USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth County, Iowa > Part 75
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Rev. E. C. Haskell, pastor of the Presbyterian church, has been longer in the ministry than any other preacher in the county, since he is in the fifty-second year of that line of service. The church was organized October 28, 1891, by the election of Oliver Beckwith, W. B. Mason and Geo. Stone, trustees. Henry Ford, Lizzie Quick, M. A. Lovell, N. K. Raymond, W. B. Mason and J. C. Raymond were the first members, and the latter was also the clerk of the ses- sions. The present trustees are F. I. Chapman, S. F. Phillips, Frank Amspoker
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and Paul Fechner. The latter, Mason and Amspoker are also the elders. Mrs. Harvey . Brink is president of the Ladies' Aid and Mr. Chapman of the Chris- tian Endeavor. I. D. Lovell was the Sunday school superintendent from the date of the organization until he died a few years ago, since that time the posi- tion has been held by Mr. Fechner. A neat little church edifice and a comfort- able parsonage satisfy the wants of the members by answering the purpose for which they were designed fairly well. The various pastors in turn have been Rev. M. E. Caldwell, 1891, Rev. John W. Waite, Rev. Alfred Martin, 1895, Rev. Joseph Mapson, 1896; Rev. L. C. Gray, 1897; Rev. A. L. Berry, 1898; Rev. A. L. Moffitt, 1902; Rev. I. O. Mallory, 1906; Rev. M. E. Lumbar, 1907, and Rev. Haskell, April, 1911.
The Methodist Episcopal Church organization dates back to a time long before the townsite was platted. All that part of the county belonged to the Irvington circuit of the Algona district, and the services were held at various school houses wherever the people could attend. For a while later that terri- tory was in the Livermore circuit. As early as 1874 Rev. F. Franklin rode the circuit and then in turn came Rev. C. W. Clifton and Rev. L. B. Kelling. In 1878 Rev. Franklin was on again and remained until 1881, when Rev. Geo. H. Cheney began and after preaching for one year Rev. Clifton took charge once more and remained until September, 1884, when he was succeeded by Rev. 7 .. C. Bradshaw, and then he in turn by Rev. J. J. Jeffrey, who was followed by Rev. Phil C. Hanna, for two years. At the close of Rev. Hanna's service the church ceased to be on the circuit and was made a station.
Rev. P. H. Eighmy was stationed there in the fall of 1889 and the succeed- ing pastors have been Revs. I. B. Kilbine and J. P. Forsyth, 1892; W. H. Flint. 1893; D. A. McBurney, 1895; A. L. Tainter, 1896; C. B. Winter, 1897; Chas. Artman, 1899; Geo. F. Wood, 1901 ; H. L. Houghton, 1904; J. B. Malone, 1907 : S. H. Turbeville, 1909; Joseph Bain, 1910, and Joseph L. Guernsey, the present pastor, October, 1911. The church edifice was erected in 1886 and was en- larged and remodeled in elegant style about five years ago. The property is estimated to have cost about $5,000. The present parsonage is the house once occupied by the Geo. W. Hanna family. W. H. Godfrey, Peter Thompson and I .. M. Thorp are the trustees; W. E. Kyler, Peter Thompson, Mrs. R. W. Hanna, Daniel Ellis, V. E. Stephenson, H. E. Peitzke and wife, Mrs. Thos. Gregory, Mrs. H. J. Smith, Miss Effie Godfrey, C. A. Waln and Mrs. Lasley Barton, stewards; Effie Godfrey, recording steward, and C. H. Lichty, Sunday school superintendent. The presidents of the societies are Mrs. Peter Thompson, Ladies' Aid; Professor G. H. Brinegar, Epworth League; Mrs. H. J. Smith, W. H. S .; Mrs. A. L. Spooner, Junior Epworth League. Rev. Guernsey is a forceful pulpit speaker and is a persistent student in his library.
