USA > Iowa > Polk County > Pioneers of Polk County, Iowa, and reminiscences of early days, Vol. I > Part 8
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On another occasion, when the weather was hot and sultry, "Dan" Finch was one of the lawyers in the case, and, as all old- timers well know, had a voluminous, incisive vocabulary at his command. The case dragged along without material interest, and the Judge fell asleep. "Dan" and his opposing lawyer got into a heated wrangle over a point in the case, and were making fierce and loud charges against each other, which awoke the Judge, when he roared : "Stop that, or I'll lick h-1 out of both of you."
In September, 1862, when the Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry regi- ment was organized, the Colonel was commissioned its Major. The enlistments were nearly all from Polk County. In October, it was mustered into the United States Army at Davenport. Soon after, nearly half of it was sent to the hospital with measles, and, before complete recovery, was ordered to report at Cairo. It disembarked at Columbus, spending the first night without tents, in mud and rain. October Eighteenth, it moved by rail to Corinth, where it had severe marches and several skirmishes with Forrest's forces.
On the Thirty-first, a bloody fight for six hours was had at Par- ker's Cross Roads. For two hours those raw soldiers withstood and repulsed the whole of Forrest's army of seven thousand, when,
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by a mistaken order, it was thrown into confusion and retired, but soon re-formed and rested that night on the field they won. The Colonel was severely wounded.
In January, 1863, it was sent to Corinth, assigned to the Second Brigade until November, when it joined Sherman in his march to the sea. At the battle of Altoona, it stood at the front like a stone wall and won imperishable fame. In October, the Major was pro- moted to Lieutenant-Colonel, May Twelfth, 1865, to Colonel, and mustered out at the close of the war as Colonel. Soon after, he was appointed Government Inspector at the Custom House in New Orleans, where he remained four years, and resigned, his physical system having been completely shattered with yellow fever.
Returning to Des Moines, he gradually closed his several busi- ness interests, and now, with his estimable wife, in satisfactory con- seiousness of having done what he could for the city of his adoption, is quietly waiting the final summons which comes to all men.
Recalling the military services of the Colonel brings to mind an incident, somewhat peculiar, occurring here after the war closed.
Very soon after the close of the Rebellion, a man and his wife came to Des Moines, started in business, and became quite promi- nent and successful. Little was known of his antecedents, of which he said nothing. His rank and social position were apparently satisfactory, and only those most familiar with him noticed his reticence. He was a familiar personage on the streets. A few years ago he died. His widow left the city soon after. Several months later, I received a letter enelosing a photograph, inquiring if a man of a certain name, of whom the photo was a likeness, had lived in the city, and deceased on or about a certain date. I replied that the photo was true to a man who had lived and deceased here, but under another name. Naturally, I desired to get the sequel as to the matter. It was that, soon after the decease of the man, the widow made application for a pension, based on military service during the Civil War. Investigation of the records at Washington disclosed an application on file from another woman, based on the same identical service. Later, another application was filed by a woman holding a marriage certificate ante-dating those of the other two applicants, and whom the man had deserted, leaving her with
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several children, one of whom is now an officer in the United States Army. It was for the benefit of this woman the inquiry I refer to was made, and she has probably received the pension, but not in the name the man who lived and died here was known by.
July Twenty-fourth, 1904.
COLONEL SUMNER F. SPOFFORD
COLONEL SUMNER F. SPOFFORD
M ENTION of men and events of early days would be incom- plete that omitted "Colonel" Sumner F. Spofford, who came here in 1854, and for thirty-four years was a moving spirit in public affairs. Without a military record, he was given the title of "Colonel" by common consent, and it fitted him well.
In 1852, Conrad Stutsman made additions to one of the log buildings at the corner of First and Walnut streets, and named it the Pennsylvania House. It was one story and a half high, the upper story being one room. Beds were placed along each side, with- out curtains or partitions. It was usually crowded-sometimes three in a bed-such was the influx of land-seekers, and they were not very fastidious. There were no wardrobes. Hats, boots and shoes were thrown under the beds. Shelter, grub and a place to sleep satisfied the patrons. It was a lively hostelry.
