USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. I > Part 58
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Section 23. C. L. Strickler came here about twenty-five years ago and purchased the north half of section 23. He fenced, planted a grove and put on a set of farm buildings and, being a successful general farmer, made money. He since bought eighty acres on section 22, so now has four hun- dred acres of fine improved land. His buildings are one mile from Sibley. He has refused one hundred and fifty dollars an acre for his farm and thinks it is worth one hundred and seventy-five dollars an acre. Being out of debt and having money out at interest he has recently rented his land and retired to Sibley. He is still an active man and is president of the Farmers Elevator Company and takes much interest in its management. John Karpen, a mason by trade, made enough money to make a first payment, and bought the south half of section 23 about twenty-five years ago. Some years ago his wife died, but having a daughter old enough to keep house, he and his boys con- tinued on the farm. Last year he sold eighty acres to William Gache for one hundred and thirty-five dollars an acre. This amounted to more than the three hundred and twenty acres originally cost him. He has two hun- dred and forty acres with the improvements and stock and is out of debt.
Section 24. Here was A. M. Culver, the first treasurer of this county. He died in the Soldiers' Home a few years ago. Andrew Culver, a son of A. M. Culver, lives in Sibley and is a carpenter and builder, and while not wealthy, is in comfortable circumstances. George W. Bean, a son-in-law of A. M. Culver. died in Sibley about ten years ago. Rodney O. Manson,
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who, about twelve years ago, staked his fortunes on eight hundred acres of land in Bottineau county, North Dakota, land. won out and is now quite wealthy, living at his ease in southern California. He still owns his original claim here.
Section 26. Here was Marlin H. Hughes, a former saloon keeper, who entered this land as a gambling proposition in the hope of selling at a good profit. Lorenzo S. McCremly was a transient. Justice R. Rice left at an early date. Frederick L. Ward professed to be a doctor.
Section 28. John L. Robinson, who located on this section, built the first house in Sibley. He died in Sibley at the advanced age of ninety-eight years. Frank M. Robinson, the first auditor of Osceola county, was a son of John L. Robinson, but could not be controlled by the grafters. He was a capable and honest official. L. J. Robinson and Julia A. Palmer completed the occupancy of this section. F. Hinders is a successful farmer of this section.
Section 29. A. Hessebrook settled on section 29 and is a good farmer as well as a successful beeman. He had about seventy swarms in 1910, when all the bees in the county died and his went with the rest. 1910 was such a poor honey season the bees did not have supplies enough to carry them through. J. Gronewall is another good German farmer on section 29.
Section 30. Thomas Jackson, who settled here later, sold his claim and bought cheaper land in the eastern and more sparsely settled part of the county. Later he sold again and moved to southwestern Missouri, where he died recently. Smith Aldrich and Carrie A. Bailey, of whom very little was known, entered claims on this section. Jacob Sperts located here per- manently. He was one of the German settlers, most of whom located in Gilman township. C. B. Kent also located here, but left early.
Section 31. Tom Larson came here poor and by hard work, good judgment and economy is now well off and still not an old man. He made it all by farming during the last twenty years.
Section 32. David Littlechild filed on an eighty on this section, built a shanty and broke forty acres. He put in two crops which promised well until the grasshoppers came and harvested both crops. Being discouraged he relinquished his claim to John Melcher for a consideration of two hundred dollars and a yoke of oxen valued at one hundred dollars. Mr. Melcher spent many happy and prosperous years on this land and finally retired to Ashton, where he died last year, at an advanced age, loved and respected by all who knew him. The other homesteaders on this section were Urich B.
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Keniston. Samuel S. Smith and Samuel S. Thompson. These last three set- tlers made little impression.
Section 34. Here was George Mathewson, who left early. Nels Thompson later conducted a farm implement business in Sibley and finally moved to South Dakota. Thomas Thompson remained through the hard times, but finally sold and moved on west before getting the benefit of the later advance in the price of land.
David Johns, or "Shorty" Jones, as he was commonly called, died in Ashton a few years ago. R. Zensen was one of the settlers here whose building spot was on the bank of the Otter creek. He was a permanent settler and a good and valuable citizen. Ole Thompson located here, but did not remain long.
