USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 68
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This is necessary to account for the use to which this first school-house was put. With our eyes fixed upon the depleted little hamlet under the oaks at Indepen- dence, we should feel inclined to ask whose horse was to be shod-and, following out the precedent in versatility, shown in the disposition of his first structure, why did the doctor allow the school to be interrupted. He had only to stipulate that horse shoeing should be performed during recesses and "noonings," and wagon tires manip- ulated between recitations, and there could have been no troublesome antagonisms between the two institu- tions, for one who had reconciled a boarding house and private dwelling in a building with but one room. Charles Robbins was the name of the first man in In- dependence who sent a shower of fiery scintillations dancing to the music of his anvil, to the no small de- light of those same juveniles, who, turned loose from wholesome rule (or ferule), had no resort but to hang around this place of amusement.
William Brazelton put up a small building during the summer of 1850, which was used for a school taught by O. H. P. Roszell, afterward county judge.
The post office was established the second year of the settlement, in 1848, S. P. Stoughton being the first post- master. Dr. Brewer succeeded him after a short time and held the office for six years. The emoluments of the office were very inconsiderable, for the first two or three years, not exceeding one dollar and twenty-five cents a quarter-and the amount of business accorded, as a
matter of course, with the revenue; the mail being often carried in the vest pocket of the postmaster. In the autumn of 1847, the contract for carrying the mail be- tween Dubuque and Independence, was sub-let to Trask & Phelps, who for some time carried the mail matter on horseback, making weekly trips. Finding an increased demand for the services of a purchasing and carrying agent, they put on a democrat wagon, and speedily grew into favor, and a remunerative business, by attending to small commissions from all points along the route. They were even flattered by the deferential attentions of the Dubuque merchants, who did not disdain the increase of patronage which was connected with the trade of the Buchanan county mail carrier.
In 1853, when Independence was visited by the writer from whom most of the facts incorporated in this sketch are drawn, the place contained but twelve inhabited dwellings, one or two stores, a saw-mill, blacksmith shop, etc. At that date Waterloo was scarcely a hamlet, and all the valleys of the Iowa rivers in the northwest, were an almost unbroken wilderness. And yet, in six years from that time, Independence had grown from the strag- gling collection of a dozen and a half of primitive build- ings, to a thrifty stirring town of fifteen hundred inhabi- tants, with mills and mechanic shops, churches, hotels, stores, a court house, and hundreds of beautiful private residences. Schools flourished and society was marked by that refinement which generally betokens the pres- ence of wealth and the fixed habits of settled and homo- geneous communities. And why not? Here had been no slow emergence from the condition of pioneers (the result of unfavorable location), only a few degrees re- moved from that of the aboriginal inhabitants, involving a hopeless struggle with the privations of a pioneer country, being far removed from the great tides of emi- gration, must always remain pioneer ; but a community of eastern bred people, many of them among the most enterprising of the older communities from which they had emigrated, had come to make new homes, and to take possession of the rich prairies whose beauty and fertility had wooed them from the homes of their fathers, along the eastern slopes of the continent.
The growth of the town since this second stage was reached, has been steady, but, like that of most Iowa towns, at a greatly reduced rate of increase. The rail- road opened in 1859, though of the greatest importance to the prosperity of the county at large, and indispensa- ble to the continued growth of the town, yet, as in its further completion and multiplying communications and connections in opening to the on-pressing tide of emigra- tion, the great beyond, which, to the average American mind, has always been invested with irresistible charms -its rapid advance into new territory may be said to have checked eventually, the wonderful growth which marked the first years of the assured prosperity of the new town.
GLIMPSES INTO THE COUNTY SEAT IN 1857-8.
The editor of the Dubuque Times, in the early autumn of the later year, says:
We halted a day at Independence and learned that, notwithstanding
RESIDENCE OF Z, STOUT, INDEPENDENCE, IOWA,
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.
·he great financial pressure, that place is having a steady growth. Be- tween fifty and sixty houses have been erected since the opening of spring. Messrs. Campbell and Loomis are building quite an exten- sive tannery which will be in operation in a short time. We found the stage house at Independence, the Montour, kept by Mr. Purdy, the best hotel between Dubuque and Cedar Falls. We understand that Mr. Sherwood also keeps a good publie house, and there is also one west of the river.
