USA > Iowa > Marion County > Pella > Souvenir history of Pella, Iowa : contains a concise story of the founding and life of Pella, Iowa > Part 7
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At this time Rev. Edward O. Towne presented the name of Dr. Emmanuel H. Scarff to the college board as a man suitable for the position of principal of the new school. Dr. Scarff held the pastorate in the Baptist Church at Delphi, Ind. Being afflicted with a type of malaria, quite prevalent in the pioneer days, he found it necessary to seek a change of climate. The board elected Dr. Scarff to the position and it soon became evident that no better choice could have been made. Dr. Scarff has been described by one who knew him intimately, as "a character shining with Christian graces."
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ONE OF THE EARLY UNIVERSITIES IN IOWA
He arrived in Pella September 15, 1854, prepared to open school immediately, but on arriving here he found, to his disappointment, that no rooms had been engaged and that the furniture for the school was still growing in the virgin forests surrounding Pella. Dr. Scarff and the board at once went to work. Rooms were secured, trees cut down and hauled to the mill, and carpenters were soon engaged in fashioning seats and desks. In the short space of four weeks so much was accomplished that the school was opened with about forty scholars. Caleb Caldwell and Miss Julia Tolman assisted Dr. Scarff as teachers.
In the autumn of 1856 the east end of the third floor of the new college build- ing was so far completed as to permit the moving of the school there. At this time Dr. Scarff was principal of the college and pastor of the Baptist Church. In 1857 he resigned his place as principal that he might devote his entire time to the work of the ministry. Professor Currier was engaged to take the vacant place. At the general board meeting he was given the chair of Latin. At the same meet- ing Rev. Joseph K. Hornish settled upon the college an endowment of ten thou- sand dollars, with the provision that Rev. Elihu H. Gunn be first called to the presidency of the college. But the great panic of 1857 swept over the country, making it impossible to realize on the promised capital. The result was that the new president of the college soon found himself without a salary. In 1858 Dr. Scarff resigned his pastorate and Dr. Gunn took charge of the church, while Dr. Scarff resumed his duties in the school in 1859. Mrs. Stoddard was then at the head of the Ladies' Department.
The new school now began to experience very hard times. Farm products had to be hauled to the Mississippi river, and merchandise brought back on the return trip. Almost the only money in circulation at that time was of the "wild- cat" variety, and its value sometimes failed to exceed that of the paper on which it was printed. The best pork was worth in Pella one dollar and a quarter per hundred; wheat was twenty-five and corn ten cents a bushel; the best butter five cents a pound, and eggs two cents a dozen. Schools sustained by tuition fees alone, of course had to suffer in this state of affairs; but although it was a bitter struggle, the little college bravely held its own, and gathered in new pupils each term. A few years later, when the civil war broke out, the new institution of learning again almost went to pieces. But this time it was patriotism and not lack of funds. It will remain a matter of deep pride as long as one friend or one member of Central's alumni lives, that in the hour of our nation's peril, the entire body of male students (122) enlisted. Dr. Currier as head of Central set the example by leaving the peace of the schoolroom for the strife of the battle- field.
FIRST BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The first board of trustees, elected when the school was established in 1853, consisted of the following men :
Rev. John Bates
Rev. Wm. H. Turton
Rev. O. Sperry
G. S. Hampston
Rev. I. C. Ward
B. Goff
Dea. Luce
Ira Kelsey
B. Putman, M. D.
Rev. E. O. Towne
E. Metcalf, M. D.
Rev. Wm. Elliott
C. W. Brand
Rev. D. Jewett
C. Craven
Dea. W. Nossaman
Dea. H. A. Ritner
W. Coop
S. C. Conrey
Rev. H. P. Scholte
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF PELLA, IOWA
Rev. J. Currier
O. Stannard
Rev. W. J. Parkhurst
J. M. Witherwat
Rev. B. B. Arnold
J. Smeenk
Rev. I. C. Curtis
B. F. Miller
Dea. L. Ayers
D. J. Guthridge
FIRST EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Rev. H. P. Scholte, President Dea. W. H. Nossaman, Viee President Rev. I. C. Curtis, Seeretary I. C. Conrey Ira Kelsey B. F. Miller
The first graduates of Central University were as follows: THE CLASS OF 1861
Lieutenant Colonel J. A. P. Hampson Alonzo J. Keables Herman F. Bousquet
THE CLASS OF 1862 Mrs. Fannie B. Cutler George A. Jewett
THE CLASS OF 1863 Mrs. Aristine Wells Aleot Mrs. Mattie Morgan PasKal
The further history of Central College and of the men and women who labored and sacrificed to sustain the school, will be given in succeeding chapters.
