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 58
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from his notes and debts, which accumulated during these nine months, he finally realized "a jack-knife, three books and a rubber ball."
Thence he went to Wells, Minn., where he had charge of the Wells Atlas for six months. The next office in which Mr. Nies was employed was that of the Nora Springs Reveille, with which he became connected soon after it was started, in the summer of 1874. He was at first foreman in this office; but when O. H. Lyon sold the paper (which had been moved to Rockford, and was now the Rock- ford Reveille), in the fall of 1877, he became a partner of Robert Eggert in the management of that weekly. The firm of Eggert & Nies continued until May, 1878, when Mr. Nies sold his interest to Mr. Eggert, and went into the patent right business. This did not prove a fortunate investment, and in July, 1878, he bought out George H. Nichols becoming sole proprietor and editor of the Mar- ble Rock Weekly.
Mr. Nies was married Sept. 4, 1875, to Elizabethi O. Knapp, a daughter of Wm. B. Knapp, of Rockford. They have been blessed with three children -- Frank K. born June 6, 1876; George E., born Feb. 1, 1878, and Harriet Blanche, born Sept. 13, 1879.
Mr. Nies is an carnest Republican, politically, and freely works for that party in political campaigns, with the columns of the Weekly. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and is also an Odd Fellow and a member of the Iowa Legion of Honor.
NORA SPRINGS TELEPHONE.
This paper was started in the spring of 1877, the first number appearing May 31. The publishers were L. J. Keyes & Co., and L. J. Keyes and W. P. Gaylord were the editors. The Telephone was a four page weekly, eight columns to the page, the page being 26 x 19 inches in size. The editorials and selections appeared on the first page; the locals on the fourth. The columns show a goodly supply of advertisements, mostly of different business houses in Nora Springs. The motto at the head of the sheet was " Equal to our business, but not above it," which motto appeared regularly until April 14, 1881, when it was discontinued. The following salutatory set fourth the principal on which the Tele- phone was started:
The goddess of fortune who leads men on to their destiny, has whispered in our ears, and in compliance with her mandates we find ourselves located in the thriving town of Nora Springs. We
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are, in a measure, among strangers, who will intelligently judge us by our works, and upon which foundation we establish or destroy our reputation. The full force of this statement is strongly im- pressed upon our mind as we take up the pencil to introduce our- selves to the public in the capacity of a newspaper publisher. We shall, in our editorial labors at this place, aim to strengthen the bonds of friendship between neighbors; more strongly establish the reputation of our business men; encourage the orderly and good in their task of improving the morals of our community ; take a deep interest in the educational affairs of our town and surrounding coun- try; discountenance wrong in any form; collect and publish the current events of the day, and ever seek to elevate the high repu- tation Nora Springs has already established. We are not here for the purpose of "running" any person, or using any "foul " means to deprive them of the fruits of honest toil. We court peace and friendship with all mankind, believing that our short lives can be spent to better advantage than in quarreling with our neighbors. With this view we shall endeavor to exclude from the columns of the Telephone, so far as pessible, anything of a personal character that will have a tendency to mar the harmony of friendship. We shall try to so represent Nora Springs through the columns of this paper, that people in the East who are desirous of seeking homes in the West, may be induced to settle among us and enjoy the ad- vantages of our town and county. Our interests are here, our prop- erty is here, and we expect to make and spend our money here; to live, enjoy life and be one of the citizens. The town is fast in- creasing in population, and business rapidly growing; in fact, it presents more life and activity than any town we have visited west of the Mississippi. With these facts before us, we shall labor for home interests and make the Telephone an instrument for convey- ing the credit Nora Springs deserves to a great distance. Politi- cally, we are extremely radical only when the honor and reputation of our great nation is endangered. We shall adhere to the princi- ples of the Republican party, and yet feel it our duty to work against corruption and frauds that may be resorted to by unprinci- pled politicians of any party. We invite you to call at our office and get acquainted with us; our latch string is always on the out- side, and the Keyes on the inside.
In April, 1878, Dr. S. G. Blythe purchased a halfinterest in the Telephone, after which time the names of Keyes and Blythe ap- peared as editors and proprietors. The paper was published regu-
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larly until Jan. 5, 1882, on which date the last Telephone was issued. The following valedietory gives the reasons for the discontinuance of the Telephone, and the establishment of the Monitor:
This number of the Telephone will be the last of its publica- tion. It only remains for its editors to say farewell to its friends and well-wishers of the past four years, and good-bye to its enemies. The former we regret to sever our relations with, for they have been most pleasant; the latter we leave without malice or ill-will, for at most our enemities have amounted to but little more than differ- ences of opinion, which MEN ought to be able to tolerate without personal quarrels.
