Iowa State Gazetteer
1865
Clayton county

pg. 133-140

pg. 133
On the 30th day of March, by resolution of the Board of Commissioners, a tax was levied of one half of one percent on all taxable property, and $1 on each poll. On the 11th day of May, Robert Hetfield was appointed agent for the county, to sell the village lots of Prairie La Porte, for the purpose of raising funds to erect county buildings, and a contract was entered into by the commissioners with Horace D. Bronson and Jesse Jones to build a court house, for the sum of $2,450.*
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*The settlements in Minnesota were not so remote but that they felt a deep interest in the unusually exciting political campaign of 1840, and upon that occasion they wished to exercise that privilege so highly prized by American citizens -- the right of suffrage -- and to give them an opportunity, the commissioners established election precinct No. 6, at the settlement at the foot of Lake Pepin, and appointed Charles Sweet, Oliver Cratts, and James Wells, judges of election. Precinct No. 7, was established at the mouth of St. Peter's River, and A.J. Bruce, Franklin Steele and H.H. Sibly, were appointed judges. H.C. Menke was paid from the county treasury the sum of $31.50, for bringing the election returns from those precincts to Prairie La Porte. Having established the ballot-box in Minnesota, for the benefit of the settlers' there, in the spring of 1841 the commissioners, for the benefit of the county, ordered "that the Assessors assess the people at the mouth of the St. Peter's River, and at all intermediate points." Henry Holtzbecker was the sheriff at that time, and upon him devolved the labor of Assessor. But before he commenced the task, a difficulty occurred between him and James A. McClellan, which terminated in McClellan's shooting him, at the house of Graybill, at Prairie La Porte. Two or three days afterwards he died. An examination was held before Justice Springer, and McClellan was acquitted. The matter was never prosecuted further. Wm. Walker was Coroner, and by virtue of his office, succeeded Holtzbecker, and appointed Thomas P. Park, his deputy, who discharged the principal duties pertaining to the office. While on his trip to St. Peter's to make the assessment, being a conservator of the peace, whenever he found persons violating the excise law, he compelled them to take a Sheriff's license. This served the purpose of making the trip a profitable one, and also of reminding the people of that sparsely settled country, that they were within the jurisdiction of Clayton county.
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On the 15th day of May, 1840, the U.S. Government leased of Thomas P. Burnet and Alexander McGregor, the grounds for warehouse purposes, upon which the same season was erected the old warehouse which is still standing at McGregor.

The Government in 1837, had made a treaty with the Winnebago Indians, purchasing of them their lands east of the Mississipi, and giving them in part payment, the neutral ground. We neglected to mention in the statement relative to the neutral ground, that the time for which the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes were to have the occupancy in common, was limited to ten years. After the Winnebagoes sold out, they came on, a few of them, to take possession of their new home. But the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes, told them that the time of their right to occupy the neutral ground had not expired, and that the Winnebagoes must not come there until the ten years should expire, or there would be a war between them. The Winnebagoes returned to their old home, to stay until their purchase should be vacated, and they could acquire possession peaceably. In 1840, as the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes had been removed from the neutral ground and the Winnebagoes were expected on again, the Government commenced the building at Fort Atkinson. McGregor had run a flatboat ferry from Prairie du Chien to Coolie de Sioux, from the time he ferried over Mesrs. Boardman and Bronson, in 1836, until this time, under a license obtained at Prairie du Chien. The business, however, was quite small until the commencement of the work upon the Fort, when the ferry became very profitable, and McGregor's Landing, as it then was called, bacame an important point. A Mission Station was also established that year about four miles below the Fort. -- There was considerable opposition made to McGregor by the American Fur Company, who succeeded in getting the soldiers to make the road through the northern side of township 95, by furnishing whiskey to the soldiers while at work, and carriages for the officers to ride out in -- without any order for such work from the Department at Washington. The road was known as the upper ferry road, and made a junction with the McGregor road, at Monona. In 1841, the Winnebagoes again came on, as they supposed to a permanent residence upon the neutral ground.

