Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1869-02-08
Penn township. Martin Hairless, Geore.

Penn township Martin Hairless, George
Weisc, Exam Dolsrhide, John Axlein aud
David Ciczcr in Clear Geek township,
Ns,ha1iel Fellows. John Hawkins. Bryan
AMI Isiac Dennis, Jas. and Richard Doug
"a; ia Uniea and Washington township,
Jlmes Lsaacrn, Allison Davis, Nr. Fry,
WIN. Ford and Smiley II. Benham IN
Liberty township. Pleasant Harris, Jacob
Henry and John Elrhsrt ia Oh and Joel
0rerholdter, jonas and Carr Hartmann.
Al the close Of the year 1910, the peplla-
ton Of johnson County numbered .5Ul,
and tho population of lows City some for
ty families. Previous 10 this TING, he
nearest Postoilicc was at a1scatine, tsen
Bloomington. on the Mississippi river. and
the mail for this point was generally trsns>
ported in the hat or pockets of some farmer
or person visiting the river on business.
The year 1910 appears TO have been .
remarkable one in the early history ii the
little Capital. In April the new State
House was put under contrac, and the
work Of erecting It began. The same
month Mr.. Sylvanus johnson commenced
manufacturing brick, and little later 10
the season several brick buildings were
commenced. Mr.. Eiwsrd Foster and his
son Charles opened dry goods store in .
little log building which stood on the
ground now occupied by the University
Square. Sam. II. McCrsry was appointed
postmaster, anu regular mail line was
established, connecting Iowa City with
Muscatine. A daily hack fer the accom-
notation Of passengers was soon added,
and the Ii tie town was at last in commu-
uicaten with civilization. The difficulty
Of travelling from point to point across the
pfsitie, hen the buffalo trails, at this time
about the only roads branched offihe course
10 be pursued by the traveller, was great =
Persons daily lost themselves. and some
times travelled sreund Tor days before they
could locate their whereabouts in their own
minds. Particularly was this the case on
the route from Iowa City to Dubuque. To
obviate this decided inconvenience, and
establish direct road, Mr.. Lyman Dillon
undertook to plow q furrow between the
two towns. Leaving Iowa City With five
yoke Of cattle attached 10 n heavy break
ing pillow. he mada his way across the
trackisss wilds. marking his path for the
whole one hundred miles with . broad
furrow. This is, undoubtedly, a. Capt.
Irish remarks, .the longest furrow on re-
cord.
One bright morning in June, 1s4l, the
citzens Of the quiet little frontier village
were startled by tho thrill scream Of =
s,eamboa. whistle. and rushing to the
river banks. were both surprised add de-
lighted to see tho steamer cripple" rapid
~ moving up the stream. The popular
enthusiasm over this event Was unbounded
Captain jones and his crew were received
with hearty welcome by the overjoyed
populace. A public dir n n was rendered
and accepted on the spot. We have the
record Of the proceedings on this festive
occasion before us. In response 10 .
Sentiment" Of which he was the subject,
Capt. j. made . speech. commencing
'GENrLEMEN II am neither an or
ator nor the son Of an orator,
hut son Of Neptune q son OF
the five oceans After stating his partic-
uiar fendness for explorations, he adds -
Il have grappled with the lion and tho H.
ger; ] have contcnded with the cannibal's
war club and tomahawk, when conn AIDES
fell around me; have endured tho rage o:
live elements ! have br4yel the smiles
and frown of heather monarchs have
also been the only survivor Of shipwreck
From his own unvar ,shcd tale, Jones must
have been concrete brick, well pressed
The reporter OF the "occssion" does rot
tell us whether the hair Of the hardy mar
iner's auditors stood on end, eac, like "a
qnlli Of tho fre;iul porcupinc," at tie
blsod>chilllng adventures OF this "son Of
u n.saa, wf IL A
however, that few Of his hearers dr,amei
OF anything but tigers, lions. DO. eo"~..ie.
ors, and heather war clubs or the night
succeeding this pleasant altar. Jones ar
pesred in this part of the moral heritage too
soon hy - generation. 1t is with feeling
OF sadness that We think what q calamity
his death li he ever died) was to tho cdi
torlsl fraternity. What local he would
have made
On the 9TH day Of December, 1871, the
Legislature which hitherto had held its
sessions At burlington, the former Capital
Of Wisconsin Territory, convened at lows
City, in building erected by the citi-
Zens.
Limited space compels up to skip over
long period IN the history Of the city ard
county, and it is not until the year 1856
that We find anything Of especial local i'm
portance occurring. The little village in
tbi, time had expanded into a city, and
the wild and unsettled territory had devel-
op,d into a sovereign State.
Tn the lst OF January, 1886, the Msss-
sirpi and Missouri Railroad reached the
the new year and the iron horse simultsn-
eously, most OF tn, ablesbodled men turned
out on tho 3lst of DE ,ember and worked
all day until midnpht. As the clock struck
twelve the watchers were gladdsnsd by the
appearance OF the train, and together came
the new yesr and the first locomotive
This event, as was the first steamboat
was sGnallxed by public dinner, unfor
tunately, however, although there wer,
numerous and lengthy speeches, no "son
ofiiv oceans appeared with his wonder
full variations to terrify the natives. Guests
were present from the river cities, Chicago,
and even New York, and together, the poo.
pie OF the East and the far West, celebrnt>
cd the advent Of better times.
Almost at the sams time, with the rail-
road, came the Mormon emigration. Al
Iowa City was the most W estern point ye,
reached by the iron track, il at once be.
came the general rendezvous fer this class
Of emigrants. A large camp, numbering
over 5000 saints was established . mile
from town. and remained for several
months. The presence Of such . horde OIL
enthusiastic fanatics could not, Of course
fail to accomplish IN evil result, aud . few
rascally mon and week wemsn becam,
converts telthis more than heathsnish faith
A church vas organized. and held night
mestings q the house Of one of the mem :
bcrs. and ely, but vigorous efforts were
made to trap the unworthy into their darl
lantern orgies. One Of tho victims Of thes,
schsming elders, was resident ofihs city
. widowcr with . large family of children
So infatuated did this individual become,
that he disposed Of his worldly effects and
openly announced his intentions of accsm.
psnying his wretched comrades to their
New Jerusalem. His eldest dau chtsr--s
beautiful girl Of seventeen, plead with him
to renouncs his vile associations. Her ef
forts emily strengthened his determination
and she WAS ordered to accompany her
father on his road to ruin. Some villain
Gus priest Of the new faith, having resolved
to make her his eighth or tenth wife. Fear.
ful that bic daughter might refuse this
pleasant arrangement, the father never
permitted her to leave the house sxcept to
attend their nightly meetings, sand then
only IN his company. There appeared an
other actor upon the ecene-at this time in
the person Of the girls affisnced, who no,