History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I, Part 12

Author: Chappell, Harry Church, 1870-; Chappell, Katharyn Joella Allen, 1877-
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 768

USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 12

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The circumstances which led Mr. Cobb to enter the stock buying business are very interesting. At that time stock buyers went through the country buying cattle and hogs on credit, agreeing to pay for them after they were soll, but very often purposely forgetting the agreement entirely. Mr. Cobb got together a little money and offered to pay cash for stock. and this, of course, appealed to the farmers who had suffered at the hands of unscrupulous stock dealers, so he could get a trade and buy for less money than others. An instance showing how unusual were his methods is told by his son. A man from Waterloo, twenty- five miles west of Independence, having heard of Mr. Cobb's cash business, walked all the way down here to see if it were true. When he met Mr. Cobb he said, " I've heard that you pay cash for stock. Is it so?" Mr. Cobb replied that he did.

The man had a very fine cow for sale and, after describing the animal, extolling all of her good qualities. he asked Mr. Cobb what he would give him for her. Mr. Cobb replied that if she were as good as he described he would pay $7.00 for her. The man walked back home, got his cow and drove her all the way back. The entire trip covered 100 miles and took four days, which goes to show the difference between the thrift of those days compared with present times. In those early days it was necessary to procure a license of the United States Gov- ermment before one could engage in the live stock business. These licenses were good for only one year and cost $10 (a high priced tax considering the value of stock ). We have before us one issued to Mr. E. Cobb, dated May 1, 1866, No. 1456, and signed by D. B. Henderson, internal revenue collector. Mr. Cobb until about the year 1907 was actively engaged in the live stock business.

William A. Jones was also a pioneer in the live stoek business in this county, commencing in 1859, about two years later than Mr. Cobb. He started on the completion of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad, now the Illinois Central. Like Mr. Cobb, he had been in the hotel business, not, however, in this county, but Fayette. He came to Independence from the State of New York in 1855, was engaged for a few years in general merchandise, including lumber, then opened a hotel in Fayette, which he conducted for about two years. then returned to

A Pioneer Clapboard Home

Old High School

Old Independence Bridge

Independence in 1863

Regal House. Early Independence Hotel

An Early Fire Company

EARLY INDEPENDENCE SCENES

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY

Independence and engaged in the live stock business, which he followed for many years, and until he retired. At first he was in partnership with P. C. Wileox, who, so history states, "furnished the capital and shared the profits," but their first transaction was a loss to the firm of about fifteen hundred dollars, but, despite these first failures, the partnership proved sneeessful and continued from 1859 to 1865. (After that Mr. Jones carried on the business alone.) Their first shipment was of hogs, on January 3, 1861. They numbered about a thousand and filled thirteen ears, and was the largest drove of hogs that ever arrived in Dubuque. The weather turned suddenly cold about the time they reached Dubuque, and in forty-eight hours the river was frozen over with ice sufficiently thiek to be crossed with teams. Over this natural bridge the whole herd of swine was driven, and as it was very smooth and slippery, had to be sprinkled over with sand to enable the porkers to skate aeross. From there they were to be shipped either to New York or New Orleans, as the markets induced. In 1860 he began to ship eattle, the number that year being only 200, but later he shipped as high as five thousand head of cattle and thirty thousand hogs, and he made good profits on his sales. In the early days one could start a business on a very little eapital, as is proven by the statement that, although Mr. Jones, at the elose of his partnership with Mr. Wileox, had realized quite a considerable amount of money, but after paying up some heavy debts ineurred by previous losses, had just $150 to begin business on his own aceonnt.

There were several hotels advertised in the county-one called White's Hotel, which was situated at the corner of Main and Court streets. This house had been recently (in 1857), fitted up to aeeommodate 100 guests, and special men- tion was made of the good stone stable attached for the benefit of haekmen and others. Thomas Sherwood was the proprietor. The building still stands and is what is now the Regal Hotel, and the old stone stable was still intaet until last winter (1914), when part of it collapsed. Mr. Beaman was proprietor of the "Cottage Hotel," situated near the I. C. R. R. depot, at Independence, afterwards the Union House and now used as a store.

