USA > Iowa > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 12
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tirely destroyed. All of the family of man, wife, and three children were more or less injured, but none seriously except the oldest child, who had been struck in the head with a flying missile and the flesh laid open to the bone. When found his eyes, ears, and mouth were full of mud and his hair so clogged that it was necessary to cut it close to his head. His eyes were wide open and filled with mud. He had been carried by the wind several rods.
The storm in Carroll and Roselle townships was very severe. The house of L. N. French was badly wrecked, the roof carried away. The Rogers school in Carroll township was shaken up so that all the plastering came off. Wagons belonging to Booth Zarnsdorf were carried about forty rods and smashed to pieces.
April 24-Burke's Hotel has just been refitted from top to bottom. The rooms are all refurnished comfortably and neatly. The efforts put forth by Mr. and Mrs. Burke to secure the furtherance of their cause have been rewarded and the hotel has proven a success financially as it has in other respects.
May 4-Breda was beset by a destructive fire which originated in the building owned by Herm Knowbe and occupied by a saloon and agricul- tural warehouse. When it was discovered the upper part of the building was in flames. The fire extended to other buildings in the vicinity, all of which were constructed of dry pine. The post office was in an adjoin- ing building, and was burned, but not before the mail had been taken out and saved. The next building was sixty-six feet distant, but with a heavy wind the fire was blown in that direction, and it was found impossible to save it. This was occupied by a saloon and the upstairs used as a resi- dence by its owner, Neudel Eichelberger. Six or eight feet farther west was the new building erected by Ricke & Olerich but not complete. They had also bought an old building and moved it to the site. Both were burned. The loss was in the neighborhood of $4,000.
May 15-Rev. T. S. Bailey has accepted a call to the pulpit of the Carroll Presbyterian church, and will enter upon his duties the 9th of next month. His congregation in Ohio was very unwilling to release him, otherwise he probably would have been here long ago.
May 27-Before the freeze of a week ago there never was a better prospect for all kinds of fruit. It now appears that everything has been killed. The loss can hardly be measured in dollars and cents.
June 5-Geo. W. Palmer, a former pastor of the Presbyterian church at Carroll, died from an overdose of morphine at Polk City. He had been ill and the drug had been prescribed by his physician. The dispatch to Carroll announcing his death followed his wife thirty miles into the country. Many friends of the deceased from Ames and Carroll were present at the funeral. He leaves a wife and daughter. The probability is that the amount of morphine taken by Mr. Palmer was no more than he was accustomed to take, and that his death was directly due to an affection of the stomach and his inability to take sufficient nourishment.
June 12-A new general store has just been opened in Carroll by H.
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C. Stevens and Chas. Ludwig on the south side of Fifth street in the most central part of the business portion of the town.
June 17-Des Moines Register says: G. W. Wattles of Carroll county in graduating at the lowa Agricultural college, appeared in the exercises with a paper entitled "Science." Speaking of the appearance of Mr. Wat- tles, the paper says that he possessed a magnificent voice, an excellent manner, and thoroughout the oration he had perfect command of himself.
June 17-The past two weeks have been extremely hot. Last Friday the mercury reached 105 in the shade at 3 o'clock. Every day since then the mercury has stood above 100, while in the sun it has run from 115 to 121. The nights have been so sultry that refreshing sleep has been im- possible. From the North Coon comes reliable report that the fish have died by the hundreds from the heat. Last week the dead fish collected on the dam at Grant City in such quantities that the stench was unendurable, and men went out and shoveled them over to float down stream. An experi- enced fisherman says that the fish run around a great deal in hot times and when they get in shoal water they are liable to meet with sun stroke. Pickerel weighing eighteen to twenty pounds were found among the dead fish in the Grant City dam. From Wall Lake the report is that dead fish are being found on the bank and that the people living near commenced burying them last week. It is almost impossible to pass by on one side of the lake, the stench is so great.
August 4-Saturday afternoon Wm. Hunter, living four miles south- west, met with an accident which resulted in his death Sunday morning. He started home from Carroll with a hay rack on which was piled some loose lumber. About half a mile this side of Mr. Haviland's there is a steep hill and as he drove down this decline the lumber slid forward on his horses and he was thrown under their heels. His head was almost literally scalped, and he received a terrible kick in the right temple. He was sixty-two years of age.
