USA > Iowa > Cedar County > A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 12
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The oldest business building in Clarence is the one occupied by C. Peterson as a boot and shoe store on the north side of Lombard Street. This was the store once occupied by Friend and Culbertson, who established a branch store from their Tipton business house with Mr. Fred Hecht as clerk. In 1860 the firm of Friend and Culbertson built across the street and later were succeeded by Hecht and Polley. The line of business of the towns as conducted in the early history of their organization has changed in many particulars. What then was in demand made the production of many things at home possible, and the manu- facture on the large scale had not then been felt as to-day. The idle shops, the empty hotels and store rooms indicate to the observer the rapid changes in the service of all the towns that once flourished in the new country before markets became so frequent or movement so swift. Firms are constantly changing until it is impossible to enumerate all that may have been engaged in any one line of business in a single decade. In the largest town in Cedar County almost every business house in the town has changed hands in the past ten years.
MAIN STREET, STANWOOD
141
HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
The manufacture of goods of domestic use in an agricultural region was ex- tensive until the great factories with millions of capital took the market from the small producer. In all the towns of this county the industry concerned with making of farm implements and iron work was carried on in the vicinity until these things were made wholesale ready to use without the intervention of the mechanic, until now the occupations of the first days have gone to find in many cases nothing to take the place of the former trade. The man who manufactured barrels and casks, who made baskets or harrows, is now out of that particular occupation since he can no longer compete with the machine and massed capital.
All this line of work was carried on in Clarence in an early day, but now the manufacture of such things as found forty years ago is not thought of in any serious way. To-day the repair shop comes the nearest to the needs of the farmer and ready made goods meet the demand.
The old mill that used to stand at Rochester after having fulfilled its mission there was removed, as mentioned in another connection, to the neighborhood of Clarence when James Cessford bought it at sheriff's sale. That mill had made flour for shipment down the Cedar river by boat loads, and at the present time the only mill in the county that makes flour is the Nelson mill at Durant.
Clarence was incorporated in 1866 under the general laws of the state and the first mayor was James De Wolf.
The present mayor is S. S. Crittenden; Councilmen, S. L. McLeod, John Greig, Hosea Ballou, Fred Goldsmith, A. S. Rossman ; Town Clerk, F. W. Crow ; Treasurer, H. A. Jons.
The original town nearest to the location of Stanwood was called Flournoy, about one-half mile east of the station. The owners of the town site were S. H. and Wm. C. Maley and William Preston. Some time in September, 1868, they began negotiations with the C. & N. W. railroad authorities to erect a station house for passengers and freight and lay the necessary sidetracks to accommodate the traffic and give this place every facility furnished other towns along the line. In consideration for such service the proprietors of the town as mentioned agreed to give the company every alternate lot throughout the plat and four acres for railway yards.
Up to the middle of January, 1869, no signs of any town appeared where Stanwood now stands beyond the survey and a small sidetrack. On January 20th of that year Mr. W. W. Allen began the first house. By the time spring opened there was a substantial growth of some thirty buildings. John Dorcas of Red Oak began the second house in Stanwood. The delay in erecting a depot was due to the press of business of the company and the town proprietors were early assured of the building in the spring of 1869. At this time Mr. H. P. Stanwood was assistant superintendent of the C. & N. W., and for him the town was named. This was the nearest station to Tipton and from there the county seat was supplied until its road was completed in November, 1872.
The Northwestern railway maintains extensive equipments for the supply of water and fuel at Stanwood and the improvements of the company make the future of the junction one of security. Trains must stop here for coal and water and passengers must be allowed to land for the Tipton connection. Additional sidetracks are being laid to accommodate the traffic at this point.
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
There has been some rumor of a northern connection which would be of great additional benefit to Stanwood. The first town of Flournoy is forgotten except by the oldest settlers, and there are only a few left who remember the time when this was open land before the road was built. The history of schools, churches, and other public organizations belongs in its proper chapter.
