USA > Iowa > History of western Iowa, its settlement and growth. A comprehensive compilation of progressive events concerning the counties, cities, towns, and villages-biographical sketches of the pioneers and business men, with an authentic history of the state of Iowa > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
W. Oberholtzer; Engineer of Steamer, H. A. Lyon; Chief of Fire Department, Jas. P. Wall; Health Officer, Dr. J. W. Frazey; Weighmaster, James Shanley; Librarian, Miss Helen Smith.
Councilmen .- First Ward, D. Dineen, R. G. Grady; Second Ward, D. A. Magee, H. S. Harmon; Third Ward, N. Tiedeman, R. S. Van Keuren; Fourth Ward, L. Humbert, E. C. Tompkins.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
The fire department of the city is a volunteer organization, composed of ninety members, fifty-five of whom are active, and thirty-five exempt. The organization was first effected in 1874, with E. R. Kirk, Chief of the Department. The fire apparatus belonging to the city consists of one steamer, three hose carts, 2,500 feet of hose, and a hook and ladder truck, fully equipped. The engine house is a substantial two-story brick building, located in the central part of the city. The members of the company, with the exception of the Chief and Engineer, render their services gratuitously. James P. Wall is the present Chief, and the de- partment is an able and efficient one.
THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE.
The Sioux City Telephone Exchange was incorporated August 7th, 1880, and the construction of lines was soon after commenced. December 10th, of the same year, the first telephone connection was made, but only a few instruments were put in. The practic- ability of this new and novel means of communication was soon demonstrated, and the telephone rapidly grew in public favor, the success of the Exchange being thereby assured. Lines were soon extended all over the city, and communication established between nearly every business house, as well as with many private resi- dences. Over one hundred telephones are now in use in the city, and new ones are constantly being put in. In December, 1881, a line was extended to Sergeant's Bluffs, eight miles distant, and as it is found to be entirely practicable, it is more than probable that a few years will see Sioux City connected by telephone with all the towns within a radius of twenty-five miles, thus bringing them all into closer commercial relations with Sioux City as the head center.
THE POSTOFFICE.
The first postoffice was located in an unostentatious log building, the private residence of the Postmaster, Dr. John K. Cook, who, received his commission from President Pierce, by the first mail that arrived in the place, July 20th, 1855. The arrival of the first mail sack was an occasion of no small consequence to the little sturdy band of settlers who had cast their fortunes in the great unknown West, as the contents brought them tidings of their Eastern friends, and seemed to link them once more with the Civilization from which they had been so long cut off. Though
200
HISTORY OF IOWA.
the revenue derived, by the Postmaster from the office, was but a small sum, it is related that the Doctor discharged his onorous duties with such serupulous care and fidelity, that he remained in his position; undisturbed by place-hunting politicians, until re- lieved at his own request. The mail service, thus early established, in 1855, though then only arriving weekly, via Council Bluffs, has continued uninterrupted. As the place grew in size and commer- cial importance, semi-weekly, then tri-weekly, and finally, in 1861, daily mails were established, and the postoffice was removed to more commodious quarters in the "corner grocery." Previous to the removal of the office, Dr. Cook was succeeded as Postmaster by Charles K. Smith, who retained the position until the close of James Buchanan's administration. On Lincoln's accession to the Presidency, A. R. Appleton, was appointed Postmaster, who, in turn, was succeeded by J. C. C. Hoskins, who was continued in office until March, 1878, when E. R. Kirk, the present incumbent, was appointed. Until the appointment of Mr. Kirk, the office was located according to the fancy of the official in charge, which not infrequently resulted in great inconvenience to the public.
The growth of the city to a place of several thousand inhabi- tants, with a dozen mails arriving and departing daily, rendered more commodious quarters necessary, and in 1879 the office was removed to its present central location, where a building had been specially erected for it. It is conveniently arranged, both for the benefit of the public and the rapid handling of the mails. The business of the office at present requires the services of five clerks, and is rapidly increasing.
However uninteresting statistics may be to the general reader, they are very significant to those who wish to trace the progress, determine the results, or estimate the future of a growing city, and as nothing affords a better index of the business of a place than the value of the business done at its postoffice, we append the fol- lowing detailed exhibit of the Sioux City post office during the year 1881:
GENERAL ACCOUNT.
Receipts.
Stamps sold.
$10,759.51
Envelopes sold. 3,395.56
Postal cards sold. 1,662.57
Paper and Periodical Stamps sold. 750.18
Postage due stamps sold. 259.02
Box Rent
1,659.50
Total $18,446.34
Expenses.
