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Audubon County |
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Biographical History of Shelby and Audubon Counties
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AUDUBON County, which was established in 1851, attached to Cass County as one civil township in 1853, was finally organized a separate county in 1855. In May, 1855, the court of the judicial district in which Cass County was situated appointed three gentlemen as a committee to locate a county seat for the newly made county of Audubon. This committee consisted of T. N. Johnson, of Adair County; T. Bryan, of Guthrie County, and C. E. Woodard of Cass County. The two last named qualified, and on June 20, the same year, made their report, which was approved, as having established the county seat on the northwest quarter of section 22, township 78, range 35, and named such site "Dayton." The first sale of lots was effected November 22, D. M. Harris being county judge at the time. The first town lot was sold to J. L. Frost for 50 cents. The sale was adjourned until June, 1856, when eighty-five lots were sold at prices ranging from $1.50 to $9 each. The first government of the county was under the old county judge system -- the one-man power. The management of county affairs thus being left in the hands of a single officer, it became his duty to locate roads, levy taxes, build bridges, court-houses, jails, etc., and was amenable to no one except on the day of election! Notwithstanding this almost unlimited power and authority and the large amount of public money left at his disposal, we do not find that the trust was frequently betrayed. During the whole time such office existed in Iowa there were but two or three cases wherein the judge ever defaulted. It is a remarkable fact that as a rule the county judges always were held in high esteem by the people and usually kept in such office for a long term of years. The gentleman first exalted to the honors and emoluments of this office, in Audubon County, was T. S. Lewis, who was elected in the spring of 1855, and served until the fall election, when D. M. Harris became county judge, serving two terms. To give the reader a more comprehensive view of the county we shall follow the history by years and terms of office, giving the various acts of county officials. Thus in order for one to trace out any one given feature it will be well to read all that is said on "county government." For example, the matter relating to county-seat changes is not confined to any one year, but necessarily runs through a term of more than twenty years. It will be well to remember that the government of Audubon County is marked by two eras -- first, the county judge system, and; secondly, the board of county supervisors system; the latter dates from January 1, 1861; all official acts of public policy prior to this date were the work and wisdom of the county judge. The first matter of much consequence which came before His Honor D. M. Harris was that of calling an election for the purpose of determining whether the county seat should remain at Dayton or be removed to Exira, the same having been petitioned for by many citizens. So, at the general election held April 7, 1856, the question was submitted, but did not carry; so the county seat of Audubon County was legally known as "Dayton" until April, 1861, when the proposition to remove to Exira carried by a small majority, and the seat of justice was removed. It may be stated, however, that Dayton was only in name, as the real county seat was at the residence of either the county judge or clerk -- wherever one could find the "Minute Book 'A' -- Audubon County;" there one would find all the county seat there was prior to its establishment at Exira. The county judge's book shows that in 1858 the tax levy was: County tax, four mills; State tax, one and one-half mills; school tax, one and one-half mills; road tax, one mill; making a grand total of eight mills on a dollar of all taxable property. The bounty on wolf scalps was at that time $1.50, and the records show that large numbers were killed, of both prairie and timber wolves. The principal work of the county judge was the tax levy, settlement with the county treasurer, and taking care of road and bridge work, which was no small task. Following D. M. Harris came A. B. Houston as county judge, serving from January 1, 1860, to January 1, 1864. In 1861, however, the county supervisor system relieved the judge of a large part of his work. The supervisor attended to all matters relative to the public welfare of the county, aside from regular probate court business, which was in the hands of the county judge until the creation of a State system of circuit courts in 1869, when the office of county judge was abolished entirely and the office of auditor instituted. This officer became clerk of the county board and attended to all