USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > The History of Poweshiek County, Iowa : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, &c.,. > Part 62
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The church has enjoyed several religious awakenings, one in particular in the winter and spring of 1877, under the direction of Rev. W. G. Thorn,
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the pastor at that time; great numbers were added to the church. It was the largest revival in the history of the church.
The sabbath-school meets every sabbath morning at 9:30 o'clock, with an average attendance of 153, but the whole number belonging to the school is 231. There are twenty-one officers and teachers. There has, during the past year, been raised by the school the sum of $45 for mis- sionary purposes, and $95 for the benefit of the school.
During the past year the school has held several public missionary meetings.
Mr. O. F. Dorrance is now Superintendent and Mr. Ira Thompson Sec- retary.
BROOKLYN CHRONICLE
Brooklyn, Poweshiek county, Iowa. Established September 9, 1875, by W. M. McFarland as editor and proprietor. Mr. H. L. Dodge leased the office of W. M. McFarland and became editor and publisher Septem- ber 1, 1879. Mr. Dodge came with Mr. McFarland from Mt. Pleasant, aided in the establishment of the Chronicle in 1875, and with the exception of a vacation of about four months in the summer of 1878, was foreman till he became publisher. Under the head of "our first issue " September 4, 1879, appears Mr. Dodge's characteristic salutatory:
" After four years of almost unceasing labor in another capacity on the Chronicle, we assume the editorial chair. We are well aware that our path will not be smoothed by others for us to travel over, but instead, if we wish a smooth path in our journalistic career, much depends on our own efforts to shape the path, that we may have as few places to trip and stumble as possible. We don't believe much in making promises, but we will say this, that we will use our best endeavors to keep the Chronicle up to the high standard it has attained under the editorial management of Mr. Mc- Farland. Our aim will be to make it a first-class live local paper. We will try to make your interests and ours identical, and not antagonistic. We will claim the right to hold opinions, and on proper occasions, to express them; yet at the same time, those who may differ with us on any matter will be allowed a hearing through our columns. We will ask for your patronage and expect to give you value received. We don't want you to give us a cent more than you think our labor benefits you, for we will not be a party to turning the Chronicle into a pauper mill. While our articles may not be as finely finished as some would like them, we will make them as plain as we can, and so they can be understood, if we do have to leave off the last coat of varnish. In politics the paper will remain Republican. With these
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
few crude thoughts we leave the matter in your hands, respectfully solici- ting that patronage you think we deserve."
There was a weekly paper started here by W. G. Campbell, editor, in 1866, and probably no year since that date has Brooklyn been without a newspaper, though it has often changed its name, political principles and editors; C. E. Leland, editor of the Brooklyn Journal after Mr. Campbell, then followed E. A. Day, A. L. Wigton, R. P. Childs, Henry Martin (an Anti-monopolist), B. A. Ward, G. N. Sherburne (an Independent) and S. U. Mitchell (a Democrat).
Since 1875 the paper has been conducted in a business-like manner, its circulation increased and its influence widened. The politics of the paper is Republican.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The common school, which is such an honor to the State, finds in the pubic schools of Brooklyn no backward step. There is here general appreciation of education and honest pride in having all the rising generation well fitted for the active responsibilities of life. Only within quite recent date have the people of Brooklyn enjoyed privileges of good graded schools which they now enjoy. Until 1870 no good graded system prevailed, and since that time all that could be desired has not been fully realized. Organized as an independent school district in the spring of 1868, the principals and presidents of the school boards have been as follows:
YXAB.
PRINCIPALS.
PRESIDENTS.
1868
J. D. Haile. Geo. W. Blakeslee.
1869
1870
E. Blanchard. 66
1871
1872
Amos Hiatt. R. Talbott.
1873
George F. McClellan E. Blanchard.
1874
66 66
H. G. Cummings.
66 66 66 W. Hibbard. 1875
1876 A. L. Shattuck H. G. Cummings.
W. Hibbard. 1877
A. T. Free
1878
J. P. McCammon
O. F. Dorrance.
1879
T. H. Bradbury
W. H. Cummings.
1880 Miss Jennie Shrader .C. H. Libby.
W. T. Holmes has been the treasurer since its organization.
Present teachers: Principal, Miss Jennie Shrader; room No. 1, Miss Maggie C. Wright; room No. 2, Florence Sargeant; North Brooklyn, room
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
No. 3, Allie G. Woods; room No. 4, Mary D. Ballantyne. South Brook- lyn, room No. 2, Mr. J. E. McCarty; room No. 1, Miss Sarah M. Fran- cisco. Broadway, Miss Maggie L. Davidson.
SOCIETIES.
