George Washington Matsell

This story was first published in TimeLines (Vol. IV, No. 4; June 1998), the voice of the Linn County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission from The History Center of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

History by Bob Drahozal; Copy Edit by Jimmy Montague

George W. Matsell: Remembering The Big Chief

Anyone traveling north from the tiny village of Viola, Ia., in the middle 1800s would, after about five miles, come to a bridge over the Wapsipinicon River. There, at the south end of the bridge, if travelers raised their eyes to the northwest they would see a mansion on a hill above the north bank of the river and, west of the big house, a magnificent set of farm buildings. Crossing to the north bank, a few yards past the end of the bridge, the traveler's view of the mansion and outbuildings would be blocked by huge trees that towered over the road. From that angle, the only sign of the great house was a gate, framed by a pair of stone gateposts -- ten feet tall -- that stood by the south edge of the way. The gate marked the entrance to the mansion, the summer home of George Washington Matsell, the first police chief of New York City, a pivotal figure in the history of law enforcement, and an important cog in the Irish-Democrat political machine known as Tammany Hall, which then ran the city.

How did this big-town police chief discover Iowa, and why did he choose to build a home here? An Iowa neighbor, Irving P. Bowdish, said he was told by Chief Matsell that the scenery in and about Anamosa, Ia., had been recommended to him by a Jesuit priest as some of the most interesting and beautiful in the nation.¹

A second, more fanciful tale is also attributed to Chief Matsell. Supposedly a group of Indians from Iowa once visited New York City. Their hotel room became unbearably warm, and they retired to the rooftop for relief. The manager had them arrested for disturbing the peace. Chief Matsell heard their story and had them released from custody. He then showed them around the city. They in turn told him of Iowa, of its fresh air, good hunting and good foods, and invited him to visit.²

Why did Matsell locate in such a secluded place? Again there are a couple of theories. One has it that Matsell wanted a landed estate which he could use as a summer home and to which he could, in the English custom, eventually retire.³ The nature of the site he chose supports that idea, as it was more suited to sports and leisure than to farming. Only about 15 percent of the place was tillable; the rest was wooded. The home site featured good spring water and a spectacular view of the Wapsipinicon River.

Another story has it that Matsell came to Iowa to escape prosecution for corruption and to use his illgotten wealth to build his own, private empire in the wilderness.⁴ This latter conjecture is disputed by the fact that Matsell maintained a residence in New York and spent only his summers in Iowa. Still there may be something to it, for (as shall be seen in a second article) Chief Matsell had his share of legal problems in New York.

However he first discovered the state and for whatever reason he chose to build here, Chief Matsell bought a lot of land in Iowa, much of it sight unseen. The area he chose for his purchases was in Buffalo Township, Linn County, east of the Wapsipinicon River, between the presentday towns of Viola and Prairieburg. His first recorded Iowa land purchase was on April 12, 1853.⁵ The original estate was some 1,500 to 2,000 acres. Subsequent purchases, including land belonging to neighbor Thomas Sampson, eventually increased Matsell’s holding to around 3,300 acres.⁶ And while the bulk of the estate lay around the presentday Matsell Bridge Natural Area, Chief Matsell’s properties were scattered to the north of that location, upriver into Boulder Township. Altogether, Matsell had four miles of Wapsipinicon River frontage.⁷

Matsell secured some lands through the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. and authorized his agents to locate contiguous tracts for additional purchases. He used the services of New York attorney John C. Clegg to search out veterans of the War of 1812 who had received land patents for their service and who were willing to sell. In the late 1850s, the U.S. government sold land in Iowa for $1.50 per acre, and Matsell paid veterans slightly more than that for their patents. Clegg usually bought the land in his own name and then transferred ownership to Matsell for a small premium. Other parcels were acquired from owners of Iowa land who were located both in Iowa and in New York, purchases for which attorneys R. D. Stephens of Marion, Ia., and Richard Sampson of New York City acted as Chief Matsell’s agents.⁸

