USA > Iowa > Floyd County > History of Floyd County, Iowa : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 50
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WHEREAS, Rule 7 of the Charles City Creamery Convention implies that dairymen produce dishonest cream,-
Resolved, That we sell but sixteen ounces of butter to the pound, or its equivalent in cream; and any collector found taking any more than this shall be subject to punishment. .
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HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
WHEREAS, by Rule 10 we are allowed no judgment in regard to the length of time milk must stand before skimming,-
Resolved, We shall use our judgment to our own interest, and «shall not allow the milk to be disturbed by any collector until the cream has sufficient time to rise.
WHEREAS, Rule 11 reserves the right to pay any patron for the number of pounds his cream will make, --
Resolved, That we reserve the right to reject all offers by said creameries, and shall object to selling more than the equivalent in cream to a pound in butter, or price pro rata.
Resolved, That we shall hereby agree to refuse to deal with any creamery or company of creameries that will not deal honestly and fairly with us.
Resolved, Further, that we discountenance all rings, cliques and schemes tending to monopoly; and, as the Charles City Creamery Convention, held Jan. 25, 1882, implied that we are not above suspicion for honesty, resolved that the one who first accuses his neighbor is the one to be looked after; and that we unitedly and decidedly object to being ruled by monopolies, rings or pools.
Of course the foregoing platforms were too categorical to be let alone by ironical wags, and the next issue of the papers contained scathing communications,-one in particular in the form of pre- ambles and resolutions. It was funny, but too long for repetition here. The needless controversy was quietly terminated by a Rock- ford member of the Charles City Convention, soberly stating that only the ordinary business principles of square dealing were all that could be meant by the series of resolutions passed by that body. In measuring quantity and quality, both parties to the transaction should of course be present, else neither party should complain.
Floyd County Farmers' Insurance Company .- Amount of pol. icies in force Dec. 3, 1881, $420,000; number of members, 300; amount of losses for the year, $213.15. Officers elected for the ensuing year: S. P. Wetherbee, President; Thos. Martin, Vice- President; P. P. Cole, Secretary; Lucius Lane, Treasurer. Direc- tors : J. W. Morrison, Floyd; L. Lane, St. Charles; Gunnar Win- nor, Rudd; A. A. Babcock, Rock Grove; C. T. Ackley, Union; C. Dinkle, Ulster; Wes. Brownell, Pleasant Grove; J. B. Schermer- horn, Scott; S. H. Waddell, Riverton; F. B. Cruver, Niles; George Bleckley, Cedar.
The company employs no traveling agent, but has an agent in each township.
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HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
Floyd County Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company .- Nov. 1, 1879, this company was organized, by the election of George Boyer, President; S. P. Wetherbee, Vice-President; Wm. Morse, Treas- urer; and N. Dutcher, Secretary. Directors: E. M. Smith and Norris Makepeace, St. Charles; Thomas Martin and L. Knowlton, Floyd; C. Kreger, Ulster; S. H. Waddell, Riverton; P. H. Powers, Pleasant Grove; M. Lynch, Niles; Jesse Conners, Rudd; P. P. Cole, Cedar; A. A. Babcock, Rock Grove.
LIVE STOCK.
Until recently but little attention has been given to the raising of stock other than that of the most ordinary kind. In 1856 Z. M. Knapp, of Rockford, brought into the county the first seven head of Devon cattle. In 1858 Stephen Britton brought to the town of Rockford twenty head. In 1860 Dr. D. W. Bemis brought twenty-five head more of the same kind of stock to Rockford, and since that time R. W. Humphrey, Judge Wm. B. Fairfield and the Nenistedt brothers, have imported a large number of splendid specimens of blooded cattle. In 1874-'6 A. W. Cook, of S Charles Township, visited France several times, and each time re- turned with several Norman horses, "prodigious in their size, famous in their strength and enormous in their value."
In the fall of 1859 many cattle died in this county, from some kind of poison. Some thought that the poison was in smutty corn, some thought that it existed in the Chinese sugar-cane stalks which the cattle ate, and others that it existed in something else. The source of the poison has ever remained a mystery.
As to sheep and swine, the stock has been improved in keeping with the advance of the country generally.