The Mayor of Stanwood is James George; Chris. Stoecker, Clerk; Council- men, Ed. Gruber, M. H. Rice, W. C. Jackson, H. F. Haesemeyer, E. J. Bernstorf, Their regular meetings are on Monday night, the first in the month.
In 1858 the railroad reached Lowden, the first stopping place of the Chicago & Northwestern in Cedar County. The first settlers of this vicinity came in '39, among them being some names very familiar to the early settlers of the county- John C. Parr and his four sons; William Parr and his five sons, and John Parr, the brother of the other two. It was James VanHorn who entered the site of the present village of Lowden in 1839. This was an early day for this region, since settlement did not increase very rapidly until after 1850, when the entire county felt the rapid growth of population. Not only here but into other sections people began to find their way more readily.
July 5, 1858, the railway was completed to this station and pushed westward a little later. Not far from this point the junction with a line to Tipton was proposed, which proposal was never accepted or the connection now would be east and west instead of north and south.
The Iowa Land Company had a hand in the settlement of this place, as in many of the other towns along the line. Seven acres were donated to the com- pany by James VanHorn, and Thomas Shearer gave up five more, making twelve in the original town site, which lies in section two of Springfield township. This was surveyed for the company on behalf of its agents, Horace Williams and Milo Smith, known now as Judge Milo P. Smith of Cedar Rapids, and it was called "Louden" after the Ohio home of Thomas Shearer, Loudenville, Ohio. The name now is now spelled with a "w," Lowden, when referring to the post office. Several additions have been made to the original site. Shearer has made two on the east, J. D. Shearer one on the north, Walker and Meyer have added to the east side. Peterson two additions on the north, Denson, Hahn and Banks each small additions in the same part of the town since Reed's addition came up to the section line.
The town was originally in two townships, or was after the additions had been made over the section line into Massillon township, and a petition was presented to the board of supervisors to detach a part of the northern township and add it to Springfield, which was done. The town was incorporated in 1869 with Wm. McGarvy as the first mayor. J. D. Shearer was the first justice of the peace and held this office from 1857 to 1865, when he became sheriff of the county for ten years.
One of the oldest business firms in the county is found here, having a con- tinuous business life of fifty years-the Peterson Brothers formerly, now Freund & Co. They do a general merchandise business, carrying everything that the vicinity could demand and doing a private banking business in connection.
Among the oldest residents of the place are M. L. Banks, Henry Moore, Henry Heiner, David Kimball, who are able to give the history of the town.
CITY HALL, LOWDEN
CLINTON STREET, LOWDEN
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
Before the railway had reached the town site a store had been put into opera- tion by Wm. Dugan, who built the first house on the prairie here where the road was in prospect. Huff and Henry formed a partnership soon after this in the mercantile business.
Lowden has been a stopping place for all trains except those carrying a full service for the needs of passengers and an eating house furnished the hungry man with his necessary meal. This has been an important part of the railway yards here and the double track line has made it a busy place in the past. For miles it seems the straight track tends to the westward without a curve so far as the eye can reach from the station, and the surrounding country is rich enough for the most exacting.
For a town of its size Lowden has the best city hall in the county. Its public school building is one of latest design both in construction and equipment, and the location is ideal. The town maintains a municipal gas plant on the same plan as Clarence.
G. F. Reinking is the present Mayor ; E. R. Struck, Clerk; Councilmen, J. H. Andersen, C. Boettger, H. Cassier, D. W. Conrad, H. R. Griesback.
Soon after Carlisle had been planned five miles south of the present town of Lowden, another village was laid out four miles north. The second had more to make it a success since it lies near a stream and happened to be in the line of a railway afterward. Its survey was completed in 1854 before the signs of any railway in the vicinity, and now the little town of Massillon has about one hundred and fifty inhabitants. It is near by the Wapsepinicon and on a branch of the Milwaukee. This place was originally known as "Denson's Ferry," named for Joseph Denson, who first settled here and established it. In this place now is a bridge of some eleven hundred feet. This was one of the partnership bridges originally erected by the farmers paying one-half and the county the other half. A new one has taken its place, which is the one referred to above.
