USA > Iowa > Winneshiek County > Past and present of Winneshiek county, Iowa; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 30
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February 10th, Mrs. David Taber celebrated her ninetieth birthday. Settled in llesper in 1855.
April 12th, papers of this date record the death of Alexander McKay, a prominent citizen and one of the pioneers of the county, having settled in De- corah in 1853. For several terms he served as a member of the city council.
May 13th, Knut Thompson, who came to Decorah in 1854, passes away. lle was sheriff of Winneshick county from 1869 10 1873.
June 6th, cyclone hits Canoe and Highland townships with total damage of $50,000. The heavy losers are: E. T. Selness, $10,000; G. Fawcett, Carrie Luros and Kittle Severson, $3,000 each ; Nels Larson, SSoo; Lewis Larson, $300.
July 3d. Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Newcomber of Hesper celebrate golden wed- ding. ( Mrs. Newcomber died July 28. )
July 25th, old Fort building at Fort Atkinson, used by Mrs. A. Cooney as a residence, narrowly escapes burning.
August 3d. Swenson Valve Company, Decorah, incorporated.
June 2d, board of supervisors buy twenty-seven voting machines from U. S. Standard Voting Machine Company. The act was repudiated by the voters.
June 23d, Eric Anderson and John W. Stiles, prominent Decorah citizens. pass away. Mr. Anderson came to Springfield township in 1850 and was sheriff from 1861 10 1865. Mr. Stiles came to Decorah in 1855 and was pioneer livery- man, later engaging in hotel business.
June 30th, Congress appropriates $5.000 to buy postoffice site in Decorah.
June 27th, Rev. C. A. Marshall died at Cresco. He was an carly day pastor of the Burr Oak Congregational church.
June 30th, Luther College Concert Band departs on its first trip to the Pacific coast.
August 21st, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Reed celebrate fifty-fifth wedding anni- versary.
September 20th, Aaron R. Young died at Wancoma. He was a soldier at Fort Atkinson in 1848, and his marriage to Mary A. Rogers on February 11. 1849, was the first ceremony of its nature in the county. He was transferred to Fort Snelling a few weeks later and did not return to take up his permanent resi- dence in the county until 1851.
October 22d. A. W. Kramer, pioneer merchant of Castalia, passes away.
October 20th, Mrs. E. E. Mender, the pioneer woman of Hesper township. «lied.
November 20th, Mr and Mrs. Lambert Dresselhan- celebrate golden wed- ding.
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December 11th, Decorah State Bank opens for business.
December 21st, Rev. H. B. Woodworth, pastor of Decorah Congregational church from 1872 to 1882, dies at Grand Forks.
December 23d, Reed & May's implement stock in J. J. Marsh building, De- corah, burned. Loss about $7,000.
Record of deaths of pioneers during the year 1896 as follows:
January 25th, Nels N. Quandahl, Sr .. Pleasant, 1856.
January 31st, Joel Dayton, Decorah, 1856.
February 5th, Mrs. A. K. Bailey, Decorah, 1860.
February 18th, Grandma Torgrimson, Springfield, 1851.
February 19th, E. T. Ytterboe, Springfield. 1854.
March 3d, Anders O. Lomen, Springfield, 1850.
March 8th, John Ammon. Decorah, 1854.
April 19th, E. E. Lomen, Springfield, 1850.
April 29th, Mrs. Eunice Cooney, Fort Atkinson, 185.1.
May 21st, William McMullen, Canoe, 1854.
June 9th, D. N. Hoyt, Freeport, 1854.
August 3d, Mrs. J. M. Green, Decorah, 1850.
August 16th, A. A. Benedict, Springwater, 1856.
August 19th, George Pennington, Decorah, 1858.
August 24th, Mrs. Signe B. Christen, Decorah, 1854.
August 30th, A. H. H. Perkins, Decorah, 1854.
September 11th, Mrs. James Sharp. Hesper, 1853.
September 12th, Mrs. S. S. Wade, Burr Oak, 1852.
November 2d, George Bolles. Bluffton, 1857.
November 9th, Il. S. Tucker, Canoe, 1855.
November 17th, Mrs. Maria C. Daniels. Frankville, 1852.
November 30th, Wm. MeLain, Canoe, 1857.
