USA > Iowa > Clarke County > Biographical and historical record of Clarke County, Iowa > Part 51
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W. M. Wilson, M. L. Temple. J. J. Meln- tire, James 1. Woodbury, C. W. White, Many of the above have been given , J. N. Estes and W. B. Tallman.
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY.
KITHE MEDICAL PROFESSION.DO
HERE is no calling re- --- quiring higher quali- fications or involving greater responsibili- ties on the part of its followers than that of medicine. These re- quirements are none too highly compensated, espe- 118 cially in a new country. As 13- humanity is everywhere physically imperfect, the first settlers of the county had not been here very long, or become very num- crous, before the doctor was needed, to look after the " chills and fever," or some other ailment. In those days, when people were poor and money was scarce, much of the physician's work was pure benevolence -- involving long trips through a sparsely-settled coun- try, at inclement seasons and for uncertain remuneration.
Dr. Jerome Bartlett was the pioneer physician of Clarke County. He settled in Green Bay, in 1851, and practiced until his death, in 1864.
When Judge Rice came to Osceola, in 1857. he found four physicians located at that place. These were L. M. D. Sherrick, Jerome Bartlett, Abraham Carter and J. C. Miller. Shonick came about 1854, from |
Ohio, and deserves remembrance as the pioncer physician of Clarke County, since he resided and followed his profession here for nearly twenty years, acquiring the thorough skill of experience, becoming in- timately acquainted with all the residents of the county, and gaining the most exten- sive practice ever enjoyed in the county by any physician. When he died he leit a wife and two children, and they have since removed to Ohio.
Jerome Bartlett located at Osceola soon after Dr. Sherrick, and practiced six or eight years, then removing to Winterset, where he died.
Abraham Carter came to Osccola from Indianapolis. He practiced seven or eight years and then retired from active life, on account of advanced years. He died some ten years since.
J. C. Miller came from Ohio, practiced a few years at Osceola, and then removed to Kansas.
E. M. Lawes, an early settler of the county, was originally from Ohio. He cutered upon the practice of medicine, and after a few years started a drug store. While giving his time principally to this. he did not entirely abandon his profession. Hle died here after about twenty years' residence.
A man named Curran came to Osceola in 1861 or '62, and practiced for three or
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four years. He was also a preacher of the Methodist Protestant denomination. removed hence to Kansas.
H. Love located at Osceola about 1865, ; and remained in practice until his death, ten years later.
A Dr. Nugent came here about the same time with Love, from Washington, lowa. He also practiced here about ten years, and is now at Oskaloosa.
I. S. Baker, from Keosauqua, Iowa, was in partnership with Nugent for a time. Since ISSo he has been a resident of California,
Jason Roberts has been at Osceola about ten years, practicing medicine and con- ducting a drug store.
William Chaney has practiced in the county more than a quarter of a century, and a few years since located at the coun- ty scat, where he has since resided.
1. W. Holland, B. F. Raiff, E. II. Wil- son and E. Lawrence have all been in prac- tice for a number of years, and F. M. Brady more than a score. D. K. Douthett has been practicing for six years here. J. C. Beard, an eclectic physician, has been here since 1883.
PROFESSION. :05
William Wiard, from New Haven, Con- nectient, located at Murray in 1869, when the village was just starting, and has prac- ticed ever since at that place, except sollic periods when he has been absent.
R. C. Grigg fixed his residence at the same point in i822, and has practiced ever since. For some years he has also kept a drug store.
H. W. Ross, from Indiana, S. L. Landis, formerly of Hopeville, and Jesse Emery, also of Hopeville, are all now residents of Murray.
Dr. T. S. Harding located at Ottawa in 1857 or '58, and carried on farming and practiced medicine jointly until his death, in 1882. He was also something of a preacher.
C. Blythe located at Ottawa during the war, and is now residing and practicing at Woodburn. M. T. Martin has also prac- ticed at Woodburn for several years. One, Sawyer, was at Woodburn for two years, removing in ISSo. James Proudfoot, a promising young physician, entered upon the practice of medicine at Woodburn in 1879, and in 1882 removed to Indianola.
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INNTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY.
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EDUCATIONAL.