the business in time of vacation. The first board of supervisors met the first Monday in January, 1861. It should be remembered that Audubon County consisted of only one civil township at this date, and as the law allowed but one supervisor from each civil township, this first board was made up of but one member -- J. M. Hubbard, whose duty it was duly to qualify himself, and then qualify the clerk of the board, who was Richard Eault. Then it became his duty to have the clerk arrange ballots or slips of paper with the words "long term" and "short term" written on them, from which he was to draw, to determine lawfully whether his term of office as supervisor should be one or two years. This matter of form was gone through with, and Hubbard drew the "short" term of office. The first bill they were called upon to audit and order paid from the county funds was $20.84 to W. B. Felch, for boarding a pauper named W. L. Carter, for sixteen weeks, at $1.25 per week. The second meeting of this "body" was in the month of June, and held at the farm residence of the clerk, in Hamlin's Grove. The minutes of this session show the tax levy to have been: County tax, two and one-half mills; State tax, one and one-half mills; school tax, one and one-quarter mills. The following bills were presented and allowed:
In 1862 the board of supervisors consisted of B. G. Dodge, Chairman, and Richard Gault, Clerk. The principal business for this board to attend to at its first session seems to have been allowing bounty on the scalps of wild animals killed, and unending dilapidated bridges. The recorder of deeds that year received $116, while the county judge only received $100. In June the board met again and subdivided the county into three civil townships -- Audubon, Exira and Oakfield. This board also ordered a special election in June of that year, to submit to the tax-payers the question of ratification or rejection of the contract previously made with the American Emigrant Company. This election was held at Henecks school-house, June 21, 1862. Richard Gault, Clerk of the board, received for his services that year $230. The board of 1863 consisted of C. E. Frost, Chairman, and J. A. Hallock, Clerk. Among the acts of this board is found on the records, W. S. Carter (pauper) was "let to William Carpenter at $1.40 per week, with $3 appropriation with which to purchase said Carter a hickory shirt and a pair of blue drilling pants." This brings to one's mind those dark days of the civil war, when cotton goods were very high. Think of $3 expended for a cotton shirt and pair of pants for a pauper to be clothed in during the fall and winter of 1863! The further work of the June session of the board of 1863 was to make the following classification for the use of the assessors:
In 1864 the board consisted of N. Hamlin, J. A. Pearl and B. G. Dodge, with J. A. Hallock as clerk. In 1865 the board was made up of two from the previous year and the newly elected member, A. I. Brainard. Numerous questions of public interest came up from time to time in the year 1866. The board consisted of I. V. D. Lewis, S. H. Perry and W. Bartlett. A. I. Brainard was clerk of the board. A petition of H. C. Smith and many others was presented asking to relocate the county seat at Louisville. Also there came up a remonstrance, headed by John Crane. The remonstrance had more names than the petition, so no election was ordered to decide the matter. The board of 1867 consisted of I. V. D. Lewis, S. H. Perry and W. Bartlett. In 1868 W. Bartlett, Isaac Thomas and D. L. Anderson served, the last named being chairman. In 1869 Jacob Andrews, J. A. Pearl and J. Thomas constituted the board, Mr. Pearl acting in the capacity of chairman. Mr. Andrews resigned before his year was out, and B. G. Dodge took his place by appointment. In 1871 John T. Jenkins, J. W. Dodge and W. H. H. Bowen and John Noon formed the board, with the last mentioned as chairman. The board of 1872 was John W. Dodge, W. H. H. Bowen and John Noon. During that year the board renewed a former contract with P. Gad Bryan and John M. Scott, by which they were to pay said party $3,000, providing they, as attorneys, should succeed in getting clear title of lands once granted conditionally to the American Emigrant Company. During their January term the board decided to erect a court-house. J. W. Dodge, one of their number, drew plans and specifications, for which he received $17. He was also committeeman to Des Moines and procure counsel, which was to cost not over $500, regarding the setting aside of a certain injunction which had been placed against building the above-named court-house. Messrs. Bowen and Dodge voted for this measure favoring the erection of a court-house, while Mr. Noon opposed it. At their September session the board had presented to them a petition asking for the location of the county seat on section 35, township 80, range 35, Mr. Noon voting