USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume I > Part 46
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"Within a week I made the acquaintance of all the people of the town. Among the leading persons were William and Joseph Greene, brothers of the judge, Lowell and Lawson Daniels, Homer Bishop and John Weare, all of whom
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were merchants. The three stores of which they were the proprietors would not compare well with the department stores of today, but all the same they were department stores, and in their miscellaneous stocks the customer could find all he wanted, from castor oil to broad-axes. Pollock & Stewart were the black- smiths, and the carpenters and wagon-makers were also represented, but I cannot recall their names.
"Dr. Mansfield took me as a partner, and in company with Judge Cook, we had a room, 10x16, in a small one-story building opposite the mill, the other part being occupied by S. L. Pollock and family. His blacksmith shop was near by. Our medicines were kept on a shelf and a store box made a table. Our bunks occupied one side and a few stools and two split-bottomed chairs made up our furniture. We took our meals at the Coffman house. Our field of practice em- braced the settlers, not numerous, in the valleys of the Cedar and Iowa rivers and their tributaries. We made very long rides. I was called to see a patient two miles above the present town of Vinton, not then begun. I got lost in the night and waited for daylight under a tree on the bank of the river at the very spot where Vinton now stands. Bilious fever and ague were the prevailing dis- eases, all the newcomers having to undergo one or both. As patients and clients were not very numerous, we had a good deal of leisure. Judge Cook was a fine reader and we took turns at Shakespeare, a copy of which we fortunately pos- sessed. During the summer Dr. Mansfield and myself built a story and half office on Commercial street, about the middle of the block on which the Daniels store was located. We had a mail three times a week from Dubuque and Iowa City. The Higley brothers did the service in a two-horse hack. I think Joseph Greene was postmaster. John Weare, Sr., was justice of the peace. He was a very original character, fond of company and full of interesting reminiscences extending back to the war of 1812, in which he had lost a leg. His small office was in the rear of Mrs. Ely's residence, which stood on the ground where the Dows & Ely block now is. Ile gave 'nicknames' to many people and places which stuck to them like burrs. The first Presbyterian or Congregational church building was begun that summer, and as the walls were built of cement, old Mr. Weare named it the 'Muddy,' which it retained to the last day of its exist- ence. Many buildings were put up that year with a corresponding increase in population. All the people were full of hope and ambition. We began to talk of railroads. The people of Dubuque and Keokuk, the leading river towns, started a scheme for a road running through the interior and connecting them. The people along the line, at Cascade, Anamosa, Marion, Cedar Rapids, Wash- ington and Fairfield eagerly endorsed the project, meetings were held and it was resolved to hold two delegate conventions, on the same day. one at. Anamosa. the other at Fairfield. We had a rousing meeting in Cedar Rapids. There were nearly a hundred people present, and they resolved to have the railroad forthwith. From our standpoint it was the government's duty to donate land, and for eastern people to furnish the money. Delegates were chosen to both conventions. Dr. Jolin F. Ely and myself were selected to go to Fairfield. Both conventions were to be held on the 6th of December, 1849. We left Cedar Rapids on the 3d of December and after three days' hard and cold travel reached Fairfield. Marion sent Col. I. M. Preston and Dr. Ristine. The convention met in a small school house. All the counties were represented. The Hon. C. W. Slagle. of Fairfield, then a very young man, was chosen president. I was chosen secretary. The little school house was packed, and if any doubt the courage and scope of that eon- vention, let him look up the old file of newspapers of that day and read. Dr. Ballard, of Iowa City. Stewart Goodsel, of Brighton. Joseph Casey, of Keokuk county, and General Van Plank Van Antwerp were present and took active part. We parted for our various homes, thinking the work half done. but sad to relate, Cedar Rapids had to wait ten years longer for the locomotive. These two meet-
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ings were, as I think, the first railroad conventions held in the interior of the state. Soon opposition schemes were started for east and west lines, and our project was ignominiously called the 'Ram's Horn.' The next year was quite a stirring one. New people were coming in great numbers, but many were leaving, for the California fever had broken out. Several outfits left Cedar Rapids, and with one of them Dr. Mansfield, my partner, whose place was taken by Dr. S. C. Koontz, a cousin of mine, one well known to the old citizens. That year the first brick buildings were erected, a dwelling on Iowa avenue near Greene's opera house, and a three-story building on Commercial street, by Judge Greene, which for a long time was the show building of the town. We began to put on eity airs.
