USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth County, Iowa > Part 15
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"J. W. Moore, who had been particularly anxious to get a minister to come here, was then at Fort Dodge with D. W. King, going to Boonesboro, I think, for supplies. I looked them up, got an introduction to them, told Mr. Moore what I wanted, and he seemed anxious to have me come here; said that I could board
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with him, hold meetings in his house, and gave me a letter of introduction to Lewis H. Smith, who had the management of matters during his absence. I started for Algona on foot, crossed the Des Moines, I think, where the mill now stands, getting a man who was taking his goods over in a canoe, expecting to swim his horses, to put me across; came on and crossed the west fork at Miller's, came to Dakota, where I found one log cabin, and came to Washington Hand's and stayed over night. The next morning, April 19, crossed the east fork of the river, passed a steam mill, or part of one, coming to Irvington, and took dinner at Jacob C. Wright's-the first meal of victuals that I ate in Kossuth county. Irvington then consisted of one log cabin (the Kendall Young log hotel) and expected to be a formidable rival of Algona in contending for the county seat.
"Calling on all the families on the road from Irvington here, I arrived about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and found men scattered about surveying the town site. I inquired of the first man I found for Lewis H. Smith, and easily recognized him from his red shirt and surveyor's instruments. Mr. Moore's house, which then stood not far from where Mr. Vaughn's is now, was also pointed out to me, and as I was to pass it, I thought I would leave my satchel and overcoat. I ex- pected to find a good, smart-looking youngly woman, and perhaps one or two bright, rosy-faced children. I accordingly knocked at the door, but no response ; knocked again with the same result. Concluding that Mrs. Moore might be out shopping or making calls, as is customary with some women on pleasant after- noons, but thought if the door was not locked I would just look in and leave my traps, as they were somewhat burdensome. I therefore opened the door very cautiously, but one glance was sufficient to convince me that no woman lived there. So I went and showed my letter to Mr. Smith, and while talking with him, Judge Call came along and went into the house, and I went in and intro- duced myself to him, told him my business, and he invited me home with him, and I stayed to tea, and that was the first meal that I ate in Algona. I have taken a good many meals in Judge Call's house since that, some more sumptuous and many more persons present, but none that I enjoyed better."
Judge Call's father-in-law, John Heckart, arrived with his family, May 10th, to become identified with the growth and prosperity of the county. His daughter, Emma, then .a girl of eleven years old, now a resident of Zephyrhills, Florida, has given the Kossuth County Historical Society a description of how Algona appeared when they came, and in doing so incidentally paid her sister, the wife of Judge Call, a most beautiful and touching tribute. We will now let her speak for herself :
"It was on the 10th of May, 1856, that we pulled into Algona. We had made a five hundred mile trip from Elkhart, Indiana, with a four-ox team, in just seven weeks time. I was but a child then, eleven years old, and can with cer- tainty recall but little of the order in which the settlers moved in and built their houses, but the first glimpse I had of the place is firmly fixed in my memory. Blue skies overhead and, if I had ever heard the expression, I think, I should have called it a blue sky town for it was very sparsely settled. One lonesome looking little cabin, off to our left as we came in from the south, was the only human habitation in sight. But it was not all blue sky-there was the solid ground beneath our feet covered with soft spring grass; timber lands were to the north and the south of us, and with the Des Moines river almost encircling us,
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it was truly a beautiful place for founding a city. The log house on our left which could be plainly seen, was known as the Joe Moore cabin and a right hospitable place it must have been, for inside could be seen Joe Moore, Lewis H. Smith, Geo. A. Lowe, Jacob C. Cummins, Father Taylor, J. E. Stacy and others.