August 14-W. A. McLagan has leased the elevator in the east end of the yards at Carroll, and will make that place his future home.
Geo. W. Bowen is a new Carroll attorney. He is a young man of ability and comes highly recommended. In addition to law business, Mr. Bowen will pay taxes for non-residents and loan money on improved real estate.
Lambert Kniest died at his residence in Carroll, Wednesday morning, the 14th inst. He had been in bad health for six months. One of his lungs was seriously affected. A few weeks before his death his condition seemed to be improving, and his symptoms were all more favorable, but a short time since he had a slight attack of hemorrhage which was not considered serious at the time. Shortly after midnight Tuesday morning. the hem- orrhage reappeared and before it could be arrested he had lost a large amount of blood. Great danger was apprehended from a second hemor- rhage, should it occur, and shortly after midnight Wednesday morning, this situation arose and death came almost instantly. The funeral was the largest ever held in Carroll. At the church the services were conducted by Rev. Father Weggman of Hillsdale, and Rev. Father Pape of Carroll.
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The latter delivered the funeral address. Lambert Kniest was born in Hol- land, March 19, 1819, and was in his fifty-ninth year. When reaching this country he first settled at Buffalo, N. Y., then moved to St. Louis and later to Dubuque. In 1868 he established the colony of Germans at Mt. Carmel, in the township which bears his name. Mr. Kniest leaves a wife and eleven children, nine of the latter residing at home when his death occurred. He met with business reverses in the closing years of his life, but no one could impute any but the most honorable motives to him in any of his transactions.
September 4-March 25, the cornerstone of the new Catholic church was laid and last Sunday it was dedicated with the impressive cere- monies of the church. Every inch of the inside space was occupied and many went away not able to crowd through the door. The services were conducted by Revs. Father Pape and Fendrick, the former preaching in English. Father Fendrick addressed the congregation in German, dwell- ing briefly on the difficulties met and overcome, and congratulating the people on the successful termination of the work of building their new temple. The choir under the direction of Prof. F. A. Rohner rendered the music and the band played good selections. The church is located in the southeast corner of town on a high location overlooking the whole place. The total cost of the building is $2,500.
September 18 Two hundred pupils are already enrolled in the public schools and fully seventy little ones are crowded into the primary room. The board has leased the Congregational building on Sixth street and will place new furniture in it, and another department will be opened next Monday with Miss Kniest in charge.
September 19-Tuesday night guests at Colclo's hotel saw from the window that the schoolhouse was on fire. C. C. Colclo and Messrs. Rohner and Adams ran to the scene at once and put it out without difficulty. They believe the fire was set from the outside at the southeast corner of the build- ing. It had burned a space about five feet square in the corner. That kerosene was used it is certain.
September 28-The Greenbackers at their convention at the courthouse Thursday nominated the following ticket: Clerk, W. F. Steigerwalt; re- corder, L. A. Jennings ; surveyor, C. L. Bailey ; supervisors, C. V. B. Smith and A. McArthur.
October 9-Mr. Brede has retired from the firm of Brede & Baumhover and is succeeded by H. E. Brooks in the Carroll mills. Mr. Baumhover will retain his interest, but will not attend personally to the management of the mill, which will hereafter be wholly in charge of Mr. Brooks.
