Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-08-23

the,naost romantic and attractively his
torical spots that Iowa can boast Of.
Any information that you can contri-
butte will be thankfully received by me
and placed in the records to 80 down
to future generations.
Washington Township.
Washington township, In the south.
east corner Of Wapello county, Iowa.
| Joining Jefferson c-lnty on the east
and Davis county on the south; was
| first taken possession of by the whites
on the eventful night of April 80, 1S4S,
at twelve o'clock, when guns were fir
ed to denote the moment when the
government was to take possession OF
the New Purchase" from the Sac and
Fox Indians; which comprised that
part Of Iowa west Of the Jefferson
county line. At one o'clock q. NJ, on
May 1, 1S4S, some of our citizens
were busily engaged in blazing trees,
setting stakes, burning brush, ETC., to
mark the boundary lines of their
| Siol1dS. LuOoS VIC uldy 1ACI
ton: John Mael, Milton Wright, Jas.
Acton, Reuben Meyers, Anderson Mey-
ers, who served ten years as justice
of the peace in this township; Martin
Fisher, who stood anxiously waiting
for the signal, when he at once marked
out and claimed the land on which he
now lives; Thomas Foster, first treas
urer of Wapello county; E. Cummins,
whose father was the first.,American
born in the. State of Indiana, when the
French had charge of the .Vincennes
Garrison IN LIT; and James Cart
wright, who came to this township in
April, 1843.
A Wonderful Bit Of History.
He was engaged as gunner in reg.
iment of artillery, under Capt Garner,
of New York, in 1926, and at the cele-
bration of the Fourth of July in that
year, at the third round Of the battery
he completely lost his hearing of the
right ear. He filled the Office of justice
of the peace In this township three
terms, of recorder in Agency three
years, of assessor here three years, of
notary public three years. He had his
leg amputated three times, was mar
ried three times, wore out three wood
en- legs, but has still three wives liv-
ing, and although he is a hale and
hearty batch of 70 summers he posi-,
lively asserts that he will not marry
again more than three times.
1t is evident that Mr. Cartwright
learned the Rule of Three" in his
youth and will never forget it. He has
the honor of being the central figure
as justice of the peace in John Mulvan.
ey's celebrated painting, "The Trial of
a Horse Thief in Western Justices
Court which has been valued in Chi
cago recently at $4,000 and occupied
the 'ploce of honor" in the gallery of
the Lotus club, in New York City.
The Advantages of EIdon.
The Des Moines river flows diagonal.
ly through this township, consequently
half the land is we'll watered and heav.
lily numbered; the remainder being a
rich, fertile prairie, producing corn
wheat, rye, oats and grasses, with po-
tatoes and other vegetables, and an
4 abundance Of fruit. The township is
underlaid with beds of bituminous coal
which are being mined In different
places. Concretionary limestone is
found in the bed of the Des Moines riv
er, and fire clay and sand suitable for
making brick and glass are very plenti
full There is a fall of from eight to
ten feet in the Des Moines river about
I one hundred yards west Of Eldon
which, with very little expense, could
be used to good advantage for water
power; consequently there is not on
I the Des Moines river better locality
for any manufacturing business than
I Eldon. Coal, wood and water are very
plentiful. Coal from. s to 10 cents per
bushel: wood from 50 to So per cord
FIGURING mills, elevators, saw mills
WOODEN factories, breweries, potteries
and brick yards would be good paying
property here, as there are no parties
in town representing these lines of
business.
First School House Built.
| The township was organized into
!, four school districts In 1874, each dis
; trict being three miles square. The
|. frst school house was built In 1914 in
!, the Northwestern district. John H
|, ftchslas was the first teacher; Thos
/, Foster, first director; G. 3. Slavery
ufSL secretary. IN 1873 the township
: was organized into nine independent
school districts, namely: Eldon, Ash
land, Alpine, Liberty, Plainview, Pleas
ant Ridge. Washington, Union and
, Fairview. The total number Of child
rem between the ages Of FIVE and
tweuty-one in 1878 was $50.
Thomas Ping was the first Justice o1
the peace, James Caldwell was the
first constable. The first lawsuit was
Woody VS.. Grigsby. A large per cent
of the suits grew out of claim disputes
S. M. Wright was the first coroner ir
Wapello county Silas Garrison was
; the first to deliver a religious dis
course from the bible politically in this
township. The first postoffice was
opened by Thomas Ping in the fall O.
1S43. The first election took place a
Ashland in October, 1S43, when there
was about fifty votes polled. There
are only fifteen persons in the town
ship now who came here in 1843.
Thirty Miles for Flour.
"