USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 30
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W. E. Davis, secretary ; L. Traas, senior deacon ; W. I. Miller, junior deacon ; W. I. Potter, senior steward; N. James, junior steward ; A. J. Miller, tyler.
The lodge received its charter June 5, 1877. At the time the lodge was organized, Oelwein was a small village, merely a station on the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota railway (now a part of the Rock Island system). Since that time the Chicago Great Western railway has been constructed, with its four divisions centering at Oelwein. The shops have been constructed, many men have been employed and Oelwein has grown to be a city of about seven thousand inhabitants, the metropolis of Fayette county, and the mem- bership of the lodge has kept pace with the increased prosperity of the lo- cality. It is now the largest lodge in the county and in December, 1908, had one hundred and twenty-nine members in good standing. Its present officers are: A. E. Cooley, worshipful master ; H. D. Simons, senior warden; G. L. Thompson, junior warden; G. W. Jamison, treasurer; R. B. Jamison, secre- tary ; E. E. Krider, senior deacon; J. K. Shields, junior deacon; R. J. Young, senior steward; J. T. Ridler, junior steward; Peter Frost, tyler.
SUNNYSIDE LODGE NO. 510.
Sunnyside Lodge No. 510, located at Maynard, Iowa, received its dis- pensation June 16, 1890, from James DeKalb Gamble, grand master, then and now a resident of Knoxville and one of the able district judges of the state. The total membership was sixteen and its officers were: H. S. Had- sel, worshipful master; T. M. White, senior warden; Orrin Barnes, junior warden; R. R. Pember, treasurer; Emery Frost, secretary; W. S. Brown, senior deacon; A. Van Atta, junior deacon; W. S. Smarzo, senior steward; J. W. Rathbone, junior steward; J. E. Smith, tyler.
The growth of this lodge has been steady. In December, 1908, it had fifty-two members, a large number for a town the size of Maynard, but it is an active business point. The present officers are: W. H. Seeley, worship- ful master; A. L. Evans, senior warden; Dr. A. E. Conrad, junior warden ; J. C. Mears, treasurer ; K. W. Buell, secretary ; M. V. White, senior deacon ; C. B. Bracey, junior deacon ; Chas. Miehe, tyler.
SILVER LEAF LODGE NO. 518.
Silver Leaf Lodge No. 518, Elgin, Iowa, began its existence under a dis- pensation issued to it September 23, 1891, by Ralph Gurley Phelps, grand master. Its membership then was seventeen, nearly all of them former mem-
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bers of Clermont Lodge No. 160, that lodge being only about three miles distant. The fact that a dispensation was given for a lodge so close to a lodge already chartered is proof of the activity and Masonic standing of the brethren who secured the dispensation for this lodge and bears testimony to the increased importance of the village of Elgin. The first officers were : C. Theo Schmid, worshipful master; Joseph Butler, senior warden; August Benson, junior warden; S. Thoma, treasurer ; August A. Stoehr, secretary ; L. B. Mattoon, senior deacon; A. Ely, junior deacon; P. Nicklaus, senior stew- ard; R. W. Helms, junior steward ; H. Holzer, tyler.
The lodge has steadily increased in membership and on December 31, 1908, had fifty members in good standing. The Masonic activity of the mem- bers of this lodge is also attested by the fact that Unity Chapter No. 62, Royal Arch Masons, is located here. Its present officers are: C. J. Harrington, worshipful master; J. H. Williams, senior warden; Jos. Burianek, junior warden; C. Lehman, treasurer; C. Theo. Schmidt, secretary; C. F. Becker, senior deacon; F. E. Kohler, junior deacon; J. C. Schmidt, senior steward; Alf A. Holzer, junior steward; N. Schori, tyler.
WINDSOR LODGE NO. 542.
Windsor Lodge No. 542, located at Hawkeye, Iowa, is the youngest lodge in the county. It was granted its dispensation on July 17, 1895, by George Washington Ball, of Iowa City, grand master, and the first report shows a total membership of twenty-six. The first officers were: P. R. Ketchum, worshipful master; J. D. Dooley, senior warden; G. W. Chamber- lain, junior warden; N. Jacobs, treasurer; John Shales, secretary ; E. L. Wallace, senior deacon; W. H. Jacobs, junior deacon; L. A. Fisher, senior steward; J. C. Foote, junior steward; A. D. Brahman, tyler.
