USA > Iowa > Carroll County > History of Carroll County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 13
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and high winds swept over the prairie. Consequently he was far from his best. His lecture was scholarly, well delivered and very much appreciated.
I880.
January 7-The Methodist church in Jasper township will be dedicated Thursday, Jan. 22.
January 10-Two hundred and fifty-eight pupils are now crowded into the three rooms of the public school. The rooms are shabby, and neither large nor decently ventilated. Miss Kniest has seventy-seven in her room, Mrs. Lane sixty, and Messrs. Paul and Colclo have 121, an average of sixty-five per room.
January 24-The Dewey House at Maple River Junction, recently opened by A. Dewey was the scene of a dinner to a number of guests. The house is enjoying a prosperous business.
January 29-Elizabeth Cady Stanton lectured in Carroll to a good audi- ence. Mrs. Stanton remained in Carroll until Wednesday afternoon, the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. She made an earnest plea for the rights of woman to engage in any employment and to receive adequate wages.
March 3-The city election resulted: mayor, Wm. Gilley ; assessor, John W. King; recorder, A. E. Smith; councilmen, L. T. Anderson, J. E. Thompson.
March 17-John W. Nye of Cedar Rapids has made arrangements to open a dry goods store in Carroll and occupy a room in Mrs. Beaty's build- ing for the time.
N. F. Sturges has bought the drug store formerly owned by Thos. B. Reece, and will keep those quarters until a larger room can be secured.
March 20-At the election to decide whether the new school house should be on lots at the corner of Main and Sixth streets or on the hill north of town there was a lively contest, 251 votes being polled and a ma- jority of twenty-three resulting in favor of the hill location. The Sixth street location was objected to as too close to the business portion of town.
April 16-During all of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday a terrible dust storm prevailed. The wind was extremely hot and dry and it lasted three days and nights without once letting up. Old settlers in Iowa do not remember having experienced such a period of weather.
May 3-The ceremony of laying the corner stone of the new Presby- terian church was observed Monday. The band furnished some excellent music at the opening and the choir rendered selections during the exercises. The following ministers were present: Rev. H. E. Avery, Sioux City ; D. W. James, LeMars; W. S. Peterson, Dakota; G. F. LeClare, Dakota; Joshua Cook, Storm Lake; Geo. R. Carroll, Sac; D. A. Donahey, Boone ; W. A. Chambers, Carroll; T. S. Bailey, Carroll. The following articles were deposited in the stone: A copy of the Westminster Confession of Faith ; form book Presbyterian church; a bible, 25 cent edition ; new testa- ment, 5 cent edition ; copy of the Carroll Herald, and copy of Der Demo- crat, a brief history of the church since its organization and a list of the members and officers.
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May 12-The town authorities have issued a blacklist containing the names of several men who are not to be furnished liquor under penalty.
May 19-N. Beiter now occupies his new building where he has opened up one of the finest meat markets in western Iowa. The building is a two story brick with basement.
July 7-Whether the railroad from the Northwestern road run- ning south will be built from Carroll or some other point is not yet de- cided. It is settled that the company proposes to build if granted the right of way. In Calhoun county where an extension was made the right of way was given and five per cent tax voted in addition. Marvin Hewitt, manager of the Northwestern railroad, has telegraphed Mr. Manning that unless this much can be done for the road it will not be built this year. If the right of way is given the work of building the southern line will begin about the first of August.
July 14-The census enumeration of 1880 gives Carroll a popu- lation of 1386; Maple River, 128, and Carroll township, outside of Carroll, 568. It may be safely said that the population of Carroll county will reach 12,500 ; in 1870 the population was 2,451, and ten years ago the population of Carroll was 384. Pleasant Valley township and Grant are not enumer- ated in the figures now at hand.
August 11-Crop reports from various sections of the county in- dicate that the wheat average will reach 20 bushels per acre in the county. The quality is excellent, and weighs out from one to two bushel more per acre than the machine measure. Andrew Gifford of Carroll township re- ports 24 bushels to the acre. Wm. Knight, on the Winnett farm, reports 30 bushel to the acre. Wm. Gilley's farm produced 21 bushels. Mr. Bangs of Glidden writes that W. R. Ruggles is threshing wheat from the shock which will go from 27 to 30 bushels to the acre. The first carload of the season was shipped from the Ruggles' lot.