Our exchanges we part from with deep regret, for they have become a part of our every-day life, and we shall miss them as we would absent friends. For one and all we have kind thoughts and wish them God-speed.
The causes that led to a suspension of this publication are manifold and some of them purely personal. Two of them only shall be named, and these will suffice to prove our action.
First, we suspend publication for lack of support. As is well known by any who have experimented in this direction, the sub- scription list of a country paper does not amount to much in a compensative way, and in a community where tradesmen and business men do not appreciate the advantages to be derived from liberal advertising, a local paper cannot live. We have no disposition to publish a paper at a loss. Indeed, without remunerative patron- age the incentive to make a paper worthy is wanting.
Second, we suspend publication because a more favorable pros- pect opens before us in another direction. The office will NOT leave Nora Springs. With added material and facilities for doing first-class work, we remain and invite those who desire job work to call and examine our facilities and prices.
On January 19 will be issued from this office the first number of the Odd-Fellows' Monitor, a paper which, while specially in the interest of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, will be made a good family and general newspaper. Each subscriber of the Telephone will receive a sample copy of the new paper, and while we do not expect an extensive local patronage, we shall be glad to welcome any of our old friends, who incline to subscribe for the Monitor.
And now a word further : All persons who have overpaid on the Telephone beyond Jan. 1, 1882, will, on application at this
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office, receive every cent that is due them. All persons indebted to the Telephone must call and settle, or pay costs of collection.
Good-bye and farewell !
The Monitor is now issued regularly every Thursday, as an eight- page weekly, devoted entirely to the order of Odd Fellows. Its circulation extends to nearly every part of Iowa. In its present organization, L.J. Keyes and S. G. Blythe are the publishers ; S. G. Blythe is the editor, and Rev. B. F. Snook, of Cedar Rapids, associate editor. J. L. Wallace is also on the staff of the mechani- cal part of the work.
Luther J. Keyes was born in De Kalb, St. Lawrence County, N. Y., April 17, 1839. His parents were L. H. and E. A. (Phelps) Keyes, the former a shipbuilder by occupation. He resided in New York until 1850, when he removed to La Porte, Ind. Here he remained two years, following the trade of cabinet making, and then removed again to Sycamore, Ill. At Sycamore he resided six years, as carpenter and joiner. From thence he removed with his family to Beloit, Wis., where he remained one year. He then lived in Durand, Ill., for the next five years. Thence he removed to Waverly, Iowa, where he died, in 1871. His wife still lives, being now at Darlington, Wis., with her oldest son. Mr. and Mrs. Keyes had a family of eight children, all of whom are now living. Josiah E. lives at Darlington, Wis., and is a millwright by occupation ; has had three children. Esther M. was married to Hiram Humphrey, and lives in Minnesota ; has five children. Emily C. was married to John L. Hastings, and lives in Pecaton- ica, Ill .; has four children. The fourth of the family is Luther J. The fifth, Warren W., lives at Darlington, Wisconsin ; is a carpenter by occupation, and has a wife and two children. Sarah A., the next in order, was married to Lewis Norton, and lives at Durand, Ill. ; has six children. David B., the seventh, is a farmer at Laona, Ill .; has been married, and has two children. The youngest of the family, Frederick D., is a farmer at Davis, Ill. ; has a wife and one child.
The subject of this sketch lived with his parents until he was of age, attending the common schools of the various places in which the family resided, and the high school at La Porte, Ind. At the age of fourteen he engaged as a cabinet-worker, which he followed two years. He then worked for a time as carpenter and joiner, at Sycamore, Ill., and as painter, at Beloit, Wis.
