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 56
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Wm. H. Bunch, barber, was born in Ill. in 1848: moved to Car- roll, Ia., in 1881 and established his present business.
R. D. Backus, dentist, was born in Madison county, N. Y .; in 1860, he moved with parents to Ia .; came to Carroll in 1880 and established business; has a very fine office.
Thos. F. Barbee, attorney at law, is a native of Ky .; moved to Rock Island, Ill., and in 1878 came to Carroll, Ia., and opened his present law business.
N. Beiter, proprietor of meat market, is a native of Germany; came to America in 1866 and settled in Pa .: thence moved to Ce- dar county, Ia., in 1870, and to Carroll in 1874 and engaged in pres- ent business.
J. L. Bowdish, insurance agent, is a native of Ill .; came to Car- roll in 1873; is justice of the peace, also notary public. He erected a fine brick block in 1881, now occupied by a clothing store.
E. H. Brooks, of the firm of Brooks & Baumhover, proprietors of the Carroll Steam Mills, was born in N. Y .; moved to Ill. in 1858: thence to Clinton, Ia .; and came to Carroll in 1870 and en- gaged in lumber business, until Aug., 1877, when he engaged in milling. The mill has a capacity of fifty barrels of flour per day and employs eight men.
Col. John B. Cook, dealer in agricultural implements, is a na- tive of Mass. He served in the army during the late war, after which he settled in the South. He moved to Carroll, Ia., in 1871 and engaged in his present business.
Joseph M. Drees, attorney at law, was born in Boston, Mass., in 1849; removed to Dubuque, Ia., in 1858; thence to Carroll in 1873. He studied law with O. H. Manning, lieutenant governor, and was admitted to the bar in Sept., 1879. He is also engaged in the in- surance business and is agent for a German line of steamers.
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HISTORY OF IOWA
H. T. Emeis, M. D., is a native of Ill .; moved to Scott county, Ia. in 1856. He graduated from the Cincinnati Medical College in 1868, and came to Carroll in May, 1881.
H. F. Flinn, jeweler, is a native of Ill .; moved to Gilman, Wash- ington county, Ia., in 1876; thence to Carroll in the autumn of the same year, and engaged in his present business.
W. E. Folkens, proprietor of the City Billiard Hall, is a native of Germany; came to America in 1858 and settled in Ill .; thence to Ia. in 1869 and located in Grundy county, and came to Carroll in 1874, and engaged in his present businesss in 1878.
I. W. Griffith, dealer in general merchandise, was born in Va. in 1813; moved to O. when quite young, and in 1844 came to Ia. and settled in Henry county, near Mt. Pleasant, and engaged in farming. He removed to Mahaska county; thence to Marshall county, where he engaged in milling. He subsequently came to Carroll and established the first store in the new town.
Wm. Gilley, is a native of Pa .; moved to O. with parents. He moved to Iowa City, Ia., in 1854 and to Carroll county in April, 1856, and engaged in farming; moved into Carroll in 1868; was county treasurer at that time. He has been engaged in banking and mercantile pursuits until a few years since, when he retired from business.
J. W. Gustine, M. D., was born in Pa. in 1822. He began the practice of medicine in Pittsburg in 1848, and moved to Iowa in 1854; two years later he located in Guthrie county, where he en- gaged in the practice of medicine, until 1875 then he moved to Carroll and opened an office.
P. M. Guthrie, dealer in real estate, was born in County Clare, Ireland; came to America in 1848, and located in Mich. and en- gaged in railroad contracting until 1854, when he moved to Du- buque, Ia .; thence to Carroll in 1869 and engaged in present busi- ness. He is agent for the Iowa Land Co.
R. J. Hamilton, sheriff of Carroll county, was born in Clinton county, Ia., in 1845; lived on a farm until coming to Carroll county in 1875, where he engaged in blacksmithing. He was elected to his present office in Oct., 1881.