General Expense Account $3,069.49
Postmaster's Salary 2,800.00
$5,869.49
Net income.
$12,576.85
201
HISTORY OF IOWA.
MONEY ORDER BUSINESS. Receipts.
4,524 Domestic orders issued. $57,570.75
Fees on same. 550.65
43 Canadian orders issued. 1,307.05
Fees on same .. 20.85
73 British orders issued. 1,031.13
Fees on same .. 30.45
50 German orders issued 813.19
Fees on same.
14.10
4,690
'Total orders and fees on same $ 61,338.17
2,610 Remittances received.
294,989.29
Balance on hand Jan. 1, 1881
2,082.98
Disbursements.
$358,410.44
4,733 Domestic orders paid.
$ 86,432.57
43 Canadian orders paid.
1,620.58
39 British orders paid.
824.76
61 German orders paid.
2.104.05
4,876 Total money orders paid. $90,981.96
31 Domestic orders repaid ..
373.44
Money order expense account. 504.06
Remitted to Omaha. .364,650.00
Balance on hand Jan. 1, 1882. 1,900.98
$358,410.44
MAILING DEPARTMENT.
Letters.
603,148
Postal Cards.
155,220
Transient printed matter.
258.232
Merchandise packages
5,512
Total
1,022,112
REGISTRY DEPA !! ' MENT.
Number of Letters received.
6,808
Number of Letters dispatched, originating at Sioux City. 2,211
Number of packages in transit 18,394
Total
27,413
SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS.
Masonic .- Landmark Lodge No. 103, A. F. & A. M., was char- tered June 2d, 1857. It is in a flourishing condition, and has a membership, at present, of about 140. Meetings are held the sec- ond Monday of each month.
Sioux City Chapter, R. A. M., No. 26, was organized April 9th, 1860, and has a membership of ninety-five. Meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month.
Columbia Commandery No. 18, K. T., holds stated conclaves on the first and third Fridays of each month. The present member- ship is forty-three.
I. O. O. F .- The Independent Order of Odd Fellows has a ball in Hedges' Block, corner of Fourth and Douglas streets.
14
202
HISTORY OF IOWA.
Sioux City Lodge No. 164 was organized October 22d, 1868. Meetings are held regularly Monday night of each week. The membership is ninety-five.
Western Star Lodge No. 282 meets every Tuesday night. It was organized October 22d, 1874, and has a present membership of fifty-four.
Sioux City Encampment No. 44 meets regularly the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. It was organized October 20th, 1869, and has how fifty-five members.
Knights of Pythias .- Columbia Lodge No. 13 was organized July 10th, 1872, and has a membership of sixty-five. This society has no hall of its own, and meetings are held every Wednesday night in Odd Fellows' hall.
Endowment Section No. 302 also meets every Wednesday night.
Ancient Order of United Workmen: membership 100; meeting place Odd Fellows' hall. Officers: T. R. Galbraith, M. W .; Jas. Hutchins, F .; J. T. Orr, O .; Maris Peirce, S .; M. L. Sloan, F .; A. F. Nash, R .: H. A. Lyon, P. M. W., and delegate to State Lodge.
The Sioux City Medical Society was organized November 4th, 1872, and has for its object the mutual improvement of members. Meetings are held quarterly.
The Womans' Christian Temperance Union was organized in 1875, and has a membership of sixty-five. This is a most active organization, and has for its object the suppression of intemper- ance. The club has inviting and pleasant rooms in Hedges' Block, and meetings are held every Tuesday afternoon.
The Woman's Christian Association, was organized in 1875, by the christian ladies of the city. It has a large and increasing membership, and regular meetings are held quarterly.
The Maennerchor is a social and musical organization with forty- five members. Meetings are held the first Sunday in each month, in the society's hall on Fourth street.
Society of United Irishmen .- This society was organized Septem- ber 1st, 1880, and has forty members. Meetings are held every Sunday afternoon.
Q. E. D. Club .- This is a gentleman's social club, organized November 20th, 1878. The membership is limited to twenty-one.
B. Neque D. Club .- A gentleman's social club, with rooms in Hedges' Block. It was organized September 1st, 1880, with a lim- ited membership of twenty-five.
There are in addition several musical, literary and social organi- zations holding meetings.
THE ST. PAUL SHOPS.
