USA > Iowa > Marion County > History of Marion County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 15
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Mr. Reynolds lost no time in drafting and introducing a bill to repeal the act changing the name, and his influence, supported by the petition, was sufficient to bring about its passage. But now a peculiar situation was discovered. The petition did not ask for nor the re- pealing bill provide for the restoration of the original name of Knox- ville, so that Marion County had a nameless seat of justice-that is, technically speaking. After the joke had run for a few days the Legislature amended the bill and the name of Knoxville was re- stored.
INCORPORATION
Late in the vear 1853 a movement was started for the incorpora- tion of Knoxville. A petition was presented to the county judge, who ordered an election for Saturday, January 28, 1854, at which the voters should decide the question. Sixty-four votes were cast, only four of which were against the proposition to incorporate. Two days later Joseph Brobst, county judge, issued the following order :
"Whereas, a majority of the legal voters of Knoxville, Marion County, Iowa, on the 28th day of January, 1854, have voted in favor
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of having said town incorporated, notice is hereby given that an election will take place at the courthouse, in the said town of Knox- ville, on Thursday, the 9th day of February, 1854, for the purpose of choosing three persons to prepare a charter for said village."
At the election E. W. Ridlen, James M. Walters and Charles Durham were chosen charter commissioners, and the charter pre- pared by them was submitted to a vote of the people on April 7, 1854, when it was adopted by a vote of 33 to 2. It provided for a mayor and board of aldermen, with the other customary municipal officers; defined the duties of the various officials; limited the tax levy to one-eighth of one per cent; fixed the time for holding elec- tions, etc.
Owing to the destruction of the early records by the fire of 1887, it is impossible to give a detailed account of the early doings of the city government. It is known that the first meetings of the council were held in E. K. Woodruff's shop, and one of the few records of which a copy can be found relates to the building of a city prison. At a council meeting in August, 1857, the erection of a prison, or calaboose, was ordered, the building to be as follows:
"Twelve feet square, eight feet in the clear, bottom sills to be eight inches square, two center joists above and below, the plank to be of oak, one and a half inches in thickness, the entire building to be double and nailed with eight-penny nails, five nails to every six inches, square roof, to be shingled, and building to be set on eight pillars of stone."
The contract for the erection of this "calaboose" was let to Fur- guson Brothers for $90, and it was built upon ground leased from C. G. Brobst, at a rental of $5 per year. The specification providing for "five nails to every six inches" was doubtless intended to make it difficult for any prisoner confined in this bastile to use an auger or saw in cutting his way out.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
During the twenty years following the incorporation of the town several additions were made, to-wit: Southwest Knoxville, June, 1855; Eldredge's addition, October, 1855; East Knoxville, March, 1856; North Knoxville, April, 1856; South Knoxville, May, 1856; Walter & Roach's addition, April, 1857; Hillis' addition, October, 1857; Jones & Hanks' addition, December, 1870; Northwest Knox- ville, December, 1870; Jones' addition, January, 1871; George Henry's addition, May, 1872; T. J. Anderson's addition, April, 1873; and Matthews' addition, July, 1874.
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From 1854 to 1860 Knoxville experienced a rapid increase in population. Then for a period of fifteen years the growth was more moderate. When the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad was completed to the town in 1875 another era of prosperity began, and during the next two years the following additions were laid out : Wright's, February, 1876; Bittenbender & Ayres', February, 1876; Matthews' new addition, February, 1876; Reno's, October, 1876; Baker & Jones', November, 1876. Among the improvements made during the year 1876 were the business blocks erected by I. H. Gar- retson, Weyers & Huffman, Welch, McMillan & Company, John Reaver and Hayward & Underhill ; a $2,200 addition to the Tremont Hotel, and the opera house block of Ruffner, Neifert & Company. After a few years of this rapid growth the city settled down to a steady development and for the last twenty years there has been only a slight increase in the number of inhabitants.
PUBLIC LIGHTING, ETC.
