USA > Iowa > Tama County > History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 47
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" It is with extreme modesty that we take upon us the duty of editor, for we feel that its paths are not always paths of pleasantness and peace, nor its duties, duties of delightfulness ; but with the help of other power which we believe will come in time, we feel safe in venturing out on the waves of the editorial sea. If we are wrong, it will only make the waves dash higher to lecture, for it is now too late-one thing that will quiet the waves is to come up now and then and encour- age, rather than discourage.
" We mean to try and run a paper that will correspond with a common person's pocket-book-little, but lively-not only in form but in finance."
The subscription price of the Star was announced as being 8.75 cents when paid in advance, and $1.00 if not paid within one month. It was announced that it would, for the present, take no active part or sides in politics, although the editor was a Republican. In this shape the Star remained until its issue of August 20, 1879, when it was enlarged to a seven column folio. At this time the paper as- sumed its political standing; the editor in
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his remarks concerning the change, say- ing :
"The Star will hereafter take sides and part in politics and labor for the perpetui- ty and advancement of the principles ad- vocated by the grand old Republican party, which has won so many achieve- ments and triumphs-which has preserved the Union, destroyed slavery, amended the constitution in the interest of human freedom, and has established the nations credit abroad and made it honored and re- spected in the eyes of the whole world."
Since that time the Star has been en- larged to an eight column folio, and the subscription to $1.50 per year. The paper has a good advertising patronage and is well gotten up. It has a healthy and grow- ing circulation and is one of the best local papers in the county. Mr. Taylor is a na- tive of Tama county ; was brought up here and is therefore, well known. He is a thorough and practical printer, a natural newspaper man, and is giving his patrons a satisfactory paper.
GLADBROOK COURIER.
The first number of this sheet appeared in June, 1880, shortly after the first house was built in the town. S. W. Grove, a peripatetic printer, was editor and proprie- tor. The paper was a five column quarto, and was soon well filled with the adver- tisements of the live business men of the young town. Grove remained in connec- tion with the paper until the spring of 1881, when he sold out and bid farewell to the people of Gladbrook in the follow- ing terms :
VALE.
"We have sold the Courier to R. E. Austin, Esq., of Tama City, who in turn
has sold it to Mr. W. F. Winn, of Toledo, whom we take pleasure in recommending to our patrons as a young gentleman of energy and good financial backing, and also as a printer of considerable experience.
" The people of Gladbrook have been good to me, and more than kind to the Cou- rier. For this we thank them. Earth con- tains no town of its size which can show a more intelligent and liberal lot of business nien than the men who make up Gladbrook. Now, that the bitter winter, which seri- ously tried men's souls and reached the bottom of pockets not too well filled (our own, for instance), is over, and old winter has been ousted from the lap of spring, let us hope that not only the Courier, underits new regime, but all the town under its old control, may prosper as never before. Gentlemen of Gladbrook, let us shake ! Good bye."
The first issue of the Courier under the new management bore date May 12, 1881. The names of J. M. and W. F. Winn were placed at the head of the colums as editors and proprietors. In their salutatory they say :
" We hope to make the Courier readable and profitable. Politically, when it may seem reasonable to talk polities at all, the Courier will talk straight republicanism, reserving the right to criticize the princi- ples of parties and the actions of politi- cians , of whatever faith .We shall endeav- or to be straightforward and outspoken in all things, while always striving to show a due regard for the rights and principles of others ; but when we make a chalk line upon a public topic, we will 'hew to the line, let the chips fall where they may.' We do not hope to revolutionize
E. R. Smith, M. D.
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journalism by our advent into its ranks. Undoubtedly there will be many things for us to learn and many details to perfeet before we shall see the Courier as good as we wish to see it, but we shall labor diligently and zealously to make it so."
The quarto form of the paper was re- tained, but more attention given to its mechanical appearance. In its make-up a vast improvement was noticed. The mat- ter in its columns was arranged with taste and regularity. But a few months passed before it came out in an entire new dress, and much improved. During the cam- paign of the summer and fall of 1881, Dan. Connell was in editorial manage- ment. In the Courier under date of June 16, 1881, Mr. Connell made his editorial how, as follows :
"In assuming management of the ed- itorial page of the Courier, we are not sure that an introduction is necessary. Twenty- six years' residence in Tama county makes- us familiar with her people and her wants, and has identified us with its interests. As we may occasionally speak on politics, an introduction is not necessary, as every pol- itician in the county is familiar with our views and methods of stating them."
