USA > Iowa > Lee County > Story of Lee County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 15
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Electric lights were introduced into Keokuk by the Badger Elec- tric Company, which was incorporated on March 2, 1885, by S. S. Badger, of Chicago, A. J. McCrary and Charles J. Smith, of Keo- kuk. A plant was established on Third Street, between Johnson and Exchange, with a capacity of sixty arc lights of 2,000 candle power each, most of which were installed for street lighting, though a few were placed in stores, etc. After about seven years the holdings of the company were transferred to the Fort Wayne Electric Company, of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In the meantime a small incandescent plant had been established by J. C. Hubinger for his personal benefit. Being unable to secure gas from the gas company for lighting his residence, he drilled an artesian well and utilized the water to operate a small electric gen- erator, sufficient to furnish incandescent lights for his house. Some of his neighbors were afterward placed on the circuit and the plant was enlarged. After the Fort Wayne company took over the Bad-
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ger interests, the old Thompson-Houston equipment was replaced by Wood machines and other improvements were made, after which the entire plant was sold to Mr. Hubinger. Both the gas works and the electric light plant are now controlled by the Stone & Webster Syndi- cate, which also operates the power plant at the big Keokuk dam.
STREET RAILWAY
The Keokuk Street Railway Company was organized early in the year 1882, with James H. Anderson as president, practically all the stock being held by local capitalists. Work was immediately commenced on two lines. The first began at the corner of Main and Fourteenth streets, thence east on Main to Fifth Street, and down Fifth to B Street in Reid's addition. The other line started at the railroad station, thence via Main to Sixth Street, on Sixth Street to Morgan, on Morgan to Eleventh, on Eleventh to Seymour, and on Seymour to Rand Park. Subsequently a line was built on Fourteenth Street from Rand Park to Main Street, so as to form a loop.
Mules and horses furnished the motive power until 1892, when the local company sold out to the Hubbell Syndicate, of Des Moines, which converted the plant into an electric railway system. The Main Street line was extended west to Nineteenth Street, on which car barns were built, and a little later the line on Nineteenth Street was extended to Oakland Cemetery. The Des Moines company sold out to J. C. Hubinger and others, and for a time it was operated in con- nection with the electric light plant. After one or two other changes in ownership the railway passed into the hands of the Stone & Web- ster Syndicate, which has put on new cars and otherwise greatly im- proved the service.
THE POSTOFFICE
The first person to act as postmaster at Keokuk was John Gaines, though he was never regularly appointed. The first mails were car- ried by Robert McBride from St. Francisville, Missouri, on horse- back, or from Warsaw, Illinois, in a skiff, and Mr. Gaines under- took the work of distributing letters and other mail matter to the proper persons.
On June 24, 1841, L. B. Fleak was appointed postmaster and held the position for about three years. In speaking some years afterward of his experiences as postmaster, Mr. Fleak said :
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"The postoffice was first kept in the Keokuk House. When I rented out the hotel in 1843, I moved the office to the corner of First and Johnson streets, and afterward to a building midway between First Street and the levee on Johnson Street. During the time I kept it at the latter place, my store was robbed, but the mail matter was not molested. There was $22,000 belonging to the United States lying in an old pine desk in the store room when the robbery took place. It had been handed to me by Major Stewart, army paymaster, for safekeeping and I had gone home and forgotten it. When we caught the burglar, I asked him why he did not open the desk and take the money. He said he did lift the cover, but thought no one would be fool enough to leave money in such a place."
When Mr. Fleak resigned, in the summer of 1844, W. S. Mc- Gavic and J. C. Ainsworth were applicants for the place, but through the influence of Henry J. Campbell and others the appointment went to Adam Hine, a river man, who was hardly ever at Keokuk. He appointed John B. Russell his deputy and some years later Mr. Hine said that all he knew about being postmaster was that he was called upon to make good a shortage of several hundred dollars, when his successor took possession of the office and checked up the business. This shortage was attributed solely to careless methods of keeping accounts.
