USA > Iowa > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 21
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CRAWFORD COUNTY JAIL, DENISON
LAAUB BLOCK. DENISON
DENISON NORMAL AND BUSINESS COLLEGE
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remain on interest until 1887, when the building committee contracted for a building 30 x 70 in dimensions with stone basement and two stories, with brick walls and iron roof. The corner stone was laid August 12, 1887, and on January 20, 1888, we find the following account of its dedication :
The McKim hall which will stand for many years as a just source of pride to our town, was dedicated on Monday evening last. The hall in the second floor was crowded to overflowing with people and the ceremonies were carried out quite successfully. Mrs. J. Ellen Foster of Clinton delivered the address. Before this part of the program, however, Mrs. W. A. McHenry read the fol- lowing statement in reference to the hall and how it came to be built :
"The building of this Memorial Hall which we dedicate tonight, was made possible by a bequest of Mrs. Mary McKim, a member of the Denison W. C. T. U. Mrs. McKim became a member of this Union May 23, 1878, and kept her membership to the time of her death.
"In Dec. 1884, she presented to this society $1,000 for the purpose of com- mencing the work of establishing a free library and Reading Room to be con- trolled by the W. C. T. U. of Denison. With this money was purchased the house and lot adjoining this building on the east, and which we have occupied since as our Temperance headquarters, holding regular Thursday afternoon meetings therein. After her death, Feb. 21, 1885, the will which made the Denison W. C. T. U. the legatee of the residue of her property, after other bequests were paid, amounting to between $15,000 and $16,000 was not allowed probate, but a settlement was made which brought to our treasury $8,500 out of which $350 were taken for necessary expenses, leaving $8,150 in notes and mortgages. On Oct. 28, 1885, Mr. E. S. Plimpton was appointed the financial agent, under bonds of $15,000 to hold and care for these funds, all of which have been collected and turned over to the treasurer of the Union, except $350 in process of collection. On Oct. 29, 1885, at the regular meeting of the Union the following named gentlemen were appointed and invited to serve as an ad- visory board, with the trustees of the W. C. T. U .: J. Fred Meyers, E. S. Plimpton, Morris McHenry, Sam'l Luney, Dr. Wright, J. L. McClellan, and John Richardson. The trustees of the W. C. T. U. are Mrs. E. S. Plimpton, Mrs. H. C. Laub and Mrs. J. L McClellan. Mr. Morris McHenry having re- moved from the city, Mr. R. Hefflefinger was appointed to his place on the advisory board which position he accepted Mar. 3, 1887. On Mar. 10, Mrs. Meyers and Mrs. McHenry were added to this committee from the Union.
"After some consultation and discussion as to the most feasible and proper manner of carrying out the expressed wishes of Mrs. McKim in regard to this building it was thought best to defer the erection of it for at least one year, but the treasurer was instructed to conclude the purchase of the lot on the corner of Broadway and Sweet street. From the advisory board a building committee was appointed, Messrs. J. Fred Meyers, chairman, E. S. Plimpton and J. L. Mc- Clellan, Mrs. J. Fred Meyers and Mrs. W. A. McHenry to whom was instructed the carrying out the plans accepted and adopted by the advisory board, namely the plans and specifications of L. J. Carter of Denison, architect and builder, who generously donated his work as an expression of hearty sympathy and co-operation with the undertaking. On June 21, 1887, the contract for building
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this memorial hall was let to Mr. H. C. Laub of Denison, for the sum of $6,453, to be completed by the 15th of December, 1887. A statement of expenditures shows as follows :
Price of contract $6,453.00
Price of lot 1,000.00
Price of furnaces 400.00
Gas machine and fixtures 375.00
Extra wall, steps and side walk 165.00
Excavating cellar and putting in water
165.00
Extra expenses of drayage, freight and superintending work 100.00
"All the above expenses are provided for, if not already paid. The accrued interest makes up the apparent difference between amounts received and dis- bursed."