The year following the completion of the Sioux City & St. Paul road, the city voted a tax of $20,000 to secure the location of the company's repair shops at this city, and work was immediately be-
203
HISTORY OF IOWA.
gun on the extensive buildings now occupied by the company's machine shops. These shops have been enlarged from time to time, and, during the summer of 1881, had been increased to a ca- pacity of 200 men, whose monthly pay-roll amounted to more than $10,000. In these shops a specialty is made of repair work. All the most improved machinery has been put in for this line. Be- sides the repair work, a great number of new freight cars have been built. But the point in which the shops excel, is the re- building of passenger cars, and the best trains now run by the company are of cars that have been practically rebuilt in the shops at Sioux City. The increased mileage of the road has, and will, make necessary further enlargements of the shops, and this will keep the St. Paul Railroad Machine Shops, what they have ever been, one of the leading industrial establishments in the West.
SIOUX CITY WATER COMPANY.
The need of an adequate supply of water for the city for fire, domestic and manufacturing purposes has long been apparent, and various organizations have been started to give the city a water supply; but it was not until the Spring of 1881 that anything tan- gible was done. Then the Sioux City Water Company was organ- ized, with David Magee as President. The plan of the company was to secure a supply of water from an artesian well. Work on this well was begun in October following, and by New Year's a depth of 1,290 feet was reached, where the drill entered a rotten sand-rock that promises, when it is curbed, to give a sufficient sup- ply of water. The company, soon after the formation, secured a fair franchise from the city for furnishing water for fire purposes. Lots have been bought on Prospect Hill, a bluff rising 183 feet above the level of the principal street, on which to build a reser- voir, and the purpose of the company is to pump water from the Missouri River, which flows at the foot of this bluff, to supply the the reservoir in case the artesian well should fail to give a suffi- cient supply.
THE COURTS.
The first term of the Woodbury County Court was held at Sioux City in March, 1855, John K. Cook acting as Judge. The first term of District Court began September 3d, of that year, with Samuel H. Riddle as Judge. In the early days of the city, court was held in the now dilapidated brick building, yet standing on lower Fourth street, near Virginia. Afterwards, the county built the house now called the "old jail," on Virginia street, near Seventh. This was used as a jail, and occasionally for court. pur- poses, until the fall of 1876, when the commodious and imposing edifice, which had been begun the previous spring, was completed. Woodbury County points with pride to this Court House. No other county in the State has one of more architectural beauty,
204
HISTORY OF IOWA.
and few are larger and more convenient. The contractors were. Sioux City men, C. E. & D. T. Hedges, and the building cost (com- plete) $100,000. The present Judiciary are: C. E. Lewis, of Cherokee, District Judge, and J. R. Zuver, of Sioux City, Circuit Judge. S. M. Marsh is District Attorney. A bill has been in- troduced in Congress, which, if it becomes a law, as now seems likely, will give Sioux City terms of the United States Court.
THE BUTTON FACTORY.
The Sioux City Button Manufacturing Company was incorporated October 15th, 1881, with a paid-up capital of $10,000. Its manu- factory is located on the West Side, and is a substantial three-story brick building, well supplied with all necessary machinery. The works were set in operation in January, 1882, and the first finished buttons were turned out on the 26th of the same month. The factory, at present, is exclusively devoted to the manufacturing of buttons from horn, and when run to its full capacity, will afford employment for seventy operatives. The advantages enjoyed by the company in obtaining the raw material for its products, enable them to successfully compete with eastern manufacturers for trade in the East, while the freights that the latter have to pay, on the raw material and manufactured articles, will preclude the possibility of their entering western markets as competitors of this home manufactory. All grades of buttons will be made, and it is the intention of the company to handle their goods through jobbers only. The company is composed entirely of Sioux City men, and the machinery, excepting the lathes and presses, are nearly all of Sioux City make.
THE CHURCHES.
The moral and religious wants of the community are well sup- plied in this city. The church records run back as far as 1856. In 1857, Rev. Mr. Chessington, a Presbyterian missionary, organ- ized a congregation of his denomination in the then frontier vil- lage, and the first church edifice built was by that society, the building being still standing on lower Fourth street, and now does duty as a grocery store. The churches now in this city are:
First Presbyterian,-Established in 1857; membership 193; church, corner Sixth and Nebraska streets.
Congregational,-Established 1857; membership, 184; church, on Douglas street, between Fifth and Sixth streets.
First Methodist Episcopal .- Established in 1857; membership, 175 ;. church, corner of Sixth and Pierce streets.
St. Thomas Episcopal .- Established in 1859; membership, eighty-three; church, corner of Nebraska and Seventh streets.