December 14th, Mrs. S. C. Treat, Decorah, 1857.
1907
January 7th, James A. Watterson, brother of the late Bishop Watterson of the Catholic church, and cousin of Henry Watterson of Louisville Courier- Journal, dies at home of his son-in-law, J. P. Wangler.
January toth, Prof. Elmer L. Coffeen, a Decorah boy, chosen as superintend- ent of the Lyman School for Boys at Westboro, Massachusetts. This school is a reformatory for wayward boys and the selection of Professor Coffeen as super- intendent marks him as one of the foremost workers in the "boy movement" in America.
January 14th, King Haakon of Norway confers degree of Knight of St. Olaf upon B. Anundsen, editor of Decorah Posten.
February 15th, O. P. Thompson, retired merchant and one of Decorah's best known citizens, died.
February 14th, Judge Hobson sentences Ambrose Duffy to forty years in the Anamosa penitentiary. Duffy confessed to assault upon a prominent lady of the county and of burglary at Immaculate Conception Academy, Decorah.
March 8th, K. I. Haugen celebrates thirtieth anniversary as Decorah mer-
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chant. The retirement of C. N. Goddard leaves Mr. Haugen as the ranking pio- neer.
March 21st. secretary of treasury selects the Levi Bullis office corner as site for new federal building in Decorah.
March 24th, the foundation of big dam built by Upper lowa Company in Glenwood township proves defective and the structure is undermined and demol- ished. Loss upwards of $40,000.
April 13th, the Colonel Taylor cabin in Canoe burned. For many years it was the summer home of Col. J. W. Taylor and contained many relies of the war.
April 25th, James Porter, Mrs. Susan Johnson and Mrs. Barnes, all old resi- dents of Burr Oak, die within the week.
April 28th, new Synod Lutheran church in Madison township dedicated.
May 28th, Prof. Thron Bothne and Prof. Lyder Siewers die a few hours apart. They had been co-workers as teachers at Luther College, and at the time of their deaths were both doing editorial work on Decorah Posten-both men of unusual talents.
May 25th, fire and water cause loss of $25,000 to stocks of Larsen Brothers and A. Niesh & Sons, Decorah.
June 13th, C. J. Mills, Ossian's postmaster, dies.
June 23d, Sheriff Qualley catches Harry F. Kurb, who passes worthless checks in Decorah. The fellow proved to be a noted check forger. Kurb got ten years.
June 27th, Rev. Il. A. Stub. one of the founders of Norwegian Lutheran Synod of America, and pastor of the Big Canoe church for twenty-six years, from 1865, passes away. (He was the father of Rev. [I. G. Stub, present presi- dent of the Synod. )
August 5th, Mrs. T. J. Qualley, wife of sheriff, detects Hary Kurb attemping to saw bars of jail windows. Nels Duff was subsequently arrested and convicted of supplying saws to Kurb, and sent to Fort Madison.
October 13th, Laur Larsen Hall at Luther College dedicated.
October 16th, new mill dam built by Gico. Weist on 'Turkey river at Fort .It- kinson is undermined and demolished.
October 28th, owing to panic in money market the banks of Decorah go into a clearing house basis and issue clearing house certificates. The office of the De- coral Republican was "the mint" for about twenty-four hours, during which $100,000 of certificates were printed.
November 6th, George Phelps, pioneer wagon maker and blacksmith, died in Cheltenham. England. He came to Decorah in 185; and here laid the founda- tion of his fortune that had grown to a half million dollars at the time of his death. By the terms of his will. Phelps cemetery, Decorah, was endowed with a sum sufficient to provide handsomely for its future care and up-keep.
November 21st, Capt. Roald Amundsen. Arctic explorer, is guest of his com- trymen in Decorah.
November 20th, Rev. Ephraim Adams, pioneer pastor of Decorah Congre gational church, died at Waterloo.
December 1.1th. Rev. O. E. Schmidt welcomed as pastor of United Lutheran church at Decorah.
December 25th, Mr. and Mrs. Terrence Carolan of Bluffton celebrate golden wedding.
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December 30th, Mrs. John G. Melaas, Orleans pioneer, died.
During the year 1907 the following names of pioneers are found recorded . among the deaths :
January 10th. C. L. Beebe, Freeport, 1855.
