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CHAPTER XXXV
ORLEANS TOWNSHIP This record of Orleans township is the composite work of C. C. Brown, H, F, McBride and the late Elmer Gager, published in 1905 in "Anderson & Goodwin's Atlas of Winneshiek County." So far as can now be learned the first settler in Orleans township was Nelson Gager, who arrived here from Upper Canada in the fall of 1853, After making a short stay on several different pieces of land, and selling his "squatter's rights" to them, finally located in 1854 on the northeast quarter of section 9, The next year, 1855, he built a log- house, where he kept bachelor's hall until 1859, when he married Mary Gager. Here Mr. Gager still lives with one of his children, his wife having passed away to that better land September, 1904. During the year 1854 a number of families came, among them Wm. Rowlee. This family with Norris Humphrey left Johnstown Center, Ohio, with teams September 14, 1854, and crossed the Mississippi river at Bellevue, Illinois, October 6th. Leaving the women and children at Bellevue the men proceeded on a voyage of discovery. Traveling by way of Dubuque, Elkader, Postville and Burr Oak Springs, they finally settled on the northwest quarter of section 28, Orleans township, the place where they wished to build their home. This decision made, they returned to Bellevue for the family, and again reached their claim October 30th, and lived in their covered wagons while the house was being built. Mr. Rowlee's picture appears in the atlas, but both himself and wife have passed away. The old home, however, is still owned and occupied by his son, John Q. Rowlee. Coming in 1854 Charles McCartney settled on section 10. The following year twin girls were born to them, who are supposed to be the first children born in this township. One of them died in infancy, the other is still living. Shortly afterward, January 24, 1856, a boy, Wm. Lewis, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lewis, whose home had been just across the line in Hoirard county. but who built a log house in this township in the fall of 1855 and lived there during the winters of 1855 and 1856 for the purpose of holding a claim, and moved back into Howard county in the spring. Thomas Farrel came that year, bought land, built a log house on section 14, which is still standing, and is the oldest house in the township: Here a large family was reached, some of whom are still living among us. Mr. and Mrs. Farrel died years ago. Other arrivals in 1854 were 283 PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY 284 Amasa Owen, Mr. Stanton, Seth Murray, Mr. Hobbins, and a man by the name of Morgan Howard, from whom Morgan school district received its name. The house built by Mr. Howard, on the farm now owned by J. P. Helmer, was probably the first house built in the township. At this time the postoffice, where the settlers received their mail, was at Decorah, soon afterward at New Oregon. Still later a postoffice was established at Seth Murray's house, also one at Morgan Howard's called Morgan postoffice. In 1855 came Hugh McBride and James Murtha. They located on adjoining pieces of land. There also came in 1855 D. W. C. Towne, Amos Rugg, Mr. Johnson, Ezra Bourne, and others whose names we are unable to give. In 1856 came the great rush of settlers, the Government land remaining unsold being nearly or quite all taken that year. It seems to have been about the first impulse of the American pioneer wherever located to provide a place where his children could attend school, and the settlers of Odeans were no exception to the rule. While the public schools were not organized until 1858, some five years after the first settlement, the children were taught in private schools two years earlier. During the summer of 1856 a school was taught in the abandoned log house before mentioned as built by Thomas Lewis. The teacher was Miss Maria M. Murray, now Mrs. Fenton of Lime Springs. A school was also held during the same summer at the house of O. E. Green in the southeastern part of the township, Mrs. Green (afterward Mrs. Enoch Robinson) being the teacher. The next winter a school was held in the Quaker meeting house near the center of the township, Thomas Johnson teacher. The only record we have of the early history of the public school interests is found in the proceedings of the school board kept by Ebenezer Rice, the first secretary. The first school meeting was held at the house of Gates M. Forbes on the third day of May, 1858. At this meeting Enos George was elected president, Wm. Stephenson vice-president, Ebenezer Rice secretary and W. B. Chamberlain treasurer. The first board of directors was elected at a meeting held at what was called the Quaker schoolhouse, April 7, 1860, and consisted of the following persons: Sub-district No. 1, Ezra Bourne; No.2, Parley