"At this time Martin L. Barber was mayor of the village. It was before the present eity organization. Barber was an eccentric eharaeter, a millwright by trade. He was nearly as wise as Solomon, with courage to match. A 'bad man' came to the town. He hung about the saloon. It was said he drew a knife and threatened to kill a citizen. The majesty of the law was invoked. It was night. The offender took refuge in the saloon and barricaded the door. The mayor ealled out the 'posse commitatus' numbering two or three dozen young fellows like myself. He pounded on the door, demanding admittanee in the name of the law. No response. We got a piece of timber and battered down the door. The mayor collared the 'bad man' who offered no resistance. He was hurried to- wards the Coffman house, where the mayor proposed to deal out justice. As we neared the hotel he tore loose from the mayor and made for the river. We in full ery in pursuit. He plunged in just below the mill. We paused at the brink. Gradually he disappeared, and was never seen afterwards. It was the first and last exhibition of the mayor's power.
"In 1850 Miss Mary S. Legare, sister of the Hon. Hugh S. Legare of South Carolina, came to Cedar Rapids. She was a woman of the highest eulture, who had moved much in the official cireles of Washington, and had considerable wealth. With her came numerous relatives named Bryan, Storey, and McIn- tosh, the latter a well known lawyer of the early days. She made investments in the town and took up large tracts of land. In the spring of that year we had a very spirited election. The people were divided into two faetions, the 'eodfish' and the 'catfish.' For mayor the former nominated N. B. Brown, the latter Jacob Bressler. I cannot recall the issues, but only remember that we almost came to blows during the eanvass. Less than one hundred votes were east and Brown was elected. Brown was one of the original owners of the town site, and built the first mills. He was one of the prominent characters in the early history of the town, a modest, quiet, but genial man, with many friends.
"This year, on the 6th of July, I did one of the few wise acts of my life. ' I married Sarah Weare, the daughter of John Weare, Sr. We went to house- keeping in a small one-story house, near where the old passenger depot stood. It was then the only house east of the present railroad. The next year, 1851. was a very active one for the town. Judge Greene, who had lived in Dubuque. moved to the town. The same year came S. C. Bever, who had driven in a two-horse buggy from Holmes county, Ohio, to Cedar Rapids. By this time I considered myself an old eitizen, thoroughly identified with the county and town, and devoted all my leisure time to meeting strangers and exploiting the town and eounty. I met Mr. Bever soon after his arrival and spent several days with him riding about the country. He made large investments both in country and town. One was 160 aeres about a mile from the ferry, at $5.00 per acre. I made the sale for Mr. Addison Daniels of Marion, who was so pleased with my effort that he presented me with a four-bladed penknife. Both Mr. Daniels and myself were satisfied and I have never heard that Mr. Bever regretted the purchase. That same year my father, Mr. Gabriel Carpenter, came out to see the country. After
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great effort on my part and many misgivings on his, he purchased of Mr. Levi Lewis 300 acres of land adjoining the town plat on the south, for which he paid $2,500. The land embraced the present cemetery. By this time Judge Greene had completed his three-story building, into which the Greene Bros. placed a large stoek of goods. The most of their stock was brought up the river in a keel boat of forty or fifty tons capacity. It was rigged with a large square sail, but the principal power was men with poles, who shoved it against the current. They had loaded it with pork and sent it down the river in the spring.
"In 1851 oceurred the great flood. Most of the lower parts of the town were under water. The grand lodge met that year at Ft. Madison, and at the time the river was at its highest point. We were ent off from all the neighboring country by the swollen streams, but the lodge thought it must be represented and I was chosen as the delegate. N. B. Brown suggested that I should go down the river in a skiff to a point opposite Museatine, then by land to that place, which is only ten or twelve miles distant, then by steamer to Ft. Madison. The lodge furnished the skiff. I found a companion. We embarked in the morning and so swift was the current that we reached our destination by nightfall, and I was on time for the meeting. At the meeting I renewed my acquaintance with the grand master and the grand secretary, and met many brethren who became life- long friends.