The Spanish grant, or "Giard Tract," was ceded by the Spanish Lieutenant Governor of Upper Louisiana, to Basil Giard, in the year 1795, and contained 6,808 1/2 arpents, or 5760 acres. In consideration of his occupancy of the same during the time it passed from Spain to France, and from France to the United States, our Government, on the 2d of July, 1844,

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issued a patent for the same to Giard, in his own right. The whole tract was sold by the heirs of Giard, to James H. Lockwood and Thomas P. Burnett of Prairie du Chien, for the sum of three hundred dollars.

The selection of the site for the new county seat was made by the Commissioners, on the northeast quarter of section 18, township 93, range 3, and named “Allotat,” a Sac word signifying gander. At the August election of 1840, a vote was taken pursuant to the act, and resulted in a majority of about ten in favor of retaining the county seat at Prairie La Porte. As the land had not yet been brought into market by the government, those living in the vicinity of the point selected by the Commissioners, voted in favor of Prairie La Porte, being afraid that speculators might enter their claims from under them, should the county seat be removed.

On the 11th day of January, 1841, the land in this township was brought into market, and in the course of two years, most of the settlers had entered or secured their claims when the passage was procured of another “Act to re-locate the county seat of Clayton county,” approved 15th February, 1843. The Commissioners appointed to select the site, were Hardin Nowlin, of Dubuque County, William Jones, of Jackson County, David Moreland, of Delaware County. The act provided that the Commissioners should meet at Prairie La Porte on the first Monday of April next thereafter, or within one month from that time, and after being sworn, proceed to make their selection; commit their proceedings to writing, describing and naming the place and deliver the same, together with any deeds or donations they might receive, to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners. The place so selected was to be and remain the seat of justice, unless the legal voters should wish to decide between it and Prairie La Porte, and should make the same known to the County Commissioners by petition signed by a majority of such voters; in which case it was made the duty of the commissioners to order an election on the first Monday of June.

Two of the commissioners, Nowlin and Moreland, met pursuant to the requirements of the law, and drove their site stake on the one-eighth section south of the one selected by the commissioners under the act of 1840, and named it Jacksonville. Many of the inhabitants of the surrounding region, were present to witness the ceremony of location.

The commissioners made their report, and with it delivered to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners the following list of subscriptions to aid in the building of a court house and jail: -

James Watson, 80 acres of land; John W. Gillet, $50 in work; Angus P. McDonnel, $15 in work; Richard Only. $50 in hauling; Timothy Killam, $10 in hauling and work; George A. Whitman, $50 in work or money.

The deed of the land, being the land selected for the county seat, accompanied the list, and the consideration therein, was the following conditions: “That the County Commissioners shall appropriate and use all the proceeds of the sales for the said land in the erection of public buildings for the use of said county, and for no other purpose or use whatsoever.”

The election was not ordered; and on the 2nd day of October the Board of Commissioners held their first session at Jacksonville, and the county business, after that time, was transacted at that place.

A contract was immediately entered into by the Board of Commissioners with James King and John Banfield for the building of a court house, and with David Clark for a jail. The court house was completed and in readiness for the spring term of the court in 1844.

By act of January 13th, 1846, the Board of Commissioners were authorized to change the name of Jacksonville top whatever name a majority of them might think proper. In pursuance of which, at a meeting of the board on the 15th day of April, the name was changed to Garnavillo.

On the 15th of January, 1849, another legislative act for the re-location of the county seat, received the approval of the Governor.*
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*The act provided, “that the legal voters of Clayton county shall vote, at the April election of 1849, for these points, to wit: Garnavillo, Guttenberg and Elkader, and if upon canvassing the votes, it is ascertained that any one point has received a majority of votes over all others, then that shall be and remain the permanent seat of justice of said Clayton county, but, if no one point shall receive such majority, then the legal voters of said county shall vote on the first Monday in May thereafter for the two points which received the highest number of votes at the April election, and the point receiving the highest number of votes shall be and remain the permanent seat of justice of said county of Clayton.”

