# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/1/20

​AT the April election in 1847 the several counties voted on a proposition to grant license for the sale of intoxicating liquors. All but two counties refused to license the traffic. Four district judges were chosen at this election. Charles Mason, who was Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court, had been nominated by the Democrats for Superintendent of Public Instruction. James Harlan was nominated by the Whigs. Mr. Harlan, who was a recent graduate of an eastern college, and a young man of fine ability, entered upon the campaign with great energy, speaking in most of the populous counties. He made a favorable impression and greatly to the surprise of his competitor was elected, receiving 8,038 votes, to 7,625 for Mason.
When it was found that Harlan was elected the Secretary of State, Elisha Cutler, a stanch Democrat, declared that the law under which the election was held had not taken effect prior to the election and refused to issue a certificate of election but finally gave Mr. Harlan a certified statement of the votes cast which showed a majority of 413 over Judge Mason. Mr. Harlan presented this statement to Governor Briggs and also handed him the official bond required by law. The Governor approved the bond but refused to issue his commission on the ground that he had no authority. A writ of quo warranto was served on Mr. Harlan, requiring him to show by what authority he undertook to discharge the duties of the office. But the trial was delayed until after the meeting of the Legislature and Mr. Harlan proceeded to discharge the duties of the office.
At the August election for a Board of Public Works, in ​1847, the Democratic candidates were: for President, H. W. Sample; Secretary, Charles Corkery; Treasurer, Paul Bratton. The Whigs nominated for President, George Wilson; Secretary, Madison Dagger; Treasurer, Pierce B. Fagan. The vote stood as follows:
| Sample, Democrat | 10,297 |
| Wilson, Whig | 9,204 |
| Sample’s Majority | 1,093 |
The average Democratic majority was about 1,000. The Democrats of the First Congressional District nominated William Thompson of Henry County for Representative in Congress and the Whigs nominated Jesse B. Browne, of Lee County. In the Second District the Democrats nominated Shepherd Leffler, of Des Moines County and the Whigs nominated G. C. R. Mitchell, of Scott County. Charles Mason, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court having resigned in June, 1847, the Governor appointed Joseph Williams to fill the vacancy. John F. Kinney was appointed Supreme Judge on the 12th of June and George Greene was appointed Supreme Judge in place of Thomas S. Wilson, resigned.
Governor Briggs called an extra session of the Legislature to meet on the 3d of January, 1848. In his message be gives the following as the reason for which the Legislature was convened:
The controlling influence, however, which brought the extra session came from the leaders of the Democratic party. At the August election Josiah Kent, a straight Democrat, had been elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Reuben Conlee, representative from Lee ​County. Clifton, of the same county, under great pressure from his Democratic friends, had given them reason to believe that he would now vote for the Democratic candidates for United States Senators and Supreme Judges. With these votes the Democrats felt confident of being able to elect these important officers. But when the session convened the Whigs learned that John N. Kinsman, a Democrat from Polk County, had removed from that district and at once the charge was preferred against him and a committee was appointed to investigate the case. The charge was found to be true and so reported to the House. By a strict party vote the seat was declared vacant. This gave the Whigs a majority of one in the House and enabled them to defeat every attempt of the Democrats to meet the Senate in joint convention for the purpose of electing United States Senators and Supreme Judges. Thus the chief purpose for which the extra session had been called was defeated.
The first reports of the State officers, made at the close of 1847 show the financial condition of the new State at that time. The report of the Auditor gives the total value of the taxable property at $11,277,139, on which a tax of two mills should give a revenue of $22,554.27. But only $15,788, or about sixty per cent, of the amount had been collected. The Treasurer’s report shows the entire revenue received from all sources for the year ending November 1, 1847, to be $50,782.36. There had been paid out on warrants for that period $59,184.36. The report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction gives the number of children of school age 20,928, of which only 2,439 were in the public schools, the small proportion in attendance being due largely to a failure of the districts to provide school-houses. There were at this time thirty-one organized and twenty unorganized counties in the State.
The Legislature having failed to elect Supreme Judges, and as the terms of those appointed by the Governor were held to have expired upon the meeting of the General ​Assembly, after its adjournment, he reappointed Joseph Williams, John F. Kinney and George Greene. An act was passed at the extra session for the appointment of a commission to prepare a complete code of laws for the new State. The commissioners selected for the work were Charles Mason of Burlington, William G. Woodward of Muscatine and Stephen Hempstead of Dubuque. Their work when completed embraced a careful compilation of all laws then in force and a code of civil and criminal practice which was known as the “Code of 1851.” The principal provisions of their work remained in force until the adoption of the Constitution of 1857 required a revision.
