USA > Iowa > Webster County > Fort Dodge > History of Fort Dodge and Webster County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 34
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Adelaide Nims. Membership 1903. Married March 17, 1881, to Herbert Nims. Herbert Nims enlisted August 13, 1861, in Company D, First Illinois Cavalry and was discharged June 1864. Rank private.
Emily Johnson Peterson. Membership 1898. Married February 6, 1869, to Peter Peterson, who died November 9, 1900. Peter Peterson enlisted September 28, 1864, in Company H, Eleventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and was discharged June 2, 1865, at Washington, D. C. He served under General WV. T. Sherman in the March to the sea. Rank private.
Vergenia L. Pratt. Membership 1898. Married August 29, 1875, to Herbert L. Pratt. Herbert L. (L. II.) Pratt enlisted August 15, 1862, in Company A, Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry at Camp Chase, Ohio, and was discharged at the same place July 3, 1865. Rank private.
Amelia Schnurr. Membership 1898. Deceased November 29, 1902. Married 1861, to Andrew Schnurr. Andrew Schnurr served as a private in Company A, First Tennessee, H. A. (C. S. A.)
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Edith A. Scott. Membership 1905. Married July 4, 1865. to Andrew Scott. Andrew Scott enlisted August 10, 1861, in Company F, Eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was discharged January 3, 1863. On the same date he reenlisted in Company B. Marine Brigade and was discharged from the same January 17, 1865. Rank private.
Ella Smith. Membership 1898. Married December 25, 1879, to George Smith. George Smith enlisted November 18, 1863. in Company G, Second New York Mounted Rifles, and was discharged August 10, 1865. Rank private.
IIarriet L. Taylor. Membership 1901. Married October 31, 1865, to Thomas Taylor, who died September 18, 1899. Thomas Taylor enlisted August 9, 1862. in Company G. 106th New York Volunteer Infantry at Stockholm, New York, and was discharged June 1865. Rank private.
Lucy Todd. Membership 1898. Married March 10, 1865, to John Todd. John Todd enlisted August 15, 1862, in Company F, Twentieth Wisconsin Infan- try and was discharged July 14. 1865, at Galveston, Texas. Rank private
Sarah Moore. Honorary membership 1898. Deceased August 19, 1900. Mother of J. M. Moore. (Company A. Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry ), E. V. Moore, (Company I. Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry ), Orlinda S. Hart, first wife of George D. Hart, (Company I. Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infan- try ), and Rowena Fuller, wife of Clark Fuller, (Company I. Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry ).
CHRISTOPHER BUHL
One of the most enthusiastic of the auxiliary members of the society was Christopher Buhl, who served through the war of the rebellion with a New York regiment. Later he enlisted in the regular army and was honorably dis- charged from the same at Omaha Barracks. Nebraska, March 30, 1869, at the expiration of his three years of service. His final discharge with the rank of private was from Company F, Twenty-seventh Regular United States Infantry. Christopher Buhl was born in Wersberg, Bavaria, in 1834, and died at Kalo, Iowa, April 18, 1900.
SOME "FIRSTS" IN OTHO TOWNSHIP
Solomon and F. B. Drake brought by wagon from Davenport, the first reaper and mower, in July 1856.
Clark Fuller brought the first mower, in 1862.
O. P. Fuller brought by wagon from Marengo, the first self rake reaper, in July 1863.
The first threshing machine was owned by E. V. Moore and George D. Hart, in the fall of 1859.
The first sulky plow and corn planter combined was brought by L. W. Hart from Kane county, Illinois, in 1855.
O. P. and C. Fuller sold the first pork outside of honte demand, in January, 1859. It was marketed in Iowa City, being hauled there in four wagons. The first stall-fed beef was sold by Messrs. Hart and Fuller in the spring of 1860. The cattle were driven to Washington, Iowa, where they were loaded on the cars and
MRS. HEZEKIAH BEECHER (PAULINE E.)
MRS. LIZZIE W. WILSON
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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shipped to Chicago. When the car load was sold, the remark was made, by one familiar with the market, that it was the best car load he had seen that season.
The first log house was built in the fall of 1854 taking three gatherings before it was completed. It was erected on the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 22 and was owned by Mr. Thornton. The first frame house was built by L. W. Hart in the summer of 1857, and is the same house in which Floyd Hart now resides.
The first marriage was that of Francis B. Drake and Caroline E. Hart. April 13. 1857, Rev. William Kent officiating.
The first government title to land was taken by John Ware, July 27, 1853, on the west half of the southeast quarter and the south half of the northeast quarter of section 18. The first warranty deed was given June 1, 1854, by Daniel Leaming. to N. H. Hart, and was for the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 15.
