USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 26
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It is believed that the great lack of boxes in this postoffice. at this date, is due to the fact that the government proposes to ere long establish a free city delivery in Sac City.
The following have served as postmasters at Sac City since the estab- lishment of the office fifty-six years ago: Andrew J. Taylor, October 24, 1857; William Todd, from April 9. 1859, to May 7, 1867, when D. C. Early commenced his duties and served till December 30, 1868, and was succeeded by A. H. Hendrickson, who held the office to March 1, 1871, and was fol- lowed by J. E. AArmstrong, and he was followed February 2. 1876, by R. H. Lamoreaux, who held the position till J. H. James was commissioned, December 2, 1886, serving till James N. Miller took the office, January 20, 1890, serving until J. W. Garrison's appointment, December 20, 1892, he serving until November 4, 1893, and was succeeded by James L. Comstock, and he in turn was followed November 5, 1897, by J. W. Wilson, who held the office till the present incumbent, Charles L. Early, was commissioned. February 5, 1906, under President Roosevelt.
The average term has been for the whole period here in Sac City, four years and eight months. R. H. Lamoreaux having held the office the longest period. ten years, from February 2, 1876, to December 2, 1886.
283
SAC COUNTY, 10WA.
CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION.
The Sac City Chautauqua Association was organized in the month of December, 190.4, at a public meeting assembled for that purpose. It was thought to be in time for holding a course of lectures in 1905. which was carried out. The first committee appointed to perfect the organization con- sisted of these gentlemen: Prof. G. W. Lee. S. M. Elwood, Dr. W. J. Find- ley. S. M. Stouffer, Dr. J. H. Stalford and W. J. Dixon. The same month a stock association was formed of about one hundred and twenty members or shareholders, who under the terms of the rules and incorporation specifi- cations were to have shares of ten dollars each and the assessment on same to keep up the association should in no case be allowed to exceed the price paid for such share in the association. The corporation was perfected by the elec- tion of its nine directors as follows: W. J. Dixon. F. E. Gordon. Dr. W. J. Findley. Fred R. Stearns, Dr. Z. Fuller, Frank R. Brownell, Rev. Walter Tobert. G. W. Lee, Frank W. Loring and its officers were chosen as follows : W. J. Dixon, president ; F. E. Gordon, vice-president ; Dr. W. J. Findley, secretary ; Fred R. Stearns, treasurer.
The institution was formed not with a view of making any profit, but simply to secure high class entertainment in the way of public lectures, etc., which should be forever void of the cheap and demoralizing tendencies in lecture platform work. The first active work was when Dr. Findley and Frank R. Brownell went about soliciting subscriptions for the hundred and twenty shares taken, which was all soon accomplished. The real date of perfecting the association's organization was December 21, 1904.
In the spring of 1908 an auditorium was erected, just at the west entrance of the fair grounds, on the east bank of the Coon river. It is ninety-eight by one hundred and twenty feet, with an octagonal front. It required eighty thousand feet of lumber, one hundred and twenty squares of roofing material and a ton of nails to construct it. Its cost was three thou- sand four hundred and seventy-five dollars. Hon. Phil Schaller, now de- ceased, donated a handsome United States flag which each season adorns the dome of this building, which is nestled in among the native trees along the waters of the Coon. They now own eleven acres along the Coon river front -a natural park-and have expended about seven thousand dollars and only owe a thousand dollars at this date, or thereabouts. The officers for 1914 are: F. E. Gordon, president; Otto Pfaff, secretary; George B. Perkins, treasurer.
284
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
The remainder of the board of directors are as follows: Dr. W. J. Findley, who was secretary for years, F. H. Coburn, Orville Lee. W. J. Dixon, C. C. Jameson and Dr. Z. Fuller.
FARMERS MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY.
