USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 30
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SOCIETIES
Shiloh Lodge No. 247, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was organized in Winthrop on June 2, 1869, with sixteen charter members. In 1883 the lodge disbanded and until December, 1895, the town was without a Masonic lodge. On the above date Byron Lodge No. 546 was organized with twenty members. This lodge has prospered ever since and now has a strong membership of fifty-six. The lodge rents a hall, but has plans for the erection of a new building which will be one of the features of the town.
Winthrop Lodge No. 550, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized in the year 1901. The lodge now has a membership of 125 men. There is also a lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America, and the M. B. A. in Winthrop at the present time.
All of the lodges in the town have the women's auxiliary lodges in connection.
DORIS
In 1902 the Illinois Central Railroad decided to establish a station between Independence and Winthrop, in Byron Township. There is an elevator, a store, and a few homes here now. The name of the station was in honor of the danghter of Third Vice President M. Gillas, of Memphis, Tennessee.
CHURCHES OF WINTHROP
The Congregational Society was organized on May 22, 1865, with a member- ship of twenty-two. The place of organization was the old Brown schoolhouse, and services were held there for quite a long time. A regular house of worship was built in Winthrop in 1869, eosting about three thousand dollars. Other anthorities give the date of organization as March 11, 1865, and the first place
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
of meeting as the Brooks schoolhouse, five miles northwest of Winthrop. The charter members of the society were: G. S. Dawes, Adelia Dawes, Prosper Brintnall, Amy Brintnall, E. P. Brintnall, Wealthy Brintnall, Sarah Hamilton, Ann L. Meffert, Polly Pierce, James L. Cross, Mary A. Cross, I. H. Morgan, Clarissa Morgan, Robert Morris, Rebecca Morris, A. E. Stewart, Elizina Stewart, Pridgeon Hardy, Eliza Hardy, Frank Dawes and Cynthia Dawes. The first clerk was JJ. Il. Morgan, the first deacon was G. S. Dawes and the first treasurer was E. P. Brintnall. The first supply was A. Manson and the first pastor was Rev. William Spell. In 1913 and 1914 the old church was very extensively remodeled. This work was under the charge of the present pastor, Clyde S. lolland, and he was assisted materially by the members of the congregation. On November 2, 1913, the last service of tribute was held in the old church building and then it was vacated to make way for the new structure. There are at present 180 members of this society in Winthrop and the church is very active in the religions work of the township and county. Castleville Church, in the same township, is also supplied by Reverend Holland. They have four- teen members and a small frame church buihling.
A Catholic church was organized in Winthrop in 1876, with a first membership of eight families. Five hundred dollars was paid for a house in which to hold the meetings. Patrick Clabby was the first visiting priest. The frame church building now used by the society was ereeted in 1888, and several years ago there was a comfortable parsonage built. After Father Clabby came Father Mulligan, then Father Trum. The present pastor is Fr. John MeCormick. Fifty families compose the membership of the church.
The Methodist Episcopal Society in Winthrop had its beginning in the old Silver Creek Church and is an outgrowth of this society primarily. The Silver Creek Church was established in 1852 as a part of the Manchester Cireuit, composed of Masonville, Silver Creek, Sand Creek and Portable. The church was originated in John McKay's house, and in 1854, Reverend Brown, a mis- sionary. preached to the people. About the fall of 1857 Silver Creek was made a preaching point on the Quasqueton Circuit and Reverend Hood supplied. Then rame Reverends Bailey, Shapper, Fosseet, Raines, Smith, Stoneman and Van Wiek. Silver Creek was made a part of the Winthrop Church in 1866 and continued for several years and then disbanded altogether. In 1886 the church at Winthrop was again started and continues at the present time. The present membership is about one hundred and Rev. C. G. Fort is the pastor.
The Presbyterian Church was first organized in Quasqueton on March 26, 1853, by Rev. J. II. Whitman. There were seven members of the original society. It was first organized as a free Presbyterian church and was with- drawn from the general church on a dispute over the question of slavery. On April 26, 1867, it was taken back into the regular church and made a part of the Dubnque Presbytery with twenty members. On October 4, 1875, a union was effected between the Quasqueton Church and the Byron Center Church and from these two a third church was formed, and was known as the Pine Creek Church. A house of worship was immediately constructed by this new church, located on Pine Creek, two miles west of Winthrop. This church is still in existence and is one of the most prosperous of the country churches of the county. The membership at present is about one hundred people.