The following list of subscriptions was received by the commissioners “to be expanded in the erection of public buildings for the said county, provided the seat of justice is located at Elkader: -

Thomson, Sage and Davis, $500; also one square containing eight lots, to be selected by the County Commissioners from any lands in the town of Elkader in our possession at the time of selection, said selection to be the site of the public buildings, lots estimated at $30 each, $240; E. G. Rolfe, 30; Ames Warner, 50; H.D. Bronson, 50; Elisha Beardman, 50; Azel J. Fuller, 10; A.D. Griswold, 25; Wm. M. Keys, 10; E.V. Carter, 10; Adam Kean, 30; A.G. Park, 10; John Downie, 10. Total, $1,025.
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pg. 135
Upon canvassing the returns of the April election, it was ascertained that neither place had received a majority of all the votes cast. Garnavillo received 254; Guttenberg, 177; and Elkader, 115.

A new election was therefore ordered by the commissioners, between Garnavillo and Guttenberg, which resulted as follows: - Garnavillo received 279, and Guttenberg 245 votes, giving a majority in favor of Garnavillo of 23 votes. Whereupon the commissioners declared that in pursuance of said act, “Garnavillo be and remain the permanent seat of justice of said Clayton county.”

At this election, of those who voted at the April election in favor of Elkader, sixty-eight voted for Guttenberg, twenty-five for Garnavillo, and twenty did not vote.

There have been three attempts to establish societies in this county upon joint stock association plans, vix: - the “Clydesdale Joint Stock, Agricultural and Commercial Company,” the “Community Colony,” and the “Liberty Colony.”

The CLYESDALE COMPANY was organized in Scotland on the 4th day of April, 1849, for the purpose of acquiring land in some suitable locality in the United States of America, in which to establish by means of the united capital and industry of its partners, a comfortable home for themselves and families, where they may follow a more simple, useful and rational mode of life than is found practicable in the complex and competition state of society, from which they have become anxious to retire.” The members were John Jack, James Love, John Craig, John McAndrews, James Shanks, James Gardner, Robertson Sinclair, John Davis and John Campbell.*
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*The leading provisions of their articles of association were as follows: The capital stock was fixed at $20,000, divided into eight hundred shares of $25 each. The affairs of the company to be under the control of a board of directors, consisting of a president, treasurer and secretary, who were to appoint a manager to conduct the general business. Each resident member owning four shares, was entitled to the occupancy of a house and two acres of land for the use of himself and family, and an annual allowance for their subsistence. Five per cent, one the capital stock and one-fourth of the profits went into the funds of the company, and the balance of the profits to the members individually in proportion to the time each had labored for the company.

They purchased unimproved lands in Monona township, on section 21, about three miles southwest from the village of Monona, and settled upon it in the winter of 1850 – 51. Improvements were rapidly made for a short time, when dissatisfaction and petty jealousies began to spring up among the members, and continued to increase until the 20th of March. 1852, when at a meeting of the company it was unanimously agreed to dissolve. Reuben Noble and Samuel Murdock, Esqs., were appointed their attorneys, with power to sell their property, and close up their affairs. The following fall the lands were sold, the proceeds of the sale scarcely amounting to the cost of the improvements.
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pg. 135 continues
The COMMUNITY COLONY was organized in July, 1850, in this county by Joseph Venus, Johan Enderes, Fred. Weis, H. Pape, T. Nagel, K. Kopp. Jacob Pensar, Lewis Weinel. Johhan Taffz, Michael Bramme, Joseph Gremfer and W. Krisinger, for the purpose of carrying on “agricultural, mechanical arts and trades, and such other industrial pursuits as they might deem expedient and desirable.” The capital of the association was made up by joining the individual property of its members, and consisted of four hundred acres of land in sections 7, 8 and 18, township 92, range 4, and eighty acres in sections 13 and 14, township 92, range 5, valued at $1,800; stock, teams, farming utensils, tools and furniture, $1,200.*
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*Their constitution provided that no division of the property should be made except by the unanimous consent of its members. Each member was entitled to support, and in case of his death, the society should take care of the widow and educate the children. If the widow and children should desire to withdraw from the society, they could do so in the same manner as the husband, and take his share of the property. If the member dying should leave no widow or children, his share should vest in the society. New members might be admitted after a residence of three months with the association, by a two-third vote. But in case of rejection, candidates should make no claim for services. Members might withdraw and receive the value of the property put in by them and the balance in one and two years. For infractions of the rules and regulations of the society, and for immoral conduct, members might be expelled, in which case they were entitled to receive their shares the same as those withdrawing. The business was placed under the management and control of a president, secretary and treasurer; but for all sales and purchases amounting to over $25, the concurrence of a majority of the society was necessary.

