USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth County, Iowa > Part 41
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The first practicing physician to locate in the county was Robert Cogley, who lived south of Algona on the farm now owned by Mrs. A. D. Clarke and gen- erally known as the Huntly farm. He bought the claim of Levi Maxwell in the spring of 1855.
The first religious services conducted in the county were in the J. W. Moore log cabin, the second built in Algona. This was in the fall of 1855. The minister was Elder Marks, an eccentric preacher from Polk City. The only ones now living in the county who were present at the services are Lewis H. Smith and Ed. Blackford.
The first mortgage on record given by a resident of the county was made by Asa C. Call, August 27, 1855, to secure the payment for the sawmill he had purchased of Morrison and Drakes of Sturgis, Michigan. This debt was satis- fied at maturity and the instrument cancelled.
August 28, 1855 the twins, James and Joseph Crose, were born a short dis- tance southwest of the Mann home in Irvington township. These were the first births that occurred after the first settlements began.
August. 1855. the first county officers were elected. They were Asa C. Call, county judge ; Robert Cogley, clerk; J. W. Moore, treasurer and recorder ; and Lewis H. Smith, surveyor.
Early in the summer of 1855, the first formal meeting of any kind was held. It occurred at the J. W. Moore cabin and was for the purpose of organizing a claim protection club. Those chosen to officer the club were Robert Cogley, president, and Corydon Craw, secretary.
The first person to sell any commodities to the settlers was a strange being known as Charles Easton, who early in the year 1855 from his cave south of Algona, sold small quantities of powder and whiskey.
The first local law passed governing the acts of the settlers was by the county judge who, at his April, 1856, session of court, declared that swine should not be permitted to run at large after the first of June of that year. The voters at the polls ratified this declaration.
The voters at the April election in 1856, chose G. W. Hand, school fund commissioner : Eber Stone, prosecuting attorney, and Francis Brown, coroner, it being the first time that anyone in the county had been elected to any of these positions.
During the year 1856, John Heckart came to the county and settled at Algona. He became the first cabinet maker and worked at his trade for a long term of years.
The first general stock of goods kept for sale belonged to Major Williams of Fort Dodge. These necessaries were sent here during the Summer of 1856, in charge of William Koons, but were soon placed in charge of Havens F. Watson who became the only merchant for several years.
The first division of the county into townships occurred at the March, 1856, term of the county court. The territory embraced in the north forty-one miles of the county was called Algona township, and the south twelve, Humboldt town-
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ship. All of the territory of this last named division is now in Humboldt county.
When Luther Bullis came to the county in 1856, and made his home on what is now the east quarter of the D. W. King farm, he brought his violin along and was the first here to play on that instrument.
Joseph W. Moore was the first postmaster in the county, having received his appointment in the spring of 1856. The office was kept in his log cabin which stood on the east side of the same block where the J. R. Jones home stands in Algona.
Early in the summer of 1856, George Smith, Kendall Young and L. L. Treat started the first mill. It stood on the bank of the river just west of the old Irvington village. In later years it did service in Algona.
September 27, 1856, the first town plat was put on record. This was of old Irvington which was being boomed to capture the county seat, the promoters being George Smith, Kendall Young, and L. L. Treat.
The first blacksmithing done in the county was during the closing months of 1856. Jesse Magvoir opened up a little shop in Algona, but soon sold it to Oliver Benschoter. At Irvington, W. B. Howard also had his shop and was doing the same line of work.
The first two hotels in the county were made of logs. During the summer of 1856, H. A. Henderson built the St. Nicholas, and then kept travelers and boarders. The Kendall Young house at Irvington at that time, having been put up during the previous fall, was used for the same purpose.
It was August 3, 1856, that A. L. Seeley succeeded in killing the first buffalo to be slain by any resident of the county. He and W. H. Ingham during the day had enjoyed an exciting chase with a herd of forty-four buffaloes which they chased over the "Buffalo" fork, near the present village of Titonka. Previous to their killing one of them, their shots had wounded several others.