against, and the other two members for the measure. A remonstrance was freely circulated to offset the above petition, which made it a complicated case. The board gave sufficient time for the people to sign both the former petition as well as the remonstrance, and when counted out it appeared that there were 192 for and 200 against the measure. Still another petition to locate the court-house at the platted village of Hamlin was presented and lost -- two members voting against, while Mr. Noon cast a vote for the measure. The board of 1873 consisted of J. W. Dodge, John Noon (chairman) and A. L. Sanborn. At their June session came up a petition for locating the county-seat at Hamlin again, notice of same having been published in the Audubon County Defender, published at Exira. Attached to this petition were 236 names, which asked that the question be submitted to the voters of the county at the fall election of that year. The petition was honored, and the election ordered. During this somewhat stormy session the "Hamlin Town Company" came before the board with an offer to erect suitable court-house buildings at Hamlin, and lease the same for a nominal sum (free) for four years from January 1, 1874, providing the people saw fit to locate the seat of justice at that point. This proposition was signed by N. Hamlin, President, and John W. Scott, Secretary, of the "Hamlin Company." The people at and near the village of Exira, not wanting to be deprived of the county seat, also came forward with a similar proposal, by authority of what was called the "Exira Hall Company," which bonded themselves to the county in the amount of $5,000 to build and keep upsuitable county buildings free, so long as used for county-seat purposes. This was signed by Charles Van Gorder, A. B. Houston, John D. Bush, J. A. Hallock, P. I. Whitted and A. Campbell. This offer was accepted, paid for the time being the county-seat matter settled. In 1874 the board was composed of I. Thomas, John Noon and A. L. Sanborn. The county was involved badly, and so the board decided to bond the county for the sum of $10,000, which measure, was carried out. The bonds were made payable on or before ten years. The same men served as supervisors in 1875 that had served in 1874. The board of 1876 was S. A. Miller, I. Thomas and John Noon. The record shows no important acts during the year 1876. The board of 1877, composed of S. A. Miller, James Davis and John Noon, had the usual routine work of adjusting claims and looking after the complications of road business. They made the Defender and Sentinel the official papers of the county. In 1878 the board was composed of John T. Jenkins, S. A. Miller and James Davis. In 1879 it was James Davis, S. A. Graham and John T. Jenkins. During this year a petition signed by 673 legal voters, was presented to the board, asking that the county seat be removed to Audubon, which had just been platted at the end of the Atlantic and Audubon branch of the Rock Island Railway. The number who signed such petition were a majority of the voters within the county. The question was submitted at the October election of that year, and resulted as follows: Whole number of votes cast 1,361, 841 being cast for removal to Audubon, and 620 against it. The voters of the new town of Audubon had already bonded themselves to build as good buildings as those at Exira. The Rock Island Railroad Company, however, had large landed interests around Audubon, so they built a large brick structure designed so that it could be converted into business houses or into a court-house, if desired. They finally donated a free lease of this building to the county for five years. After the county had accepted this proposition the next move was to proceed to the removal of the county effects -- books, safes, etc. -- from Exira to the new county home. The railroad company had taken deep interest in all these county-seat moves, and had donated to the county the present beautiful public square, but did not venture to erect the building they were about to give for the free use of the county, for fear it would not be able to remove the same from lands already deeded to the county, so it was erected just across the street east of the public square. When the day set for removing the books from Exira had arrived a special train was sent up from Atlantic, and large numbers of the citizens from the northern part of the county boarded the train and proceeded to Exira, where teams were in readiness to cart the effects of the county from the old hall to the train. At the election which finally settled the county-seat contest in favor of Audubon, much "bad blood" was manifest, the south part of the county charging the north portion with illegal voting. So hot was this contest that men from Exira were present at the polls all day, for the purpose of challenging votes. These men, many of them, carried well-loaded revolvers, but