The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., Part 56

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical
Number of Pages: 964

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In 1828, the miners had crossed over the river, and back of Dubuque had been very successful in finding lead, so much so that they built a smelting fur- nace on the island, but the Indians complained to the Government, and troops were sent who drove off the miners, and an officer and a few men were sta- tioned across the river, on the Illinois side, under the bluff, to keep the miners from trespassing on the Indians. These troops were withdrawn when the Indian· war commenced, and, as there were several fine leads that had been opened in 1828, we concluded to make a raid on them while the Indians were absent. And to that end, Ham, Cook and Dudley, as I recollect, made one party, and Cornwall and myself another, and we went down the river in skiffs, taking our provisions and tools. We all stopped with the old man Jordan, who had the ferry across the river. At that time, his ferry facilities were a flat-boat that would take one wagon and team of two horses, and half a dozen Indian canoes. The bottom was at that time a dense forest of rich growth-walnut, hickory, burr oak, and immense cottonwoods along the bank of the river. Jordan's house,

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

or tavern, was a double log house with a passage in the middle, and a supply of out-houses, and was on the side bank, a few hundred yards back from the river. You could get as good a meal there as at any place in the mines.

THE ROMANCE OF MINING.

In the year 1820, a young Englishman left the mining district of Cornwall, in the British Isle, and came to New England, where he toiled as a farm laborer for five or six years, when he eloped with the pretty daughter of his employer, and emigrated to Illinois, when, after a brief residence, they found themselves reduced to abject poverty.

Driven by necessity, the husband procured labor in one of the lead mines, within a few miles of the present city of Galena, where liberal wages were paid, and where he remained five years, availing himself of every opportunity to learn the secrets of his trade, and studying hard to obtain the key that should unlock the vaults of earth, and yield him their hidden wealth.

With this one idea paramount in his mind, the miner started out prospect- ing, and, after a short search, selected a spot near Shullsburg, which, in his opinion, contained an immense lode. He purchased the land of a squatter and began work, confident of speedily realizing an independence by his own toil.

Down deep into the earth he sunk an expensive shaft, being obliged to curb a portion of it to keep the same from falling in, which, with the wages paid an assistant, made such inroads upon his savings, that at the end of the year he was so reduced " financially," that but a small amount remained for the support of his family.

The faithful wife, once the darling of wealthy parents, then took her place at the windlass, herself strong in the faith that success must eventually crown their efforts, and another year passed away in fruitless search for the rich galena. The mother was sick and despairing, the children naked and starving, and grim want staring at them from every quarter. The father alone remained hopeful, but dire necessity was too much for him, and he was obliged to trans- fer his operations to another lot of land.

Scarcely a day elapsed before he found enough " float " to pay him good wages, and in half a year leave him an accumulation of capital sufficient to enable him to resume operations on his own land. His former experience was repeated, but he was deaf to the entreaties of his wife to relinquish his enter- prise as hopeless, and succeed he would, or die.

For five years he divided his labor between neighboring lands and his own, and, at the end of these weary days, his wife, who had exhausted entreaty, love and patience, wrote to her father to be taken liome. The miner witnessed the departure of his wife, in a sort of a stony-hearted apathy, apparently experienc- ing relief at her absence.

* *

Sickness at last overtook him. Overwork, illy prepared food and privation had at last undermined his strength, and obliged him to succumb.

* * * * * * * *

Remembering his old vow to succeed or die in the shaft, he took a candle in his feeble hands, and, crawling to his " diggings," mustered strength enough to slide down the rope, determined to breathe out his existence where he had passed his life. On his hands and knees, he traversed the drift down to the farthest corner, deeming it the fittest burial for such as he. He reached the spot where last he left his work, sick and exhausted, and, sticking his candle into a bunch of clay, lay down, faint with the exertion. For a long time he

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reclined in one position, dreamily gazing at the rocky walls of the mine, and waiting for the dissolution which he expected would soon take place.

While thus engaged, his attention was attracted to a gleaming lump of ore in a crevice before him. From an instinct of long habit, he took up his pick and strove to loosen it. It did not yield. He became interested in dislodging it, worked away the earth, until all at once the lump disappeared and revealed a hole. He heard it rumbling and rattling down many feet below, and then knew he had struck a " cave."

In a moment he was wild with excitement. He found new strength, and worked frantically to enlarge the aperture to a sufficient size to admit his body, and at last succeeded. Crawling through the opening and sliding down the rough declivity, he found himself in a cave of large extent, the sides and roof of which were covered with ore. He fell senseless to the ground, where he was found by his neighbors, who conveyed him home and nursed him until his health was restored.