K. Foote; No.3, James Brown; No.4, Joshua Brooks; No.5, Robert Metcalf; No.6, W. B. Chamberlain. The first school in No.1 was held in Ezra Bourne's house and taught by Miss Emily Miller in the summer of 1860. Miss A. Libbey taught the school in No. 6 the same summer in part of W. B. Chamberlain's house, and Miss Minerva Hill taught in No.2, but in what house we cannot determine. J. S. Neff taught the first school we have any record of in No.4, though there was undoubtedly a school taught the winter before by Philo Thatcher. The school taught by Neff was held in a part of the house owned by a Mr. Hansel Becker in the winter of 1860 and 1861. The schoolhouse in sub-district No.4 was built in the summer of 1861. Gilbert T. Watros taught the first school the following winter. In 1856 came some .ten or twelve families of the Society of Friends,
or Quakers, and to them must be given the credit of organizing
the first religious society and building the first church in the
township. The founders of this church were the families of Enos
George, Levi Middleton, Ellis George, Isaac Jay, John PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY 285 Hanson, L. Easterling, Mary Carson, Jeremiah Barker, Mr. Pearson and Mr. Lamb. The church was a small, one-story building about twenty by thirty feet, and was located on the southeast quarter of section 20, on what was known as the Eli Carson farm, now owned by C J. Watros. The building was destroyed by fire in 1864 and never rebuilt. Shortly after the organizers moved away and there are probably none of them left in the township at the present time. A large per cent of the present population of the township are of Norwegian descent, and these citizens were organized as the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran congregation of Orleans township, and in 1874 built a church which was dedicated June 6, 1875, by Rev. J. Moses, pastor, assisted by Rev. V. Koren, Prof. L. Larson, Reverend Reque and Reverend Larson.* This church is still a good building and a large congregation regularly worship there. In our history, as in that of a great part of the West, the itinerant Methodist preacher closely followed the pioneer and held services in the schoolhouses at an early day. Several societies have been organized in what is known as Ridgeway circuit, but only two exist in the township at the present time. The one known as the Morgan class, under the leadership of Rev. Thos. Oliver (preacher in charge), built a church in 1885, and the one known as the Morton class in 1890, Rev. John Gammons preacher in charge. These are both good buildings and are regularly used for religious purposes. . Early in 1855 a township meeting was held for the purpose of organizing a civil township and choosing a name for the same. There were proposed as names Pilot Grove, Orleans and Pleasant Prairie. The township was called Pilot Grove for two or three years, but in 1858 had become Orleans, by what means or at exactly what date there seems to be no record to show. The grove was located in the extreme southern part of the township on the main road to McGregor, which was traveled by settlers and teamsters living a long distance west, and was a prominent landmark. Seth Murray's house was also on this road, about a mile northwest of the grove, and it was his custom to keep lighted candles in the windows at night as a guide for travelers. The grove was a pilot by day and the candles by night. Thus the name Pilot Grove. The first election was held in November, 1855, at the house of Wm. Rowlee, but no record of this election remains. It is said, however, by the old settlers, that there were not enough available voters to fill all the offices. The first record we have of legal proceedings.in Pilot Grove township (now Orleans) is from the justice docket of Edwin M. Farnsworth, first justice of the peace in Orleans, at that time Pilot Grove. On June 12, 1856, one Nancy Sharp brought suit against Thomas Wanless to collect pay for some pine logs. Some of the settlers in the eastern half of Pilot Grove township in 1856 were Chas. Curtis, Smith Broadway, James Stitt, Dan Gates, James Murtha, Hugh McBridge, Calvin Farnsworth and his son Edwin M., mentioned as justice. Ebenezer and Almon Rice came in 1856, secured land and moved their families here in 1857. Alexander's History refers to the fact that Orleans township was in the early '80's the home of several herds of full blooded cattle, the notable ones being *This church was torn down and a new one built during the year 1913. PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY 286 the Shorthorns of L. R. Brown and W. B. Goocher and the Holsteins
of Charles Crapser. The latter, one year, captured all of the
best premiums at the Minnesota State Fair. Today Orleans township
is one of the most prosperous in the county. Its population in
1910 was 550.
