USA > Iowa > Scott County > Davenport > History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume I > Part 21
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LECLAIRE HOUSE A Summer Resort for Southerners for Twenty Years Before the Civil War. Building Demolished in 1910.
BURCHI> HOUSE.
PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE Third and Iowa Streets
BURTES HOUSE
LLL
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KEMPER HALL. DAVENPORT
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The Worden House as enlarged is very respectable, and has its share of patronage.
There are many other hotels of the city worthy of note and entitled to all credit, but we speak of but one more, the last one erected. We mean the Burtis House. This noble structure exceeds in magnitude and splendor all others of our city or in the great valley of the Mississippi. No man is entitled to more credit, nor has any one man done more in expending his money for the benefit of the city, the county and the public generally than Dr. Burtis in erecting this magnificent hotel. Too much credit cannot be bestowed upon him when we consider that amid the financial pressure that came upon the country in 1857 just as he was commencing this en- terprise, nothing daunted, with most commendable zeal and untiring energy, he pressed forward the work to a successful termination, and since its doors were first thrown open to the public, through all the severe pressure of the time Dr. Burtis has stood at his post in person and maintained the high and well earned credit of a house whose equal in all respects has not yet been found this side the city of New York. We desire to make honorable mention not only of this superstructure, but of its worthy and enterprising proprietor, and transmit to Davenport posterity the name of him who amid one of the greatest storms of financial distress that ever visited the west erected a model hotel that, even with the great progress of the age will require many years before it will be excelled. For a more perfect description we quote from Wilkie's "Davenport Past and Present."
"The Burtis House is a simple dining room surrounded on three sides by parlors, halls, bedrooms, closets, etc., rising to the height of five stories including basement. The whole structure is 118 feet on Fifth street, and 109 feet on Iowa street. The dining room is thirty-nine feet by eighty-one feet, supported by iron columns and magnificently frescoed.
"In the basement there is the engine room, containing an engine of thirty-five horsepower, which in connection with one of Worthington's pumps forces the water to a tank in the fifth story, from which in hot and cold jets it is distributed to every hall in the house. There are also upon this floor a laundry room veined by steam pipes, a restaurant, billiard room, smoking room, barber shop, bath room and three store rooms, together with a multiplicity of smaller rooms, closets, etc., unnecessary to mention.
"On the first floor is found the rotunda, a marble floored, lofty and roomy ar- rangement, with trumpets, bells, etc., beautifully frescoed, together with three imposing staircases, leading respectively to the ladies', gents' and other rooms above. It communicates with external entrances and with the stairways above al- luded to. Upon this floor are also the dining room, by far the most splendid specimen of architectural beauty in the west, reading room, ladies' parlors with folding doors, wash and private rooms, the latter projected in all particulars simi- lar to those of the St. Nicholas hotel, New York city.
"Passing from the floor to the second by either of the beautifully constructed staircases, one is compelled to admire the work of Mr. Walker, one of the best stairway builders in the west. On the second floor are parlors with bedrooms attached, linen closets, suites of bedrooms and parlors attached for the use of several families. The servants' rooms are detached from other parts of the house, and like every other room in the house are well warmed and ventilated. Each
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room is warmed by steam and cooking is done by the same means. Every room is lofty and from most of them magnificent views of bluff or river scenery are obtainable. The dining room, occupying as it does, the center of the house is lighted from front, rear and skylight. Its being located in the precise spot it is, makes it a vast improvement over everything else of the kind. The rotunda is in all respects a fine specimen of design and finish and successfully challenges comparison.
"There are 150 sleeping rooms in the house; basement, eighteen rooms ; first floor, eighteen, exclusive of the rotunda, and the remainder of the rooms are dis- tributed on the floors above. The house itself is on the railroad and but a few steps from the depot, thus saving to travelers the expense of omnibus bill.
"In regard to Dr. Burtis but little need be said-as former lessee of the Le- Claire House and of the house in Lexington, Mo., he gained a reputation for management in the hotel business which no eulogy can heighten. There is but a small share of western travel for a few years back that has not been indebted to Dr. Burtis for those gentlemanly and hospitable attentions that tend so much to lessen the discomforts of travel and to ameliorate the hardships of absence from home.