After a ceaseless search of seventeen years, he was rewarded with a princely fortune, and at the time this incident was related (but a few years since), his wealth was estimated at upward of a million, with but a tithe of his mineral taken out.

THE ROCKDALE MILLS.

The first mill built at the place afterward called Rockdale, was a very small affair as compared with the present structure. It was made of logs, but replaced the following year by a small frame building not much increased in size, being 24x30, one story high, with a single run of small French buhrs, not exceeding three feet in diameter, with bolting apparatus and other arrange- ments to correspond. In short, this little pioneer Iowa mill was nothing more than a very small custom mill of the most primitive construction and appointments. It was built in 1834 or 1835, by David Hutton and William, his son, who, in 1838, moved into Jones County, being its first settlers. William Hutton was the first Clerk of Jones County, and David a member and President of the first Board of County Commissioners. Small and unpretentious as it was, this mill was among the first built within the present limits of the State of Iowa, the mill at Cascade, built by the De Longs, in 1837, being the second. In 1839, the Huttons sold their mill to Thomas Lewis, John and Thomas Watters, John Grange and Joseph Brunskill. The deed of conveyance bears date the 25th of April, 1839, and describes the property purchased as " The Catfish Mills." At that time there was not a bushel of wheat raised in the county, and little, if any, in the State, then Territory of Iowa. Some few settlers were opening farms on the high lands along the military road, south of Table Mound. Among these were Thomas S. Wilson, Ambrose Meeker, Thomas McCabe, Warner Lewis, John Cunningham, Lemuel Litton and others. Nearer town were Alexander Butterworth, Patrick Quigley, Richard Walker and others. They all marketed their first wheat crop at this little country custom mill on the Catfish. The Huttons built entirely " by faith in things to come," and not entirely in vain, as the sequel showed. But in their case the proverb, " that one shall build and another inhabit," was literally fulfilled. In 1840, Walter Manson and John Bell became interested in the mill, and soon after the late James Pratt became part owner. In 1843, Pratt & Manson owned the controlling interest, and under that firm name operated the mill for twenty- five years, with great success and profit to themselves as well as to the great advantage of the surrounding region. About that time they gave the name of " Rockdale Mills " to their establishment, and their flour under the brand of

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" Rockdale Mills, Pratt & Manson, Manufacturers," has never been excelled by any in the market. In 1844 or 1845, they built the frame addition to the present mills. They then put in two run of first-class French buhrs, one of which was devoted entirely to merchant work, and the other to general custom work, grinding wheat or corn, as their customers desired. The average capac- ity of this mill was about sixty barrels per day, besides custom work, or ninety thousand bushels per annum. The aggregate amount of work up to 1855, when they fully operated the large stone addition, was about nine hundred thousand bushels. This stone addition was erected at a cost of between $20,000 and $25,000, and the current profits of the old mill paid the costs of the same as the work progressed. The capacity of the mill was then increased to between two hundred and fifty and three hundred barrels per day, or 412,500 bushels per year, and for twenty years from 1855, the aggregate amount manufactured was 8,250,000 bushels, besides custom work. At that early day wheat was cheap as compared with the present prices, ranging for the first ten or fifteen years at from forty to sixty cents per bushel in gold, but the general average to the present time would be about one dollar. In the history of this establish- ment its long career was never checked by a single reverse or embarrassment until the calamity of July 4, 1876, nor has there been a single individual, living or dead, who did not receive promptly every dollar due them. It was this Rockdale brand of flour that effectually broke down the St. Louis monop- opoly on the Upper Mississippi before the company established their " Merchant Mill " in 1845. Prior to 1844 the St. Louis flour trade had been very con- siderably abated and demoralized by flour brought from Platteville and other parts of Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. The people across the river had got the start by a year or two of the people of Iowa in the milling business, and, although not equal to the St. Louis flour, they had made serious inroads on that trade. Pratt & Manson, with their new mill, produced flour equal to the best St. Louis brands, and for at least one-fourth the price. Hence, they immedi- ately drove out of the market the down-river flour, the importation of which ceased entirely as early as 1845, and that of pork, bacon, lard, butter cheese, etc., in 1846. Dubuque County becoming self-supporting, the success of the Rockdale Mills greatly stimulated the building of others. Booth & Co. erected a steam mill; John D. Bush erected another, and others were enlarged and improved so that, when Minnesota began to be settled, Dubuque County was prepared to supply the immense demand consequent upon the emigration, not only with flour, but with everything else in the provision market. The Dubuque County mills almost monopolized the Min- nesota flour trade until 1858, when the trade was reversed. Red Wing, at the head of Lake Pepin, was one of the earliest as well as the most prosperous river towns of Minnesota. She had from her first settlement depended almost entirely upon Dubuque, and especially upon the Rockdale Mills, for her flour. In 1857, she imported more than twenty thousand barrels, but in 1858, which was her first wheat crop, she supplied her own wants and exported more than six hundred thousand bushels. Of course, these mills, as all others, had thereafter to look in other directions for a market, which they found, mainly in Chicago and the Eastern market, where no flour has ever maintained a reputation superior to that of the Rockdale brand.

