History of Linn County Iowa Part 34

"That year the first brick buildings were erected; a dwelling on Iowa avenue, near Greene's opera house, and a three-story building on Commercial street by Judge Greene, which for a long time was the show building of the town; we began to put on airs.

"In the spring of 1852 a steamboat came to Cedar Rapids; it was a great event and attracted people from near and far; she brought a cargo of freight, among which were the household effects of Mr. Bever and my father, both of whom from that time forward became citizens of the town. This year, also, came Mr. Daniel O. Finch with a printing press and forthwith started the _Progressive Era_, the first paper in the Cedar valley. [The _Era_ was established in 1851.]

Ezra Van Metre, a talented young lawyer from Circleville, Ohio, also came that year. Everyone was rejoiced that we had an organ and the editor was overwhelmed with original matter. There were at least a dozen young fellows in the town, myself among the rest, who thought they 'knew it all,'

and anxiously rushed into print. The paper changed hands in a year or two, and became the _Cedar Valley Times_, and continued until a few years ago."

Dr. Carpenter sold his practice to Dr. Koontz and went into the land business and in politics. Again we must quote what he has to say about the county seat fight which commenced the first few years he was here:

"Cedar Rapids claimed that she was to be the commercial metropolis and therefore ought to be the political center.

The question was brought to an issue by the county commissioners ordering a new court house at Marion, subject to the approval of the voters of the county. Cedar Rapids opposed the measure, believing that the building would insure the permanent location of the county seat. Then ensued a most bitter canva.s.s. The voters were deluged with oratory. Marion put on the stump Judge Isbell, I. M.

Preston, Col. William Smyth, N. M. Hubbard, W. G. Thompson, and R. D. Stephens, against whom Cedar Rapids opposed Jas.

J. Child, Ezra Van Metre, Donald McIntosh, A. S. Belt, E. N.

Bates, I. N. Whittam and others. Every school district was canva.s.sed and much bitter feeling engendered. The Marion people were more adroit politicians and carried the election, but the result did not discourage our citizens, who a.s.serted that no election could affect 'manifest destiny.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: M. E. CHURCH, TROY MILLS]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MILL AT PRAIRIEBURG]

"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 a.s.sembled 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. Ka.s.son 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sumed 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 const.i.tuents. 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 partners.h.i.+p 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 pract.i.tioner 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 a.s.sisting 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 towns.h.i.+p 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 hards.h.i.+ps 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 a.s.sisted 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 a.s.sisted 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 towns.h.i.+p in 1896, and is survived by a number of children who are residents of this county.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AT OLD SETTLERS' REUNION, MARION]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A PARK SCENE IN MARION]

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 a.s.sociate 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 pa.s.sed 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 towns.h.i.+p. 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 pa.s.sed to his death relying on the guidance of an unseen hand," says his biographer.