USA > Iowa > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 23
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This was a hard year on the mill and elevator business for early in Decem- ber the Boyer Valley Roller mills owned by R. Hefflefinger and McKim were totally destroyed by fire. The loss was about $12,000.
The closing number of the Denison Review for 1892 was an illustrated number devoted to Denison and sketches of its business men and this edition shows the city to have been in a flourishing and prosperous condition.
1893.
The year 1893 witnessed first of all the opening of the Denison Normal from which much was hoped and which has to a large measure fulfilled the expectations of its founders. The school opened with 55 pupils.
On January Ist Charter Oak became a presidential postoffice. Dr. J. J. McWilliams was appointed postmaster with a salary of $1,000 per year.
It was in the month of January that the county was shocked by the mys- terious death of Joseph Winans. This death was the cause of one of the most sensational law suits the county has ever known. Mr. Winans was the son of Clark Winans, one of the old settlers of the county and a member of the
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board of supervisors for nine years. The family has always been prominent in the affairs of the northern part of the county. Clark Winans, Jr., was accused of the crime but was acquitted by a jury of his peers after a long trial.
At the municipal election, J. B. Romans was elected mayor as a Republican. The council elected were, A. Gronau, W. J. Scriver, Sears McHenry. E. T. Cochran was elected recorder.
The valuation of the county for 1892 was $5,287,746, and the total taxes raised was $156,484.86, of which nearly $86,000 went to the support of the public schools. The total taxes of Denison incorporation was $16,732, of which more than one half was for school purposes.
The prosperity of 1892 continued into the following year as is shown by the following list of improvements, either just made or in progress of erection : the stand pipe, the residence of L. M. Shaw, J. B. Romans, warehouse, two store buildings by J. P. Miller, residence of J. F. Burk, two residences by Mr. Gronau, two by Mr. Gulick, residence of T. J. Kelly, the projected erection of a brick store on Broadway by E. Gulick, the erection of a $20,000 brick church by the Catholic society, the residences being built by A. Currier, T. D. Miller, Fred Brandenberg, Wm. Goudie, Miss Louise Ott, A. C. Weeks, Chas. Galbraith. Projected residences by John T. Carey, Geo. Naeve, H. C. Laub, while Mr. Shaw and Mr. Romans planned two houses in the Normal school addition. Denison property was said to have increased in value from 25 to 50%. The hard times struck the town soon after this, however, and its prog- ress, like the progress of the rest of the county was retarded.
The farm statistics for the year 1892 show 387,268 acres of improved lands with 36,571 acres of unimproved lands. The production of spring wheat was 231,399, of corn 4,855,017, oats 1,169,923, barley 471,622, rye 25.746, potatoes 78,530. The number of horses in the county was 13,728, cattle 44,445, with 330 thoroughbreds. The number of sheep was 9,824, of hogs 72,767. The value of the main crops is given as follows: corn $1,300,000, wheat $160,500, oats $255,000, barley $120,000, potatoes $40,000, total for these 5 crops $1,831,- 500.
On August 29, 1893, Denison was the scene of a bold robbery in which Frank Evans, night operator at the Northwestern, was held up by masked men. Evans telegraphed the alarm as soon as possible and two men were captured. One the notorious Pat Crowe, the other gave his name as C. L. Baker. These men were placed in the county jail awaiting trial but in October Crowe made his escape, the manner of which is given as follows: Crowe had a brother, a saloon keeper at Omaha, who came up on a visit leaving a bag of fruit at the jail for his brother. This bag was left in the corridor and when Lee Partridge, a youth of about 18, who in the absence of Sheriff Dettman had charge of the prisoners, was about to leave the corridor, he was called back to hand in the bag of fruit. No sooner had he unlocked the cell door than Pat Crowe rushed out and held him by the throat. Baker who was confined with Crowe held Partridge while Crowe picked, with a hook, the outside door. Crowe and Baker both rushed out and Partridge after firing at Baker several shots-recap- tured him, but Patrick Crowe was gone. Crowe was never brought to trial in this county and with remarkable gift of prophecy, the Denison Review con-
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cludes its account of the escape with the following, "We shall no doubt hear of Pat Crowe again in some desperate enterprise."
In the meantime the proposition for electric lights seems not to have ad- vanced, as the newspaper states "The question is asked when shall we have electric lights? In our opinion when ever either the corporation of Denison or the citizens of Denison put up the plant and not before."
