USA > Iowa > Lee County > Story of Lee County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
About 1870 Soule, Davis & Company began the manufacture of chairs in connection with their farming tool works. In 1876 this branch of the business was reorganized as the Fort Madison Chair Company. The original half-dozen patterns were increased to about one hundred and fifty different styles and employment was given to 150 people in the factory, besides home employment was given to quite a number of boys and girls in "caning" the seats and backs at their homes. The market for the products covers the whole Southwest and the annual product amounts to about one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.
MILLINERY
PINE STREET, LOOKING SOUTH TO THE RIVER, FORT MADISON
BAKERY
-
PINE STREET, FORT MADISON Looking toward river from Second Street. Taken in the latter '70s.
261
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
Shortly after the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was completed through Lee County the Fort Madison Iron Works were established in the western part of the city for the manufacture of car wheels and carried on a successful business for a number of years, when the concern was absorbed by the wheel trust. The Fort Madi- son factory was then closed and the buildings stood idle for some time. In 1914, through the influence of the Fort Madison First Association, the Acme Manufacturing Company, makers of chande- liers and novelties in brass work, took possession of the old plant and remodeled it to adapt it to the new line of business.
The Brown Paper Company was formed as the Fort Madison Paper Company in 1882 and buildings for the manufacture of straw wrapping and building paper were erected in the western part of the city. Several additions have been made to the original mill and after the completion of the Keokuk dam, electric power was intro- duced, the current being supplied by the Mississippi River Power Company. About thirty or forty tons of straw are used daily, pro- ducing from twenty to twenty-five tons of the finished product.
Some years ago the Fort Madison Packing Company erected a fine packing house, but, owing to the tendency of the great packers to concentrate their business in the larger cities, the plant continued in operation but a short time. Subsequently the Charles Wissmath & Son Packing Company, of St. Louis, obtained control of and thoroughly remodeled the plant, making one of the best establish- ments of the kind on the Mississippi. It opened under the new man- agement in September, 1906.
There is one manufacturing concern in Fort Madison that can- not be passed over, and that is the sawmill and lumber business of Samuel and J. C. Atlee. This business was started by the late J. C. Atlee in 1852. Two years later he built the first steam sawmill in Fort Madison and this was enlarged until the annual cut of lumber was 20,000,000 feet. The saw and planing mills and lumber yards cover thirty acres of ground in the southwestern part of the city and the firm owns three steamboats that are used in towing logs down the river from the northern pineries or in carrying lumber to other mar- kets. The Atlee sawmill is the last on the Mississippi River below St. Paul to continue in operation, but with the building of the great power dam at Keokuk the river has been backed up until the water interferes with the mill and no lumber was sawed during the year 1914.
One of the latest manufactories to be established in Fort Madi- son is the Fort Madison Shoe Manufacturing Company, which was
262
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
brought to the city through the efforts of the Fort Madison First Association in the summer of 1914. At a meeting held at the Com- mercial Club rooms on August 9, 1914, the Popel-Giller Building at the corner of Union and Santa Fe avenues was secured for the factory, and a week or two later the company was organized by the election of A. P. Brown, president; H. F. Stempel, Jr., vice presi- dent; Henry Heying, secretary, and J. E. Hoffman, of Chicago, manager.
In the spring of 1912 W. A. Sheaffer, of Fort Madison, began the manufacture of fountain pens. For a time his factory was located on the third floor of the building at the northeast corner of Second and Pine streets, but in 1914 a new building was erected at the cor- ner of Front and Broadway, expressly for a pen factory. The prod- ucts of this concern are sold all over the country and the business is constantly increasing.
Other Fort Madison factories are the Fort Madison Button Com- pany, which uses from one thousand to one thousand five hundred tons of mussel shells every year in cutting button blanks, which are sent to Burlington to be finished; the Boekenkamp foundry, at the corner of Vine and Water streets; several cigar factories; a horse collar factory; a canning factory, and a number of minor concerns producing various articles.
KEOKUK FACTORIES
The first stove made in Iowa and the first locomotive built in the state were manufactured in the City of Keokuk. In the spring of 1855 Atwood & Estes established a stove factory, which employed about thirty men, and the first stove was finished on July 4, 1855. The factory had a capacity of about four thousand stoves annually.
