Monroe Township

Monroe Township

Monroe, or "Old Monroe," as it is commonly called, is situated on the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad, at the crossing of the Cuivre, the town being wholly on the north sido of the river. It is located in the southeastern part of Lincoln County, and, having been the first county seat thereof, it is one of the most historic places in the county. It is also noted for the beautiful mounds that have been constructed there in former ages. The site is beautiful, but the town is small. The original town was laid out some time prior to 1819, by Ira and Almond Cottle and Nathaniel Simonds, the original proprietors. A large portion of it was donated in 1819 to the county for the seat of justice. The large brick house now owned and occupied by Herman Niemeyer was built some seventy-eight years ago, about the year 1810. The county was organized in this house, and the courts held therein while the county seat remained at Monroe. In August, 1820, Almond Cottle was licensed to keep a "tavern," the fee being §10 for a year. It is presumed that this is the house in which the "tavern " was kept. With the exception of the Niemeyer residence there had been nothing at Monroe, in the way of buildings, for many years, until the railroad drew near its completion, when it began to revive. It was re-surveyed in 1880 by Charles Du Bois, a civil engineer, and since that time the town as it now exists has principally been built. It contains two general stores kept, respectively, by Albert Isen stein and Herman Niemeyer; a hotel, grocery and livery stable by W. H. Pollard; a hotel by Henry H. Pieper, and a blacksmith shop by Herman Brunes. Isenstein also deals in furniture and farm implements. There is a daily mail between Monroe and Chain of Rocks. The railroad bridge, across the Cuivre at Monroe, has twice been swept away by the pressure of drift collected when the water was high. On the last occasion the drift contained 1,600 saw logs, which floated from the Cuivre and its tributaries. The present bridge is a magnificent one, made mostly of iron. During the last year immense cribs of stone have been constructed in the river, above the bridge piers, to prevent the drift from striking them. It is believed that these cribs of stone will be sufficient to resist the pressure of any amount of drift that will be likely to collect in the future, and thus enable it to be broken and floated down between the piers without injury to the bridge.

Moscow

Moscow (Moscow on the Cuivre) is situated on the western bank of the Cuivre River, and on the St. Louis & Hannibal (Short Line) Railroad, four miles southeast of Troy. It was laid out March 17, 1821, by John Geiger, Morgan Wright, James Duncan and Shapley Ross, the original proprietors. The plat was witnessed by Sylvanus Allison and Elijah Collard. The proprietors appointed C. K. Duncan, A. C. Woolfolk, Jeremiah Groshong, Andrew Miller and W. H. Robinson as a board of trustees of the town of Afosoon to sell and oonvej lots. 11 was Laid out as a oompeting poinl with fefonroe, Trojj Alexandria and other places, for Location of the county Beat Henry Martin was the first merchant of Moscow, having opened a stock of general merohaudi ion after the town was Laid <>ut. He continued in at Moscow, Adolphue Poster and Thomas MoOune also carried on a small business. William Hammer was the next settler in the town and he also engaged in merchandising. He was the first postmaster the town ever had, having been appointed as a Republican. He remained in business until 1884, when he retired. Next came A. M. Borddin, who opened a grocery store, and C. & L. Branders and James Anderson, who opened general stores. All these were doing business at Moscow in 1885. A saloon was established there some three years ago by John Horton. He was soon succeeded by Thomas Stuart, and he by Hammer, who continued the business until the Downing law went into effect. Next came James Cunningham, who continued the business for a time.

The grist and saw mill owned by Wing & Son has always been one of the greatest factors of Moscow's success. It was established about the year 1820, by Jeremiah Groshong. He sold it to John Geiger, and he to Henry Martin, who died while in possession of it. The heirs of Martin sold it to Thomas Multon, who sold it to John Foster. The latter sold it to James and Ed. Leach, and in 1868 they sold it to Frederick Wing, the senior member of the firm of Wing & Son. its present owners. There is a large grain elevator attached to the mills. A bridge was built across the Cuivre River at Moscow in 1852. It fell in 1860, having been undermined by the strong current of water. The following is a list of the business of Moscow as it was written up and published in 1885: General stores, C. & L. Brandes and J. H. Anderson; grocery, A. M. Bouldin; saloon, J. C. Cunningham; hotel, Frank Hill; blacksmith, Louis Schroeder; Wing & Son, millers and dealers in grain; Fritz Durand, blacksmith and wheelwright. Several beautiful residences, a union church and a schoolhouse.

In 1870, when the prospect for a railroad at Moscow was good, the proprietors of the vacant lots had the town re-surveyed, preparatory to selling them. The old corners, to some extent, had been lost, and in order to re-establish them the deposition of Joseph H. Shelton, who had personal knowledge of their location, was taken on the 16th day of September, before James D. Shelton and Wilson T. Harris, justices of the peace. With the information thus obtained, John C. Downing, surveyor of Lincoln County, made a complete re-survey of the town, beginning at the northwest corner of Lot 4 in Block 12, where he perpetuated the corner by placing a stone in it 26x9x4 inches in size. John Franklin and S. G. Wright were the chain carriers in making this re-survey. The town, as thus surveyed, contains nine blocks of four lots each, and fifteen blocks of eight lots each, the lots being 128x65 feet, except in Blocks 1 to 4 inclusive, where they are of the same width but greater length. Jacob VoepeFs addition to the town of Moscow was surveyed and platted in June, 1882, by J. F. Wilson, the county surveyor.

The contract for the bridge recently built across the Cuivre, at Moscow, was let by the county court to Raymond & Campbell, of the Council Bluffs' Bridge Company, for $3,825; $3,000 to be paid by the county, and the balance by the citizens of Moscow and vicinity. The bridge is a substantial iron structure.

About 1879 a colored man by the name of Cavello Sydnor went over the dam in a skiff. Three days later his body was found one mile below. Soon after that fatal accident Miss Acsah Shultz, sister to the nurseryman, was trying to ford the river, when her horse became frightened and threw her off. She was swept by the current into deep water, where she was drowned. Her body was recovered about two hours later. The next case of drowning at Moscow was that of Pat Carney, which occurred about four years ago. He was supposed to have gone into the river bathing while in a state of intoxication. His body was found by the use of dynamite. It is no wonder that the people of Moscow were anxious for a good bridge across the Cuivre.