History of Linn County Iowa Part 10

Traffic so far had been exclusively by river, lake, ca.n.a.l, or in wagons. Much money had been expended in opening up rivers for steamboat traffic and more or less had been voted to build roads and dig ca.n.a.ls.

But over such a large stretch of country it was impossible for the nation to do much.

As early as 1837 many citizens of Iowa and others began to agitate for a transcontinental line of railroad to run from the Atlantic states to the Pacific, and for a grant of land by congress for this purpose. Asa Whitney, of New York, an able and public spirited man, had written much in the papers proposing such a project. There was of course at that time more or less speculation as to just where such proposed railroad might pa.s.s. The southern senators proposed a road through St. Louis and across Missouri to Kansas. There was a spirit of rivalry at this time.

When Chicago began to get its growth the far-sighted people of that city saw that it would be in the interests of Chicago to have the line go directly west and through Iowa, and thus cut out a dangerous rival.

The Chicago press henceforth always favored a direct route through Iowa. As early as 1838 G. W. Jones, then delegate in congress from Wisconsin, secured an appropriation of $10,000, which was expended in making a survey from Lake Michigan through southern Wisconsin.

Now the people of Iowa became active. They wanted a railroad from the lakes west, and this could only be secured by public or state aid. The legislature of 1844 joined in a pet.i.tion to congress asking a grant of public land to the Territory of Iowa to aid in the construction of a railroad from Dubuque to Keokuk. The grant was to consist of alternate sections extending five miles in width on each of the proposed roads or its equivalent in adjacent government lands.

During the winter of 1844-45 a convention was held at Iowa City where nearly all the counties of the territory were represented by wide-awake young men in the interest of this railway promotion. Several proposed lines were agitated and as some of these lines did not start at any place and went to no place many of these projects failed.

The first grant of public lands in Iowa for transportation was not for railroads but for improving navigation on the Des Moines river. It was made in 1846. Strong then was the prejudice against railway promotion, and little faith did the public men in congress put in this so-called wild speculation.

The people of Iowa were so enthusiastic in the way of railway building and in the promotion of enterprises that they even ignored old political standards. It would appear that when the subject of the training of the candidates was looked into it, it depended more on what use such person would be for the work of getting a railway grant than how he would vote on the tariff or on the rights of South Carolina.

The following letter, written May 28, 1848, by W. H. Merritt to S. W.

Durham, an old friend and fellow democrat, shows plainly the att.i.tude of one of the leading men of the party, then living at Dubuque, but who had formerly resided at Ivanhoe and hence was one of the early men in Linn county. He mentions Preston (Colonel Isaac Preston), and gives his reasons for not wanting him. The Leffingwell mentioned was the well-known W. E. Leffingwell, who formerly resided at Muscatine, then Bloomington, and later removed to Clinton county. He was an eloquent lawyer and a popular man. He was later defeated by William Smyth for congress in this district. Bates and Folsom were both prominent Iowa City men, and well known in political circles for many years. Judge Grant was the noted jurist of Davenport, and was a well-known railroad promoter who had much influence in early years in Iowa.

In this letter Mr. Merritt suggests George Greene as a candidate from Linn county. There is no doubt that if at this time Mr. Greene had been selected, he would have carried the district and made an enviable record as a statesman, and no doubt on account of his judgment and his keenness in business, he would have obtained from congress such favors as would have amounted to much good for Iowa in the first stages of her statehood. The letter does not show whether or not Mr. Greene had consented or would consent to such a course, although it has been stated that he most likely would have consented to have made the canva.s.s. For congress the whigs nominated this year, 1848, D. F. Miller for the first district and Tim Davis for the second district. The democrats nominated for the first district William Thompson, and for the second district Shepherd Leffler. The whigs were strong, the total vote for president at the November elections being, Ca.s.s, democrat, 12,093; Taylor, whig, 11,144; Van Buren, free soiler, 1,126.

Leffler was elected, and Miller on a close vote contested the election of Thompson before congress. The committee on elections declared the seat vacant. Leffler, who was elected after an exciting canva.s.s, was a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Iowa Territory in 1835. He sat in the first const.i.tutional convention in 1844, and two years later was elected to congress by the state at large, and hence in 1848 he had the inside track. In 1856 he was again a candidate but was defeated by Tim Davis, his old whig opponent of 1848. In 1875 he was a candidate for governor against S. J. Kirkwood, and was defeated. He died at Burlington in 1879. He had been one of the trusted leaders of his party for many years.

The letters from W. H. Merritt and George Greene show what interest these men had in the railroad enterprise.

LETTER FROM MERRITT

"Strictly confidential.

Dubuque, May 28, 1848.

