USA > Iowa > Mills County > History of Mills County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. > Part 67
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HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
Heinsheimer, president; A. J. Russell, treasurer; W. L. Long, secretary; and Chas A. Croney, superintendent. The above named parties with the addition of Dr. O. W. Archibald, constituted the board of directors. The company first put in the electric system of signals, but found it to work unsatisfactorily and changed from that to the magneto system, since which change, the service over its lines has been entirely satisfactory. It commenced with thirteen sets of instruments but has now in operation over thirty, with a steady demand for them. The central office is at the office of the Glenwood Opinion, whose editor, Mr. Chas. A. Croney, was the projector of the scheme, and to whose labors its establishment is largely due. His original plan was to connect his office with the tele- graph office at the depot for the convenience and accommodation of citi- zens in sending and receiving telegrams, and for information as to move- ments of trains. Other parties seeing that it was likely to prove a suc- cess desired like facilities, when it was concluded to organize a company, which was done. The company use the Blake transmitter and Bell tele- phone. They have about ten miles of wire stretched, reaching to nearly every portion of the city. As regards the designs of the company, the following brief abstract of its articles of incorporation will suffice to show them:
" The general nature of its business is to organize and maintain a sys- tem of telephones and telephone lines within said city, and to establish and maintain a system of messenger service for carrying orders and delivering messages, parcels and packages, and such other things as the system of telephonic communication may be utilized for from time to time.
" The amount of its capital stock is seven hundred dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each to be paid in assesments not exceeding twenty- five per cent at any one time, the assessments to be made by a majority of the stock represented at any regular or special meeting that may be had.
" The corporation commences February 5, 1880, and shall continue twenty years.
"The affairs of the corporation shall be managed by a board of five directors, who shall elect their own officers, and shall fill such vacancies as may occur among their number, and shall be the judge as to what officers may be necessary. They shall be elected at annual meetings on the first Monday in January in each year.
" The highest amount of indebtedness to which the corporation shall be subject at any one time shall not exceed one hundred and fifty dollars.
" The private property of the stockholders of this corporation shall be exempt from all liability for corporate debts."
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HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
BUSINESS INTERESTS.
The business interests of Glenwood are both extensive and valuable. Nearly every branch of trade and industry is represented by firms, some of them of long standing, and all of them of great enterprise, and rang- ing from the banker to the curbstone merchant. A vast amount of money is invested in goods, and annually the means so placed are becoming greater and of more importance. Some of the more prominent mer- chants are the Heinsheimer Brothers, dealers in dry goods and clothing ; L. W. Russell & Co., dry goods and clothing; A. J. Russell, dry goods, clothing, and groceries; C. H. Dyer, groceries; Russell & King, hard- ware; Moore & Blake, hardware; Mart. Swinnerton, marble works; Record Bros., books and stationery; I. N. Wilson, furniture; M. G. Ed- wards, drugs; W. G. Fletcher, drugs; W. F. Laraway, jeweler; W. H. Parsons, physician; Kelly Bros., attorneys; Rude & Woodruff, attorneys; Starbuck & Ivory, attorneys; Watkins & Williams, attorneys; Hale, Stone & Proudfit, attorneys; J. M. Shafner, harness and saddlery ; B. F. Buffing- ton, grain dealer; L. W. Russell, agricultural implements; and many other firms representing the other classes of business. It would be impossible to attempt any statement of the annual sum yearly changing hands in mercantile enterprise in this thriving city, but the amount is very great. Business is seemingly conducted on safe principles, and failures are very few. The business houses are many of them attractive and some quite elegant, testifying all to the thrift of their owners.
MALVERN.
This city dates its existence from the completion of the C., B. & Q. R. R., of which it is a station. It is at the crossing of Silver Creek, some mile and a half south of the center of the county, and in the midst of one of the finest agricultural sections to be found in the United States. The first house in the city was built by J. D. Paddock, in the fall of 1869, be- fore the town had been platted. Mr. Paddock came from Chicago, Illi- nois, and was associated with his brother, Charles H. Paddock, who came here from Clinton county, Iowa, though originally from McHenry county, Illinois. The Paddock brothers opened the first stock of goods in Mal- vern on November 15, 1869. | Next came J. N. Sheldon, H. E. Boehner, William M. McCrary, and D. McFarlane, all of whom engaged in the general merchandise business, and succeeded soon in building up trades that in older countries would have required years to establish. F. P. Spencer and Curtis & Sweetser "started with the town " in the grocery and provision business exclusively. In the year following the establish- ment of these first business houses occurred the birth of the first male child in the town, John, son of Thomas Hawkins, and soon after was born Nettie, daughter of J. W. and Nancy Lawson.
