CHAPTER XX

SOUTH FORK TOWNSHIP

On the 2d day of January, 1849, North Fork Township was divided and a new township created, which was named South Fork. It is civil township 87 north, range 3 west, and is bounded on the north by North Fork Township, on the south by Jones County, on the west by Union Township, and on the east by Dubuque County.

For agricultural purposes none better lies out of doors. All of its timber is found on the western border, along the banks of the south fork of the Maquoketa, which affords ample water and drainage. Corn, wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, grasses, etc., grow to luxuriance here and the raising of cattle for the market and dairying is a very profitable industry of the community.

Theodore Marks was elected first clerk of South Fork Township and, strange to say, his old minute book is still intact and a part of the township records. The following extract from that historically valuable old book may be of some interest:

"June 4, 1849. This day the trustees met pursuant to notice of May 28. Present, the whole band and proceeded to business. Samuel Whitaker and Barnabas Dighton were appointed supervisors and duly qualified. The township was then divided into road districts. Samuel P. Whitaker, supervisor of No. 1; Charles Ruff, No. 2; Barnabas Dighton, No. 3.

"THEODORE MARKS,

"Town Clerk."

From this primitive record the reader learns that the following named persons, among others, were residents of the township in the '50s. Of course, a number came before: James Barnes, Peter Heinan, Jacob Lanier, Ira G. Green, Simeon Eller, Leroy Jackson, Allen A. Wilson, George Rutherford, Daniel Livingston, Archibald Tate, William Morgan, Ebenezer Culver, William Carpenter, A. A. Wilson, James L. Getten, Jacob Diffenderfer, Sylvester Meade, James Hardesty, Thomas Mathers, Christian Myers, George Connery, James Hardy, James P. Farmer, Joseph Porter, W. P. Cunningham, Thomas Boy, John McQuig, G. R. Browder, John M. Holmes, Franklin Lewis, Edmund Davis, Isaac Smith, Lewis Matthew, Peter H. Warner, William Holt, I. C. McVey, Jerome T. Davis, A. Nash, G. J. Bentley, William Ireland, John Livingston, H. P. Fletcher, Joseph Cool, T. H. Bowen, Thomas Cearns, Ashford Smith, E. Baldwin, William A. Roberts, J. Cadwell, James Harper, Andrew A. Lowe, William Spence, M. Byington, R. M. Brooks, A. Kirkwood and W. H. Finley.

The first settlers in this township were James and Hugh Livingston and Hugh Rose, who were of a party of emigrants from the Selkirk Colony in Northern Canada. They settled at "Scotch Grove," in Jones County, in 1837, and were here joined by Hugh Livingston. The three named adventurers came

that year to Delaware County and located a short distance below the present town site of Hopkinton. The Livingstons entered land, improved farms and became men of influence in the church and the community generally. They settled on sections 19 and 30 and made the second claim in the county. In the winter of 1846-7, Hugh Livingston, accompanied by a nephew, went to Cascade with his team, and reaching the forks of the road the young men separated. However, when Hugh's team reached home he was not in the wagon. The family at once became alarmed and instituting a search, found him by the road side quite dead; he had frozen to death.

The next to take up a habitation in South Fork were the Nicholsons, Thomas, his wife and sons, William and Montgomery Nicholson, who came in the spring of 1838 and located near the Maquoketa River, on land which is now a part of Hopkinton. Here they built a cabin and broke a small piece of prairie. In the month of March the elder Nicholson was laid low with a mortal malady and died.

Leroy Jackson was the third settler in this community. He was a man who had spent his boyhood days on the Kentucky frontier and left that state in 1833. He had served in the Black Hawk war and in the year above mentioned settled in Dubuque, from whence he frequently traversed the prairies of this section of country on hunting expeditions, being an experienced trapper and hunter. While on one of these ventures, in the spring of 1840, he came to the Nicholson cabin. There he learned of Nicholson's death and also of the loneliness and dissatisfaction of the widow. The latter, being willing to dispose of her possessions and leave the country, Jackson bought her claim, thirty-five acres of which were partially improved; and chattels, consisting of 160 bushels of wheat, 400 bushels of corn, two yoke of oxen, three cows, three young cattle, two barrels of strained honey, taken from bee trees which were then plentiful in the timber; a few hogs, a quantity of hay and other articles. The consideration was $800, which Jackson practically paid in full. The same fall he moved on to his purchase and eventually became one of the leading men in Delaware County. Leroy Jackson, after buying the Nicholson claim and chattels, returned to Dubuque and in the fall brought his family, household goods and farming utensils to the new home in the wilderness. Henry A. Carter was also a member of the party, having been persuaded by Jackson to join him in the settlement. That winter (1840-1) Jackson built a hewed log cabin for Carter, who took possession of it in March, 1841. Soon after his family was established a daughter, Sarah B., was born, the first birth in the community. In 1844, Mrs. Carter passed away, and this was the second death. The second birth was that of a son to Leroy Jackson, and the newcomer was named Henry C. Jackson. In 1844, both these pioneers, Jackson and Carter, erected sawmills: the first named on Plum Creek and the latter on the Maquoketa. Six years later they laid out the Town of Hopkinton.

