Wheeler township, formed by dividing Levey township, was organized as a separate political unit in 1875.  It was named after Hiram C. Wheeler, who, after making a fortune in a business enterprise in California and through money speculation during the Civil War, purchased nine sections of land in Sac county in the fall of 1871.  For this land, secured from the Iowa Rail Road Land company, he was charged $3.00 an acre but received a discount because of the size of his purchase. Swedish Settlement As early as 1867 a Swedish settlement was started in Crawford county near the Sac county line.  Within the next few years others came and settled within what is now Wheeler township, Sac county.  One of the early settlers in the locality was not a Swede but a Scotchman, John Bruce.  He bought land in Wheeler township in 1871, but did not move on it until 1874.  His son, J. S. Bruce, came with him, bringing his family which included his baby boy born the previous year - J. L. Bruce with whom all in Odebolt now are familiar.  Solomon Peterson, more familiarly known as "Sol," bought 80 acres in the township in 1873 and brought his family to it the next spring.  He built the third house in the township. 

In 1874 came Andrew E. Johnson and his cousin, Henry Hanson, who purchased 320 acres in partnership.  August Lundell purchased 160 acres in 1874 but did not move onto the land until 1875.  Joseph P. Goreham moved onto his half section farm in 1874.  John Nelson settled in the township in 1877 but moved on westward in 1881.  However, his son, Alfred, continued in the township.  Abner L. Chandler has been mentioned in connection with the Wheeler Ranch.  He was in the township several years before Odebolt was founded.

Other Settlers Others in the locality at an early date, at least by 1875 as shown by election returns for that year, were Daniel Lesher, William Henderson, Martin Purcell, A.D. Peck, Orin Haskins, Louis Lumberg, A. P. Nelson and G. A. Gustafson.  Nor may the names of John A. Stolt, C. J. Johnson, August Lundell and John Baker be omitted from a list of early settlers.

In 1876 Hiram B. Smith purchased a half section in Wheeler township but he did not move onto the land until 1880.  His brother-in-law, Michael B. Wolf, settled in the township in 1882.  Andrew Lundell located in the township in 1878 on a farm later occupied by Peter G. Lundell.  Abraham Teaquist came in 1877, bringing his 11 year old son, known since 1886 by everyone for miles around Odebolt as Col. Albert S. Teaquist, the auctioneer.

W. W. Field was an early purchaser of land in Wheeler township, but he did not move onto his section until 1879.  He had been prominent in Wisconsin before coming to the vicinity of Odebolt.  At one time he served as president of the Iowa State Agricultural society.  His section is now a part of the Adams Ranch (in 1938).  By 1880 there were 627 people in the township.

The Cook ranch is today but a memory, yet it was once the largest farm in Sac county.  On April 15, 1873, Charles Willard Cook of Chicago purchased 12 sections of land in what was the West Boyer Valley township in Sac county.  For the 7,680 acres he paid the Iowa Rail Road Land company $5 an acre, or a total of $38,400.  It was his intention to develop "a mammoth stock far."

Born in 1832 at Haddam, Conn., Mr. Cook had moved to Chicago in 1854.  In 1869 he became a wholesale coal dealer.  He was also interested in real estate, timber, banks, railroads, street cars and insurance.  After purchasing his Sac county land he subdivided it into half section tracts, each with a complete set of buildings.  These farms he rented to tenants.

Near the center of his land, on the Richland-Cook township line, he erected his own residence.  His first house burned in the early nineties and was replaced by the large house which still stands. (in 1938)  It was equipped with hot water heat, gas lights and "all other modern improvements,' in the days when such conveniences were rare in that part of Iowa.

In 1893, his son, Albert Eugene Cook, became manager of the ranch.  About 1908 he began to sell the smaller farms composing the ranch and within a few years the Cook ranch was a thing of the past.  A. E. Cook removed to Kankekee, Ill., to engage in manufacturing.

B. A. Coy Another large land owner in what is now Cook township was B. A. Coy.  In 1876 he bought a large tract reported to have been two and one-half sections.  For awhile he lived on it but moved to the town of Odebolt when it was founded.  At the time of his death he was occupying the residence on the northwest corner of Maple and Fourth streets.

Other early settlers in the vicinity were William Cory, P. W. Lashier, J. E. Sanborns, Joseph Dick, Charles Prentice, H. A. Wilson and J. C. Bodine.  By 1880 the population of Cook township, which had been separated from Boyer Valley township in 1876, was 400.

... the first settlements in Sac County were in the eastern part.  Gradually settlers pushed westward, occupying the Boyer valley, and then moving on towards the site of the future Odebolt.

One of the earliest settlers in Clinton township was M. D. Fox, who came to the township in the spring of 1874.  He built the third house in the township, the first having been built by Jacob Brown i the fall of 1873.  It was Mr. Fox and N. B. Umbarger who went to Sac City in 1875 and secured the organization of Clinton township as a separate political unit.  They also gave it the name which it bears, after Clinton county, Iowa, from which they had moved to Sac county.