________________ PLEASANT TOWNSHIP From Sparks' History, revised by Edwin Hover Pleasant township took its name and place in 1856. It is the eastern one of the second tier. Locust postoffice is near the extreme northwestern corner. In the year 1850 two Germans from Pennsylvania, John Klontz and William Vale, pitched their tents in the northwest corner of the township. Vale chose for his homestead what has since been known as the Locust Lane farm, deriving its name from the locust trees that were planted on each side of the road immediately after the ]and was fenced in. John Klontz took up his ranch on the south of Vale, and both went to work. They made money, as everything they had to sell brought them good prices. Mr. Vale at one time enjoyed the privilege of holding all the township offices, except constable, at one and the same time. He was the first justice of the peace, the first assessor, and the first clerk the township ever had. He also built the first prick dwelling in Winneshiek county. Klontz and Vale have both since sold their farms and moved to Missouri. In the following year the first influx of Norwegians commenced. They were Hover Evenson, Ole Magneson and Erick Erickson, who came here from Cambridge, Dane county, Wisconsin. Hover Evenson was the first blacksmith in the northern part of the county. He took up his ranch on the east of Vale and ran a blacksmith shop in connection with farming. Peter K. Langland, Lewis Peterson, Knudt K. Liquen and K. Erickson came from Illinois. Ole Magneson and E. Erickson settled in the northeastern part of the township. Erickson built a house which has become somewhat noted from the fact that it was entirely built from one pine tree. The walls are a solid plank six inches thick, and only three such planks from the floor to the ceiling in the first story, and two above. The floors, roof-boards, windows and door casings are from the same tree. It was all sawed up with a handsaw, as the logs could not be moved from the place where the tree grew on Pine creek. Ole Magneson introduced the first reaper into the neighborhood, and was also the owner of the first threshing machine in the township. 287 PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY 288 In the year 1853 there was another influx from Dane county, Wisconsin, prominent among whom were Bottolf Olson, Magne Langland, H. Hendrickson, Sven Olson, Ole Thorson, and others. In 1858 Ole B. Olson was one of the first settlers of Dakota territory, and was elected the first judge of the territory, which position he occupied until his death in 1875. Erick B. Olson, the younger brother, was one of the first four men who climbed the mountains of Colorado in search of gold in 1859. The first schoolhouse was built at Locust Lane in 1854, and it served also as a church for every denomination. The second schoolhouse that was built was known as the Ellingson schoolhouse. This was built of logs quite large, and intended to serve as a church for the Lutheran congregation that was then organized in connection with Highland and Spring Grove. It was built mostly by private funds; every farmer would bring so many logs and work so many days. This district consisted of portions of four townships, viz.: Pleasant and Highland, in Winneshiek county, and Waterloo and Hanover, in Allamakee. The first school was taught by James Lennon, of Frankville township. In 1855 and 1856, almost all the land had been taken up, and what was not was bought up by speculators while the land office was in Decorah. Our present county supervisor in District No.4, Edwin Hover, is a son of Hover Evenson, was born in Norway February 5, 1845, came with his parents to America in 1848, and in 1852 came to Iowa and settled on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 5, township 99, north range 7, west of the 5th principal meridian, where he still resides. REMINISCENCES OF 1852-54, BY SAM WISE (Anderson & Goodwin's Atlas) Pleasant township being a wooded township, especially along the Canoe creek, made it necessary in the early days for the settlers to build sawmills to transform their huge logs into building material. The first one of these mills in the township was built on the Canoe creek in 1852 by John Brandt, who later sold out to David Womeldorf. Conrad Brandt and his nephews Eli and Joe Brandt, Robert Lyons and Wm. Basset, also built mills on the Canoe. Among the first settlers were Wilson and George Daubney, Jacob Fie, James Morehead, Wm. French, Henry Hendrickson, Butler Oleson, Peter Langland, H. and Ole Halstenson. The schools (of which the township is proud) have grown from the little schoolhouse in the northwest corner, and the old log schoolhouse in the northeast corner, to eight fine buildings, four of which are brick, one frame, and three of blue limestone, of which stone the township has several fine quarries in abundance to build great cities. All of these schools have slate blackboards and modern improvements. , Our churches have grown from the old schoolhouse to three fine churches, one being of brick and two of frame. The brick is the Norwegian Lutheran, while those of frame are German Lutheran and Norwegian Methodist.* *Since the, foregoing was written another Norwegian Lutheran church has been built in the southern part of the township in the D. H. Musser neighborhood, and is supplied by Rev. S. A. Beanie of Glenwood township.
PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY 289 Some of the settlers of 1855 and 1856 were Nels Thompson, Andrew and Nels Nelson, Lars Gjetley, Christian Christianson, S. Wise, Sr., Philip Pfister, Simon Broghammer, Adam Kern, Diebold Mikel, Diebold Stoskopf, Valentine Barth, Sr., and many others. Pleasant township has furnished her share of county officers and school teachers. One good feature of the township is its law-abiding citizens. A justice of the peace or constable cannot make his salt out of the fees. To the foregoing should be added the fact that since an early
date the town of Locust has been the mail distributing point for
a considerable territory. In these days when the rural free delivery
has and continues to cut off many postoffices, Locust holds her
own and is the starting point of Locust Route 1.
_______________ JACKSON TOWNSHIP The early history of Jackson may be said to have been so closely linked to that of Washington township as to be one and the same. Whatever impetus it received at that time as a place of abode arose through the visits of eady travelers, bound for Fort Atkinson. Located in the extreme southwestern corner of the county, it was not until the railroad was pushed west from Calmar that it began to be largely settled. Up to 1862 it was a portion of "Washington township. Who the first settlers were we have no means of knowing, as no record seems to have been made. For as long as this writer can recall the names of the Jack family, Joseph Holmes and the Lawrence family were associated with the township. Lee Jack, one of the sons, remains. Like Sumner township, the Bohemians have acquired large holdings of lands and have won prosperity from the soil. When the Calmar and Davenport branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad was built, Jackson Junction came into existence. Nothing has ever happened to cause it to grow beyond hamlet size. Some years ago the town was incorporated. At the time enough territory was included within the corporate limits to permit the building of a town of 1,000 souls. Its population in 1910 was 160. 291
_______________ SUMNER TOWNSHIP Up to 1862 Sumner and Lincoln townships were linked together as a voting precinct. In that year they were separated and given the names by which they have since been known. Early in Sumner's existence a settlement of Norwegians was established on the Turkey river in the northeastern part of the township. The Germans occupied the eastern section. The Bohemians were the third of the foreign born residents to occupy land in this township and they have remained to gradually acquire a large portion of the township. Alva Tracy, who was a resident of Decorah for many years prior to his death, was the first man to settle on the open prairie. This was in 1858. The Turkey river flows southeast through the northeastern part of the township, its banks being wooded with heavy timber. The land in this section is rolling, but as a whole the township is rich in the fertility of its soil. Its population in 19IO was 748, a loss of sixty-two in twenty years. 293
________________ MADISON TOWNSHIP Madison township enjoys the prestige of the second marriage in the county. Johannes Evenson settled there in 1850, and early in October of that year Catherine Helen Anderson became his bride, Rev. N. Brandt performing the ceremony. The late Benjamin T. Barfoot, a pioneer in Decorah and a landowner in 1855 in Madison township, credits one Brisco as the first permanent resident of Madison and gives the year 1849 as the date of his coming. In Mr. Barfoot's article, which was published in the "Atlas of Winneshiek County," 1905, he gives the following account of other settlers: "James McIntosh and his sons left Wellsville, Ohio, on election day: in 1854, to look up a new home. After traveling over Wisconsin for two days they failed to find a suitable location. They crossed the Mississippi river at DeSoto, came to Winneshiek county and located on a large tract of land in what is now known as Madison township. In the spring of 1855 he moved his family to Decorah and about ten days later to his new home in Madison township. Previous to the arrival of Mr. McIntosh several families had already located in the township. These were B. and Tosten Haugen, two families of Nestes, John Evenson, Iver Rigstad, Erick Egge and Matthew Bentley. In 1855 William Vreeland located on what is now known as 'the Stone House Farm.' He kept what was called the Four-mile House as a hotel.
