three northeast towns thereof. Then the practical pale-face conceived the idea of designating the stream by the title of Buffalo Creek, because of the large herds of buffalo which came down the rolling prairies of the North and West to drink of its cool waters. For several years, the luxurious grasses of that locality furnished ample food for these noble animals; but the approach of civilization soon alarmed them and drove them westward. There was scarcely a trace of the herd in 1840.

Edward Millis Crow, the man to whom must be accorded the honor of being the first settler, was born in Orange County, Ind., June 4, 1816. In 1834, his father, John Crow, moved from Indiana to Chicago, then a village of about four hundred inhabitants. There were but two stores in the unpromising town at that time, one of which was owned by Beaubien and the other by Kinzie. After a few months' residence in Chicago, Mr. Crow removed to Hickory Creek (now called Joliet River), Illinois. There he remained for some time.

On the 4th day of June, 1837, Edward was 21 years of age, and on the 5th of that month he started out into the world in search of fortune.

In company with James Dawson, of Geneva, Ill., Crow traveled westward, and at Plum River encountered James Gillilan, of Ohio. The three men continued to journey toward the Mississippi, with a team of horses belonging jointly to Crow and Dawson, and reached the river at the site of Savannah. From there they went to "the Narrows," now the location of Fulton.

At the Mississippi River, the party aided a settler in fitting up a scow boat on which a passage could be worked. At Clinton, Dawson took the team and pursued a general westerly course, while Crow and Gillilan went up the Maquoketa River, to the junction of the Little Maquoketa, and then turned southward, reaching the Mississippi at Comanche. At that point, Crow and Gillilan took steamer for Burlington, then a place of half a dozen houses and one store, and traveled west and southwest to Bentonsport, Van Buren County; thence followed up the Little Cedars, in Southern Iowa, and finally returned to Burlington. There Gillilan took passage for Ohio, and Crow continued his prospecting tour in company with a stranger, whose name he has forgotten. A point on the Iowa River, below the mouth of the Cedar, was soon reached, and from there he went up to a place fully a day's travel above the site of Iowa City, thence back to where Black Hawk stands. There the men parted, and Crow set out for Comanche, which he reached by boat from New Boston. From Comanche he went in search of Dawson, who was said to be in the neighborhood of Linn County. After reaching the Wapsipinicon and following it up for twenty-five miles, Crow crossed the stream and fell in with a man named Smith. He there discovered the trail of Dawson's team. At the site of Rome, Jones County (then called Olin), Crow met Mr. Merritt and his party, which had formed a part of Dawson's company. That night Crow found Dawson and a man named Wheat, who came from Dubuque.

Dawson and Crow started at once for Linn County, entering the line at a point southeast of what is now called Viola. There Crow made a claim, in July, 1837. Dawson did not at first choose a claim in Linn, but went over into Jones County, and began preparations for future work. The men were in Linn County about four days. They cut down some small timber; put up a rude hut; covered it over with hay taken from the prairie, and blazed trees on the claim, marking their names with pencil on the smooth surface of stakes and trees. The men then started for Fox River, Ill., in quest of provisions, as they intended to make a permanent settlement in the beautiful region they had found.

After all the search made by the several persons, the lands in Linn County and across in Jones were decided upon as the most desirable for cultivation.

Late in August, 1837, Edward M. and Garrison Crow, his brother, and James Dawson came to Linn County, this time prepared to begin work in earnest. They had exchanged horses for oxen, purchased plows, corn for seed, provisions, etc. They put up a cabin September 5, 1837. More hay was secured, and full preparations were made for the coming Winter. John Jocelyn and Mr. Russell came to the Crow settlement about this time. In October, the men again went to Illinois for supplies. Not being able to obtain any meal at the place they stopped at, they purchased corn, and had it ground at a little mill which was put up by Benjamin Nye, at Montpelier.

Crow and Jocelyn returned to Linn County, and just before reaching the line were overtaken by a severe snow storm. They reached the cabin of Jacob Mann, in Cherry Grove, which extends through Greenfield Township, Jones County, almost to the Linn border. The men remained at this cabin with Mann and his daughter over night, and reached "home" the day following, after an absence of five weeks.

Winter set in and found Edward and Garrison Crow and James Dawson in the little shanty in the edge of the "Big Woods," in Brown Township. There they remained, passing the days in shooting deer and elk, tanning skins and trading with the natives. In this monotonous manner the months rolled by, and Crow's party became the first settlers in Linn County, inaugurating civilization after the approved order of bachelors.

Edward Crow remained on his claim until 1839, when he disposed of it and made the location now occupied by him on Buffalo Creek. He owns some 400 acres at present, and has a large brick house. A spacious barn belonging to him was burned recently, leaving him without suitable farm buildings, but fortunately his purse is ample and his old age made enjoyable by the possession of wealth. Instead of wolf scalps and deer skins, the ornaments of his first cabin, his walls are now decorated with pictures. The howl of the wild beast was then the only sound that broke the stillness of the forest; while to-day the notes of more than one musical instrument resound through the Grove, under the skillful fingers of his daughters. The broad plain once trodden by the buffalo and elk are now converted into grain-laden fields. The groves, increased in size and more abundant than formerly, surround the homestead of the pioneer, a reminder of the olden days, but still far different in character from the wild woods of '37, in which the Indian paused for shelter and refreshment.

