CHAPTER II _________
It was not until four years after the admission of Iowa to the Union that steps were taken for the organization of the south-western counties. A bill was passed by the Legislature of 1850, organizing several counties in Southern Iowa, and the act was approved by the governor on Jan. 15, 1851. A survey of this section was also ordered and took place during the same year. At this time there were not over half a dozen families within the present bounds of the county, and no political organization was attempted until later on. The next legislative act referring to the county was approved Jan. 12, 1853, when it was included with Adams county for revenue and judicial purposes, and the population at this time probably did not include over fifty or seventy-five people at the outside. The details of this early history, in order, are given in the chronology at the end of the book. The first appearance of the name of the county was in the act authorizing its organization, and it is not positively known at whose suggestion the name of Montgomery was adopted. It is known, however, that it was given in honor of the distinguished young patriot who lost his life in the early years of the Revolutionary War, while leading a forlorn expedition against the British in Canada. Biographical data concerning him are not readily accessible and a short sketch of the life of one of the purest and most earnest of the Revolutionary patriots certainly can not be out of place in this history, even aside from the fact that his name has been given our county. Page 16 Richard Montgomery was born near Feltrim, Ireland, on the 2d of December, 1736. He came of a good family and was educated in Trinity College, Dublin. At an early age he entered the British army and the first record he made as a soldier was in the siege of Louisburg, Canada, by the British forces, the 8th of June, 1758. Of his services here, Bancroft says: "At that landing, none was more gallant than Richard Montgomery, just one and twenty, Irish by birth and an officer in Wolfe's Brigade. His commander honored him with well deserved praise and promotion to a lieutenancy." In 1762 he was still further promoted, being advanced to the rank of captain. Ten years later he gave up his commission in the British army and settled in New York City where, in 1773, he married the daughter of Judge Robt. R. Livingston, who later became distinguished in Revolutionary times. When the Revolutionary War broke out he was at once selected by Congress as one of the most available leaders. Just after the Battle of Bunker Hill had destroyed all hopes of peaceable settlement with the mother country, eight brigadiers were elected from New England, and Montgomery was second on the list. In connection with this distinction, the historian Bancroft adds that he was well informed as a statesman, faultless in private life and a patriot from the heart. His career from this time onward may well be told in the words of the distinguished historian whom we have already quoted: "We have seen Richard Montgomery, who had served in the army from the age of fifteen, gain distinction in the seven years' war. Failing after the peace in his pursuit of the promotion to which his good services gave him right to aspire, he sold his commission and emigrated to New York. Here in 1773, he renewed his acquaintance with the family of Robert R. Livingston, and married his eldest daughter. Never intending to draw his sword again, studious in his habits, he wished for a country life at Rhinebeck; and his wife, whose affections he entirely possessed, willingly conformed to his tastes. The father of his wife Facing page 16 Page 17 used to say that, 'if American liberty should not be maintained, he would carry his family to Switzerland, as the only free country in the world.' Her grandfather, the aged Robert Livingston, was the staunchest patriot of them all. In 1773, in his eighty-fourth year, he foretold the conflict with England; at the news of the retreat of the British from Concord, he confidently announced American independence. AFter the battle of Bunker Hill, as he lay calmly on his death-bed, his last words were: 'What news from Boston?' "The County of Dutchess, in April 1775, selected Montgomery as a delegate to the first provincial convention in New York, where he distinguished himself by modesty, decision, and sound judgment. Accepting his appointment as brigadier-general, he reluctantly bade adieu to his 'quiet scheme of life, perhaps,' he said, 'forever; but the will of an oppressed people, compelled to choose between liberty and slavery, must be obeyed.' "On the sixth of August, from Albany, he advised that Tryon should be conducted out of the way of mischief to Harford. He reasoned in favor of the occupation of Canada, as the means of guarding against Indian hostilities, and displaying to the world the strength of the confederated colonies; it was enlarging the sphere of operations, but a failure would not impair the means of keeping the command of Lake Champlain. Summoned by Schuyler to Ticonderoga, he was attended as far as Saratoga by his wife, whose gloomy forebodings he soothed by cheerfulness and good humor. His last words to her at parting were: 'You will never have cause to blush for your Montgomery.' " Passing over the hardships which he and his troops endured in reaching the city of Quebec, we will again adopt the words of this historian in his vivid description of the fatal attack by the Americans on the almost impregnable fortress which guarded the city: "The night of the twenty-sixth of December was clear, and so Page 18 cold that no man could handle his arms or scale a wall. The evening of the twenty-seventh was hazy, and the troops were put in motion; but, as the sky soon cleared up, the general, who was tender of their lives, called them