297 PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY 298 "Ole Bakken came to Winneshiek county and settled in Frankville township in 1854 (his wife coming in 1851), where they resided for four years. Then they moved to Madison township and located on sections 11 and 12, where they have resided ever since. Mr. Bakken started farming on a 100-acre farm and added on to this until he owned 1,200 acres, which he has divided among his children. Mr. Bakken lives in a large, comfortable house, enjoying his old age in a good, quiet way. . "E. R. Scott settled on section 16 in 1858, and has lived on the same farm ever since. Mr. Scott was the only American in the northwest quarter of the township for over twenty years. "Mr. Brisco was the first permanent settler in Madison township. He settled in the timber in 1849. When the writer came to Madison township, there was plenty of game, such as deer, partridge and prairie chicken, and the streams were full of all kinds of fish. Farming was not very extensive until about 1860, when it took quite a boom and things went along at a good rate until the war broke out, then there were a few years in which it was hard to get help. Since then farming has been a good business. "Nels Gilbertson and I cut the first load of hay in the township; it was cut on section 10, the old farm they purchased from the Government. "Helge Gunderson, the father of John Gunderson Helgeson, came to Iowa and settled in Madison township in 1854. He bought 160 acres of land from the Government. "Ox teams were used in breaking the prairie and many of the settlers would join teams, hitching four yoke of oxen to a breaking plow. There was but very little corn, so the oxen were turned out on grass during the noon hour and at night. The harvesting was done with the old-fashioned cradle and what little wheat we had to sell we hauled to McGregor and sold it for 40 or 50 cents per bushel." SOME RECOLLECTIONS IN 1855 "On the sixth day of April, 1855, I went through Madison township in search of Government land, with Doctor Shannon for my guide. We passed Stener O. Hellerud's place; here we found two men sawing out boards for a floor. They used a whip saw, one man standing on top of a log and the other on the ground. "I located on 160 acres in section 30; then we drove southeast through the township and passed 1. Ring-stad's, J. Evenson's and Mr. Egge's. In 1855 and 1856 nearly all the Government land had been taken by speculators, and that practically put a stop to the settlement for two or three years. In 1858 and 1859 business began to improve, and the settlements began to grow. I went out through the township several times but could not find any landmarks to show me where my land was. In 1859 I went out again and met Mr. John Crawford, building fence about three-quarters of a mile from my land, and he then showed me where my farm was. "There was quite a settlement at what was known as Burr
Oak Springs. The parties who owned the land laid out a small town,
and it grew for four or five years; but as soon as the railroad
was graded to Decorah the town dried up and blew PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY 299 away. It was a pretty rough place for several years, and, to my knowledge, was the only place in the township where liquor was sold in any quantity. "I did not move into Madison township until 1868, so cannot give a very good description of the earliest settlement. It was organized in about 1859. Squire Miller of Decorah was the organizing officer. The first schoolhouse was built near the brick church in 1858. At that time the township was organized into four school district, nine sections in each district. General elections were held in the first schoolhouse for several years, or until about 1863. Since then it has been held in districts by turns." To Mr. Barfoot's record may be added the fact that during the past two years Madison township has become possessed of six new schoolhouses. For many years differences of opinion on schoolhouse matters prevented much needed buildings, but the matter was finally adjusted in a way that bids fair to be satisfactory. Three of the schoolhouses are now in process of erection and will be completed soon. |
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