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
On April 7, 1853, a Church of God was organized in Liberty Township with five members. The meeting was held at the home of Hamilton MeGonigle. For some time after this the services were held in private homes and in schoolhouses and the first preacher to attend to the society was Rev. D. Gill. In 1855 the society built a house of worship in the southwestern part of Byron Township, which they designated as the Bethel Church. The present church has a mem- bership of 150 people and the church property is valued at about fifteen hundred dollars. There is no regular pastor at the present time, but the church is supplied from several sources.
The first Baptist meeting was held in the township by Rev. John Fullerton of Independence in the month of June, year 1860. He preached the first time from the steps of the old Illinois Central Depot and later preached in a private residence. In 1867 a society was formed for the purpose of organizing a society. In the next year this house was constructed and dedicated on December 28, 1868. The whole cost of the house at that time was about five thousand dollars. On January 26, 1869, the Quasqueton Baptists came and formed the Winthrop Baptist Church and Rev. John Fullerton was their first preacher. This church has been out of existence for about fifteen years, due to the deerease in members and lack of support.
CONO TOWNSILIP
The name of Cono was that of a Winnebago Indian chief who, it is said, hunted along the Wapsipinieon River in the township in the very early days before the white men came. The earliest settlers knew him and said that he was a "good Injun" if one ever lived.
The Township of Cono was organized and set apart as a separate township on September 21, 1858. The order of the county judge to this effect follows : "Be it known, that on this 21st day of September, 1858, it hereby is ordered that a new township be formed of the thirty-six sections of Congressional town- ship 87, range 8, in said county, and that it take the name Cono, all in accord- ance with the petition of Jonathan Simpson, W. MeCaughty and others. Signed, Stephen J. W. Tabor, county judge."
The first election was held in 1858. George Anson, I. B. Gleason and Samuel Hovey were elected trustees: Martin C. Glass and M. Hampton, justices; W. MeCaughty, assessor ; and Edward Hovey, county supervisor.
EARLY SETTLEMENT
The first permanent settlement in the township was made by John Cordell in 1843, on a small creek near the present site of Quasqueton. He came from Ohio and entered his land from the Government immediately on his arrival. He lived in this township only one year and then he moved to Liberty Township, where he resided until his death. In the fall of 1851 Cordell was one of the commissioners who surveyed the road from Qnasqueton to the county seat of Marshall County. This was a state road. IIe died at Quasqueton in the year 1858.
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
William Rounds come to this township about 1852 and built his shanty on Sand Creek. He remained only a short time, however, having become very dissipated and deserted his family and went to Kansas where he died soon after. Mrs. Rounds went to Marion and the children were bound out.
Leander Keys and T. B. Burgess settled here in 1845 and are eredited as having built the first frame house in the township. Keys was a carpenter by trade and Burgess was a tailor, but it is said that they worked at their respective trades only "occasionally." Burgess married a girl from Wisconsin, then rented his farm and went to that state, where he lived a short time, eventually returning and selling his interest in the farm, then going to Cedar Rapids, where he started a livery stable. Keys went to California in 1850, and after two or three years in that state, came baek and married Cora Anna Coffin, of Delaware County. Then he moved to Independence and engaged in the dry goods business and was elected sheriff of the county while living here. He soon moved back to California and stayed there until his death.
George Anson, a native of England, came to this state in 1853 and worked at his trade as gunsmith in this township. The date of his departure is not known.
Morris Todd became a resident of Buchanan County in 1854, and in the year 1863 he moved to Cono Township and settled on section 3. For over twelve years he served the county as assessor, and also was a member of the county board of supervisors.
Jacob Kress settled here in 1856, coming from the State of Illinois. lle was born in Baden Baden, Germany, in 1836. His marriage occurred in Cono in 1857. He resided here for a number of years and had one of the best farms in the county before his death.
