USA > Iowa > Cedar County > The history of Cedar County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. : a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 53
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I
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY.
was dark, and the boys, sympathizing(?) with the old man, found and lighted a lantern and directed him the way to Mr. Ray's. The old man started, and the " boys " followed closely after. The hour was late, but it mattered not to the old man, for he was hunting a wife. He called the preacher up, and demanded his wife. Mr. Ray assured him there was no wife there but his own, and assured his nocturnal visitor that he wouldn't give her up for the world, nor had there been any woman there that night-neither a single woman nor the wife of any " other man." The Cross old man could not believe the preacher, and insisted upon going in and searching the house. His wife was there, and hic knew it, for the 'Squire who had married them an hour before, and the folks at the tavern, told him that she was there. The preacher, of course, knew nothing of the joke, and believing hc was in the presence of a lunatic, ordered him from his premises, and began to "back out"-or rather to back in-to his house, and "leave here, you lunatic," came from his clenched teeth, as he slammed to the door and locked it in the wife-hunter's face.
Back to the Fleming House he came, full of agony and suspense. Married but a few brief hours, and his wife gone ! What could it meam ? The "boys" were there, but they didn't know. He insisted on searching the house, and search it he did; but a courier went before, and the school marm was spirited from room to room, and left him to search in vain. The night passed away, and daylight came; but the bride came not, neither could she be found. She was kept secreted in the house until an opportunity presented, when she was sent to the country, where it was found necessary to keep her secreted for sev- eral weeks, for the old man was frantic and furious.
The " boys" had had their "fun" at the old man's expense ; but by and by their faces grew longer, and they neither laughed so loud nor so long at the success of their scheme. The "joke leaked out," and, at the advice of a friend, John Finch, the disappointed and betrayed bridegroom consulted an attorney at Clinton. The facts in the case were all presented, and the marriage was, in the opinion of the attorney, legal, valid and binding. The ceremony had been rendered by an officer clothed by law with that authority, and suit was com- menced against them before Justiec Edgar, who tried the case in the Court Honse. By some legal technicality, probably because, as suggested by Judge Tuthill, who appeared for the defense, there had been no consummation of the marriage, the defendants managed to escape legal punishment, and, at the advice of some of the more influential citizens, the old man turned his back upon the town a part of whose people would volunteer to help a man find a wife, see them married, and then steal her away from him, and has never since been seen in Tipton. After his departure from the scene of his troubles, the school marm ventured to return to Tipton. From Tipton she subsequently went to Davenport, where she died a few years later.
The old license remained in the Fleming House, just as it was written on the fly-leaf of an old magazine, until a very few years ago, when, with other papers and magazines, it was either lost or burned.
STEAMBOATING ON CEDAR RIVER.
Mr. George Frain, an old resident of Rochester, has kept a diary of current local events, that dates back to the time of his first settlement on Cedar River, from which he has permitted a few extracts to be taken. He says :
Steamboats made their appearance in Cedar River about 1845, and plied between New Boston, Mercer County, Illinois, and Cedar Rapids. The trade was continued, especially in times of high water, until 1868, when the navigation of Cedar River was abandoned, and from that time until May of the present year, 1878, the quiet of the people along the banks of the
451
HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY.
river were not disturbed by the puffing and snorting of steam water craft. At the last date, however, the steamboat Lillie, Captain S. H. Dennem, went up as far as Cedar Rapids, loaded with pork, and returned. The Lillie is a boat of sixty tons burden, and was built for the coal, wood and stone trade. In times like the present (June 10, 1878), when the river is swollen and full-spreading out over the bottoms and overflowing the farms, as it has overflowed the Gower farm at Cedar Bluff-largest Mississippi River boats would have no difficulty in ' making the riffle.'
In 1838-39-40 and even later, Mr. Frain says the cry was "hard times." Dressed pork sold for $1.25@$2.00 per hundred pounds, and beef at $2.50 per hundred. "About these times, it was hard to command a little cash, and when we bought goods of a merchant, we would give a note something like this :
" ' For value received, I will pay W. H. Tuthill, in wheat, at thirty-three cents per bushel, after harvest, on account of a store bill of six dollars. Dated this 10th day of May, 1841.
" ' Signed, T. B. SMITH.
" In 1840, fish were very plenty in Cedar River and its tributaries and some very large ones were caught. I remember one pike of four feet and some inches in length and weighing thirty pounds, that was taken. It was not unusual to catch cat fish that weighed forty and fifty pounds, and a few were caught that weighed several pounds more. It was not uncommon in the fishing season of that year to catch from five to seven bushels of an evening, in Rock Creek. Besides pike and cat fish there was every other kind peculiar to the waters of the Mississippi."