A word or two in relation to the efforts of Carter and Jackson in building up a new country and from whence they came. Leroy Jackson was born in Kentucky in 1804 and lived there until he was twenty-two years of age. The year 1828 found him in Iowa. His chief employment was as an Indian trader. It is said he built the first brick house in Dubuque and kept the first hotel there. When he first came to Delaware County on a hunting trip, he found

about four hundred Indians here. The year of his permanent settlement already has been stated. Mr. Jackson took an active part in organizing the county and was its first sheriff. He then for a number of years kept a hotel at Hopkinton; raised a large family of children and accumulated several hundred acres of land. H. A. Carter was born in Massachusetts in 1806. When twenty-eight years of age he moved to St. Louis and two years later to Dubuque, where he met Leroy Jackson. With his old friend he laid out the Town of Hopkinton and in 1850 moved to Cedar Rapids. Three years later Mr. Carter was back in Hopkinton, employing his time as a merchant. He built the first mill in Hopkinton; also built the first bridge across the Maquoketa at that place. He became an extensive hop grower and is credited with shipping the first bale of the product from Iowa. Further, and greatly to his renown, Mr. Carter was the originator (having first proposed it), of Lenox College. No more energetic, forceful and valuable men have identified themselves with the early history of Delaware County.

Duncan McCullom settled in the southeast part of the county near the Livingstons in 1840.

Theodore Marks came here and entered a tract of land about three miles northeast of Leroy Jackson's in 1841. He was first clerk of the township after its organization in 1849.

S. M. Slausen was a settler in South Fork Township as early as 1851. He occupied his time in farming for five years and then moved to Hopkinton.

Elliott M. Chapman, a native of New Hampshire, settled in South Fork Township in 1853. He owned a fine tract of land, was active in the affairs of his township and for several years served as trustee.

James Harper was one of the prominent men of South Fork Township. He was a native of Pennsylvania and settled in South Fork Township in 1854, on land which he had purchased.

Norman Luke left his native State of New York in 1857 and located in South Fork Township, where he engaged in farming. In 1877, he went into the livery business at Hopkinton. Luke quarry near the town is well known in that section.

HOPKINTON LAID OUT

The Town of Hopkinton was laid out on the southeast quarter of section 13 in 1851 and the plat recorded December 29, 1851. The owners of the land were Henry A. Carter and Leroy Jackson.

SOME EARLY CITIZENS

William H. Martin settled on Plum Creek in July, 1843, with his family and engaged in farming. His father, William Martin, died here in 1876 and that same year William H. became a resident of Hopkinton and was elected mayor in 1877.

William B. Morgan was born in New York State in 1830 and when fifteen years of age removed with his parents to this county and settled near Hopkinton. He learned carpentering and worked at his trade until 1861, when he enlisted in the Civil war. He returned to Hopkinton and in 1863 entered the mercantile business. He was the first deputy sheriff appointed and to complete the first jury panel he was compelled to summon every voter in the county.

Isaac Smith moved on to a farm six miles west of Hopkinton in 1846. 1855 he moved into the village when there were only two houses in existence there. He paid his attention to farming and also worked at carpentry. Mr. Smith was a member of Company F, Thirty-seventh Iowa, the famous "Gray Beards," and served the county faithfully and well for four years as sheriff.

In

James Hardy was born in the State of Virginia in 1816. When thirty years of age he came from the State of Illinois to this county and located in North Fork Township in 1846. He removed to Hopkinton in 1860. Mr. Hardy was one of Delaware County's best citizens. He served on the first grand jury impaneled in the county and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church almost a lifetime. He held several township offices.

The Littlefields came to South Fork Township in an early day and P. M. Littlefield was born here in 1853. Hugh Livingston was also a son of a pioneer. He was born in the township in 1844 and became a druggist at Hopkinton.

F. W. Doolittle was born at Delhi, the son of Frederick B. Doolittle, July 8, 1855, and became a member of the banking firm of Doolittle & Son at Hopkinton. One of the first blacksmiths in Hopkinton was L. C. Tapping, who came from Pennsylvania in 1856. His blacksmith shop was kept running until about 1873, when he built the Central House and became its proprietor.