580
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
The growth of the town is one of the most remarkable features in its history. Hardly had it been laid out before much of the land passed into the hands of men who became residents and at once began to work for the interests of their chosen city-home. In 1872 the town was duly incor- porated, and worked under its articles of incorporation until 1878, when it was ascertained that there was an illegality in the process in that the act of incorporation had not been recorded. Steps were at once taken to remedy the matter. The reincorporation petition was duly filed on the 2d day of December, 1878, and on the 28th day of the same month a unanimous vote for reincorporation was cast. The court issued its order to incorporate on the 30th of the month, and on January 27, 1879, at an election held for city officers, the following were elected, thus completing the legal process: Mayor, H. E. Boehner; Recorder, R. J. Finch; Councilmen, William Black, J. W. Bartlett, Pierce Metz, J. D. Paddock, W. B. Smith and J. C. Herbert. This second incorporation has insured the well being and success of the city, and its prosperity has been both great and marked.
CIVIC SOCIETIES.
From time immemorial men have banded themselves together in secret organizations for various purposes. In ancient times the growth of art and science, and of poetic art especially, was intimately bound up in or connected with societies of a secret nature. Much of the philosophy of the Greeks and Romans found its birth in the secret groves of Italy or Greece. Jurisprudence and grammer had an origin in the same manner, and some of the most distinguished in mathematical and mechanical sci- ences were members of secret orders. Though now, and without the slightest grounds, often accounted hostile to religion, secret orders really owe their origin to religion or to religious institutions. As De Quincy has so eloquently shown in his famous essay on the Essenes, Christianity at its inception was a secret institution. Opposition comes with a very poor grace from those who owe their existence to similar institutions, and whose practices now border on secresy. In the secret walls of European cloisters were elaborated many of the dogmas of modern faith, and all with a veil of mystery that is not yet entirely obliterated. The greatest of all the Jews, the law giver himself, Moses, went apart, in secret, to obtain the laws of God. The eternal fire was kept veiled from the eyes and reason of men within the holiest of holies. Without entering upon a polemic, or wishing to arouse hostile criticism, the suggestion is offered that the world will never be freed from secret orders, for the highest interests of men have always been subserved by them, and they have become so powerful a factor in the amelioration of the condition of men that they are indispensable.
Homes have been visited and cheered, families cared for by lodges, the
581
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
sick visited, and with a faithfulness and self-denial that only brothers, true to the mystic tie, can present or illustrate. It is not compulsory attention, it is not charity, but the simple outgrowth of a pure and exalted humanity. Nor can institutions of this nature justify or shield either crime or evil, based as they are upon the purest morality and that code of all moral codes, the Bible, they must war against vice in all its forms, nor brook the appearance of evil. The men in them are usually the best in the community. True, it often happens that mistakes are made, but what organization is freed from them? They should be measured by the quality of the work they do, rather than by the public estimate of what they ought to accomplish.
Of societies of this nature there are two in Malvern, the history of each of which, though brief, here follows:
MASONIC LODGE, or SILVER URN LODGE No. 234, was organized under dispensation June 2, 1869, and was started on Silver Creek, in 1870, at a point nearly five miles north of Malvern. The charter members, among others, included Z. W. Burnham, J. H. Wing, and S. Christy. The first named was master, the second S. W., and the last, junior warden. The number of members is now fifty, and the lodge is now officered by A. Wingate, W. M .; I. J. Swain, S. W .; R. D. S. Padget, J. W .; H. Barnes, Treasurer; W. E. Ross, Secretary; Pierce Metz, S. D .; H. A. Norton, J. D .; M. J. Cutis, S. S .; R. T. Dounor, J. S. and T. Fallwell, Tyler.
MALVERN LODGE No. 276, I. O. O. F., was instituted March 16, 1874, with the following charter members and officers: W. M. McCary, N. G .; G. D. Reynolds, V. G .; Henry Bolenbecker; A. Eddy, Rec. Sec .; Saul Hibbs, E. J. Coleman; J. J. Dunlap; Michael Brobst, and George T. Tibbetts. The present membership is eighty, governed by the following persons as officers-in-chief: J. L. Talbott, N. G .; R. McLean, V. G .; and W. E. Ross, Secretary.