The town was resurveyed and platted in 1875 by F. A. Gates, then county surveyor, at the request of three citizens and assented to by a fourth one of the original proprietors of the town, Mr. William Williams. The first settlements were made in this region in 1840. John Shriver came here in July of that year. His son Hiram resides in Lowden at this writing. Williams, mentioned above, came in '40 and Abraham Williams in 1841. Like many others in 1850 he crossed the plains to California and was more successful than many. In 1843 the Thorns came to this township, also the Morton family. M. D. Keith, Ira Brink, and Levi VanSickle came in 1850. H. A. Emerson was identified with this region for over half a century. Geo. Jeffrey came in 1851, and Hon. J. M. Kent in '52. He represented the district as senator in the eighth and ninth general assemblies. F. A. Gates settled here in 1853 and afterward served the county as surveyor for a period of five years. Settlers came from this time very rapidly and the railroad through the northern part of the county made this community one of the first to be served. Today Massillon is a village, small in trades and business, but delightfully situated on the stream with the poetical Indian name. Surrounded by a rich country it gives one the impression of comfort without anxiety, security without needed defence. An eye for the interesting points and a pen to describe must belong to the one who wrote this: "The Wapsipinicon majestically winds
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
its way along the fine timber lands on the north and east of the village. To the east are the rocky bluffs, which have been washed by 'Wapsie waters' for many ages so far as we know. Here are the famous natural wells. Here is where the people for miles around spend many happy hours in the summer seasons. From the farm of Henry Ruprecht, a half mile southeast, one gets the best view of this vicinity. The little hamlet, the river, the ponds and meadows, the bluffs, the rail- road and wooded lands all combine to make the place worthy of a painter's brush, and it must be seen to be appreciated."110
Cedar Bluffs has figured in the county history very prominently since the agita- tion of the bridge construction across the Cedar at some point to accommodate the people. Mason's Grove was the nearest point of settlement in the beginning. Here it is recorded that Jackemiah Baldwin (the spelling of the Christian name has this form on the county records and there seems to be no authority for spelling it as found in the Old History) settled in the year 1837, bringing his three sons and being accompanied by two friends, John Malic and Geo. Parks, who settled near. Mason's Grove received its name from the man who settled there in the same year, but a little later in the season. The name of Mason and Baldwin still appear among the land owners of this neighborhood. Our friend Tom Baldwin of Tipton is a grandson of the first Baldwin mentioned and also a grandson of John Finch, who came to the county in 1837 and purchased his claim of Samuel Gilliland, who had begun improvements in that part of Center township.
William Kester was the first settler on the west side of the river in that part belonging to Cass township. He died very early in the history of the place. Among the other early settlers before the year 1840 were Alexander and Frank Moffit with their father, who died in this vicinity. The old Moffit homestead log house is among the landmarks of the township. Mrs. Jacob Hardacre and Mrs. Wm. Neeley were of this family.
Of these pioneers the only ones remaining are Alexander Moffit and Jacob Hardacre, the latter living in Missouri.
Washington and Gower's Ferry and Cedar Bluffs are names for the same location on the map, having been applied at different times in the history of the place. The names of Gower and Hammond are associated with the locality as early as 1839, when James Gower and Willard Hammond bought the claims of a number of settlers in Cass township. Gower operated the store and ferry at this point about 1840 and later in his life of the family, but early in the state's history, removed to Iowa City. He is mentioned elsewhere in connection with the county in the law-making branch of the state government.
Robert Gower, who worked so faithfully to secure a bridge at this point and died before he saw it accomplished, came to this settlement in 1841 with his four sons. For Robert Gower the township was named and his son Sewall continued the work of his father until the building of the bridge was accomplished in 1877.
