History of Linn County Iowa Part 54

In the history of Linn county Bertram towns.h.i.+p has played a conspicuous part, and was at various times about to be the towns.h.i.+p in which were located some of the most enterprising towns in the county. Ivanhoe, Westport, also known as Newark, and other places are well known names among the early settlers. Their locations have been wiped off the map, so to speak, on account of changed conditions. The following sketch is taken largely from ma.n.u.scripts and articles written by the late John J.

Daniels, one of the old citizens of Linn county, one of the early county recorders, for many years a justice of the peace, and a well known and enterprising citizen, who was always interested in the old settlers and in the development of historical research in the county in early days. Mr. Daniels says:

"In the early settlement of Linn county the territory now forming Bertram towns.h.i.+p was selected by the early settlers for very prominent reasons, it having good mill streams, good water, and plenty of good timber near at hand, which was so much needed by the early settlers for building and fencing. Two of the early pioneers were Thomas W. and Sarah Campbell, of Dearborn county, Indiana. They came in the fall of 1838 and settled on the northeast quarter of section 27, and obtained a patent from the United States March 7, 1844.

Mr. Campbell was elected the first county treasurer in 1839, and in 1840 his first collection of county taxes for licenses, ferries, and lands was $985.85. He died February 22, 1876.

"Perry and Catherine Campbell Oxley, of Montgomery county, Indiana, first located in Linn towns.h.i.+p, but in the fall of 1838 came here and took up a claim on the southwest quarter of section 22 and built their cabin in the grove near the east line. Mr. Oxley was the first constable elected in the county in 1839, and was bailiff of the grand jury of the county. He was the best shot in the county. He died September 30, 1886, universally mourned.

"Norris and Ann Cone, of Connecticut, came in February, 1839, and settled on section 21. Mr. Cone later removed to Marion. George Cone, their son, claims the honor of being the first child born in the towns.h.i.+p in 1839.

"James and Elizabeth Leabo and Israel Mitch.e.l.l, natives of Kentucky, in 1838 left the mining regions near Dubuque and settled on claims in this towns.h.i.+p on the north side of the river. Mrs. Leabo died September, 1852, and James Leabo removed to Oregon, where he died.

"Mr. Mitch.e.l.l was a graduate of a Kentucky college and celebrated the first 4th of July at Westport in 1838, Judge Mitch.e.l.l being the orator.

"The first and only election of the county that year was held there, thirty-two votes being cast. The first store opened in the county was at Westport, by Albert Henry in the fall of 1838.

"James and Mary Scott, of Indiana, came in 1838 or 1839. Mr.

Scott was an enterprising farmer. He purchased a saw mill on Big creek and early built a large flouring mill during the fifties. On account of the failure of crops the mill was not a success. He died in 1894 in Marion towns.h.i.+p.

"Elias Doty, of Ohio, came in 1838 or '39, and in 1840 commenced the building of a saw mill on Big creek, but was accidentally killed at its raising. The mill property later pa.s.sed into the hands of James R. Briney.

"James Hunter, a native of Ireland, came in 1838 and took a claim; he died May 14, 1888, at the age of sixty-nine.

"Everett Oxley, a native of Kentucky, born in 1812, at the age of fifteen removed to Indiana where he married Catherine Milner, also a native of Kentucky, coming to Linn county in 1840. Mr. Oxley died in 1887. Several of the Oxley family emigrated to Linn county.

"Jeremiah Daniels arrived in the spring of 1844 with a stock of dry goods, trading for wheat in the fall, s.h.i.+pping same by flat-boat to St. Louis. In the fall of 1847-8 he built a saw mill on Indian creek and a few years later located a flour mill on Big creek. Mr. Daniels died in 1882."