The following weather items are gleaned from Mr. Frain's weather and thermometrical record :
1861-Snow fall, 442 inches ; rain fall, 34} inches ; range of the thermometer, highest in the shade, 98°; lowest, 20°.
1872-Snow fall, 24} inches ; rain, fall 462 inches ; coldest morning, 15° below zero ; hottest day, 97º above.
1873-January, snow fall. 463 inches ; rain fall, 23} inches.
1874-Snow fall, 461 inches ; rain fall, 38,18 inches ; lowest range of thermometer, 32°; highest, 97º.
1875-Snow fall, 282 inches ; rain fall, 591 inches.
1876-Snow fall, 304 inches ; rain fall, 59} inches.
1877-Snow fall, 41 inches : rain fall, 57-1 inches.
1878-January, snow fall, 2} inches. February, snow fall, 4} inches ; rain fall, 1} inches. March, rain fall, 23 inches. April, rain fall, 53 inches. Lowest range of the thermometer, 4º below zero.
The above records cover the entire year, from the 1st of January to the last day of December.
KILLED BY LIGHTNING.
Willie Davidson and Johnnie Pugh, two boys aged about 10 years each, whose parents reside about two miles west of Tipton, were killed by lightning on the 2d day of June, 1876.
FIRSTLINGS.
Iowa was admitted into the Union as a sovereign and independent State, December 28, 1846.
The first election held in Cedar County, under State organization, was held on the second Tuesday of October, 1847.
The first sale of lands returned delinquent for taxes, was held on the 17th day of April, 1848. The lands then offered were delinquent from 1845.
May 18, 1846, the first Court House was accepted by the County Commis- sioners.
Harvey G. Whitlock, a reputed Mormon and a self-constituted physician, settled at Antwerp, in the Summer of 1839, and was the first resident physician in the county. He afterward moved to Tipton and occupied the corner where the law, exchange and banking office and large private library building of Hon. W. H. Tuthill is now located.
452
HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY.
The first resident couple of Cedar County, to be joined together in the sacred bonds of wedlock, were W. A. Rigby and Miss Lydia Barr. They were married at Muscatine, because a license could not be had in the county of their residence by reason of the unorganized condition of Cedar County.
Margaret, daughter of Hector Sterret, now the widow of Levi Jennings, was the first white child born in Cedar County. She was born about the 1st of September, 1836.
It is believed that Joseph Poston, at Poston' Grove, was the first male child born in the county.
An effort was made to establish the date when, and the name of the party who made the first entry of Government lands, but the effort was not crowned with success.
Judge Tuthill had the following copy of a Land Office receipt, which is transmitted with these pages :
No. 2. RECEIVER'S OFFICE AT DUBUQUE, I. T., November 1, 1838.
Received from David W. Walton, of Cedar County, Jowa Territory, the sum of two hundred dollars, being in full for the southeast quarter of Section No. Fifteen, in Township No. Seventy- nine, of Range No. Two west of 5th P. M., containing one hundred and sixty acres, and land, at $1.25-100 per acre. TH. MONIGHT, Receiver.
THE PRESS.
" But mightiest of the mighty means, On which the arm of progress leans, Man's noblest mission to advance, His woes assuage, his weal enhance, His rights enforce, his wrongs redress- MIGHTIEST OF MIGHTY IS THE PRESS."
The Tipton Times and Cedar County Conservative was the title of the first newspaper published in Cedar County. It was a small monthly paper, favoring the Whig party, and was printed at the Gazette office, Davenport, under the proprictorship of William H. Tuthill and John P. Cook, then attorneys at law in Tipton. The first number was issued Saturday, April 6, 1850. It was continued for one year. Dr. Richard Hall had gone to California in that Spring, and, in order to avoid the personal editorial accountability peculiar to pioneer journalism, the name of Dr. Hall was used as that of editor, although he knew nothing whatever of the publication for some time. About the time the paper was discontinued, John P. Cook removed to Davenport, where he became a prominent lawyer. He had previously been a partner of Mr. Hall, in the drug business, under the firm name of Hall & Co.
The Cedar County News Letter was established at Rochester, by Nelson C. Swank, who settled there July 9, 1839, and continued to reside there, after- ward in mercantile business until his death. Of this paper a memorandum, made by him in 1859, says :
Mr. Swank owned the first printing press, and published the first weekly newspaper in the county. He called the paper The Cedar County News Letter, the first number of which appeared September 13, 1852. He continued the publication one year and then sold the press, type and fixtures to Charles Swetland, Esq., who removed them to Tipton.
