WHEN Woodbury county was organized in 1853, the local government was vested in what was termed the "county court," which consisted of the county judge, the district clerk and the sheriff. The judge had supreme control of matters which can now be brought before the district court, as well as those financial matters now in the hands of supervisors. His office was one of much importance and ofttimes abused.

At the general election of August, 1853, at William Thompson's house, seventeen votes were cast and the following officers elected: Marshall Townsley, judge; Hiram Nelson, treasurer and recorder; Eli. Lee, coroner; Joseph P. Babbitt, district clerk.

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County Court.-The first pages of "Minute Book A," the official record of the county court, contain but little, except entries of the amounts of small bills allowed for sundry items, and generally for service rendered by some one of the county officials. The year 1854 was not eventful, and the county court had little else to do than issue petty warrants, and canvass the election returns. In 1855 a petition, signed by twenty-six names, was presented to the county judge, O. B. Smith, calling for a vote on the question of removing the county seat of justice to Sergeant's Bluff City. In March, 1856, George Weare and others petitioned the court to submit the question of removing the county seat to Sioux City. A remonstrance was also presented by T. Elwood Clark, J. D. M. Crockwell and others. In May, 1857, acting upon proper petition, the county judge organized Dickinson county.

July 7, 1857, the few freeholders then residing in what is now Cherokee county, petitioned to the Woodbury county authorities to be set off and duly organized. S. T. Davis was then acting judge.

March 17, 1858, a ferry license was granted, by Judge J. L. Campbell, to C. Gagnon, to operate a ferry-boat across the Big Sioux river. April 10, the same year, license was granted to Paul Pacquette, to operate another ferry at another point on the Big Sioux. The minute book of the early county court was, in fact, principally filled up with marriage licenses, description of warrants issued and road notices.

June 5, 1858, Ida county was set off and duly organized by Judge Campbell. In October, the same year, Plymouth county was set off and duly organized. Clay county was organized at about the same date, and thus rapidly the great domain originally in Woodbury county began to assume separate county organizations. In October, 1858, Buena Vista county was organized and an election called.

In September, 1859, Hon. John A. Kasson was allowed $500 for his legal services in behalf of Woodbury county.

Nothing of marked historic importance is found recorded in the county judge's book for the year 1860. The close of that year marked it new era in the government of every county in Iowa, for it was at this time that the law was changed; doing away with many functions of the county judge's office, the same being transferred to the newly created board of supervisors, made up, at that time, by one member from each township.

Acts of the Board of Supervisors.-January 7, 1861, was the day

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fixed upon by act of the general assembly, for the first board of county supervisors to, meet. The first to hold such office in Woodbury county were: Samuel Cameron, chairman, A. S. Bacon, John Householder and Elijah Adams. Their business during the four regular sessions held in 18tH, was principally routine work, laying out roads, auditing accounts, levying taxes, etc. A complete list of the boards will be found in the" political chapter."

In 1862 the supervisors let the contract to build a bridge across the Floyd river.

At the October session of 1864 the following members were serving: Luther Woodford, chairman; Samuel Cameron, John S. Edwards and A. B. Griffin. The minutes of that session present the following:

Resolved, That a sufficient tax be levied on all taxable property in Woodbury county to pay the sum of three hundred dollars to each soldier who has or may enter the Union army to fill the required quota under the last call of President Lincoln for 300,000 more troops; this to also include those who may be drafted into service. Such fund, when raised, to be known as the" Special Bounty Fund."

To bring this about a ten-mill tax was levied.

The board of 1865, the last year of the Civil war, was composed of the following named gentlemen: Luther Woodford, chairman; Thomas J. Kinkaid, W. O. Slyter and A. S. Bacon.

At their January meeting they voted to pay a bounty of $300 to men who would fill up the quota required under Lincoln's call for 300,000 more men, in county warrants drawing six per cent interest. The county funds were then at a very low ebb, and money was scarce.

From 1865 to 1867 but little of an eventful character transpired on the board of supervisors.

In October, 1870, the board, which then consisted of William B. Tredway, William P. Holman, William Mathers, Rufus Beal, Eli Lee, F. W. Davis, L. Yokey and M. J. Rogers, investigated the poor farm question, and finally purchased of W. Clark, for $1,150, the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section thirty-three, township eighty-eight, range forty-seven, situated a mile and one-quarter from Sergeant's Bluff depot. On this land, which was all well fenced, was a fair house, good outbuildings, and the whole was under a good state of cultivation.

At the January session, 1871, the board appropriated (under the

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laws of Iowa) the sum or $1,000 to the Woodbury Agricultural Society. The same year, in June, the board organized and set off the territory known as Osceola county.