Another hotel was the Montour House, situated where the Commercial Bank now is. Mr. E. W. Purdy was the proprietor. The old Cobb House, on West Main Street, was formerly conducted as a hotel by Mr. Cobb. The Baldwin Hotel, situated on the corner of Grove and Independenee streets, Fairbank, was operated by N. and C. A. Baldwin. The Quasqueton Hotel, located on Main Street, Quasqueton. was kept by A. P. Burrhus. The Empire House was one of the first hotels built and Herman Morse was proprietor. Board, $3.00 per week.

In those days there were fully as many, if not more, firms engaged in the real estate business than there are at present. (Land brokerage as it was then called.) All the law firms besides the regular agencies dabbled considerably in this business. E. B. Okler, O. C. Lee, P. A. Older, and D. S. Lee were probably the largest "bankers, dealers in exchange and land agents." Their listed farms for sale filled two columns of fine print. E. Brewer and O. H. P. Roszell and George W. Bemis constituted another important real estate firm. In 1856 Elzy Wilson also had located here to engage in that business. F. C. Bartle and T. T. White was still another firm, and R. W. Wright & Company were engaged in the business later.

HISTORY OF BUCIIANAN COUNTY

Among the early professional men was H. S. Ward, M. D., an itinerant physician, surgeon and dentist, who maintained an office here for several years, but was a resident of Byron Township, and Dr. W. Grimes advertised as a surgeon dentist. Dr. Horatio Bryant, Dr. P. Tabor, and Dr. H. H. Hunt were among the pioneer doctors, and all three practiced here many years and lived here until they died. Dr. R. Clarke was a dentist of Independence in the early '50s. Miss C. Marriott established a millinery store in Independenee in July, 1857, with a splendid assortment of Paris and New York styles. She also adver- tised "dress and mantilla making." Dr. W. O. Smith was also among the pioneer doetors. Dr. D. T. Haskell, homeopathie physician, was located at Greeley's Grove, Buchanan County. Besides these there were several women practitioners. Mrs. J. W. Eeklee had her office at Doctor Tabor's. Mrs. S. W. Blood was another experienced practitioner. Dr. Frederick Reimer advertised as a "Praktischer Arzt.," office at the Western Brewery, Independence, Iowa. Dr. John Milford Cox was the first regular veterinary. And the dignity of the law was upheld by S. S. Allen, L. W. Hart, James Jamison, D. L. Deyo, J. S. Woodward, W. G. Donnan, Cornelius Hedges, D. S. Lee, C. F. Leavitt, Lorenzo Moore and C. E. Lathrop.

Quasqueton in the early days could boast of more different and exclusive lines than Independence. Here are a few of the familiar names of that day : G. P. Hayslip was a hardware merchant in Quasqueton in the '50s. R. L. Thomp- son was a druggist. George P. Martin kept a boot and shoe store. A. B. Parkell was a merchant tailor and sold all kinds of gentlemen's furnishings. A. H. & T. Hyde were architects and builders and could perform all kinds of architectural drafting and building and general carpenter work; also made briek. They had 1,000,000 briek on hand for sale and, having gotten their yard into active opera- tion, were prepared to receive orders for pressed and common brick to any extent. C. H. Mills was agent for the sale of ornamental marble work.

These pioneer days when the importation of goods was so expensive and difficult certainly engendered both economy and ingenuity. Much that we now buy, manufactured perhaps one thousand miles away, was mannfactured at home or by the pioneer merchants. All the furniture was of home manufacture, except that which was brought with the pioneer from the East. In Quasqueton Messrs. Lewis & Kent had a furniture manufactory and had a large warehouse full of an excellent assortment of tables, bedsteads, what-nots, bureans, chairs, washstands, ete., of every ereditable style and finish. They used the water power to run their turning lathe and had every appliance necessary to the manufacture of furniture.

In Independence, Marquette & MeKensie had a similar establishment and had all the facilities for their trade. They also mannfactured Ingall's patent seed sowers, at one time having a contract order for 100 of them.

G. B. Rogers had a sugar mill foundry in Independenee in 1856 and there was quite a demand.

In 1864 Mr. James Forrester started quite an extensive briek plant on his farm adjoining Independence. He had secured the contract to furnish the brick for the Catholie Church and several other buildings to be erected that summer. About this time a lime kiln was built at Otterville by a company of the eitizens.