C. Henderson, proprietor of the dray line, is a native of Ill .; moved to Carroll in 1872 and engaged in his present business.
H. C. Haywood, merchant and postmaster, at Elba, Carroll . county, was born in Addison county, Vt .; moved with parents to Scott county, Ia., in 1850; thence to Carroll county and engaged in farming until appointed postmaster in 1878.
F. J. Kriebs, M. D., was born in Clayton county, la .: graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago, in the class of 1881, and be- gan the practice of medicine at Carroll the same year, and is a ready in the enjoyment of a good practice.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
Louis Keckevoet, dealer in general merchandise, is a native of Germany; came to America in 1864 and settled in Ind .; removed to Dubuque, Ia., in 1870 and came to Carroll in 1875 and engaged in present business; he also has a general store at Hillsdale, this county.
Wm. Lynch, clerk of the courts of Carroll county, was born in Scotland in 1841; came to America with his parents and settled in N. Y .; removed to Pa. thence to Ia. in 1850. He enlisted in 1862, and was soon afterwards appointed hospital steward of the 31st Mo. regiment, and served until the close of the war. He then located at Carthage, Ill., and engaged in the drug business; remained there until 1869, then removed to Carroll and again en- gaged in the drug business. He was elected to his present office in 1875, and has held it ever since.
F. M. Leibfried, deputy county treasurer. is a native of Md .; re- moved to Wis. in 1850; thence to Carroll, Ia., in 1879. He was appointed deputy treasurer by Mr. Artz, and re-appointed by Wm. Ruggles in 1882.
S. M. Moore, dealer in general groceries and confectionery, is a native of Ind .; came to Ia. in 1869 and engaged in farming in Carroll county until 1875, then engaged in his present business.
M. Miller, druggist, is a native of Germany; came to America in 1857, and located at Dubuque, Iowa, and engaged as traveling agent for Honick & Walls, of Sioux City. He engaged in his present business at Carroll, in 1881, is wholesale and retail dealer in drugs and liquors.
J. L. Messersmith, recorder of Carroll county, is a native of Pa .; moved to Carroll in 1875 and engaged in wagon making. He was elected to his present office in 1876, and has been re-elected every term since.
F. M. Powers, of the firm of Powers & Powers, attorneys-at law, is a native of N. Y. City: moved with parents to Blackhawk county, Ia., in 1857, graduated from the Iowa law school in 1877, and began the practice of law at Independence. He came to Car- roll in 1880, and opened an office. The firm also do a loan and real estate business. J. M. Powers, of the above firm, was born in Cincinnati, O., removed with parents to Blackhawk county, Ia., in 1857. He graduated from the Iowa Law School in 1879, and has since been in partnership with his brother.
Geo. W. Paine, attorney at law, also does abstract, loan and in- surance business. He was born in Duchess county, N. Y., in 1828. He first engaged in the practice of law at ' Poughkeepsie, in 1849; moved to New York City in 1860, and practiced there until opening an office in Carroll, Ia., in 1872.
J. A. Rohner, photographer, was born in Erie county, N. Y .; moved to Fremont, O., in 1867; thence to Chicago, Ill., two years later, and was employed there and in other cities in the west in
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
the photograph business, until 1878, when he located at Carroll, Ia., and engaged in business. He was burned out in 1879, and was absent for a year; returned in 1881 and engaged in present business.
Abram Raught, proprietor of the Commercial House, was born in St. Lawrence county, N. Y .; moved to Neb. in 1873 and en- gaged in the hotel business; returned to N. Y., afterwards moved to Knoxville, Ia .; thence to Carroll and opened his present house, which is situated near the depot, and is a first-class house.
S. S. Sprague, proprietor of meat market, was born in Pitts- burg, Mass .; moved to Ill. in 1856; thence to Carroll, Ia., in 1870 and engaged in present business.