V. E. Stephenson's general store is one of orderly arrangement and a model of neatness, and the patronage is large and growing. He has been in his present quarters since September 15, 1900, but he had started in the business in Febru- ary, 1897, on another location and had sold to J. R. Moulton in June, 1900. After being out of that line for about three months he began where he is now. The fine brick structure belongs to A. A. Godfrey, and was put. up by Jas. Cowan of Algona in the fall of 1900. It is a large store, being 130 feet from end to end.
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Lichty & Ross own the old Hanna & Bliss building, which they bought from Henry Klindt, and have it well filled with a general stock of merchandise. One has only to enter the store for a few minutes to be convinced of the extensive trade they are having. They are obliging and honest and deserving of the success they are making of their enterprise. They began in March, 1911, suc- ceeding J. R. Moulton, who in turn had succeeded Matt Luchsinger. They are in the most historic building in town.
C. H. Lichty has a large stock of hardware and an extensive trade in his own building. This was put up by G. C. Burtis in the early days of the town and used by him for his lumber office. Mr. Lichty succeeded Hanna & Bliss in the business in 1885, the stock coming to him that had been in the store when managed by R. W. Hanna. The proprietor is one of the many reliable citizens of Lu Verne.
F. I. Chapman, who was for a long term of years to be found pounding iron in his blacksmith shop, is now doing tin work and dealing in hardware. He still owns his shop but hires a man to run it for him. The proceeds from his sales and work are satisfactory, and he consequently is happy.
In the corner building, where R. W. Hanna conducted the hardware store, Henry Jutte has a stock along the same line which is under the management of J. Bammel. It was there where B. F. Guthrie ran the largest hardware store in the county. He had an immense stock of every variety.
Landlord Henry Jutte runs the Commercial House and is making money by doing so. He owns the building which was originally erected by W. J. Godfrey in 1881 on the corner of his farm, south of town. Those owning it since then are W. H. Godfrey, Ed Turner, Stafford Godfrey, Alex Larimer and the present landlord, Mr. Jutte. Besides these men, others who rented the hotel in the meantime have been Joe Winters, Lincoln and A. L. Lovell.
Marion Dull runs a good restaurant and eating house and has all the work he can do in supplying the needs of his customers. August Weisenberg, Frank Simmons, Will Lovell and Art Denison each tried his hand previously in the business before Mr. Dull took charge.
E. D. Lovell deals successfully in furniture in the corner building where Werner Eggerth had his store of the same line in the early eighties. The present proprietor succeeded his brother E. A., who had succeeded C. E. Sim- mons. E. D. Lovell is the son of L. D. Lovell, who located soon after the town started. Mr. Lovell is one of the trusty young business men of the place.
Paul Fechner is the local manager for the Humboldt Creamery Company, and J. C. Ostrander for the Beatrice Company. Both buy poultry, eggs and cream and are kept busy. The first buying of cream was done by F. C. Need- ham when he established his creamery in the spring of 1882.
The drug business is well reprsented by W. H. Woito, who has his store in the building owned by Valentine Zoelle, upon whose land the townsite, after being purchased, was located. His patronage is distributed over a wide terri- tory and he has no opposition.
C. D. Bemis runs the meat market, where he succeeded John Benke and Charles Simmons in 1903; I. H. Benedict sells groceries and furnishes lunch to the hungry ; M. P. Simmons succeeded H. A. Hintz in barbering at the begin- ning of the year 1913. and R. E. Cook began about that time in the same line as
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successor .to J. B. Casey. The latter is in the building where Mrs. G. C. Burtis taught the first term of school. Frank Jutte runs the bus line; H. E. Peitzke and J. S. Schults run opposition to F. I. Chapman in blacksmithing; Wiener & Burtis own and manage the elevator on the M. & St. L., and Will Biging is manager for the Kunz Elevator Company on the Northwestern; Henry Zentner has a monopoly of the livery, Nissen Bros. of the meat business, M. E. Larimer of the billiard tables and Wm. Weisenberg of the shoe cobbling.
