USA > Iowa > Page County > History of Page County, Iowa : also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county > Part 36
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THE CELEBRATED C. B. & Q. BAND OF CLARINDA.
Professors Brothers and Duncan, about 1867, organized the Clarinda Silver Cornet Band, which soon became one of the best organizations of its kind in southwestern lowa. A few years later another band was formed, known as Keller's Cornet Band, which was composed of some of the best
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business men of Clarinda. A splendid set of instruments was purchased and Professor F. J. Keller, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, became instructor. He was a man of note as a teacher and the author of many musical publications. The two bands became celebrated in 1879 under the title of the Excelsior Band. From this time on the band became noted all over the west. At Blaine's great political meeting in Des Moines it took a prominent part and also at Grant's reception at Burlington, Iowa, and at Chicago political gatherings. In 1880 the name of the band was again changed, this time to that of the C. B. & Q. Band. New uniforms were purchased at a cost of six hundred dollars, and new instruments, at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars. They had a band wagon which cost six hundred dollars. The success of the new organization was due largely to Frank P. Parish, their manager. At the inaugural of President Garfield, in 1881, the band took a very prominent part and the National Republican, published at Wash- ington, D. C., had the following to say regarding the band, which, through the kindness of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad officials, had free transportation to Washington :
"Secretary Kirkwood, Senator Allison and the office of the National Republican were serenaded last evening by a band of twenty-five instru- ments from Clarinda, Page county, Iowa. The members of the band reside in the southwestern part of that great state and the band is known all over Iowa as the C. B. & Q. Band. While here these gentlemen won great praise for themselves. The band was escorted by about seventy-five men from Iowa, who selected General Belknap as marshal for the evening. Col. W. P. Hepburn presented the band to Secretary Kirkwood and made an eloquent presentation speech." This remarkable band was formed in 1867, with F. J. Keller as leader and Frank P. Parish as manager. Pro- fessor Keller died about 1882. From that time on the band existed with indifferent success, partly on account of Professor Keller's death and perhaps more because the band was largely made up of active business men, whose time and interests were otherwise absorbed. Hence, it was, that one of Iowa's best bands went into decline and finally disbanded. Today Clarinda has a band that . throws no little credit upon the city of Clarinda and Page county generally.
CLARINDA WOOLEN FACTORY.
In 1855 a carding machine was placed in operation by Hutton & Martin of Clarinda. It was propelled by ox-power. J. C. McCandliss, G. W. Maiden & J. W. Piper built a large woolen factory about 1863 and took over the carding machine, which they placed in a large woolen factory built by them at about that time. A large building was erected, a steam engine installed, a set of manufacturing cards, a roll card, a spinning ma- chine, two looms and other woolen machinery were put in operation. Shortly after Mr. Piper sold his interest to A. S. Meek and in 1867 McCandliss' interests went to Maiden & Meek, who carried on the business until 1860. when Meek retired to give place to James Gartside and the
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firm of Maiden & Gartside operated the mills until March, 1886, when Gartside sold to A. H. Morgan. This woolen mill did quite an extensive business and was considered of much importance to the city and Page county in general until destroyed by fire over a quarter of a century ago.
FLOURING MILLS OF CLARINDA.
In 1860 a man by the name of Joseph Wickidal erected the first flour mill in Clarinda, in which were placed two runs of buhrs, which was located in the central part of the city and was a frame structure of goodly proportions. This frame work was taken from the native tree growing in the vicinity, much of which was hewed out and put up in old style. The motive power was steam. It passed through many hands. The machinery was up-to-date. This was termed the City Flouring Mills and was operated by N. M. Hutton. It had a daily capacity of seventy-five barrels. The present mill is run by Shambaugh & Son.
NODAWAY TOWNSHIP.
As now constituted, Nodaway township is described as congressional township 69, range 37 west, and a fractional half of 69, range 36. In all, its territory contains about fifty-eight sections of land. Originally it took in all the north half of Page county. The surface characters of the eastern and western halves of this long township are widely at antipodes and the geological features correspondingly diverse.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
As it now stands, Nodaway was first settled in 1850 by Isaiah Hulbert, on what is known as the Neff farm. In the spring of 1852 came Henry D. Farrens and soon thereafter Messrs. Stafford, W. Lavering and John Dod- son, who settled where Thomas Jones lived several years since. In 1854 came Isaac Van Arsdol, who is still an honored resident. In 1856 came "Sol" Round, Cyrus Creel, James McCowan, Alexander Davie, T. T. Pen- dergraft, Henry Hakes, Henderson Cooper, James Jackson, John Thorn- berry and a great many others.