Matsell was also on good terms with various Linn County treasurers, who kept him informed of lands going on the block at county tax sales. Those tax sales provided some great bargains for Matsell. Purchases included a 40acre plot in 1856 for a tax due payment of 92 cents (2.3 cents per acre). Between 1862 and 1865 Matsell took advantage of tax sales to acquire 320 acres for $17.66 (5.5 cents per acre), 40 acres for $2.18 (3.5 cents per acre) and another 40 for $2.92 (7.3 cents per acre).⁹

Because skilled labor was scarce on the frontier, Matsell prevailed on his nephew, Matthew D. Finn, an accomplished carpenter from New York, to come with him to Iowa and supervise the construction of his house and outbuildings. They arrived in 1856. Work began on Chief Matsell’s house almost immediately and was completed the following year. Finn and his descendants also settled in Iowa and have been a source for many articles written about the Matsell family.¹⁰

The main house and outbuildings lay in the southeast corner of Buffalo Township near Sweet Water Spring, which provided a clear, cold, safe water supply then as it does today. Most of Matsell’s crop land was situated north of the river. Many of his fields had names. One large tract south of the river was called “Log Cabin Field” due to a large log cabin — the home of Mike LaBarge — that was located there. Other fields had names such as “South Field,” “Violet Field” and “Chief Tree Field,” the latter socalled because Chief Matsell used to stand near a tree there to watch for deer. A large tract southwest of the river named “Storm Springs Farm” had its own set of outbuildings.¹¹

Matsell was said to idolize his namesake, President George Washington, and therefore, in building his own home, copied elements of Washington’s fabled Mount Vernon.¹² If so, resemblance between the two homes was slight. Such similarities as there were included location — both homes were sited on hills that featured sweeping views of a river — and the fact that both had roofed porches that ran the length of the side facing the river.

The Matsell house was framed with lumber sawed from timber harvested on the farm itself. Siding and finishing materials were hauled in from Dubuque by oxdrawn wagons. The masonry was done by a Mr. Coonrod. Matsell was so pleased with the man’s work that the Chief named a large tree at the entrance to his estate “the Coonrod Tree.”¹³

The house that Matsell built had 25 rooms. It featured a veranda and gables straight out of the Hudson River tradition. The rooms had fireplaces and high ceilings. A kitchen and pantry lay downstairs, along with a breakfast room, a dining room, a bedroom, the living room and a guest parlor. The upstairs was walled off into three separate sections, of which the easternmost was reserved for Matsell family members. The other two sections were for the help, who were hired by the year. The middle section housed female servants; west-end rooms were for serving men. The upstairs also had one room on the east side, known as “the Tent Room,” with large French doors opening onto a balcony that provided a magnificent view of the river. The porch below extended across two full sides of the house, the east and the south. On the north side, a covered driveway sheltered the Matsell’s comings and goings during inclement weather.¹⁴ In sum, the Chief’s Iowa mansion was truly spacious and luxurious and was entirely in keeping with his New York City residence, which was in a fashionable neighborhood.¹⁵

One of the few local people admitted to the Matsell home described the place as replete with magnificent furniture, tapestries and pictures.¹⁶ Silver serving sets were used. Two perfectly preserved chairs from the New York home of President George Washington, used when New York was the capital of the United States, were perhaps the most treasured pieces of furniture in the house. The chairs were brought to America from England by Pres. Washington’s parents. Col. H. F. Talmadge, who served under Washington during the revolution, acquired the chairs and presented them as a gift to Chief Matsell. Several other Matsell treasures were also gifts from Col. Talmadge. There was a block of wood from the Dutch Middle Church of New York City which had been demolished in 1835. Talmadge had stabled horses there during the Revolutionary War. Matsell also had a letter to Talmadge from President Washington. And Talmadge, who was a New York City official during Matsell’s term of office, presented Matsell with a double-barreled shotgun in honor of the chief’s law-enforcement service.¹⁷

It seems Chief Matsell was an inveterate collector, and his Iowa mansion housed many of the items he collected. He seems to have been especially fond of souvenirs. In July, 1923, the Cedar Rapids Gazette described a number of Matsell collectibles then on exhibit in an Anamosa store window as part of that year’s Fourth of July celebration. The items were made available by Matsell’s son, Augustus (Gus), who was living with George Finn at the time.

