USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
In the matter of oats we have done little better. In 1880 we cultivated 9.772 acres of oats, which produced 317,602 bushels, or an average of less than thirty-two bushels per acre, while in 1905 we harvested 51,405 acres of oats, which returned 1,834,687 bushels, making an average of about thirty- five bushels per acre. Is there a farmer who will be content to produce but thirty-five bushes of oats per acre during the coming years, or will be insist that improved seed be introduced, that the best methods of treatment for smut be adopted, that the cause and prevention of rust be discovered and the average yield of oats be brought up to the fifty-bushel mark ?
In the matter of farm animals we are not doing our best, but we are making some progress. In 1880 there were 1.330 farms in Sac county, con- sisting of 222,948 acres, or an average of 167 acres to the farm. The num- ber of cattle on these farms was 18,168, or an average of fourteen head to each farm, giving each head of cattle twelve acres. In 1905 there were 1,887
SAC COUNTY FAIR, AUG. 14, 1913 -- GRANDSTAND AND RACE TRACK
107
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
farms, covering an area of 58,486 acres, or an average of 187 acres in each farm, which supported thirty-one cattle and giving each head of cattle about six acres. I am wondering if it will not be found profitable to maintain a head of cattle for each three acres of Sac county farm land before many years have rolled around.
And we might make many suggestions of improvement that may reason- ably be expected to come, and must come, if we are to keep pace with the growing demand. This is a mighty hungry world and needs to be fed-yea. well fed! Sac county must do her part. The early settler has done his part. The progress has been slow, but the difficulties were many. Naturally a large part of the county was the home of the ninskrat and water-fowl. Tim- ber was scarce and the early means of transportation prohibited the use of coal as fuel. The matter of drainage has been solved by the introduction of tile and the steam dredge. The problem of adequate supply of water has been simplified by the well auger and drill. Fencing is no longer a serious matter, while the matter of harvesting, having, the distribution of fertilizers and the planting of the crop has become an easy task through the introduc- tion of improved machinery. Improved methods of road building, together with the general use of the automobile, the rural mail, the parcel post and the telephone will all tend to make farm life more pleasant and the farm a better institution for the county and state.
New varieties of crops will be grown. Alfalfa and sweet clover will be the leading forage crops. Silos will be found on almost every farm and electric power will do the work on many farms. The rural school will be the best school and the farmer's children will no longer envy the city-bred child his position.
You ask when will this all come to pass? My answer-Just as soon as the farmer finds himself : knows his position ; learns that the world must look to him for better things and that a mighty responsibility rests with him.
AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS-FAIRS.
In Sac county, as well as in nearly all Iowa counties, the matter of con- ducting and keeping up annual farm exhibits, county fairs, has been one fraught with much perplexity, yet there have been numerous associations that have been instrumental in doing much good. In 1871, under a provision of the statute of Iowa, the Sac County Agricultural Society was organized. They purchased ten acres of land for fair ground purposes for the sum of five hundred dollars. The society held numerous fairs at that spot, but in
108
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
1898 it was deemed advisable to move to larger and better suited quarters, so they leased of Judge Eugene Criss twenty-five acres of land, at the same time disposing of the twenty-acre tract that had been acquired at the first loca- tion. It now became a stock company, with shares placed at ten dollars each. At the new grounds many excellent annual exhibits were had. but the society did not prosper. There was the matter of two factions, one wanting horse races and no farm exhibits and the other wanting a purely agricultural fair and not so much attention paid and money spent on the race track, the horse premiums, etc. After a long. hard struggle, the society was re-organ- ized in 1906 as it remains today.
Touching on county fair associations in this county, the following from the files of the Sac Sun may throw a little historic light :
"The Sac County Agricultural Society was incorporated in 1871 and the organization expired by limitation in 1891 and the fact was not discovered until two years later, when it was duly reorganized. Among the incorpora- tors the second time were: Messrs. W. P. and E. Drewry, H. H. Fitch, D. M. Lamoraux, C. E. Lee. A. Ingram, R. E. Colburn, D. Carr Early, Asa and J. O. Platt. S. L. Watt, E. L. Ahrens, James Fleming. D. Cordeman, S. M. Brant, James Neal and J. W. Scott. Of the first society, the members in- cluded D. Carr Early, Messrs. Platt and Watt."
