ing particularly exciting in the trials. The court got through with the preliminary business, the clerk read the record, it was signed and judge and lawyers went to some other county in the district, which composed nearly all the northwestern portion of Iowa. This was before the war.

"The next term of court I attended was in June, 1861, and the absence of many of the distinguished men of the bar of the different counties around was noticeable. But little business was transacted. The excitement of the war predominated everything else in the county. This one-term system continued until 1864, when two terms were held each year, at one of which we had a case for murder. A young fellow about sixteen years old, Jackson Benham, was the accused. The case raised quite a furor among the people. The boy was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to prison for one year but obtained his liberty in about six months.

"After the year 1865 there was an influx into the county and many a distinguished lawyer settled here. J. W. McKenzie, who had distinguished himself in the signal service, was later elected judge of the district court, in which capacity he died. There was a firm of lawyers, Reeve & Lahey. Col. A. T. Reeve was the senior member and was a good lawyer, as was also his partner, the latter serving in the Legislature from Franklin county two terms. The last term he was chairman of the judiciary committee. Shortly after the war came J. M. Hemingway, a distinguished lawyer of the town and one of the best in the state. The firm of Kellam, King & Henley was composed of good lawyers. Kellam moved to South Dakota and was supreme judge of the state when it came into the Union.

"One of the most exciting cases ever tried in Franklin county was the State of Iowa vs. Dr. J. S. Hurd. He was indicted for the murder of a woman by malpractice at childbirth. He was acquitted more because it was Doctor Hurd than anything else. About 1870 came W. D. Evans, who became a noted practitioner, was county attorney one term, elected to the district bench and from that was elevated to the supreme bench of Iowa. The members of the Franklin county bar, many of them, have held good positions in the state, among whom was John King, of Kellam, King & Henley. He was a member of the lower House of the Legislature three terms. W. F. Harriman was a member of the lower House of the Legislature two terms and a member of the Senate four terms. I might also add, trusting I shall not be accused of immodesty, that for many years I was always on one side or the other of a case tried in this county and served in the Legislature of the state three terms and an extra session."

CHAPTER XVI

TRANSPORTATION-BUILDING OF THE CENTRAL RAILWAY OF IOWA-THE FIRST TRAIN INTO HAMPTON AND WHAT IT ENTAILED-BURLINGTON, CEDAR RAPIDS & NORTHERN CHICAGO GREAT WESTERNTHE DES MOINES, IOWA FALLS & NORTHERN.

THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

The first railroad to enter Franklin county was the Dubuque & Sioux City, projected in 1856 as the Dubuque & Pacific. That year the road was completed to Cedar Falls, but the panic of 1857 forced the company to discontinue all construction work and nothing further was done until after the Civil war. The initial company was organized as the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company and in the summer of 1865 placed a large force of men on the road-bed, pushed the work rapidly, which was completed to Ackley in Hardin county, by the middle of October, and early in the year 1866 cars were running to Iowa Falls. Upon reaching the latter point, construction work again ceased, by reason of a lack of funds. Two years of idleness followed, when again a reorganization took place in the management. A new organization was incorporated as the Iowa Falls & Sioux City Railroad Company, and with ample funds at its command was successful in that which its predecessors had failed to accomplish. Subsequently, the road was leased to the Illinois Central Railroad Company and is now a part of the Illinois Central's system of transportation lines.

The Iowa division of the Illinois Central, described above, crosses the extreme southeastern corner of the county, having a station at Ackley, a small portion of which lies in Franklin.

central iowa railway

Shortly after the Civil war, the Eldora & Steamboat Rock Coal Company was organized at Eldora, and realizing the necessity of a

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railroad to transport the products of its mines, organized the Eldora Railroad & Coal Company, first securing the interests of Platt Smith, a Dubuque capitalist, in the plans. The articles of incorporation were placed on file in the recorder's office at Dubuque. Shortly thereafter, a stockholders' meeting of the company was held and five directors chosen, whose names follow: C. C. Gilman, H. C. Hetherington, S. F. Lathrop, H. L. Huff, W. J. Moir. This board of directors elected C. C. Gilman president of the company and James McKinley secretary.

Work of grading began on the road, the route of which already had been surveyed, and in July, 1868, cars were running into Eldora. At the time, a double celebration took place in Eldora for that little city had just received the welcome news of having been declared by the Supreme court of the state, the permanent county seat of Hardin county.

