USA > Iowa > Webster County > Fort Dodge > History of Fort Dodge and Webster County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 33
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ELKHORN TOWNSHIP
Elkhorn township was detached from Otho, October 10, 1871, and the first election held the same year. Walter Francis was elected justice of the
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peace and clerk. The first settler was Cyrus Rood, who came in 1855. Other early settlers were John Moon, Ben Granger, Mr. Scoville, Mr. Knight and James Rood, who was afterward killed in the Civil war.
The first school was organized in 1858, with an enrollment of twelve, and was taught by Mrs. Orlinda Moore-Hart. The Evangelical Lutheran (Nor- wegian) church was established August 4, 1871, with a membership of eleven. The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1871 and for a long time held services in the Tapper schoolhouse.
FULTON TOWNSHIP
Fulton township, named in honor of Robert Fulton, was organized by order of court, September 11, 1868. The first election was held at the home of J. L. French, November 3, 1868. At this meeting J. L. French presided and J. B. Scott acted as secretary. William Chase, Charles A. French, and Joseph Taylor were chosen judges of election. They appointed Enos A. Churchill and John B. Scott clerks of election. The first justice of the peace was B. B. Cook, and Enos A. Churchill was the first clerk. The first member of the board of supervisors from Fulton township was John B. Scott. At that time each town- ship had one member on the board.
The first settler in the township was William Chase. The first schoolhouse was built in 1869 on section 14, Miss Anna Churchill was the first teacher.
GOWRIE TOWNSHIP
Gowrie township was organized October 10, 1871. The first settler in the township outside the town of Gowrie was John Steinholm. There were no settlers until the Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railroad was built and the town ·of Gowrie was established in 1870. The township was named from the town of Guthrie, which in turn, received its name at the suggestion of a stockholder of the Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railroad, the name being that of his native town in Scotland.
HARDIN TOWNSHIP
Hardin township was organized in August, 1853. It was named in honor of Joseph Hardin, who settled in 1849 on section 2, and subsequently built a large hotel at Hook's Point. The first township clerk was Jonathan Milburn. The first death was that of the child of Rev. John Linn, in October, 1850. The first birth was a daughter of the same gentleman. The first school taught in the township was in the summer of 1854. This was then district No. i, and the amount of money paid by the school fund commissioner was $19.72. In the summer of 1854. Rev. Smith of Fairfield. Iowa, organized the first Swedish Methodist church, with thirty members. In 1876, they built a church which cost about $4,000.00. In the fall of 1854, Rev. Hokanson organized a Swedish Lutheran church, with a charter list of ten. A short time later this society built a meeting house which cost about $1,000.00. The Swedish Baptists established a church in 1856, with eighteen members.
GOWRIE PARK
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GOWRIE HIGH SCHOOL
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TOWER OPERA HOUSE, GOWRIE A municipal owned opera house-also used as city hall
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JACKSON TOWNSHIP
Jackson township was organized September 20, 1859, by an order of the board of supervisors in response to a petition signed by S. G. Stevens and fifty others. The township was named in honor of Andrew Jackson. The first election was held at the home of Richard P. Furlong, October 11, 1859. Thomas White, Sylvester Griffin, Thomas Rial being the first judges of election.
The first settler in the township was Hugh Collins, who came in February, 1855. The first school in the township was taught by Mrs. Peter Donahue in the summer of 1856, in a log house situated on section 36. The first church organized in the township was St. Patrick's Catholic church.
JOHNSON TOWNSHIP
On October 17, 1860, a petition, signed by L. S. Coffin and others, was presented to the board of supervisors, asking for a division of Jackson town- ship and the organization of a new township out of the southern part. The petition was granted and on the same day Johnson township was organized, being named in honor of Andrew Johnson.
The first election was held November 6, 1860, at the home of William Preston, and Hamilton Snodgrass was elected the first clerk.
The first school was taught in the summer of 1857 by Miss Mary J. Stevens in a claim cabin on section 2. So careful was she of the rights of the settler, that the cook stove and bed were left undisturbed. George W. Young was the first settler and came in March, 1855, locating on section I.
LOST GROVE TOWNSHIP
Lost Grove township embraces all of township 86. Mr. Ralph Mitchell, the first settler in the township, was also the first justice of the peace and clerk. The township received its name from a grove which stood near the center of the township, fifteen miles distant from any other timber, and was known to the early settlers as Lost Grove.
The first church organized in the township was the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran, in 1871. Mrs. Ralph Mitchell was the first school teacher.