In 1854, Stutsman moved it south, and built a large two-story frame, and sold it to J. C. Warner and John Yost, who opened it to the public in April, 1855. Both being East Siders, they named it "Demoine House," because that was the way the word was spoken, they said, and it remained so as long as the house existed.
Soon after the opening, the Colonel bought it for sixteen thou- sand dollars, and was host until 1862. It was a lively place. The bar-room annex on the south side was the rendezvous for politicians. There being no public hall, the dining-room was a favorite place for dancing parties, where, in the pale, mellow light of tallow dips or whale oil, joy went unconfined. The Colonel was an ideal Boni- face, social, cordial, polite, energetic, and immensely popular.
In 1876, the house was torn down, to be replaced with one larger and up-to-date, long contemplated. The foundation was laid, but ·hard times and other causes forced abandonment of the project. A portion of the foundation still remains. The property now belongs to Uncle Sam, who, after the usual divisive river strife, and
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the East Siders winning a river-front location, will erect a new Post Office creditable to himself and the city.
At the southwest corner of the hotel, at the rear, fronting on the alley, was one of the log barrack buildings, occupied by "Uncle" Thomas French, by right of eminent domain, as it were, so long as the hotel existed. He was a bachelor, kind, companionable, great lover of books, fond of children, and a good carpenter, but, as his expenses were light, little manual labor was required. He spent much time in fishing, seemingly for the sole satisfaction received from giving his catches to his friends, save what he cooked for himself-an art he understood. He could catch, too, when others could not get a "nibble." He had a "hook and line, bob and sinker" for every kind of fish that swam the stream. He was an inveterate smoker. He and "Ret" Clarkson were warm friends. "Ret" abhorred tobacco-would not allow smoking in his editorial room, yet it was generally understood around the Register estab- lishment that "Uncle Tommy" could draw his pipe there. Politi- cally, "Uncle Tommy" was a Republican ; religiously, a hard-shell Baptist. His mission was to do good, care for the sick, and solace the sorrowing.
The energy and sterling qualities of the Colonel did not long escape attention.
In the contest for the State House location, he was a West Sider, subscribed one thousand dollars to the West Side fund, was a good persuader, a good Democrat, yet somehow he failed to win over his guests, the legislative committee sent to fix the site. As the story went, he did not run up against the right man. He should have spent a short time in that south annex in a hear-to-heart talk with one Baldwin. But that is another story, to be told later on.
In 1863, the Colonel was elected Trustee for the Second Ward, the office not having progressed to the dignity of Alderman.
In 1865, pursuant to a vote of the electors, the County Super- visors, of whom the Colonel was a member, purchased two hundred and eighty acres for a Poor Farm, at a cost of six thousand five hundred and fifty dollars. The Colonel and "Uncle Jimmy" Jor- dan were appointed a committee to purchase the necessary cattle, horses, hogs and farm machinery to put it in operation. That was the beginning of the present county asylum for the poor and insane.
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In 1866, the Colonel, with Frank R. Laird, were granted the privilege of building the first bridge over the river, at Walnut Street, by County Judge Napier, who, as the law then was, had power to order bridges built wheresoever he pleased. It was a wooden Howe truss pattern, and soon after completion one span was broken by a drove of horses. It was a toll bridge. The Colonel collected the first toll, and he was the first person to cross it with a horse and carriage. The people did not take kindly to toll-paying, and in November, 1876, it was made a free bridge. The Colonel collected the last toll, and carried it with the first in his pocket several years as souvenirs. They were both of Uncle Sam's frac- tional currency, there being no silver coin in circulation in those days. The bridge was owned by the county, and, when made free, was turned over to the city, and all bridges tolled from 1871 to 1879, when, under agreement between the city and county, all were made free.
In 1868, the city being politically Republican by a small major- ity, the Democrats made extraordinary effort to gain the city elec- tion, and persuaded the Colonel, much against his inclination, to allow his name to go at the head of the ticket for Mayor. The contest was a vigorous one. The Register, edited by Frank Palmer, evidently alarmed by the popularity of the Colonel, lambasted him with a pointedness equal to some of Barlow Granger's expressions in his old Star. One day it said of him:
"The candidates on the Democratic city ticket plant their feet firmly on the infernal planks of the Copperhead platform adopted by the conclave (State Convention) last week. Spofford is just as much a part of the Democratic wheel, when it moves, as 'Dirty Shirt' Dean, Finch, 'Teetotaller' McHenry (Judge M. D. Mc- Henry), 'Automatical Tom-Tit' Bently, 'Brick' Pomeroy, the mis- cellaneous youth, Ayres-not quite so noisy, not quite so blatant, and probably not quite so earnest, but pledged to it as much as they."