Mrs. W. B. Mason, in the old MeNally building, which she now owns, con- ducts the only millinery establishment in town. She keeps competent help, deals on the square and has a steady sale which yearly increases.
E. C. Woite is the lumber dealer, being the final successor of the three or four dealers in the eighties. J. H. Keith is the new agent at the station on the Northwestern. He succeeded C. E. Sawyer, who had taken the place of McKee. E. A. Adams was there first, then came Fred Babcock and after him S. D. Drake, who has been punching the company every since his retirement. At the M. & St. L. depot C. A. Waln has done satisfactory service for the company and public for about four years and has a good standing in the community.
Dr. P. V. Janse, who located in 1903 and Dr. A. L .. Spooner, who became established in 1910 are the local physicians and having a wide practice. Dr. Dunlap was the first to locate and then in order came Dr. Baker, Dr. Geo. Lacey, Dr. Sowles, Dr. Walter Fraser, Dr. C. S. Bliss. Dr. Janse, Dr. Baldwin and Dr. Spoonr. J. C. Raymond was an old standby lawyer until he moved to the county seat, after liis election to the position of county attorney. Charley Goodwin later came to take his place, but did not remain long. Dr. C. L .. Whit- tington is the sole veterinary surgeon now holding forth at Lu Verne.
Woodman Lodge, No. 3792, was organized April 24. 1896, with Chas. Good- win, C .; I. P. Harrison, A .; R. W. Hanna, B .; W. H. Raney, E. The present officers are W. H. Raney, C .; H. C. Allen, A .; H. E. Pietzka, B .; D. Stauf- facher, F .; E. D. Lovell, C .; H. J. Smith, W .; and A. E. Marty, S.
The Odd Fellows' Lodge, No. 500, was organized October 20, 1887. with the following officers: Geo. Lacey, N. G .; E. A. Lovell, V. G .; Geo. Hixon, secretary ; H. S. Benedict, T. Besides these J. M. Preston was a charter mem- ber. The present officers are G. C. Ostrander, N. G .; Hal E. Rogers, V. G .; L. Lichty, secretary ; and F. I. Chapman, T.
Rebekah Lodge, No. 405, was organized October 20, 1898, by the follow- ing charter members: F. I. and Emma Chapman, Alex and Laura E. Larimer, G. C. and Arvilla Ostrander, J. W. and Katie Hilligos, Elbert A. and Eldora Lovell and Ira H. and Etta Benedict. The lodge at present is officered in full as follows: Mrs. F. I. Chapman, N. G .; Daisy Gregory. V. G .: Pearl White. secretary ; Mrs. J. L .. Lichty, T .: Mrs. John White, W .; Anna Larson, Con .; Mrs. T. E. Gregory, chaplain : Mrs. Anna Harrison, R. S. N. G .; F. I. Chap- man, L. S. N. G .; Mrs. W. H. Raney, R. S. V. G .; and F. E. Gregory, L. S. V. G.
The Yoeman, Homestead Lodge, No. 50. came into existence February 8. 1808, by the enthusiasm of the following charter members: John, Robt. H. and Mary G. Smith, L. W. Oliver and Mary J. Beckwith, J. H. and Fred Zent- ner, Mary R. Howard. Albert Steffen, G. C. and Arvilla Ostrander, I .. G. and James A. Moulton. Frank H. and Laura E. Ford, A. E. and Mary E. Zweifel. Walter Hilligos, Carl J. Sims. T. J. Moses and Jacob Luchsinger. The official
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records of the organization having been later destroyed by fire, the officers chosen cannot be recalled. At the present time they are: Thos. Gregory, F .; Jolın Northrop, M. C .; J. C. Ostrander, conductor; A. L. Spooner, chaplain ; W. B. Mason, O .; Conrad Nissen, W .; Mrs. Zentner, L. R., and Mrs. Mason. I .. Rebekah.