SCHOOLS.
The pioneer school of this township was taught at Clarinda. As the country has developed decade after decade, schoolhouses of an excellent style have been provided. The best of teachers have been employed and good progress is the happy result.
CHURCHES.
Aside from the two churches at the village of Yorktown in the western part of the township and those found in the city of Clarinda, Nodaway has
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a large German society and five church edifices on its extreme northern line, also a Methodist Episcopal church on section 18, called Summit church.
The German Lutheran church (Evangelical) is known as Emanuel church. This society was early in the field. The few families of this faith held services at private houses. One would read a sermon and then prayer and social exercises were had. This commenced in 1868. It was no hard matter to conduct such services, for all the older ones had been trained to worship from their infancy in their fatherland.
In the fall of 1868 Rev. Landgraff, from Atchison, Kansas, came to the township and conducted the first communion service. It was at the home of Fred Sunderman. In August, 1869, an Evangelical Lutheran church was organized, with the following as voting members: Henry Driftmeier, Henry Sunderman, Fred Sunderman, John Groeling, William Sunderman, Henry Otte, Fred Kneust, and Fred Barthel.
In the fall of 1869 a frame building was erected at a cost of one thou- sand dollars, six hundred dollars in cash and four hundred dollars in work contributions. Each member owned timber land and each agreed to furnish so many logs and timbers for the frame. The house was sixteen by thirty- two feet and fourteen feet high .. It was arranged so that the pastor lived in the lower story. It stood where now stands the present magnificent church building, on the northwest corner of section 2, Nodaway township. In the spring of 1876 it was totally destroyed by fire and in just two months to a day, a new building was ready for the pastor to live in. The cost of this parsonage was seven hundred and forty dollars. In 1877 a schoolhouse was built, costing seven hundred dollars. Its size was twenty-four by thirty- four feet. This served for both school and church purposes until 1885, when the present church was erected at a cost of four thousand, four hun- dred and sixty dollars. It is forty by sixty feet, with twenty foot posts. Its spire is ninety-eight feet high and can be seen for many miles around. It towers up, a practical monument to the devotion and Christian liberality of the German people of this section of Page county. It was built by Welch & Bridgeman, contractors of Clarinda. Its seating capacity is three hun- dred and eighty.
Summit Methodist Episcopal church, on section 18. is another church edifice of Nodaway township. This society was formed with about sixteen members in 1874, during the month of May. The first classleader was D. H. Payton. At first services were held in Summit schoolhouse on sec- tion 17. In 1882 a frame church was built at a cost of twenty-six hundred dollars. The same was dedicated January 27, 1883, by Rev. H. H. O'Neal. of Red Oak, Iowa.
VILLAGE OF YORKTOWN.
This is a station on the Humeston & Shenandoah Railroad, five miles west of Clarinda. It is situated on section 31. It was platted April 3, 1882, by C. E. Perkins.
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CHURCHES.
The Methodist Episcopal church was formed in the fall of 1884, by a dozen members. At first they held services at the schoolhouse.
The Presbyterian church at Yorktown was formed early in the spring of 1884 by Rev. J. H. Malcom, with twenty-four members. The first elders were Oscar Borthwick, Sharp McClellen and J. M. Campbell and the first deacon was D. A. Wiles. In 1883 a neat frame church was built. its size being thirty by forty feet and its cost fifteen hundred dollars. One lot was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, and the other lot was purchased for one hundred and twenty-five dollars cash. Johnson Clark, of Coin, built the house.
GRANT TOWNSHIP.
The township of Grant in which Shenandoah is located, although one of the most fertile in the county, was one of the very last to be settled and organized. In 1860 the county was divided into townships but as the present township of Grant had but three residents, it was made a part of Tarkio township, the township directly east. It continued thus until 1870, when John F. M. Porter was appointed commissioner to organize the township and it was separated from Tarkio. The election was held at Mr. Porter's house and there were twenty-six voters present, most of whom had but recently come to the township.
