Chester Township

In collecting facts relating to the early history of a township many difficulties are met with. Foremost among these is that of finding well-kept township records, then again the indistinct recollection of exact dates and incidents by the early settlers, and still another the disagreement of persons regarding the same incident No history can be written which in the opinion of all is correct, but the historian collects from all available sources what purports to be fact, and arranges the matter consistent with his best judgment Doubtless there are many things known to old settlers that would be of great value to their descendants if preserved in an enduring form; but many of the pioneers have already moved away or died, and considerable of their early experience will be irrecoverably lost However, in the following short sketch, we have endeavored to give the reader the most authoritative narrative yet written.

Chester township comprises an area of six square miles, situated in the northwest corner of Poweshiek county, Iowa. It was for a time after the organization of the county a part of Grinnell township. It is bounded on the north by Highland township, Tama county; on the east and south by Sheridan and Grinnell townships, respectively of Poweshiek county, and west by Hickory Grove township, Jasper county. The physical features of the gently rolling prairie, well watered by Bear Creek, which flows through the township from northwest to southeast, and the exceeding fertility of the soil render it one of the very best agricultural portions of central Iowa.

The first permanent settlement was made in August, 1856, by Jason W. Sherman and family. Mr. Sherman came from Croydon, Sullivan county, New Hampshire; erected his present residence on section 16, and occupied it the same fall. When Mr. Sherman first settled here the unbroken prairie extended in every direction as tar as the eye could reach. Not a tree in the whole township except two little groves to the south on Bear Creek. Cheerless and barren were those desolate prairies, and unprotected from the winds, during the first winter that the family lived there alone. Wood and prairie grass furnished their fuel, and wild game a portion of their food.

In May, 1857, Henry Sherman, brother of the first settler, came and built a good frame house on his present farm. Joseph and John Hays, with their families, came in the spring of 1858; Cornelius Skiff, Abram Hays, Salvador Hays, S. G. Page and Wilson Sherman in 1859. Charles and Edward Fisher in December, 1860, and John Lightner in April, 1861. Of the early settlers, the Shermans came from New Hampshire; John Hays and Joseph T. Hays from Frederick county, Maryland; Salvador Hays from Wisconsin; John Lightner from Pennsylvania; Cornelius Skiff from Connecticut; S. G. Page from Ohio, and the Fishers from Vermont. Many of the early settlers came from New England and the people even now retain many of their ancestral peculiarities. In the summer of 1855 the first breaking of prairie was done by authority of Henry Lawrence for Jason Sherman with a plow brought by S. G. Page. The breaking was done on land bought and owned by Mr. Sherman before he came to settle. The first birth was that of Sarah Francella Sherman, daughter of Jason W. Sherman, born November 19, 1857; she died when a little over six. Fannie H. Sherman, daughter of Henry Sherman, was the second child, born June 10, 1859. The first death occurred December 4, 1858, that of Deborah Hays, daughter of Joseph Hays. She was nearly twenty-two years of age; the remains were interred in the cemetery at Grinnell. The first marriage was Frank Burleigh and Mary Thompson, at the house of the bride's father, Mr. William Thompson, in the fall of 1863.

The first school was taught by Miss Jennie Howard, beginning in the spring of 1861, in the " Samuel Hays' house " on section 10, and the first school-house was erected during the summer of 1862, built mostly by day laborers from Grinnell, and contributed work by the neighbors. The same neat little house, kept in good repair, stands on the northwest quarter of section 10.

Chester township was organized October 22, 1860, and the first election was held in the house of Henry Sherman, November 6, 1860. The Fisher brothers named the town of Chester" from "Chester," Vermont, their native town. Those who exercised the right of franchise at that election were the following thirteen persons: J. A. Hays, S. G. Page, J. Hays, J. W. Sherman, Corneilus Skiff, A. W. Hays, D. F. Hays, Wilson Sherman, J. T. Hays, Samuel Hays, Henry Sherman, H. P. Strain, W. M. Hays.