The first meeting of the Sac County Farmers Mutual Insurance Associa- tion was held in June, 1875. at the county auditor's office. The first officers elected were: Phil Schaller, president : H. A. Pierce, vice-president ; Joseph Dobson, secretary; James Taylor, treasurer. A board of directors was selected from the townships, sixteen in all, one being a resident of each civil township in the county. The company insures against loss by reason of fire and lightning, on all farm property,-real estate and stock,-but no town risks are taken. The following have served as secretaries: Joseph Dobson, James N. Miller, Elwood Tatum, Walter Rutledge. F. E. Gordon, from 1893 to January 20, 1914: F. H. Colburn. who is still serving as the secretary. The present ( 1914) officers are: R. M. Long, president ; L. E. Irwin, vice- president ; F. A. Colburn, secretary ; J. Y. Campfield, treasurer. The 1914 board of directors are as follows: C. A. Drewry, D. McTigue, F. E. Smith, George W. Gould, John Halling. A. Mason, E. A. Walrod, W. W. Rhoades. E. L. Ahrens, Ed. Williams, C. L. Wade, S. E. Peck, L. P. Lowry, William Nutzman, Charles Hechtner. W. F. Charles.
This is purely a mutual company, and there have been written, since the company was formed almost forty years ago, 9.258 policies. In September, 1913, there was in force insurance to the amount of $3,857,806. The losses paid from September, 1912. to 1913 amounted to $6.099.88. Property is only insured to the amount of $2,000. Two-thirds of the supposed value of the property may be included in the risk taken. The average cost. for the last five years, has been $1.74 per thousand dollars. In 1913 it ran as low as $1.22 per thousand. The annual avreage cost, in the last twenty-six years history of the company, has been only $1.83 per thousand dollars worth of property insured. There have been only twenty-eight assessments made on the policy holders since the establishment of the company, and the total amount in mills paid has been forty-seven and three-quarters. This company has always stood the inspection and test of the state insurance department, and today stands high among the "mutuals" of Iowa. No chance for litiga- tion, as a board of adjusters and arbitrators obviate law suits. The only ex- pense is the running of the secretary's office and advertising. The farmers
285
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
get the benefit of all there may be in the company. The main office has always been at Sae City, save for a few months when the secretary resided at a side town. About four thousand dollars is now on hand in the treasury, and this will pay losses until it becomes necessary to assess the policy holders again. .
THE GOOD TIME CLUB.
Concerning elub life in Sac City, the following has been written especially for this work by Mrs. Robert Engelhardt :
It was the social instinct in mankind which no doubt led to the organ- ization of the Country Club, north of Sac City, officially known as the Good Time Club. The upward tendency of prices of farm lands had resulted in frequent changes in the personnel of the community and the old-time sociability of pioneer life was on the ebb. not because the early residents were less social or that the new comers were unsocial, but the natural unrest of a community during the alluring speculative period of rapidly rising values in farin lands and consequently frequent changes of ownership was being felt.
The people seemed dependent largely on their affiliation with church and lodge life in the town for their social activities, there being no neighborhood social center where they might meet and become better acquainted.
Believing that the interests of farm life are best served by the fostering of rural centers, four families who had been drawn together by common interests met at the house of Robert Engelhardt, in November, 1906, and decided to see what could be done toward the organization of a rural club. It was agreed that each family represented should invite one family to attend a meeting two weeks from that time to complete the organization. Accord- ingly, the families of A. F. Winkler. C. J. Hays, H. F. Purdom and Robert Engelhardt, together with the invited families of S. F. Brown, W. T. High- land, J. D. Eble and John Daves, met at the house of H. F. Purdom and the Good Time Club was officially launched, with A. F. Winkler as president ; H. F. Purdom, vice-president, and Mrs. Robert Engelhardt as secretary and treasurer. A simple constitution covering the needs of the club was adopted. The meetings are held in rotation at the homes of the members, every two weeks on Friday evening during the winter months and every four weeks in the summer months. An unwritten law of the club prevents any one occupying the position of president the second time until each family shall have been represented in that official capacity. The elections are held an- nually, the last meeting in November. The membership is limited to fifteen
286
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
families and membership in the club is upon invitation after a majority vote and its popularity is attested by the fact that the membership is at all times full.