This part of the county is destined at some time to be the center of an industry as yet undreamed of, since the natural advantages have been seen at this time in the preliminary efforts to which the following refers :
Attention has been called to the natural advantages which this site offers for the construction of a dam to furnish water power for turning the energy of the stream into the form of electricity, this to be distributed to various points so far
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CITY WATER WORKS, CLARENCE EAST LOMBARD STREET, CLARENCE
149
HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
as feasible to be redistributed among the consumers of low voltage or to be used in the driving of lines of cars between the towns lying in the district. Surveys have been made to determine the necessary territory to be considered in dam area, and it is well known that the site is one of the very best in the country for such improvement. So long ago as 1876, when the bridge was built here, the advantage of the solid rock was noted and described by a scientific journal, the Engineering News: "There is a narrow gorge in the river just below where the channel is hemmed in by a perpendicular wall of magnesian limestone, forty feet high. The channel here is about 480 feet wide and has a rock bottom and the water at its lowest stage is about two and one-half feet deep. The stone for the piers and abutments will be taken from the magnesian beds in the vicinity. The stone has very regular beds so that the work of cutting will be small." Companies have been organized to exploit this power and the time will not be long until the wasted power will be available.
When the Albins carried the mail and the passengers from Davenport to Iowa City across the prairie in 1849 there was no sign of an inhabitant in that part of the county where West Branch is now located. Only the station on their stage line a short distance east of the site. To this place David Tatum and a few others came in 1850 and they were followed shortly by William Townsend. Then the lines of travel were faintly marked and no one could depend on the chance of finding his way without previous preparation. The well known settlers, Eli Hoover, James Townsend, Thomas Barrington, Joseph Steer, and Michael King, came in '53. The rival towns of West Branch and Cameron were each surveyed in the year 1869, the second a few months later than the first, taking its name from the chief engineer of the B. C. R. & N. railway. These towns retained the names but a short time when the present title covered the whole corporation.
Joseph Steer laid out the town of West Branch in May of 1869, acting for John M. Wetherell, whose name is retained for one of the streets of the town. This part of West Branch was much smaller in area than the part called Cameron and contains now most of the business section. Many additions have been made to the original site. On the west and north Steer's, Oliphant's and Witter's addi- tions, and on the east Townsend's and Michener's additions, making a large terri- tory, which gives roomy lots and a comfortable appearance to the residence por- tion. West Branch has a good system of electric lighting and an efficient water works plant, a recent well furnishing a supply that seems inexhaustible.
The trade in lumber has been especially marked here, the town supporting two extensive yards. Its business section has some excellent buildings. The recent bank building which was purchased by the Odd Fellows being an illustration. This was erected in 1908.
The town was incorporated in 1875 under the direction of J. Steer, James Townsend, E. Grinnell, L. J. Miles, and W. D. Hammell, as commissioners of the election. It then contained about three hundred inhabitants.
Historically the most interesting building is the old home of James Townsend where the travelers of the days of the stage were entertained and the name "Trav- eler's Rest" was applied to it. It stands to the left on the road toward Springdale and from the picture in this volume one may recognize it very readily. It is not now on its original site.
150
HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
West Branch has a post office building that is especially commendable and it is distinguished by having a library building and post office beyond the usual town of its size. The government approved the plans of the present postmaster when he submitted them and the lease runs here for ten years at a time. The special feature that one is first called upon to notice is the entrance built to accommodate the public in all kinds of weather. Another that speaks well for the comfort of the postal clerk and those who must work in the interior is the skylight which furnishes the illumination for the entire room. It suggests a way of avoiding dark rooms. Mr. Wickersham arranged the plans and submitted them to the proper officials. The library is discussed in another chapter.
The city officers of West Branch at this date are below :
Mayor, L. J. Leech ; Clerk, A. R. Cavin ; Councilmen, D. L. Ball, J. T. Butler, G. C. Hoover, M. W. Munger, and P. V. N. Myers.
The town of Cedar Valley is best discussed in connection with the Bealer quarry, since the quarry is the making of the town, and when that industry stops it must of necessity cease to be of importance. At the end of the bridge across the Cedar into Gower Township the village contains a few houses for business and the shops of the quarry.
Plato and Buchanan may be included in one paragraph. The name of the first is suggestive of Greek philosophy and the second, as some may suppose, of the former president of the United States, but here is where he would make his mis- take. The fine farm home of Alex. Buchanan lies to the north and it is well that the station should be known by that of a citizen so well known.