October 17-The weather was unusually warm for October and a strong south wind blew all day. In the morning there were showers and rain threatened more or less. At night the sky grew angry and threatening black clouds formed in the southwest and scattered themselves over the sky and then massed in the north, leaving a clear sky for a few moments, when new clouds would sweep in sight. About six o'clock a well developed cyclone made its appearance in the southwest, and heavy black clouds from which
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MAIN STREET. COON RAPIDS
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hung the well known swaying column advanced towards the town of Car- roll. At times the clouds would almost touch the earth, and again were some distance above it. Fortunately it went to pieces before reaching town and did little damage. The same tornado passed through sections of Wash- ington and Arcadia townships, carrying death and wide spread destruction along its path. In Washington township it made its appearance in Sec. 17, traveling in a north easterly direction to Arcadia township, being broken up and dispersed when within less than a mile of Carroll. Mr. Crawford, near the Crawford county line, had his house blown to pieces while his family was within it. His wife and children were seriously injured and one child has since died. Mr. Hoffiman is not expected to recover. The residence of Mr. Koepke, with all his out buildings, was blown to pieces. Wm. Brown had one of the best houses in the township, costing him $1,000. It was en- tirely ruined and all of his household goods carried away and scattered over the prairie. The family escaped injury by hiding in the cellar. Mr. Dutton, in Arcadia township, saw the storm coming, and took refuge with his wife in the cellar. The house was torn to pieces. One floor of the house was carried so far that it could not be found, and the goods were scattered far and near. After the storm they found a large flag which had blown from some locality. One school house in Washington township was destroyed and another turned around. Mr. Mason had a barn badly wrecked. His house escaped but he lost between 40 and 50 acres of corn, and considerable machinery. Thos. Guegel had a new threshing machine totally ruined. There were hundreds of minor works of destruction in this section of the country.
October 30-The contracts have been drawn for the construction of a railroad from Wall Lake to Sac City. Grading will commence im- mediately and the road is expected to be ready for operation by November Ist of next year.
November 13-Louis Berger and Delbert King were husking corn on the farm of the father of the latter John W. King. Berger climbed into the wagon and took the reins and was followed by young King. The team made a sudden turn to one side and both were thrown violently to the ground, the wagon box falling upon them. Berger was not hurt but young King was instantly killed. He was 16 years old, the oldest boy of the family.
December 4-The city council of Carroll at their December meeting voted to increase the saloon licenses to $300 per year. Carroll has six saloons and should this rate continue a revenue of $1,800 will be derived from this source. It is intimated that one or two of the saloons will close rather than pay the increased license.
1879.
January 2-Rev. L. Huendling is spending a few days with his congre- gation in Wheatland township before going away to resume his studies.
January 8 The trustees of Eden township came before the Board of Supervisors and gave the particulars of one of the most terrible cases of Vol. 1-7
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suffering and destitution ever reported. Mr. Hutton, near the Newton township line, is the father of the suffering family, which consists of hus- band, wife and several children, the oldest 12 years, and the youngest 4 months. They live in a shanty hardly befit to shelter cattle. In it is an old stove smoking so badly that one not accustomed to it could not remain in the house. The woman had only a single thin garment, and, of the chil- dren, four were almost entirely naked. The other three had a few rags only for clothing. A pile of straw in the corner and three old blankets comprised the bedding. The babe being placed close to the fire to keep it warm had been burned, and there was a large sore upon it resulting from this cause. The necessary steps were taken to provide for this family.
January 15-According to the auditor's report it is shown that the county debt has been reduced by $10,000 during the past year, and that the whole amount remaining unpaid is not quite $40,000.
January 15-The new bell of the Presbyterian church has been placed in the steeple at a cost of $150. Since Rev. Bailey assumed the duties of the pastorate the church owed a debt of $500. Since then every dollar of the debt has been paid, and a bell purchased.
January 22-The total receipts of the Northwestern railroad at Car- rol for the year just closed are $128,214.23. Cars of stock shipped, 171-an increase of 58 cars over the former year; number of cars of grain shipped as 803-an increase of 505 cars over the previous year.
January 24-Geo. R. Wendling delivered his lecture in answer to Ingersoll to one of the largest audiences ever assembled in Carroll.
March 3-A full vote attended the Carroll city election, and two tickets were in the field. Wm. Gilley was elected mayor over H. W. Ma- comber by a vote of 170 for Gilley to 89 for Macomber. A. E. Smith was elected recorder, and J. W. King assessor. Councilmen were elected as follows: J. E. Thompson, John McAllister, N. Beiter, D. A. Cudworth, W. L. Culbertson, W. J. Bohnenkamp.
At the city election at Glidden W. R. Ruggles was elected mayor and Wm. Buchanan, street commissioner. Trustees, Browning, Ferguson, Dickey, Harrison and Smith.