"There were eight of us-my father and mother, Michael Fisher, my mother's brother, who died the following winter and was the first settler buried in River- view cemetery, a teamster, who had come with us from Indiana, a sister, two brothers and myself, and I have no doubt but that we too could have found shel- ter under the same roof if we had applied for admission, but we were aiming for another point. Straight to the northwest we steered our craft, over cementless walks and houseless lots and soon came in sight of another cabin-the home of my sister, Mrs. Call, who had preceded us by nearly two years, and whom we were all anxious to see. Love is stronger than gold or lands and it was more through her letters of entreaty that we come to Algona and live near her than the lure of Uncle Sam's broad prairies that had urged us on through spring rains, mud and slush and treacherous sloughs and was even now bringing us to her cabin door. The oxen were too slow for me and jumping out while the wagon was visibly moving, I rushed for the cabin and right through the open door into the middle of the room, but no Sarah could be seen. Standing there and wondering where she could be, I heard a suspicious little sniffle behind the door. Looking back I found my sister, overcome with joy at meeting all again, she had hidden herself and was crying and laughing simultaneously.
"Many and long have the years been, dear sister since we mingled our tears behind your cabin door, but they will be fewer and shotter till we meet again at heaven's open portal. I had two other sisters then but neither one quite so dear as Sarah. She had nursed me in my infancy, played with me in childhood, and taught me to read, knit and sew. She was at once mother, sister, playmate and friend. Sacred to me is her memory.
"A few rods east of the Call cabin, showing through the trees and hazel thicket, stood the four walls of our own. Kind neighbors had, before we arrived, raised the building and cut openings for one door and half a window. We stayed with the Calls one week till our cabin was finished and then took possession. We had a fine garden that year-everything seemed to thrive on the rich Iowa soil and father and brother, Cal, raised an abundance of seed-corn, potatoes and watermelons.
"One day after we had been living in our new home for about a week, a tent was pitched a few rods east of our cabin. Like a big mushroom it had sprung up in a few hours. Men and boys, women and girls, dogs and horses were mov- ing in lively commotion. Hezekiah Henderson had come to town, and judging by the goods he had brought with him, had come to stay. I don't remember the length of time they lived in this tent, but 'Ki' was an energetic man and before the terrible winter of '56-7 had set in he had built a commodious hewn log cabin near the present site of the Thorington hotel and had his numerous family warmly housed. It was the largest cabin in town and was a much needed place, for here the homeless young men who were seeking their fortunes in primitive Algona, found a good boarding place and travelers were hospitably entertained.
"Another comfortable and well built cabin was built in the summer of '56 by Father Taylor. Here he lived, and from here, like the Master, whom it was
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his delight to serve, went about doing good. He gave time, money and comfort for the people among whom he had cast his lot. Thus the log cabin era of Algona was ended. It was overlapped and in some instances reached far into the frame house period, but these five cabins were all, I think, that were ever built on the town site. J. Ellison Blackford had built on the west border of town in the summer of '55, but it was over the line. Several young men and few newcom- ers had put up log residences on their claims, but a steam sawmill, the boiler of which we had passed stuck fast in a slough on our way here from near Inde- pendence, soon supplied the people with a more easily manipulated building mate- rial, and time has effectually covered the last traces of these early Algona homes. The summer of '56 was particularly prosperous and hopeful. The crops were fine; the seed corn and potatoes yielded abundantly and our garden was a sur- prise-a source of pleasure and profit. Everything seemed to thrive and every- body seemed pleased that they had come to Algona."
The Joe Thompson family were among the prominent arrivals of 1856, ap- pearing on the town site on the 20th of May. Their experiences on reaching the place being similar to those of many others who came that year we will let Mrs. Jane Thompson relate them: "It was with high hopes and a few misgivings that we left our old home and friends in Jackson county, Iowa, and started with an emi- grant wagon, ox-team and a supply of provisions for Call's Grove, now Algona, where we expected to get some cheap land and make for ourselves a home in a new country.
"After three weeks of travel over almost impassable roads, fording rivers and swollen streams, then mud and sloughs, we came to a lone cabin on the town site at Call's Grove, May 20, 1856, supposed to be near our destination. As I had bread ready to bake, Mr. Thompson went in to ask if I could use the stove for baking. He soon came back and said there was no one in the cabin but a man, but that we could use the stove. When I went in I was made welcome by a gentleman with white hair and a kindly smile. This proved to be Father Tay- lor, a missionary, and later the first pastor of the church. When I returned for the bread there were several men preparing dinner. They were Lewis H. Smith, J. E. Stacy, Geo. A. Lowe, Joe Moore and others. After resting for a few hours we drove on to what is now Irvington to see an old acquaintance, James G. Green, who had located there. After three days we returned to the cabin where we made arrangements to stay until we could locate a place.