Rush Jobbs and Samuel Dunn were compositors, and an attorney, then there, named Brown, wrote for the paper. It was a small, six-column folio. No copy of it is known to be in existence, although the following "New Year's Address," written for The Cedar County News Letter, for January 1, 1853,
453
HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY.
by Hon. William H. Tuthill, has been preserved. It is particularly interesting on account of the many local allusions :
NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS. EXORDIUM. News Letter patrons, friends of the Press, In aiding our cause you ensure its success, Typographical hearts to cheer ; And so one and all 1 will cordially thank In the name of the editor, Nelson C. Swank, And wish you a happy New Year.
An address is expected in meter and rhyme, Sentimental, perhaps, with a touch of sublime, As the work of a poet should seem, And I thought I could do it up brown, and steep, But in getting up steam fell soundly asleep, When I dreamed this singular dream :
DREAM.
Methought, as the old year passed away, That the new one came swiftly along, With hosts of admirers, happy and gay, A merry, delighted throng, Singing a song, with a chorus too, That was wondrous strange to me, Contrasting past actions in Fifty-two With the future of Fifty-three.
SONG.
Let us lift our voices, and sing and shout, We have precedent good for the noise ; For is it not said by the truly devout, 'Tis the way to win Heavenly joys ? Though rogues and hypocrites, not a few, Pray loudly on bended knee, But the scoundrel who cheated in Fifty-two Will swindle in Fifty-three.
Farmers will growl because wheat is low, And merchants that freights are high ; Debtors will grumble because they owe, And the day of payment is nigh ; Many a lawyer will grind and screw And be bought by a paltry fee, T'was the practice prevailing in Fifty-two, T'will not vary in Fifty-threc.
Cook* in Congress, old Cedar will show, While Clarket his triumph will grudge ; Bissell, ¿ though lazy, as all of us know, Is of horses an excellent judge. But though office holders never knew The blessing of feeling free, Yet, as they sought station in Fifty-two, They will seek it in Fifty-three.
Political hacks, on either side, The truth will distort and vary ; Judge Grant? his hobby undaunted will ride 'Till his Railroad crosses the prairie. In Iowa, riches must accrue, If her citizens but agree To bury the follies of Fifty-two In the progress of Fifty-three.
* John P. Cook, then Member of Congress from this District.
+ Lincoln Clarke, his predecessor.
ĮS. A. Bissell, then Judge.
¿ James Grant, Esq., of Davenport, one of the originators of the C., R. I. & P. R. R.
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY.
Leland || will lecture, grin and grimace, And picture the drunkard's condition ; Twiningf will lead us to glory and grace, And Cobb ** to free-soil abolition ; Tuthill++ the law will profoundly construe, John Hubertį will disagree- And preachings and practice of Fifty-two Will be followed in Fifty-three.
Peripatetic feelers of heads Will lecture so seemingly fair, Descanting on organs, from Clay's to Old Red's, ¿¿ To show what our faculties are ; And soft-headed men, and women, too, Believers in bumps will be ; They caught the distemper in Fifty-two, They'll retain it in Fifty-three ;
Wandering teachers of common schools Will present themselves to be hired, And though half knaves, and the balance fools, Will doubtless be praised and admired. Directors will meet, and spit and chew, And empty their heads will be ;
There was little learning in Fifty-two, There'll be less in Fifty-three.
And rappers and writers of spirit lore, And mediums, foul and fair, Will humbug the people more and more, Such a credulous race we are ; And tables will walk like the Wandering Jew, And wonderful things we'll see ; There were spirits in hundreds in Fifty-two, There'll be thousands in Fifty-three.
The golden fever will carry away Our surplus population ; 'Tis a blessing, indeed, that those who stay, May gain by the operation. Let us sing and rejoice, and our revels renew, For to-night is our jubilee ; We'll join in the wake of old Fifty-two, And the birth of Fifty-three.
CLOSE.
Such was the dream and the song I heard, And I noted it down, every letter and word, Although it was strange, I confess ; It may not be talented, novel or new, And yet I believe it may possibly do For the News Letter's New Year's Address.
Mr. Swank died of consumption, in 1855.
Cedar County Advertiser .- In November, 1853, Charles Swetland, then a merchant of Tipton, purchased the printing office of Mr. Swank and removed it to Tipton, where, November 12th, Number 1, Volume I, of the Cedar County Advertiser was issued, with Wells Spicer and H. C. Piatt as editors. The latter were then attorneys at law in Tipton, and the newspaper received but a small portion of their attention. In a lengthy introductory, Mr.
