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From: "Cathy Joynt Labath" <>
Subject: [IASCOTT] !! Davenport Times; Scott Co, IA; Dec 22, 1900 "Winfield Twp."
Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 16:32:14 -0600


Davenport Times
Davenport, Scott, Iowa
Saturday, December 22, 1900

FOUNDATIONS OF SCOTT COUNTY.
WINFIELD TOWNSHIP. THE TOWN OF LONG GROVE.
The Rise and Fall of Point Pleasant Postoffice--On the Old Stage Route to
DeWitt and Dubuque.
By F.J.B. Huot.

Coeval with the erection of Allen's Grove township was that of Winfield
township, which was first settled in 1836 by the brothers Quinn, William and
John, who located claims in that year on sections 5 and 9 and erected log
houses thereon. Later came Joseph and James Quinn, brothers of William and
John Quinn.
The Quinns were the original settlers, but neither of the four brothers
survive. The families, or descendants of William and Joseph, however, reside
in the county.
John Quinn opened a farm in section 9 in 1836. He came from Ohio and
made many improvements on his section. In 1839 he laid out the village of
Point Pleasant and became its postmaster. In 1849 he removed to California,
going overland with the argonauts in that year. William Quinn, his brother,
resided in the township until 1880, when he died.
First Called Quinn Township.
When first erected Winfield township was called "Quinn Township," but
this was solely a cognomen applied by the residents of the same. The name of
the county was "Scott" and the organizers of the township determined to
christen it "Winfield" after the Christian name of the staunch old fighter,
General Winfield Scott, who negotiated the Black Hawk treaty in 1833, just
three years prior to the advent of the Quinns to sections 5 and 9.
The Settlers of 1841.
Besides the four Quinn brothers, William, John, Joseph, and James,
there were eighteen other pioneers in the township. Chief among these were
the Brownlie brothers, who came from Old Scotland to Canada and from there
to the township. These were James, the well known Christian church pastor;
Alexander, who afterwards moved to Poweshiek county, and Robert and William
Brownlie, deceased. A.D. Brownlie, the well known Scott county resident, is
a son of Alexander Brownlie, who moved into Poweshiek county.
Beside the Brownlie Bros., there were resident in the township in that
year a Virginian, named Norman, who settled where Point Pleasant was later
located; Samuel Freeman who afterwards moved into what is now Hickory Grove
township; Robert Waterhouse, who later crossed the Wapsipinnecon into
Clinton county, and located at DeWitt, in that county-(a city, by the way,
named after DeWitt Clinton, the celebrated historical character in the early
part of this lapsing century); Henry Lea and Albert Lea, both Canadians, who
came with the Brownlies, entered and returned to the Dominion in 1845;
George Ellis, a blacksmith; Isaac Swim, who later moved into Princeton
township; a Mr. Martin, who moved into Butler township; Charles Elder, of
Pennsylvania, Leonard Cooper; Mrs. Arable, who later went to live at
Cascade, Ia.; and Elihu Alvord, who settled afterwards in Pleasant Valley
township and became the progenitor of the Alvord family of that place. Mr.
Alvord was a Connecticut gentleman.
It might be said here that James and William Quinn removed to Mahaska
county, while John, who founded "Point Pleasant" on the old stage coach
road, got the gold fever and went to California. Joseph Quinn finally
settled at Linn Grove.
First Things in Township.
The first town was platted in Winfield township by John Quinn in 1839.
It was named "Point Pleasant" and was made a postoffice.
In 1841 the first school was taught in the township by Dominick
Kennedy. This was a private school, those sending children paying the
tuition for the same.
The first church erected outside of Davenport was located in Winfield
township. It was a log house, and was used by the Disciples for Christian
congregation.
The first religious services were held in 1838 at the house of James
Brownlie. Mr. Brownlie officiated as the clergyman on the occasion.
In 1849 Hannah Alvord taught school in this log church, which was used
by the Christian congregation.
The first blacksmith in the township was George Ellis, who in 1844
opened a shop at Point Pleasant.

...to be continued...

Cathy Joynt Labath
Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project
http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm


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