ited a part of the estate. George L. Seeley died in Texas, May 24, 1897, but before his death made a verbal request for the enlargement and adornment of Sharon Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, founded many years before, and left a fund for that purpose. Over thirty thousand dollars were expended in carrying out Mr. Seeley's request. The cemetery was enlarged from three to eight acres, surrounded by a stone wall, surmounted by a non-rusting fence, and $2,000 were expended upon an ornamental entrance. In addition to all this the proceeds of a farm of 160 acres were given by Mr. Seeley for the support of the cemetery. There is a historic interest attached to Sharon Cemetery from the fact that here lie buried at least one soldier of each of the wars in which the United States has taken part-the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Black Hawk war, the Mexican war, the great Civil war and the Spanish-American war. On May 28, 1907, a monument was unveiled over the grave of George Perkins, a Revolutionary soldier, which monument was erected by the State of Iowa. In Jackson Township the only burial place of importance is the one at Keokuk already mentioned. In Jefferson Township there is a cemetery in the northeast corner of section 2, about two miles northeast of Viele and three miles west of Fort Madison, the only one shown in the atlas above mentioned. In Marion Township, a short distance west of the village of St. Paul, in section 15, there is an old cemetery; another in the northwest corner of section 26, a mile south of St. Paul, and a third in the southeast corner of section 29, near an old church. The one near St. Paul is the property of the Catholic church of that village. Montrose Cemetery, the only one of importance in Montrose Township, was surveyed on August 1, 1867, at the request of Mrs. Frances E. Billon, one of the heirs of Thomas Riddick, who became the owner of the Tesson land grant. It is located in outlot No. 20 of that grant and the plat was filed in the recorder's office on September 5, 1867. In section 16, near the center of Pleasant Ridge Township, not far from an old church and public schoolhouse, is one of the first burial places established in that part of the county. Another old graveyard in this township is located in the east side of section 24, not far from the Denmark Township line. There are three cemeteries shown in Van Buren Township, one in the west side of section 24, about three miles north of Belfast; one about a mile west of that village, and one a short distance east. of Croton. In Washington Township there is a cemetery in the north side of section 11, not far from Lost Creek, and one in the south side of section 28, about three miles north of Fort Madison. The latter is known as Fairview Cemetery and contains the graves of several prominent pioneers. Four cemeteries are shown in West Point Township, one near the middle of section 2, two and one-half miles east of the Town of West Point; the Catholic cemetery immediately south of West Point, in section 5, and two, near each other, in section 30, in the southwest corner of the township. side de of ter is Everal ar the West nt, in -hwest CHAPTER XXIV MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY PIONEERS AND OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION-PERSONAL MENTION OF As stated in a previous chapter, the Indian title to the lands of the Black Hawk purchase expired on June 1, 1833. A few white men had settled in what is now Lee County prior to that date. In the fourscore years since the white man acquired full title to the land that scanty population has grown to more than thirty thousand intelligent, industrious and cultured people. Few men are now living who witnessed the beginning of development in Lee County. The establishment of schools, the organization of churches, the building of highways, the advent of the railroad, the founding and growth of cities, are all within the memory of the few remaining pioneers. Some fifty years after the first white man established his residence in Lee County, a few old timers, in discussing the events that had occurred during the preceding half century, decided upon organizing an OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION Accordingly an informal meeting was held at the courthouse in Fort Madison on the evening of January 5, 1871, with Philip Viele presiding, and R. W. Pitman, secretary. The following resolutions were adopted: "Resolved, That this meeting be adjourned to meet at this place on the 13th day of April next, for the purpose of perfecting said organization. "Resolved, That all old settlers present who were inhabitants of the county on the 1st day of July, 1840, be invited to sign their names, and the time of their coming into the county, to a roll." Thirty-three men signed the roll at that meeting, viz.: James W. Campbell, Alexander and James Cruikshank, R. W. and Lewis Vol. I-23 G. Pitman, J. C. Parrott, Samuel Paschall, John G. Kennedy, E. S. McCulloch, Silas D. Hustead, John H. Douglass, J. A. Casey, Elias Overton, Peter Miller, Jacob Abel, Jacob Vandyke, Cromwell Wilson, Enoch G. Wilson, Hazen Wilson, James Caldwell, Philip Viele, George L. Coleman, Philotus Cowles, Daniel F. Miller, Robert A. Russell, J. E. Marsell, Isaiah Hale, Robert McFarland, James T. Blair, Ferdinand Kiel, George B. Leidy, Elkanah Perdew and R. McHenry. These men may be recorded as the "Charter Members" of the Lee County Pioneers and Old Settlers' Association. At the meeting on April 13, 1871, a vice president was elected from each of the sixteen townships, as follows: Cedar, D. S. Bell; Charleston, John Cassady; Denmark, Curtis Shedd; Des Moines, Nicholas Sargent; Franklin, Alexander Cruikshank; Green Bay, John Morgan; Harrison, A. Anderson; Jackson, Guy Wells; Jefferson, William Skinner; Madison, Peter Miller; Marion, B. Holtkamp; Montrose, G. Hamilton; Pleasant Ridge, J. A. Casey; Van Buren, John Herron; Washington, D. McCready; West Point, R. W. Pitman. A constitution and by-laws was prepared by a committee, consisting of D. F. Miller, Robert McFarland and E. S. McCulloch, and July 4, 1871, was selected as the date for the first annual reunion of Lee County old settlers. That meeting was held on the fair grounds at Fort Madison, on the date above named. Concerning the gathering, the Keokuk Gate City, which gave a full report of the meeting, said: "From all parts of Lee County came up the pioneers, their wives and children. It was a gala day for them. This retrospective view of the halcyon days, and the sorrowful, weary, toilsome ones, would alike bring pleasant recollections to them as they recounted their hopes, their trials and their victories, for had they not performed their duty as God had best given them the knowledge, and according to their several abilities? Venerable men were there, whose white hairs and trembling limbs gave token of a lengthy pilgrimage. More than a generation had passed since, in early manhood, they crossed the Mississippi to carry the blessings of civilization into the wilds. of Iowa. With strong arms and true hearts, they had battled with the perils of border life and conquered. The wilderness and solitary place today, as the result of their labors, buds and blossoms as the rose. All honor to the pioneers, the heroes and heroines of the past. Future generations will arise and call them blessed. It was appropriate that the Fourth of July, our national holiday, should be chosen for such a gathering." * * |