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Shelby County |
Home 1915 History Index |
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Shelby County |
Home 1915 History Index |
CHAPTER XXXIII -- STORIES AND INCIDENTS.FIRST SESSION OF DISTRICT COURT AND GRAND JURY.The Andreas' Historical Atlas of Iowa, published in 1875, has this story of the first session of the district court of Shelby county, held at Galland's Grove: "Judge Samuel H. Riddle, held the first session of the district court for the three counties in the grocery of Solomon Hancock at Galland's Grove. The Judge charged the grand jury and then sent them into a smoke house to deliberate, and while they were absent it is reported that the lawyers joined the judge in a social game of cards 'for the drinks.' In the meantime the grand jury issued subpoenas for witnesses as to the selling of intoxicating liquors by Solomon Hancock. One witness testified that he drank something in Solomon's grocery, but did not know whether it was really liquor or not; it did not intoxicate him, but made him 'afful sick.' He said water had sometimes served him the same way. 'That will do,' said the foreman, 'pass around the jug.' A two-gallon jug was immediately produced from a corner of the smoke house. After it had been passed around the grand jury returned to the grocery, reported that there was nothing before them, and they were thereupon discharged., At this first session of the district court, the following attorneys were present: H. P. Bennett, of Glenwood; L. M. Cline, A. C. Ford and David Price, of Council Bluffs." Andreas' Historical Atlas of 1875 also tells the following story of an early sheriff of the county: It so happened that the education of the sheriff had been sadly neglected, and moreover he was in the habit of visiting Solomon Hancock's grocery too often to maintain the reputation of a strict temperance man. Sometime before the first court convened, he, as a county official, received a copy of the code of 1851. He could not read it, but had the good fortune of being the husband of a wife who could. When he would return home under the influence of Solomon Hancock's whiskey, she would read to him that section which makes habitual drunkenness a sufficient cause for divorce. His attention was so frequently called to his provision of the code, that it became monotonous to him, and having the impression that Judge Riddle had sent the volume, when he came around to hold court, the 'high sheriff' seized the statute and carried it back to the judge and, throwing the book down before him, he exclaimed, "There, now; don't you dare send any more such nonsense to my house." The earliest pioneers of Shelby county, like the earliest pioneers everywhere, sought a dwelling place in the woods, for there they could have shelter, fuel and material for their primitive log cabins. It is also true, no doubt, that many of them had been accustomed for generations to live in a timber country and were more at home there. A story is told of William Henderson, a pioneer in the northeastern part of Pottawattamie county, who in the midst of a most beautiful prairie, nevertheless started to clear off a farm on a small tract of timber, in regular Hoosier style. Being asked why, when surrounded by such beautiful prairies, he was felling trees and removing stumps for the purpose of having a farm, he said: "I have always been accustomed to live in a timer country, and by the grace of God, I intend to die in the midst of timber." One of the experiences of pioneer travelers in Shelby county is related by W. D. Fritz, a son of John Fritz, who came to Shelby county in 1859. Mr. Fritz and his two boys were driving a team of oxen on one of the ridges of Shelby county on a very hot day, during which it was impossible to secure water for the oxen to drink. Mr. Fritz was hauling a load of wheat in sacks. When the two yokes of oxen reached the Botna river, they, in spite of all that Mr. Fritz could do, plunged into the stream, Mr. Fritz and the boys jumping to save themselves. The oxen upset the wheat in the river. Mr. Fritz was obliged to wade in and get out his wheat and dry it before he could return. About 1863 Jacob Tague, and his brother Ephraim Tague and his wife, picked in the vicinity of Bowman's Grove and along the Botna river there a fine load of wild plums, which they hauled to Council Bluffs, where they, together with their team and wagon, were carried across to Omaha on the ferry boat then operating on the Missouri river. Arriving in Omaha, they ascertained that another well-known pioneer of Shelby county from another part of the county had been ahead of them with a load of plums, but that soon after arriving in Omaha had become intoxicated, so much so that he had torn the end-gate out of his wagon letting the plums run all over the street. The Tagues, however, sold out their entire load of plums for two dollars per bushel. "A novel scene was witnessed by some of our people last Monday morning. A young lady made the remark on Saturday that if it grew much colder, she did not know how she would get to her school, about a mile distant. A young gentleman who was present jocosely replied that he would take her on a hand sled. The young lady then said that she would hold him to his agreement and the one to first back out should forfeit the oysters. To this the young man assented, and agreed to draw her over the mile and one-quarter in thirty minutes without stopping, causing her to alight, or otherwise annoying her. Monday morning found him promptly on hand with his little sled, and the school ma'am seated herself, and off they started, at eight-thirty, and at nine o'clock he had performed his task." One of the pioneer county officers, referring to some matter of local politics, wrote a political friend as follows: "Tell H------ to keep cool. There is a hen on. Sapp will attend to this as soon as he gets through to Washington, so he promised me last Monday night. You bet if I get a chance at any of those devils I give them the best I have. ------- looks like a sheep-killing dog, he could not look at me last Monday as I passed through Shelby." (The writer of this letter wrote a post-script as follows: "Don't leave this in sight.") A story told in Shelby county for many years, which never grows less in the telling is this: In one of early Democratic county conventions, a delegate from the west part of the county in the following words, spoken in a voice that rattled the rafters, nominated a well-known citizen for his third term as county