The locomotive was built at the shops of the Des Moines Valley Railroad and was completed in October, 187.5. Every particle of it was made under the supervision of the master mechanic and it was distinctly a Keokuk product. This locomotive weighed twenty-four tons and the cost was $17,000.
Other Keokuk factories established along in the 'sos were the furniture factory of Kilbourne & Davis, which employed at one time seventy men; Knowles' wagon shops, which employed thirty men and boasted "a wagon a day ;" Thomas Wickersham & Sons' foundry and machine works, which made a specialty of sawmill machinery and employed about sixty persons; the boiler factory of Edward Welchman.
263
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
In the fall of 1849, S. S. Vail & Company began operating a foundry and machine shop on the corner of Sixth and Blondeau streets. About a year later Aaron Vail became a member of the firm and in 1856 the works were removed to new buildings on the corner of Ninth and Johnson streets, at which time the name was changed to "Buckeye Foundry." Several changes in ownership, or in the personnel of the firm, occurred during the next decade. From 1865 to 1870 the plant was conducted under the management of Vail, Armitage & Company, which firm was succeeded by Sample, Mc- Elroy & Company. Still later the concern became known as the McElroy Iron Works. The plant is now operated by the Keokuk Hydraulic Tire Setter Company, which manufactures the Little Giant tire setter, steam generators, metal tanks, fire escapes and structural steel.
The Irwin-Phillips Company, located at the corner of Second and Main streets, employs a large number of women and girls in the manufacture of shirts, overalls and corduroy clothing. The capital stock of this company is $350,000 and the products of the factory are shipped to all parts of the West and South.
Several years ago the Decker Manufacturing Company located in Keokuk and began the manufacture of curry combs, hog rings, ringers and hardware novelties. With the expansion of their trade the old quarters became too cramped and in 1911 a new, three-story brick building, with 21,000 square feet of floor space, was erected at the corner of Third and Blondeau streets. It is one of the substan- tial and model factories of Keokuk.
When the American Rice & Cereal Company commenced business in Keokuk, making rolled oats, grits, cracked rice, etc., it employed sixty people and consumed two carloads of corn and one of oats daily. It has been superseded by the Purity Oats Company, which employs more than twice the number of people as its prede- cessor and ships cereal food products to all parts of the country. The works are located on the levee near the foot of Johnson Street.
One of the largest manufacturing concerns of Lee County is the Huiskamp Brothers Shoe Company, of Keokuk. This business was established in 1854, by B. F. Moody, in a comparatively small build- ing on Main Street. Mr. Moody was succeeded by the firm of Huis- kamp & Hambleton, which in turn was succeeded by Huiskamp Brothers. In 1887 the business was incorporated under the name of the Huiskamp Brothers Shoe Company. The Keokuk factory occu- pies the large building at the corner of Second and Johnson streets, and the company also has another factory at Warsaw, Illinois. The
264
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
two factories employ about nine hundred people. Forty traveling salesmen cover practically all the United States, except New Eng- land, and the annual product of the two establishments amounts to $1,500,000.
The Mills-Ellsworth Company, makers of buggy shafts and bent wood products, was formerly located on ground that became over- flowed when the power dam was built across the Mississippi. Ar- rangements were under way to remove the works to some other city when the Keokuk Industrial Association came to the rescue, secured a new location for the company on Commercial Alley, and contrib- uted to the erection of a new factory building, thus preserving the industry to the city.
Through the influence of the Industrial Association, the Ameri- can Cement Machine Company was brought to Keokuk from Madi- son, Wisconsin, and permanently established at 1020 Johnson Street. This company makes machines for mixing concrete and contractors' equipment, and although in Keokuk but a short time arrangements were being made in September, 1914, for the erection of a large addi- tion to the factory.
Another recent addition to the factories of the city is the John DeWitt Washing Machine Company. Mr. DeWitt was formerly the manager of the Keokuk Industrial Association. While working with that organization to secure new factories he became interested in the manufacture of washing machines, and to show his faith in the representations the Industrial Association had made to other manufacturers, he located in Keokuk.