Mr. Daniels further states that some of the early settlers were the following:

"Michael and Peter McRoberts, Peter D. Harman, Ben and John Dewitt, John, Joseph, and Nancy Gourly, Andrew and Thomas Dill, Isaac, Lawrence, Elijah, and Joseph Wain, Louis Lafore, Perry and Ann Knapp, Ada J. James, Steve, Charles, Daniel, George, Theresa, and Ann Rose, Sylvester Lyons, Thomas Rose, James and Thomas Piner, James M. and Susan Doty, Abraham Darr, John Arford, Hiram and Mary Leabo-Deem, Sam and Rachel Stambaugh, Jonathan and Dorcas Paul, John Bromwell, Michael c.o.x, Louis Kramer, Dr. Grove, Dave Stambaugh, James Briney, Leonard Speckelmeyer, James Berry, James Anderson, Caleb Dyer, Joseph Caraway, John and Mary Scott, and Samuel Durham."

Some of the Bertram justices have been William S. Darr, Frank Allen, W.

B. Plummer, E. Doty, J. C. Anderson.

Bertram towns.h.i.+p has been the location of a number of squatter towns.

William Stone first staked out a squatter town and called it Westport.

He sold out his right to Albert Henry and then staked out Columbus where Cedar Rapids is now located. Henry, it is stated, erected two of the first frame buildings in this town, and in fact in this part of the county. The only sawed lumber in the entire buildings were the window frames and the casings. The siding was what was known as shaved lumber.

These buildings were torn down in 1861 by Elias and Daniel Doty. One of these buildings was used by James Doty for his pottery shop up to the time of his death. Perry Oxley bought Albert Henry's squatter claim and he later sold his right, t.i.tle, and interest in the town as well as in about 117 acres of land at $2.50 an acre. Now for the first time James Doty thought he would comply with the law, and on November 12, 1844, filed a plat in accordance with the law and called the town Newark, from Newark, New Jersey, his birthplace. Ivanhoe was never platted, but was only a squatter town founded by Cowles. Colonel Merritt kept the first store at Ivanhoe for parties in Rock Island. This town had better prospects of becoming a great city than any other town in the county.

It had a good river frontage, a rich country around it, plenty of timber and good water, and had the government road besides. For some unknown cause the place seems to have been ignored when Marion and Cedar Rapids began to flourish. This is true, that Ivanhoe and Westport were laid out expecting the river to be the means of communicating with the outside world. The railroads, mills, dams and other things changed conditions, and the Indian trading villages came to naught.

FAIRFAX TOWNs.h.i.+P

Fairfax towns.h.i.+p lies in the extreme southwest portion of Linn county.

Prairie creek, at times an unruly stream, drains this part of the county. In the early day this portion of Linn county had more or less timber, especially in what is known as Scotch Grove, northeast of the town of Fairfax. This timber has, for the most part, been cut off.

The first settlers, as far as is known, who came to this part of the county were Robert and Jane Ure with their family of grown children, in the spring of 1841. The children were John, Margaret, James, William, Robert, Walter, and David. The family had emigrated from Scotland in 1838 and gone west, locating in Ohio for a short time, removing to Iowa territory in search of land. They located in the northwestern part of the towns.h.i.+p in the grove which has since been called "Scotch Grove."

The Ures wrote back to Scotland to their friends, and for many years emigrants came who located in and around Scotch Grove in Linn and Benton counties. Later came the McDowell family, the Listebargers, the McKinnons, the Mitch.e.l.ls, Giddings, Knickerbockers, Flahertys, Ferriters, Henrys, Cahills, Hines, McFarlands, and many others.

A cemetery was established in Scotch Grove where a number of the early settlers are buried. The cemetery near Fairfax is now the one in use, and also the Catholic cemetery southwest of Fairfax.

One of the first school teachers in the towns.h.i.+p was Mrs. Keziah McDowell, who taught in a private house. The first school building was erected in 1855 on the place where the Elm Grove school now stands. The first teacher who taught in a school building was a Mr. Eckerman, who boarded around. The families who had children attending school at that time were the McKinnons, the Listebargers, and the Hodges.

The first reaping machine in this part of the county was purchased by William Ure at Chicago in the summer of 1847, and was a hand-raking machine. Mr. Ure drove with an ox team to Chicago and returned with a machine in time for cutting the grain that summer. After he got started all the neighbors helped and the machine was run night and day until the season was over and the grain harvested.

