USA > Iowa > Polk County > Centennial history of Polk County, Iowa > Part 20
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The Hospital is located at No. 923, Seventh street. The services of Samuel Davis and his wife were secured as Steward and Matron. In all, twenty-five patients have been received, but one of whom died. At present, there are five patients. Twenty-two butchers of the city, supply the hos- pital with meats free of charge. The managers gladly re- ceive contributions of every kind and character that can be utilized. Of the twenty-five patients admitted, two only were members of the Episcopal Church.
St. Paul's Workingmen's Club and Institute of Des Moines, was organized under the auspices of Rev. J. S.
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Reed, January 19, 1876. The objects to be attained are of a business, social, and beneficiary character. The present officers are: President, Rev. J. B. Clark; Vice President, T. M. Knight; Secretary, George E. Belt; Treasurer, H. J. Childress; Conductor, J. P. Smith. Present membership, seventy-eight.
The Parish Aid Society; the Mothers' Meeting, organized October 15, 1874; Night School; Industrial School for Lit- tle Girls, October 17, 1874; Woman's Missionary Associa- tion, April 30, 1874; Parish Guild, January 1, 1874; Sunday School Fellowship, May 12, 1874; Guild House, with J. S. Morse as General Superintendent, and Mrs. E. Porter, Mat- ron; the Parish School, established, April, 1875; Employ- ment Bureau, and Seabury School, are enterprises which grew up under the fostering care of the Episcopal Church.
POLITICAL CADETS.
The Tilden and Hendricks Cadets went into organization in August last. Their officers are: Captain, W. H. Merritt, Jr .; First Lieutenant, Dan. M. Finch; Second Lieutenant, Thomas Northup; President, S. M. Rice; Vice President, Charles H. Lewis; Secretary, W. L. Kirk; Treasurer, W. H. McHenry, Jr.
The Hayes and Wheeler Cadets have the following offi- cers: Captain, J. L. Nash; First Lieutenant, Frank Wil- liamson; Second Lieutenant, Charley Tuttle.
Both companies are finely uniformed and well disciplined, and both took part in the funeral procession which followed the remains of General Baker to Woodland Cemetery.
MINERAL SPRINGS.
A spring of this character is situated on the farm of Wm. S. Bennett, near the city. There is a copious supply of water, which comes to the surface from a depth of 190 feet. .
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An analysis, by Prof. Blaney, of Chicago, gives to this wa- ter the finest medicinal properties.
Three other mineral springs have been discovered, one of which is on the property of Gen. L. A. Grant, another on the land of George W. Savery, and another still on the property of Wesley Redhead. All these springs are in the immediate vicinity of the city, and all of them, as claimed by their friends, possess medical virtues of high order.
Ira Mitchell, of Des Moines, is engaged in introducing these mineral waters to our people.
MUSICAL COMPOSER.
Prof. V. C. Taylor, well known as an accomplished mu- sical composer and teacher of music, came from Brooklyn, New York, to Des Moines, March 1, 1865. He is the au- thor of several musical works of great merit. Not long since he revised the popular Cantata of Queen Esther, and its performance at Moore's Opera House, under his direc- tion, in May last, was universally applauded. In this en- tertainment, he secured the services alone of home talent, and it is proper to say here that the native musical talent of Des Moines is of high excellence.
On Thursday and Friday evening», October 26 and 27, 1876, Prof. Taylor introduced, at Moore's Opera House, a Cantata in five acts, named "Joseph," the greater part of which was originated by himself. It displayed much gen- ius; and the music, all of which was composed by the Pro- fessor, was very highly commended. The characters in this Cantata are generally drawn from the Bible. The ladies and gentlemen who personated the characters were: Prof. W. H. Leib, St. Paul, Minn .; W. P. Guiberson, Edward Coykendall, Dr. R. M. Stone, A. T. Harritt, C. E. Risser, C. P. Gray, S. F. Blixt, S. M. Rice, D. R. Town, A. M. Fergu- son, C. E. Wingate, Mrs. I. N. Noland, Carrie Laird, Min-
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nie Mecracken, C. A. Ferguson, Mrs. Hiram Robinson, Mrs. J. S. Clarkson, Grace Clark, Emma Reigelman, Belle Daugherty, Callie Smith, Anna Daugherty, Winnie Wight- man, Mrs. W. S. Vernon, Hattie M. West, and Henry Hirsch.
POLK COUNTY POETS.