Among the early residents of Hopkinton was Peter H. Warner, who located in the village in April, 1856. He served a clerkship in a general store until his arrival in Hopkinton, when he went into business for himself. He was postmaster at the village eight years and held other positions in the township of trust and responsibility. Mr. Warner established the first drug, dental, photographic and jewelry business at Hopkinton, and called the first meeting held in the interests of the Davenport & Northwestern Railway Company.

Gorham K. Nash was born in the State of Maine. He came to Delaware County in the spring of 1856 and about two years thereafter located at Hopkinton. His father, Amaziah Nash, located in Hopkinton in 1859 and engaged in the wagon making business until his death in 1866. Gorham K. is now a respected resident of Hopkinton. He served in Company K, Twenty-first Iowa Infantry.

Alexander Kirkwood first saw the light of day in bonny Scotland, immigrated to the United States in 1829 and lived for some years in New York and Philadelphia, where he was engaged in piano making. He arrived in Delaware County in 1856 and located in Hopkinton, where he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business. Mr. Kirkwood served his adopted country in the Civil war.

William Flude was a prominent figure in the educational field of music. He was a native of England and came to the United States in 1857, locating in Hopkinton as professor of music in the Bowen Collegiate Institute, now known as Lenox College.

Robert G. Crawford was a pioneer merchant of Hopkinton. He was a native of Pennsylvania and came to Delaware County in 1859 with his father, who bore the same name, and located at Hopkinton, where he engaged in the hardware business.

There was quite an influx of people seeking homes in this beautiful new country in 1856. About this time appeared Rev. W. L. Roberts, a clergyman

1

of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, located here, preached the Gospel to the scattered settlers and was a strong force in persuading a number of his religious faith to become residents of Hopkinton and the nearby farms.

J. H. Campbell was one of the early merchants. There were also Barker & Campbell, general merchandise; A. Kirkwood, undertaker and furniture. Other early merchants were C. E. Merriam & Company, Jo Bernard, P. O. Joseph; Williamson & McBride, drugs; H. Livingston, drugs; J. G. Wallace, hardware; restaurant, Charles Abbott; millinery, Misses M. & N. Dawson; harness, C. F. Shimeal.. P. H. Warner was a notary public here in the '60s, so was M. Harmon; C. E. Reeve had a meat market, James McArthur flour store, G. H. Crawford, W. P. Gerry and J. H. Williamson early blacksmiths; John Dunlap, wagon maker; livery stables, N. Loop and Lough & King; lumber, P. D. Smith.

The firm of Campbell & Williamson built an elevator in 1873 In 1863 the elevator at Sand Springs was moved to Hopkinton by John Stevenson.

Dr. W. H. Finley was one of the first physicians to take up the practice in Delaware County, coming to Hopkinton in 1859 and opening an office.

The Davenport & St. Paul Railroad, now the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, was completed and running trains through Hopkinton in 1872. The first station master was A. F. Stickney. The advent of railroad transportation facilities gave Hopkinton a spur to advance and the town took on new life and added importance. About a year ago a beautiful new depot was erected, to replace the old one.

James H. Bowen, who came here in 1855, saw the land was adapted to the raising of broom corn, which led him to induce Samuel Dickerson to join him. in the manufacture of brooms on the Bowen land near Hopkinton. A crop of broom corn was raised in 1856, which was worked into brooms in an establishment, having necessary machinery, built by Bowen & Dickerson. Shortly after others took up the industry and followed it several years.

Disputes and tragedies were frequent even in the days of pioneering. It is said, in this relation, that on December 2, 1864, Morris Martin and George Crozier, of this township, quarreled and fought over a small quantity of oats. In the encounter Martin stabbed Crozier, one of the wounds being in the heart, from which the man died. Martin spent five years in the penitentiary in partial expiation of his crime.

Another crime was committed here while Hopkinton was yet in its infancy. Edward Kennedy, who lived a few miles west of town, was shot while preparing his evening meal, by John Duncan. Kennedy, an old man, was found the next morning lying dead on his kitchen floor. Duncan was arrested on suspicion and remanded for trial.

Theodore Marks was the first township clerk and later became justice of the peace. He was a unique character in some respects, as his township record and the following marriage certificate will attest:

EVERYBODY COULD NOT ATTEND

"I hereby certify that on the 20th day of February, A. D., 1851, at the house of William Dighton, in Delhi Township, Delaware County, Iowa, in the