The Scotch families were United Presbyterians, and for many years attended church in Cedar Rapids. In May, 1858, the Presbyterian church was organized and established in Scotch Grove. The fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of this church was celebrated in 1908, and the paper read by Miss Jennie G. Mitch.e.l.l, daughter of James Mitch.e.l.l, now residing in Cedar Rapids, gives a full history of the church and of many of the old settlers of this county, and is herewith inserted in full:

"THE ORIGIN OF FAIRFAX U. P. CHURCH

"The first settlers in this part of Linn county, Iowa, were Robert and Jane Ure, who, with a family of grown children, came here in the spring or summer of 1841. The children were John, Margaret, James, William, Jane, Robert, Walter, and David. The family had emigrated from Scotland in 1838 and spent the intervening years near Springfield, Ohio. But land was high in the old settlements and they came 'west' where they could enter government land, settling, or at first camping, on the same ground where this church is built. Log houses were soon erected and some land entered and a few years later a brick house was built, the first in this part of the country. The brick was made by the boys and the entire house erected without the a.s.sistance of any expert, the lime being hauled all the way from Muscatine. The Ure family did not leave their religion in the Auld Kirk in the Homeland, but during all their travels, whether they tarried or camped for only the night, the morning and evening sacrifice of family prayer was offered; and on Sabbath at noon the family were gathered and G.o.d's word read, followed by praise and prayer. Thus they kept G.o.d's holy day and wors.h.i.+ped in their own home until preaching could be obtained, and by searching the records of the First United Presbyterian church of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, we find that on the 9th day of September, 1850, a meeting was held and a pet.i.tion forwarded to the a.s.sociate Presbytery of Iowa, asking for a supply of preaching, and in 1851 the congregation in Cedar Rapids was organized, the Ure family uniting with them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "OLD SCHOOL" COGGON]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOUTH SIDE MAIN STREET, COGGON]

"The cheap land and plenty of timber attracted others, and in the early fifties the McKinnon family came from Scotland and settled in Linn county near Scotch Grove. In 1852 Samuel and Sarah Hall, with their large family, settled at Sisley's Grove, and in 1854 James Cleghorn, Sr., with his two children and John and Agnes Anderson. James Cleghorn and Agnes Anderson were brother and sister. James Cleghorn, Jr., is still living near where they located and built their first home. Robert Brownlie and family now reside where the Anderson home was built. This same year (1854) Joseph and Margaret Humphrey and family came and settled south of Prairie Creek, and in the spring of 1855, James and John Mitch.e.l.l with their wives and families, and later Walter Mitch.e.l.l and John and Jane McGregor with their families of sons and daughters, and a few years later Moses Mitch.e.l.l, all finding homes in and around Scotch Grove.

"The Ure family, thus re-inforced, soon after began an effort to secure preaching at Scotch Grove. But who first proposed asking for preaching, or where the meeting was held, is not on record and can not be recalled, but a minute on the records of the Cedar Rapids church, dated May 25, 1856, reads thus: 'The people of Scotch Grove presented a pet.i.tion and were granted one-fourth of the pastor's time.'

But by whom this pet.i.tion was presented is not recorded.

Another record reads: 'At a meeting of the United Presbyterian church of Kingston, held on Tuesday afternoon at four o'clock, July 6, 1858, the following paper was adopted: Action of the United Presbyterian congregation of Kingston in relation to the organization of a church at Scotch Grove, Linn County, Iowa. _Resolved_: that we approve of the organization with the understanding that they continue in connection with us as the same pastoral charge until otherwise ordered by the Presbytery.' But the name of the Presbytery is not mentioned. It is supposed that Joseph Humphrey carried the pet.i.tion to Presbytery. The organization was granted and on the 12th day of August, 1858, a meeting was held in the home of James and Mary Ure, a sermon preached and the congregation organized by Rev.