The following were the township officers elected at the first meeting: township clerk, Cornelius Skiff; assessor, William M. Hays; justices of the peace, Joseph Hays, Salvador Hays; trustees, Wilson Sherman, Daniel Hays, J. Hays; constables, John J. Hays, Abram W. Hays; road supervisor, Henry Sherman. The first recorded meeting of the board of trustees is dated April 8, 1861.

One day in the fall of 1860 the whole population of the township, except a few children and aged persons, left at home to "hold the fort," rode in a four-horse wagon to Toledo, Tama county, and heard Governor Kirkwood discuss the political issues in the Lincoln campaign. Mr. D. F. Hays still preserves the Union flag carried at that time. Twenty years ago all the voters in the township rode in one wagon, now they number one hundred and forty-six. The whole population, according to the United States census of 1880, is 623.

The burying ground is located at the center of section 9. The first meeting of the Chester Burying Ground Association was May 28, 1866, when Wilson Sherman, B. F. Stockwell, and D. F. Hays, were chosen trustees; William Thompson, treasurer; Frank Burleigh, secretary. The first burial in these grounds was the body of Harry Stockwell, a boy of four years, having met instant death by falling under the wheels of a heavy wagon.

The present township officers are:

Clerk - Thomas Fuller.

Trustees - Charles Fisher, J. H. Mann, Chas. Hoofcut

Assessor - Horace James.

Justice of Peace - C. B. Smith.

Constable - B. F. Stockwell.

Road Supervisor - W. R. Look.

There are nine good school-houses, two churches - Congregational and Methodist - two post-offices - "Chester Center " and Sonora - one road district, and nine sub-school districts. The Central Railroad of Iowa, constructed in 1869, runs a distance of three miles through the southwestern part of the township.

Grinnell is their principal railroad station, though Newburg and Gilman are easier of access to those in the northwest. Their wagon roads during the dry season are kept in good condition. The land is under excellent cultivation, and the crops, especially corn, this year (1880) are very great - the corn crop is in excess of any previous one. The soil, deep and exceedingly fertile, the surface, gently undulating though smooth, without stump or stone, where the cultivator and reaper meet no obstruction; this can be truly called "the farmer's paradise." Twenty, and even ten years has greatly changed the appearance of the farms, which are now well supplied with groves, orchards, hedge and wire fences, stock-yards, pastures, barns, and good, substantial, and sometimes elegant, frame houses. Mr. C. B. Smith superintends the cheese factory, located opposite the Center post-office, where about 2,700 pounds of milk are made into cheese daily. The milk is furnished by the neighbors from about 120 cows.

The Center post-office was established in 1877, and Mr. C. B. Smith has been postmaster since that date. Sonora was established in 1878. Mr. T. H. Hays was first, and Horace James second, postmaster. The Chester Library Association was organized in February, 1877, and now has a rapidly increasing library of 141 standard volumes.

November 28, 1874, Mr. and Mrs. William Sherman celebrated their golden wedding in the house where Mr. Sherman now resides, section 16, Chester township. There were present of the family twenty-three: Four sons with their wives, and one daughter with her husband, nine grandsons, four granddaughters. They were married in Croydon, N. H., November 28, 1824, by Rev.. Jacob Haven. They settled in Chester in the fall of 1864. Several prominent citizens of Grinnell attended the happy occasion. Mrs. Sherman died in March, 1879. Mr. Sherman is now a hale and hearty veteran of seventy-nine. He has just returned from a trip to San Francisco and the Yosemite.

There was raised last year for school purposes $2,400; for roads, $1,018. The value of real estate, $204,863; personalty, $60,906. According to the United States census of 1880, in the year 1879 there were 6,011 acres of corn, 259,295 bushels of corn, average per acre 43 bushels; 1,629 acres of oats, 58,716 bushels of oats, average per acre 363/4; 1,627 acres of wheat, 17,162 bushels of wheat, average per acre 10 1/2; butter, 39,280 pounds; stock on hand January 1, 1880: swine, 6,328; cows, 812; horses, 772.