Several years ago, Leonard Brown, one of our early set- tlers, published a volume of his own composition, entitled " Poems of the Prairie." Many of the poems in this vol- ume evinced native talent, showing that the author could, by the cultivation of his faculties, take rank among the ac- credited poets of the age. One of his prose works, entitled " American Patriotism," containing biographical sketches of the soldiers from our county, who lost their lives in the service of their country, during the war for the Union, is very highly prized by our citizens, as a contribution to his- tory, which should be in all our libraries.
In 1871, W. W. Fink, of this city, published, under the auspices of Mills & Co., a poem entitled " Valley Forge," descriptive of senes and sufferings during the Revolution- ary War. During the present year, the same author issued another volume, entitled " Hades and other Poems." Both of these volumes indicate genius, especially in the realms of poetical imagery and ideality.
ADJUTANT GENERAL N. B. BAKER.
This distinguished gentleman, so intimately connected with the military history of Iowa, died at his residence in Des Moines Wednesday morning at one o'clock, September 13th, 1876, in the 58th year of his age. Elsewhere in these pages the reader will find a sketch of him and his services. The funeral services, which occurred Friday afternoon, Sep- tember 15th, were of a character to indicate the popular es- teem and affection in which he was held by the people. All
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the military, political, and civic organizations of the county contributed their services on the solemn occasion, swelling the procession as it passed from St. Paul's Church, on Sev- enth street, to Woodland Cemetery, to proportions which were indeed formidable, Three Iowa Governors, Kirkwood Merrill and Stone were present.
The pall bearers were: Governor Merrill, P. M. Casady, Lieut .- Governor Gue, Gen. Ed Wright, Gen. J. A. William- son, George W. Jones, G. M. Hippee, and J. N. Dewey. No other funeral in the State was ever more largely atten- ded; and no other death was ever followed by more genuine and heartfelt mourning. General Baker was loved by every soldier; and the thousands of poor people all over the State, and all over the West, indeed, whom he befriended in their direst extremity and want, will never forget him, so long as the chords of their hearts shall beat in response to the touch of a people's gratitude. His body sleeps in Wood- land Cemetery, but his great name and his deeds of charity and good will to his fellow men are alive and awake ever- more, in the memories of his countrymen.
The successor of General Baker in the Adjutant Gen- eral's office, is John H. Looby, who, as a member of the Second Iowa Infantry, was severely wounded at Shiloh, and remained helpless and exposed on the field through long and dreary hours after the battle had terminated. He was disabled for life. We knew him well in the olden time, when life was young and full of glowing anticipations. The office has come to a gentleman who will fill it, as his predecessor did, worthily and well.
FIRST ODD FELLOWS' BURIAL.
The name of Conrad Youngerman appears among the dead of early settlers, elsewhere in this volume. For fear that readers may suppose we have committed an egregious blunder, confounding with dead men one of the most en-
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terprising citizens of Des Moines, who bids fair to live & thousand years, we desire to state that the Conrad Younger- man of Early Settlers was drowned in the Des Moines river, near the City, during the great inundation of 1851. He was a brother of John Youngerman, of Walnut township, and not at all related to our energetic contractor and builder of the same name. It is stated on good authority that his funeral was the first among citizens of the county which was directed by the Odd Fellows.
FIRST PHOTOGRAPHERS.
G. L. Reynolds was the first Photographer in Des Moines, having arrived here in 1856. In 1827, he gave us for pub- lication in the Citizen, a graphic account of the adventures he experienced some years before in obtaining an opportu- nity to take the picture of Henry Clay, at his residence in Kentucky. Several years ago Mr. Reynolds removed to California. J. P. Sharman, of this place, who commenced the same business in 1859, recently received a letter from Mr. Reynolds, in which that gentleman refers with much pleasure to his old Des Moines associations. Mr. Sharman was the second photographer in the City.
There are many artists of this class now in Des Moines, of whom we would be glad to speak in this connection, but want of space forbids this indulgence.
Mrs. Sharman, mother of the artist, had a music store in the town, and sold Organs and Pianos as early as 1857. She is now residing in St. Louis.
INDIAN CHIEFS.
At the last payment made to the Indians at the Old Agency, in the Fall of 1845, Keokuk, Young Black Hawk, Pow- eshiek, Green and Squinty-Eyes, Chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes, were present. Dr. James Campbell, who saw them, states that Keokuk and Poweshiek were not tall in person,
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but were quite corpulent. Young Black Hawk, son of the historic Chief, was about 22 years of age, with a tall and graceful figure.
