The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its., Part 74

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 807

USA > Iowa > Clinton County > The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its. > Part 74

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).

STREET RAILWAY.

In the latter part of 1868, it became evident that some better method of communication between Clinton and Lyons was justified by the progress of events, especially as a factor in securing the relocation of the Court House. After some meetings of Lyons and Clinton citizens, appointment of committees and fruitless negotiations on August 1, 1869, the enterprise was given an impetus by David Joyce and the Messrs. Rand, a company was organized with a capital of $25,000, and, on December 6, the first car passed over the line as it was first built, extending two and three-quarter miles from Lyons' Ferry to the corner of Eighth avenue and Second street, near the C. & N. W. Clinton Depot.

Digitized by Google

604

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

The first officers were: D. Joyce, President ; R. N. Rand, Vice President ; L. T. Sloan, Secretary, Treasurer and Superintendent. Other Directors- William Holmes, C. H. Toll, R. T. T. Spence, A. P. Hosford. The present offi- cers are the same except Directors, who are C. H. Toll, M. A. Disbrow, R. W. Rand and E. S. Bailey.

In the summer of 1865, the line was extended through Eighth avenue, Third street, Eleventh and Camanche avenues to a total length of four and three- quarter miles. The solid construction of the line through the swampy ground at that time, between Lyons and Clinton, was a work of some difficulty. Dur- ing the flood of 1870, passengers were, for three days, transferred in boats, near the Court House. The cars have been interrupted but two days, once during a terrible snow storm, in the winter of 1869-70, and one Sunday, during the equine epizootic epidemic in 1872. The affairs of the Company have been managed with skill and prudence, and the line has become an indispensable convenience to both cities, besides having greatly aided in building up the gap between them and thereby promoting their consolidation.

LYONS WATERWORKS.

Though wells in Lyons supplied remarkably good water for domestic pur- poses, the recurrence of disastrous fires enforced the necessity of providing some adequate protection. Accordingly, September 16, 1875, the Lyons Water- works Company was organized, by Baldwin Bros., A. S. Baldwin, D. S. Balch, John Braun, James Conlin, M. A. Disbrow, S. O. Davy, O. R. Davies, L. A. Ellis, H. Gates, W. C. Grohe, Hannaher & Son, H. P. Hobein, Thomas and William Leedham, J. J. Matthews, C. Moeszinger, E. B. Mellick, O. McMa- han, J. W. McPherson, John Ott, A. C. Root, Roeh & Michelsen, Ira Stock- well, D. B. Snyder, Adam Schneider, P. Tritschler, John Tolson, Welles, Gard- iner & Co., F. Winkler, and the following officers : J. P. Gage, President ; Hiram Gates, Vice President; J. C. Root, Secretary ; J. H. Barnum, Treas- urer. Directors-J. A. Nattinger, William Leimbach, John Gallion, N. Con- way.

The works are a combination of the direct pressure and reservoir systems, the reservoir being located on the high bluff in Union Subdivision, at the north- ern end of Seventh street. The cost of the works was $40,000, amply repaid by the convenience and security afforded. Thirty-seven fire-plugs and three miles of mains effectually protect the most valuable commercial and manufact- uring portions of the city. The question of a junction main connecting the works with Clinton has been agitated, and in case of very large fires would prove of great benefit.

LYONS PAPER-MILL.

Observing the abundance, quality and cheapness of the raw material for making straw papers, a suitable site with plenty of water of satisfactory purity and good shipping facilities, and especially the growing market for certain articles manufactured of paper, and novel uses to which the fabric was being put, in 1873, several gentlemen organized the Lyons Paper Com- pany, with an invested capital of $60,000. A mill with all the modern improvements was built on the levee between the Midland track and the Ring- wood slough, occupying, with straw-yards, warehouse, etc., a frontage of 800 and a depth of 150 feet. Since starting in November, 1873, the capacity of the mill has been steadily augmented till now it consumes daily over twelve 'tons of straw, throwing out eight tons of products, including wrapping and

Digitized by gfe

-----

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

605

building paper (the latter destined to make habitable the homes of many settlers on the mountains and on the plains), and also what would have made the ladies of a generation ago stare aghast at mentioning-paper dishes. Of the latter, 100,000 butter plates are stamped out every day, and the mill is frequently . millions behind orders. The pay-roll foots up over $2,000 monthly, and this enterprise has largely aided in closing the gap between the two cities, and in making the water front a continuous line of manufacturing industry. The officers of the Company are : President, S. I. Smith; Vice President, R. A. Rand; Secretary and Treasurer, H. F. Smith ; Superintendent, A. Carpenter.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS.