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Old Gymnasium destroyed by fire, 1917
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ONE OF THE EARLY UNIVERSITIES IN IOWA
Central University in 1857
Photo
Old Central after the destruction of the cupola and bell
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF PELLA, IOWA
DR. JOHN GILSON HOWELL
Was born in Clark county, Ohio, May 11, 1808. On October 14th he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Ann Henkle, who departed this life February 23, 1854. He was a graduate of the Electic Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio, with the class of 1852. In 1855 he moved from his eastern home and lo- cated in Pella, where he remained until the time of his death. He was united in marriage to Margaret Stout Goudie of near Brookville, Ind., on March 2, 1856. She departed this life on December 9, 1892. Dr. Howell remained at the old homestead on Main street until the Great Physician called him home, on March 28, 1902. He was a true and self-sacri- ficing friend of Central University and did much for the school in its days of hardest struggle. His home was always open to the students and there are many living today who remember pleasant times spent there in their student days, and who found in Dr. Howell a true friend and a wise coun- sellor. There are two daughters still living: Mrs. Anna Howell Clarkson of Newark, N. J., and Mrs. John Howell Stuart, of Monon, Ind.
DR. JOHN GILSON HOWELL
GEORGE A. JEWETT
GEORGE A. JEWETT
Born at Red Rock, Marion county, lowa, Sep- tember 9, 1847, Mr. Jewett's parents and grandpar- ents arrived in Henry county, lowa, from Lake county, Ohio, in 1833, and in 1843 his parents moved to Marion county and located on Lake Prairie and this family was one of those who sold their interests and moved to Red Rock, west of this place about ten miles. He was born at this place in 1847. In 1857 his parents brought him to Pella, where he entered Central College, from which in- stitution he received his education. When he ma- tured into manhood he moved to Des Moines, where he engaged in the lumber business and has been wonderfully successful. During the meeting of the Synod of the Reformed Churches of America held in Pella in June of this year, the degree of B. A. was conferred upon him. He lives in Des Moines and is still in the lumber business.
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ONE OF THE EARLY UNIVERSITIES IN IOWA
REV. JOHN STUART, M. A., B. D., M. D., Ph. D. LL. D.
Was born in the North of Ireland, of Scotch parents. He received his pre- paratory training from Toronto University, in the Collegiate Institute, Guelph, Ontario, and in Woodstock College, Ontario. He entered Toronto University as an honor man in Greek and Latin and was graduated as prize man in Hebrew, Chaldee and Syrian. He then took the theologieal course in the Toronto Baptist College, receiving the B. D. degree therefrom. This was followed by the Ph. D. course. In 1889 Dr. Stuart came to Pella to take the pastorate of the Baptist Church and a chair in the college. In 1890 he was made aeting president. In June, 1891, when the board met, he was elected president of "Old Central." For five years he pushed the work of the college steadily. The student body became the largest in its history, the old college building was repaired, Cotton Hall en- larged and the foundation of the Y. M. C. A. building was built, and then on ae- count of overwork he was compelled to resign his position as president and later removed to Monon, Ind., where he, with his splendid wife, Mary Howell Stuart, are living today in comfort and pleasure.
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF PELLA, IOWA
MRS. 1 J. STODDARD
Who taught in Central when it was a real sacrifice. She was one of those who sustained Central in its darkest hours and helped to grow and prosper in its infancy.
From The Pella Booster, Wed- nesday, Nov. 15, 1916.
DEATH OF I. J. STODDARD, D. D.
Former Citizen Passes Away at Home of Daughter at Plainfield, N. J.
Rev. Coulston of this city re- ceived word Tuesday morning that I. J. Stoddard, D. D., had passed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Bertha Whitney, at Plainfield, N. J., that morning at the ripe old age of 96 years. The news of this grand old man's death will be received with much re- gret by many of our citizens, as he played a prominent part in the life of Central College during its existence.
The deceased and his help- mate, who preceded him to the great beyond, had spent a number of years as mission- aries in India, and after years of labor they returned to America and settled in Pella.