In the three-cornered fight to see whether Vernon, Whitman, or Lu Verne was to be the future town, the latter scored a knock-out blow when it succeeded in having the postoffice established at that place early in the history of the town in March, 1881. George W. Hanna was the first postmaster, and those serving since his retirement have been: Henry Klindt and Werner Eggerth, both democrats under Cleveland ; I. P. Harrison, under Harrison; A. R. Darr and B. F. Guthrie, under Cleveland's second administration: I. P. Harrison and Carl Miller.
Lu V'erne held her incorporation election July 6, 1887, and won by a vote of nineteen to seven, and proceeded to take under her wing the other towns-Wltit- man and Vernon, since which time they have lost their identity. The first mayor was George W. Hanna, then in order came J. C. Raymond, Henry Klindt, O. B. Kline, R. W. Hanna, Paul Fechner, C. L. Konarska, W. A. Patterson, Leander Barton, W. H. Raney, Peter Thompson, Frank Stone, and again W. H. Raney. The present councilmen are Henry Jutte, C. A. Waln, J. D. Weiner and H. C. Allen ; clerk, H. L. Simmons; treasurer, A. D. Burtis ; marshal, John White.
Lu Verne was platted, the first buildings erected and the first school taught on the site, while what is now Lu Verne township was a small part of old Irvington township, which had a board of directors with backbones as unflexible as crow bars. The Lu Verne boomers asked for a schoolhouse on the site to answer the purpose of a town hall. This demand being flatly refused trouble ensued. because there were many in the township who desired to see the schoolhouse at Whitman instead. The board was composed of sturdy pioneers who wore the scars of many political battles, and whose intellects were keen and clear from their long experi- ence in frontier struggles. Lu Verne, on the other hand, had a class of young, vigorous men who were a tremendous power when working for a common interest. These few men, in the southeast corner, kept after the board and by a series of shrewd tactics got the schoolhouse where they wanted it, built it as they liked and finally got control of the board. Then they proceeded to move two school- houses, pay off some refused bills, and did other acts that greatly annoyed those who had looked with suspicion on the rising young town of Lu Verne. Realiz- ing that sooner or later the Lu Verneites would demand a township of their own, the old board had the supervisors set off Lu Verne township in the fall of 1882 in its present form. The first election was held in October and resulted in John Kingery, Gaylord C. Burtis and R. W. Hanna being chosen trustees ; C. E. Fisher, clerk : Matt Luchsinger, assessor : S. Finley and F. C. Needham, justices ; S. Godfrey and William Futterer, constables; and Valentine Zoelle, road su- pervisor.
Lu Verne contains some early settlers. They are B. F. Burtis, who came in 1864: F. H. Patton, who settled in 1865; Leander Barton, who located just across the line in Humboldt about the same time and the Godfreys who were early upon the scene. Of the original men who fought to have the town remain where it is. George W. Hanna is about all there is left to recount the incidents of the strife.
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The voters of the county later recognized the ability of Lu Verne's citizens by choosing G. C. Burtis, L. D. Lovell and Leander Barton for supervisors, J. C. Raymond for attorney, George W. Hanna for representative and O. J. Stephenson for clerk.
The original plat of the site was filed on record March 23, 1881. Zoelle platted four additions. The first of seven blocks May 1, 1882, the next of fourteen lots, April 9, 1887, the next of two blocks October 11, 1892, and the fourth addition of one large block, July 5, 1893. Werner Eggerth recorded his plat of three blocks November 17, 1891 ; P. H. Eighmy, two blocks, May 18, 1894, and C. S. Bliss the last addition by sub-division of lot one, June 24, 1902.
