USA > Iowa > Cedar County > A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 22
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This firm handles packing butter only and ships cream at the rate of one hundred ten-gallon cans per week.
One stops suddenly when he learns that horse hides are sometimes sold and sent to market along with the ordinary sheep skin and cow hide, yet it is very reasonable when the shoes men wear are manufactured from the skin perhaps of the favorite roadster.
What once promised to be a great field of industry was developed in Sugar Creek township in 1883. At that time the Sugar Creek quarries, on the old Leech place, also known as the Scott quarries, which furnished the rock years before for the Moscow railway bridge, and which had remained idle because of being inaccessible, were transformed into an active field of operation by a combination of capital and business foresight. This was called the United States Lime Com- pany, surely a big enough name for any company then and since used in energetic ways by firms of larger capital. Land had been purchased here, and the Rock Is- land lines had put a branch line into the territory purchased in July, 1883, and the line was substantially built, it is said. Even then there were three large stone kilns in operation, each capable of turning out one hundred barrels of lime each per day, and they were running at full blast. Then the place indicated progress, with the great cooling and barreling houses and the huge piles of wood for burn- ing the kilns.
In the fall of the same year a new company apparently was organized, called the Sugar Creek Lime Company, under the directing force of Mr. Lowry, of
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
Rock Island. Both these companies had some connection with the Rock Island since their paymaster was the paymaster of the railway. These companies pur- chased some three hundred acres of land in the vicinity, section fifteen of this township.
The second company constructed ten large kilns and the railway lines kept pace with the movement, at one time a hundred men being employed in the con- struction of track and bridges. Part of this track, long since removed, was diffi- cult of construction and is said to have cost very much money, twenty-five thou- sand dollars per mile.
These kilns were eighteen feet square at the bottom, fourteen at the top and thirty-two feet high, and made from solid masonry thirty inches thick and lined with fire brick and filled with clay between the brick and the stone, then clamped on the outside with iron hoops in the manner of barrels to keep the kiln from expanding when filled for burning.
The town of Lime Kiln, or Lime City, or Munn on the map, was laid out and a dozen or more buildings put up before the trees were cut from the street. Here a store was established by L. T. Munn & Co. and O. Howe opened a butcher shop.
The railway company made some signs of going toward Tipton on the old M. T. & A. grade, but the future never felt any security in a line from that direction.
In July '88, the Sugar Creek Company tried an experiment, one called it "a startling new departure"-one of the many wonders of that recent age. Instead of burning wood to make their lime-because the wood business was about ex- hausted-they began to use petroleum, the fire being made of the vapor of oil, steam and air combined. The first kiln to try the new way turned off one hun- dred and forty barrels of lime in twenty-four hours with ten barrels of oil. The best ever done with wood was ninety barrels to three cords of wood. The lime made by the new process was superior to the other also. This method was sup- posed to make the business permanent.
This plant became the very largest manufacturing concern in the county, at one time having a capital invested of $75,000 in case of the U. S. Co. and $50,000 in the Sugar Creek Co. These twelve kilns employed as many as sixty- five men and the United States Company sold 50,000 barrels of lime, the other company valuing its sales at $33,000. The industry ceased after a time to be profitable, probably on account of fuel, and the old tracks were finally removed.205
Many great and successful enterprises have been the result of chance. On the winter morning early in the eighties when E. J. C. Bealer went rabbit hunt- ing in the woods where the Cedar Valley quarries are now located, he little dreamed that that region would become the scene of industrial activity, and that his would be the master hand to direct the enterprise. But an outcropping ledge of stone caught his trained eye and told him something of the possibilities buried there in the ground and unnoted for years. Mr. Bealer at that time was engaged in building the railroad bridge three miles up the river from the present quarries. He had been a quarryman and contractor for years and experience told him of the immense value of that ledge of stone in this rapidly developing section of the west. The land practically worthless for farming purposes, was purchased for a few dollars an acre, and with limited capital but great faith in the enterprise,
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
Mr. Bealer began the development of these now famous quarries. The right of way to the Rock Island tracks, three miles north, was bought and the railway company, recognizing the importance of the project, laid the track. Since that time (1884) many thousands of car loads of stone have been shipped from Cedar Valley. Vast sums of money have been expended in wages and improve- ments, and a reputation for the quarries established, which extends all over the northern Mississippi Valley and far into the northwest.