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In 1861 he enlisted at Durand, Ill., in Company C, Fifty-fifth Illinois Infantry, and served through the war. During the four years of the Rebellion he served in every important battle in which the Western army was engaged, and was under fire one hundred and twenty days. Enlisting as a private, he was steadily promoted until when mustered as a veteran, he held the rank of Second Ser- geant. Shortly after re-enlistment Ire was promoted to the First Lieutenancy of his company, and placed in charge of Company D, which he commanded until within three months of the close of the war. He was then appointed Quartermaster, in which capacity he served until mustered out, Aug. 24, 1865. During the time he was in command of Company D, he was recommended by his Colo- nel. T. J. Andres, for a Captain's commission in said company, which was refused by Governor Oglesby on the ground that he could not transfer a man from one company to another, to be the commander of the latter. The recommendation had been made in accordance with a custom of the preceding Governor, Richard Yates, to allow Colonels to recommend any promotions and dis- tributions of officers which they deemed best for the good of the service ; but this rule Governor Oglesby did not recognize.
On returning from the war, Mr. Keyes worked at cabinet-mak- ing at Waverly, Iowa, until the fall of 1875. He then removed to Nashua, Chickasaw County, and had charge of a furniture store for some ten months. He removed next to Marble Rock, Floyd County, and established the Marble Rock Weekly, a sketch of which paper is given on another page. He remained at Marble Rock, with that paper, until the spring of 1877, when he again removed to Nora Springs, and established the Nora Springs Telephone. He has continued in the newspaper business ever since, all through the career of the Telephone, and is now working as hard as ever on the Monitor.
He was married Dec. 25, 1875, at Durand, Illinois, to Miss Esther A. Lancaster, of that place. They have no family.
Mr. Keyes is, politically, a Republican. He has always been a temperance worker, and in the spring of 1882, took a decided stand in favor of the prohibitory amendment. Heis a member and a P. G. of the I. O. O. F., the A. O. U. W. and the G. A. R.
NORA SPRINGS ADVERTISER.
This is a lively little sheet at Nora Springs, issued every Tues- day by F. M. Hubbard. It was started in the summer of 1882,
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the first number appearing July 4. The sheet is in size sixteen by twenty-two, four pages, four columns to the page. The paper has already achieved a remarkable success, and is soon to be en- larged. Mr. Hubbard is a man of energy, and whatever he takes hold of is bound to succeed.
THE MONTHLY GEOLOGIST.
This little sheet was started at Hampton, Franklin County, Ia., by Whitney Bros., in October, 1881. It was then nine inches long and six inches wide, four pages, two columns to the page. Three numbers were published at Hampton, and then its publication was continued at Rockford in an enlarged form. It is now four pages, three columns to the page, and each page is eleven inches by seven and a half inches. It appears about the middle of the month, and its subscribers are in such institutions as the School of Mines at Golden, Col., Iowa State University at Iowa City, and other schools in the country. The paper presents a very good appear- ance, and is a credit to the young men who manage it. They have a geological cabinet, and exchange specimens with all who are in- terested in this beautiful science.
FLOYD COUNTY PRESS.
In the spring of 1872 a Milwaukee job printer concluded to see what there was "beyond the Mississippi," with the double object of visiting friends and seeking a location for a newspaper. Riding or walking, for printers sometimes do ride, he reached Nashua, in Chickasaw County. Leaving there in the morning, he walked to Marble Rock, and took the cars to Nora Springs.
That day, in the latter part of May, was an eventful one, in the history of one town at least. Soon after leaving Nashua, a light, drizzling rain set in, gradually increasing, until the printer was soaking wet, and, to use his own expression, on reaching Marble Rock he "leaned against the depot to let the water drain off." At Nora Springs, with the help of a partial suit in his traveling bag, and some clothing borrowed from boarders, he was made more comfortable outwardly, and added to his inward comfort by a meal at the "Rock Grove House," while his clothing was drying beside the kitchen fire.
The next morning he " talked paper " to some of the few business men of the town, and went farther west. Returning soon after,
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he found that a subscription list had been started to raise funds with which to guarantee a year's support for a paper; and lie re- turned to Milwaukee with the understanding that he would be on hand as soon as possible, after the proper sum was pledged.
On the 18th of September, 1872, he returned to Nora Springs, built an office, 14x16 feet in size, mostly with his own hands, and in the first week of the following month issued the first paper ever printed in the town. In size it was a four-column quarto, the in- side being printed by the Chicago Newspaper Union, and contained four pages of home matter. In 1874 the paper was enlarged to a six-column quarto, which size it still maintains. The motto of the paper is: "It takes Grit to run a Newspaper," and it is still published by the same party, and on the same ground as the first number.
NORA SPRINGS REPUBLICAN.
This paper was started in the summer of 1871 by Mr. H. J. Stalker and was printed a part of the time at Mason City and part of the time at Algona. Without means to put in a press and ma- terial, the gentleman found the patronage insufficient to meet the expenses, and abandoned the enterprise after a few months.