This organization seemed to operate very well for a time. Improvements were begun and additions were made to their number, until a strong partisan spirit prevailed at their annual elections for officers, and ran so high that the minority party refused to submit to the majority. To avoid a dissolution, in July, 1858, material alterations were made in their articles of association, and the name was changed to “Communia Workingmen’s League.” The property was all transferred to the new society, and amounted to fourteen hundred and forty acres of land, valued at $6,725, and stock, tools, merchandise and building material at $5,296, making a sum total of $12,021. Showing an increase of $9,021 in the three years of its operation.
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pg. 136
LIBERTY COLONY was organized in June, 1851, chiefly through the management of Christian Wullweber, and the articles of association were copied, with a few slight alternations, from those of Community Colony. Wullweber was president, Frederick Koch treasurer, and Fred’k Uffel secretary.*
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*The lands purchased by Wullweber for the occupation of the society were eleven hundred and twenty acres on sections 20, 21, 29 and 80, township 99, range 4, and adjoining the lands of the Colony Community. It was the intention of its founder to have a large association, and no pains were spared by him to make the society prosper during the first year; but not meeting with a hearty co-operation from all of his associates, and the society being in debt for their living and improvements, disbanded on the 20th of April, 1852, and appointed S. Murdock, Esq., attorney to dispose of the property and close up the business of the concern. The lands were sold in July, 1853, to John C. Thompson, Jr., for $1,075.
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GUTTENBERG – The Town of Guttenberg is pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River, about forty miles above DuBuque, and about six miles above the mouth of the Turkey River. The location of the town is on a handsome prairie, extending from the base of the bluff half a mile eastward to the river, and about three miles in length. This prairie received from one of the early French Missionaries the name of Prairie LaPorte – The Door Prairie.

The village of Prairie LaPorte was probably laid out in 1837, or 1838. Here the county seat of Clayton county was first located. At this time, Clayton county was a part of the Territory of Wisconsin. The first term of the District Court of Clayton county was held by Hon. Charles Dunn at Prairie LaPorte, on the 4th Monday of May, 1838, in a log house, the residence of Herman Graybill.

In the year 1843 the county seat was removed from Prairie LaPorte to Jacksonville, now Garnavillo. After the removal of the county seat, all the land and village lots belonging to the county in the village of Prairie LaPorte were sold and conveyed by the County Commissioners to the Western Settlement Society of Cincinnati, Ohio. This Society entered several hundred acres of land contiguous to the town, and employed John M. Gay, County Surveyor, to lay off a much larger town, including Prairie LaPorte within its limits. In January, 1847, the legislature passed an act changing the name of the old town to Guttenberg, and this name was given to the new town in honor of the renowned inventor of the art of printing. The survey of the new town was completed in June, 1847, and about this time considerable improvements was made; but for several years subsequent, owing to the pressure of the times and the paucity of the population of the surrounding country – which was then an almost unbroken wilderness – the growth of the place was not very rapid.

