History of Boone County, Iowa

VOLUME 1

This history of Boone County, of her people and institutions, has been carefully prepared under no little difficulty and many tribulations. The great majority of the pioneers are gone and but a few of those remaining place sufficient reliance upon their memories to venture a positive assertion in relation to the important and interesting events which took place during the formative period of the county; from them no assistance in securing data was obtained. However, the people of this community are fortunate in having still among them such men of sterling worth, intellectual capacity and integrity as C.L. Lucas, of Madrid, and George W. Crooks, of Boone. Their memories seem to be faultless as to facts, and to them Boone County is indebted for the excellence and accuracy of this chronicle of local events. C.L. Lucas prepared many of the chapters herein, in their entirety, including all the townships; Mr. Crooks prepared certain of the articles and furnished a fund of information as a foundation for others. To them the editor and publishers by this token desire to give thanks, and also to numerous other courteous and encouraging citizens of the county, who contributed in any way toward making this work possible.

 

Table of Contents.

CHAPTER I
HISTORIC IOWA... 9

CHAPTER II
ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY OF IOWA... 29

CHAPTER III
A PREHISTORIC RACE... 59

CHAPTER IV
THE INDIANS... 63

CHAPTER V
DESCRIPTIVE... 81

CHAPTER VI
COUNTY ORGANIZATION... 91

CHAPTER VII
COUNTY ORGANIZATION (CONTINUED)... 111

CHAPTER VIII
GOVERNMENTAL... 129

CHAPTER IX
HISTORY OF THE RIVER LAND GRANT... 135

CHAPTER X
DAYS OF THE RIVERLAND TROUBLES... 145

CHAPTER XI
A STORY OF THE "CLAIMS CLUB"... 153

CHAPTER XII
SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE... 161

CHAPTER XIII
SCRAP OF LOCAL HISTORY... 175

CHAPTER XIV
BOONE COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR... 179

CHAPTER XV
YELL TOWNSHIP... 197

CHAPTER XVI
DODGE TOWNSHIP... 209

CHAPTER XVII
JACKSON TOWNSHIP... 217

CHAPTER XVIII
DOUGLAS TOWNSHIP... 225

CHAPTER XIX
CASS TOWNSHIP... 251

CHAPTER XX
WORTH TOWNSHIP... 259

CHAPTER XXI
PILOT MOUND TOWNSHIP... 275

CHAPTER XXII
MARCY TOWNSHIP... 281

CHAPTER XXIII
BEAVER TOWNSHIP... 289

CHAPTER XXIV
GRANT TOWNSHIP... 293

CHAPTER XXV
AMAQUA TOWNSHIP... 297

CHAPTER XXVI
PEOPLES TOWNSHIP... 303

CHAPTER XXVII
COLFAX TOWNSHIP... 309

CHAPTER XXVIII
HARRISON TOWNSHIP... 317

CHAPTER XXIX
GARDEN TOWNSHIP... 323

CHAPTER XXX
UNION TOWNSHIP... 331

CHAPTER XXXI
DES MOINES TOWNSHIP... 347

CHAPTER XXXII
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION... 357

CHAPTER XXXIII
THE BENCH AND THE BAR... 361

CHAPTER XXXIV
THE PRESS OF BOONE COUNTY... 377

CHAPTER XXXV
TRANSPORTATION... 401

CHAPTER XXXVI
BOONESBORO THE COUNTY SEAT... 417

CHAPTER XXXVII
CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS OF BOONE... 433

CHAPTER XXVIII
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS... 445

CHAPTER XXXIX
BOONE PUBLIC SCHOOLS... 471

CHAPTER XL
THE POSTOFFICE... 479

CHAPTER XLI
BANKING... 483

CHAPTER XLII
INDUSTRIAL BOONE... 489

CHAPTER XLIIl
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS... 495

CHAPTER XLTV
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS... 507

CHAPTER XLV
FRATERNAL ORDERS, COMPANY 1, ETC... 517

 

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VOLUME 2 (Biographical)

 

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A century ago all that part of the great and beautiful State of Iowa, of which the County of Boone is a part, was practically terra incognita, a vast wilderness, given over by the Almighty to wild beasts, birds of the air and their masters, the Indians, who roamed the plains and forests at will, claiming and securing an existence from the bounteous hand of Nature. Here the deer, buffalo and other fur- bearing animals found a habitat and the main streams gave generously of the palatable fish. The red man had no care for the morrow. No thought came to him that his possessions would ever be disturbed by the paleface. So he continued his dreams. The hunt was his daily avocation, broken in upon at intervals by a set-to with a hostile tribe of aborigines, that was always cruel and bloody in its results and added spoils to the victor and captives for torture. He knew not of the future and cared less. But the time was coming, was upon him, when he was called upon to make way for a stronger and a progressive race of men; when the fair land that was his birthright and his hunting grounds, resplendent with the gorgeous flower and emerald sod, must yield to the husbandman. The time had come for the buffalo, deer and elk to seek pastures new, that the alluvial soil might be turned to the sun and fed with grain, to yield in their seasons the richest of harvests.