Conrad Meyer purchased a quarter section in the township in 1873.  John Currie came to Clinton township in 1874.  His son, Malcolm, now of Sac City, former county attorney, is reputed to have been the first white child born in Clinton township.  Donald McCorkindale Sr., also came to the township in 1874.  Henry Frey Sr. occupied a half section in the township in the spring of 1874.   Marcellus Bartlett came in 1875.  In l876 came William A. Stanzel Sr., William Quirk and Thomas Quirk.  William Quirk had first come to Sac county in 1874, but did not settle on his Clinton township farm until two years later.

Other early settlers in Clinton township were Charles Martin, George Martin, John Draper, Oscar Draper, Charles Sherwood, Archibald Ray and the REv. Jesse Helsell, father of W. A. Helsell.

Others who came to Clinton township about the time Odebolt was being developed were Asa B. Smith, Henry Kessler, Alexander McGeachy and Henry Clark Robinson.  They all arrived in 1878.  By 1880 there were 521 people in the township.

Since Odebolt is located in Richland township it is of special interest to note some of the early settlers in the region.  Many of these were Germans who formed the line of approach to the Odebolt locality from the north, just as the Swedes had approached from the south and people largely of native American stock from the east and southeast. 

Among the first to arrive was Sebastian Buehler Sr., who settled in the township in 1872.  His brother-in-law, O. Rudolph, came at the same time and settled on the farm now (1938) occupied by Edward B. Dannenberg.  Rudolph, it should be mentioned, died as a result of exposure in a terrific blizzard.

Jacob Buehler Sr., also came in 1872 as did Frederick Petersmeyer.  Nathaniel Brown Umbarger who, it is interesting to note, was a native Virginian and had served in the Confederate army, came in 1873.  Thomas Down Sr. came in 1873.  The following year, however, he returned to Illinois, and did not return until 1885, when he settled on the farm now occupied by his son, Thomas Down.  In 1873 John Wesley Younie bought a quarter section in the southwestern part of the township but did not settle on it until the following spring.

S. E. Peck came in a covered wagon in 1874 and settled a short distance northeast of what is now Odebolt.  John Konradi Sr. came to the township in 1875.

Conrad Hausman came in 1875, shortly before the Rabes.  Fred Frevert Sr. also came in the seventies.  John Fuchs came to the township in 1877 but did not settle on his own farm for some time.  John Hix was in Boyer Valley township as early as 1876, but it was not until 1890, after the elder Hix had died, that the family moved to Richland township.  James A. Cranston purchased land in the township as early as 1873 but did not settle on it until 1878, after the railroad had been built through Odebolt.  John Dinges purchased a section in 1874 but he too awaited the coming of the railroad before settling on the land.  He erected his buildings in 1879 and brought his family out the next year.

Other settlers who were evidently in the township in 1876, to judge by the list of officers elected after Richland was separated from Clinton township that year, were C. H. Babcock, J. B. Calkins, Thomas Dorman, P. K. Sanderson, A. L. Miner, E. A. Bennett, W. P. Purcell, Jacob Miller, E. Colvin and J. Stickles.

"Rich Land" - Richland township was cut off from Clinton township by the board of supervisors in 1876.  It was named by a Mr. Stewartson of Illinois, because of its fertile soil.

LEVEY TOWNSHIP

Levey is Oldest Township in Southwestern Part of County
Not Enough Settlers to Fill Offices When First Created
("Fifty Years of Progress"; The Odebolt Chronicle, Vol. 51, Number 31, Thursday, August 25, 1938, page 5)

     Levey is the oldest of the townships in the southwestern part of Sac county, having been created as a separate township in 1871. Because there were not sufficient settlers in the area at that time to fill the offices, the township was not really organized until 1873.
     Among the early settlers were Charles Levey, 1869, for whom the township was named; Richard Dean, 1869; Frank W. Weed, 1870; George A. Weed, 1870; Samuel Adams, 1871; A. Marks, 1871; W.J. Muxen, 1871. The first township assessor was F.W. Weed.
     One of the most widely known settlers was Dr. Stevens, who came in 1871. He moved to the county with intentions of becoming a farmer, rather than to practice medicine. Other physicians of the county were so far away, however, that people called on him and it was impossible for him to devote much of his time to farming. After about 10 years on the farm he moved to Odebolt, where he practiced medicine until his death in 1891.
     Another well-known settler of the township was James Taylor, who came from Vail in 1873 and located on what is now [1938] the Gosch farm five miles southeast of Odebolt. Most of the earlier settlers had been in the vicinity of Wall Lake.
     The first school in the township was taught by Fannie Philbrick.