"This J. W. Moore cabin was about 16x20 feet, with clap-board roof and split log floor. It served for postoffice, town hall, boarding house and meeting house. On the first Sunday after our arrival a meeting was held in this cabin. The ladies present were Mrs. Frank Rist, Mrs. J. L. Paine and daughter, Emma, later Mrs. D. T. Smith. The seats were arranged around the room, and a table in the center served as a pulpit for Father Taylor."
As heretofore stated, Frank C. Rist was one of the 1855 settlers, but he came from the East leaving his wife to follow him later. She came in May, the next day after the Joe Thompson family arrived. Many years later, when she was Mrs. Lewis H. Smith she gave the following account of her experiences in reaching this county :
"Leaving my New England home in Whitins one sunny morning in April, 1856, I boarded the train for the far west, as Iowa was then called. Together
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with a party of friends and relatives we journeyed to Dubuque, and it was a trip of several days longer than it is now. Not until we reached that place Saturday morning, did I fully realize that it meant a separation from all the home friends; for from there father, mother and sister Abbie, were to go up the river by boat, while my brother-in-law, Slyvester Rist, and myself were to cross the river and stop at the Keyleity hotel until the stage should start across the country on Monday morning-that being just a week from the day we had left the East.
"You who travel through Iowa in this day of Pullman sleepers and diners can- not realize what it meant to ride then from Dubuque to Algona by stage. The sloughs were many and deep, so we were frequently obliged to dismount and wait until the stage could be pulled out by fastening a rope to the tongue and letting the horses pull the empty stage out of the mud and waters. When we reached Iowa Falls it was decided that delay of two weeks was necessary on account of the bad roads. I was anxious to push on but when I spoke to the agent, he said: 'Let me read you a letter from McChesney, written at Webster City.' It was dated at 'Webster Hell' and expressed great disgust with the coun- try. Still I was anxious to reach Algona and was not dismayed by the unfavor- able reports. My husband had written of the people and their kindness, and it did not seem possible the conditions could be so dreadful as pictured by Mr. McChesney. We reached Webster City, stayed all night there and made the journey to Fort Dodge the next day. Here I found friends with whom I stayed until Sunday, then started on the last stage of the trip. We had dinner at Mr. Hand's, and here for the first time we saw a cabin with a dirt floor. The place was scrupulously clean, however, and the dinner appetizing.
"It was nearly five o'clock when the stage brought us in sight of my future home, and I cannot tell of the feeling of relief we experienced at the sight of my husband and his brother. The little cabin was truly a haven of rest and it meant home, primitive as it was."
Before passing on to the local events of 1857, mention must be made of the first birth in the village, which was also the first birth of a girl in the county. This event occurred in November, 1856. The child received the significant name of Ella Algona Blackford, being the daughter of Hon. and Mrs. J. E. Blackford. She is still a resident of the county seat and known as Mrs. Ella A. Clarke.
The first stock of goods kept for sale in the town was sent up from Fort Dodge by Major Williams, during the summer of 1856 and placed in charge of one Koons. In September, H. F. Watson, who had been clerking for the major, came up and assumed control of the stock for the owner. He opened up in the Moore shanty where, on the resignation of Mr. Moore, he became the second postmaster. After the Williams building had been completed he moved there with his goods and postoffice equipment, as well as occupying the building for himself and wife.
Some time during the closing months of the year, Jesse Magoon started a little blacksmith shop, but soon disposed of his equipment to Oliver Benschoter who had arrived about that time. The latter maintained his shop until long after the war. His establishment and John Heckart's cabinet shop were the only two manufacturing institutions in town at that time.
That winter of 1856-7 was a hard one for all in the county. In the new bach
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hall there were huddled together I.ewis H. Smith, his brother, Richard, Amos and Barney Otis, Abe Hill and Gad Gilbert-all parts of one stupendous whole. Ki Henderson's St. Nicholas hotel had all the lodgers it could possibly hold, and all had appetites for stowing away victuals that were little less than wonderful.