July 4, 1856, was celebrated in Cresco township. The gathering was at a spot about a half-mile southwest of the Brown cabin. A tall, slender oak tree was set up for a flag pole, and on it floated a flag Mrs. Brown had made by tearing up a sheet and her daughter Jennie's (Mrs. Altwegg's) red dress for stripes. The settlers enjoyed the first celebration dinner in the county. The flag pole stood there for many years before it was removed. Some old settlers who were here at the time are of the opinion that on this same day a cele- bration was held in Algona. Mrs. Jane Thompson and Miss Emma Heckart who came in the spring of 1856 are of that opinion, and narrate events to justify their conclusions. Mrs. Stacy who was present at the celebration on July 4, 1857, is certain that from what was said at the time that no celebration in Algona had occurred the year before. This is also the opinion of Lewis H. Smith, who came to Algona, July 4, 1855.
The first professional dentist to locate was Dr. J. R. Armstrong, whose home was at Irvington from the time he came in 1857 till his death in 1911.
The first burial on land which later became a part of a cemetery was that of Michael Fisher, brother of Mrs. John Heckart, who was laid to rest in what is now Riverview cemetery, Algona, in March, 1857. Those who dug the grave did so keeping an eye on the timber close by for fear the Indians might be watching to scalp them, as this was soon after the Spirit Lake massacre.
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The first marriage ceremony was performed by George D. Wheeler April 22, 1857, when he pronounced the words that made William Moore and Sarah Wright husband and wife. The officer was a justice of the peace, who owned what is now generally called the old Dodge farm just below Irvington. The bride was the daughter of Jacob Wright, an early settler near there and the groom a cabinet maker in the village.
April 22, 1857, the county court issued the first warrant in payment for money. It was given to Lewis H. Smith for services in locating a road.
The first musical instrument, of the organ form, came to the county with Harriette E. Taylor (Stacy) on her arrival July 25, 1857. This was what was called a melodeon, and was used frequently in Algona on public occasion in those early days. It is still in existence and prized as a rare relic.
The first paper in the county to chronicle the local events was one edited in manuscript form by the members of the Algona Reading club and read at the regular meetings. It was called The Bee, and it made its appearance in De- cember, 1857, Miss Harriette E. Taylor being chosen its first editress. The files are preserved in the state historical building at Des Moines.
The first church of any denomination to organize in the county was the Presbyterian, which formed in 1857, under the supervision of Rev. D. S. Mc- Comb, one of the pioneer missionaries. Some of the members who joined lived at Algona, others at Irvington and still others on the Black Cat and in Cresco.
The first church choir organized and singing regularly at services was dur- ing the summer of 1857, when Lewis H. Smith, Gad Gilbert, George P. Taylor and Miss Harriette E. Taylor furnished the music for services which were conducted by Rev. Chauncey Taylor.
The first bricks made in the county were burned by James Henderson and Mike Fox during the summer of 1857 in a kiln which was situated in the north- ern part of Algona, near where the old H. W. Walston residence stands.
The first brick house was made from these bricks for James Henderson that year, and was built by Richard Smith, brother of Lewis H. This house in later years was the home of the Sever Halverson family.
The first marriage ceremony conducted by a minister was on the 25th day of October, 1857, when Rev. Chauncey Taylor officiated at the wedding of Lewis H. Smith and Miss Abbie M. Rist. The county judge or justices of the peace conducted all previous marriage ceremonies.
The first schools taught in the county were in session during the summer of 1857. In the new unfinished hall at Algona, Miss Flavia Flemming of north- ern Humboldt county presided. After leaving she married a man by the name of Holmes, and when last heard from was living at Elba, Nebraska. Miss Andalusia Cogley taught in the unfinished hall at Irvington, and Miss Mary Clark (Mrs. Steele-Hale) in the cabin home of Greshington S. Jones in what is now Riverdale township. This cabin later housed the Fraser family for many years.
Lewis H. Smith and George A. Lowe, under the firm name of Smith & Lowe, were the first established real estate agents. They hung out their sign in 1857, and entered actively into that line of work.
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The first man to be elected sheriff was H. F. Watson, who received a ma- jority of the votes cast at the April, 1857, election for that position.
R. C. Shaw at the April, 1857, election was chosen the first assessor. He had the entire county for his field of operations.
The drainage commissioner was an officer who had to be elected in the early days of the county. The first to be chosen for that position was J. P. Sharp in April, 1857.