THE FLOYD COUNTY STANDARD
Was first started at Rockford, Ia., in January, 1881, by J. B. Adams, its present editor and proprietor. It is an eight-column folio. The paper and office were removed to Charles City in Febru- ary, 1882, and occupy the upper floor of Mahara's Building. It has a good job office in connection.
Mr. J. B. Adams was born in Worcester, Mass., June 17, 1851; son of N. M. and Emma A. (Child) Adams, the former a native of Maine, and Mrs. Adams from Massachusetts. When our subject was one year old, his parents removed to Rockford, Ill., remaining one year. Then went to Mason City, Ia., where they still reside. Mr. Adams received his education in Iowa, having attended the university at Grinnell and the State University at Iowa City. He was married in November, 1872, to Miss V. O. Pushee, of Wis- consin. Politically, he is a Democrat, and his paper is conducted on the principles of that party.
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WESTERN PATRIARCH.
This paper made its appearance at Charles City, Oct. 9, 1873, under the management of C. S. Otis and S. P. Leland. The latter sold out to Charles McDonnell, and Mr. Ottis suddenly and mys- teriously disappeared, and the paper fell into the hands of A. P. Holmes, who in turn sold to John Bradley. It was a handsome six-column folio, edited with fair ability, in the interest of the Odd Fellow's order. Its existence lasted but a few years.
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CHAPTER XV.
EMINENT DEAD.
Some account of the most noted citizens of this county, who are now deceased, will be expected in this volume. The most of such are noticed in other parts of the work, especially in the chap- ter entitled "The Courts and the Bar;" others, whose sketches could not well be otherwise classified in this volume, we give some account of in this chapter.
HON. W. P. GAYLORD.
The ancestors of the Gaylord family originated in Normandy, France. The first name appears in Johnville's memoirs of Louis IX, in the thirteenth century. Some of the Gaylords moved to England in 1550 or '51. William Gaylord was a native of Exeter, England, and came to Massachusetts in the ship "Mary and John," arriving in Boston Bay, May 30, 1630, and settled in Dorchester. He died in 1673. Then followed four generations, thus: Walter, Joseph, Joseph, Jr., and Samuel, W. P.'s great-grandfather, born in 1709, who had a son Agur, a grand-father born 1730, died 1818, aged 88 years, and who settled in Norfolk, Conn. His brothers and sisters were Justus, Anna Mamre, Joseph, Thankful, Samuel, Timothy, Giles, and Esther.
Agur Gaylord had two wives, had two daughters by his first wife, and then married a widow Jerome, by whom he had three children, namely: Sarah. Esther, and Samuel. The latter was born Jan. 6, 1786, in Norfolk, Conn., and died in summer of 1861, aged 75 years. His wife's mother's maiden name was Betsey Jackson, born in Brookfield, Conn. She died in July, 1859.
Samuel Gaylord's children were eight in number, as follows: Jane, Lyman, J. Jay, Wilberforce P., Edson, Jackson, Harriet and Johnson. Deaths-Harriet, Jane, Wilberforce.
W. P. Gaylord was born in New Milford, Conn. Sarah Eliza- beth, his wife, was born in Stillwater, New Jersey. Their chil- dren were as follows: Buena Vista, born Jan. 9, 1847, in Sussex County, N. J., died Sept. 25, 1849, in Green, N. J .; Mary E., born Feb. 18, 1850, in Green, N. J., died Sept. 29, 1871, in Nora
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Springs; Harriet Aurelia, born Dec. 25, 1853, in Frelinghuysen, N. J. Buena Vista 2d, born Feb. 22, 1856, in Rock Grove, Ia. Laura A., born July 23, 1858, in Rock Grove, Ia, died Jan. 15, 1865, in Rock Grove. George, born Feb. 25, 1861, in Rock Grove; Chloe Irena, born Feb. 21, 1863, in Rock Grove. Jennie Bell, born Aug. 19, 1865, in Nora Springs. Minnie Eliza- beth, born June 27, 1869, near Nora Springs.
Mrs. W. P. Gaylord's father's name was Joseph Slater, born in Sussex County, N. J., September, 1803, and died March 1, 1869. Her mother's maiden name was Eliza Primrose. They had five children-Harriet, died Dec. 2, 1877; Sarah E .; James Britten; George A., died July, 1869; Sylvesta J.