There is in connection with this lodge, a Rebecca Lodge, No. 84, insti- tuted in October, 1876. The charter members were William Gray, J. H. Safely, Minnie Safely, and twenty-four others.
THE WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION was organized Novem- ber 29, 1877, by Mrs. Aldrich, of Cedar Rapids. The officers chosen at' that time were Mrs. J. D. Paddock, President; Mrs. McIntosh, Vice- President, Mrs. H. Barnes, Secretary, and Mrs. W. D. Evans, Treasurer. The society edits a column devoted to temperance in the local papers, and is busily engaged in the good cause, devoted to its philanthropic labors, and richly successful.
A cornet band was organized in April, 1880, with a membership of ten, and this completes the civic societies and organizations in this thriving city.
582
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
CORPORATIONS AND INDUSTRIES.
There are two banking houses in Malvern, both of good business stand- ing and influence. The oldest of these is the Farmers and Traders' bank, which was organized in July, 1871, as a private banking house, by W. D. Evans. Its date of organization makes it the oldest bank in the county, thus giving it a short precedence of the Mills county National bank of Glenwood. The great financial panic of 1873 was passed safely and its capital in no wise impaired. From that year until 1875 the business was conducted under the firm name of Evans & Swan, but since that year it has been solely managed by the present proprietor.
The remaining banking house is the First National Bank of Malvern, organized January 1, 1875, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. The surplus fund is now over fifteen thousand dollars. J. M. Strahan is the president, and L. Bentley, cashier, and these gentlemen have man- aged its affairs ever since its organization. The bank, as the surplus fund evidences, is in a prosperous condition, and is deservedly successful.
The first elevator was built in 1869, at the beginning of the town, by J. D. Ladd & Co. In 1870 it passed in the hands of J. F. Evans, who con- ducted it until 1874, when it was sold to Curtis & Donner. In 1875 the firm changed to Donner Brothers, but a fire destroyed it in that year. Mr. Curtis, the retiring member of the old firm, formed a co-partnership with J. F. Evans, under the firm name of J. F. Evans & Co., and these gentlemen erected the present structure. It has a capacity of twenty thousand bushels, and through it yearly passes a total of more than four hundred thousand bushels, all handled by the firm.
The Malvern Mills are located about one and a half miles south of the city, and were put in operation by Brothers & McIntosh in 1875-6. In 1879 the property passed into the hands of F. M. Buffington, the present proprietor. The mill contains all the appliances usual to institutions of its character, has four run of stone, and a capacity of one hundred bushels of grain daily.
These corporations, together with a total of sixty-nine business firms, combine to give an air of thrift and enterprise to the city that few places of its size can equal. Added to this, its central favorable location, in the midst of one of the best farming counties in the state of Iowa, insures its permanency and business success. Then there is a strong and decided movement being made to secure the county seat, and if, as its citizens seem to feel assured, it is successful in this it will become the metropolis of the county. Its position, on two railroads, makes it easy of access from all parts of the county, and it may be only a question of a compara- tively short time before it becomes the capital.
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HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
CHURCHES.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH was organized as a portion of a circuit, April 24, 1870. The members, so far as they can be gathered at this date, were J. H. Madden, Mr. Reed and Henry Raines. The organ- ization grew very rapidly in strength, as may be gathered from the fact that a frame church edifice was constructed in 1872, and dedicated in that year by the Rev. E. M. H. Fleming. The pastors who have ministered to this congregation have been F. Plumb, J. P. Evans, R. Dailey, J. C. Waynick, D. C. Wortz, J. M. Conrad, D. McIntyre, and A. J. Andres, the present incumbent. The membership is sixty-five, and the charge growing yearly more interesting.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF MALVERN dates its existence from De- cember 6, 1870. The original membership consisted ofAndrew and Mar- garet Berkheimer, W. A. Cain, Mary Carsner, Amanda E. Davis, Mar- garet Dunnigan, W. K. Follett, B. G. Harrison, Phyllis Harrison, Ellen Pursell, Hannah F. Summers, Harriet Woodrow, Stephen Woodrow, and Enoch and Elizabeth Witt .. In 1871 a frame building for church pur- poses was constructed, costing about three thousand dollars; October 15, 1872, it was dedicated by Rev. J. C. Otis, of Glenwood. The pastors have been W. A. Cain, J. R. Shankafelt, J. W. Roe, O. T. Conger and A. Rhodes. The society is a very strong one, numbering some two hun- dred and forty-nine members. It was formed by the disbanding of the Silver Creek Baptist church, an organization which dates back to Decem- ber 26, 1857. It thus has the prestige of age, and has been extremely successful in its work for the moral well-being of the community.