The lodge was chartered June 3, 1896. Hawkeye is a thriving town and the lodge membership has steadily increased so that at last report. December 3I, 1908, it was thirty-eight. The present officers are: L. R. Campbell, worshipful master ; R. H. Hecht, senior warden; H. P. Clark, junior warden ; J. D. Dooley, treasurer ; Carl Krueger, secretary : F. G. Lee, senior deacon ; D. W. Hughes, junior deacon ; R. W. Rogers, senior steward; C. A. Munson, junior steward; D. W. Wilbur, tyler.
UNITY CHAPTER NO. 62, ROYAL ARCH MASONS.
Unity Chapter No. 62, Elgin, Iowa, was organized as Clermont Chapter No. 62 and located at Clermont, Iowa. It was given its dispensation March 10, 1871, by Zephaniah C. Luce, most excellent grand high priest. It then had eleven members and the officers were: B. H. Hinkley, high priest; J. P.
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Blackett, king ; R. B. Appleman, scribe ; C. W. D. Lathrop, principal sojourner and royal arch captain; Peter Nicklaus, grand master first veil; H. G. Clark, grand master second veil; R. S. Barclay, grand master third veil; C. F. Weck, sentinel.
It was granted its charter October 18, 1871. On July 22, 1897, at the annual convocation of the grand chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Iowa, held at Templar Park, Spirit Lake, Clermont Chapter, on its own petition therefor, was removed to Elgin, Iowa. It then had fifty-seven members but five of whom resided at Clermont and fourteen members then resided at Elgin. At the next annual convocation of the grand chapter, held at Burlington, on its request the name was changed to Unity Chapter, the name Clermont, on account of the re- moval, being no longer applicable.
The present officers are: C. Theo. Schmidt, high priest; C. F. Becker, king; N. Schori, scribe ; Aug. Benson, treasurer ; Gus. A. Stoehr, secretary H. S. Hadsel, captain of host; K. S. Houg, principal sojourner ; Ed. Hanson royal arch captain ; Aug Benson, master third veil; John Falb, master second veil; Jos. Burianek, master first veil; C. L. Lehman, guard.
ANSEL HUMPHREYS CHAPTER NO. 80, ROYAL ARCH MASONS.
Ansel Humphreys was a resident of Bloomington (now Muscatine), Iowa, and at the time of the organization of the grand lodge of Iowa, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was the district deputy grand master of the grand lodge of Missouri, then having jurisdiction over Iowa. He was a delegate from Iowa Lodge No. 42 (under Missouri, now No. 2, under Iowa). Bloom- ington, to the convention that organized the grand lodge of Iowa in January. 1844, presided over its deliberations, prepared and presented the grand lodge constitution, installed the first officers of the grand lodge and was grand master of Masons in Iowa from 1847 to 1850. It was for him Ansel Hum- phreys Chapter No. 80, Fayette, was named. It was given its dispensation on January 22, 1876, by Horace S. Winslow, grand high priest. It began with a membership of ten. The first officers were: J. G. Anderson, high priest ; M. O. Barnes, king ; D. P. A. Burgess, scribe ; Daniel Davis, secretary : A. W. Crans, captain of host; Thomas Fowells, principal sojourner ; S. Hend- rickson, royal arch captain; George Comstock, grand master first veil; E. Gregory, grand master third veil ;. C. C. Kelly, sentinel.
It was given its charter October 4, 1876. The present officers are : W. E. Hunt, high priest; George McCann, king; R. F. Shirley, scribe ; G. B. Hill, treasurer; E. N. Hartman, secretary ; G. B. Servoss, captain of host; F. S.
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Walker, principal sojourner; W. M. Rickert, royal arch captain; W. W. Comstock, grand master third veil; E. C. Hill, grand master second veil; C. D. McGoon, grand master first veil.
LANGRIDGE COMMANDERY NO. 47, KNIGHTS TEMPLAR.
W. B. Langridge was the first grand recorder of the grand commandery of Iowa and held that office for more than eighteen years, a record exceeding that of any other in that body. For this reason, and at the request of the grand commander who gave the dispensation, the name Langridge was given the new commandery.
On July 26, 1884, on the petition of eleven Sir Knights, Abel W. Daugherty, right eminent grand commander, gave a dispensation to form Langridge Commandery No. 47, West Union, Iowa. Most of the petitioners had been knighted in Beauseant Commandery No. 12, Decorah, Iowa, and it gave them the necessary recommendation.