The first carpenter was E. W. Sorber, and the first blacksmith was F. L. Sperry, who built a shop in the fall of 1867, on the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 27.
The first store was kept by J. D. Wilson who began business in December. 1868. This business was later continued by R. L. Leyson, S. A. Payne, and Hart & Fuller.
The first milling was done by N. H. Hart, in the summer of 1854, on Beaver creek, seven miles this side of Des Moines. The wheat was bought near the mill. The next year he went to the mill on the Boone river, but as the flour, and the biscuits made from it, were all together too shiny, it was thought best to go the next time to Elk Rapids.
The first Christmas gathering was held at the house of Clark Fuller and L. S. Twining, in 1855. The number in attendance was thirty-three, and the bill-of- fare consisted of venison, chicken pie, vegetables, canned and pickled peaches, pickled pears, peach butter, pie and cake, with fresh grapes for dessert. Homer Moore had just come to the west and he was present as a guest.
The first sawmill was owned by Samuel Todd, and was built in 1863, on section 26. It was operated about five years. In June 1875. C. H. Griffith built a sawmill on section 15.
The first coal was mined July, 1854, near the east line of section 17, by George D. Hart, who used it for the purpose of smoking out mosquitoes. For several years small amounts were dug at what later became known as the Hackenberg mine. This coal attracted the attention of blacksmiths, as a coal suitable for their use. Specimens were taken to Tama county to test for this purpose as early as 1854. Messrs. Craig & Irvine commenced mining in 1868, on section 18 and took out about six or seven thousand bushels the first season. From this time the business steadily increased. New mines were opened up .. It was estimated that during the year 1875 there was mined 7,118 tons, and some seventy men were employed. Most of the early mining was done in the winter season. The trade was wagon trade, as there were no railroads as yet within the township. Small quantities of gypsum were mined on section 6. It was used. only for walling wells and cellars.
The first Fourth of July celebration was held in 1855 at Homer which was then the county seat. From that time until 1861 the people attended the celebra-
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tions at Homer, Border Plains, or Fort Dodge. The first celebration in Otho township was in 1862 in Hart's Grove. Until 1869 celebrations were held in connection with Sumner township, alternating one year in Otho and the next year in Sumner. At the celebration July 4, 1869, a resolution was passed as fol- lows: "That we adjourn to meet one year from today and that we do so each year in the future." Froin that time until the present there has been each year a Fourth of July celebration at Hart's Grove.
Th first known grave in this township was that of Mrs. Lott. The persent cemetery is located on the west side of the northwest quarter of southeast quarter of section 28. The first grave was that of Hattie Fuller, aged two years, daughter of Clark and Rowena Fuller, who died January 26, 1864. Previous to this there were three deaths in the township; that of Father Skinner, an infant son of George Skinner, and a child of Mrs. Pilcher. The first two were buried in the cemetery at Fort Dodge, after being temporarily buried on the farm. The Pilcher child was buried near Border Plains.
PLEASANT VALLEY TOWNSHIP
Pleasant Valley township was first organized October 11, 1870. Its bound- aries were reduced to that of the present time November 5, 1872. The first settler in the township was Thomas Holiday. The first school was taught by Miss Curtiss in 1856.
ROLAND TOWNSHIP
Roland township was organizd October 12. 1875. Mr. O. O. Myrboc was the first settler and located on the southeast quarter of section 12, in the fall of 1870. Miss Helen Cook taught the first school in the summer of 1875.
SUMNER TOWNSHIP
, Sumner township, named in honor of Charles Sumner, was organized April 6, 1857. On that day an election was held at the house of Mr. James Douglas. The judges of the election were: George W. Speir, William Morris, and W. C. Humphrey ; and the clerks of election were: I. H. Beech and O. Tyson. At this election John Johns and James Kelly were elected justices of the peace, Ezra Reade, township assessor; Oliver Tyson, township clerk. At this election thirty- one votes were polled. At a later election held August 3, of the same year, thirty- nine votes were cast. At the April election in 1858 forty-three votes were polled. At the election of October, 1859, but twenty-one votes were polled, and the next fall this was reduced to sixteen. This decrease in population was due to the hard times and the wet seasons in 1858. During that year not a bushel of wheat was harvested in the township, and those who remained did so because they were unable to get away.
In the year 1860, the assessed value of the personal property in the township amounted to $2,992.00. Fifteen years later this had increased to $166,154.00.
