USA > Iowa > Delaware County > History of Delaware County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 39
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one shipped west of the Mississippi River. Ile went into the implement bnsi- ness, of which he made a great success.
Alonzo Rowley, who was a blacksmith, came to Manchester in 1858.
A. S. Blair, one of Delaware County's leading lawyers, became a citizen of Manchester. at the instance of his parents. David JJ. and Margaret Blair, who located in the present county seat, in 1855. After practicing his profession some years in Ohio, Judge Blair removed to Manchester in 1858. See chapter on Bench and Bar.
J. U. Schelling immigrated from Switzerland to this country and Delaware County in 1858, where for years he kept the Dubugne & Sioux City Railroad Eating House. He commenced farming and grape growing in 1866 on a farm of 125 aeres, sitnated one mile south of Manchester. In 1875 Mr. Sehelling began breeding thoroughbred shorthorn cattle and soon was the owner of as fine a herd as could be found in the state.
W. C. Cawley early came to Delaware County and long has been one of its leading citizens. He came direct to lowa from Pennsylvania in 1856, settling first at Dyersville, in Dubuque County. In the fall of 1858 Mr. Cawley located at Manchester, and, having bronght a stock of harness and saddles with him, opened a shop and followed his trade for two years. In 1860 he removed to York in this county, where he engaged as a clerk in a general store, but at the end of a year returned to Manchester and accepted a similar position there. He was appointed postmaster of Manchester in 1869 and filled the position for fifteen years. In 1885 he was elected mayor of the eity and reelected several times. Mr. Cawley married Abbie A. Milks, of Delaware County, who was a settler here as early as the spring of 1857, accompanying her mother at that date to the community. He was elected president of the Delaware County State Bank, the oldest bank in the county. in 1900 and has served in that capacity continuously since that date.
William N. Boynton came to Manchester from Galena, Illinois, in 1859, and engaged in the jewelry trade. He was first lientenant in Company F. Twenty- seventh lowa Infantry. a happy story teller and could entertain bis friends by the hour. Ile was a trne man and in his death is greatly missed.
Joseph M. Holbrook was born in the State of New York. He came to Man- «hester in 1859 and engaged in the grain business until the Civil war. He was county treasurer for several terms. He was captain of Company F. Twenty- seventh lowa Infantry and was a brave soklier and a splendid citizen.
Lewis A. Loomis moved with his family from Vermont to this county in the summer of 1855 and after working at varions employments incident to a new country he embarked in the produce trade in 1859 in a small way and became a leading man in business.
Simeon 1. Doggett was born in Charleston, S. C., March 29, 1829. Hle was a lawyer by profession. In 1837 he moved to Worcester County, Massachusetts. In 1857 he came to lowa and settled in Dubuque, where he married Mary A. White, and the following year they settled at Greeley, in Elk Township, where he taught a seleet school, moving from Greeley to Manchester in 1858. Ile there tanght a select high school for six years. He was mayor of Manchester for several years. Mr. Doggett was an educated gentleman. His only son. Dr. Lawrence Doggett. who is now at the head of the Moody School at Spring-
A. M. MARVIN AND HIS PRIZE TOMATO VINE; HEIGHT, SEVEN FEET
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
field. Mass., is also an able and cultured gentleman. His father, known as Squire Doggett, died at the home of his son in Springfield during the past year.
Rodney W. Tirrill, one of the most successful business men and capitalists in Delaware County and a public-spirited man of large means and generosity, is a native of New Hampshire. He emigrated to Wisconsin in 1850, from which state Mr. Tirrill eame to Delaware County in 1856 and taught school until 1857. Hle then taught school a short time in Wisconsin and took up the study of law. He returned to Delaware County in December, 1860, and married Eliza JJ. Weeks, a native of Massachusetts. From 1864 to 1868 he was county superin- tendent. He served in the State Senate from 1880 until 1884. During his long residence here he has been a prominent figure in the affairs of the city and county, and a park bearing his name is one of his benefactions to Manchester.
Mark Whitman came to the county in the '50s from Indiana and first located in the Yankee Settlement. In the spring of 1861 he engaged in blacksmithing and wagon making, being a member of the firm of Whitman, Hamblin & Company.
Henry F. Hamblin was a native of Pennsylvania. He removed from Illinois to Forestville, this county. in 1856, where he opened a store. In 1862 he removed to Manehester and began business under the name of lamblin & Son.
Joseph S. Belknap, who later became president of the Delaware County Bank, at Manchester, was born in Vermont. After many moves he settled in Illinois in 1840. A few years thereafter Mr. Belknap located in Delaware County. taking up a claim in the Yankee Settlement. now Edgewood. In 1862 he came to Manchester and was soon known as one of its influential business men.