Odd Fellows .- Brooklyn Lodge, No. 114. Organized February 3d, 1858, with five charter members, viz: George Miller, L. S. Shields, W. S. Guf- fy, D. S. Ensor, James Motherell. The first initiate was Robt. Talbott. The society owns property to the amount of over ten thousand dollars, in- cluding a large brick block, with store-rooms and offices, and a spacious and elegantly furnished hall for the use of the order. The main hall is sixty-five feet long and twenty-four feet wide, and furnished in the very best style, adorned with emblematic carpet, frescoed walls and ceiling, chandeliers and other improvements. There are three ante-rooms. The building was erected in the summer of 1875, and the hall was dedicated on the 26th of April, 1876. The order meets every Saturday evening. There are ninety-eight active members. The following is a list of the present officers: I. N. Drake, N. G .; M. Nebel, Vice G .; J. C. Stober, Treasurer; W. T. Sharp, Permanent Sec .; J. P. W. Freed, Recording Sec.
Brooklyn Encampment, No. 36, I. O. O. F .- Was instituted October 21, 1868, and now numbers thirty-eight active members. It holds its meet- ings on the second and fourth Tuesday evenings of each month, in Odd Fel- lows' Hall, and is one of the best working organizations of the kind in cen- tral Iowa.
Good Samaritan Lodge, No. 46, I. O. O. F .- Daughters of Rebekah. Was instituted October 22, 1874; meets on the first Saturday afternoon of each month, in Odd Fellows' Hall; numbers twenty-five active members, and together with the subordinate lodge and encampment, keeps the banner of Odd Fellowship unfurled in the community and the principles of that noble order in constant practice.
Masons .- Corinthian Lodge, No. 174, A. F. and A. M. Organized June, 1864; chartered June, 1865. Regular communication first Wednesday evening on or before full moon, in the Odd Fellows' Hall. Present num- ber of working members, fifty. Present officers: E. Happy, W. M .; J. A. Flaig, S. W .; M. McKone, J. W .; C. H. Libby, Treasurer; E. O. Parker, Secretary; G. W. Dalby, Senior Deacon; J. E. Mousley, Junior Deacon; Edward Phillips, Tyler. Names of Worshipful Masters, with date of elec- tion: June, 1864, Robert Davidson, three years; June, 1867, R. C. Shimer, one year; June, 1868, Thomas Rainsburg, three years; June, 1871, S. B. Frum, one year; 1872, A. J. Wood, one year; June, 1873, G. W. Dalby,
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
three years; June, 1876, J. B. Henion, two years; June, 1878, W. H. Price, one year; 1879, Geo. Phillips, one year; 1880, E. Happy, present incumbent.
A. O. U. W .- Bear Creek Lodge, No. 175. Organized the 2d of Sep- tember, 1878. Present membership, 44. Meetings every Monday night, in Odd Fellows' Hall. Present officers: J. B. Seeley, Master Workman; C. C. Drake, Past Master Workman; Alexander Wood, Foreman; B. Shimer, Overseer; E. J. Applegate, Recorder; W. H. Cummings, Finan- cier; Geo. Phillips, Receiver; L. J. Owen, Guide; T. M. Francis, Inside Watchman; F. A. Beall, Outside Watchman. The following persons have held the office of M. W. in the order of their names: J. W. Lantz, one term; J. E. Mousley, two terms; C. C. Drake, one term; J. B. Seeley, present incumbent.
Brooklyn Veteran Union .- Organized June 30, 1877. It meets on the first Tuesday afternoon, in the months of February, May, August and No- vember. The present officers are, W. E. Small, Commander; Donald Frazer, Vice Commander; E. O. Parker, Treasurer; W. T. Holmes, Secre- tary. Executive committee: W. E. Small, Geo. Phillips, W. T. Holmes, John T. Scott, Ira T. Martin. There are at present ninety-eight enrolled, representing eighty-five different army organizations. Some who wore the gray have enrolled. The society is different from anything the writer has before known. Its success as a permanent organization is assured, and Brooklyn may well boast of its merits. Its objects may be best understood from the following extracts from its constitution:
"We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, having faithfully served our country as soldiers, sailors or marines, and been honorably discharged from such service, desiring to preserve and strengthen those kind and fraternal feelings which bind us together, and to perpetuate the memory of the dead, do ordain and establish the following rules and regulations for the govern- ment of this association:
"This association shall be known as the " Brooklyn Veteran Union."
"Objects: Those recited in the foregoing preamble. To better enable us to keep in mind those who shared with us the toils and dangers of those days, the record of which forms at once the brightest and darkest pages of our country's history; and to assist such former comrades in arms as may require our good offices, and to extend needful aid to the widows and or- phans of those who have fallen.