Lu Verne township began to populate rapidly after the town was platted. At that time John Q. Hanna was a land agent at Goldfield and he succeeded in locating quite a colony in the township. After he went south George W. Hanna and G. C. Burtis continued the business for a few years with good results. Today there are many wealthy farmers, and sons of those who have passed on before. S. E. Cham- bers, one of the respected early settlers in the township, is gone, but his sons, H. O. and Charles, were in the Spanish-American war, and the latter crossed the Pacific and fought in the Filipino war. George F. Chambers owns the quarter upon which the first settler located and is making good. Among the many substantial farmers whose names are familiar are J. N. Mitchell, A. K. Clapsaddle, J. F. Steven, C. I .. Genrich, F. R. Bunkofske, Walter S. Hunt, William Schultz and scores of others of equal standing. The plat of the town site of Hanna was filed May 9, 1895, by John Meiers. The site is near the center of section 22 and contains five blocks. T. J. Fox makes his home there and manages the Kunz elevator. He is mayor. city police and councilman and runs the city to suit himself, as there have never been enough houses there to even make a village.
The district township school officers are Fritz Girard, president ; John Cham- bers, secretary ; J. S. Reed, Herman Butts, W. S. Hunt, William Schultz, John S. Horner and C. A. Campbell.
SHERMAN TOWNSHIP
The township of Sherman-94-28-was cut out of old Irvington township by the board of supervisors in February, 1883, after its inhabitants had been con- nected with Irvington affairs for a quarter of a century. The settlements on that territory were slow in forming for a long time after the first adventurers came to the county, because of its distance from timber and the river. The first to locate was Ben Hensley, who staked his claim on the northwest quarter of section 6, in the fall of 1854. This was later the home of Elijah Lane. Richard Hodges drove his claim stakes on the northeast quarter of section 8 in December, 1855, and lived there until he had raised his family and the country had become civilized.
Joe Raney came to the county in 1857, but stopped the first winter west of the river where the M. D. I .. Parsons family are living. He took for his claim, in what is now Sherman township, the southeast quarter of section 18, and there remained until he had raised his large family and until his death. He was one of the most widely known residents of that vicinity, and was a typical pioneer who had met the hard knocks of life. He had the peculiar double nature possessed by so many of the early settlers, in that he was stubbornly uncompromising on the one hand
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and sympathetic and yielding on the other. Three first events in the townships oc- curred in his home. The first birth, when his daughter, Caroline, came as a joy in October, 1858; the first death, when Mrs. Raney was called home in March, 1862; and the first marriage, when Mr. Raney was united in wedlock with Mary Fisher in May, 1863.
Just north of the Raney farm Samp Courell built the best frame house on the prairie in 1857, but being a single man he never lived on the premises. Later that was the home of Nicholas Brass where his sons and daughters were reared to maturity. John Lamb about that time took several claims, but finally built a shack on the northeast quarter of the southeast of section 6, now the home of the Dunn family. On the quarter just west of him, Henry Wheeler settled in 1857 and in a couple of years George D. Wheeler occupied the premises with his family. He was the justice of the peace who performed the ceremony to unite the first couple as husband and wife in the county. About the time that Henry Wheeler located, a man by the name of Sissen claimed on the same location, but he left the county a couple of years later.
Abram Knight made his selection on section 5 in 1858 and built on it a log cabin where he lived until his death in 1861. His body lies mingled with the dust in the northwest corner of R. J. Skilling's east field. That log house was in good repair in the fall of 1865 when A. M. Johnson purchased the land on his return from the army. His family made their home in the cabin for several years and nearby he pounded iron in his sod blacksmith shop. The property now belongs to his son, E. S. Johnson, of Algona.
Claims were taken in Sherman before the war by numerous parties from the old Irvington village, but they soon disposed of their interest in them, and made no permanent settlement. O. W. Robinson, R. Parmenter, Charles Parsons, Le- ceister Fox and several others from the village had their first interest in land in the county in that township.