"The furniture which is of the very best quality was furnished in New York. The whole house is lighted by gas and in every respect superior to any other in the United States."
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
No state has ever entered the union with more liberal encouragement for common and academic schools than Iowa. Congress gave to the state 500,000 acres of land, the interest of which is used for the support of common schools, besides every sixteenth section, and five per cent on sales of all the public lands with all fines collected for a breach of the penal laws of the state. In the city of Davenport there are seven public schoolhouses, many of which are costly and commodious buildings, and all supplied with able and efficient teachers.
The public schools of the city are all under a superintendent who has a gen- eral oversight of all the common schools, is principal of the intermediate school and has a general oversight of each district in the city. In no city west of the Mississippi river are the common schools in better condition than in Davenport. Much pains have been taken to elect men to regulate the school affairs who were intelligent and of high moral character. Although there are many deservedly popular select schools, yet the common schools have been conducted upon such a decidedly improved plan that many of the best families of the city have patronized them for a year or two past.
SCOTT COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY.
We copy from Davenport Past and Present the following statement of this society :
"The Scott County Bible society, auxiliary to the American Bible society, was organized in the city of Davenport on the 13th day of September, A. D., 1842,
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at which time a constitution was formed and adopted, which continued without material alteration or amendment until the present time. The officers elected at the organization were-Rev. D. Worthington, president; Charles Leslie, secre- tary. And at the subsequent anniversary meetings the minutes of the society show the following election of officers :
"In 1843, Rev. Z. H. Goldsmith, president; Rev. D. Worthington, secretary ; Wm. L. Cook, treasurer, who continued in office until 1847, when-
"Rev. Z. H. Goldsmith was elected president ; Rev. Ephraim Adams, secretary, Wm. L. Cook, treasurer.
"In 1848, Rev. Ephraim Adams, president; Asa Prescott, secretary ; Alfred Sanders, treasurer.
"In 1849, Rev. Ephraim Adams, president; Asa Prescott, secretary ; Rufus Ricker, treasurer.
"In 1850, Rev. J. D. Mason, president ; Rev. Asa Prescott, secretary ; Rufus Ricker, treasurer.
"In 1851, Rev. J. D. Mason, president; H. Price, treasurer; Rev. H. L. Bullen, secretary.
"In 1852, Rev. J. D. Mason, president ; H. Price, treasurer ; Rev. H. L. Bullen, secretary.
"In 1853, Rev. J. D. Mason, president ; Prof. D. S. Sheldon, secretary ; Jno. H. Morton, treasurer.
"In 1854, H. Price, president ; Rev. J. D. Mason, secretary ; Jas. M. Dalzell, treasurer.
"In 1855, H. Price, president ; Rev. J. D. Mason, secretary ; Jas. M. Dalzell, treasurer.
"In 1856, Strong Burnell, president ; Rev. J. D. Mason, secretary ; H. Price, treasurer.
"In 1857, H. Y. Slaymaker, president ; Rev. J. D. Mason, secretary ; H. Price, treasurer.
"In 1858, Rev. J. D. Mason, president.
"In 1859, W. Barrows, president.
"The treasurer's books show also that the aggregate receipts have been $1,101.49. The receipts for the first year were $9.37, and for the year 1859, $348, showing a steady increase in the collections of the society, equal, if not ex- ceeding, the increase in wealth and population of the county.
"This money has been expended in the purchase of Bibles and Testaments in different languages which have been distributed among the inhabitants of this city and county without any distinction of sect or party.
"The names of persons contributing to the funds of the society are registered on the treasurer's book and thereby become members of the society."
CEMETERIES.
There are four burying places for the dead in and near the city limits. The oldest and the one principally used up to 1856 was that located on the banks of the river about a mile below Brady street. This ground becoming too small, an- other was selected by A. C. Fulton in 1855, some two miles north of the city,
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called Pine Hill cemetery, which is located upon a high and beautiful prairie and tastefully laid out.