Mr. Connell did good work in the edi- torial department of the Courier during the campaign of 1881. As a writer he was pleasing and always spoke to the point. Mr. Connell's name was carried at the head of the columns of the paper until July 13, 1882, although for a few months previous he had done but little writing. .
On the 2d of February, 1882, J. M. Winn withdrew from the firm, and Wm. Milholland became associated with the junior partner, under the firm name of
Winn & Milholland. His connection ceased June 29, 1882, when W. F. Winn became sole proprietor.
On the issne bearing date April 13, 1882, the form was changed to an eight column folio, in which shape the Courier still re- mains.
Walter T. Winn, editor of the Courier, is a native of Knox county, Ohio, and son of J. M. and Mary F. Winn, now of To- ledo, Iowa, was born in 1862. IIe received his education at Toledo, and began his career as a printer in the office of the To- ledo Times, in 1879. In 1880, he started the Tuma County Neers, in partnership with William Clark, but in the same year sold his interest, and, moving to Gladbrook, in April, 1881, bought the Gladbrook Courier, a weekly paper, of which he is now editor and proprietor. He was mar- ried June 29, 1882, to Miss Emina J. Law- son, daughter of Harvey B. and Maria (Stewart) Lawson. Mr. Winn is a mem- ber of the V. A. S. society of Gladbrook, is respected as a citizen, and his success in managing newspaper work has more than proven his adaptability to that profession. lle is a pungent and pleasing writer, and his articles are always to the point.
TOLEDO NEWS.
This newspaper was established at To- ledo in 1880, by S. W. Grove, as a seven column folio. After publishing it for a few months Grove sold the office to Clark & Winn and it was shortly afterward re- moved to Tama City. Grove had been in the newspaper business in Tama county a number of years previous to this, and was a good printer. He is now somewhere in the northwestern part of the State pub- lishing a newspaper. The office of the
17
Y
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
News has since been merged into that of the Tama City Free Press, and the publi- cation of it given up.
THE TAMA NORTHERN.
This newspaper is published at Glad- brook. It was established in 1881, by Thomas E. Mann, the first issue making its appearance on the 11th of March, as a seven column folio. Friday was the day of issue, and the subscription price $1.25 per year. In his " greeting," Mr. Mann said, in connection with other matters :
" Before coming into your presence, editorially we could not refrain from paus- ing, hesitating, doubting long at the threshold.
"No one more fully realizes the fact that we are falable and liable to make mistakes than we do ourselves. No one could be more alive to the truth, that the pathway of an editor has but few resting places in it ; but few and far between are the flow- ers that bedeck it, and should he fall by the way, the good Samaritan of our day sel- dom happens by with his ministrative agencies and he is left to expire in entire oblivion.
" It was in view of these things that we hesitated. But, be it unfortunate for us or otherwise, for having concluded to be- come a 'printer, ' this impetus was given us on recalling a strange bit of wisdom dropped from the pen of that profound philosopher Ben Franklin. Ile said: 'If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth read- ing, or do things worth writing.' While it may occur to some ungenerous mind that our prospects of remembrance after death, according to the above, is not the most
flattering, we trust that the people of Gladbrook and Tama county generally, will not be wholly unappreciative of en- deuvors at least, to write and do that which may be of some service to them.
"Hoping that we may not be met with the coldest reception the world might afford, we subscribe ourselves, editorially yours.
T. E. MANN."
The Northern is still owned and pub- lished by Mr. Mann, although for a time his father, S. S. Mann was associated with him in its publication. The paper has undergone several changes in size, and has finally become a neatly printed seven column folio, the same as when started.
In March, 1883, the Northern closed its second volume, and entered upon its third. The editor said regarding this event :
" With this issue, the Tama Northern closes its second year. It is now two years old. In starting the Northern we made no small venture. Without the least ex- perience in the newspaper business or in the manipulation of type, without a purse full of wealth, and without a powerful political party to look to for support, with- ont a hope of getting a draw at the pub- lic ' pap, ' with only a few forlorn 'fanat- ies,' perhaps half a dozen, to wish ux well, we launched our craft. It has buffeted with many a storm, undergone many ups and downs, but we have been enabled to keep aboard, and acting upon the advice of the great captain to his soldiers, we have not given up the ship. "
The Northern now has an extensive and growing circulation, and has a bright out- look for the future. Mr. Mann publishes the paper upon a press of his own inven-
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tion, which works in a much more rapid and satisfactory manner than the usual $200. Washington hand-press,' and which cost him only about $40. The politics of the paper are with the National Greenback Labor Party.