August Stark, insurance agent, is a native of Germany; came to America in 1861 and enlisted in Co. G, 57th, Ill. Vol., was with Gen. Sherman in his march to the sea, and various; other places. He served until Aug. 15th, 1865, and then settled in Ill. and en- gaged in farming; in 1875 came to Carroll, Ia., and engaged in present business; was burned out in 1879, but started business again soon after.
C. B. Smith, agent for the C. & N. W. R. R. Co., at Car- roll, Ia., is a native of New York; when quite young moved to Wheaton, Ill. He entered the employ of the above company and in 1871 was located at West Side, Ia. He came to this city in 1881.
J. E. Thompson, dealer in groceries, is a native of O. ; moved to Scott county, Ia., in 1851, and engaged in farming. In 1876 came to Carroll and engaged in his present business, as wholesale and retail dealer in groceries and queensware.
J. W. Thomas, cashier of the Carroll County bank, is a native of England; came to America in 1873, settled in Ia. and en- gaged in farming until 1876, when he assumed his present posi- tion. The bank changed hands in 1881, but Mr. Thomas was retained as cashier.
R. R. Woodring & Co., wholesale and retail dealers in furni- ture, also manufacturersr This firm is composed of R. R. Woodring, I. N. Force and D. Burkhart. They do an exten- sive business in their line, and are one of the leading furniture firms in Carroll county .
A. L. Wright, M. D., is a native of Wis .; graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1874. He located at Carroll, Ia., the same year. and has established a large and lucrative practice.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
ARCADIA.
F. A. Charles, attorney at law, was born in Ill .; moved to Ia. in 1865 and located at Iowa City, in 1876 he engaged in the practice of law in Jackson county and in 1877 came to Arcadia. Was elected City Attorney in 1881.
Peter Clausen, proprietor of billiard hall, is a native of Ger- many. He came to Arcadia, Ia., in 1874, and engaged in his pres- ent business.
Henry Carpenter, postmaster, was born in N. Y .; moved to Ill. when quite young and in Aug., 1862 enlisted in Co. H, 105th Ill. Reg. He served until the close of the war, then returned to Ill. He came to Arcadia and built the first store building in the place. In 1874 he was appointed postmaster; he resigned in 1876 and was re-appointed in 1881.
Erp Bros., dealers in general merchandise, are natives of Ger- many; came to America in 1873 and settled in Iowa in 1875. They established their present business in 1881. Carry a large stock of general merchandise, and boots and shoes, also deal in coal and grain.
Henry Ewoldt, proprietor of Ewoldt's hall and sample room, was born in Holstein, Ger .; came to America in 1864 and settled in Scott county, Ia. In 1877 he engaged in his present business in Arcadia.
Thomas Fay, proprietor of saloon, is a native of Ill .; moved to Clinton county, Ia., in 1867; thence to Arcadia in 1877 and en- gaged in saloon business.
E. S. Lovely, general hardware dealer, is a native of Canada; moved to Carroll county, Ia., in 1873 and engaged in farming, un- til 1878, then went to Omaha, Neb., and 'entered the Western Business College; remained one and one-half years, then located at Arcadia, Ia., and engaged in the drug business. He subse- quently engaged in business as above.
Henry Lahann, proprietor of the shooting gallery and saloon, is a native of Germany; came to America in 1856 and settled in Clin- ton county, Ia. He came to Arcadia in 1880 and engaged in his present business.
D. H. Mohr, of the firm of Weidling, Evers & Mohr, is a native of Denmark; came to America in 1853 and settled in Davenport, Ia. In 1867 he engaged in the mercantile business at Wheatland. Afterwards came to Arcadia and entered the above named firm.
H. W. Pruter, dealer in dry goods and groceries, was born in Germany in 1860; came to America in 1875 and located at West Side, Ia. He engaged in farming for two years and then returned to his native country. In 1878 he came again to Iowa, and settled in Arcadia. In 1SS1 he engaged in business as above.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
Henning Petersen, proprietor of saloon and billiard hall, was born in Germany in 1827; came to America in 1865 and settled in Clinton county, fa .; removed to Pottawattamie county; thence to Arcadia. Established present business in 1873.