Section 36. Jessie W. Kern filed here, but soon moved away. C. N. Sawyer was the first grain buyer in Sibley. The last known of him he was in California. David Chambers died in Sibley a few years ago. Abe Miller did not remain long. On this section there were two such peculiar men that they should receive a little more than passing notice, William R. Belcher and J. B. Jenney. Belcher was a big, tall man and a trapper by profession. Nothing was wasted with him. He saved the pelts for sale and ate the flesh. When the settlers began to thicken around him he sold out and moved on west. He had several cows and used then as other people used oxen. He broke prairie with a cow team and drove them to town -infact, he used them for general team work. When he sold out he hitched a yoke of cows to his covered wagon, started for the Black Hills and was drowned while trying to cross the Jim river in South Dakota. J. B. Jenney bought Belcher's farm. Mr. Jenney first located on section 32 in East Holman on eighty acres, but relinquished it to Edson Harvey, a brother of Mahlon Harvey. Edson Harvey relinquished to Mr. Phillips, who entered it as a tree claim, and the trees he planted to comply with the timber culture act now constitute the fine big grove of heavy timber on the Janes farm. The growing timber in that grove will supply the farm with fuel and posts for all time. Mr. Jenney, who bought the Belcher claim, was a well educated, Christian gen- tleman. He came from a dairy county in the state of New York and farmed here the same as he had learned in his old home and for a time prospered fairly well. but misfortune seemed to be on his trail. He had four children, all girls. His first misfortune was the death of one of his children by diph- theria. Then his wife, who was a hard working woman, had to go to the insane asylum, where she soon committed suicide. He then tried to continue
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on the farm with a housekeeper, but finding that unsatisfactory, he sold the farm and moved to Hull, Sioux county, to give his girls the advantages of an education in Hull Academy. One of the girls proved to be bright in her studies and graduated with honors. The other preferred to stay at home and keep house. About this time Mr. Jenney became obsessed with the idea that he ought to be a land agent and chose Sioux Falls as a favorable point of operation. They were in Sioux Falls only a short time when the obsession of the land business evaporated. He then engaged in potato and truck rais- ing, from which he made a precarious living for a time. During this latter experience the family made the acquaintance of a wealthy widow who had a large house and extensive grounds, and arrangement was made for the family to move in, Mr. Jenney to care for the grounds. In the meantime the educated daughter, Lilly. married a young man, who was a carpenter by trade but of not a very robust constitution. Eventually this wealthy widow. who had another home in Florida, concluded to move to the latter place and make that her permanent home. She induced the young married couple to go with her for company with the hope that it might prove beneficial to both the young people in the way of improved health. Soon after this a longing took possession of Mr. Jenney to go back to New York and visit old scenes and his brother, and, perhaps, make that his permanent home. On their way to New York he and Belle, the other daughter, visited old friends in Sibley. At that time it was plain that the peculiarities of Mr. Jenney had increased. A few weeks in New York demonstrated there was no opening for them there and as they had a little money left, they moved to Florida. where the other young people were. The son-in-law commenced a small house for them, but before it was completed he died. From a letter received from one of the girls to a Sibley friend recently it was learned that Lilly is postmistress and a notary public in the little town where they are located and Belle took care of the father, who passed away March 10, 1914, at La Belle, Florida. There was tragedy in the lives of both men, who were early settlers on the northwest quarter of 36.
WILSON TOWNSHIP.
This township was settled at the same time as the rest of the western half of the county by the same thrifty class of people. Several remained but a short time, but many of them remained and became prominent in company affairs.
Section 8 was taken by Joseph F. Fairfax, James C. Warrington, R. S.
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Eakin and John Colvin. All were transients except Mr. Eakin, who later moved to section 28, where he now owns a four-hundred-acre farm, making him one of the wealthy men of the county. He now lives in Sibley and his son lives on the farm.