" Any person who wore the blue during the great rebellion, and can furnish satisfactory evidence of having done his duty in any branch of the military service of the United States during that period; and such of those who
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
wore the gray as are now in full sympathy and accord with, and determined in the future to fully support, the government of the United States, and to encourage the maintenance of our free institutions and the blessings of lib- erty, equal rights and justice to all men, shall be eligible to membership."
The union has adopted as a uniform the "Sherman" hat, and blouse, and uses the muzzle-loading Springfield rifle musket, a case of which was obtained in New York, early in 1878. Besides turning out in force on the occasion of each annual " Decoration Day," and conducting the exercises at the cemetery, detachments, fully armed and equipped, have attended cel- ebrations at different places in the county.
The union owns a beautifully-located plat of ground in the Odd Fellows' or city cemetery, consisting of six lots, in which one stranger, a comrade from near St. Joseph, Michigan, has already been buried, and upon which it is the intention of the society to erect a soldiers' monument as soon as the necessary funds can be secured.
BAND.
Brooklyn Cornet Band .- Organized in the fall of 1877; ten pieces. F. Mousley, Pres't; F. Manatt, Sec .; H. C. Ball, Treas .; B. Shimer, Leader. Meets twice each week.
MUSICAL SOCIETY.
Brooklyn Choral Society .- Organized in the summer of 1879; twenty- five members. J. B. Carder, M. D., Pres't; I. T. Martin, Sec .; E. O. Parker, Treasurer; S. W. Corwin, Musical Director; Miss Alda Rayburn, Organist. Holds weekly meetings.
TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.
Blue Ribbon Club .- Organized December 12, 1878. H. L. Dodge, President; R. N. Powers, Sec .; E. H. Skinner, Treas. Meets semi- monthly.
COMPANY H, NINTH REGIMENT I. N. G., OF BROOKLYN.
This company was organized April 23, 1878, as regular State militia. Most are enlisted for three years, some, however, for five. They have a good armory, large enough to drill a company at any season of the year. The officers and men are uniformed, armed and equipped. They have at- tended, under arms, several celebrations at Brooklyn, Malcom and Grin- nell. They meet at Central Hall Armory twice each month for drill. They are armed with the best Springfield breech-loading rifles. The enrollment includes fifty-five able-bodied men. The present officers are: E. B. Smith, Captain; E. J. Applegate, 1st Lieutenant; H. E. Herrick, 2d Lieu-
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
tenant; A. W. Thompson, 1st Sergeant. George Phillips, who recruited the company, and was its first Captain, is now Lieut .- Colonel of the regi- ment, having been elected to that position February 10, 1880.
RAILROAD.
Besides a good passenger depot the railroad company have a freight house, round-house, turn-table and five side tracks. The round-house con- tains thirteen stalls for engines, and a sleeping apartment, with over twenty cots, for engineers and firemen. There is also a small repair shop in connection with the engine house. Mr. J. E. Mausley is at present over- seer of the engine house and the railroad employes who make this their headquarters. There are daily, except Sundays, two express trains each way, and twelve accommodation and freight trains each way. Mr. J. H. Tucker is the present station agent. The railroad was built to this place in the fall of 1862.
POST-OFFICE.
The post-office is now kept by Mr. George Phillips, the postmaster, on the west side of Jackson street. The names of the different postmasters are as follows:
J. C. Talbott from 1849 to 1854. Dr. Edward Barton, a short time. Wm. S. Guffy. Then the post-office was discontinued for about six months. Ru- Ruben Sears, two years. S. F. Pruyn. L. S. Shields, 1860. Jas. E. John- son, 1861-1864. Charles Harrah. Dr. C. E. Rayburn, 1869. David Ster- ling, 1869. O. Darrance, East Brooklyn, B. M. Talbott, West Brooklyn. George Phillips, appointed August 23, 1873.
BROOKLYN CEMETERY.
The Brooklyn cemetery is situated about three-quarters of a mile north- east of the business portion of the town. It was laid out in 1868 and now contains seventeen acres. The first person whose remains were deposited there was John Manatt. It was used for its present purposes a long time before it was laid out. The Odd Fellows now own and control the ground, and Mr. G. K. Satchell is sexton.
The Catholics have a burying ground east of the city and just south of the Odd Fellows' cemetery. It was laid out in 1878.
INCIDENTS.
Considerable of the town of Brooklyn was laid out in the spring of 1855 by Robert Manatt. The first house was built by Robert Shimer, who with Dr. Sears, G. D. Bross and J. H. Harper, were the first settlers.