This screed bears very much the ear-marks of Seward Smith, who wielded a pen with a sharp, caustic point, a shrewd, astute political manipulator rarely equaled. It was not Palmer's style. Smith was the candidate for City Solicitor against Bently, who
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subsequently defended the convicted murderer, Howard, hung at a lamp post by vigilantes, and who fled the city on being informed the vigilantes were seeking him. He never came back.
The Colonel came out of the fray with a seat in the Mayor's chair, but the remainder of the ticket was carried by the Repub- licans. That was the last time the Colonel could be inveigled into political office seeking.
When, in 1871, the Ulm & Coskrey Bank and the Citizens Bank were merged, and the Citizens National Bank was organized, the Colonel was elected one of the Directors, and served several years.
In 1860, the Legislature, to promote immigration to the state, provided for the establishment of an agency in New York, but with very unsatisfactory results, and, in 1872, it was discontinued, a Board of Immigration substituted, with headquarters here, and Governor Merrill, a Republican, appointed the Colonel a member of the board. Pamphlets entitled, "Iowa, the Home for Immi- grants," were printed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish and Norwegian languages, setting forth the advantages of the state for the farmer and business man, and sent broadcast over Europe, resulting in an immense gain to our population. The board was abolished in 1876.
In 1872, with Captain F. R. West, George A. Jewett and Wes- ley Redhead, he organized the Des Moines Scale Company, to manufacture scales, windmills and butter makers. He was the Vice-President. In 1874, the business passed to Dickinson, Berry & Sargent. This last company did not exist long. It was not equipped to compete with the big Howe and Fairbanks companies. Sargent was an inventive genius, and very poor. He carried around in his pocket a small model of a railroad brake shoe he had invented, which he was satisfied was a good thing. To get it into use was the problem. He had no money. Another impediment was, a mechanic for the Union Pacific road had a patent for a brake shoe, the wear- ing surface of which was chilled iron, which, when pressed against the chilled iron of the car wheel, had no grip, and proved imprac- ticable. Sargent's shoe was precisely like it, except that when molding it he put in old wrought iron nuts and pieces of scrap wrought iron. These being softer than the chilled iron, would
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grip the car wheel. But the shoe was valueless to him so long as the patent on the other shoe existed, even though that shoe was of no value. In some way, Sargent got possession of all the rights of the other shoe, went to Chicago, where it was quickly approved by practical men. It is now in use on nearly every railroad in this country and Europe, and Sargent is many times a millionaire.
In 1873, Governor Samuel Merrill, Judge Casady, Lieutenant- Governor Gue, ex-State Auditor Elliott, and the Colonel incorpor- ated the State Printing Company. The Colonel was elected Presi- dent. Its business was to furnish "insides" for country news- papers, and the purchase and sale of printers' supplies. In 1876, the name was changed to Iowa Printing Company, and in 1880 to Western Newspaper Union, which it is to-day.
In 1871, A. J. Jack laid out the town of Commerce, about eight miles west, and built a flour mill and dam across 'Coon River. Soon after, Spofford, who, in his young days, was the "mill boy" in one of his father's mills, and being only president, vice-president, director, secretary, or treasurer in a dozen corporations, concluded to add this flour mill as a reminder of his early training, and pur- chased it. In 1874, he put in his last "grist," and sold the mill to A. J. Delano.
The Colonel was greatly interested in agricultural Fairs. In the old days, before the wheels were removed from the State Fair, which itinerated over the state, the County Fair was his special hobby. He admired a good horse. He was a superb horseman- not the fast variety-and usually had a few fine steppers. While he did not "follow the races," there were few horses that could eat hay from the rear end of his wagon when on the road. He was a great favorite with the young women, and nothing gave him more pleasure than to fill his big four-seated carriage with them on pleasant days and give them a ride about the city. If the days were long enough, all had a chance, filling the air with the bubbling-over of their merriment and happiness. In Winter, it would be a big sleigh or a broad hay rack on runners. Sometimes it would be an evening skylarking surprise to "Uncle Jimmy" Jordan or the Flynns. A turn-out with the Colonel was an event coveted and enjoyed by many matrons now living. At big civic functions and parades, the Colonel was the Chief Marshal.
