USA > Iowa > Clayton County > History of Clayton County, Iowa : from the earliest historical times down to the present : including a genealogical and biographical record of many representative families, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information, Volume I > Part 37
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During the height of this industry, a button factory was estab- lished at McGregor, concerning which the Times said:
"The pearl button factory commenced work Tuesday noon. They have 24 tons of shells on hand, which will probably keep them busy for four or five weeks. A 6-horsepower water motor furnishes the power. One man can probably turn away about 800 pounds a day. The process is simple yet interesting. Ten men are at work at present turning out the blanks. The blanks go by two different names, tips and butts, tips being those secured from the thin end of the shell, and
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butts those from the shell's thicker portion. The blanks, or unfinished buttons, are of different sizes also and the price paid varies with both the thickness and the size. The standard of measure is a line one- fortieth of an inch, and the basis of price paid the laborers is the gross, 14 dozen to a gross. For tips, 14 lines in diameter, 47/2 cents per gross is paid ; 16 lines, 5 cents ; 18 lines, 572 cents. For butts the price is higher, 14 lines, 51/2 cents ; 16 lines, 6 cents. This average of price is kept up to 24 lines, the largest size, for which 10 cents per gross is paid the laborer. One man can earn as high as $3.00 per day by keeping constantly at work. The shells are soaked in water be- fore grinding and a constant stream of water is kept trickling upon them while they are being ground to avoid dust. The proprietor and manager, Mr. Houdek, is very considerate and obliging to visitors."
Sand Mosaics-Another industry peculiar to McGregor was the making of beautiful and artistic pictures in bottles from the many colored sands found in the Pictured Rocks near McGregor. This industry was so unique that it attracted attention not only in this country but in Europe, and the following is an extract from an article published in "Lectures Modernes," of Paris, in July, 1903: "About twenty years ago, an American deaf mute, Andrew Clemens really sought to use in decoration (picturing) the multicolored sand which is found in abundance in the vicinity of McGregor, Iowa, and succeeded, before his lamented early death, in developing the idea to a high degree of perfection. His brilliant conception, however, seemed in danger of being forgotten, when Mr. W. S. O'Brien, manager of the Union Tele- graph office at McGregor, took up the problem in such hours of leisure as his professional avocations left him, and brought it happily to a successful solution. Let us visit, then, the studio of the Sand Artist. The equipment of the 'mosiaste' is simplicity itself. His 'palette' com- prises a case of boxes in fan form, divided into compartments, each containing sand of a different shade, forty-one in all, and none of them artificial. A pencil of wood is his only "brush.' With a small spoon he transfers from the several compartments the sands into a glass bottle, the size and form of which he selects according to the object or combination he wishes to represent, then by means of the little wooden tools, Mr. O'Brien arranges the sands just as a painter applies his colors on a canvas. He succeeds in this way of accomplishing many beautiful effects. The sand, once in position in the bottle, is pressed strongly but with precaution so as not to shatter the glass envelope; then the mouth of the bottle is cemented. This done, no shaking or shock can disarrange the varicolored particles encased in this hermet- ically sealed enclosure.
"One would imagine that the sand must be pasted or glued upon the interior surface of the glass that it could hold so firmly in position. Nevertheless we affirm after personal verification that the sand has not undergone any manipulation whatever. It is used simply dry and as nature gives it, just as anyone can pick it up from its veins in the 'Pictured Rocks' near McGregor. Nothing more magnificent to con- template than these layers and veins of sand combining all the colors of the rainbow, diversified, clearcut, distinct, separate. Upon these monster mountain mosaics of nature the sun's rays play with marvelous
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effects, while in the midst of the hills are running and singing little brooks and rivulets, jumping like frisking lambkins over rocks and forming sparkling cataracts in their way down to their home in the bosom of the great 'Father of Waters' at the foot of the bluffs."
In 1902, Peter Fisher, of McGregor, made one of the most beau- tiful of these sand bottles, using 35 different colored sands.