Section 10 was settled by H. C. Morey, who later moved to Sibley and engaged in the carpenter business and is now a rural mail carrier. Alfred A. Allenand and Charles L. V. Berg were transients. William P. Rhodes soon moved into Sibley and was for many years an efficient street commissioner. He finally moved to the state of Washington, where he died several years ago.
Section 12 was taken by Sylvester Johnson and L. J. Dawley, neither of whom remained very long. Dawley stayed a few years.
Section 14. Here we find William P. Rhodes again. He had a home- stead and a tree claim. He put in a few years of his time in cultivating the trees on his tree claim after he moved to Sibley. Reuben Clark remained several years and finally returned to Illinois. William Yahn remained on his claim through the grasshopper times and several years later. Finally he moved to Bigelow, Minnesota, and operated a threshing machine several years. He died many years ago. Emanuel Nix was a transient.
Section 18 was taken by E. A. Frazier, William R. Rood, J. K. Shaw, C. H. Smith and William Boyer. Mr. Shaw now lives in Bigelow, Minne- sota. Frazier and Rood were "flitters." Smith and Boyer are both reported dead.
Section 20. Aldon B. Willy; DeForrest D. Bennett, who now lives in southern California; H. R. Fenton and Benjamin F. Tabler both died quite a number of years ago.
Section 22. William N. Bon, Will Thomas, J. G. Miller, Elizabeth Thomas and John H. A. Thomas. The Thomases and Millers later mnoved to Sibley. Will Thomas was clerk of the district court several terms. He was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Osceola County Farmers Mutual Fire and Lightning Association, which has been in success- ful operation many years. Mr. Thomas has been the secretary of this as- sociation since its organization, and much of its marked success is due to his able and careful management. John Thomas learned the drug business with his brother-in-law, WV. R. Lawrence, a druggist of Sibley, and later moved to Nebraska, where he still lives.
Section 24. Daniel J. Gates, Samuel J. Bowor, Isaac Sprecher and Samuel Schultz. These were all good and well-known men but did not re- main long enough to reap the benefit they ought to have received by reason of their struggles through the worst of the hard times.
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Section 26. William N. Bull soon moved to Sibley and later back east to his old home, where he died a few years ago. William P. Hawhurst spent most of his time in Sibley, where he was editor of the Gasette many years and later clerk of courts several terms. He was a careful and painstaking man. He died a few years ago. William N. Lee is now living in Sibley. John Klampe died inany years ago. Elizabeth Davies is still alive.
Section 28. William J. Delworth, Randall Kinnie, Charles W. Fenton and William F. Herbert. Mr. Herbert, at last report, lived in the state of Washington. Robert S. Eakin is now a business man in Sibley.
Section 30. Ishmael Gardner's place of abode is unknown. Charles W. Wyllys was for many years on the board of supervisors and was an able and painstaking officer. Some years ago he moved to the state of Wash- ington, where he died of heart failure in 1905. His daughter visited in Sib- ley during the fall of 1913. William H. Cooper moved to Sibley and died many years ago. The history of Sophia Oleson and Gust Swanson is un- known. Daniel S. Shell, who was the first liveryman of Sibley, according to last reports, is living in Portland, Oregon.
Section 32. George F. Towner, Oscar Dunton, Thomas J. Cutshall, Sanborn J. Crum, Carlos P. Reynolds and Aaron H. Clark. Soon after the grafting of the first board of supervisors Mr. Dunton was elected to the board and served several terms with ability and honor. He did much to reduce the practice of the board to a useful and economical basis. Mr. Reynolds also served on the board with credit and honor." He is now living in comfort on an eighty-acre farm joining Sibley, for which he has refused two hundred and fifty dollars an acre. He is at present one of the Holman township trustees.
Section 34. Dewitt C. Blacker. John Field, Jacob Schuck, John Cronk and Allen Cloud. So far as known all these first settlers of this section are dead.
Section 36. Charles A. Kirkpatrick, Samuel J. Lyons, Henrich Moeller and August Jarr are all supposed to be dead.
