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

Part II, Chapter I

Preliminary Remarks - Clay - Its Geography and Early History - First Birth, David Durham -
Francis A. Barker, Thomas Young, G. G. Harsin - Weak Diet - A Little Adventure

Having concluded what may be termed a general history of the county, we shall now proceed with a history of each township separately, in which we shall feel more at liberty to insert events of a local character relating to pioneer life, together with the memoirs and adventures of a few of the most prominent settlers that first located in each township. Our object in doing this is not merely to preserve a record of the difficulties and hardships that attended the early settlement of our now wealthy and prosperous county, but also to preserve the names of those who dared and suffered, to open the way to the blessings we now enjoy, and who, therefore, as much deserve honorable mention in local history as do those whose deeds have embalmed them in the pages of national history. It is true, as we have already said, that their chief object was to secure their own pecuniary independence, and this object has, in most cases, been fully attained. Thus far they have their reward; but it must not be forgotten that, in their toilsome efforts to accomplish this, they have conferred a great benefit upon community at large; and for this we deem them entitled to the grateful memory of the people. The number of these old pioneers is now few, in comparison to what it was twenty years ago, and is so constantly diminishing that in a few years more they will have become even less than a remnant. many have emigrated farther west; others are scattered in different parts of the State; whilst many more have gone to the repose of the grave, both in the county and abroad. Should they be forgotten when nothing more is needed to preserve their memory for the instruction of future generations than this?

No regular township organizations were effected till the November term of the Commissioners’ Court, in 1846. As we have already shown, the county was divided up into precincts for election and judicial purposes. For these precincts twenty justices and constables were elected at the first regular election, September 5th, 1845. At that election the rule required that the twenty persons receiving the largest number of votes of all the numerous candidates voted for, should be declared elected. This rule was necessary because there were no convention held previous to election, for the purpose of making an organized choice of candidates, each elector choosing his own candidate on the day of election. We regret to say that we have been able to obtain the names of only a few of these officers.

CLAY

This is a border township, occupying the center of the east side of the county, and numbers all of town. 75, range 18, lying south of the Des Moines river, and also that portion of town. 76, same range, on the south side of the river.

The only considerable streams that course through it are English creek on the north, and Cedar, through the southeast corner. The township is well supplied with timber and coal.*

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*As an item of interest to geologists, we call attention to the existence of a bed of joint clay, about one and a half miles above Durham’s Ford, and just above a ledge of limestone, on the south bank of the Des Moines. Some years ago Dr. Williams, now of Pleasantville, dug six feet through this deposit, and found it so completely filled with sea shells as to form almost its entire substance. Some of them he was enabled to remove whole, and found them to exactly resemble marine shells he had in his possession, gathered by him near Moro Castle, Cuba.
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The name of Clay was given it in honor of the celebrated statesman Henry Clay, by his political friends, there being a large majority of them in the township when it was organized.

It is bounded on the north by Lake Prairie, with the Des Moines river as its northern boundary line; on the east by Mahaska county, on the south by Liberty township, and on the west by Knoxville and Polk.

Since its organization it has undergone several changes in its northern boundary. In ‘48 all of town. 75 north of the river was added to it by authority of the county commissioners, and on the 2d of October of the same year, in answer to a petition of Samuel Martin and others, it was “ordered that all of town. 76, range 18, south of the Des Moines river, be added to Clay township.” And again, in 1850, that part of clay included in town. 75, north of the river, was detached from Clay and reattached to Lake Prairie. This left both these townships in their present shape.

Previous to the date of its organization, (Nov. 16, 1846,) Clay belonged to what was called Cedar precinct. (See chapter 10.) At the first election in that precinct, Benajah Williams and Sennet Ramey + were elected Justices of the Peace, and Elias Williams, Constable, within the bounds of what is now Clay. When the township was organized, the place for holding elections was appointed to be at the house of Jasper Koons. At the first township election held there, John R. Whaley and Garret G. Harsin were elected Justices, and David T. Durhim, Clerk.

