Marion County >> 1872 Index

Pioneers of Marion County
by Wm. M. Donnel.  Des Moines: Republican Steam Printing House, 1872.

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Martin Neel

Martin Neel was a native of Kentucky. At precisely what date he settled in Liberty is not known, but it is supposed by the oldest inhabitants to have been previous to the extinction of the Indian title. He made his claim and place of residence on Cedar bottom, not far from the present site of Marysville. The land is now owned and occupied by Daniel F. Leiby.

During his early residence here, Mr. Neel suffered many of the privations incident to pioneer life. At one time it was found necessary for him to go to Burlington for a short time, to work for money to purchase such articles as were sorely needed, leaving his wife and two children in their isolated, wilderness home, without any known neighbors within a distance of many miles, except Indians. At the end of two weeks Mr. N. returned with half a bushel of meal that he had carried on foot from Burlington! It was a precious burden.

Clothing was often a scarce article with the early pioneers, and it was found necessary to practice the strictest economy in the use of it. It so happened at one time that Mr. Neel had but one pair of pants, and his wife but one dress; and, as there was no apparent prospect of obtaining a change soon, they prudently decided to save what they had by using it as little as possible. It was warm weather, and they could dispense with any surplus amount of covering without suffering any serious inconvenience therefrom, besides, like Adam and Eve, they had no neighbors to behold their condition, or at least they supposed they had not. But in this they were slightly mistaken, for one day when Martin was at work on his claim, in his every-day suit of only a shirt, he happened to observe the approach of a lady at a distance. Horrified at the though of being so discovered in his semi-nude condition, he made a hasty retreat to the house, announced the approach of the visitor, and the modest pair had barely time to dress ere the visitor arrived. She introduced herself as Mrs. Howard who had just settled in the neighborhood, and had called to make their acquaintance. After this Mr. Neel did not deem it prudent to go pantless.

The family moved to Missouri many years ago, and the last that was heard of Mr. Neel , he was an officer in the rebel army.

Nathan Nichols

Nathan Nichols taught the first school in '53, in a house left vacant by one of the Frakes. The house stood on the bottom near White Breast, in section 26. It was long afterwards moved to Mr. Richies, and is doing service as a stable.

The death of Nathan Nichols will long be remembered on account of the painful circumstances under which it took place. He and Mrs. Hewland, who was a widow, and a relative of his, had come from Ohio together, and were living together south of White Breast, till a grown son of Mrs. H.'s created a disturbance that caused him to take up his abode alone in a small cabin not far distant. One evening, some time after taking up his lonely abode, he went to Mrs. Hewland's for a pitcher of butter-milk. On receiving it he took a hearty drink of it, and was observed to take another ere he reached his domicile. Nothing more was known or thought of him till next day, when his non-appearance about the premises induced some one to go to his house. There they found him dead, and all the evidences to prove that he had died in extreme agony. He was lying upon his bed with his head hung over the railing, and his face black, whilst over him and upon the floor were strewed large quantities of feathers from the bed-tick that he had evidently torn open in his struggles. At one time some suspicious of foul treatment were entertained, but no conclusion was better to arrive at than that the poor man died from a violent attack of bilious colic, induced by the excessive draughts of butter-milk he had taken into his stomach. Mrs. Hewland afterwards returned to Ohio.

Wellington Nossaman - page 141 and 142

Wellington Nossaman was born in Monroe county, Va., in 1817. At the age of two years was taken by his parents to Pike county, Ky.; in '32 moved to Marion county, Ind.; in '42 came to Jefferson county, Iowa; was married on the 17th of March; came to this county in April, '43, and made a claim in the south part of the township.

Here Mr. N. lived in a pole shanty, roofed with bark, that had been hastily put up for a temporary shelter, till a better building could be provided on his claim and a patch of corn planted. During this time Mrs. W. and Levi Nossaman were the only women in the settlement.

In the fall of '43, John B. Hamilton built the first house proper, a round log cabin, intended for something more than temporary use, and Mr. Nossaman built the next one immediately afterwards.

At this early date the difficulty of obtaining breadstuffs induced Mr. N., in connection with Wm. Welch, to put up what they called a stump mill, to grind corn. It was constructed to run by horse power, and when in motion the entire mill turned on a pivot under the burrs. It was capable of grinding about one bushel of corn per hour, and supplied quite a demand in the settlement. During the same year ('46) and at the same place they also established a horse-power saw-mill, and manufactured the first lumber in the county north of the river. In addition to these temporary, though valuable enterprises, they erected a pottery there, and manufactured some pretty good ware. The remains of the pottery are still visible four miles south of Pella. In after years Mr. Nossaman, in connection with Joseph Porter, built the first steam saw-mill in Pella, which was also the first machinery in the county run by steam. His lime kiln, four miles south of Pella, was, perhaps, the first permanent establishment of the kind in the county.

He also kept a store there, on his farm, known in the neighborhood as "the one-horse store." During the flood of '51 he erected a temporary grist mill, that was run by a band from an armed upright shaft, and ground eight bushels of corn per day. This mill was run day and night for six weeks, to supply the demand till the flood abated. In '53 Mr. N. purchased the Franklin House, in Pella, and kept hotel and a mercantile establishment in it at the same time, for about two years.

Previous to the organization of the county, Mr. Nossaman attended court at Oskaloosa, where he assisted to build the first court house of Mahaska county, and was one of the first grand jurors of that county court. In '45 he was elected to the office of coroner of this county, and, by virtue of that office, acted as high sheriff during the absence of the sheriff elect. In '46 or '47 he was appointed deputy assessor, and was the first person that assessed the Holland colony.

The first justice elected in Lake Prairie was William Bainbridge, and Wellington Nossaman was the first constable. The first election came off on Lake Prairie, at the house of Mr. Bainbridge, about half a mile above the crossing now known as Durham's ford or ferry, near the locality of an Indian village called Keokuk's town, consisting of forty or fifty huts.