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SHAT people which has the best books and the best schools is the best people; if it is not so to-day, it will be so to-morrow. These words, from the pen of the French educator and statesman, Jules Simon, de- serve to become a household quotation the world over, for no more potent nor cx- pressive truth was ever ut- tered. Of course, all prog- 1
ress and education are not derived from the study of books, and, as Hosea Ballou has said, "Education commences at the mother's kuec," and every word spoken within the hearing of little children tends toward the formation of character; but at the same time no other one agency is so powerful as the common school in develop- ing a nation of self-governing people.
The citizens of Clarke County feel a just pride in their progress in educational methods, which have fully kept pace with the a Ivancement in wealth and the develop- mint of material resources. . As soon as the county was sufficiently settled to ena- ble any neighborhood to open a school, a
school-house was provided, and the ser- vices of a teacher secured. Often a room of a private house was occupied, and some- times the deserted cabin of a squatter be- came a temporary school-room, in which the old-time masters, who worked on the tuition plan, flourished the rod and taught the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic. The first school-houses built were structures of the rudest kind, such as no pioneer would be content to occupy as a dwelling. Built of logs, with floors and benches of puncheons, with a huge fire- place and a stick-and-mud chimney, they were little calculatel for comfort or coon- venience. Window-glass was too expen- sive an article to be used in the construc- tion of a school-house, and therefore greased paper was substituted for it. The writing desk was a notable feature in every school-room. It generally extended acros: i one end or one side of the room, and was made of a slab, held in its place by wooden pins. For architectural effect, probably. certainly not for convenience, it was fa .. tened high up on the wall, and the pupil, in order to use it, must climb upon a high wooden bench and sit there without a sup. port for his back or his feet.
Of the qualifications of the teachers of these days, the less said the better. Many
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EDUCATIONAL
we're accounted good teachers who, in these days, would be unable to secure a certificate even of the third grade. Yet the most of them put to the best use the little talent and less training they had, and . succeeded in planting good seed in the minds of their pupils. Some of the best minds this county has produced were those of men whose whole school educa- tion was received in the log school-houses of pioneer days.
The progress of education here is only a miniature reproduction of what has taken place more slowly among all civilized nations. In recent years improved methods of mental culture have aided the teachers in securing better results. The primary object of educating children is not that they may cscape labor thereby, but that they inay labor more intelligently. Children should be taught that employ- ment leads to happiness, indolence to mis- ery, and that all trades and professions whereby an honest livelihood is obtained are honorable. Right living is the end to be achieved, and it is the workers that do the most good in the world. The man who constantly and intelligently thinks, is above temptation. The women who honorably labor in the various trades arc to be pre- ferred and honored above those who sit with folded hands. It is education that makes duty more apparent, lesseus toi! and sweetens life. It is by true education that the moral responsibilities of the human | family are better understood.
Methods are now sought for and fol- lowed in the school-room. The child's character and capacity are better under- stood now than in the pioneer days. The rod is laid aside, and children are no longer forced. under the lash, to order and apparent stuliousness. Frettul and cruel teachers are giving way to those who love children. and again will mankind draw nearer to the millennium through the influ-
ence of the law of love. In this age better attention is paid to the hygiene and venti Imion of the schoolroom. Houses are lighted, ajred and warmed in a rational manner. Since the introduction of the "automatic" school desks there necd be no more disagreeable seating in our school- room. The inventor of this desk will have a reward in the blessings of the countless thousands of healthy men and women who, in this generation, as children, are comfort- ably seated in many of our best schools.
New and better studies have been added to the course of study in our common schools within the last decade. Now, the child is taught to apply what he learns, di- recting his course of study in the line of his niental activity, cultivating the good and restraining the evil propensities. The time was, not far back, when only a limited knowledge of " reading, 'riting and 'rith- metic," could be acquired in the common schools. The highest aim of the youth of the pioneer days was to write a fair band, spell orally, and solve mathematical puz- zles, This age is moving in a better edu- cational sphere. The change was, of course, gradual. It was a long struggle of igno- rance and bigotry against education, in which the latter has been crowned the vic- tor. But few teachers cling to the old theory. Little by little they are growing away from the old system. A few teach- ers who do not improve are yet votantes at the shrine of their idols-the birch, the dunce-cap and other ol.l-fashioned methods. But.
' Too weak the sacred shrine to guard,"
they must soon yiekl to the new education, and enter the conflict against error and for a better educationd life.