In July, 1871, an appropriation from the" poor-farm fund" was made to the amount of $175 to erect an addition to the poor-house.

In June, 1873, Woodbury county was still without a court-house, for the board paid a bill of rent to Booge & Spalding, amounting to 8225, for the quarter ending June 10, that year.

In June, 1874, the board voted unanimously to bond the county (under a recent law allowing it) for the purpose of paying off its indebtedness.

In September, 1874, Weare & Allison proposed to rent a business block, then being contemplated, on the corner of Fourth and Douglas streets, to be used by the county for offices and court purposes, at $4,000 per year, but the proposition was not accepted.

In June, 1875, James Y. Kennedy, J. L. Follett and James Horton were appointed from the board as a committee to build a brick poor-house, not to exceed $4,000 in cost.

At the October session the board canvassed the election returns, including the vote on the court-house question (the proposition being to build a court-house at a cost of $75,000), also the question of bonding the county for said amount. The canvass proved that a majority favored the building as well as the bonding. At the same meeting James A. Sawyer's building, on Pearl and Second streets, was released, at $2,500 a year, until the new court-house should be ready for occupancy. The court-house bonds were made payable before ten years, at ten per cent interest. The board, at their October session, 1875, selected a committee on court-house and jail as follows: J. L. Follett, James S. Horton and Norman Patterson.

At the January term, 1876, the following were seated as members: James S. Horton, J. Follett, Ed. Haakinson, Norman Patterson and P. C. Eberley. Their first official act was to appoint William P. Holman overseer of the poor-farm for 1876.

The court-house and jail committee then reported in substance as follows:

We have visited the stone quarries of Minnesota and believe the Kasota stone the best for our purpose. We went to Milwaukee to view their court-house, and were not favorably impressed with the structure. We then visited Freeport, Ill., Chicago, and other points in Illinois and Iowa. We now recommend the plans shown us at Des Moines by Architect William L. Foster.

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The plans referred to were finally adopted.

At their March session, 1876, the board appointed J. L. Follett to obtain the stone for the foundation, the same to be on the court-house site by April 25.

April 6, 1876, "Centennial year," a contract was awarded to Charles E. and D. T. Hedges, for the erection of the court-house, which now adorns the public square. The contract price was $74,700, and the plans and specifications spread upon record in Minute Book D, cover twenty-three closely written pages, but the record shows that about $4,800 extra was expended before the superstructure was finished. The building was to be completed on or before January 1, 1878. The jail in the basement is comfortable and secure, while each office in the superstructure is spacious and well planned. The various vaults are fireproof and well suited for the preservation of public records. The court-room is of a modern design and beautifully frescoed. The symmetrical dome, which adds beauty to the building, is surmounted by a life-size statue of Justice, whose womanly form is facing the west, emblematic of the "Star of Empire."
During the January session of 1879, the board authorized the attorney, then in the employ of the county, to settle a claim for damages asked by one L. D. Wellington for injuries sustained through a defective bridge neat Smithland. The limit they allowed him to pay was $500. At the same session John P. Allison was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Charles Kent as county treasurer, and gave bonds to the amount of $100,000. The board settled the salary of sheriff at $100 with fees; and that of county treasurer at $1,500. They also appropriated $100 toward constructing a 1,000 barrel cistern near the court-house as a fire protection.

At the February session, 1880, the board settled with the bondsmen, the case of county treasurer, Charles Kent, a defaulter, by their paying the sum of $17,000. The same session a petition was sent to Hon. C. C. Carpenter, then in congress, urging him to work for the holding of United States courts at Sioux City.

During the years 1881 and 1882 the board appropriated $200, each year, toward the Agricultural Society.

During 1884 the board passed resolutions canceling all the odds and ends of delinquent taxes over which there could be any legal question. Some of these claims ran back to 1855, and the resolution

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covered all between 1855 and 1877. In 1884, also, the county aided the Agricultural Society to the amount of $300.

The points touched on in the "proceedings of the board of supervisors" as above given, were but a small percentage of their work, but cover the chief public interests, suitable for a record of county history. The thousands of bridges and well-planned highways built since 1861 have all been fostered and managed by these various boards of supervisors.

Marriage Record.-The first marriage recorded in the marriage books of Woodbury county is dated April 30, 1854. The contracting parties were V. S. Slagar and Elizabeth Aurah, and the ceremony was performed by his Honor, J. M. Townsley, county judge. There may have been, quite likely were, other marriages in the county prior to that date, for the early marriage records in all western counties were not preserved in a very excellent manner. There were, moreover, a few united in marriage prior to the organization of the county, but those were mostly half-breeds or cases where Frenchmen married Indian women. In 1854, also, there was one other marriage in the county, Francis Bercia and Mary Lasharitie, who were made man and wife by County Judge Townsley, May 24. The next marriage recorded was that of Zachariah G. Allen and Harriett Shook, May 5, 1855. Four marriages occurred in 1856: Louis Benoist married an Indian lady, June 4; Joseph W. Stephens and Nancy Mozier, were married August 10; Finley B. Denham and Elizabeth Courtney, September 24; Henry Paschall and Anna Kasberg, December 26.