March 26-The pedestrian mania hit Carroll and a ten hour tramp was pulled off in which the contestants were Will C. Peru, Charles Holmes, Worthy Talbott, and Ed. Wayne. The match commenced at one o'clock in the afternoon, continuing until eleven o'clock at night. During the three hours Holmes and Talbott kept pretty steadily to the track, being off but five minutes each. Wayne and Peru took longer rests, which put them over a mile in the rear. At the close of ten hours Holmes was eight laps ahead of Talbott, and was the winner of the match. Peru and Wayne dropped out at the end of the eighth hour. The distance traveled by Holmes was 43 miles and eight laps. Talbott 42 miles and 37 laps.
April 2-Der Democrat Publishing association is the name of the new organization taking charge of the paper of that name. The stock holders are P. M. Guthrie, P. Berger, William Lynch, L. Keckevoet, J. Retten-
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY
maier, J. P. Hess, Frank Florencourt, Jos. Buchheit, and several others. C. Bruning was elected president, and P. M. Guthrie vice president.
April 20-Henry Scharnweber, living four miles east of Carroll, set out a fire intending to burn off a slough. His little daughter, age six years, followed him, and ventured too near the fire when her clothes caught and the child was almost instantly wrapped in flames. Her father tried to extinguish them but without success and her death occurred shortly after the accident.
April 16-A statement of the figures shows that even if the price of produce has run lower than in previous seasons the amount of grain marketed since the first acre of the new wheat crop went forward last Aug- ust exceeds the shipment of the year 1877 nearly 100 per cent. The corn crop last year was good in quality, and the amount in cribs at the stations in this county April Ist is as follows :
Arcadia
50,000 Bushels
Maple River 5,539 Bushels
Breda 20,000 Bushels
Glidden 100,000 Bushels
Carroll . 102,000 Bushels
The figures of Odebolt give an idea of the way the country along Maple River Railroad is improving. In the past eight months that place shipped 530 cars of grain, and 69 of stock. Over 50,000 bushels of corn are cribbed there.
March 2-A special train passed over the Northwestern on board of which was a party consisting of Wm. H. Vanderbilt, his sons W. K. and Cornelius, August Schell, W. F. Scott, John Newell, general manager of the Lake Shore, Albert Keep, president of the Northwestern, and Marvin Hewitt, general manager. The special left the Wells street depot at Chicago at 7:07 Thursday morning and arrived in Council Bluffs in 11 hours and 15 minutes, thus beating the best former record by fourteen minutes.
May 21-During the past week C. R. & P. Railway Company has been engaged in the business of forcibly ejecting settlers from its lands in Audubon county. These lands were a part of the original grant to the com- pany. After the grant was made the line of road was changed and it was claimed by many that the land was forfeited and therefore open to entry. Accordingly numerous persons in Audubon and Shelby county entered upon tracts of the land and laid claim to it under the pre-emption laws. The courts have recently decided that the land is still the property of the con- pany, but in spite of this these settlers have refused to purchase or remove. hoping by some means to hold on. In 1877 the company built a branch road to Audubon to develop the country and add value to its lands. Find- ing that the claim set up by the homesteaders was obstructing their sales suits were commenced to establish title, and in every instance the courts de- cided in favor of the company. Writs of ejectment were issued on these decisions, and the sheriff, with a posse of fifty men, was sent out to serve them. In some instances they met with resistance. In such cases force was
99254B
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HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY
used and the claimants' families and household goods were removed, and the houses destroyed in order that the dispossession should be complete.
June 8-A cyclone swept over Charter Oak township in Crawford county, destroying the residence of John Edwards and severely injuring his wife. Mrs. Edwards saw the storm approaching and seizing her chil- dren attempted to run to a ravine near the house which proved to be directly in the path of the cyclone. The house was broken up by the wind, and a piece of timber struck her in the back, breaking three ribs close to the spine. The children were not injured. One chair alone was left to mark the place where the house and its contents had stood. H. C. Weed's little boy was herding cattle. His pony came home riderless in the evening. When search was made for the boy he was found on the prairie insensible, and it was several hours before he was restored to consciousness. The boy was in a critical condition, and could give no account of himself.
June II-The M. E. district conference is in session at Carroll.
June 18-Frank Alumbaugh, the well known temperance reformer, is conducting a series of meetings at the Presbyterian church. Alumbaugh is the most effective temperance speaker who has visited Carroll since Murphy.