Proposed National Park-In 1909 a movement was inaugurated to have the beautiful and historic Heights, including the Pictured Rocks and Pike's Peak, with its awe-inspiring view of the great Mississippi valley, incorporated into a national park and preserved for future generations. By resolution the legislature of Iowa endorsed the project, but no considerable progress was made until Senator W. S. Kenyon, of Iowa, took an active interest in it. In December, 1915, a national park meeting was held at McGregor, which was addressed by Senator Kenyon, Congressman Haugen, State Senators Fellows and Quigley and many others. At this time a committee of fire was appointed to promote the project of having the Heights from two to three miles below McGregor and extending back from the river for a depth of from one-half to three-quarters of a mile incorporated into a national park. As a part of its work this committee prepared a very handsome folder, giving many views from the proposed park and an outline of its duty and the points of historical interest. In June, 1916, through the efforts of Senator Kenyon, an appropriation of $500 was made for an inspection of the proposed park and a report as to the advisability of its adoption by the government. From the literature prepared by the committee the following description of some of the beauties of the proposed park is taken:
Pike's Peak-At the southern extremity of the park and dominat- ing the landscape, Pike's Peak, most famous of the Mississippi hills, stands sentinel. The view from its summit a world traveler has de- clared to be "the finest water scene in America." Facing the mouth of the Wisconsin river, as it does, Pike's Peak was the first land seen by white men on the discovery of the Upper Mississippi and overlooked the stirring events which took place about the confluence of the Wis- consin and the Mississippi rivers in the beginnings of history. It was a favorite vantage point of the Indians and often a battle ground.
In 1805 Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, the great explorer, shelved his boat on the pebbly shore at the foot of the hill, which has since borne his name, climbed to the top and planted the first American flag raised in the Northwest.
Pike's Peak is now a favorite picnic and camp ground. It is reached by a drive of three miles from McGregor and by two trails from the river.
Pictured Rocks-Sequestered in a valley on the north side of Pike's Peak lies Pictured Rocks. This beauty spot, a bit of the Grand Canon or Yosemite Valley dropped down among the Mississippi hills, is reached by a ten minutes' walk from the bank of the river. The path follows up a stream splashing with tiny waterfalls through a ravine so deep and narrow the sun only penetrates it for a few minutes at noon. Suddenly you emerge in a sunlit amphitheatre formed by per- pendicular cliffs of colored sand two hundred feet high, varying from
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glistening ivory to the most brilliant orange and scarlet. More than forty colors have been found. They lie one above each other in horizontal, curved, zigzag and fantastically broken lines, making the whole a sand mosaic of enchanting beauty. A cave of dazzling colors and a waterfall nearly a hundred feet high are features of the scene. Above Pictured Rocks on the trail leading to Pike's Peak is Horseshoe Falls, a miniature Minnehaha.
Briefly enumerating the few of the more important items of McGregor's history during the past 16 years it is found that, in 1901, the J. D. Bickel Produce Company was founded, with cold storage and creamery plant, and this grew to be a large industry. In 1903, a packet steamer reached McGregor direct from Chicago, this being the first since 1875. In 1904, the Congregational church was improved at the cost of $5,500. In the spring of that year W. R. Motheral invented the motor boat which developed great speed and was one of the fore- runners of the racers of today.
THE HAND OF DEATH .
As might have been expected the hand of death dealt heavily with the pioneers during the opening years of the new century, and until, in 1916, there are but few living who took part in the active history of the county in the days before the war. There are a number living who were children or youths at that time but of those who have arrived at man's estate there are but few. Col. J. O. Crosby, of Garnavillo is the most notable of the living pioneers today. A man of splendid educa- tion and of marked intellectual powers he is today a giant among men despite the weight of more than 90 years, and he stands today as almost the lone survivor of those men who made the early history of Clayton county great.
In the year 1900, there died Patrick Donlan, one of the pioneers of Cox Creek; James Davis, who came to Garnavillo in 1848 and who was the popular sheriff of the county for 16 years following 1855; C. H. Kuempel, the pioneer cabinet maker of Clayton, whose sons established an excelsior factory at that place which they operated until it burned in 1895; J. D. Schmidt, founder of the Elkader brewery and later the partner in the Elkader mill who came to Read township in 1848; Thomas D. White, the pioneer of National in 1853 and later a resident of Volga, who served in the legislature in 1876; John N. Ham- ilton, who for 18 years following 1874 was at the head of the Elkader school and who died at Sac City.
In 1901, the death roll included James M. Crawford, who came to Guttenberg in 1847 and who was later a resident of Frenchton and of Clayton ; Milo P. Clark, one of the strong men of Wagner township, a pioneer of 1852; A. F. Nichols, a councilman of Portland, Oregon, who died in Chicago but who was known here as a county supervisor and president of the agricultural association and who was buried at his old home at Luana ; Lars Hulverson, one of the Norwegian pioneers of Read township.