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

THE ROCKDALE CALAMITY.

Rockdale is a quiet, unpretentious country hamlet, in the valley of the Catfish, about two miles south of the city of Dubuque. A mill, hotel, post office, one or two stores and the village bar-room make up the complement of improvements ; the inhabitants, limited in number, and composed of the usual variety gathered in the vicinity of large towns, are the only evidences of life and being visible.

On Tuesday night, July 4, 1876, this suburb, so to speak, of Dubuque, was visited by one of those upheavals of nature which come at long intervals, leav- ing the impress of their visitation in death and desolation, and quoted there- after 'neath the summer skies and by the winter's log, with fear and trembling. The natal day of the nation's independence, which broke so beautifully, went out at midnight in a requiem of woe and desolation. The morning after dawned upon the scene of disaster, as if it still remained the busy hamlet of the day before. The sun lighted up its darkness in the face of death, which had held high carnival in the valley of sorrow and woes. The bluffs looked down upon the quiet stream as the waters ran musically by, unmindful of the ruin they had wrought, and the birds warbled the same melody they have sung since creation's morn. But no willing laborers went forth to their daily toil, or joy- ful voices made the valley to resound with notes of happiness; the grinding of the mill had ceased, and the few who were left to mourn, paced the streets in silence and grief. The little village had become the victim of one of the most appalling disasters mortal eye ever witnessed, or the pen of the historian was taxed to describe. The business portion of the village had been carried away, and such of the inhabitants as lived therein were roused upat the dead of night to go down through the storm and the elements to a watery grave.

The jubilant voices which were raised in honor of the centennial anni- versary of the declaration of independence had scarcely died away, before there came indications of a storm which cut short the night's festivities and drove the participants in hot haste to their several homes. At 11 o'clock the rain began to fall, and at midnight approached a degree of fury seldom witnessed. Still, the people did not dream of the destruction which at that hour was bearing down upon the little village ; and it was sometime after twelve o'clock when the thought first occurred to the inhabitants who were not yet wrapped in slumber, that there was danger to be apprehended in the rain which had then been falling in torrents for an hour. The first person to whom it suggested danger was Charles Thimmesch, a bar-keeper in the saloon of Joseph Becker, situated on the east side of the one street which extends across the ravine. Going to the door of the saloon to better observe the effects of the storm, he saw that the rising waters were momentarily crawling up the sides of the elevated roadway. Communicating his fears to a number in the saloon. driven there by the fierceness of the storm, he hurriedly announced to his employer's family the danger which threatened them. By the time he had accomplished this duty and returned to the first floor, he was horrified at the spectacle which greeted his vision through the red glare of the lightning, which revealed the landscape for a second, when all was dark again. He saw that a channel had been worn between the saloon and the right bank, through which the waters rushed with a force and significance that defied escape in that direc- tion, while toward Dubuque efforts to flee would be attended by certain death. At this juncture the family and those who had sought the friendly shelter of the inn began to realize the fate evidently reserved for them, and to endeavor

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to pierce the darkness of the night for some signal of hope. But it came not ; and in its stead appeared sights revealed to them through the angered lightnings which struck terror into the stoutest hearts, and blanched cheeks that had never paled with fear before. With one despairing cry for help, one prayer to the Infinite Father for mercy, they watched the coming of the avalanche, which all too well knew must engulf them in its folds. Like the storm-cloud, Euroclydon, it came down the valley, bearing upon its bosom the grim visitor, who revels in destruction. Freighted with the debris torn from the hillsides, it struck all impediments in its way with gigantic force, snapping the bands of steel which held the railroad bridge together, and severing their connection as if they had been gossamer threads, and with an awful leap and roar crushed out the heart and life of the peaceful village: It was an agonizing moment of battle between life and death, in which the irresistible torrent, the play of the lightning and peals of thunder conspired to drown the wails and cries which went up from the hearts of perishing humanity unheard. Death rode the storm to victory as life flickered for a moment and expired beneath the waves, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers went down to death locked in each other's embrace. No mind can picture the awful agony crowded into that brief moment ; no pen can describe, or limner trace, the mysteries of ways that are not man's, but the dispensations of Providence.