The original plat of Lyons was comprised principally by the slough, the river, Franklin and Sixth streets. Thereto have since been added additions, as follows : Buell's, mostly on the north side of the slough, between Ninth street and the railroad ; Penn's and the Union north and northwest of the same; Root & Jerome's, between Pearl, Tenth and Main streets and the city limits ; Buel & Aikman's, between Main, East and Sixth and including Exchange streets ; Stumbaugh's Subdivision, south of the same, and comprised between Exchange, Sixth, Washington and East streets ; Stumbaugh's Addition between Main, East and Washington streets and the western city limits, just beyond High street ; Randall's, south of the above, bounded by Washington and Sixth streets, and on the south, diagonally, by Commercial and Park streets, and by the city limits on the west at Sixteenth street. Between .the preceding and the original plat is Adams' Addition, comprised by Franklin, Third and Sixth streets, and including half the block the latter two, Randolph and Commercial streets south thereof, stretching from the river to the city limits on the west and south are Deed's two additions. A large area of land not platted is still held within the city limits by Messrs. Buel and Deeds.

At the organization of the city, the ward boundaries were : First, all south of Exchange street ; Second, that portion between Pearl and Exchange streets ; Third, all north of Pearl street. In 1859, the city was redistricted, as follows : First Ward, all south of Exchange and west of Sixth streets; Sixth Ward, south of Exchange and east of Sixth ; Second Ward, between Pearl and Exchange, and east of Sixth ; Fifth Ward, between Pearl and Exchange, and west of Sixth ; Third, north of Pearl and east of Sixth; Fourth, north of Pearl and West of Sixth.

The city tax of Lyons for 1878 was apportioned as follows :

General consolidated (11} mills) .. .$ 6,772 77

City and school consolidated (24 mills). 13,990 29

Water tax. 2,475 16

County poll tax 482 00

. Special city tax ..

336 70

Delinquent city tax.

748 00

Delinquent road tax.

56 67

Total.

$24 811 59

FINANCES.

Lyons may be congratulated on her exceptionally clear record as to finan- cial condition. It is a matter of just pride with her people. It is almost mar- velous that, during the " kiting times" when so many cities throughout the West were voting heavy debts upon themselves, and the speculative mania had reached such proportions, and when, too, so many important railroad end bridge schemes had this city for their initial point, that it should have escaped the contagion.

Digitized by

Google

606

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

During its whole career as a city, there are found evidences of a conserva- tive action in incurring expenses and promptness in liquidating those incurred, and, at this date, the financial exhibit, furnished from its records, gives as its present indebtedness, which includes its schools and schoolhouses, $2,500 bonded. Few cities in the whole land, of like age and population, can present so satisfactory a financial showing.

LYONS' LUMBER INTERESTS.

As in many other river towns, so in Lyons, when the railroad system began to cross the Mississippi and stretch westward into the illimitable treeless prairies, there came to be an enormous development of the lumber interest. To those men who, under many adverse circumstances,. without direct railway communication for many years, pluckily pushed the saw-mill business, Lyons' prosperity is largely due. The levee afforded admirable high and dry sites for saw-mills, and the sloughs just above Fulton and between Lyons and Clinton presented inviting harbors for rafts.

To Samuel Cox and G. W. Stumbaugh belongs the honor of being the pioneer lumbermen at the point which has since proved to be one of the most advan- tageous on the river. They built, in 1855, the first saw-mill upon the present site of Cummings Bros.' machine shop. It had barely time to surround itself with lumber piles sufficient for the temporary wants of the growing town and farming region in the vicinity, when, in 1856, it was totally destroyed by fire. Immediately the mill was rebuilt by Stumbaugh alone, and, for many years, until after the death of its proprietor, continued in active operation. In 1867, it was dismantled and since then has been used as an ice house.

At the same time, another mill was built at a location just above, by Cox, Johnson & Cox, which firm did a very flourishing business till, in the financial crash of 1857, they were, with other firms then engaged in the infant lumber business of the Mississippi, overwhelmed and borne down.

In the mean time, 1855-56, a lumber interest had been developed along the Ringwood Slough, a mill having been built by John Pickering just above Joyce's present location. He afterward took a partner named Raymond, but the firm was crippled by the crash, and it was finally dismantled, after an existence of about three years. Somewhat later, Capt. Beckwith built and operated a mill near the upper debouchment of the slough into the main river. It was operated in a small way until near the opening of the war. Beckwith was a more ardent hunter than lumberman.