the event passed off without the use of them. However, many hot words were shot pro and con throughout the day. While there were perhaps somequestionable votes cast at Audubon, yet the majority being 221 votes, the popular vote of legal citizens must have been in favor of Audubon. In 1880 the board consisted of J. T Jenkins (chairman), S. A. Graham and W. E. Hensley. In 1881 it was S. A. Graham (chairman), W. E. Hensley, B. F. Jenkins. In 1882 the board consisted of W. E. Hensley (chairman), S. A. Graham and B. F. Jenkins. During their term of office it devolved upon them to provide a jail, and after the usual routine of election business and formality, the vote standing about 200 majority for, the contract was let to P. McKinley. The structure is a two-story brick house, with iron cells in the rear, the front and upper portion being used for the sheriff's residence. The total cost of the building and cells was $6,927. Among other acts of the above board was the leasing of the lot upon which was built the engine house to the city of Audubon, said lease being for five years. Before his term of office had expired B. F. Jenkins died and his seat was filled by J. P. Hallock, who was selected by virtue of the law, making it the duty of the county clerk, recorder and auditor to fill such vacancies. The board of 1883 was J. P. Hallock, S. A. Graham and William E. Hensley. During their administration the proposition to bond the county for $30,000, with which to build a new court-house, was submitted to the people at the general election, said bonds to be payable in five and ten years, by the levy of a three-mill annual tax. This measure, however, was defeated. The board of 1884 was S. A. Graham, W. E. Hensley and T. J. Essington. This was somewhat of an eventful year for Audubon County, owing to the fact that this part of Iowa was visited on August 7 by a terrible cyclone and hail-storm, which ruined most of the growing crops of the farmers. These unfortunate farmers sought some relief at the hands of the board, whom they asked to remit their taxes; but after well considering the matter they decided it would be outside of their duty as well as bad policy -- one which might cause an almost endless complication and set an example for future years. The same year came up the question of voting a one-mill tax for a term of five years, for the purpose of accepting the liberal offer of the Rock Island Railroad to convey to the county the building before named and in which the county offices were then located. The company asked $7,000 for this property, and the vote proved that the people considered it a safe investment. It was in this manner that Audubon County finally secured her own court-house, which is a two-story brick building, 44x100 feet. The lower story is subdivided into rooms for the various county offices, while the upper floor serves as a court-room, and has for years been used as a public hall, open house, etc. The board of 1885 consisted of W. E. Hensley, S. P. Baker and T. J. Essington. In 1886 it was T. J. Essington, George McCain and S. P. Baker. In 1887 it was S. P. Baker, George McCain and Jasper Jensen. It was during this year that the question of purchasing land for poor-farm purposes came up, and was finally settled by a vote; a majority of 363 decided land should be bought at once. The tax for such purchase ws two mills per dollar. Accordingly a 200-acre tract was bought of Michael O'Donnell, on sections 33 and 34 of Leroy Township, and within one mile a a half of Audubon, in a southwesterly direction. The board of supervisors could not have selected a finer location or obtained better land. A natural grove containing thirty acres gives a beautiful site for the poor-house buildings which are to be built the present season. The farm-house already on the place, together with barns, etc., which the county has built, is sufficient to accommodate all the unfortunate poor, and the farm was more than self-sustaining the first year. It cost the county $35 per acre, or $7,000, the same being a wise investment, for the two simple reasons that paupers can be kept cheaper in this manner, and also there are many persons who have hitherto drawn some support from the county fund who dislike to be sent to the poor farm -- hence the number is greatly lessened who apply for aid. For the first superintendent over this place, the services of V. A. Walkup were secured; he is now on his second term. His report shows, and is corroborated by the appearance of the farm, that he is the right man in the right place. The board of 1888 was constituted by Jasper Jensen (chairman), A. F. Armstrong and Samuel Minser. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous <=== Continue Reading ===> Next Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass August, 2014 from "Biographical History of Shelby and Audubon Counties", Chicago: W. S. Dunbar & Co., 1889, pg. 645-650. |