"| Levi Leland, the temperance lecturer.
[ Methodist minister at Tipton.
** Congregational minister at Tipton.
If William H. Tuthill, then in legal practice.
## Then practicing law, also; since deceased.
22 " Old Red "-C. S. Hastings, then a lawyer of Muscatine, now a wealthy banker in San Francisco.
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY.
Swetland said : " Political matters will be beneath our notice. We will eschew them as an owl does daylight." Though born thus dumb to politics, we do not have to look far down the history of the young paper to find it uttering poli- tical yells.
The office was then in Wells Spicer's residence, the cement house now occupied, in part, by Lemuel Hepner. The first three issues of the paper were made under the old Cedar County News Letter heading, as the proper head had not been received.
It was a weekly, six-column folio; subscription price, $1.50 in advance, or $2.00 at the end of the year. It contained advertisements from many neigh- boring villages. March 25, 1854, Swetland & Spicer became publishers.
In June, 1854, the old printing office was sold, and taken to Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, and a new one purchased ; consequently no paper was issued from June 17 to July 15. At that time, the size of the paper was increased to seven columns, and Wells Spicer became sole editor and proprietor. Charles Swetland continued in the mercantile business until his death. H. C. Piatt is still a prominent member of the Cedar County Bar.
With the beginning of Volume III, the title was changed to the Tipton Advertiser, and in the Winter of 1856-7, Samuel Dewell became a partner of Mr. Spicer, and remained with him until April 25, 1857. May 16, 1857, the paper was enlarged to eight columns. September 12, 1857, S. S. Daniels, N. C. & H. P. Moffett, became proprietors, with the former as editor. Mr. Spicer is now an attorney in Utah. Mr. Daniels has since gone from Tipton, and taken with him the files of the paper for 1858-59-60-61-62, and to May 7, 1863. At that time, it was a six-column folio, being Number 18, Volume X. The following number was published by E. W. Clark and L. M. Mulford, while Mr. Daniels continued editor until February 15, 1866, having conducted that department for eight and a half years. William P. Wolf took editorial charge and continued until March 7, 1867. Charles L. Longley succeeded him, although his name did not appear as editor until September 2, 1869. He pur- chased the half interest of Mr. Clark, who has since been Postal Clerk on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad.
January 1, 1878, Mr. Mulford sold his interest to W. T. Peet, and removed to York County, Nebraska. The firm is now Longley & Peet. The Tipton Advertiser is now an eight-column folio, of neat typographical appearance ; Republican in politics.
The Cedar Democrat (weekly) was established at Tipton in the Spring of 1856, in the interests of the Democratic party, by a stock company, with A. C. Appler as editor and manager. Early in 1857, Carlisle Curtis and Richard B. McGill purchased and continued the paper. As the files of the paper cannot be found, the exact dates cannot be given. In 1858, the paper was published by Mr. Curtis, who sold to David Roush about the Winter of 1859-60. Mr. Roush was a War Democrat, and continued the paper until 1864, when it was discontinued for want of support.
The Cedar County Clipper .- In the Summer of 1866, J. T. Rice opened a law office in Tipton, having previously edited the Record, in Linn County.
In September, 1866, David Roush and "Tom " Rice established the Cedar County Clipper, a weekly Democratic paper, at Tipton. This, however, did not prosper, and in December of that year it was discontinued, Mr. Rice going to Toronto, Tama County, Iowa, where he established a paper. The Clipper office was sold to L. D. Durbin, who removed it to Missouri.
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY.
The Cedar County Post was commenced at Tipton, Wednesday, August 30, 1871, by W. H. Morrow and Jesse James. It was a large, weekly, eight-column folio, supporting Republican principles. January 17, 1872, the title was mod- ificd to the Cedar Post, and May 15, 1872, Mr. A. Kerns became a co-manager. August 14, 1872, Jesse James became sole editor and proprietor, Mr. Morrow going "over the fence," as an editorial expressed it, to the Greeley and Brown party, while Mr. Kerns moved "West " to " grow up with the country."
Mr. James continued the publication until December 31, 1873, when the office was sold to Mulford & Longley, of the Advertiser. The files of the Cedar Post indicate careful and able editorial management, and contain many valuable historical items. Mr. James is at present with the County Clerk, as abstract, loan and insurance agent.
The Cedar County Advance was established by W. H. Morrow, at Tipton, immediately after his separation from the Cedar Post, in the interests of Greeley and Brown. The first number appeared Saturday, August 31, 1872, and was continued but two months, as, October 20, 1872, Mr. Morrow, then Postmas- ter, absconded. The office was sold at Sheriff's sale, and removed from the county.