The first officers were: D. W. Clements, eminent commander; S. E. Robinson ; generalissimo; A. N. Hobson, captain general; George D. Darn- all, prelate; Charles F. Weck, treasurer; Samuel B. Zeigler, recorder ; L. L. Ainsworth, senior warden; Harvey S. Sheldon, junior warden; J. J. Berkey, standard bearer ; Voltaire W. Johnson, sword bearer; Cornelius W. Lathrop, sentinel.
It was chartered October 10, 1884, and constituted under its charter November 28, 1884. This commandery has prospered and has ranked as one of the good working commanderies of the state. Three of its members have been officers of the grand commandery of Iowa.
D. W. Clements was elected grand senior warden in 1890 and held suc- cessively the ranking offices, and was grand commander in 1894-5. E. B. Shaw, another member of this commandery, was elected grand treasurer in 1895 and 1896, and Dr. S. E. Robinson was the grand standard bearer in 1899.
On December 31, 1908, the date of the last report, it had one hundred and thirty-seven members in good standing. Its present officers are: C. F. Chambers, eminent commander ; C. W. Dykins, generalissimo; William Kin- sey, captain general; Fred W. Schneider, senior warden; E. A. McIlree, jun- ior warden; R. O. Woodard, treasurer; C. B. Hughes, recorder; Karl D. Fisk, prelate; Carter Manly, standard bearer; W. W. Wright, sword bearer ; W. J. Rogers, warder ; A. R. Burrett, sentinel.
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ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR.
This order is not a part of the Masonic institution, but as no one is eligible to become a member unless, if a woman, she is the wife, widow, mother, sister or daughter of a Master Mason; or, if a man, he is a Master Mason in good standing, therefore, the order is closely allied to Masonry, and the following synopsis is added to the history of Masonry :
In Fayette county there are now five chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star and all in a good prosperous condition. They are active aids to the Masonic lodges of their respective localities and greatly enhance the social and benevolent features of the fraternity.
The chapters in the county are: Oelwein Chapter No. 45, at Oelwein, having a membership of one hundred and sixty-one; Maynard Chapter No. 103, at Maynard, with a membership of seventy-three; West Union Chapter No. 110, at West Union, with one hundred and twenty-one members; Elgin Chapter No. 162, at Elgin, which has forty-nine members; and Waucoma Chapter No. 186, at Waucoma, with eighty-seven members. The latter is the youngest, but not the least, of the five. It has the honor of having as a mem- ber Ida Webster, the grand treasurer of the grand chapter, Order of the East- ern Star of Iowa, which office she has held for several years. Mary A. Clem- ents, a member of West Union Chapter No. 110, was one of the five trustees that located and built the Order of the Eastern Star Masonic Home of the State, located at Boone, and she is still a trustee of that institution.
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CHAPTER XVII.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND STOCK RAISING.
By Col. J. W. Bopp.
The development of agriculture and stock raising in Fayette county is so closely connected with the subject throughout the state and nation that it is difficult to treat it as a local matter. Both these great industries were de- veloped and interwoven with so many other lines of effort that it is difficult to treat them independently. The subject will necessarily have to be con- sidered somewhat in the way it grew up-an independent idea at one time, an independent experiment at another time, an unlooked-for success or failure at still another time, all made part of the settlement of the county. It is neces- sary to take it up from the time when the covered wagon and the log cabin took the place of the tent of the Indian, and the furrow turned by the plow of the white man covered forever the path of the elk and the deer, and the sound of the white man's axe in the timber, and the plow in the field, gave warning to the wild animals that a new civilization, of which they were not to be a part, was at hand. It meant a wonderful change from the native grass, with its vast variety of flowers and shrubs, and the native timber, with its stately trees and lovely vines, to the fields of grain and meadows, and planted groves and of a new kind of habitation and new methods by those who were to occupy the land. There is scarcely a foot of land in Fayette county which is in all respects as it was in the day when the first settler moved in. A large portion of native plants and flowers and shrubs have completely disappeared under the work of the white man. At the time of the first settler the methods for opening up and improving a new country were different from those of this time, and their methods and habits, long since discarded for those of greater efficiency, seem very crude to the new generation. There was much timidity and a great deal of uncertainty for those who were the pioneers. They were almost all poor, with possibly an ox team and a cow or two, and much later a few hogs and sheep. The ox team was nearly universal, probably as much on account of the ability of the ox to get his own living from the native grass, as from the fact that an ox team was much cheaper than a horse team. Many of the early