Adam Gimpher came from Germany and settled in the south part of Cono Township in 1857. Henry Burnham became a settler of the township in 1857 and pursued his trade of blacksmith. He served the county onee as supervisor and has been a director several times of the county schools. He possessed one of the good farms in the township, all of which land was built up by his labor and perseverance.
W. G. Anson became a resident of Cono Township in 1853 and here fol- lowed his trade as cabinet maker. Ile was a native Englishman. He married a Quasqueton girl, Harriet Blair. He gave up his trade a few years after coming to this country and then became a farmer.
MISCELLANEOUS
Perhaps the first death to occur in the township was that of Allen Cordell, a son of John Cordell, in the summer of 1854.
The epidemie of fever and agne which struck the community in 1844 and 1845 seized upon nearly every person living here at that time. Dr. E. Brewer, living near Quasqueton, was the only available physician, so he attended to all of the cases.
L. Keys and T. K. Burgess raised the first wheat in the township in the summer of 1846.
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
The first white child born in the township was Lucien Stout.
It is said that the first marriage was between William Burway and Jane A. Cooper on February 5, 1854. D. C. Hastings and Margaret A. Cooper were also married on August 3d of that year.
A postoffice was established in the southeast part of the township about the year 1849 and H. H. Grimm was appointed postmaster. The office was abolished six years after. The postoffice at Rowley was established in the year 1873.
An Evangelical religious society was organized in 1857 and Rodolph Deipher was the first pastor. There were fifteen members at this time. In 1869 they constructed a house of worship near the center of the township. The society has been disbanded for a seore of years.
FAIRBANK TOWNSHIP
Fairbank Township was organized as a separate township on March 5, 1855. The county record follows: "It is ordered by the court that township 90 north, of range 10 west, be detached from Perry Township, and that it here- after be and form a separate township to be called Alton and that an election be holden in said township on the first Monday in April next, at the house of George Beatty, in said township, and that George Beatty, Miles Soper and Sampson George be the judges of said election. The court further orders that the west tier of sections on township 90, range 9, be detached from Perry Township and hereafter form a part of Superior Township."
About a year after the above order was made the name of the township was changed to Fairbank and afterward the name Superior was changed to Hazleton.
Although the election was ordered for April it was not held until August of that year and then in a log schoolhouse owned by Charles Cheesbrough. The following were elected at this time: J. M. Soper, Jacob Minton and William Beatty, trustees; W. S. Clark, clerk; Fred Patterson, assessor; W. S. Clark and Fred Patterson, justices; and Justus Durham and James Patchen, constables.
EARLY SETTLEMENT
William S. Clark made the first permanent settlement in the township in 1849, in the southern part, on the farm afterward owned by John C. Stephenson. Clark was the first magistrate of the township, also the first clerk, and is remembered as one of the earliest teachers.
Alexander Stevenson settled here in September, 1850, coming from the State of Indiana. He was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church here.
Robert Wroten settled here in the fall of 1851. He also was a pioneer Presbyterian.
Justus A. Durham settled in the township in 1852. He lived in the southern part of the township all of his life.
F. J. Everett located in the north part of Fairbank Township in 1853. He and C. W. Bacon, who came with him built the first log cabin in that part
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IHISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
of the township. They shortly afterward built a saw mill on the Wapsie, where Fairbank is now located. In this business venture they were very successful. In 1860 Everett opened a store in the community. lle also filled the offices of justice and school director during his life here.
Frederick Patterson came here in January, 1854, and settled near the location of Everett. He assisted in building the cabin owned by Everett and Bacon. Patterson soon erected a building which he used as a hotel, which tavern was probably the first one in the township. The same building, with additions, was later used by Jacob Myers for the same purpose. Patterson, with R. Conable and several other men, built a steam saw mill in 1855. In 1859, however, he sold out his interests and moved to Michigan, thence to Missouri.
Jordan llarrison became a settler here in the autumn of 1853, coming from Illinois. He immediately entered the land he selected from the Gov- ernment and here spent his entire life.