In the evening of the day spent at Independence, we accompanied friend Rich, of the Guardian, to a concert given by Professor Kane with the assistance of fifteen or twenty Independence musicians and vocalists. We have seldom heard "How Beautiful is Zion," "The Old Mountain Tree," "Where Can the Soul Find Rest," "Play On, Play On," and " The Lord My Shepherd Is," sung any better than on that occasion. "Mr. and Mrs. Snibbs." and the "The Barber's Shop," two comie pieces, were most admirably executed. "The Dear- est Spot of Earth to Me" we never heard sung more sweetly or with better effect. "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" was grand and made an appropriate ending of the concert. There is evidently a good degree of musical talent in Independence, and a laudable spirit of emulation in cultivating it.
BOLD ROBBERY.
The event described in the following paragraph from the Quasqueton Guardian was nearly contemporaneous with that which received so appreciative a notice in the Times. That thieves and robbers often display an amount of energy quite sufficient to insure their success in a pleasant though honest calling, is a matter of fre- quent observation. Their early appearance in frontier towns shows them to be possessed of a quality of enter- prise which keeps them fully abreast with the march of civilization.
The jewelry store of Mr. Charles Herriek, of Independence, was en- tered on Thursday night last and robbed of some forty gold and silver watches, partly belonging to Mr. Herrick and partly those left with him for repairs. The value of the goods taken aggregate nearly a thousand dollars. Mr. Herrick had, as was his custom, packed the watches in a box and placed them under the counter upon which he slept. The thief, who must have been perfectly conversant with the premises, entered by a back window, having previously, it was thought, removed a couple of nails by which it was fastened down. He suc- ceeded in carrying off the box of watches without waking either Mr. Herrick or a friend sleeping in the room. Mr. Herriek is a worthy, enterprising young man just starting in life, and this loss falls heavily upon him. He receives the sympathy, as he possesses the respect and confidence, of our entire community. We believe no reliable trace of the burglar has yet been obtained.
About the same time with the robbery of Mr. Her- rick's jewelry store, the school fund commissioner was robbed of about seven hundred dollars in gold coin, which was abstracted from a bureau drawer.
These, it is true, are rather small operations in this department, and it is to be regretted that the history of crime in the county furnishes anything more sensational than the two cases just cited. If, however, there are any who enjoy the recital of stupendous villainies by "experts" they will find in the great county safe robbery case, which occurred a few years later (and which is fully described in another part of this volume), ample proof that this class of gentry which wars against the founda- tions of human industry and enterprise, had not been left in the wake, but in their nefarious arts had kept pace with the development of the greater resources of the country, and with the best ingenuity of man in devices for security.
COURT HOUSE.
The following facts in regard to the building of the court house are learned from an address and report of the county judge, published in 1858:
In another column I lay before you a statement of the financial con- dition of the county; and, as the erection of public buildings and other circumstances have caused the amount of expenditure to be greater than ever before, I have made the report more full and specific on that ae- count. Through the courtesy of the Quasqueton Guardian and of the Independence Civilian, I am enabled to give these further explanations without any expense to the county; that all our citizens may have an opportunity to examine the details of a mat- ter which so materially concerns them.
On examining the items of expenditure, it will be seen that by far the greatest one is the court house. But although it has been erected during a season of unprecedented hard times, and great scarcity of money, and without funds in the county treasury to cash the various county warrants as they were issued, yet the cost of the building has been less than was estimated, and while it will compare favorably with the court houses of neighboring counties, theirs have cost two or three times as much.