"Friend Durham:

"Having retired from the editorial tripod I find more time to devote to my friends in the reflective and agreeable exercise of correspondence than formerly. Since my second return to Iowa it would have been highly gratifying to my feelings had I been so situated in business as to have employed a portion of my time in personal communication with my friends, in viewing scenes connected with the early settlement of Iowa, and in witnessing the numerous monuments reared to attest the prevailing, the restless and resistless enterprise of the Anglo-American. In 1838, when I first pitched my tent at Ivanhoe, Linn county had but few white inhabitants, possessed but few attractions for one accustomed to the society of one of the old Federal colonies, and was entirely dest.i.tute of political or judicial organization. Everything that the eye could behold appeared in a rude state of nature. Vast prairies which extended for miles presented no evidences of civilization, no familiar sound like that of the woodman's axe appeared to interrupt the solemn stillness of an uninhabited wilderness.

The marks of wild beasts and wild men were now and then visible and the similitude was striking between the two, as though both were born to the same sphere of action and subject to the same laws of being. A sort of wildness and sacred stillness seemed to pervade the whole atmosphere.

Reclining upon a buffalo robe in my tent, reflecting upon the varied scenery without and quietly listening to the solemn murmurs of the Cedar, I thought I could perceive visions of earthly happiness for the man of true genius nowhere else to be found. The longer I remained upon the spot, the more it endeared itself to my affections, and the less I thought of cultivated society and the dazzling beauties of wealth, and its primeval companion, aristocracy.

Nature seemed to be decked in her nuptial dress and wild beasts danced to and fro with a festive heart to the harmonious notes of a troop of forest birds.

"Circ.u.mstances forced me to leave that consecrated spot after a year's residence, and once more become a victim to the cold restraints and relentless laws of civilization. For five years was I bound by stern necessity to a habitation worse than a prison, and a.s.sociated with men as little to be admired for their social qualities of character as the cannibals of old. To be engaged in merchandising among a people whose only article of faith was 'cheat and grow rich,' and whose friendship could be secured only by corrupting the morals and lacerating the heart of the innocent, was a pursuit little to be desired by one whose heart had been consecrated to a different field of enterprise and nourished by the sacred impulses of the West.

Be a.s.sured I escaped from this thralldom as soon as I could, and never to this hour has my mind enjoyed that repose that it did when seated upon the banks of the Cedar and surrounded by the beautiful scenery of Ivanhoe. I experienced a kind of maternal affection for the spot, a mystic tie instinctively chains my mind to its early history, and a magic like that which bound Blennerha.s.set to his favorite island in the Ohio seems to pervade every recollection connected with its name and its founder.

"But I must abandon this subject, or I shall trespa.s.s upon the time and s.p.a.ce designed for another, and convert what was intended for a political letter into a literary bore. As you manifested a friendly solicitude when here that I should take up my residence in Linn county when my studies were finished, I thought it not out of place to remind you where my inclination would lead me.

"I would speak privately to you upon the subject of a candidate for congress in this district. I understand that Mr. Preston of Linn is to be a candidate; that Leffler will be a candidate; Leffingwell of Bloomington and Bates and Folsom of Iowa City. Leffler I do not believe can be nominated. I think he has acted in bad faith with his const.i.tuents. Leffingwell has no chance, although he has the untiring vigilance of S. C. Hastings to support him. Preston I fear has no chance. He is deceived by Hastings and I fear erroneously counts upon the delegation from Dubuque. We have appointed eight delegates. I am one. I have spoken to them all and find that every man is in favor of giving the nomination to Linn County for the reason that the interest of Linn is identical with that of Dubuque in properly agitating and ultimately constructing the Railroad from this to Keokuk, but they will not support Preston because they have no confidence in his ability.

"One thing is very certain, Friend Durham, and that is that we must elect a man who is identified with this great railroad improvement. Preston would no doubt do all in his power, but he fails to unite that confidence in his favor necessary to give him the nomination. Leffler would no doubt do what he has done, give Davenport the preference.

Leffingwell as a matter of course would feel but little personal interest in a railroad running through the interior of the state and forty or fifty miles removed from his immediate const.i.tuency, to whom he is more nearly allied and intimately a.s.sociated in political friendship. All residing upon the banks of the Mississippi and in its immediate vicinity, except those at Keokuk and this point, are opposed to any grant by Congress for this railroad, and I can hardly conceive that it reflects any dishonor upon them as a community or as private individuals, for they are no doubt influenced like all men from natural and selfish impulses.

But with Mr. Leffler the case is far different. He was elected to represent the wishes and interests of one entire community of people, eight-tenths of whom have a direct and vital interest in the success of this enterprise. He is requested and repeatedly urged by pet.i.tion and memorial to give it his earnest support. But he pays no regard to their solicitations until a scheme in which he is more directly interested is matured, forwarded to him, and he puts it upon its pa.s.sage through Congress. At least six weeks before a single step was taken in aid of the Davenport road in this state, pet.i.tions were forwarded to Mr. Leffler for the Dubuque and Keokuk road. In truth no move was made for the Davenport road until Judge Grant returned from Washington City, which was some twelve days after the Legislature had convened, and after the pet.i.tion had gone from this place, Cascade, from your town, a memorial from the legislature, and the convention had been held at Iowa City, at which, if I mistake not, you were present. Under this state of facts I cannot but regard Mr. Leffler as hostile to this road, in which case our delegation cannot support his claim.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOME EARLY MEMBERS UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH, LISBON]