L. S. Stoll, druggist, was born in Strasburg, France, in 1847; came to America in 1855 and settled in Dubuque county, Ia. He engaged in clerking in a drug store at the age of fifteen. In 1870 he engaged in business for himself at Dyersville, and four years later came to Arcadia, where he established business as above. He is also a practicing physician.
Frank Weber, proprietor of meat market, was born in Prussia in 1848; came to America in 1873 and located at Portage, Wis. He moved to Carroll county, Ia., in 1875 and two years later came to Arcadia and engaged in the meat business.
GLIDDEN.
L. A. Cashman, barber, was born in DeWitt, Clinton county, Ia. ; moved to Glidden, in 1881 and established his present busi- ness .
T. A. Cochran, collection and real estate agent, is a native of (). ; moved to Polk county, Ia., in 1854; thence to Green county and in 1864 to Carroll county and engaged in teaching school. Moved to Glidden in 1878 and opened an office.
J. Coder, of the firm of Dickey & Coder, dealers in general mer- chandise, is a native of O .: moved to Carroll county, Ia .. in 1868 and engaged in farming and teaching school until 1878, then entered present firm .
Thos. Elwood, M. D., was born in N. Y. City; moved to Dallas county, Ia., in 1858. He enlisted in 1862 in the 39th Ia. regiment; went to Corinth, Miss., as hospital steward, and re- mained until the close of the war; returned to Ia. and settled in Carroll county, and began the practice of medicine; was elected county probate judge in 1867, which office he held three years, and county recorder from 1866 to 1868.
W. E. Foster, of the firm of Foster Bros., druggists, is a native of O .; moved to Glidden. Ia., in 1877 and engaged in the drug busi- ness in 1880.
N. G. Guild, proprietor of the Glidden House, was born in N. Y. in 1833; moved to Red Wing, Minn., in 1862 and engaged in farming and stock raising; thence to Glidden, Ia .. in 1876 and en- gaged in present business.
H. H. Gates, M. D., was born in Rutland county, Vt .; moved to Ia. in 1855 and settled in Scott county; removed to Jones county later. He entered the army as hospital steward; was promoted to
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
the position of surgeon of the 31st Ia. Reg. in 1863 and served un- til the close of the war, then returned to Jones county and in 1869 moved to Glidden and engaged in the practice of medicine.
C. I. Huiman, of the firm of Huiman & Beach, attorneys at law, is a native of O .; came to Boone county, Ia., in 1853 and engaged in school teaching. He served as superintendent of schools one term and graded the schools of Glidden. He graduated from Grin- ell College, Ia., and begun the practice of law in 1876 with pres- ent partner; they also do insurance and collection business.
J. A. Holmes, principal of the Glidden schools, is a native of N. Y .; moved to Glidden, Ia., in 1880 and engaged in his present oc- cupation. He also deals in stationery, books and confectionery.
The Glidden News-Boy, a weekly newspaper published by Cop- pie Holmes, was established in 1880, when Coppie was but twelve years old. At first it was a four-page paper six by nine inches in size, but it has steadily increased in size and patronage and now (in 1882) it is a six-column quarto. The publisher does all the work upon the paper and considerable job work besides. He has put the receipts for advertising, etc., into the office and can now do good job work. He is the youngest publisher of a regular news- paper in Ia. and perhaps in the world; the newspaper press have given him many flattering notices.
C. O. Hood, M. D., is a native of Ind .; graduated from the medi- cal department of the Butler University in the class of '79, and lo- cated at Glidden in 1880 and engaged in the practice of medicine.
G. W. Parsons, proprietor of barber shop and news depot, is a native of O .; located at Glidden, Ia., in 1878 and engaged in his present business.
