History of Linn County Iowa
[Illustration: Luther A. Brewer]
History
of
Linn County Iowa
From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time
BY
LUTHER A. BREWER
AND
BARTHINIUS L. WICK
_Members Historical Society of Linn County, Iowa_
[Illustration]
CEDAR RAPIDS
THE TORCH PRESS
1911
COPYRIGHT 1911 BY
LUTHER A. BREWER
THE TORCH PRESS
CEDAR RAPIDS
IOWA
TO THE MEMORY OF OUR
HONORED PIONEERS
INTRODUCTION
The history of Linn county is covered by the events of only a few
years, if compared with the history of communities east of the
Mississippi. The space of one life-time embraces all that has happened
here since the first white man looked upon our goodly heritage. True,
that life has been prolonged beyond the scriptural three score and ten
years. Robert Ellis, who came to this community more than seventy years
ago, and who was one of the very early settlers, yet lives in a hale
and vigorous age on land he "claimed" at that time.
But if the history of the county does not cover many years, it yet is a
history crowded with happenings of interest, some of the incidents
being more or less stirring.
History is defined as a record of the past. It does not concern itself
with the present. It has been the purpose of the editors of this volume
to treat somewhat at length of the early days in the county. Those
conversant with events occurring prior to the Civil war are rapidly
moving on, and it is high time that their recollections of beginnings
here were gathered and put in permanent form.
This has been attempted--how imperfectly done no one realizes more
keenly than we realize it. But like little Mary Wood of the story, we
have done the best we could in the few months given us to prepare the
pages which follow. We have done some things which need not be done
again by any one who follows us. We have made definite some things in
our history as a county that heretofore have been matters of
uncertainty. It is felt that the present volume will make an excellent
starting point for some future chronicler.
The task of the historian has been an arduous one--far more arduous
than can be imagined by any save those who have done similar work.
Withal the task has been one of pleasure and of inspiration. The
pursuit of knowledge in this instance has really been a delight.
We have been taught many things by our work that add to the sum of the
pleasures of living in a day crowded with all the conveniences of the
twentieth century. Our respect for the courageous pioneer men and the
equally courageous and self-sacrificing pioneer women of our county has
been placed high. Nobly did they suffer, enduring privations now
undreamed of, and never complaining that theirs was a hard lot. We
stand with uncovered heads and with a reverent feeling in their
presence.
It is not possible to make due acknowledgments to all those who aided
in gathering the material in this volume. Many who came here in the
early years of the county have been consulted, and always with profit.
The drudgery of the work of making this book has been greatly lessened
by their courtesy and their help. We thank them all. Some of them have
been credited with their assistance in the narrative itself. In
addition to the names mentioned in the text we desire to give thanks
for aid and counsel to N. E. Brown, perhaps the best posted man in
Cedar Rapids on the early history of the city; to Ed. M. Scott, for
most valuable aid in the preparation of the chapter on banks and
banking; to Capt. J. O. Stewart and Col. W. G. Dows for appreciated
assistance in the writing of the chapter on our military history; to
Carle D. Brown, of the Commercial Art Press, who gathered most of the
illustrations for the volume; to W. F. Stahl, for aid in giving the
history of the United Brethren church in the county. Robert Ellis, Mrs.
Susan Mekeel, Mrs. Susan Shields, Mrs. Elizabeth Hrdlicka, Augustus
Abbe, J. H. Preston, C. G. Greene, J. S. Ely, Wm. Smyth, C. F. Butler,
L. W. Mansfield, and many others have assisted in gathering much
valuable material concerning the lives of the pioneers.
Much that has been gathered concerning times far removed from the
present, is from "hearsay," hence it has been difficult to be certain
as to the correct facts in some instances. Inaccuracies may be found,
but these are due to unavoidable omissions, largely on the part of
those who have related these happenings and not from any sense of bias
or prejudice.
All prior county histories have been consulted as well as the early
state gazetteers, Andreas' _Atlas_, Carroll's _History_, _History of
Crescent Lodge_, _History of the Bench and Bar of Iowa_, _History of
the Courts and Legal Profession_, _Proceedings_ of the Linn County
Historical Society; and the files of the newspapers published in the
county in an early day. It is needless to add that the early city
directories have been largely used with reference to the business men
of Cedar Rapids in the early days.
References to persons have been confined to mere statements of facts
and have been free from undue flattery on the one hand and from
anything derogatory on the other. The members of the legal and medical
professions have been referred to at some length for the reason that
the lawyers and doctors were important factors in pioneer days, both in
the organization of the county and in the promotion of the various
enterprises in our towns.
Trusting that this history may be of some value in preserving material
which ere long would pass beyond reach of preservation, this work is
respectfully dedicated to the early pioneers of the county, whose lives
and careers the authors have attempted to describe in the following
pages.
LUTHER A. BREWER
BARTHINIUS L. WICK
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I THE BIRTH OF IOWA 1