The school and city library was placed in this building and it grew from year to year to be a library of fair proportions. The library prospered in this way until the year 1901, when through the efforts of Supt. H. H. Savage, a donation of $1500.00 was secured from Mr. Geo. W. Schee of Primghar, Iowa, for the purchase of library books for the use of Denison and of the schools of the county, providing the city of Denison would donate $2,500.00 additional. This gave fresh impetus to the library movement, the matter was taken up at once by our most enterprising citizens and the additional sum was soon raised. The donors to this fund were as follows; First National Bank, $500.00; Crawford County State Bank, $500.00; Denison City teachers, $100.00; P. E. C. Lally, $100.00 ; J. B. Romans, $100.00; R. A. Romans, $100.00; R. Lehfeldt, $100.00; Chas. Tabor, $150.00; J. P. Miller and Co., $150.00; L. M. Shaw, $100.00; Carl F. Kuehnle, $100.00; W. H. Woolston, $50.00; C. Sievers and Sons, $50.00 ; Stewart Lumber Co., $50.00; C. J. Salomon, $50.00; J. L. Warbasse, $50.00 ; Wm. Iseminger, $50.00 ; C. Sprecher, $50.00; Pfarr Gebert and Wieland, $50.00. The Friday Club also donated $200.
Having secured this handsome sum for the purchase of books the next prob- lem was to secure a suitable place in which to house them. The matter was taken up with the noted builder of libraries, Andrew Carnegie, and an appro- priation of $10,000 was secured from him with the provision that Denison should provide for an annual tax of one tenth of that amount for maintenance. The necessary steps were taken by the city council, the question was submitted to the voters and carried by a large majority. The handsome lot valued at $2,500, on the corner of Chestnut and Sweet streets was donated by Mr. J. P. Miller and the work of erection was at once commenced. Later it was found that the sum donated by Mr. Carnegie would not be sufficient and this generous patron of learning was induced to add the sum of $2500.00 to his former beneficence. In this way, Denison secured not only a substantial building, which will be a credit to the city for many years, but a fine library of carefully selected books now numbering about 6,000 volumes. The library building was dedicated Aug. 10, 1904, Hon. M. J. Wade and Hon. Johnson Brigham delivering the dedicatory addresses. Miss Grace Meyers was elected librarian, a position which she has held since the opening of the library. This building has become the center of
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
Denison's social and literary life. The basement affords a club room which is utilized by the various Women's literary clubs of the city and for social events connected with our schools and educational institutions. The reading room con- tains newspapers and periodicals in profusion and is very largely patronized by the young and old of the city. In affording a place where the young people can pass their evenings in the midst of good books and good surroundings, it has done very much for the morals as well as for the culture of our city. The taxes levied from year to year are sufficient, not only for the current expense of maintenance, but for the addition of a number of books from time to time and there is no reason why this institution should not continue to be one of the greatest blessings of our city.
1885.
Retracing our steps from the library of today to the Denison of 1885, we find that it was a year of much activity. All of the old time settlers will re- member when the side walk on the east side of Main street stood high above the roadway with a long flight of steps leading to Broadway. This sidewalk has been lowered, the store fronts rearranged and in 1885 Mr. H. C. Laub built a brick block facing on Broadway. This block was 90 feet in length and at present contains the stores of J. Barborka, A. E. Lyman, and Menagh and Co.
Mr. C. Green, assessor, took the census of Denison in this year and found the population to be 1633. A considerable increase over 1880 when the popu- lation was 1444. The population of Crawford county in 1885 was as follows : Townships, Iowa 945; Nishnabotny 577; Washington 558; Union 527; Boyer 441 ; Hayes 792; East Boyer 621 ; Denison 664; Paradise 400; Willow 507; West Side 639; Milford 914; Goodrich 866; Hanover 648; Charter Oak 511 ; Jackson 688: Stockholm 662; Otter Creek 901 ; Morgan 605; Soldier 560. Towns, Denison 1633; Vail 642; West Side 465; Dow City 424.
In June 1885, the county was visited by the most disastrous flood in its history. Both the east and west Boyers overflowed their banks. The waters rose so suddenly that a number of farmers were cut off from their home. In the afternoon an attempt was made to cross the West Boyer near the fair ground bridge and this attempt ended in a sad tragedy. We condense the fol- lowing account from an extra issue of the Review dated June 8, 1885 :
About three o'clock four teams, of which Mr. Blackman's was the last, guided by a man on horseback, undertook the perilous venture of crossing to the Fair Ground bridge. The river had risen steadily so that the water ran across the road nearly breast high, and as a small bridge has to be crossed be- fore the Boyer bridge itself is reached, the attempt proved fatal.
