Clinton township, with a population of 1,000 people, located in the western tier of townships, has a rich, productive soil and has been farmed continuously for sixty years and the soil shows no sign of deterioration. The farmers residing in Clinton township have well improved farms, good roads and a number of fine school houses and churches. For many years the road known as the Toledo road, as well as the Marengo road, were the two chief thoroughfares for travelers, gold seekers, and others, and consequently it was early well advertised.
Among some of the early settlers in this township may be mentioned John Conley, Hiram Usher, Joe Brown, Dyer Usher, George Buchanan, Reese and the Langhams, and scores of others who came here in the '40s.
James Yuill, Henry Maurer, John Fox, Whiteneck, Sisley, Kuhn, Wieneke, Lederman, O'Connell, the Miller family, Misners, Scotts, Swetts, Hall, Snell, and many others of the early settlers came here in an early day, building up the community. They have long since passed away leaving their children and grandchildren large tracts of productive land.
Sisley Grove was at a very early time a place where all the settlers, as well as travellers, congregated. The grove at that time was much larger than it is at present, and many of the farmers adjoining owned small tracts of land in this grove where they cut rails and fence posts for their farms during the winter.
Here is also located a cemetery where many of the old settlers are buried, and at an early day a church was built at which the early pioneers congregated once a week to hear the word of God preached. In the absence of any regular preacher frequently the pioneer farmers preached to the congregations. This church was abandoned some years ago and the congregation has since worshiped at Fairview, a few miles further east.
Here, also, was located Kuhn's blacksmith shop and hotel. Kuhn was a queer old fellow, who not only was an expert blacksmith but the only one for miles who was competent to shoe oxen, and consequently during the winter months he was a very busy man. Kuhn not only was a good horseshoer and blacksmith, but he was a dentist as well and pulled teeth when blacksmithing was slack. At one time he pulled a tooth for an old settler with an instrument used in those days and as it was pretty severe he gave a drink of whiskey to stop the pain. After the fellow fully recovered his senses the tooth ached as before and the patient learned that the dentist had pulled the wrong tooth and so informed the blacksmith, to which the blacksmith replied, "That will be easy to remedy, just take another drink and we will go at it again, and you will not be out very much as my charges are only ten cents a tooth." Old Mr. Kuhn seemed to know the wants of the community, for he kept a barrel of whiskey in his blacksmith shop and sold the stuff at thirty cents a gallon, and served free drinks to anyone on paying his bill. The hotel was not a modern kind of a house, but was generally full, as travellers in those days were plentiful. The old man also sold feed to travellers and consequently he generally got a little something out of every traveller who passed by Sisley Grove.
The grove was named in honor of the first settler who owned most of the land, on which the grove is situated. During the early '50s and '60s Clinton township produced more wheat, it is said, than any other township in the county, all of which was hauled to Cedar Rapids.
BUFFALO TOWNSHIP
Buffalo township was first settled by George C. Perkins, who came here in 1839 and made a claim which he occupied thereafter during his lifetime. In the early days it was well wooded and consequently much of this land was sold in small strips to adjoining farmers.