carpenter saw many hardships in his early career in life, but with great perseverance overcame all. The first lumber he used was hauled by oxen from Muscatine. He became early interested in various enterprises in the city. He always gave liberally of his means to all worthy objects and assisted in advancing all public enterprises which he believed would prove a benefit to the city. His widow, Mrs. Maria Carpenter, born in 1820, is still living and resides in this city, honored and respected by all.

Dr. S. D. Carpenter was born in 1826, and is a son of Gabriel Carpenter. In the early fifties he came to Cedar Rapids and located here for the practice of medicine. He soon gave up medicine for the more exciting and more lucrative vocation of railway building, banking, and handling of real estate. He now resides in Chicago.

John E. Kurtz was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1817, emigrated to Iowa in 1847, and became one of the founders of Lisbon. He was for more than half a century a well known farmer, merchant, and miller. In early life Mr. Kurtz was a whig in politics, later going over to the republican party. A large number of his descendants still reside in this county.

Peter D. Harman was a native of Adams county, Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1816. In 1840 he came to Iowa City, locating in Linn county two years later. Mr. Harman assisted in the building of the state capitol at Iowa City, and also in the erection of the first court house in Linn county. In his day and generation Mr. Harman was considered one of the most skillful stone and brick masons in this part of the country. He died in Bertram township in 1896, and is survived by a number of children who are residents of this county.

Barnett Lutz came to Linn county in 1839 and was one of the best known of the old settlers. At the time of his death in 1901 he was one of the oldest pioneers in the county. Mr. Lutz was a true pioneer, and did much in building up the new country.

C. J. Ives was not a pioneer settler in Linn county, but he was a pioneer in developing railway properties in the state. Mr. Ives was a native of New England, coming to Lee county in 1847, drifting into mining in Colorado, and not till 1862 did he turn his attention to railroading. He was for a number of years president of the B., C. R. & N. railway, which he developed into one of the best paying railway properties in the west. He resigned when that road was absorbed by the Rock Island system. Mr. Ives during his long residence in Linn county was deeply interested in the welfare of his employees, and in the upbuilding of Cedar Rapids. He was also interested in banks, electric light companies, and other large enterprises. He was a practical business man, capable and forceful, with a mind ever active in planning and executing great things. He was universally respected by his employees, and never forgot in word, act, or deed that he was only an associate and not a superior. No railway official at the time of his death a few years ago had more friends among the railroad men than Mr. Ives.

David W. King, the founder of Kingston, settled in Linn county in 1839 when Indians were numerous and the white settlers scattered. Mr. King was a native of Westmorland county, Pennsylvania, who went to Michigan early and from there drove an ox team across the country to Iowa, entering land on the west side of the river, which land is now a part of Cedar Rapids. Mr. King operated the first ferry across the Cedar river and had to obtain his material for the erection of the same from Dubuque and Muscatine, all of which was hauled in wagons across the country. The cable used in operating the ferry was of wire, which was brought from Dubuque on horseback. The town of Kingston he platted in 1850. Mr. King was a real promoter, who early comprehended the future of Cedar Rapids. In order to induce people to locate on the west side of the river he was liberal and public-spirited, giving away many lots for factory sites and other enterprises. He passed away in 1854 at the age of forty-six, just at a time when he had attained to a prominent place as one of the leading citizens of the town, in the promotion of which he had devoted all his time and versatile talents.

Robert Smyth, who died in 1898 at his home at Mount Vernon, was in many respects one of the most enterprising men in Linn county. Born in Ireland in 1814, and emigrating to America in 1834, he drifted into Linn county in 1840 and soon became an extensive dealer in real estate, as well as a banker, and during all his life took an active part in politics. He was a member of the Sixth Territorial legislature in 1843-44, a member of the state legislature in 1846-48. Mr. Smyth was also paymaster of the United States army, disbursing more than $10,000,000.00 during his term of office. In 1868 he was once more returned to the state senate where he served for four years, and in 1884 served another term in the house. He was also delegate to many state conventions, and outside of the late Charles Weare knew more of the public men of Iowa than any other man in Linn county. Mr. Smyth was a brother of William Smyth, the well known jurist, who died a member of congress from this district.