Early in 1887 a franchise was granted to the Knoxville Electric Company and before the close of the year a plant was completed and placed in operation. A contract was made for the lighting of the streets and since then Knoxville has been as well lighted as any city of its size in the state. About the year 1898 the company installed a telephone exchange, and a few years later the plant was rebuilt and cable lines extended to all parts of the city. Late in the year 1914 the company was reincorporated with an increased capital stock as the Marion County Electric Company. Besides furnishing light and telephone service to Knoxville, this company operates exchanges at Pleasantville, Melcher, Attica and Lovilia and has direct connection with the Iowa Telephone Company for long distance communication to all the territory covered by that system.
In addition to the exchanges operated by the Knoxville company, there are several rural telephone companies in the county, some of which are owned by the Knoxville Electric Company and some are independent, but all are accessible through Knoxville.
The Knoxville Gas Company was organized about 1904 for the purpose of furnishing light to certain districts of the city and also for providing gas for fuel. This company lights a number of homes and the use of gas for cooking is constantly increasing.
WATERWORKS
In 1887 the people of Knoxville voted in favor of issuing bonds to establish a system of waterworks. White Breast Creek was made
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the source of supply and a pumping station was built on the banks of that stream about three miles west of the city. A large reservoir was built in the western part of the city, extending from Main to Robin- son streets, a large steel standpipe erected, a filtering plant was installed and a pumping station was established in the city equal in capacity to the one at the White Breast. The pumps are run by elec- tric power. About the beginning of the year 1913 the quality of the water became such that it was scarcely fit for domestic purposes and an agitation was started in favor of establishing a new system. M. I. Evinger, a hydraulic and sanitary engineer of Ames, Iowa, was employed by the city authorities to investigate the conditions and recommend a plan for improving the quality and increasing the supply. He made his report to the city council on April 8, 1913, and recommended a new pumping station near the Rousseau Bridge over the Des Moines River, about six and a half miles from Knoxville, and the drawing of a new supply of water from the gravel beds near the river.
Mr. Evinger's report was approved by the council and then the question of how the city was to pay for the new plant became an absorbing one. Over one thousand voters of the city signed a peti- · tion for a special election, to vote on the question of issuing bonds to the amount of $70,000 to pay for the new works. Women as well as men were given the privilege of voting on this question at a special election on Monday, September 8, 1913, and the bonds were author- ized by a substantial majority, although $31,000 of the old water- works bonds were still outstanding.
On August 11, 1914, a contract was made with the Commercial Construction Company of Kansas City, Missouri, for the construction of the new waterworks for $30,300, the city furnishing the pipe for the mains, the contract for which was awarded to the American Cast Iron Pipe Company, also of Kansas City, for $26,000, more or less, dependent upon the number of feet of pipe used. These contracts plus engineer's fees, etc., brought the total estimated cost up to $64,- 500. The following description of the new plant is taken from the Knoxville Journal of August 20, 1914:
"The new system will include a ten-inch pipe line about six and one-half miles long, two pumping plants, one at the river and one in the city, both equipped with electrically driven pumps, and a rein- forced concrete reservoir in the city with a capacity of 500,000 gal- lons. This reservoir is to be covered and divided into two compart- ments so that it can be kept in a thoroughly sanitary condition. It is estimated that the reservoir will hold a three days' supply of water."
HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING. KNOXVILLE
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It was the original intention to have the works completed by Jan- uary 1, 1915, but the hope was not realized. The Journal of Decem- ber 31, 1914, says: "Although the ditch proper has been finished, the mains laid and connections all in, the foreman still holds a small force at the river end where the well is being sunk. That well is fifteen feet in diameter and is to be twenty-five feet deep. The cement curbing, which is a foot in thickness, is to be built to a safe height above high water mark. At present the well is twenty feet deep and full of splen- did water, which is coming in at such a rapid rate that a power pump throwing 750 gallons per minute has failed perceptibly to lower the surface of the accumulation. Another and perhaps a third pump will be attached in order to remove the water so that the additional five feet of depth may be attained."
The delay was caused principally by the big floods that occurred in September, soon after the work started, and by the severe cold weather that came in December. But the people of Knoxville may congratulate themselves that when the plant is placed in operation they will have an abundant supply of good water for all purposes.
CITY HALL
Knoxville's first city hall was destroyed by fire early on Friday morning, November 25, 1887, together with all the municipal books and records, so that even the history of the building is lost. Soon after the fire, offices for the transaction of the city business were secured in the Ayres Building at a rental of $6 per month. The city offices were somewhat migratory for several years, when it was decided to erect a new city building.