Charles O. Torrey came to Delaware County from Kane County, Illinois, in the spring of 1855, and settled in this township. In 1859 he married Susan A. Roe. Mr. Torrey served three years in the Civil war and afterwards became a member of the firm of Torrey & Jones, manufacturers of and dealers in Furniture.
Willis E. Brown left his home in Kane County, Illinois, in 1855, and in the month of August of that year settled in Richland Township. where he remained until 1862. at which time he removed to Manchester and in May of that year enlisted in the Twenty-first lowa Infantry. After the war Mr. Brown engaged in the drug business at Manchester.
Samuel Kaltenbach was a native of Ohio. He located in this township in the spring of 1853, served in the Civil war, and in 1868 began the manufacture of butter tubs. barrels, etc., on Franklin Street, in Manchester.
Benjamin F. Skinner came to Delaware County with his parents in 1853. Hle served in the Civil war, married Luella Dillon in 1869, and engaged as a tinner in Manchester.
D. P. Ballard settled in Honey Creek Township in the year 1856, immigrating from the State of New York. In 1870 he removed to Manchester and engaged in buying and selling horses.
John Stewart came to Manchester in March, 1870, started the first butter creamery in the state near Manchester in 1872, where he made a grade of butter that was in great demand. He took the first premium for butter at the St. Louis Fair for several years and then determined to compete for the gold metal
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at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, in which he succeeded, carrying off a valuable prize.
C. Sanborn was born in Norfolk, St. Lawrence County, New York, January 7, 1824. In 1852 he went to Saratoga Springs and in 1855 was manager of the Saratoga Water Cure. In 1860 he married Martha A. French. In 1861 he settled at Earlville and for two years was landlord of the hotel at that place. From 1864 to 1868 he was postmaster. From 1867 to 1870 he was representa- tive of Delaware County in the Iowa Legislature. From 1870 to 1872 he was owner and editor of the Earlville Sun, and from 1873 to 1875 he owned and edited the Manchester Press. In 1875 he married the widow of Francis W. Dunham, Mrs. Ann Dunham, a woman of rare personality. In 1877 Mr. San- born was elected mayor of Manchester, an office he held for several years. He was a stanch republican and as a citizen was recognized by all who knew him as a godly man and a true friend. Mr. Sanborn died in 1898.
CHAPTER XXXIV
INCORPORATION OF MANCHESTER
Ten years after the first business building was put up in Manchester, or to be explicit, in 1865, the town had grown and prospered to an extent almost equal to the anticipations of its founders. At that time the population was 825 and the following enterprises and establishments were existent :
Dry goods, groceries, etc., Loomis & Cornish, Robert Rule, John Tierney, H. Hutchinson, Cattron & Wheeler, HI. M. Congar & Company, Paxson, Thomp- son & Seeds: harness shops, W. H. Board & Company, M. A. Newcomb; boots and shoes. B. H. Keller, Seth Brown ; hardware and stoves, 1. U. Butler, Adams & Freelove : drugs, Charles Burnside, M. Cotton : jewelry, D. R. Lewis, Dodson & Wells: agricultural implements, N. Ruggles; groceries and liquors, Clinton & MeCarty, S. Davidson, W. C. White ; meat market, George Brownell ; millinery and dressmaking, the Misses Davis, Mrs. R. H. Cotton, Miss Lizzie White; blacksmiths. Edson Merrill, James Brown, Harrison L. Bates, W. E. Foster; wheelwrights, G. A. Chapman, H. Walton ; saloon, M. Plimpton ; produce, L. A. Loomis : tailor, Louis Haubuenestel ; ambrotype artist, E. P. Libby ; chair factory, G. R. Hartwell; livery stable, Morgan & Daggett ; select school, S. L. Doggett; hotel, Clarence Ilouse, by Toogood & Bethell; coopers, S. W. Green; wagon shops, Smart & Doolittle, Enos Hamblin; painter, J. E. Harker; fanning mill manufactory, Tush & Brownell; grain elevators, I. P. Adams, A. R. Loomis, Paxson, Tomlinson & Company ; lumberyard, I. P. Adams; railroad eating house, John Schelling; press, Delaware County Union, by Edward Burnside; doctors, J. W. Robbins. L. B. Ross ; lawyer, A. S. Blair.
Simeon L. Doggett was commissioned in November, 1865, to draft a peti- tion to the County Court, praying that the Village of Manchester be incorporated as a town. The territory to be included in the new organization and names of the petitioners are included in the document, which makes it peculiarly interest- ing and valuable to a work of this character. For that reason the petition is hereto attached, that it may be preserved for the benefit of coming generations :
State of Iowa, Delaware County .- Petition.