A newspaper article from 1936 listed many such items still in Gus’ possession.¹⁸ Among the curios named were an Oriental broom, two Japanese vases (a gift from Commodore Perry, a friend of Chief Matsell’s, who brought them back after signing the first treaty with the Japanese in 1854) and a white hat which had been worn by Grover Cleveland supporters. There were letters from Washington Irving; a blood-stained, tattered flag from the battle of New Orleans; a drum from early police parades in New York City; a leather pouch and shotgun once owed by Daniel Webster; tickets to the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge on May 23, 1883; and tickets to first Jenny Lind concert in this country. A unique item was a white dress shirt that had been worn by President Pierce, acquired when Mr. Pierce (who was in New York on other business) stopped by the Matsell house for a change of linen after being caught out in the rain. Pierce’s soiled shirt remained in Matsell’s collection. There were many relics from Chief Matsell’s New York City police service: A cat o' nine tails, shackles, handcuffs, silver badges, etc. One item, a large dinner bell inscribed with Matsell’s name, was presented him by the captains of his police force when he moved to Iowa. In addition, over Finn’s garage door, hung a Minerva ornament from the Astor Place Theater. It was brought to Iowa by Matsell apparently as a reminder of the Astor Place riots in which his police force had played a major role. Another source lists a letter from Samuel F. B. Morse in the collection, as well as a vast number of newspaper clippings, photos, cartoons and pictures.¹⁹

Souvenirs deemed worth their weight in gold were pieces of stone chipped from the slab upon which George Washington stood to take his first oath of office on April 30, 1789.²⁰ Another major souvenir was an anchor from a British frigate. The anchor had been dredged up from the bottom of New York harbor and given to Matsell. A later owner of the Matsell estate, Fred Witousek of Cedar Rapids, found the anchor, which had been cut in two pieces for use as fireplace andirons. Witousek had them welded back together.²¹

According to a 1967 interview with Matsell’s greatgreat nephew, Everett Finn of Cedar Rapids, a truckload of Matsell’s personal belongings was taken to New York City, where a room in that city’s Historical Society building centers on Chief Matsell. However, an ongoing search of museums and archives in New York City has yet to identify the location of those items. Finn claimed that he still had a number of trunks full of pictures, papers, and clippings, plus the Matsell family bible and George Matsell’s diary. Excerpts from the diary had been published in the Police Gazette as first person accounts of criminal episodes. No record of the disposition of these items has been found.²²

Northeast of the house was a gazebo. South and west of the house were the many outbuildings used for the farming operations. These included a cow barn, complete with calf pen and milk room, that sheltered up to 50 cattle. A horse barn sheltered 16 horses on the ground floor, with hay and grain being stored above. A twostory piggery could house hundreds of porkers. There were corn cribs, a pump house, a large toilet, a goat shed, and a machine shed. The ice house featured a large cellar of native stone, where vintages of all ages were stored. Other nearby buildings were a scale house, a blacksmith shop, a firewood storage shed and a lunchroom for hired help who did not live on the farm. On the driveway leading to the main gate was a house for a livein male employee and his family and a shed for their use.²³

Elsewhere on the estate were an office building, a peacock crib, and even a small print shop in which Matsell published his personal newspaper, The Wapsie Ranger.²⁴ Down the hill, by the river, was a boathouse. A little farther east, Matsell had a theater built in which plays were produced by actors who spent their summers as guests of Chief Matsell. The theater was called the Oak Hill, or Oak Glen, or Oak Hall theater, depending upon which source one chooses to believe.²⁵