During the session of the legislature in 1850 – ’51, the town was incorporated. At the time the population of the place did not exceed two hundred and fifty or three hundred, and the principal object of the citizens in obtaining a charter of incorporation was to enable the town authorities to impose a tax on real estate, and thus make the large number of non-resident property-holders bear their proportion of the expense of necessary improvements.

pg. 137
The first municipal election was held in April, 1851. Since that time the growth of the town has been onward and upward. Every year has witnessed new and substantial improvements, and a large increase of trade and business.

Since the incorporations of the town large sums have been annually expended in public improvements. Good roads have been made, leading to every part of the surrounding country. The town has an excellent steam ferry boat, which during the season of navigation, plies regularly between this place and Glen Haven, three miles up the river, on the Wisconsin side.

The buildings are mostly of stone, of which material an excellent quality is obtained from the bluff back of the town.

There are now in the place seven general stores; two groceries; two clothing stores; two hardware, stove and tin stores; two drug stores; three millinery and fancy stores; four blacksmith and three saddler shops; two wagon and carriage shops; one gun shop; three furniture shops; four hotels; 5 breweries; several warehouses; two flouring mills; and one saw mill; together with the usual number of mechanical shops. The Lutheran and Catholic are the leading church denominations.

The commercial advantages of Guttenberg are not surpassed by any town of the same size on the river. It annually ships and receives large quantities of produce and merchandise. The principal articles of export are wheat, flour, barley, oats, corn, potatoes, pork, lard, beef, pig lead, etc.

The country in the vicinity of Guttenberg is beautiful, healthy and remarkably fertile, and is settled with an intelligent and enterprising class of farmers.

The resources of the surrounding country are unsurpassed. Independent of the unrivalled fertility of the soil, it possesses abundant sources of wealth in its cast forests of timber and rich mines of lead ore. North of the town are large tracts of timber for building, fencing, and other purposes; while to the south and west the forests extend for many miles, and abound in choice varieties of oak, walnut, hard maple, ash basswood, etc.

The bluffs immediately back of town abound in lead ore, and on Miner’s Creek, within two or three miles of town, several rich veins of mineral have been discovered and profitably worked.

The advantages for manufacturers are good. Miners’ Creek, in the rear of town, affords good water power, which has already been rendered available to some extent. The “Big Spring” at the upper end of the town can be used to great advantage, and at small cost, owing to the abundance of timber. With these facilities manufactories could be established and carried on profitably at this point.

From the bluffs immediately back of town issue numerous springs of excellent water, sufficient in quantity to supply the inhabitants of a large city.

McGREGOR is an incorporate city situated in the northeast portion of this county, on the west bank of the Mississippi River, sixty-seven miles above the City of DuBuque, and 229 miles northwest from Chicago, via the Chicago and Northwestern and the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railways. It was long known as “McGregor’s Landing,” for a reason previously given in the history of Clayton county, and form the time of its being laid out as a town, and the settlement and cultivation of the country west and northwest from this point. It has enjoyed the benefits of an exceedingly active trade.*
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*One would scarcely credit a true statement of the marvelous quantity of grain and produce that is shipped via this point, did they not visit the town during the busy season, and in person, see the streets crowded through their entire length from early in the morning till late in the evening, with heavily laden wagons, four abreast, many of whose owners had come fifty, a hundred, and sometimes two hundred miles, to market. Standing at the foot of Main Street, it is no uncommon sight to see it so filled to its furthest extent; and allowing twenty feet for each wagon and horses length, (four abreast) we have the following estimates for one mile, viz: one mile 5,250 feet divided by 20 – 264 x 4-1,056, or over one thousand teams for one mile alone. This is no fancy picture nor “fish story,” but a fact that thousands have witnessed daily, and is but another evidence of what will be astonishing wealth and resources of the northwest when it shall have been settled by a continued immigration of industrious, honest people, to half the density of the Eastern States.
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From the fact that there has

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been no railroad leading westward between Dubuque on the south, and Winona, Minnesota, on the north, a distance of over two hundred miles, and also the streams flowing with a general easterly course for many miles through the counties westward, causing the wagon roads to be constructed as a matter of convenience, with this place as the focus, McGregor has a necessarily been the great grain and produce market for a wide extent of rich and productive farming country.