January 13th, Martin Bottsford, Decorah, 1855.
January 24th, Knut G. Nordheim, Pleasant, early '50s.
January 25th, W'm. Hess, Festina, early '50s.
February 9th, C. W. Rowe, Hesper, 1854.
February 14th, Anna M. Volding. Glenwood, 1853. February 17th, H. J. Brickner, Decorah, 1857.
March 4th, John J. Wold, Decorah, 1854.
March 6th, Mrs. Gilmore Kendall, Kendallville, 1860.
April 11th, Hiram Rosa, Frankville, early '50s.
April 17th, Magne Langland, Pleasant, 1853.
April 22d, James Daniels. Frankville. 1852.
May 9th, Geo. W. Shattuck, Frankville, early '50s.
May 14th, Grandpa Mikish, Spillville, early '50s.
May 29th, Mrs. Mercy Chamberlin, Frankville, 1852. June 2d, Mrs. Henry F. Dean, Bloomfield, 1854. June 20th. Mrs. C. B. Riggs. Bloomfield, 1854. July 12th. Jacob Headington. Canoe, 1858.
July 26th, Mrs. Harriett C. Tabor, Hesper, 1855.
July 31st, W. 11. Bently, Bluffton, early '50s. August Toth. Mrs. Win. Glover, Canoe, 1853. October roth. John Ward, Sr., Burr Oak, 1854.
October 25th, John Van Pelt, Decorah, 1853.
October 29th, Diebold Stoskopf, Pleasant, 1856.
October 28th. George W. Daskam, born in Fremont, 1857.
November 29th, Daniel Price. Pleasant, 1855.
1908
February 3d, Mr. and Mrs. Charles McMasters celebrate golden wedding. They were married at Freeport.
February 5th, contract for new school building for Immaculate Conception Academy. Decorah, awarded to Geo. Brunner, at $5.490, without heating and plumbing.
February toth, Samuel Magnus, Civil war veteran and former member of board of supervisors, dies at Ridgeway.
February 13th, Mr. and Mrs. Win. Puntney of Canoe celebrate fifty-seventh wedding anniversary.
April 2d, Dan Shea, former county superintendent and lawyer, died in De- corah.
April 23d-During the week Mrs. Wm. Beard ( Frankville, 1852), T. M. Hoyt (Freeport, 1853), Heber Robinson ( Freeport, 1854), and Andrew Williams, an- other old resident, pass away.
April 30th, three more pioneers die-Mrs. John Theilich ( 1853), Mrs. Zilpha Prothroe ( Decorah, 1856), and Halvor Garden, pioneer of Springfield.
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May 6th, Cornelius Jennings of Ossian, sentenced to penitentiary for life for criminal assault upon his own daughter.
May 14th, Congress appropriates $00.000 for government building in Decorah.
May 23d, Henning Larson and Lauritz Ylvisaker of Luther College take state championship in collegiate tennis tournament at Cedar Rapids.
June 20th, tornado sweeps through Winneshiek county from northwest to southeast in a path twenty miles wide. Crops were pounded into the ground and trees were denuded of leaves and bark by hail, telephone lines were wrecked, bridges were washed out. In Decorah buildings were demolished or unroofed and thousands of panes of glass were broken. Hail stones were piled up in drifts all along the path of the storm and on July 4th following a large pile of them that had been washed into a gully and covered with leaves were found and used in freezing ice cream.
June 21st. Harry Crawford in a fit of jealousy attempts to kill Mrs. Edw. Ottaway and takes his own life.
July 17th, Mrs. Mitchell Debb, pioneer of Madison township, celebrated eightieth birthday ( Mrs. Debb still lives and is in good health. )
August 20th, Henry W. Klemme, pioneer Lincoln township, farmer, died at Elma. ( His wife followed him in death September 20th).
October 22d, Henry A. Baker, Bloomfield pioneer of 1859 and former legis- lator, died at Sioux City.
November 19th. J. C. Rollins ( Burr Oak, 1864), and Jacob Jewell ( Decorah, 1850) die on 13th and 16th, respectively. Mr. Rollins won prominence as an importer of horses and Mr. Jewell was a member of the board of supervisors for several terms and of the lowa Legislature.