The whole amount of warrants issued for it in the fiscal year, ending July 1, 1858, was $9,240.57. Of this my predecessor, up to August 10, 1857, issued $3, 122.97. Prior to July 1, 1857, my predecessor had issued $517.94, making the sum total for the court house, $9,758.51. This amount comprises all that has been done for the court house-in- cluding the preparing of the ground, the lumber, lime, stone, brick, sand, hardware, etc., the hauling of the same, railroad freights, the digging and construction of the deep well in the square, the material and construction of the out-buildings belonging to the premises, the changing of the court house seats, according to Judge Wilson's recom- mendations, and in fact every species of expense connected with the grounds or the edifice. The full completion of the latter will require a few hundred dollars more for stone steps, lightning rods, stairway to the belfry, painting, graining, etc .; but, considering the ample dimen- sions of the building, its thorough construction by masons, carpenters, and plasterers, and the excellence of the materials used, it must be pro- nounced by all competent judges, one of the cheapest public buildings ever erected.
FINANCE OF THE COUNTY IN 1858 .*
It will be seen that, saying nothing of the delinquent tax, the county has outstanding against it, only $590.29, beyond the resources of the fiscal year, and should no more than fifty per cent. of the delinquent tax be collected, it would make a surplus in favor of the county of more than eight hundred dollars.
In classifying the expenditures of the county, 1 have aimed to be as full and as explicit as a decent regard for space would permit; but I would say to those who have any curiosity for minuter specifications, that now, as has always been the case heretofore, the books and papers of the office are accessible to the public, and are at all times open to the free inspection of any citizen who may desire to see them. . ·
. But my fellow citizens may depend that I shall constantly aim
to preserve a rigid economy, and to exercise a vigilant caution in regard to involving the county in debt trying to avoid unwise extravagance on the one hand, and extreme parsimony on the other.
STEPHEN J. W. TABOR.
July 1, 1858.
THE FIRST, LAST, AND ONLY TANNERY IN INDEPENDENCE.
Messrs. Campbell & Loomis established the first tan- nery in Buchanan county in the autumn of 1858. They commenced in a building twenty by fifty feet, with only eight vats. So encouraging had been their success, both in the quality of their leather and the demand for it, that at the end of the first year they determined to en- large their establishment. A good substantial stone building, thirty-five feet square, and two and a half stories high, was erected, and also an addition to the old build- ing of a structure twelve by thirty-five feet.
The first floor of the main building contained a steam
* From the same report.
3º
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.
engine and boiler, for the purpose of running a fulling- mill, and other machinery necessary to perfect and expe- dite the various processes in the manufacture of leather. During the first year the company had manufactured and sold about fifteen hundred pieces of leather, worth from four to five thousand dollars, thus keeping that amount in circulation at home which otherwise would have been withdrawn from circulation for the purchase of leather in other markets. Such enterprises entitled the projectors to be regarded as public benefactors. With the increased facilities from six to seven thousand pieces per annum were manufactured. The quality of the "Wapsie leather," as the firm denominated theirs, was concedcd to be equal to the better qualities of American bark- tanned leather; and it was claimed that it was even stronger than most of the bark-tanned, and more dura- ble. The tannery was situated in the southeastern part of the town and, very conveniently for water supply, near Malone's creek, a small but unfailing stream of water, which has at this point sufficient power to turn a small water wheel, by which power all the water needed was pumped from the creek.
The leather turned out by this firm had been tested by both shoemakers and saddlers, and pronounced of an excellent quality; and the success of this manufactory was a source of pride to the citizens of Independence, who viewed with great interest every venture designed to develop the resources of the county and add to the bus- iness and population of the place.
If this promising inauguration of an important branch of manufacturing has through any cause been allowed to decline, it is still desirable for the credit of the commu- nity at large that some record should be preserved of this exceptional instance of wisdom in the investment of capital, which, if followed, would make of Independence that which her natural advantages warrant her in aspiring to become-something more than a railroad station, and a place of deposit for the county records .*
OAK WOOD SEMINARY.
Among the early educational advantages of Indepen- dence the above named high school for girls deserves es- pecial notice, meeting, as it did, the deeply felt want during the time which elapsed between the establishment of the old district schools and the improved graded schools which, within the limits of the city, have taken their place.