"In the spring of 1852 a steamboat eame to Cedar Rapids. It was a great event, and brought in people from near and far. She brought a full eargo of freight, among which was the household effects of Mr. Bever and my father, both of whom from that time forward became citizens of the town. This year also eame Mr. Daniel O. Finch with a printing press and forthwith started the Progressive Era, the first paper in the Cedar valley. Ezra Van Metre, a talented young lawyer from Cincinnati, Ohio, also eame that year. Every one was re- joieed that we had an organ and the editor was overwhelmed with original mat- ter. There were at least a dozen young fellows in the town, myself among the rest, who thought they 'knew it all,' and anxiously rushed into print. The paper changed hands in a year or two, and became the Cedar Valley Times and con- tinued until a few years ago.
"In the winter of 1852 I had a serious time in a professional way. A young man living at Quasqueton, Buchanan county, was riding across the prairie near that place and met a bear. The bear fled and he pursued. In crossing a strip of iee the horse fell. He was thrown and his foot stuck in the stirrup and he was dragged four miles over the snow, which was about six inches deep. In the mad flight the horse kieked and broke his right leg below the knee in two places. Finally the saddle turned, his foot was released and he was dropped on the lone prairie. The horse found his way home with saddle under his belly. This was on the evening of the 17th of December. A search was organized, but he was not found till the 21st, four days after the accident. Fortunately the weather was not as cold as it sometimes gets, but his hands and feet were badly frozen. Cedar Rapids, about thirty-five miles distant, was the nearest point where doctors could be found. I was sent for and went by the way of Marion, and took with me Dr. Thomas Bardwell, who was then a student in Dr. Ristine's office. There was a road to Center Point. There we struek across the prairie to Quasqueton, eighteen miles distant, without a house. We reached there the evening of the 23d, nearly frozen ourselves, for the weather was bitterly eold. They had got the young man thawed out, but in a most miserable condition. Mortifieation had set in, and there was no chance for the broken leg. Immediate amputation was the only hope, but I had no instrument but a small pocket case, and delay would be fatal. Necessity is the mother of invention. A butcher had just come to the place and had his tools. He sharpened his knives and filed his saw. A strong handkerchief was twisted. a knot made in the middle, which was placed
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FEDERAL BUILDING, CEDAR RAPIDS
AUDITORIUM, CEDAR RAPIDS
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over the main artery. It was tied tightly and a strong stick thrust under it and twisted till the circulation was shut off. Then with the butcher's tool I ampu- tated the thigh four inches above the knee. Dr. Bardwell administered chloro- form, which fortunately we had taken with us, and he encouraged me by word and deed. The young fellow, who was ahout 21, had never been sick a day in his life, rallied well and improved for about a week, but the other leg, which we hoped to save, began to mortify and there was nothing left but to amputate it. In the meantime we heard of a doctor about thirty miles away, in the direction of Du- buque, who had a case of instruments. I sent to borrow them. He refused to lend them but came back with the messenger and insisted, as he owned the instru- ments, he should perform the operation. That was not professional, but as I thought the patient had not more than one chance in ten to recover, I was not unwilling to divide the responsibility ; so he amputated the other leg below the knee. During that winter I made eight trips between Cedar Rapids and Quas- queton on horseback, and the fellow recovered. He was the son of a well-to-do farmer in Harrison county, Ohio. His father came out in the spring, stole his son away without paying the doctors or the man in whose house he had been during recovery, and to carry ingratitude still further he procured a Methodist preacher to write his life, in which I was depicted as an ignorant butcher. This book he peddled about Ohio in person. I confess that when I heard he had been sent to the penitentiary for committing an aggravated rape I was not very sorry. This experience rather disgusted me with the practice of medicine in a new country. I was, however, in a way compensated, for I sent a history of the case to the New York Tribune, and its publication gave me quite a reputation as a fearless surgeon and thereafter I was called when surgery was required. As I have said before, I was in the habit of showing strangers about the country who wanted to buy land. In that way I became familiar with choice lots of vacant land. Greene and Weare dealt in land warrants, which they sold on a credit at three per cent per month interest. I knew of a section of land in the Iowa river bottom that I thought I should be able to sell. I borrowed the land warrants, entered the section and in less than two months had sold it for $3 per acre cash. That settled the matter. By one transaction I had made more than I had done in any year's practice. I sold out my medicines to Dr. Koontz and thenceforth till the war had nothing to do with medicine.