The first school taught in Sumner township was a subscription school taught by Mrs. Minerva Beach-Moore. The school was kept in a log cabin on section
MRS. GEORGE KLINEDOB (MARGARET)
GEORGE KLINEDOB Associate of E. E. Prusia
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1. The first public schoolhouse in the township was built at Buchanan in 1859, and the first school taught in the new building was in 1860, by E. B. Price.
The Methodist Episcopal church was organized at the then town of Vesper, later Lehigh, in the spring of 1857. The first members were Walter Goodrich, Minerva Goodrich, George Nettleton. Louisa Nettleton, I. H. Beach and Ellen Beach. The first ministers were: Rev. Carage and Rev. Abbott, and later Rev. George Hook. A Universalist church ,was organized in the spring of 1867, by Rev. A. Smith. The Congregational church was organized November 21, 1863. The first members were: Ezra Comley, William Tyson, Oliver Tyson, C. C. Lambert, Lonetta Tyson, Roxcena Tyson, Delilah Humphrey, Anna Comley and Alice Comley. The pastor of this church was Rev. F. Fawkes, of Otho. A Ger- man Evangelical church was organized in 1869, the first minister being Rev. Henry Beaurer. A Baptist church was organized at Hesperian, later called Burnside, September 4, 1875. The first members were: Sylvia Hammerly, John Hammerly, W. V. Manchester, T. Lapham, Mary J. Manchester, Seneca Andrews, Ada Andrews, Charlotte Wilson, William Tennant, Phoebe Tennant, D. W. Lapham, Lizzie Lapham, and George Bolton. The first minister was Rev. J. D. Casserly. The United Brethren organized a church June 11, 1876. The first members were Mr. and Mrs. N. E. Howard, Mr. and Mrs. H. Bone and Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Frye.
When the call was made for soldiers to suppress the rebellion, eleven citizens of this township responded. They were: M. C. Humphrey, Elias Humphrey, Samuel Simmons, John Speer, Samuel Baldridge, James Beach, Thomas Bald- ridge, N. Baldridge, James Baldridge, E. L. Goodrich and George P. Williams. Of these the first six named died in the army. Part were killed in battle, a part died of lisease, and one died of starvation in the prison pen at Andersonville.
In a paper read at a Fourth of July celebration held at Tyson's Mill, in 1876, Mr. E. B. Price describes the pioneer life in the township as follows :
"In dress, the greatest simplicity and economy compatible with decency was observed by both sexes. Women in plain calico dresses and gingham sunbonnets, were accompanied to church by husbands in shirt sleeves, denim pants and bare feet. The people being alike all poor, easily became reconciled to this pioneer dress, but in the matter of something to eat, and more particularly 'something to drink' they met with serious difficulty. With coffee at sixty cents per pound and tea at $2.00, those old coffee and tea topers were sorely pressed at times to devise ways and means by which to gratify their predilections for their favorite beverage. Roasted peas and chicory, corn meal and molasses mixed and burned until very black, wheat and rye, each had enthusiastic admirers as substi- tutes for coffee. and the merits of the several compounds were freely discussed when a friend dropped in at meal time, on an occasion of friendly visits, which were more frequent in those days than at the present time. Dancing was the principal amusement in which the people engaged up to about the year 1865 and the dancers were principally married couples. It frequently happened that at a dance where there were twelve or sixteen couples there would not be to exceed three young ladies. Babies were tucked up and laid around in the corners, on chairs and benches, and 'do please hold my baby this set and I'll hold yours the next,' is the way they managed the little innocents at such times."
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WALKONSA TOWNSHIP
Wahkonsa township, named in honor of the Indian chief of the same name, was organized March 3. 1856. The first election was held the first Monday in April, 1856, in the old log schoolhouse, built by the government. At this election, A. M. Dawley was chosen justice of the peace, and H. F. Watson, constable. Watson subsequently resigned and Judge Charles B. Richards appointed E. H. Albee to fill the vacancy. The township of Wahkonsa and the city of Fort Dodge have the same territory, and the township history is that of the city.
WEBSTER TOWNSHIP
Webster township was first organized in August, 1853, and was named in honor of Daniel Webster. The first township officers were: Benjamin Corbin, justice of the peace ; Benjamin McPheeters, clerk. The township was reorganized March 3, 1857. and the election was held the first Monday in April of that year, at the house of Daniel Daniels. At this election Josiah Doane was elected justice of the peace.