Their lives in this com- munity were spent in the up- building of Central University and the community. It has only been a few years since they left for the East, where they lived with their children.
The body will be sent to this city for burial. The funeral services will be conducted from the Baptist church. The announcements of dates will be made later as well as a biography of his life.
The Development of Journalism in Pella
For several years after the arrival of the colonists no newspaper was pub- lished in Marion county, but in the latter part of 1854 Rev. H. P. Scholte and Edwin H. Grant started the first newspaper in Marion county.
This was but one of the many evidences of the public spirit and enterprise of Dr. Scholte, who, up to the day of his death, did not cease in his efforts to advance the well being of the community he had founded.
Not only was it necessary to purchase a press and other equipment, all of which had to be hauled by wagon from Keokuk, but first a suitable building had to be erected. This was done in the winter of 1854-55, when a two-story frame building was constructed on the corner of Main and Washington streets. The same building was known to succeeding generations as the Pella National Bank building. In the month of February the first issue of "The Pella Gazette" was published.
PELLA GAZETTE
Vol. 1. Independent No. 1
H. P. Scholte and E. H. Grant, Proprietors
Feb. 1, 1855.
The above is the heading of the first newspaper published in Pella and in Marion county, and what is more, the farthest west of any paper between here and the Missouri river.
ITEMS TAKEN FROM THE PELLA GAZETTE FILES OF 1857 PROCEEDINGS OF THE RAILROAD MEETING
Pursuant to the notice in last week's Gazette, a number of citizens of this place met at the district school house on Monday night last. Mr. W. J. Ellis hav- ing called the meeting to order, Dr. B. F. Keables was appointed chairman, and Mr. J. Nollen secretary. Mr. H. P. Scholte thereupon stated that the object of the meeting was to appoint delegates to the railroad meeting to be held at Knox- ville on Thursday, April 30, 1857, and to instruct said delegates as to the line of conduct to be pursued by them.
The motion, that the number of delegates from this place to the Knoxville meeting be five, having been adopted, the following named gentlemen were ap- pointed by a unanimous vote: Rev. H. P. Scholte, Dr. B. F. Keables, P. Baren- dregt, Rev. I. C. Curtis, and C. D. Caldwell.
It was then resolved that the delegates be instructed to concur in petitioning our county judge to have a vote taken on the question of voting a county sub- scription to aid in extending the Muscatine and Oskaloosa and the Keokuk & Demoine Railroad, provided said subscriptions be equally divided between said roads, and the condition be made that both roads are to run through Marion county-and further, that the delegates report the result of their negotiations in a meeting to be held in this place, at the district school house, on Monday next, the 4th of May, at 7 o'clock p. m.
On motion the meeting was then adjourned.
B. F. Keables, Ch'n.
J. Nollen, Sec'y.
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THE INDIAN WAR
J. M. Walker, Esq., writes to us from DeMoine as follows:
There is great excitement here in relation to the reported Indian hostilities at Ft. Dodge, and the upper country generally. Some three companies have been raised here today to go to the seat of the war.
"Numerous families have left their homes near Ft. Dodge, and came to this place, for fear of being murdered. Judge McFarland at the head of sixty men marched from Boonsboro for Ft. Dodge on Saturday, and it is said that the whole upper country is up in arms."
A number of ladies have adopted the fashion of having their hair cut short like the men.
The postmaster general has introduced the English method of perforating the line between the postage stamps, so they may be torn apart without scissors. They have a further advantage in the circumstance that the rough edge thus pro- duced makes them adhere much more readily to the back of a letter.
STARTLING RUMOR .- It was reported here yesterday that about forty white settlers were killed by the Indians in the northwestern part of this state, fifty miles above Ft. Dodge. The cause was said to be the refusal of the settlers to furnish the Indians with victuals.
MARRIED
On the 26th day of March, 1857, by E. F. Grafe, Esq., Leendert Van der Sluis and Miss Neeltje Versteeg.
On the 28th of April, by the same, Gerrit Van Horsen and Miss Adriana Maria Hasselman.
On the 30th day of April, 1857, by the same, N. B. Hendricks and Miss Sarah E. Riley.
Married by Henry P. Scholte, on the 24th of March, 1857, Mr. Cornelius van Rheenen and Miss Maria Buitendijk, both of Pella.