superintendent of schools: "Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of this convention, I rise to place in nomination for county superintendent a man known to all of you, -----------------, who has in the past performed the duties of his office with partiality, fidelity, ability and courage, unmoved by friend, undaunted by foe, and regardless of qualifications or anything else." William Wooster, of Jefferson township, recalls vividly an experience of his father and himself during the winter of 1880. On a particularly fine morning the father, John Wooster, remarked to his son, "Well this is a nice day; I'll go to town with you." The son sacked up the wheat and placed it in the wagon box--set on a sled, the runners of which had been made of a long plank cut in two and shaped up. About noon clouds suddenly gathered and it began to snow and grew very cold. The Woosters, therefore, hurriedly transacted their business in Harlan and about half past one started as rapidly as possible for home. Mr. Errett was then living on or near the place on which J. W. French afterwards resided, and offered to take the travelers in, but told them that he could not take their horses for lack of room. The Woosters, therefore, continued their journey with the snow driving thickly from the northeast. They were seated between two blankets without any hay in the sled, for the horses had eaten all of the hay at noon while they were in town. The snow became so thick that the son could not see a team ahead. He whipped up a little. Later the team suddenly slowed up and he discovered that he was beside another team hauling a load of wood. By this time the elder Wooster was becoming very cold and said that they had better stop at George Eokar's, then residing northwest of Kirkman. They stopped, but found both house and barn full, therefore struck for Irwin, hoping to stop at the blacksmith shop and have the horses taken in. Arriving there, the elder Wooster looked into the shop and found it already full of horses so that the travelers continued their journey. Finally reaching the vicinity of No. 8 school, in Jefferson township, they saw the tracks of school children and knew that it was shortly after four o'clock. They were able to follow the road by means of the thick crusts of snow where the track lay. About this time they became uncertain as the where they were. The son thought surely they were south of their home. The father happened to turn around and wanted to know what those weeds were doing there. A clump of weeds in mowing the prairie grass had been left. They then discovered from the location of these weeds that they were thirty rods out of and west of the track. They then swung around and finally reached their home, which then consisted of a dug-out. During the night the drifts became piled perfectly level with the top of the dug-out and they were obliged to shovel their way out in the morning, it being the custom to take the shovel into the dug-out during the winter when snows were likely to fall. Men were frequently lost on the prairies of the county in an early day when there were few roads, irregularly laid out, few fences, and no farm houses, planted timber, or other landmarks by which one might get his bearings. In those days the hollows and hills, covered with prairie grass, had as little variation or distinctive appearance as the undulations of the sea. The author is indebted to Adam Schmitz, of Westphalia, for the facts of the following story: In 1873 a well-known German of Westphalia township went some miles from home over the trackless prairie to secure some willow poles which he might use in making a roof for his stable. During the afternoon and evening clouds came up rapidly and when this man started for home he became lost. During the early part of the night he wandered over hill and up ravine and across all of the creeks in the neighborhood, and at about midnight arrived in the vicinity of a farm in the township, then owned by T. D. Pratt, several miles from the home of the wanderer. He was fortunate enough to hear dogs barking, and finally found a fence, which he followed, at last reaching the premises of Mr. Pratt. The door of the Pratt house was opened and the lost man asked if anyone there could talk German. It happened that Mr. Pratt's wife could speak German, thereby enabling the man in search of his own home to explain his plight. Mr. Pratt took the man in that night and brought him home next morning. He found that his friends were much alarmed over his absence and were out making a search for him John B. Shorett, formerly county superintendent of schools in Shelby county, tells this story of pioneer days in Washington township: "To show the spirit of the times I remember of hearing Samuel Carroll, father of Frank Carroll, tell a story on my father. He said he came into Washington township and had no money and that he came down to my father's place to get a load of corn. He told father that he wanted some corn, but he did not have any money to pay for it, but when he got the money he would make the payment. Father told him to go to the crib and get the corn. Some time thereafter Carroll paid my father and remarked that there must have been something about him to make father believe he was honest and he would certainly get the pay or he would not have let him (a stranger) have the corn, and father replied, 'Oh! That was not the reason, I never expected to get the pay for it.' As you know, in those times people were more liberal than they are at this time, and every man, in order to play his part, was expected to be liberal with those around him. They did not have very much, but what they did have they shared to a great extent with their neighbors." During the strenuous "Free Silver" campaign in Shelby county, when Republican speakers, from Leslie M. Shaw down, were trying hard to counteract the plausible propositions advanced by "Coin's Financial School," and were campaigning in almost every school district in the county, one of the Harlan Republican speakers had a crushing experience in the vicinity of Corley. He was telling his hearers, in a burst of eloquence, that we had but a few mints and the great void that silver must fill after driving out gold would swamp them. And, waving his arms, he declared, "What would we do? What would we do?" He then waited for a reply. A little rascal, about as big as a pint of soap, sitting on the front seat, held up his hand and said, "Say, mister, we'd make more mints."
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