September 5-The new Presbyterian church at Carroll was dedi- cated Sunday, the 5th inst. The church is one of the oldest Protestant organizations in Carroll. In 1874 the building of a house of worship first took definite shape. A subscription was raised, and a year later the build- ing which stood until last year was completed and finished. Unfortunately there was an indebtedness left unprovided for which increased during the next two years. When Rev. Bailey became pastor in 1878 he found the church carrying an indebtedness of $700. This he discharged during his first year. Upon the destruction of the church after the fire few members expected that the house of worship would ever be re-built. The new church is due to the activity of the pastor. Among contributors to the building are Field, Leiter & Co., $50; J. V. Farwell & Co., 50; Hibbard Spencer & Co., $25 ; Wm. Blair & Co., $25; Keith Bros., $25; C. M. Henderson & Co., $25 ; Fuller & Fuller, $25; McCormick Machine Co., $25; Pitkin & Brooks, $25, and many others, making up a Chicago subscription amounting to $535. The building was designed by Wm. Foster, the Des Moines architect. The auditorium will seat 150, class room 40, and gallery 50, making a total of 290 seats. The sermon was preached by Rev. H. E. Avery from the text, 7th verse. 12th chapter of Genesis, "And there builded he an altar unto
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the Lord." The financial statement shows the cost of the church to have been $4,199.00. It was dedicated out of debt.
Sept. 11-Saturday morning at one o'clock the hardware store of Peterson Bros. at Arcadia was found in flames, and the fire so far advanced that there was no possibility of saving the building. It stood on the north side of the principal business street, and in a row of closely built wooden buildings, practically one structure as far as fire was concerned. A strong wind from the south fanned the flames and threatened many buildings ly- ing north of the fated wooden row. One thing was favorable-the buildings were somewhat damp on account of recent heavy rains. The flames spread from the Patterson store to the east and west. To the west there was one building, while to the east there were nine or ten before a street intervened. The wooden row was entirely destroyed, but the buildings north were not harmed. They were saved by hard work, together with a number of dwell- ings and the Presbyterian and Lutheran churches. The cause of the fire is not known, but there is strong suspicion of incendiarism, with no definite evidence. A man who had been discharged from the employ of the hard- ware store is said to have made threats. The following is a summary of the insurance companies having losses with the aggregate so far as ascer- tained :
Total damage by fire is about $25,000.
The list of losses is as follows: Peterson's hardware store, Fey res- taurant, Neiman & Gamrer, L. S. Stow's drug store and the postoffice. In the postoffice the mails and furniture were saved. McDuval's agricultural implement house; T. Lopman, Mr. Miness, C. H. West- brook, drug store; J. N. Voris, general store; F. A. Charles, attorney ; the Cooke building, dwelling house and a small stable on the premises of B. C. Agnew.
September 15-G. W. Wattles, county superintendent, in a letter concerning the schools says that the compensation of teachers in the county is less than that of almost any other class of workers. The average price per month paid the teachers of Carroll county for the year 1878 was $27.
October 13-A meeting of the Sunday school association was held at the M. E. church, Glidden, the 13th, with delegates present from six town- ships, representing 12 schools. Officers were chosen: President Rev. T. S. Bailey; Vice President J. J. Coder, Glidden; W. A. Welker, Jasper ; Mrs. J. W. Kay Carrollton ; secretary and treasurer H. S. Fisher.
October 16-The fire machine purchased by the city council arrived. It is called the Champion, and is a large sized Babcock extinguisher on wheels. A bon fire of kerosene boxes was built and it put the flames out in a very short time. The price paid was $900. The machine is easily handled.
Nov. 3-One of the notable improvements of the year is the new school building now so far completed as to be ready for use. The base- ment is large enough to accommodate an extensive heating plant, and is so arranged that perfect ventilation is secured and all poisonous gas dis- charged. It is not possible to put steam heat in the building this fall. Five
South Public School St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic School St. Angela's Institute for Girls
St. Joseph's School North Public School
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teachers are now employed in the pubilc schools: Mrs. Lane, Miss Kniest and Miss Brainard on the first floor, Mr. Paul and Mr. Colclo on the second floor.