The association now owns about twenty-two acres of the Judge Criss land above mentioned, having sold off some to the Chautauqua Association along the Coon river. It has a half mile track. said to be one of the finest in Towa. The buildings and grounds are fine property and the association is free of debt and has money in its treasury. The 1914 officers are: L. E. Irwin, president ; George A. Heagy, vice-president ; Gus Strohmeier, secretary, and F. S. Needham, treasurer .. The directors are S. L. Watt, L. E. Irwin, George Heagy, Robert Leach. D. B. Keir. George Zimmerman and C. W. Irwin.
Other sections of this county have had their fairs and annual exhibits. In the spring of 1881 the Western Iowa District Association was formed at Odebolt. and it is found in files of the newspapers that in September, 1895. it was holding its fourteenth annual exhibition. For many years this proved a decided success.
CHAPTER IN.
1
NEWSPAPERS OF SAC COUNTY.
By S. M. Stouffer.
The newspaper, along with the family doctor and the postoffice and flouring mill, are among the first evidences of a thrifty new settlement in the opening up of any new country. While it is true that the pioneers did not have the advantages the present generation has in way of literary attainments and privileges, and that daily papers and magazines were quite scarce, it was not long in any enterprising. intelligent community before there was a demand for a good county weekly paper. This need was usually supplied by some man who cast his fortunes with the common pioneer element and at once sought to build up the best interests of the community. Indeed, without such potent agencies the western lowa counties would not have advanced in settle- inent and prosperity to the degree that they did. Sac county is no exception. although perhaps the weekly newspaper was supplied in most new countries sooner than in Sac county.
The following chapter will serve to show the circumstances of the found- ing of most all the publications within Sac county, as seen by a veteran in Iowa journalism. S. M. Stouffer of the Sac Sun :
The pioneer newspaper of Sac county was the Sac Sun, which was estab- lished at Sac City by James N. Miller in 1871. The first number was issued on July 11th, and contained an elaborate narrative of the Fourth of July festivities at Sac City that year. The settlement was yet only a small village. but it was the county seat and was looking forward to the early completion of a railroad.
The newspaper man was given a warm welcome to the town. The art of advertising, as it is now practiced, was unknown to the pioneer merchants. Nevertheless the newspaper was given a fair advertising patronage and a num- ber of the enterprising men of the village subscribed for copies of the news- paper to send their friends in the East. It is no disparagement to others who encouraged the new enterprise to say that D. Carr Early's large real estate advertisements and generous patronage in other ways, besides his
IIO
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
words of encouragement, probably ranked foremost in the support of this pioneer journal.
Mr. Miller was not only a good printer but was also an unusually clever writer and, like most of the pioneer newspaper men, unhesitatingly wrote as he thought on matters personal, political or otherwise. He continued to manage the newspaper he founded until he sold it to S. E. Barnard and B. W. MeKeen, publishing his valedictory on September 30, 1891.
In 1873 Mr. Miller was elected representative in the General Assembly from a district comprising several counties and, before he began his service in the Legislature, he made a trip to Pennsylvania, thus taking a vacation of four months from editorial duties, during which time Al. M. Adams, since the widely-known publisher of the Humboldt Independent, had charge of the Sac Sun.
Owing to an accumulation of outside duties, with the beginning of the fourteenth volume on July 4. 1884, Mr. Miller announced that he had taken a partner in the person of Sidney Smith, and for more than six years the newspaper was conducted under the firm name of Miller & Smith, Mr. Smith participating in the business and editorial work. On October 1, 1890, the firm name of The Sun Printing Company was adopted and this continued until the sale of the newspaper to Barnard & McKeen.
Mr. Miller was a thoroughgoing Republican, a foe of the liquor-traffic and a warm friend of the soldiers of the Civil War, in which he had seen service. The editorial policy of the newspaper was continued with little change during the ownership by Barnard & McKeen.
The Sun was sold by Barnard & MeKeen to S. M. Stouffer, of Toledo, Iowa, and F. E. Stouffer, of Dillon, Montana, who issued their first number August 30, 1893. In their announcement the Messrs. Stouffer hinted at their intention of making the Sac Sun a newspaper for the whole county, gather- ing the news from each community and treating all communities fairly rather than to make the newspaper an advocate of any particular community in the county as opposed to another, and to this end they have worked in the build- ing of their newspaper, the circulation of which has trebled under their man- agement, an edition of more than three thousand copies per week having been necessary at the beginning of the year 1914.
