Pioneers of Marion County by Wm. M. Donnel, 1872

Part II, Chapter XVIII

Summit - Geography and History - Names of First Settlers - James Price -
The Wilsons and Others - A Conflict with Indians - A Veteran Coffee Mill -
A “Settlers Rights” Difficulty - First P. O. - First Sunday School - Day School - Otley

This township is technically known as town. 77, range 19, and is bounded on the north by Jasper county, on the east by Lake Prairie, on the south by Polk, and on the west by Red Rock. The larger portion of it, consisting of the north and east, is prairie, being the dividing ridge between the Des Moines and Skunk, commonly known as the “Divide.” The largest body of timber is in the southeast quarter of the township. There are no large streams in this township. The numerous small creeks take their rise on the “divide,” and flow each way into the Des Moines and Skunk. The coal fields of Summit are quite extensive. The principal ones now worked are along a small stream in sections 21 and 28, about a mile south of Otley. The first mine was discovered and opened by John A. Scott, in 1849; and this was the only one that was worked for several years. The next opening was made by Wm. Fisher, some time in ‘61 or ‘62, since which time numerous openings have been made in this locality by Fisher, Durose, Price, Barnes, and others. The veins of coal average from four to seven feet in thickness, and is of a good quality. Much of that mined by Mr. Durose has been shipped at Otley for Des Moines and other localities west.

Summit was originally a part of Red Rock, till April 6th, 1854, when, in response to a petition of numerous citizens, it was declared by the county judge a separate township. The name first proposed and filed in the court record was Harrison; but Summit being the choice of a number of settlers from Summit county, Ohio, it was so named.

The first election was held soon after the township was organized, at the house of Jacob C. Brown, and the following are the names of the officers elected: John Ribble and A. F. McConnell, justices of the peace; Geo. Reynolds, I. N. Crum, and Ira Kelsey, trustees; Abram B. Scott, clerk; Ira Kelsy, assessor; and A. Donnel and P. P. Harp, constables.

Some changes were effected in the civil geography of this township, which, though they were the result of partizan wireworking and occurred at a comparatively recent date, we shall take the liberty of sketching briefly. In 1862, in response to a petition of a portion of its citizens, the township was enlarged by the addition of that portion of Polk (town. 76, range 19) lying north of the river. This change not being agreeable to the Republicans of the township, they petitioned the board of supervisors to have the above mentioned territory, locally known as the “White Breast Settlement,” re-attached to Polk, which was accordingly done at the September session, 1864. But, owing to the neglect of the clerk, John B. Hamilton, to transmit to the board of trustees an official report of the change, much embarrassment and partizan feeling resulted at the election that fall in relation to the admission of the vote of that district. A hot dispute was carried on for some time that very nearly resulted in personal violence. But the difficulty was finally settled by the admission of the challenged votes.

Soon after this the Democrats again petitioned for the attachment of the disputed territory, which act was received by the opposite party as an acknowledgment that it was not a part of the township at the time of the election. The petition was granted, and White Breast was now indisputably a part of Summit; and so it remained till 1867, when the board was again asked to return it to Polk, where it still belongs.

Prominent among those who settled in the township at the earliest date, are James Price, the Wilsons, David and Allen Tice, and Andrew Metz. Among those who came later, were, Joseph S. West, the Harps, I. N. Crum, James Dueese, S. S. Roberts, Alex. B. Donnel, and Allen Lanehead. Most of these are still residents of the township. Other who took claims at a very early date, but did not become permanent settlers, will be incidentally mentioned as we proceed. Most of the first settlers located in and along the edge of the timber, and it was not till ‘45 that the divide began to be permanently occupied.

James Price was born in Clark county, Ohio, September 14, 1817, emigrated to Cass county, Michigan, at the age of thirteen, and from thence to Burlington, Iowa, in 18 . From there, early in the spring of ‘43, in company with Jonathan Donnel, he came into this county, and selected a claim below the coal mine owned by S. S. Roberts. Some slight remains of this pioneer building are still visible. This house he occupied with his family on the 22d of June.

That spring Mr. Price broke nine acres of prairie on his claim, planted it with corn, and realized form it a surplus of two hundred bushels, which he sold for fifty cents per bushel. On the following season he obtained some seed wheat from Fairfield, and obtained from it a fair crop. During the first summer he went to Burlington to mill, and in the winter to the nearest mill on Skunk. On the occasion of his winter trip he had to ferry his load over that river in a canoe. On his return from a trip to Fairfield, it rained much of the time, then turned so cold that his clothing was frozen stiff on his body. On another occasion, returning in company was Ray and Samuel Wilson, from a milling expedition to Skunk, a heavy snow storm obstructed the way so much that is was necessary to make frequent halts till one or another should go forward in search of the path and break the drifts.