Hugh Sturgeon. There were fifteen charter members, and the name given the congregation was 'Fairfax.' The names of all present can not be recalled, but we remember that John Beatty, who later with his family came to the neighborhood, brought Mr. Sturgeon and was present at this meeting. Three elders were elected, Joseph Humphrey, Alexander Johnson and James Mitch.e.l.l. James Mitch.e.l.l did not accept the office and at a later meeting James Ure was elected and with the other two, ordained and installed. Thus organized and equipped they began the work with high hopes and willing hands, if not much ready money. There being no public building which could be used for religious meetings, they were held in homes, most of the time in the home of Miss Margaret Ure.

Rev. Sturgeon did not long remain and others came. Revs.

Douthett, A. J. Allen, Sawhill, Fulton, and others. Doctor Roberts of the Covenanter faith preached a few times. One occasion is remembered when he was to preach in the home of Mr. Wadsworth, where Mr. and Mrs. William Russell now live.

Heavy rains had fallen during the week and Prairie creek was over its banks, with the bridge either washed away or overflowed. Several families lived on the other side who must attend the service on the Sabbath, no thought of the high water being an excuse for staying at home. They wished to attend and were needed to a.s.sist with the singing. The names of three families are remembered: Dixon, Junk, and Humphrey. Among other plans some one suggested building a raft, whom we do not remember, but superintended by Andrew Mitch.e.l.l the work was begun, and finished Sat.u.r.day afternoon. Sabbath afternoon the families came in their wagons as far as the creek, where they were met by neighbors on this side, ferried across by Andrew Mitch.e.l.l, and conveyed to the home of Mr. Wadsworth. After the service they were brought back to the place of crossing and again ferried over, all in a quiet way becoming the day and occasion. Thus obstacles were met and overcome with the persistent determination of people who retained some of the spirit of their invincible John Knox. But a school house was erected in the early sixties, known as the James Ure school house, and religious meetings were held here. If possible, preaching, if not, Sabbath school and prayer meeting until their first pastor, Rev. J. T. Torrence, came among them.

"Shall we ask: Did the work prosper? How well, vines transplanted from the Scotch Grove church in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Idaho and far-off California will testify.

"Is it possible to over-estimate the courage and perseverance of our fathers and mothers, who began the work in this new country under the great difficulties and privations, and whose faith, as well as strength of arm, has made possible the privileges we, their children, enjoy? We trust we shall not forget, but to succeeding generations tell the heroism of the daily strife and the earnestness and value of the twice daily prayer, 'All honor to the builders of this Church.'

'The world may sound no trumpets--ring no bells, The book of life the s.h.i.+ning record tells.'

"THE CHARTER MEMBERS

"Fifty years is a longer time than the memory of most of those living runs. The span of life is not always, in fact not usually, lengthened to include events so wide apart in s.p.a.ce of time.

"Fifty years ago, the great Civil war had not been fought, and it was the hopes of those who held the welfare of their country nearest to their hearts that such a calamity might be averted. Fifty years ago, the memory of those two great national characters, Webster and Clay, whose eloquence and zeal postponed that great contest a decade, was fresh to the little band that bound themselves together here at Scotch Grove that they might have the privileges of a church home.

"In May of 1858, the United Presbyterian church was formed by the union of the a.s.sociate Presbyterians and a.s.sociate Reform Presbyterian churches. In the fall of that same year, fifteen devoted Christian citizens organized the new congregation and called it the United Presbyterian Church of Fairfax, Iowa.

"It is interesting to note that while these fifteen early pioneers were planning for the organization, Abraham Lincoln was debating with Douglas the merits of the Dred Scott decision.

"These fifteen charter members were:

"Samuel Hall and wife, Sarah Hall.

"Joseph Humphrey and wife, Margaret Humphrey.

"Alexander Johnson and wife, Janet McKinnon Johnson.

"James Mitch.e.l.l and wife, Margaret McArthur Mitch.e.l.l.

"John Mitch.e.l.l and wife, Margaret Mitch.e.l.l.

"William McKinnon and wife, Janet McKinnon.