English and urban in their tastes, George and Ellen Matsell tried to bring that kind of life with them to their Iowa farm. They lived in the luxurious manner to which they were accustomed in New York. With each trip from New York the family brought with them barrels of seafood, choice wines and liquors, eastern sauces and other specialty items. The Matsells did enjoy giving picnic parties, especially for guests from the East Coast, but disliked the lack of refinement on the frontier.²⁶ For this reason, they lived mostly by themselves and seldom invited rustic Iowa guests into their home. An exception was the neighboring Bowdish family, who were one time invited to an “evening lunch.” Mr. Bowdish commented that as soon as the meal was served, the ladies retired to a different room, and none of them were present at the table.²⁷

The Matsells had a corps of servants — maids, butlers, footmen and cooks — most of whom they brought from New York. All hired hands, imported or local, were required to address George Matsell as Master, his sons as Mister and his daughter as Miss. Any who did not do so were immediately discharged.²⁸

Yet Chief Matsell was a man of kindness. As the winter of 1856 approached and his house was being built, he found out that his neighbor, Bailey Bowdish, was having trouble getting his house built. Matsell sent his crew of carpenters over to work on Bowdish’s house, commenting that “They need a house more than I.”²⁹

In their notes on George Matsell, J. W. Bowdish and W. Lee Finn state that Indians who frequented forests in the area respected the “Heap Big Chief” who never spoiled the woods as other white men did. Matsell allowed no trespassing on his tracts by white hunters or trappers, yet the Indians were always welcome. Matsell’s arrival in the big woods also brought the area welcome relief from depredations by the bands of horse thieves with which parts of Eastern Iowa were then infested. The chief’s reputation as a lawman preceded him, and the crooks decided they had better go while the going was good.³⁰

On Oct. 1, 1925, Col. C. B. Robbins of Cedar Rapids, a former Assistant Secretary of War, purchased some 1,072 acres of the Matsell estate from Gus Matsell.³¹ This included the house, outbuildings and some 400 cultivated acres, the rest being in timber. The tract was valued at about $100,000. Col. Robbins traded 2461.8 acres in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, plus a 10year note for $45,000 for the Matsell land.³²

On March 1, 1947, Fred Witousek purchased the Matsell tract from the Robbins estate. He did some restoration work on the main building, but it was eventually allowed to sit unused and to slowly deteriorate.³³

Over the years, legends grew around the estate. There were stories of a tunnel from the house basement to the river to allow Chief Matsell to escape from enemies trying to harm him or to be used as part of the Underground Railroad before and during the Civil War. No tunnels have been found. Another story has Chief Matsell burying a half million dollars in gold in the house. The gold has never been found either. There is also the story that one of his daughters (however, Susan was the only one known) was locked in a cage in the basement and that the basement was haunted by her ghost.³⁴

In February, 1967, the Linn County Conservation Commission purchased the 1,072 acres of land from a Mrs. Julia Kloubec of Albuquerque, N.M., for $107,000 using a federal grant to cover 46 percent of the cost. The commission did not have enough money to restore the buildings, an estimated expenditure of between $300,000 and $500,000.³⁵ They made a two-year attempt to get private backing with no luck. In 1967 the house burned, and the commission decided to have most of the other buildings torn down.³⁶ Photos and drawings of the structures and main estate area were made and filed by the commission.

Today, the gateposts are still standing. Of the rest of the Matsell estate, only the ice house (with its wooden superstructure modified), the water pump and its foundation, and the foundations of several other buildings remain. Photos of the farm, made in April 1998, along with a narrative description of the area and the remaining artifacts, are available at the History Center.

