USA > Iowa > Lee County > Story of Lee County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 32
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Claypoole Lodge, No. 13, at Fort Madison, although bearing a larger number than the Keokuk lodge, received its dispensation about two weeks before that lodge, the date being April 17, 1846. The charter members of this lodge were: J. F. Kinney, John Clay- poole, Chapin Allen, Darius Wellington, Jacob Huner, Thomas Hale, Samuel B. Ayres and Josiah Kent.
On December 25, 1851, a dispensation was issued to Hardin Lodge, No. 29, of Keokuk, with Dr. J. F. Sanford as the first wor- shipful master, and eight charter members.
Joppa Lodge, No. 136, located at Montrose, was organized on April 5, 1858, by Dr. J. F. Sanford, when he was grand master of the state. The first master of Joppa Lodge was H. B. Munson, and J. M. Anderson was the first secretary.
The youngest Masonic lodge in Lee County is Stella Lodge, No. 440, at Fort Madison.
These are the only five Masonic lodges in the county. The higher degrees of Masonry are represented by Gate City Chapter, No. 7, Royal Arch Masons, at Keokuk, which was organized on Christmas day, 1854; Potowonok Chapter, No. 28, organized at Fort Madison, April 20, 1863; Damascus Commandery, No. 5, Knights Templar, organized at Keokuk, December 15, 1863 ; and Delta Com- mandery, No. 51, at Fort Madison.
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In connection with Masonry there is a "side degree" to which the wives and daughters of master Masons are eligible. This degree is known as the Order of the Eastern Star and the local bodies as chapters. The oldest organization in the county is Martha Chapter, No. 5, at Montrose. Diamond Chapter, No. 37, is located at Fort Madison, and Elmira Chapter, No. 40, of Keokuk, has over two hundred members.
All the Masonic bodies of Fort Madison meet in the hall at the northwest corner of Market and Second streets, but the Keokuk Masons have erected a fine Masonic Temple at the corner of Seventh and Blondeau streets, opposite the postoffice. Work was begun on this building in August, 1913, and it was dedicated, with appropriate ceremonies, in July, 1914. It is three stories high, with a frontage of 112 feet on Blondeau Street and 66 feet on Seventh Street. It is provided with elevators, electric lights, steam heat, modern ventila- tion, and was erected at a cost of $75,000, giving Keokuk Masons one of the best homes in the state. The first floor is divided into offices and store rooms. There are some offices on the second floor, but the third floor contains lodge rooms, ladies' parlor and a Masonic library. In the basement, which is fourteen feet high, are the ball room and banquet hall.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS
The society upon which modern Odd Fellowship is based was started in England in the latter part of the eighteenth century under the name of the "Antient and Most Noble Order of Bucks." About 1773 this order declined and some four or five years later the words Odd Fellow first occur in the ritual. In 1813 several lodges organ- ized the Manchester Unity, and Shakspere Lodge, No. I, was soon afterward organized in New York. The first permanent lodge in the United States, however, was organized in 1819 by Thomas H. Wildey of Baltimore.
The first lodge of this order to be organized in Lee County is Keokuk Lodge, No. 13, instituted on July 31, 1848, with seven mem- bers. Empire Lodge, No. 31, was instituted on March 18, 1851, at Fort Madison, with five charter members. The order is now repre- sented in Keokuk by the original Keokuk Lodge, No. 13, which meets every Monday evening; Puckechetuck Lodge, No. 43, which meets on Friday evenings; Hermann Lodge, No. 116, which meets on Wednesdays; Puckechetuck Encampment, No. 7, which holds meet- ings on the first and third Thursdays of each month; and Canton
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Leech, No. 4, Patriarchs Militant, which meets on the second Thurs- day.
On September 9, 1861, Concordia Lodge was instituted at Fort Madison with ten charter members, and on January 7, 1868, Fort Madison Lodge, No. 157, was instituted. These two lodges have been merged into Empire Lodge, No. 31, which is now the only lodge in the city. It owns the building at the northeast corner of Front and Market streets, where regular meetings are held weekly. The Odd Fellows also have lodges at Charleston, Montrose, Mount Hamill, Vincennes and Wever.
In connection with the Odd Fellows there is a ladies' degree, called the Daughters of Rebekah-generally spoken of as the Rebe- kahs. Lodges of this degree are maintained with practically all the Odd Fellows lodges throughout the country.