The following shows the total marriages from 1854 to August 1, 1890, by years:

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HISTORY OF WOODBURY AND PLYMOUTH COUNTIES.

Population of the County.-The following gives the population for the entire county. at different dates:

In 1854 the county had a population of 170; in 1856, it had increased to 950; in 1860 the population was 1,078; in 1863 it was 1,106; in 1865, it had 1,291; in 1867, it had 1,969; in 1869, the population was 4,000; in 1870 it had 6,119; in 1873, the number was 6,946; in 1875, 8,518. The census of 1880 (U. S.) gave the county, 14,785, while the State census of 1885 gave the total of Woodbury county as 32,289.

The subjoined table shows the population by townships, for 1885:

T. J. Stone
(Click for full size)

Recorded Plats.-The following shows the facts connected with the platting of all the original villages of the county:

What was in early days styled Thompsontown (after William Thompson, its projector), was recorded in the plat books of Pottawattomie county, before Woodbury county was fairly organized, the record name being Floyd's Bluff. It was situated on the southeast quarter of section one, township eighty-eight, range forty-eight. The date of its platting was 1853, but there was never any showing toward a town, however.
Sergeant's Bluff City is the title of the first plat found in the books of Woodbury county. It was platted on section thirty, township eighty-eight, range forty-seven, November 20, 1854, by T. Elwood Clark, Samuel F. Watts, Moses Shinn, and others.

*Oto was created after 1885.

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Sioux City (proper) was platted May 5,1855, by Dr. John K. Cook and others.

Correctionville was platted September 25, 1855, on section thirty-five, township eighty-nine, range forty-two, by George W. Chamberlain, Hiram Nelson, Francis Chapell, Charles B. Rustin, Horace C. Bacon, of the town-site company of Henn, Williams, Cook & Co.

East Sioux City was platted May 14, 1856, by E. Bedard & Co. East addition to Sioux City was platted September 16, 1856, by Dr. Cook's town-site company.

Smithland was platted September 23, 1856, on section twenty-six, township eighty-six, range forty-four, by Orrin B. Smith.

Sergeant's Bluff was platted July 14, 1857, by a number of persons, and spread on record a year later, July, 1858. The name appears on all early records and plats with a final "'s" to both the words Sergeant and Bluff, but latterly the "s " has been dropped from the word Bluff, and the locality is known as "Sergeant's Bluff," whereas the United States post-office department calls it Sergeant Bluff, which is also the spelling given in R. G. Dun's Shippers' Guide. It was named in honor of Sergt. Charles Floyd, who died en route up the Missouri river, and was buried on one of the bluffs overlooking the Missouri.

Sloan was platted on the southwest quarter of section twenty-nine, township eighty-six, range forty-six, July 29, 1870, by the Missouri Valley Land Company.

Anthon was platted February 17, 1888, on sections thirty-two and thirty-three, township eighty-eight, range forty-three, by the Cherokee & Western Town Lot & Land Company.

Salix was platted on the west half of section thirty-five, township eighty-seven, range forty-seven, July 29, 1875, by the Missouri Land Company.

Danbury was platted on section twenty-seven, township eighty-six, range forty-two, November 1, 1877, by Daniel Thomas and wife.
Oto was platted February 25, 1879, on section six, township eighty-six, range forty-three, by Samuel R. and O. S. Day.

Lucky Valley was platted July 22, 1882, by J. B. Jerman and wife and W. H. Brady and wife, on sections two and three, township eighty-seven, range forty-four.

Pierson, on section twelve, township eighty-nine, range forty-three, was platted by the Blair Town Lot & Land Company August 3, 1883.

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Cushing was platted on section one, township eighty-eight, range forty-four, by the Blair Town Lot & Land Company May 10, 1883.

Hornick was platted by the Milwaukee Land Company on sections twenty-eight and twenty-nine, township eighty-six, range forty-five, April 4, 1887.

Moville was platted by the Western Town Lot Company April 23, 1887, on section twenty-nine, township eighty-nine, range forty-four.

The above plats all represent town sites of to-day, the most of which are flourishing places, except Sergeant's Bluff City, platted in 1854, which is not known to-day.

Leeds, now annexed to Sioux City, was platted April 12, 1889, by the Leeds Land & Investment Company.