Another saw-mill was operated by A. T. Cross, on the present site of the paper-mill warehouse.

For several years after the panic, very little was done in the saw-mills at Lyons. The general growth of the adjacent towns and building of railroads was checked, and no business is more a barometer of the community's prosperity, or reverse, than the manufacture of lumber; but with the opening of the war, recuperation of the West from the crisis and a healthier currency, another era of activity began.

In 1860, Ira Stockwell bought the old Cox Mill, and steadily making improve- ments and additions to the machinery ; in 1867, acquired the old Stumbaugh Mill, and for three years worked them both to their fullest capacity. Then, to con- centrate facilities, the machinery of the latter was moved into the former, increas- ing the output to 100,000 feet per day. Sparks from a passing locomotive, in 1874, caused a loss of $60,000, by a conflagration among the lumber piles, and, in 1864, a scanty log supply materially affected the general prosperousness of

Digitized by gie

607

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

Mr. Stockwell's interests, aside from being dependent, until the opening of rail communication in 1870, upon hauling by wagon to shipping or marketing points. Nevertheless, pluck and sagacity were reaping their inevitable reward, and the extension of the Midland was opening new markets, the panic of 1873 had been triumphantly weathered, when, on May 19, 1876, just as a busy season was opening, the mills were burned, entailing a direct loss of nearly $50,000, besides the season's trade, inflicting the greatest blow ever sustained by Lyons industry, in permanently throwing out of their former employment upward of one hundred and fifty men.

In 1869, Messrs. David Joyce and S. I. Smith erected the present mill on the Ringwood Slough, the structure, machinery and grounds costing $48,000, and the average capacity being 60,000 feet per day. Since its completion, the business has enjoyed a career of uninterrupted prosperity, under Mr. Joyce's sole ownership and management, assisted by Mr. J. F. Conway, and giving employment to a maximum force of 120 men. Mr. Joyce became sole owner in February, 1864. He is also a large stockholder and prominent member of the Mississippi Logging Company.

In the spring of 1874, through the enterprise of Messrs. L. B. Wadleigh, E. P. Welles and D. J., Batchelder, activity once more began in the lumber manufacture at the Lyons upper sites. The firm purchased the old Haun property, enlarged and virtually reconstructed the old saw-mill, converted the grist-mill into an auxiliary building, closed the gap between the two with a brick engine and boiler room, built an immense storehouse holding 2,000,000 feet of lumber, wherein cars could be directly loaded.

In 1877, the firm became Welles, Gardiner & Co., Mr. Stimpson Gardiner and his sons, Silas L. and George, having purchased the interest of Mr. . Wadleigh. The mill and yards occupy half a mile on river-front; the output is 15,000,000 feet of lumber per annum, and the number of men employed is over one hundred and twenty-five.

In 1856, a shingle-mill was built by Daniel Dean and William Swanson, just above Stockwell's old site. After several years, it was purchased by Charles Boynton, who organized the Lyons Manufacturing Company, and undertook several chimerical experiments, including running machinery by wind-mill. The enterprise was hardly a success.

Hosford & Miller erected their mill above the slough in 1857. Its history is found elsewhere in the section devoted to county finance and to Clinton lum- bering interests.

BANKS.

The first bank in Lyons was established by A. C. Root, in 1845, and for many years carried on a thriving business in the diminutive structure still standing on Exchange street, near the levee, and looking scarcely large enough for the vault of a modern style banking-house. Nevertheless, financial opera- tions of considerable magnitude and great importance to the growing city were carried on in those quarters till, in 1855, Mr. Root removed to the old bank building at the corner of Main and Second streets, where he remained till he sold his interest, in 1860, to Messrs. O. McMahan and W. N. Evans, who continued it till, in August, 1865, the bank was merged into the Lyons First National, instituted with a capital of $50,000, soon augmented to $100,000. The first and present officers are : J. P. Gage, President; O. McMahan, Vice President ; William M. Holmes, Cashier. Messrs. Otto Lachmund, William Holmes, Jr., and Charles McMahan also have charge of departments. R. N. Rand was for some years identified with the bank as Cashier. The business

Digitized by

Google

608

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

of the bank has been administered with rare financial skill, its clientage extend- ing not only among the solid farmers of Clinton and Jackson Counties, as far as Lost Nation and Maquoketa, but also in Illinois, from Savanna to Albany, of which latter place the Vice President was one of the pioneers. In the spring of 1872, was occupied the present specially built banking-house in the Masonic Temple, at the corner of Third and Main streets.

