EDUCATIONAL

In no one interest of the county have forty-two years marked such wonderful and gratifying changes as in the educational.

Fifty years ago, a knowledge of the higher branches of education could only be obtained at the colleges of the older States—Yale, Harvard, Amherst, Dartmouth, and their cotemporaries. Now, there is not a graded school in Jefferson County that does not furnish advantages almost equal to a majority of the colleges of that period. On all the prairies, neat and comfortable schoolhouses are to be seen, while the teachers are proficient, and competent to impart instruction in any of the branches necessary tot he ordinary pursuits of life. In reality, they are the people's colleges, and no system is dearer to the people than the system that supports and maintains them. To make war upon this system would be making war upon the nation's life.

It is unnecessary to enter into a detailed mention of those who engaged in the laudable work of teaching in the pioneer days of Jefferson County, for their name is legion. But it is due alike to them and their patrons to say that they all made good records as educators. As the population increased in town and country, schools increased in like proportion. As the years increased and the people increased in wealth, the old log schoolhouses, with their mud-and-stick chimneys, puncheon floors and puncheon seats, greased-paper windows, and other primitive accommodations, went down before those more in keeping with the progressive march of time. But the old log schoolhouses and the old teachers are kindly remembered by the leading men of the country.

STATISTICAL

The following statistics are taken from the last report of the County Superintendent of Public Schools.

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JEFFERSON COUNTY SABBATH-SCHOOL ASSOCIATION.

The association known as the Jefferson County Sabbath-School Association was organized at Fairfield, Iowa, December 11, 1867. The prime movers in the organization were W. Maynard, Pastor Presbyterian Church; J. H. Wells, Superintendent Congregational Sunday School; J. A. Spielman, Assistant Superintendent Lutheran Sunday School; Thomas Merrill, Pastor Congregational Church; Chauncey Darby, Pastor Baptist Church; A. Axline, Pastor Lutheran Church; C. H. Whiting, Superintendent Presbyterian Sunday School; W. C. Shippen, Pastor Methodist Episcopal Church; A. B. Ferguson, Superintendent Methodist Episcopal Sunday School; A. Watrous, Superintendent Baptist Sunday School; Mary Henn, Assistant Superintendent St. Peter Episcopal Church; W. F. Cowdery, Assistant Superintendent St. Peter Episcopal Church—all of Fairfield.

The sole object of the Association is to advance the noble and glorious work of the Sunday school.

At the called meeting for organization there were represented 24 schools of the county, there having been 119 delegates appointed and in attendance to represent the schools. The following persons were chosen as officers of the permanent organization: President, Rev. C. Darby; Vice President, Daniel Brown.

The first annual meeting of the Association was held April 14, 1868, in the Presbyterian Church in Fairfield. The following persons were elected officers for the ensuing year: President, Thomas D. Evans; Vice Presidents, N. S. Averill, B. Giltner, J. A. Spielman; Treasurer, John A. Wells, Secretary, Daniel Brown.

The second annual meeting was held April 13, 1869, in the Congregational Church in Fairfield. President Evans in the chair. The following report from the Secretary shows the work to be progressing:

Reports were received from 8 townships, showing the number of schools therein to be 42, the total enrollment of which is 2,647, and the amount of money collected to sustain them, $615.43. No report was received from Polk, Penn, Buchanan and Cedar Townships.

The following were elected officers: President, Thomas D. Evans; Vice Presidents, N. S. Averill, B. Giltner, J. A. Spielman; Treasurer, George Stever; Secretary, Daniel Brown.

The third annual convention was held May 17, 1870, in the Lutheran Church, Fairfield. Seven townships reported at this convention, showing that

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24 schools had elected delegates to the same, the total membership thereof being 2,140. President, Thomas D. Evans; Vice Presidents, O. O. Sheldon, Daniel Rider and A. Watrous; Treasurer, G. A. Unkirch; Secretary, C. S. Byrkit.

The fourth annual convention met at Batavia, Iowa, June 6 and 7, 1871, in the Presbyterian Church. This convention will be long remembered by those who were in attendance, it being the best in point of interest, freedom of discussion and attendance, of any of the meetings of the Association. Thirty schools were reported by 10 townships, with a membership of 2,300, and were represented by 168 delegates. President, T. D. Evans; Vice Presidents, Rev. A. Axline, T. A. Robb and O. O. Sheldon; treasurer, G. A. Unkirch; Secretary, C. S. Byrkit.