THE MALVERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was organized March 10, 1872. The members at that date were W. D. Evans, William and Martha Black, Helen Black, A. P. Provost, Elijah Wood, Julia A. Wood, J. S. Gulick, Clara A. Gulick, S. T. Brothers, E. A. Brothers, S. J. Moss and J. A. Covert. In 1874-75 a frame church building was constructed cost- ing five thousand five hundred dollars. February 20, 1876, it was dedi- cated to the worship of God by the Rev. T. S. Cleland, jr. The pastors who have served the church have been Charles Mervin, James R. Brown and W. J. Wilson. The membership is now seventy-four. This church is out of debt entirely, and on a solid financial basis. The building it erec- ted was the first put up by that denomination in the county.
LIBERTY CHURCH, PROTESTANT METHODIST, is an organization which dates from 1857, when it was commenced by a William Tipton, an early preacher in the county. In 1874 a frame building was put up on section six, and dedicated to divine worship in February 1875, by E. S. Brown. The first pastor was G. W. Robinson, and the present incumbent is Rev. Mr. Childs. The original members were Cynthis E. Wyatt, Luke Tip-
584
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
ton and wife, Saul Tipton, W. G. Wyatt, W. L. Wyatt, J. A. Wyatt, Oscar T. Wyatt and Jane F. Wyatt.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH was organized in 1874, by John B. Murphy and others. Services are held once a month. No further information has been accessible relative to this society.
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST was organized February 26, 1876, with Jesse Fowler, W. P. Clark, R. D. Hammon, G. W. Baker, Henry Walton, E. K. Kemple, Adaline Fowler, M. J. Clark, Catherine Harles, Mary Foxworthy, E. Shepherd, E. McLane, Lizzie Yorich, Mary Morse, Ellen Summers, S. Kemple, Elizabeth Johnson, Jessie Hull and Polly M. Day as original members. Every Lord's day the congregation meets in Mor- ris' hall for worship, as it owns no structure of its own. So far as can be learned the pastors have been W. H. Hardman, who organized the soci- ety, S. B. Ross, Rev. McFadden, and Elders Smith and R. Reed. It is in a very flourishing condition, and cares for its interests with a careful hand.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The means of obtaining a fair common school education are presented to the youth of Malvern under the most favorable circumstances. Its citi- zens have recognized that of all things which enter into the very under- currents of life, in business or out of it, education is the most important. While churches and church interests have been fostered and the moral conditions of the people have been met, they have not failed to note the intimate connection which exists between religion and morals, between noble living and education. The schools of the city are second to none in the county, and meet fully the wants of the community in supporting that greatest of all needs, a fair business education.
The present independent school district was formerly a portion of what was known as White Cloud township, being all that part of said town- ship known as section 29 and all that portion of section 32 included in the town plat of Malvern. The change was made by an unanimous vote of those who attended a meeting called for the purpose of voting on the ques- tion, April 15, 1871. At a subsequent meeting held May, 16, 1871, the following persons were elected and qualified as a board of directors: J. B. Ringland, H. E. Boehner, Wm. McCrary, M. J. Curtis, J. M. Strahan and H. A. Copeland. The following were elected officers of the board: J. B. Ringland, chairman; J. D. Paddock, secretary; W. D. Evans, treasurer. August 1, 1871, the voters of the district voted to issue bonds to the amount of $2,900, for the purpose of building a suitable school-house. Plans and specifications were drawn up by R. L. Gidley, and the building built under contract by Bond & Smith for the sum of $3,169.50. The first teacher was F. H. Hannah, at $55 per month. Present school board
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HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
are, Wm. Black, president; J. Curtis, treasurer; O. H. Snyder, secretary; W. D. Evans, H. H. Woodrow, C. H. Paddock, G. W. Curfman and M. E. Boehner, directors. Present teachers are, Wm. M. Moore, princi- pal; Mrs. E. V. Witchener, Miss Laura Bishop and Miss Kate Brown as- sistants. Children in district of school age, 311.
