USA > Iowa > Early settlement and growth of western Iowa; or, Reminiscences > Part 2
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Not only were such active efforts engaged in, but an interest in missions, foreign and home, was sustained in the Tabor church, which has always
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given liberally. Several have gone from the church into the foreign field, and many into home missionary work.
His Work for Temperance
Closely connected with missionary work was the temperance work. When the Tabor colony first came to the region, merchants kept a barrel of whiskey in their back room with the head knocked out and a dipper always at hand for cus- tomers, and few were those who refused to drink. A county temperance society was organized and held regular quarterly meetings for about twenty years. Free whiskey soon disappeared, and the county voted for the Prohibition Amendment by several hundred majority.
His last effort was for temperance; to stay, by petition if possible, the passage of the Mulct law.
His Work for Tabor College
His main work, aside from that of pastor, was for Tabor College. President Brooks, who was president for nearly thirty years, writes: "When Rev. John Todd left his first church in Clarksfield, Ohio, at the solicitation of his friend, Deacon George B. Gaston, it was with no hope of worldly gain. He left a united church and an assured salary to go to a new and sparsely settled country. No church awaited his coming, no society com-
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Rev. John Todd
missioned him to go. Deacon Gaston alone com- missioned him, inviting him to join the little com- pany who had set their faces toward western Iowa. He said: 'Come with us and while I live you shall live.' Beginnings were made in faith and hope though the present many times did not seem bright.
" Mr. Todd was one of the incorporators, in 1857, of Tabor Literary Institute, the Academy which preceded Tabor College. He was chairman of its Board of Trustees, and also the first chairman of the Board of Trustees of Tabor College. He was one of the Trustees of the College from its in- corporation in 1866 until his death. He was one of the most liberal givers to the College: he gave not only money but time and thought; he gave himself to promote its interests. At the opening of the College Mr. Todd, from a salary of $800 pledged $1,000, which he paid with interest; then gave another $1,000, and afterward gave in smaller sums. Besides these gifts in money he taught for three years without pecuniary compen- sation, and gave time without limit in arranging courses of study and in doing every kind of neces- sary work.
" In educating his family, three of whom gradu- ated from Tabor College, he never availed himself of the free tuition given to the children of min- isters in active service but said he preferred to
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pay in full. He never failed when in town to be present at the opening of a new term. At differ- ent times he served as Secretary, Treasurer, Li- brarian, and Auditor, and always with the same faithfulness and interest in the success of the insti- tution which he came to the West to help estab- lish. He was not a born leader nor one with un- bounded enthusiasm, but he was one who had the genius for doing well a large amount of work. He always worked with his associates without friction unless he thought some principle of right was vio- lated. In his death one of the earliest and best friends of the College passed away."
Personal Characteristics
His description, according to his enlistment paper, was " 5 ft., 6 inches high, light complexion, blue eyes, grey hair, age 45."
He was of slender build and light weight, but very active. His habitual quick step was often a subject of remark and means of recognition.
A young professor in the college relates: "As I was taking my trunks over to the house where I was to live, having been in town only a few hours, as I climbed in, there was Father Todd standing in the wagon, and we rode slowly along and I be- gan to get acquainted with that man I have learned to love so well since. And as the wagon drew up to stop just a moment before his home, without
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the least hesitation, he lightly leaped over the wheel to the ground, standing erect as he was, leav- ing me-well, somewhat scandalized that a man over whose head so many years had passed should have so young a body, but I have learned since that his soul was just as young as his body."
In early life he often wore a scowl, which was more apparent on his unshaven face; in middle life the scowl was less marked; he wore a short beard with shaved upper lip; but in later years, having a full, long beard, he presented a benignant and venerable appearance admired by all.
His leading characteristics have perhaps been sufficiently illustrated already, but it may be well here to take a parting glance at them.
The fundamental factor in his life was unfalter- ing trust in God. From this sprang his conse- cration for a noble cause, his perseverance amid discouragements, and his calmness and unflinching courage. Linked with this was his faithfulness to duty. The voice of conscience was to him the call of God, to be followed unhesitatingly. As one said who knew him well (Rev. J. W. Cowan, his successor) : " If he thought that a thing was right for him to do, you could count upon his doing that thing just as surely as you can count on the sun rising tomorrow morning. If he thought a certain thing should be said from the pulpit it would be absolutely sure to be said the next Sunday morn-
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ing. It was not because he did not care for the good opinion of his fellow men. It was not be- cause he did not like to have his neighbors think well of him."
