Reminiscences of One of the First Pioneers Who Settled in Pleasant Township, Union County, Iowa

The Experiences of the Benjamin Lamb Family as told by Thomas Jefferson Lamb

Indians, slaves and runaways.  Oh my!

Introduction

In 1850 Benjamin Lamb, my great, great grandfather, and his family struck out from Floyd County, Indiana to settle in Iowa.  The family consisted of his wife, Olive, and eleven of their children ranging in age from 18 - 2 years of age.  Three nephews also traveled with them.  One of Benjamin’s sons, Thomas J. Lamb (Jeff or T. J.) was a lad of age 11 when the family ventured into Iowa, ultimately settling in what is now Pleasant Township, Union County, Iowa  (Union County was founded in 1851).  In 1901 Jeff provided The Creston Semi-Weekly Advertiser with the following accounts of the families experiences.

Part I:

  “FIFTY YEARS A SETTLER.

Some Interesting History of Union County Given by a Pioneer Citizen.

T. J. Lamb Was in Pleasant Township When it Was Inhabited by Indians.

Came to the County in 1850 With His Father

Uncle Billy Locke Was the Closest Neighbor

Several days ago T. J. Lamb, who resides near Hopeville, was in Creston, and an Advertiser reporter encountered this old veteran and pioneer at the court house, transacting business in County Treasurer IDE’s office.  In the conversation the interesting fact was disclosed that Mr. Lamb was one of the county’s first settlers, and when he stated that he came to the county in 1950 interest in his conversation deepened.  The reporter finally persuaded Mr. Lamb to give Advertiser readers some of his early reminiscences and he agreed to do so.  The first installment of the early history of the county appears below and also a picture of the writer drawn by the Advertiser’s artist.  The early history of the east part of the county will be interesting reading.  Mr. Lamb’s first contribution, and covers the space of time from 1850 - 1901:

In August 1850 Father Lamb left Indiana for the west, from near Albany, Floyd county.  About the 1st of September, the same year, he landed in Garden Grove, Decatur county.  In September the boys and father left the family and started west to hunt a location.  We found it on the south half of Sec. 26, 71, 28, now Pleasant township.  Father built two log cabins but we could not live in Pleasant that winter for there was nothing to live on, so we hitched the horses and moved to Council Bluffs which was a very small place at that time.  There were so many Morman camps there we could not live or get anything to live on so once more we hitched up and started for St. Joseph, Mo.  It was a very small place, too, but we cold buy anything to live on we wanted.  We stayed there till the 1st of February 1951, the started for what is now Pleasant township, Union county.  We found that there no was one living here but wild Indians.  Wild game, deer and all kinds of game was plenty.  We had all the meat we wanted but bread was hard to get.  It was about forty miles south of our place to a white man’s house with the exception of Old Pisgah twelve miles north there were no white people but plenty of Indians.

We had to go to Winterset for a doctor in the fall of 1851.  We were all sick with the ague and it was rather discouraging but we pulled through all right.  We had a rather hard time the first two years.  Uncle Billy Locke was our nearest neighbor and he was a good one.  I will say that they Indians were friendly.  They caused us no trouble.  One thing that we had to do was to go to St. Joseph for our provisions.  We bought two yoke of cattle at St. Joseph and paid $20 per yoke for them.  They were very large ones.  There was kind of a wagon road from Winterset to St. Joseph.  It was called the Winterset and St. Joseph road.  It ran through Pleasant and Jone and New Hope townships.

I think the township was organized in ‘53 by I. P. Lamb, A. C. Cooper and another person but I have forgotten his name.  I. P. Lamb was appointed the first school commission for the county his office being in Pleasant township.

The first land that was sold was the south half of 26 71 28. In ‘53 we had seven neighbors and we built the first school house near the center of 26.  It was a round log house with a big fire place and a stick chimney plastered with mud.  Kencil Kent was the first teacher in the township and I think in the county and the next one as a man by the name of Elbert H. Smith.