Thomas E. Mann was born near Center- ville, Delaware county, Ohio, September 27, 1856. When about six monthis old, his parents moved to Jackson county, Iowa, where they lived for ten years, then came to Spring Creek township. His ad- vantages for an early education were very limited, but at seventeen he was given a fall term in a graded school and at nine- teen his father allowed him his time. The following four years of his life were spent in teaching and attending college. Ile completed his academic course one year after his marriage. Mr. Mann was mar- ried April 6, 1878, to Miss Emma Fortner, who was a resident of Le Grand, Iowa, and a daughter of Rev. Hiram Fortner, an ordained minister of the Christian Church. Mrs. Mann is a graduate of the Le Grand Academy. This union has been blest with three chil- JIren - Modesta
Emma, De Arve and Floy Belle. Mr. Mann, in politics, is a Greenbacker. He is a man of good ability, a strong writer, and is fearless in advocating questions which he deems right and essential to the public welfare. Mr. Mann descended from a family which came to this country from the Isle of Man, from which island the family de- rived its name. The nationality of the fam- ily at that time, was pure Scotch, but by inter-marriage the blood has been com- mingled with various nations. His great grandfather, Shnah Mann, migrated from
Newton, Sussex county, New Jersey, to the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio, in a very early day and died there at the age of eighty-two. Thomas Mann, oldest son of Shuah Mann, still lives near Centerville, Delaware county, Ohio. The father of the subject of this sketch, Shuah Strait Mann and oldest son of Thomas Mann, is men- tioned elsewhere in this volume.
THIE DYSART. RECORD.
This paper was established by T. N. Ives, the first number appearing Friday, Jannary 5, 1883. The following appeared in the first issue :
"Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going forth, they shall walk and and weep, scattering the seed, It return- ing, they shall return with joy and bring their sheaves with them.'
" Here's our sheaf. What do you think of it ? Perhaps some will reply like the ‹leacon's son, who was relating to the min- ister how the bees had stung his father, and the minister inquired : 'Stung your pa, did they ? What did your pa say ?' The boy replied : 'Step this way a mo- ment, please ; I'd rather whisper it to you.' Ilowever, we have engaged in the news- paper busines again in Dysart, and with the commencement of the new year 1883, present the first number of the Dysart weekly Record as a candidate for public favor. A live, progressive newspaper is a . mirror of reflecting society, and has a mo.t definite and positive relation to the life of the community. The poet truly says :-
' Mightiest of the mighty means
On which the arm of progress leans- Man's noblest mission to advance, His woes assuage, his weals advance,
Ilis rights enforce, his wrongs redress- Mightiest of mighty is the Press.'
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" We expect to make the Record a per- manent fixture of Dysart, an important fac- tor in its future progress and prosperity, aund a welcome weekly visitor at the fire- side where it is read. As to the political course we intend to pursue; it is hardly necessary to speak, as we are so well known in Tama county. Whether it is on account of being obliged in our younger days to ride a bare-back horse, none too fat, for the purpose of cultivating the corn and potatoes, or for some other reason, we cannot tell, but we have always had an ab- horanee for the sharp edge between two sides of a question. Aside from the un- comfortableness of the position, it is very hard to maintain, especially in newspaper work.
" Hence we will aim to be independent, not neutral, and as it is impossible to say a thing a dozen ways at the same time, we will run this paper to suit ourself, making due allowance for the feelings of others, and at all times endeavoring to do what is right. In fine, this paper will fill a 'long felt want' and you want it."
The Record has grown rapidly in popu- Iarity and has a healthy subscription list.