Edward M. Crow, by some people believed to be the first actual white settler in the county, was born in Orange county, Indiana, in 1816 of ancestors who had previously emigrated from North Carolina. John Crow, the father, came to Linn county to the neighborhood of Viola in 1838, and there he died in March, 1841. It is thought that Ed Crow crossed the Mississippi river in 1837 and on July 4th laid claim to a tract of land on section 13 in Brown township. Thus, it would seem, that Abbe preceded him by several months. In company with Crow at that time there came Harrison Crow, a brother, as well as James Dawson, who built cabins on what is now known as Crow's creek near Viola. They also put up a little hay that fall. Thus, while these were among the first settlers, it must be conceded that they did not precede Abbe, Haskins, or Hahn in locating in Linn county. Ed Crow, it is true, was one of the early settlers and well known, a typical pioneer, but he was not the first settler, although he arrived in the historic year of 1837, when the white settlers were beginning to move into the territory not yet vacated by the red men.

In mentioning the men who were factors in the upbuilding of Iowa, Theodore S. Parvin should not be omitted. During his residence in Linn county he devoted most of his time to the upbuilding of a unique Masonic library. He was known throughout the United States as one of the leaders of that order. Mr. Parvin's love of collecting together many things was only one of the many sidedness of a remarkable personage. Mr. Parvin was born in Cedarville, New Jersey. Educated in the east, he drifted west to Cincinnati and there met Robert Lucas, recently appointed governor of Iowa Territory. Mr. Parvin had been a teacher and had been admitted to the bar so he was well qualified for his mission as secretary to the governor. After coming to Burlington Mr. Parvin was United States attorney, clerk of the federal court, registrar of the state land office, and for many years professor and regent of the State University of Iowa. During all these years he lectured and wrote much. He died June 28, 1901, one of the most widely known and most honored men in the state. "Steadfast in faith, without trace of cant, he walked the ways of life with simple trust in the Infinite wisdom and passed to his death relying on the guidance of an unseen hand," says his biographer.

Julius E. Sanford was one of the platters of the city of Cedar Rapids, and was a wide-awake, enterprising young man who for a while was in partnership with N. W. Isbell. Mr. Sanford was a native of Connecticut and was well educated on coming west where he took up the practice of the law and engaged in real estate. He removed to Dubuque in 1845, where he died in 1847, leaving a widow, Henrietta E. Sanford, who in 1848 married David Wilson. She died in 1898. Perit Sanford, who figures in early real estate transfers, was the father of Julius Sanford, and heir of the estate, as the son died without children.

Thomas Craig was an old settler in Linn county, and one of the best known men in the community. Mr. Craig was odd in some ways. He wore a white overcoat and had a fondness for horses. He was a stanch Methodist, and at times would be reprimanded, for he refused to lead in prayer. Mr. Craig died many years ago, respected and honored by all with whom he had come in contact. One of his daughters was married to N. B. Brown and another to Jesse Beechly, who recently died in his old homestead in Franklin township.

Dr. Eber L. Mansfield was born in Canaan, Ohio, in 1821. He received a classical education and also took a medical course later. On leaving home his father gave him a horse, saddle-bags, and an outfit, and he started out for himself. He taught school in Kentucky and then came overland on horseback to Iowa in 1847, crossing the Cedar river near the lower bridge. He was assisted by W. W. and M. A. Higley, two young men who later became his friends and fellow workers in the upbuilding of Cedar Rapids. The gold fever of 1850 took the doctor away from his practice, and by August, 1850, he had arrived at the gold diggings. On the way he had made money, as he doctored a great many who were sick with fevers. He purchased two teams and did teaming from Sacramento to Shaw's Flats for about two years when he got tired and sold out, returning by way of Panama and New Orleans. He came back to Cedar Rapids, which city remained his home until his death. Dr. Mansfield was one of the best known and most successful physicians of his day and generation. He invested in city real estate, in bank stock, and was stockholder in insurance companies. His was a rugged, strong character. He early saw the possibilities of the city, and was one of the first to invest in its real estate. He erected brick buildings in the heart of the city which are now owned by his children, and are very valuable.