In this struggle for better methods, opinions, covered with age and honors. have been marched off the stage of human action and supplanted by facts and princi-
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MISTORT C. CLARKE COUNTY.
ples which have cost years of toil te dije. cover, and more years to establish. To the close student and observer this theory is new ouly in its application to our schools. It is the normal or natural method. This is the theory of education that antedates all others. The ancients taught by objects, when but few of the most wealthy men of that day could afford books. In fact, text-book knowledge is a new thing to the world. The first teach- ers gave instruction orally. They were, by the force of circumstances, independent of text-books. To this excellent plan has been added the written nicthod. Then, it was principally by observation that the pupils received instruction. By placing the objects before the pupils the teacher could easily reach their minds by his lec- turc. In this age blackboards, spelling- tablets, slates, charts and other school ap- paratus is in general use in our best schools. In the schools of to-day, it is through the eye that a mental picture is formed from the printed page which chil- dren draw upon paper or boards from the ends of their fingers. Well-qualified teach- crs do not think of depending upon text- books at their recitations, but rather im- itate the ancient normal methods. In order to meet the demand for better-qualified teachers, normal training schools have been established in this and other States. The teachers' institute is also an outgrowth of the demand for teachers of a higher stan- dard. Now. truc education is admitted to be the drawing-out and developing of that which the child already possesses, instead of the old crowding theory of piouco days.
There is perhaps no question which can so deeply interest the people of a county as that of obtaining teachers of known and tried ability. In the period of the curly settlement of this county almost anyone could teach. That time, with all of its rude school appliances, has rolled away.
The claims of to-day can no longer be met by appliances of even a decade ago, for ex- perience is beginning to show that teach- ing, like every other department of human thought and activity, must change with the onward movements of society, or fall in the rear of civilization and become an obstacle to improvement. The educational problem of to-day is to obtain useful knowl. edge -- to secure the practical part of edu- cation before the ornamental, and that in the shortest time. In truth, a free nation's safety is wrapped in the intelligence of its citizens. Only an educated people can long sustain a freerepublic, therefore, it is the duty of the State to educate, that her free institutions may stand throughall ages as sacred and endeared monuments of the enlightened people.
Education sweetens and hedges in the family circle and drives away frivolity and gossip from a community, protecting the members from the inroads of vice and jin- morality. It is the strong bulwark of edu- cation that binds the nation of 56,000,000 people together for advancement that she may shine in the near future the brightest star in the constellation of governments. Rapid strides have been made in education within the last half century, but the field of improvement is yet boundless, and the work of education must still go on, and make perhaps greater changes than those from the time when
" The sacred srer with scientific truth In Grecian temples taught tia attentive youth, With ceas le's change, how restless atoms pass From life to life, a transmigrating mass,"
to that of to-day, when men's thoughts are directed to the investigation of what they sce around them.
The following statistics of school mat- ters chow, in a concise form, the condition of education in Clark County. They are from the last-published report of the State
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and | paid for bonds and interest, $1.010.25 ; apply to the year 1994:
number of independent districts, twenty- six ; number of sub-districts, seventy five : number of graded schools, ninety-eight ; number of rooms in graded schools, twenty; average duration in months. 6.3; teachers employed. males, forty- ยท six ; females, 143; average monthly com- pensation, males, 836.10; females, $25.50; males in county between five and twenty- one, 2,772; females, 2, 140; enrolled in pub- lic schools, 3,597 ; total average attendance, 2,055 ; average tuition, per month, S1.91 ; number of frame school-houses, eighty- two: number of brick school-houses, twen- ty-one; value of all, SS1, 100; value of appar- atus, $735.00; volumes in library, sixty- seven; receipts of school-house fund, 85,- 319.31 ; paid for houses and sites, 82,002.93 : paid for library and apparatus, $62.83;
paid for other purposes, $855.37: receipts Number of district townships, nine; of contingent fund, 811. 792.74; paid for rent and repairs 8079.67; paid for fuel, $2.564.32 ; paid secretaries and treasurers, SS10.11; paid for records, dictionaries and apparatus, $61.17 : paid for insurance and janitors, $1, 177.98; paid for supplies, brooms, chalk. etc .. $383.32 : paid for other purposes $2,055.87 ; receipts of teachers' fund. $35,698.10: paid teachers, 823.793.83 ; paid for other purposes, $16.57; profes- sional certificates issued, males, two; first- grade certificates, males, nineteen ; females, forty-seven ; second-grade certificates, males, six ; females, fifty-four ; third-grade certificates, males, two ; females, twelve ; applicants rejected, sixteen ; average age, males, twenty-four ; females, twenty; schools visited by superintendent, ninety; number of visits made, ninety-eight ; cdu- cational meetings held, two.
