Encyclopedia Dubuque
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LANGWORTHY, James
LANGWORTHY, James. (Windsor, VT, Jan. 20, 1800-Monticello, IA, Mar. 31, 1865). James Langworthy left St. Louis in 1824 and began mining in Hardscrabble (Hazel Green), Wisconsin. He came to the MINES OF SPAIN area as early as 1823 to visit the SAUK and FOX village at the mouth of CATFISH CREEK. Around 1827, he was joined by his brothers Lucius Hart LANGWORTHY and Edward LANGWORTHY. While the natives would not allow him to mine LEAD, James Langworthy was permitted in 1829 to explore the entire area between the Maquoketa and Turkey rivers. On June 17, 1830, he was the author of the "Miner's Compact," the first LAWS to be written within the borders of Iowa.
DUBUQUE MINES, June 17, 1830. We, a committee, having been chosen to draft certain rules and regulations, by which we, as miners, will be governed; and, having duly considered the subject, do unanimously agree that we will be governed by the regulations on the east side of the Mississippi River, with the following exceptions, to wit:
ARTICLE I.- That each and every man shall hold two hundred years of ground by working said ground one day in six.
ART. II.- We further agree, that there shall be chosen by the majority of the miners present, a person who shall hold this article, and who shall grant letters of arbitration, on application being made, and that said letter arbitration shall by obligatory on the parties concerned so applying.
To the above, the undersigned subscribe
J.L.Langworthy, H.F.Lander. JamesMcPheeters. Samuel H.Scoles. E.M. Urn.
In 1833 after the BLACK HAWK WAR, white settlement was permitted in the area and the three brothers were joined by Solon LANGWORTHY.
In October 1833, James Langworthy, "head of the family," aided in the construction of Iowa's first schoolhouse. Later he had the route surveyed and then hired Lyman DILLON to construct the MILITARY ROAD stretching from Dubuque to Iowa City. Langworthy built the second brick home in Dubuque (1836) on the corner of Iowa and 12th STREETS. In 1844 he served in the state constitutional convention and one term in the territorial legislature as a "free trade Democrat." In 1849 James Langworthy built RIDGEMOUNT, one of the finest homes in the city.
So successful was the firm of J. L. Langworthy and Bros. that in 1855-1856 it paid one-twelfth of the entire tax collected in Dubuque. This co-partnership of James, Edward and Solon in MINING, real estate, and banking continued until all retired in 1862.
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Source:
History of Dubuque County Iowa. Chicago: Western History Company, 1880