July 5-Governor John H. Gear and Fred H. Lehmann of Des Moines arrived in Carroll from Sac City about daylight. Many called at the hotel to pay their respects to the distinguished visitors.
August 6-Through the enterprise of D. Joyce Carroll now has a good public hall, the upper story of the new building near the depot being devoted to that purpose. A stage extending the width of the building has been put in, with dressing rooms, etc. The hall is seated to accommodate comfortably 275 people.
August 20-The Republican representative convention for the seventy-third district, composed of Carroll, Calhoun and Greene counties, met at Glidden. On the informal ballot for representative Calhoun cast four votes for S. T. Hutchinson, Carroll five for H. W. Macomber, and Greene seven for Harvey Potter. On the sixth ballot Mr. Hutchinson received eleven votes and was nominated.
August 31-The Presbyterian church of Arcadia was dedicated in a ser- mon by Rev. Dennohey of Boone. Rev. T. S. Bailey presented the finan- cial statement, showing that the cost of the building was $1,600 and of the two lots $125; that there was a deficit of from $200 to $225 which needed to be raised to put the congregation out of debt. This amount was asked for and $250 subscribed on the spot. Rev. J. H. Sammis will preach to the Arcadia and Glidden congregations. The house will seat 150 persons. Two hundred were present at the dedication.
September 20-The election to decide whether a bond issue of $12,000 should be made for the building of two school houses failed to awaken any general excitement, there being 126 votes cast, of which 106 were in favor and 20 opposed to the bonds. The new school house may be re- garded as certain. The main school building on the north side of the track will not cost to exceed $11,000. On the south side a building to
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cost not less than $2,500 will be erected, to contain two or three rooms, and to be used for the smaller children who are now compelled to cross the track.
September 24-James Brooks, a widower of Warren township, having no family, has made his home with C. L. Christian. Tuesday of last week Christian drove to Carroll, eighteen miles, home, and on his return did not reach home that night. About 11 o'clock Brooks was aroused by a knocking at the door and supposing Christian had returned he at once opened it. As he did so a man at the side of the door shoved a dark lan- tern into his face and at the same instant a man on the other side jumped on him and bore him to the floor. Two other men then came in and joined in the assault. They threw Brooks upon the bed and proceeded to make a spread eagle of him by extending his hands and feet and tieing them to the four corners of the bed. They then gagged him with a handkerchief. They robbed his clothing of $54, and made a search of cupboards, trunks and everything else in the house. They found nothing that attracted their attention but a bottle of whiskey, which two of them drank. The robbers then went outside when one said, "Go and see if he is tied fast," and one came in and tried the rope. These were the only words spoken. Brooks lay on the bed until daylight, when he succeeded in releasing himself. The tracks of the robbers were found outside, and traced for about four rods in a northwesterly direction. The pocket book was found ten rods south- west, rifled of its contents, which indicated that they had doubled on their tracks. Four men resembling tramps were seen that afternoon inquiring where Christian lived, and it is inferred that these were the robbers. Brooks had recently shipped a car of wheat but had not received pay for it. If he had been paid he would have had about $500 about the house, and it is believed the robbers knew of this.
October 22-The October election as canvassed by the board of su- pervisors shows the election of the following officials: J. S. Hutchinson, representative; L. Bechler, sheriff; Wmn. Arts, treasurer; H. E. Russell, auditor ; G. W. Wattles, superintendent ; M. C. Sneed, coroner ; supervisors, L. C. Bailey, J. J. Overmeier, C. A. Grant.
December 25-Father W. F. Pape says mass for the last time here and will go to Langsing, in Almakee county. Father Pape came to Carroll four years ago, and leaves his people with a good church and a very com- fortable priest's residence. He leaves also a large congregation, and a church building, through his management, at Arcadia, while he has also preached to the congregations at Wall Lake, Odebolt, and Ida Grove. His successor is Rev. Urbany of Langsing. Rev. John B. Fendrick of Mt. Carmel took leave of his people last Sunday and is starting on a trip to Germany.
November 27-Theodore Tilton discussed the "Problem of Life" before a large audience. Mr. Tilton was not in good voice. Wednesday, in order to reach Ida Grove in time to lecture in the evening, he traveled across the country from Onawa to Mapleton. The thermometer was twenty below
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