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

Chapter XII

A Legal Mistake - Brief Sketch of Lysander W. Babbitt - First Post Office at Knoxville -
“Lake Prairie” P. O. - Inconvenience of Mail Facilities - A Historical Incident - Sectioning the Lands - First Land Entered -
Des Moines River Land - Fowler Lands.

At the second term of the district court, a circumstance occurred, slightly embarrassing to the few criminal prosecutions that came before it through the findings of the grand jury, which occurred in this wise: It was the business of the commissioners to select the jurors, and, after the proper number was drawn by the sheriff, it was the duty of the clerk to certify to the list. In this instance L. W. Babbitt, who, we should have stated, was appointed clerk of the district court by the Judge, at the first term, instead of designating that office in his signature to the certificate of jurors signed himself “Ex-officio Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners.” This was right so far is it went, but in consequence of not adding “Clerk of the District Court,” it was decided by that court that such a signature amounted to no legal signature at all; that the jurors were not legally drawn; that they were not jurors, and that their doings were null and void. So, all the indictments made out by that jury were, to use a phrase common in legal proceedings, quashed. It is, however, due to Mr. B. to state that the error was not intentional. Owing to the fact that no attempt was made to secure new indictments, it is safe to judge that the cases were of no vital importance.

As the career of Mr. Babbitt, connected with the early history of Marion county may appear somewhat conspicuous, and as his name may not be mentioned in any future part of this work, we here take occasion to give what little we know relative to his history.*

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*We wrote to Mr. B. for information on this point, but failing to obtain an answer, we are dependent on other sources for these meagre and perhaps inaccurate accounts.
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He was born in the State of New York about 1810, came to Iowa at an early day, and was a citizen of Burlington in 1840, where he worked at the business of gunsmith, and also held some office. In 1842, he, with two others, went to the head waters of the Des Moines river on a trapping expedition, where they remained during the winter. On their return in the spring, as they were descending the river in a canoe, they were robbed of most of their furs by the Indians. On the first of May, 1843, they landed at what is now Coalport, where Babbitt remained long enough to take a claim, embracing the present site of the village and the bluffs below it, containing inexhaustible beds of coal.

Having secured his claim, Mr. B. repaired to Burlington for his wife, and was surprised to find her in mourning for him, and preparing to sell his property, with the view of returning to her former home. The report had reached her some time previously that he had been murdered by the Indians, and his failing to return within a reasonable time seemed to confirm this report beyond a doubt. He concluded, however, not to stop the sale of the property, but took the matter into his own hands, and soon after moved to his claim. Here he fitted up a temporary shop, where he employed himself in repairing guns, sharpening plow-shears, and doing other jobs in the smith trade, till he was called to the clerkships already mentioned.

He is described as a person of small stature, active movements, prepossessing manners, quick apprehension, and retentive memory. He was, evidently, ambitious of political promotion, for which his energy and talents fitted him, and carried him, to some extent. During his official term at Knoxville he began the study of law, and so far mastered the rudiments of that profession, that he was admitted to the bar in 1847. During his residence here he twice represented Marion, and several other counties, in the State legislature. In 1846 he was appointed the first postmaster at Knoxville, and his commission authorized him to give out a contract for carrying the mail to Oskaloosa and back once a week,* but it was not till some time in June of that year that the first mail arrived, and the office was opened at Babbitt’s house. He held the office till 1849, when he was succeeded by James M. Walters. In 1853 he left the county, having received the appointment of register of land office at Council Bluffs, under President Pierce, and is at present editor of the Council Bluffs Bugle. Since his residence there he has several times represented Pottawattamie county in the state legislature.

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*David Durham took this contract, extending from July 1st, 1846, to July 1st’ 1850 - four years. He commenced in June, and made two trips during that month gratuitously, as the department did not commence paying till July.
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Some time previous to the establishment of a post office at Knoxville, one had been established on Lake Prairie, and called by that name. Augustus Blair received a commission as postmaster here, but failing to qualify, David T. Durham circulated a petition asking for the appointment of Wilson Stanley. This was after the establishment of the post route between Oskaloosa and Knoxville, passing this office. In due time Mr. S. received his commission, and retained it till he sold to the Hollanders and moved to Red Rock, in 1847, when A. B. Miller took charge of the office till it was moved to Pella, during the winter of 1847-8.