In addition to the establishments above mentioned, there are a number of smaller factories in the city. Among these are the Thomas Brothers Company, which makes gasoline engines and does a general machine shop business ; the Hawkeye Pearl Button Company, which employs about two hundred people during the busy seasons in the manufacture of button blanks; the Keokuk Canning Company occu- pies a large plant on Johnson Street and employs quite a number of people in the production of pickles and canned goods ; the Ayer Man- ufacturing Company, which makes certain classes of agricultural implements; August C. Wustrow's wagon shops; and the Keokuk Brick & Tile Company, which turns out large quantities of the finest building brick and thousands of feet of tiling every year.
Keokuk also manufactures kitchen cabinets, cream separators, brooms, proprietary medicines, paper boxes and mailing tubes, cigars, cooperage and numerous other articles. Many of these prod-
265
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
ucts are shipped to other states, while a few are made only in small quantities for local consumption.
Keokuk and Fort Madison are the manufacturing centers of the county. The Keokuk Industrial Association and the Fort Madison First Association, are composed of active, energetic citizens, who are always on the alert for an opportunity to secure the location of a new factory. Their labors have already begun to bear fruit and the probabilities are that the next decade will see the manufacturing interests of both cities make substantial gains.
-
CHAPTER XVII EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CHARACTER OF THE EARLY SCHOOLS-THE COURSE OF STUDY-SPELL- ING SCHOOLS-THE THREE R'S-FIRST SCHOOLS IN LEE COUNTY- CAPTAIN CAMPBELL'S REMINISCENCES-WEST POINT AND DEN- MARK ACADEMIES-PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM-THE PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND-STATISTICS-KEOKUK SCHOOLS -- FORT MADISON SCHOOLS-PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS-THE PRESS-PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
The young people who enjoy the excellent opportunities offered by the public schools of Lee County in the year 1914 can hardly re- alize the difficulties that attended the acquisition of an education dur- ing the territorial era and the early days of statehood. There were then no public funds with which to build schoolhouses and pay teach- ers. When a sufficient number of settlers had located in a neighbor- hood they would cooperate in the erection of a schoolhouse at some central point, where it would be most convenient for the children. These early schoolhouses were invariably of logs, with clapboard roof and puncheon floor (sometimes they had no floor except "mother earth") and a huge fireplace at one end. If money enough could be raised in the settlement to purchase sash and glass, a real window would be placed in each side of the building. If not, a section of one of the logs would be left out and the aperture covered with oiled paper, mounted on a framework of slender strips of wood, to admit the light.
The furniture was of the most primitive character. Seats were made by splitting a tree of some eight or ten inches in diameter in halves, smoothing the split sides with a draw-knife, and driving pins into holes bored in the half-round sides for legs. These pins stood at an angle that would insure stability to the "bench." Under the win- dow was the writing desk, which was made by boring holes in the logs of the wall at a slight angle and into these holes were driven stout pins to support a wide board, the top of which would be dressed smooth to serve as a table where the pupils could take their turns at writing.
267
268
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
The text books were usually Webster's spelling book, the English or McGuffey's readers, Pike's, Daboll's, Talbott's or Ray's arithme- tics, and in some instances Olney's geography and Kirkham's or But- ler's grammar. The teacher of that day was rarely a graduate of a higher institution of learning and knew nothing of normal school training. If he could spell and read well, write well enough to "set copies" for the children to follow, and "do all the sums" in the arith- metic, up to and including the "Rule of Three," he was qualified to teach. There was, however, one other qualification that could not be overlooked. The teacher must be a man of sufficient physical strength to hold the unruly and boisterous boys in subjection and preserve order. At the opening of the term he generally brought into the schoolroom a supply of tough switches, which were displayed to the best advantage as a sort of prophylactic, and the pioneer pedagogue then proceeded on the theory that "to spare the rod was to spoil the child." Not many children were spoiled.
On the theory that no one could become a good reader without being a good speller, more attention was given to orthography during the child's early school years than to any other subject. Spelling schools of evenings were of frequent occurrence, and in these matches the parents always took part. Two "captains" would be selected to "choose up," and one that won the first choice would choose the one he regarded as the best speller present, and so on until the audience was divided into two equal sides. Then the teacher "gave out" the words alternately from side to side. When one "missed" a word he took his seat. The one who stood longest won the victory, and to "spell down" a whole school district was considered quite an achieve- ment.