There were in the county, according to the census of 1875, 2,851 dogs, amongst which are the Newfoundland, rat terrier, bull ter- rier, mastiff, grey-hound, fox-hound, shepherd, pointer, setter, span- iel, coach-dog, lap-dog, poodles and whiffets, besides many mongrels and varieties whose pedigrees are not easily traced.
CHAPTER X. CENSUS AND FINANCIAL PROGRESS. 1
EARLY ENTERPRISE.
The facts and figures in this little chapter tell the story of Floyd County's progress better than it can be told in any other way. Al- though some persons are actually interested in reading statistics in quantity, yet the tables and lists here presented are given more for reference when there is occasion than for straight reading. The good land yet to be improved in Floyd County, and the railroad and other improvements in contemplation, promise a future for this county as brilliant in its upward progress as has been in the past.
In the fall of 1855 there were at St. Charles City only a score of houses, and they were built of logs; at Floyd nearly the same; on the Cedar River, within a distance of twenty-four miles, there were ten or twelve settlers; on Shell Rock River and Flood Creek, not so many; no flouring mills in operation in the whole connty; no pine lumber, not even enough to make a table; and other things, or lacd of things may be considered in proportion. But in five years from the above date the evidences of thrift on every hand were strik- ing, and even a matter of wonder. While there were no extensive farmers in the county, every one had, during the season of 1860, raised a surplus of grain, on comparatively small farms. The yeomanry might be said to consist of " quarter-section " farmers. A single township raised enough grain to supply the whole county, the product of wheat ranging from twenty to thirty bushels per acre. Oats, corn and potatoes were also excellent.
At Marble Rock a capacious flouring mill was in operation, and at St. Charles another. There were saw-mills, lath and shingle mills, planing machines, etc., run by both water and steam power, sufficient for the whole county. Towns and villages were rapidly springing up, school-houses and churches being erected, bridges built and roads improved. Railroads were projected, $60,000 be- ing voted by the county in their aid. Altogether the contrast be- tween 1855 and 1860 was almost as striking as_ two pictures could
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HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
be,-the one of monotony, lonesomeness, and no outlook, and the other of a promising and rapidly developing garden of Eden.
To answer the numerous inquiries of Eastern parties, a circular letter of two pages was published in February, 1858, giving a minute and impartial description of Floyd County, the best routes to St. Charles, statistics, etc. It was compiled by Dr. J. W. Smith, of Charles City, printed in the Intelligencer and New York Evening Post, and noticed by other Eastern papers. Several thousand copies of the circular were distributed. It was entitled, "Floyd County, Iowa: Its Location, Advantages, and Inducements to Those Seeking Homes in the West."
CIRCULAR OF 1858.
" By reference to the map, the geographical position of Iowa is seen to be nearly in the center of the United States. The Missis- sippi River upon the east and the Missouri River upon the west, both navigable; the other natural advantages, such as climate, soil and productions; together with numerous railroad facilities; and the possession of an intelligent and enterprising population; all indicate that Iowa will ere long become one of the most wealthy and influ- ential States of the Union.
"The area of Iowa is 51,000 square miles. In 1836 its pop- ulation was 10,531; in '40, 43,116; in 44, 71,650; in '50, 192,204; in '56, 503,625. The presidential vote of 1856 was 92,644. The tax- able property in 1851, was $28,464,550; 1853, $44,540,304; in 1855 $116,895 390, and in 1857, $210,944,583. The present population of the State is estimated at 800,000.
" Certain events of the last few years have to some extent changed the tide of emigration. The withdrawal of the public lands from market, during the location of the different railroad routes and the selection of lands granted them; the Kansas excite- ment, and the attraction of emigrants thither; the systematic efforts to lead northern settlers to Virginia and other slave States have temporarily diverted emigration from Iowa. But a change is now taking place. The Government lands of the State amount- ing to many millions of acres, are again offered for sale, and their recent exclusion from market has only tended to make known their richness and value. At this time no State or Territory can hold out inducements to settlers equal to Iowa, and it is the opinion of dis- cerning men that the year 1858 will witness a larger immigration to this State than any preceding one.