The Old Settlers Picnic for 1893 was held near Halberg Bros. mill near Deloit. A large number were present. Mr. S. L. Gable presided. Addresses were made by George L. Wright, L. M. Gable, Hon. H. C. Laub, G. L. Johnson, who gave an interesting history of the Swedish settlement, Mrs. S. L. Gable, J. D. Seagrave, E. M. Ainsworth. John B. Huckstep was elected president, and N. L. Hunt secretary of the association.
The important business happening near the close of the year was the pur- chase of C. Stoeck's general merchandise store by Pfarr, Wieland and Gebert. This firm was nicknamed "The Boys," a sobriquet which the firm bears to this day although they are fairly middle aged boys now.
The first electric lights in Crawford county were in the Charter Oak mill owned by Mr. E. S. Plimpton. This was a small private plant installed simply for lighting that building.
1894.
In January 1894 the Crawford County Democrat, a new Democratic weekly made its appearance. It was edited by Alex Stirling. But 16 papers were issued, the paper suspending publication the following May.
In February it was announced that an electric light plant costing $15,000 would be erected. A contract having been entered into between the city and C. J. and J. G. Griffin, of New Sharon, Iowa. The agreement provided for a charter to run 20 years and for the light company to pump water and supply 20 arc lights for $2,000 per year.
1894 was a year of hard times. There was but little improvements, and but few new business enterprises.
At the municipal election Mr. Romans was reelected mayor without oppo- sition. The other officers elected were, E. T. Cochran, recorder ; E. S. Plimp- ton, treasurer; C. Green, assessor; John Rowland, Sears McHenry and J. G. Wygant, councilmen.
This was a hard year for the farmers throughout the county and owing to the low prices, many thousands of dollars were lost by cattle feeders especially.
One improvement noted in Denison was $3,000 expended in improvements on the Methodist church.
An expensive fire occurred in Dow City in August. A barn owned by S. E. Dow being destroyed, together with a large quantity of machinery and six horses. This was the year of the drouth and an estimate of the corn crop is given as follows: "Making an estimate we should say, Crawford county. con- tains 460,000 acres of land, of this, 120,000 acres are in corn, about 40,000 acres or one third will have no crop, another 40,000 acres will have 15 bushels to the
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
acre and another 40,000 will have 30 bushels to the acre. The general average would be 15 bushels to the acre but chances are that 12 bushels will be nearer the mark. There will be no cattle imported to feed, hogs will be marketed at less weight. There will also be a diminution in the number of horses, cattle and hogs. The profits of the farmer will be small, if any."
The Old Settlers' Picnic for 1894 was held at Grace park, a large number being present. Mayor Romans delivered the address of welcome to which E. M. Ainsworth responded. J. B. Huckstep presided in the afternoon and ad- dresses were made by N. Richards, H. C. Laub, S. E. Dow, John Dobson, E. S. Plimpton, George Rae, Morris McHenry, and Geo. V. Jordan.
On October 3rd occurred the death of Mr. Thos. Luney, one of the pioneers of the county. He came to Crawford county in 1868 settling on a farm be- tween Denison and Vail. He and his sons were among the first to utilize the water power in the East Boyer. They built a work shop for the manufacture of a corn plow which they had invented and later added a foundry, blacksmith shop and machine repair shop. Later they built a flouring mill and finally added a steam engine. Mr. Luney died in his 78th year and was one of our most respected citizens.
The accidental death of N. Jorgensen of Jackson township occurred at this time. Mr. Jorgensen had taken the train at Denison intending to return to his home in Vail, when a through freight crashed into the rear of the way freight demolishing several cars and killing Mr. Jorgensen.
In December, 1894, a local company was formed which purchased the eiec- tric light plant for the sum of $16,000. The stockholders were J. B. Romans, J. P. Conner, Eugene Gulick, M. King, J. N. Bradley, C. J. Griffin, W. H. Woolston, and L. M. Shaw, each of whom subscribed for $2,000 of the stock. J. N. Bradley was chosen as manager of the plant.
As we have said before this was one of the most trying years that the people of Crawford county have ever known. The Denison Review of Decem- ber 26th publishes the following letter from a farmer's wife which gives a vivid picture of the situation as it was among the farming people. "Editor Re- view :- Strange as it may seem with all the charities and donations abroad in Crawford county, nothing (so far as we know) has been done to aid the poor farmers, who in our estimation are by far the greatest sufferers from the ter- rible drouth-they who toiled and worked so hard all the spring and summer and now have nothing to show for it. Already their great piles of fodder have dwindled away, their hay stacks which were very diminutive at first are daily growing smaller, and their corn cribs are empty. Here is their stock which must have feed from now until another harvest. These bold facts are staring them in the face, and what is to be done?