When Poweshiek left Fort Des Moines, he went south_ ward, and encamped with forty lodges on Grand river, a short distance north of the Missouri boundary. The whites of Northern Missouri became irritated at the proximity of the savages, and threatened war and extermination. The Indians on the other hand were equally exasperated against the whites, and bloody war seemed imminent.
At this juncture, Dr. Campbell, J. B. Scott and Hamilton Thrift, hearing of the trouble in which their old friend Poweshiek was involved, mounted their horses at the Fort, and rode nearly a hundred miles through the deep snow of 1845-6. Arriving at Grand River, they found the situation very gloomy and threatening. Poweshiek and his band of warriors, were engaged in holding two or three Dog Festi- vals every day. This meant war. Mr. Scott took Powe- shiek aside, and spoke to him substantially as follows:
"My friends and myself have traveled through the snow a long distance to help you out of this trouble. We are your friends. If you persist in your purpose of making war on the whites, many of your squaws and pappooses, as well as your braves, will be butchered. The remainder will be driven out in the cold and snow, to perish on the prai- ries. It would be better now for you to break up your lodges, and go in peace to the reservation in Kansas, which the Government has provided for you."
It was some time before the old Chief could bring him- self to accept this good advice. He was fearful, if he va- cated his place of encampment on Grand River, he would be stigmatized as a coward, and this he could not endure. He was finally made to comprehend the true situation; and it was not long ere his lodges dotted the surface of the prairie, hundreds of miles away from Grand River. The
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timely arrival of friends, and the peace measures counseled by them, saved the old warrior and his band from much trouble, and possibly from extermination.
OLD BLOCK HOUSE, ETC.
One of the old block houses may still be seen, on the west side of Fourth street, between Market and Elm. Four cottonwood trees were planted in the vicinity a long time ago, three of which are still remaining. Nearly opposite this old relic, stands a log building, erected by Thomas Mc- Mullen in 1847. It is claimed that this was the first hewed log house built at the Fort, although another building, else- where referred to, has claims to this honor.
William Lamb had a trading post one mile below the Old Agency. A man by the name of Whisler, was also a noted trader. Dr. Campbell crossed into the Territory at New Boston, Illinois, in 1839, and at Blackhawk, near the mouth of the Iowa River.
White's Steam Flouring Mill covers the site of the old nine-pin alley, built by Nathaniel Campbell, in the Southern part of the town.
THE TAXIDERMIST.
An excentric and gifted gentleman, by the name of Moore, full of genial wit and racy anecdote, was employed by A. J. Stevens and others in 1856, to go in the capacity of a professional Taxidermist, or bird-stuffer, to Brazil, in South America. The object of the Company was to es- tablish a kind of museum at Fort Des Moines, an important feature of which would be the bird collections from the Tropics, which were expected to arrive in due course of time. Mr. Moore went on his mission; and after having penetrated to the heart of the Continent in his weary march up the Amazon, an accident occurred, involving the death of one of Mr. Moore's companions, which put an abrupt
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end to the expedition. The circumstances attending this death, will, perhaps, never be revealed; but they were of such a nature as to throw suspicion on Mr. Moore.
In the spring of 1857, Mr. Moore returned to Des Moines, bringing with him quite a collection of South American birds, which were afterward on exhibition in one of the rooms of the Savery House. The Taxidermist came home discouraged and demoralized, drinking deeply and repeat- edly, until one day, weary and disappointed, he shook the Des Moines dust from his feet and garments, and left, never to return. We heard that a little boy, son of this gen- tleman, was seen after he had been deserted by the father, crying in the streets of the city of Des Moines. A gen- erous farmer pitied him, took him to his home, and adopted him as a member of his family. Nothing on earth but in- temperance, would have induced such a man as Professor Moore to be guilty of this unfatherly and unnatural de- sertion of his child.
PRIMITIVE SALOON.
At the Point, as it was classically called, which is under- stood to have been the place near which Dr. James Camp- bell's Eye and Ear Infirmary now stands, a grocery or liquor store was in full blast, from 1848, to 1850. It was carried on in a wooden building, the south room of which contained a high counter, and all other appendages of a primative drinking establishment. There the imbibing cus- tomer could take his drinks, straight, mixed, complicated, or involuted, just as he pleased; and he had the opportunity, also, to lose his surplus dollars at different kinds of games. These exercises enlivened the monotony of the passing hour.