In addition to its public schools Malvern enjoys other facilities of an educational character, such as few places of its size can maintain. It is a school known as THE WESTERN IOWA NORMAL. In the year 1875 a project was conceived by the Rev. J. W. Roe, of the Baptist church of this place, to form an incorporation having for its object the building of an academy to be under the auspices of that denomination. In accordance with this object subscriptions to the amount of $8,500 were secured and articles of incorporation obtained, and arrangements made for the putting up of a building, which has cost, up to this time, $12,000, and is not yet completed. The name of the academy was "The Baptist Centennial Academy of Malvern." Owing to the death of the originator of the project, there being no one interested who had a full knowledge of the pre-arranged plans, the project is in abeyance and the institution is tem- porarily converted into a private one conducted by M. Lewis.
Thus has been traced the history of Malvern, which, though brief, is not without interest and value. There may be none of that tragic interest which centers in cities that have witnessed the fall of dynasties and the institution of republics, or which have themselves helped to shape the destinies of a world-but is a phenomenal one in that it marks the peculiar and distinctive features of western progress. Its rise is not of that char- acter which bears on its surface none of the marks of permanency, but has taken place in obedience to those laws which insures permanency, and are of themselves a sufficient guarantee of future growth and pros- perity. When business interests and a fealty to town prosperity once become factors in the popular opinion, then there is the promise and potency of substantial development. Such has characterized the brief history of Malvern. Where twelve years ago were unbroken prairie and the stillness that broad acres only may know, stands a town of seven hun- dred people, busied each with the cares of an active life, and moving amidst the hum of numerous industries. In no land except the great west could such a wonder be.
EMERSON.
This town is situated in the midst of a rich and well settled farming district, on the line of the C., B. & Q. R. R. and near the line of Mont- gomery county. As might therefore be expected, its business opportuni- ties and advantages are great, and of considerable importance. The town is hardly more than a decade old, but it has already evidenced the
586
HISTORY OF MILLS COUNTY.
wisdom of its founder in the selection of its site, and the liberal induce- ments offered to promote its growth in population.
Concerning the history of this place it has been possible to glean noth- ing save a few facts relative to its earliest settlement, and for these acknowledgments are due to Judge Tubbs. The first child born in the limits of Emerson was a male, John, son of David J. and Martha A. Rowhouser. This event occurred October 29, 1870. On December 10, of the same year, was born Alice, daughter of D. M. and Anna Tomblin, the first female child born in the city. The first marriage occurred May 17, 1873, and was that of G. F. Waterman and Eliza Stewart. The Rev. Eber Loomer performed the ceremony. Along with these events of a happier nature came also the summons of death. Carrie B. Sheldon was the first to fall; she dying August 25, 1870. The first physician was L. Carr, from Ames, Iowa, who subsequently moved to Pendleton county, Kentucky, where he is now practicing. The first clergyman was Eber Loomer, of the Baptist denomination, who conducted religious services in the depot of the C., B. & Q. R. R., in August, 1870. In the same year was opened the first school, one on the subscription plan, conducted by William Rice. His pupils numbered seventeen, and his compensation was some twenty-five dollars per month. He subsequently removed to Yankton, Dacotah. In 1873 the number of pupils had so increased that the town erected a school building at a cost of three thousand five hun- dred dollars, to supply the need for suitable accommodations. These are. all the facts relative to earlier history that can be gleaned.
CIVIC SOCIETIES.
Of this class of organizatlons there is but one in Emerson, Humanity Lodge, No. 378, A. F. and A. M. It was organized under dispensation. July 13, 1876, and chartered June 8, 1877. The charter members were L. W. Tubbs, W. M .; J. H. Cain, S. W .; D. W. Graff, J. W .; Matthew Burvis, Treasurer; H. M. Good, Secretary; J. B. Welpton, S. D .; W. A. Glover, J. D .; D. J. Rowhouser, Tyler; William Applegate, Orin Squires, J. M. B. Fort, George Shaw and D. L. McMurty. The mem- bership is now thirty-seven. The lodge is in a florishing condition and is. one of great promise.
CHURCHES.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. This is the oldest society of its kind in the town, having been organized by the Fourth Quarterly Conference, in September, 1871. The original members were John Little and wife, A. L. Sheldon and wife, William Applegate and wife, Philip Fancher and wife, W. S. Douglas and Maggie J. Barr. A brick structure was built by the society and dedicated June 20, 1880, by the Rev. Bishop E.
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