T. N. Ives, founder and present proprie- tor of the Dysart Record, was born in Canada West, February 26, 1835. lle is a son of A. J. and Mary II. (Horner) Ives. In 1839, his parents came to Iowa and set- uled in Louisa county, where his father en- gaged in the mercantile business at Wap-
pello. His early education was acquired in the common schools, and he afterwards learned the printer's trade. His first ed- itorial work was at Wapello, where he, in company with James D. Barr, established the Louisa county Record, in 1859. Ile afterward published the Morning Sun Re- porter, in the same county. In 1878, he came to Dysart and established the first paper, the Reporter. In 1882, Mr. Ives sold out the Reporter, and in January, 1883, began publishing the Record. Mr. Ives is an able writer, and his success proves beyond a doubt, that in accepting the profession of an editor he chose the one that destiny had marked out for him. Ile was married in 1868, to Miss Lizzie P. . Ilayes, a native of Delaware. Three chil- dren bless their union-Robert F., Eva A. and Walter.
THE TEACHER AND STUDENT.
This is an educational journal edited by the county superintendent in the interest of the teachers of the county and the stu- dents of Western College. It is published at Toledo; is a four column folio fresh and bright and treats at length on all im- portant educational questions.
This paper is a valuable addition to the many enterprises inaugurated to elevate the educational status of the county, and as such is receiving hearty support. This paper, it is said, is the first of the kind in the State, and since its first publication, nineteen like journals have sprung up.
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
CHAPTER XI.
EARLY DAYS.
The following account of personal mat- ter is given to show the disadvantages un- der which the hardy pioneers procured the homes which now seem so comfort- able. Whatever of romance adhered to the lives of the hardy colonists, was abund- antly compensated for by hard work. Contrast the journey of that devoted party through the roadless and bridgeless track between Chicago and their destination, with a company on a like journey to-day. Instead of weeks of labor and toil, priva- tion and suffering, with cold and hunger, a seat is taken in a palace car, at noon in Chicago, an nnexceptional supper is par- taken of without leaving the train, the passenger retires npon a downy couch, and in the morning awakes to find himself at his point of destination in central or north- ern lowa, having lost only half a day on the journey. Those who enjoy these blessings, would be less than human if they were not filled with gratitude to these early settlers, who paved the way, and ac- tually made the present condition of things possible. At that time the confines of civ- ilization were on the lakes ; Chicago had but a few thousand people, Milwaukee was just beginning to be a village and Du- buque was a mere vidette, as an outpost of civilization. There was nothing in the now great State of Iowa, except the intrin- sic merit ef the location, to attract people from their more or less comfortable homes
in the east, or on the other side of the wa- ter. The hope as to the future, which " springs eternal in the human heart," Inred them on, and, although those that came were usually regarded by the friends they left, as soldiers of fortune, who, if they ever returned at all, would indeed be fortunate. They were a sturdy race, who realized the inequality of the struggles in the old States or countries, and resolved to plant themselves where merit would not be suppressed by traditions.
The men who came were, as a rule, en- terprising, open-hearted and sympathizing; they were good neighbors, and so, good neighborhoods were created, and they il- lustrated the idea of the true brotherhood of man more by example than by quoting creeds, with a bravery that never blanched before the most appalling danger ; they nevertheless were tender, kind and con- siderate, in the presence of misfortune, and their deficiency in outward manifesta- tions of piety was more than compensated by their love and regard for humanity. And if this meed of praise is justly due to the men, and it certainly is, what shall be said of the heroic women who braved the vicissitudes of frontier life, endured the absence of home, friends and old associa- tions, the severing of whose tender ties must have wrung all hearts. The devo- tion, which would lead to such a breaking away, to follow a father, a husband or son
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
into the trackless waste beyond the Mis- sissippi, where gloomy apprehensions must have arisen in the mind, causing hope to waver and the heart to sink with dread, is above all praise. The value of the part taken by the noble women who first came to this uninhabited region cannot be over- estimated. Although by nature liberal, they practiced economy, and often at erit- ical times preserved order, reclaiming the men from despair during gloomy periods ; and their example of industry constantly admonished them to renewed and strenn- ons efforts to save the west from a relapse into barbarism. This tendency was sup- posed to result from the disruption of so- cial and religions ties, the mingling of heterogeneous elements, and the removal of the external restraints, so common, and supposed to be so patent in older commu- nities. Dr. Bushnell did not have a suf- ficiently extended view of the subject, for, in looking over the history of the past, it is found that in a nomadic condition there is never any real progress in refinement. Institutions for the elevation of the race innst be planted deep in the soil before they can raise their heads in beauty and majesty towards heaven, and bear fruit for the enlightenment of nations. The evils of which Dr. Bushnell was so afraid are merely temporary in their character, and will have no lasting impression. What actually happens is this : At first there is an obvious increase in human freedom, but the element of self-government every- where largely predominates, and the fusion of the races, which is inevitable, will in due time create a composite nationality, or a race as unlike as it must be superior to
those that have preceded it. Even now, before the first generation has passed away, society in the west has outgrown the irri- tation of transplanting, and there are no more vicious elements in society here than in the east, as the criminal statutes will abundantly show.