About the time that A. M. Johnson came in 1865, Henry Curran settled on the northeast quarter of section 22, which was then considered out in the wilderness on the "flat." There he lived, raised his family, fought grasshoppers and endured the privations of that period. In his younger days he was a powerful force in the management of the affairs of old Irvington township. He is still on the place liv- ing a quiet, retired life.
F. H. Patton came in August, 1865, and began making his home on the south- east corner of section 35. He lived there until the site for Lu Verne was platted. and then moved to the village where he still lives. When he located on his land his nearest neighbors on the west were the Elhenan Clark family, over on the river, and on the east. settlers on the Boone river.
Within a few months after the war closed, D. A. Haggard came from the army and located on the northeast quarter of section 7, and his friend Sparks became the owner of the John Lamb claim, a half mile north. These two army comrades later bought a new threshing machine and ran it for a few seasons. Mr. Sparks moved his family to the Pacific coast in the early seventies, but Mr. Haggard re- mained on the farm several years longer, until his election to the office of sheriff made it necessary for him to make his abode at the county seat. While on the farm he became identified with the growth of the old Irvington community and was one of the active citizens in that part of the county.
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During the year 1866 the township received as settlers several families through the influence of J. B. Jones who located them after their arrival. Among these were John and Mike Biging. Fred Dammann located in 1866 on the southeast quarter of section 27, and a little later James Riley settled on the southeast quarter of section 15, David Roy on the northeast quarter of section 28, and Ned Ryan on the southeast quarter of section 14. Some of these homes were sod houses which crumbled down after a few years. Aaron Rutherford came that year and settled on the north half of section 21, and Will Johnson jumped Charles Albert- son's claim just west of the Patton farm.
John Davidson and Alex MeKittrick were settlers of that period in the Roy- Dammann neighborhood, and others came who remained only a short time. G. M. Parsons came to the county in 1866 and soon settled west of Hodges on section 8 where he was an influential citizen for a long time. John Conner was in the vicinity for four or five years before he located on the southeast quarter of section 14 in the year of 1872. He was another of the old time residents who wielded a strong influence and who has passed on before, his death occurring in August, 1910. The Horace C. Parson's family made their home on the northwest quarter of section 6 for several years after the war.
Max Miller became a resident and located his family on the southwest quarter of section 22 during the year 1869, and has been throughout all these years one of the most respected citizens of that community. He is still robust and healthy and has accumulated enough to keep the wolf from his door during the period of old age. His wife is the sister of Fred Dammann who located in 1866.
John Starks, David Dutton, John Leigh, Kasper Kohlhaas, Samuel Steussy, the Brass boys and many more got a start early when the land was cheap and profited well as the result. Men like Ed Warmbier, L. N. Thorp, Max Meyer, J. L. Green, the Willey boys, the Curran boys, the Dunn boys, the Frankl boys and numerous others who had but little ready cash when they began operations in the township, have prospered tilling the fertile soil.
The Northwestern road runs diagonally across the township from southeast to northwest, and has one station on section 9 which is named after the owner of the land upon which it is located-Galbraith. W. C. Bissell is the merchant and the manager of the elevator, and received his commission as postmaster in June, 1902.
The schoolboard consists of F. B. Mullin, president ; C. H. Reilly, secretary ; A. M. Curran, treasurer ; John Ramus, I .. A. Johnson, K. Kohlhaas, Nick Bor- man, S. N. Phillips, James Blummer, F. M. Devine and Gronbach. The township officers are W. C. Bissell, clerk ; Ed Warmbier, J. Stripling and Fred Miller, trus- tees ; S. F. Phillips, assessor.
A few miles south of the western part of the township is the point of the grove known in war times as Johnson's Point. The road from that place north through the river settlements of Kossuth, ran nearly along the line separating the west two tiers of sections of Sherman, very much as it does at the present time. It was some- where along that line that a portion of the military wagons were hauled when the fort at Fort Dodge was moved north in the fall of 1853.
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