Jacob Minton came in 1852 and constructed his log house in the south part of the township. He abandoned his family in April, 1865, and went to Indiana, thenee to Texas where he married a woman who had departed from this township the same time as he. His first wife continued the management of the place here successfully and raised her children to good standing in the community.
George Beatty settled in the central part of the township in the fall of 1853. He was a Protestant Methodist preacher and constructed a small stone church at Fairbank Village.
J. M. Soper came to the north part in 1852 and was one of the organizers of the township and was elected trustee at the first election.
MISCELLANEOUS
The first postoffice was established in this township in 1854 and C. W. Bacon was appointed postmaster. He kept the office in the small cabin which he and Everett had built when they first came. Fred Patterson was the first mail carrier, going once a week to Independence to get the mail. In 1866 an office was established in the southern part of the township and named Kier. James M. Walker was appointed the first postmaster. This office was abolished on June 30, 1902.
The first wheat raised in the township was in 1851 in the southern part, where the first settlement was made by Clark and Stevenson.
A cemetery was established in the Village of Fairbank in 1856. It is now owned and controlled by a cemetery company. Another was later estab- lished near the old Kier postoffice.
In the year 1855 a school was kept in the home of Charles Cheseborough by Emma Connor. In the same year another was added in the north part of the township and taught by Miss Lou Addis. Another was added in the Sill district by Moody Clark. Among the other early teachers were Capt. H. Il. Sill, N. Baldwin and J. Byron Wait.
The first erop raised in the township was of corn by W. S. Clark in 1850. The first grist mill in the township was constructed by J. G. Hovey about 1854.
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SCENE IN FAIRBANK
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
The first death here was that of a child of Solomon Ginther in 1852. The first white child born in the township was Thomas Wroten.
The first marriage was probably between Solomon Ginther and Miss E. Phillips, the ceremony being performed by W. S. Clark in 1850.
In the year 1854 there was a saw mill constructed near the present Vil- lage of Fairbank by Bacon and Everett. It remained for two or three years. A grist mill and flouring mill was put up here about 1855 by Naylor and Harrington and later became the property of Minkler and Nichols. John MeCuniff started a distillery here about 1856 on the east side of the river. He continued for three or four years very successfully, then for some unknown reason closed up. This was the only distillery ever in the township and county.
CITY OF FAIRBANK
In the year 1854 a village was laid out and platted in the north part of the township by F. J. Everett and C. W. Bacon and ealled Fairbank. After- wards an addition was made thereto by Frederick Patterson and at this time there have been three or four more additions to the original plat. The first store to be opened in this new town was by John MeCuniff in 1855, the lumber of which it was built being sawed from oak logs at Everett and Bacon's mill.
The City of Fairbank has had a rapid growth in the last few decades and is now one of the most enterprising and prosperous cities in the county. The advent of the Chicago and Great Western Railroad gave a decided impetus to the growth of the town, giving them a splendid trading and shipping facility.
The fact of the town's excellent condition is attested in no stronger way than by the two banks which do business there. The Fairbank State Bank was established first in 1891 as the Citizens Bank, a private institution, and on May 24, 1897, was chartered as the above first named, with the following first officers: G. W. MeNeely, president; Charles Highee, vice president : and W. F. Treadwell, cashier. The present officers are: C. B. Everett. president ; G. W. MeNeely, vice president ; W. L. Murphy, cashier : A. H. Nieman, teller ; F. W. Fox, bookkeeper.
The Farmers State Savings Bank was incorporated on May 24, 1910, with the following officers: L. Shoenut. president ; C. II. Kuenzel, vice president ; G. F. Monroe, cashier. The present officers are: O. F. Leonard, president : F. A. Klinger, vice president; V. W. Davis. cashier; II. L. Mealey, book- keeper.
More detailed history of these banks may be found in the second volume of this work.
Not only is the business and financial life of Fairbank well developed. but there is a social spirit which is commendable. The lodges of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America. Mystic Toilers and Relief Corps are all well represented in Fairbank with full membership, the Masons at this time being the strongest with about eighty members. This is Fairbank Lodge No. 148. There are also many clubs in the churches and several among the women of the town.
The City of Fairbank was incorporated in October. 1891. The petition to the county court for right of holding an election was signed by the following :
.