William Rogers, a native of Ohio, where he was born in 1830, came to Linn county and settled in Rogers Grove in the early forties. Mr. Rogers was an enterprising man and was one of the first to erect a saw mill and to raft lumber down the river to Muscatine in order to find a market for it. In an age when straw sheds were common he went to work and erected one of the best and largest barns in the country. In this barn he stacked his grain and threshed it by walking the horses over it, the wheat dropping through the floor to a floor below where it was cleaned. Mr. Rogers died many years ago, one of the best known men in southern Linn county. His widow, Elizabeth McNie, is still living, making her home with her son, James M. Rogers, of Fairfax township.

Chandler Jordan, born in 1820 in the state of Maine, came to Linn county in 1844, where he made his home until his death a short time ago. Mr. Jordan was a lifelong member of the Baptist church, which he supported and in which he was an active worker all his life. He was interested in the public schools, and in public affairs in general. Jordan's Grove is named in honor of this sturdy old pioneer.

G. W. Matsell, for many years a resident of Buffalo township, where he owned some 2,000 acres of land which he purchased at an early day, was a well known character in New York city in the old days of Tammany Hall. He was chief of police and a prominent politician for many years till the breaking up of the party with which he was closely associated. Then he came here where his family still resides. Mr. Matsell of course spent much time in New York, where he had financial interests, but he liked the west and enjoyed the summers in Iowa. He was a democrat of the old school, but never entered into the game of politics after coming west, having had his fill of it in the New York political ring for many years.

The Matsell home was a hospitable one and many were the people George Matsell entertained during his residence in Iowa. Visitors came from all over the country, for he was well known. Mr. Matsell entertained royally and knew how to entertain. The history of New York city cannot be written without the mention of G. W. Matsell, police chief, a member of the Committee of Seventy, and a well known character for many years during the stormy days of the Civil war. His son still resides on the old homestead.

Robert Safely was a native of Scotland. He emigrated to New York at the age of fourteen. He saw the first engine to run with steam in the state of New York. For many years Mr. Safely was master mechanic for the old B., C. R. & N. system, and was a familiar figure on the streets of Cedar Rapids up to the time of his death, a short time ago. Mr. Safely was an expert mechanic and up to the time of his death was interested in everything pertaining to mechanical science.

Many of our earlier citizens only remained here for a shorter or longer time and left for other parts where they later attained to prominence. Who does not remember W. H. Ingham, one of Kossuth county's pioneers, who lived in this county in 1850 and for five years was engaged in surveying and locating lands for early settlers? Judge Thomas Burke, a noted character of Seattle and now wealthy, tried his luck at the law here waiting for clients who never came. When Mr. Burke was picked up by J. J. Hill on the coast then every one wanted this once briefless barrister as his legal adviser. Bishop C. C. McCabe lived here for a number of years, and no one had any idea that the rollicky, fun-making, joking young beardless lad in the employ of Judge Greene and others would develop into a great lecturer and a Methodist bishop. Dr. J. T. Headley, of lecture fame, practiced medicine here in the late sixties, and was a quiet, unassuming man, who minded his own business and devoted days and nights to books and science. Here lived for some years the eloquent divine, Rev. Fawcett, a person of great eloquence and force of character who left Cedar Rapids better for having lived in it. One cannot forget Rev. Elias Skinner, now living in Waterloo, also a Methodist minister of force and eloquence who at various times lived in Linn county. Rev. Skinner, despite his eighty-three years, is well and hearty and can relate many things which occurred in this county in the fifties and sixties. He writes as follows:

"I think Linn county is about the very best county in Iowa.
Five different times I had my home in old Linn. I never did
anything worthy of special mention at either time. In each
of the four places where I lived I blundered into doing
things which I would rather not have recalled. So please
excuse me. I write with pencil because I can't guide a pen.

"Yours,

E. SKINNER."

COL. DURHAM TO THE OLD SETTLERS--ADDRESS BEFORE ASSOCIATION. AUGUST 1902

_Ladies and Gentlemen of the Old Settlers' Society_: In calling this assemblage to order I wish to say to you all, to the new-comers, the strangers who honor us with their presence, that, in the name of our society, we bid you a most hearty welcome and say as a good hostess would, come again.

Many of you I knew in territorial times, when we were seeking and establishing new homes, in the far new country beyond the Mississippi, and aiding in our humble way to lay the foundation of the present famous commonwealth of Iowa. The first settlements were made along and near the Mississippi river. There were but two counties, Dubuque and Des Moines, and the country was called the Black Hawk Purchase. The purchase negotiated with the Sac and Fox Indians, by General Scott and Governor Reynolds, at the close of the Black Hawk war, consisted of a strip averaging about fifty miles wide, beginning in the northeastern part of the state and running to the north boundary of Missouri, though not on a straight line, at a point fifty miles west of the river. It was under the jurisdiction of the territory of Michigan, and was represented in congress, as a territorial delegate, by George Wallace Jones.