538
HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
"FLOYD COUNTY, IOWA, is situated seventy miles west of the Mississippi River; the counties of Clayton, Fayette and Chickasaw lying between it and the river; and Mitchel County between it and Minnesota, upon the north. The Cedar River is the principal stream, averaging about sixty yards in width and running in a southeasterly direction through the county. It rises nearly one hundred miles distant, in Minnesota, is rapid in its course, affords abundant water-power, and is remarkable for the purity of its waters and the abundance of heavy timber and excellent stone quar- ries along its course. There are also several other streams of considerable size in the county the principal of which are the Little Cedar River, Flood Creek, Shell Rock and Lime Rivers. The general course of all these streams is southeast, and several of them afford good water-powers. The surface of the county is gently undulating or rolling, with no high hills, and very little flat or per- fectly level land, which so often causes malarial diseases.
The soil of the prairie lands is deep and exceedingly fertile. It is well suited to growing the grains and fruits of the Middle and New England States. The silica, alumina and, other component parts of the soil, are in such proportions as to render it sufficently dry for tillage, and yet not liable to suffer from drouth. A good crop is almost certain. Most of the subsoil is clayey, which would be retentive of fertillizers, should they ever be required; while on the margin of the streams limestone or gravel is frequently found beneath the surface.
" The latitude is that of Central New York and Massachusetts. The climate is milder and the atmosphere more invigorating than in those regions. The spring is remarkably early; the sky much like that of New England; the atmosphere less humid; the cold less severely felt; the weather less changeable; while the steady breeze and a plentiful supply of excellent water render this section of the county comparatively free from the scourge of pul- monary consumption and more congenial to health than most of the Atlantic States.
" Our county has grown rapidly and is now in a prosperous con- dition --- except a temporary stagnation of business-but it is young and vigorous, and will soon recover from the effects of the hard times. Those who come now can start with little or no capi- tal but willing hearts and hands, and grow up with the place and people, to occupy the positions in life to which their abilities may entitle them.
539
HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
"The area of Floyd County is over 500 square miles, or equal to more than 4,000 farms of eighty acres each. The valuation of real and personal property, as shown by the assessment of 1857, was $1,388,789. There were also 719 horses, 2,329 neat cattle, 488 sheep, and 1,165 swine. There are seven towns or election pre- cints, and ten postoffices, within the county. At the August elec- tion, in 1857, the whole number of votes cast in the county was 719, from which an approximate estimate can be made of the pop- ulation, which is believed to be at least 4,000.
"St. Charles City is the county seat. It is situated in the valley of the Cedar River, seventy-six miles due west from McGregor, on the Mississippi, and thirty miles south of the Minnesota line. The village is laid out on both sides of the river-to be connected by a substantial bridge, of a single span, 185 feet in length, now erecting. It occupies the site where formerly stood a village of the Winnebago Indians. In June, 1855, it contained but one frame building, since which time the growth of the place has been rapid. It now numbers more than one hundred dwelling-houses, together with one school-house and two good schools, one elegant church edifice, a large stone court-house now nearly enclosed, two arge hotels, an excellent flouring mill with three run of stones, and a saw-mill, both propelled by water-power, one expensive steam-power saw-mill, two lath-mills, ten stores of different kinds, a well appointed newspaper and job printing office, professional men and mechanics of various kinds. The water-power here is considered superior to any other in the upper Cedar River valley.
"Floyd is another thriving town, six miles north of St. Charles City, handsomely situated upon both sides of the Cedar River. It contains one hotel, four stores, a good flouring-mill, three saw- mills, one lath-mill, professional men and mechanics of different descriptions. The first frame house was built in March, 1856, and there are now nearly one hundred dwelling-houses and other buildings. A good stone school-house serves the purpose for a village school and for religious worship. Some of the private resi- dences and stores are quite elegant. A good water-power here is partially improved, and a substantial bridge over the river is in progress of construction. The business facilities of Floyd are good.
" Rockford is a newly laid out town, situated upon a beautiful plateau at the junction of Shell Rock and Lime rivers, distant about fourteen miles west from St. Charles City. It now numbers
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HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
one hotel, three stores, two saw-mills, one lath-mill, one shingle- mill, one blacksmith shop, one school-house and twenty-six dwell- ing-houses. A flouring-mill is now erecting. There is water- power here upon both rivers on each side of the town, already im- proved.