In June, 1878, Messrs. William Lyall and Thomas Calderwood, old residents and experienced business men, the former having been identified with the Farmers' and Citizens' Bank, in Clinton, opened a new banking-house in Lyons, on the north side of Main street, between Third and Fourth streets. The extensive transactions of the bank, especially with its rural clientele, amply prove that Lyons, as a financial center, is probably excelled by no town of its population in this section, and amply justify the addition of the sixth to the list of sound banking institutions within the two adjoining cities.

OTHER INDUSTRIES.

Conspicuous from river and railroad is the sash and wood-work factory of M. A. Disbrow, established in 1856, rebuilt in 1859 and enlarged in 1878, with $30,000 invested, and employing a maximum force of seventy-five hands.

In 1855, Mr. C. Moeszinger established an iron foundry in Buel's Addition, which he subsequently removed to its present site on Main street. It has always prospered and contributed largely to the modern buildings which grace Clin- ton and Lyons, besides giving employment to a large number of skilled mechan- ics. Since 1874, the business has been ably conducted by his son, John Moes- zinger.

The new tape-line factory of L. B. Wadleigh, and Reed & Mccutchen's wind- mill factory, represent a class of infant industries due to the inventive genius of their proprietors, and which promise well for future growth.

TELEPHONIC.

The Clinton & Lyons Bell Telephone Company was organized in June, 1878, and, on July 4, opened the line between the two towns Since then there have Deen stretched twenty-six and a half miles of wire, including fifty-four stations, comprising city and suburban residences, and nearly all the leading business offices and manufacturing establishments of both cities. In Clinton, the tele- phone line is utilized as a fire-alarm, and a complete electric burglar alarm is also being arranged. The invention has already proven to be of inestimable value to business and professional men. Besides the Company's lines, the independent ones to Camanche and Riverside have become indispensable. The Company's officers are : J. K. P. Balch, President ; J. C. Root, Secretary ; William Ins- lee, Treasurer.

NEWSPAPERS.

Lyons Mirror .- On the 19th of May, 1854, Cornelius and William Teal, brothers, issued the first newspaper published in the county, and which they then called the Clinton Mirror. Daniel W. Ellis, in May, 1855, purchased the interest of William Teal, and was associated with Cornelius Teal for a few months. Mr. Ellis retired, and C. Teal continued alone until during 1856, when Thomas A. Stone, of Cleveland, became a part owner, under the style of Teal & Stone. In April, 1858, Teal sole his interest to J. H. Hawes, and Mr. Stone sold his interest to Theron R. Beers, February 1, 1859. In Octo- ber, 1861, William D. Eaton succeeded Mr. Hawes, and the firm name became

Digitized by Google

609

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

Beers & Eaton, who still publish the Mirror. In the big fire of 1869, their office was totally destroyed, and they were heavy losers ; but, with characteristic energy, they replaced their material, with increased facilities. The Mirror has a large and solid subscription list, is Republican in politics, and is an influen- tial county journal.

The Lyons Advocate was established in 1855, by A. P. Durlin, who con- tinued its publication as a " straight " Democratic paper, with the exception of a brief suspension during the war, until, in April, 1873, the office was pur- chased by M. V. B. Phillips and J. C. Hopkins, who, in May of the same year, issued the paper as the Clinton .County Advertiser. In the same year, Mr. Hopkins, the present proprietor, assumed sole control of the paper. It is now a seven-column quarto, Democratic in politics, with a very large circulation and influence, especially in the interior of the county.

"AN OLD-FASHIONED FOURTH OF JULY."

Old citizens refer to the celebration of the Fourth of July, 1855, as the biggest day in the county up to that date, and point with pride to that "day's doin's."

A national salute of thirty-one guns, reverberating from bluff to bluff, awoke the citizens and echoes. At 9 o'clock, the Sunday schools assembled at the brick schoolhouse, whence a procession, presenting what the cotempo- rary account calls an "imposing appearance," marched to the music of the Le Claire Brass Band to Buel's Grove, where addresses were delivered by Rev. J. C. Strong, Prof. Gibbs and A. Scott. A dinner, spread in the bountiful and hospitable style of those days followed, and that the children all showed prop- erly patriotic appetites is recorded by trustworthy tradition, of those, now men and women, who were there.