In 1837 a few townships in the northwestern part of this county were surveyed by a surveyor general deputy named Haight. And soon thereafter Edward Crow and a few other adventurers came. Their only roads were fragments of Indian trails. They were delighted with the country and the smooth, polished surface of the unbroken prairie in all the grandeur and sublimity of its primeval state. Sages have sung of the charms seen in the face of such solitudes and I would say that I never felt nearer the great Creator and Ruler of the universe than when in regions before untrod by civilized man, where the forces of nature reigned supreme, and no sounds broke the silence except the hoo-hooing of owls, the drumming of pheasants, the bugle notes of the swan, the quacking of smaller fowls, the barking of prairie wolves, and in a timbered country, the hungry, desolate howl of the large wolf, and sometimes, though seldom, the piteous wail of the panther. It's no wonder that Moses retired to the top of a distant mountain with the roar of thunder and the flashes of lightning beneath him to talk with God.

In 1838 another strip of country was acquired from the Indians, embracing the remainder of Linn county. Possession was given in 1839, when a continuous immigration commenced, which dates back to the coming of many of the families represented here today, our respected secretary among them, and not long after that our treasurer. Previous to its organization in 1839, Linn county was, with Jones county, attached for judicial, revenue, and election purposes to Jackson county. In 1838 the territory of Iowa was struck off from Wisconsin, Robert Lucas was appointed governor by President Van Buren, and William Wallace Chapman was elected first delegate to congress, with both of whom I was acquainted in the constitutional convention in 1844. Governor Lucas was a Virginian by birth, though raised in Ohio, where he had served as governor. He was one of nature's noblemen, not for pomposity and fine equipage, but for all the traits that make up true manhood--modesty, courage, honesty, integrity, patriotism, and morality.

Soon after the organization of the territory the Missouri war began. This related to the boundary line between the two states. It lasted some time, but like the Ohio and Michigan war, was bloodless, though a good deal of patriotism and red tape and military titles were shed. The trouble was finally settled by the surveyors and the courts.

In 1839 Linn county was organized. The first officers were John C. Berry, commissioner's clerk or auditor; Hosea W. Gray, sheriff; Dr. Tryon, clerk of the court; Luman W. Strong, Samuel C. Stewart, and Peter McRoberts, county commissioners. Squire Strong was a potential factor in all Linn county affairs. Mr. Stewart was distinguished for his piety. His wife was a sister of those sturdy pioneers, the Scott brothers. In 1840 the territory contained 43,000 inhabitants; Augustus C. Dodge was elected delegate to congress, and George Greene a member of the territorial council, or senate, to represent Cedar, Linn, and Jones counties. In 1841 the remainder of Linn county was surveyed by the United States deputies, with all of whom I was acquainted and in their camps--but chiefly with Mr. Welden.

After these surveys were made, claim-making and improving and trading became very lively, and the ratio of immigration increased all the time. There was more disturbance and trouble and fighting about claims than from all other causes put together. I will give only a few instances of the many with which I am acquainted. A man by the name of Wolcott, near Mount Vernon, had his claim entered. He reported it to the claim association. They sent a committee of three men to the intruder and demanded that he should release and cancel his purchase, which he refused to do. Whereupon they procured a conveyance and told him that he must go to Dubuque with them. Knowing the settler's law was against him, he made no further resistance, but went before the register and receiver, cancelled his entry, and his money was returned to him. The matter came up shortly after that before the grand jury at Marion on the charge of coercion and kidnapping. Samuel Hunter, Sr., of Hunter's Cross Roads, was one of the jury, Joseph Williams was judge, P. W. Earle, clerk, and Nathan Peddycord, of Yankee Grove, was another juryman, and I was foreman. William Abbe and Squire Waln of Mount Vernon were witnesses. Robert Smith was secretary of the claim association and Oliver Day or Allison Willits president. No bill was found and the matter stopped and never reached the supreme court.