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+Mr. Ramey failed to qualify and therefore did not serve.
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The first election of which there is any record preserved, came off at the house of Jasper Koons, April 2d 1848. About 20 votes were cast, and the following officers elected: John Randall, Justice; Thomas Gregory, Andrew C. Sharp and Elias Moore, Trustees; D. T. Druham, Clerk; Jasper Koons, Treasurer, and Francis A. Barker, Inspector.

Those who settled in the township in 1843, were, Andrew Foster,+ Thomas Kirtan, Matthew Ruple, David Durham, John Linpod and Benajah Williams. Those who came in ‘44, were, G. G. Harsin, John Harsin, Thomas Gregory, David Gushwa, A. C. Sharp, F. A. Barker, Thomas Tong, Sarah Clark, S. B. Zane, John Wise and Jasper Koons. The last named person had settled in what is now Lake Prairie during the year before. Andrew Foster and Thos. Gregory both died of small-pox in the summer of 1849.

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+David T. Durham, Andrew Forster and Clark entered the county in the summer or fall of ‘42, in quest of location, and extended their tour as far as the point of timber where Monroe, Jasper county, now is.
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Andrew Foster was the first person that built a house in the township. This was in section 33, town. 76, range 18, being near the river on some prairie. At this “raising” no teams or wagons were at hand to haul the logs to the ground, so it became necessary to cut them small so that they could be carried a distance of a quarter of a mile by the few men who had volunteered to assist at putting up the house.

This house was some time afterward occupied as a school house, and David T. Durham taught the first school in it, being the first in the township. About a dozen pupils attended this school from about five families residing within reach.

Among other enterprises begun at an early date was the planting of an orchard on a claim owned by Benajah Williams, by Mr. W. The farm is now owned by Geo. Harrin. The trees are mostly in a thrifty condition and good bearers.

One among the few first settlors who are still residents of the township, is Matthew Ruple. He lives in section 14. In his family occurred the birth of the first white child in the county. This was Frances Ruple, born July 23, 1843; she still lives in the township, and is now Mrs. Albert Spore.

But most distinguished among those who settled in the township in ‘43, was David Durham, a brief sketch of whom may be in order here:

Mr. D. was born in Belfast, Maine, July 7th, 1792, and immigrated to Ohio in 1828. He started on the 3d of September, and reached Dovertown, Morgan county, Ohio, on the 10th of October, where he located, and opened a farm. But, after being engaged in this business four or five years, he went to the salt works on the Muskingum river, and engaged as a laborer to Sennet Ramey, who, a year or two later, appointed him superintendent of his salt works. After serving in this capacity for some time, he purchased an establishment and went into the salt business on his own account. But owing to the plentifulness of the commodity, together with limited means of shipping it down the Muskingum in scows and canoes, and transportation by land in wagons, the business proved unprofitable, and he failed to meet all the payments on the property. This was in 1836, when money matters became close and precarious. Abandoning the salt works he then employed himself for one season in transporting flour and salt to and from Zanesville by flat boats and scows. Early in ‘37 he moved to Zanesville, where he engaged in various occupations, till the autumn of that year, when he moved to McLain county, Illinois. But not being able to settle there as he desired, with a large family, he moved again in the spring following, and stopped in what is now Jefferson county, Iowa. Here his companion, Nancy Durham, who had shared his varied fortune for more than twenty years, died, April 12, 1839. After about five years’ residence in Jefferson county, Mr. Durham moved to Clay township, where he took and occupied a claim till he secured a title from the government in 1847.

During his residence here Mr. Durham was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners, as stated in another place, and carried the first mail between Oskaloosa and Knoxville. After a long and somewhat eventful life, attended with many conflicts with fickle fortune, having at last secured a competence and a resting place for himself and children, he departed this life, March 15, 1866, aged about seventy years.

Mr. Durham was much respected for his noble traits of character, being of a amiable disposition, kind and obliging to all who had occasion to apply to him for help, in time of need. His departure was, therefore, lamented by a numerous circle of friends and acquaintances, but not as those who mourn without hope.