In the summer of 1857 Miss S. E. Homans, who had been for some years a teacher in Washington, D. C., and other eastern cities, came to Independence to examine into the feasibility of establishment here of a seminary for girls. Finding the prospect favorable, she wrote to her friend, Mrs. H. A. Woodruff, to come and join her in the enterprise. Mrs. Woodruff accepting the pro- posal, they rented a small frame building, owned by T. W. Close, and standing next west of the lot where Morse's block now stands, and there the new seminary was
temporarily opened. Their success was so decided that they deemed it safe to purchase a lot and erect a more commodious building. They therefore bought a lot on Hudson street, upon which, during the summer of 1858, they erected a large, two-story frame building, the upper part of which was arranged for the school, and the lower for their residence.
To this building the school was transferred, at the be- ginning of its second year, in the fall of 1858. The in- stitution was regularly incorporated under the name given above, and some of the leading men of the city consti- tuted its board of trustees. Mrs. Woodruff was teacher of music, French and English literature, and Miss Ho- mans of mathematics. The school was very successful, the average annual attendance of pupils being about fifty, especially during the last five years of its continuance. Its patrons were confined mostly to Buchanan county, Independence furnishing the greatest number.
In looking over an old pile of the Buchanan Guardian we saw frequent notices of the good work this school was accomplishing. The number of young ladies who there received their chief education may be inferred from the facts above stated. In mature womanhood many of them are still residents of the county ; many are scattered in various parts of the country, and some have gone to "the better land."
Upon all those immortal spirits the influence of those true, cultured, Christian women was indelibly stamped. And when it is remembered that all those spirits are channels through which that influence is to be extended indefinitely, as time rolls on, it will be seen that the be- neficent results of the good work done in Oakwood seminary during the ten years of its continuance are altogether incomputable.
In 1867 the graded schools were established, the sem- inary was discontinued, and Miss Homans took a prom- inent position in the new establishment as principal of the grammar school. This position she held with some slight intermissions, under several superintendents, till 1876.
As we believe the names of the graded school superin- tendents have not been given elsewhere we will give them here. Wilson Palmer, five years from 1867. Then two superintendents, one on each side of the river, one year. They were James McNaughton and J. K. Picket. Then T. W. Graydon alone one year. Then William Elden from 1876 to the present time.
It was under the superintendency of Mr. Graydon that Miss Homans had a somewhat memorable controversy in regard to Bible readings and the Lord's prayer in the grammar school. Mr. Graydon insisted that they should be given up. Miss Homans refused. The matter was brought before the directors, and the courageous Chris- tian woman was sustained as she ought to have been.
THE FIRST DELL IN BUCHANAN COUNTY.
In one of the May numbers of the Guardian, 1860, the editor suggests the propriety of providing, for the convenience and pleasure of the citizens of the county seat, both a bell and a cannon.
*NOTE .- The principal building of the establishment above described is still standing, and appropriated to the possibly less dignified, but certainly useful, occupation of soap making.
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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.
"All know." said he, "how sweetly the tones of the bells sound on a quiet Sabbath morning or evening, how irresistibly they draw the people towards the places of worship, how fully they awaken the mind to thoughts of devotion. There is a poetry and melody at such times in the song of the bells that makes us involuntarily listen, which soothes and elevates us. Sweet as the music of a flute, would be their silvery tones, ringing over the broad prairies, and many a happy recollection of other days would they call up."
At this point in his appeal it seems to have occurred to the writer that, mayhap, in the busy, bustling popula- tion around him there might be some whose hearts were not attuned to the tender sentiments in which, amid a glow of early recollections, he had indulged; and that the movement which he advocated must be made to ap- peal to the quid pro quo element-which, after all, rightly directed, is a very respectable and safe moderator in most public enterprises demanding the outlay of money. It is quite impossible, however, that at that date there were many in that youthful community whose hearts did not respond to the chord struck by his allusion to the sweet tones of the Sabbath bells. How the thoughts flew back to the homes that have been left, scattered along from the rock-bound shores of Maine to the bor- ders of the inland seas and the great Father of Waters. "The Sabbath bells"- what magic in those three short words! No, the demurrer which followed was not needed. Or, if then, as now, these sentiments appeal to some impervious souls, practical and material advantages easily suggest themselves, which might enlist all to lend a helping hand. The regular summons to labor, to sec- ular meetings, to fires, the clanging joy-peals of the great national holidays-all these touch the universal heart, and would abundantly repay the expense of securing so valuable a public servant.