Among the later farmers who came into this township is Joseph Raine, who bought the two-hundred-and-forty-acre farm of C. P. Reynolds. He first came into this county and rented a farm in Viola township and, after saving a little money, bought the Reynolds farm, largely on time, paying thirty-three dollars and thirty-three and one-third cents per acre. It was quite generally believed he would lose his meagre savings in a few years. But he kept up his interest and gradually paid off the principal until he was en-
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tirely out of debt. Now he owns a fine farm and is one of the independent farmers of Osceola county. His is a fair example of the possibilities of farming in this county. Industry, economy and thrift have been the secret of his success.
Herman Hack bought and settled in this township about 1894 and proved to be an excellent farmer. He entered into general farming ex- tensively and was making money when he was accidentally killed on the railroad crossing where the railroad crosses the Iowa and Minnesota state line. He was driving his automobile and it is a mystery to his family and friends how a bright, alert man as he was could get trapped as he did. This crossing is in a level, open country where both highway and railroad are visible for a long distance. His widow and family remain on the farm and manage it. Mr. Hach served on the board of supervisors several years and was nominated on the Democratic ticket for state representative, and al- though he ran ahead of his ticket. he was defeated at the polls by a small majority.
Dirk G. Gronewald bought on section 18 in 1901 and is one of Wilson's progressive farmers and is making good. George Attig bought on section 30 in 1902 and has one of the finest improved farms in the county, with ex- tensive modern buildings. B. C. Hark bought on section 19 in 1895 and prospered so well that a few years ago he retired with a competence and is now living in Sibley and taking life easy in his comfortable home.
H. Horstmann came in 1895 and settled on section 27 and has a fine half section of land. When he took this farm in hand it had been poorly farmed for several years and was in poor condition. However, Mr. Horst- mann and his family took hold in earnest and in a few years demonstrated what good cultivation will accomplish on Osceola county land. Of late years he and his family have made their home in Sibley.
Nearly all the first settlers of Wilson township were Americans and many of them were veterans of the Civil War. Owing to the wise manage- ment of its leading men, Thomas, Reynolds, Dunton, Eakin and others. Wilson township finances have always been in good shape, and in the early day its taxes were generally the lowest in the county.
This township has a German church located on section 30. The town- ship supports six public schools. The present trustees are William B. Wid- man, D. G. Gronewald and C. A. Kepka, with Joseph Raine as clerk and William Kepka as assessor.
ONE OF THE LAST HOMESTEAD BUILDINGS IN OSCEOLA COUNTY, BUILT IN 1871, ONE MILE EAST OF SIBLEY
CHAPTER III.
CITIES AND TOWNS
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SIBLEY.
Sibley was the first town in Osceola county, although Shaw's store was moved to Ashton about the same time. John L. Robinson built the first house in Sibley. H. K. Rogers was the first merchant and H. L. Emmert was the first banker. Mr. Rogers made a small fortune in the mercantile business here, and later moved to California, where he now resides. Mr. Emmert lost everything in the great Chicago fire of 1871. He borrowed a little money, came to Sibley in 1873 and started a bank. C. I. Hill was as- sociated with him a short time. He later organized the First National Bank, sold some stock, but retained the controlling interest himself. This bank has always been one of the most substantial financial institutions of north- western Iowa. Its present officers are H. L. Emmert, president; W. T. Steiner. vice-president: J. Fred Mattert, cashier. Mr. Emmert is now a multi-millionaire, and lives in Winnipeg. Canada, where he has multiplied his fortune several times. Mr. Steiner is the local manager of the Emmert interests in and about Sibley, and Mr. Mattert manages the bank.
The furniture store of M. D. Harberts, in the brick building west of the bank, belongs to Dr. W. R. Lawrence, and stands where the old frame drug store stood, in which Doctor Lawrence conducted his drug business many years. Next is the old frame store which was built by C. M. Brooks, first clerk of courts of this county. This building is now vacant, preparatory to being replaced by a brick block. Next to the west is the old First National Bank site, where the first brick building in Sibley stood, used many years by the Emmert bank. Next is the Meader hardware building, now occu- pied by Cajacobs brothers as a general hardware store. Then comes the Parker drug store. W. L. Parker was one of the early-day druggists of Sibley. He died a few years ago and the business is now being successfully conducted by his only son, C. E. Parker. Next stands the grocery store of Albert Romey, a homesteader in Goewey township. He moved to Sibley in
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the early days and, with the exception of eight years as postmaster, has been in business continuously since he came to town. Next is the Osceola House, owned and managed by J. W. Hickok. This is the site of the old Stiles hotel. where so much early history was incubated. Mr. Hickok and wife have been here about thirty years, and have enlarged the house in order to keep pace with the growth of the town.