The next person whose experience as a pioneer, deserves particular notice, was Francis A. Barker. He was born near Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, Virginia, April 2d, 1798. In his nineteenth year he went to West Virginia, where he engaged in teaching for about two years. In 1820 he went to Morgan county, Ohio, where he married in 1827, and here, after being variously engaged in business, he failed, and surrendered all his possessions for the benefit of his creditors, and, with a large family, came to Iowa, without a dollar with which to begin the world anew.

Thus poorly armed against the privations inseparable from frontier life, he was even less prepared for the afflictions that fell upon him through sickness and death.

It was late in October, 1844, when he reached the locality that he immediately chose for a home. This was section 14, Clay township, on the south side of the Des Moines river. Having obtained a house in the neighborhood in which to shelter his family for a short time, he set about improving his claim, but, in consequence of sickness amoug his children, it was not till two years later that he got a house of his own ready for occupation.

During this period the sickness in his family resulted in the death of two of his children, a son and a daughter. It was at such a time as this that the troubles incident to comparative isolation from society and the conveniences of a more populous settlement were most severely felt. The only neighbors within convenient call was the family of Mathew Ruple, half a mile distant; the nearest post office and store were at Oskaloosa, fifteen miles distant. Even lumber was so scarce that it was found difficult to procure enough fit to make a coffin, and, for want of help, the burying clothes for the dead children were made up by the bereaved mother and sisters.

It was in November, 1844, that Mr. Barker went on his first milling trip to Brighton, Van Buren county. Leaving a limited supply of provisions at home, it was necessary to make the trip as speedily as possible. The Des Moines was then fordable at Tally’s where he crossed it; but a cold rain came down in such quantities as to flood the creeks and sloughs to a dangerous depth. In undertaking to ford a large slough below Wah’s point, the cattle were unable to ascend the abrupt bank with the wagon, and in their struggles to do so, one of them was thrown down so as to be in imminent danger of drowning. To extricate the animal as speedily as need be, Mr. B. was compelled to get into the water waist deep. After much effort he succeeded in disengaging them from the wagon, when they immediately landed. But as the wind was blowing a freezing gale and not a sign of shelter short of five miles distant, our hero felt that something must be done to save himself, and the only thing that could be done to that end was to keep moving. So he put the oxen before him, and, with whip in hand forced them into a rapid trot, he following them closely, which abated not till a house was reached. This run of five miles kept him from freezing, for the weather was so cold that his wet clothing stiffened about his limbs.

It was now late in the day, and nothing could be done toward moving the wagon till morning. So Mr. Barker remained over night, and next morning his host accompanied him out to the scene of his adventure, and assisted him to haul the wagon out of the slough, from which the water had fallen so much as to render the undertaking less difficult than it would otherwise have been.

After much delay in obtaining his needed supply of wheat and corn, which he had to buy, and in getting it ground, Mr. Barker set out for home, which he reached after about a month’s absence.

Mr. Barker relates that on making another milling pilgrimage in the autum of ‘45, he attempted the passage of the large prairie below Oskaloosa, during the night, but got bewildered, and next morning found himself several miles out of the way.

In ‘46 Mr. Barker was elected probate judge of Marion county, and re-elected to the same office in ‘47. In ‘63, owing to age and failing health, he disposed of the estate that he had accumulated by years of toil and many hardships, and passed the remainder of days in quiet retirement in the city of Knoxville.*

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*He died at his residence there, Jan. 17, 1871, aged 73 years.
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The neighborhood or settlement still remembered by most of the early settlers of Clay township as “the Tong settlement,” was located in the southeastern part of the township. Nothing of historical interest relating to this settlement is remembered, except what relates to the individual from whom it derived its name.

Thomas Tong was born near the Potomac river, in Virginia, in the latter part of 1780, emigrated to what is now Adams county, Ohio, (then the frontier) at an early day; from thence to Darke county, in the same state; thence to Elk county, Indiana; thence to Van Buren county, Iowa, and from thence to Marion county, in the spring of ‘45, with two sons and two sons-in-law, forming the settlement as above stated. He died in the winter of ‘50, aged 70.