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AN OLD LAND MARK GONE.
Years ago the old house-part log and part frame, at the Southeast corner of Twelfth and Walnut streets was one of the fashionable Mansions of Des Moines. It was built in 1848, by an early settler whose name we cannot recall. The next year it became the property of Mr. Keene, and then found its way into the hands of his brother, the husband of Mrs. Sypher. When that lady resided there, there was no other house in sight of it, although by taking a short walk to a stake and ridered fence, just east of it, the residence of Mrs. Grimmel on the hill, and one other house on what is now Third street, were visible. It was the headquarters for Des Moines society, and there after the day's toils were ended, Judge Casaday, Major Hoyt Sherman, D. O. Finch, and many of the gentlemen now known as Old Settlers, but then young men with the world before them, were wont to congregate and talk of "the girls they had left behind them," and enjoy the hospitality, never stinted, of Mr. and Mrs. Keene.
At one time it was the residence of Dr. Fagan. Then Mr. D. O. Finch and wife made it a seat of pleasant hospi- tality.
Just west of it, a portion of the plat being now used by Peter Lambert for greenhouse purposes, was the play ground of the Indians, whose close proximity and boisterous sport kept Mrs. Keene in constant alarm.
The old house has a history rich in items for a Local's pencil, and some day they may be told, but the present pur- pose is only to record that the old landmark is no more. It had become too old for service or beauty, and has been torn down and removed .- Register, July, 1876.
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ONE OF OUR OLD LAND-MARKS.
The Corning Gazette, edited by W. H. Hoxie, copies our article about the old land-mark on the corner of Twelfth and Walnut streets, in this city, now being torn down, and then adds the following chapter:
We clip the above from the State Register, and will chip in our mite of history of the old house. The house was built by B. T. Hoxie, father of the editor of this paper, and it was in the year 1847, if we are not mistaken. The logs for the house were cut in the timber north of Fort Des Moines, and what was rare in those days, they were hewn. That was style on the frontier then. The winter of the "'deep snow," as it was always referred to by the old settlers, Dr. P. B. Fagan was married to our eldest sister, the cere- monies taking place in that house. The storm was so severe that the guests were compelled to remain, some of them, for several days. But who ever knew a pioneer's house to be too small to entertain any sized crowd? Among those present were Thomas Mitchell, who then lived in Apple Grove, T. K. Brooks, then of Agency Prairie, and many others whose names we cannot remember. C. C. Van was there, coming in an ox team, but pretending it was a car- riage. Any of the old settlers of Polk county can tell other incidents of the wedding.
Years afterwards a brother, M. B. Hoxie, was married and commenced housekeeping in the old homestead, living there some time.
This house was the last one standing, to our knowledge, erected by our father, and we are sorry it has been torn away. It has been our custom, when visiting Des Moines, to take a look at the old house, in memory of the days of yore. Now it is gone. The time was when it was the best house in all Polk county. Fort Des Moines was not the Capital then, and did not contain a two-million State House,
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palace hotels, or palatial residences, as it now does, but it did contain, and does yet, as true and warm hearted a set of people as the sun ever shone on. Here's to the memory of the old times, in the old homestead !- Register, Aug., 1876.
FIRST WHITE INHABITANTS.
We have hitherto referred to Benjamin Bryant and Wil- liam Lamb, in speaking of the first white inhabitants of this region. These gentlemen frequently stated that they came here before the Indians, which was historically true. Before the Sac and Fox Indians were removed hither from the Agency in Wapello county, Messrs. Bryant and Lamb came in advance to make some necessary preparations for such removal. In writing of first inhabitants, it would be a serious omission to ignore the name of John Hays, now living in Bloomfield Township, and formerly Sheriff of the County.
Mr. Hays and his brother Samuel, the latter of whom was married at the time, came from Missouri to the site on which Polk City stands, March, 1846, while Iowa was yet a Terri- tory. Their nearest neighbor was an old bachelor by the name of Shipman, whose log cabin was about a mile and a half northwest of Messrs. Hays' residence. A man named Evan Harris-a kind of poetical wag, by the way-had also immigrated from Missouri in the Spring of 1846. One day, Mr. Harris had occasion to visit Mr. Shipman, and becom- ing irritated at the absence of the person whom he desired to see, he meditated a moment, and then wrote on the door of the cabin the following characteristic lines, which, if not elegant, are at least emphatic :
"Evan Harris was here to-day,
Cursed the Old Bachelor, and went away."