There are a great many farmers in the county who have not a bushel of corn, nor any money to buy with. Now, would it not be a good plan for some of the good citizens of Denison to have shipped one or more car loads of corn for distribution among them? I think it can be done, and ought to be. I make this plea in behalf of the farmers, although I am not a farmer myself, but a
Farmer's Wife.
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
1895.
The year 1895 opened at the court house with an election contest between James Maynard and John White over the supervisorship. On the face of the returns Mr. White was elected by 13 majority, but on a recount of the contested townships, Mr. Maynard was declared elected by a majority of 8.
Appeal was made in the papers to prevent the abandonment of the Fair Ground but as we have seen this was unavailing.
The next event of consequence in the year was the disastrous fire at Dow City on Jan. II, when the hardware store of J. U. Wise was destroyed at a loss of $5,000.
The winter was remarkable for its continued severity and the impress of hard times made it a bitter season for all the people of the county.
On March 5th Arthur Cleasby fell through the ice at the mill pond at Dow City and was drowned.
The census taken by the assessor in April gave Denison a population of 2242, of whom 1121 were female and 1121, males. The assessor also reported that during the year 1894 there were but II deaths in the city of Denison.
In May of this year the city council resolved to build a new engine house on the lot owned by the corporation. A public fountain was also established on Main street and Court avenue and Mayor Romans raised $150.00 toward building a platform to be placed in the city park.
During the spring there were numerous showers which were particularly grateful after the dry year before and reassured the anxious farmers of a bounteous season.
June 17, however, was the date of a severe storm which did much damage throughout the county. The McWilliams school house, two miles east of Denison, was completely destroyed, the home of John Rose near Kenwood was completely demolished, and both Mr. and Mrs. Rose were seriously hurt. Barns and wind mills were wrecked, and in Denison many fine shade trees were de- stroyed, stores were unroofed, and considerable other damage was done.
After considerable agitation a contract to build a new engine house was let to Mr. H. C. Laub. The contract called for a two story brick building, 60x40 at a cost of $4,700. Mr. J. L. McClellan was the builder. The corner stone was laid July 30, and the building was completed during the year.
In August a list of the early marriages in Crawford were published and as we believe they will still be of interest we insert the list then given.
As will be seen the records were not kept in a complete form at that early date. It was then not compulsory by law to record the marriages. Only those that were reported were placed on record. Between Dec. 25, '56 and Dec. 30. '57, there was a lapse of over a year in which none were recorded.
Below is a list of the parties united in marriage and the date of their mar- riage.
Samuel Kennedy to Mary Haworth, Sept. 15, '55.
David M. Hall to Sarah Jane Kenedy, May 15, '56.
Tracy Chapman to Celinda Dunham, November 6, '56.
Henry Richardson to Martha Mowry, Dec. 25, '56.
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
Jacob West to Margaret Manners, Dec. 30, '57. John Burrel to Anna Hattery, April 25, '85. Jacob H. Munson to Adaline Goodrich, Aug. 15, '58. Alexander Perkins to Nancy Rice, Oct. 29, '58. Wm. McKim to Almeda Darling, Dec. 24, '58. Morris McHenry to Mary L. Comfort, Dec. 25, '59. John Purdy to Ellen Bassett, Dec. 25, '59. Matthis Betts to Margaret Brown, November 6, '59. Byron C. Adams to Almiro Carrico, Oct. 13, '59. Edward S. Plimpton to Selina J. Bond, Oct. 12, '59. E. G. Stockbridge to Lucy Ann Kinney, March 3, '59. Robert Bell to Ellen McColl, April 28, '60. Geo. Johnson to Maria Gilbreath, Sept. 23, '60. Abel W. Jordan to Mary Parmer, Dec. 3, '61. Hugh McWilliams to Jane Graham, Jan. 30, '62. Albert Cheshire to Elizabeth Graham, Oct. 18, '60. Albert F. Bond to Emma R. King. Feb. 9, '61. S. P. Gardner to Lucinda Herriman, June 3, '61. Chester M. Hamilton to Lydia Ferry, July 4, '61. Sidney Rudd to Eliza Jane Hancock, April 14, '56. Jas. Hattery to Hannah Trann, Dec. 8, '61. Edmund Howarth to Sabrina Wood, July 6, '62. Wm. McWilliams to Angeline Gilbreath, July 27, '63. John B. Morehead to Mary Kennedy, Dec. 6, '63. Sidney Rudd to Mary Prather, Nov. 13, '64. S. W. Slater to Sarah Winans, March 16, '65. Benjamin Stevens to Rose Ann Gray, Feb. 18, '64.