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settlers depended for their subsistence largely on the killing of game, and the cultivation of the land was only attempted in a small way. A very few acres, for the first few years, was enough for the farmer to prepare for crops, but it has gradually increased, though it was many years after log cabins had been built and small clearings made in the timber near water and other necessaries, before they could adapt themselves to the changing conditions. Nearly all the first settlers built their cabins near springs, where they could get wood and water, and where their log cabins could be built without much effort. At that time they thought the prairies would probably never be cultivated, on account of the lack of fuel and material for fences. No one dreamed of coal and barbed wire, and such an increase in the population as would make good roads and towns and homes out on the open prairies. Many of these improvements could not be foreseen, and it is a fact that a large proportion of the claims were taken and houses built in parts of the county which are now regarded as the most undesirable. Entirely different factors controlled the selection of a homestead at that time than would be thought of now; but through all the years from that time to the present, agriculture has been the principal occupa- tion of the people of the county, the source of practically all its material ad- vancement, and the base of all its industries and occupations. Advancement was very slow for many years, with little change in methods and, in the light of later events, with but little actual improvement.
Among the pioneers were many foreigners, entirely unacquainted with the development of a new county and not familiar with the methods of farm- ing in use by those from older sections of the country. Many of them could not speak the English language, and many others came from occupations in the East which had not developed their ability as farmers to any great extent.
However, there was one good result from this mixing of the foreigner and the native, and that was the melting together of the many strange elements into one solid community with similar hopes, facing similar hardships and risking similar dangers. There was always enough of the native American to map out and establish schools and churches, and to take an active leadership in the establishment of civil government, in harmony with the general aim of the state and nation. There has never been any part of the county in which these laws and customs were not readily taken up and adopted, and there has never been very much built upon foreign ideals and customs. The pioneers were all, of necessity, friendly with each other, and soon grew to be one com- munity ; and while they did not all try to work at similar problems in a similar way, there was a gradual elimination of that which was found unsuited and unprofitable, and the success of one was taken as a guide by the others in the
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adoption of new methods and new machinery. The early machinery was nearly all home-made, and most of the early crops were put in with the old three-cornered wooden harrow, with wooden teeth. Plows were largely the product of the local blacksmith, and most of the wagons were made by some of the pioneers themselves. There was an entire absence of all the vast sup- ply of improved machinery (as we know it now), and to this was due much of the slowness with which the pioneers seemed to develop their farms. Many of them did not break up more than ten or fifteen acres for the first ten years of their settlement, and all this was fenced with the old-style rail fence, laid up from the ground, which meant a great deal of work. The early crops con- sisted largely of wheat and a little oats, and later some corn. The same ele- ments in the soil which produced wonderful crops of wheat and oats were against the successful raising of corn and the cultivated grasses and clover. It was not until after farmers had raised wheat for a number of years that corn and tame grass began to do fairly well. For quite a number of years all the grain and all the hay were cut with the cradle and the scythe, and the little corn that was raised was plowed with a single-shovel plow. The double- shovel plow and the reaper came in about the same time and were looked upon as wonderful inventions. It is probably no exaggeration to say, that the double-shovel plow increased the number of acres planted to corn and that the introduction of the hand-rake reaper increased the amount of small grain sown several times over. Before the introduction of the reaper, the pioneer settler did not sow a very large acreage of small grain and did not plant a very large acreage of corn or potatoes. There was not so much of the disadvantage of not keeping everlastingly at the farm work as developed in later years. Farmers were much more given to visiting among themselves, and often took their whole families to visit with their neighbor for the day. The habit of visit- ing by the pioneers also did a great deal toward making the neighbors harmon- ious and agreeable. It was not so much a question of becoming rapidly rich, as it was a question of having something to eat and a place to live. For the first few years the little surplus in the crops raised was disposed of to the new neigh- bors, and after the country had so far settled up that there was an additional surplus beyond the local needs, it was hauled by team to McGregor or Dubuque. A trip at that time occupied from three to four days, sometimes more, and the wife and children often kept a lonely cabin, while the stock or the grain was taken to mill or to the market. At that time the wolves were plentiful and aggressive, and were not afraid to come up to the buildings. Many of the early settlers had moved from villages and cities in the older countries and were not accustomed to staying in the old log cabin through the
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storms of winter, and the absence of the men folks in the summer days cer- tainly was no pleasing matter for the pioneer women with their families of small children. They were often several miles from any other habitation, and alone in their cabins while their husbands went to mill or to market. Sacri- fices like these were part of the price paid for the development of agriculture and stock raising in this county.