These stations are for the accommodation of shippers in this portion of the county and cannot have much to make them grow into towns of any future great- ness. They came into being in 1884 when the road reached that part of the county. Sunbury is another of the smaller towns that furnishes a nearby outlet to the products of the farmer and brings the supplies he needs to his door ; it is one of the last to be platted since this is the last branch of railroad to be built in the county limits. Its principal streets are Main, then Henry, Hugo, Herman, and Albert.
There was once a post office on the mail route from east to west across the southern part of the county in Iowa Township proper, since one must always consider that all lying west of the river at first was of the same common title, that promised to be a village of some hundreds of houses more or less. This was Pedee and took its name from a river in the homeland of a settler. Long before the town of Springdale became the center of reference for that side of the river the post office was known in other parts. Here John Brown came and in 1866 a writer never referred to any place as the headquarters of the band except at Pedee. The first inhabitant here, according to the opinion of the old settlers, was the man who figures in the earliest records of the county courts as found in that office today -Clement Squires and his family. He left the county in 1840, perhaps because of the reputation he had won here.
Robert G. Roberts, whom the versatile artist has drawn in cartoons and whom the wit has made to say queer things in his official capacity as a member of the territorial legislature, was one of the first settlers in this township. When he
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF BENNETT FROM THE SOUTH
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
came is disputed, but it was about 1837, and it matters little now as to the exact minute or day for the purpose of the data necessary to fix him as part of the county's possession in history. George Frain is the authority for the statement that Mr. Roberts bought his claim of Squires for twenty dollars and if so he did a good deed in getting rid of Squires. The experiences of these settlers were not different than the others who came at that time. The usual difficulties confronted them and they made the humblest things answer for the time being until they could do better. Under the heading of outlawry the names of Stoutenburg and Warren appear as settlers of this township in the northern part. Ebenezer A. Gray, a member of the board of supervisors and a most valued citizen, with his family and father, Thomas Gray, came to the township in '39, settling near what is called Gray's Ford, a point much discussed at the time of the bridge controversy. William Maxson, a brother-in-law of Mr. Gray, and his sons Jonathan and Thad- deus and Kurtz, came at the same time. The first of these brothers now lives in West Liberty where he has been postmaster and editor of the paper of that place. Thaddeus Maxson lives in Springdale at this date, spending his winters in Cali- fornia. The Grays still own land in Iowa Township.
At the first election after Iowa Township was organized in 1840, Robert G. Roberts, E. A. Gray and Thomas Lingle were appointed as judges. Twenty votes were polled then. E. A. Gray and A. G. Smith were elected as justices of the peace, and Robert G. Roberts was elected as county commissioner for this town- ship (?).
A well known character in the vicinity whose name is attached to a deed given by Wm. Maxson as notary was William Hoch. His name indicates that he was of French descent and he is said to have been conversant with many languages and been held in high regard by his neighbors. To have the history of this man alone would be worth many hours of research, but where shall one go now for his story in the brief time of his residence. The name has been familiar to the writer of this from the days of student life when one who came from this county and must have been a descendant of the same family was a member of the classes.
It seems that the ever-present Stephen Toney was once postmaster at Pedee. The first post office was located near the timber where Elisha Henry was the gov- ernment's representative.
In the spring of 1837 the surveying of township lines was begun. This of course refers to congressional townships only, since there was no provision yet for the naming of civil townships as they are known today, even if the lines hap- pened to correspond. If some one had the time one of the most interesting series of maps obtainable could be made from the history of the civil townships of Cedar County. It is commended to the future county auditor as an interesting pastime and yet of illuminating importance to the office over which he presides. When the survey took place as mentioned above the laying out of new towns that might furnish the incentive to great growth in the future and made men dream of fortunes over night, became a common subject of thought. Among these ventures one is of importance, since here the first store in the county opened for business. Centreville was on the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section four, now in Sugar Creek Township. John C. Higginson, Sheller and others were
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