On March 16, 1887, ground was broken for the present postoffice building at the corner of Seventh and Blondeau streets and about two years later the new building was opened to the public. It is a sub- stantial structure of stone and brick, two stories high, the main floor being devoted to the handling and distribution of mails and the second story to the United States Court. In the tower is a clock which marks the time and strikes the hours. In 1914 the Keokuk postoffice em- ployed, besides the postmaster and assistant postmaster, fourteen city carriers, three substitute carriers, two rural carriers, twelve clerks and three janitors. The annual receipts of the office, in round num- bers, amount to $83,000.
INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION
On January 22, 1906, the Keokuk Commercial Club was organ- ized "for the purpose of fostering the splendid industries now flour- ishing and to encourage additional manufacturing enterprises that may wish to locate in the city."
In January, 1911, the club was succeeded by the Keokuk Indus- trial Association, with C. R. Joy as president and A. D. Ayres as
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St. Joseph's Hospital. Federal Court House and Post Office.
Keokuk Publie Library.
VIEWS OF KEOKUK
High School and United Presbyterian Church. Y. M. C. A. Building.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
secretary. Soon after the association was organized, it inaugurated a "clean up" campaign, under the auspices of the committee on parks, playgrounds and general improvements. Later in the year, through the advertising agency of N. W. Ayer & Son, of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, the association expended about eleven thousand dollars in advertising the advantages of the city in some of the leading maga- zines of the country. In the spring of 1912, John Nolen, an experi- enced landscape architect of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was em- ployed by the association to present plans for the beautification of the city. His work was completed in the fall of 1913 and his plans have been adopted by the mayor and city commissioners.
Another publicity campaign was conducted in the summer of 1913, when an especially trained man was engaged to supervise the work of advertising. Articles on Keokuk appeared in newspapers throughout the civilized world, and thousands of window display cards, bearing photographic views of Keokuk and the great power house, were distributed among merchants of the United States, Canada, England, Germany, France, Austria, China and Japan. During the year over one hundred specially prepared articles relating to the power plant were printed in magazines.
Sixty-six acres of land on the extension of Main Street were pur- chased by the association in the summer of 1913 as a location for new factories, the sum of $17,000 being appropriated from the treasury for that purpose. This ground has been platted as an industrial dis- trict. The association has also given considerable attention to the entertainment of conventions; the improvement of the river front; the construction of the boulevard from Keokuk to Montrose; the ad- justment of freight rates between Keokuk and all points east and west, and in the movement to build a new bridge across the Mississippi it has played a conspicuous part.
The officers of the association in 1914 were as follows: C. R. Joy, president; J. A. Kiedaisch, first vice president; C. F. McFar- land, second vice president; J. F. Elder, secretary; Ira W. Wills, treasurer. The board of directors was then composed of the above officers and A. D. Ayres, T. A. Craig, L. A. Hamill, A. Hollings- worth, Stephen Irwin, J. T. McCarthy, C. A. McNamara, L. F. Rollins, Jacob Schouten and G. S. Tucker.
THE RIVER BRIDGE
The Keokuk & Hamilton Mississippi Bridge Company was in- corporated in January, 1866, for the purpose of constructing a rail-
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way and wagon bridge across the Mississippi to connect the two cities. A ferry had been established here in 1850, but the progress of the times made a number of public spirited citizens feel that some more adequate means of communication were necessary. A pre- liminary survey for the bridge was made in the spring of 1867, from which plans were made and submitted to the city authorities of Keokuk, and on May 25, 1868, the mayor approved an ordinance granting the bridge company a right of way across the levee. Final plans and estimates were then prepared by T. C. Curtis, and on De- cember 6, 1868, the contract for the construction of the bridge was let to the Keystone Bridge Company, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for $850,000.
This bridge is 2,192 feet in length and twenty feet wide in the clear. On either side of the railroad track is a passage way for ve- hicles, and on the outside of the superstructure are the sidewalks for foot passengers. At the time the bridge was completed it had the longest draw span on the Mississippi River. On April 19, 1871, the first locomotive crossed over the bridge, drawing two coaches filled with .the officers of the bridge company and invited guests. The building of this bridge secured to Keokuk a large trade from Illinois.
