USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History > Part 36
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The industrial pursuits of the white man may be said to have begun with the building of the first cabins, and possibly the preparations for gathering the material from which it was
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necessary to manufacture a homely harness for the hitching of the horses of Clark and Myers, that they might collect the material for their cabins on the prospective farms. It may be said that on the fourth day after the arrival of these two settlers, Johnson county, Wisconsin territory, had two houses and two farms under improvement. These houses were eight feet wide, ten feet long, and four feet high, constructed of poles and roofed with long slough grass. The joint value according to the estimate of the owners did not exceed four dollars and a half, but like many men since then, they were doing this to follow out the requirements of claimants who wished to have some signs of possession. When they returned from Indiana the following spring, 1837, they put the soil in order for the first crop of corn, which as many know, must be planted on the sod by cutting a gash with an ax in every third furrow and dropping the corn in the opening, which was closed usually by the pressure of the foot upon the sod as the worker moved on to the next "hill." During the spring they improved their cabins in adding clapboard roofs, chimneys and doors that had been part of the original plan. In the summer following, Gil- bert built a trading house of his own and in doing so employed a large part of the entire industrial force of the community, which had been increased by the arrival of a number of other families from Indiana. This house was located on the south half of section thirty-five in what is now East Lucas township and then just over the line of the Black Hawk Purchase in the Indian country. (See Map B). This was the fifth house built in the county, which became the commercial center for a num- ber of years, and it is described as of some "magnificence" when compared to the other buildings of the time. The walls were twelve feet high and the rooms twenty feet square, with a space or court between them probably twenty feet in extent, all under the same roof, which was built in the usual log cabin way as described elsewhere. The floors, doors, and furniture were all of split material and no hammer or nail was used in the construction.
The trading houses of the territory were established for the purpose of securing the furs of the Indians, and the competi- tion at the time of the settlement of the new land purchases hecame intense. In this contest the one who made the Indian
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camp first usually got the plunder if his stock of exchange was of the right kind. It is said that the last full shipment of furs from the county took place in 1838, when Chase shipped about eleven thousand dollars' worth to St. Louis by flat boat.
After the cabins were built the next thought of the pioneers was the fences about their farms, for it must be remembered that they came from a state where the farms were fenced with the old fashioned "worm fence," in which it required about sixty-four hundrel rails to fence the first forty acres. With the cutting of the best trees to make the rails and also to feed the big fireplaces, one may see why the timber of streams dis- appeared so fast in the beginning, and the thought of its never failing was expressed then in the statement of an observer who was here before much had been cut.349
Since there was no money to buy the clothing necessary for the families that followed the single men the "home manufac- ture" was the only resource left. One has said that the "hap- piest time of the settlers was when all bore the same hardships in the home life and the social distinctions were not marked by any differences in the ability to provide for the physical needs, and they were not uncultivated as some may have thought." It is said that during the winter of 1838-9 there were nine hand looms built in the county, built entirely of wood with the axe, drawing knife, and saw. Spinning wheels and reels were necessary and readily prepared, while the primitive mill was a mortar made by burning out the end of a log and using a smooth stone or the king bolt of the wagon for a pestle. The necessity led to the invention which sharpened the wits of the man who came next to nature in a much better fashion than if he had been equipped with the modern tools of industry. Left to his own resources he had to learn the process for himself and it was forever after known to him. He made his ox yoke, his shovel plow from wood, and no iron worker was yet on the grounds to assist him in perfecting his apparatus. The first iron plows brought to the settlement were made of cast iron by Jethro Wood, of New York, and while expensive for the time, they would not scour in this soil, as the ploughman knows.
In the emergencies of the settler he had to contend with the high rates of interest of the "money lender" who was always on hand to help if he could thereby get a strong grip on the
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future property of the farmer or mechanic. These rates were extreme, twenty-five to fifty per cent being demanded for the loan. The scarcity of money and the necessity of having it in some instances made it possible to secure the rate and it was "shouldered cheerfully" by the men who felt the future was one of great prospect.