Another claim case originated in the Dry Creek country, and came to a climax in a rather exciting way. There were a number of us attending an Indian banquet and pow-wow at a place called Wick-i-up Hollow, near the Cedar river, two or three miles south of the Oliphant and Ashlock neighborhood. The regular guests were seated in a semi-circle in the wick-i-up; we were only callers. The exercises consisted of short talks, chants and choruses, each keeping time with a deer's bladder dried and filled with air and some buckshot in it to make it rattle, all accompanied with the music of a sort of home made fife. The banquet or dinner to follow was being cooked by the women. It consisted, as far as I could see, of dried venison, stewed dog meat, beans, and pancakes. Before the dinner was ready some of our party went outside and renewed a quarrel that had been pending for some time about their claims. Pretty soon the lie was passed, and it was immediately followed by a blow, and directly five or six were in the fight all at once. The struggle and angry shouts of the combatants frightened some of the Indian women who were near and they ran screaming away. This broke up the exercise in the wick-i-up and the braves rushed out, thinking that their women were being misused, for a brave man will always resent an insult to his wife. The fight so disrupted everything that we left without waiting for dinner, especially as some had to withdraw for repairs. The Chambers were in it. William Garrison and some of the Nations were in it, but not Carrie with her little hatchet. John Hunter and, I think, Dyer Usher, were there, but not in the fight. The case came up before his honor, Aaron Usher, a justice of the peace, who fined some of the participants $1.00 each, which ended the litigation and the claim dispute.

The last claim case I will mention was of much greater magnitude, and out of it originated the Bill Johnson war, in which several lives were lost, including one Indian. It began in Buchanan county. William Bennett and a man purporting to be Bill Johnson of the Canadian patriot war were the principles in the extensive trouble. Bennett was an enterprising, public-spirited man and had a quantity of workmen and retainers helping build the first grist mill at Quasqueton, on the Wapsipinicon river. He was a man of sturdy muscular frame, swarthy complexion, dark eyes, strong jaws, a man who would be a good friend or a bad enemy. Johnson was older, tall and angular, with black bushy hair, on whose lips shone no smile, under whose brow lurked treason, stratagem, and spoil. I became acquainted with Johnson in a rather romantic way, which you will excuse me for relating, as it shows some of the perils and hardships incident to the settling of a new country. On the 12th of November, 1842, a deep snow fell and remained till the next April, with additions during the winter. It has always since been called the hard winter of 1842 and '43.

During the winter my friend, Anderson Chambers, later a prosperous business man of Muscatine, and I had been up in the country between the Wapsipinicon and the Volga. The snow drifts were so deep and the day so dark that night overtook us several hours ride from any human habitation. Before dark we went into a little scattering timber on a small stream and under the bluff hitched our horses to a bush. We found some dry poles and got some dry rotten wood out of a tree, scraped away the snow with our feet, and with the aid of a flint and some tow and powder, we managed to start a little fire. Matches were not then in use. We cut some brush and laid it on the ground, spread one horse blanket on that to lie on, and with another to cover us and our saddles for pillows, we slept through the long night until daylight, when we resumed our ride. About the middle of the forenoon we came in sight of an improvement in the edge of the timber, and I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled that a frontiersman's log cabin was there. We went into the house, which was neat and clean, and told them of our hard experience during the preceding night and day. They kindly sympathized with us and soon made us comfortable. It proved to be Bill Johnson's place. Kate Johnson and another young lady, Miss Kelso of Davenport, were there. They busied themselves about setting us up a fresh, warm, ten o'clock breakfast. I relished it more than any other breakfast I ever ate, the zest of which was no doubt heightened by being served by so charming a hostess, and me a susceptible bachelor, too.