And in turn it has also been the principal depot for the supply of household furniture, farming machinery, wearing apparel, groceries and other commodities of foreign production or manufacture. The principal business of the place is now chiefly transacted by the following establishments: six dry goods, three drug, three hardware, three stove and tinware, four book and stationery, six clothing, three furniture, one crockery and glassware, fifteen grocery, two jewelry, four boot and shoe, and five general stores. There are over twenty establishments for the purchase and shipment of grain, produce, game and etc. There are three lumber yards, one planing mill, sash, door and blind factory, one gun shop, one marble shop, two bakeries, two fruit stores, five milliners and dealers in millinery goods, three real estate chine shops, five wagon shops, and three photograph galleries. There is also one grain elevator, one brewery and two flouring mills in the vicinity. There are six hotels, one National Bank, and two weekly newspapers, North Iowa Times, edited and published by Messrs. Andrick and Richardson, and the McGregor News, published by the News Company, both ably conducted, and well merit the liberal patronage bestowed upon them.

The line of the McGregor Western Railway extends westward from this place through the counties of Clayton, Winneshiek, Howard and Mitchell, to the State Line, there connecting with the Minnesota Central Railroad, which is being constructed to St. Paul. This road is already completed to Decorah, a distance of sixty miles, and at an early date the westward line will be completed to the rich coal regions of the Des Moines Valley. In addition to the railway and river facilities, McGregor is connected with all points, not on the river or railroad, by a line of daily stages, giving prompt transportation to both passengers, freight and the mail.

The Baptist, Catholic, Congregational, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches have organizations here.

There are also societies of Masons, and Odd Fellows in a flourishing condition.

pg. 139

ELKADER, the seat of justice, is a flourishing town of about 700 inhabitants, situated on both banks of the Turley River, and near the geographical centre of the county.

The scenery of its location is possessed of much natural beauty. The table land on which the business portion of the town is built, rises gradually for some distance, when it breaks into a steep declivity on the right bank of the river, while on the east the bank rises more rapidly and higher before the table land is reached, which undulates upward to a summit of considerable height. Upon these undulations, many beautiful residences stand, surrounded with grounds tastefully arranged and adorned with shrubbery and trees, many of which are of native growth.

The river, flowing with a rapid current, affords a good and reliable water-power, which is to some extent improved, a dam being constructed across the stream at this point. There is one large flouring mill built of rock, taken from the neighboring quarries.

The prairies of the adjacent country are undulating, and of a deep rich soil. The timber along the banks of the river is abundant for all fuel, fencing and building necessities; the trade of the town is flourishing, being represented by four general stores, one flouring mill, one drug, one furniture, one hardware and stove store, one hotel, one printing office, together with the usual number of blacksmith, carpenter, wagon and other mechanical shops. There are Congregational, Methodist, Episcopal, Roman Catholic and other church organizations.

The Clayton County Journal (a weekly newspaper) is published here, by Messrs. Eibceek and Tipton.

GARNAVILLO is a post village and township in the eastern interior of the county. The village is twelve miles southwest from McGregor, and forty-eight miles northwest from Dubuque by stage, and six miles from the Mississippi River. Shipments are made during the winter months via McGregor, and in the summer principally via Clayton and Dunleith. In April, 1845, two of the commissioners, Hardin Nowlin, of Dubuque County, and David Moreland, of Delaware County, met, pursuant to an “act to re-locate the county seat of Clayton County, and selected the north half of southeast quarter, section 18, township 93, north of range 3, west 5th principal meridian, and names it Jacksonville.

James Watson donated the land (eighty acres) so selected, and the County Commissioners immediately laid out the town, and commenced the erection of county buildings. April 15th, 1846, the name of the village was changed to Garnavillo.