Although the social feature was predominant in bringing the club into existence, the constitution lays equal emphasis on the cultural. As the mem- bership includes the whole family, the programs are varied, consisting of recitations, dialogues by the children, readings, papers, descriptive talks and music by the young men and women, to which is added like features by the parents, in addition to discussion of current events, legislative, local, state and national, affecting the interests of the farmer; various phases of farm life, crops, tools, live stock, also matters of interest to the home, school and community. The programs are arranged in advance by a committee ap- pointed by the president.
There are no dues, but when money is needed an assessment is made to cover all requirements. Nor is the material life neglected for each meeting, for a lunch is served after the program is completed.
The menu is arranged by a committee, of which the hostess is always a member. The club is divided into two sections, which alternate in helping the hostess prepare the lunch, each member being asked to bring one article which the committee select. The evenings are enlivened by games and social conversation. The good fellowship which characterizes the meetings of the club is perhaps the secret of its continued existence. While the membership is limited, the hostess has the privilege of inviting guests, so that during the year many families are brought in contact with the club. The club has had numerous play times, such as picnics, fishing parties, mask parties, a George Washington costume evening, Valentine and St. Patrick parties and programs, partaking of the various holidays of the year. The present members are the families of : A. F. Wankler, C. J. Hays, Robert Engelhart, F. S. Brown, W. T. Highland, J. D. Eble, James Corsant, David Corsant, Theodore Huser, Mrs. George Smith, Clarence Brown, C. W. Highland, Charles Topley, Perry Hoskens and Elmer Cox, with Charles Topley as president : C. J. Hays, vice- president, and Mrs. James Corsant, secretary and treasurer.
CHAPTER XIX.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST.
This chapter contains numerous items of general interest which of them- selves were not of sufficient length to form separate chapters, but which are replete with more than ordinary interest. Here will be found the county's weather record, population, oil and mica excitement, accidents by cyclones, drowning, etc., market prices at various dates, days of mourning, farm names, village plats of the county, blizzards and early day prairie fires, and many other interesting topics.
POPULATION OF COUNTY.
The various censuis reports, federal and state, give Sac county the fol- lowing population : In 1856, it had 251 : in 1865, it had 304; in 1870, it had 1,410; in 1875. it had 2,873; in 1880, it had 8,774; in 1885, it had 12,741 ; in 1890, it had 14,122; in 1895, it had 15,868; in 1900 it had reached 17,628 and in 1905 it had a population of 17.062. The census of 1910 gave it 17,689.
The following shows the number of voters, aliens and those subject to military duty at different periods in the history of the county :
In 1856 there were 67 voters, no aliens and 54 subject to militia; in 1865 there were 73 voters, and 44 subject to military duty ; in 1870 there were 386 voters ; in 1875, 675 voters, 17 aliens and 472 subject to military duty.
The Iowa state census reports for 1875 gave Sac county the following :
Townships.
Population.
Born in Iowa.
Born in U. S. Voters.
Boyer township
234
56
167
62
Clinton township
155
47
97
33
Douglas township
386
103
198
82
Eden township
173
73
59
40
Jackson township
811
255
5II
212
Levey township
297
79
150
55
Sac township
473
125
256
10.1
Wall Lake township
344
109
213
69
Total
2,873
S47
1,641
657
288
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
The state census reports for 1875 give the subjoined concerning the improvements and products of the county in that year :
Improved Land.
Unimproved.
Acres Cultivated.