In 1902, there died Charles Leibrook, the prominent Elkader mar- chant who came to this country from Bavaria in 1852; P. P. Olmstead,
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one of the founders of Monona and who was prominent as a supervisor and as a Republican leader. He was found dead in a puddle on his farm near Monona. Dan E. Gleason, an 1850 pioneer of Elkader ; Fred Pahlas, who came to Read township in 1857, and to Elkader in 1889; Mrs. Thomas Updegraff, the beloved wife of the congressman from this district and who shared with him all the hardships as well as the honors of his distinguished career ; John D. Welsh, a veteran pioneer of Volga; Fred Cook, who came to Guttenberg after the war, was sheriff in 1893 and later served as deputy and jailer ; Col. J. K. P. Thompson, who died at Rock Rapids but who was identified with Clayton's earlier history, having been a member of the Twenty-first Iowa, and having studied law under S. T. Woodward.
Those passing to the Great Beyond in 1903 were Henry Wilker, of Clayton Center, who came to Garnavillo in 1850; Rev. N. W. Bixby, who died at Edgewood at the age of 94, being the oldest minister in Iowa. He was of the Free Will Baptist faith and was very dearly beloved by all; William Monlux, who came to Wagner township in 1855, enlisted in Company D, Twenty-first Iowa, and was wounded at Vicksburg. Elected supervisor in 1893 he served six years and was a member of the Elkader council at the time of his death, J. G. Hempel being appointed to succeed him; G. G. Nass, the postmaster at Gunder ; Major Jenkins, the Vermont Yankee whose early days were spent as a sailor and who came to Garnavillo in 1845 and who, at the time of his death was one of the oldest men in the county, being 98 years of age; H. S. Granger, who died at Philipsburg, Kansas, who was the founder of Clayton county's first newspaper in 1853, who read law with Samuel Murdock, was a partner of Reuben Noble and who was school fund commissioner and clerk of the county for 12 years follow- ing 1860; Martin Garber, who died at Garber, Oklahoma, but who was one of Clayton's earliest settlers, having been deputy auditor under Mr. Duff and succeeded him in that position.
The notable deaths of 1904 included that of Lyman Taylor, the pioneer builder of Elkader; T. C. Palmer, who was known as Uncle Tom of High Prairie in the early days and who was postmaster at Seigel; E. B. Snedigar, son of the old Elkader postmaster, a veteran of the war who dropped dead while at his work in Fayette county ; O. D. Oathout, who came to Clayton county in 1855 and resided on the same farm until his death. He was one of the leading educators and did good work as county superintendent ; J. J. McCarthy, born in Cox Creek and who became the leader of the Dubuque bar; John Kleinlein, the miller of Clayton, who was killed in a runaway accident.
William Crain, who came to Sperry township in 1854 working for 75 cents a day and paying 35 per cent interest for the money for which to buy his first farm and who died the owner of more than 800 fertile acres, died in 1905, as did Peter Helgeson, the oldest citizen of Wagner, a. Norwegian who was famed as a hunter and trapper; John F. Bierbaum, who came to Guttenberg in 1847 and afterward lived at Garnavillo, Clayton and Monona; Thomas Kelleher, one of the Irish pioneers of Boardman township in 1855; Capt. W. A. Benton, whose life was one of great adventure. He came to McGregor in 1856 and was Captain of Company G, Twenty-first Iowa, post master of
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McGregor and sheriff for six years, being elected in 1873. His life included adventures in the mines of California, in Australia and South America, including a ship wreck off San Francisco.
John T. Stoneman died at McGregor October 11, 1905. He came of an illustrious family, his brother being a major general in the Union army. He came to McGregor in 1856 and was one of the county's greatest lawyers. He was elected state senator and was twice a can- didate for congress and twice received the support of the democrats of the legislature for the office of U. S. Senator. He moved to Cedar Rapids in 1881, where he was judge of the Superior Court, but he spent his last years with his daughter, Mrs. A. Chapin, at McGregor. In the same year, 1905, died J. F. Thompson, a teacher, journalist and political leader. He taught the schools at Elkader, was county super- intendent from 1874 to 1878 and was clerk of the county and a mem- ber of the legislature. He moved to California and died in the news- paper harness; Orlando McCraney, a prominent figure in the earlier days and who boasted that he had laid out 14 towns in Iowa and in California.