Nov. 3-A fair given by the ladies of the Catholic church was finan- cially the most successful ever held in Carroll. The gross proceeds are $1,500 and a profit of $1,380 was made on the entertainment.
CHAPTER IX.
TIIE GREAT CARROLL FIRE OF SEPTEMBER 25, 1879-TOWN BUILT ENTIRELY OF WOOD REDUCED TO DEBRIS IN A FEW HOURS-THE CONFLAGRATION ORIG- INATED IN A SALOON BUT THE EXACT CAUSE WAS NEVER KNOWN, PROBABLY THE RESULT OF CARELESSNESS OR ACCIDENT-NO MEANS AT HAND TO RESIST THE DESTRUCTION-THE ENTIRE BUSINESS PORTION OF THE TOWN LAID IN RUINS-MUCH VALUABLE PROPERTY SAVED BY RESCUERS, HOW- EVER-CITY COUNCIL MEETS AFTER THE DISASTER AND PASSES AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING FIRE LIMITS-THE NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD MAKES VALUABLE CONCESSIONS TO THE SUFFERERS-SEVEN WEEKS LATER THE TOWN IS FAIRLY RESTORED AND BUSINESS RESUMED WITH AN ACTIVITY UNKNOWN TO TIIE OLD TOWN.
There are two events in the history of the city of Carroll of a signifi- cance sufficiently important to apply in the broadest sense to the history of the county. The first epoch dated from its selection as the county seat by a vote of the electors in August, 1867, and the subsequent transfer to Car- roll from Carrollton of the archives and miscellaneous baggage belonging to the courts and county-an event which took place at 10 o'clock on the morning of April 28, 1868, being the time of the arrival of the said impedi- menta at its destination. Of this nothing further may be said at present.
The first epoch closed and the second began with the great Carroll fire of September 24th, 1879, when, after three hours of furious besetment, all that there was of the wooden hamlet of the early and frontier period per- ished from the earth.
The Carroll of this day was composed of about twelve hundred people, who had built for themselves a town of flimsy and compactly grouped wooden houses, most of them one story in height. A more complete tinder box could not have been invented by the ingenuity of man. Fourth and Fifth streets, between Adams and Main, were closely lined with these structures, many of them packed to the sidewalks with valuable stocks of merchandise. These endured at the sufferance of the merest chance from day to day. There were no facilities for fighting fire in case of an outbreak beyond the water to be found in wells and no vehicle for its appli- cation beyond the ordinary bucket or pail. An event so inevitable as the destruction of Carroll by fire presented itself at a convenient opportunity. A match was carelessly thrown. There was no water at hand. The fire was not aided by especially favorable environments. The morning was with- out wind and it was not fanned by this natural ally aside from the drafts created by its own intense combustion.
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Eugene R. Hastings writes so graphic a picture of the event from the scene itself that his story is here repeated in full :
When the freight train with Frank Crow as engineer pulled into Car- roll last Thursday morning, about four o'clock, the people of the town were enjoying that profound repose which hard work and clear consciences bring. They were destined to be rudely awakened from their dreams, and Mr. Crow was to be the instrument, though neither he nor they anticipated such an event ten minutes before. From his engine Mr. Crow saw a bright light in Henry Schappman's saloon on Fourth street, and at once concluded that the building was on fire. He jumped off and ran to it and on looking in through the front saw a blaze behind the bar, which could it have been reached then, with two or three buckets of water, would have been easily subdued, but no water was available just at that moment when it would have been worth five thousand dollars a quart. The engineer did the next best thing ; he shouted fire with all his might and roused a few men, among whom was S. M. Town, who attached a hose to the hydrant and attempted to get a stream on the flames, but without success. Mr. Crow then ran to his engine and sounded the steam whistle continuously, making an un- earthly noise and effectually arousing the sleeping inhabitants of the town. The fact that Carroll was a wooden town peculiarly liable to a general con- flagration, has always rendered our people anxious and uneasy on account of fire, and the unusual alarm was quite sufficient to suggest the possibility to most people that a fire had started, while the few sleepy ones wondered why the coal heavers did not attend to that engine. In a few minutes the frightened people gathered in the streets. The fire was still confined to the Schappman saloon, but it was already beyond control. A hand engine would have been easily able to extinguish it, but it is well known that Car- roll has no fire apparatus whatever. In an incredibly short space of time the south side of the building was wrapped in flames. A glance was suffi- cient to show that all the conditions existed for a general conflagration.