The first eight volumes of the Sac Sun appeared as a seven-column folio, two pages printed at home. For three years it was published as an eight- column quarto, with four pages printed at home and four pages auxiliary. For three years it returned to the eight-column folio form. In 1890 it was
III
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
issued again as a six-column quarto, that time all printed at home, and that form was adopted by the publishers last mentioned until the ereetion of a new building and the enlargement of their plant, as well as the installation of a linotype machine, enabled them in 1907 to issue it as a seven-column quarto. It is now entirely printed at home and deals almost exclusively with news of loeal interest, together with the affairs of state and nation handled from the standpoint of local interest.
The second newspaper established at Sac City was the Sac County Re- porter. a Greenbaek organ published by W. W. Yarham, the first number of which was issued October 28, 1877. Only five numbers of the paper were published at Sac City. It was found that the field was too small for two newspapers and Mr. Yarham moved his plant to Odebolt and published the first newspaper in that town, getting out a very creditable sheet.
The third newspaper published at Sac City was the Sac County Democrat, which was started by J. Koder, a lawyer. on September 8, 1882. Mr. Koder continued the publication of the newspaper, which he edited with no little ability, until March 25, 1887, when he sold it to the Cory Brothers, who published it with I. A. Cory as editor and manager.
On June 26, 1891, the newspaper appeared with the Democrat Publish- ing Company as proprietor, Cory Brothers having sold it to C. Everett Lee. who constituted the company. On October 1. 1893. Mr. Lee's nephew. Lamont Lee, became associated with him. On October 6, 1893, Lamont Lee sold his interest in the paper and it was issued with C. Everett Lee as pub- lisher. Mr. Lee bade good-bye to his readers in the issue of January 11. 1895. he having disposed of the plant to John L. Barter. The three and one- half years of the newspaper under the management of Mr. Lee were marked by an advance in the circulation and patronage, as he was both a good printer and a ready writer.
John L. Barter, who had charge for nearly two and one-half years fol- lowing Mr. Lee's retirement, proved to be an aggressive editorial writer. He obtained the newspaper in the days when the free coinage of silver was a burning question and promptly aligned himself with the Bryan wing of the Democratic party. Mr. Barter sold the Democrat plant to Bert Maxwell, a young printer from Illinois, who took charge June 18, 1897, and employed I. A. Cory as editor.
Mr. Maxwell soon tired of the field and on February 28, 1808, sold the newspaper and plant to W. M. Ward, who had been a school man in Jackson county, Iowa. The newspaper was published under the firm name of the
I12
SAC COUNTY, IOW.1.
Ward Bros. The name of the paper was changed to The Sac Democrat, be- ginning with the issue of October 17, 1902. Mr. Ward was a vigorous writer, especially ready to take part in the discussion of local politics and educational questions, and had he been able to give close attention to the details of business he would have made a marked success.
The Wards disposed of their plant April 7, 1905, to H. H. Fitch, who associated with him in the publication of the newspaper his son, John H. Fitch, and issned the newspaper under the firm name of H. H. Fitch & Son. Owing to poor health, Mr. Fitch sold the plant on Inne 5, 1907, to Ross Mayhall, who at this writing, March, 1914, is continuing the publication of the newspaper and the management of its auxiliary job business with apparent success.
While, like his predecessors, Mr. Mayhall is a Democrat, he has not been disposed to pay much attention to partisan politics, and consequently was not pleased with the name borne by the newspaper, changing it with the issue of February 17. 1909, to The Sac County Bulletin. Mr. Mayhall equipped the office with a junior linotype machine and a better press, reduced the price to one dollar a year and issues it as a six-column quarto, all printed at home.
