hardships and privations incident to life on the frontier. On one occasion, when the household supplies ran low, he found it necessary to leave home for a short time to work in some of the older settlements to obtain the money with which to replenish the larder. He went to Burlington, leaving his wife and two children in that cabin in the wilderness, with no human beings except Indians anywhere near. After an absence of two weeks he returned with half a bushel of corn meal that he had carried all the way from Burlington, making the journey on foot. Some years later he removed with his family to Missouri and became an officer in the Confederate army in the Civil

war.

Horace Lyman came to what is now Liberty Township in April, 1843, in company with Stanford Doud, and for a time the two men lived in a camp on Cedar Creek, near where Haymaker's mill was afterward built. On the first day of May, 1843, he established his claim and in the fall of that year sowed a small field of wheat-the first ever sown in this part of the county. In 1864 Mr. Lyman removed to Mahaska county, where he became a prosperous farmer and stock dealer.

Others who settled in this part of Marion County in 1843 were: David Haymaker, Andrew McGruder, Stanford Doud, Jacob Hendricks, Silas Brown, Lewis Jones, Benjamin Spillman and David Gushwa. In 1844 William Simms and Thurston Day located in the township; James A. Rousseau and Isaac Wilsey came in 1845, and H. H. Mitchell and William Bridges in 1846.

Stanford Doud came from Ohio and at the first election after the organization of the county was elected clerk of the Commissioners' Court, but failed to qualify. He was foreman of the first grand jury ever impaneled in the county. In 1847 he was elected county surveyor and in that capacity he laid out several of the early towns.

Rhoderick Peck and two men named Sadorus and Pyatt settled in the northern part of the township at an early date, but after a short residence sold their claims and went back to Illinois. When gold was discovered in California in 1849 they went to the Pacific coast The first election in what is now Liberty Township was held at the house of Rhoderick Peck, but no record of the event can be found.

The earliest election of which the record has been preserved was held at the house of Martin Neel on the first Monday in April, 1850, when Isaac Wilsey, William H. Brobst and Daniel Sampson were elected trustees; Joseph Brobst, clerk; Horace Lyman, treasurer; Isaac Wilsey and Andrew McGruder, constables. Thirty-one votes

were cast.

The first postoffice established in the township was called Elm Grove, with James A. Rousseau as postmaster. It was established about 1845 or 1846, but the exact date is uncertain.

David Haymaker taught the first school in the winter of 1846-47 in a claim pen near Haymaker's mill. The first house erected for a schoolhouse was a hewed log structure, in which the first school was taught by a man named Turk. The building was afterward purchased by a Mr. Gregg and occupied as a dwelling. In 1914 there were four school districts, exclusive of the schools in the towns of Bussey, Hamilton and Marysville, and in the four district schools were employed six teachers. The four school buildings were valued at $3,250.

Liberty has two lines of railroad-the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Wabash. These two lines run almost parallel to each other through the eastern part, passing through the towns of Hamilton and Bussey, and a branch of the latter leaves the main line at Tracy and runs up the Cedar Creek valley to Everist. There are also a few short spurs running to the coal mines.

The population of Liberty Township in 1910, according to the United States census, was 2,998, a gain of 567 during the preceding ten years. In 1913 the assessed valuation of property, exclusive of the incorporated towns of Bussey, Hamilton and Marysville, was $1,005,004.

CHAPTER VII

TOWNSHIP HISTORY, CONTINUED

PERRY TOWNSHIP-PLEASANT GROVE-POLK-RED ROCK-AN INDIAN VOTER SUMMIT SWAN-AN EXAMPLE OF FRONTIER JUSTICE— UNION-WASHINGTON-HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH TOWNSHIP —PIONEERS AND THEIR EXPERIENCES-EARLY SCHOOLS AND ELECTIONS RAILROADS-POPULATION AND WEALTH.

PERRY TOWNSHIP

Perry is the smallest township in the county. It occupies the northeast corner of the county and embraces that part of congressional township 77, range 21, lying north of the Des Moines River. On the north it is bounded by Jasper County; on the east by Red Rock Township; on the south by the Des Moines River, which separates it from Swan Township, and on the west by Polk County. Its area is about twelve square miles.

This is one of the original ten civil townships established by the county commissioners on January 6, 1847, when it was erected under the name of "Cincinnati Township." The only record that shows how the name was changed is the erasure of the word Cincinnati in the commissioners' minute book and the word Perry written above. It is said, however, the name Perry was adopted, soon after the township was organized, in honor of Commodore Perry, who won the decisive naval battle on Lake Erie in the War of 1812.