The blazing building was situated in the southern part of the business portion of the place. The wind blew steadily from the south and although it was light it proved sufficient to carry the flames directly into the heart of the town. To the north, east and west were two almost solid blocks of wooden buildings. The long drouth had dried everything so thoroughly that each of them was a tinder box of the most inflammable description which a spark could kindle. The wells and cisterns were generally dry or nearly so. There were no ladders and but few buckets available. There was no organization, each person acting on his own account. In fact it was apparent from the first that our pleasant and prosperous little city was doomed to suffer the greatest disaster in its history-a calamity in its scope and extent, as compared with the size and resources of the town, almost without parallel in the history of fires. With this condition of affairs there was but one thing for our people to do, and that was to save as many goods as possible. The area of buildings directly in the path of the fire was crowded with valuable stocks of goods. A large number of families lived
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in the upper stories of these buildings. At once every man who had prop. erty in danger commenced the work of removing it to a safer place. Then ensued a scene which baffles description.
The flames gathered renewed strength and power, leaped heavenward, painting a dusky hue in tinted colors. The clouds of smoke drifted over our doomed city. The streets were thronged with hurrying people bearing goods and valuables of every description. The public square was covered with a confused mass of things carried there for safety. Every street out- side the immediate range of the fire was covered with goods. Men and women seemed endowed with superhuman strength and in the short space of an hour and a half more work was done than was ever accomplished in Carroll in three times that space at any occasion before. Thousands of dollars worth of goods were thus saved, as will appear more fully from detailed accounts given further on.
The fire rapidly extended further northward till Schappman's entire building, from Fourth to Fifth streets, was ablaze. The buildings adjoin- ing it on the east and west, of course caught immediately, and the fire worked gradually in both directions. On the east of this building on Fourth street was Efferts' store and the large building owned by J. M. Drees and occupied as a harness shop by L. T. Anderson, on Fifth street to the east, Mrs. Kniest's building, occupied by a restaurant and a millinery store, and next came Kentner's grocery store. On the west side it was adjoined on Fourth street by the saloon of B. H. Brees and on Fifth street by Haff's boot and shoe store. These buildings were all on fire inside of twenty minutes.
Some hopes were entertained that the fire might be confined to the block where it originated, but the more observant felt certain from the first that the eighty-five foot width of Fifth street would be no barrier to the flames impelled directly across by the wind which was considerably augmented by the fire. These well grounded fears were soon realized. The awning of Mrs. White's building, just in the center of the block, on the north side of Fifth street was the first to catch and the building was soon wrapped in flames. Blazing brands struck on the front of Hatton's drug store and it also soon succumbed. As on the other streets the fire worked rapidly north- ward, extending more slowly to the east and west.
No hope now remained of saving anything south of Sixth street. Hoyt's large two-story frame on the corner of Fourth and Main and Burke's hotel, a large and inflammable wooden structure, on the opposite corner of Fifth street were soon burning. The fire here raged in its greatest fury. The fire seemed to touch the sky and the roaring and crackling of the flames were deafening. Griffith & Deal's law office, just across Main street from Hoyt's, was in imminent danger. More than this, every one saw that if the fire effected a lodgment there all that block of buildings, including the Hovey House and Olmstead's livery stable, must inevitably go. Fortunately the trees around this office protected it to a great extent. Between them the side of the building was scorchingly hot. Water was continually kept on it and the roof, and through the most exhausting and energetic work it was
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kept from igniting, and that portion of the town was saved. From Burke's hotel the fire went up the west side of Main street with race horse speed. Culbertson's bank building, belonging to E. R. Hastings, formerly occupied by the Herald and the postoffice, the wagon shop and Whitman's livery stable, with all the intervening buildings, disappeared in smoke. Mean- while on the western limits of the fated blocks the fire raged with increas- ing fury. The wind freshened and shifted a little to the east. This in- creased the danger and rendered the work of arresting the fire more diffi- cult and dangerous than it would otherwise have been. Keckevoet's large frame building on Adams street, extending from Fourth to Fifth, was the point of greatest danger. A dozen or more men were engaged all the time in carrying water, and one or more hand pumps with hose were playing on it, while wet blankets were kept on the roof. The side of the building blistered with water thrown on it was immediately converted into steam. When Mark's store and Thompson's grocery were burning it was hot work to save Keckevoet's. The importance of arresting the fire may be appreciated when it is understood that if it had burned the entire north- western portion of the town would have been imperilled. It is hardly pos- sible that the brick building of the Carroll County Bank, occupied also by the Herald and the postoffice, could have been saved. At a glance their blackened fronts will show how nearly they came to going. Beyond all question much of the credit of saving them belongs to G. W. Wattles of Glidden who happened to be in town. He stood on top of the Beatty build- ing, facing heat which was almost overpowering, and with the greatest skill used and economized every drop of the scanty supply of water it was possible to furnish him. For cool courage and discretion we have never seen Mr. Wattle's work surpassed. We trust that our people will appre- ciate the work rendered by him.
