USA > Iowa > Story County > History of Story County, Iowa; a record of organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 15
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In the spring of 1858, grandfather made arrangements for moving onto eiglity acres of land which he owned three miles northeast of Nevada. The contract for building the house was let to Charles Schoonover, for $1, 100. The house was built with solid oak frame and black walnut siding, and it stands today, with but few alterations. When the family, which at this time included the baby Carrie, moved into this new home, there were but three houses between that place and Eldora. However, there were neighbors only a mile and a half to the westward, where the family of Thomas Turtle lived in a log house on the farm which in a few years the Turtles sold to George Moore. Those two houses were the only ones in sight on the prairie. The work of planting trees-little cottonwoods and locusts which were Vol. I-9
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transplanted from the timber along East Indian Creek, and preparing a permanent home, was soon under way.
Prairie fires were a constant menace in summer, and many times the property was safe only after its owners had fought fire until far into the night. The blizzards of winter, were, in their way, as hard to contend with as the fires of summer and autumn. Once, at least. when grandfather had gone to Muscatine after a load of goods for Nevada merchants, a storm began to rage, after he had been gone a few days. Grandmother and the three little children might have perished had not Mr. Dana insisted that John Romaine, then a lad of sixteen, be sent out to see how they were faring. The storm came on suddenly at night, and the snow fell to great depth, cov- ering the pile of unprotected green wood and the ax. Some wood was cut. but not sufficient to meet the demands of the extreme cold and the enforced prolonged absence of the man of the house. For two days, grandmother worked with the hatchet, facing the storm to dig the wood from the snow. then cutting the smaller pieces which she could manage with the hatchet and drying them in the oven. She did not dare let the fire go out at night, be- cause she could not start it again with the material she had. Newspapers were not common then and every dry bit of wood had been burned. Finally no wood remained except great chunks which she could not possibly handle and another night was approaching. But grandmother was seldom without some resource, and in this instance it was a bedstead with great high posts. These posts she cut off, pausing every few minutes to look out of the win- dow. At last she gave a little cry and ran to the door. Someone was com- ing. It proved to be her brother, muffled in wraps, and with a blessed ax across his shoulder. He was much exhausted and that night he had a high fever, but he staid until grandfather returned, which was nearly a week, as it was impossible to make the trip with a load from Muscatine through the drifts. So the pioneers all through Jowa, fought the elements and the hard- ships and the poverty incident to beginnings in a new coutry, and later en- dlured the trials brought by the Civil War, and succeeded in making good homes and a country to be proud of.
The home which my grandparents established on the prairie. remained the home of the family for thirty-four years, or until it was sold in 1892 to George C. White, who is still its owner.
LIBRIE BALLIET HONG.
TALES OF HER GRANDMOTHER.
Mrs. Libbie Balliet Hoag has also preserved from earlier narration two delightful stories of Mrs. Lovell:
THE PIONEER WOMAN IN AN EMERGENCY.
"It does seem as though the equilibrium of the pioneer woman was more secure than is that of the woman of the present day. The prospect of two
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or three unexpected guests for a meal, is enough to upset the average house- keeper now and to fire her nerves with anxiety. Yet she is, most likely, provided with conveniences for doing her work, and an abundance of nice china and linen, such as her grandmother never dreamed of. Besides, she may have good stores within a few blocks, perhaps she can even reach them by telephone, and can order from them almost any thing, from soup to des- sert, already prepared.
"Contrast the housewife's resources today with those general in the primitive days of Nevada when, in one instance I know of, one woman pre- pared the dinner, served it and washed the dishes for fifty unexpected guests. It was in the second year of the growth of this city ; and the woman, now a great-grandmother, was then barely twenty-one. Groceries, like other sup- plies, were brought by wagon from Rock Island, Keokuk or Muscatine, usually twice a year. The variety was consequently somewhat limited and the housekeeper was restricted to just what it was possible to get. Perhaps such limited range was less confusing to choose from than is the present-day great variety.
