I.

Lake precinct, which included township 77 and all of townships 75 and 76 of range 18 lying north of the Des Moines River. The house of Samuel Peters was designated as the voting place, and Samuel Peters, Asa Koons and Jacob C. Brown were named as judges.

2. Red Rock precinct, embracing township 77 and all of township 76 of range 19 north of the Des Moines River, and all of township 77, range 20, east of the old Indian boundary line north of the river. Robert D. Russell's house was named as the voting place, and James Chestnut, Claiborne Hall and Reuben Mathews were appointed judges.

3. Gopher Prairie precinct, which included all west of the old Indian boundary line and north of the Des Moines River. Asa Hughes' house was named as the voting place and the judges were Asa Hughes, Joshua Lindsey and Alfred Vertrice.

4.

Pleasant Grove precinct, which included "all of Marion County and the attached portion thereof south of the Des Moines River and north and west of the White Breast Creek." The election was to be held at the house of William Glenn, who was appointed one of the judges, the other two being John P. Glenn and William M. Young. This was the largest of the election precincts. It included all of the present townships of Union, Swan and Pleasant Grove, and parts of Polk, Knoxville, Franklin and Dallas, as well as that part of the present County of Warren lying between the streams named in the order.

5. Knoxville precinct, including township 75 of range 19, all of township 76, range 19, south of the river and east and south of the White Breast Creek, and all of townships 75 and 76, range 20, east of the old Indian boundary line. Lawson G. Terry, Moses Long and Landon J. Burch were appointed judges, and the election was to be held "at the place of holding the district court."

6. English precinct, which included "all of the county and attached portions thereof west of the old Indian boundary line and south and east of the White Breast Creek." William Tibbett's house was named as the voting place, and Samuel Nicholson, Elisha B. Ryan and William Tibbett were appointed judges.

7. Round Grove precinct, embracing township 74, range 19, and all of township 74, range 20 east of the old Indian boundary line. John T. Pierce, Jeremiah Gullion and Alexander May were appointed judges, the election to be held at the house of the last named.

8. Cedar precinct, located in the southeastern part of the county, included township 74 of range 18, and all of township 75, range 18 south of the Des Moines River. Joseph Clark, Francis A. Barker and David T. Durham were appointed judges, and Jasper Koons' house was designated as the voting place.

ROAD DISTRICTS

On April 14, 1846, the county commissioners divided the county into ten road districts and appointed a supervisor for each, to-wit:

District No. I included township 77 of range 18, and all of township 76, of the same range, north of a line running west from the southeast corner of section 12; Samuel Peters, supervisor.

District No. 2 included all of township 76, range 18, south of a line running west from the southeast corner of section 12 and north of the Des Moines River, and all of township 75, range 18, north of the river. William Welch was appointed supervisor.

All the other districts, with the exception of the ninth and tenth, corresponded to the election precincts. No. 3 included the Red Rock precinct, with Claiborne Hall as supervisor; No. 4, Gopher Prairie precinct, with Joshua Lindsey as supervisor; No. 5, Pleasant Grove precinct, with William M. Young as supervisor; No. 6, Knoxville precinct, with Lewis M. Pierce as supervisor; No. 7, English precinct, with William Tibbett as supervisor; No. 8, Round Grove 'precinct, with David Sweem as supervisor.

District No. 9 included all of townships 75 and 76 of range 18 lying south of the Des Moines River. John Wise was appointed supervisor of this district.

District No. 10 embraced township 74, range 18, which now forms Liberty Township. Hugh Glenn was named as supervisor.

THE SECOND ELECTION

It will be remembered that the officers who established the county government were elected at the special election held on September 1, 1845. The first regular election under the territorial laws was held on the first Monday in August, 1846. Besides the election of county officers, this election was of more than ordinary interest, on account of the first constitution framed for the admission of Iowa into the Union being at this time submitted to the people.

Hugh Glenn, David Durham and Samuel Tibbett were elected county commissioners; Joseph Clark, commissioners' clerk; Francis

A. Barker, probate judge; William Pilgrim, representative to the Legislature; George Gillaspy, sheriff; David T. Durham, treasurer; J. F. Monohon, recorder; Allen Lowe, assessor; Claiborne Hall, surveyor; Asa Koons, coroner. The highest number of votes cast was 295. The vote on the constitution was 174 in favor of its adoption and 76 against it.

With the induction into office of the new officials, the business of Marion County was firmly established. Since then some changes have been made in the manner of conducting county affairs. In 1851 the offices of county commissioner and probate judge were abolished by law and the duties of the two positions merged in the hands of a county judge. Joseph Brobst was the first county judge, as well as the last. He was first elected in August, 1851, and served until August, 1855, when he was succeeded by F. M. Frush, who in turn was succeeded by William B. Young in 1861. In 1865 Judge Brobst was again elected and held the office until its business and duties were turned over to the circuit judge in January, 1869.