Plans for a new bridge have recently been prepared by Ralph Modjeska and his assistants, to be built upon the abutments of the old bridge. In the new structure there are to be two decks-the upper one for vehicles and pedestrians and the lower for railroad trains. The approach on the Keokuk side will be in the form of a viaduct, which will run out on First Street, between Main and Blondeau, making the new bridge much more easy of access than the old one. This viaduct will be about seven hundred feet in length.
MISCELLANEOUS
On January 24, 1848, the governor approved an act of the Iowa Legislature providing that two terms of the District Court of Lee County should be held annually at Keokuk. By the act of January 8, 1857, a branch of the recorder's office was established at Keokuk, and this was soon followed by branches of the other county offices. In 1859 the county bought the old Medical College building for a courthouse, and since that time all the county business pertaining to the six southern townships has been transacted at Keokuk.
Besides the public utilities mentioned in this chapter, the city has an excellent system of sewers, one large storm sewer beginning at Rand Park and running to the Mississippi, and into this great trunk
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YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, KEOKUK
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sewer lateral sewers discharge their contents. A city ordinance for- bids the throwing of coarse offal of any kind in the sewers, so that the drains are always kept in good working order.
Keokuk has a fine high school building and a number of modern graded school buildings. Several of the schoolhouses were being reconstructed in 1914, which will give the city a complete quota of buildings unsurpassed by any city of its size in the Mississippi Valley. There are also several parochial schools. Churches of all the lead- ing religious denominations have comfortable houses of worship; the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian associations have homes that would be an ornament to any city; the Elks' Club House and the Masonic Temple are pointed to as evidence that the fraternal orders of the city are both prosperous and popular; the well paved streets and cement sidewalks, and the three public parks-Rand Park, Kilbourne Park and the Triangle-all combine to make Keokuk a desirable residence city, as well as a business center.
The business interests of the city are represented by four banks, several large manufacturing plants, a number of well stocked mer- cantile establishments, two daily newspapers, a telephone exchange, good hotels and a number of minor business enterprises.
Keokuk also has a good public library, a history of which will be found elsewhere in these pages, one of the best kept cemeteries in Soul.thustern Iowa, and a large number of handsome residences. The social life of the city is shown by the large number of literary, social and charitable societies and clubs.
In the early days Keokuk was a great shipping and outfitting point for the tide of emigration from the older states to the great West. Among the early warehouse and mercantile firms may be mentioned Chittenden & McGavic, Connable, Smyth & Company, B. B. Hin- man & Company, Foote & Company, Stafford & McCune and J. B. Carson. The establishments of these firms were chiefly along the levee, as the river traffic was then in the zenith of its glory. When boats could ascend the Des Moines River the merchants would use that method for shipping goods to the interior of the state, and when the river was too low to admit of the passage of boats wagons were used. The great amount of trade and emigration that then passed west via this point gave Keokuk the name of the "Gate City," which it has ever since retained. The population in 1910, according to the United States census, was 14,008.
CHAPTER X
TOWNS AND VILLAGES
SPECULATION IN EARLY DAYS-NUMEROUS TOWNS PROJECTED-LIST OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN LEE COUNTY-HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH-PRESENT DAY POSTOFFICES.
Scattered over Lee County are a number of towns and villages, some of which are business centers of considerable importance, while others are merely small railroad stations, neighborhood trading points or postoffices for a given district. In the early days of Lee County's history there seems to have been a sort of mania for laying off towns, the principal object having been the sale of lots to new comers. Hawkins Taylor, one of Lee County's pioneers, in an article published in the Annals of Iowa for October, 1870, says: "Speculation was running high in the spring of 1836, and everybody we met had a town plat. There were then more towns in what is now Lee County than there are now, if a paper plat constituted a town; and every man th ... "had a town had a map of the county marked out to suit his town as a county seat."