The first newspaper at Odebolt was the Reporter, published by W. W. Yarham, who moved his plant from Sac City about the first of December. 1877. Under the management of Mr. Yarham and under the management of Frank Kelley, who succeeded him, it was a Greenback newspaper. Finally the Reporter passed into the hands of the Bennett Brothers, who made it a live Republican sheet, but they did not find the field sufficiently profitable for two newspapers, a Democratic newspaper, first called the Observer and later the Herald, having been established in the town and published under different managements. On March 28, 1887. the Bennet Brothers sold the subscription list and plant of the Reporter to the publisher of the Wall Lake Journal and went to San Diego, California, to publish a daily newspaper.
However, Odebolt was not to be long without an aggressive Republican newspaper. In May. 1887, the first number of the Odebolt Chronicle was issued by William E. Hamilton, who previously had been employed in the law office of W. A. llelsell. Mr. Hamilton was a writer of ability, fearless and forceful with his pen. a shrewd planner and active mover in local political matters, and in the more than twenty-three years that he conducted the news- paper was unquestionably the most influential factor in the political affairs of Sac county. Owing to failing health, he sold his newspaper on August 1. 1910, to Frank J. Stillman, of Riceville, lowa. Mr. Stillman also had been
113
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
in poor health, having suffered a nervous breakdown, and before hie ran the paper many weeks he discovered that he could not endure the office work. He then leased the plant to John E. Chrysler, who lately had returned to Sac county from Cody, Wyoming, where he was in newspaper work, and Mr. Chrysler has continued the newspaper with exceptional ability, proving a strong business getter, an alert news gatherer and a good editorial writer. In all of its history the newspaper has been Republican in politics, with a marked progressive tendency.
It is scarcely necessary to follow the history of the various other news- paper ventures at Odebolt. After the establishment of the Chronicle it dominated the situation. Publishers came and went. One of the most inter- esting of the journalistic enterprises was the Odebolt Record, started as an amateur sheet by Ray Graham. The Record continued to grow under his management until it became a full-fledged newspaper. At the time of the sale of the Chronicle the publication of the Record also was discontinued and Mr. Graham entered into newspaper work elsewhere.
A new aspirant for honors appeared in the field on March 12, 1914, the Odebolt News, a Progressive newspaper, with David Phillips as editor and publisher. In his initial number Mr. Phillips stated that he had installed an outfit costing about five thousand dollars, including a monotype, a type-setting and type-casting machine, a Potter two-revolution press, a power paper cutter and other up-to-date machinery. The newspaper possesses typographical and editorial excellence and, on its merits, will make a strong appeal for support.
The first newspaper at Wall Lake was the Journal, established August 29. 1878, by Frank L. Dennis, of Wheatland, lowa. It was published under a number of different owners, among them Cook & Gregg. T. J. Newburg and J. L. Kroesen. The ownership passed to T. B. Hotchkiss, of Lake City, who did not conduct it in person, but a long-distance management appeared to be unsuccessful and the newspaper went out of existence in 1890, to be suc- ceeded very shortly afterward by the W'all Lake Blade, with A. L. Schultz as editor and publisher. The first number of the Blade was issued in Decem- ber, 1890, and the paper has been published continually since. Mr. Schultz was succeeded by John H. D. Gray and Mr. Gray, after conducting it many years, sold it to F. A. Brown, formerly of the Buena L'ista V'idette at Storm Lake. Mr. Brown sold it to W. O. Howard, who is in charge of it at this writing. Mr. Howard is an all-around newspaper man of good ability and (7)
II4
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
is giving the people of the town very good service. Politically, the Blade has ranged from independent to Republican. At present writing, it appears to be espousing the cause of the Progressive party from an independent stand- point.
About the middle of May, 1885. the Schaller Gasette was started by H. F. Moles. In the autumn of the same year the ownership of the plant passed to A. S. Bassett, of Kewanee, Illinois. The fortunes of the Schaller news- paper were somewhat doubtful until Bert Mill took charge and published it successfully as the Star. He sold the newspaper to Charles Brandon, who changed the name to the Herald. In October, 1892, W. K. Whiteside, who had been an employee of the Sac Sun, bought the newspaper and has con- ducted it ever since. It is a five-column folio and under Mr. Whiteside's management was always Republican in politics until 1912, when its publisher became affiliated with the Progressive party. Under Mr. Whiteside's man- agement it has enjoyed a good patronage and has always been a tastefully printed little sheet.