In the meantime the office of county judge was shorn of much of its power by the establishment of the county supervisor system in 1860. The first board of supervisors was elected on October 9, 1860, and was composed of one member from each of the civil townships, to-wit: Clay, Joseph Clark; Dallas, H. R. Clingman; Franklin, D. F. Smith; Indiana, Daniel Sherwood; Knoxville, Joseph Brobst; Lake Prairie, E. F. Grafe; Liberty, J. B. Davis; Perry, William P. Cowman; Pleasant Grove, J. Thornburg; Polk, George W. Martin; Red Rock, Edwin Baker; Summit, John F. Baldwin; Swan, J. A. Logan; Union, William Blain; Washington, Bromfield Long.

This system of county government continued until 1870, when the board composed of one member from each township was found to be too unwieldy for the speedy transaction of business and the present system of three county supervisors was adopted by an act of the State Legislature. William Blain, S. Y. Gose and S. L. Collins constituted the first board of supervisors under the new regime.

In this chapter the aim has been to give some account of the early settlement and political organization of the county. An account of the early courts will be found in the chapter devoted to the Bench and Bar, and in other chapters will be found the history of early schools, churches, the building of roads, etc.

CHAPTER V

PUBLIC BUILDINGS, ETC.

NO PUBLIC BUILDINGS WHEN MARION COUNTY WAS ORGANIZED THE
FIRST COURTHOUSE-ITS COST AND LOCATION-THE SECOND

COURTHOUSE CONDEMNED AS UNSAFE IN 1895-PRESENT
COURTHOUSE—BONDS VOTED TO BUILD IT-COMPLETED IN 1896—
THE JAIL
INEBRIATE

THE COUNTY FARM-HOME FOR THE AGED—THE
HOSPITAL.

When Marion County was organized in 1845 the first settlement within its limits was only about two years old. The population did not exceed 1,500, none of whom paid taxes on any considerable amount of property. Consequently the county was without any public revenue with which to provide suitable quarters for the various county officers. Donnel relates that when the county commissioners, in the spring of 1846, ordered a quire of foolscap paper, a bundle of quills and a bottle of ink from Oskaloosa, they were required to become personally responsible for the debt before the goods would be sent. The first meeting of the county commissioners and the first session of the district court were held in the dwelling of L. C. Conrey. For some time after the organization of the county the several officials kept their records and performed their work at their residences or boarding houses.

Notwithstanding the financial condition of the county, the board of commissioners saw that it was absolutely essential that some place be provided for the transaction of the public business, and in January, 1846, authorized the clerk of the board to advertise for proposals for the erection of a frame building "24 by 30 feet square, two stories high, to be completed on or before the 20th day of May next." The records for January 29, 1846, contain the following entry:

"The court having met for the purpose of opening the bids for building the courthouse, proceeded to open the bids, and upon comparing the bids received it was found that the bid made by Lewis M. Pierce was $100 less than any other bid received; whereupon it was ordered by the board that the bid of Lewis M. Pierce be accepted

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and that the building of the courthouse be let to said Pierce at his bid, four hundred and fifty (450) dollars, and that he be required to enter into bond with security to be approved by the court in the penal sum of nine hundred (9c0) dollars, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his contract."

Mr. Pierce's bid included only the carpenter work, and, all things considered, it was remarkably low. At that time there were no sawmills anywhere near Knoxville and the lumber had to be hauled a long distance. The timbers for the framework had to be hewed from the forest and conveyed to the site of the building. The hewing was done by Jeremiah Gullion and the broad-ax he used is still in the possession of Austin A. Davis, who lives near Attica, in Liberty Township.

It seems that Mr. Pierce took Noah Bonebrake into partnership and that the time for the completion of the building was extended, as on August 25, 1846, it was "Ordered that Lewis M. Pierce and Noah Bonebrake be allowed the sum of four hundred and fifty (450) dollars out of the town lot fund for building the courthouse according to contract.

On October 7, 1846, the contract for plastering the court-house was awarded to James H. Parks for $195, and the. next day the board allowed Lysander W. Babbitt $23 for setting the studding, etc., for cutting off a room 12 by 18 feet in the southeast corner of the structure. These additional allowances brought the cost of the first courthouse up to $668, and there were some other expenses connected with the erection of the building that made the total cost about seven hundred dollars.

The courthouse erected by Pierce & Bonebrake was located opposite the northwest corner of the public square, on the lot occupied in 1914 by the Marion County National Bank. It remained in use as the courthouse for about twelve years, when it was superseded by a new building. After that it was occupied by various businesses, the upper story having been used for some time as the publication office of the Marion County Democrat. Even while it was used as a courthouse, school was taught and religious services were frequently held within its walls. In June, 1864, it was sold to A. B. Miller for $928, who divided the lower story into two business rooms, one of which was occupied by B. F. Williams as a marble-cutting establishment, and the other by Rufus Eldredge, a dealer in produce. The upper story was occupied as a dwelling until the building was finally torn down.