"About 1853-4 we began to lose confidence in the 'Ram's Horn' railroad pro- ject. Congress had made grants of land to aid railroad projects and public opinion seemed to favor east and west rather than north and south lines. Roads from Chicago were approaching the Mississippi river, and a line from Rock Island to Council Bluffs was projected. The people in the tier of counties north of the projected line became stirred up and a railroad convention was called to meet in Maquoketa, Jackson county, to organize a company to build a line in their in- terest. Cedar Rapids sent a delegation as follows : George Greene, N. B. Brown, Daniel Lothian, I. N. Whittam, Donald McIntosh, Ezra Van Metre, and myself. Marion also sent a large delegation and the counties along the line were well represented. A company was organized to build a line from Savanna on the Mississippi river to a point on the Missouri river not named. A corps of sur- veyors was put in the field and for two or three years it was the favorite project of Cedar Rapids. The settlements both in town and country were increasing rapidly and we suffered greatly for lack of transportation. Judge Greene, with his usual energy and public spirit, organized a steamboat company in which the prominent citizens became stockholders. This was in the winter. The judge went to Pittsburg, contracted for a boat suitable for our river, which by spring was completed and at the opening of navigation made her first trip, well freighted with all kinds of goods for our own merchants, and those of the surrounding towns. She was kept in commission for two or three years and was a great
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benefit to the community. The company hired a captain and various stock- holders were at different times supercargo. While II. G. Angle was acting in that capacity she collided with and sunk another boat on the Mississippi, which led to a law suit in which our company had to pay large damages, which swept away all our profits. She made her last trip under my charge, and under direc- tion of the company I sold her to parties in St. Louis. By this time a great rivalry had grown up between our town and Marion. Cedar Rapids claimed that she was to be the commercial metropolis and therefore ought to be the political center. The question was brought to an issue by the county commissioners ordering a new court house at Marion, subject to the approval of the voters of the county. Cedar Rapids opposed the measure, believing that the building would insure the permanent location of the county seat. Then ensued a most bitter canvass. The voters were deluged with oratory. Marion put on the stump Judge Isbell, I. M. Preston, Col. Wm. Smythe, N. M. Hubbard, W. G. Thompson, and R. D. Stephens, against whom Cedar Rapids opposed Jas. J. Child, Ezra Van Metre, Donald MeIntosh, A. S. Belt, E. N. Bates, I. N. Whittam, and others. Every school distriet was canvassed and much bitter feeling engendered. The Marion people were more adroit politicians and carried the election, but the result did not discourage our citizens, who asserted that no election could affect 'manifest destiny.'
"About 1852 Major J. M. May came to Cedar Rapids from Janesville, Wis- consin. The major was a stirring man with a head full of schemes. He said that Cedar Rapids was a place of immense possibilities and only wanted enter- prise to make it the great town of Iowa. Ile honght land at the lower part of town adjoining that owned by my father, and land on the west side adjoining the river and below that owned by Dr. King. He platted out town lots on both sides of the river, and induced my father and King to do the same, which were the first additions made to the original town. He also surveyed the island, sent a plat to the general government and took possession of it, much to the chagrin and surprise of the old settlers. Then he began to agitate the question of a free bridge. Every one wanted a free bridge but were undecided as to the location. The major induced my father to subscribe $1,500, and he gave $1,000, which with sums contributed by others in the lower end of the town, secured the location below the island at the narrowest place in the river. The bridge was completed and thrown open to the public, I think, in the late fall of 1852, and proved a great convenience. The construction was defective and when the ice broke up in the spring, the heavy eakes knocked down two of the piers, and destroyed the greater part of the bridge. All the people of the town were collected on the bank of the river watching the event, and two young women who were crossing went down with the structure and were drowned. This was the first bridge built at Cedar Rapids. The next was a bridge of boats at the foot of Iowa avenue which I believe was also swept away by iee. About this time the Rev. Williston Jones, who officiated in the 'Muddy.' and was a very good as well as energetie man, went east on some missionary effort. While there he met a gentleman named Coe, who made a donation of land adjoining the town plat