As Mr. Blackman's wagon passed out of town, a lad fourteen years old-the son of Fred Nagle, who lives on a farm but has no team of his own, begged a ride and sat in the wagon. The first three wagons in the procession reached the small bridge in safety, but Mr. Blackman's wagon failed to strike the small bridge, and in a moment, the team, wagon and the four persons, were sub- merged, the team lodging on a wire fence which for a time held the wagon box also. Two persons came to their relief. One was a son of Mr. Angel, a young
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man about nineteen, on horseback, who was behind the wagon, and the other a German farmer by the name of Henry Glau, who was on the bridge expecting to come to town. We are unable to learn the particulars of young Angel's death. He fell from the horse and suddenly disappeared, as he endeavored to rescue the endangered party. Mr. Glau took off his clothes on the bridge and made for the wagon in which the two boys were, and took the Nagel boy on his shoulders or in his arms to bring him ashore, but he soon disappeared in the muddy stream, and the bodies of these three have not been found.
In the meantime Mr. and Mrs. Blackman floated off, Mr. Blackman striking a box elder tree to which he clung and on which he finally climbed. His son, who was thrown out of the wagon box which subsequently drifted down the stream also lodged in the same tree, and so did a man who endeavored to rescue them but who did not venture back, for though this was not the main channel the current was strong, and the water over a man's head.
The first and nearest persons who saw the disaster was Judge J. P. Conner and family, who had taken a ride for observation. Mrs. Blackman floated off and was carried by the tree where her husband lodged and floated down the stream, carried back into the current for more than half a mile. Judge Conner tried to reach her before she was carried off into the main channel, jumping into the water with his clothes on, but on suddenly reaching a ditch he fell clear out of sight and before he recovered the woman had passed. He then threw a number of boards towards her, one of which reached her and by which she buoyed herself up, until she floated over the current clinging to a branch on the other side of the channel.
Although the place of disaster was a long half mile from town, it is clearly observable from the main crossing to the Review office. Some by-standers saw that something was wrong, and when the cries of the floating woman were distinctly heard, a general rush was made.
Mr. Frank Young and Hans Thiesen and several Germans whose names we could not learn, but who were close by, had in the meantime made several efforts to reach the woman as she floated but could not come up with her.
Among the first persons who reached the bank opposite to where the woman had drifted was Jas. Fitzgerald, son of Dr. Fitzgerald, a printer, employed in the Review office, who stripped at once to swim across. Dr. Wright was the next man who plunged in and these two were the first to enter the water. They were speedily followed by Messrs. Penny and Richard Williams, all expert swimmers, who first waded to the east bank, and thence swam over the channel where the water ran with great velocity. The courage and devotion of these four gentlemen is deserving of the highest praise, as an illustration that our generation is as capable of furnishing courageous, fearless and self sacrificing men, as any of the past and every one of them is entitled to a medal of distinc- tion, for saving human life at the immediate risk of their own.
Dr. Wright and Jas. Fitzgerald had taken a rope with them, and when they found the woman she was almost benumbed, clinging to a limb with barely her head above water. Having swallowed much of the filthy stuff she vomited copiously, as soon as she was tied up with the rope, and held up by the swimmers.
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The swimmers reached Mrs. Blackman just as she was about to give up. She said good bye to every one by name, the last to the baby which was hardest of all, as she felt she must go under, when Dr. Wright and Mr. Fred Penny reached her.
The case of Henry Glau, the German farmer who lost his life in an effort to save the life of others, deserves particular mention. He had been a ship builder in the old country and worked in Denison as a carpenter. He subsequently moved to Manning where he had the misfortune to lose his property by fire. He then bought a piece of land, and he again had the misfortune to lose his hogs. His wife, with her two little children were in Manning, and on her ar- rival on the Eastern train she expected he would meet her, and up to Sunday morning she was still in ignorance of the fate of her husband.
Search for the bodies of the deceased persons was made immediately until nightfall. On Sunday at 9 o'clock A. M. the fire bell gave the signal for the assembling of the fire company, and searching parties were organized. The river had not yet entered the channel and the search proved fruitless. Regular ef- forts at dredging will be made from day to day until the bodies are recovered.
Of young Mr. Angel a farmer's son we know little. He was a nephew of Mr. Henry Vandevere, and by all accounts a bright and generous youth. About the time when Denison was excited with the news of the great disaster a mes- senger came from Deloit stating that a lady was drowned in that vicinity.