July 8, 1868, the Iowa River Railroad Company was organized, for the purpose of building a line from St. Paul to St. Louis. Articles of incorporation were issued to the company, C. C. Gilman was chosen president, Thomas Kensett, vice president, and R. A. Babbage, secretary. The company purchased the seventeen miles of road built by the Eldora Railroad & Coal Company between Eldora and Ackley, and in October, 1868, the road-bed from Eldora to Marshalltown, a distance of twenty-seven miles, was under construction and completed the following year. In 1869, the Iowa River Railroad Company was reorganized and incorporated as the Central Railroad Company of Iowa. C. C. Gilman was elected president, and under his energetic supervision the road was com pleted almost to the Minnesota line. Before reaching St. Paul, however, another reorganization and change of name took place, after the road had gone into the hands of a receiver in 1874. In 1879, Russell Sage and others, of the Central Iowa Railway Com

pany, successors to the Central Railroad Company of Iowa, received articles of incorporation, and D. N. Pickering became president of the company, which finished the building of the road to Des Moines. Within the few years last past the Central became a part of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad system.

The Central of Iowa was the first railroad built into Hampton, and its coming was looked forward to with great anxiety and no little doubt. This is the road that the citizens of Maysville made strenuous efforts to secure for that point, hoping that in the attainment of their great desire their town would not only become the me

tropolis of the county, but also be able to show many reasons why Maysville should be made the county seat instead of Hampton.

"The iron horse" made its first appearance in Hampton, Tuesday, June 28, 1870. The citizens of the place having gotten up a program for a Fourth of July celebration, received word from C. C. Gilman, president of the Central, that a train of cars would be run to Hampton on that day with 2,000 excursionists, to assist in the festivities. Of that event and its inglorious termination Editor Raymond wrote in 1900 while in a reminiscent mood, as follows:

"It was a great event for our town, and we felt that it was incumbent upon us to put our best foot forward on that day and have such a celebration as would put all previous efforts to shame and make surrounding towns hang their heads with envy. We had a meeting to make arrangements, of course, and everybody turned out as we have never known them to do on a similar occasion before or since. This meeting was held early in June and of course the railway was not here yet, but C. C. Gilman, at that time president of the road, sent a letter which was read at the meeting, pledging his word that on the 'Fourth' the iron should not only be laid to Hampton, but that an excursion train should be run, bringing 'at least 2,000 people.' Maybe the roof didn't raise when this letter was read! It may seem strange to our people now, but there was a lively contest, to see who should get on the different committees. One man who had not been here very long, but had abundantly demonstrated his abilities as a 'rustler' while he had been here, made a fiery speech, in which he declared that in order to make the celebration a success and inspire confidence with the public at large, the 'old ring' that had run previous Fourth of Julys and similar functions must be relegated to the rear and new blood brought to the front. His address elicited uproarious applause, with such good effect that he was promptly elected a member of the general committee of arangements, and after considerable excitement and 'electioneering' eight more were chosen, none of the number now being residents of Hampton except D. W. Dow and the writer hereof.

"Immediately after adjournment the newly created committee held a meeting, when it was discovered that the 'new blood' had captured the committee 'hands down,' and the orator aforesaid was elected chairman of the committee and forthwith delegated with full power to run the machine, the only three opposing being Dow, George Beed and the writer, who were considered as belonging to the 'old ring' that had been running things. About $200 had been

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subscribed, besides work enough pledged to fix up the grounds, do the necessary team work, etc. Another new man had been elected marshal, and he was promoted as assistant-in-chief to the chairman aforesaid, and there the direct responsibility of the balance of the committee of arrangements ended.

It was decided to hold the exercises in a locust grove, now cut down, on the Stiles place northeast of the cemetery. Col. John Scott, of Nevada, was engaged as orator of the day and the Ackley band engaged to furnish music. The eventful day dawned bright and clear and public expectation was at the highest pitch. Hampton for the first time was to show herself to the world as a railroad town. The train came from the south about half past ten. All Hampton was at the depot. It turned out to be only a 'special' bearing President Gilman and a few of his friends. They did not disembark, but after a few moments delay backed out of town. Still, we staid, waiting for the other special with at least 2,000 people.' About noon it came, with fifteen or sixteen flat cars with bushes stuck in the sides for shade. Colonel Scott was not aboard but the Ackley band was.

"The marshal was on hand and getting the band into the road he led the way on his prancing charger to the grounds, followed by a miscellaneous crowd of people. Somebody, we forget who, but think it was Tom McKenzie, read the Declaration of Independence. G. G. Clemmer read the Emancipation Proclamation, as well as it was possible to do with the constant popping of firecrackers around and under the stage, and the intellectual part of the day's proceedings was over. The band that had been invited from Ackley straggled in and got their dinners as best they could, it never having occurred to the chairman of the committee of arrangements but what they could forage for themselves. We forgot to say that when the train arrived several enterprising citizens who had teams, some of them from the surrounding country, were on hand and the first thing our guests heard was: 'Right this way for the grounds, only a quarter!' After the 'exercises' at the grove were over no one wanted to ride back; all had time to walk.

"The afternoon was pandemonium let loose. A large number of the track-laying gang of the railroad were here, and while the crowd that came on the excursion from the south were mainly respectable people, there was quite a sprinkling of 'toughs' among them. (We had a few of our own here in those days too.) There was a 'blind pig' near the depot where whiskey was freely dispensed.