Next comes what was for many years known as the Brown and Chambers corner store, managed a long time by C. E. Brown and W. H. Chambers, under the firm name of Brown & Chambers, both now dead. The big store is now conducted by the Brown brothers, under the firm name of C. E. Brown & Sons. Just across the street to the south is the Grol:man block, the west room of which was occupied by a general stock, which was closed out in 1913 by C. W. Beeler, of Harris, who had purchased it. In the second room is a moving picture show, operated by Port Wilbern. The third room is occupied by J. C. Differding as a harness shop and store. In the last room is a small stock of notions, owned by Mrs. Cook. Next east of the Grohman block is the new garage, just completed by E. S. Robertson. Fol- lowing to the east is the bakery and restaurant, and then the Gazette office. The Gazette is owned and edited by W. W. Overholser. It is the oldest paper in the county and is one of the official papers. In politics it has always been Republican.
Next is the Barclay block, the first room of which is occupied by the clothing department of C. E. Brown & Sons. In the next room east is Mrs. Gill's millinery store, and next is Searls' jewelry store. Then, in the O. J. Clark building, is the barber shop of Ed. McManus. Next, on the corner. is the Sibley State Bank, of which Frank Kennedy is president; A. W. McCallum, vice-president, and C. H. Royce, cashier. This bank has a good board of directors and is a strong organization, doing a clean and safe bank- ing business. This bank was started by Cline Bull and J. T. Barclay, who also had the sale of the railroad lands, and consequently the land business was an important feature with this bank in the early days. Crossing the street to the east is found H. Walton's furniture store and undertaking estab- lishment. Then follows in turn a cleaning and pressing room, a shoe shop and Clinton Hudson's cigar store and lunch counter. Next is the harness shop of T. F. Peel, followed by Robert Richardson's meat market. Mr. Richardson has conducted a meat market in Sibley more than forty years. Then comes the Italian fruit and candy store. That brings the public square around to the Central block, in the first room of which is the Sibley post-
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office and George Baxter's news stand. In the second room is the drug room is found the Sibley Dry Goods Company, of which C. E. Hanchett is manager. Mr. Hanchett came here as a school teacher and eventually be- came a merchant. Following this comes E. M. Taylor, the popular clothier. Mr. Taylor is a native of this county, having lived here from boyhood and married an Osceola county girl. Then comes Hoeck & Richardson's grocery store on the corner, and still in Central block.
Crossing the street to the east is found Pulscher & Eyler's farm im- plement business. Crossing the street north and west is found Mr. Gould's new and up-to-date bakery. The next place of business is Mr. Deitrich's photograph gallery. Mr. Deitrich is the present mayor of Sibley. On the west is the Academy of Music, owned by J. S. Campbell, in the east room of which is Emil Tott's grocery store. In the basement under this store is Len Durfee, the plumber. In the west room and basement is J. J. Ellerbroek's "Kash Savin Stor." In the second story of this building is the opera house, managed by Dixon & Ellerbroek. In the next building is Madison Brothers' hardware store. On the corner is the Evans' Mercantile Company, with a general stock of merchandise. On the north is John Johannes' cream sta- tion. and across the alley is the Tribune office. The building is owned by J. S. Campbell. and the Tribune is owned and managed by J. H. Bahne & Son. The Tribune is an old and well established paper. Formerly it was all things to all men. At present it is Democratic in politics, edited by a life- long Republican and well edited. Few old-time Republicans could handle Democratic issues so well and with such apparent sincerity. Across the street, on the corner, is A. Morton, with his garage.
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