James Murr, Decorah, burned to death. It is supposed he set fire to his bedding while smoking after retiring.
December 18th, burglars steal $400 worth of goods from store of F. P. Cizek at Fort Atkinson. John Hogan and Richard Martin, two tramps, are arrested for the crime and subsequently convicted. When they appeared before Judge Hobson he recognized logan as an okl offender who had been sentenced by him twice before and he gave him a term in the penitentiary that will keep him con- fined the balance of his life.
Record of deaths of pioneers during the year :
January 9th. Moritz Lange, Bluffton, 1856.
January 11th, James II. Easton, Decorah, 1858.
January 11th, Lars Severson, Decorah, 1850. January 30th, Erick Bakke. Decorah, early '50s.
February 22d. Johannes Wernsen, Highland, carly '50s.
February 24th, Joseph Todd, Decorah, 1858.
March oth, Henry Adams, Freeport. 1855.
March oth. Henry Yager, Pleasant, 1857.
March 23d, Mmiram Smith, Frankville, 1851.
March 24th, Win. Murdock. Bluffton, 1855. April 23d, Halvor K. Boe, Calmar, 1857.
May oth, David Easler. Fremont, 1857.
May oth. A. C. Ferren, Decorah, 1857.
May 24th, Lars O. Bergeson, Glenwood, 1854.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY
June 17th. A. H. Groves, Springfield, 1850.
June 13th, Mrs. Geo. Miles, Hesper, 1855. July 18th, Mrs. R. F. Greer, Decorah, 1856. July 23d, Mrs. Noris Miller, Decorah, early '50s. August 23d, John Klemish, Sr., Spillville, in the '50S.
September 5th, Myron Dean, Bloomfield, 1853.
September 5th, Mrs. John VanPelt, Decorah, 1853.
September 5th, Mrs. Sigre B. Busness, Frankville, 1850.
September 23d, C. T. Hoyne, Springfield, early '50s.
October 4th, Jacob Exe, Highland, early '50s. November 21st, Mrs. Jacob Haas, Decorah, 1856.
November 28th, Mrs. Geo. Yarwood, 1854. December 17th, Linus Curtis, Orleans, 1853.
December 29th, Jacob Zuckmeyer, Decorah, 1857.
1909
February 10th, a Sons of Veterans camp is organized, with William Linnivold as commander.
March 20th, Nathan Drake, Glenwood pioneer, passes away. Among others who died during the year are William Renken of LaCrosse; Mrs. John W. Thune ; Mrs. Mary Ann Feltin of Burr Oak; John B. Kaye, Calmar's talented lawyer and poet ; Hulver Hulverson. Decorah ; Cyrus Wellington at Belsam Lake, Wiscon- sin ; John Spriggs of Bluffton ; Adeline V. Minert, Frankville ; John L. Kittlesby of Calmar : A. J. McClaskey, Decorah ; James T. Relf, Decorah ; Mrs. Lucy Briggs, Burr Oak ; Henry Moore, Frankville ; Andrew T. Gunderson, Ossian ; Mrs. Anna Martinek. Fort Atkinson; Mrs. Harriett Todd, Kendallville: William M. Bar- thell, Decorah ; William Puntley, Canoe; E. M. Carter of Hesper; E. R. Scott of Madison ; Mrs. H. A. Thornton of Castalia ; Mrs. Ann M. Houck, Burr Oak; John Thurlow Baker in St. Paul; Mrs. E. E. Cooley, pioneer of Decorah; Mrs. Z. B. Landon of Burr Oak; Mrs. J. C. Rollins, Decorah. On September 20th Ansel K. Bailey, senior editor of the Decorah Republican, passed away. On No- vember 12th, Clark N. Goddard. pioneer merchant and former postmaster of Decorah, died.
The big event of the year was the first llome Coming. Over seven hundred former residents of the county registered during the week. They came from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, from as far south as Galveston, and from as far north as Northwestern Canada.
The Nordness creamery was burned during the summer ; loss, $4,000.
1910
January 3d, 10 below zero and an extra foot of snow gives Winneshiek county two feet on the level and all trains are blockaded.
January 24th, Cresco papers announce the death of Mrs. William Webster, one of the pioneer mothers of western Winneshiek.