The first and only forts in the county were erected in the spring of 1857, im- mediately following the Spirit Lake massacre. One enclosed the old town hall in Algona and the other was on the old Irvington town site.
The first county fair was held in the Algona town hall in the fall of 1858, while much of the fort was still standing. Only a very few eye-witnesses of that event remain, and even those cannot agree as to what actually took place.
Rev. Chauncey Taylor became the first county superintendent as the result of the April, 1858, election. At Iowa City on September 22, of that year he attended the first state meeting of the superintendents, going and returning with an ox team which he had hired for the purpose.
John Hutchison, a native of Ireland, was the first person to receive his nat- uralization papers. The county judge, October 7, 1859, made him a citizen of the government.
The credit of bringing the first mower and reaper to the county is equally divided between Michael Reibhoff and Thomas Robison, both of whom had machines in use in the fall of 1859, the former having a McCormick and the latter a John H. Manny.
The first auctioneering was done about the time when Ransom Parmenter disposed of his household goods and other chattels preparatory to leaving the county. Lewis H. Smith conducting the public sale was as the result the first auctioneer.
Two men have claimed the honor of starting the first nursery. About the year 1859, James Eggers set out a stock of fruit trees on his claim on section 19, in what is now Plum Creek township, and there developed the pioneer nursery of the county. Just about that time Charles Magoon, on his claim in section 10, in Cresco township, planted a quantity of apple seeds from which the sprouts soon grew into a little nursery. In value this last named enterprise did not equal the one projected by James Eggers.
The first threshing in the county was done for W. H. Ingham in the fall of 1859 on his home farm, now the Rice property in Plum Creek township. Sam Gilpin, O. B. Willson and Horace Haskins of Upper Grove, Hancock county constituted the crew that ran the eight-horse-down-power sweepstake machine.
During the latter part of the year 1859, Lewis H. Smith brought to the county the first kerosene, and he was also the first to use it for illuminating purposes.
Mrs. Hezekiah A. Henderson in the late fall of 1859, made the first wheat bread from grain raised in the county, and invited in her friends to enjoy the feast.
Hon. J. E. Blackford was the first man in the county to represent the dis- trict in the legislature. He was chosen at the October, 1859, election and served
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in the lower house during the eighth and ninth sessions and the two extra ones, four in all.
The first resident to hold a clerkship in the legislature was Lewis H. Smith who was chosen enrolling clerk of the eighth General Assembly.
David Shaw of the Irvington community during the year 1859, appeared as the first skilled basket maker who put his wares on sale.
The first person to be admitted to the bar in the county was Lewis H. Smith, who in May, 1860, became the first resident lawyer upon the order of Judge A. W. Hubbard of the district court. His signature as attorney is found at the end of numerous petitions and other court files of that period. He was a notary public, however, two or three years previous to this date.
The "Kossuth County Press" was the name of the first paper regularly printed and published in the county, it being an enterprise promoted by Asa C. Call and his brother Ambrose A. Call in the fall of 1860. The principal object was to get the benefits to be derived from publishing the delinquent tax lists of Kossuth and adjoining counties, which had no newspapers within their boundaries. It had an existence of only a few months.
The first printer in the county was John W. Summers, who came up from Des Moines in the fall of 1860 to take control of the mechanical management of the Kossuth County Press. He did so rapidly and slovenly.
The first new country school house built from taxes regularly levied for that purpose, was erected during the year 1860 near the Schenck farm on section twenty-four in Union township. It is now used as a granary on the farm of Mrs. Fletcher Hofius.
During the year 1860 Lewis H. Smith bought and brought to the county the first sewing machine.
The first board of supervisors were elected at the polls in November, 1860, one for each township. They were: Ambrose A. Call, Algona; M. C. Lathrop. Cresco; and J. R. Armstrong, Irvington.
During the fall of 1861 the first bridges were made to span the river. The one at Irvington was built by Samuel Reed, and the one west of Algona by Orange Minkler and James Henderson.
The first new threshing machine owned and operated in the county by resi- dents was hauled here in December, 1861, from Cedar Falls by its owners, Samuel Reed of Irvington and James Henderson of Algona. It was an eight-horse down-power, belt, Buffalo Pitts outfit.