A remarkable circumstance in the history of Grant township is that all of the three earliest settlers were until quite recently, still living and still residents of the township. They are John F. M. and P. H. Porter and Charles L. LeBarron. In the summer of 1855 John and Pat Porter and their brother Claudius left their home in Cass county, this state, and traveled through Montgomery, Taylor and Page counties in search of a location that suited them. They finally struck the beautiful valley of the Nishna but afraid of the Saints at Fisher's Grove whom they had been taught to regard as dangerous characters, they went up the river until they came to the small groves and bayous where later the farmis of John F. M. and Pat were located. This location suiting them they went to the government station at Council Bluffs and asked to see a plat of the land in this portion of the county. Not an acre had been purchased in the township, except a timber claim of forty acres later the W. T. Farnham place cast of Shenandoah. It was owned by George Miller, who resided farther cast in Tarkio township. On the 25th of August, 1855, the three Porters purchased two hundred acres of the government, Pat taking eighty acres, Claudius eighty and John F. M. forty acres. The last named was the only one married at the time and he proceeded at once to build a house and the brothers resided with him. Claudius did not remain here long, but sold his claim to John and went back to Cass county; but John and Pat remained here and were among the township's most prosperous farmers, having added to their farms from time to time. In this connection a
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brief account of the subsequent life of Claudius Porter would be of in- terest. Attracted by the gold excitement, he started across the plains with a team and a load of provisions, but the latter being stolen, he com- pleted the journey on foot. Being unable to work in the mines he secured work in a restaurant for one hundred dollars a month, but the proprietor skipped the county without paying him. He then started home across the plains on foot and alone, with all his possessions in a little pack. While lying down to drink at a spring near a Mormon settlement, his pack, coat and revolver were stolen. The balance of the distance he completed in his shirt sleeves, with no weapon but an army musket, and, as he stated, too poor for the Indians to scalp. Later he went to Oregon.
J. F. M. Porter rarely left home in those early days. He distrusted the settlers at Fisher's Grove and only went there on rare occasions for his mail and then he left the settlement as quickly as possible. It took him several years to learn that they were honest and honorable citizens. No one at that time expected that a town would ever be built at Shenandoah or that any one would even try to farm here. The bottom was covered by enormous grass, where great green flies multiplied by the million. It was almost impossible to drive through in the daytime as the flies would drive the horses almost frantic, and at night the mosquitoes were almost as bad.
In the fall of 1856 Charles LeBarron came to Fisher's Grove and hired out to Edmund Fisher, for whom he worked all that winter, the most severe winter he ever experienced. He says that it began snowing three days after his arrival and snowed for three days and the snow lay deep upon the ground all that winter. It was so deep that nearly all the deer fell victims to starvation and the attack of wolves. In August, 1857, he took up a claim which was since known as the John L. Carey place, just south of Shenandoah. He was the third permanent settler in this township. Reuben Oaks and Nicholas Taylor resided temporarily in the township, but did not become permanent residents. For three years LeBarron and the Porters were the sole occupants of a township that forty years later would contain five thousand people.
In 1846 Edmund Whiting came west to Mills county and in 1855 moved to Fisher's Grove. In the early days he was a great hunter and fisherman and roamed all over this part of the state. He has hunted deer many a time on the site where Shenandoah now stands. At one time he ran a buck down with a three year old pony in what is now the Priest addition to the city. He moved into Page county in 1860 and took up a forty acre claim where D. S. Lake's nursery is now located and made him a dug-out about where Lake's packing house now is. This consisted of a sod shanty over which brush and dirt were thrown. Mrs. Whiting's brother, H. W. McConoughey, and wife came soon after and took up forty acres just northeast of town. They lived in a one-horse covered- wagon and in this wagon, standing near the site of the Humeston & Shen- andoah machine shops, July 19, 1861, was born to them a daughter, the first white child in Shenandoah. The second child born and the first
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boy, was W. E. Whiting, later a physician in Brush, Colorado, son of Ed. mund Whiting and wife, and born in the sod shanty above mentioned January 25, 1862. One of the old-time settlers says that one time Whiting offered to trade his forty acres, shanty and all, for a sick horse, and the owner of the horse wouldn't trade. The horse died soon after. Whiting afterward bought his brother-in-law's forty acres and in 1868 he built on it the first house in Shenandoah. It was fourteen by sixteen feet and situated near the Ira Bailey place. The Whiting family then felt that they were living in luxury, this being their first house.