"The McLain hotel was then the only hostelry for strangers in the town. The spring of '55 brought such a flood of land-seekers that Mrs. McLain felt unable to cope with the tide alone, and she called on a daughter of one of the neighbors to help her-at first, occasionally, and then steadily for some time. Mrs. McLain felt free to trust the new assistant; and, on wash days, she herself did the big washing, leaving the rest of the feminine respon- sibility to Mary. Also. when the garden which had been planted south of town needed attention, she would mount her steed and, with lunch basket and hoe, ride away to spend as much time as necessary in conquering the weeds springing abundantly from our fertile soil.
"It was on one of these occasions of the landlady's absence that the rush of which I speak occurred. There was not even a supply of bread baked. Mary's first step on noticing quite a number of strangers in town was to set a big patch of 'sponge.' With the homemade yeast kept in store, bread could be prepared for the table in a few hours. A lot of pies and a large pudding were next made and hurried into the elevated oven and out again as soon as possible. The pies were vinegar and custard, the only kinds within her resources at that season.
"By the time dinner was ready, the long table was filled with men. Tablefull after tablefull followed. Guests were served, table changed, dishes washed, more food prepared, etc., etc., until over fifty persons had been waited upon. Fortunately the supply of bread held out and there were potatoes and meat and like plain foods in plenty ; but the dessert which had been provided soon vanished, and minute pudding had to supply the de- ficiency. The long, low, shed room which served as both dining room and kitchen, was crowded to the uttermost, and one can imagine the noise and confusion, the talking and laughing and rattling of dishes, as those men were served or stood about waiting their turn.
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"The housekeeper who is easily confused by the presence in the kitchen of an extra person or two will doubtless have to stretch imagination in order to picture herself preparing and serving a meal under the circumstances which surrounded the pioneer woman. The latter does not claim, however, that she was not nervous or tired. She was simply in one of those straits in which one has to march straight ahead, no matter how weary the limb or aching the brow."
DR. ADAMSON'S COW.
"In outward appearance, there was nothing in particular to distinguish Dr. Adamson's cow from the other cows which grazed at pleasure on the Nevada Commons in '55 ; but for tenacity of purpose, and extraordinary will power this animal acquired quite a reputation. Instead of feeding quietly with her companions, she preferred to roam by herself, and, none of the house lots being fenced, she had ample opportunity to explore all back yards. examine slop buckets, etc.
"One place in particular was her favorite haunt, and no amount of per- suasion (gentle or otherwise), could induce her to change her feeding ground. From early morn until milking time in the evening, she lingered about that door yard. To add to the natural inconvenience resulting from her tramping around and upsetting things, she indulged her great appetite for dry goods. Promptly at every opportunity, she proceeded to chew up any sort of cloth that she came across.
"One day when she had reduced some new shirts to a slimy pulp, the house mother resolved on extreme tactics. Saying nothing to anyone, she tied a good bunch of red pepper pods in a cloth and put the package where she was sure the offending ruminant would find it. According to expecta- tion, the cow found and began to chew the deceptive bundle. However, contrary to said expectation, she did not drop the cud and run off in con- sternation, but remained on the spot, and chewed, and chewed, and chewed, until the foam which dripped from her mouth made a heap almost as large as a washtub. The mother was in agony of mind. for she had intended no one should know of her little ruse. At last, fortunately, the cow could endure the peppers no longer, and, dropping them, with a loud bellow she ran for home. The cure was permanent. She never more annoyed that housewife."
CHAPTER XIV.
MIRS. HANNAH KELLOGG-1855 AND LATER.
(STORY AS TOLD TO MRS. A. M. PAYNE.)
Mrs. Hannah Kellogg is the earliest surviving resident of the city of Nevada ; her husband was the first adult person buried here; her little boy was the fourth child buried here, and her daughter, Mrs. George W. Dyer, is the oldest native of the city. Of the still living persons who live here or have lived here, none other has been so closely identified with the city from its very beginnings, and none other is so competent now to speak of those beginnings. Her coming here with her husband and little family was wholly characteristic of the coming of those who were to upbuild the county, while the bereavements she suffered and the trials she endured were more than ordinarily significant of the pathos of pioneer life. She was the wife of Dr. N. Alonzo Kellogg, a young physician, well educated and capable, and their home had been in Casstown, Ohio. Reasons characteris- tic of young people hoping to get on in the world, started them west when they had been married less than three years, and after vicissitudes of a jour- ney unusually trying they reached Nevada on the 17th of June, 1855, Dr. Kellogg, Mrs. Kellogg and son Willie. Of the coming of the Kelloggs, the conditions they found here, the people who came and lived here and the experiences they had, Mrs. Kellogg has furnished a very luminous record in a series of interviews compiled by Mrs. A. M. Payne. Much of this story is here reproduced as follows :
BOUND FOR IOWA.