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ILISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
G. W. Bothwell, Allen Thompson, Theodore Dodge, S. J. King, and M. S. Hfitch- coek. The election was ordered on May 12, 1891.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES
The Baptist Society was organized in the township in the year 1859 with about eighteen members. Among these first members were: lames Sanborn, J. A. Durham and wife, S. P. Cramer, Morrill Sanborn, E. Sanborn, Deacon Norris and wife, and Jason Nichols and wife. Shortly after the organization of this society they constructed a frame house of worship. In the early '90s another church building was erected, which has been remodeled several times since. The present membership is about one hundred and seventy-five and the congregation is in charge of Rev. Arthur Woods.
The Presbyterian Church was organized in the township in 1856 at what was called the Stone Church with six members, among whom were F. J. Everett, C. W. Bacon and James Sankey and wife. The first pastor and the one to whom a great deal of eredit is due for the organization was J. D. Caldwell. The laek of members, however, has compelled the disbandment of this church. The last services were held some time in 1898.
The Lutheran Society in Fairbank was organized November 18, 1868, with twenty-seven members. The first preacher to attend this society was named Buekrer. Before the erection of their first house of worship in 1865 they held services in the public schoolhouse. This house of worship has been extensively remodeled and also a comfortable parsonage has been erected. The congregation at the present time numbers about forty people.
The Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception was organized here in about 1858 at the MeCuniff schoolhouse. Father Shields, the resident priest of Waverly at that time, was the first to attend the Fairbank society. He was succeeded by Father John Gosker, of Independence. In 1868 the large stone church was constructed and the first priest to settle here was Engene Sullivan, succeeded by G. Stack. Thomas Murtagh came next in 1875. The present church has been remodeled several times and a splendid pastoral residence, all of which is valued at about ten thousand dollars.
The Methodist Episcopal Society was organized in 1865 with eight members at the place then known as the Stone Church. There had been preachers in the township before this date of organization, but the number of people of the faith did not justify the formation of the society. The first sermon in the township was in 1852 at the house of Alexander Stevenson by Rev. D. Gill, of Independ- ence. The church now possess a church structure and parsonage all valued at about the sum of three thousand dollars.
There are a number of people of the Episcopal faith in Fairbank, but there has never been a definite organization of the society. Meetings are held occa- sionally, however, in one of the other churches or in the school.
FREMONT TOWNSHIP
Fremont Township was set aside as a separate township in March, 1856. The order reads : "Ordered by the court that township 89, range 7, excepting
High School
Immaculate Conception School Catholic Church Soldiers' Monument
Free Baptist Church Methodist Episcopal Church
VIEWS IN FAIRBANK
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY
sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, together with sections 13. 24, 25 and 36, of town 89. range 8, and sections 1, 12 and 13. of town 88. range 8, and sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of town 88, range 7, be, and the same are hereby declared to be constituted as a separate precinct. to be called Prairie Precinct and it is ordered that an election be held in the said precinct on the first Monday in April next, at the schoolhouse, near the residence of Zenia R. Rich. in said township, for the purpose of electing one township clerk, two constables, two justices of the peace, three township trustees, one road supervisor, and one school-fund commissioner, for the county, Signed. O. H. P. Roszell, county judge."
The township was named in honor of JJohn C. Fremont, the first republican candidate for President in the United States.
There have been many changes in the township since the date of organiza- tion. It now consists of Congressional township 89, range 7. When the first petition was delivered to the court asking for an organization it was then re- quested that the township be given its present name, Fremont, but the court refused this and named it Prairie. At the time of the second election in the township, however, the present title was given.
EARLY SETTLEMENT
The first settlers in the township were Z. R. and S. W. Rich, two brothers, who came here in July, 1853. They were in the county the preceding year, but did not locate and enter land, hence could not be called settlers in that year. These two men, Z. R., with his family, built for themselves a lonely log cabin near the stage road from Independence to Coffins Grove, Delhi and Dubuque. Travelers on this road often stopped at the Rich cabin to spend the night or to rest their mounts. Their home may be called the first hotel in the township. Their marketing was done in Dubuque, fifty-five miles distant.
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