USA > Iowa > Winneshiek County > History of Winneshiek county with biographical sketches of its eminent men > Part 9
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In a short time the building was completed, and Mr. Wheeler thought it time to open bank and commence business. But on examination his co-partners were found to be penniless, and his money invested in wild land, which they had mortgaged for twice its value. Consequently the banking speculation was abandoned, and Mr. Wheeler was obliged to pawn his safe in order to raise money sufficient to enable him to return to his friends in the East.
A gentleman by the name of Wood was enticed to the fort by this Canadian ring. He engaged in the mercantile business, investing about $15,000 in the same. He, also, like the hotel-keeper, did a first-class credit business. Everybody seemed willing to take his goods on time ; especially were the capitalists eager to do this. Later in the year, as Mr. Wood's payments became due, and his creditors flocked about him, he became convinced of the advisability of collecting his outstanding accounts. Being honest himself, he gave everybody else credit for the same moral attribute. He very willingly trusted the capitalists, thinking his money ready when called for, He proceeded to make his collections.
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As he demanded of the capitalists his dues, he received in reply the answer : " I have no money at present ;" capitalist drawing forth at the same time from an inner coat-pocket, a map of the town, and pointing out his possessions, would continue, "but I have some very desirable property which I should be glad to exchange on account." The mer- chant being conscious that town lots would not buy goods in New York, nor pay for what he had already bought on credit, would very respect- fully decline to make the trade.
Mr. Wood became disheartened at the gloomy prospect before him, and wished to close out his business while he yet had something left. The capitalists were ready to make the puschase, on condition that he would take real estate and city property in exchange. Mr. Wood thought the real estate better than nothing, and made the transfer ; but when he came to examine the records, he found the property which he had traded for to be burdened with incumbrances, and himself a penni- less man. He returned to the East, no doubt wiser than when he left there. To-day he is one of the wealthiest merchants in Pittsburgh, and worth more than all the capitalists Fort Atkinson had in her palmiest days.
These here related are but a few of a long catalogue of swindles and rascalities in which these Canadian gentlemen indulged. John Flowers borrowed $1,500 from J. P. Mckinney, then a resident of the fort, promising to give a mortgage on his saw mill. The saw mill had pre- viously been mortgaged for more than its real value, and, as a conse- quence, Mr. Mckinney never received back a cent of the money loaned. They swindled Mr. Vaughn, of the fort, out of $6,000 of borrowed money.
In 1857 the Canadians reached the pinnacle of their existence. The fort was in the hey-day of its prosperity. It was the favorite resort of the society-loving people of Winneshiek County. And whatever may be said of them otherwise, they certainly were unexcelled in the art of " entertaining " in the most perfect and "high-toned " style. Evening dress parties were regularly given, of the most select character, only those appearing who could afford to dress in the prevailing style. The gentlemen played their role exceedingly well, while their ladies were ever most hospitable and entertaining.
The 4th of July, 1857, was observed in great style by the Canadians. The emblem of liberty was hoisted, bands discoursed sweet strains of music, stirring and patriotic speeches were made, and the day wound up with a grand display of fireworks and a select ball, attended by all the
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elite of the surrounding country. It is a day well remembered by all the old settlers who attended it.