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Though politically a Democrat, Republican Governors many times appointed him to places of trust, without pecuniary profit, yet he was ever ready to give his time and service to benefit the community. He was often a good reliance in emergencies, when individual effort was more potent than money.
He went to rest in Woodland, in 1885, but the spot is lost to the searcher, as the inscriptions on the monument erected to his memory have become obliterated.
July Thirty-first, 1904.
THE
0 1.
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WESLEY REDHEAD
WESLEY REDHEAD
A MONG the early hustlers and epoch-makers of Polk County and Des Moines, was Wesley Redhead, for forty years known by every man, woman and child in the community.
Born in Cumberland County, England, July Twenty-second, 1825, when but four years old he came over the sea with his par- ents to Montreal, Canada. His parents died in 1831, and he then went to live with an uncle in Cincinnati, where he was apprenticed to learn the printing business, and, being the youngest in the office, was the "printer's devil," and one of the first newsboys of that city.
After a time, his uncle, thinking his environments were bad, sent him to Fairfield, Vermont, where his eldest brother was engaged in cabinet making. Three weeks were required for the journey. After a month's trial at cabinet making, Wesley con- cluded he could do better. He left Fairfield between two days, without a "ticket of leave," and walked most of the way to White- hall, New York, where he got a job as driver on the Erie Canal. When the canal froze up, he went to a farm, where he worked two years, receiving therefor his board, clothes, and three months' schooling each year.
In 1842, he concluded farming was not for him, and went to Saratoga Springs, where, for two seasons, he served the visitors at Congress Springs as a "dipper" of the aqueous fluid, when another predatory fit seized him, and he shipped on a Mississippi River steamboat as cabin-boy. On the way up, at Muscatine, in September, 1844, he deserted the ship, and went to Iowa City, where a brother resided. There he secured employment in the office of the Iowa Capital Reporter, at three dollars a week, his stunt being the "devil's" work, and setting one column of type a day for the paper. Playing the "devil" for one year was enough for him, and, in 1845, he went to Anamosa, where he got employ- ment to run a carding machine in a woolen factory, but soon after
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his health became impaired, and he returned to Iowa City and apprenticed himself for three years to learn the tailoring trade. On the expiration of the term, he worked as a "jour." until 1851, when he came to Fort Des Moines and opened a tailor shop on Second Street, then the center of trade and fashion. Judge Casady, Bar- low Granger, Hoyt Sherman, "Dan" Finch, and others of the old boys, say he made good clothes-better than we get nowadays.
In 1852, he was ready for another change, to suit his versatile genius, and he took a clerkship in the general merchandise store of J. M. Griffiths, on Second Street, at twenty dollars a month.
He was a good mixer, jolly, and, though a Democrat, in 1853 he was appointed postmaster by President Fillmore, to succeed Hoyt Sherman, who had resigned. He retained the office in the building erected by Sherman at Second and Vine streets, put in a small stock of books and stationery, and remained there until the Sherman Block was completed at Third Street and Court Avenue.
In 1855, he opened an agency of the Ætna Fire Insurance Com- pany, of Hartford, and issued the first policy of insurance on prop- erty in the town.
That was the year of the contest between the East and West Side for the location of the State House. Wesley was a West Sider, and subscribed one thousand dollars to the "war fund."
In 1856, at the May term of court, he was admitted to the bar as an attorney, not with the purpose of practicing the profession, but as an aid in business affairs. That was the last term of the unique McFarland on the bench. During the term, the second appli- cation for a divorce in Polk County was made, the only one at that term. I think the case was Mitchell vs. Mitchell. A Mrs. Dailey had married one Mitchell, who, not long after, joined the gold-seeking caravan for California, and forgot to come back. The plaintiff set forth in her petition her various grievances, especially that of desertion. Judge Mckay, who had been the judge of the court one term, was the attorney for the grass widow. He pre- sented her case in an able and convincing argument. The court at once took it under consideration, and happened to be in fair condi- tion. McKay was standing near, waiting the decision. McFar- land, looking up, said :
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"Here, Judge, take your decree. Call her Mrs. Dailey here- after, and put her against the first chance she gets."