After the child could spell fairly well he was given the reader. Then came the writing exercises. The copy-books of that period were of the "home-made" variety, consisting of a few sheets of fools- cap paper covered with a sheet of heavy wrapping paper. At the top of the page the teacher would write the ""copy," which was usually a motto or proverb intended to convey a moral lesson as well as to afford an example of penmanship; such as "Time and tide wait for no man," "Learn to unlearn that which you have learned amiss," etc. As the term of school was rarely over three months, and the same teacher hardly ever taught two terms in the same place, the style of penmanship would change with every change of teachers, and it is a wonder that the young people of that day learned to write as well as many of them did.
269
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
Next came the arithmetic. In the pronunciation of this word the sound of the first letter was frequently dropped, and the fact that Readin', 'Ritin' and 'Rithmetic were considered the essentials of a practical education gave rise to the expression "the three R's." If one understood "the three R's" he was equipped for the great battle of life, so far as ordinary business transactions were concerned.
But conditions in educational matters have kept pace with the civic and industrial progress of the county. The old log schoolhouse has passed away and in its place has come the commodious structure of brick or stone. No longer do the pupils have to be subjected to the "one-sided" heat of the old fireplace, where some of them would almost roast while others froze. The bundle of "gads" is no longer displayed as a terror to evil-doers and corporal punishment is no longer considered a necessary part of the course of study. Yet, under the old system, chief justices, United States senators, professional men who afterward achieved world-wide reputations, and even presidents of the United States acquired their rudimentary education in the old log schoolhouse.
The first school in Lee County, which was also the first in the pres- ent State of Iowa, was taught by Berryman Jennings at Nashville in 1830. Concerning this school, Capt. James W. Campbell, who was one of Mr. Jennings' pupils, said in an address before the Old Settlers' Association in 1875: "There was a small log house, 10 by 12 feet in size, used for a schoolroom. I remember well some of my school- mates here, whose names are Tolliver Dedman, James Dedman, Thomas Brierly and Washington Galland. Over this literary insti- tution, which I suppose was the first school taught in Iowa, Berryman Jennings presided as teacher. I remember him well, for when kind and oft-repeated words failed to impress upon the memory of Wash- ington Galland and myself the difference between A and B, he had neither delicacy nor hesitancy about applying the rod, which usually brightened our intellects."
In the same address, Captain Campbell referred to the second teacher to whom he went to school, and who probably taught the sec- ond school in the county, which was at Keokuk. Says he: "Farther back on the side of the hill, stood John Forsyth's little log cabin, which was occupied in 1833 by a venerable gentleman of the name of Jesse Creighton, a shoemaker. Finding it rather difficult to sup- port himself at his trade, owing to our custom of going barefooted in summer and wearing moccasins in the winter, he was induced to open a private school, and his pupils were Valencourt Van Ausdal, Forsyth Morgan, Henry D. and Mary Bartlett, John Riggs, George
270
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
Crawford, Eliza Anderson and myself. The attendance was small, but our number embraced about all the little folks in Keokuk at that time. But few as we were in numbers, we convinced Uncle Jesse that we were legions at recess, for we frequently upset his shoe-bench and shoe-tub, which caused the old gentleman to reach for us with his crooked cane.
"At this first school taught in Keokuk, I made rapid progress, for I learned to read Chieftain, Warrior, Winnebago, Enterprise, William Wallace and Ouisconsin, the names of the steamboats that landed immediately in front of our schoolhouse. My rapid progress was owing to the privilege of looking out of the window at these boats and drawing their pictures upon a slate."
Such is the testimony of one who attended the earliest schools in Lee County. Captain Campbell has been quoted at length, that the readers of the younger generation may learn what kind of educa- tional facilties were provided for the children of four score years ago.