back, choosing to wait for the shelter of clouds and darkness. "For the next three days the air was serene, and a mild westerly wind brightened the sky. On the thirtieth a snowstorm from the northeast set in. But a few hours more of the old year remained, and with it the engagement of many of his troops would expire. Orders were therefore given for the troops to be ready at two o'clock of the following morning; and, that they might recognize one another, each soldier wore in his cap a piece of white paper, on which some of them wrote: "Liberty or Death." Colonel James Livingston, with less than two hundred Canadians was to attract attention by appearing before St. John's gate, on the southwest; while a company of Americans under Brown were to feign a movement on Cape Diamond, where the wall faces south by west, and from that high ground, at the proper time were to fire rockets, as the signal for beginning the attacks on the lower town, under Arnold from the west and north, under Montgomery from the south and east. If successful, both would meet in Mountain street, near Prescott gate. "The general, who reserved for his own party less than three hundred Yorkers, led them in Indian file from headquarters at Holland House to Wolfe's Cove, and then about two miles farther along the shore. In several places they were obliged to scramble up slant rocks covered with two feet of snow, and then, with a precipice on their right, to slide down fifteen or twenty feet. The wind, which was at east by north, blew furiously in their faces with cutting hail, which the eye could not endure; their constant step wore the frozen snow in little lumps of ice, so that the men were fatigued by struggles not to fall, and could not keep their arms dry. Page 19 "The signal from Cape Diamond being given more than half an hour too soon, the general, with his aides-de-camp, Macpherson and Burr, pushed on with the front, composed of Cheesman's company and Mott's; and more than half an hour before day they arrived at the first barrier, with the guides and carpenters. The rest of the party lagged behind; and the leaders were not within half a mile. Montgomery and Cheesman were the first that entered the undefended barrier, passing on between the rock and the pickets which the carpenters began to saw and wrench away. While a message was sent back to hurry up the troops, Montgomery went forward to observe the path before him. It was a very narrow defile, falling away to the river precipitously on the one side, and shut in by the scarpered rock and overhanging cliff on the other, so that not more than five or six persons could walk abreast; a house, built of logs and extending on the south nearly to the river, with loopholes of musketry and a battery of two three-pounders, intercepted the passage. It was held by a party consisting of thirty Canadians and eight British militiamen under John Coffin with nine seamen and cannoneers under Barnsfare, the master of a transport. The general listened and heard no sound; but lights from lanterns on the Plains of Abraham, as well as the signal rockets had given the alarm; an din the morning twilight, through the storm his troops were seen in full march from Wolfe's Cove. At their approach to the barrier where Coffin commanded, the sailors stood at their guns with lighted linstocks. "Montgomery waited until about sixty men had joined him inside of the row of pickets; then exclaiming, 'Men of New York, you will not fear to follow where your general leads; push on, brave boys! Quebec is ours!' He pressed forward at a double quick time to carry the battery. As he appeared on a little rising in the ground at a distance of fifty yards or less from the mouths of the cannon which were loaded with grape shot, Barnsfare discharged them with deadly aim. Aaron Burr, who Page 20 showed personal bravery and good conduct, escaped unhurt; Montgomery, his aid Macpherson, the young and gallant Cheesman, and ten others fell dead, Montgomery from three wounds. With him the soul of the expedition fled. Donald Campbell, who assumed the command of the Yorkers, seeing no chance of success, ordered an immediate retreat, which was effected without further loss." The fate of the gallant young officer was mourned by even his enemies, and his bravery was praised in the English Parliament by Edmund Burke and Lord North. He and his lieutenants who fell with him were buried in the city of Quebec, but in 1818, with the consent of the British goverment [government], his remains were removed to New York City, in accordance with special act of the state legislature. There was a great demonstration in various cities and towns along the line of travel and the body of Montgomery was finally solemnly interred in old St. Paul's Church, where it now rests. It is said that his widow, who had remained true to his memory for the forty-three years after his death, sat in front of the old Livingston homestead on the banks of the Hudson and saw the funeral boat, bearing her husband's remains down the river. We might also remember in connection with Montgomery that Judge Livingston, the father of Montgomery's wife, was one of the commission sent by Jefferson to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, which made Montgomery county a part of the country for which the gallant soldier gave his life. And, furthermore, we might record the remarkable and prophetic words of the distinguished patriot, after signing the treaty with France: "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives. * * The instruments which we have just signed will cause no tears to be shed; they prepare ages of happiness for innumerable generations of human creatures. The Mississippi and Missouri will see them succeed one another and multiply, truly worth of the regard and care of Providence in the bosom of equality, under