The Oskaloosa herald., 1905-06-22
CHAPTER lwsNry.rouH.


County--scott Township.
Az originally surveyed, Scott town.
ship was full congressional town.
ship, but In more recent years almost
the entire southern tier of SECTIONS
which are south OF the Des Molnes
river have been set or into JEFFERSON
township. IL Is known on the surveys
as No. as north OF IL west OF the 9Th
principal meridian. The Des Molnes
river cuts of the southwest corner or
the township. Along the river in the
southwest portion 1t is somewhat
rough and there is an excellent growth
Of walnut, white oak and other tim.
bers. In the north and west are undu.
lating pralries, rich and productive.
DR.. II. A. Boyer, one Of the very EARL.
est settlers In the township, sold s12,.
900 worth OF black walnut lumber
from his river lands on the Des
Moines. When the township was or
ganized 1t was named Jackson by the
county commissioners. In the cleo
ton Of 1852 when Scott and Pierce
ran for president, the township cast a
solid vote for the Mexican war veter-
an. when making the election re.
turns to the county officials, DR.. Boyer
requested that the name of the town.
ship be changed to that Of Scott, not
approaching the democratic name.
When asked for the petition he called
attention to the solid vote in hls~rc-
turns. The board 80 accepted the
election returns and granted his re-
quest. Mrs. Hiram Covey taught the
first school in the township at RocheS-
ter. The house was q well built
structure for It's day and served the
district for several generations.
Among the very early settlers In
this township were DR.. II. A. Boyer,
Van y. Delashmutt, Jacob II. Majors,
John Majors, Joseph Tally, Il. Gar
den, John Thompson and J. 70. Utter.
There were numerous settlements
along the river from the very first.
In the summer of 1s43 when every.
thing was new and wild and occa.
sional bands of Indians were passing
through the country, several families
after locating their claims built their
cabins on DR.. Boyer's place In n circle
for better protection and lived In
common for the first year or two,
They called their settlement "the
Phalanx." OF this primitive com
munlty we have the name Of DR.. Boy.
err, man by the name Of Norton,
John Pope and two single men, George
and John Rose. There we're doubt
less others whose names have not
come down to us. During the first
years there was abundance Of game
along the river. DR.. Boyer waS a
hunter Of that period, always keeping
choice hunting dogs and spirited
horse for the chase. During the first
year he shot ninety.three wolves. Mr..
X. /. Garden, Of Tracy, has done valu'
able service In quite a number Of we'll
written descriptive letters Of the ear
ly history Of Scott township. He IA
the son of the pioneer X. Garden and
has been an interested observer Of
It's growth and development from the
beginning. or the old town OF
BellefountaIne MIR. Garden writes:
"The first town in Scott ownship was
laid out at Talley's Ford, on the west
bank Of the Des Moines river, by
Nathan Gregory and Ezra II. This
sell August "a, 1886. The first log
cabin erected was by Ezra Thissell,
with log shed addition. One room
was n residence and the addition for
a store room. Mrs. Malinda Thissell
was the first woman TO live In the
town and to her was given the honor
Of naming the town, which she nam.
ed BelIefountalne, that being the
name Of town in Ohio near which
she had resided before moving TO
Iowa. s.
ThisseII opened grocery store,
which was q big boom for the settle.
ment. II is not generally known, but
true, that when the Fifth General as.
sembly, which convened at Iowa City
on December 4, 1854, passed an act
to relocate the state capitol, that
when the first ballot was taken on a
new location, Bellefountaine came
within one vote Of being the choice
and securing the location"
Doubtless this vote was influenced
by the ] arge calculations, then
thought TO be perfectly feasible, OF
making the Des Molnes river nav
igablc stream the year round by
means OF a system OF dams and
locks at different places along It's
course. Rochester had been selected
al the point in this county where
there was TO be built success
sion Of dams for slack water
and locks through which
the boats might pass with an abund.
ant supply OF water.
Bellefountaine had hotel and sew
eral general stores In It's more pros
porous years, but necessarily retro
graded with the coming OF tho rail-
roads.
In the year 1876 Joypeh Lally built