The stone of the Devonian age lies close to the surface all along the Cedar river, but not all of it is suitable for the builder's use. Much of it contains lime in such quantities as to render it valueless save for the lime kiln, but the stone quarried at Cedar Valley is of the best quality, containing just the right propor- tions of sand and lime. Soft and easily worked when first exposed to the ele- ments, it hardens gradually and without becoming flinty acquires a durability which makes it par excellence a stone for constructive purposes.
The quarry is a beehive of industry. Where a few years ago was the wildest and most inaccessible region in Cedar county now flourishes the greatest labor employing industry in this section. Where the forest stood and the wild fox dug his hole unscared, is now a forest of derricks, great massive oak timbers stand- ing 70 and 75 feet in air and held in place by miles of steel cables. Steam engines by the dozen, hoisters, channellers, crushers, bring to the aid of human strength the mighty forces of nature. Most of the ballasting and masonry work on the Cedar Rapids route, which has given that railroad in recent years one of the best roadbeds in the west, has been done under contract with Mr. Bealer with Cedar Valley stone.
There is almost no limit to the size of stone which can be quarried over there. On one occasion as a sort of experiment a solid mass of stone 165 feet long and six feet square in cross section was cut up and turned over before being broken up. Solomon obtained no such stone as that from the quarries of Zeredathah when he was building the Temple, nor can the pyramids of Egypt boast of one so large.
Everything at the quarry runs like clock work. Under the efficient super- vision of Mr. M. Y. Bealer, the division of labor is perfect and all confusion banished. One gang of men under a foreman are constantly engaged in "stripping" or removing the earth and debris which covers the rock. Hydraulic power is used to aid in this work and thousands of tons have been washed into the Cedar river as easily as hundreds were removed in the old way. When the rock has been exposed, the steam channellers, in charge of expert workmen, are set at work cutting out stone of desired thickness, which are then swung by big derricks on to the flat cars standing near on the track. The poorer rock goes by mule tramway to the big crusher, where ten cars of railroad ballast or macadam for streets are crushed daily. In another part of the yard a force of skilled stone cutters are at work on material for some special contract. A railroad engineer designs a big arch, such as the forty-five foot structure erected by Mr. Bealer for the Rock Island near Vinton in '98. The plans and specifications are drawn. Blue prints are sent to Supt. M. Y. Bealer, and his cutters go to work on the job. Every block of stone is cut and numbered according to plan. They are then shipped to the scene of erection where each piece goes to its place under the
MATERIAL READY FOR SHIPMENT, BEALER QUARRY
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
eye of a master mason with mathematical precision. By this plan, rather than cutting on the scene of erection, a saving is effected both in stone and freight.
Every precaution is taken for the safety of the men and accidents are com- paratively few. The great wire cables which hold the derricks and are used on the hoisting machines are inspected every day and at the first sign of weakness are discarded. The quarrymen are a stalwart lot of workmen. Many nationali- ties are represented. Norwegians, Bohemians, Irishmen, Germans, Swedes and native Americans find employment here and work side by side. Discipline among the workmen is strict. There is no smoking on the job, for instance, and the rule applies not only to men and foremen, but the superintendent enforces it on himself.
The thousands of trainloads of stone taken out of these quarries have made an impression on the hillside. The bottom of the pit where work is now car- ried on is far below the bed of the river and an engine is constantly at work pumping out water to enable work to go on. Operations are of necessity con- tracted during the winter, but between fifty and a hundred men are employed in preparations for the next busy season.