The first to respond to Lincoln's famous call for 500,000 more troops, fol- lowing the federal defeat at Bull Run, were James C. Taylor and J. C. Heckart of Algona and Elias and Charles Kellogg of Cresco carly in the month of August, 1861. In a few days others followed their example, joining the Second Iowa cavalry.
The first legitimate paper published for disseminating news was the Algona Pioneer Press which issued its initial number August 3. 1861 under the editorial management of Ambrose A. Call. John and Siss Summers being the typo- graphers. The paper passed out of existence before the war closed. The files are preserved at the state historical building at Des Moines.
The first white clover seed was sown in the county by Mrs. Thomas D.
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Stacy during the spring of 1862. About a teacupful of the seed was sent her from the east by friends and from this she grew a small crop.
John Reibhoff was the first soldier from this county to lose his life in the army, having died at the hospital at St. Louis January 3, 1862.
The funeral of John Reibhoff at the Schenck school house February 9, 1862, conducted by Rev. D. S. McComb, the pioneer Presbyterian missionary, was the first funeral of a deceased soldier.
The first body returned from the army for burial was James C. Taylor's, which came during the first week in January, 1863.
The first cheese made in the county came from the labor of D. W. King in the summer of 1863. To get a start in the business he traded a land warrant to Eber Stone for some cows. The enterprise did not prove very profitable for there was no market, and butter at the time was selling for about ten cents per pound.
John Brown, the red-whiskered Englishman, in the fall of 1864 built the first sod house ever put up in the county. It was built for Albert Wheeler, a couple of miles north of the Reibhoff grove. Other sod houses in the vicinity soon sprang into existence.
It cannot be stated definitely when the first tintype pictures were taken in the county. Some of the old settlers used to say that a man by the name of Thompson was the one, but the writer has never been able to find out who he was, when he was here or where he had his studio. Pictures were taken in Irvington as early as 1864 by a man named McManus, and it is not remembered that any were taken in Algona before that time.
The first and only soldier to be married in full uniform was William Cleary, December 10, 1864, when he wedded Miss Mary A. Caulkins. The ceremony was performed by Father Taylor, at his home, in the presence of the ladies' sewing society that had met to make articles for the comfort of the sick and wounded soldiers. Mr. Cleary's regiment at that time was down in Georgia. and he had come up on a furlough, taken a homestead in Plum Creek as well as taking a wife. A few days later he joined the army and at the close of the war in 1865 became a permanent resident of the county.
The first teachers' institute was held in the Algona town hall during the closing weeks of 1864, Father Taylor, assisted by local talent, being the con- ductor.
The first martial music heard in the county was on July 4, 1865, at a celebra- tion held on the spot where R. A. Palmer's house stands. The fifer was the aged father of J. E. Stacy who was here from New York visiting him at the time, and the drummer was a man by the name of Weston, from Humboldt, who had performed like service in the War of 1812.
The pioneer piano was brought here during the year 1865 by Lewis H. Smith, and was the first the writer ever saw.
James McIntyre, father of Mrs. J. W. Wadsworth, in 1866 opened the first hardware stock for sale in the county. That was a valuable enterprise for the settlers at that time.
The first exclusive drug stock in the county was opened up for sale in the year 1865 or 6 by Durant Brothers-Henry and Anthony. This store was in
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a little frame building, facing the west, on a lot now covered by the First National Bank building in Algona.
During the year 1866 Mr. Durrin started the first shingle mill, Mr. Jones the first tannery, and Owen & Bumpus the first cooper shop. It was that year also that Samuel Reed erected the first courthouse, the lumber being hauled from Boonesboro.
In May, 1867, the first baseball club was organized by the election of A. A. Call, president; J. H. Warren, secretary, and Lewis H. Smith, treasurer.
The first head instructor of a school of higher learning was Miss Lucy Leonard, who took charge of the "Northwest College of Iowa," when it started in Algona in the fall of 1867.
The first draft ever issued in the county was for the accommodation of James L. Paine who desired to send $100 to some minister in Missouri. This was issued January 11, 1867, by W. H. Ingham who at that time had opened an account with Austin Corbin of New York against whom he could draw bills of exchange.