Mr. Isaac Bronson accompanied by Miss Georgie Springer and Miss Sarah Crane, a sister to his brother's wife, started from his farm for Denison, but as he intended to leave some grist at the mill, he drove towards the McKim mill. The water ran over the road and he was carried over the dam below the road, and all were struggling in the water, Mr. Bronson tried to save both ladies but Miss Crane drifted away, when her clothes caught in a wire fence and the pressure of the water kept her under. Mr. Bronson caught on a tree and caught Miss Springer as she floated by. Mr. Cary Phillips procured help at Deloit, while Cyrus Dobson was the first to swim out. He tied Miss Springer to a tree until a raft could be made. Had the whereabouts of Miss Crane been known at once she would undoubtedly have been saved."
That Denison was not the only town that showed prosperity is evidenced by the fact that on June 21, 1885, the largest church structure in the county was dedicated at Vail. This church was built by the Catholic society and was named St. Anne's church. The building cost $15,000. The Catholic society at Vail originated in 1876, when Rev. T. Moore of Dunlap visited that city once a month and said mass in the houses of some of the few Catholic families. Rev. M. Lynch was the first priest to say mass on Sunday at Vail. At this time the Catholics were more numerous and held their services in the hall. In 1879, a frame church was erected, but this building was pronounced unsafe, and serv- ices were held in it but once, on Christmas day, 1879. Rev. M. C. Lenihan had charge of the congregation both at Denison and Vail after 1880, but the Vail Catholics were burdened with a debt for a church which both the courts and its own dangerous condition, forbade them to occupy. On Sept. 29, 1881, a cyclone completely demolished the church. It was insured against fire and lightning, but not against wind storms and the loss had to be sustained by the
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society. The corner stone of St. Anne's church was laid on the anniversary of the destruction of the old building. The church is still we believe, the largest church edifice in the county and stands as a monument to the zeal and liberality of the Catholic citizens of to-day and of the generosity of the people as a whole, for no lines of faith or creed were drawn in the contributions for its erection.
The historian would be unfaithful to his task did he not refer to the troubles which arose in this county out of the passage of the Prohibitory laws. Po- litically, the county was revolutionized, but what was still of more consequence, the county was torn by bitter strife. Whereas the Prohibitory amendment was defeated in this county by but a small majority, the majority sentiment was against the enforcement of statutory Prohibition. The enactment of the Pro- hibitory law gave to this county therefore, a large number of saloons which were illegal, but which were upheld by the majority of the people who felt that their personal liberties had been denied. At one time there were twelve of these illegal drinking places in Denison. There were persecutions, as well as prosecu- tions, under the Prohibitory law and it was used in some instances as an in- strument of personal or poltical feuds. This period of strife arrayed many honest men against each other and to some extent retarded the growth of the county, by making it impossible for all the citizens to work together as they should. This condition lasted until the enactment of the present law which was generally accepted and under which the constant irritation gradually ceased.
Denison was becoming more and more important as a market town. Its territory was wide extending to the north and west even beyond the confines of the county. Between December Ist and December 17th, 1885, we have record that 3735 hogs were weighed at the city scales. The first event of the year 1886 was the burning of the Baptist church. This fire occurred on the evening of Feb. 14th and was discovered soon after the Sunday evening congregation had been dismissed. The pastor, Rev. W. H. H. Avery, who left the church among the last had not been gone over fifteen minutes when the alarm was given and when he opened the back door down to the basement he found it a sheet of flames. The church and the pastor's library were a total loss, but by the efforts of the fire department the parsonage adjoining was saved. This was the largest conflagration Denison had known up to this time. Owing to the un- explainable origin of the fire and to the fact that litigation had engendered some bitterness, it was generally believed that this fire was the result of incendiarism, although efforts to detect the supposed criminal were without avail. The build- ing was the one first erected on Main street in 1866 and moved in 1875 to the lots still owned by the Baptist society. The building was valued at $6,000.
1886.