James Watson, Dr. Frederick Andros, Capt. Robert R. Read, John W. Gillet, Richard Only, George A. Whitman, Judge Samuel Murdock, Reuben Noble and Judge Elias H. Williams, were among the first settlers.

There are two good flouring mills and two saw mills on Buck Creek, just east of the village; also one brewery, one hotel and several stores in the town.

The village is located on a beautiful and very productive prairie, which produces abundant crops of spring wheat, oats, corn and barley. There is an abundant supply of oak, elm, and black walnut timber in the vicinity both for building and fuel; also stone quarries and a good quality of clay for making brick. Apples grow well, and pears, plums, and cherries are grown to some extent.

There are four churches, Methodist, Congregational, German Lutheran and Catholic, one lodge of Masons, one of Independent Order of Odd Fellows and one of Independent Order of Good Templars. Estimated population, 500.

CLAYTON is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, ten miles below McGregor, and ten miles above Guttenberg, on sections 1 and 2, township 93, range 3, west of the 5th P.M. The site is partly a beautiful plat of ground between the bluffs and the river, but most of the residences are in a ravine through which the principal street runs from the river bank on to the high prairie. The town is easy of access from the interior and has one of the best steamboat landings on the river. It is the principal crossing place for travel between northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, northern Iowa, and southern Minnesota, there being good roads on both sides of the river, and a steam ferry boat crossing every half hour, furnishing ample accommodation for the conveyance of passengers and freight.

The village contains two large flouring mills, one manufacturing about 20,000, and the

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other about 6,000 barrels of flour per annum; four general stores; four grocery stores; two cabinet shops; one foundry; three lumber yards, and one stave and heading factory. About 130,000 bushels of wheat are shipped annually. Population, 500.

ELKPORT, a post village in the southeast part of Volga Township, southern interior of Clayton County. It is situated on the south bank of the Turkey River, at the confluence of Volga River, twenty-two miles by stage nearly north from Dyersville.

Frederick Hartig, John Garber and Mr. Weyman were among the first settlers in the vicinity. There is an abundance of good timber around the village. The Turkey, Volga and Elk Creeks furnish abundant mill power for any amount of manufactories. There are three general stores, one flour mill and two saw mills in the village; also one flour and saw mill and a woolen factory, Messrs. Isaac Otis and Son, proprietors, within two and a half miles of the village. There is a good public school and two churches, German Catholic and German Lutheran. Population about 200.

STRAWBERRY POINT, otherwise known as Franklin, is situated in Cass Township, southwest part of Clayton County, about sixteen miles northwest from Manchester, a station on the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad.

The first settlements were made in this vicinity about fifteen years since, by Messrs. Wood, Grannis, Blake and others. It now contains about 250 inhabitants, with six stores, one brewery, one large flour mill, which runs with water power and was built at a cost of $20,000, and three churches, Baptist, Methodist, and Universalist. The Masons and Good Templars have each a Lodge.

MONONA, is on the McGregor Western Railway, thirteen miles west of McGregor. It contains two churches; five general stores; one drug store, and one steam saw mill. Population, 500.

LITTLEPORT, is a small post village on Volga River, nine miles south of Elkader. It has one distillery; one general store, and one saw mill. Population, 75.

GIARD, is in the north-eastern part of the county, 6 ½ miles from McGregor, and 14 miles north of Elkader. It has two churches; two general stores; one flour mill, and one saw mill. Population, 70.

YANKEE SETTLEMENT, is in the south-western portion of the county, eighteen miles from Elkader. It has one Methodist church; one general store, and four saw mills.

VOLGA CITY, is a post village in the western part of this county, located on the right bank of the Volga River. It has two country stores; one mill, and a hotel.

CERES, Communia, Council Hill, Cox Creek, Farmersburg, Gem, Grand-Meadow, Henderson’s Prairie, Honey Creek, Millville, National Road and Sigel, are also villages and post offices of this county.