He possessed a logical mind. His appeal was constantly to reason, and if he was convinced of wrong reasoning he was not slow to acknowledge an error. If in doubt he was quite sure to err on the side of self-denial rather than on the side of self-indulgence.
Closely akin to this was a love of truth, and hence that qualifying of strong statements which to some may have seemed lack of confidence or of enthusiasm. It was because he saw the truth more clearly than some.
Though habitually sober, another trait was love of sport. He had times of unbending; in fact, he considered duty led in this direction not infre- quently. He played with children. He keenly enjoyed a harmless joke. He enjoyed such extrava- ganzas as Baron Münchausen, and still more, fun with a point, like that of Mark Twain or Burdette, but he quickly sobered if sport was made of things sacred or serious.
He was not at home in any labored display, and while attending social functions from a sense of duty, recognizing their necessity and bearing himself well in them, he was not there for pleasure.
He was a lover of nature and enjoyed giving
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instruction, as he did for a time, in the Natural Sciences.
An important factor in his success was his de- light in neatness and method. He was scribe of the Council Bluffs Association for many years, and he was presented with a gold pen in recognition of his marked success in that office. His manuscripts were clear as lithographs. He kept careful record of all marriages, baptisms, and other notable events of his parish, and yet method or accuracy simply for its own sake he thought of little value. Red tape was irksome. He enjoyed drawing diagrams and maps. He enjoyed a nicely labeled and sys- tematically arranged cabinet. Closely akin to this accuracy were his habits of promptness, neatness of dress, and also of keeping things in place. A com- mon injunction to his children was: " Be sure to put it back in place." "Leave it where you found it."
Another trait was his impartiality. He believed in doing his part and expected every one else to do his. Hence he would treat all equally and fairly. He was also slow to believe a man wilfully de- ficient, and when he had proved to be so, he felt bound to treat him as he deserved. He had no sympathy with a clannish or aristocratic spirit. He was above holding a position or carrying a point by pretense or intrigue, and was slow to believe it of others.
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Yet he was not blind to the faults of others and his caution saved him from many a deception. He was always ready to give another the benefit of a doubt, and to suffer wrong rather than to do a wrong. His loyal and charitable spirit was beautifully illustrated in his welcome to Rev. J. W. Cowan, his successor in the pulpit which he had filled for thirty years, and which he had resigned on reaching his 64th year. This is the Rev. Cowan's tribute: "I would that I had time to speak of what he has been to me individually; of how that gentle, modest, unassuming spirit has shown itself so constantly. Almost a dozen years ago I came to this place to take out of his hands that work on which he had lavished the thirty best years of his life, into which he poured his heart's blood through three toiling decades. It was dearer to him, I doubt not, than any other earthly interest. What wonder would it have been if there had been something of jealous watchfulness, something of ever wakeful criticism in the attitude of his spirit as he came to turn that prized work over to the hand of a stranger who, perhaps, might mar wonder would it have been if there had been
built at so great sacrifice and toil? Yet
I say today, with all my heart, without the slightest shade of reservation, that not one word, not one breath of opposition or unfriend-
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liness has ever escaped him in all these years. And that were small thing for him to do-to step aside and leave it for another unmolested; that were but little. He has done far more than that. He has stood beside the new pastor, an active co- laborer, earnestly, cheerfully, constantly doing all in his power to build up the work. There has been none in all this church upon whom I could count more absolutely for loyal and faithful sup- port. None who spoke more frequent or more hearty words of encouragement and affection. None more ready for any duty, however smail, however obscure, however unrewarded, by which he might serve his Master and his church. A faithful worker he has been."
His Closing Years 1687943
July 20, 1888, his companion in the morning and mid-day of life passed on before. His family, with the exception of two daughters, had all mar- ried and lived in homes of their own. He spent the following winter visiting a married daughter in southern California and other friends on that coast. The following summer he spent on a home- stead in South Dakota, securing a claim for his daughter, Minnie. In the autumn he returned and lived at the old house in Tabor with this daughter. Pleasant acquaintance sprang up with a widow of gentle grace and earnest, Christian character,
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who had come to Tabor for the education of her family, and on March 26, 1891, they were quietly married, and she made a sunny home for his declining years. These in some respects were probably the happiest years of his life, like the Beulah land of the immortal allegory. Her chil- dren, in the freshness of youth, enlivened the home with sport and song. He was conveniently situated to the College which he had been largely influential in founding and perfecting. He was constantly in close touch with the church, which had been his care for decades, on familiar terms with its new and talented pastor, sharing in the pulpit services to the end, and esteemed as a father and friend by the whole community. He could rejoice in the fruits of his labors and watch the kind hand of Providence blessing them, as has been granted to few on earth.