The industrious pioneer was not always so busy that he could not find time for new undertakings, and besides he was always expecting something to occur to make his work more profitable. The introduction of machinery soon set a new pace to the agricultural process, the reaper, the thresher, the mower, within the decade from 1844 to 1854 came into use in the county, having been secured by the enterprise of those men who kept a sharp lookout for the next improvement.
An old settler of an adjoining county who began farming operations in Iowa in 1837, spoke of "stocking his plow." He was ninety-seven years of age when he told this and had seen all the improvements in agricultural machinery from that time to the day of his death in January, 1911. By "stocking his plow" he meant putting the wood and iron together. He brought his irons along from Bloomington, he said, and then borrowed tools of his neighbor to put the plow together, or to "stock it," that he might commence his breaking. Some years later, about 1844, plows ready made were advertised and ex- hibited at local fairs where there were any. Among these there appears the following, setting forth the qualities of a certain implement of the day, called the "Carey plough." Its descrip- tion includes this: "The entire surface is ground smooth. The mould board is made of wrought iron, the shear of steel - which is attached to the mould board by three small bolts so that it is easily taken off by means of the clevis pin, to be re- paired by a new one. The shape of the mould board is made on truly scientific principles so that it scours perfectly bright in any soil, which in truth is the great desideratum in this country, as it therefore enables a team to accomplish at least one-third more in a day, with far greater ease, and in much better manner than with one that will not scour." And con- tinuing the inducement to buy: "We have reduced the price at retail to $9.75 for the two-horse plough with iron straps for
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the beams, and $7.75 for the one-horse plough. A liberal dis- count made to those who purchase by the dozen."
July, 1866, marks the date of the field trial of the Marsh harvester, upon its introduction to the farmers of Johnson county. One who witnessed the test described it. This was binding on a machine by two men instead of the accustomed way of binding on the ground behind a reaper. The demon- strator showed conclusively that two men could do the work of four, and he did the entire binding alone in order to prove his proposition. The man who harvested in that way knows now that in heavy grain it was all two men could do to handle the grain from an ordinary Marsh harvester. The trial of the machine took place on the farm of Mr. Mygatt, just west of the Clark mills, and with a machine that had been sold to Mr. Scales. Probably there are readers who never saw such a machine, therefore one might say briefly that it was in all re- spects like a self-binder excepting the grain trough and the binding tables for two men.
During the same month a lively contest was held between the Champion and the McCormick mowing machines, in which the former seemed to have the advantage. This contest took. place on the farm of Francis Barnes, and R. L. Dunlap was the agent in this vicinity for the winning machine.
Strictly speaking all the industries previously mentioned were agricultural and the chief efforts of the county were to improve its agricultural resources, to further which all the organizations of the day were used. The first agricultural so- ciety had its inception in a meeting held in April, 1853, when a statement was issued setting forth the intentions in the name of the Johnson County Agricultural and Mechanical Society. The names attached to this announcement are here given : S. H. Bonham, Easton Morris, J. M. Coleman, John McCaddon, W. . II. White, W. H. Woods, Edward Connelly, LeGrand Byington, Ezekiel Clark, Joseph Beuter, E. W. Lucas, F. H. Lee, and Robert Walker. It is evident some were chosen to office who were not present, for Samuel H. McCrory was made one of the vice-presidents, while Elisha Pearson, James Cavanagh, Rich- ard Burge, and I. V. Dennis were members of the executive committee. The June meeting following this was somewhat discouraging, for no quorum appeared after the second call,
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whereupon the ones present did not wait for authority but pro- ceeded to make a program for the fall meeting to be held in October, having a cash balance in the treasury of $9.80 to start the show. They believed in advertising, and as no admission was charged, the crowd came from far and near. Some say as high as five thousand people saw the exhibit as given on the Old Capitol square, the present University campus. While the ordinary products of the farm of the present were on exhi- bition, many things long since forgotten made the days of spe- cial interest to the present generation. One may understand from this the great part played by the home industry in the useful tools, now so abundant. There were wagons built by John Gordon. He also had ox yokes and grain cradles of his own manufacture; there were wagons and sleds by Watkins; saddles for the California travel made by Eli Myers and Benjamin Horner; plows, shoes, and butcher knives from the shop of Henry Usher; ox shoes, shovel, and tongs, from the forge of Anthony Cole. The best bedstead came from the hand of Henry Wieneke; rolls of wool ready for the spinning wheel and domestic dressed flax; fine and coarse linen, and heavy woolen goods for the wear of men.