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY

Z. Stout was one of the first lumber merchants. The Killfether stone quarry, situated about three-fourths of a mile east of Independence, was conducted by Bonner & Harrold. In 1858 a pottery was started on Court Street, nearly oppo- site the courthouse, where all kinds of pottery was being made. The manufacturer considered the elay found here of a superior quality for such purposes.

CHAPTER VII AGRICULTURE

THE VIRGIN SOIL-YESTERDAY AND TODAY

The virgin soil of Buchanan, with its rich black loam, its fine mixture of sand, its subsoil of clay, its fine drainage and abundant water courses, its wide expanses of prairie of undulating character, all furnish an ideal spot for farming purposes, as the very earliest settlers, who had come from the cramped, hilly, rocky and thin soil of the New England States, or the swamps of the Gulf States, or the worn-out, poorly cultivated negro-worked farms of the old South knew and appreciated. This may be an exaggerated comparison, but naturally only those who were dissatisfied with their surroundings and thought to better them would seek new and unexplored country, so we inferred they came from those barren spots we have described. But suffice it to say Buchanan County has proved and is proving all that could be expected of her, even to the most unreal dreams of a super-imaginative brain, as reference to the 1914 statisties will testify, and in contemplation of the past phenomenal progress, what can we not expect of the future ! Not until every acre of this rich, productive, valuable soil is under culti- vation and made to bear fruit shall we have reached our climax; not until this woeful, willful extravagance and undercultivation of land has ceased, shall we be able to estimate our resources ; not until our thousand and hundred acre farms are divided into small plots, as is the greater part of Europe, can we know the full extent of its economical and numerical support.

But this future time is as far, if not farther, distant than the time when those early settlers, Clark and Kessler, broke the first prairie and commenced farming in April, 1842. By June they had ten acres broken, which they planted to beans and eorn, and although frost did not appear till October 10, there was not time enough for the crop to properly mature, but as it was their only available means of support, it was a much cherished erop and all hands, men and women, worked diligently the day after the frost to gather it in. During that summer of 1842 all provisions had to be brought from Ede's Grove, in Delaware County, a dis- tance of sixty miles, this was the nearest market. One person was sent with an ox team to bring supplies for the whole community. For two or three years corn, potatoes and beans constituted the entire agricultural production, but soon the settlers began to raise wheat. At that time a mill had been built at Quasque- ton, where they could have it ground, so they were not in danger of being eom- pelled to subsist on boiled corn, with venison and honey, for months at a stretch. Soon the wheat crop became the important crop, exceeding all others in acreage,

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY

value and production. Each year more and more land was sown to wheat; in 1862 one-third more than the previous year.

The first farms were entries of Government land and constituted generally 160 acres. This was farmed in a simple, crude manner, the only object being to raise enough for home consumption for the family and the few domestic ani- mals, and to barter or exchange for household necessities. Not until the railroad was built through the county were farm products raised for market. Then the first real impetus to farming began. Wheat continued as the principal and most lucrative erop until successive failures through drought, rust, and chinch bugs discouraged the farmers from raising it, and they turned their attention to other cereals ; then corn and oats became the most important erop, and now corn takes the lead. being the most extensively raised and the most suitable to our soil and elimate. The first we read of the chinch bug in this locality was in 1861. In the counties surrounding Buchanan this malicious insect had completely destroyed large fields of wheat, but emigrated into this county too late to do much damage ; but in the next few conseentive years the pests utterly ruined thousands of acres and thousands of dollars worth of wheat. In 1864 only half a erop was thrashed. Many of the farmers burned over their fields to protect the other crops, which were molested as soon as the substance was all gone in the wheat fields. Another method to get rid of them was to dig trenches, which were filled with kerosene and set afire, when the bugs began to look for greener fields, and even sorghum was used in the trenches to catch and hold them fast. But all these annihilators did not wipe them ont of existence, and only after the farmers abandoned their great wheat project did they rid themselves of this pernicious insect, and for many years there was no wheat to speak of grown in this county, and not until recent years has it been attempted again. This was a dreadful calamity to the early farmers, who had come West with but little money, and bought their farms and were heavily in debt for their land, machinery, and farm buildings, and who depended on the wheat erop to make payments. Wheat was the quickest erop to turn, sowing being done in April and harvesting last of July, in 1864, and prices ran as high as $1.75 to $2.00 per bushel, and only two years before it sold for 60 cents per bushel. What county can show an earlier, better quality, or higher price than this? The farmers raised quite a bit of barley after the wheat failure. Japanese wheat was introduced into this county during the years when it was extensively grown and proved to be very prolific, both in seed and fodder. A Mr. Reynolds of Littleton was selling enough seed for a shilling to produce in two seasons 200 bushels of seed. Winter wheat, too, was being experi- mented with in the early '60s and proved a successful venture, yielding twenty- five bushels per aere.