The fifth annual meeting of the Association was held at the Congregational church, Fairfield, June 4 and 5, 1872. At this meeting, 11 townships were represented reporting 39 schools in the county, with a membership of 2,879. President, Thomas D. Evans; Vice Presidents, J. A. Ireland, N. S. Averill and Benjamin Andrews; Secretary, B. Giltner; Treasurer, Hon. William Hopkirk. During the year, the Secretary (B. Giltner) removed from the State, and, on the 12th of April, 1873, at a meeting of the Executive Committee, T. Y. Lynch was appointed Secretary.

The sixth annual convention met in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Fairfield, June 3 and 4, 1873. Owing to the removal of Mr. Giltner, and the necessary appointment of a new Secretary, to whom the work was new, the interest in the convention was not as great as at former sessions, for want of proper advertisement. Only 36 schools were reported at this convention, there being reports but from 7 townships, the total membership of the schools being 1,972. As shown by report of the Treasurer, there was $176.04 in his hands, the amount having been raised by a railroad excursion to Burlington. President, Thomas D. Evans; Vice Presidents, William Hopkirk, William Claridge and A. B. Scott; Secretary, T. Y. Lynch; Treasurer, J. A. Spielman.

The eighth annual convention met at Glasgow, June 1 and 2, 1875, in the Congregational Church. The weather throughout the whole convention was very unfavorable for delegates from abroad attending, still the meeting was interesting and very profitable. One of the enjoyable features was a basket dinner on Wednesday, prepared by the friends in and about Glasgow. Reports were received from 9 townships, reporting 40 schools in the county, 34 of which reported and elected delegates to this convention. Total membership, 2,761. There was in the Treasurer's hands, $115.45. The expenses of the Association were largely in excess of previous years because of payments to the State Association and a Fourth of July Sunday-school picnic. President, Rev. H. E. Wing; Vice Presidents, William Hopkirk, David Webster, and Rev. J. Barnett; Treasurer, J. A. Spielman; Secretary, T. Y. Lynch.

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The ninth annual meeting of the convention was held in the Presbyterian Church in Pleasant Plain, June 6 and 7, 1876. This was perhaps the largest and most interesting convention the Association ever held, there being in attendance over 300 members. The reports from schools are not as large as expected or hoped for, because of a necessary change in the method and form of reporting which the Superintendents did not seem to understand. Still there were reported 27 schools from 9 townships, with a membership of 2,142. The amount in the Treasurer's hands, $100.11. President, Rev. J. Barnett; Vice Presidents, David Webster, T. D. McClelland and William Hopkirk; Treasurer, J. A. Spielman; Secretary, T. Y. Lynch.

The tenth annual meeting of the Association was held at Salina, June 6, 1877. Owing to a very heavy rainstorm during the night of June 4, whereby many of the bridges over the larger streams in the county were destroyed, rendering it almost impossible to reach Salina, there was no session on June 5, and but few present from a distance on the 6th, still those who were present had an interesting and instructive convention. Officers elected: President, Rev. C. Reed; Vice Presidents, B. C. Andrews, William Hopkirk and H. C. Rock; Treasurer, J. A. Spielman; Secretary, T. Y. Lynch.

The eleventh annual convention was held at Libertyville, June 4 and 5, 1878, the M. E. Church. From the very outset, this was a most interesting convention, the workers working with great earnestness and zeal, each subject being opened and discussed in a manner that showed much thought and careful preparation. A committee, viz.: J. French, J. A. Spielman and T. Y. Lynch were appointed to organize conventions in each township, if possible, in order to arouse and enlist the workers in a hearty co-operation in the work throughout the county. Number of school reported in the county, 61; number of schools reporting at the convention, 39; membership of those reporting, 5,864. Officers, President, Rev. W. M. Sparr; Vice Presidents, B. C. Andrews, W. B. Frame and A. Loomis; Treasurer, J. A. Spielman; Secretary, T. Y. Lynch.