W. E. Potter, of the firm of Potter & Armitage, hardware deal- ers, was born in Oneida county, N. Y .; removed to the eastern part of Ia. in 1858, thence to Glidden in 1868 and engaged in farming; engaged in his present business in 1879; J. P. Armitage became a partner in 1880.
O. G. Prill, of the firm of Prill Bros., dealers in general grocer- ies, is a native of Ind .; came to Ia. in 1875 and engaged in the above business in Nov., 1881.
F. G. Rust, insurance agent, is a native of Wis .; moved to Ia. in 1881, and settled in Glidden and engaged in his present business.
I. R. Sale, M. D., was born in Ind., he studied medicine there several years; he then graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine in 1881 and came to Glidden in Dec. of the same year and took charge of the established practice of Dr. Dunkle.
R. E. Spurrier, druggist and station agent, is a native of O .; moved to Iowa county, Ia., in 1853, thence to Glidden in 1880 and took charge of the station and purchased the drug business of M. S. Dunkle, M. D.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
D. N. Smith, dealer in lumber and coal, is a native of Carroll county, N. H. He enlisted in 1861 in the U. S. sharpshooters, served three years in Va. and then returned to N. H .; moved to Ill. in 1877 and the following year to Glidden, Ia., and engaged in his present business.
Geo. H. Stalford, banker, is a native of Pa .; came to Ia. in the spring of 1869 and engaged in farming, returned to Pa. in 1870 and remained three years; thence to Ia. again and engaged in the lumber and grain business; engaged in the banking business in Feb., 1877.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
SAC COUNTY.
The population of this county by the census of 1880 was 9,300, but it is now estimated at over 11,000. This increase is partially due to a narrow gauge railway (a branch of the Wabash) which is in process of construction, and which will run across the county, passing through Sac City, thus giving additional shipping and traveling facilities to the people of the county. Depot grounds for the road have been laid out near the court house in the city named.
As stated elsewhere a complete list of the county officers from date of the organization of the county to present date is not ob- tainable, but the following are the present officers: Treasurer, Philip Schaller; Auditor, A. D. Peck; Sheriff, H. L. Willson; Clerk of Courts, Chas. E. Lane; Recorder, N. B. Flack; Superintendent of Schools, H. T. Martin; Surveyor, Chas. Pettis; Supervisors, Wm. Hawks, Chairman; H. Reinhart, Peirce Coy.
The general history of Sac County can probably be presented in no better shape than as we give it in the following extract from a well-written article, published in the Sac Sun, of Sac City, De- cember 24th, 1880:
"The immense emigration from the Eastern and East Central States which has for the past two or three years rapidly settled up the lands of Kansas and Nebraska, has during the past two years been diverted to a great extent to the more certainly productive agricultural lands of Northwestern Iowa. Many more of these home-seekers might have been induced to settle in this section had the Iowa people and the Iowa government sooner awakened to the fact that so many thousands of good citizens were passing through Iowa to lands farther from market, and by no means so valuable as those which Iowa had to offer, and all because the Kan- sas and Nebraska lands were assiduously advertised, while those of Iowa lay undefended under the slanders men- tioned in the appended letter. The General Assembly, however, to remedy this evil; appointed Hon. Geo. D. Perkins, of the Sioux City Journal, to the office of Commissioner of Immigration for Iowa, and appropriated a considerable sum for the promotion of immigration to this State. Read what Governor Campbell says:
NEWTON, IOWA, June 15th, 1880.
Hon. Geo. D. Perkins, Commissioner of Immigration for Iowa: DEAR SIR: Your invitation to the immigration convention at Sheldon, June 22d, received on my return home from an extended
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
trip east. I fully realize the importance of the convention, and the great interests to be considered, and I assure you my hearty sympathy goes out toward any effort that will tend to direct public attention to your beautiful country and fertile soil, and point the tens of thousands of homeless ones to that fair country that offers such splendid advantages for permanent homes and pros- perous futures. During my visit east I had occasion to "talk up" northwestern Iowa in several localities, and I found:
1. A total ignorance of the fact that so large a territory in Iowa lies open yet to settlement, the impression having obtained that a State with over a million and a half of population must be well settled up.