On the 1st of April by Ernest F. Grafe, Gerrit Kraay and Teuntje Schippers. On the 2d of April, by the same, Dirk van Os and Cornelia Versteeg.
On the 3d of April by Henry P. Scholte, at Pella, Mr. Cornelius Den Boer and Miss Aaltje den Boest. Both of Pella.
NEW BREWERY
Our townsman, Mr. Boterman, late from Keokuk, is putting up a capital two- story brick house on the corner of Franklin street and Experience avenue, in which he proposes to commence a brewery. Many of our citizens wish success to the enterprise, in the prospect of soon being enabled to obtain good beer at a moderate price.
Almost a Fire .- The college building came very near burning down on Friday last. The fire from a stove communicated itself to the shavings in the work- room. There was a considerable quantity of shavings in the room, and in an instant the whole mass was in a blaze, rendering the danger, for a moment, very imminent. The men who were at work in the building, timely discovered the fire and succeeded in putting it out before any considerable damage had been done. The destruction by fire of this building, which is now nearly completed, would have been a serious loss to this town.
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF JOURNALISM IN PELLA
MARRIED
On Saturday, the fourth day of July, 1857, Mr. Thomas Houck and Miss Eliza- beth Cox, both of this place, were married by Dr. J. V. A. Woods.
FROM THE PELLA GAZETTE OF JULY 2, 1857
THE FOURTH OF JULY
The eighty-first anniversary of our national independence will be celebrated in the city of Pella in the following manner:
The day will be ushered in by a grand national salute and the ringing of bells.
The procession under the direction of Will Drumhiller, marshal, assisted by John S. Baker, J. L. Wisner, G. R. Ledyard, P. H. Bousquet and O. H. Parrish, city marshal, will form at precisely 9 o'clock, in front of the Gazette office, on Washington street, in the following order:
1. Pella Brass Band.
2. Orator and officers of the day.
3. Deputation representing the states.
4. Clergy.
5. Mayor and city officers.
6. Revolutionary soldiers and soldiers of 1812.
7. Associations.
8. Citizens and strangers.
The procession being formed will march to the ground prepared for the ora- tion-in a fine grove just north of the city-when the following exercises will take place:
1. Music by the band.
2. Firing a salute.
3. Prayer by the chaplain, Rev. F. H. Scarff, A. M.
4. Music by the band.
5. Reading Declaration of Independence by Dr. A. V. Baldwin.
6. Orations by Rev. I. C. Curtis and Rev. H. P. Scholte.
7. Salutes.
8. Music by the band.
9. Benediction.
The procession will then reform under charge of the marshal and assistants, and march to the grove adjacent to Mr. Scholte's garden, where tables will be spread with a bountiful repast, and appropriate toasts will be given.
Two eloquent speeches delivered on the fourth day of July, 1857, by Rev. I. C. Curtis and Rev. H. P. Scholte, the one a pioneer American, the other a Hol- lander who had emigrated to America ten years before. We publish these speechcs because they show how decply our pionecr fathers were imbued with . the fundamental principles of liberty and justice, on which the American gov- ernment was founded.
SPEECH OF REV. I. C. CURTIS
Fellow Citizens :- If the emperor of China was suddenly ushered into this vast concourse, surrounded by a retinue of the nobility, and clad in the habili- ments of royalty peculiar to an eastern clime, he might well ask, "What means this coming together? Why has this vast multitude of every age and condition
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SOUVENIR HISTORY OF PELLA, IOWA
assembled? Who summoned yonder aged sire, and who invited that dignified matron? Wherefore come these intelligent and stalwart young inen, and these delicate and accomplished young ladies? And here we see even the "wee ones," who might be more comfortable in the nursery. And I hear the sound of sweet music and the sound of loud cannon. I see, too, the display of banners and flags, some with plain, and some with deciphered inscriptions and devices. And yon- der I behold the substantials and the delicacies, prepared in sumptuous profu- sion. But what is most attractive, and least within the range of my comprehen- sion, is that splendidly decorated circle of thirty-one accomplished beauties, so tastefully adorned with seemingly appropriate badges! That little boy, whose heart now big with patriotism is ready to laugh the eastern potentate to scorn, could unravel the mystery, and relieve the mind of the royal visitor. Methinks I almost hear him say, with childlike simplicity and eagerness, "Permit me to inform your royal highness that this is the Fourth of July-our national sabbath -the birthday of a nation's freedom-the day on which our ancestors, eighty- one years ago, resolved that they and their posterity would forever be kings and queens of equal dignity."