Under the shade of the oak trees in the northeast corner of the grounds was found the fine stock of the county, consisting then of no standard breed of any sort. What a contrast to the present fine showing of the county on such occasions. In closing this first county fair Mr. Byington said: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the first Johnson County Fair, which has been conducted by a good deal of eclat, and a good deal of squeeze, is now closed." When the committee figured up they found the expenses to be $372 and their receipts $380, the balance of $8 being the amount to commence the preparations for the fol- lowing year, which they did, publishing the premium list in June, 1854. The fair was held at the same place in September of that year, when the receipts fell short of the expenditures by twenty-two dollars, which sum was advanced by the treas- urer, Mr. Byington. Again no admission fee had been charged for the session. However, an appeal was made to the state legislature for assistance in continuing the organization, and in 1855 the petition was granted, an act having been passed granting one-third of the poll tax in the county to the fair asso-
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ciation on an order from the county judge, as the judge then was the main part of the county government. This sum must be spent in the "improvement of agriculture and the mechanic arts in the county," and to be sure that this was done the fair authorities were required to offer premiums equal to the amount paid from the county treasury and a copy of the prem- jum list must be left with the county judge. If the fair should fail to be held the money was also to be retained by the county until the conditions were complied with.350
Accordingly, the fair of 1855 was held as usual on the Old Capitol grounds and for the first time in the history of the county there were thoroughbred Durham, Devon, and Here- ford cattle exhibited by the owners. Once more the receipts did not quite pay the bills and the same treasurer, Mr. Bying- ton, advanced the difference, which happened to be $22 as be- fore. In 1856 the show was repeated in the same manner but with a large increase in prizes, four hundred and twenty-three being offered. This time the balance was on the right side to the amount of $27. The society had now purchased twenty- five acres of ground below town on the west side of the river and by the year 1859 was in debt $800.
When the Civil War came on other subjects occupied the thoughts of men than those of new grains, improved breeds of stock, and fancy pantry stores, for the fair grounds were held by the Tenth infantry in 1861, and Camp Fremont was there, so that no county fair was held, and none was held in 1862 and 1863. It had happened that the State Fair was held on these grounds in 1860, and after the soldiers had gone it was held here again. However, the society continued to succeed with the strictly agricultural show until the grounds were paid for, when this tract was sold and the larger area purchased in East Lucas township where the present county fair is held.
The history of the fair ground tract as it is at the present time has something of more than ordinary interest as it is given by the pioneer who understands all the ins and outs of the transactions: "In 1839 William Sturgis made claim to the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section eleven in the congressional township seventy nine, range six west, which has since become Iowa City township, and in 1891, East Lucas, which is the land upon which the county fair grounds
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are located. In July, 1840, Mr. Sturgis sold his claim to Sam- uel H. McCrory and Col. S. C. Trowbridge, for forty dollars and they in turn on the same date, July 6, sold it to William Hamilton for seventy-five dollars, so that one may conclude that land speculation is no new thing and bargains were looked for well in advance of the present. It had happened that pre- vious to this, Matthew Brown had bought the forty lying north of the fair grounds and had built a cabin on the site of the present residence of J. J. Metzgar. He sold to James Trimble in 1841 the forty acres for one hundred dollars, and Trimble in turn sold to Sturgis, who then sold his forty and one north of it to Mr. Hamilton for one hundred and forty-five dollars, thus giving Hamilton the three forties in a row. He built a small addition to the Brown cabin and broke eighty acres, including the land now known as the fair grounds. Here the two daugh- tres of Hamilton were born, one of whom, it is said, by mar- riage with Sir Sidney Waterlow, ex-mayor of London, became Lady Waterlow. Hamilton sold the forty included in the fair grounds to Clark and Borland, who conducted a nursery there for several years. The remainder of the Hamilton acreage went to James H. Gower, and its history from this time is very strange. He disposed of it to an order of nuns who had been expelled from the Prussian government, and these charitably inclined people erected roomy buildings for the accommoda- tion of orphans, and the aged. The institution prospered for some time under the efficient management of Rev. Father Emonds, but failing to meet the obligations against the prop- erty the nuns were scattered by the foreclosure of the mort- gage, when the property reverted to Mr. Gower. It then returned to its first use, that of elementary agriculture, finally rounding out its history as a dairy farm and falling into the hands of the present owner from that of the estate of James H. Gower, who spent his last years in Kansas, far removed from the scenes of the old farm. " 351