At 11 o'clock, another procession formed at the Clinton House, comprising the Common Council, Odd Fellows, officials of the day and citizens generally, and were escorted by the band, and Marshals on horseback, to the same grove. G. W. Stumbaugh presided; Rev. Starkweather acted as Chaplain; W. W. Jerome read the Declaration of Independence; W. A. Groves, of Chicago, delivered the oration. Afterward, as in ancient Sparta, the entire body of citizens dined together, though with anything but Spartan frugality. After dinner, were read the following regular and volunteer toasts :

i. The Day we Celebrate. -

2. George Washington.

3. The Signers of the Declaration.

4. Gen. Lafayette.

5. Soldiers of the Revolution.

6. The Flag of Our Union.

T . The Army and Navy-the right and left arm of our nation.

8. The President of the United States.

9. The Orator of the Day.

10. Our Literary Institutions-more potent in maintaining our liberties than standing armies or numerous navies.

11. Lyons-a new planet ; a rising star in the eastern horizon of Iowa.

12. The Great West-possessed of all the elements of prosperity, containing a population at once enterprising and intelligent, it is destined at no distant day to become the center of our glorious Republic.

13. The Union-may political factions never sever her, that united she may stand a per- fect pattern of liberty, happiness and prosperity.

The volunteer toasts were offered as follows :

1. The Ladies of Lyons-unsurpassed for industry, intelligence and beauty.

2. By D. W. Ellis-Old Bachelors-devotees to single blessedness, dark spots on the inhabitable globe, at their lone condition may their feelings revolt and they offer themselves sacrifices on Hymen's altar.

Digitized by Google

610

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.

3. By Prof. Gibbs-Our City-A young Lyon whose roaring will soon be heard from 1. Atlantic to the Pacific, and to the extreme north and south of the American Continent.

4. By A. R. Cotton-The President of the Day-may his shadow never grow lees.

5. The Marshals of the Day-as to-day in Lyons City they marshal their hundreds, may they on the next National Anniversary marshal their thousands.

6. By T. H. Baker-Farmers-the true source of our National wealth; the pride and glory of our country.

7. By Dr. Matthews-The Sucker State-distinguished for its good farmers, able lawyers, broad prairies and beautiful women.

8. By Prof. Gibbs-The Band-it was music that inspired the bold soldiers in those "times that tried men's souls," and it is music that cheers us to-day in celebrating their achievements.

9. By Benjamin Lake-The Fair Daughters of Iowa-may they add beauty to virtue, sub- tract envy from friendship, multiply amiable accomplishments by sweetness of temper, divide time by sociability, and reduce scandal to its lowest denomination.

10. By A. Scott-The Father of Waters-as it excels the Thames, the Tiber and the Rhine, so may its hundred cities outrival London, Paris and ancient Rome.

11. By Mrs. W. W. Jerome-Long lives and pretty wives to the temperate young men of Lyons.

Some 2,500 people were present, and no disturbance marred the gayety of the celebration.

ORDER, ETC.

The order that has always prevailed in Lyons, even during the compara- tively lawless period in the history of the State, is one of the most just causes for citizens' pride in their city's record. Crimes against either person or prop- erty have been notably rare and trivial. The public peace has been seri- ously threatened on but few occasions, all but one of which were rather creditable than otherwise to the community, and for even that, there was some provocation. It was in May, 1854, when the failure of the L. & I. C. became manifestly irreparable, that a mob of several hundred "navvies" and other railroad employes, comprising the section gangs as far west as De Witt, assembled, armed with all sorts of weapons, and virtually sacked the company's store in Lyons, plundering it of some $20,000 worth of goods. Among the mob were many desperate characters, who had been implicated in the murder of a contractor on the Illinois Central, and many of course shared in the booty who were not creditors of the company. The officers of the law and honest citizens who desired to have the property equitably divided, were helpless, as many of the guard set over the goods were in sympathy with the rioters. When the Air Line suspended operations, there was happily no recurrence of any such scene, as the laborers and other employes were paid off in full, entirely at the contractors' expense, leaving those gentlemen heavy financial losers, but rich in the consciousness of integrity. .

During the years previcus to and during the war, several times disorderly houses became so objectionable to the community that abrupt notices to quit were served upon the inmates through the nozzle of the old Resolute fire engine, in the shape of a deluge of water, usually similar in purity to the parties receiving such heroic hydropathic treatment.

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.

The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its., Part 74

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 807

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 807