The Formative Years: Early Settlers of Center Point
Eastern Iowa was home to the Sac and Fox Indians in the early part of the nineteenth century. The Black hawk Purchase of September 21, 1832, however, signaled the start of the Native Americans’ migration to the west. In the agreement, the tribes ceded a strip of land fifty miles west of the Mississippi River to the United States. The tribes began to peacefully vacate the area in 1833.
Their departure from this area was accelerated when in February 1838, a treaty was ratified which ceded an additional 1,250,000 acres. The border of this tract of land crossed the Red Cedar River near the west line of Benton Township in Benton County.
It was on July 4, 1839, that two brothers, Bartimeus, age 27, and Hamilton McGonigle, age 32, decided to move west to the new frontier. Bartimeus and his wife, Catherine, and their two children left their home in Pennsylvania and joined up with Hamilton, his wife, Mary, and their three children living in Ohio. Iowa was their destination. The area they chose to settle (later known as Center Point) was very near the edge of the frontier. They selected a site near the edge of the woods where it projected into the prairie. The section of the grove where they settled became known as “McGonigle’s Point.” Today we believe their homes were located near the Fross Park and Cemetery area.
The McGonigles were successful at taming the prairie and providing for their families. Bartimeus later became one of the first county officials. He was first appointed a judge of elections in 1841 at Michael Green’s house, a Greens Grove’s precinct, one of three election precincts in Linn County. In 1842 and 1843, Bartimeus served as a Commissioner of Linn County. The McGonigles were not without a neighbor when they made their claims. Robert Osborn had preceded them by a year, locating southeast of the present town site. Andrew Commings, Perry Oliphant and Andrew Motes settled about three miles southeast in 1839. During this year, David S. Way and Alexander Thomas made claims about the same distance west and north of the town. In 1840, several other families put in an appearance, making claims in different parts of the township. This group of pioneers formed the nucleus around which Center Point was formed.
McGonigle’s Point bustled with activity and the settlers in the area made it their headquarters. It must have started to get crowded at McGonigle’s Point because in 1846 Hamilton McGonigle moved his family further north to Buchanan County near Quasqueton. The Buchanan County history states that in the middle and late 1840s many farmers from surrounding counties came to McGonigle’s Point for their supply of corn. It was described as the “Egypt” of early settlers. In 1847, Bartimeus McGonigle moved his family to Clayton County near Monona and sold his farm to Hiram Campbell. Hiram was the first blacksmith in Center Point. Hiram kept the farm for two years before he sold it to Jesse Grubbs.
Native Americans were also present during these early years. Early settlers remember Native Americans who camped along the river. An early resident remembers the death of Chief Wacomo, who died in approximately 1856. He was a Sac and Fox Indian. Their burial traditions included a custom that after death, the Chief’s body was placed high on a platform of poles, until the moon was right for burial. When that time arrived, the Chief’s pony was led to the grave and killed. The horse’s rope and blanket were placed with the Chief, so they would be available to him in the spirit world.
On March 28, 1848, James Allenworth and Samuel M. Brice, trustees of Washington Township, ordered a village plat to be laid off on the northeast quarter of section 16, township 85 north, range 8. Andrew D. Botdorf, county surveyor, completed the survey in June 1848. That survey, however, was never used. A second survey, completed by John McArthur in January 1854, was used to establish the village of Center Point. Stephen Grubbs helped carry the chain when the survey was made. At the time of the second survey, Hiram Campbell and Dr. S. M. Brice were the only residents on the town plat. Dr. S. M. Brice was a practicing physician who also sold some goods.
The Hiram Campbell house was the second house erected on the town plat; the first was McGonigle’s house. The Campbell house still stands today, at 1021 Main Street.
At the time the village was platted, naming the new village proved to be controversial. Many felt that the McGonigles should be honored as the first settlers and the village remain known as “McGonigle’s Point”. The majority, however, felt that the central location between Cedar Rapids and Quasqueton and Cedar Rapids and Independence justified the name of “Central Point”. A compromise name of “Centre Point” was selected. The spelling of the name was later changed due to popular usage. As early as the 1870s, the railroad station used the current spelling on its sign and also printed tickets using the new spelling. The name was officially revised to its present form on July 6, 1893. Records indicate that the spelling of the town name was officially “Centerpoint” from December 1, 1895, to December 1, 1905.