Two families from Casstown who had moved to Henry County, Illi- nois, had written back glowing accounts of the "beautiful land" on the other side of the Mississippi, where Uncle Sam was giving away farms. Burlington was the known gateway of that country; hence to Burlington the Kelloggs would go and thence where fortune should dictate. For Burlington they accordingly took passage at Cincinnati with all of their belongings, including $1,700 in gold, on a river steamer. The trip down the Ohio was uneventful and made small impression on the young mother,
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deeply absorbed in the care of an ailing babe. At St. Louis there was change of boats, and the confusion and bustle attendant upon the transfer of passenger and lading ; and they had little more than started northward when cholera broke out aboard. Several cases appeared almost simul- taneously. A member of the ship's company died of the fell disease after a few hours, and in the night Mrs. Kellogg, watching from the cabin window when the boat had stopped at an island, saw the quick, sad burial. A child belonging to a family of emigrants died just before Keokuk was reached, and the precious clay was hustled off for burial somewhere-the stricken parents knew not where or how-and the boat would not wait to allow them any sad privileges. There was panic and everybody who could, abandoned the vessel. The Kelloggs were of this number. Dr. Kellogg had had volunteer practice during a siege of cholera near Cincinnati, and he reasoned that Baby Willie would be an easy victim. Mrs. Kellogg's terror of this destroyer dated from her chiklhood, when it had robbed her of both of her parents in a single night. It was unspeakable relief to be on land again and able to put distance between themselves and the infection.
INTRODUCTION TO 10W.A.
The company, having landed. inquired as with one voice for a hotel that could furnish well-water. They had had enough of river water. There were several hotels in Keokuk : but only one with the requisite demanded. In this one humble hostelry the whole crowd gathered. Crowded indeed they were, and of all ages and conditions. Kind indeed, was the effort of proprietors to furnish comfort ; stoves had been removed for the summer ; but the weather being wet and cokl, heaters were hustled into service again. Babies were sick, and a learned doctor came from the college to prescribe for them. Thus a few days passed and Baby Willie seemed rested enough to justify another move.
in this land of the free, where stir-about is the rule, one sekom gets far from friends. To the troubled Kelloggs whose footsteps were fresh on soil seemingly close to the jumping-off place, came the comforting recollection that near Warsaw on the east bank of the Mississippi, only eight miles below Keokuk, lived an uncle of Mrs. Kellogg, Mr. William Clyne. Every ill-wind blows some good. Now was the opportunity to visit the esteemed relative. Goods were accordingly stored at Keokuk and a ferry and stage-ride taken which duly ended at the uncle's home. This home was a settler's cabin in a wooded section. One room for living and sleeping purposes, a loft for storage and a bit of a shed to cook in, com- prised accommodations. But however scanty these, hospitality was ample and it was arranged that the guest-mother and babe should tarry while Dr. Kellogg went on a tour of inspection.
The second day after arrival the doctor was off, bound for Keokuk and Burlington and thence for some part of the interior. He should be
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gone ten days, should not be able to hear from his family in the meantime, and should not write to them, unless for some reason his absence was to be prolonged. They were in good hands. He could trust them confidently. and of course there would be no worry about him.
Hardly had the baby cooed good-bye and the father gone beyond re- call, when the little fellow sickened. He grew worse and worse, and a physician from Warsaw was called. The new-old doctor found the wor- ried mother walking the floor with her suffering, screaming baby. Of course quiet must be restored or spasms would result. A potion was pre- pared of which the mother was suspicious. She said, "You must not give my child opiates, his father is a physician and says Baby cannot bear them." But what did an excited woman know? The doctor persisted and the mother knocked the spoon from his hand. A few drops, however, went down the little patient's throat. He was soon asleep, and the physician left. Sleep continued hour after hour. Baby had received so little of the medicine that that could not be responsible for the change; yet he could not be awakened. Anxiety became terror. Uncle William rode ten miles to the southward for a wise old doctor who could be trusted; but the healer could not be found. Then he rode two miles to the northward for a young doctor. Still the baby slept, and word went through the neigh- borhood that he would never waken. The doctor whose persistence had been mischievous came in alarm and joined the anxious group. After ten hours of stupor, nature rallied and feeble return to strength began. Fol- lowing closely this heavy strain upon the little household, came the cry of another babe in the house, the newly born of the hostess.