In 1857 a grist mill was commenced on the site where the Ames Mill now stands. Finkle & Clark were the builders, and they received a certain portion of the town-plat for building the mill, getting a warranty deed for the same. Mr. McMillan, a resident of Fort Atkinson, who resided, previous to 1857, in Canada, and an acquaintance of Finkle, was induced by Finkle to accompany him to the United States, and aid in the construction of the mill, with promises of a fair remuneration. The mill was completed in November, but, owing to some miscalcula- tion of the architect in laying out the foundation, when the water was let through the floom it undermined the wall, and rent the mill in twain, precipitating a portion of it into the Turkey River. The mill was reconstructed shortly afterward. The partners then became involved in a personal embroglio, and in order to made a satisfactory adjustment of their difficulties, made an assignment of the mill property to Coleman. Clark afterward became dissatisfied with the agreement, and proceeded to divest the mill of certain property contiguous to it. Coleman, about this time, entered Clark's house during his absence, and abstracted from his private desk a receipt for $1,000, as payment made on the mill. As a result of these illegal transactions, Coleman arrested Clark for petty larceny, and Clark, not to be outdone, had Coleman arrested for grand larceny. An exciting and protracted trial was held at the Fort, Willett appearing for Clark, and Bullis for Coleman. Neither case amounted to anything more than trespass. Coleman was a wealthy man, but not in the sense that the Flowers were. Being a shrewd and crafty man, he early discovered the character of the men with whom he had to deal, and knew that if he would preserve to himself his wealth he must ever be on the alert. To protect himself against the machinations of his cunning associates, he kept a diary, in which he recorded the minutest transactions, or most common conversations had with those with whom he came in contact ; and as he was about the only one of the whole clique who had any capital to speak of, the balance sought to pray off of him ; hence this safeguard of his. He was continually in litigation with his fellow operators, and his diary always turned to good account.
Coleman had entered a forty, which is now known as the Amy Farm, and stationed a Mr. Scott (who afterwards became Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of Arkansas) on said forty to hold the same for him. As soon as Scott had obtained possession, he " claimed " it as his own, and would not surrender on any condition. At this time Mr. Coleman was on
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friendly terms with Charles Clark, who, perhaps, of all the Canadians, was best known throughout the county. Clark's operations were as original and multifarious as the " Heathen Chinee's," and it was seldom that he and Coleman were not at swords points. When friends, these two men sometimes worked together in harmony, when occasion war- ranted mutual benefit. They were both interested in this claim, and determined to get possession of it at all hazards. Accordingly, they visited the claim, and demanded the key to the shanty and his immedi- ate vacation of the premises. Scott swore that he would never sur- render the claim, whereupon Clark and Coleman took him down by main force, and rifled his pockets of the key. The victors then secured the services of two men to remain on the claim and hold it for them. But these men, as soon as they were put in possession, declared it their own, and would not surrender until paid fifty dollars for their right. The money was paid, and a man's services secured whom they thought they could trust; but he likewise proved traitor to their interests, and was only induced to relinquish his claim on receipt of fifty dollars. This made the third time in one day that this claim was jumped.
Scott commenced suit against Coleman and Clark for highway rob- bery ; but the suit was compromised, the former agreeing to take town lots, and call their difficulty settled. Scott afterwards presented the deeds to Clark for acknowledgment, but he declined to do it until paid for the property.
It is estimated that in 1857, when the Fort was at the summit of its grandeur, it had a population of 500 souls. A public school, of course, would be a necessary adjunct to so thriving a community. Conse- quently one was organized, and an estimable and capable teacher was found in the person of Dr. E. Hazen, now a professor in the medical department of the State University, and generally acknowledged as standing at the head of his profession in the State. To Dr. Hazen belongs the credit of teaching the first school at the Fort. The Doctor had met Mr. Mckinney and wife, at the commencement of Oberlin College, and was advised by them to emigrate west. He was then a young man, and had graduated. Mr. J. P. Mckinney, assisted by his wife, taught the second term of school at the Fort. The school session was held in one of the fort buildings, and their enrollment of scholars numbered nearly 100.
A Mr. Sharp, from Fayette County, kept the first hotel in the place. He dispensed his hospitality in one of the fort buildings. Following
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
close in his wake came Thomas, the man so severely bitten by the Canadians.
To Mr. George Cooney belongs the honor of being the first Justice of the Peace in the place ; and that he did a lucrative business there is every reason to believe, although his mode of conducting business when first inducted into office was somewhat strange, to say the least, as the manner of his docketing the following case will serve to illustrate :
A man named Spillman was arrested and brought before the 'Squire charged with having run a pitchfork into a breechy cow. The case should have been entered on the Justice's docket, " The State of Iowa vs. Spillman ;" but Mr. Cooney, in his unusual way, entered it " Cow vs. Pitchfork."
Martin Bachel was the first Constable elected.