S. L. Peck was a beloved pioneer who died in 1906. He came to this county in 1849, studied law in Elkader, was county treasurer, a partner of Judge Williams and was the surveyor of the county all but four years from 1869 until 1882. His last years were spent in Ohio. Among the others were John W. Becker, who came to Jefferson town- ship in 1853 and who was a prominent and wealthy citizen of Elkader after 1886; Charles Schecker, a veteran of the Schleswig-Holstein war who came to Communia in 1851. He enlisted with Company D, Twenty-seventh Iowa and was sergeant of the company, post master at Elkport 1865-69, deputy surveyor 1870-74, surveyor 1876-80, recorder 1881-84, deputy surveyor 1885-1905. At the time of his death he was the oldest surveyor in active service in the state. He was a great student and a brilliant writer and his fiction was eagerly sought by the periodicals of Germany. Isaac Havens also was among those who died in 1906. He was a Garnavillo pioneer of 1846, and later was a farmer near Elkader. He was also a capitalist, being a promoter of the First National Bank of Elkader and a director of the First National Bank of McGregor. During the early days he served two terms as sergeant-at-arms of the general assembly at Iowa City.
C. C. Bicknell the pioneer hardware and furniture dealer who came to McGregor in 1857, died in 1902, and in the same year that city mourned the loss of one of its most noted pioneers, George L. Bass. He came to Galena in 1842 with but five shillings capital. In 1850 he crossed the river in a skiff to McGregor Landing and became a partner in the firm of Jones and Bass. Two years were spent in California when he again became a merchant at McGregor. He sold his business to Merrill and Barron and formed the Bass and Grant produce company. He was a member of the legislature in 1861 and was mayor of McGregor, 1859-60. He started the first brickyard and the first sawmill at McGregor, helped to build the first church, was a director of the branch of the Iowa State Bank, in 1860, and was the first Worthy Master of Beser Lodge. In politics he was a democrat and he was one of the most popular citizens of McGregor.
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George S. C. Scott, who died in 1903, was a McGregor pioneer business man. He was one of the charter committee for McGregor in 1857 and was active in the beginnings of the church and the Masonic lodge; O. W. Crary, who died in 1903, was a large land owner. He came of distinguished family, settled in Farmersburg in 1848, and in Boardman township in 1857. He was county judge, county superin- tendent for three terms and state senator in 1871. J. H. Merrill, who died in 1904, came to McGregor with his brother, afterward Gov. Samuel Merrill. He helped organize the First National Bank of McGregor and succeeded his brother as president of the bank. He moved to Des Moines in 1874.
In 1907, occurred the death of James Humphrey of Monona who was noted for his wide hospitality and who came to Clayton county in 1852. In 1908 the county lost James Ivory, a pioneer of Clayton; Okley F. Davis, who came to Elkader in 1852, was a member of the Fourth Iowa, landlord of the Turkey River House and a well known builder and contractor.
The death roll of 1909 included Herman Ihm of Guttenberg, a pioneer of 1854, a soldier during the war and a prominent business man, having been mayor in 1869 and treasurer of the Guttenberg Excelsior Company ; David Molumby, who settled in Highland town- ship, in 1855; J. E. Webb, the educator who taught at Graham, Elkport and Strawberry Point and who was the head of the Elkader school for 25 years. He was elected recorder in 1904, serving two terms. His death was a cause of universal regret at Elkader and there was a large public funeral at which eulogy was delivered by V. T. Price. Ezra Hurd, prominent in the early days, a veteran of the Mexican war, who settled in Garnavillo in 1846; Dr. Rudolph Gmelin, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war, who lived at Guttenberg, Elkader and Gar- navillo; Francis K. Robbins, who came to Clayton county in 1849 and who helped organize Highland township, the first being held at his home in 1854, and his son James being the first child born in the town- ship; Edward Reynolds a Clayton pioneer of 1849 and Lars Hulverson, one of the leaders among the Norwegians in Wagner township in 1850.
The year 1910 witnessed the following deaths: J. L. Hagensick, who came to Garnavillo from Bavaria in 1853. He was a brewer at Clayton Center and McGregor until 1865, when he went into the mer- cantile business. He was the founder of the Hagensick family of Clayton county ; John Anderegg who came to Jefferson township in 1853, was a veteran in Company D, Twenty-seventh Iowa and who was prominent in this community ; Fred Bergman, a pioneer of McGregor in 1846 and a prominent business man of that city ; D. G. Griffith, the veteran editor of the Elkader Register, a man who had a splendid war record with the Second New York Heavy Artillery and who founded the Register together with G. A. Fairfield in 1880. He was post master at Elkader and served three terms as mayor. His thirty years' record as an editor was a brilliant one and he was a leader in his community ; Rev. F. W. Seifert, a man of heroic mold, a leader in the German Revolution. He came to this country and taught school at Elkport. While working at a sawmill he met with an accident and both his legs were frozen so that amputation was necessary. In this
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crippled state he entered the ministry at Clayton Center in 1862 and was pastor of the churches there, at Elkader and Farmersburg for many years. He retired in 1903 and he was one of the best loved and most highly respected men in the county. The death of Thomas Updegraff, whose biography appears in another chapter, also occurred in 1910, as did also that of H. S. Merritt, who was known for many years at Elkader as an abstractor, business man and expert accountant, and Gilbert Cooley, who for ten years was post master of Strawberry Point. He settled in Cass township in the '50s, was a member of the Twenty-first Iowa and was a leading Union man and Republican of his community. He died suddenly of heart failure while post master at Strawberry Point. His son, Edwin G. Cooley, was superintendent of the schools of Chicago.