The commissioners chosen at the regular session of 1847 to locate the permanent Capital of the State, selected a location remote from any town, river, grove or settlement, possessing no natural advantages for a city or State Capital. It was in Jasper County, which at that time had a population of but five hundred and sixty persons. The site chosen was the west half of sections three and ten, and all of sections four, five, eight and nine in Congressional township, seventy-eight north, in range twenty, west of the 5th principal meridian. It was five miles west of the Skunk River and about two miles southeast of the present town of Prairie City. The commissioners laid out a tract two miles north and south, by two and a half miles east and west in size and named it “Monroe City.” They advertised a sale of lots to begin October 28, 1847 and continue from day to day. The sale opened with a large attendance and continued until the 3d of November. Four hundred and twenty-five lots were sold for an aggregate sum of $6,189.72, or a little more than $14 a lot; $1,797.40 only was paid in cash, notes being given for the balance, payable in two, four and six years. Two of the commissioners showed their confidence in the new city by purchasing fifty-two lots. Some of the favorite lots sold at from one hundred to three hundred dollars each. The ​commissioners secured for themselves large interests in lands near the new Capital, and their work bade fair to bring them ample remuneration for their services.
The policy of granting public lands to aid works of internal improvement had been adopted by Congress as early as 1802, when a grant was made (long before the building of the first railroads), to aid in the construction of a turnpike wagon road in the interior of the State of Ohio to the Ohio River. Other grants for similar purposes followed and in May, 1824, a grant of lands was made to aid in the construction of a canal in Indiana. Grants were made to Ohio and Illinois for similar purposes and one for the improvement of the navigation of the Tennessee River. The first railroad built in the United States, upon which a steam engine was used, was constructed in 1829, but it was not until 1832 that much progress was made in railroad building. In 1835 there were but ninety-five miles of railroad in the United States. Up to 1841 no railroad had been built in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan or Illinois. Transportation was by river, lake, canal and wagons. In 1848 there were but twenty-two miles of railroad in Illinois, eighty-six miles in Indiana and none in Wisconsin or Missouri.
In 1833 Congress made the first grant of public lands to aid in the construction of a railroad by authorizing the State of Illinois to use the land heretofore granted to aid in the construction of canals.
As early as 1837 the people of Iowa had, through the efforts of John Plumb (a citizen of the State) become interested in a project for building a great trunk line of railroad to connect the Atlantic States with the Pacific Coast, to be aided by a grant of public lands along the route. Such a line would be likely to pass through Iowa and open up its inland prairies to settlement. Asa Whitney, of New York, had projected a line of railroad across the great plains and Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast and had written able articles showing the feasibility of ​such a line. The proposed route passed through Iowa and the citizens of our State felt a deep interest in the project and some of the far-seeing men believed that the benefits of this commercial highway might be secured to Iowa by prompt action in obtaining a valuable land grant for a railroad to the Missouri River.
In 1838 George W. Jones, Delegate in Congress for Wisconsin, secured an appropriation of $10,000, which was expended in making a survey from Lake Michigan through southern Wisconsin for a railroad from the great lakes to the Mississippi River. In 1839 a memorial was prepared and circulated by Samuel R. Curtis, then living in Ohio, asking for a grant of lands to aid in building a railroad to the Pacific Ocean. It was presented by John Quincy Adams. The Legislature, in 1844, memorialized Congress to make a grant of public lands to the State to aid in the construction of a railroad from Dubuque to Keokuk; the grant to consist of alternate sections, extending five miles in width on each side of the road, or its equivalent in adjacent government lands. During the following winter a convention was held at Iowa City, representing various sections of the State, for the purpose of procuring grants of public land to aid in building other lines of railroad east and west. One of the proposed lines was to run from Davenport west to Iowa City, Monroe City, Raccoon Fork of the Des Moines River, to a point on the Missouri River near Council Bluffs. The first grant of public lands in Iowa for transportation lines was that made in 1846 to aid in the improvement of the navigation of the Des Moines River.
The Legislature of Iowa, by joint resolution, approved January 9, 1847, accepted the grant. A Board of Public Works chosen at the next election met and organized on the 22d of September, 1847 and proceeded with the improvement. Agents appointed by the Governor selected the unsold alternate sections designated by odd numbers, for a width of five miles on each side of the river from ​mouth to source. The selections were approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. A question having arisen as to the extent of the grant, the Board of Public Works was instructed by Richard M. Young, Commissioner of the General Land Office, February 23, 1848, that the grant embraced the alternate (odd numbered) sections within five miles of the river, throughout the whole extent of that stream within the limits of Iowa. The public had reason to believe that this decision of the Land Department of the United States settled the limits of the grant. But it proved to be but the beginning of one of the most complicated, vexatious and expensive controversies that has ever arisen over a grant of public lands, as will be seen as its history progresses.
