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mechanics who built Fort Atkinson, where she was born on the 16th of January, 1841; she married Robert M. Boyce and lives near Monona.

The first church in the county, except the old Missionary Chapel was a Catholic edifice, erected near Twin Springs.

The first public school building was built at the corner of Decorah, Springfield and Glenwood Townships, in 1852.

The location of the first post office has in previous records been given to Jamestown, Frankville Township, in 1851. But there were post offices at Fort Atkinson and Old Mission before that time, as is noted elsewhere.

The first marriage recorded was that of Johannes Evenson to Catherine Helen Anderson, in October 1851, Rev. N. Brandt performing the ceremony.

The first death was that of a government teamster named Howard, who was frozen to death on the 4th of October, 1840, near the present site of Castalia.

The first newspaper was the Decorah Chronicle, published in 1856. With this hasty rehearsal of leading events, most of them recorded more fully in other chapters, we take up the county history where it was left in the first chapter; we are now approaching an interesting period, embracing the organization of the county and the successive strifes for securing the county seat which was finally and permanently located at Decorah.

To the Day family belongs the unquestioned honor of being the first settlers in Decorah; and as this became the county capitol and has grown to be the most important and influential town, it naturally gives them pre-eminence over other settlers-especially as it is to members of that family to a large extent, that the credit is due of securing the county seat for Decorah as well as the Land Office soon afterward. The Days came to Decorah on the 10th of June, 1849. The family consisted of nine persons, William and Elizabeth Day, Mrs. Day still living, and their sons Claibourne F. Day, Richard V. Day, and John F. Day, being from that time until now prominent and influential citizens. Interesting particulars in regard to their_coming and settlement here, will be found in the sketch of Decorah in a succeeding chapter.

Another early settler who was a prominent factor in deciding the county-seat contest, was the late ex-Judge David Reed, whose family settled in the northeast quarter of section 25, in Bloomfield township, in August, 1848. Mr. Reed was born in 1799, was elected County Judge at the age of 52, and held that office from 1851 to 1855. Himself and family are referred to more at length elsewhere in this history.

Of the naming of the county, and of the territory it occupied and other matters before its organization, Mr. A. K. Bailey in his historical sketch, read before the old settlers, July 4th, 1876, said:

"I am compelled at the outset to admit the weakness of my history by telling you that I can give no account whatever, why, when or where Winneshiek derived its name. Tradition says that Hon. Eliphalet Price, one of the pioneers and strong men of Clayton, selected the name, as he did that of Allamakee. No doubt this is the truth; for what could be more proper than that this former home of the Winnebagos should bear the name of this most distinguished of chiefs of that tribe? Be this as it may, I find the existence of the county recognized in the earliest records of the State. In the first arrangement of Senatorial and Representative districts by the Constitutional Convention of 1846, no mention is made of either of the four counties in this northeastern corner, except Clayton. But in the session laws of the First General Assembly, Winneshiek is twice designated in such a manner as to show its prior existence. An act defining the limits of the second Judicial District, includes by name, Fayette, Winneshiek and Allamakee, but the times for holding courts therein was left entirely to the will of the Judge. This district then comprised all the territory north of the southern line of Winneshiek County and was bounded on the west by the west lines of Cedar, Jones, Buchanan, Fayette and Winneshiek. A little later that year I find in the apportionment of State Senators and Representatives that the territory known as the Third Congressional District of Iowa, now containing a population of 160,000 souls was given two Senators, and to Clayton, Fayette, Winneshiek and Allamakee, were acorded one Representative. This was in 1849. The dividing line between Iowa and Minnesota had not been made, and the territory west of us was still in the hands of the aborigines. The Winnebagoes had been removed, but it was enforced removal, and they were frequently returning in large bodies to what was once their choicest and happiest hunting grounds. The hardy pioneers had only just begun to enter upon these lands, and their homes were only claims, to be perfected into titles whenever the territory should come into the market." From the time of first permanent settlement there must have been a rapid influx, for by the Federal census taken in June, 1850, there were five hundred and seventy persons found and enumerated by the census taker."

Of a rumored "oldest inhabitant," Mr. Bailey said. "We learn that there is now living in Canoe Township a Norwegian named Lars Iverson, who came to the county in 1845 along with Government Surveyors, and who after the latter had finished their work, 'kind er stayed around' and has been a resident ever since. If this be so we have not had time to confirm it-it may be as with the Norske pioneers to America a Norwegian the first real comer, although not the first 'settler' in the full sense of the term. So far as I have been able to learn, he was the only one who remained as a settler. I know not whether he has responded to this invi

tation which has called us together to-day; but I was in hopes to be able to introduce him to you as that wonderful person so often talked of but seldom seen the oldest inhabitant. James Daniels of Ossian was also one of the volunteers at Fort Atkinson, but he returned to Clayton County after his company was disbanded. I know not the date of his return."

COUNTY SEAT CONTESTS.

As early as the fall of 1849, some of the settlers began to agitate the question of organizing a county and to take steps to that purpose. Judge Price, of Clayton, was then here taking the census for State purposes, and as he represented all northwestern Iowa,the agreed to attend to the matter for them. An organizing act was passed by the legislature and on the 15th of January, 1851, was approved by the Governor and became a law, constituting Winneshiek an organized county. It embraces 468,000 acres, is bounded on the north by Minnesota, on the east by Allamakee county -the only county between it and the Mississippi river on the south by Fayette county, and on the west by Howard and Chickasaw counties.

This organizing act appointed, on and after the first day of March, 1851, John L. Carson, the organizing sheriff, and directed him to set stakes for points that might contend for the countyseat, as follows:

One at or near Louisville on the Turkey_river, another at or near Swaney's (or McSwain's) mill on the Turkey river (the site of Moneek,) and the third at Decorah, on the Upper Iowa river; the elections to be held on the first Monday in April.