Jos. H. Woodruff to Sarah M. Comfort, Dec. 7, '65.
Despite the promise of the spring, the season of 1895 was a dry one, although the crops were much better than in the preceding year. It was estimated that the corn crop did not average 30 bushels to the acre.
The Old Settlers' Picnic was held in Washington park on Sept. 6, Hon. H. C. Laub presiding. The speakers were J. B. Romans, Thos. Rae, Morris McHenry, W. A. McHenry, J. Fred Meyers, and Mrs. J. B. Romans. More than 1,000 people were said to have been in attendance.
In this year Mr. L. M. Shaw was elected for the third time to represent the Des Moines conference in the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church.
In October, 1895, the management of the Review passed into the hands of Mr. C. E. Wood who conducted the paper until July, 1897.
In December it was reported that the Denison creamery had been sold to the Sycamore Creamery Company of Sycamore, Illinois. The creamery had not been a success and the people were glad to dispose of it.
The town boasted of its prosperity however, as is shown from the follow- ing item from the Denison Review: "The new city hall has been completed and the bell hung; the Salomon and Gulick building is almost completed, and Mr. Salomon has moved into his part. Hugh and Kemming have just refitted
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
their store with a handsome system of electric lights. The Boys are doing likewise. The First National and the Crawford County Banks have been treated to a new coat of paint. A number of new dwellings have just been completed and within the last two weeks two new business firms have joined us."
1896.
The year 1896 was a year of great political activity. The issue of Free Silver was prominent with the people. Party lines were broken down and a large percent of the people were more occupied with politics than with business. Nevertheless, Denison showed a substantial growth and improvement.
Among the improvements made during the year 1896 were :
The Catholic Church $20,000
The Postoffice Block 5,000
J. F. Burk store 5,000
C. Sievers Store 7,000
J. P. Miller and Co. store
3,500
George Naeve house 8,000
Charles Tabor addition 3,500
M. Wieland addition
1,000
E. A. Stone dwelling
1,800
Thos. McCarthy dwelling
1,700
Mrs. C. Schaffer dwelling
1,200
Bert Oswald dwelling
1,000
John Hoffman, dwelling
1,300
E. F. Tucker dwelling
1,250
J. D. Seagrave dwelling
900
Mrs. Adolphsen 700
Mrs. A. Lochmiller
500
Mrs. Augusta Woock
500
Orlando Orem college lots
500
Hans Hargens
500
William Detlefsen
700
Chris Christensen
700
Henry Rogge
600
Total
$66,850
Total additions and improvements
8,875
Permanent street improvements
5,000
Grand Total
$66,850
.
Grand total $80,725
Further than this it was reported that there never was a time in Crawford county when the farmers owed so few debts. Banks had been refusing to loan large amounts and merchants had refused credit on small accounts. Liquida-
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
tion went on for three years until there was but one class of farmers in dis- tress and they were the cash renters.
1897.
In January 1897, Mr. George Naeve purchased an interest in the Crawford county bank with which he has since been identified to such a large extent.
On the local market, corn sold at 10 cents per bushel that is: 10 cents for 70 pounds on the cob, and Mr. E. S. Plimpton erected a crib to contain 50,000 bushels.
Dr. B. F. Philbrook was a new addition to Denison the first part of this year.
There was great trouble at the electric light plant and it was found that the machinery and equipment was inadequate. These were replaced at con- siderable expense and during the operation the city was without lights.
On February 10th occurred the death of Mr. Franklin Prentice, who came to Crawford county in 1849, and who is mentioned in the earlier part of this work as one of the first settlers of the county.
At the municipal election, the following were elected to the city council : B. Y. Nicholson, F. O. Ivens, G. L. Wright and H. W. Scaggs.
During this year Denison had a fine orchestra under the direction of Mr. B. J. Sibbert, which gave a series of concerts which were greatly enjoyed.
This year also saw the establishment of the first steam laundry which : was put in by Mr. Wolcott of South Chicago, and which had for its first place of business the Welch building on the corner of Sweet and Broadway.
In April, Martin Studde committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor at the Farmers hotel. He labored under an hallucination and had written several letters to President Cleveland and later to President Mckinley. Failing to receive satisfactory replies to his letters, which doubtless made requests which could not be complied with, he ended his life.
In May 1897, occurred the death of Capt. Benj. F. Darling at Washington, D. C. Captain Darling was one of the first postmasters at Deloit where he kept a general merchandise store.