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One of his last blessings of which he spoke most appreciatively was a visit to the Columbian Exposition. His physician had at one time thought that he must forego that pleasure. But he had strength, and spent a week or more in seeing with his own eyes that crowning exhibition of modern civilization, and its triumph in all lands, even in some that within his memory had been won from heathen superstition, so that he was able to look upon it as a triumph largely of the kingdom of
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his Master. He met there also many old time acquaintances, that added much to his joy.
His general health and activity continued to the last. As before mentioned, he was circulating a petition against the repeal of the prohibition law, which he looked upon as hostile to the welfare of the State. It was a crisp winter morning; he felt well and had made several calls, when he entered the home of Reuben Reeves, a mile from home. He sat down while the man of the house signed the paper, who, when he turned to him again, found that he was gone without a cry and without a strug- The scripture came to many minds : " He walked with God, and was not, for God took him." As Pastor Cowan well expressed: "To such a life as his the end how fitting! He who abhorred idleness as few men abhor it, God did not compel him one hour of idleness. He fell in the harness, his sword uplifted to strike again. He fell in the furrow, his hand upon the plow, his face turned resolutely toward the task he hoped still to accom- plish. He whose spirit would chafe at the thought of dependence upon the care and labor of any one, however lovingly and eagerly rendered-nor wife nor child needed to smooth his dying pillow or wipe the sweat from his suffering brow even for one hour. In the midst of his labors he was called. He walked with God and was not. Faith- ful to the last, busy to the last in the Master's
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service, in his place last Sunday morning minis- tering to the people to whom he so long minis- tered, in his place last Monday afternoon pro- nouncing the words of solemn prayer over the casket of a fellow soldier fallen at his side, in his place last evening as a member of the official board of the church, with kindly question and loving coun- sel aiding those soon to confess their faith at the altars of the church, in his place last Tuesday even- ing in the prayer meeting in his own parlors, in his place Wednesday morning bearing from house to house that protest against what he believed to be gigantic and conscienceless wrong, that prayer for the burdened and the tempted and the lost, the last stroke of his pen the signature to that petition, his last living breath spent in urging others to aid in that great cause, so he fell. So he passes from us. Oh, worthy apotheosis! Oh, fitting upward flight for a spirit such as his has been !
" Sometimes death comes to men about us doubly terrible because of its suddenness, but here is a death as sudden as any could be, yet without terror. Aye, and so appropriate. This man of God waking that morning saw before him a day of labor for the Master, and expected, no doubt, that that evening he would be, as his wont was, among the people of God in the house of prayer. He did not know that he would be there only as an invisible presence. When he walked
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up the hill yonder to his neighbor's house that morning he did not know that he would not come down again in a few moments as strong of limb, as bright of eye, as he was then. When he passed into that door he did not turn and take one long, last look at the beautiful world that he might not see again. When he drew the paper out for his friend to sign he did not say, 'That hand, with its years of busy toil, has now done its last small act; its work is over.' There he stood, separated from eternity but by the ticking of the clock. What mattered it to him? To close his eyes and open them again and, having done it, to find himself beyond the valley of the shadow of death, beyond the deadly Apollyon, beyond the open mouth of hell and beyond the dark, rolling river, already up the heights, already on the golden shore.
' O, child of God, O Glory's heir ! How rich a lot is thine. A hand almighty to defend, An ear for every call, An honored life, a peaceful end, And Heaven to crown it all.' "
His Funeral
The College claimed the privilege of paying a special tribute of respect. On Saturday after- noon, after a brief service of hymn and prayer, the students carried the body to Gaston Hall, which
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they had appropriately decorated. Here he lay in state until Sunday, visited by many.