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HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY.
AGRICULTURAL:
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ESIRABLE as arc mines and manufact- ures,a candid observ- er of the localities where these industries pre- vail, will admit that the highest prosperity of any com- munity arises from agricultural development. One of the chief reasons is, it attracts a better class of people, and another is. property is more evenly dis- tributed. This is why lowa will always be a greater State, than, for instance, Nevada or Connecticut. The soil of lowa is famous the world over. "is rich as the prairies of lowa," is a proverbial expression. Perhaps there is no soil in the world for which nature has done so much. Its waxy fatness yields the moist luxuriant growth of vegetation. Its great depth enables the farmer practi- cally to double his acres from time to time, by plowing twice as deep. Its freedom from stumps, stones and incqualities per- mits the numerous Ibor-saving machines which every year brings forth, to be used with case and economy upon almost every acre of its Lrond extent.
In Clarke County, the soil is a dark alluvial, very flexible, easily worked, uni- formly rich, and icmarkably productive
and versatile. When thoroughly pulver- ized, and frequently stirred, this soil holds moisture in an astonishing manner through the most severe drouths. The land in this county, with the exception of creek bot- toms and bluffs along a few of the streams, is rolling. Not often rolling enough to cause the soil to " wash," but enough so that the land drains perfectly, and is fitted for the plow very soon after a rain. This is a condition that is highly appreciated by farmers from Illinois or Indiana, where they are unable to enter their fields for weeks at a time. No stagnant ponds, or wet, marshy lands are found in the whole county.
The entire acreage of Clarke County amounts to 276.4So acres, yet scarcely one- half has been subjected to the plow. There still remains thousands of acres of land open to the enterprising settler. Land will never again be as cheap as at present. when it can be bought for $6 to 815 per acre. Land at $20 per acre in Clarke County is cheaper than that given by the Government out West. Here are all the comforts of civilization. school-houses. churches, railroads, nearness to market. flouring mills, good wagen roads, county buildings and other improvements. all made and paid for, light taxes, rich and productive soil, newspapers and good
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neighbors. In the States West, these can only be attained after years of pioneer pri- vation.
The apple, cherry and smaller fruits of the garden, rarely fail to reward the careful grower with abundant crops. That this is a natural fruit country is shown from the abundance of wild fruits to be found in all the groves. This is a natural vine region ; standard domestic grapes are growing in great profusion at a trifling cost. For size, flavor and color, they are equal to any grown in the islands of Lake Erie, or on the Hudson and Ohio rivers, and never fail of a bountiful yield. There are many orchards, vineyards and patches of small fruit in the county worth a day's journey to see; and fruits of richer hue, finer text- ure or more delicious flavor are grown no where in America. To know the position Iowa occupies as a Iruit country, see any book treating of that industry as it is de- veloped in the United States.
usually valuable for pasturage or hay. But tame grasses, the ing erial blue, time. thy, clover and other varieties are march- ing to the conquest of the whole country. Good grades of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs are found on every farm. This whole region invites ambitious herdsmen. At present prices of land there are for- tunes in sheep and cattle-breeding, grazing and feeding, to any and all who have the good sense, taste and ambition to pursue this noble calling. One important fact, not generally known, is that foot-rot does not prevail among the sheep of this county, and in sheep thus afflicted brought from other districts, the disease soon disappears. This is a matter of vast import, and the future promises great results in sheep-hus- bandry. The county is capable of sus- taining hundreds more of cattle and sheep- growers, without interference with general farming. The number and value of the live-stock of the county are given in the statistics below.