2. I found the 'old grasshopper still sitting on the sweet potato vine,' in the prejudices of many, and it was only a work of a mo- ment to convince them that the 'grasshopper' was long since a 'dead issue' in any portion of Iowa.
3. The terrible storms and daily hurricanes of wind were held up before me, and I told them they were more a native of Missouri or even of Ohio, than of northwest Iowa, and that the settlement of our State, the planting of groves, etc., had very materially ameli- orated the climate.
These are only a few of the objections urged, but among the most weighty, and I name them that you may see the objections that obtain in various quarters. There are tens of thousands in the east who would be glad to find homes in Northwestern Iowa, were they fully acquainted with the true condition of affairs, climate, soil, prices of land, terms, etc. With thanks for your invitation, and regret that I cannot be present, I am your well-wisher and friend,
FRANK T. CAMPBELL.
"This sketch is intended principally as a pen-picture of Sac County as it now is, and will include a short outline of its history and a few incidents of the life of the early settlers.
" The soil of Sac County is a deep black loam, and in its nature is purely a .vegetable decomposition. Its depth is from eighteen inches to five or six feet. In some parts of the county the surface is almost perfeetly level for long distances, but in general it is of the genuine 'rolling prairie' description. The inexhaustibility of the soil is shown by the fact that farms which have been under cul- tivation for from twenty to twenty-five years are now as fertile and productive as ever. More than that-the land may be plowed here when it is so wet that it is almost impossible to do work, and it will never bake.
"As regards the productiveness of Sac County, perhaps as effective a way of showing whether. the detractors of North- western Iowa, mentioned in Governor Campbell's letter, are right or wrong, will be to give to our readers the benefit of some of the observations of the Hon. Eugene Criss, a pioneer and resi- dent of Sac County for more than a quarter of a century. Judge
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
Criss says that his average yield of corn in his twenty-five years' residence has been from forty to fifty bushels to the acre, and the highest yield he has ever had was sixty-five bushels. Average yield of oats, forty to fifty; highest yield, seventy-six bushels. Average yield of wheat, fifteen to eighteen; highest yield, thirty bushels. This is his personal experience, and with fair cultivation only-no fancy farming; that he knows of at least two of his neighbors who have raised as high as forty bushels of wheat to the acre. Others, too, have raised, in more than one neighborhood in the county, from seventy to eighty bushels of corn per acre, and, it is said, with- out more than ordinary tillage. The principal agricultural pro- ducts of Sac County and this section generally are corn, wheat, oats, flax, barley, rye and grass. Timothy, clover and blue grass grow readily and will make Sac, at an early day, one of the leading stock and dairy counties of Iowa. And Iowa is, with rapid strides, com- ing to the head of all the States in dairy products. We will put Judge Criss on the stand again in regard to the advantages for stock raising.
" We have stated that the tame grasses grow rapidly. Besides that fact, it is also true that the Kentucky blue grass is rapidly coming 'of itself' in places where it has never been sown. Along fences, along paths made by cattle through the brush and in pastures, in spots where the timber and underbrush have been cleared, in door-yards and other places, in some mysterious way that sweetest and best of feed for stock is making its appearance. It is a matter which the present writer does not understand, but it is a good thing, and we are glad to see that this section is so fortunate. Grass is always sufficiently high to turn out stock at a date varying in the different years from April 1st to April 30th. And now we produce Judge Criss's testimony. The Judge is a Virginian by birth, but has had some years' experience in farming in Maryland. After his many years' experience in the two States, it is his firm belief that both cattle and horses do better 'running out' during the winter months in this part of Iowa than they. do in Maryland. This, our readers will observe, is not guess-work or the dictum of a traveler or chance observer, but the carefully considered verdict of experience.
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