NEWARK TOWNSHIP
Newark township was organized October 14, 1873. The oldest settler was Mr. John Teters, who came from Newark, Ohio. At his request the board of supervisors named the township Newark, in honor of his native town.
OTHO TOWNSHIP
Otho township embraces all that part of township 88, north of range 28 west, lying on the west side of the Des Moines river, and contains 10,009 3-4
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acres. It was named after Otho I, king of Germany, who was born in 923 and died in 973, and who for his abilities and virtues is known in history as "Otho, the Great," and "Otho, the Good."
Henry Lott, the first white settler, built his cabin on section 26, near where Mr. Todd later erected his. sawmill. This was in 1850 or 1851. Lott cultivated very little land, spending most of his time in hunting, fishing and trading with the Indians. His second wife was the daughter of Francis Mc- Guire, of Yell township. She died December 10, 1851. and was buried on the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 27, near where Mr. Van Valkenburg's house was later erected. All traces of the grave are now obliterated. She left an infant son, who was the first white child born in the township. In November, 1853, Mr. Lott moved to Humboldt county.
March 4, 1855, John Tolman, school fund commissioner for the county, issued an order for the organization of a school district embracing the same territory as the present township, and appointed the first Monday in May as the time for perfecting the organization. At the appointed time the school dis- trict was organized, D. C. Livingston was elected secretary. The district was known as No. 12 of Washington township. On the 28th of January, 1855, the first vote was taken to levy a tax for the purpose of building and furnishing a school- house. The amount of this tax according to one of the original notices, posted as required by the school law then in force, was $171.87, taxed against twenty-eight persons, one-half of whom were residents, and the other half non-residents own- ers of land. This notice was dated February 5, 1856. The first school teacher was Miss Orlinda S. Moore, who taught school in the summer of 1857, in a room IOX12 in a building located on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 28. The annual report of the secretary to the school fund commis- sioner for the year ending September 30, 1857, gives the number of pupils en- rolled as twelve. The number of persons of school age, five to twenty-one years, was seventeen. The number of days of school teaching was sixty, and the total amount paid the teacher during the year was $48.00, the monthly wages being $16.00. The first schoolhouse was built in district No. I during the summer of 1861, O. P. Fuller being sub-director. In 1869 this school was established as a graded school and continued as such for four years. The school in district No. 2 was organized in June, 1874.
Otho postoffice was established in 1858 with F. B. Drake as postmaster. He served about eight years.
On the second of March, 1857, Judge W. N. Meservey issued the order creat- ing the civil township of Otho, and appointed as the place of holding the first election the house of Norman Hart, and the first Monday in April. 1857, as the time for such election. Otho township as first organized contained all of town- ship 88 north, of ranges 28 and 29 west, lying west of the Des Moines river. In October, 1871, the board of supervisors set off township 88, range 29, leaving the boundaries of the township as at present. Township 88, range 29, was organized as Elkhorn township.
At this election officers were chosen as follows: D. C. Livingston, township clerk; Cyrus Rood, L. W. Hart, J. M. Hefley, township trustees; and Norman Hart, justice of the peace. It cost the justice of the peace fifty cents to qualify. and during his term of office the receipts were nothing.
SWEDISH MISSION CHURCH, HARDIN
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SCHOOLHOUSE IN DISTRICT NO. 2, HARDIN
SCHOOLHOUSE IN DISTRICT NO. 3, HARDIN
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Spartan Lodge No. 226, I. O. O. F., was organized June 26, 1871, by deputy grand master J. W. Roper of Olive Lodge No. 85 of Fort Dodge. Its first officers were: D. R. Fuller, N. G .; S. D. Atherton, V. G .; E. O. Parkhurst, R. S .; B. B. Goodrich, P. S .; E. W. Sorber, treasurer.
Virginia Rebekah Degree Lodge was organized December 29. 1873, with fourteen members, the organizing officer being D. R. Fuller. The first officers were D. R. Fuller, N. G .: Martha Sorber, V. G .; E. W. Sorber, R. S .; Martha A. Fuller, treasurer.
The first singing school was taught by Solomon Drake in the winter of 1856-57.
In the spring of 1854 there were four families living in the township, and about seventy-four acres were in cultivation. Two families had moved, that had lived in the township for a short time, one of them made the first improvement on section 15 where the Hudson homestead now stands, and the other on section 8. The four families here were those of John Spear living on section 26, Daniel Leaming on section 15, Z. Collins on section 21, and John Ware on section 18. Of these, two moved away that spring, one the next, and the other in about six years.
