Lee Township

History

This township is located in the northeastern corner of the county. It is bounded on the north by Dallas county, on the south by Crawford township, on the east by Warren county, and on the west by Jefferson township. The township is drained by Badger creek, which passes nearly through the center from west to east. Scarcely any timber is to be found and the township is almost entirely high rolling prairie.

As we have stated heretofore, this township formerly included what is now Jefferson township.

James Rothill settled on section thirty-one in 1852, and was the first settler in the township. Soon after James Lane settled on section one, and Andrew Hubbard and Squire Flinn on sections one and eight.

In 1854 George Roberts and James Malone settled here. The first orchard was set out by Andrew Hubbard in 1859.

Mr. Davies relates the following reminiscence of an event in this township: "A man named Heaton, who resides in Pennsylvania, owns a section of land near the center of this township. The whole section lays high and dry, but gently rolling in almost every direction, making it as grand as a garden spot. In 1858 Mr. Heaton laid off and staked this land into lots, with the intention of making a town there. It was his intention to build a large seminary there, to cost not less than $100,000. Many of the lots were contracted for at prices ranging from fifty to three hundred dollrs each, and great expectations for a thriving town were raised. In the summer of '58 Mr. Heaton and quite a large number of citizens met on the ground, and speeches were made by B. F. Roberts and others, setting forth the great importance of a seminary of learning at this point, etc. By the terms of sale, two-fifths of all money received for sale of lots was to be given toward the building of the seminary, and the remaining three-fifths was to draw six per cent interest, which was also applied for the benefit of the institution. Heaton, before leaving, executed a bond, in the sum of $50,000, which is registered in the Madison county records, for the faithful application of all moneys accruing according to the terms of the contract. From some cause, which we are unable to give, the praiseworthy enterprise was abandoned, and there is nothing at this day to show for the town of Heaton, but the stakes that were driven in the ground to mark out the lots."

The following are the present township officers: Justices - Michael Phillips, George W. Roberts; Trustees - Peter Lauglin, L. D. Hamilton, James Hanrahan; Constables - J. C. Harvey, J. H. Heaton; Assessor - Martin Gillman; Clerk - Peter Hubbard.

Map

Shown below is Lee Township as it appeared in 1875. There were about 80 families living there at the time the map was made although only 4 are shown. The Badger River, now known as Badger Creek, bisects the township from west to east, entering the township in Section 19 and exiting in Section 24. Two cemeteries are shown, St. Patrick's and one unknown. St. Patrick's was not included by the map maker even though it was in use by the 1850s. The unknown cemetery is not on current maps but was shown on an Iowa DOT map dated 1979. Although the township is a skewed square, the skew angle was exaggerated by the map maker.