just laws, freed from the errors of superstition and the scourges of bad government." Page 21 An interesting fact connected with Montgomery and the county which bears his name is that at the time of the publication of this history there are at least three of his direct lineal descendants residing in the count,~~Mrs. Smith McPherson, Mrs. Ella B. Young and Mrs. A. C. Hinchman, all of Red Oak. SURVEYING THE COUNTY Fifty-four years ago, surveyors for the first time traversed the area, now Montgomery County, crossing streams and divides an running lines and establishing corners. They were the first white men who trod upon the virgin prairie and it may be of interest to look into the details of their work. Surveying was of the first importance to the pioneers; the boundaries of the land must be defined by the government before the settler could be given a legal claim to his farm or home. Hence the survey always preceded or closely followed the first immigrant. The surveyor and his assistants, properly equipped with compass or transit, chain and camp equipage, and supplied with food for perhaps months, began their work. He first located the starting point which had been determined for him in advance; otherwise he must start at a point near the mouth of the Arkansas River where an imaginary line, known as the "base line," had been established by the national government, and he must also locate another imaginary line crossing it at right angles, extending north and south. This latter line is called the "meridian line," and in locating for Montgomery County the surveyor would have to follow the line known as the 5th Principal Meridian. Beginning where the two lines intersect and extending east and west, north and south, are lines marked by spaces six miles apart, marked 1, 2, 3, etc. Six miles north of the base line on the meridian line Township No. 1 is marked and the township adjoining it on the west would be described as Township 1, Range 2, west; and so on, numbering until Township 71 is reached, this being the south line of Page 22 Montgomery County. He would find, by measurement, that thirty-five townships had been established west of the 5th Principal Meridian and that it was 210 miles from that meridian to the south-east corner of Jackson Township; that township being numbered 71 north of Range 36 west of the 5th Principal Meridian. Scott Township would be No. 37, and Grant Township No. 38, west, of the same meridian. The meridian lines are astronomical lines and certain calculations have to be made owing to the curvature of the earth, to preserve exactness in the guide lines. The government survey of the public lands, in the nature of things can not be exact; consequently there are fractional pieces of land on the north and west sides of the townships, and in describing lands the words "more or less according to government survey" are inserted. It often occurs that the townships are a trifle short or a little in excess of the six miles square. Beginning is made at the northeast corner section of the township, and the sections are numbered from one to thirty-six, by counting from west to east, alternately. Thus Section 6 is the northwest corner section while Section 7 adjoins it on the south, and Section 12 would be next south of Section 1; Section 13, likewise would be the second section south of Section 1, and so on until 36 is reached. Montgomery County is in the second tier of counties from the southern line of the state and the tenth county in the tier from the Mississippi River. All of the counties in this tier west of Henry County have but twelve congressional townships; each having four townships east and west and three north and south. Montgomery County has four townships less that Cass County on the north and of Page County on the south. The state constitution provides that twelve congressional townships shall be the minimum number constituting a county. Contracts were made between the government and the surveyor for a stipulated price per mile; all lines counted by running measure. The lines around the sections were not always straight Page 23 lines, which may be easily seen in traveling the public highways. On the prairie, marks were made by cutting a square of the tough sod with a spade and forming a slight elevation. These mounds were eight links of the surveyor's chain from the pit that had been made by removing the soil from the mound, so that there could be no mistake, as both mound and pit were in evidence. Into these mounds, at the corners of the square mile or sections and midway between them, were posts, called half mile posts. These were square stakes driven into the ground with the number of the section cut thereon. The pits were south of the stakes at the corners of the sections and east at the half mile posts. In the timber a growing tree would be marked and the distance and the direction of the posts noted in the surveyor's field notes. It was not many years after the survey was completed until the small stakes rotted or were burned by the annual prairie fires, and it often became a very difficult and perplexing affair to re-locate them. The mounds everywhere thrown up by gophers could not always be distinguished from those made with a spade. The work of the county surveyor was simple when the marks of original posts could be found. In subdividing a section into one-fourths a line was drawn from one half mile post to the one on the opposite side, which would intersect another, drawn in a similar manner from the other sides, at the middle of the section. The point of intersection would be the corner from which, by a like process, the one-fourth of a section could be divided into forty acre tracts or smaller if desirable. The smaller area to be surveyed, the more labor required to locate it. 
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