The farms average 200 acres each. The intelligence and industry of the inhabitants is the secret of their success and high standing among their neighbors. Their moral and religious sentiments are of the best New England type; general regard for the sabbath, and attendance at church service by so many of its citizens, has an influence felt in the whole town. The political sentiment is nearly all Republican, there being only a dozen Democratic voters. No saloon has existed within the limits of the township, and no drunkard has ever lived there. No lawyer has yet made his professional headquarters there, and crimes and misdemeanors have not been known to exist in the town. No physician has resided or officed within its borders.

Chester township has a population of 623. Settlements began twenty-four years ago, and it has been legally organized just twenty years, yet only sixty-seven graves can be numbered in the township burying ground, including those who were actual residents, children, strangers, and about fifteen or twenty brought in from other places. As a proof of the healthfulness of the township, it may be stated that during the first sixteen years of the settlement of the township, only one man died, and he was an invalid who came to visit his brother and died while in the township.

The first public religious service was held at the house of J. W. Sherman, July 18, 1858. Rev. Job Cushman, a Congregational minister from Massachusetts's, preached to an audience of fifteen persons. In the summer of 1862 a Bible class and prayer meeting were organized in the "Samuel Hays house," on section 10. Rev. L. O. Rouse, of Grinnell, preached in the school-house during the summers of 1863-4. The Chester Congregational Church was organized June 25, 1865, with sixteen members, Rev. G. F. Magoun, D. D., conducting the services. Original members: William Sherman, Mrs. Mahala Sherman, Jason W. Sherman, Mrs. Laura J. Sherman, Henry Sherman, Mrs. Almira D. Sherman, Wilson Sherman, Mrs. Sophronia A. Sherman, Wm. A. Carter, Mrs. Cynthia M. Wheelock, Edward Fisher, Mrs. Mary E. Fisher, John Lightner, Mrs. Cynthia M. Lightner, Mrs. Martha M. Carter, Miss Carrie A. Carter.

Since Revs. Cushman and Rouse, ministers have served as follows: Prof. S. J. Buck, Prof. C. W. Clapp, Prof. S. J. Buck, G. F. Magoun, D. D., and the present pastor, G. H. White. The present pastor commenced his labors here November 1, 1872, being the only regular resident and settled pastor. During the eight years of Rev. G. E. White's pastorate the church has enjoyed great prosperity, increase of members and influence. The church edifice is a convenient and neat structure, completed in the fall of 1868, at a cost of $2,500, and dedicated in January, 1869. It has a seating capacity of 200.

There are on the church roll 155 names. The present deacons: James S. Rutherford and Thomas Fuller. Church Clerk, Horace James. There is a flourishing Sabbath-school, with Charles Fisher, Superintendent.

The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Chester township was organized by the aid of Rev. Dennis Murphy, of Grinnell, March 18, 1867. We have been able to get the names of a portion of the original class and those identified with the early history of the church: Daniel F. Hays, Salvador Hays, Joseph Hays, E. E. Nonn, Edwin Parish, Asbury Parish, Thomas Hays, Manda Thompson, Mrs. Jane Cotton, U. Granvill, B. F. Brownell, Mary Brownell. For a considerable time meetings were held in private houses and in the school-house; but in 1874 a fine new church was built at a cost of about $3,400. The church is 25 feet by 46 feet, with a spire 76 feet high, and has a seating capacity of 250. It was dedicated January 24, 1875, by Rev. John H. Clinton, of Marshalltown. Pastors: Revs. Dennis Murphy, J. D. DeTarr, Dr. I. N. Busby, James M. Coates, J. E. Corley, William H. Honn, E. P. Michner, J. W. Robinson, J. B. Brown, E. L. Briggs, O. Cessna, W. F. Cowles, R. Neilson, S. R. Ferguson, the present pastor. The present membership is forty. Only one resident member has deceased since the church was organized, Ellen Anderson, in January, 1880. Names of present trustees: D. F. Hays, E. Parish, B. F. Brownell, M. C. Parish, T. H. Hays, Joseph T. Hays, Z. Smith. Steward: Joseph T. Hays. Tho sabbath-school numbers fifty. The Superintendent at present is J. W. Harpster.

Source: The History Of Poweshiek County Iowa 1880
Transcribed and Contributed to Genealogy Trails by Barbara Ziegenmeyer