Reference was made to the Iowa State Fair of 1860, held in Iowa City on the old grounds, which was probably among the largest gatherings in its day, since ten thousand people were estimated to have been in attendance. Freight was carried free by the railroad, and passengers were given half fare, while eighteen hotels advertised accommodations for visitors. The
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Clinton House led the list, which included the Fyffe, Crummy, Summit, Coleman, Hutchinson, American, Pennsylvania, Hen- ry, Burlington, The Mansion House, Western, Jefferson, Ave- nue, Baltimore, Union, and Railroad Houses, and the City ITotel.
Once more the local interests were prominent, since the fine stock exhibited from Johnson county was greater than from any other. The "Chester White" pigs of Shepherd and Dar- lington had their share of the prizes, and it was hoped "that they would drive out of existence the Land Pikes, Prairie Rooters, and Shadows, then commonly bred."
In the early days when hogs were not so plentiful nor so well bred, there was a packing house in the county that was built, owned, and run by John Powell, a merchant and factor who wrought great results out of small opportunities offered by the frontier commerce. His pork house stood not far from the site of the Washington House, on the west side of the Uni- versity campus, then the Capitol Square, and in 1851 it was seen there, its foundations in the waters of the great flood and its walls a lonely sentinel over the waste which stretched from the hills on Clear creek west of the Rock Island track to the west line of the campus, and again from the line of hills which close upon the river at Richard Sanders's clear across the ridge of General Morris's 'Tulip Hill' farm.
In that old house Mr. Powell bulked pork in the winter time, made from hogs that were rail splitters with lots of lean, and in the spring the cured meat was sent to St. Louis on flat- boats which were poled down the river, there to be exchanged for merchandise that could be brought up by steam boat, and it was said that this plan made the great event of the year the departure of the fleet of flatboats and the arrival of the steam- er, with all its accompanying features of river life that made "land lubbers" curious and drew crowds to see and hear al- most a new world and a new kind of language.
When the railway came the packing house lost its prestige, for the live swine were whirled away to Chicago to be butchered in great houses that seemed never to be satisfied. In 1880 and the year following business men began to think seriously of keeping this industry at home and they waited for some man with money and daring to come into the county to establish
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this business. Finally that father of industries, Ezekiel Clark, concluded that the time was ripe for a packing establishment. The oat meal mill had at that time caused a great shipment of that cereal to come in this direction. The paper mill of Mr. Close had given straw a greater value, while his oil mill had caused many acres to be sown to flax. Again, the alcohol and glucose works had made a strong market for corn. Therefore, all that seemed necessary to complete the series was a packing house to care for the product that was going to the Chicago market and returning in the form of cured meats after double transportation.
Mr. Clark began the enterprise and he was seconded by Lyman Parsons and M. W. Davis. The stock was taken and the building commenced in 1880. On Saturday, May 14, 1881, it was ready for operation with a capacity of 500 hogs daily. Forty acres of land belonged to the packing house grounds along the line of road that was then known as the B., C. R. & N, now a part of the Rock Island system.352
OLD STORE BUILDING, CORALVILLE
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CHAPTER XXVI
The Enlarged Commercial Outlook
A CTIVITY in the interests of the manufactures of Iowa City began in 1858 by the appointment of a general com- mittee at a meeting of citizens held at the Clinton House, on October 22 of that year. This appears to be the forerunner of the present commercial organization of the city. Among the committee "to promote manufactures" are the well-known names of James H. Gower, W. L. Morris, Morgan Reno, Thos. J. Cox, Theodore Sanxay, Samuel Workman, Silas Foster, Geo. S. Hampton, J. C. Culbertson, H. D. Downey, Walter Ter- rell, LeGrand Byington, and C. H. Berryhill.