A large amount of money has been expended in improving this valuable property. In addition to machine and blacksmith shops, there are 37 other build- ings for various purposes. Supt. Bealer is devoted to his work, and visitors in- terested in seeing the operations receive every attention. As Mr. Bealer sees it, there is a great future ahead of the Cedar Valley quarries. He calls attention to the fact that in railroad work especially, iron is losing its grip. During floods iron bridges have been swept away while the stone culverts stood, and the policy of railroads now is to erect stone work in preference to iron wherever possible. This means an increasing demand and consequently great development. As there is practically no limit to the stone supply at Cedar Valley, these conditions must be pleasing to the owners and to all dependent on the industry.206
These quarries began to be developed about twenty-five years ago and the history of their product is well expressed in the foregoing summary. It is not now as extensive in operation in some respects as it was in the past. The de- mand is not so great as then. In order to protect the quarry at this place against high water from the overflow of the Cedar river, a levee was built at a cost of $20,000. Railway tracks in the quarries were so built that the force of gravity could be employed to move out the loaded cars, making it possible to get along without an engine. The great machine called a channeller has made a record of cutting four hundred feet in five hours and for ten hours its record is seven hundred fifty feet. Something of the capacity of this quarry at one time may be understood when the equipment is described : Four eighty horse power engines, two forty horse power, and five of fifteen horse power, one steam pump, capacity three-quarter million gallons daily, and three pumps of a quarter million gallons each. A large machine shop was used to keep the tools in repair. At one time there were fourteen derricks in operation, ten of which had steam hoists lifting from four to twenty tons each.
A force as high as one hundred men has been employed here. They occupied cottages along the river usually with an allotment of land for their use, as these cottages belonged for the most part to the owner. In the full tide of its pros-
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perity the quarry could supply forty-five cars of stone each day and it was often at full speed to supply this demand. Formerly the output consisted of bridge stone for piers for which the proprietor contracted in their completed form hav- ing force in their construction. Dressed dimension stone and crushed stone was a staple product. The pit from which this stone has been taken is many feet below the level of the river, more than sixty feet, it is said. As the depth in- creases, the stone becomes of finer quality. Professor Norton gave the name of Gower to the stage of rock here exposed, since that was the only name he could ap- ply to this region where the rock, he says, represents the particular formation better than any other point in Iowa. The name Cedar Valley had been employed in another connection. The technical geological formation of any quarry of this kind cannot be interesting to the person who is not familiar with the terms in that science. They may be seen in the map of the deep well under the topic of the Tipton deep well which may be found in the index. 207
Other quarries of value in this county that belong in the chapter on industries are found at Cedar Bluffs for the local supply, McLeod's quarry in Massillon township not far from the village by that name. The rock here are pronounced picturesque where they form the lofty ledge on the right bank of the Wapsie. Wallick's quarry, north of Cedar Bluffs, furnishes a certain supply for local use. The rock here was well exposed, being reached without much effort in re- moving surface dirt. Cary's quarry, southwest of Tipton, must be included in this class of small development but so far as service is concerned equal to the demand. On Rocky Run, in Gower township, the Burroughs quarry is found where an old pot kiln suggests the possibilities for the production of lime. Frink's and also Hecht's quarries in the same section of Dayton township have been worked for the local supply.208
The silver craze at Rochester and other parts of the southern portion of the county was not the only mineral find that caused some excitement and curiosity as to the future fortunes of the finders. Coal, peat, and petroleum have each had their turn at discovery, but none of these finds have ever been carried any farther than to remove the surface enough to demonstrate the impracticability of use. Coal was found in Yankee Run in 1862 while digging a well; it was found again on the Swartzlender farm at a depth of some 180 feet, during the year 1876. Yet in 1902 it was still in the minds of men and when an old shaft was found and the traces of the early hopes were brought to the front once more, the search was renewed. Not coal now, but zinc and lead ; traces of these have been reported and doubtless all these appear in the rocks of the county.