J. P. Mckinney was the first Notary Public.
The panic of 1857 came like a besom of destruction. It was dis- astrous in its effects upon those who had real capital to rest upon. It was especially disastrous to those who were dependent upon their wits. Our capitalists became reduced to sore straits, and they bethought them it was time to shift for winter quarters. Speculations were barren, and real estate had decreased in value until corner-lots could be purchased for a bushel of oats. They sold all their available property, and pawned their shotguns and game dogs in order to get the necessary means with which to find a warmer harbor for the winter. The next year a few of these parties returned, but not with the intention of remaining.
This closed the second era in the history of Fort Atkinson. It was a lively, interesting and entertaining era while it lasted, and the foregoing may only be considered samples of many similar incidents that a veracious narrator might collate. The ten years that followed were uneventful, and must be passed over lightly. A third era dawned with the advent of the Iowa and Dakota Division of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. It was the era of real business life and growth, sub- stantial, steady and certain. Its future may not be all that the specula- tors of 1857 anticipated, but it is certainly on a fairer road to attain municipal size and importance than it could have attained under their management with the most favorable circumstances.
The new town of Fort Atkinson was commenced in 1869. The same year the railroad entered the place, J. T. Clark's Addition was made to the town, August 28, 1869. This addition was formerly known as the Tavernier Farm, and was sold to J. T. Clark at sheriff's sale several years previous. Its location is on the south-west quarter of Section 8,
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
Town 96, Range 9. Main street is eighty feet wide. All the other streets are sixty feet wide. The blocks number from 1 to 14, inclusive.
About this period the first church building was erected. It was located north of the old fort, and built by the aid of subscriptions. The Methodist Church was built soon after. It is located on the old town site, and was built by the aid of S. B. Dunlop, a wealthy farmer residing near by, and largely with his money.
Business men came in, and Fort Atkinson became at once one of the important towns of the county. In 1873 its shipments of such pro- ducts as grains, live stock, flour and millstuffs, dressed hogs, butter, eggs, etc., aggregated nearly 7,250,000 pounds, or 360 car-loads.
CHAPTER XI.
DECORAH.
Decorah-A Beautiful Valley-Day Family-Room for Man and Beast- Water Power-A Log Mill-First Marriage-First Carpenter-First Minister-Looking Up the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel-The Pure Article-At the Close of the Year 1854-The First Harness Shop -The First Livery Stable - Land Office-First Bankers -A Pioneer Postoffice-Decorah in 1857-Newspaper History-First City Officers - Manufactures -Banking Interests -Churches-Conclusion.
Decorah is the county seat of Winneshiek County, connected with the main line of railroad from Chicago and Milwaukee to St. Paul, by a branch railroad ten miles in length, and is a flourishing young city of nearly 4,500 inhabitants. It is located in a very beautiful and pictur- esque, wide valley on the Upper Iowa River. The valley is deep, the plain upon which the greater part of the town is built being more than 200 feet lower than the highest surface of the table-lands by which it is surrounded.
It is seated in the midst of a beautiful and extensive amphitheatre of hills, the most of which are of handsomely rounded outlines, while others present to the view perpendicular and high limestone cliffs, many of which have been rounded and worn into rude columnar and other
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
shapes by atmospheric and corrosive agencies, in such a manner that they suggest to the mind the idea of artificial structures, and while you have them in view, with a little aid from the imagination, you can easily imagine that you are looking at the lofty turreted walls of some baronial castle.
The persons destined first to look upon this beautiful valley were the Days. They came in the month of June, at that season of the year when nature had dressed the bluffs and valleys in its beautiful mantle of green, when the atmosphere was laden with the sweet aroma of flow- ers, when nature wore its blandest smiles, when the wild and unbroken country appeared in the hey-day of its youth, in all the radiance of its primitive grandeur.
The history of Decorah from its first settlement has been ably written by Rev. E. Adams, whose comprehensive and humorous production is here given, in preference to what might be less interesting, if written by the author.