J. E. Tusant & Son, to whom was awarded the contract for the new building, began excavating for the foundation on October 17, 1911. On February 29, 1912, the mayor's office was removed to the new city hall and the building was formally dedicated with appro- priate ceremonies on the 7th of March. It is located on the west side of Third Street, between Main and Marion, and cost $11,300. The first floor is equipped for the use of the city fire department, the mayor's and clerk's offices and the council chamber occupying the second floor. The walls are of a dark, red brick, the building is heated by steam, and on the second floor is a fire-proof vault for the preservation of records and documents.
SEWER SYSTEM
The present sewer system was begun in 1905 by the construction of the Main Street sewer and a septic tank, for the disposal of sewage,
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the cost of the two improvements being nearly twenty-seven thousand dollars. The next year the Fifth and Marion Street sewer was put in at a cost of $6,426; the Washington and Montgomery Street sewer was built in 1910 at a cost of $7,291, and since then the Robinson, Pleasant and Pearl Street sewer has been added at a cost of $12,822. Altogether the city has a little over six miles of sewer mains, the total amount expended up to January 1, 1915, being $53,384.40. The sewers are built by special assessments against the property benefited by the improvement, and in every instance have added more than their cost to the selling price of the property. New lines are under con- templation and before many years Knoxville will have a complete sanitary system of taking care of all sewage.
PUBLIC PARK
In the northern part of the city is a beautiful little park, cqual in size to about two city squares, the gift of W. T. Auld, of Lincoln, Nebraska, to Knoxville, and named "Auld's Park." It is well shaded by a number of fine trees planted by the hand of Nature and carpeted with a natural blue grass sward. Since the ground was given to the city by Mr. Auld the park has been improved by the construction of walks, the introduction of rustic seats and swings and the planting of flower beds, etc., making a playground for the children and a resting place for grown people during the hot weather. The open space in the park is used for a tennis court and for the meetings of the Knox- ville Chautauqua.
MISCELLANEOUS
The first paved street in Knoxville was built under the resolution of August 9, 1909, of creosoted wooden blocks, and was completed the succeeding year. Since then other block, concrete and asphalt pave- ments have been laid so that the city has over three and a half miles of paved streets, which cost over one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.
A fire department of fourteen men, provided with modern fire- fighting apparatus, furnishes protection against loss of property by fire. While this department is made up of volunteers in one sense of the term, the men are paid for attending fires and one man is always on duty at the city building ready to summon the others to attend an alarm. Fifty-one public fire hydrants are placed at convenient inter- vals upon the 8 1/12 miles of water mains, from which water can be taken to extinguish fires of ordinary proportions in all parts of the city.
SCENE IN AULD'S PARK, KNOXVILLE
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
Knoxville has seven churches, three public school buildings, five banks, two weekly newspapers, a fine public library building, an opera house, three hotels, a number of well-stocked stores handling all lines of merchandise, several restaurants, lodges of most of the leading secret and fraternal organizations, two lines of railroad, and ships more horses, hogs, cattle, sheep, wool and poultry than any town of its size in the state. The city has about thirty miles of cement side- walk and a number of handsome residences.
COMMERCIAL CLUB
On December 27, 1906, the Knoxville Commercial Club filed with the county recorder articles of incorporation, in which the objects of the club are stated to be: "To upbuild and to advance the general business and manufacturing interests; to induce the investment of capital in new enterprises ; to encourage trade and industry; to hold fairs, entertainments and celebrations of a public character in the City of Knoxville, Iowa, and for the purpose of carrying out such objects the corporation shall have power to sell and to convey real estate and other property."
The club was incorporated for a period of ten years, but without any capital stock, and the articles of association contained a provision that the indebtedness should never exceed $500. All citizens twenty- one years of age or older were made eligible for membership. Although the organization has never accomplished all its founders hoped for, during the early years of its career it was the means of bringing about a more cordial relationship among the business men of the city, especially the members.