An effort was made in 1886 to secure the location of the Soldiers' Home at Denison. One hundred and sixty acres of land were offered by the city and a committee, consisting of W. A. McHenry, Geo. L. Wright, Chas. Bullock, and J. Fred Meyers, was appointed to go to Des Moines to represent Denison's in- terests. This committee did as instructed and later our city was visited by a location committee sent by the State Legislature. Large plans were made for the
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reception of this committee and a banquet was prepared for them, but owing to unfortunate weather conditions the committee was unable to see the town to any advantage and owing to their pre-arranged schedule they were unable to partake of Denison's hospitality. The Soldiers' Home was located at Mar- shalltown, much to the regret of Denison people.
In March, 1886, we note the following fire officers elected, and we give their names as they will be of interest to the veteran volunteers of the fire depart- ment. The Amphion Hook and Ladder Co. elected J. S. Nesbit, President ; Geo. H. Lyon, Vice-president ; Frank Faul, Secretary ; C. M. Staley, Treasurer ; A. J. Bond, Foreman ; The Pioneer Engine Co. elected officers as follows : Fore- man, Grant Gilbreath; Assistant, O. W. Wheeler; Treasurer, E. A. Stone; Sec- retary, Fred Sherrard; Trustees, Chaney Baker, A. B. Gable, and M. J. Cochran.
The city officers elected in March 1886, were E. K. J. Burch, mayor ; W. A. McHenry and L. Cornwell, councilmen; C. M. Staley, recorder; M. H. Hen- dricks, treasurer ; and C. Green, assessor. Mr. L. K. Bensley was the candidate against Mr. Burch.
Another evidence of Denison's activity was the formation of a base ball team and we give the list of the old time players. They were, John Griffin, Dick Williams, Walter Wells, M. McNertney, D. D. Dailey, Fred Abiescher, Ed. F. Owens, Thos. Kelly, and Chas. Kemming. Of these, but one, T. J. Kelly still makes appearance upon the diamond.
In 1886 Denison was greatly honored by having one of its citizens, Mr. W. A. McHenry, elected as Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for the Department of Iowa. An energetic campaign had been made in Mr. McHenry's behalf and the old soldiers and citizens generally were greatly elated over his victory. Mr. McHenry appointed Col. Geo. L. Wright, as his Adjutant and Capt. M. Smith, Quarter Master. Upon the return of the delegation from Sioux City they were met by an enthusiastic crowd and a reception was ten- dered the victors at the McHenry hall. This was the first of a long series of honors awarded Denison people by the patriotic orders of the State and Nation and Denison became for some years the center of these great organizations.
June 4 witnessed the first commencement of the Denison high school. Be- fore that time there had been no regular course of study and no graduations. The first class was one of five members and the first commencement was a notable event in the history of the schools and of the town.
At this time Denison was rent with dissensions over the postoffice succes- sion, over politics, and over the enforcement of the Prohibitory law. These culminated in a personal altercation which led the people to realize the length to which they had gone and which after all helped materially to clear the at- mosphere and to bring the people to a more harmonious basis.
On August I the Northwestern depot was destroyed by fire, agent J. H. Gable and his family who lived above the depot having a narrow escape.
The new town of Astor was booming at this time and a new paper, the Astor Tribune was announced with D. W. Baer as editor. This boom was short lived however, as the projected branch of the Milwaukee railroad was surveyed to leave the main line a mile and a half east of Astor. The sale of lots at the new town of Manilla was held in November and $13,000 worth of
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lots were sold. The bulk of the population of Astor moved to the new town site.
On November 5th Denison was first connected by telephones with Carroll and intermediate towns and also with Ida Grove, Odebolt and Sac City. Con- nection was soon promised with Boone and Des Moines. The central office was at the Jagger House and the toll rates were 20 cents to towns within the county and 25 cents to outside towns. The line was pushed westward and Dow City was soon connected.
In December the Denison Review gives us the following picture of the city's activities and some interesting and general items.
The Review said :
"It has always been the claim of Denison that there was no town on the Northwestern road in Iowa which sent to market so many hogs as it. We cer- tainly doubt whether there is any town that can make the following showing for any given five days. The sleighing since last Saturday has been comparatively good and the farmers surrounding Denison took the opportunity to bring in their hogs to market. On Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, the streets sur- rounding the stockyards were clogged with teams, and the buyers were kept busy to their utmost. The prices ranged from $3.40 to $3.65, and estimating a car load worth $750, there were over twenty one thousand dollars paid out for hogs in the last five days through our Denison banks. On Tuesday alone 450 hogs were taken in."
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