" In the month of June, 1846, in the midst of the picture we have just sketched, though at the time somewhat faded out, yet with seventy-five or one hundred Indians gazing upon the spectacle, their tents still stand- ing-with the graves of the dead scattered about where now run our streets and stand our dwellings-in this month of June, 1849, could have been seen an ordinary emigrant wagon, with horses detached, and arrangements being made not for a night's camping merely, but a per- manent stay. This of course, as everybody is aware, is what is known the country around as the "Day Family," consisting of nine persons ; starting from Tazewell County, Virginia, the year previous, touching at Cassville, Wisconsin, then for a short time on a claim in the east part of the county, near John McKay's, thence to this place. McGregor was then but a landing, but seldom landed at. What some of us have trav- eled as the old stage road, was but an Indian trail, with only two settlers upon it between here and Monona, at what is now Frankville.
" Beyond this, westward, were but two white families, by the name of Reams and Button. The head of this Button family was suspected of horse-thieving, and was, at an early date, visited by a deputation of nine men from Linn County, anxious that justice should be extended even to the farthest limits of the country then known. No evidence was really found against him; but upon the hint that his absence would be as good as his presence, he soon left, selling his claim to a man by the name of Johnson, of whom the farm was purchased by its present occupant, Mr, Jacob Jewell,
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
" But to return to the inmates of our emigrant wagon. The first thing, of course, was a covering for the head, and then more permanent arrangements for the winter. A temporary cabin, 16x16, to serve ulti- mately as a stable, had already, by way of anticipation, been partially erected by some members of the family who selected the site, and this was soon so far completed as to admit of moving in, and the same night a tavern opened on the premises, where from that day to this the hospi- talities of the "Winneshiek House " have ever been extended. In that first season, when, by the presence of surveying parties, horse-thief hunters, or the rush of travel on Indian trails (!), the accommodations within were somewhat straightened, the guests, in the mild evenings of our autumnal climate, of course could find a welcome bed on the green grass, just outside, and ample space for the horses as they stood tied to Indian stakes. No need then for the old sign, "Room for Man and Beast ;" it was all room, and all the room there was was apparent to everyone. Before winter, however, a more commodious building was erected, the main part 20x25, with a wing attached. This was made of logs, shingled, lathed and plastered,-really, for the time, quite an im- posing structure. This is the building known as the "old log house," and which made its disappearance but a few years since.
" In this connection it may be proper to say that the present ' Winne- shiek House" was built in the years 1854-5. The frame was hewn from the native timber, the lath and shingles obtained at Lansing, while the siding is of the pine that once skirted the banks of our river, got out at what was known as Carter's mill, at Plymouth Rock. Considering its size, and the difficulty, at the time, of obtaining and collecting material, no wonder that it was two years in building; completed December 24, 1855. The ' Decorah House,' as it was originally built, was finished prior to this, in 1854, and has since been enlarged at different times to its present dimensions. An allusion to the 'Tremont House,' finished in 1857, and burned the winter of 1867, gives us a glance at the hotel business amongst us, commenced in that first log house, though perhaps there is another that some one will say ought to be named-' The Cen- tral House.'
" Almost coeval with this branch of business commenced another, which now appears in the history we have commenced. I allude to the im -. provements of our water powers. In the same season of 1849, there came a man with his family, who, the year previous, on an exploring tour through this region, had seen such visions of mill-wheels, mill-stones, of saw-mills, turning lathes, possibly of woolen mills, even, in connection
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
with the curves of our river and the adjacent springs, that he had already made his claim and put up his cabin on the square ;- a man who, endowed by nature with more than ordinary mechanical skill, has been following up his visions ever since-one who is still frequently upon our streets, the fruits of whose labors all of us are reaping, more or less, -one of those by whom the world is more benefitted than is by the world acknowledged. This man, as, of course, many of you know, was William Painter, a native of Greene County, Ohio.