Peat beds of untold value were once the talk of neighborhoods. In 1866 a man north of Clarence found a bed fourteen feet thick, and in August of the same year a great area of the same material was found in Gower township, somewhere in the neighborhood of section twenty-two.
A Mr. Risley, living near Mechanicsville, dug a well about six feet deep and to his surprise he found it stocked with petroleum, or at least there was "oil on the water." Most men who have seen the wells of the old slough pastures can tell of the same discoveries many times a year.
SECTION VII.
TRANSPORTATION.
The first record of any mode of transportation other than the methods of the Indian is that of a keel boat kept at the Indian trading post established by the Frenchman Coté, or by those whom he served as manager. This old point of transfer was located according to story at a point not far above the present site of Rochester, but on the west side of the Cedar river. This was a favorite region for the early settlements and must have been a favorite region also of the Indian, since it was wooded and watered in such a way that it was almost an ideal hunting ground. The boat mentioned was used to transfer skins which were purchased by the traders from the red men and then to bring up supplies and articles for barter in securing the Indian products. How long this continued is not a matter of record, but the points on the Mississippi furnished an outlet for the traders until other and nearer posts developed. The first ferry was located at Rochester and from records given was operated by George McCoy, afterward sheriff of Cedar County, and whose name appears on the first court . records as now found in the office of the clerk of the courts among the most in- teresting documents of the county. This same ferry was operated afterwards for many years by Cordis Hardman, a son of Col. Henry Hardman, whose his- tory is forever linked with this particular region. The Rochester ferry was at other times under the control of a Dr. Henry and John Dillon. No one now living can tell of these surroundings since they were too young to remember. We say now living, because there are some who were then here who are glad, at this time, 1910, to give as full acounts of remembered events. At the time Rochester was settled the Cedar was considered navigable and as referred to in the county seat controversy, this plan was worked to its fullest capacity. Steam- boats from the Mississippi did occasionally come up the river, and it naturally gave the impression that this might continue, since then water and teaming were the only means of carrying goods to the various points for distribution. The · first ferry at Cedar Bluffs was established in 1838. It was called Washington's Ferry. William Fraseur has said that he helped to build the first boat used here. James H. Gower bought this ferry in 1839, which then belonged to Conlogue and Gove. About this time a steamer belonging to the Mormons from Nauvoo,
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
Ill., came to Gower's Ferry, afterward Cedar Bluffs, and purchased a large quantity of grain. Mr. Robert Gower came to this place in 1841 and he pur- chased the ferry from his brother James. A note of the time makes this state- ment : "The Red Cedar River is navigable for steam and other boats at all seasons of the year when free from ice. It possesses at this point (Cedar Bluffs) superior advantages for damming and bridging, and the settlement in this vicinity requires both." That reads in some ways like a prophecy, since with- in the past three years several surveys have been made of this point of "supe- rior advantage for damming," in view of locating a large power plant for the furnishing of electric power to surrounding towns and possibly to the several interurbans already now in operation or proposed. It is an interesting fact to record the early view of this region that now seems destined to furnish a realiza- tion of this apparent prophecy.