The first settler of the township was Luodowic Maricle, who came in 1848. R. W. W. Alcorn taught the first school, in a small house on section 19. The first church was the Methodist Episcopal church, organized in 1852 by Rev. J. B. Montgomery, at the home of William Pierce. Later the congregation built a church in Homer.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
Washington was the first township organized in Webster county, and embraces all the territory now contained in Webster and Hamilton counties. It was organ- ized by virtue of an order, issued by the Hon. Samuel B. McCall, judge of the county court of Boone county. The first election was held on Monday, April 4, 1853: and the following officers were elected: Samuel Eslick, assessor; John H. Cofer, John Tolman, justices of the peace; John Devore and Charles Borchard, constables; Isaac H. Cook, Andrew Grossclose and John Gaylor, trustees; Luodowic Maricle, clerk.
The first settler was Luodowic Maricle, in 1849. The first school was in a log house on section 25, township 88, range 28, and was taught by Mrs. Francis B. Drake. Mrs. Drake taught three months. The total number enrolled was twenty-eight. On the last day of school, one of the directors called and paid the teacher her wages in gold. This district, then No. 4 in the county, received that year $29.92 from the public school fund.
The Evangelical Lutheran Norwegians organized a church in 1870. A Union society was organized in 1876 and held their meetings at the schoolhouse near the Francis Brewer home. It was supplied once in four weeks by Rev. L. S. Coffin, a self supporting missionary. The Methodist Episcopals organized a church in 1854. The first Catholic church was St. Joseph's Catholic church at Duncombe.
YELL TOWNSHIP
Yell township received its name from Colonel Archibald Yell, who served in the Mexican war, and was afterwards governor of Arkansas. The township was
JOHN KEMPLEY Builder and owner of Kempley's Mill, Pleasant Valley township
SOCRATES G. STEVENS
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organized March 3, 1856, by order of the county court upon petition of Thomas Landreth and nineteen others. The present boundaries were established in 1858. The first election was held the first Monday in April, 1856, at the house of Stephen Stark. At this election Alexander Dowd was elected clerk, and John R. Payne and Thomas Cole. justices of the peace.
The first settler in this township, after Harry Lott, was Squire McGuire. The first school was organized in 1856 with an enrollment of thirty. It was taught by Mrs. Eli S. Geyer. The first church established was a Baptist church which was organized in 1858.
Yell township was the first home of Henry Lott. Granville Berkley says he found Lott living in this township when he came up with Major Olmstead to locate the site for the fort. and stayed all night with him. At that time Lott was thirty-five miles north of any settlement.
GOWRIE
The present site of the town of Gowrie was originally owned by E. A. Lynd, who secured the ground from the government October 1, 1870. He also built the first residence and store the same year. The first business firm was E. A. Lynd and George Stephen. The first doctor in the town was Dr. O. E. Evans. The first child born in the town was Mamie Stephens. The first term of school was presided over by Miss Alice Webster in 1871. The daily average attendance was six. The first sermon was preached Sunday, February 11, 1871, by Rev. Bascom, before an audience of sixteen. The text was, "Who despiseth the day of small things." E. A. Lynd was the first railroad agent, and W. G. Godair erected the first grain elevator in 1876. The town was christened Gowrie by a stockholder of the Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railroad, who named it after his native town in Scotland. The census of the town, taken in 1875, showed the inhabitants to con- sist of seventy-seven males and eighty females. S. E. Weitzell was the pioneer lumber dealer in Gowrie. Two other early settlers were. J. Y. Madden and G. H. Porter.
Gowrie was made famous by Major Elijah W. Sorber and his famous mar- riage proclamation issued January 22, 1904. The idea had its source in the good nature for which the mayor was noted among his friends and acquaintances. He was one day entertaining an old friend and comrade, George Coats of Farnham- ville. Finally the conversation drifted to a discussion of the number of unmar- ried in the town, and in which class Mayor Sorber himself belonged. Simply to create a little fun, the mayor decided he would issue a proclamation imposing a fine on all who remained unmarried at the close of the leap year of 1904. Calling in the editor of the Gowrie News, the mayor gave him for publication the follow- ing official proclamation :
"To whom it may concern :
"Be it known that it is hereby ordered and adjudged that all widows and old maids inside the incorporate limits of the town of Gowrie, who do not recognize the rights accorded them by custom on leap year to propose to some widower or old bachelor within the year, shall be subject to a fine of not less than one dollar, or more than ten dollars, and any widower or bachelor refusing such proposition. shall be subject to a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $20. All fines to revert
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to the town for a public library fund. Of this take due notice and govern yourselves accordingly.
"Given under my hand and seal of the great commonwealth of Gowrie this 22nd day of January, 1904.
"E. W. Sorber, Mayor."