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS
This order was organized in Washington, D. C., February 15, 1864, by Justus H. Rathbone, Robert A. Champion, William H. and David L. Burnett, and Dr. Sullivan Kimball, members of the Arion Glee Club. The ritual, written by Mr. Rathbone, is founded on the story of Damon and Pythias. On February 19, 1864, Washington Lodge, No. I, was organized, but, the Civil war being then in prog- ress, the order grew slowly until about 1869, when it spread rapidly to all parts of the Union. The first lodge in Lee County was Morn- ing Star, No. 5, of Keokuk. At one time there were several lodges; in the county, but the only ones in existence in 1914 were Morning Star and the lodge at Donnellson.
THE ELKS
In 1868 a number of "good fellows" in the City of New York were in the habit of meeting together of evenings to spend a few hours in social communion, singing songs, "swapping yarns," etc. A permanent club was finally organized under the name of the "Jolly Corks." Some months later, when it was proposed to found a secret order, the name was objected to as not sufficiently dignified. A com- mittee was therefore appointed to select a new name. This com- mittee chanced to visit Barnum's Museum, where they saw an elk and learned something of the habits of that animal. They then sug- gested the name of "Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks," which was adopted. The initials B. P. O. E. are sometimes interpreted
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as meaning "Best People On Earth." In 1914 there were about twelve hundred lodges in the United States. The motto of the Elks is: "The faults of our brothers we write upon the sands; their vir- tues upon the tablets of love and memory." Under an established rule, lodges cannot be organized in cities of less than 5,000 popula- tion, hence the only two lodges in Lee County are Keokuk, No. 106, and Fort Madison, No. 374. The Keokuk Lodge erected a fine club- house on Blondeau Street in 1911, modern in all its appointments, and the Fort Madison Lodge owns the commodious clubhouse on Front Street, between Market and Pine, overlooking the Mississippi River. Both lodges have strong memberships and are in prosperous condition.
MISCELLANEOUS
There are a number of fraternal societies which have organiza- tions in Fort Madison and Keokuk, among which are the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Modern Woodmen, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Arcanum, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the Brotherhood of Loco- motive Firemen, with their ladies' auxiliaries, the Yeomen, and a few others.
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic society, was first organized at New Haven, Connecticut, in February, 1882, by Rev. M. J. Mc- Givney. The order issues insurance policies in sums of $1,000, $2,000, and $3,000, and does a general charitable work among its members. In 1904 it gave $50,000 to endow a chair of American history in the Catholic University of Washington. In 1914 the assets of the society amounted to $2,500,000. Local organizations are called councils. The councils at Fort Madison and Keokuk are both large in membership and active in carrying out the work outlined by the national organization.
Shortly after the close of the Civil war the survivors of the Union army organized the Grand Army of the Republic, membership in which was limited to those who had served in the army and navy during the war. Local organizations are called posts. James B. Sample Post, No. 170, Department of Iowa, is located at Fort Madi- son ; Torrence, No. 2, and W. W. Belknap, No. 515, are located at Keokuk. The aims and objects of the Grand Army have been to col- lect historic relics and documents of the war, and to mark the location of troops on the historic battlefields of the nation. Usually with the
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MARQUETTE BUILDING, FORT MADISON
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post is an auxiliary known as the Woman's Relief Corps, which has aided in the charitable work of the order, such as caring for disabled veterans and the widows and orphans of Union soldiers. Each year this order grows smaller, many of its members answering annually to the last roll call.
CHAPTER XXIII
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
LITTLE CALL FOR CHARITY IN EARLY DAYS-THE COUNTY HOME- HOSPITALS-CHARITABLE SOCIETIES-BIRGE BENEVOLENT UNION HOME-THE PENITENTIARY-CEMETERIES-COUNTRY GRAVEYARDS.
During the period of settlement in Lee County the majority of the pioneers were blessed with good health, and a number of years passed before the question of caring for the unfortunate poor became one for the consideration of the county authorities. Those who needed assistance were usually aided by the neighbors, and it was not until 1857 that any official action was taken toward providing a home for the poor. In that year County Judge Samuel Boyles directed the building of a poorhouse, or county home. The original building was 100 feet long and 36 feet wide, with a wing 36 by 50 feet at each end. The original cost was $35,000. The institution as thus established served the county for thirty-five years.
