The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1858-08-12

Mr. NANDEvER is man of strict integ-
rity and unblemished character, he is vet
willing TO lend hand in this system of
villifcation and SANDER, simply to adj
vance the desperate fortunes of the par
ty in this district. They dare not con
duct the canvass upon issues of princi-
pie, but must, as usual. descend to per-
sonal detrac;ion. However, even that
game can't win. The expression that
p" he who lives in a glass house must not
throw stones" comes in here with force,
and such lies about Mr.. VANDEvER will
but aid in the development and promul-
CATION of some truths regarding Mr. LIEF
FINGwELL, which might be distasteful.-
So the sooner you give up that game the
better for yourselves, Messeurs Demo
Gratis.
| The following puts an effectual quietus
upon this whole natter
| I Dir. Editor Nm the communication
clipped from the State Gazette to which
you called my attention l am falsely ac-
cused of serious offence, which Justice
to the public and to myself requires
should be refuted.
| In the fall of lS43, l, with others, was
engaged in the survey of government
lands upon Des Moines River, within the
limits of what is now Wapello county,
This was Immediately succeeding the re-
linquishment of that territory by the In
dams, and the rush Of emigration into it
was unparalleled by anything which has
occurred before or since.
Long before the surveyors had arrived
upon the ground, almost every part of the
county had been claimed by settlers, who
in locating claims were guided only by
random lines, hastily extended into the
county from the surveys of adjoining dis
tricts. AS might have been reasonably
expected under circumstances of this
kind, my survey disappointed the expec-
tations or the hopes of many, in not con
forming to their claim lines. BY the reg
ulations then in force in the Land Office
at Fairfield, no re-emptor was permitted
to file a claim which was predcated upon
settlement made prior to the Govern
ment survey, and hence we found in nu-
merous instances, that the lines of tn e
correct survey threw more than one clai-
mant upon the same legal subdivision
this, as a matter of course, brought On
broils and contests of the most embittered
character. The surveys themselves were
attacked, in some instances corners were
wifully destroyed and lines married by
the disappointed parties complaints
made to the then Surveyor General, led
to rigid examination into the character
of my survey, and resulted in establishing
the facts as now stated. \
In the spring of 1916, General Jones
succeeded Gen. Wilson as Surveyor Gen
eral of the District of Wisconsin and To-
wa. Serious charges were soon made to
him against the surveys of the District
adjoining my own, and the old charges
against my work were revived Gen.
Jones ordered an examination of the sur
veys in both these districts. The person
TO whom this examination was entrusted,
was thoroughly ignorant of public land
surveying. had recently been discharged
from the U. S. Navy. He was then belize
we'd by many, but is now known to have
been insane. After long absence in the
field, putting the government to an ex-
pense about equal to the original cost of
the whole survey, he, for some reason
best known to himself, reported adverse
ly.l A re-survey was ordered, with what
result the statement of H. A. WIltse, the
then chief clerk in the Surveyor Generals
office, will best explain.\
Ii is proper for me to/add in this con
nection, that down to the time of order
ing the re-survey, | was profoundly 10
nolant of the whole proceeding in relation
to my former survey, although | had in
the mean time executed another contract
for work assigned me in the fall of 1874,
and received my pay therefor under Gen.
Jones in the summer or fall of the wear
1915 long after complaints had been
made against my first work. Since that
time have been in the employ of the
Surveyor Generals Office at Dubuque
for two years, and though subsequent to
the resurvey, no claim has ever been set
up against me on behalf of the govern
ment in consequence of what the cores
pondent Des Moines styles fraudulent
survey in fact the resuryey did nothing
but demonstrate the accuracy and faith
fulness OF the first survey. Without any
interference on my part, the government
became fully satisfied that the charges
made against my work were entirely
groundless and no claim has ever been
made upon me on account of it.
WIN. VANDEvER !
Dubuque, July 81, 1858.
H. Il. Wiltse, Esq, Dubuque Iosoa:
Dear ,Sir:-By the enclosed anonymous
communication extracted from the State
Gazette you will perceive that lam ac-
cused of having made a frau lulent sur
vey, while i'll the employ oy the United
States, as deputy Surveyor.
Concious of my own reclitude in this
matter, am not disturbed by so ground
less charge AMI might under ordinary
circumstances pass it by without notice