"As to Bates and Folsom of Iowa City, we regard them as feeling an equal interest in both roads, both proposing to pa.s.s through Iowa City. Under these circ.u.mstances what policy does it become us to adopt? Emphatically to select a candidate upon the proposed line of road. Can you not bring forward some man besides Preston? Mr. Boothe and some three or four of our leading men have suggested to me that if Linn county should bring forward G. G. [George Greene], he would get the nomination and be elected by an overwhelming majority. Mr. G. is absent and I know not whether it would suit him if conferred. He is in feeling and interest emphatically a Linn County man, but whether such a proposal would strike him favorably or meet with his sanction are questions which I am unable to solve. I think if sent to Congress he would be a working man and would be very active towards procuring an appropriation for the said road. He feels, as does every Linn county man, a very deep interest in the enterprise. I wish you would give this subject a candid investigation and then write me upon the subject.

"I have been solicited to become a candidate for the Legislature. I have peremptorily declined. I feel no particular aspirations for office. I desire to give my time to the study of the law. You will recollect that I have introduced the name of Mr. Greene to your notice without his knowledge and entirely upon my own responsibility.

"Our families are all well. Mr. Greene has been absent between three and four weeks. Remember me to all friends and believe me, your obedient servant and faithful friend,

WM. H. MERRITT.

"P. S.--Will you be so kind as to inform Wm. Greene that Mr.

Bonson is anxiously waiting for that two yoke of oxen, which George contracted with him for. He wants them immediately.

Respectfully yours, "WM. H. MERRITT."

Mr. Merritt was a man of ability and prominent in the democratic party up to the time of his death. As candidate for governor in 1861, against S. J. Kirkwood, with four other candidates claiming to run on the democratic platform, Mr. Merritt received 43,245 votes out of a total vote cast of 108,700. This testifies to Mr. Merritt's popularity among the people of Iowa.

LETTER FROM GEORGE GREENE

"Dubuque, March 3, 1847.

"Dear Durham:

"I find that I cannot without great injury to my business here, leave until next week; but still I am very anxious to see the work go on. If you like my suggestion of finishing Jo's [Joseph Greene] contract first in order to expedite the arrival of the money it will be as well to have Wm. [Greene]

send Andrew or some other person out to bring the field notes in. I propose the finishing of Jo's first because it can be done soonest. It will not require so long to plat the work in the S. G.'s office, and it will not interfere with the operations of Mr. Ross, who will take the field at the time, or soon after, you do. He wrote Mr. Wiltse that he should return to the work as soon as the snow decayed sufficient to justify. If any, he has done but very little in the T.s south of the one you have to correct. You may get any one you please to go out in my or Jo's place at our expense. The weather may not suffer you to start out before I come down, which I think will be early next week. You will take my horse, wagon, or anything else of mine that you may need. Mr. Wiltse thinks you had better make all your calculations before going upon the ground. He thinks you can do it more correctly and with a great saving of time and expense.

"If you should consider it necessary you can employ Major McKean to go in our place; though I should think Andrew or some other good hand will do as well. If you should see fit to adopt my plan I will be at Cedar Rapids at the time the notes reach there and will bring them on immediately to Dubuque. Out of the money first received we will of course pay off the balance of the expenses of the surveys. You can show this to Wm. and Jos.

"Yours truly GEO. GREENE.

"S. W. Durham, Esq., "Marion, "Linn Co., "Iowa."

The following is a report of the railroad meeting held at Marion in 1850 in which nearly all the public-spirited men of the city took part:

RAILROAD MEETING, MARION, NOVEMBER 30, 1850

Meeting called to order by appointing P. W. Earle chairman and J. Green, secretary.

On motion of W. Smythe, Esq., Resolved that a committee be appointed to report names of delegates to attend the State Rail Road Convention to be held at Iowa City on the .......... day of December next.

Committee appointed by chair, H. W. Gray, Sausman, Dr. Ely, Hill of Putnam, Ashlock, Griffin, Mills of Marion.

Maj. McKean was called for to address the meeting. He proceeded to do so in an appropriate address.

On motion of Hon. G. Greene, Resolved that the delegates appointed to attend the State Rail Road Convention form themselves into a Rail Road a.s.sociation and draft articles of said a.s.sociation for the advancement of the Dubuque & Keokuk Rail Road.

The committee appointed to report names of delegates to attend State Convention through H. W. Gray report the names of the following persons as delegates:

T. J. McKean, Hon. G. Greene, Dr. Jacob Williams, W. P.

Harman, Esq., Ed. Railsback, Mr. Steadman, E. D. Waln, Freeman Smythe, J. J. Nugent, E. Jordan, Dr. Brice, Col. I.

Butler, Robert Robinson, Jas. M. Berry, Isaac Cook, Esq., John C. Berry, A. R. Sausman, N. W. Isbel, Esq., P. W. Earle, Esq., William Smythe, Esq., Dr. J. F. Ely, Dr. Carpenter, Hon. S. W. Durham.