In relation to offices established in other parts of the county, see history of the townships.

Previous to the establishment of these offices, mail facilities were so inconvenient that the people of Marion county were comparatively isolated from the rest of the world. The nearest post office was at Oskaloosa, a distance of from fifteen to thirty miles, which precluded all thought of regular or frequent correspondence by mail. Only the most urgent necessity induced a settler to suffer the delay and expense of going to and returning from the post office, though the difficulty was sometimes slightly obviated by the chance of sending by persons passing and repassing to mill, or on some other business. Otherwise, no matter how desirous the recent immigrant might be to soften the loneliness of his condition in a wilderness so remote from the friends and scenes of his nativity, to hear from them at regular intervals, even once a month, the distance to the post office was found to be nearly, if not quite, an insurmountable obstacle thereto. Therefore, the establishment of means of regular mail communication within the county was regarded as next in importance to that of convenient milling privileges. It was like opening a prison door temporarily closed against intercourse with the outside world; and, after being so deprived, no people had better cause to appreciate this one great blessing of a civil government.

At the convention which came off at Iowa City in 1846, on the occasion of the formation of the first state constitution, preparatory to our admission into the Union as a state, John Conrey, of Knoxville, was our chosen delegate, representing besides Marion, the counties of Jasper, Iowa, Poweshiek, Warren, Polk, and all the territory attached to them within the bounds of the purchase. No convention had been held for the purpose of nominating candidates to be elected to this office, but they were chosen by the common consent of the leading members of the opposing parties. Rev. James L. Warren, also of Marion, was chosen by the whigs. During the canvass, I. C. Curtis, also a whig in that time, not seeming favorably disposed towards the choice of his party, announced himself as a candidate, and succeeded in obtaining a few votes, by which Warren was defeated, Conrey being elected by a majority of about ten. After this, Curtis became identified with the democratic party. We record this as a historical incident that it seems hardly proper to omit, and not intending it to be prejudicial to the reputation of Mr. Curtis, who is now a citizen of a distant state.

We now proceed to a brief record of the sectionizing and sale of the public lands in the county. We regret that our information on these subjects is comparatively limited, for we would take pleasure in giving the amount surveyed from time to time, and the amount entered the first year after the sales commenced. The county was sectionized by ranges. Range 18, and the north half of 19, was sectionized during the winter of 1846-7, and the remainder of the county at different dates. The south half of the county was assigned to the Fairfield land district, and the north half to that of Iowa City. The first land offered for sale was that first surveyed and the first entered in this tract, and consequently the first in the county was section 29, town 74 (Liberty township), range 18, by Josiah Brobst, in May, 1847. The claimants were not generally prepared to enter their lands as fast as they came into market, and it was not till some time in 1848 that any considerable amount was taken up; and it was at this critical period that the greatest antagonism existed between the claimants and buyers, some accounts of which have been given. But soon after these troubles subsided, and the fertility of the soil and the beauty of the country became known to some extent, and local conveniences were established, population poured in, and the lands were rapidly taken up. But the greatest increase of population by immigration was between the years 1850 and 1855, after which little choice land remained in possession of the government. In 1860 there was none.

At the present time, some small tracts contiguous to the Des Moines river are owned by the state, being remnants of what was donated by the government to be expended in improving the navigation of that stream. A brief history of this ill-fated enterprise may not be out of place here:--

By an act of congress, dated August 8th, 1846, every alternate section of the public lands on each side of the Des Moines river, within five miles of it (except the sixteen of any township coming within the tract), was granted to the state for the purposes above stated. This grant was all made within the bounds of the new purchase, and extended west as far as Fort Des Moines, which was deemed to be at the head of navigation.

A survey of this river had been made by Samuel R. Curtis and others, and slack-water navigation by dams and locks, on the principle of those used in canals, was thought practicable to facilitate the floating of steamboats when otherwise the water would be too shallow for that purpose during the dry seasons; and the enterprise was not only regarded practicable, but profitable as a means of commerce in reaching the production of the Des Moines valley, whose fertility betokened an abundance in due time, and also of reaching the coal that was known to exist in the banks and in the vicinity of that stream, and the beautiful red building-stone near Red Rock.