Boyer township
4.51I
4,873
2.703
Clinton township
1,571
3,960
393
Douglas township
4,587
6,515
3,847
Eden township
3.142
4,702
2,179
Jackson township
7,998
11.418
6.712
Levey township
3,875
9,269
2,318
Sac township
2,953
3.740
3,587
Wall Lake township
2,899
2,624
2,440
Total
31,336
47,201
24,179
In 1874 there were 11,056 acres of spring wheat in Sac county, and it produced 110,094 bushels, or an average of not quite eleven bushels.
During the same year there was only raised ten bushels of winter wheat and that was grown in Jackson township. At that day it was not thought possible to successfully raise winter wheat in this part of Iowa.
UNITED STATES CENSUS, 1910.
Boyer Valley Township (including town of Early) 1,173
Early
500
Cedar Township
817
Clinton Township
591
Cook Township
635
Coon Valley Township
723
Delaware Township
652
Douglas Township
558
Eden Township
518
Eureka Township ( including town of Schaller ) I
1,166
Schaller
646
Jackson Township (including City)
2,785
Sac City
1 1 2,20I
1 Levey Township (and part of Wall Lake) 1,064
Town
561
Richland Township and Odebolt
1,879
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289
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
Town of Odebolt 1,283
Sac Township and Auburn and Grant City 1,225
Auburn 399
Grant City
162
Viola Township and part of Wall Lake.
929
Wall Lake Township ( including Lake View )
1,209
Town of Lake View 514
Wheeler Township 631
Total
16,555
VILLAGE PLATS.
According to the plat books in the court house at Sac City, the following is a complete list of all towns and villages platted in Sac county. This refers only to the original plattings and not to later additions and subdivisions of land :
Sac City, platted July 3, 1855, on a part of the west half of section 24, township 88, range 36. Platted by surveyor John F. Duncombe, of Ft. Dodge, Iowa, for proprietors Eugene Criss, W. S. Wagoner, Henry A. Evans and Joseph Gammon.
New Albany, platted May 16, 1857, on the northeast quarter of section 1, township 87, range 36, by A. I. Kain, Joseph Williams, surveyor. A pub- lic square was laid in the center of the platting.
Grant City, platted on section 11. township 86, range 35. A stone planted in each street. Platted by Joseph Williams and Nathan Condron.
Wall Lake, platted August 2, 1877, on the east half of the southeast quarter of section 12, township 86, range 37, by the Blair Town Lot and Land Company. (Wall Lake City had been platted in March, 1857.)
Odebolt. platted August 22, 1877, on the south half of the southeast quarter of section 27, and the north half of the southeast quarter of section 34. township 87. range 38, by the Blair Town Lot and Land Company.
Lake View, platted as "Fletcher," by J. C. Fletcher, January 10, 1881, on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 33. township 87, range 36.
Wall Lake City was platted on the north half of section 34, township 87. range 36, March 21, 1857, by Guy. Beck and Wagoner, certified by County Judge S. L. Watt.
(18)
290
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
Lake Park, platted May 23, 1892, on the east half of section 33, town- ship 87. range 36, by the Lake View Improvement Company, Phil Schaller, president.
Nemaha, platted October 2, 1899, by the Milwaukee Land Company (Ry. ), on section 22, township 89, range 36.
Lytton, platted October 3, 1899, on section 24, township 88, range 35, by the Milwaukee Land Company (Ry.).
Schaller. platted October 4, 1882, on the northeast of section 26, town- ship 89, range 38, by the Blair Town Lot and Land Company.
Early, platted on the southeast of section 4, township 88, range 37, by the Blair Town Lot and Land Company, October 4, 1882.
Carnarvon, platted October 24, 1881. on the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 15, township 86, range 36, by George W. Pitcher.
Auburn. platted July 31, 1886, by the Western Town Lot Company (Northwest railway), on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 23. township 86. range 35, and on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 24 of the same township and range.
Herring, platted on January 24, 1899. by the Chicago & Northwestern railroad (Western Town Lot Company ), on section 28, township 86, range 37.