On March 13, 1855, the Otho Congregational church was organized, with five charter members: Deacon Norman Hart and his wife, Marcia Hart, and three of their children, Norman, Lucius, and Caroline. Rev. Thomas Skinner was pastor, and in 1855 he preached the first Thanksgiving sermon in the town- ship. Services were held every Sabbath in the little log cabin, the home of Deacon and Mrs. Norman Hart, about two miles east of where the present church is located; or in the log cabin occupied by Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Hart.
In about a year Norman H. Hart built a log cabin on his farm near the present church. This cabin stood until recently. Here church services were held until 1860, when a schoolhouse, called the Number One schoolhouse, was built in about the center of section 28.
In August, 1859, Francis B. Drake and Clark Fuller were appointed delegates from the Otho church to the Northwestern Association at Iowa Falls, with instructions to use their own judgment as to whether or not the church should unite with this association. The church became a member of the association, which it entertained from time to time. At one of these association meetings on August 19, 1866, Deacon Norman Hart presented the church with a beautiful communion service which is still in use.
During 1866 a parsonage wa's built one-half mile north from the schoolhouse. Rev. C. F. Boynton was the first occupant. Previous to this Rev. Boynton lived in Fort Dodge, and preached there, as well as in Otho. As the years went by, a little village valled Kalo sprung up among the hills and valleys bordering the Des Moines river, about two miles northwest of the schoolhouse, and the church, ever watchful of the opportunity to do good, erected a church building near the village, in 1883, at a cost of $3.330.00 and in 1893 the old parsonage was sold and one provided near the church.
The following named ministers followed Rev. Skinner in serving the church for a longer or shorter period of time: Rev. William Kent, Rev. Boardman, Rev. C. F. Boynton. Rev. A. V. House, Rev. George Bent, Rev. Francis Fawkes, Rev. Julius Stevens, Rev. Norman McLeod, Rev. N. L. Burton, Rev. R. H. Vol. I-18
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Dolliver and Rev. Hall (pastors of the Methodist Episcopal church when the churches held union services), Rev. Francis Fawkes, for a second pastorate, Rev. Thomas I. James, Rev. Lydia 1. James, wife of the above, Rev. Ira O. Mallory, Rev. Charles A. Chambers, Rev. F. R. Rawlinson.
Rev. Fawkes served the church for twenty years, and on January 1, 1905, was elected pastor emeritus, and he has resided in the community ever since his re- tirement in 1904.
The Otho church has held services nearly every Sabbath since its organiza- tion. When without a pastor or a preacher a sermon was read. During his lifetime Deacon Norman Hart usually performed this service, and after his death his son, Norman H., took up the duty while he lived, or found some one to fill the pulpit or read a sermon.
At the time the schoolhouse was built the regular midweek prayer meeting was organized. It was held on Wednesday afternoon at four o'clock and the people came from their work for miles around to spend an hour in prayer together. The leader was usually a layman, and he appointed his successor. When the congregation moved into its new church building, the hour was changed to evening; eight in the summer and seven-thirty in the winter.
The church has maintained a Sunday school ever since its organization.
The preaching and teaching spirit has reached out and lent a helping hand to others. Preaching service has been held by the pastor of the Otho church in the. Welcome schoolhouse, the Tapper schoolhouse, and the Greenside schoolhouse.
Sunday school was kept up in the Welcome schoolhouse and the Craig's Hollow schoolhouse, till the Methodist Episcopal society built a church and organized a class near these places, to look after the children in the neighborhood. A Sunday school was also maintained in the Tapper schoolhouse, until the United Brethren built a church, about two miles south of this schoolhouse, and took up the work.
The Otho church has furnished its full share of Sunday school workers who did work in other parts of Webster county. F. B. Drake, C. H. Payne, N. H. Hart. G. D. Hart and others helped to reinforce weak Sunday schools, organize new ones and worked with other denominations in the interdenominational Sunday school work of the county, holding conventions and organizing Sunday schools.
An aid society was organized in 1870, with Mrs. Bent for its first president. It was named the Otho Aid Society, and the gentlemen were taken in as honorary members. Deacon Norman Hart gave the first five dollars as a nest egg. Its object was to give aid wherever it was needed. The general program was a meeting every two weeks at some home, work in the afternoon, then devotional and business meeting, lunch, and mite society in the evening for the young folks, with light refreshments and a collection.