The Constitution of 1846 provided that a census of the State should be taken within one year after its adoption, and each two years thereafter for eight years. The census of 1847 gave the population 116,454, making an increase during the year past of 14,066. There were at this time thirty-two organized counties in the State. The report of the Auditor, made November 30, 1847, shows the total amount of State tax collected that year to be but $5,782.36. A loan was made by the issue and sale of bonds to the amount of $55,000. The assessed value of the property of the State for 1847 was $11,277,139.
The Whig State Convention assembled at Iowa City on the 11th of May, 1848, and placed in nomination the following candidates: Secretary of State, J. M. Coleman; Auditor, M. Morley; Treasurer, Robert Holmes. The resolutions adopted condemned the administration of James K. Polk for making war upon Mexico; declared in favor of the application of the principle of the “Wilmot Proviso.”
* ↑ Letter of Commissioner, in Report of State Land Office, 1865, page 30.
* ↑ In 1846 the House of Representatives was discussing the acquisition of territory from Mexico when David Wilmot, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, offered the following amendment to the bill: “Provided that slavery shall be forever prohibited in all territory acquired from Mexico.” This “Wilmot Proviso” although defeated at the time eventually divided and defeated the Democrats.
​The Democratic Convention was held at Iowa City on the 1st of June and nominated the following ticket: Secretary of State, Josiah H. Bonney; Auditor, Joseph T. Fales; Treasurer, Morgan Reno. The resolutions indorsed the national administration and State government of Iowa, and eulogized the army engaged in the War with Mexico.
For Presidential electors the Whigs nominated Fitz Henry Warren, Wm. H. Wallace, Jesse Bowen and Stephen B. Shelledy. The Democrats nominated A. C. Dodge, Joseph Williams, Lincoln Clark and J. J. Selman. For Congress the Whigs nominated, in the First District, Daniel F. Miller; the Democrats nominated William Thompson. In the Second District, the Whigs nominated Timothy Davis, the Antislavery Party, James Dawson, and the Democrats, Shepherd Leffler. The campaign in Iowa was a vigorous one and the Democrats carried the State as usual, electing both members of Congress. The vote for Secretary of State was as follows:
| Bonney, Democrat | 12,367 |
| Coleman, Whig | 11,155 |
| Wm. Miller, Ind | 523 |
| Democratic plurality | 1,212 |
The vote for President at the November election was as follows:
| Cass, Democrat | 12,093 |
| Taylor, Whig | 11,144 |
| Van Buren, Free Soil | 1,126 |
By throwing out the vote of Pottawattamie County the plurality of Cass over Taylor was declared to be 1,434, and his majority over Taylor and Van Buren, 308. The vote of Pottawattamie County was for Taylor 527, for Cass 42.
​The State had been regarded as very close between the Democrats and Whigs and as the Mormon vote was generally cast nearly solid which ever way the leaders advised, it might possibly in this election determine the contest in favor of the party securing it. Fitz Henry Warren, chief manager of the Whig campaign, conferred with the Mormon leaders at Kanesville, where some six hundred voters were then living and succeeded in securing that vote for his party. Had the Mormon vote been counted in the returns, Daniel F. Miller, Whig, of the First District, would have been elected to Congress. The Democrats objected to the canvass of the vote of Pottawattamie County, when it became known that the Mormons living there had voted the Whig ticket. The ground for rejecting the vote was as follows. The county had not yet been organized, but the preliminary steps had been taken. Wm. S. Townsend, a Democrat, had been appointed by the judge of that district, sheriff, for the purpose of completing the organization, and had ordered an election on the first Monday in April. But Townsend having learned that the Mormon vote was likely to be given to the Whig party, refused to serve, and the county organization was not completed. The Mormons seeing that they were likely to lose their votes, petitioned the county commissioner of Monroe (the nearest organized county on the east) to organize a township embracing enough territory to include the Mormon settlement and thus enable them to take part in the elections. The petition was granted, and they voted at the August election. When the poll books of the Mormon township were returned to the county-seat of Monroe, the clerk refused to receive or recognize them. It was known, however, that the vote of that township stood thirty votes for Thompson and 493 for Miller. Had the vote of that township been counted, Miller would have been elected. The messenger who brought the poll books to Albia, laid them on the clerk’s desk, while an exciting controversy was going on between A. C. Hall, who represented the ​Democrats, and J. B. Howell, who appeared for the Whigs. During the discussion the poll books disappeared. It afterward appeared that Israel Kester found the books on the floor and put them in Hall’s valise. Hall did not discover them until he reached home. Miller contested the election of Thompson before Congress and made a search for the lost poll books, but they were not found. Congress declared the seat vacant.