The first frame barn in the county was built in 1867 of hewn timber by Samuel Reed on his Ridge farm near Irvington. The structure is still standing as sound as the time when it was erected.
The first grove started in the county was on Samuel Reed's Irvington farm where the trees were large enough in 1867 to furnish numerous families with an abundance of "cuttings." Just what year the grove was started will prob- ably never be recalled.
The first cornet band to play in the county was the one from Humboldt that played on the evening of January 1, 1868, for the good templars' entertainment at Algona.
The historic first circus pitched its tent and made its sawdust ring where F. S. Norton has his lumber yard, June 16, 1868. The name of this aggregation was "Orton Bros.' Egyptian Caravan and South American Circus." The parade was led by Orton Bros.' Female Cornet Circus Band, which was drawn by ten dapple gray horses.
During the fall of .1868 the first cornet band organized in the county came into existence. This was the Irvington Juvenile Band which was composed entirely of the sons of the old settlers. They bought the instruments from the Springvale boys who had played here on the evening of January 1, 1868.
That year McGill & Cordingley opened the first exclusive shoe store in the county. The firm used the Smith building that stood on the garage corner west of the courthouse.
It was that year also that Capt. D. D. Wadsworth came down from the north end of the county and spent a couple of days each week tinkering clocks and watches. J. H. Warren also about that time did something in that line.
Samuel Hesler in 1869 opened at the county seat the first exclusive grocery store in the county.
During the year 1869 D. A. Haggard began auctioneering, the first in the county to make a business of that line of work.
The first jeweler to locate was Mr. Ferry, who became established at the county seat in 1869.
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It was that year that E. S. Lamb started the first livery, and that year when the first county auditor was elected. That official was A. E. Wheelock.
May 30, 1870, the first decoration day addresses were delivered. At the Baptist church F. W. Butterfield addressed the audience and Dr. James Barr spoke to the children. At the cemetery Capt. E. E. Woodman, Dr. L. A. Sheetz and J. B. Jones addressed the crowd. There were then only seven soldiers buried there-James C. Taylor, John Henderson, Silas B. Stevens, Geo. Brant, John Wilson, Van Cott, and McAllister.
The first to build an agricultural warehouse and deal exclusively in farm machinery was D. S. Ford who came in 1870. He was followed that same year by J. R. Jones who engaged in that line of business. Machinery, however, had been sold prior to that time by other parties.
On the first of January, 1870, the first bank in the county opened for the transaction of business. The proprietors were W. H. Ingham and Lewis H. Smith, operating under the firm name of Ingham & Smith. The little building where they began stood where the John Goeders store stands. These two have continued in that business steadily since those early days of small beginnings.
During the year 1870 F. W. Hawes opened the first harness shop to be run in the county. This was also at the county seat.
At 11 o'clock on the evening of August 13, 1870, the first passenger train into the county arrived over the newly laid C. M. & St. P. Ry. track, bringing T. H. Lantry, Dr. H. C. McCoy and numerous other new settlers.
J. J. Wilson's lumber yard, established in 1870, was the first in the county, although that commodity had been sold before in small amounts by other parties.
The town first to incorporate was Algona. This proceeding took place in the spring of 1872.
Ed Pettibone's velocipede was the first vehicle of the bicycle type ever seen in the county. He astonished the county seat residents when he began riding his curiosity through town during the early 70's.
The year 1875 was the one in which the first cheese factories started. This was an enterprise promoted by John Wallace & Co.
The first factory, of any considerable magnitude operated in the county, began its existence in 1876 when Bradley & Nicoulin commenced turning out wagons for sale from their shop in Call street. The factory is still running, and making drays a specialty, Charles, son of the last named proprietor, being the present manager and proprietor.
J. B. Jones, in 1877 on his Cresco farm, had the first farm windmill in operation in the county. It had been set up in Algona the year previous by Windmill Smith, as an advertisement, near where the Adventist church stands.
It was'during the year 1877, furthermore, that the first thoroughbred cattle were brought to the county. Judge Call brought in and sold to the farmers a shorthorn herd, and J. B. Jones purchased a shorthorn sire to head his herd.
C. W. Goddard in the fall of 1879 started a new hay press, and consequently claims the honor of having done the first hay pressing in the county.
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