The Y. P. S. C. E. was organized in 1882 with Miss Theta Hart as its first president.
On March 13 and 14, 1905, the Otho church celebrated its semi-centennial with an appropriate program. Three of the charter members were present : Norman H. Hart, who died November 22, 1909, Lucius W. Hart and his sister, Caroline E. Drake, wife of Francis B. Drake. George D. Hart and Francis B. Drake were also present, both at the first meeting, and its fiftieth anniversary.
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W .- C., '61-65 SOCIETY, OTHO TOWNSHIP, FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING, APRIL 9, 1903 Upper row, left to right-Pratt, Moore, McCloskey, Smith, Todd, Carver, Hart, Nims, Nichols Lower row, left to right-Pratt, Moore, Smith, Todd, Carver. Hart, Schnurr, Nichols
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THE "W. C. (61-65) SOCIETY"
The W. C. (61-65) Society of Otho township, Webster county, lowa, is a patriotic society composed of the resident wives or widows of the soldiers, sailors, or marines who served in the Civil war. That the Mason and Dixon line does not run in this society is shown by the fact that one of the charter members of the society was Mrs. Andrew Schnurr, whose husband served in the southern army. The part which the mothers of the land played in the great struggle was recognized in the election to honorary membership of "Grandma" ( Mrs. Sarah) Moore, who gave two sons (J. M. and E. V. Moore) and two sons-in-law (Clark Fuller and G. D. Hart ) in response to the country's call for defenders. Bravely these mothers made the sacrifice at parting and bravely they struggled on alone at home.
The meetings of the society are held each year on the ninth of April, the anniversary of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. These meetings are chiefly of a social nature. In the forenoon, the ladies hold a business session, while the comrades exchange tales of camp and field. Then all join in the closing exercises, and the "Lord of Hosts" is not forgotten for the exercises always close with a reading from the scriptures and a prayer. Then all respond to the mess call and adjourn to the dining room where rations are served. The patriotic spirit of the day is never missed from these meetings. Old Glory always predom- inates in the decorations for the occasion; and the programs have always breathed the spirit of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."
The origin of the society is to be found in a conversation between MMrs. George D. Hart and Mrs. L. H. Pratt, which occurred in the early part of the year 1898. Their idea was to hold in the spring a social gathering of the surviv- ors of the Civil war and their wives and widows residing in Ohio township. Following this idea a meeting was held at the home of Comrade and Mrs. G. D. Hart, on April 9, 1898. Thirteen comrades and fifteen of the wives or widows were present at this meeting. "Grandma" Moore was also present at this first gathering.
The meeting proved to be a most enjoyable one, so while the comrades spent the time in talking of the past, swapping yarns of humor and of pathos, the women, ever practical, bethought themselves to perfect an organization and thus provide for the continuation of the occasion. With this idea in view temporary officers were elected as follows: President, Mrs. L. H. Pratt ; secretary, Mrs. George D. Hart ; treasurer, Mrs. T. C. Carver. The present name of the society, which means wives or widows of the comrades of 1861 to 1865, was then unani- mously adopted, and a committee was appointed to draft a constitution and by- laws, which was to be presented at another meeting to be held one year from that date. The business of organization over, those present listened to several songs sung by Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt Hart, among which was one entitled, "My Father's Flag and Mine." And then the gathering adjourned after having spent a most enjoyable day and provided for its future recurrence.
Counting the preliminary meeting there have been fifteen meetings of the society. Two of the members, Mrs. John Todd and Mrs. L. H. Pratt, and three of the comrades, John Todd, I. H. Pratt, and G. D. Hart, have been present at all.
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Of the nineteen members of the society, three, Mrs. Rowena Fuller, Mrs. Etta Carver, and Mrs. Esther Lingard, were married before the war. Since the first meeting, five members and five comrades have died. Two of the members and two comrades have moved away. The present membership of the society is thirteen with nine of the comrades as auxiliary members.
The comrades who have been, and are auxiliary members of the society are : *Christopher Buhl, *T. C. Carver, *Jeremiah Dawson, George D. Hart, *Edward Lingard, J. M. Moore, George Muzzy, John Nichols, Herbert A. Nims, *Peter Peterson, L. H. Pratt, Andrew Schnurr, Andrew Scott, George Smith, John Todd, William Barton.
Rotation in office has not been one of the principles of this society, for the temporary officers of 1898 were regularly elected the following year, and then were reelected each year until 1905, when they were chosen for life.