Mr. Tong was what might be justly termed a frontiersman, having spent most of his long life on the frontiers of Ohio, Indiana and Iowa. He was skilled in all the arts of frontier life, pertaining to hunting, fishing and trapping. But, notwithstanding this comparatively rough education, he was in all respects a gentleman, upright and generous in all his intercourse with his fellows, and a warm friend to all with whom he had occasion to entertain friendly relations, and a Christain.

Mr. Garret G. Harsin, who is still a resident of this township, and now quite advanced in years, was born in Kentucky, in 1790. He first moved to Illinois at an early day, from thence to Henry county, Iowa, in 1839, and to his present place of residence, in the spring of 1844. On leaving the settlement the family carefully laid in provisions enough to last them till the middle of the summer. But, on reaching their destination, they were so beset by other immigrants, who were not so provident, and who were compelled to borrow or suffer, that their supply soon ran short. Indeed it was twice exhausted, and the family lived for some time on wheat boiled in milk. At this time Mr. H. was improving his claim, and once, when making rails his noonday lunch consisted of only one green cucumber, without salt. On such diet he toiled on day after day, with failing strength, till he was finally able to make only sixteen rails per day. This was during the absence of his team, and one or two of his sons for another supply of provisions. Of Mr. Harsin’s five sons, Geo. W. lives in Clay, James and Martin V. in Union township, John the oldest, near Sioux City, and Garret in Oregon.

John Wise, a native of Virginia, still lives in the township. He moved to his present place of residence in 1843, and made rapid improvement. But some years afterwards one of those destructive calamities that often reduce the most affluent to poverty, a fire, destroyed his dwelling, and all his household property. Mr. Wise enjoys the reputation of being worthy the name he wears. On coming to the country he brought sufficient gold with him to enter his claim, and kept the money through all the hard times that prevailed, till he paid it for his land.

A little adventure may be worth relating in concluding this chapter: In March, 1845, Jasper Koons and wife, crossed to the north side of the Des Moines river on the ice, going on a visit, and left Eliza J. Durham, then quite a young woman, and now Mrs. D. D. Miller, in the care of his house and two small children, on the south side of English. Expecting to return soon, the parents did not leave Miss D. and the little ones as well provided for as would have been required in case of a long absence. But on the third day of their absence the ice began to break up on the river, rendering it impossible for the Koons to return. So early one morning Mr. K. came to the bank, opposite Durhan’s and called over to inform Mr. D. of the unprovided and isolated situation of Eliza and the children, and requested that some one should look after them till he should be able to get home. Father Durhan took a pony and proceeded to the rescue immediately. He found English broken up and not very safe to ford; but the case was one of emergency, and he made no delay. He found the sufferers without provisions or fire, and during the night previous, though the weather was quite cool, they had had no fire.

But how to remedy the difficulty was the most difficult part of it. The pony would not be likely to bear two grown persons in safety over such a flood, to say nothing of the addition of the two children to the cargo, and he had not been so well trained to the business as to make one or more voyages through the ice-cold flood without a pilot, or at least without some humane incentive, though it was quite possible that he was as unselfish as any brute of his kind.

But it is said that “where ever there is a will there is a way,” out of almost any strait. Though there may be many exceptions to the truth of this proverb, it is true in a majority of cases, and it was in this. Eliza thought of the bed-cord, and proceeded to change it from its appropriate use to that of a tow line for pony. Being prepared for the adventure she tied one end of the cord to the halter. Mr. D. then took the children up and made the crossing, his sister paying out as they went. She then tugged away at the tow line, and Foster urged, till the unwilling vessel was compelled to launch again, and Miss D. soon joined the others in safety.

During the memorable flood of 1851, Mr. Durham and his family took refuge in their ferry boat, as it was moored along the side of the house where they remained till a place could be provided for them on dry land.

To get out of fire was no uncommon circumstance in those early days, and persons have been known to go several miles to get a supply. Matches were not convenient, and it was not every house that could be provided with them.

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