The quality and quantity of corn raised in early times could not compare with our present output, which is of a superfine grade and constitutes over three- fifths of the entire cereal erop. It is safe to say that it commands more attention than any other, and perhaps all the other erops combined. The greatest amount of care is taken to procure the best seed and to try it thoroughly and particularly. Corn production has become a veritable science, requiring study and application to acquire the best results, as the average acreage production and market value of our product proves. All over the country they are having corn contests, con- dueted either by agricultural schools, the Government, the state, newspapers, or

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY

individuals, as an incentive to the boy farmers, with wonderful and unbelievable results.

The value of good corn is not entirely a new idea, nor are these contests, for away back in 1863 it was beginning to be appreciated, for in the county papers of that date was an announcement that William Winson, secretary of the lowa Farmers' College, offered a premium of $15.00 for the best variety and quality of eorn suited for general cultivation in the north half of the state, and the same amount for the south half, the specimens to include not less than one- half bushel of ears. All facts relative to preparation of ground, sowing, culti- vation, etc., to be stated. Like premiums were paid for the best specimens of winter and spring wheat, a peek of each. In the first shipments after the railroad went through there was no corn, owing to lack of production.

Corn, too, in the early days had its own peculiar pest and destroyer-the cut worm and eorn eater-and they worked havoc in some localities, totally destroying whole fields ; and the Hessian fly and potato bng were rampant some years and did untold damage, too. Nowadays every bit of corn is utilized ; the stocks, which formerly were left in the fields and plowed under or used for pasturage, are now cut up and put in silos for winter feed.

Silos are becoming a necessity and nearly every progressive farmer has one or several ; sometimes four are built in a group.

We would not forget the potato crop which has always been and always will be one of the most necessary, being one of our fundamental foods, and was one of the earliest planted in this county (in the second summer). In 1865, 57,130 bushels were raised; in 1910, 127,236 bushels, over twice as many, and sweet potatoes had increased from 9 to 38 bushels. Onions, cabbages, melons and other vegetables are raised entirely for family use and the home market. All the sugar beets, and most of the sweet corn, are raised for the eanneries. In 1909. 169 aeres were planted and produced 836 tons of sugar beets, all sold to the Waverly Sugar Beet Factory, but now this industry is a thing of the past, the factory having been closed down recently. The Independenee Canning Fac- tory takes practically all the sweet corn produced in the county.

To estimate what were the principal erops, we have the monthly statement of exports made by the agent of the D. & S. C. R. R. depot for the year 1861, which totalizes 273,430 bushels of wheat, 7,218 bushels oats, 2,578 busliels eorn, 1,261 bushels barley, 764,085 pounds pork, 58,534 pounds eggs, 116,810 pounds butter, 135 head of cattle, 568,666 pounds miscellaneous freight.

This is the first record of shipments that we were able to find. The earliest record of prices was as follows: Wheat, 35 cents per bushel, corn, 20 eents, oats, 20 eents, potatoes, 15 cents per bushel, beans, 60 cents, beef, 8 eents, cheese, 121/2 cents, butter 8 cents, lard, 10 cents, eggs, 6 cents per dozen, hay, $3.00 per ton, wood, $2.00 to $2.50 per cord.

At first the only hay was the wild prairie grass, but shortly farmers began to see the advantages and necessity of tame grass and began to raise principally timothy and elover, and from a small acreage to begin with, it has increased, until now, it constitutes one of the principal erops, and about one-fourth of the enltivated acreage in the county. A great amount of tame hay and some straw is baled and shipped to the eastern markets at prices ranging from $10.00 to $20.00 per ton for timothy and $5.00 or $6.00 for straw. We might think that