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
Dr. Sears, in the fall of 1855, opened a small grocery in an old log cabin, keeping for sale tea, sugar and, in those days, other " luxuries."
CHESTER TOWNSHIP.
In collecting facts relating to the early history of a township many diffi- culties are met with. Foremost among these is that of finding well-kept township records, then again the indistinct recollection of exact dates and incidents by the early settlers, and still another the disagreement of per- sons regarding the same incident. No history can be written which in the opinion of all is correct, but the historian collects from all available sources what purports to be fact, and arranges the matter consistent with his best judgment. Doubtless there are many things known to old settlers that would be of great value to their decendants if preserved in an enduring form; but many of the pioneers have already moved away or died, and con- siderable of their early experience will be irrecoverably lost. However, in the following short sketch, we have endeavored to give the reader the most authoritative narrative yet written.
Chester township comprises an area of six square miles, situated in the northwest corner of Poweshiek county, Iowa. It was for a time after the organization of the county a part of Grinnell township. It is bounded on the north by Highland township, Tama county; on the east and south by Sheridan and Grinnell townships, respectively of Poweshiek county, and west by Hickory Grove township, Jasper county. The physical features of the gently rolling prairie, well watered by Bear Creek, which flows through the township from northwest to southeast, and the exceeding fertility of the soil render it one of the very best agricultural portions of central Iowa.
The first permanent settlement was made in August, 1856, by Jason W. Sherman and family. Mr. Sherman came from Croydon, Sullivan county, New Hampshire; erected his present residence on section 16, and occupied it the same fall. When Mr. Sherman first settled here the unbroken prai- rie extended in every direction as far as the eye could reach. Not a tree in the whole township except two little groves to the south on Bear Creek. Cheerless and barren were those desolate prairies, and unprotected from the winds, during the first winter that the family lived there alone. Wood and prairie grass furnished their fuel, and wild game a portion of their food.
In May, 1857, Henry Sherman, brother of the first settler, came and built a good frame house on his present farm. Joseph and John Hays, with their families, came in the spring of 1858; Cornelius Skiff, Abram Hays, Salva- dor Hays, S. G. Page and Wilson Sherman in 1859. Charles and Edward Fisher in December, 1860, and John Lightner in April, 1861. Of the early
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
settlers, the Shermans came from New Hampshire; John Hays and Joseph T. Hays from Frederick county, Maryland; Salvador Hays from Wiscon- sin; John Lightner from Pennsylvania; Cornelius Skiff from Conneticut; S. G. Page from Ohio, and the Fishers from Vermont. Many of the early settlers came from New England and the people even now retain many of their ancestral peculiarities. In the summer of 1855 the first breaking of prairie was done by authority of Henry Lawrence for Jason Sherman with a plow brought by S. G. Page. The breaking was done on land bought and owned by Mr. Sherman before he came to settle. The first birth was that of Sarah Francella Sherman, daughter of Jason W. Sherman, born Novem- ber 19, 1857; she died when a little over six. Fannie H. Sherman, daugh- ter of Henry Sherman, was the second child, born June 10, 1859. The first death occurred December 4, 1858, that of Deborah Hays, daughter of Joseph Hays. She was nearly twenty-two years of age; the remains were inter- red in the cemetery at Grinnell. The first marriage was Frank Burleigh and Mary Thompson, at the house of the bride's father, Mr. William Thompson, in the fall of 1863.
The first school was taught by Miss Jennie Howard, beginning in the spring of 1861, in the "Samuel Hays' house " on section 10, and the first school-house was erected during the summer of 1862, built mostly by day laborers from Grinnell, and contributed work by the neighbors. The same neat little house, kept in good repair, stands on the northwest quarter of section 10.
Chester township was organized October 22, 1860, and the first election was held in the house of Henry Sherman, November 6, 1860. The Fisher brothers named the town " Chester " from "Chester," Vermont, their na- tive town. Those who exercised the right of franchise at that election were the following thirteen persons: J. A. Hays, S. G. Page, J. Hays, J. W. Sherman, Corneilus Skiff, A. W. Hays, D. F. Hays, Wilson Sherman, J. T. Hays, Samuel Hays, Henry Sherman, H. P. Strain, W. M. Hays.
The following were the township officers elected at the first meeting: township clerk, Cornelius Skiff; assessor, William M. Hays; justices of the peace, Joseph Hays, Salvador Hays; trustees, Wilson Sherman, Daniel Hays. J. Hays; constables, John J. Hays, Abram W. Hays; road supervi- sor, Henry Sherman. The first recorded meeting of the board of trustees is dated April 8, 1861.