Ulmer, platted on the line of the Illinois Central railroad, on the south half of the southwest quarter of section 8, township 86, range 35, November 21, 1900, by Carrie and T. W. Martin.
Leota, platted on the 10th of April, 1900, by John W. Ridler and wife, on section 15. township 86, range 36.
"Southport" was laid off as a town, but never platted legally. It was situated on what later was the J. O. Platt farm, in Wall Lake township, on the east side of the road, leading from Grant City to Sac City. It was one of the earliest on the maps showing Sac county, Iowa. It is unknown to nearly all today.
INCORPORATED TOWNS.
The subjoined gives a list of the present incorporated towns and cities of Sac county, together with their population and name of the postoffice (population taken from the 1910 census reports) :
Schaller, situated in Eureka township. population, 661.
Early, situated in Boyer Valley township, population, 579.
Lake View, in Wall Lake township, population, 591.
Wall Lake, situated in Levey and Viola townships, population, 659.
291
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
Odebolt, situated in Richland township, population, 1,432.
Auburn, situated in Sac township, population, 293. Grant City, situated in Sac township, population, 249. Sac City, situated in Jackson township, population, 2,079.
Lytton, situated in Cedar township, population, 100.
The towns were named as follows: Grant City, after President Grant ; Odebolt, for a creek of that name near by; Carnarvon, for a town of that name in Wales, the birthplace of Division Superintendent Hughes of the Northwestern Railroad Company ; Herring, for John Herring, who owned a part of the town site; Early, for Judge Early ; Schaller, for Phil Schaller ; Lytton, for Lord Lytton, author and statesman; Nemaha, after the Indian name; Sac City, for the Indian tribe and township; Wall Lake for that sheet of water ; Lake View from frontage on the same lake.
LOCAL MARKET PRICES.
The subjoined is a list of several of the staple articles and the prices at which they sold in Sac county at different dates in the county's history :
1871 -- The paper then just established gave the prices as follows: Best calico, twelve and one-half cents per yard ; best Imperial tea, $1.75 per pound ; Young Hyson tea, eighty cents per pound ; "Coffee A" sugar, six pounds per dollar ; white sugar, five pounds per dollar ; Rcio coffee, four and one-half pounds per dollar ; the Sac Sun then charged $2.00 per year subscription.
1873, in the month of March: Wheat, 88 cents ; corn, 35 cents; oats, 33 cents ; flax seed, $1.00 per bushel ; butter, per pound, 17 cents ; eggs, per dozen, 12 cents ; hogs per hundred weight, $5.75 ; cattle, $5.00; salt per barrel, $4.50.
1880, in the month of August : Butter, 12 cents per pound ; eggs, 8 cents per dozen ; potatoes, 25 cents per bushel; flour, $3.00 per hundredweight ; wheat, 60 cents per bushel ; oats, 15 cents ; corn, 19 cents.
March, 1914: Wheat, 85 cents ; corn, 60 cents ; potatoes, $1.00; butter, 28 cents; eggs, 21 cents ; salt, per barrel, $1.55; flour, per hundred, $2.80; lard, 16 cents; nails, per pound, 3 cents ; bleached muslin, 9 to 15 cents ; calico, 5 to 7 cents ; white sugar, twenty pounds per dollar ; coffee, 28 to 35 cents ; tea, from 40 to 10 cents ; hogs (live), $6.75 ; cattle, $7.50 to $9.00 per hundredweight.
292
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
THE NOTORIOUS JAMES BROTHERS AT SAC CITY.
In the sixties, seventies and eighties the country was more or less dis- turbed by the depredations, theft, robbery and murders committed by a large number of outlaws, from Missouri and Kansas, which included the famous James boys-Frank and Jesse-the Youngers and the Bender families, whose principal work was confined to Missouri and Kansas, but in the seventies they made an extended raid as far north as Northfield, Minnesota, at which place occurred what has since been commonly referred to as the "Northfield Bank Robbery." These famous outlaws were the result of bad blood engendered at the time of the Civil War, and they were taking revenge on innocent persons on account of real or fancied wrongs committed against their fathers and mothers who held to Southern sympathies.