At the election in November, 1891, the Board of Supervisors submitted to the people the proposition to build an addition to cost not more than $7,500, which was carried by a vote of 3, 151 to 1, 124, and the repairs were made the following year. A new foundation was placed under the old building and a wing 68 feet long, in the same style of architecture, was added. An eight-inch sewer was run to the creek 640 feet distant, a cement floor was laid in the basement, in which the kitchen and main dining room were estab- lished, and the sanitary conditions of the home were generally improved. Water is furnished from five wells and four cisterns, and a steam heating plant was installed at the time the addition was built. The improvements were paid for out of savings from the county insane fund, and not a cent of tax was levied and collected for the purpose. No county in the state provides better accommo- dations for the unfortunate poor and insane than Lee. The county has three farms-the one of 108 acres where the home is located, the Leighton farm of eighty acres in Jackson Township, and the Taylor farm of sixty acres in Montrose Township.
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HOSPITALS
There is not a public hospital in Lee County, in the sense that the institution belongs to the public and receives its support from the public revenues. But there are two hospitals at Fort Madison and one at Keokuk that receive patients under certain conditions.
The Santa Fe Railway Employees' Hospital was built in 1889, at a cost of $75,000. It is located in the West End, on Santa Fe Avenue, just east of Ivanhoe Park, has three large wards, each floored with hardwood and furnished with iron cots, and is complete in all its ยท appointments. Fifty patients or more can be accommodated at one time. In the basement there is a modern laundry, a fine dining room on the first floor, and the broad portico affords a resting place for convalescents. It is maintained by the employees of the railway company, each of whom pays a small assessment every month for its support, in return for which they receive medical attention for them- selves and families. Emergency cases are sometimes admitted when occasion requires. This is an institution in which the people of Fort Madison feel a just pride.
Some years ago the Sisters of St. Francis established a hospital at the southwest corner of Third and Broadway. It was known as St. Elizabeth's Hospital and was supported by donations and fees from patients who were able to pay for hospital services. The build- ing used by the hospital was formerly a residence. During its existence it provided accommodations for fifteen patients at a time.
On October 12, 1912, the Sacred Heart Hospital, a Catholic institution located near the church of that name, was dedicated. This hospital took the place of St. Elizabeth's and is conducted by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, whose mother house is located at Peoria, Illinois. During the first two years of its existence nearly five hundred patients were treated at the institution. The building is a substantial brick structure, three stories high, with basement, provided with fire escapes and all modern conveniences found in the modern hospital.
In Keokuk the Catholics of St. Mary's parish, some years ago, established St. Joseph's Hospital, one of the largest institutions of its kind in this section of the country. Since the first building was erected large additions have been made to accommodate the con- stantly increasing number of patients who come here every month for treatment. This hospital is modern in its equipment, and in the corps of physicians and surgeons are some of the best professional men of Keokuk.
LEE COUNTY POOR FARM
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES
In the late 'gos the Keokuk Benevolent Union was organized at the home of the late Charles K. Birge, on the corner of Seventh and Bank streets, and the first home established consisted of a few rooms in a downtown building. It soon became apparent that more room was needed, and Mr. and Mrs. Birge donated their home to the union on June 1, 1900. Since then an addition of thirteen rooms has been made to the building, making a total of twenty-five rooms. This is a home for old people, supported by donations from the business men of the city and nearly two hundred women, who annually make contributions for its support. The institution is known as the "Birge Benevolent Union Home." The officers of the union in 1914 were as follows: Mrs. D. A. Collier, president; Mrs. H. H. Hawkes, secretary; and Mrs. H. W. Radcliffe, treasurer. Membership can be purchased in the union by elderly women who wish to make the home their own. A few have done this, but by far the larger num- ber of inmates are women without means, who are cared for by the union.