" His cabin was built upon the property known as the Butler property, nearly opposite the present machine shop, where, as the fruits of his labor, may now be seen the first well dug in town. In his family was the first birth, his son George Patten, born in the fall of 1849, in honor of which, and because he took the name of two sons of the Day family -George, Patten-he afterwards had the present of a town lot. In his milling propensities Mr. Painter commenced immediately in 1849, at what is known as the Spring or Dunning's mill, soon taking into company with him one Aldridge. He brought a small pair of burrs from Cincin- nati, and set them running by the simplest of machinery possible, in a log mill about sixteen feet square, some of the remains of which are still to be seen. The Heivly power was in his claim, but he did not think it best to commence the improvement of this till his means should be more ample and the country better settled. This power, however, was not long to remain in waiting, for soon there came to our town another, the third family, February, 1851, in which there was the same propensity for milling to which we have alluded, as a kind of family trait, true to which, the descendants of this family may still be seen threading our water- courses in search of more powers yet to be improved. I allude now, of course, as many of you again know, to the Morse family, the respected father of which is still among us, whose cheerful face is often greeted with the familiar title of "Uncle Phillip." He, with his wife and two children, moved in with Mr. Painter, but soon built him a cabin on the back part of the lot on which the Tremont House stood. He built, a year or two afterwards, in August and September, 1852, the first frame dwelling in town, which is still standing, and occupied at present by our fellow- citizen Mr. Driggs (now occupied by Mr. Bonestell), just west of the Tremont stand.
" In his family was the first marriage in town, as the records have it : " MARRIED-August 22, 1852 .- Henry T. Morse to Hannah C. Chase. " JOHN S. MORSE, Minister.
" The Mr. Morse now living in Freeport.
12
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
" But we must not by these pleasing items be drawn down our thread of history too rapidly. In the same season that he came, the summer of 1851, Mr. Morse bought of Mr. Painter a portion of the Heivly water power, and commenced the saw mill now upon it, he and Mr. Painter building the dam and race together. Mr. Painter built, about the same time, a grist mill, the frame of which still stands within the walls enclos- ing the present building. About this time the Spring Mill was sold to its present owner, Mr. Dunning, whose family was the fourth in town. Thus commenced, and to the joint labors of these men-William Painter, Phillip Morse, and E. Dunning-are we indebted for the first beginnings by way of improving the abundant water power with which we are favored, the value of which we do not yet begin to realize, but which is being improved from day to day. No doubt their labors at this early date had much to do in making this a point, as well as drawing hither other branches of manufacture, to which reference may be made in due time.
" In the same year, July 3, 1851, the first lawyer made his appearance. Undertaking to walk out from Lansing, he got lost by the way and stopped the first night at a Norwegian's house, six or eight miles east of this. Starting on the next morning, he came along about noon to the log tavern, and inquired the way to Decorah, rejoicing, no doubt, to be at his journey's end ere he had found it. His name was John B. Onstine. The second of this profession that came out was Dryden Smith; the third, A. B. Webber; the fourth, John L. Burton ; the fifth L. Bullis ; the sixth, E. E. Cooley, who came October, 1854 ;- and so on.
" Mention has been made of the houses being built. Of course there were carpenters here at this early date. The first in town was a man by the name of Stevens, who soon left for California, where he has since died. The second was our fellow-citizen Mr. William E. Taylor, who came in November, 1851. He bought the chest and tools of Mr. Stevens, the first brought to town-which chest and many of said tools are doing good service at the present day.
" The mercantile has ever been a prominent interest among us. This, too, was started at an early date in the summer of 1851, by Aaron Newell, with a partner by the name of Derrick. They opened their stock of goods-not a very large one ; indeed, some say about a wheelbarrow full-in the smoke-house on the Winneshiek premises. They soon moved, for better accommodations, to a kind of slab shanty, until they could build a real frame building, the first store, and the first frame build- ng, in fact, built in town, advertised and known as the " Pioneer Store,"
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
at present owned and occupied by the firm of Goddard & Henry, and by them enlarged to its present dimensions. This was completed in the summer of 1852, and was for the time quite a building, furnishing in the second story a public hall called Newell's Hall. Could we but have a few of all the transactions within that hall, of county courts, caucuses and, I am afraid, of dances too, and all sorts of things, it would give us a pretty good clue to the early history of the times.
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