In the spring of 1854 he came to Floyd County stayed until early in the fall when he went to Wisconsin, returning again in about a year. December 5, 1855, he was joined by his wife and family, whom he had left in New Jersey, and who came to share with him his Western home, and the vicissitudes of pioneer life in the wild region of Northern Iowa.
He located on the Shell Rock, near where Nora Springs now stands. Soon after settling there he commenced the practice of law, and was admitted to the bar at Mason City about the time of the organization of Cerro Gordo County. He was always a prominent actor in nearly all the history of the county. Being a man of great activity and perseverance, he was ever one of the foremost men in all matters affecting his county and its welfare. During the early days of the county a very bitter county-seat war was waged between the east and west sides. Prominent among the leaders was Mr. Gaylord in the interest of the west side. After they had gained the victory, a celebration of the event was held at the geographical center of the county, to rejoice over the event. The speech of congratulation by Mr. Gaylord was one of the wittiest and best of his life. So good-humored and jolly was the speech that it tended largely to disarm those of the other side.
Mr. Gaylord, in his business life and relations, held a high posi- tion. In social life he was always the center of admiring friends.
In many respects he was peculiar and odd, and yet in all his composition and nature he was the type of a true man. Noble- hearted and kind in his nature. Beneath his everyday life lay a substratum of good humor and love of jollity that bubbled out in all his writings and conversation. He was a good judge of human nature, and always formed an opinion of a person at the first meet-
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ing. Last winter, while discussing physiognomy, he remarked that he rarely had occasion to change first impressions of a person. His firmness, when he believed he was right, amounted almost to dogmatism, and yet no man was more ready to yield to the proof of a fallacious position.
He was elected a member of the Eleventh General Assembly for Floyd and Cerro Gordo counties, and of the Twelfth for Floyd -the Eleventh Assembly, re-districting the State, severing Cerro Gordo and Floyd counties. Of the Thirteenth General Assembly he was enrolling clerk. For several years he was Postmaster at Nora Springs, resigning the office to accept the position of State Senator for the Forty-sixth District in the Eighteenth General Assembly, where he served one session, with great credit. The bills which he originated and sustained to a passage, and the posi- tion which he promptly took on the woman suffrage question made his name familiar throughout the State, and the strictures of his brethren of the press on the latter point were boldly and ably met, and in a tone which promised animated discussion had he lived to again meet that subject in the Senate. At the re-assembling of the Senate, resolutions of respect and condolence, in honor of his sterling merits, were offered by Senator Wholey, as follows:
" Resolved, That this preamble and resolutions be spread upon the journal; that the secretary of the Senate be, and is hereby, directed to forward a copy of the same to the family of the de- ceased; and
" Resolved, as a further mark of respect to the deceased Senator, the Senate do now adjourn."
In all assemblies or gatherings, when present, he would draw about him throngs of eager listeners to his fund of stories and anecdotes. Among his neighbors, he was a leader who was ever regarded as a safe counselor in matters of law, business, public policy and politics. For the past ten years, he has been connected with the newspapers of his county, either as editor or proprietor. For the past three or four years, he occupied the position of ed- itor of the Nora Springs Telephone, not for a salary or pay, but because he loved the work. His pen was racy, spicy and vigorous. When he applied the lash to an opponent, there was always a sting to it, and yet so tempered with good nature that he rarely made an enemy of his adversary. He was also correspondent for the Advocate, and Intelligencer, of Charles City, the Rockford Reveille and other papers. In style he was easy and direct. Fear-
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less in his criticism, severe in his denunciation, but always fair and just as to the rights of persons-always condemning wrong and applauding right.
It is not known at exactly what date Mr. Gaylord conceived the idea of publishing a history of Floyd County, but it is certain that he had for ten or twelve years previous to his death been interested in the early history of the county, and that he spent much of his leisure time during these years on the work. He also wrote many detached sketches, some of which were published. October 16, 1874, he announced through the columns of the Reveille, of which he was then editor, that in the next issue he would begin the pub- lication of a history of Floyd County. He did so, giving a brief sketch of Rock Grove Township, and then a sketch of the early settlers of the township. His history ran along through eight or ten numbers, butincluded only matter pertaining to that one town- ship. He was dissuaded from publishing any more in the papers, on the ground that it would be better arranged, and more highly prized, if he would give his whole energies to completing the his- tory, and then have it published in book form.
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