"Marble Rock, in the southwestern part of the county, upon each side of the Shell Rock, was laid out in June, 1855, and con- tains twenty-one dwelling-houses, one hotel, one store, one steam and one water saw-mill, a flouring-mill now building, a good school- house, one physician, mechanics, etc. There is here a good water- power.
"Rock Grove and Nora Springs are newer and smaller towns upon the Shell Rock, in the northwest portion of, the county; each containing a store, saw-mill, school-house, etc., with a rich sur- rounding country.
"At Riverton, Ripley, Flood Creek, Watertown and Howard- ville there are promising settlements, and their locations and pres- ent improvements give evidence of their future rapid growth. Saw-mills, mechanics' shops, good school-houses, etc., are found in these and other places, and give evidence of the enterprise of the people. At numerous places within the county, materials for grout or gravel wall building are cheap and abundant, and several substantial structures of the kind have been erected.
" The transportation of merchandise from the Mississippi River to Floyd County costs from $1.25 to $1.75 per cwt. A railroad is now constructing from McGregor, on the Mississippi, westward, which is to pass through Floyd County and will reach it at no dis - tant day. This is to be a continuation of the lines of railroad from Chicago and Milwaukee whose termini are now at Prairie du Chien on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi opposite McGregor. Dur- ing the past fall and present winter several hundred men have been actively engaged in grading the road.
" Another, the Cedar Valley Railroad, is to pass through the county in a north and south direction, and is certain of completion at an early day. At the Minnesota line the road will connect with the southern terminus of the road from St Paul, to which a large amount of land has been granted by Congress. From the line this road passes down the valley of the Cedar River to Cedar Rapids where it intersects and is in fact a branch of the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad. At Cedar Falls or Waterloo, a distance of ninety miles from Minnesota and only thirty miles from Floyd
541
HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
County, it intersects or crosses the Dubuque & Pacific Railroad. Upon this latter road the cars are now running to Nottingham, a distance of forty miles west from Dubuque, and there is no doubt of the completion of the remaining fifty miles to Cedar Falls dur- ing the coming season. This will bring the cars within thirty miles of our county.
"Other roads will very likely be built, but these are considered as certain, and will afford a cheap and speedy communication with the East. The cost of grading will be only about one-fifth of most Eastern roads.
"The price of lumber is from $15 to $25 per M. The wages of laborers and mechanics are high, but some of the materials for building, such as lime, stone, etc., are cheap and of superior qual- ity. This county has a large share of excellent timber, a portion of it having long been known by the Indians and others as the " Big Woods." Heavy bodies of timber and small groves, are also found in nearly all portions of the county. The principal kinds are walnut, butternut, oak, maple, elm, ash, hickory, hack- berry, linn, cottonwood, etc. A light gray marble or limestone, affording superior lime, is found along the streams; and the facili- ties are good for brick-making. There are some expensive and well finished dwellings, but most of the settlers at first erect smaller and cheaper houses to answer their immediate wants.
"Fuel is cheap and abundant; good wood costing frsm $2.00 to $2.50 per solid cord, delivered at the different villages. Our prox- imity to the coal regions in this State is such that the completion of the principal railroads will cause coal to be used to a consider- able extent. The cost of living here is much less than in most of the older States. The manner and style are more simple and therefore more in accordance with the laws of life and health than in older places. The price of most kinds of labor is higher than at the East. At this time the price of produce is low, but the wants of the new settlements west and north are likely to be such as to require most of the surplus for years to come, at prices equal to or higher than in Chicago market.
"The best route to reach this county from the East, is by any of the usual routes to Chicago; thence via. Janesville and Madison to Prairie du Chien upon the Mississippi River, at which place, and at McGregor upon the Iowa side of the river, daily stages run through in two days to different places in the county. Another route is via. Dunleith, and, if the Mississippi is free from ice, by
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HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
daily steamboats at a cheap rate to McGregor, ninety miles above; or travelers can cross the Mississippi at Dunleith to Dubuque, op- posite, and from there come chiefly by daily stages through in three days. Heavy goods are mostly shipped via. McGregor, as the dis- tance is much less for hauling by teams and the expense to that place from the East is the same as to Dubuque. From Boston or New York a passenger can reach here in from four to six days, at a total expense of from $40 to $50. Goods are shipped from these places to Prairie du Chien or McGregor for from $1.50 to $2.50 per 100 lbs., and can be shipped to be delivered at a specified time. The common roads are naturally good, except for a short time in the spring and fall, and there being no high hills, hauling goods is comparatively easy at all seasons.