At present writing the committee have organized the following conventions: Polk Township, September 24; Liberty and Des Moines, October 12; Penn, at Pleasant Plains, October 19; Round Prairie and Cedar, November 2 and 3; Locust Grove, November 9; Walnut, November 17; Buchanan and Lockridge, November 24; Fairfield, December 1, and Black Hawk, December 8.

MISCELLANEOUS

"MARRYING AND GIVING IN MARRIAGE."

The following is a list of marriage licenses issued in Jefferson County, during the year 1839:

• March 14, Harmon J. Aikes and Miss Martha Frost.
• March 16, Isaac Blakely and Miss Ellen Lanman.*
• March 25, J. S. Chandler and Miss E. Bonafield.
• April 28, N. Ogden and Miss Mahala Cassida.
• May 3, L. Morgan and Miss Mary Francis.

_____

*These parties were first married in 1837. The license under which they were married at that time was issued from Des Moines County. The marriage service was rendered by Rev. Mr. Bradley, at the residence of the bride's parents, in what is now Round Prairie Township, and then subject to the jurisdiction of Henry County. The question of the legality of the marriage under such circumstances was raised, and hence the second marriage. But even with a second marriage, the Blakelys and Lanmans did not feel safe until a special law was passed legalizing all marriages previously solemnized. Rev. B. F. Chastain pronounced the couple"man and wife" the second time.

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• May 22, O. H. Mitchell and Martha C. Green.
• June 11, Jasper Coons and Miss Susan Byrnes.
• June 14, O. O. Kinsman and Miss H. Dinsmore.
• June 21, J. J. Bradshaw and Miss Mary M. Hutson.
• July 20, T. R. Brown and Teressa Shelton.
• July 24, Thomas D. Cox and Eveline Tandy.
• August 27, John Harris and Elizabeth Coop.
• September 27, William J. Stout and Letitia Sears.
• September 27, James L. Scott and Mary L. Gilmer.
• October 5, D. H. Lowery and Aurelia Bowman.
• October 7, William Hoskins and Eleanor Pickering.
• October 16, N. D. Prouty and Sarah A. Miller.
• October 21, S. T. Harris and Adaline Hickenbottom.
• October 22, Milton Moor and Elizabeth Smith.
• November 9, G. T. Brownell and Catherine Wall.
• November 18, David T. Morgan and Sarah A. Coleman.
• December 9, Aaron Woodard and Arcanda Whittington.
• December 18, John Morgan and Nancy Coleman.
• In 1840, 36 licenses were issued, and 47 in 1841.

RECORD OF DEEDS, WILLS, ETC.

The first order of Henry B. Notson, the first Probate Judge, was the appointment of Sampson Smith guardian of Eliza Koons and Martha Koons. Bond, $1,000. March 9, 1841. David Eller, surety.

Edward T. Williams was the first administrator; appointed to administer the estate of John L. Williams, deceased. Bond, $600. May 28, 1841. Daniel D. Jones and Medley T. Shelton, sureties.

First ministerial credential, 1839.

The first recorded deed, April 1839, James L. Scott to W. G. Coop; consideration, $50; executed November 22, 1838, before William Griffey, Justice of the Peace for Henry County, conveying the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 1, Township 71, Range 9 west. Witnesses, A. L. Griffey and Henry Woolard. Recorded as of Henry County.

The first deed recorded as of Jefferson County, was for the consideration of love, affection, the better preferment in marriage and $1, of Andrew J. Cassida, executed by his father Martin Cassida, before Henry B. Notson, Justice of the Peace, June 17, 1839, John A. Ptizer, witness; conveyed "quarter-section of land in the rich woods; 5 horses; 1 mare, called 'Fan;' 1 chestnut sorrel eight years old; 1 mare; called 'Sal'; 1 bright sorrel, eight years old; 1 horse, called Oliver; 1 chestnut sorrel, two years old; 1 yoke of oxen; 3 milk cows, 1 called 'pink; 1 white and 1 ghent, said cows to have calves; 2 steer yearlings; 8 head sheep, 3 of which are wethers; 1 ram, 4 yews; 39 head of hogs, 2 of which have a black list around them, the residue of the body black and black and white spotted. The above named stock is marked with a smooth crop and underbit in the right ear; 2 wagons; 3 plows; 5 bee hives; the crop of corn and vegetables; household furniture; 5 beds and bedding; 1 clock; 1 table; with $500 in cash; 1 cross-cut saw and other carpenter's tools.