Over the years, more acres have been added to the Conservation Commission’s purchase, now known as the Matsell Bridge Natural Area, bringing the total acreage to 1757, according to a description published on the Linn County Conservation Commission’s World Wide Web site.³⁷ Facilities at Matsell Bridge include a shooting range, a boat ramp, trails for hiking, for horseback riding and crosscountry skiing, a primitive camping area, hikein campsites, an equestrian camping area with hitching posts, and an overnight cabin (Red Oak Lodge). Hunting is allowed in season. Access is available via the Stone City Road and the Matsell Park Road north from Viola. The boat ramp also provides access from the Wapsipinicon River. In addition to the web site, brochures are available at most county office locations.

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(1) J. W. Bowdish. “Personal Recollections of the Honorable George W. Matsell.” State Historical Society of Iowa, ca. 1925.

(2) B. L. Wick. “George W. Matsell.” The Palimpsest, Vol. V, No. 7 (July 1925).

(3) Ibid.

(4) Robert Bell. “Mystery of Picturesque Matsell Home, Established Near Viola 72 Years Ago by New York Police Chief, Still Unsolved.” Cedar Rapids Sunday Gazette and Republican, 30 September 1927.

(5) Wick. “George W. Matsell.”

(6) Ibid.

(7) George Kruse. “New County Park Was Country Estate for Noted New Yorker.” Cedar Rapids Gazette, 2 April 1967.

(8) George W. Matsell Archive. The History Center.

(9) Ibid.

(10) Bowdish. “Personal Recollections.”

(11) W. Lee Finn. Interview by Dorothy Cummins. Manuscript in the Dorothy Cummins Archive.

(12) Dorothy Cummins. “New Linn County Recreation Area Recalls Days of Iowa’s Fabulous ‘Mount Vernon.’” Des Moines Register, 2 April 1967.

(13) Finn to Cummins.

(14) Ibid.

(15) Bowdish. “Recollections.”

(16) Ibid.

(17) Partial lists of the artifacts in Chief Matsell’s collection appear in several sources. See John R. Battin. “Chair Owned by George Washington on Display at Anamosa Pageant.” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 3 July 1923. Robert Bell. “Mystery of Matsell Home.” Dorothy Cummins, “Linn County Recreation Area.” Ernest P. Mickel. “He Reigned Over Iowa Acres Like a Royal Lord or Duke.” Des Moines Register, 29 November 1936.

(18) Ibid.

(19) Ibid.

(20) Bowdish.

(21) George Shane. “House Near Viola Symbol of Iowa Past.” Des Moines Sunday Register, 21 August 1955.

(22) Dorothy Cummins. “Linn County Recreation Area.”

(23) Finn to Cummins.

(24) Wick. “George W. Matsell.”

(25) Wick calls it ‘Oak Hall Theatre.’ A map of Buffalo Township dated 1869 names it ‘Oak Glen Theatre’ in Somers, Mary Shakespeare and Belva Butters, eds. A History of Central City, Iowa, and the Surrounding Area 18391989. Central City (Iowa): Fourth Street Publishing. Karen Taylor dubs the place ‘Oak Hill Theatre’ in “Matsell legend haunts park along Wapsie.” Cedar Rapids Gazette, 2 March 1980.

(26) E.P. Mickel. “Reigned Over Iowa.”

(27) Bowdish. “Personal Recollections.”

(28) E. P. Mickel. “Reigned.”

(29) Wick. “G. W. Matsell.”

(30) Bowdish, Wick. Passim.

(31) “Col. Robbins Buys Old Matsell Estate.” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, 25 August 1925.

(32) Unsigned letter dated July 14, 1925, assumed to be from Col. C.B. Robbins to agents of the Matsell estate. State Historical Society of Iowa.

(33) George Shane. “House Near Viola.”

(34) Lori Erickson. Ghosts of Linn County, Iowa. Fort Madison (Iowa): Quixote Press, 1987.

(35) George Kruse. “New County Park.”

(36) Karen Taylor. “Matsell legend.”

(37) http://co.linn.ia.us/conservation/parks/natural/natural.html