By this time ten days had passed, and anxiety turned toward the pros- pector. Neither husband nor tidings materialized. The stage-driver, hav- ing been commissioned to investigate, reported that Dr. Kellogg had bought a horse at Burlington and with Dr. Launcelot Carr from Kentucky, whose errand was similar to his own, had left for the interior of the state. Fur- ther than this none knew; but conjectures were not wanting. Of course ill had befallen him, else he would have written. He carried treasure ; his traveling companion would know the fact, and excited imagination pic- tured the rest. In desperation Mrs. Kellogg implored by letter the doctor's youngest brother, George A. Kellogg, back home to come and hunt the lost one. "Come immediately." She would defray all expenses.
Fifteen days passed. At midnight the Clyne household were quieting the worries of the new baby, when Mrs. Kellogg's ear caught the sound of familiar footsteps. It might though be a repetition of the trick of imagination. She had experienced several such. But quickly this time came a rap followed by the swinging back of the house door and entrance. "Why, Doctor, are you here! We thought you dead!" Mr. Clyne exclaimed.
"Yes, I am here and I have killed my horse to get here."
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Dr. Kellogg's journeyings had been about what might have been ex- pected. In company with Dr. Carr he had prospected along up the valley of the Des Moines, striking off here and there to investigate field of prom- ise till Story County was reached. The lay of the land and the good water at Nevada pleased, and farms adjacent to the town were sought but they had all been filed upon by either settlers or speculators; so, as the best they could do, Dr. Kellogg secured 200 acres over near where Roland is now; and Dr. Carr, a similar plat over at Bloomington, while each bought lots for residence purposes in the town nearest his farm. It had been as Uncle Clyne had predicted, there was need to stay longer than had been planned. Dr. Kellogg had posted a letter somewhere but the tardy mails yet held it.
Arrived at Keokuk at nightfall on his return the doctor thought to cross the river and rest his jaded horse till morning; but at the ferry he met the stage driver aforementioned who startled him with "They think you dead and your child is dead."
On he must go, whether his horse were fit for travel or not. In pass- ing through a timbered section he lost his way. He came upon a cabin, roused the inmates and inquired. "You cannot follow the way in the dark," the man said; "you must stay here till morning." The wife inter- rupted, "O, no, he must not stay here! His wife thinks him dead ; and his child, though it yet lives, is failing. I'd rather you would go and show him the way," and on he went.
In the morning Mrs. Kellogg urged him to telegraph immediately to the brother who had been summoned, that the dead was alive. A dispatch would reach the Ohio town ahead of the letter she had sent. But the doctor thought a letter would do as well, so a letter it was that went.
ENROUTE FOR NEVADA.
One day was spent in preparation, then the stage received the little family again and by short though not easy rides the journey consuming about a week was made to Nevada. At Pella, Oskaloosa and Des Moines cach was a tarry of a few days for baby Willie to rest. Oskaloosa seemed surpassingly fair and Mrs. Kellogg wished to remain ; but the doctor pre- ferred the neighborhood of his land. Des Moines was the most unattractive of locations. The river had overflowed in the spring and wetness and dirtiness were the most impressive conditions. Dr. Kellogg said, "Willie would die here, sure," so on they came, in the open stage behind a mule team, an umbrella making the baby as comfortable as possible in the father's lap.
Arrived at Madden's tavern Dr. Kellogg went in to arrange for dinner. Returned to the wagon he exclaimed, "Whom do you suppose I have found in there?" then he answered himself, "It's Albert and he's shaking with the ague."
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George A., as he was designated in the west, had received Mrs. Kellogg's summons but not the doctor's recall ; had arrived at Warsaw soon after his brother and family left that point; had come on to Nevada, and was pros- pecting on his own account when laid by with a chill at the way station. The chill subsided, baby rested and the four came on to Nevada.