" The effect of the pecuniary difficulties of the past few months, upon the price of land and other things, in the settled portions of the new States, is worthy of attention. Speculation in lands and paper towns has scattered actual settlers over a wide extent of country-cheap lands being the object sought by most of them. In this county the land was entered by settlers and others, some two or three years since. Much of it, equal in quality to the improved portions, is now for the first time offered for sale at reasonable prices. Necessity compels some to offer their lands at from 50 to 75 per cent. less than they could have taken for them one year ago. Some residents, with a large amount of land, will sell part of their improvements to those who wish to become actual settlers. Others who are seriously embarrassed, or who are of a roving disposition, will sell their farms at reasonable rates. The re- sult of this will be a rapid increase in the population of the county.
The difference between settling in this county and upon the frontier of civilization is very great. Here the necessaries and comforts of life can be easily obtained; and settlers upon the un- improved lands will have the advantages of neighbors, schools, re- ligious meetings, mills, mechanics, professional men, etc.
" Perfect titles can be obtained to the land. The price per acre ranges from $2.00 to $10.00 for unimproved prairie, and $10.00 to $20.00 for timber, according to quality and location. There is hardly any land in the county that is not well adapted to cultiva- tion-the driest portions being unrivaled for tillage, while the low intervals produce an abundance of hay which can be had merely for the cutting and curing, the standing grass costing little or nothing.
543
HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
" Breaking prairie-first plowing-costs $2 to $4 per acre. It is usually done in the spring and summer, and a crop of corn is often obtained the same year by simply planting along the furrows. The next season the soil is easily plowed and tilled with one team and will produce excellent crops of wheat, oats, potatoes, corn, Chinese sugar-cane, etc. This is all the time required to bring the land under culture and the yield is often surprising. From thirty to forty bushels of wheat, seventy-five of oats, fifty to 100 of corn, 200 to 400 of potatoes, to the acre, are common. A good supply of garden vegetables is essential to good health, and these grow in the greatest profusion and almost spontaneously. From forty to eighty acres are sufficient for a farm, and will produce of most crops three times the quantity, at one-half the labor and expense, of most New England tarms. The cultivation and harvesting of most crops is done to a large extent by labor-saving machines. Very little grain is cut or thrashed by hand. Corn is not hoed, but "cultivated " with one-horse implements made for the purpose. Wheat and oats are cut and laid ready for binding into sheaves for from fifty cents to $1 per acre and at the rate of ten to twenty acres per day by a single reaper. Thrashing and cleaning the same costs from two to six cents per bushel.
"The cultivation of fruit has already received considerable atten- tion. A large number of trees of various kinds have been planted and are doing well. Several nurseries within the county are now well stocked with trees and shrubs, brought from Eastern nurseries or grown here from the seed. Wild fruits are abundant, and afford good substitutes for the cultivated kinds. Apples of large size, plums of excellent quality, grapes, gooseberries, raspberries, straw- berries, etc., are highly prized by our housewives as luxuries for the table.
" More settlers are needed to be a help to one another. We are not insensible of the great importance of securing as large a class of intelligent and virtuous citizens among the early settlers as pos- sible. Such are sure to receive all due encouragement. We want farmers to occupy and improve the present waste lands-mechanics and laborers to aid in developing our resources and supplying our immediate wants. Sensible men and women, who are able and willing to labor-for it is no place for drones-will readily find em- ployment at good wages. All the necessaries of life can easily be obtained. In numbers, there is now no lack of professional men. Females especially are wanted-in families, where they can be upon an equality; as teachers, and as wives for the great army of deserving bachelors.
544
HISTORY OF FLOYD COUNTY.
"People upon arriving will here find good society, composed chiefly of inhabitants from the Eastern and Middle States, and will only be surprised to find things so far advanced in so short a period.
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