for educational pur- poses providing the people would also contribute. A meeting was called and the terms complied with and thus Coe college was founded. I was quite honored when with others I was named as a trustee. Not long after this time the Rev- erend Starr beeame rector of the Episcopal church, and under the lead of Judge Greene and Mr. Bever, they began the erection of the first Episcopal church, and about the same time the Methodists built a brick church, so you see Cedar Rapids began to get on 'praying grounds and interceding terms.' In the winter of 1856-7 we were surprised and flattered by receiving a communication from a party of railroad men connected with the North-Western railroad, then completed to Fulton, Illinois, asking us to join them and organize a railroad company
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from Clinton on the west side of the Mississippi river to our town. This was a new proposition, and we had never heard of Clinton, which in point of fact was only a cornfield staked out in town lots, besides we were committed to the line that was to run west from Savanna. We consulted with the Marion people, but they would have nothing to do with it, arguing that we had already applied for the land grant for the Savanna route. After serious deliberation and with considerable misgivings, we decided to send a delegation to spy out the land and be governed by circumstances. John Wcare and H. G. Angle were chosen as our representatives. It took them three days to drive to Lyons which was the nearest town to Clinton, the proposed starting point. That was the first time any of our citizens had come in contact with real capitalists, men who built rail- roads. There they met a party of men from Boston, from Maine, from New York, and Chicago, among whom was Charles Walker of Chicago, then president of the North-Western. Our deputations were swept from their old moorings and immediately joined hands with these men and formed a company, the 'Chi- cago, Iowa & Nebraska,' to build west from Clinton, by the way of Cedar Rapids to the Missouri river. Cedar Rapids was given first directors as follows: Geo. Greene, John Weare, H. G. Angle, S. C. Bever, and S. D. Carpenter, which po- sitions we held till the road was built to Cedar Rapids. This new departure on the part of Cedar Rapids intensified the feeling of rivalry between her and Marion ; a direct line between Clinton and Cedar Rapids would leave Marion off the route, besides the natural obstacles were less from Mount Vernon to the river and thence to Cedar Rapids. The Marionites denounced us as traitors to the original scheme, with a malignant intent to leave them out in the cold. We denied the 'allegation and defied the alligators.'
"We said there was nothing behind the old project, but that ours was a live scheme, with experienced men with bags of money to put it through. Our dep- uties had pledged $200,000 from Cedar Rapids, which we proceeded to raise, $100,000 by private subscription and $100,000 by city bonds. Greene & Weare, then bankers, subscribed $10,000; George Greene, $5,000; John Weare, $5,000; N. B. Brown, $5,000; S. C. Bever, $5,000; Gabriel Carpenter, $5,000, and num- erous others smaller sums to make up the amount. Then a city election was had and the $100,000 voted by an overwhelming majority. Surveys of the route were begun at once and from Mount Vernon and Cedar Rapids, two lines were secn ; one by the way of Marion, and the other by the river. It was ascertained that the latter route would be shorter and cheaper by $100,000 than the former, but the company proposed to adopt the Marion route if she would subscribe $100,000, which she declined to do, and the river line was chosen. Work pro- gressed slowly and the first year found the rails no further west than De Witt. Clinton county. Nothing had been done on the Savanna line.
"Meantime the legislature for 1857-8 assembled, and we were astounded to learn that they had passed a bill giving a land grant to that company. I do not remember why we had not looked after onr interests, but only know that we were taken by surprise. We thought our enterprise in great jeopardy, and resolved to compromise, if possible, with Marion. I think that Judge Isbell was then president of the Savanna company. Major May, who had favored the Marion line, for what reason I now forget, and myself from a warm personal friendship with Judge Isbell, were chosen ambassadors. We met the judge and the Marion directors of the rival line. They were courteous, but ohdurate. They said we had deserted them and run after strange gods, and now that the tables were turned, they proposed to build the road straight west, crossing the river cight miles north of Cedar Rapids, and instead of their building a branch to Cedar Rapids, we if we chose might build the branch from Cedar Rapids, and thus we left them, sad and discouraged. 'Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,' and thus it turned out with the Savanna ronte. The company was com-
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