Place: Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
Died: 5 October 1865
Place: Boyer Township, Crawford County, Iowa
Cornelius Dunham was the first white settler of Crawford County, Iowa.
See his probate documents here.
"Cornelius Dunham, Sr., was the youngest son in a family of nine children and appears to have been of a roving disposition in his early years. He left home before arriving at manhood and traveled extensively through the eastern states and Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Virginia and the Carolinas, arriving in Iowa early in the '40s.
"He began farming near Maquoketa and continued there until 1849, when in company with Franklin Prentice he came to Crawford county in a prairie schooner drawn by oxen, being the first white man to locate in this county. He made his home for two and one-half years in East Boyer township, and then removed to a place on section 33, Boyer township; which became the family homestead. He shipped the first hogs and cattle to Chicago in 1861 that were sent out of this county. In November of that year he started with about two hundred head of hogs and twenty head of cattle to drive to Marshalltown, the nearest railroad point. Upon loading his animals he found that he had only two carloads of hogs, the others having escaped in the course of the drive, hut none of the cattle were missing.
"At another time he went with a boatload of dressed hogs to St. Louis and while in that city the river froze up so that it became necessary for him to return home overland. He purchased a pony, which he rode on the return journey, sleeping out at night in the woods. One day he met a band of Indians, from whom he purchased a pair of moccasins as he was sadly in need of covering for his feet. Shortly afterward, as he continued homeward, a second band of Indians came in sight who proved to be hostile to the tribe which he had left behind a short time previously. They recognized the moccasins as having been made by their enemies and at once gave evidence of great excitement. Understanding the Indian nature from frequent contact with the red men, Mr. Dunham instantly removed his moccasins from his feet and handed them to the Indians. They immediately cut the moccasins to pieces but replaced them with another pair equally as good and the traveler resumed his journey in safety.
"He became one of the principal men in this section of the state and at the time of his death, which occurred in 1865, he was the owner of thirty-three hundred acres of land, which in his opinion as an extensive traveler was as rich as any that could be found in the United States. He was in full sympathy with the republican party and before the war was an outspoken abolitionist. He also was in sympathy with the Methodist church, of which he was a member in his early manhood.
"Cornelius Dunham, Sr., was twice married and four children by his first marriage grew to maturity, John A. [a brief biography of John appears in the biography of his son, Sylvester], Louisa, Sophronia and Cornelius Jr., all of whom are now deceased. Five children were born of the union of Cornelius and Margaret Dunham, namely: Margaret, who is now the wife of J. N. O'Banion, of Boyer township; Martha, who is now living at Dunlap, Iowa; Samuel, of Braydentown, Florida; Jasper, who died in infancy; and Z.T. The first husband of Mrs. Dunham was Samuel Miller and five children were born of this union: James, Elizabeth, Mary Jane, George, and one who died in infancy. Mary Jane went away with the Mormons and was married to a member of that organization, nothing more ever having been heard of her until after her death."
Cornelius Dunham, Sr., was born in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in 1797. He was married to Margretta Scott of Oberlin, Ohio. After experiences along the American frontier of those early days, he and his family settled first near Vail, Iowa. The establishment of this home made him the first permanent settler in Crawford County. After 3 years he moved west, founding the Pioneer Stock Farm on the west bank of the Boyer River. The original home on this site was a log cabin located for convenience close to a spring of "sparkling clear water."
After prosperous years on the home site, Cornelius Sr., built the present home [1967] in 1867. At the time it was a large frame house with 15 rooms. In the years that followed Dunham, assisted by Government Land Grants, increased his land holdings to 3,300 acres.
Mr. Dunham reported of his life in the log cabin home: "Our cabin had but 2 rooms and 2 lofts. The lower rooms had open fireplaces made of pressed clay. They required four foot logs. In the Dutch oven in the fireplace, we cooked venison, wild turkey and prairie chicken. A wonderful meal consisted of roast wild turkey, gooseberry pie, plum pudding, vegetables (home grown, of course), milk, honey, maple sugar, fried cakes, butter and cream."