While all this was in progress a blazing brand carried by the wind struck in the tall spire of the Presbyterian church beyond the reach of help. The pastor, Rev. T. S. Bailey, was waiting there with water, but it was im- possible to reach the fire. Soon the stately spire was ablaze and in a few minutes the neat, tastful chapel was in ruins. There were many sad hearts as it went down. It represented so much of self denial and labor, of hope deferred and then realized, of sacred and happy associations that it was a painful sight to see it go.
At six o'clock in the morning the fire was over. It had not been con- trolled, but it had burnt out to the limits of the thickly portions, of the town, and the wind having fallen, its further spread was arrested without much difficulty. The church being brick proved an effective barrier and the residence of Mr. Cudwirth just north of it was not injured. Great care was necessary to prevent the numerous hay stacks and buildings catch- ing fire from the blazing brands that still filled the air.
The sun rose upon a scene of desolation where a few hours before had stood the business portion of one of the most thriving little towns in the state; there was nothing but the blackened and distorted debris of the con- flagration. The streets were filled with merchandise and valuables of every
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description. Bales of goods, show cases, household effects-in short, arti- cles of all kinds were scattered here and there and everywhere. The pub- lic square on its south and east slopes covered with law books, tables, furni- ture, bedding, clothing and many other articles. Soon merchants and others appeared with teams and began claiming their goods, and very soon order came out of confusion and everything was removed to places of safety. Even at this time one could not fail to be impressed with the indomitable pluck and cheerfulness with which our business men faced their misfor- tune. While the fire was raging all the valuable rooms in town which were spared were engaged and contracts with carpenters for rebuilding were made. Few if any gave up to a feeling of discouragement, but everywhere the feeling seemed to be that there was no use in wasting time in vain re- grets, but that the only thing to be done was to face the situation, resume business and earn back by honest labor the money and property which had gone up in smoke. It gave us renewed confidence in the future of the town when we saw its representative men wiping the cinders out of their eyes and pushing arrangements for resuming their business within two hours after they had lost thousands of dollars. While the fire was pro- ceeding northward the intense heat caused it to cross Fourth street to the south. The new two-story building being completed by John B. Cooke caught fire at the corner. Possibly could enough assistance have been se- cured this building would have been saved, although its height would un- der the most favorable circumstances have rendered it a work of difficulty. As it was, the building burned, as did also an old warehouse filled with barley standing only a few feet from the depot. It took hard work to save the depot itself, and Mr. Town's family began moving out. The large agricultural warehouse belonging to J. B. Cooke also caught fire and was burning briskly along the south and east sides. A few determined men with buckets formed a line and extinguished the fire after it had gained a foothold which made it appear almost a hopeless task. We believe that it is generally conceded that the work in putting out this fire was the best done, and certainly it was a plucky performance. By arresting its spread the Arts' warehouse, Wayne's warehouse, and Jones & Parsons' elevator were saved. These were filled with grain, the latter containing fully fif- teen thousand bushels. One can see at a glance how important and valu- able the work was. Jones & Parsons had not a dollar of insurance upon their elevator or its contents, and it may well be supposed that they were somewhat excited and uneasy when its fate hung in the balance.
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