Mr. A. C. Cooper came to the township in ‘53.  Kencil Kent in the same year.  Our school district was three miles square.  We had to take in lots of territory to get any scholars.  Every year brought people to our settlement in this township.  The west was a vast prairie for eighty miles.  There was not settlement and you may know it was a new country but it commenced to settle up very fast about ‘53 and the growth was wonderful in the next five years.  The people came from the east and bought land.  Old Hopeville was laid out as a town and then we had mail once a month for awhile and the once a week.”

Part II

“By the year ‘54 by hard work the settlers could raise what they could live on but had no market for anything.  All the clothing and groceries were hauled from Burlington or Keokuk, Ia., and everything was very high.  We had to pay $9 per barrel for salt.  It looks high but it was the case.  Finally we got some fat hogs to sell.  The buyers were hard to find for they had to drive to Burlington.  We got one dollar per hundred pound for them.  We made our clothing, corded by hand, and wove by mother.  I will just say that mother is still alive.  She is nearly 80 years old.  She wove the clothing for us “kids.”

We raised sheep and cattle for they had lots of range and got very fat.  The wolves were plenty, so we killed lots of them.  We had a cow to die so we made a log pen and put the cow in so the wolves could not get to her.  Then we cut pieces of flesh off and put strychnine in them and laid the pieces of meat so the wolves could get them and killed one night eight large wolves.  there was some bear here and some elk but the Indians said the Buffalo had been gone about six years.

There was quite a good deal of travel on the old Winterset road.  Farther kept tavern.  Sometimes he would have fifteen persons stay in one night.  There was three runaway couple going to Missouri to get married, as they did not have to have a license in that state.  Sometimes the father of the bride would follow to bring her back but it was no use.

I must say something about the prairie fires.  When the fire came from [… unable to read rest of sentence due to torn paper] Twelve Mile [another unreadable sentence ] grass grew down to the water edge and burned our fence up.  We had a county seat fight in ‘54 or ‘55 between Afton and Highland, and Afton won but I have always thought Highland ought to have won.  If it had been there would never have been any Creston for the country around Highland is level.

I must tell in my next something about our Indian trouble and about the timber in Grand River.”

Part III

UNION COUNTY’S INDIANS; Jeff Lamb Tells When the Red Man Infested Eastern Part of County

In '55 there was a man killed in the north part of Ringgold county and it was laid to the Indians, but after the Indians were correlled on sec. 34, in Pleasant township, it came to light that there were two families living in one house or near neighbors; also that one of the men wanted the other man's wife so the men went out hunting and one was shot in the back. So the other man gave the alarm and said that the Indians killed him. So the people raised all the men they could and caught all the Indians they could find and put them under guard on the above place at a spring. The Indians stoutly denied the crime. They said the man was shot with a small ball and the Indians hat no little gun and one of them said if the pale face thought they killed him they might kill one of them. There was about 200 white men and seventy Indians. The white men were commanded by a Mr. Young, of Pleasant. The Indians' chief was John Green. Some of the white men were so badly scared that they ran and did not stop till they got to Chariton. They told some awful tales how the Indians were killing all the white people so there was about fifty more came from Chariton. I have been in some tight places in the war but never saw so many fellows scared so bad. It seemed as if the Indians would gain the day but as good luck wold have it there was no gun fired.If there had been there would have been some tall running by the white men for they felt just as if they must go some where.

There are one or two men living in Hopeville yet that got up and made the dust fly off their feet, they were scared so bad. So the Indians finally gave up and said that they would go away and went into camp in Ringgold county and all of them were hunted up and taken to Kansas and since then there has been no Indians in the county to stay. The man that killed the other one ran off with the dead man's wife and has never been heard of to my knowledge since and the Indians never gave us or anybody trouble. They camped all around us in '51 and 52 but they were friendly. They never did any harm.