HOSPITALITY AND SORROW.
The Union House kept by John McLain was the one public house in town. It was located diagonally across from the site of Frank Mclain's present residence and consisted of a double log house affording two rooms below and two above with a lean-to in the rear. The hotel was full, but the comers might possibly get in over at Alderman's: so to Alderman's they went. The full capacity of the T. E. Alderman log house has never been reported. The building was the first one put up in Nevada, and occupied the site which is now marked by a memorial stone in court house park. It was a double log house facing the north, and comprising two rooms each about 16 feet square of which the west room was the dwelling and the east room the store, postoffice, and general business center of the settle- ment and of the county. A double-slant roof covered the whole and a narrow lean-to extended along the south side. A door opened from each room to the north, also to the south, and was supplemented by an outside door in the lean-to leading to the wood-pile and that recently acquired blessing, a good well of water.
The family of the first pioneer consisted only of Mrs. Alderman and little Oscar; but if it had numbered many, generous-heartedness would have shared its best with strangers wishing to become neighbors; so its welcome to the Kelloggs was neither tardy nor scant.
The living room of the Aldermans held by day two curtained beds, a trunk or two, a bureau and stand, mother's rocking chair, and other chairs and a big dry-goods box for storage, but there was still room for the guests and their luggage with the addition at night of the trundle bed and a pallet in the corner for the repose of the young man. The lean-to room, though its floor was innocent of boards, contributed materially to convenience. The cooking stove at the west end centralized kitchen operations, and the table and extempore cupboard in the other end told where the dining room was. A cloudburst one early morning soon after the arrival of the Kelloggs poured a flood under the house which ran off through the kitchen like a river, and breakfast had to be delayed till the water subsided; but such an episode disturbed no one.
Baby Willie however kept growing weaker and the fourteenth day in the new place, he dropped away. Treasures from three households already consecrated the hillside which is now our cemetery. They were the in- fant children of the Alderman, Romaine and George Child families. The Kelloggs contributed the fourth; Smith Goodin made the little coffin of
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native black walnut; Mr. Jerry Corey came over from Iowa Center to speak words of comfort and everybody near brought sympathy and joined in last rites.
Grief found best relief in work, so, after one busy day following the funeral, Dr. Kellogg was ready to go to Keokuk for the goods he had stored there. Horses could not be procured, hence, following advice. Dr. Kellogg had purchased an ox team-"You can turn the animals loose on the prairie when you return," said his counselors, "and there will be ready sale for them.'
The empty-armed young mother begged to go with her husband-she "could sleep in the wagon or anywhere else that he could." and it would be untold comfort to be with him and out-of-doors. Wise Mrs. Alder- man approved Mrs. Kellogg's request; but the idea of a woman jaunting off in such style was too much for the doctor's prejudices. Then she wouldl at least, she insisted, go with him to Iowa Center and stay with Mrs. John Wood till his return. "Aunt Eliza" had been over to Nevada, and her kindliness had won the heart of the troubled young woman.
"Perhaps Mrs. Wood will not receive you," the doctor objected.
"There need be no fear of that." Mrs. Aklerman assured, so the short ride instead of the long one in a prairie schooner was taken. It was the doctor's first experience with an ox team, but the beasts were so good at following the trail that a teamster might have managed them left-handed as appears in Blashfield's famous painting at the Iowa capitol.
Hauling up in front of Uncle Tommy Davis's store at lowa Center. the doctor went in to inquire for Mr. Wood's house; Mr. Wood himself came out to answer. As to Mrs. Wood taking a boarder, they had neither extra room nor accommodation; but he melted before the tears in Mrs. Kellogg's eyes and added. "We'll go and see what mother says." "Mother" was the word, for a true mother Mrs. Wood was. How could she turn away a sorrowing creature who needed mothering. "Of course we can keep you! Come right in" and mothering arms gave expression to embrac- ing love. It was only one more in a family of six adults-the seniors and four young people. True their log cabin was one roomed, with a low loft. and an outside shanty to hold the cooking stove, but there was plenty of room outside, and kindliness made the stay of two weeks a time of healing.
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