January 29th, Lieut. Ole A. Anderson died at his home in Decorah at the age of seventy-six years.
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February 4th, Rev. O. E. Schmidt brings charges against E. P. Johnson and proceedings for disbarment will begin before Judge Hobson. Later found guilty and disbarred.
February 4th, Mrs. R. F. Gibson passed away. A pioneer of Decorah in 1858. February roth, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Seegmiller celebrate golden wedding.
February rith, Claiborne Day, the last resident member of the first white family in Decorah, died at his home in Decorah, aged 83 years 6 months and 5 days.
March 2d, Germond Merrill died at his home in Frankville township.
March 6th, Mrs. Anton Hegg dies at family home in Decorah. A resident of the county since 1855.
March 31st, by vote of 480 10 10 Decorah decided to grant a franchise to J. J. Donelan of Waverly to erect a gas plant.
April 15th, Simeon V. Potter, for many years agent of the Milwaukee railway in Decorah, died in Calmar after an illness of ten weeks. He was undoubtedly the oldest employe in steady service on the Milwaukee road in the state.
April 18th, Moses Oren, a pioneer of Highland township, passed away.
April 26th, Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Barfoot celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of their wedding.
May 15th. Rev. Abraham Jacobson, one of the pioneer Norwegians of the county ( Springfield township, in 1850), passed away. He was a former member of the lowa Legislature.
May 16th, Hon. Ove Gude, Norway's minister to the United States, is given a banquet at the Winneshick Hotel. He delivered 17th of May address in Decorah.
May 20th, Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Marsh celebrate their golden wedding.
June 23d, the Calmar Savings Bank incorporates with E. J. Curtin as pres- ident and S. E. Brickner as cashier.
August 12th. A. J. Cratsenberg dies suddenly at the home of his son-in-law. 1 .. B. Whitney, at Decorah.
September 16th, Mr. and Mrs. 1 .. L. Cadwell celebrate their golden wedding.
October 15th, the Silver Creek creamery at Burr Oak is destroyed by fire.
October 24th, work under the superintendency of Mr. Harmon is begun on the Decorah postoffice.
November 12th, Bernard Dresselhaus dies at his home in Pleasant township. Ile was a pioneer of 1859.
November 144th, the Highlandville schoolhouse is destroyed by fire.
December 19th, Rev. U. A. Koren, president of the Lutheran Synod of Amer- ica, pioneer Lutheran minister of 1853, and beloved pastor of the Washington Prairie church all the years since, passed away in his eighty-third year.
1(11
During the year 1911 the following well known and old residents passed away: January 2th, Peter E. Hangen and 11. S. E. Renken of Decorah ; January 4th, Mrs. John Scott, Calmar, frozen to death ; January 24th, Daniel A. Reed of Decorah, ranking pioncer, one of the carly setders in Bloomfield township: Robert Waters, Frankville; February 10th, Mrs. Duncan MeMartin, Castalia: February 18th. Henry Broghammer, Hesper ; February 28th. Mrs. D. 11. Hughes, widow of Col. D. 11. Hughes, Decorah ; May 6th, Silas B. Ervin of Decorah, age ninety years ;
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY
May 16th, Mrs. H. J. Green, wife of Editor Green of Decorah Public Opinion; June 7th, Anton Hegg. Springfield township pioneer : August 19th, W. G. W. Sawyer of Decorah ; September oth, William Holmes of Decorah, ninety-one years old. Mr. Holmes helped to build the Whitby & Pickering railroad in England and rode on Stephenson's "Rocket :" helped build the Grand Trunk railroad in Canada and the Northern Pacific railroad; September 17th, H. L. Coffeen, Decorah ; Octo- ber 5th, John McAndrews, Decorah, killed by the Milwaukee train : October 22d, James M. Lennon, Washington Prairie ; December 7th, Edward Vine, and Decem- ber 8th, Thomas Graham, both of Decorah.
The following people celebrated their golden weddings during the year : Feb- ruary 14th, Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Miller, Decorah : March 7th, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Summers, Fort Atkinson ; April 11th, Mr. and Mrs. Win. Gellerman, Decorah ; July 5th, Mr. and Mrs. F. Einwalter, Fort Atkinson ; August 15th, Mr and Mrs. Wm. Knowlton, Decorah : October 29th, Mr. and Mrs. G. Heuser, Decorah.