"The first settlement was made in the year of 1849. Cornelius Dunham, a Vermonter, had settled in Jackson county, Iowa, and having quite a large herd of cattle and hogs concluded to take Horace Greeley's advice and 'go west.' He hired Franklin Prentice and wife to come and take care of his stock and build him a house. He engaged Reuben Blake to help drive the stock and took his oldest daughter, Sophronia Dunham, to help with the cooking. They reached this county in the early summer of 1849, thus becoming the 'Forty Niners' of Crawford county. Leaving Mr. Prentice and family to care for the stock and build him a cabin, Mr. Dunham and daughter, with Mr. Blake, returned to Jackson county, to raise a crop and bring the family on in the fall. The Dunham cabin was notable in one thing; the door was made by cutting a large walnut tree and hewing it down until about four inches thick and then hung with large wooden hinges. Mr. Prentice lived here alone, seeing no one, supplying his family with meat from the droves of elk and deer around him. But before the Dunham family reached him he was in great need of powder and was getting ready to start in the direction of Council Bluffs to find a settlement and some powder, but the opportune arrival of Mr. Dunham and family saved him the trouble. Some of the Dunham hogs were lost and their progeny became wild hogs and were seen by the settlers some ten or twelve years afterward. Mr. Dunham's family consisted of the following: Margaret, his wife; Cornelius, Jr.; Sophronia; Margaret; Samuel S.; Martha L.; and Z. Taylor Dunham, the youngest. His oldest son, John A. Dunham, was married in Jackson county and did not come to this county until 1854. Cornelius Dunham first settled on what is now the Tracy Chapman farm, in section 2, East Boyer township. The next settlement was made in the spring of 1851, by Jesse Mason, at Mason's Grove, just east of Deloit. Mr. Mason came to the county from near Kanesville, now Council Bluffs. His wife's brothers, George J. arid Noah V. Johnson, came with him; also a neighbor, Levi L. Skinner, came at the same time. They traveled with ox teams, coming up the divide between the Mosquito and Pigeon creeks. They came in by way of Buck Grove and Coon Grove and finally reached the south bank of the East Boyer river, in what is now the city of Denison. The river being too deep to ford they camped on the bottom and set to work to build a bridge. After a few days of hard work they finished their bridge just at night, ready to go over the next morning. They slept on the ground and in the wagons. During the night, a tremendous downpour of rain came; the river overflowed the bottom, and, before they were aware of it, the water was in and around their beds and wagons, and they were compelled to flee, in the dark, to the hill south of their camp. Although they lost their bridge they soon had another, and successfully completed their journey to Mason's Grove, Mason settling on the east side of the grove and Skinner on the south. Mr. Franklin Prentice and his two little boys were living on the west side. These families, with the Dunham family, at Dunham's Grove, comprised all the families in the county during I85l.
"During the fall of this year, a small band of the Sioux Indians from Minnesota were passing through this country. They came to Galland's Grove in the north part of Shelby county, and there stole a pony of Captain James M. Butler. They came on up to Mason's Grove, and at the home of Jesse Mason stole an auger, and I believe some other things, Mason, and the other men, being up at Four Mile Grove (near Ells) for a few days hunt. Mason came back to camp ahead of the other hunters and found the Indians in possession and about to appropriate everything in sight. Mason knew the Indians too well to try to scare them by shooting. He cut himself a good big whip and took after them, hitting all that he could reach and told them to "get right out of there!" and drove them all out of the grove and across the Boyer river. You will notice that all places hereabouts were located by 'Groves.' We had no towns and people had to live near groves in order to get fuel and building material, and to have neighbors.
"Mason settled in section 17, Milford township, just east of Deloit. Levi Skinner settled on section 19, in the same township.
"Mason bought a cabin and claim for fifty dollars that Mr. Prentice had made on the east side of the grove, and Prentice took another claim and built a cabin, on the Boyer bottom on the west side of the grove. His claim was in section 18, Milford township, and section 13, Goodrich township. Prentice's family was a wife and two small boys, Chauncey F. and Jacob L. Mason's family consisted of himself and wife and five daughters, Elizabeth, Jane, Margaret, Angeline and Matilda, and two prospective sons-in-law, George J. and Noah V. Johnson. The Skinner family was made up of Skinner and wife, one son and one daughter, one step-son, three step-daughters and Calvin Horr, a prospective son-in-law. In 1851 James M. Butler, of Galland's Grove, engaged Lorenzo Dow Rudd to build him a cabin in North Grove, in the southwest corner of what is now Union township, Crawford county. He was assisted by John Rudd, S. R. Rudd, and Walter Jackson. In this cabin was born the first white child born in Crawford county, Don J. Butler, son of James M. and Catherine Butler, on April 16, 1852. The next births, and long thought to be the first born, were the Mason twins, David and Jesse, born September 12, 1852. Thomas Dobson, who played a prominent part in the early settlement of the county, came in 1852 and settled in Mason's Grove, near the Boyer river. With him or soon thereafter, came his father, who began the erection of a mill on the Boyer, which proved a great blessing to this community and the country north and west. Settlers from Ida Grove, Mapleton, Smithland, and even as far north as Cherokee, came to it to get their corn ground and a little lumber. Thus, at the end of 1852, the population of the county was made up of only some six families. In this year, however, the government surveys were commenced by a Mr. Anderson, who surveyed the county into townships of six miles square, George and Noah V. Johnson assisting him as chainmen. In 1852 A. R. Hunt settled at Mason's Grove. Benjamin Dobson brought on his family and continued to work on his mill. Edmund Howorth with his sons, Edmund and Daniel, and daughters, Sarah and Mary, settled at Bee Tree Grove in Union township. This Bee Tree Grove was a two bee tree, or three bee tree, I have forgotten which. These two families made up the immigrants for 1853. The government surveys were completed this year.
"On October 12, 1853, Rev. Thomas Dobson, of the original Latter Day Saints church, united in marriage George J. Johnson and Elizabeth Mason, Noah V. Johnson and Jane Mason, Calvin Horr and Elizabeth H. Mowery. The licenses were procured from the county judge of Shelby county.