The Early Enterprise was started in 1885 by E. H. McGinty, of Hardin county. McGinty did not make a success of the newspaper and he trans- ferred it to H. W. Cory, who published it until December, 1887. when he moved the plant to Storm Lake and merged it with the plant of the Buena l'ista V'idette. The Sac County News, later called the Early Nozes, proved to be the permanent newspaper venture at Early. It was started by Clarence Messer, and later was published by George Brown, C. E. Stallcop, H. W. Cory and J. E. Chrysler and eventually, in March, 1906, passed into the hands of J. C. Blair, a veteran newspaper man who fits admirably into the community he is serving. The Vewe's has had varying fortunes politically. Its present publisher has been a lifelong Republican, but shows a Progressive leaning. He not only furnishes the news locally in an acceptable manner, but also takes occasion to discuss political matters editorially.
At Lake View, the Resort was started in the early summer of 1889 by Wilson M. Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton leased or sold the newspaper several times, but retained an equity in the plant for about twenty years. He was a capable writer and labored persistently for the upbuilding of the little town by the lake. When he finally sold the newspaper, the name was changed to the Argus, but when it passed into the hands of the present publisher, Edwin C. McSheehy, he wisely restored the pioneer name of the Lake View Resort. Mr. McSheehy came to Lake View with a successful newspaper experience
115
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
on the city press, and is proving an energetic factor toward the upbuilding of his community.
At Auburn the first newspaper was started by Jones & Hotchkiss, as the memory of old settlers runs, in 1886. It was still published in May. 1887, but probably was discontinued shortly afterward. The permanent newspaper at Auburn was The Recorder, which was established September 16, 1893, by Fred L. Ellis. He conducted it a few months, and then sold it to E. H. Merrill, who has published it ever since, with the exception of a few months, utilizing his opportunities quite creditably.
The Nemaha Register began publication in the winter of 1900 to 1901. It was established by D. H. Roush, who sold it to C. E. Evans. Ownership then passed to C. C. Keeny, the present publisher, who makes it strictly a local newspaper.
The only newspaper venture at Lytton has been the Star, which was established about the beginning of the year 1905 by G. A. Craig, an original but somewhat illiterate genius from Missouri. Mr. Craig sold the newspaper to C. Everett Lee, who at one time was publisher of the Sac County Demo- crat. Though well along in years, Mr. Lee is is active as a youth, writes vigorously. expresses his opinions freely and shows an active interest in all of the affairs of the town, making the Star one of the best newspapers pub- lished anywhere in a town the size of Lytton.
Two newspapers were established at Grant City in 1872 to take advan- tage of the bonus for the publication of state laws. One of these was put in by the Storm Lake Pilot and was named the Grant City Journal, and the other was launched by James N. Miller, of the Sac Sun, and was known as the Hornet. Mr. Miller continued it until he headed off the Journal and then merged it with the Sun. It is recalled also that the News, publication of which at Auburn has been mentioned, was first established at Grant City in June, 1886.
CHAPTER X.
BANKS AND BANKING.
In Sac county, as in all new countries, there was little use for banking houses until long after the Civil War. Prior to the seventies the business was mostly confined to local barter-one man selling to another, and usually trading grain and wood and stock for sugar, tobacco, dress goods, and factory cloth for men's wear. Fort Dodge, Sioux City and Council Bluffs all had early banks and to such centers of money and population went the people from Sac county when any real banking business was necessary to be transacted. The land office was long located at Sioux City and a branch at Fort Dodge, and there the home and land seeker went with his ready cash, and in person paid for his lands, if purchased from the government. But as the county settled up and numerous towns sprang into existence, it became necessary to estab- lish a system of local banks and this was promptly accomplished when the de- mand for such place of business was made. Sac City had the first bank in the county, and is still the center of the county's financial institutions, although almost every town and hamlet within her borders has a bank of its own, and really able, financially, to do the business of their own respective communities. Wall Lake soon had a bank and has kept up the business since 1878 in what is now styled the German State Bank. This county has been free from any great bank failures, and for the most part the banks have been successful in paying out dollar for dollar their obligations to their patrons, through the numerous panics through which the country has passed.
PRESENT BANKS OF THE COUNTY.
The following is a list of the various banking houses in Sac county in January, 1914, with the date and order in which they were established and their present capital :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.