The Joe Thompson family, who had moved into the county in May and lived in the Moore cabin while getting their own log cabin ready for occupancy on their claim, one mile and a half east of town, lived in the village again during the hard winter of 1856-7. Husband and wife lived out there all alone when the snow began to fall and drift, and when access to the little village seemed liable to be prevented. A petition signed by several residents asking them to leave their claim and move to the village for the winter was sent to them by a messenger. Furthermore Mr. and Mrs. H. F. Watson sent a special request for them to winter at their home. The invitation being accepted, the two husbands and their wives lived in harmony in that home from Christmas until spring. This incident illustrates the ties of friendship and the spirit of generosity which pre- vailed, to a marked extent, in the frontier settlements of the county.
In March, 1857, occurred the Spirit lake massacre when Inkpadutah's lawless band of renegade Sioux wiped out of existence the entire settlement with the rifle, tomahawk and scalping knife. That was a memorable year for the pioneers of Kossuth, for they justly reasoned that what had happened in Dickinson county might happen to the settlers here. The wild excitement, the courage of the set- tlers, the construction of the forts at Algona and Irvington and the dangerous experience of the pioneer scouting party that explored the lake region in search of authentic information regarding the whereabouts of the Sioux, who had committed the terrible depredations, form an interesting story relating to the early settlements of this county. A full account of these events will be found in the chapter "Interesting Historic Events."
Among the arrivals in town, in 1857, were the James Henderson family and along with them came Thomas D. Stacy. Mr. Henderson soon became a jobbing contractor, doing all kinds of rough, heavy work, building bridges, moving houses and running threshing machines, being lines of work he followed. He also took government contracts for carrying the mail during the war period. He worked like a slave, raised a large family and died recognized as one of the most ambitious workers in the community. Miss Harriette E., daughter of Father Taylor, arrived from the East, July 25, 1857, to join her parents, bringing with her her melodeon, the first musical instrument of the organ form ever brought to the county. For a long period of years it was used on public occa- sions. It is still in existence and prized as a rare old relic of the early settlement years. In April, 1860, the owner became Mrs. Jerome E. Stacy.
That summer the first bricks made in the county were burned by James Hen- derson and Mike Fox for a home for the former. The brick house was the one in which the Sever Halverson family lived for a long time in later years. The mason work was done by Richard Smith, the twin brother of our fellow towns- man, Lewis H. The kiln was situated in the north part of town near the old home of Henry Walston.
July 4, 1857, was celebrated in Algona, "Ki" Henderson being the marshal. Some remember this as being the first celebration ever held at this place, but an
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MRS. JAMES HENDERSON (1857)
MRS. AUGUST ZAHLTEN (1856)
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equal number of old settlers are of the opinion that Independence Day was ob- served the year before.
The new town hall by the middle of May, 1857, was so far completed that it began to be immediately used as a central meeting place. Although not plas- tered, it answered the purposes intended during the warm weather. During that summer the first school taught in Algona was held in the hall. It was taught by Miss Flavia Flemming of Humboldt county. She married a man by the name of Holmes, after leaving here, and was living when last heard from, at Elba, Nebraska. Ed Blackford is the only person in the county who was a member of that pioneer school. The statement has been frequently published that Miss Flemming's school was the first in the county. The fact is, there were two other schools in session at that time-one in the new Irvington town hall, taught by Miss Audalusia Cogley and the other in G. S. Jones' home cabin in Cresco (Riverdale), taught by Miss Mary S. Clark, whose first husband was Geo. P. Steele and the second, O. F. Hale.
To provide a suitable place for holding all kinds of public meetings, was the object of those who had taken shares of stock in the town hall. Long before the plastering was put on, dances, entertainments, conventions, caucuses and religious services were held within its walls. Father Taylor, who held one share and who was the secretary for the building committee, held his services regularly Sunday forenoon and Rev. D. S. McComb held his in the afternoon, so that the engage- ments of the two ministers would not conflict. From this time on less was heard about the old Joe Moore cabin which had previously been the only place where public meetings could be held. The hall finally became the property of the Con- gregationalists and their church home, but this did not occur until about eleven years later.