The crops of this county include a great variety of grain, vegetables, fruits, etc., all This being one of the finest grass regions in the whole country, the dairy promises to yield rich returns. The field is ample, and the market for first-class dairy prod- ucis is illimitable. The making of butter and cheese is destined to become a great and paying industry in this county. of which return an abundant yield to the thorough farmer. Wheat is not a stand- ard crop. Rye is a sure crop and highly prized for carly and late pasturage. Corn is the king of all crops, about half of the cultivated land being usually planted with that cereal. The crop of corn is largely People are beginning to realize that there is not only money in better grades of ani- mals, but also in poultry. Very few per- sons have any conception of the extent of the egg-and-poultry trade, but there seems to be an awakening on the subject, and the time ought not to be distant when every farmer will give a share of his time to chickens and turkeys, and secure luger returns for the investment thon from any other source. fed to cattle and hogs within the county. Large numbers of fine hogs may be seen on almost every farm, while good cattle are usually fattened every winter by farin- ers in every neighborhood. Oats. barley, flux and broom-com are all grown with profit by good cultivators. Millet, Hun- garian, sorghum an I all the field and ger- den vegetables are grown in profu ion by ordinary cultivation. But what a country it is for grasses ! Prairie grass in scores of The egg traffic of this country has risen The aggregate transactions in New York varieties can be found on all the wild & to an importance which few comprehend. langes, and are of invaluable aid to the Stock-man from April to August, being ; City alone amount July to & ouGoto per
HISTORY OF CLARKE COUNTY.
annum, and in the United States to $30,- 000.000. A single firm in that line of busi- ness in New York handled 81,000,000 worth of eggs during isso. In truth, the great gallinaceous tribe in our country barnvards contributes in no small degree to human subsistence. eggs being rich in nutritive properties -- cqual to one-half their entire weight.
STATISTICS.
Average number of acres in a farm, 1.45 ; acres of improved land, 162,435; acres in cultivation, 104.655 : acres of unimproved land. 58,058; acres in pasture, 37,927; rods of hedge fence, 108,519; rods of barbed- wire fence, 403,531; rods of other fence, 279.190 ; farms managed by owner, 1,061 ; farms managed by manager, 44; by tenant for money rent, 29; by tenant for crop rent, 298; acres of corn, 44,262; bushels harvested, 1,419,025 : acres of wheat, 2,015 : bushels harvested, 18,521; acres of oats, 27,550; bushels harvested, 484,195; tons of straw, 13,134; acres of rye, 921; bushels harvested, 10,181; tons of straw, 392 ; acres of barley, 32 ; bushels harvested, 250 ; acres of buckwheat, 721: bushels harvested. 3,- 511; acres of sorghum, 343: gallons sor- ghum syrup, 39,432 ; acres of potatoes, 851: bushels raised, 69,426; bushels of bects, 715 : bushels of turnips, 2,017; bushels of peas and beans, 1.oGo; acres of planted timber, 1.17: acres of natural timber, 24,- 046: cords of wood cut in a year, 12,255; bearing apple trees, 72.952; bushels gath- cred in 1884. 45.736; bearing pear frees, 234 ; bushels gathered in 1884. 47: bearing peach trees, 160; bearing plum trees, 517; bushels gathered in 1884, 265; bearing cherry trees, 7,555; bushels gathered in 1884, 2.321; other bearing trees, 1,124: trees not bearing, 28,942 ; acres of clover, 471: tons of hay, 333: acres of timothy, 38726: tons of hay, 38.419: bushels o! seed, 7,558; tens of hay from wild grass;
4.149; acres of flax, 1,559; bushels of seed, 10,021 : gallons of milk sent to factory, G,- 454 ; gallons of cream sent to factory, 47 .- 865 ; pounds of butter made outside of fac- tory. 304,775 ; thorough-bred cattle, 218 ; graded cattle, 2,630; milch cows, 7,086; all other cattle, 16,417; slaughtered or sold for slaughter, 2,750; horses, 6,105; sold for export in 1884. 261; hogs, 26,639 ; slaugh- tered or sold for slaughter, 15,964 ; aver- age value of farms, $2.929.
CLARKE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
This was organized in 1868, among the prominent members being O. P. Ander- son, W. C. Gregg, T. H. Brown, James Brown, R. B. Parrott, John McDonough, A. H. Burrows, R. A. Dague and John Diehl. Three fairs were held, but the so- ciety did not prosper, and was allowed to go down. Very soon after, however, John McDonough and E. F. Riley set them- selves to the task of re-organizing the so- ciety, and the result was the formation of the
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