BLACK LAWS — DEED OF FREEDOM

The time was, and not many years ago, either, when the "color line" was a clearly defined in Iowa as in any other part of the country. The act under which Jefferson County was organized was approved January 21, 1839. The

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same day an act was also approved that was intended to prevent black or mulatto persons from coming into the Territory. That act provided that from and after the 1st day of April, 1839, "no black or mulatto person shall be permitted to settle in the Territory, unless he or she shall produce a fair certificate from some court of the United States, of his or her actual freedom."

The act was powerless as to its purpose, for "black" and "mulatto" persons did come and settle in the Territory. When Gen. Street came as Indian Agent, to what is now Agency City, in Wapello County, he brought with him a colored man named Charles Forrester. In 1843, when Fairfield had grown large enough to maintain a barber-shop, Forrester came here to commence business. Some of the people were so "shocked" at the thought of a negro doing business "on his own hook," that they made complaint to the County Commissioners, and asked for an enforcement of the law herein quoted. The Commissioners mad application to George Acheson, who was then Prosecuting Attorney, to have Forrester arrested and "hired out," under the provisions of the law. Acheson refused, on the ground that Forrester had come to the Territory before any of them—that, in fact, he had been brought here by Gen. Street, an agent of the United States Government, and that he was just as much entitled to the freedom of the country as "any other man." There the matter rested. Forrester opened a barber-shop, and managed to make and save money. He finally drifted out of sight; but the attempt to have him arrested and sold remains as one of the memories of "slavery days" in Iowa.

The following "deed of freedom," copied from the records in the Recorder's office is not without interest. The object of the "deed" was, no doubt intended to save the deeded woman from the annoyance busybodies might occasion her under the Black Laws of the 21st of January, 1839.

Know all men by these present, That we, Mary Mosley, of the village of Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa, widow of Thomas Mosley, late of Davis County, Kentucky, deceased, and George W. Mosley, of the same village, son of the said Thomas Mosely, do hereby certify and declare that the said Thomas died in the said county of Davis, possessed of Caroline, a slave, who is a mulatto girl now aged about thirty-nine years, about four feet three inches high, stout, bony frame, but not corpulent, large face, strongly-marked features, hazel eyes, ordinary mulatto complexion, of about half-blood, with some small moles or specks scattered upon the face, the two principal being one on the right side, low on the forehead, even with and to the right of the eyebrow, the other, on the top of the nose; of neat habits, rather intelligent and cheerful and free of speech, with hair mostly straight and beginning to turn gray on close inspection, but otherwise black; and that the said Thomas, by his last Will and Testament, recorded in said county of Davis, bequeathed the said Caroline to his widow for life, with remainder over to the said George, his son; and that we, the said Mary and George, afterward emigrated to the State of Illinois, and thence to the State of Iowa, bringing with us into those States successively, the said slave, Caroline, as our own free and voluntary act of emancipation, knowing and intending that the said Caroline would and did become free by our said act in carrying her into said free States; and we do certify and declare that the said Caroline did thereby become and is manumitted and free to all intents and purposes whatsoever; and that we do not, nor either of us, claim, and will never claim any authority over her, or right to her services, or ownership of her, as a slave or otherwise, except so far as she may voluntarily and of her own free will and pleasure, accompany the said Mary, her former mistress, as a personal attendant and companion in the capacity of a free woman of color.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hand and affixed our seals this nineteenth day of October, 1849, at Fairfield aforesaid.

MARY MOSELY. [SEAL]
G. W. MOSELEY. [SEAL]

• Witnesses:
  WM L. HAMILTON
• LUCY M. HAMILTON
• Acknowledged before Cyrus Olney, District Judge.

The above instrument of "freedom" is recorded under date of October 30, 1849, twelve years before the commencement of the great and final conflict between freedom and slavery, the result of which was to render such such instruments of writing and record relics of barbarism.

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In this connection it may be mentioned that Fairfield was an approved station on the line of the underground railroad, along which many hundred men, women and children were conveyed in the later days of slavery. The old house—a two story one—is still standing in the southern part of Fairfield. The keeper is still in the enjoyment of life, health and happiness, and many a poor, panting, fleeing slave that he succored, blesses the name of Benjamin Pierce.

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