During these eleven years the key to the building was always carried by Father Taylor, who was the most active member of the shareholders and who was their general manager in the control of the hall. How the young people managed to get possession and dedicate the building with a dance on the 4th of July, 1857, has been told as follows by Ambrose A. Call:
"The young people of Irvington had dedicated their new hall with a ball in which we all participated, the night of the 3rd of July. The next day they all turned out to our celebration, and when they saw our new hall were anxious to try the floor. But knowing our man, we considered it a risky business trying to beguile the key from Father Taylor. 'I will tell you' says George, his son, 'I heard father telling the minister who stopped at our home about the hall at breakfast, and I am sure he will take him over to see it; I will watch and tell you when he unlocks the door.' And so it happened, that as Father Taylor was ex- plaining the convenience of certain arrangements to the stranger, the room was filled, and not until Uncle Bullis struck up the 'Arkansas Traveler' and shouted 'manners to your partners' did he fully comprehend the situation. 'Well,' says Father Taylor, 'I think I have engagements that will call me away, and I would like to lock the door now.' 'Never mind, Mr. Taylor,' replied someone, 'just leave the key and we will lock the door when we go out,' and he left the key. It may not be out of place in justification of this procedure to tell some tales out of school; how when Uncle Bullis changed the music, Deacon Zahlten seized the daughter of our Baptist minister by the waist, and struck a gait that threatened Vol. 1 -*
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destruction to our new ceiling ; or how he was followed by brother Hackman with another comely daughter of a prominent church member, in a style that would do credit to Frederick Wilhelm; but it must be remembered these things occurred years ago."
In November, the Methodists got a start for a church organization when Rev. Lawton, of Fort Dodge, came and delivered a series of sermons. Those who joined the class were William Moore and wife, Robert Moore and wife, Malachi Clark and wife, Mrs. Thomas Whitehead, and Mrs. Thomas D. Stacy. It was several years later before they succeeded in perfecting a church organization.
During the fall of 1857, arrangements were made to provide ample oppor- tunity for social and intellectual improvement. Father Taylor started the first singing school in the latter part of October, and kept at it until he had trained several to become fine readers of music. The "Counsel Fires" was the name of a secret organization which had sprung into existence during the fall. This club gave an exhibition in the unfinished hall on Washington's birthday, which was considered by those present as being extraordinarily good.
The lyceum was of sufficient importance to have a lecture delivered before it by Father Taylor in December. That organization was purely literary and intended for intellectual improvement.
The Algona Reading Club, organized by work of the ladies that fall, has left a record of its proceedings which will be in existence for many years to come. Amusement and improvement were the objects to be attained according to the con- stitution. A president and a secretary were the principal officers, and the meet- ings were held weekly or bi-weekly in private homes. A couple of members were chosen to read selections at each meeting. Reading from Dr. Kane's Arctic Ex- plorations occupied the attention of the club for some time. An interesting and valuable part of the weekly program was the reading of The Bee, a social paper edited by a couple of the members chosen at each meeting. All had a hand, in turn, in making the manuscript weekly the special feature of the club program, The records disclose the fact that Miss Harriette Taylor (Mrs. J. E. Stacy) must have been one of the most active members. She was the first president and for several months the secretary, besides being for some time the editress of The Bee. The secretary's minutes indicate the spice that was sprinkled over the pro- ceedings from time to time. One evening the club adjourned to meet the next time at Joe Thompson's Dog Town, No. 2, McGregor street, and at another to meet at Havens Watson's, No. 2, Aristocratic Bluff, corner of McGregor and Minnesota streets. Roderick M. Bessie must have been a target at which sharp arrows were thrust, judging from this record: "The regular readers not being present, R. M. Bessie was prevailed upon to read six chapters from the book of Job, and then he read a short extract on bread making." His name becomes im- mortalized by this declaration: "Mr. Bessie went around the room making faces at the company-this was all the fun we find recorded." One evening "Lewis H. Smith entertained the company by reading from the almanac." That settled it. The club never met again.
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