Excerpts from the book: Pioneer Life In and Around Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from 1839 to 1849 by Rev. George R. Carroll. . 1895. Times Printing and Binding House, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

CHAPTER XVII.

The Exceptionals. – The Broady’s 

Mr. Knowls did not hold on very long to his mound claim. It was probably not more than a year after our coming that he sold it to a large family, familiarly known as the Broady’s.

The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Broady, with five sons, John, Hugh, William, Stephen and Jesse; with three daughters, Mrs. Mitchell, Hannah and Jane, and the son-in-law, Mr. Mitchell.

The name was in bad odor, and consequently the whole family had to suffer the reproach. From my remembrance of them, however, as a boy, I am not prepared to join in the wholesale condemnation of the entire family.  Bill and Steve and Jesse were notorious horse thieves, and all of them were finally convicted of crime and had to suffer the penalty of the law for their miss-deeds.

I remember Steve, especially, as a fine looking young man, with keen, black eyes, rather short and muscular, and as active as a cat.  With one bound he would spring from the ground into the saddle of his fine steed without touching anything except the horn of the saddle with his left hand.  He was shockingly profane, and bore every mark of being a bad character.

Of the two older brothers I do not remember to have ever heard anything amiss.  For aught I know to the contrary they were honest men.  I have heard it said that the old man was somewhat light-fingered, an that it was not altogether safe to leave anything lying around loose that he could get hold of without being observed.

As to the women of that household I never heard a word against them. They appeared well and were good neighbors. The youngest daughter, Jane, was a young lady of rare attractions, beautiful in person and ladylike in her deportment, and her reputation was that of a good honest girl.

We saw more or less of the family during the one or two years that they lived on the mound farm, but we had very little to do with them in the way of business of any kind, and we were very glad that they did not in any way molest us.

We had one very valuable mare that must have been a strong and constant temptation to the thieves, and we had good evidence that they had tried their best to capture here as she was running loose on the prairie.  But fortunately for us, though inconvenient at times, this beautiful animal was very hard to catch.  But for this fact there is no doubt she would have been stolen.

After leaving here the elder Mr. Broady went into a county north of us where he located and spent the residue of his life. He died many years ago. The older sons, I understand, are still living in this state and are regarded as honest men and good citizens.  Some of them it is reported are professors of religion and are living consistent Christian lives.

Although compelled to write as I have done with regard to some of the members of the family, it gives me unfeigned pleasure to make mention of those who are endeavoring to live honest and upright lives.  It is a consoling thought that God knows the heart, and no matter what our relatives may do, we are not held responsible for their misdeeds.

Joel Leverich. 

The mound farm did not remain long in the possession of the Broady’s, possibly a year and a half, when it came into the possession of the notorious Joel Leverich.

Everybody knew him and everybody dreaded him, especially when he was under the influence of liquor, which was often the case. Even his best friends then felt it to be prudent to give him a wide berth, not knowing what instant he would take it into his head to knock them down. Whiskey seemed to make a demon of him, and to attempt to reason with him while under its influence would have been as futile as to try to reason with a cyclone. His poor wife, a most patient and estimable Christian woman, would sometimes hide away from him for days, lest in his fits of uncontrolled and uncontrollable passion he might take her life. And yet “Old Joe,” as he was popularly called, had a good deal of influence in the community.  He was a strong partisan politician and whoever arrayed himself against him, was sure to have a hard battle to fight, and in the end would very likely meet with defeat.

He was as keen and cunning and wily as the old serpent himself, and it was very hard to circumvent him in his plans. He was accused of harboring horse thieves and of making counterfeit money.

As to whether he ever did either or not I could not say, but I remember well hearing him say that he “could make a little the cleanest bogus of any man in the country, and that old McKnight would not refuse it.” Mr. McKnight was the United States officer whose duty it was to receive the money from the settlers when they came to enter or pay for their lands.