WEST POINT ACADEMY
On January 23, 1839, the governor of Iowa approved an act of the General Assembly incorporating the West Point Academy. The incorporators named in the act were: John Box, William Patterson, A. H. Walker, Cyrus Poage, Joseph Howard, J. Price, Isaac Beeler, Abraham Hunsicker, A. Ewing, Hawkins Taylor, Campbell Gilmer, David Walker, William Steele and Solomon Jackson. A building was erected, but the school was not opened until the first Monday in June, 1842, with Rev. John M. Fulton, a Presbyterian minister, as principal.
The Presbyterian Church continued in control of the school, which was conducted as an academy until June 12, 1847, when Abraham and Mary Hunsicker executed a quit-claim deed to the Des Moines College, the consideration being $1. On July 26, 1864, Solomon Cowles, president, and B. F. Woodman, secretary, and the trustees of the college executed a warranty deed to the West Point corporation school district for a consideration of $400 and the old academy became a part of the public school system of Lee County.
DENMARK ACADEMY
When Timothy Fox, Curtis Shedd and Lewis Epps laid off the Town of Denmark they agreed to donate one-half the proceeds aris-
271
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
ing from the sale of lots to the support of a school which would afford the children of the community better advantages than were supplied by the common schools of that early period. By a special act of the Iowa Legislature, approved on February 3, 1843, the Den- mark Academy was incorporated, with Isaac Field, Oliver Brooks, Hartwell J. Taylor, Asa Turner, Jr., and Reuben Brackett as the first board of trustees. They continued in office for a number of years, being reelected at each annual meeting.
The fund arising from the sale of lots was designated as a part of the capital stock and was to constitute a permanent fund, only the interest to be used. Other stock was issued in shares of $25 each, and the annual income of the institution was limited to $3,000. The first term of the academy was opened in September, 1845, in the Congregational Church at Denmark, with Albert A. Sturgis, of Washington, Iowa, as principal. He continued at the head of the school until 1848, when he went East to study for the ministry.
In that year a building was erected especially for the use of school, at a cost of $2,500, and George W. Drake was placed in charge of the academy. Mr. Drake was succeeded by H. K. Edson in 1852. Shortly after the close of the Civil war, the school grew to such proportions that the new building was erected, the old one forming an addition. The cost of the new structure was about seven- teen thousand dollars. After its completion the old charter and stock were placed in the hands of a board of fourteen trustees, under the provisions of new articles of incorporation as provided for by the general laws of Iowa. Under the new articles, the board of trustees assumed the sole management of the school, with power to fill vacancies, thus making the board a self-perpetuating body. The school is still in existence and a library is maintained in connection with the academy.
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
Article IX of the constitution of the State of Iowa is devoted to the subject of education and school lands. Section I provides that "The educational interest of the state, including common schools and other educational institutions, shall be under the management of a board of education, which shall consist of the lieutenant-governor, who shall be the presiding officer of the board, and have the cast- ing vote in case of a tie, and one member to be selected from each judicial district in the state."
Section 12 of the same article sets forth that "The board of edu- cation shall provide for the education of all the youths of the state,
272
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
through a system of common schools, and such schools shall be organ- ized and kept in each school district at least three months in each year. Any district failing, for two consecutive years, to organize and keep up a school, as aforesaid, may be deprived of their portion of the school fund."
In that part of the constitution relating to the school lands, it is provided that "The proceeds of all lands that have been, or hereafter may be, granted by the United States to this state, for the support of schools, which may have been or shall hereafter be sold, or disposed of, and the 500,000 acres of land granted to the new states under an act of Congress, distributing the proceeds of the public lands among the several states of the Union, approved in the year of our Lord, 1841, and all estates of deceased persons who may have died without leaving a will or heir, and also such per cent as has been or may hereafter be granted by Congress, on the sale of lands in this state, shall be, and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, together with all rents of the unsold lands, and such other means as the Gen- eral Assembly may provide, shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of the common schools throughout the state."
These and other wise provisions laid down by the founders of the state government, supplemented by laws passed by the General As- sembly, have given to the state a common school system equal to that of any other state in the American Union. Pursuant to the laws, the income from the perpetual fund, money received from fines, and "all other moneys subject to the support and maintenance of common schools," are distributed to the school districts of the state in pro- portion to the number of persons between the ages of five and twenty- one years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.