In December, 1913, the United Charities of Keokuk was organ- ized as an outgrowth of the Keokuk Humane Society and the Asso- ciated Charities. Under the present organization the secretary of the society is also the humane officer and an officer of the local Board of Health. The work of the organization consists chiefly of affording material relief to needy families in their homes. It does not maintain a large relief fund for this purpose, but invites and secures the hearty cooperation of churches, fraternal orders and charitably inclined citizens. The society also gives considerable attention to improvement of home conditions, the establishment of better sanitary surroundings in shops and factories, and in caring for children that they may have the rights of childhood and the oppor- tunity to grow up into useful men and women. The officers of the United Charities in 1914 were: Rev. John C. Sage, president; Albert Kiefer, Mrs. W. J. Roberts, Miss Lucretia Huiskamp and Leonard Matless, vice presidents; Miss Dorothy Younker, secre- tary; Fern Erdman, treasurer; David Glascoff, general secretary. Mr. Glascoff is a graduate of the New York School of Philanthropy, and took up his duties as executive officer of the Keokuk United Charities on February 16, 1914. In addition to these officers there are the executive, finance, child welfare, case conference and indigent children committees, each composed of a certain number of the mem-
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bers of the organization, to look after the duties suggested by the title of the commtitee.
THE PENITENTIARY
Although not a charitable institution, nor an institution belonging to Lee County, it is considered appropriate to mention in this chapter the penitentiary located at Fort Madison. By an act of the Iowa Legislature, approved January 25, 1839, the governor was authorized to draw $20,000 appropriated by Congress July 7, 1838, for the erection of a penitentiary "within one mile of the public square at Fort Madison."
The citizens of the town donated and conveyed ten acres of ground, and on June 5, 1839, Amos Ladd was appointed superin- tendent of the building. The penitentiary as originally constructed provided for the reception of 138 convicts. The main building and the warden's house were built within about two years, but the first convict, Isaac Grimes, was not received until in 1849. William Anderson was the first warden.
Several additions have been made to the original building. The walls measured 400 feet on each side of the square as at first estab- lished, but the inclosed area was extended west to Olive Street in 1896, the preceding Legislature having appropriated $5,100 for the work. With further extensions the dimensions of the present grounds inclosed within the walls are 712 feet on Fourth Street, 363 feet on Olive, and thence east and south there are 1,275 feet of wall to con- nect with the wall on Fourth Street. Among the improvements made since the first prison was erected are a large power house for furnishing power, electric light and steam heat, a school, a green- house, a modern hospital, a library containing nearly ten thousand volumes, and a chapel in which religious services are held. A mod- ern cellhouse was completed in 1914.
Inmates of the institution are divided into three classes, each dressed in a different garb, showing the "social" standing of each convict in the institution. Convicts, upon entering, are placed in the middle class. If their conduct proves good they are promoted to the first grade, but if they fail to comply with the regulations they are sent back into the third class and don the stripes as unruly or ill-tempered prisoners. The warden in 1914 was J. C. Sanders.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY
CEMETERIES
One institution of a charitable nature, yet one which the pioneers in a new country are always somewhat reluctant to see make its appearance, is a place of burial for the dead. One can hardly imagine a more desolate scene than the first grave in the frontier set- tlement. After a number of deaths, when the cemetery has reached proportions that naturally require greater care, much of the desola- tion disappears and people accept the institution as a necessary adjunct of modern civilization.
When the Town of Fort Madison was laid out the block bounded by Front, Maple, Des Moines and Arch streets was set apart as the City Cemetery. This cemetery is still in use, though it is almost filled with graves, and before many years burials must be discon- tinued. Elmwood Cemetery, half a mile southwest of the City Cemetery, was surveyed a few years ago by R. H. Heath for John C. Atlee. The northern boundary of this cemetery is Santa Fe Avenue. The original plat shows 192 burial lots. Half a mile north of Fort Madison, on the Augusta Road, is Cherry Hill Cemetery, one of the old burial places of the community. Oakland Cemetery, just west of and across Santa Fe Avenue from Ivanhoe Park, was opened about 1907. St. Joseph's, a Catholic cemetery, is a mile north of the city on the Denmark road. It was surveyed by R. H. Heath on July 24, 1876, and in the western part of the city is Sacred Heart Cemetery, the consecrated burial place for the Catholic parish of that name. There is also a small burial place in connection with the penitentiary for convicts who die while inmates of that institution.