In the '50's a man might travel up Grand river and could not find a tree that had been cut down. It was heavy timber. Walnut, the finest kind, very large trees, but now there is none of any size. Where the timber was very heavy fifty years ago now grows corn that makes seventy-five bushels per acre. Some of the best farms is where heavy timber grew a few years ago. The timber bottoms is the best land in the county. There was plenty of oak timber but the white man's axe has told the tale with it. The old land marks are nearly all gone. In another fifty years I predict that the timber on Grand river and Twelve mile will be gone and the land farmed if it goes as fast as it has gone in the last twenty years it will not take that long. The township has made a wonderful growth in the last half century. It cannot make as great a growth in the next fifty years. The county has done as well. Creston is a city. Afton is about twice as old but it is a good town. Lots of business done there but the town lost its grip when Creston was made the county seat. Kent, Arispe, Shannon City all get their share of the trade. All built up in the last forty years.

Some people will ask why Pleasant was settled up first and why the nice prairie and scenery in Grant and other townships was not settled first, I will say that the first settlers had to get close to timber for they had to make all their fences out of rails and had to make them hog tight and stake and ridered to keep cattle out. Just think how much work it took to make enough rails to fence a 160 acres of land.

Next week I will tell about the ran-away nergo from slavery.”

Part IV

“FURTHER REMINISCENCES; Mr. T. J. Lamb Writes Another Letter on Early Days in Union County

He Tells How the Runaway Slaves Came Through Pleasant Township in Groups.  Tells How the Early Settlements Were Depopulated by Enlistments in the Civil War.

I promised to give something of an account concerning the negroes from slavery. From ‘55 till 1860 the slaves left north Missouri for freedom. It was no uncommon thing to see runaways.They choose the time to leave their master about roasting ear time or about the first of Angust. Then they could live if they could find a corn field. They always followed the old St. Joseph and Winterset road till they got to Pleasant township and then they went east from there, then to Chariton. Sometimes they would go to Winterset. They went in gangs from two to five. Five is the most I ever saw but it got to be a common thing in the fall of the year. Their master was always about two days behind them but I never heard that they caught one of them. They traveled in the night and laid by in the daytime, but most of them seemed to know where they wanted to go.

Now, as I have written several time I will have to say something about the times from '55 till the war broke out in '61. This township, or I might say the county, was about ten years old, but it settled up very fast in those days. The people worked hard to try to accumulate property and improve their farms. The most of the first settlers got so they could live very well till the war broke out and then there was lots of sorrowing for most all the able bodied men went. I must say that all young men went that had one speck of loyal blood in them, if they were able. Our township never had one draft in it. It seemed as all must go and three was none left but old men and some of them went. There was as many as four went to war out of one family. I will try to give you the names of them in next week's letter as I have got the list nearly completed. I will give you the names of some of the first settlers for references. Ed. Homewood came in '56, A. Kent in '53, J. F. Gripp ‘53, the Kratzenburgers were early settlers and they still live in the township. J. A. Jackson was raised in the township and still lives in it. All are very nice men and know what a new country is and I expect any of them could tell the editor that they have lived hard. Will give the names of all the old soldiers that left the township next week.

Then I will close up for the present.

T. J. Lamb”

Citations

Photo and Part I: Published in The Creston Semi-Weekly Advertiser; Creston, Iowa; May 7, 1901; Page 3; Advantage Archives; https://creston.historyarchives.online/home

Part II: Published in The Creston Semi-Weekly Advertiser; Creston, Iowa; May 14, 1901; Page 4;Advantage Archives; https://creston.historyarchives.online/home

Part III: Published in The Creston Semi-Weekly Advertiser; Creston, Iowa; May 21, 1901; Page 4; Advantage Archives; https://creston.historyarchives.online/home

Part IV: Published in The Creston Semi-Weekly Advertiser; Creston, Iowa; May 28, 1901; Page 4; Advantage Archives; https://creston.historyarchives.online/home