Besides the nine acres he broke for himself, Mr. Price broke some for two or three of his neighbors, among whom were Samuel Martin, David Fritz, and Wm. Adams, who made claims in what is now section twenty, but remained in the settlement a short time. The unfortunate career of Sam Martin may still be remembered by most of the old settlers. Having stolen a horse at Council Bluffs, he returned to Red Rock, was followed there, arrested and lynched by whipping; after which he descended the river in a canoe belonging to A. B. Donnel, and is now supposed to be in Idaho.

Humphrey Blakeway also came up with Mr. Price, and made a claim of land now owned by John Ribble, in Section 27 and 34. The same was also claimed by David Ray, who had built a house on it to hold it. In consequence of this some trouble arose between the claimants, that was finally settled by Ray buying the claim of Blakeway.

Another temporary settler, named Wm. Hodge, overtook Mr. P. on the way up, and made a claim on land now owned by S. S. Roberts, section 28, and another on section 17. Hodge remained in the country but a short time. He was afraid of Indians, and a contact with them was the cause of his speedy departure from the country. Being in company with Jonathan Donnel on a bee-hunting expedition, they were visited by a party of Indians, who, seeing some barrels they (the hunters) had in the wagon to put honey in, supposed they contained whisky, and began to beg for some of it. On being refused they took hold of Mr. D. in a rough though friendly manner, intending to over-persuade him to comply with their wish. This, to Hodge, looked like fight, and he took up an ax to defend his companion; seeing which the Indians drew their knives and made a rush at him, whereupon he fled, to the great amusement of the savages, and never returned to see how his companion fared alone in their hands.

The Wilson family, consisting of four sons, two daughters, David Ray and their mother, took claims and settled in sections 33 and 34, June, 1843. They were natives of New Jersey, which state they left in 1836, and came to Indiana, and from thence to Burlington in 1840. On the third day of their journey from Indiana, October 24th, John, the father of the family, died, aged 56 years.

Since their settlement here, tow of the sons, one of the daughters, and the mother have died. Samuel died September 28, 18rr, and was, so far as is known, the first white person that died in the township, and his remains were the first deposited in the burying ground on the farm of James Price. George* died June 16th, 1855, and on the 22 of January, 1870, the mother, Ruth Wilson, died, aged 82 years.

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*George Wilson settled in Polk directly after their arrival in the country.
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During the first two years of their settlement here, the Wilsons, in company with others, were subjected to some severe privations and inconveniences in the matter of subsistence. For some time corn was necessarily the only kind of breadstuff that could be procured. As we have before stated, the mills for grinding were so distant that they could not be applied to for a supply at any time, so that necessity, “the mother of invention,” called into requisition such temporary substitutes for mills as could be manufactured at home, and as we have already described as in common use at that early period.

In this emergency, however, the Wilsons were fortunately blessed in the possession of a strong, old iron coffee mill, that they had brought from the east. This mill was firmly fastened to the wall, and, on one occasion, was kept in almost constant service for more than two weeks, doing its work slowly enough to discipline the patience of the young milleress, (now Mrs. W. B. Keeler,) but producing a good article of meal, fine enough to be successfully sifted through a fine hair sieve, that the family had also thoughtfully provided themselves with on leaving their eastern home.

This venerable mill now belongs to Freeman Wilson, and is still in the service, not as a corn-cracker, but legitimately as a coffee mill. We are informed by the owner that it has had the honor of pulverizing more than $4oo worth of coffee, besides the corn, since it has been the property of the family. They esteem it as a worth keepsake.

David Ray settled in the township, in the same neighborhood and at the same date with the Wilsons, to whom he was a related by marriage. He now lives in Red Rock township.

Joseph S. West, who was the first person that held the office of justice of the peace, within the present limits of Summit, and whose name appears among the first grand jurors in the county, was a native of Mason county, Kentucky, where he was born in 1810, and from whence he immigrated to Iowa in 1844. On his arrival here he purchased a claim in the southern part of the township, from Gadis and Nye, the two traders mentioned in the first chapter of this history, where he has constantly resided ever since.

Charles Harp was a native of Tennessee, form whence he immigrated to Illinois, and from thence to Iowa in 1844, and settled on section 21, in this township. He was the head of a numerous family, the most of whom are still residents of the township. He died in the winter of 1847, and his widow survived him, and occupied the homestead, till in the winter of 1870, when she died.