"In 1854 came John A. Dunham, son of Cornelius Dunham (the first settler) with his family and occupied the farm first settled by his father, who moved down the Boyer, near Dunlap, in Boyer township. With John A. Dunham came his father-in-law, Rufus Richardson, who settled at Mason's Grove; also Clark Winans, B. F. Wicks, E. W. Fowler and D. J. Fowler, who likewise settled there. John Gilbreath and John R. Bassett settled at Coon Grove, and Mathias Didra, all in Denison township. William H. Jordan, Robert D. Butterworth, and Charles Kennedy settled in Union township. Walter Jackson, who assisted in the erection of the Butler cabin, must have been in the county, for he is said to have died in the county in August, 1854, and his was said to have been the first death. John A. Dunham, who died in December of that year, being the second. John Gilbreath made the first entry of government land, the southwest quarter of section 36, Denison township.
"1855 was a notable year, for John Dobson and Lucy Winans were married February 18 of that year. John had to face the storm and cold and travel something like one hundred miles into the Nishnabotny country to find the county judge of Shelby county to get the license. John and Lucy are still living (1902) on the same section on which they were married, loved and respected by all. The old farm has become a town with two railroads, known as Deloit. In this year the settlers at Mason's Grove were Isaac B. Goodrich, S. B. Greek, John Purdy, Henry C. Laub, S. S. Sisley, James Slater and Solomon Slater. In Union township: S. E. Dow, S. J. Comfort, John Yore, Cyrus B. Whitmore and Reuben Yore.
"In April of this year, 1855, was held the first election. It was held in Coon Grove, I think, at a squatter's cabin, named Harrison.
"At the August election, 1855, John R. Bassett was elected county judge and B. F. Wicks, treasurer and recorder. On September 15, 1855, Judge Bassett issued his first marriage license, to Samuel G. Kennedy and Mary Howorth, who were married, by him, at his home in Coon Grove.
"J. W. Denison entered a large amount of land for the Providence Western Land Company in the winter of 1855 and 1856. On May 24, 1856, the county seat was located on section II, township 83, range 39, and the town named Denison. In this year quite an increase in the population was had. George C. King, William J. Todd, John B. Huckstep, Edwin Cadwell, Tracy Chapman, Esau McKim, Robert H. Darling, Reuben Blake, O. F. Wight, Joseph Brogden, Eli Baer, and Morris McHenry settled at Mason's Grove; B. B. Bishop, H. B. Ernst and Stephen B. Conner in the southwest part of the county. In September of this year, was surveyed the first county road, Jesse Mason, commissioner, Morris McHenry, surveyor, George and Noah Johnson, chainmen, and Clark Winans, teamster. In the same month, Morris McHenry commenced to layoff the lots for the town of Denison for J. W. Denison, agent. The building long known as the Denison House was built on the site of the present Germania Hall. A small store was built on the present site of the Bulletin office. A steam saw and grist mill was erected, in the southwest part of Denison, by Messrs. Reynolds and Swain, and, as the pioneers were getting the material comforts, they were glad to have the civilizing aid of the' church and school. Mason's Grove was still the leading settlement and the first to receive these benefits. On Sunday, October 19, 1856, was preached the first sermon in the county, by Rev. William Black, a Methodist circuit rider. The Rev. Black's circuit took in Monona, Crawford, Carroll, Calhoun, Sac and Ida counties, and the southeast corner of Woodbury county. It was nominally a 'four week's circuit,' but the terrible storm of December 1856, made it a 'four month's circuit' for that winter.
"Mason's Grove had had the logs cut for a schoolhouse for a year or so, but the constant change of the center of population caused them to move the logs to keep the peace. Finally, at the November election, word was passed around that the schoolhouse would be raised the next Saturday. This was promptly done. And, as Benjamin Dobson was very much interested in a school for his boys, he offered the free use of his mill and ox team and all the necessary timber in the grove to complete the schoolhouse, and as Morris McHenry was to teach the school, and as his finances were bordering on a collapse, he was very anxious to commence teaching, for it as to be 'pay school' and he was to 'board around' with the patrons of the school. Consequently, John Dobson and McHenry worked hard, cut the logs, sawed the lumber, dug the mud, made a mud fireplace and 'stick chimney' and had the house complete, even to the latch string in the door, on Saturday night, December 13th, and on Monday, December I5, 1856, was opened the first school in the county. McHenry was good and fat by spring and had about eighty dollars 'coming.'
"The spring of '57 opened up with the Indian scare over the Spirit Lake massacre. The flurry was soon over here and the settlers left their 'forts' and went about their work. Morris McHenry, as county assessor, assessed the whole county at a cost of fifty dollars and fifty cents. Quite a number of citizens came this season, among whom were J. D. Seagrave, E. S. Plimpton, A. F. Bond and George and R. W. Calkens. The latter began early to make and burn the brick for the new courthouse. The kiln was on the East Boyer river near the south end of Sweet street, in Denison.