(The below is from: "A Century of Living in Wall Lake, 1877-1977", pp. 251-252 (Wall Lake's centennial history book)

     Levey township was named for Charley N. Levey, the first known white settler of the township. The township was constituted in 1871 but not really organized until 1873 on account of not having sufficient number of residents in the township before then to hold the various township offices.
Many of the settlers came by team and wagon to Sac County. They endured the privations and hardships incident to pioneer life in making a home and rearing their family.
     We will relate the experience of Frank W. Weed, one of the early settlers of Levey Township. Mr. Weed was the first township assessor and his experience as one who tamed the wilderness as a typical story of all the pioneers of Levey Township.
     About seven years before the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad had penetrated this rich agricultural section of the state with its line from Carroll to Sioux City, Mr. Weed alighted from a train in the village of Westside, in Crawford county. It was on the 29th day of March, 1870. He was met at the railroad station by his brother-in-law, Charley N. Levey. They did not tarry long in town, for they had about a twenty mile trip ahead of them.
     At the time of Mr. Weed's arrival, it was the custom to go around a hill in place of directly over it as today, which made the distance greater than it is today between Westside and Mr. Weed's destination.
     They did not journey in those days in a high powered automobile, but were glad to ride in a lumber wagon without a spring seat. At that time it was customary to throw a buffalo robe or sack filled with hay or straw on a board, which served as the seat. A team of horses provided the motive power.
     After a long weary trip they reached a hill south of what is now [written in 1930] the village of Herring, and looked at the promised land all about them. As far as they could see it was miles and miles of rolling prairie land with here and there some timberland. The only building in sight was a small shanty, which was home sweet home to the Levey family. It not only sheltered the Levey family, but also served as a sanctuary for travelers weary from travel or lost in a storm. The settlements at Ida Grove, Grant City, and Sac City were at that time mere inland villages.
     Making his home with his brother-in-law, Mr. Weed bought land across the road and prepared to make a home for his bride to be and then returned to Illinois the following winter. The next spring he returned and established a home on his land. With the true spirit of the pioneer they proceeded to carve out a home for themselves and others that might follow.
     During the cold winter months there was little protection from the blizzards that swept down upon them from the north. Each man going on a journey of any distance started out with a fear that he might not return. The blizzards at that time were plentiful and meant a hazard to all who ventured out. There were no roads and landmarks were few. Bridges were very scarce and many a man lost his life while attempting to ford a stream.
     We will list names of several of the first settlers of Levey township. There were no doubt others who came there at an early date. Charles N. Levey, conceded to be the first settler of Levey township, arrived during the year 1869 and Richard Dean came the same year; Nathan, a brother of Charles [Levey], came in 1871; Frank Weed, March 29, 1870; George Weed, Frank's brother on August 20, 1870; Samuel Adams in 1871; Thomas Marks in 1871; M.J. Muxen in 1871; Dr. B. Stevens in 1871; John and Nels Wright, H.B. and Cornelius Allen, and D. Calkins in 1873; Chris Roth in 1874; John Stuart in 1874; George Maynard, Daniel Lietz, John and Mike Wunschel were also early settlers.
     Miss Fannie Philbrick has the honor of teaching the first public school in the township, this school was organized during the year 1873.
     James Taylor arrived in Levey township in 1873 and located on land about six miles west of Wall Lake in section 6. Mr. Taylor secured the establishment of the stage from Denison (in Crawford Co.) to Sac City and also the establishment of the post office, Oliver, in his home. At that time there were three post offices in southern Sac County, namely Philo, Oliver, and Wheeler. Mr. Taylor also secured the right of way for the Chicago and northwestern Railroad from maple River Junction in Carroll County to Mapleton in Monona County.
     Charley Sherwood first located seven miles northwest of the present location of Wall Lake in section 22, Clinton township, and there established what was officially known in those pioneer days a Philo post office. The office was located in his home. At the time these post offices were established mail service was not so good, for the distance between offices was considerable. Some received their mail at Grant City, some at Westside, and others at Sac City. These offices were supplied by a stage, which operated between Denison and Sac City twice per week. Mr. Sherwood later moved to Wall Lake and was an early day postmaster in Wall Lake.
     During the early days the Kleiner brothers established a grist mill on the banks of the Boyer River, about two and ½ miles northwest of Wall Lake. This mill started to grind wheat in 1875. It was run by water power. The mill today [1930] exists only as a memory.
     During a visit with Wm. Quirk, he informed us that he came to Sac County in the year 1874 and settled in Clinton township. He entered the county by way of Grant City and a wagon road not much like the roads of today around the north shore of Wall Lake. He made the trip from his old home in Clinton County (hence the name Clinton Twp.) in a covered wagon drawn by a team of horses. "In those day", said Mr. Quirk, "Farmers in this vicinity drove over to Grant City, which is located about 1 ½ mile north of Auburn, to mill". Grant City had not only a flour mill, but also a brick yard, and best of all, an abundance of timber land.
. . . Mr Quirk also informs us that at first it was rumored a town would be located on the August Hanke farm in Viola Township. However, an agent of the C and NW Railroad circulated around in this vicinity and induced John R. Stuart and John Cummins to donate 40 acres of land. The same agent also received donations of $15.00 to $100.00 from other farmers, and then on the prairie land sprang into existence, the town of Wall Lake. In 1930 the thriving little town of Herring was also in Levey township.