First Baptist .- Established in 1860; membership, 155; church, corner Fifth and Nebraska streets.
205
HISTORY OF IOWA.
St. Mary's (Catholic) .- Established in 1856; membership, 130 families; church, corner Sixth and Pierce streets.
German Lutheran .- Established in 1877; membership thirty- three; church, on Jackson street, above Sixth street.
Swedish Evangelical Lutheran .- Established in 1875; member- ship, 160; church, corner of Virginia and Fifth streets.
Norwegian Lutheran .- Established in 1875; membership, sev- enty-three; church on Third street between Jones and Jennings streets.
Trefoldighedskirken .- Established in 1875; membership, forty- three; church on Sixth street, West Side.
Norwegian Methodist .- Established 1880; membership, sixty- two; church, on Court street, near Seventh street.
Swedish Baptist .- Established in 1881; membership, fifty-seven; church, on Wall street near Sixth street.
In connection with all these churches, flourishing Sunday Schools are maintained; the scholars in nearly every church out- numbering the membership. It shows a satisfactory growth in religious matters, that during 1881, three new churches, the Bap- tist, Swedish Baptist, and Norwegian Methodist, have been built or begun, and that a fourth, the First Methodist, took the prelim- inary steps for re-building and enlarging their place of worship.
WOODBURY COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The Woodbury County Agricultural Society was organized in 1870, and the present handsome fair grounds, located one and a half miles northwest of the city, were laid out soon after. Though the organization has met with many discouraging reverses, it has done much to advance the interests of farming, and created a laudable ambition to excel among the agriculturists of the county. Exhibitions have been held annually, with the exception of one or two seasons, when bad weather made it inexpedient to attempt it. Within the past two years unusual interest has been taken in the Society by the farming and stock-raising community, and the organization has been placed in a prosperous condition and on a solid financial footing. Men, identified with the pursuits, whose interests are represented by an association of this kind, have as- sumed the management, and made the Society in every way creditable to the county. The benefits arising from these annual exhibitions of the agricultural, mechanical, and manufacturing products of the country, are being recognized, and the hearty co- operation of all classes is accorded them. The grounds belonging to the Society have recently been improved by the planting of shade trees, and new buildings erected for the convenience of ex- hibitors. The officers of the association are: G. W. Kingsnorth President; Craig L. Wright, Vice-President; J. M. Cleland, Sec- retary; G. W. Wakefield, Treasurer; R. Hall, W. B. Tredway, R. A. Broadbent, J. M. Cleland, G. H. Wright, G. W. Wakefield,
206
HISTORY OF IOWA.
G. W. Kingsnorth, C. L. Wright, W. P. Holman, B. P. Yeo- mans, Directors. The fair for 1882 is to be held September 12th, 13th and 14th.
MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTORIES.
Among the manufacturing interests of the city, which can only be mentioned without giving any detailed account are: C. F. Hoyt's Vinegar Works, employing five men; John Beck's planing mill, fifteen men; A. J. Millard's wood working shop, four men; Barker & Petty, barrel and butter tub factory, fourteen men; R. Selzer's brewery, eleven men; Franz & Co's brewery, thirteen men; City flouring mills steam, ten men ; the Floyd flouring mills, water power, eight men; the brick yards of J. Rochele, Thomas Green and C. B. Woodley, the two latter having steam power, and altogether employing ninety men during the season; John Griffin's candy factory, three men; and the wagon shops of Trudell Bros., Dineen Bros., and Reeve & Trudell, and Brown Bros., together employing forty-three men; and the cigar factories of Amsler & Radcliff, George Mauer, and A. M. Ashley, which furnish employment to twenty-four workmen. The following table, showing the business of these, and numerous smaller manufactories, during 1881, will give the reader some idea of the importance of these industries:
No. Employes.
Wages paid.
Amount sales.
Iron and wood articles
106 |$
44,950 $
167,400
Eatables
79
37,780
457,350
Cigars
24
10,300
69,000
Beer
24
21,000
110,000
Leather
34
13,500
79,200
Clothing and other items
124
46,280
167,200
Brick.
90
18,000
43,400
Printing
66
41,100
81,500
Marble.
8
4,500
14,000
Totals
555
$ 237,410 $1,189,050
This table does not include the output of the pork house, nor of the St. Paul shops. Owing, mostly, to the active exertions of the Board of Trade, several other manufacturing enterprises are either assured or in prospect. Among these are chemical works, for which part of the apparatus has arrived at this writing; a pump foundry, for which ground has been leased; clay pipe works, a.