A construction train on the Rock Island furnished the first railway trans- portation out of this county. Mr. Joseph Weaver of Farmington township shipped six hundred bushels of wheat to Davenport from Durant station at that time, 1855. In the fall of this year the Western Stage Company opened a route from Durant to Tipton, the county seat, and continued it for three months, for which they received five hundred dollars from the town. The track of the Rock Island was laid through Durant in 1855 and was the first operated road in the county. This is discussed elsewhere.209
When the first settlers traveled over this county their way was marked by faint trails upon the higher land or by some more certain means in later years- as a furrow run with a breaking plow to "blaze" the prairie trail. No trees were there to "blaze" beyond scattered patches. One of that early time tells of being lost on the prairie between Tipton and Posten's Grove because of a fog which prevented them seeing the poles put up at points to "indicate the way.210 Stream courses furnished landmarks, but when men were obliged to cross the wide prairie they must trust to their sense of observation of stars or fixed heavenly bodies. There were impassable swamps or "sloughs," as they were called, that became obstacles to the prairie schooner almost equal to running streams, and often more difficult to pass. Fording was common when smaller streams intervened and ferrying the only means for crossing the others. The Indian canoe was pressed into service on occasions when the original owner served as ferryman at a small price. One authority states that wagons were carried over streams of considerable size by means of the canoe. Stock could swim over and thus the entire "plant" be transported after some delay and not a little danger. The freight wagon appeared as soon as centers of supply became located within reasonable distance. Goods came by river to points along the eastern part of our state, and from distributing points there wagons and ox teams began the task of carrying goods to the consumer. This was a profitable business in these early times, and when we complain about freight rates we are not to be pitied if we consider the rates of our grandfathers. Early routes across the county, both for freight and passengers, were numerous.
The veteran stage driver of this county who lives today, well and hearty, describes the route from Davenport to Iowa City in 1849. When a boy of six- teen he assisted his father in transporting mail and passengers over the prairie
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY "LIMITED"
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
when he says: "At that time there was not a tree from river to river." Joseph Albin, as a boy, made the trip over the line mentioned above when streams were crossed by fording or on the ice, when passengers were of great variety, both good and bad, and when the stage carried valuable cargoes of cash sent in from land sales and these required a special detail as guard; when slave drivers came into the state looking for those who were concealed or concealed themselves, although regarded as having no right to do so under the laws of the land. On one journey-and by one journey we mean from the river terminus to the west- ern end of the line, Iowa City-five southern gentlemen boarded the old Concord coach at Davenport to be carried to the capital city. The boy of sixteen did not regard their company with pleasure, and after they tried by various means to make him tell what he knew he says: "I was never so glad to unload any pas- sengers as these five fellows." They passed on this very ride the places where darkies were concealed, and the driver knew it, but he knew how to keep a secret, and while they might threaten him, or flatter him, no intimation was given of what he knew about the region.
Among the passengers of those days were many eastern capitalists coming out to make investments or to investigate the new country. The land office. col- lector of the time was Gill Folsom and he intrusted this stage and mail line with caring for his funds on these journeys. Ten hours was the usual time from Davenport to Iowa City. Horses were exchanged at ten-mile stations, and when roads and loads were heavy four horses were used or extra rigs followed. Much the same as two-section passenger trains would do now only on a more limited plan. Seven passengers made a load, and an average of twenty-one passengers was reached, necessitating of course a number of extras all the time. The sta- tions on the journey are given by Mr. Albin as follows: From Iowa City, toward the river, they came first to Townsend's, then called "Travelers' Rest," and whose original house is found pictured in the chapter on John Brown, and stands in the eastern part of West Branch, on the western slope of the hill at this time. It has been moved from its original foundation, but is on the same farm and close to the road on the journey eastward toward Springdale. The second point where passengers and mail were delivered was Rochester, then, as now, only a little newer and perhaps more alive when the stage came in from either direction. The river was forded here some distance below Rochester, unless in seasons of freshet or ice, when coaches came from either direction to the river and passengers alone were ferried over the stream. Beyond Rochester the stop was the home of the Albins-the middle of the route. From here in either di- rection the stages were sent out. Centre Grove, in Scott County, was the next stop, and the final before reaching the river, Blue Grass, a station on the Rock Island, as all know who have traveled the line. When Mr. Albin began to help his father in this duty of stage driver he was only thirteen years of age, and this line was continued until 1856 or until the Rock Island was built to Iowa City. His father sold his stock, in part, to the Western Stage Company, referred to elsewhere, that placed a route from Durant to Tipton westward for a short time in 1855.
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