In this connection are given the person- al experiences of the pioneers of Tama county. These articles are writ- ten or related by the pioneers, and when written, the compiler has in no case at- tempted to change or vary the style of the writer, it being the design to show the pe- culiarity of the writer, as well as to record the facts narrated. These reminiscences are interesting and well worthy of perusal.
BY MRS. RACHEL VANDORIN.
Well I will try and tell what you ask me, but in rather an awkward way, for 1 am getting old and I can't write as I once could, and it is hard work for me. I will be sixty-one the twelfth of June, if I live till then. In the first place, my husband and Isaac Smith, for that was my brother's name, came to Tama the fall of forty- eight, took their claims and erected a cabin. It was covered with boards they 'riv' out themselves, had a dirt back and yams and sticks and clay chimneys, doors sawed out, puncheons split out and thrown into the cabin. We expected to move early, but my brother was taken siek, and we stayed with him until the ninth of May, then we left him better. A man by the name of Ephriam Whittaker came with us with his wife and two chil- dren. Hle took a claim below Irving in what is called Salt Creek township, about five miles from us, built a cabin and moved
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into it; stayed till fall, butt hought it was too new for him so he went back to Henry county. We had two hired men with us, James Vandorin and Isaac McKern ; they went back to Henry county that fall. My brother got well and came in June. We landed in Tama county the twenty-first day of May, 1849,-moved with seven yoke of cattle to our wagon, had two breaking plows, blacksmith tools and our household stuff. Mud was so bad we could hardly get along ; we often had nine yoke of cattle to one wagon, for Whit- taker had four yoke of cattle to his wagon, so they would pull one a while and then the other one. We were from the ninth till the twenty-first of May, hauling our doors and shutters with us. We were so heavily loaded we had to leave our plows and other things on the road. My husband and Whittaker went back after them, so the first furrow plowed was the third day of June. The men chopped in pumpkin seed and corn; had quite a little corn and nearly a hun- dred wagon loads of pumpkins. I chop- ped in my garden seed; had a good garden. I put up a barrel of pick- les. They broke thirty aeres more and put a good fence around it,-leav- ing the cross fence, made two fields. We had a good crop that year, of nearly everything. But they had, in 1850, broke and fenced this sixty acres on the bottom, and in May, fifty-one, it commenced raining and kept on till the water was all round our cabin and in the smoke house ; it came up there three times. The second time my brother and husband rafted a set of logs for a cabin out to the bluffs and
then my brother went from twelve to fif- teen miles to ask hands to help raise the cabin, which was sixteen hy eighteen feet. The first one was sixteen feet square, and had no window. The men came and helped raise ; but we had to keep them over night; so they got it covered and raised the next day and went home in the evening. That night it rained again. In the morning the water was around us again ; higher, higher, than before. The sheep were in a huddle on a knoll; so the men turned the calves out, and they and all the rest of the cattle swam to shore. Then they took the sheep and started for the bluffs, letting them rest when they came to knolls where the water was not swimming deep, and having to help some of the sheep through. While they were gone I heard things upsetting in the smoke-house, I went in there and found the lard, molasses and vinegar barrels all afloat. I floated them up in a big meat trough that was in the smoke-house. The men came back and we got breakfast ; then my husband carried things out of the large trough and set them in our cabin ; then he floated the trough out of the smoke-house and up to the door, told me to put in whatever I wanted to use and get in. I put in two feather beds and bed- ding, provision and my work, then got in, taking my three children. He put in a cross cut saw to saw out a door in the new cabin, bored a hole in the end of the trough and put a pin in it, and tied a rope to that, for the trough was square ended, and he had to swim and pull us most of the time, for half a mile or more. Then my brother swam our horses to the
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