Immediately after the close of the Civil war, David and Jewell Hecka- thorne had quite a strange experience. He was over fifty years of age when he enlisted but he made an excellent soldier. He was wounded while fighting in Arkansas and was being taken to the hospital when the cars ran over a rock and he was thrown out and down a hill. He partly recovered from his injuries.
A year or so later came Louis Patterson and Solomon Ash; but not until 1869 and 1870 did the settlers begin to come in great numbers. C. A. Long, A. B. Woodford, Silas Call, H. G. Weech, Joe Noble, I. E. Noble, S. E. Fields, A. Blake and T. J. Williams were among the earlier settlers that came into the township during the five years following the war.
The lives of the pioneers were such as those of pioneers in other locali- ties, except that they were free from the dangers of Indian warfare and savage animals, such as earlier pioneers of other states experienced. They had good crops and prospered as well as could be expected without mar- kets or means of reaching them. Mr. LeBarron related that the early set- tlers had to go to Sidney or Linden, Missouri, to trade. They took their grain to the mill at Mill Creek, south of Riverton, for flour or meal. They hauled their grain for sale to Sidney and traded or took it to Hamburg and sold it for cash. They sold but little this way, however, as the new- comers and travelers bought most of it for home consumption. When they first began to vote they had to go to the old stone quarry in Tarkio to cast their ballots. Men were ashamed to own that they lived in the west side of Page county, as the east side people thought the land on the west side wasn't worth anyting. The first school near Shenandoah was taught by Miss Salena Sanford, in Charles I.cBarron's house. Mr. Porter's house also did duty as a school house in the earlier days. The first school taught in the present limits of Shenandoah was at Edmund Whiting's house, and was taught by J. R. Bradham in the winter of 1869-70. Mr. Whiting was appointed director of district No. 2, by H. G. Weech and Jeff Wil- liams, directors of Districts No. 1 and 3.
In the early days of Grant township the vote cast was almost solidly re- publican, the first four democratic voters being A. B. Woodford, W. C. Matthews, Silas Call and his father. .
As late as 1870 the country was nearly all wild. J. E. Noble, who settled southeast of the city in 1870, in driving from his home to Locust Grove, only passed two houses, and not a furrow had been turned between his home and Shenandoah. He did not see a person but his family some-
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times for an entire week. Deer still roamed over the prairies. He got his mail at Miller's Station in Tarkio and went to Clarinda to trade. He was on hand when the first lumber came in on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and took it out to his uncle's, William Noble, on the Sam Mccullough farm. He also hauled the first brick that ever came to Shen- andoah hauling them from Hamburg here for Dr. Webster to pay the latter for medical services.
SHENANDOAH.
THE VALE OF THE NISHNA.
It is said that many years ago while yet southwestern Iowa was un- broken prairie and deer grazed and gamboled unmolested over its hills and vales, Bayard Taylor, the noted traveler, visited this region. Standing upon the brow of a hill, four miles southwest of the site of the present city of Shenandoah and overlooking the valley of the Nishnabotna river, he exclaimed that the scene was the most beautiful he had beheld in all his travels. We, who have but recently chosen our homes in this favored region, can only imagine how the beautiful valley then appeared, extending before his gaze thirty miles to the northeast and southwest, from two to four miles wide, carpeted with the most luxuriant of nature's grasses, and gently sloping to the water's edge of the winding stream from which the valley took its name. It was beautiful then, but could the great traveler visit the site again he would find the scene changed, but even more beautiful than before.