After the introduction of the harvester and mower, and a few other pieces of machinery, such as improved corn plows and seeders, the great question was the fencing of the land. All the stock at that time was fenced out, and all the fields had to be fenced in. That made the timber land unusually valuable, and many pieces were held with the idea that it would soon be worth one hundred dollars per acre, and possibly much more. Fortunately for those who did not live in or near the timber at that time, barbed wire was invented, and gradually came into general use. But the smooth wire fence preceded barbed wire by many years. The first wire fencing of this variety which was sold in the county for fencing purposes was sold at eighteen cents per pound, but notwithstanding the high price, it was at once recognized as being far superior to the smooth wire, rails and posts, and the other old-style fences, and most of the new fence was built of that material. The barbed wire grad- ually took the place of the old wooden fences and plain wire, and now it is being superseded by woven wire and wooden posts. When cement posts have taken the place of the wooden posts, as they undoubtedly will in the near future, the ideal fence conditions will have been achieved. Many people tried willow hedges, and a few tried the Osage orange, none of which has been a success for general fencing purposes. The fence problem was now largely improved, and the reaper and mower made the prairie lands profitable and helped settle up the country, which added very largely to the population and the wealth of the county. A great factor in the development of the prairie farms was the invention of the self-rake reaper, and shortly after that the Marsh harvester, on which two men could do the same work that five had done after the old hand rake, and after a few years the invention of the wire self binder, which was shortly after succeeded by the present twine binder. This also did a vast amount toward developing the county.
It was only a few years after the invention of the twine binder, that wheat, which had been the principal crop, was no longer found profitable, and the failure of wheat made a very decided impression on the agriculture of the county. A large proportion of the farmers had built up everything about their places with the view to raising wheat and oats, and when these failed they were unable to adapt themselves to the changed conditions. Hundreds
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of farmers lost their places and moved on to Kansas and Nebraska and other portions of the newer west, to try the same experience the second time. Those who held their places, and those who stayed here were compelled to change their entire system of farming, and seeded down large portions of their farms to clover and timothy; raised cattle and horses, increased their corn fields, raised hogs and developed the dairy industry, and abandoned the wheat field, with its numerous disappointments. These changes gradually came in about 1870, and the vast stretches of land which formerly produced nothing but wheat are not producing a bushel for local milling purposes today. The change from wheat to live stock, in a great many cases, was ruinous, on ac- count of the large number of farmers who were unable to adopt the new method. They were grain farmers only, and had never paid any attention to stock and dairying.
About this time the Grange movement was introduced into the county, and for a time was a large factor in its social, political and business affairs.
It was in the nature of a hard-time movement, and when farming had been re-adjusted on the new basis, the Grange gradually died out. But it had brought about a mingling of farmers at Grange meetings, and with it the discussion of methods of farming and stock raising which had a large in- fluence for good in teaching newer and better methods. About this time a few pioneer dairymen conceived the idea of a co-operative plan for handling their butter and milk. This dragged along for a few years, not giving very good success or results, largely from a lack of knowledge of the best methods for handling dairy products and of the machinery for handling milk and butter. These gradually developed into profitable enterprises, and new creameries were constantly built, until this county was one of the leading counties in the state in the production and shipment of butter and cheese. The cream checks made a secure source of income for current expenses, and the former method of running store bills and other accounts, until the single wheat crop was sold at the end of the year, was gradually abandoned, much to the advantage of the merchants and the farmers alike. The introduction of dairying and stock raising gradually restored the fertility of the soil and divided the work on the farm, so that it was much more evenly distributed throughout the year. With the introduction of dairying and stock raising, the farmers were much more prosperous, and gradually put up better buildings and from time to time added better machinery, which cut out a great deal of the drudgery on the farm. With the gradual development of the dairy industry came the cream separator, and later the hand separator, which minimized the great task of hauling the milk to the creameries, and back again to the farms, until now all the cream-
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