In 1912, the first death of a pioneer recorded was that of C. S. Bickel, who settled in Giard township in 1853. He was the head of the Bickel family whose family reunions were notable events in Giard township for a number of years. Others dying in 1912, were Dr. L. L. Renshaw, of Monona, who was born in National in 1856 and who was practicing physician at Monona. He was a surgeon for the Milwaukee railway and a member of the pension board for 20 years. He was one of the organizers of the Monona State Bank. J. E. Corlett, familiarly known as Uncle John, settled in Farmersburg in 1855. He was promi- nent in the county and was for a number of years the secretary of the county agricultural society.
In January, 1913, occurred the death of Joseph Eiboeck, one of the most prominent editors of Iowa who has already become familiar to the readers of this history as the editor of the Elkader Journal during its early days. He was born in Hungary in 1838 and came to Dubuque in 1849. Coming to Clayton county, he taught school at Garnavillo and bought the Garnavillo Journal in 1858. He served a short time in the army but was relieved on account of ill health. He was the editor of the Elkader paper until 1872, when he went to Des Moines and founded the Anzeiger, which became the leading German paper of the state, in 1874. During these years he traveled widely, was a great student and was a man of national reputation. He had strong per- sonality and great strength of character. He contended with the many hardships of pioneer journalism and established a high standard of editorial excellence in this county. While a resident of Elkader he was married to Miss Fannie Garrison of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and they celebrated their golden wedding but a few months before his death. His wife survived him but a few days. Mr. Eiboeck must be accounted as one of the greatest men who have made Clayton county their home.
L. H. Place died in Nevada in 1913. He came to Elkader in 1858 and was one of the leading merchants. He served as sheriff for six years and his remains were brought to Elkader for burial; W. R. Kinniard, who founded the first bank in the county, at McGregor, died in Idaho Falls in 1913. The year 1914 brought death to a number of the older residents among whom were Herbrand Knudson, the pioneer merchant of Farmersburg; Joseph Lamm, who was for many years prominent in Elkader. He came to Clayton county in 1853 as a boy of five, was deputy postmaster in 1869 and the first mail clerk on the
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Iowa Eastern. He was a merchant in Elkader after 1878 and was station agent from 1878 until 1892. His efforts to keep traffic open to Elkader merchants have been already noted. His later years were employed as a grain dealer and business man in Elkader. V. R. Miller, one of the earliest pioneers of McGregor, G. J. M. Dittmer, a pioneer musician, who settled in Jefferson township in 1850; G. H. Shoulte, the popular mayor of Elkader for 12 years. He was born in Clayton township in 1866, taught school at Clayton and was educated at Ames, Iowa City and in the law office of W. A. Preston. In 1894 he entered the firm of Everall and Shoulte. He was elected mayor in 1902 and represented the county in the legislature. He was elected county attorney in 1912 and had just been renominated at the time of his death. His death came as a great shock to Elkader people and there was a large public funeral at which Mr. D. D. Murphy delivered the eulogy. Others were Fred Groth, the well known bridge builder of Guttenberg, who was supervisor in 1910-12; Luther P. Pugh, who came as a boy to Clayton county and lived at Pugh Hollow near Mederville, being the last of the pioneers of that neighborhood. He was a member of Company D, Twenty-first Iowa; and other deaths from the ranks of that company were William Kellogg, Alfred McLane, Robert Parr, S. T. Richards, George Densmore, Thomas Fisher and Harvey King. C. F. Bevins died at Sanborn, Iowa. He was a resident of Volga for 52 years and was known as a teacher and a business man. The death of Martin Dittmer, in November, 1914, came as a sudden shock to the entire county.' He had been active in politics and was sheriff from 1904-11. At the time of his death, which occurred following an operation at Prairie du Chien, he was engaged in the implement and automobile business at Elkader.
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