In June a reception was given in honor of Mrs. Georgia Wade McClellan, who had been elected State president of the Women's Relief Corps. Among the speakers were, J. L. Warbasse, Col. G. L. Wright, A. C. Weeks, Mrs. J. Fred Meyers. Mrs. McClellan became, and is to-day, the most prominent woman in this organization in the United States.
On July 1, 1897, the management of the Review again changed hands, the firm of Meyers and Tucker assuming the lease held by C. E. Wood.
It was in this year also that the erection of a new Presbyterian church was commenced. The building committee consisted of Sam'l. Luney, Sam'l. East- man, E. T. Cochran, H. C. Cook, Sears McHenry, and H. C. McWilliams.
In the latter part of July came the announcement of the candidacy of Hon. L. M. Shaw for governor of Iowa. This was the absorbing topic of interest in the town and in the county for the remainder of the year and the account
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
of Mr. Shaw's successful campaign for the governorship has been given in an- other place.
It was at this time that Mr. C. Sievers, to a large extent, withdrew from the active management of his business taking into partnership with him his son John. It was in this year also that Dr. J. C. Robinson first established himself in the practice of dentistry in Denison.
The corner stone of the first Presbyterian church was laid in September, the principal speaker being Dr. Bailey of Cedar Rapids. Rev. A. G. Martin was pastor at that time.
The campaign of 1897 was exciting. One of the chief features being an address by Wm. Jennings Bryan which drew to Denison an immense crowd from this and other counties.
The Old Settlers Picnic was held on September 2nd. J. B. Huckstep pre- sided and addresses were made by J. B. Romans, George Rae, Col. G. L. Wright, Geo. T. Williams of Ida Grove and others. J. B. Huckstep was reelected pres- ident and N. L. Hunt, secretary.
It was in October of 1897 that the telephone exchange was first proposed. Dr. B. F. Philbrook was the chief backer of the movement. This was the forerunner of the excellent telephone system which we have.
A paean of praise is sounded by the local paper in behalf of Denison as follows: There is not a vacant house in Denison, there is not an empty store building, there is not an able-bodied, willing man out of employment, there has not been a business failure for years, a dozen houses are being erected and many more will be erected this fall, the ex-governor of Iowa lives in Denison, the best shipping point on the Northwestern is Denison, one of the finest public reading rooms and libraries in the state is in Denison, some of the largest busi- ness concerns in western Iowa are in Denison, the most solvent banks in Iowa are in Denison, no people have better health than the people of Denison.
In October the fair association held a very successful exhibition and in this same month the Denison Review issued a special edition written by Geo. T. Williams, one of the largest editions of its kind ever issued in Iowa. This edition covered the entire county and gave a very good idea of its men and business enterprises at that time.
In November, G. L. Caswell purchased the Denison Bulletin, succeeding J. L. Barker, who edited that paper but a short time.
On November 29th an election was held granting a franchise to the Iowa Telephone Company, which soon after established an exchange.
In December of this year occurred the death of Hans Peterson who was killed by being accidentally shot through the heart while out hunting.
It was in 1897-8 that the Denison papers commenced issuing semi-weekly, the Review later changing to 3 times a week, both afterwards resuming their weekly publications.
In December the Northwestern Overland Flyer, number One, was wrecked at Vail by a mail sack which struck the switch target squarely thus throwing the switch. The entire train of seven cars turned turtle. Nineteen people were injured but fortunately none were killed.
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
'Agitation was continued for the establishment of an Independent telephone exchange and the year closed with many evidences of prosperity.
1898.
Governor elect Shaw prepared to go to Des Moines to take upon himself the duties of his office. Mr. Cyrus Beard entered the law firm of Shaw and Kuehnle, and at the Methodist Sunday School the farewell to Mr. Shaw, who had been the superintendent for many years, was particularly affecting.
The new Presbyterian church was dedicated June 2, 1898, with appropriate ceremonies.
The papers of June, 1898, give figures as to Denison improvements and show that they amounted to over $65,000, the chief items being the Presbyterian church, and Manse, $11,000; the Methodist parsonage, $3,000; Catholic parson- age $2,500; and residences erected by Isaac Gillmor, Thos. Norris, Hugh Mc- Williams, P. E. C. Lally, J. H. Holmes, Mrs. E. S. Holmes, Menagh Bros., H. B. Rockwell, R. Robinson, Will Marshall, A. D. Wilson and John Jones.
In the spring Denison inaugurated a new departure in its school system by instituting a Kindergarten with Miss Elva Bond as teacher. The first kinder- garten was held in the basement of the McKim Hall.
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