Oakland Cemetery at Keokuk is the principal burial place in the southern part of the county. It contains forty acres in the north- western part of the city, and was established in 1855. The main entrance, at Carroll and Eighteenth streets, passes through a beau- tiful little park before reaching the cemetery proper. Within the 40-acre inclosure ten acres are set apart for a Catholic cemetery, and about two acres as a burial place for the Jews. This cemetery is controlled by a commission, which in 1914 was composed of F. T. F. Schmidt, C. R. Joy and H. R. Jacobs.
There is at Keokuk a national cemetery, established by the United States Government on September 23, 1861. During the early years of the war there were five military hospitals at Keokuk for the recep- tion of sick and wounded soldiers, and before the close of the war 770 had been buried in the national cemetery, eight of whom were Confederate prisoners. The grounds contain three acres. The
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superintendent's lodge is a neat brick building, one and one-half stories high, and in the cemetery is a platform for conducting Memo- rial Day ceremonies.
COUNTRY GRAVEYARDS
Fourscore years have elapsed since the first white settlements were established in Lee County. The first graveyards were estab- lished without formality of deed or incorporation and their early history cannot be learned. Upon the map of Lee County in the Iowa Atlas, published in 1904, are marked a number of country graveyards. In Cedar Township there is a burial place in the south- east corner of section 6, about a mile northwest of the old Village of Russellville, and another in the west side of section 28, about a mile east of Big Mound.
In Charleston Township there is a cemetery, known as the Ever- hart Cemetery, in the east side of section 1, near the Jefferson Town- ship line; another in the west side of section 4, a short distance south of Donnellson, and a third in the southwest corner of section 26, just south of the Town of Charleston.
Cemeteries are shown in Denmark Township near the towns of Denmark and South Augusta, but no burial place is indicated within the limit of Des Moines Township.
In Franklin Township, three miles north of the Town of Frank- lin, in the northeastern part of section II, there is an old burial place that is rarely used in the present day, and in the northeastern part of section 29, about a mile and a half north of Donnellson, is a ceme- tery of more modern character. The only cemeteries shown in Green Bay Township are two, near each other, about a mile north of Wever and west of the railroad.
In Harrison Township there is a country graveyard in the north- west corner of section 10, near the center of the township; one in the northeastern part of section 27, about half a mile south of Prim- rose, and one in the northeast corner of section 36, two miles from Warren.
One of the most historic country graveyards in the State of Iowa is Sharon Cemetery, located in the northeast corner of section 4, Harrison Township, three miles west of the railroad station of La Crew. This cemetery originated as a neighborhood burial place, among the earliest burials being members of the Seeley family, one of the wealthiest families in Lee County. Eli Seeley, one of the older generation, died in 1896, and his son, George L. Seeley, inher-
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ited a part of the estate. George L. Seeley died in Texas, May 24, 1897, but before his death made a verbal request for the enlarge- ment and adornment of Sharon Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, founded many years before, and left a fund for that purpose. Over thirty thousand dollars were expended in carrying out Mr. Seeley's request. The cemetery was enlarged from three to eight acres, sur- rounded by a stone wall, surmounted by a non-rusting fence, and $2,000 were expended upon an ornamental entrance. In addition to all this the proceeds of a farm of 160 acres were given by Mr. Seeley for the support of the cemetery.
There is a historic interest attached to Sharon Cemetery from the fact that here lie buried at least one soldier of each of the wars in which the United States has taken part-the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Black Hawk war, the Mexican war, the great Civil war and the Spanish-American war. On May 28, 1907, a monument was unveiled over the grave of George Perkins, a Revolutionary sol- dier, which monument was erected by the State of Iowa.
In Jackson Township the only burial place of importance is the one at Keokuk already mentioned. In Jefferson Township there is a cemetery in the northeast corner of section 2, about two miles north- east of Viele and three miles west of Fort Madison, the only one shown in the atlas above mentioned.
In Marion Township, a short distance west of the village of St. Paul, in section 15, there is an old cemetery ; another in the north- west corner of section 26, a mile south of St. Paul, and a third in the southeast corner of section 29, near an old church. The one near St. Paul is the property of the Catholic church of that village.
Montrose Cemetery, the only one of importance in Montrose Township, was surveyed on August 1, 1867, at the request of Mrs. Frances E. Billon, one of the heirs of Thomas Riddick, who became the owner of the Tesson land grant. It is located in outlot No. 20 of that grant and the plat was filed in the recorder's office on September 5, 1867.
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