The mighty hand of progress has laid its grasp on nature, and the foot of man has left its impress in the devious paths. The visible changes are great, and the marvel is that he who saw the wilderness in those years, so brief in the great history of the world's existence, yet long for feeble man's endurance, should still behold the transformation.

Of those who wintered with Mr. Crow in 1837, it is told that Dawson sold his claim in Jones County to Gideon Pete, sometime in 1840, and came to Linn Grove, in this county. There he bought a claim of Sarah Mann. On the 10th of November, 1840, he was married to Emeline Wilcox. He died in that locality.

Garrison Crow married a daughter of Mr Simmons, in the Spring of 1844. In 1846, he went to Grant County, Wisconsin. From there he moved to Oregon, thence to California, from which State he came to this county in the Spring of 1865. He returned to California shortly afterward, and died there in the month of December, 1876.

Jacob Mann moved from Illinois in July, 1837, and made a claim in Cherry Grove, just over the line, in Jones County, and returned to Illinois. He brought his family back with him as soon as possible. He was a widower, but his daughter"Sally" came with him. His other children who came were John, Henry, David and Ann. In August, 1837, the Mann family settled on their claim, and were so near to the Linn line afterward established, that the statement is often made that he was really in Linn County. Jacob soon sold his claim to David Mann, his brother, and made a little claim near the locality of his first choice. That Fall, he went over on Big Creek, Linn County, and made a claim. When Crow went east in February, 1838, Mann told him that he was to remove to Big Creek the next day. This change was made in February of that year. Mann became a settler in Linn County. Sarah Mann came with him, and was the first white woman to locate in Linn County.

Of the Mann family record, it is found that Sarah and Ann are still living in Jones County. John married and moved West. Henry went to Indiana, and while suffering from mental troubles, committed suicide. David followed the example of his father and "went West."

In the Fall of 1837, William P. Earl came to this county on a prospecting tour. The lands in this vicinity were not then surveyed or in market. The nearest Government Land Office was located at Burlington. The Earl brothers, William P. and Porter W., were interested in real estate, the latter owning a farm of several hundred acres in Muscatine County. In the Fall of 1837, Porter W. Earl was taken seriously ill, at a place called Illinois City, on the east side of the Mississippi River. He remained at Clump's Hotel until the Spring following, when he was able to return to Erie County, New York, his former home.

While Mr. Earl was confined to the house, in Illinois City, William P. Earl and Asa Farnsworth came on westward to determine the quality of the soil hereabouts, and satisfy themselves as to the endurance of the region. The trip made by these gentlemen extended pretty generally through the eastern tier of townships, as now organized, and was planned to reach the Wapsipinicon. For some reason, the party did not go to the river in this county, but approached near it. During their progress, Messrs. Earl and Farnsworth visited Mr. Russell, at Fairview, in Jones County, but encountered no settlers in Linn on their way north. Returning homeward, they reached a solitary settler's cabin, as they supposed, within the limits of what was afterward Linn County, but, as is shown in this chapter, in reality in Jones, in Cherry Grove. The pioneer's hut was but a poor apology for a shelter, and was evidently newly erected. The brother of William Earl, Porter W., now a resident of Cedar Rapids, is unable to give the pioneer's name; but the writer is permitted to show elsewhere in this narrative that the settlers were Jacob Mann and daughter, who subsequently removed to Linn County. When Earl and Farnsworth reached the pioneer's hut, the woman was confined to her bed by illness, resulting from exposure, hardships and homesickness, and possibly from some other causes. The cabin in which the woman lay was so poorly constructed that there was no adequate shelter over her. The visitors urged the father to let them aid him in hewing out some rough "shakes" and putting them in place, as a roof. This the three men did, in the midst of storm and blow, for it was then November, and exceedingly cold for that season of the year.

The poor woman was so cheered by the presence and conversation of the travelers, that she was strong enough to arise next morning and make her guests welcome after the cordial desire of her nature. The cuisine was lim

ited, but the hospitality of the grateful woman was unbounded. Going to a rude chest of drawers, which she had brought with her from her old home, she drew forth a little store of dried currants, from which precious reminders of old times she took sufficient to make a dish for each. Notwithstanding the earnest protests of her guests, who urged her to keep the fruit for her own personal use, Miss Mann prepared a treat for those who had done her more real good than all the herbs within the range of her simple pharmacy could have effected.

This act, so trifling in itself, is worthy of a place in these records because of the spirit which prompted it, and for the reason that such trifling events fix dates firmly in the mind. The hospitality of the new settlers was a characteristic of which too much cannot be said in praise. The accommodations within the gift of pioneers were never very grand, but they were the best the times and country could afford, and royalty can do no more in its efforts at entertainment. Earl and Farnsworth returned East without becoming settlers of the county.