January Ist, Law and Order League organized.
January 4th, Elizabeth Wendling falls on ice in her yard and is not found until badly frozen. She died April 20th. May 3d, while examining her home $3.400 in cash is found.
January 24th, Dr. Laur Larson retires from active teaching after fifty years on Luther College faculty.
February 16th, Decorah Gas Company begin operating their plant.
February 16th, Carl Moen, of Washington Prairie, dies from injuries by a wood sawing machine. ( March 8th. George Johnson of Glenwood, killed by the same machine. )
March 8th, K. 1. Haugen celebrates thirty-fifth anniversary as Decorah iner- chant. Work on Decorah federal building begins.
April 25th, corner stone of Decorah federal building laid by Masonic fraternity. Grand Master Graig and Grand Secretary Parvin have charge. Odd Fellows assist in exercises.
May 2d. Judge Fellows decides Thomas J. Qualley is the duly elected sheriff of Winneshiek county. Philip Carolan was the contestant.
May 6th, Ben Bear celebrates thirty-fifth anniversary as Decorah clothier.
May 20th, Henry Wesselman and family of Calmar have collision with Mil- waukee train near Fort Atkinson. Mr. and Mrs. Wesselman sustained fractured skulls and a son and daughter are killed.
June roth. E. J. Curtin, president of Citizens Savings Bank of Decorah, is elected president of lowa Bankers Association.
June 21st. Luther College holds fiftieth commencement exercises.
June 22d. Luther College Concert Band starts on trip to Pacific coast.
July ist, Frankville, second oldest postoffice in the county, is discontinued.
July 20th. Sivert Larson, Decorah clothier, secures a tract of ground from Prof. M. Updegraff for city park.
August 10th. Upper lowa Power Co. decide to build a second dam in Glenwood township.
October 14th, Luther College celebrated semi-centennial. King llaakon of Norway sends greetings. Endowment fund of $250,000 is raised, of which James I. Hill contributes $50,000.
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October 26th, Mrs. Anna Baker of Glenwood township celebrates goth birth- day.
1912
January 4th, while working around the MeMillen gristmill at Hesper. Ole Ness was caught in the machinery and had both legs broken, and was injured about the head, causing death.
January 11th, the record shows that the thermometer has not risen above zero since December 21st.
January 18th, word comes from Frankville that Gieo. M. Andersen fell and struck his head, injuring the optic nerve so blindness ensued. He is a pioneer and veteran soldier.
January 25th, on Saturday last Mrs. William Thurlow Baker died at the family home in Decorah from the infirmities of old age.
February Ist, the Decorah Farmer's Ice Cave Creamery is an established fact.
February 4th. M. H. Merrill died at his home in Decorah after a lingering ill- ness.
February 15th, the new postoffice is completed and accepted by the government.
March 12th, Mrs. B. T. Barfoot passes away, after a long illness. Mr. Bar- foot followed her April 2d. They came to Madison township in 1855, having lived in Decorah before that year.
March 16th, Mrs. John T. Baker, a resident of Decorah for the greater part of her life, passed away at St. Paul.
June 13th, Mrs. Loretta Webster Tuttle, of Decorah, passed away.
June 27th, Mr. and Mrs. Julius Jacob Schaub, of Decorah, celebrated their golden wedding.
July 17th, Judge 1 .. E. Fellows of the District Court, died at his home in Lansing.
July 20th, in the morning several large balloons were seen sailing over Decorah. From messages dropped it was learned they started from St. Louis in the Jas. Gordon Bennett race.
July 29th, Mr. and Mrs. Nels Larson, of Highland township, celebrated their golden wedding with some 500 guests and twenty-five grandchildren.
August 23d. E. P. Johnson, formerly attorney at Decorah, passed away at his home in Minneapolis.
September 9th, Hans P. Johnson, a well known harness dealer in Decorah, died at the LaCrosse hospital.
September 13th, Anderson Bros.' barn at Decorah was entirely consumed by fire. Twenty-two valuable horses and a span of mules were burned. Loss $1 5,000.
September 14th, postoffice at Calmar robbed during the night. $75,000 secured.