The same article set forth the impossiblity of being properly jubilant on "state occasions" without a piece of ordnance that would give loud-mouthed expression to the general enthusiasm, and closed with the statement that the Fourth of July and political victories lost half their force and enjoyment when the means were wanting to celebrate them with a feu de joie. It may give addi- tional interest to this morsel of history that in an adjoin- ing column stood a short paragraph, headed, "How Old Abe received the News."
This appeal for a bell was, as was to be expected, promptly responded to. The next number of the paper contained a communication in which the author of the timely proposition was warmly applauded for bringing the matter before the citizens of the place. "To one" he says, "who has always lived where the stillness of the Sabbath was first broken by the sound of 'the church going bell' its deprivation is deeply felt, hallowed as it is by associations of joy and sorrow-joy as its lively peals call the devout worshipper to the house of God, sor- row as its deep and heavy tones reverberate from the hill- side and valley, while the solemn procession wends its way from the house of mourning to the last resting place of the dead."
This second author in belles lettres (and here no sec- ondary rank in literary merit is intended to be imputed), was, as will be seen, a punster. And punning is an art, or science, or both, which, I am happy to reflect, the his- torian is not called upon to defend, but simply to admit the fact of its use, and in connection, the proof of it. The different stages of the founding of the first bell of Independence seems to have been marked by successive suggestions, the second, at the close of the communica- tion now under consideration being as follows: "Let the belles of our place take the matter in hand, and we shall soon hear the merry peals of a bell sounding over our lovely prairies, vibrating through our groves, and undu- lating on the waters of our Wapsipinicon." Suggestion third: "The fourth of July is at hand; a fit time for the fair of our town to get up a fair, the avails of which shall be devoted to the purchase of a bell, and the "material aid" of the "lords of creation," who love thus to respond to the winning ways and more winning smiles of their wives, sweethearts, sisters and daughters, is hereby pledged."
These suggestions, severally and collectively, meeting the approbation of the citizens, their wives, sweethearts, sisters and daughters included, a meeting was called at the court house, at which a large number of the classes enumerated were present, and entered with commenda- ble enthusiasm into the discussion of various plans for the accomplishment of the desired object. Arrange- ments were perfected for a celebration of the "coming National anniversary in a manner thoroughly patriotic, and yet without marring this character, making it subser- vient to the object of creating a fund for the purchase of a bell.
At this meeting, on motion, D. S. Lee was called to the chair and C. P. Kinsley appointed secretary. The chair stated the object of the meeting when, on motion, a committee of three, consisting of J. Rich, S. S. Allen, and C. L. White, was appointed to report a list of com- mittees to make the necessary arrangements for the cele- bration. The committee reported the following list :
Committee to procure all things necessary for the table. -General Dickinson, superintendent; Mrs. General Dickinson, Mr. and Mrs. E. P'. Baker, Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Van Duzer, Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Henshaw, Mr. Albert Clark, Dr. Bryant, Martin Adams, Charles Kinsley, A. B. Lewis, W. S. Marshall, C. F. Leavitt, Dr. Chase, E. Leach, Mrs. Asa Clark, Mrs. C. Eckles, Mrs. James Poor, Mrs. Mary A. Tabor, Mrs. M. V. Bush, Mrs. D. S. Lee, Mrs. H. Morse.
Committee to procure grounds, tables, etc .- A. H. Fonda, W. H. Jones, R. W. Wright, R. S. Rider, M. V. Bush, A. J. Bowley, George Morse, George W. Bemis, M. Stead, T. Tyson, W. Chandler, R. Bartle, Aaron Sherwood.
Committee on music .- C. F. Herrick, J. M. Chandler, A. Barnes, A. Ammerman, E. Ross, Asa Blood.
Financial committee, also authorized to procure a gun and ammunition. - 'S. S. Allen, Samuel Sherwood, A. In- galls, Jed Lake, S. S. McClure, L. W. Cook, B. D. Reed, E. H. Gaylord.
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