THE FIRST WHITE SETTLER.

The important but always disputed honor of being the original settler in a county, in the present case is accredited to Edward M Crow, on the strength of the testimony given clearly and intelligently by him to the writer, in the presence of Messrs. Andrew J. McKean and Redman Stephens; the former one of the oldest settlers, and the latter a thoroughly posted man in the affairs of Linn County.

The duty of placing permanently upon record the facts herein recited is one of an exceedingly delicate nature and is keenly appreciated by the historian. To properly discharge his work, he has not only interviewed the greater part of those pioneers who still survive, and also the descendants of those who have passed away, but he has carried on a general system of correspondence with men who are in other sections of the country at present, but who were, at one time, identified with the affairs of Linn County.

Notable among these letters is one from the Hon. Hosea W. Gray, now a resident of Nebraska, but a pioneer of Linn, and the first Sheriff ever appointed in this county.

In response to the inquiry, "Who do you regard as the first settler?" Mr. Gray stated that he considered Jacob Mann the person entitled to that distinction. Mr. Mann's claim had never been disputed prior to his death in 1851, and the fact that he came in February, 1838, seemed conclusive evidence substantiating his right to the first place on the list.

With due respect to Mr. Gray's opinion, and with an equal degree of consideration for the statements of all others, it was deemed the only course for us to pursue to give the literal version of Mr. Crow's story; and to place the matter fully before the intelligent men of the county prior to the publication of this work.

This was done, and such men as Hon. Horace N. Brown, A. J. McKean and others practically agree that the theory herein advanced is correct. Mr. Brown, whose father, Nathan, was one of the early parties, as hereafter related, does not say that Mr. Crow wintered here in 1837-8, but he does admit that the three men-the Crow brothers and Dawson-were in the county in the year 1837, and that upon their return to the State of Illinois, the men named further on in this history constituted the band of pioneers who made the second settle

ment.

The lucid circumstantiality of Mr. Crow's statement; the remarkable freshness of his memory, and the overwhelming force of corroborative events, leave

no alternative in the mind of the writer but to place his name ahead, not only of Jacob Mann's, but also before that of C. C. Haskins, whose friends assert his priority. There is no link in the chain of evidence missing. It is what a lawyer would term a "clear case." The reliability of the account depends upon the veracity of Mr. Crow, and from our acquaintance with him, as well as from the assurances of others, we feel that it is prudent and proper to place confidence in his memory and his intentions.

The "logic of events" which goes to upset the established theory of settlement may be summarized thus:

No settler who is able to furnish positive date of coming, had penetrated into Linn County prior to July, 1837. If any white man had passed through the county, as Dyer Usher claims to have done, in 1836, it was at the peril of life, and solely for the purpose of adventure. Therefore, when Edward M. Crow reached Linn, in July, 1837, and made a break in the wilderness, he struck the first blow. That he did come in 1837 is corroborated by Mr. H. N. Brown; that the date was July, depends upon his own word.

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The facts that the two men, Earl and Farnsworth, in November, 1837, found a settler in the neighborhood of the Linn County line; that the woman was sick, and that the prospecters aided in repairing the cabin, which needed more work than the settler himself, who was reported an "an easy-going man," was disposed to bestow upon it, demonstrate the point that the settler was Jacob Mann and daughter. The travelers supposed that the woman was the settler's wife, because she had an infant, but a secret page in the life history of that man and woman reads somewhat differently from the properly regulated pages of domestic affairs. It is stated, on what appears to be good authority, that Sally Mann gave birth to a son while on the way to the claim made by her father in Cherry Grove. The illness spoken of may have resulted from her confinement. The father of the child did not accompany the Manns. The settler was going man," and answered the description given by Earl. The only conflict of statement is in regard to the locality, but it is reasonable to suppose that two men, traveling without particular purpose, were mistaken as to the line, then so vague. Cherry Grove reaches nearly to the dividing line, and we doubt if any man could have determined accurately the exact location of the hut in those days. Then, it must also be remembered that these men did not discover the Crow cabin, a fact which goes to prove that they were east of their supposed position. Haskins, as shown elsewhere, was a bacheler, and could not have been the settler found by Earl, since it is admitted that the settler was living with a woman. Finally, it should be recollected that the statement made by them comes to us second-handed, and after the lapse of forty-one years.

an easy

Following the line of argument, we see that Edward Crow knew of Jacob Mann's claim on a creek in Cherry Grove and visited him there. Sally Mann was of the family. Crow, however, knew of no settler in the southeast corner of the county—a remarkable fact in view of the sparseness of settlement in this section.

Crow returned to Illinois in 1837, and reported favorably on this country. He then came back, and remained in his cabin with his brother and Dawson, until February, 1838. At that time he started East, and stayed with Jacob Mann, in Cherry Grove, who, at that time, told him that he (Mann) intended to remove to Big Creek the following day.

It is admitted by all that Mann did locate in this county in February, 1838, and thus the statement made by Mr. Crow is substantiated.