To the County Court of Delaware County :
We, the undersigned petitioners, do hereby petition the court aforesaid, that we be organized into an incorporated town; that the village known as Man- chester, with all the additions thereto, consisting of all the tract of land as recorded in the plat called Manchester (except those lots now recorded as vacated), and of all the tract of land as recorded on the plat, called Burrington's AAddition to Manchester ; also, the lowa Land Company's Addition to Manchester; also, the Iowa Land Company's Subdivision of part of the Village of Man- chester : also, the Railroad Addition to Manchester; also, Amsden's Addition to Manchester, and of all the tract of land before this date laid off into town lots
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and recorded, of any size, on any side of Manchester, and as far north, south, east or west as said lots so added to Manchester may extend, not including any lots now recorded as vacated, be organized into an incorporated town. The ter- ritory proposed to be embraced in such incorporated town, being the same as that delineated into lots and streets and shown forth on the map or plat to this petition annexed, being located mostly on the north part of section 32, and the south part of section 29, in Delaware Township of Delaware County. Iowa, having for a boundary line, commencing in the middle of Prospect Street at the corner of Lot No. 17, in Burrington's Addition to the Village of Manchester. according to said map and the recorded plat of said addition ; said lot being the lot now occupied by C. H. Carpenter and cornering on Franklin Street (that is the West Union Road) and said Prospect Street ; said line commencing with said Prospect Street at said Franklin Street and running east along the middle of said Prospect Street to Buchanan Street; thence sonth along the east verge of Buchanan Street; thence east along the north line of North Street in the Iowa Land Company's Addition to said Manchester, according to the annexed map and the recorded plat of said last mentioned addition ; thence west along the middle line of the Earlville Road : thence sonth along the east boundary of Lots No. 171. 172. 222, 223, Fronting on Reynolds Street of said village; thence west along said Lot 223 (its south edge) ; thence sonth along a part of Wayne Street in the said Amsden's Addition to the south line of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad: thence west along said railroad Lot 253 on the Delhi Road just south of said railroad to the Maquoketa River, and in a southern direction along the east bank of said river to a point opposite the southeast corner of Lot No. 781, in said village, and across the river from said point to the corner mentioned last ; thence west along the south edge of said lot and the contignous Lot 782. to Lot No. 939 in said village; thence south along the last mentioned lot to its southeast corner; thence west to the west edge of Fifth Street of said village; thence north to the southeast corner of Lot No. 940 of said village ; thenee west along the south lines of said lot and of said railroad, to Twelfth Street of said village; thence north along Twelfth Street to the Burrington and Coffin's Grove Road, and east along said road to Ninth Street of said village (including Lots Nos. 482 and 505, cornering on said street and road in Manchester) ; thence along said Ninth Street. Howard Street of said village; thence along said Howard Street to Lot No. 356 in said village: thence along the back lines of said lot and the adjoining Lots Nos. 357, 358. 359, 335, 334, 333 to the southwest corner of said Railroad Addition: thence along the west boundary of said Railroad Addition to the north line of the same ; thence along the said north line or boundary ; thence south along the east of said Railroad Addition to a point opposite to the northwest corner of Lot No. 32 in said Burrington's Addition; thence across from said point to said corner and along said Lot No. 32 to the middle of said West Union Road ; thence along the middle of said road south to said Prospect Street, the place of begin- ning of this boundary, including all the territory within the boundary line herein set forth, and as shown on said map. And your petitioners, the under- signed, declare the said map annexed to this petition is an accurate map of the said territory proposed to be embraced in such incorporated town. And wo here state the name proposed for said incorporated town shall be Manchester.
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and we also name as persons authorized to act in behalf of your petitioners in prosecuting said petition. B. II. Keller, 11. M. Congar, Edson Merrill, I. P. Adams, Pardon Wells. I. U. Butler and S. W. Green. Your petitioners further state that they are qualified voters, residents of the territory to be embraced in the proposed incorporated town: that this petition in writing is signed by not less than thirty of said voters; that there are more than fifty qualified voters who actually reside within the described limits, in this petition, and that this petition has been signed by a majority of the voters within said limits; that said limits have been accurately described, and an acenrate plat or map thereof made and filed: that the name proposed for said town is proper and sufficient to distinguish it from others in the state. And so your petitioners pray that this, their said petition, be granted and so will ever pray until this, their peti- tion. is granted.
Manchester, Delaware County, State of lowa, November 11. A. D. 1865.