One day in the fall of 1860 the whole population of the township, except a few children and aged persons, left at home to " hold the fort," rode in a four-horse wagon to Toledo, Tama county, and heard Governor Kirkwood
36
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
discuss the political issues in the Lincoln campaign. Mr. D. F. Hays still preserves the Union flag carried at that time. Twenty years ago all the voters in the township rode in one wagon, now they number one hundred and forty-six. The whole population, according to the United States cen- sus of 1880, is 623.
The burying ground is located at the center of section 9. The first meet- ing of the Chester Burying Ground Association was May 28, 1866, when Wilson Sherman, B. F. Stockwell, and D. F. Hays, were chosen trustees; William Thompson, treasurer; Frank Burleigh, secretary. The first burial in these grounds was the body of Harry Stockwell, a boy of four years, having met instant death by falling under the wheels of a heavy wagon.
The present township officers are:
Clerk-Thomas Fuller.
Trustees -- Charles Fisher, J. H. Mann, Chas. Hoofcut.
Assessor -- Horace James. Justice of Peace-C. B. Smith.
Constable -- B. F. Stockwell.
Road Supervisor -- W. R. Look.
There are nine good school-houses, two churches-Congregational and Methodist-two post-offices-"Chester Center " and Sonora-one road dis- trict, and nine sub-school districts. The Central Railroad of Iowa, con- structed in 1869, runs a distance of three miles through the southwestern part of the township.
Grinnell is their principal railroad station, though Newburg and Gilman are easier of access to those in the northwest. Their wagon roads during the dry season are kept in good condition. The land is under excellent cultivation, and the crops, especially corn, this year (1880) are very great- the corn crop is, in excess of any previous one. The soil, deep and exceed- ingly fertile, the surface, gently undulating though smooth, without stump or stone, where the cultivator and reaper meet no obstruction; this can be truly called "the farmer's paradise." Twenty, and even ten years has greatly changed the appearance of the farms, which are now well supplied with groves, orchards, hedge and wire fences, stock-yards, pastures, barns, and good, substantial, and sometimes elegant, frame houses. Mr. C. B. Smith superintends the cheese factory, located opposite the Center post- office, where about 2,700 pounds of milk are made into cheese daily. The milk is furnished by the neighbors from about 120 cows.
The Center post-office was established in 1877, and Mr. C. B. Smith has been postmaster since that date. Sonora was established in 1878. Mr.
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
T. H. Hays was first, and Horace James second, postmaster. The Chester Li- brary Association was organized in February, 1877, and now has a rapidly increasing library of 141 standard volumes.
November 28, 1874, Mr. and Mrs. William Sherman celebrated their golden wedding in the house where Mr. Sherman now resides, section 16, Chester township. There were present of the family twenty-three: Four sons with their wives, and one daughter with her husband, nine grandsons, four granddaughters. They were married in Croydon, N. H., November 28, 1824, by Rev. Jacob Haven. They settled in Chester in the fall of 1864. Several prominent citizens of Grinnell attended the happy occasion. Mrs. Sherman died in March, 1879. Mr. Sherman is now a hale and hearty veteran of seventy-nine. He has just returned from a trip to San Fran- cisco and the Yosemite.
There was raised last year for school purposes $2,400; for roads, $1,013. The value of real estate, $204,863; personalty, $60,906. According to the United States census of 1880, in the year 1879 there were 6,011 acres of corn, 259,295 bushels of corn, average per acre 43 bushels; 1,629 acres of oats, 58,716 bushels of oats, average per acre 364; 1,627 acres of wheat, 17,162 bushels of wheat, average per acre 10}; butter, 39,280 pounds; stock on hand January 1, 1880: swine, 6,328; cows, 812; horses, 772. The farms average 200 acres each. The intelligence and industry of the inhab- tants is the secret of their success and high standing among their neighbors. Their moral and religious sentiments are of the best New England type; general regard for the sabbath, and attendance at church service by so many of its citizens, has an influence felt in the whole town. The political sentiment is nearly all Republican, there being only a dozen Democratic voters. No saloon has existed within the limits of the township, and no drunkard has ever lived there. No lawyer has yet made his professional headquarters there, and crimes and misdemeanors have not been known to exist in the town. No physician has resided or officed within its borders. Chester township has a population of 623. Settlements began twenty-four years ago, and it has been legally organized just twenty years, yet only sixty-seven graves can be numbered in the township burying ground, in- cluding those who were actual residents, children, strangers, and about fif- teen or twenty brought in from other places. As a proof of the healthful- ness of the township, it may be stated that during the first sixteen years of the settlement of the township, only one man died, and he was an invalid who came to visit his brother and died while in the township.
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