On another occasion, in Marshall County, a divorce case was up in which belligerency on one side was set forth in the petition. The Judge was "half seas over." The first witness called was asked if he knew the parties to the suit. He replied: "Oh, not much. They are always fighting and fuddling around."
The Judge aroused himself from his bibulous stupor and mut- tered : "Fud-ling-round and a-r-o-u-n-d; next case."
The Judge was an athlete of prodigious strength, which he never used except as occasion required, but he enjoyed seeing others indulge in athletic sport. He was holding court one hot day in a schoolhouse in Newton. The windows and doors were all open, and "Dan" Finch was addressing the jury, when a man in the crowd outside, in a loud voice, boasted that he could throw any man in Jasper County, at a side-hold. The Judge tapped on his desk, and said he would take a recess for a few minutes. Going outside, he asked for the man who had made the boast. A large man named Sparks replied that he was the man. The Judge ordered a ring made, and requested "Dan," who had some reputa- tion as a wrestler, to try him, which he did, and put him three times squarely on his back, whereat the fellow got mad, and, getting on his feet, seized a big club and hurled it at "Dan," barely missing his head. The Judge grabbed the fellow with one hand by the throat, and shook him up lively, remarking that if he touched "Dan" he would wipe the ground with him, adding: "'Dan' does the wrestling on this circuit, but I do the fighting." That ended the scene, and the court resumed its session.
In 1857, Redhead removed the Post Office to Sherman Block, which had just been completed, and put in a large stock of books and stationery ; made a specialty of school books, and controlled the trade of the city for many years.
In the early Sixties, he began to widen the scope of his business. Coal and cattle presented strong inducements to him. The presence of coal in and around the town was well known. Doctor Brooks and W. A. Scott burrowed into the bluff southeast of the Capitol, and got coal for the garrison blacksmiths in 1843-4. Later on,
VOL. I-(8).
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factories and mills were supplied with it. In 1856, a factory where the German Church stands, at West Second and Center streets, burrowed direct from the engine-room and got coal to heat its boilers. It was also dug up from the bed of the Des Moines River near Rattlesnake Bend. The veins were thin, and the quality not good.
In 1864, Redhead organized a company and began mining coal in a systematic way, with varied success.
In 1865, he, with William T. Vincent, an old Welsh coal miner, B. F. Allen, M. Starr, William Phillips, Hoyt Sherman, John Teesdale, James W. Davis, L. W. Dennis, Frank Butler, and E. Sandford, organized the Des Moines Coal Company, and coal min- ing was begun in a more extensive manner. The digging was done on the old Peet farm, on the bottoms in the north part of the city, along Des Moines River, under the foremanship of John Gibson, a Derbyshire, England, miner. The coal was in "pockets," so-called, near the surface, which were soon cleaned out, requiring frequent removals and changes of location. They burrowed all over the farm until the supply was exhausted, so as to render further dig- ging unprofitable
In 1867, when the Equitable Life Insurance Company was organized, Redhead was elected Vice-President. He was one of the organizers of the People's Savings Bank, and one of its Directors.
In 1866, Redhead was elected to represent the county in the Lower House of the Twenty-first General Assembly. He was made a member of the standing committees on Banks and Banking, Schools, Agriculture, Police Regulations, Fish and Game, Board of Public Charities, and Library, of the latter being its chairman.
He started in early and energetically to regulate things, and was the author of numerous bills, the most notable of which was one prohibiting the issuance of a marriage license by the Clerk of the District Court, unless the parties gave him satisfactory assurance that they would be able to support themselves and their progeny. S. M. Weaver, the member from Hardin, now one of the judges of the Supreme Court, with the irony of fate, but facetiously, moved its reference to the Committee on Retrenchment and Reform. There it went, and Wesley, during the remainder
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of the session, was left to ruminate on tricks of legislation. It never came back to the House.
At the same election, he was elected a member of the Board of County Supervisors, to represent Des Moines Township. At the January meeting, following, of the Board, it was found that the township had acquired a population of four thousand, and was entitled to another supervisor, and Redhead was elected.
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