In closing her report of the first ten years of the existence of the society, the secretary, Mrs. G. D. Hart, says, "Sometimes there were sweet wild flowers, sometimes the ice was just going out of the river. Sometimes we had good roads, sometimes rough or muddy ones. Sometimes a warm atmosphere greeted us, sometimes chilly winds ; but there was always plenty of patriotism, and love, and good wishes for each other, and a gradual cementing together of the sympa- thies, friendships and interests of the Comrades and W .- C.'s of the war of 1861 to 1865, who reside in Otho township."
The annual meeting places of the society have been as follows: (1899), Mr. and Mrs. T. C. Carver; (1900), Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Schnurr; (1901), Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Moore ; (1902), Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Dawson; (1903), Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Pratt ; (1904). Mr. and Mrs. John Todd; (1905), Mr. and Mrs. John Nichols; (1906), Mr. and Mrs. George Smith; (1907), Mrs. Deborah Claflin ; (1908), Mr. and Mrs. John Todd; (1909), Mr. and Mrs. G. D. Hart ; (1910), Mr. and Mrs. John Nichols; (1911), Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Scott ; (1912), Mrs. Peter Peterson.
At the 1912 meeting, it was decided to perpetuate the society by admitting as honorary members descendants of the original members.
MEMBERS OF SOCIETY
Måry H. Andrews. Membership 1898. Deceased October 2, 1903. Married December 22, 1865, to C. B. Andrews, who died August 24, 1890. C. B. Andrews enlisted August 16, 1862, in Company I, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was discharged August 24, 1865. Rank private.
Lucretia Carver. Membership 1898. Married March 6, 1858, to T. C. Carver. T. C. Carver enlisted August 15, 1862, in Company B, Twenty-eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry at East Troy, Wisconsin, and was discharged August 23, 1865. Rank private.
Deborah H. Claflin. Membership 1898. Married March 30, 1888, to Cornelius Claflin, who died June, 1891. Cornelius Claflin enlisted Angust 16, 1862, in Company I, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and was discharged August 24, 1865, at Clinton, Iowa. During the term of his service was appointed first lieutenant and later captain in a regiment of colored troops.
Mary Jane Dawson. Membership 1900. Married August 6, 1872, to Jeremialı
* Deceased.
CHRISTOPHTER ARNOLD First barber in Fort Dodge and builder of Arnold's Dam
MRS. CHRISTOPHIER ARNOLD (ROSINA)
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Dawson, who died September 26, 1907. Jeremiah Dawson was a member of Company G, One Hundred Forty-third Regiment Ohio National Guard and was discharged from same December 10, 1864. Rank private.
Rowena Fuller. Membership 1898. Deceased October 23, 1898. Married October 27, 1853, to Clark Fuller, who died October 18, 1895. Clark Fuller en- listed August 16, 1862, Company I, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry at Fort Dodge. Iowa, and was discharged August 24, 1865, at New Orleans, Louisiana. Rank sergeant in commissary department.
Pervilla Hart. Membership 1898. Married June 11, 1885, to George D. Hart. George D. Hart enlisted August 16, 1862, in Company I, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and was discharged July 1, 1865, at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Rank private.
Esther Lingard. Membership 1898. Deceased November 29, 1907. Married 1849, in Lincolnshire, England, to Edward Lingard, who died May 8, 1901. Edward Lingard enlisted August 9, 1862, in Company H, Twenty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was discharged September 4, 1863, at Black River Bridge, Mississippi. Rank private.
Lizzie Moore. Membership 1898. Married September 7, 1896, to J. M. Moore. J. M. Moore enlisted August 17, 1861, in Company A, Eleventh Penn- sylvania Cavalry and was discharged September 22, 1864. Rank private.
Jenett A. Muzzy. Membership 1898. Married November 10, 1868, to George Muzzy. George Muzzy enlisted August 11, 1862, in Company I, One Hundred Eighteenth New York Volunteer Infantry and was discharged June 29, 1865. Rank private.
Mary E. McCloskey. Membership 1898. Married March 19, 1877, to W. H. McCloskey, who died September 7, 1897. W. H. McCloskey enlisted December 10, 1862, in Company C, Seventh Iowa Cavalry and was discharged January 31, 1866. Rank private.
Emma Cooper Nichols. Membership 1898. Married August 20, 1874, to John Nichols. John Nichols enlisted February 4, 1864, in Company E, Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Later was transferred to Company K, Twelfth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and was discharged from the latter July 16, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky. Rank private.
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