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     The first school house was built of logs in May, 1852, on Lee's farm, in the southeast part of the township, and the first school was taught by William Wilson in this house the following Summer.
     The first sermon preached in the township was in this log school house, in June, 1852, by Rev. John Brown.
     Charles Hall, from New York, located at Forestville in 1852, and built a tavern, the first one north of Delhi, it is said.  Hall afterward built an addition to this house and opened a store.
     In 1853, Daniel Leonard built a grist-mill, designed for a custom-mill, on the Maquoketa, near the saw-mill.
     April 4, 1854, the town of Forestville was surveyed and platted by Joel Bailey; Daniel Leonard, proprietor.
     The first school house was built in 1854, at a cost of $300.  Elihu Andrews built it under contract.  A portion of the money to build it was raised by taxation and a portion was borrowed from the school fund by H. D. Wood, who gave a mortgage on his land as security.
     The house was located just outside the town plat on the east side; and the first school was taught in it during the same year by Mrs. Brayman.  This house was burned in the Winter of 1870-71, but during the Summer of 1870 a new school house was built of brick by Henry Doyle, contractor, at a cost of $700. Organized as an independent district in 1872. 
     Present School Directors, Solomon Z. Welch, Oliver Clark and William
Sherwin.
     In 1854, Thomas Hickox was appointed Postmaster. Hickox was a Whig, and says Mr. Wood, " every man in the village suitable for a Postmaster was a Whig also."
     In 1856, the Democrats of the township petitioned for the appointment of Enos M. Littlefield, who lived about a quarter of a mile out of the town.  He was appointed June 23, 1856, but he could find no person in town qualified for the position who would serve as Deputy, nor could he obtain a suitable place for an office nearer than his house, and the mail carrier refused to deliver the mail there—it was not in Forestville.  Littlefield made a statement of the facts to the Post Office Department, asking for authority to keep the office at his house, and requested that the mail carrier be directed to deliver and receive the mail there also.  Meanwhile, before receiving instructions from the Department, Littlefield took the responsibility of taking the mail to his house.  The indignant citizens determined to test the legality of this proceeding, made up a test case in which Myron Hooker was plaintiff, agreeing if he was beaten that the cost should be made up by contribution.  Hooker accordingly brought suit against Mr. Littlefield for damage sustained by reason of taking his mail away from the
town.  The suit was brought before I. P. Powers, Justice of the Peace of Richland. S. G. Van Anda and James Crosier were the attorneys for the plaintiff; and S. R. Peet, H. D. Wood and Alpheus Scott managed the defense.  Defendant took change of venue to Franklin Emerson, Justice of the Peace, but he was a Democrat and plaintiff carried the case to Heath, Justice of the Peace of Honey Creek, and then to Coolidge, also of Honey Creek. Coolidge tried the case and gave judgment for the defendant for costs, and, Littlefield having received the authority asked for from the Department, the whole matter was dropped.  It is proper to add that Hooker did not realize much from the promises made and was obliged to pay the costs of suit himself.
     July 17, 1862, William H. Church was appointed Postmaster at Forestville, and employed M. D. Jones as Deputy.

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     Soon after Church's appointment, complaints began to be made of loss of mail matter. Suspicion pointed to the Forestville post office.   Church and his Deputy appeared to have money in more abundance than their neighbors thought their circumstances warranted.  Church presented a draft for $100 at Dubuque and collected it.  A detective was sent to discover the perpetrator of these frequent mail robberies, who sent a decoy letter and found it in Jones' possession.  Church and Jones were arrested, taken to Dubuque and lodged in jail to await trial.  After some time Church procured bail and was released, but died before trial.  Jones was tried at Dubuque, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years, but after serving about eighteen months was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson.

BUSINESS INTERESTS.

     In May, 1878, the business of Forestville was represented as follows:
     Country Stores, Volney Wheeler; Daniel Gilbert. Blacksmiths, Daniel
Briggs; Josiah Beach. Carpenter, Michael Cossey.  Saw and Grist-mills,
George Sowles.
     There are four Creameries in Richland Township.  The first was established by Hiram D. Wood, near Forestville, in the Spring of 1874, of capacity sufficient to use the milk of 500 or 600 cows.  Mr. Wood manufactures about 20,000 pounds of butter annually, and found a ready market in New York.
     Loomis & Houseman established another in the southwest part of the town ship in 1875.
     H. H. Cowles, in the western part of the Township^in the Spring of 1876, and John & William Hollister, in the northeast corner, in 1877, each manufacture about 20,000 pounds annually.
     In the Spring of 1878, Mr. Cowles changed his creamery to a cheese factory.

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