" On Sunday morning, shortly before half past ten, the bearers, members of Father Todd's Sun- day school class, all venerable men, reverently lifted the casket and bore it forth, when a proces- sion was formed as follows: Pastor Cowan and Revs. Rice and Nutting; six pall bearers with the casket, flanked on either side by a file of old sol- diers of John Allen Post, G. A. R., and visiting comrades as a guard of honor, commanded by a member of Father Todd's own regiment, the draped colors being borne by another member of the same regiment, and others in the ranks; the family of the deceased; college professors; stu- dents, and other friends. At the church, drapery and a profusion of flowers, the most beautiful and fragrant, were placed about the casket and pulpit.
" Pastor Cowan, Rev. G. G. Rice, of Council Bluffs, and Rev. J. K. Nutting, of Glenwood, spoke; the second on 'The Pioneer Preacher and Founder of Churches,' the last on 'Father and Patriarch of the Council Bluffs Association,' and the first on 'Our Present Loss.' The Scripture readings, hymns, and anthems were most appro- priate and beautifully rendered, and all felt it to be a most memorable occasion. The procession formed again and followed the form of their loved pastor and friend to its last resting place."
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In the evening again a full house gathered for less formal memorial services. Brief tributes were given by Rev. R. R. Hanley, of the Baptist church, who spoke of " My Next Door Neighbor; " Dea- con A. C. Gaston, of "Planting the Colony;" Deacon S. H. Adams, " The Founding of This Church;" Deacon J. M. Hill, of " Father Todd as Chaplain;" Mrs. J. M. Barbour, of his " Im- pressions on the Second Generation;" Professor J. T. Fairchild, of " His Constant Activity in the Church;" Professor L. J. Nettleton, of " His In- fluence on Those He Rarely Met."
The last speaker moved that the church erect some lasting memorial to his memory. Pursuant to that a marble tablet has been placed on the wall inside the auditorium of the church, recording in clear and simple words his long and successful work therein.
His grave may be found in the cemetery, on an eastern slope, overlooking the church and college which were so largely the objects of his life's work.
SYNOPSIS OF REVEREND TODD'S LIFE
SYNOPSIS OF REVEREND TODD'S LIFE
Born in West Hanover, Dauphin county, Pa., son of Capt. James Todd, of Scotch-Irish origin and Presbyterian faith, Nov. 10, 1818.
Went to college at Oberlin, O., Sept., 1835.
Received the degree of A. B. at Oberlin College, 1841.
Graduated from Oberlin Theological Seminary, 1844.
Ordained as Congregational minister, at Ober- lin, Aug. 15, 1844.
Married Miss Martha Atkins, A. B., daughter of Judge Atkins, of Cleveland, O., Sept. 10, 1844.
Began a six years' pastorate at Clarksfield, Huron county, O., 1844.
Invited by Mr. Geo. B. Gaston, of Oberlin, to go west as pastor of a colony which should plant a college, 1847.
Went with Dea. G. B. Gaston, S. H. Adams and their families, with Dea. J. B. Hall and D. P. Matthews to southwestern Iowa, via Cincinnati and St. Louis, to look over the land, Sept., 1848.
Attended a meeting held in Wabonsie to organ- ize a county, and chosen one to take the petition
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east to the first member of the state legislature he should find, Oct., 1848.
Started with Dea. J. B. Hall to ride on horse- back from southwestern Iowa to Ohio, middle of Oct., 1848.
Arrived safely at Clarksfield, O., middle of Nov., 1848.
Closed his work at Clarksfield and visited his early home, New York city and Washington, spring, 1850.
Moved to Iowa with his family, via Chicago and St. Louis, and landed at Lambert's Landing (near Percival), July 1, 1850.
Supplied regular preaching at Civil Bend, Flor- ence, Trader's Point, Honey Creek, Cutler's Camp and High Creek, all in Iowa, and Linden, Mo., 1851.
The site of Tabor having been selected instead of Civil Bend, their first choice, he moved to a claim, two miles south of Tabor, April, 1852.
He organized the Tabor Congregational church, at his home, with eight members, Oct. 12, 1852.
Moved to his home in Tabor, where he lived till his death, August, 1853.
Organized the Congregational church of Glen- wood, 1856.
Made an extended home missionary tour through western Iowa to Sioux City and back through east-
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ern Nebraska. This was at the request of the Congregational churches in eastern Iowa. July, 1857.
President of the Board of Trustees of Tabor Literary Institute, 1857.