Signed ) B. H. Keller, S. L. Doggett, Edson Merrill, W. G. Kenyon. W. E. Brown, F. W. Dunham. P. R. Walton, James Brown. Charles Burnside, K. G. Glover, George R. Hartwell, George Gilbert, I. U. Butler, J. A. Osborne, J. W. Myers. F. A. Lowell. Tunis Mosier, J. M. Burnett, Robert Rules, J. W. Kelsey, John Otis, Vernon Barrington, II. J. Brown, E. R. Congar. J. F. Merry, Willis E. Foster. C. G. Tyler. E. Hamblin. Edward Burnside. Lyman L. Avers. L. S. Sherwin. S. M. Smart. JJohn Crowther, O. A. Bishop. J. C. Aldrich, W. W. Hollenbeek, William N. Boynton, S. W. Green, W. C. Cawley, John Moody, Ray B. Griffin, R. R. Walsh, John Touslee, D. R. Lewis. T. J. Safford. William Fate, S. W. Stevens. E. Il. Barnes, Eli Miner, Orange Harris, L. A. Roe. A. Rudolph. 1. B. Freelove. A. M. Freelove, W. T. Adams. B. F. Skinner, J. W. Hastings, Seth Brown. Henry H. Hills, R. W. Tirrill. M. S. Stevens, T. Adams, A. J. Brownell, A. M. Sherwood, N. L. Whitney, E. D. Phillips. A. L. Brownell, Hiram Babcock. W. A. Morse. L. H. Abbey. V. Childs, W. Richmond. S. C. Bowen. A. T. Loring. W. S. Doolittle, William Bremner, J. W. Robbins. A. K. .Johnson, J. (. Hladley, C. W. Lyman, Pardon Wells, Oliver Cronk. J. E. Brady, MI. Cotton, N. Ruggles. G. Yeoman, E. Tush. J. C. Skinner. N. C. Skinner. F. A. Walton, L. Haubnenestel, William L. Stevens, Joseph Coats, E. P. Libby. Fred- erick Sehelling, George Sheldon. William V. Cattron. C. M. Bronson. George Brownell. Elijah Cheney. George W. Ingram, Silas Estey. T. Schelling. Ira P. Adams, William Cattron, II. M. Congar.
February 5, 1866, the prayer of the petitioners was granted by J. B. Boggs. county judge, and February 8th the town plat was filed for record.
The election for municipal officers was held May 29. 1866, and the choice of the electorate follows: Mayor. A. R. Loomis: recorder. W. H. Board ; trustees, (. Il. Carpenter, Nixson Denton. Charles Paxson, Joel Bailey. John F. Schell- ing. On the 11th day of JJune the board of trustees met and organized and among the first transactions was the appointment of W. Il. Board as treasurer. His stipend was fixed at 2 per cent of all moneys received and expended by him. On June 11th the office of marshal was created and on the 30th Anson Sheldon was appointed. Ordinance No. 1, passed, which prohibited racing or driving any horse, mile or team immoderately on any street or alley; the unnecessary discharge of any firearms within the town limits; indecent or immoderate ex- posure of the person in any street or other public place, or in the pond or river :
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gambling or disorderly conduct in any public house, and the indecent exhibition of any stallion or jack within the limits of the town. In the parliamentary parlance of this day and generation this early effort of the city fathers at legis- lation would be "dubbed" a blanket bill. But they knew what they wanted, even if the expression of their desires resulted in a conglomerate, and long sentence.