And now allow us to discourse to you, of the source to which they looked, the principles which they adopted, and the spirit by which they were animated in accomplishing their purpose. Their wisdom is attested by their success; their success, by a nation's dignity. The Declaration just read reveals the fact that our fathers, with an unwavering and confiding faith, looked to the superintendence of an overruling Providence, as taught in the Bible. The principle adopted by them was entire disenthrallment of religious thought and action, perfect and un- restrained freedom of conscience in matters of religious concernment, untram- meled by political alliances, and uncontrolled by legislative enactments-other- wise called the "Republicanism of the Bible." The spirit with which they were animated grew from necessity out of the circumstances by which they were sur- rounded, and that spirit was one of union, equality and harmony, be they ever so many, or few; and hence the adoption of the motto of the United States, "E Pluribus Unum." It was to the recognition of these three great truths, practically illustrated in their lives, that their success, and our freedom and happiness this day, is attributable; it is upon the theoretical and practical recognition and exem- plification of these truthis by us and our posterity, that the prosperity of our free institutions, the glory of our nation, and the hope of the world for political free- dom and religious toleration depends. Hence, the reason is obvious for the abor- tive efforts of the nations of Europe. They, dazzled by the splendor of our achievements, thirsting for liberty, and intoxicated with the anticipated benefits resulting from the establishment of republican forms of government, rush into revolution and are forced to retire from the battlefield, or fall amid the gleaming of steel and the thunderings of the deep-toned and death-dealing artillery, dis- graced, disappointed and destroyed. Is it not true, ye Hollanders by birth, but welcome, thrice welcome, citizens of this great republic by adoption, that though your ancestors waged a successful warfare against proud Spain, that at the very zenith of her glory, so soon as they abandoned these great truths, the great Na- poleon was made the instrument in the hands of divine providence, of their sub- jection, and they now groan under the influence of a monarchial government united with a heretical church. While you, in this, your adopted country, "the home of the brave and the land of the free," bathe in the laver of genuine repub- licanism, inhale the gentle zephyrs of pure and undefiled religion unrestrained, and drink from the fountain of pure and unadulterated political equality.
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF JOURNALISM IN PELLA
Where is France? Some of her sons and daughters are here, participating in the enjoyment of this festive occasion, recognized as, and doubtless feeling like, Americans. But alas! for that great nation-her abandonment of the doc- trine of a superintending Providence, and the substitution of an atheistical dogma, that "death is an eternal sleep," resulted in the "reign of terror"-from which but partially recovered, she with frenzied pertinacity avowed the indissolubility of the church and state, and the inequality of man, and hence, though oceans of blood have been shed, and millions upon millions of treasure expended for lib- erty, France, polite, proud, noble France is yet enslaved! Once more, the bird of liberty, perched upon the standard of American independence, has long been looking with an eagle eye to the disenthrallment of the northern half of this continent; but as yet, the descendants of Spain in the south, and of England and France in the north, fail to appreciate the lesson of history, and realize the secret of our national success.
But, shall we inquire, for the support of our theory, after the opinions and practices of our own statesmen and patriots? Washington prays before he enters the battlefield. Roger Williams proclaims the perpetual divorce of the church from the state. And Jefferson acquires imperishable renown by declaring all to be free and equal. The framers of the constitution of the United States, the palladium of our liberty, six of whom were members of the Continental Congress which adopted the Declaration of Independence, declare "that the people of the United States ordain and establish this constitution, in order (among other things) to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, pro- mote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity"-whose posterity we are. But go with me to Mt. Vernon; go to the beloved spot honored with the privilege of holding the remains of the father of our country, who, being dead, yet speaketh in accents of paternal regard; and while you linger around that hallowed tomb, hear him whisper into your ear, "The unity of government which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you." It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independ- ence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth-as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of external and internal enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should estimate properly the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness-that you should cherish a cordial, habitual and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and to speak of it as the palladium of your political safety and prosperity, watching for its safety with a jealous anxiety, discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning on the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties that link the various parts. Again, in this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. Go to the Hermitage and lingering around the remains of the "Old Roman," hear him de- clare that "The lessons contained in this invaluable legacy of Washington to his
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