207
HISTORY OF IOWA.
large distillery, a flax mill, and numerous others yet too vague to take position as historical facts.
THE SCHOOLS OF SIOUX CITY.
Rapid and substantial as we have seen the growth of Sioux City to have been, in population and commercial importance, intellec- tual progress has been maintained in a degree fully equal to its material progress; and, to-day, it is the acknowledged educational center of the great Northwest. Fortunately, from the birth of the city to the present time, her school interests have been con- fided to earnest, active, representative men, with broad and liberal views of education, brought with them from their New England homes, where the advantages of common schools had been tested by experience, and under whose administration and fostering care a system of graded schools has been established which affords edu- cational advantages unsurpassed by any city in the State. Her citizens have been liberal-even lavish-in the expenditure of money for the erection of elegant and commodious school build- ings, and their equipments, with all the modern improvements cal- culated to facilitate the acquisition of a common school education.
The public schools of the city are embraced in what is known as the Independent School District of Sioux City, which was organ- ized in July, 1869. The first Board of Directors was composed of six members, consisting of A. M. Hunt, President; William L. Joy, W. R. Smith, John Cleghorn, F. J. Lambert, and George Falkenhainer. John P. Allison was Treasurer and F. M. Ziebach, Secretary. The present Board of Directors consists of John P. Allison. President; William L. Joy, J. C. C. Hoskins, L. McCarty, C. R. Marks and A. Groninger, two of whom are elected every two years for a term of three years. During the first year after the organization of the district into an independent one, the first school house of any now in use was built. At present there are eleven school houses in use, of which three are rented, and the others belong to the district. Additional buildings are in contem- plation to meet the growing wants of the district. The schools are all graded, as primary, secondary and intermediate, culminat- ing in the High School, which latter, though few in its number of pupils, has attained a high degree of efficiency as a factor in the educational system of the city. The schools are under the man- agement of A. Armstrong, Superintendent, with a corps of thirty- two able teachers. Instructors only of acknowledged ability and ripe experience are employed, who are emulous of attaining the the high standard of excellence for which Iowa, as a State. has be- come justly renowned. Of these, three are males, at an average salary of $90 per month, and twenty-nine females, at an average salary of $40 per month. The Superintendent, has general charge of all the schools, and receives a salary of $1,250 per annum. The last annual report of the County Superintendent gives the number
208
HISTORY OF IOWA.
of school age in the district, as 2,185, while the actual attendance upon school, as appears by the City Superintendent's report, is 1,329. School is in session ten months of the year, and the aver- age cost per pupil is $1.27. The value of the school buildings is estimated at about $75,000. The grounds in most cases, are sur- rounded by substantial fences and adorned with shade and orna- mental trees.
A CITY OF HOMES.
To give some idea, though necessarily an inadequate one, of the rapid growth and present prosperity of the city, the following fig- ures are given, showing the number of new buildings and the cost of improvements made during the past three years:
NO.
COST.
1879
103 $157,445
1880
146 257,085
1881
411 558,210
While many of these buildings were substantial business blocks, solid manufactories, and palatial residences, by far the greater number were the modest homes of mechanics, small tradesmen, and laborers. Sioux City is emphatically a city of homes. The possibility of securing a home of one's own, owing to the moder- ate price at which residence lots have been held, the prosperity of all classes, and the assistance given by loan and building associa- tions, has been improved, and these have combined to make the city the Philadelphia of the West.
LAND INTERESTS.
As well as being a center of wealth and business for a large sec- tion of country, Sioux City is the center of a large land interest and business. The location of a government land office at this city, one of the first prizes secured by the founders of the infant metropolis, has naturally been followed by the centering of a large landed business at the city. The fertile acres in this part of Iowa were open to entry at $1.25 per acre for several years after being surveyed, and during the flush of times of 1856-7 hundreds of thousands of acres were entered by speculators in this part of the State. Then came the era of land grants to railroads, and these lands, as well as those of private speculators, were placed in the hands of Sioux City agents for sale. Among the resident proprie- tors of large landed estates may be mentioned T. J. Stone, Weare & Allison, D. T. Gilman, G. W. Wakefield, John Pierce and N. A. McFaul. The two latter, beside the lands which they own, are agents for non-resident and railroad lands, the former in selling the lands granted railroads in this part of Iowa, and the latter rep- resenting the Burlington and Missouri grant in Nebraska. The sales of these two firms alone amounted to several hundred thou- sand dollars during 1881.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.