THE CITY HIALL
On the 22d day of January, 1873, council passed an ordinance for building the city hall, in accordance with the following preamble :
Whereas, N. Denton, A. R. Loomis and L. A. Loomis did, on the 25th day of July, 1873, submit a proposition in writing to the Town Council proposing to build immediately three contiguous stores on Lots No. 146 and 197, in Manchester, Iowa, such stores to be two stories high and the three to be 66 by 70, and offering to give the town the right to build a public hall thereon, which shall be under the exclusive control of the town during the life of the building; the town to have the right in common of the use of a stairway six feet wide, of ingress and egress, at all times, from Franklin Street into and out of the hall; the walls of said building to be sufficiently thick and strong to justify the erection of such a hall; and N. Denton agreeing to bind himself that no building shall be erected on the south side of said hall within twenty feet, so as to inter- fere with or obstruet the windows on the south side of said hall; which proposi- tion was, by a majority vote of the council, accepted; and
Whereas, Said A. R. Loomis and N. Denton did, on said 22d day of July, 1873, submit to the council a proposition in writing offering to enter into a contract with the Town of Manchester to furnish all the material and erect a hall on the site proposed, viz. : The second story of the three stores to be ereeted on Lots 146 and 197, aforesaid; said hall to be 66 feet wide by 70 feet deep on the outside, 20 feet high between floor and ceiling, lighted with ten win- dows, tin roof, which shall be self-supporting; no columns to be used, or any obstruction to obstruct the hall: the plan and elevation to be submitted to and approved by the council before signing the contract, for the sum of $6,000. payable when said hall is completed, in town bonds due ten years after the completion of said hall, with 10 per cent interest, payable semi-annually : and
Whereas, Said council did, on said 22d day of July, 1873, by a majority, pass the following resolutuion, to-wit :
Resolved, That the plan and specification for the Town Hall furnished by Iferr & Kescher be approved and adopted, subject to such alterations as may be deemed expedient before entering into a contraet for erecting the same, and that the mayor be authorized to accept the proposition of A. R. Loomis and N. Denton to construct the said hall for $6.000, payable in ten year bonds drawing interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, interest payable semi-annually, provided he cannot do better within twenty days; and
Whereas, Said mayor was unable to let said contract on better terms than those proposed by said Loomis and Denton within the time above specified, and did, on the 14th day of August, 1873, let the same to said Loomis and Denton on the terms aforesaid; and
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Whereas, On the 7th day of November, 1873, the following changes in the specifications attached to said contract were authorized by a vote of the council, to-wit : "The roof of said hall to be ceiled instead of plastered, and the corners of the ceiling to be arched :" and
Whereas, On the 22d day of January, 1874, the time for the completion of said hall was extended to the 1st day of lune, 1874.
Bonds of the denomination of $500 and to the extent of $5,000 were issued by the city, bearing 10 per cent and payable in ten years. An additional $1,000 was provided for, the same to be paid upon completion of the building. Work was commeneed on the utility in the summer of 1873 and the structure was com. pleted in May of the following year. The city added the third story to the building and arranged it for public meetings of varions descriptions. But the principal object of the construction of the third story was to furnish a place for the Distriet Court, it having been stipulated and agreed upon the part of the city and certain of her citizens, that in the event the county seat should be removed to Manchester the city would furnish to the county a suitable place for the sittings of the District Court. Rooms on the second floor not suiting the purposes of the county in this instance, the hall was constructed and the District Court installed therein until the courthouse was built in 1894 and ready for occupancy in the early part of 1895.
THE CITY BUILDING
On the 14th day of August, 1885, arrangements were perfected and contraets signed for the erection of a new city building, the work on which was immediately commenced. This is a three-story brick structure, of imposing appearance, and stands on the north side of Main Street, between Tama and Madison streets. Its ground dimensions are 40 by 60 feet. On the ground floor is one great room, with an entrance on each side of a wide stairway, in which is installed the city's fire apparatus. Back of this are the city clerk's offices. On the second floor are the couneil chamber, firemen's hall and office rooms, and the third story. built by the Odd Fellows, is occupied by the various bodies of that fraternity. This is really the city hall and is one of the best buildings of its character in this part of the state.
TIRRILL PARK
Some years ago, R. W. Tirrill laid out a traet of land, containing about fifteen acres, into a park, and gave it to the City of Manchester. This property was the gradual accumulation of several pieces, which Mr. Tirrill secured from time to time. with the object in view of making it a gift to the people of Man- chester. for a pleasure spot and one of the show places of the city. Securing a landseape gardener, the grounds were laid out with a view of building paths, drives, pagodas, fountains and the like. In the design a drive, to be named Tirrill Boulevard. is provided for on the north, and on the south is Union Avenue, along which Mr. Tirrill constructed a cement walk. At the main entrance, past which the Manchester & Oneida Railroad runs, is a pretty little open structure, erected by the donor at a cost of $600. This is used as a rest
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room and park station for the patrons of the railroad living in the vicinity, and all its trains stop here. The grounds extend beyond the railroad, to the beau- tiful Maquoketa, along whose bank has been constructed a concrete retaining wall running 600 feet ; all this at Mr. Tirrill's expense. In the deed to the city, a site in the park has been set apart for a hospital in the event the city agrees to build an institution of that character, at a cost of not less than fifty thousand dollars. On the southeast corner of the park Mr. Tirril! has just completed a handsome and expensive residence and a short distance to the rear is the park lodge, a two-story building put up by Mr. Tirrill five years ago at an outlay of $6,000. This building was designed as a residence for the park gardener and caretaker. It is Mr. Tirrill's present plans to bequeath to the city a fund sufficient for the upkeep of this splendid benefaction, and also, the residence, as an Old Women's Home.
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