Johnson explained his being there in this wild region by saying that he had participated actively in the Canadian patriot war against the Dominion of Canada, that the attempted revolution had failed, that he had lost all his property by it, and had been driven and chased all through and among the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence river in his boat with his daughter Kate, that a reward had been offered for him, that he had given up all hope of success and determined to seek safety and quietude by coming to this country. All this seemed plausible, as I heard the brave deeds of the patriots rehearsed in song and poetry. But in escaping that trouble he ran into the jaws of another at the outset. It seemed that in coming into a strange neighborhood, instead of making the people his friends by conciliation and prudent conduct, he got into trouble at the start by taking possession of the claim of one of the Bennett party. They remonstrated and he promised to pay for the claim, but never did, though Johnson claimed that the trouble was about the location of the county seat. Not long after I was at his place, after giving him notice, they determined to oust him. They took him out in the brush and gave him a very severe flogging, loaded him and all his belongings into sleds and sent him out of the country. He applied for aid at Marion and Dubuque, and Surveyor General Wilson, a New Hampshire man, took him and his daughter Kate to Iowa City, in his fine Boston made sleigh, to interest Governor Chambers in his behalf. When the hostilities came to an end, the result was disastrous to both parties. Bennett became a fugitive and his mill building was stopped. Johnson was shot. Kate found her a loving, trusting husband. Hosea Gray made considerable money out of it; Ormus Clark, the first permanent settler of Central City, spent a lot of money for defense, and Colonel Preston laid the foundation of his splendid fame and fortune as an attorney from it.

The public land sales had been advertised for this winter and the people were illy prepared to go to Dubuque to enter their claims on account of the deep snow, some for scarcity of clothing, and all for scarcity of money. Many had saved their last 12-1/2 and 6-1/2 cent silver coins and their 5-franc pieces to make up the necessary sums. In view of the difficulties in the way, a mass meeting was held, and George Greene was appointed a special agent to go to Washington City for the purpose of having the land office removed to Marion. He went and saw the commissioner of public lands; he saw Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the committee on public lands, and President Tyler, and came back with an order for the temporary removal in his pocket, which I doubt if any other man could have done. He stood luminous among all the bright men who first settled in Linn county, or the territory either. The people of Linn county, and of Cedar Rapids especially, should ever remember his labors and efforts in those early days which brought them prominence and prosperity. All now acknowledge Linn county to be without a peer and Cedar Rapids is the best interior city in the state, except Des Moines with its immense coal beds.

The land office was located in the first, and then only brick house in Marion. Judge Berry afterwards dispensed boundless hospitality in it. It was built and owned by William H. Woodbridge, or "Democ Woodbridge," a very enterprising young man. He was one of five from this county who enlisted in the Mexican war. He was with Scott's army of invasion and the Mexicans "welcomed him with bloody hands to a hospitable grave." Another of the five, Major McKean, as he was then known, who was a member of the first constitutional convention in 1844, and later a brigadier general in the union army, lies buried in the Marion cemetery. Another of the five, Captain Sausman, who gallantly bore the flag at Chepultepec, died in California. Captain Gray is alone, and alive and likely to be, as you would think if you could see him running an intricate surveyor's line through a section. The fifth one, Samuel D. Thompson, is with us amply provided for in his declining years by a munificent government, in recognition of his military service in nearly all the wars since the time of Anthony Wayne, and as the old song says:

"There is no more work for brave old Joe.
He's gone to the place where all good soldiers go."

The land sales drew large numbers from all the surrounding country, and made lively times here. Joseph F. Chapman and Oliver S. Hall, Sr., hotel keepers, flourished. Those who had the money got titles to their lands, and those who had not still held their claims until such time as they could enter them at private sale. In the spring the land office was moved back to Dubuque.

In 1844 the first constitutional convention was held at Iowa City. The constitution failed of ratification. In 1846 another convention was held and the state fully admitted under that with our present boundaries. Iowa was then the most western state, and a line drawn south from Sioux City, its western limit, would have run further west than any other state or territory, except Texas, which was annexed the year before. It now occupies a conspicuous central position in the American union, and a leading one in agricultural productions. It is honored with two members of the president's cabinet and the most influential member of the American senate.

After our acquisition of California the waves of emigration westward began, sweeping over the great American desert, as it had been called, planting agriculture and industry in its path, forcing its way through the mountain passes and over the sun-dried plains, to the Pacific ocean at the Golden Gate, where floats the commerce of oriental Asia.

"No pent up Utica contracts our powers;
The whole of this boundless domain is ours."

When I look in the faces of this multitude I see before me but few who were men and women grown when I first came here. Some of you gray-haired ladies and gentlemen were then, as the Indians called them, petite squaws or skinneways. Your fathers were Niseshin Shomoko men. But I think scarcely more than a dozen are now living in this county who were then men and women. And

"I feel like one who treads alone
A banquet hall deserted,
Whose music is hushed, whose guests are gone,
And all but me departed."