Louisville, or Lewiston, as it was called, from the first name of one of its proprietors, was regulary laid out between Fort Atkinson and Old Mission, on the farm of Lewis Harkins, as more fully detailed in a previous chapter. It was never more than a paper town-the quarrel between its proprietors, Lewis Harkins and Francis Rogers proving fatal to its hopes. It is not necessary to tell where Decorah was and is, though it made but little showing then; its history is given elsewhere. Moneek, now almost as much forgotten as Lewiston, was then Decorah's most formidable rival. Moneek had a site in a beautiful valley on the north side of Yellow river, high, well wooded bluffs surrounding it, and was located on the southwest quarter of section 1, in Bloomfi ld township. It was originally settled by Canadians, but some of them had been in the west long enough to get posted in the ways of pioneer speculators, and figured for a booming town from the first. But we will proceed with the county seat contest, and give a history of Moneek further on.

The county documents do not tell much of the story of the exciting contest. All they have is embodied in the following, from the first page of the first records of Winneshiek County:

STATE OF IOWA-Winneshiek County:

I hereby certify that at an election held in the County of Winneshiek, and State of Iowa, on the 7th day of April, A. D. 1851, Decorah was duly elected to be the county seat of said county.

In testimony whereof, I have set my hand the 14th of April, 1851. J. L. CARSON, Organizing Sheriff.

As we have said, the above does not tell the whole story. In point of numbers, Moneek had most undoubtedly and most decidedÎy the advantage. But victories are sometimes won by strategy. While there was no doubt, a "full ballot" all around, Moneek's champions could hardly call it a "fair count" for their whole ballot was thrown out when it came before the county "returning board." In fact Moneek's returns were not in legal form, nor were they sworn to as the law directed. The story of how it happened to be so, we will briefly relate, leaving out the unwritten history of how a regular poll book, intended for Moneek, never happened to get there. Previous to election day, poll books were dispatched to the several voting points named. Somehow the one intended for Moneek was miscarried and what became of it, who can (or will) tell. The Canadians there had no form for a poll book, did not know how to make one, nor how to make returns correctly; nor were they sharp enough to find out. As a result, a lot of names were written down on a large piece or pieces of paper in such a way that had the document been found in the road no one could have told what it meant or was intended for. It had no regularity and did not conform to the legal "red tape" requirements. In fact there was no way of telling whether the names were those of legal voters or not. And so Decorah was declared the county seat of Winneshiek County.

But Decorah's fight was not yet over. Freeport had been settled by enterprising men who thought that broad valley the place to drop down the county seat, if they could get it away from Decorah, which they certainly had strong prospects of doing. The fight in this case had points in resemblance to that with Moneek, though the result did not so entirely wipe out Decorah's rival town.

By the old law, in order to get a vote on the question of the relocation of a county seat, it was necessary to obtain an act of the legislature authorizing such vote. In the election of a member of the legislature in 1854, the county seat question was made an issue. Decorah had for its candidate, we are informed, a Mr. Moore, and the candidate of Freeport was James D. McKay, who was elected by an overwhelming majority. The purpose of Freeport was to secure from the legislature an order for an election on the question of re-location of the county seat, and the friends of that locality were consequently jubilant. But Decorah did not give up the contest. It happened that Mr. Claibourne Day, then, as ever since, an active and public-spirited Decorah man, had oc

casion to visit Des Moines during the legislative session of 18545. He had good friends among some of the old legislators from other parts of the state, and before the session was over, was pretty well acquainted with every member. It cannot be doubted that he was alive to the interests of Decorah, whether in daily converse with members of the bench or bar; or in the social gatherings which those early legislators were wont to have. It has been hinted that a temperance gentleman from Freeport who attempted to do missionary work in the legislature, did not help the cause of that town-but that may be only rumor. At all events the election was not ordered. But to meet this and similar cases elsewhere, the present law was passed. And here let us digress and say that Mr. Day also did good work for Decorah in that leglature in another respect. He got the names of most of the members to a petition to congress, dividing the Dubuque land district and establishing a land office in Decorah. This was done by the succeeding congress and helped to more permanently establish Decorah as the commercial as well as political capitol of the county.

The above law, regulating county seat re-location, which still exists, and under which there have been frequent strifes ir various parts of the State, authorizes a vote for re-location on a petition of the majority of the electors, the votes polled at the preceding election being taken as a basis. In February, 1856, the Freeport people presented a petition to Judge Reed, asking for the election, and signed by the required number, as the votes at the previous election had been 420. But Decorah was not idle. The stumbling block of a remonstrance was resorted to. Wm. Painter was offered the honorable and flattering position of presenting such remonstrance to the judge and swearing to the same, the gettersup of the remonstrance telling him that they would get the names, and that he need not have any trouble about that. And in a very short time a petition with 800 signatures, remonstrating against the election, was placed in the hands of Mr. Painter, who, while his coadjutors stood back, or perhaps were not near the presence of the court, swore that the petitioners, so far as he knew, were residents of the county. No doubt they were so far as he knew them. It is not very probable that he knew everybody, and indeed it is not probable that any one man knew the majority on that petition. On the other hand, it is claimed that the Freeport petition was not wholly bona fide. And now it behooved Judge Reed to decide whether he should grant the election in spite of the remonstrance. The case was argued by lawyers on both sides for a day and a half, (Levi Ballis being attorney for the petitioners, and E. E. Cooley for the remonstrants), and the county seat was saved for Decorah by the judge's decision to grant no election. It was, and is still, asserted that had Judge Reed not been a firm friend of Decorah, Freeport would

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