LIST OF MAYORS
Knoxville was incorporated in 1854, but the names of the city officials prior to 1857 cannot be learned. In the following list of mayors those who served in that capacity prior to 1880 are taken from an old history of the county and those since 1887 have been taken from the city records. The destruction of the city hall by the fire of November 25, 1887, with all the municipal records, left a gap be- tween the years 1880 and 1887 that has been filled by the recollections of old residents and city officials, and the names during that period may not be absolutely correct. Beginning, then, with the year 1857, the following served as chief executives, their term of office beginning with the year following each name :
E. G. Stanfield, 1857; H. D. Gibson, 1859; J. L. McCormack, 1864; E. G. Stanfield, 1865 ; N. J. Hodges, 1865 (to fill the unexpired Vol. 1 -10
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
term of Mayor Stanfield ) ; B. F. Williams, 1866; W. B. Carruthers, 1868; W. E. Burns, 1869; E. W. McJunkin, 1870; C. B. Boydston, 1871; G. K. Hart, 1873; George W. Crozier, 1874; J. K. Casey, 1878; B. W. Clark, 1880; J. K. Casey, 1882; C. H. Robinson, 1884; 1. H. Garretson, 1887; S. S. Pierce, 1889; Cambridge Culbertson, 1893; C. H. Wells (appointed in 1896 when Mayor Culbertson was made superintendent of the Industrial Home for the Blind and elected for ! a full term in 1897) ; 1. H. Garretson, 1899; S. S. Pierce, 1901; W. . P. Gibson, 1903; W. S. Bilby, 1905 (elected county attorney before the expiration of his term and Cambridge Culbertson was appointed to the vacancy) ; L. K. Butterfield, 1909; Cambridge Culbertson. 1911 (re-elected in 1913).
POPULATION AND WEALTH
At the election held in January, 1854, to decide the question of incorporation, sixty-four votes were cast, indicating a population of not exceeding four hundred. The state census of 1875 shows a popu- lation of 1,699. In that year the railroad was completed to Knoxville, giving the city a stimulus, and in 1880 the United States census re- ported 2,577 inhabitants. In 1900 the population was 3, 131, and in 1910 it was 3,190, a gain of fifty-nine during the decade. Since that time the growth of the city has been steady and some of the best informed citizens estimate a population of four thousand when the census of 1915 is taken.
The increase in wealth has fully kept pace with the growth in other respects. In 1913 the property of the city was assessed for taxa- tion at $1,880,560, and on January 1, 1915, the bonded indebtedness was $124,000, or more than fifteen dollars worth of property for each dollar of bonded debt.
CHAPTER IX PELLA AND ITS ENVIRONS
LOCATION- ORIGINAL SURVEY OF THE TOWN-ADDITIONS-FIRST SET- TLERS-THE HOLLAND COLONY-HENDRICK P. SCHOLTE-RELIG- IOUS PERSECUTION IN HOLLAND-SOD HOUSES-PELLA INCOR- PORATED-LIST OF MAYORS-THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL-GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT - FIRE DEPARTMENT - ELECTRIC LIGHT WATERWORKS-EDUCATION-BUSINESS INTERESTS-POPULATION AND WEALTH.
The City of Pella is beautifully situated on the ridge between the Skunk and Des Moines rivers, on sections 3 and 10, township 76, range 18, near the center of Lake Prairie Township. It was laid out by Walter Clement, deputy county surveyor, early in May, 1848, for Hendrick P. Scholte, and the plat was filled with the county recorder on June 6, 1848. On the original plat the north and south thorough- fares are called avenues. Beginning at the east side they are: Hazel, Entrance, Inquiring, Perseverance, Reformation, Gratitude, Expe- rience, Patience, Confidence, Expectation, Accomplishment and West End. Running east and west are the following streets: North, Columbus, Washington, Franklin, Liberty, Union, Independence, Peace and South. Since the first survey of the town was made the names of several of the streets and avenues have been changed.
The first plat shows 678 lots; East Market Square, bounded by Entrance, Liberty, Union and Inquiring streets and avenues; West Market Square, bounded by Patience, Franklin, Liberty and Con- fidence; and Garden Square, bounded by Reformation, Gratitude, Washington and Franklin. North of Garden Square a plat of ground was left for a public park. A number of additions have since been made to the city, the most important of which are: Overkamp's Southeast, October 12, 1854; De Haan's, December 4, 1854; North Pella, September 9, 1854; South Pella, November 30, 1854; Bous- quet's, November 7, 1854; De Haan's Second, May 16, 1862; Over- kamp's Railroad, October 6, 1864; Ringling's, December 22, 1880,
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
and Braam's February 13, 1912. Part of the original plat was vacated in June, 1877, upon petition of P. H. Bousquet.