In 1856 a society was formed and incorporated by the name of Oakdale cem- etery on the 14th of May of that year. The original incorporators were fifteen in number, out of which nine directors were chosen on the 22d of May, 1856. Its principal officers were : Wm. H. Hildreth, president; W. H. F. Gurley, secre- tary, and A. H. Barrow, treasurer. The charter of the corporation extends for twenty years. Forty acres of ground were purchased about two and a half miles from the city near Duck creek, and a scientific engineer, Capt. De la Roche, of Washington city, employed to lay off the grounds. The location is one of much beauty, well selected for the purposes desired, being high, rolling prairie, dotted over with native oaks, forming in its own native loveliness a spot beautiful for the last resting place of man. It overlooks the broad prairie covered over with highly cultivated farms, while the silver waters of Duck creek wind their serpentine course through its rich and lovely valley. Much credit is due to the board of directors for their taste in selecting the ground and their perseverance in carry- ing into effect an object of so great importance. It was laid out on a magnificent plan of circles, belts, angles and curves, bounded and intersected by avenues and walks of much grace and beauty. Over 3,000 lots were laid out. Upon the crowning point of the highest ground a spot is reserved for a chapel which over- looks the whole cemetery. Much improvement has been made upon the grounds. The avenues and alleys have been graded. Many lots have been adorned with evergreens, monuments of marble have been erected and the whole enclosed with a board fence that amply protected it from injury. There is a sexton's house upon the premises and every care taken to improve and preserve a place so sacred. There have been over 100 interments and more than 150 lots sold, which are $30 each, the purchase money of which all goes to adorn and beautify the grounds.
The Catholic burying ground is located on Fifth street in Mitchell's addition and has some fine monuments.
RELIGIOUS.
We now enter upon the history of the churches of Davenport from their first beginning until the present time, which will close the history of Davenport town- ship.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The first church organization in Davenport was St. Anthony's Roman Catholic. As early as 1836 priests from the mission at Dubuque preached here occasionally in private houses. In the spring of 1838 the Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli, an Italian by birth, visited Davenport and organized a church. During the summer Antoine LeClaire, Esq., erected a small brick church, twenty-five feet by forty feet, on Church square. This little edifice was the first building of the kind in Daven- port. It was used for a long time for a church, schoolhouse, priest's residence, etc., until 1843, when an addition was put to it. This building was for some years the largest public edifice in the town and was used by all large assemblies to deliberate upon matters of public interest.
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In 1839 the Rev. J. A. M. Pelamourgues took charge of the congregation and is yet pastor of that church. Rev. Pelamourgues was the only priest in Iowa south of Dubuque, and for many years he visited Burlington, Muscatine, Iowa City, Rockingham and Clinton county, preaching and establishing churches. The number of Catholic families in Scott county in 1839 was but fifteen. They were nearly all new settlers, and mostly poor, but honest and industrious. A few yet remain enjoying the rewards of their early privations and are among the best portions of our citizens.
On the 23d of May, 1839, St. Anthony's church was dedicated by the Right Rev. Bishop Loras, of Dubuque, assisted by the Rev. Mazzuchelli. In 1843 when the church was enlarged, the number of Catholic families was about fifty. "Money at that time was so scarce," says a member of that church, "that only $20 were collected in cash to build the addition." The number of Catholics increased very slowly until 1854. In 1849 the present stone church was commenced and only finished in 1854.
In 1852 the Rev. Pelamourgues visited France and during his absence the Rev. Plathe and Rev. McCabe took charge of the congregation and continued the church building. In 1855 a new stone church was built for the Germans in Mitchell's addition, Mr. Mitchell donating the land. This church was organized in 1855 and the Rev. Michael Flammany placed in charge. He was succeeded by the Rev. Baumgartner, who was removed from Davenport in 1848. The present pastor is the Rev. Niermann.