The following which appeared in the Rockwood ( Pennsylvania) Gasette, in 1904. was written by its editor, who, in the seventies, was a "printer's devil" at Sac City, then a small village in Sac county, Iowa, at which place the James boys halted for a drink on their retreat from the north to their home in the Kansas City country, although at the time they were not recognized by the citizens of Sac City.
C. F. Overacker. the printer referred to, says: "One bright summer morning while pumping a pail of water at a well in an unfrequented part of the hamlet of Sac City, near the office of the Sac Sun, two unkempt, unshorn and not altogether fierceless looking men on saddleless horses, steaming with perspiration, rode to the well and with ugly oaths demanded of the boy his bucket to water their horses, when the saucy little imp winked the other eye and, boy fashion, started on his duty. Just then he heard the report of a gun and an unfamiliar hissing of a flying leaden missile close by ; yet he walked on, but when the second report came and a ball tore through the rim of his wheat straw hat, he stopped short and not only turned over the pail, but lost no time in getting to the pump and working that lever for all it was worth until the innocent, faithful beasts and cruel, savage men were satisfied. In dismounting one of the men appeared crippled and in great pain, and he cursed with awful oaths. He rolled up his pantaloons and exhibited a badly swollen fimb, which he bathed in the cold water. Before mounting their horses for departure, one of the men handed the lad a twenty-five cent scrip- for that was prior to specie payment and there was not yet any small silver money-and requested him to say nothing, which injunction was kept for twenty minutes. J. N. Miller, editor of the Sac Sun at that time, formerly
293
SAC COUNTY, IOWA.
lived in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, where his brother, the late Dr. A. B. Miller, was the president of the Waynesburg College. Jim Miller was the stiffest-necked Cumberland Presbyterian that we ever knew, and the milk of human kindness was cold in his unemotional breast, so when the boy opened out with his story, Jim cut him short with a sarcastic Presbyterian grunt, which completely crushed the little lad. News then traveled slower than it does today, but a day or two later the daily papers came out with full reports of the great Northfield robbery. in Minnesota, telling of the capture of the Younger boys, and of the escape of the James boys on two white horses taken from a farmer in northern lowa. Then the "printer's devil" was a lion among Sac City gamins for sixty days. The James boys were never captured. but ten years later than this event Bob Ford assassinated, in a most cowardly manner. in his home at Kansas City, Jesse James and received the large re- ward offered for his capture "dead or alive." by the governor of Missouri. Jesse was the lame man the boy had seen at the Sac City well where he was compelled to minister to the desperado's wants. Frank James is still living."
OIL AND MICA EXCITEMENT.
Quite an excitement prevailed in Sac county, especially in and near Grant City, in the nineties, when by accident there was discovered good indications that underlying that town there might be a paying quantity of both coal and oil. as well as a workable strata of mica. Mrs. Flora Atkins and her friend. a lady from Indiana, were on the banks of Coon river, near Grant City, fish- ing, and some little boys were running about and playing. The boys built a fire and were frying frogs near by when it was found that they were able to make a considerable fire by simply lighting what seemed to be black mud. The women asked the cause and were told that they could easily set fire to the mud, so the ladies began to investigate for themselves and it was soon learned that crude oil was filtering through the soil near the river and this set Mrs. Atkins to thinking about riches in an unexplored oil and coal field. She kept this a secret for about six years, when she finally let some into her secret and, after making several discoveries, set about leasing the mineral rights, until she had leased thousands of acres in the vicinity of Grant City. She had the minerals tested at various places and finally succeeded in getting parties in Des Moines interested, including state officer George Dobson. A company was formed, wells and shafts were sunk and considerable work done. These explorations were mostly on the Louis Lee farm. Representatives of the
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