There is the same winding stream, the same valley extending to the northeast and southwest as far as the eye can reach, but instead of the un- broken expanse of waving grass, the scene that is now unfolded to the enraptured gaze is one of diversified colors and objects. Thousands of acres are covered with the dark-green foliage of Indian corn, the great staple product of this region, while between the fields of corn can be noticed the lighter green of the meadows and pastures of timothy, and the famous bluegrass that flourishes here as nowhere else. Here and there the golden tints of ripening wheat, oats and barley, add variety to the picture. Thousands of fat, sleek cattle graze in the pastures, or lie in the shade of the trees and hedges planted a few years ago by the fortunate farmers, who secured this most fertile of all western lands. Wagon roads, lined with excellent fences or hedges, cross the valley at every mile. The Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad extends from northeast to southwest. almost parallel with the river, and the trains can be observed by the specta- tor for many miles. At Shenandoah, the Omaha & St. Louis Railroad crosses the valley almost at right angles with the river. On the sides and at the top of the hills that gently rise from the valley, can be seen hundreds of comfortable farm houses, surrounded by barns, sheds, orchards and groves, while within the gaze of the traveler are several prosperous towns and the
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SHERIDAN AVENUE EAST FROM MAPLE STREET, SHENANDOAH
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SHERIDAN AVENUE WEST FROM BLOSSOM STREET, SHENANDOAH
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beautiful and growing city of Shenandoah. All in all the scene is one of pastoral beauty, such as a poet might well travel thousands of miles to see. In fertility of the soil and beauty of scene the valley of the Nishna has no equal.
FISHER'S GROVE OR MANTI.
Nearly all of the settlers in this western country have the mistaken idea that the most valuable land was that which was covered by trees. They also supposed that the scarcity of wood would make the fuel question one of prime importance as the country settled up and the owners of the tim- bered tracts would reap a rich harvest. Furthermore, the rigors of the early winters made the shelter of the timber desirable. For this reason the early settlers almost invariable sought claims within or adjoining the timbered tracts and began "clearing up" farms as their fathers had done in the eastern states, while the fertile prairie lands and the rich valley of the Nishna remained untouched by the plow for many years.
The first settlers in southwest Iowa came by ox-team across the state from Illinois. Others came up the Missouri river in steamboats to Sidney landing and other points along the Missouri river, and from there traveled on foot or by team eastward, stopping along the streams where a grove varied the monotony of the treeless prairie.
In 1842 the government purchased of the Pottawattamie and Sac and Fox Indians the land in southwestern Iowa. Shortly after this a little settlement was effected in Buchanan township, in the southeast corner of Page county, and one at Austin, a few miles south of Sidney, and one near Hamburg, in Fremont county, where, in 1844, Henry Singleton was born, the first white child born in Fremont county. In 1846 a little camp of Mormons and others was established in the grove between Malvern and Silver City, in Mills county, where they resided and prospered for several years, living at peace with the Indians, many of whom still remained there and had a camp near the white settlement. In 1852 Edmund Fisher, father of Lyman Fisher, came to Fisher's Grove, later called Manti, from Mills county, and bought out a pioneer named Haddon, Fisher becoming the first permanent settler in the vicinity of Shenandoah, on what was the John Myers place. The Grove at that time was a beautiful place, containing much fine walnut timber. Others followed him from Mills county, and in two or three years quite a strong settlement of thirty or forty families was established there, being for several years the principal settlement in all this section of country, even antedating Sidney, which sprang up during the '50s and became a flourishing city. The settlement at Fisher's Grove was con- posed mostly of Mormons, who refused to follow the Brighamites when they learned of their polygamous doctrines and practices.
The great body of the Mormon emigrants bound for Utah in 1846 were slowly pushing their way across Iowa, camping in groups here and there as they found plenty of wood and water. As they left civilization the polygamous purposes of the leaders became more and more apparent, and many of the followers broke off from the old church and scattered through-
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out southern lowa. Among this class were the Mills county settlement and later the Fisher Grove, many of the members of which still survive, among the most honored and respected citizens of Shenandoah. At the breaking out of the Mexican war the government, suspecting the Mormons of disloyalty, sent Colonel Kane to their camp on Mosquito creek, near the present site of Council Bluffs, to raise a company of volunteers. In a short time five hundred men enlisted and they prover good soldiers. In this number were Amos Cox and Edmond Whiting, both later residents of Shenandoah, In 1849 the Mormon camp in Mills county, to settle the matter finally regarding the polygamy question, sent W. C. Mathews and James Steele to the main camp near Omaha, to ascertain the real condition, if possible, and report. The young men went there and in a few weeks had fully satisfied themselves, but were unable to escape. They were obliged to accompany the expedition westward, and away ont upon the Weeping Water river, they met the soldiers of the Mexican war, among them Whiting and Cox, returning. They joined them and returned to Mills county. Upon the report of Mathews and Steele the band determined to break loose forever from the old church and to build their homes in Iowa.
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