In 1856 the number of Catholics increased very fast. A third church was erected on LeClaire street on the bluffs by Mr. LeClaire, who also gave the square of ground upon which it stands. It is called St. Marguerite's church and is a noble edifice, an ornament to the city and an honor to the great liberality of Mr. LeClaire, who built it. The Rev. A. Trevis was appointed pastor and has con- tinued until the present time to minister to the congregation. His assistant was the Rev. H. Cosgrove, who has recently removed to Walnut Grove, where he officiates, and also preaches at LeClaire and other places in Scott and Clinton counties
In 1858 the number of Catholics in the city of Davenport alone amounted to about 7,000. There are five churches in Scott county and four clergymen of the Roman Catholic denomination. A school was opened in connection with the church by Rev. Pelamourgues in 1839 and has continued ever since. The first year the number of pupils was about forty; out of this number three only be- longed to Catholic parents. In 1859 about 600 Catholic children were taught in the school attached to St. Anthony's church. Two new schools have been opened this fall (1859), one at St. Marguerite's and the other at the German church. They are well attended. An academy for young ladies was also opened this fall in a beautiful building erected in West Davenport on the ten-acre lot donated to the Sisters of Charity by the Hon. G. C. R. Mitchell and Geo. L. Davenport, Esq.
The temperance society that was established in 1841 is still in existence. It has been the means of doing much good.
The Catholic Institute has existed for several years and is now in a prosper- ous condition. The members meet once a week during the winter and thus far their lectures and debates have been well attended. They have a circulating
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library of several hundred volumes. The hall in which they meet has been en- larged this fall and is very commodious and pleasant.
The Catholic church of Davenport has undoubtedly, like others, had its days of darkness and trouble. A majority of the congregations are poor but, unlike all others, it has its LeClaire, its Mitchell and its Davenport. The land upon which all of the Catholic churches are located has been donated by these gentle- men, who are not only wealthy but liberal with their means. They have ever stood with open hands to answer the calls of the church.
Of the pastor, the Rev. Pelamourgues, whom we have known for more than twenty years, we can speak without fear of contradiction of his faithfulness over his charge. Long and steadily has he labored for their good. Not only has he devoted his time to the spiritual wants of his people, but for the last twenty years has he been the faithful teacher of the youth of his congregation. As a Christian and pastor, none has been more kind and faithful. He is an "old settler." He belongs to that pioneer band who first began to clear away the relics of barbarism in this valley and introduce the gospel of peace. His char- acter among all men is above reproach and his amiable and friendly greeting is always received with pleasure by all who know him. In 1858 Father Pelamour- gues received the high appointment of bishop of the northwest, a proper and complimentary appreciation on the part of the church of his private worth and public labors. But the good old man preferred to remain with his people at his old home here to enjoying even so high an honor, with its increase of emolu- ment and influence, as was thus extended to him unsolicited. To secure his object, he even made a visit to Italy, and, laying his case before the Pope, was generously permitted to occupy undisturbed his old position in this community. Such an instance of declination of high position is rare and remarkable, and the incident forms a higher eulogy upon the good father than the choicest phrase of encomium we might use.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Like many other churches in the west, the First Presbyterian church in Daven- port is without a full record of its early history. Among the immigrants of 1835, '36 and '37, not more than ten or twelve persons could be found who were of that denomination. These worshipped at first in common with others wherever there was preaching in other denominations until the 20th or 21st of April, 1838, when a little band of ten was gathered together in a small building that stood above the alley on Ripley street. between Front and Second, belonging to T. S. Hoge and since destroyed by fire. Here they worshipped for a year with such supply of ministerial aid as could be obtained. They were from various parts of the United States: Mrs. Ann Mitchell, mother of the Hon. G. C. R. Mitchell, from Alabama; Dr. A. C. Donaldson and wife, from Pennsylvania ; Robert Christie and wife, from Ohio; Mrs. Jemima Barkley, from Pennsylvania ; T. S. Hoge and wife. from Ohio. These composed the first congregation, two of whom have since died, Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Christie. Dr. Donaldson re- moved to St. Louis and afterward to California, and T. S. Hoge to New York city. The remainder are still residents of Davenport.
FATHER PELAMOURGUES Pioneer Priest and Teacher
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The following year, J. M. D. Burrows and wife and one or two others were added to their number, and with these few a church was organized in a little frame schoolhouse yet standing near the corner of Fourth and Harrison streets on the 5th of May, 1839. The pioneer clergymen who officiated upon this occa- sion were the Rev. Ithamar Pillsbury, of Andover, Ills .; Rev. M. Hummer, of Stephenson, Ills .; and Rev. Enoch Mead, of Rockingham, Iowa. Mr. Pillsbury preached the sermon upon the occasion from Mark, 16th chapter, 15th and 16th verses.