Isaac N. Crum was a native of Illinois, from which State he moved to Iowa and settled in Summit in ‘45, where he opened the farm he still owns, but resides in Otley, engaged in the mercantile business.

David and Allen Tice moved from Illinois and settled where David still lives, near the western line of the township, arriving there on the 18th of May, 1843, and lived in a tent till a house was built. They did little or no farming that season, but shipped their provisions from Illinois, except such wild game as they could take fit for meat. In the spring following they planted three acres of corn, and sold some of it in the fall for $1.50 per bushel. They were among those who made early provisions for fruit. In 1845 they shipped from Illinois about fifty apple trees, that they planted that spring, in a piece of grubby unfenced land. The trees are all still living, except two, and are good bearers.

Andrew Metz was a native of Germany, immigrated to and settled in the west side of the township in 1844, and died in 18-- [date incomplete in the original].

Alexander B. Donnel was born in Pennsylvania, March 20, 1806, and immigrated to Ohio in 1818, and from thence to Iowa in 1844. In ‘45 he purchased land in company with S. S. Roberts, with whom he had been associated in business for several years. In ‘49 he, in company with may others, started for California, and died near Fort Kearney, in June. Other members of the family, some of them still living in the township, settled here in 1848, and the mother died early in the spring of ‘56, aged about 80 years.

Soon after the settlement of this family here, a report got abroad that they intended to enter a number of claims in the neighborhood, and this brought the club together to enforce mutual protection in case such was the design. But upon visiting the residence of the supposed intruders in a body, and with such warlike threats as were thought necessary to frighten them into compliance with the rules supposed to be indispensable to “settlers’ rights,” yet without avail, it was discovered that it was not the intention to interfere with the just title of any claimant. Failing to bring the enemy to any more definite terms, the club adjourned, and this was about the last demonstration of the kind made by them.

A somewhat amusing instance of claim jumping may be related here. just previous to the event related above, Andrew Donnel had made a claim and hauled some logs to the ground preparatory to the erection of a house thereon. But, after a few days absence on some other business, he returned to the place and found, to his astonishment, and, we presume, somewhat to his grief, that the house was already built and occupied by Mr. John A. Scott, who still owns and occupies the land. Mr. D. preferring not to disturb the intruder, made another claim in the neighborhood, which proved to be far superior to the first in value.

The first postoffice in Summit township was called “Divide,” and John A. Scott was commissioned P. M. in ‘47. But, as Mr. S. did not serve, the office was immediately discontinued, and he carried the mail to Red Rock for several years. At first, not having any regular mail bag, he took the small amount of matter directed to that place tied up in a handkerchief.

In the summer of ‘57 a post office was established on section 16, called Newark, Wm. H. Anderson P. M. Some years after this it was shifted into the hands of various persons, and finally got settled at Otley, where its name was changed to that of the village, Geo. M. Hammond, P. M. I. N. Crum is the present incumbent. Daily mails.

The first day school was taught by Abram B. Scott, in the southern part of the township. Watson, better remembered as “the one-armed Watson,” afterwards taught in a small cabin on the divide. In the same cabin the first Sunday School was organized and conducted by Andrew Donnel and others, in the summer of ‘49, and preaching was had there on irregular occasions.

In the latter part of September, ‘67, Columbus Long, John F. Baldwin, and G. W. Johnson, employed J. B. Caruthers, county surveyor, to survey a town on land owned by them, on sections 15* and 22, being on the Des Moines Valley Railroad, at a station previously located by Col. Otley, engineer of this road, and called it Otley, in honor of that gentleman.

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*In July, ‘48, a town was laid out on the west half of section 15, and called by the pretentious name of American City. It was surveyed by Stanford Doud in the interest of James D. Putnam, S. S. Mangrum, I. N. Crum, and George F. Hendry. Nothing but the stakes ever indicated the existence of a town there. The land is now owned by J. F. Baldwin.
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The first goods sold were by I. N. Crum, who still continues in the business there, and is also P. M. There are now five stores in the place, three good church buildings, and a proportionate number of dwellings and shops. Being situated on the railroad it is necessarily a point of considerable shipping by farmers and merchants south of the river.

Population of Summit by the U. S. census of ‘70:

Native . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,262
Foreign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,484

Transcribed by Mary E. Boyer, 12/06, reformatted by Al Hibbard 12 Oct 2013.