In the winter of 1846-7 the legislature took charge of the grant, and fixed the minimum price of the lands at two dollars per acre, except what was already pre-empted, and made so much of it as was included in Marion county subject to pre-emption in the spring of 1848, which was some time previous to that fixed for public sale. But this law not meeting with general approval, or failing to effect its desired purpose, was repealed at the nest session (1848-9), and the price reduced to its original standard.

In 1848 the first board of public works was elected, consisting of a president, secretary and treasurer, who had the superintendence of the proposed undertaking. The members of the board were: Hugh W. Sample, president; Charles Corkery, secretary; and Paul Bratten, treasurer. They appointed Col. Samuel R. Curtis, engineer, who made a survey of the river, and located points for the several dams. During the year following a new board was elected, consisting of Col. Wm. Patterson, president, Col. Jesse Williams, secretary, and George Gillaspy, treasurer; and they appointed Guy Wells, of Keokuk, engineer, in 1850. In 1851-2 the legislature repealed the act enabling the election of a board, and authorized the governor to appoint a commissioner and register instead. In accordance with this law, Gen. V. P. Van Antwerp was appointed commissioner, and George Gillaspy, register; but Mr. Gillaspy declined serving, and Paul C. Jeffries was appointed. In 1853-4 these offices were made elective by the people, and Josiah H. Banny was elected commissioner, and George Gillaspy, register. Two years later, Edwin Manning was elected commissioner, and Wm. Drake, register; and at the close of their term, the whole thing was turned over to the care and keeping of a New York company. But, as the enterprise was finally abandoned, after much of the grant had been squandered in the pretended erection of locks and dams at various points, what remained went back to the state, and was appropriated to the building of a portion of the Des Moines Valley Railroad. Only one dam was located in Marion county, at Rousseau, where a large quantity of rock was blasted in preparation for its erection; and the excavation in the cliff, on the south side of the river, and the loose boulders thrown from it, will long remain a mark of a project wild enough in its conception, but better calculated to put money into the pockets of certain individuals.

From the first, many settlers had little confidence in the enterprise: and, as the lands appropriated were mostly timbered, and without any resident agents to look after them, the timber was, in numerous instances, freely used for fencing and building purposes, thus more directly serving the purpose that nature originally designed it for. Little, if any of these lands now remain unclaimed by individuals.

One or two instances of extensive land monopolies seem worthy of mention in this connection.

At an early day, William D. Ewing entered several thousand acres of land in the state, a portion of which was located in this county, principally on the dividing ridge between Des Moines and Skunk rivers. Some of this is now occupied by his immediate heirs.

Another was that of the Fowler heirs (some thirty-six in number). It was, for some time, a subject of litigation in court, and was finally settled in 1866 or 1867. We quote a brief history of the case from the Iowa Voter, of December 10, 1868:

“About the close of the war with Mexico, one Joseph Fowler, of New Orleans, bought one hundred and seventy-five land warrants, or claims for warrants, for very small sums, from our soldiers as they were on their way home. The entries under these warrants were made by Samuel Fowler, of Missouri, in trust for Joseph Fowler, about the 29th of December, 1848; and the lands lie in Marion, Monroe, and Lucas counties. It seems that Mr. Fowler was among the first to enter in this region, and had his choice. He selected mostly timbered land, and got it as nearly in a body as might be. The lands so entered in this county are in Washington and Indiana townships. These one hundred and seventy-five quarter sections made a very considerable monopoly, and retarded the settlement of the country very much. After the entries were made, Joseph Fowler died; and Samuel Fowler deeded the land to his heirs, of whom there are many. We believe there has been some dispute connected with transfers of these lands, on account of an apparent or supposed dower interest of Mrs. Fowler in them. The timber lands have been robbed considerable by settlers around them, who found no opportunity for purchasing. The greater portion of the Fowler land in this county has now been sold to settlers.”

Since the above account was published, we have been informed that the object of Joseph Fowler in entering this large tract was purely, or in part, benevolent. Having a large number of poor relations living in Maryland, he conceived and adopted this plan to secure them homes in the west, where they might have a chance to better their circumstances. At the time of his death he was on his way, by sea, to gather them up to transfer them to their new homes.

Transcribed by Mary E. Boyer, 11/06, reformatted by Al Hibbard 12 Oct 2013.