Organized the First Congregational church of Sioux City, Monday, Aug. 10, 1857.
Chaplain of the 46th Iowa (hundred days), summer, 1864.
Began service as Trustee of Tabor College, 1866.
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philos- ophy in Tabor College, 1866-69.
Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy in Tabor College, 1869-72.
Librarian of Tabor College, 1877.
Resigned his pastorate of the Tabor church after thirty years' service, 1883.
Treasurer of Tabor College, 1881-86.
His wife died suddenly after several years of feebleness, July 20, 1888.
Spent six months with his daughter Minnie near Drakola, Kingsbury Co., S. D., summer, 1889.
Married Mrs. Anna K. Drake, of Tabor, Iowa, March 26, 1891.
Visited the World's Columbian Exposition, Chi- cago, Sept., 1893.
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Died suddenly of heart failure, while circulat- ing a petition to the Iowa legislature against re- pealing the prohibitory law, Jan. 31, 1894.
His wife, two sons, four daughters, seven grand- sons, four grand-daughters, a step-son and two step-daughters survive to mourn his loss.
EARLY SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH OF WESTERN IOWA
4
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARIES
B EING asked to write, I here set out, but what shall I write? How shall I avoid being tediously minute on the one hand, or so gen- eral as to be uninteresting on the other? Farther, readers are not all interested in the same things. Mental constitution, mode of thought, and degree of information, respecting matters and persons treated of, greatly affect the interest of the reader. As time rolls on, and the prominent actors in the early settlement of our country are passing away, it seems fitting that any events in the past worthy of remembrance should be placed on record, and who so suitable to record them as one who has himself been an actor in the events recorded ?
The settlement known as Tabor has sometimes been spoken of as a Colony, but this appellation is appropriate, if at all, only in a very general sense. While there was interest in a common ob- ject expressed and understood, there were no writ- ings drawn, no covenant or agreement formally entered into between the parties, binding them to any specific course of conduct. There was union and concert, but it was the union of faith in a com-
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mon gospel, and concerted action in promoting Christian education. They aimed to erect the Church and the Hall of Science side by side-each to sustain the other, and both to flourish under their mutually refreshing shadow.
George Belcher Gaston, older son of Dea. Alex Gaston, of Amherst, Ohio, eager to be about his Master's work, went, with his family, as govern- ment farmer to the Pawnee Indians, in 1840. In a few years, the failure of the health of his family occasioned his return to his farm near Oberlin, Ohio. But the vision of the great West, with its possibilities and destinies, still lingered in his mind. The question, " How can it be secured for Christ ? What can be done to lay Christian foundations in the broad and fertile land, so soon to teem with a numerous people ?" was an ever recurring one. With the work of Oberlin for more than a decade of years spread out before him, he conceived the idea of repeating the experiment in southwestern Iowa. He thought of it-he prayed over it-he conferred with others on the subject-others be- came interested-they met weekly, and prayed and conferred together for more than a year, before any were ready to start. Sometime during the summer of 1848, Brother Gaston visited the writer in Clarksfield ( 15 or more miles distant), to talk over the matter. He wanted to secure a minister of the gospel for the settlement. Wife and I be-
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came interested in the project and consented to go, but thought it best that I should first go and see. At length in October or November, 1848, the way was prepared, and a few of the first emigrants from northern Ohio set out for southwestern Iowa, viz .: G. B. Gaston and family, S. H. Adams and wife, and Darius P. Matthews, attended by Deacon Josiah B. Hall and Rev. J. Todd, who went out to see the country. Railroads were scarcely known in those days. One had recently been opened from Sandusky to Cincinnati. We went forty miles to take the cars at Belleview. The writer's sister, Mrs. Margaret Harrison, of Springfield, Ohio, accompanied us as far as Cincinnati, where we took boat for St. Louis, and thence by steamer for St. Joe, no boats then running higher up the river, ex- cept a few that carried government stores to the forts on the upper Missouri, and brought down furs from the trappers. There were no railroads at Chicago and not a foot of one in all Iowa. It required a month to send a letter to Ohio and receive a reply, and when it came, the postage on it was twenty-five cents. Twenty-five cents, eighteen and three-fourths, and twelve and a half cents were the rates of postage, according to distance. Neither envelopes nor stamps were then in use. Who would return to primitive simplicity ?
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