As originally created, the township included all of township 77, range 21, embracing, in addition to the present Township of Perry, all of Swan Township. The early elections were held north of the river and the great flood of 1851 caused some dissatisfaction among the settlers in the southern part and in 1852 Perry was reduced to its present size.

The surface is generally somewhat hilly, except in the bottom lands along the river, and was originally covered with a growth of timber. Coal deposits are found along the Des Moines River, but the mines have not been developed to any extent, except at Morgan

Valley, on the Wabash Railroad, where the Wild Rose Company formerly operated large mines, now exhausted.

Perry is situated west of the old Indian boundary line and was not subject to settlement until the fall of 1845. In that year the following persons located claims: Joshua Lindsey, Robert Allison, Mordecai Yearns, Daniel Kyger, Asa Hughes, Charles Owen, Alfred Vertrice and Hezekiah Jay. (The last name appears in some of the early histories of Marion County as "Gay," but in book A, page 66, in the county recorder's office, the name is written "Jay" in connection with the founding of the Town of Perryville.) In 1846 came Thomas Carr, William Hughes, Joseph McWilliams, William Gregory, Samuel Waterman, Peter Braus and his two sons-James M. and Benjamin.

In the establishment of election precincts, on March 2, 1846, all that part of the county "west of the old Indian boundary and north of the Des Moines River," was made the Gopher Prairie Precinct, with the voting place at the house of Asa Hughes. When Cincinnati Township (now Perry) was erected the following January it was ordered that the first election should be held at the house of William Markly. Mr. Markly lived south of the Des Moines River, in what is now Swan Township. The first township officers were: Asa Hughes, Joshua Lindsey and Harrison Freel, trustees; Daniel Kyger and Hezekiah Gay (or Jay), justices of the peace; James M. Braus, clerk; Joshua Lindsey and James M. Braus, constables.

Among the pioneers was a family named Moon. It seems that Mrs. Moon had all the qualifications required by a woman of the frontier. One day, during her husband's absence, she learned that their young dogs had a deer at bay not far from the house. Taking a rifle, she started out to reconnoiter, and in order to see over the tops of the tall weeds climbed upon a log that lay over a stump and was elevated some distance from the ground. From this point of vantage she could see the deer plainly, only a short distance away, and taking deliberate aim fired. But just then she lost her balance and fell to the ground, before she had time to discover the effect of her shot. Fortunately she was not hurt, and she hurried forward to look for the game. She found the deer down, apparently dead, but when she went a little closer to make sure the wounded and enraged animal offered combat, knocking her down and tearing off part of her clothing with its sharp hoofs. Mrs. Moon, though somewhat bruised, did not lose her presence of mind, but rolled under a log, where the infuriated deer could not reach her. Then emerging from the other side she quickly reloaded the gun and shot the deer through the head, putting

an end to its suffering and laying in a supply of venison for the family. The first religious services in the township were conducted by a Methodist minister named Kline. The first school was taught by Miss Patience Drouillard at her residence in 1850, with from fifteen to twenty scholars in attendance. James M. Braus taught the second school and had about thirty scholars enrolled. The first regular schoolhouse, a hewed log structure, was built by William Cowman, at a cost of about one hundred dollars. In 1914 there were four school districts, in which six teachers were employed and 106 pupils were enrolled.

Perry, being the smallest of the townships, is naturally the lowest in wealth and population. The United States census for 1910 gives the population as 351, and the assessed value of taxable property in 1913 was $365,336.

The Wabash Railroad runs through the township, following in a general way the course of the Des Moines River. Percy and Morgan Valley are the railroad stations. At the latter place the railroad company has run a short spur to some coal mines north of the village.

PLEASANT GROVE TOWNSHIP

Pleasant Grove is one of the western tier of townships, being situated northwest of the center of the county upon the highest land within the county limits—a beautiful prairie, interspersed with small groves, from which the township takes its name. It embraces congressional township 76, range 21, and has an area of thirty-six square miles. On the north it is bounded by Swan Township; on the east by the townships of Union and Knoxville; on the south by Franklin, and on the west by Warren County.

This is one of the ten townships erected by the order of January 6, 1847. As at first established it included townships 75 and 76, range 21-the present civil townships of Franklin and Pleasant Grove. It was reduced to its present dimensions by the organization of Franklin Township in 1855.

Shortly after the land was opened to settlement in the fall of 1845, William D. Halsey settled in section 21, about a mile southwest of the present Town of Pleasantville, and is credited with having been the first white man to establish a home within the limits of the township. Mr. Halsey was a bachelor and came to Marion County from Ohio. His death occurred on April 27, 1855, at the home of Lewis Reynolds.

During the next two years quite a number of pioneers located claims in this part of the county. Among them were Lewis and