The brothers Hays had selected a claim at the place where they first settled, but circumstances not necessary to
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narrate here, induced them to move the same season to Say- lor Grove, after having disposed of their possessions to George Beebe, one of the patriarchs of Madison Township. Meantime, Evan Harris returned to Missouri, where he en- listed as a soldier, and died in the service during the Mexi- can War. Messrs. Hays rented land of John Saylor, son of Benjamin Saylor, and they soon became acquainted with J. P. Saylor, Frank Nagle, Solomon Bayles, Addison Mi- chael, Eli Keeler, Perry Ware, James Bradley, and many others whose names are included in the list of our pioneers.
Samuel Hays died in early times, and his brother John removed to Fort Des Moines in 1849. In speaking of his recollections of that period, Mr. Hays states that, aside from the garrison buildings, which extended for some distance along the banks of both rivers, the improvements at the Fort were few and insignificant. What is now called East Des Moines was divided into farms, and the greater part of the site of the present city was covered with dense and primitive thickets of hazel bushes. On his arrival at the Fort, Mr. Hays established himself in a rude log cabin, with but one room in it, located on Second street, between Wal- nut and Locust. The house is still standing, as a memento and memorial of a past age.
It is worthy of remark here, that the lot on which Ex- change Block, Walnut street, was afterwards erected, was offered to Mr. Hays for seven and a half dollars; but as John could not then see the future glory of the State Capi- tal, he rejected the offer with much decision and emphasis, as utterly exorbitant! Subsequently, he bought one of the lots belonging now to the Avenue House, for one hundred half-dollars, in jingling specie, which was the currency of those times in the West.
From the personal recollections of. Col. Barlow Granger, formerly an apprentice to Henry S. Randall, Editor of the Courtland Advocate, New York, and afterwards a printer
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in the Republican office, St. Louis, we have obtained the following items: He, and a partner, by the name of James B. Jones, arrived at Fort Des Moines in the Summer of 1848, designing to engage in sales of real estate. Reaching a point which overlooked the city, as they approached their destination, each one of these gentlemen designated a par- ticular site on which he intended, at some future time, to establish his residence. Mr. Jones chose the site now oc- cupied as the residence of B. F. Allen, while Col. Granger selected the precise location on which he has been living for a score of years. The former was disappointed in his selection, while the latter realized all his expectations.
At first, Col. G. occupied as an office a building on the corner of Market and Third streets, opposite the old Ohio or Buckeye House. The same old house, still standing, was employed after its vacation by Mr. Granger, in 1853, for saloon purposes, by Gotleib Munzenmaier, who excavated a rude hole in the earth for a temporary cellar, in which to deposit his casks of beer. Old citizens well remember an ancient building on Court Avenue, north side, between Sec- ond and Third streets, to the basement of which a pair of stairs led directly from the street. This basement contained the principal pioneer saloon in Fort Des Moines, and was operated by Mr. M. The old Cottage House, on Court Av- enue, was built by Benjamin Saylor, in 1849.
EFFECTS OF JEALOUSY.
One Sunday evening, just after nightfall, in the spring of 1858, a young man named Chandler, in company with a Miss King, was walking near the northern limits of the city. An Englishman by the name of Rosseter, had been paying attention to the young lady, but was repelled. Fired with jealousy and bad whisky, he secured a pistol, and on the evening indicated, secreted himself in a hazel- thicket near the road. As Mr. Chandler and lady were
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passing the thicket, Rosseter stealthily left his ambush, and coming behind the unsuspecting party, he placed the muz- zle of the pistol almost in contact with the back of Mr. Chandler's head, and fired. The bullet perforated the palm-leaf hat which the victim wore, and penetrated deeply into the brain, killing him instantly. Rosseter then fired a shot at Miss King, wounding her in the hand, and causing her to faint. Supposing that the work of murder was now complete, as both victims lay motionless on the ground, Rosseter turned the muzzle of his pistol against his right temple, and pulled the trigger. He died next day in an old untenanted building. Miss King recovered of her wound, and is yet, we believe, a citizen of Des Moines.
DR. BROOKS' BRICK HOUSE.
In 1851, during the period of high water, Dr. Brooks em- ployed a raft on 'Coon, with which to float from the brick- yard the material for building the first brick house in East Fort Des Moines. The structure was finished in the fall of that year, and occupied a position near the R. I. R. R. bridge.
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