As some six years of the records of this church have been lost and much pains taken to fix dates and places, I would observe that through the kindness of Rev. Mr. Mead the facts have been arrived at by a recent correspondence with Mr. Pillsbury, now a resident of Macomb, Ills. He speaks of his journey to Daven- port from Andover, where he then resided, as being still fresh in his mind. Mr. Hummer had requested his services upon the occasion which were to take place on the Sabbath and require him to leave home on Saturday. He had loaned his horse to a neighbor, and not being returned, he walked the distance, twenty-six miles, and returned on foot. Mr. Pillsbury says that when he came to Rock river slough it was overflowed and some eighty rods wide, and too deep to wade, when he applied to Mr. George Moore, who lived on the bluffs some two miles from the slough, but the nearest resident, who kindly sent his son with his team and set him across. This is but an incident among the many hardships of pioneer ministers in the west. The organization of the church took place and the com- munion was administered. It was a day of trial yet of hope. But faint gleams of light broke from the dark clouds that hung over the moral atmosphere of the far west at that day, and as the little band gathered around the table of the Lord for the first time in the new land, their thoughts went back to the days "when first they knew their Lord," and in humble communion with him again they sang his praise and united once more in covenant bonds with him in the land of their adoption. For four years this church had no stated ministerial supply during which a few more were added, having preaching only occasionally from the clergy- men above named and a few others who were traveling through the region of country beyond the Mississippi river. In 1842 J. M. D. Burrows and T. S. Hoge were chosen and ordained elders in the church, an office Mr. Burrows still holds and fills with much acceptance.
The first stated supply of preaching was in the spring of 1843 by the Rev. Samuel Cleland. He had charge of this and the church at Stephenson for about four years. During this period the infant church struggled on amid many dis- couragements. The emigration to the west during these years was slow. But few were added to its numbers. It was the day of small things, but the little pilgrim band proved themselves somewhat like Gideon's host, "though faint yet pursuing." As an evidence of their zeal, faith and courage, they erected in these days of darkness their first house of worship, a small brick building where the present edifice stands. Even after the completion and occupancy of this primi- tive church, they were at times almost ready to sit down in sadness and give up their most cherished object. But again they took their "harps from willows down" and tuning them anew, they sang:
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"Though in a foreign land We are not far from home. And nearer to our house above, We every moment come. When we in darkness walk, Nor feel the heavenly flame, Then is the time to trust our God, And rest upon his name."
Charles C. Williams came to Iowa in August, 1844. He was from Newark, N. J., where he had spent many years of his earlier life actively engaged in every good work. He was an elder in the First Presbyterian church of that city and afterward in the Central church for many years. He was a man of most ardent piety, ever ready to lend his aid and influence in promoting the cause of the Redeemer's kingdom. His connection with the church of Davenport was at a time when it most needed spiritual aid and encouragement. It had passed through the first ordeal of formation and organization and was experiencing that loneliness and destitution which so often settles down on our western churches in their feeble commencement. At this time Mr. T. S. Hoge, an elder, and one of its members, was about to leave and settle in Galena; and some other valued mem- bers were seeking homes in other places, so that the infant church felt severely these losses. At this crisis Mr. Williams seemed providentially sent among them to cheer and strengthen by his influence and prayers this weak and struggling church. He and James M. Dalzell were ordained and set apart as elders in this church. His first work with the help of others was to establish a Sabbath school which has continued to this day with increasing interest and of which he was superintendent to the time of his death, which occurred in September, 1852.
Precious now is the remembrance of those days to some who have lived to the present time and precious indeed is the memory of those who have gone to their reward. In the midst of poverty and discouragement and when the little church had dwindled to a few members and thoughts of giving up were prevalent among some, Mrs. Mitchell, in full faith and confidence that God would bring them out of all tribulation, cheeringly said to Mr. Burrows, "You and I will stick to it at any rate while there is a shingle on the roof." Such were the pioneer fathers and mothers that helped to nurture and sustain this feeble church in its days of darkness and distress. There were additions to the church as new settlers came in, and the congregation increased in a measure, yet in 1846, owing to removals and deaths, there were still but seventeen members.
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