A unique feature of Gowrie is the Tower opera house, a municipally owned opera house. The building is also used as a town hall. The Gowrie News is a weekly paper owned and published by A. F. Patton.
LEHIGH
Oliver Tyson platted the town of Lehigh, and was also the first inhabitant of the town which was called "Slabtown," on account of the sawmill at this place operated by Mr. Tyson, which was its first industry. Later the town was called Lehigh after the Lehigh coal fields of the east. The first coal was mined in 1858. The first mayor was J. T. Brannigan. The first postmaster was John Buck. The first store was started by Oliver Tyson in the spring of 1871. The first railroad built in the town was the Crooked Creek road in 1878. The H. W. Ross hard- ware store was opened in 1877. The S. D. Conlee general merchandise store was opened in 1885. The Lehigh Valley bank was organized as a private bank in 1884 by C. S. Hall & Sons. Later they sold out to Thompson & Trumbauer. While the output of coal has greatly decreased, there is still a considerable quan- tity mined. The chief industry at the present time however is the manufactur- ing of clay products.
THE LEHIGH VALLEY ECHO
The beginning of journalism in Lehigh was recalled by Ned Howard in a letter to Editor Hal C. Fuller, of the Lehigh Valley Argus, and which was pub- lished in that paper under date of January 25, 1912. Mr. Ned Howard tells of their trouble in getting out the first issue as follows: "I believe it was thirty-one years ago this winter, in a little old wooden building just south of the H. W. Ross hardware store, that Ira T. Brannigan and myself struck off the first copy of the Lehigh Valley Echo, and thus journalism had its birth in Lehigh.
"And, ye gods, what a sheet! I was then a boy of fifteen, and had never before seen a press and Brannigan was fully as expert as I in the intricacies of the journalistic art; he had bought or borrowed an old second hand press from someone in Fort Dodge, and when they shipped it they sent a printer (Hoyt Rees) along to set it up and run it ; but he got lost enroute and did not show up until a week later; it was not that he was drunk, for any of the old-timers in Lehigh will bear me out in the assertion that Hoyt Rees never drank.
"The press was one of those old Armstrong affairs, intended for a giant to work with one hand, but as we were both light weights and not used to operating a press it took our combined strength to work it ; then you had to ink the type at every impression, the room was so cold that the ink froze, and altogether we had the time of our lives. But we finally got the paper out ; and as I look back through the haze of years I can remember seeing Brannigan the next day, strutting proudly down the street with head erect, chest inflated and fully three
C. F. DUNCOMBE Editor "Fort Dodge Chronicle"
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inches added to his stature, and he seemed to my boyish eyes the living, breath- ing embodiment of all that was grand and great; for was he not an editor ?
"Brannigan was principal of the school at Lehigh at that time, and I remem- ber it from the fact that this was the last term of school I attended, the course having since been fully completed in the school of hard knocks."
DAYTON
So far as is known the first settler in the town of Dayton was B. F. Allison, who built the first residence and store, and platted the town, November, 1856. In 1880 the town was incorporated with G. S. Guyer as the first mayor and John Baker as the first postmaster. The original name of the town was West Dayton, named after Dayton, Ohio. The "West" was afterwards dropped and it has since been known as Dayton.
The first child born was Miss Ida Allison. The first teacher was Stephen Kelly. The first car load of stock shipped over the Northwestern railroad from Dayton was in 1881, and was the property of G. A. Gustafson. The State Bank of Dayton is the pioneer bank of the town. It was organized as a private bank in 1882, and incorporated as a state bank five years later. The Farmers State Bank was organized in July 1894. The first church organized in Dayton was the Swedish Methodist Episcopal in 1857, followed by the English speaking Method- ist Episcopal in 1858. In 1860 the German Lutherans organized a church, and in 1862 the Swedish Lutherans formed a society and subsequently erected a large church.
DAYTON WEEKLY REVIEW
The first number of the Dayton Weekly Review bears the date May 2, 1879. It was founded by Cyrus D. Auyer and Chas. E. Denison, according to the names signed to the "bow" which the new paper gave in its first issue, and they stated as their aim "To labor in the interest of the people of Webster county in general, and the territory lying south of Fort Dodge in particular, a duty in journalism long ago lost sight of by the papers of this county." Some of the questions dis- cussed sound quite modern, for they say, "Reciprocity will be our motto; it is a cardinal virtue, and one that will serve as a shining landmark to all classes and conditions so long as the world stands;" their leading editorial, also, was upon the subject of "Working the roads," pleading for the improvement of the high- ways for the benefit both of travel and of business."
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