October 3d, owing to a second crop of strawberries, several families in the county enjoyed short cake at this time of the year.
Deaths of three well known residents are recorded this week. Mrs. C. J. Ambli, Decorah; Mrs. John Odson, Decorah, and Jos. Beiderman, a resident of the county for many years.
October 15th, John G. Barthell, a former resident of Decorah, died at Ocean Grove, N. J.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESHIER COUNTY
November ist, Mayor F. W. Daubney of Decorah passed away after a critical illness covering nearly three weeks, diabetes being the cause. Ilis funeral the following Sunday was one of the largest ever held in the city.
November 8th. A. D. Thomas, a well known resident of Decorah, passed away. Fle came to Decorah in 1859.
November 17th, Jacob Haas, of Decorah, died suddenly of heart failure.
November 20th. Dr. W. D. Kellogg, a pioneer dentist, died at his home in Decorah.
November 24th, Mrs. Peter E. Haugen, a resident of Decorah township in 1855, passed away.
December 5th, the mulet petition has been abandoned because of failure to secure the necessary signers.
December 21st, Judge John DeCou dies at the home of his son near Ossian. Judge De Cou was a pioneer of Frankville township, coming there with his bride in 1850. He was County Judge and also served one term in the State Legislature.
December 20th, fire destroys N. R. Groff's hardware store, the law office of E. W. Cutting and W. M. Strand in Marlow buildings, and does considerable damage to Wangler Drug store, and the Trzcinski and E. I. Weiser buildings. Loss $40,000, fairly well covered by insurance.
1913
January Ist. Dr. Laur Larson, president emeritus of Luther College, lays down his pen, and retires to private life after fifty-one years in school room, pulpit and editorial chair.
January 3d, as a result of the Groff fire, the Winneshiek County State Bank secures the E. I. Weiser property and takes steps to erect a new building. (Sept. 23d, as these notes are being written, the building is nearing completion. )
January 14th, Mrs. James Stringer, pioneer Decorian, badly burned when her dress catches fire from the stove. She died several weeks later.
January 8th. Decorah firemen vote to purchase lots at corner of Water and River streets as site for future auditorium.
January 13th, E. O. Schjeldahl, pioneer Highlandville merchant, dies after long illness from typhoid fever.
January 19th, C. B. Lonnon, pioneer citizen of Frankville ( 1855), dies in Decorah.
January 18th, Miss Matilda Smith ( Bluffton. 1855). dies in Decorah.
January 20th, E. A. Bakken, Ridgeway merchant, died suddenly.
February 22d, boy scouts organize in Decorah and Decorah Institute building is secured as headquarters and gymnasium.
March 7th, C. W. Burdick, pioneer of 1853. dies at his home in Decorah.
March 2d, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Stoskopf of Decorah celebrate their fifty- fifth wedding anniversary.
March 16th, Tormod Holton, who settled on Washington Prairie in 1849. dies at the age of ninety years.
April 3d, death of George Allen, former member of board of supervisors and Castalia resident, reported.
April 17th, movement to secure electroliers for Decorah street lighting meets with success.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WINNESIHIER COUNTY
April 15th, Daniel P. Hawes, widely known settler of 1860 on Washington Prairie, passed away.
April 13th, Mrs. Matilda Broghammer, aged Ossian woman, killed by the cars while on her way to church.
April 10th, J. H. Haug, leading merchant and capitalist of Spillville, dies in Milwaukee hospital.
May 15th, Wi. HI. Smith offers $10.000 for a hospital if citizens of Decorah will raise $15.000 more. The proposition is accepted, and the money raised.
June 3d. Gov. A. O. Eberhart of Minnesota is guest of citizens of Decorah and makes address at Luther College.
June 22d. United Lutheran church in Springfield township celebrate sixtieth anniversary.
July 7th, George Harter of Locust has foot badly mangled in a mower accident and dies three weeks later. Ilis parents were in Germany at the time and did not reach home until after his death.
July roth. Jesse Schoonmaker badly injured by mower when team runs away with him in Decorah. The accident results in damage suits against Elmer Rosa, the boy's cousin, for $20,000 and $4,000, Newton Schoonmaker being the plaintiff for his son and himself.
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DEC 9 - 1931
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