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY

the prices of hay were much higher now than ever before, but in April, 1862, timothy hay sold for $10.00 a ton and very scarce at that, and wild prairie hay was $5.00 and $6.00 per ton. The short erop of grass of the previous sum- mer and the long, hard winter, were responsible for these extreme prices. Prairie fires raged through the country in those early days and destroyed much of the wild hay, besides doing extensive damage to grain and buildings. For years this was one of the dreads of the settlers. Sometimes for days and nights at a time they were compelled to fight these fearful fires. Every fall dense smoke hovered over the prairies for weeks after. Precautions such as plowing around buildings and hay and grain staeks and burning back were used, but if fire ever got started in the heavy, long prairie grass there was no stopping it until it had spent its fury. Early settlers tell that the wild grass in the sloughs grew so dense and tall that the top of a man's head, riding horse- back, was just discernible, and the rank, wiry blades switched him in the faee. Some scientists claim that the reason for these broad expanses of prairie, is that trees and shrubs were destroyed until the prairie soil would not generate trees, but this hardly seems credible in view of the fact that trees will grow luxuriantly all over the prairies. Maples, cottonwoods, elms. willows, nut and catalpa, all planted by the early settlers, lived and thrived beyond their vainest hopes. Some people think that if man should abandon these vast fertile prairies and leave them to the care of nature and the birds, they would become a vast expanse of forest. and certainly the theory has ground for credence because the soil seems perfectly adapted to tree culture. But this question as we have expressed in a previous chapter is question for the dim and shadowy future to elneidate. Now the broad expanses of prairie are divided into farms, many of them still out- lined by trees planted by the pioneers, who thought a live tree fence a great improvement over the stone and rail fences they were accustomed to (this was before the days of wire fencing). Now those same tree fences that our forefathers planted with such care are rapidly disappearing, being ent down; they shade too much of the field, take the moisture and substance of the soil and their spreading roots are a nuisance. The white willow was used the most extensively for fencing, having such a wonderful quick growth and it, above all trees, now elieits the most vengeance, as it is also the most persistent and enduring.

The early county papers advertised extensively trees for fencing and several nurseries were supported in and about Independence, that being their principal output. In 1865. there were 4,734 acres of planted timber in the county.

Alfalfa is one of the newly introduced erops and although but a few of the farmers plant it, undoubtedly it is a coming erop.

To try to describe or even imagine the processes of early farming is rather diffienlt. It seems sort of pitiable to contemplate the vast amount of unnecessary, wasted labor, the hardships, privations, failures, and lack of remuneration that these pioneer farmers endured, but this, of course, is only in comparison with modern farm life and methods, and safe to say onr processes will appear just as ernde and illogical as the past does to us. But when we read in a paper, dated I865, of an old Englishman, living in Fairbank Township, entting all of his. hay, 31% tons, as well as his oats, 114 acres, with a little old English ease knife, it seems not only incredible, but pitiable. He worked from morn till dewy eve, literally shaving the fields blade by blade, and when the kind and sympa-

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY

thetic neighbors offered him their "modern" scythe and cradle, he tried to use them but did not succeed and returned to his little old case knife. IIe began his labor early in the spring and continued all summer, day after day, early and late, and by fall would have secured feed and fodder for his one eow. This is an extreme case, but the astounding thing was that he lived in Iowa, and in Buchanan County. After the days of the "scythe and cycle" came the mneh- improved "cradle" days, which not only cut the grain, but held the bundle ; then appeared the first reapers, which required at least ten men to complete the task, but modern invention has improved this machine until it required but one or two to do the work formerly requiring ten or a dozen. Just so with all farm implements, they have improved so much in the past fifty years that if the progress continnes at a corresponding ratio we can almost picture all farm- ing being done with gasoline or steam engine attachments, or at a wider streteh of imagination, by a centralized plant operated by a few experts and by the pressure of a few buttons. And just as the work has been improved and light- ened in the field, it has also been in the farmhouse, although not to such an extent, women being slow to adopt and demand new improved appliances. But nevertheless, work has diminished greatly from the time when threshing with the old flail required more time, if not more hands, when numberless pans of milk had to be skimmed twice a day, when cheese, butter, lard, candles, soap, all the smoked and fresh meats, sausage and headcheese, dried fruits and vegetables, besides the making of materials and garments, were a matter of home produe- tion.

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History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I, Part 12

Author: Chappell, Harry Church, 1870-; Chappell, Katharyn Joella Allen, 1877- Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 768

Author: Chappell, Harry Church, 1870-; Chappell, Katharyn Joella Allen, 1877-
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 768