This occurred soon after the commercial interests were stirred by the means of steam transportation, and when the city was the terminus of the Rock Island railroad. Communi- cation, however, by any other means than mail was yet un- known, although ten years before the river towns of Burling- ton, Bloomington [Muscatine], and Davenport were making vigorous efforts to secure a telegraph line, which, it was earnestly hoped, would finally reach Johnson county. Many suggestions were forthcoming regarding the feasibility of se- curing this added convenience, long before the railroad was built, yet it does not appear that any actual attempt was made to construct a telegraph line until long after the railway had passed beyond Iowa City and the boundaries of the county. Until the year 1866, the new company, the Rock Island, had not secured such a service. At this time a proposition was made by a company called the Illinois and Mississippi Tele- graph Company, to construct a line to Iowa City. The cash required from the city itself was $2,000, three-fourths of which must be an outright gift to the company. No one seemed ready to fall into harmony with this suggestion, because it was hoped the railroad company, being one of sufficient force, would be
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able to construct a line without help from the public. The policy of the road through the Cedar Rapids, the Iowa and Nebraska then, now the Northwestern line, was commended to the Rock Island, since the telegraph line of the Iowa and Ne- braska followed the road as fast as constructed.
The next statement regarding the telegraph to Iowa City is of the first message from the place. It was Tuesday night, January 8, 1867, that the first message went out to Davenport. This message was more than of one item. A sad accident had occurred and an employee was killed by a train, yet the operator wanted to tell all the news, so he added something of the weather. The office was located in the freight depot of the time and was said to have had modern equipment and a skilled operator.358
This is the message, which is given literally :
"Iowa City, Jan. 8, 1867.
"To the Davenport Gazette.
"A sad accident occurred here this morning. Mr. Richard Kesner, switchman at this place, while coupling cars his foot caught in the frog and he could not extricate it before the train passed over him, cutting off both his legs and body mangled, from which injuries he died after three hours of intense suf- fering. It is snowing hard here."
The Great Western Telegraph Company appeared in this territory in 1869, through its representative proposing a line in competition with the one along the railroad already in operation and with an office in the city. Some statements if made now would sound somewhat strange, since the line was to be "far superior to the old one," now about two years old, the wire being "a new patented one of far greater conducting power and coated with a non-conductor which will protect it from the atmospheric changes." The company was building from California eastward and the entire line was to be com- pleted soon. Of course stock in the enterprise was for sale.
The rapid improvement in transportation and means of communication doubtless had its effect upon the increase in forms of production, since many new industries were begun and old ones were revived.
Residents of the county in 1856 will remember a little old shanty on Maiden Lane near Ralston's creek, where M. T.
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THE ENLARGED COMMERCIAL OUTLOOK 439
Close was at work making candles. This was a success in a small way, although there was a limited capital. In the fall of 1857 he added the manufacture of lard oil and here mis- fortune to others was gold to him, for waste products of the county were bought from farmers and manufactured into oil and soap of fine quality. It was in 1861 that he built the east wing of his brick building and began the manufacture of lin- seed oil, which in consequence of the Civil War, was very scarce and valuable. On account of this a large farming pat- ronage grew up in order to supply the flax seed necessary in the oil industry. In 1863 he built the remainder of the factory as it finally was known. All of this grew out of the small shanty where he commenced the manufacture of candles. Nine barrels of oil per day was the output in 1865, which was worth then $65 per barrel, besides the by products of oil meal, oil cake, soap and candles, for which all the capital grew out of the business by industrious management. Later in life it is well known that the prosperous owner was not a stranger to benevolent activities as one may learn in the contributions to the needs of the Civil War dependents at home.
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