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Audubon County |
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Biographical History of Shelby and Audubon Counties
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AMONG the special events having transpired within the range of history in Audubon County, may be mentioned the following: The election records of 1880 show that when the question to strike from the State constitution the words "free white" (which virtually gave the colored man the same legal rights as the white race) came up, the vote stood 545 for and 365 against. It is stated upon good authority that the excitement was so great over the location and re-location of public roads in Audubon County, that several times the judge of the district court was compelled to adjourn court for the reason that every one who should have been in attendance at court was attracted by the large crowd of "path-finders" who besieged the board of supervisors at the county auditor's room, which is under the court-room. There are various reasons for the public highways having caused so much trouble. Among these reasons may be mentioned the fact that in so hilly and uneven a surface as this country is, it is hard to make suitable roads and have them established on regular government lines, as is the usual custom in more level counties. The matter of right of way, damages, etc., has ever been a "bone for contention" among the land owners. Again, the field notes of many of the surveyed highways were very imperfectly executed, and frequently such notes were illy recorded or the record entirely lost. At present, however, with the modification of the State laws and a better system of surveys and road records, the matter of highways is fast coming to a state of perfection. Perhaps there is no more historic building in the county than the old hall, used for many years at Exira for county-seat purposes. It is built of lumber, two stories high, and 22 x 50 feet on the ground. Its first cost was about $1,700 and it was erected by the "Exira Hall Company." The building is still standing where it was first erected, and is used as a hall for the Knights of Pythias. The first county offices, after the county seat was located at Exira, were within a frame building, 16 x 16 feet. Court at that time was held in the district school-house at Exira. At one of the early elections (so it is related to the writer) less than 100 votes were cast, and before the time came for counting out the votes many of the voters were quite full of pioneer "budge," so it was proposed to take the ballot-box, which was a common cigar box, to the house of one of the judges of election; but in transit it was lost, and lo! and behold, upon going to count, nothing could be found to count! A part of the officers of election were supporters of one political party, and the remainder of them represented the interests of the other party; so, qite philosophically, instead of attempting to hunt the cigar ballot-box up, they simply took their seats and made out the election "returns," according to what they knew of the voters' politics -- "counting noses," as it were. It may be added that said election gave very universal satisfaction! The first actual flour-mill of Audubon County was not constructed in the limits of the county, as it was a coffee-mill, manufactured in Yankee land, probably! It was owned by Nathaniel Hamlin, the pioneer settler, who came in 1851. It was used by his family, as well as by the few neighbors at "Hamlin's Grove" settlement, and in it was ground corn and buckwheat. It was called "Hamlin's Portable Mill!" Its owner and proprietor tells the writer that its capacity was only limited by the amount of grease (elbow) it took to run it! Before "skinplasters" (paper currency) were wisely issued during the Rebellion, small change was hard -- almost impossible -- to obtain, as the Wall street (New York) money sharks and traveling Jew brokers collected it all as fast as possible. Consequently the treasurer of Audubon County had to improvise some means of making change to those who came to pay taxes. Accordingly little slips of white paper, provided with a red line border, were made in large quantities. The same bore the signature of the county treasurer, with the words "promise to redeem" upon their face. These passed throughout the county as money, and several are still in existence. |
ASSESSED VALUATION OF PROPERTY IN 1888.
| NUMBER. | AMOUNT. | |
|---|---|---|
| Cattle | 22,807 | $265,712 |
| Horses | 7,442 | 262,848 |
| Mules | 629 | 24,605 |
| Sheep | 879 | 1,193 |
| Swine | 21,969 | 45,202 |
| Railway property | 124,408 | |
| Farm lands | 283,557 | 2,194,684 |
| Village property | 244,892 | |
| ========= | ||
| Total | $3,263,574 |
MARRIAGE RECORD.
| YEAR. | NO. | YEAR. | NO. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1856 | 2 | 1873 | 23 | |
| 1857 | 1 | 1874 | 20 | |
| 1858 | 2 | 1875 | 30 | |
| 1859 | 2 | 1876 | 24 | |
| 1860 | 2 | 1877 | 26 | |
| 1861 | 6 | 1878 | 37 | |
| 1862 | 1879 | 56 | ||
| 1863 | 1 | 1880 | 52 | |
| 1864 | 5 | 1881 | 83 | |
| 1865 | 9 | 1882 | 68 | |
| 1866 | 9 | 1883 | 67 | |
| 1867 | 9 | 1884 | 69 | |
| 1868 | 14 | 1885 | 76 | |
| 1869 | 10 | 1886 | 96 | |
| 1870 | 4 | 1887 | 92 | |
| 1871 | 13 | 1888 | 53 | |
| 1872 | 11 | ====== | ||
| Total | 932 |
POPULATION BY TOWNSHIPS IN 1885.
| FOREIGN BORN. | TOTAL. | NO. OF DWELLINGS. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audubon | 255 | 981 | 166 |
| Cameron | 69 | 596 | 132 |
| Douglas | 64 | 647 | 129 |
| Exira and village | 128 | 1,555 | 396 |
| Greeley | 81 | 750 | 148 |
| Hamlin | 80 | 591 | 113 |
| Leroy and town of Audub'n | 187 | 1,882 | 388 |
| Lincoln | 128 | 825 | 175 |
| Melville | 80 | 715 | 129 |
| Oakfield | 322 | 892 | 168 |
| Sharon | 380 | 682 | 138 |
| Viola | 43 | 709 | 135 |
| ====== | ====== | ====== | |
| Totals | 1,817 | 10,825 | 2,207 |
POPULATION AT VARIOUS DATES.
| In 1856 the county contained a population of 283; in 1860 it had 454; in 1870 its population was 1,270; in 1880 it amounted to 7,448; in 1885 it had reached 10,825. |
| 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. 652-656. |