The Democrats elected a majority of the members of the Second General Assembly, which met at Iowa City on the 4th of December, 1848, and organized by the election of John J. Selman, President of the Senate. In the House, Smiley H. Bonham was chosen Speaker. George W. Jones appeared as a candidate for United States Senator against Judge T. S. Wilson, who was the nominee of the Democratic party two years before, when they were unable to elect. A bitter contest ensued between the two Dubuque candidates. Jones secured the caucus nomination by one majority.
There was no opposition to A. C. Dodge in his own party and he received a unanimous nomination in the caucus which nominated Joseph Williams for Chief Justice, and John F. Kinney and George Greene for Associate Judges of the Supreme Court. The Whigs nominated Ralph P. Lowe and William H. Wallace for United States Senators, and Stephen Whicher, James B. Howell and Timothy Davis for Supreme Judges. At the joint convention held on the 7th of December, the Democratic candidates were elected, as that party had a majority of nineteen on joint ballot. The Democrats now had control of every branch of the State government and there was great rejoicing in the party over the sweeping victories.
The Auditor’s report for 1848 gave the total value of the taxable property of the State at $14,449,920, from which a revenue of $36,129 had been derived on a tax of 2½ mills on the dollar. The State debt, exclusive of the bonded indebtedness, was reported at $22,651.62. The
GEORGE W. JONES United States Senator, 1848 to 1859
​value of the improved farms of the State was $8,031,698; manufactories, $237,655. There were 27,180 horses valued at $992,946; 72,840 head of cattle, valued at $723,326; 114,623 sheep, worth $131,338; 170,445 swine, worth $215,361. Cattle and horses over two years old and sheep and swine over six months old, only were enumerated in this statement. The number of acres of improved land was 2,316,704. The total value of personal property subject to tax was $110,417, exclusive of money, notes, mortgages and bonds.
There was at this time gold and silver coin and bank notes to the amount of only $183,426 reported, while notes, mortgages, bonds and other securities were found to the value of $106,357. The number of watches in the State is given as 3,112, valued at an average of about $11.50 each. As the population at this time was 154,573, the poverty of the people can be realized when it is seen that the money in circulation was but one dollar and eleven cents per capita.
The report of the Board of Public Works on the progress made toward the improvement of the navigation of the Des Moines River showed facts of interest. The receipts from the sale of lands embraced in the grant up to November 30, 1848, amounted to $50,151.65. Each head of a family was allowed to take 320 acres of land at $1.25 per acre. Samuel R. Curtis, who had been appointed chief engineer, had made a survey of the river from its mouth for a distance of ninety-three miles to Ottumwa. The survey showed that, owing to the low banks near the mouth of the river, it would be necessary to construct a canal for a distance of ten miles. The plan proposed was that, above this canal, dams should be erected to raise the water in the shoals and rapids to sufficient depth to enable steamers of medium size, by a system of locks, to navigate the river up to the Raccoon Fork. A contract had been let for the construction of the canal, and the building of three dams and four locks to be completed by ​March 1, 1851. Contracts were also made for nine additional dams and locks. The estimated cost of the first three dams, four locks and work in the river between them, was $201,633. It was estimated that thirteen locks and dams would be required to render the river navigable to Ottumwa, the cost of which was estimated at $477,357.
General Curtis was of the opinion that when the system was completed to the Raccoon Fork, freight could be carried from St. Louis via Keokuk and the Des Moines River, and thence by wagon to Council Bluffs, at a saving of nine-two cents per hundred pounds over the cost by steamer up the Missouri River. He further says:
Such were the expectations entertained by the people of Iowa at this time, of the importance and feasibility of the Des Moines River improvements inaugurated. General Curtis was probably the ablest civil engineer in the West. He had been engaged in a somewhat similar work on the Muskingum River, was familiar with the general system of internal improvements of the country and his opinion of this enterprise had great influence with Iowa people. He even expressed the belief, in his enthusiastic report, that the making the Des Moines River navigable to the Raccoon Fork could be accomplished at less than half the cost per mile of a good railroad, and he adds:
​The Board of Public Works estimated that the land grant would amount to nearly 1,000,000 acres and that with the annual tolls derived from the completed portion of the work, the grant would pay the expense of improvements above the Raccoon Fork. The Legislature omitted no act deemed necessary to secure to actual settlers on the lands embraced in this grant, undisturbed possession and good titles to their homes.