The Patrons of Husbandry was a small five-column folio, issued from the Cedar Post office, in support and behalf of that order, by a stock company, with the following officers : Wm. M. Knott, President; P. M. Vest, Vice President ; L. L. Sweet, Secretary; C. Rush, Treasurer ; Editor, L. L. Sweet, of Tipton. The first number appeared April 30, 1872. It was discontinued May 31, of the same year.
The Cedar County Farmer was a weekly paper, cstablished at Tipton in February, 1874, by L. W. & W. L. Raber, with Isaiah Doane, of Webster City, Iowa, as editor. For want of sufficient patronage, the paper was discontinued, and L. W. Raber moved to West Branch April 1, 1875. Mr. Doane was a candidate on the Democratic ticket, a year or two later, for the office of State Superintendent of Schools.
The Conservative immediately succceded the Farmer, at Tipton, its first issue being dated Wednesday, March 31, 1875. It is a weckly Democratic paper, of seven columns, established by M. R. Jackson, the present editor and proprietor. July 14, 1875, the paper was increased in size to an eight-column folio. Mr. Jackson is a practical printer of many years' experience ; knows how to conduct a newspaper profitably, and has the reputation of being one of the kecnest Democratic editors in the State.
Several advertising sheets have appeared, from time to time, at Tipton, the most prominent being Our Banner, by F. P. & H. L. Dean, afterward by F. P. Dean.
In 1869, the West Branch Index, a small paper on brown paper, was pub- lished occasionally by George Barrington. In 1870 (about September 10, 1871 ?), this was taken up by A. M. Russell and C. M. Craighead, who con- tinued it about one year.
The West Branch Times, a weekly paper, was established there April 1, 1875, by L. W. Raber, who sold the office and paper to Edward Grinnell.
Mechanicsville, Stanwood and Clarence have each been ambitious to main- tain newspapers, and several ventures were made in that direction, most of which were attended with some degrec of disaster. The present Mechanicsville Press, under the able and judicious management of the present proprietor, has most successfully battled against the circumstances that surround the country press.
457
HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY.
The Press was established August, 1866, under the name of the Journal, by Ragsdale & Bundy. The name was soon changed to that which the paper still bears. The struggles of pioneer newspapers are plainly manifested by the records of the Press. The change of editor's name was made almost as regu- larly and frequently as the date line, during the early years of the paper's exis- tence. Since files of the Press are no longer in the archives of the office, precise information as to times of, and reasons for, the periodic alterations of the editorial heading cannot now be given. All that is known of the numerous successions may be briefly stated. After the founders came the firm of Bundy & Andrews; then C. W. Andrews ; then Andrews & Weeks; then Andrews, Weeks & West; then Andrews & Golding; then John Golding; then John and George Golding; then John Golding; then Hugh Leslie; then Leslie & Con- nible; then Edward Connible; then John Golding; and finally the present proprietor, F. H. Williams, who took possession March 18, 1870, and has suc- ceeded in making the Press not only an attractive but profitable paper, satisfac- tory alike to all parties interested. The Press has always been independent in politics, although the long list of editors who preceded Mr. Williams were Repub- licans, while the present occupant of the chair editorial is Democratic in belief.
Incidentally it is proper to mention the fact that the press upon which the first copies of this journal were printed was the pioneer printing press of Iowa. It was a most peculiar and fearful piece of mechanism, and is now lost sight of. At present the office of the Press is supplied with more modern and convenient materials.
The first newspaper venture at Clarence was made before Clarence was named. The paper was called the Onion Grove Record, and was under the editorial management of M. Cummings, at that time a leading merchant, and said to have been one of the dryest wags that ever graced a sanctum. The Record was simply intended as an advertising sheet, it was small in size, but contained many items of local interest, and is now conceded to have been a spicy, peppery little sheet. Its life was short, only surviving two or three issues. Mr. Cummings removed from Clarence in 1863, and is now located at Omaha.
Iowa Age .- The first printing press was brought to Clarence by Judge Edmond H. Thayer, in 1868, when the publication of the Iowa Age was com- menced. It was a handsomely printed eight-page paper, of five columns to each page. It was Democratic in politics, and one of the ablest weekly newspapers ever published in Iowa. In a little less than one year Mr. Thayer was induced to remove to Clinton, where he met with brilliant success, and where he con- tinues to publish the Age. A citizen of Clarence says: "Not an abler editor or more genial gentleman can be found in Iowa or any of the adjoining States."
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