And so of course any money that would pass current with him would have to be a remarkably good imitation of the genuine coin. But there can be no doubt that by such remarks Mr. Leverich wished to leave the impression that he had nothing to do with counterfeiting in any way. But however guilty he may have been, he was so shrewd and so sly that no one could ever convict him, although the attempt was several times made. But as bad as he was himself it pleased him to have any one speak well of his wife, although he was so cruel to her in his own treatment.

Judge Parvin tells me that years ago when Mr. Leverich lived near Muscatine, he was brought up in court for counterfeiting, Mr. Parvin at that time acting as district attorney for that district and his home being in Muscatine. The evidence seemed strong against Leverich, and Mr. Parvin had no doubt of his guilt.

In the course of his plea in behalf of the state, he took occasion to denounce the prisoner in the severest terms; and looking him square in the face and pointing his finger at him he said “it was a burning shame and disgrace that a man of his intelligence and ability should degrade himself and his family by engaging in such villainous work”. Continuing his plea he said, “I understand that he has a noble Christian wife at home; why could he not devote those noble God-given faculties of his to better purposes, and so prove an honor and blessing to her whom he had sworn to love and cherish, instead of bringing upon her untold sorrow and disgrace”. In the evening after court had adjourned and Mr. Pavin was at the hotel, Mr. Leverich called at the door and desired to speak with the district attorney. Some of Mr. Parvin’s friends warned him not to go out, for Joe Leverich would be likely to kill him. Mr. Parvin, however promptly went to the door, and as he closed it after him he stood a moment with his hand on the knob. “Let go of that knob,” said Leverich”. “Are you not afraid of me”?  “No”, said Mr. Parvin. “You are able to kill me if you choose, but one thing you cannot do. You cannot scare me. “Well said Joe” I admire your pluck, but I did not come to scare you nor to hurt you, but you told the truth about my wife.

She is a good woman and I would be glad to have you see her, and I am sure she would be glad to see you. If ever you come our way I would be glad to have you come and spend the night with us, and you shall have the best the house affords”.

Sometime after that Mr. Parvin passed that way and he decided to accept Mr. Leverich’s invitation. Calling at the door Mrs. Leverich met him, and when he made himself known she kindly received him into her home.  After a while Mr. Leverich came in and was equally cordial in his greeting, and so Mr. Parvin spent a very pleasant night with them.

Mr. Leverich was an out and out infidel, his favorite book being Tom Paine’s “Age of Reason,” his copy of that work being the only one, I believe, I ever saw.

The names he chose for his sons will readily indicate the bent of his mind on that subject. They were Chauncy, Volney, Voltaire and Hume. The daughters were Maria and Frances Wright, both of them, I believe, worthy daughters of a good Christian mother.

Towards the close of his life his stomach became so inflamed and diseased by his intemperate habits that he was compelled to desist from his cups, sometimes for weeks together. But the fatal spell was upon him, and he continued to have his periodical sprees to the end of his life.

In his last illness Dr. Ely was called in to attend him. His brother James, who was keeping a saloon at that time, was anxious to know the result of the doctor’s examination. The doctor frankly told him that Joe’s sickness was the result of his long life of dissipation, and that his stomach was eaten up by ulcers. James could scarcely believe that the use of alcohol could produce such direful effects, and if convinced of the fact, said he would cease to sell the poisonous stuff any longer.

After the death of Mr. Leverich, James requested a post-mortem examination, and Dr. Ely showed him the stomach in the precise condition that he had before described it. And so, true to his word, James closed out his business and engaged in something less harmful to his fellow-men. I think it was 1842 or 1843 that Mr. Leverich sold out his claim to Judge Green.

For a time after that he lived near the McLeod springs, and then later moved to town where he died not many years after, unmourned and unwept. His profligate life shortened his days and ended his career.

Sometime before his death, I was told, that he uttered the poor dying infidel’s prayer: “O God, if there be a God, have mercy on my soul, if I have a soul.”

And so we turn away from the sad scene of a wrecked life. Poor old Joe! He had a hard and unhappy life and a bitter, gloomy end.