Not all the towns referred to by Mr. Taylor could secure the county seat. In spite of that fact, however, some of them have sur- vived, others have disappeared entirely from the map, and it is quite probable that none of them has come up to the hopes and expecta- tions of the founders. From a careful examination of old plat-books, atlases and newspaper files, the following list of towns that are or have been in Lee County has been compiled : Ambrosia, Argyle, Ballinger, Beck, Belfast, Benbow Siding, Big Mound, Bricker, Buena Vista, Bullard, Camargo, Charleston, Connable, Cottonwood, Court- right, Croton, Denmark, Donnellson, Dover, Franklin, Galland, Hinsdale, Houghton, Jeffersonville, Jollyville, Ketchum Switch, La Crew, Leesburgh, Macuta, Melrose, Mertensville, Montrose, Mooar, Mount Clara, Mount Hamill, Nashville, New Boston, Nixon Station, Overton, Pilot Grove, Primrose, Russellville, Saint Paul, Sandusky, Sand Prairie, Sawyer, Shopton, South Augusta, South Franklin, Summit Siding, Summitville, Tuscarora, Viele, Vincennes, Walanva, Warren, Wescott and Wever.
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In this list there are a few instances of two names applying to the same place. For illustration : "Courtright" and "Mount Hamill" refer to same village, the former being used by the founders of the town and the latter by the postoffice department. "Vincennes" and "Sand Prairie" likewise refer to the same place. Galland was formerly known as Nashville, both of which names appear in the list. Many of these towns have no special history, but such facts as the writer could gather concerning them are given below. The figures showing the population are taken from Polk's Iowa Gazetteer for 1914.
AMBROSIA
The old Town of Ambrosia was situated about three miles west of Montrose. In its early days a general store and blacksmith shop were located there, and when Ambrosia Township was erected by the county commissioners in 1841 it was ordered that the first election should be held "at the Town of Ambrosia." After the railroad was constructed up the bank of the Mississippi River, missing the town, the business interests removed elsewhere, the postoffice was discon- tinued, and about all that is left to perpetuate the name is the public school known as the "Ambrosia District."
ARGYLE
The Village of Argyle is situated in Des Moines Township, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, fifteen miles southwest of Fort Madison. It has grown up since the railroad was built through that part of the county, has three general stores, a flour and feed mill, express, telegraph and telephone service, a money order postoffice and a population of fifty.
BALLINGER
Ballinger is a small station on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in the southeast corner of Montrose Township. It was established after the railroad was built and takes its name from one of the pioneer families in that locality. It has no business interests of importance.
BECK
Two miles south of Viele, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, is the little station of Beck, or Beck's Siding, but the place
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
has no history except that a siding was put in here by the railroad com- pany for the convenience of local shippers and was named for the owner of the land upon which it is situated.
BELFAST
This town is located in the northwestern part of Des Moines Township, on the Des Moines River and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and had a population of 90 in 1914. It has a money order postoffice, a general store and is a shipping point for a considerable territory.
BENBOW SIDING
On the Fort Madison & Ottumwa Division of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad, a short distance northwest of Sawyer, is a shipping station called Benbow Siding. It has never been officially platted as a town and the name does not even appear on the time tables of the railroad company.
BIG MOUND
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The old Village of Big Mound is situated in the western part of Cedar Township, about one mile from the Van Buren County line. It takes its name from a knoll in the vicinity and in its early days was a trading point of some importance. After the Keokuk & Mount Pleasant Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad was built, the business was diverted to Mount Hamill, or Court- right, and Big Mound is little more than a memory.
BRICKER
Bricker is a little station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad nine miles southwest of Fort Madison, in Jefferson Town- ship. It has no history nor no business interests of importance.
BUENA VISTA
Three miles west of Keokuk, in the southern part of Jackson Township, is the little hamlet of Buena Vista, a flag station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, though the railroad com-
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
pany does not keep an agent there. Mail is delivered to the few inhabitants through the Keokuk postoffice.
BULLARD
Bullard, or Bullard's Station, is situated in the northeastern part of Jefferson Township, on the Burlington & St. Louis Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, five miles from Fort Madi- son. Mail is received by rural delivery from Montrose.
CAMARGO
Among the early settlers of Des Moines Township was Samuel Hearn, who established a ferry across the Des Moines River, not far from the present hamlet of Hinsdale. A settlement grew up about the ferry and in time a postoffice was established there under the name of Camargo. Both ferry and postoffice were ultimately dis- continued and the site of the village is now farming land.