FIRST SETTLERS
The first house in the immediate vicinity of the site of Pella was built in May, 1848, in the edge of the timber just north of the town, by Thomas Tuttle and his wife, who was his only assistant, the near- est white settlers at that time being nearly twenty miles distant. A little later this pioneer couple built a claim pen on what afterward became Garden Square. This pen stood for many years and was occupied a part of the time after the city had grown up around it.
Another early settler was Rev. M. J. Post, who carried the first mail over the route from Fairfield to Fort Des Moines, and whose widow kept the first house of entertainment in Pella after his death on April 2, 1848. Jacob C. Brown settled near the town site in 1844 and James Deweese came the following year.
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The first mercantile establishment in the town was the general store of Walters & Smith, which was located near the present western limits of the city. For some time this firm had a monopoly of the trade and charged prices that customers complained were too high. Then E. F. Grafe opened a store and the truth of the old saying, "Competition is the life of trade," was soon made manifest. In 1853 Wellington Nossaman bought the hotel known as the Franklin House, and soon afterward opened a store in part of the building.
A postoffice had been established on Lake Prairie previously to the laying out of the town. In 1848 it was removed to Pella and H. P. Scholte was appointed postmaster.
The name of the town (Pella) is derived from a Hebrew word which signifies a city of refuge. It was the name of a small town in Palestine and was chosen by the proprietor because it offered an asylum to the people of his native land.
THE HOLLAND COLONY
Hendrick P. Scholte, the founder of the town, was born at Amster- dam, Holland, September 25, 1805. In his boyhood he had a desire to take the course in the naval academy with a view to becoming an officer in the navy, but abandoned the idea because of his mother's opposition. In 1824 he completed the literary course in the Uni- versity of Leyden, then studied theology in that institution and in 1832 was licensed to preach. The next year he was regularly ordained as a
REV. H. P. SCHOLTE Founder of the Holland Colony. Pella.
ORIGINAL, RESIDENCE OF REV. I. P. SCHOLTE
Built in 181s.
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
minister in the National Reform Church. In 1835 a division occurred in the church, Mr. Scholte, with a number of other min- isters, withdrawing from the National Church and forming a new organization. They were soon subjected to persecutions by the Synod of Holland and the government of the Netherlands. Instead of crushing the new movement this persecution added to the number of its adherents. After a time the government, finding its efforts to break up the rebellion of no avail, began to relax, and upon the acces- sion of William II to the throne the persecution entirely ceased.
It has been stated by some historians that the religious intolerance shown by the National Church toward the Reformed Church during this period was the principal cause that led to such a large emigration from the Netherlands. No doubt this might have had an influence upon emigration, but there were other reasons for so many people leaving the country. In his labors as a minister Mr. Scholte came in touch with the middle and poorer classes of the people. He saw the disparity in social conditions, the difficulties the poor had to contend with in their efforts to support themselves and families, and, in con- nection with another minister, began the study of conditions in other countries, with a view of planting a colony somewhere, in which the inhabitants might have better opportunities. They wrote a letter to the minister of colonies asking for permission to establish their colony upon the Island of Java, and for free transportation for the colonists and their belongings. But the government refused their request and they then turned their attention to America. After gathering all the information possible concerning Texas and Missouri, the former was rejected because the climate was too warm and the latter because it was a state in which slavery existed. Iowa was the next choice and was finally selected.
In July, 1846, a meeting was held at Leersdam, Holland, for the purpose of organizing a colony that should be self sustaining in its operations. Nothing definite was accomplished at that meeting, hut in December an organization was perfected at Utrecht by the election of H. P. Scholte, president; A. J. Betten, vice president, and Isaac Overkamp, secretary. A committee, or board, was also appointed to make arrangements for transportation and to receive members on certain conditions. This committee was composed of John Rietveld, A. Wigny, G. F. Le Cocq and G. H. Overkamp. Any person of good moral character and industrious habits was eligible for membership in the colony. It was not essential that he should be a member of the church, but atheists, infidels and Roman Catholics were to be excluded.
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