CHARLESTON
The Town of Charleston was laid off by George Berry on Sep- tember 23, 1848, for Jacob Hufford, and the plat was filed in the office of the county recorder on June 1, 1849. The original plat shows forty-eight small and three large lots, with Hackberry, Main and Elm streets running north and south, and First, Second, Third and Fourth streets running east and west. It is located nearly in the center of the township of the same name, on the Keokuk & Mount Pleasant Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, eighteen miles from Keokuk. In early days Charleston was a popu- lar place for holding conventions, on account of its central location, and at the special election held in August, 1845, the town received forty-one votes for county seat. At that time Charleston was in the zenith of its glory. Failing to secure the county seat, the town has kept on in the "even tenor of its way," and is now a trading point for a large agricultural district. Its estimated population in 1914 was sixty-five. It has three churches, a public school, a money order postoffice with one rural route, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, a hotel, a general store, and does considerable shipping.
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CONNABLE
Twelve miles northwest of Keokuk, on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, is the little flag station of Connable, so called from the owner of the land at the time the station was established. It is merely a shipping point and has no commercial interests of consequence.
COTTONWOOD
This is a station on the Fort Madison & Ottumwa Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, twenty-three miles from Fort Madison. It is located near the line dividing sections 10 and II in Cedar Township, not far from the site of the old Village of Russellville, has a general store, a money order postoffice, telephone connections, a Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1914 the popu- lation was estimated at twenty-five.
CROTON
The original plat of Croton was filed in the county recorder's office on Inly 3, 1849, by Lewis Coon. It shows twelve blocks of eight lots each. Subsequently six similar blocks were added, making a total of 144 lots. Croton is situated in the southwestern part of Van Buren Township, on the Des Moines River and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, twenty-six miles northwest of Keokuk. It has Adventist, Baptist and Methodist Episcopal churches, a money order postoffice, telephone connection, express office, a public school and an estimated population of one hundred.
DENMARK
The Town of Denmark is situated near the center of Denmark Township, seven miles north of Fort Madison. Sawyer is the near- est railroad station. Denmark was laid out by Timothy Fox, Curtis Shedd, Lewis Epps and W. Brown and the plat was filed for record on January 17, 1840. It has two general stores, a private banking house, harness and wagon repair shops, a hotel, an independent tele- phone exchange, an academy, in connection with which is conducted a library, Baptist and Congregational churches, and in 1914 the population was estimated at two hundred.
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DONNELLSON
Early in the spring of 1881 the Town of Donnellson was surveyed by H. A. Summers, county surveyor, for Esten A. Donnell and others and the plat was filed in the office of the county recorder on May 21, 1881. Since that time Borland's, Abel's, Frank's and Trump's additions have been made to the original plat, the last named in June, 1905. Donnellson is situated in the southwest corner of Franklin Township, at the junction of the Keokuk & Mount Pleasant and the Burlington & Carrollton divisions of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. It has two banks, an electric plant, a flour mill, several stores, a good public school building, a weekly newspaper, German Evangelical, Methodist Episcopal, Mennonite and Presby- terian churches, a money order postoffice with four rural routes, and a number of pleasant residences. According to the United States census for 1910 the population at that time was 337. It is one of the incorporated towns of Lee County.
DOVER
No official plat of the old Town of Dover is available, so that its early history cannot be given with certainty. It is located in the southeast quarter of section 8, in the northwestern part of Franklin Township and in 1914 consisted of a general store and a few dwell- ings. A postoffice was once maintained here, but it has been dis- continued and the few inhabitants now receive mail by rural delivery from the postoffice at Donnellson.
FRANKLIN
The Town of Franklin ( also called Franklin Centre in early days) owes its origin to the commissioners, James L. Scott and S. C. Reed, who selected the site as the place for the county seat of Lee County, an account of which is given in the chapter on "Settlement and Organization." The town was laid off by order of the county com- missioners on March 21, 1840, and was for a time the seat of justice of the county. Franklin is situated in the eastern part of Franklin Township, on the Burlington & Carrollton Division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, twelve miles west of Fort Madison. It is incorporated and in 1910 reported a population of 138. It has two general stores, a furniture and undertaking establishment, a
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