The inmates of the saloon building were Joseph Becker, the proprietor, his wife and two children ; Charles Thimmesch, the bar-tender; James Pearce, a gardener, who, with his family, were returning to Dubuque when the storm broke, and sought refuge in the house; William Bradbury, William Burke, Harry Adams, Lambert Kenkels, John Harker and Martin C. Carey-of whom but Thimmesch, Kenkels, Adams and Carey escaped.

The house of John Klassen was swept away, and the inmates, consisting of the father, mother, Christian, Lena, Lizzie, Maggie and John, went out with the tide, and none, save John, who was recovered from the wreck, survived to tell whither it carried them.

Martin C. Carey, in Becker's saloon, saw the lights moving in his house near by. but beyond his reach. In an instant, the light became extinguished, and with it all hope in the heart of the husband and father. He knew that his home was gone; soon he, too, was battling for life, only to be saved to learn that his wife and children had gone the way of all flesh. The wife, Elizabeth, and children, Frank and Lizzie, were among the dead.

Thomas Blenkiron settled there a year previous, and maintained one of the two stores in the place. He resided, with his wife and cousin, Oliver Blink- iron, over the store, with whom also was his wife's sister, Miss Hoskins, who was their guest during the Fourth. Becoming alarmed, Mr. Blenkiron aroused his wife and sister, and insisted upon their endeavoring to reach a place of safety from the storm. They proceeded through the water in the direction of Dubuque, he assisting them, returning after they had reached dry ground, with a promise to follow if the danger increased. This was the last seen of him until his body, with that of the son, was recovered when the flood had subsided.

Peter Kapp. an industrious and thriving mechanic, owning nearly all the buildings lining the street, lived in the market-house with his wife and six children. The house was torn from its foundations and swept into the flood, and with it himself, his wife and three children.

Charles W. Kingsley kept the only hotel in the place, which he opened in May. 1876, coming from California. With him was his wife, on the fatal night, there being no guests. The wife was taken, the husband left.

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Gustave Horn's store and post office went down in the general ruin. By superhuman efforts, he succeeded in getting his wife and four children upon the roof, and, by clinging to the rafters, all were saved.

Those who were known to have been lost were: Peter Kapp, Mrs. Peter Kapp, Mathias Kapp, Mary Kapp, Joseph Kapp, John Kapp, Peter Kapp (second), Nicholas Kapp, Mrs. Elizabeth Carey; Jane, Frank and Lizzie Carey ; Henry, Mary, Albert, Alec and Peter Becker, of one family, and Henry, Mary, and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Becker, another family ; Lucy Bowers, William Bradbury, Richard Burke, Thomas and Oliver Blenkiron, Mr. and Mrs. John Klassen, with Christian, Lizzie, Maggie, Mary and Lena Klassen ; Mrs. Kingsley, Mr. and Mrs. James Pearce, Lena and Ida Pearce, Minnie Bowers and the two Brown children, a total of forty-two victims.

When the storm subsided and during Thursday, these bodies were recovered and prepared for burial. About 11 o'clock of that day, the funeral services began, on the ground, over such of the bodies as it had been decided to bury at Rockdale. Others were taken to Key West for burial, but the larger num- ber were conveyed to Dubuque.

At St. Mary's Church, a sorrowful scene was presented in the afternoon. Five of the Kapp family, who were victims of the disaster, and six members of the Klassen family, rested upon their biers, side by side, while Father Johannes delivered an impressive and eloquent funeral sermon, most vividly depicting the horrid manner in which their lives paid tribute to the fury of the relentless storm. The funeral was largely attended, and an immense proces- sion followed their remains to the German Catholic Cemetery.

The family of Mr. Pearce was buried from the residence of Mr. Sage, on Fourteenth street, the Rev. Mr. Seymour, of the Episcopal Church, officiating. During the impressive service, scalding tears of sincere sorrow dripped from the cheeks of those present, and, at the conclusion of the minister's discourse, the remains were interred in Linwood Cemetery.

The fatherless and motherless children who survived were taken charge of by relatives, and the calamity, with all its horrible concomitants, was num- bered with the things that were. The search was continued through Friday, resulting in the finding of the bodies of Frank Bowers and Lizzie Becker, who were laid to rest without the formality of an inquest. On Saturday, Peter Becker, Lena Klassen and Richard Burke's bodies were discovered at the mouth of the Catfish and buried in Rockdale Cemetery, which, it is believed, were all who perished.

SCENES AND INCIDENTS.

Charles Thimmesch, as the saloon was struck, ran to the upper story, and, breaking out a window, jumped on to the roof of Horn's store and post office building adjoining, which, from its more substantial character, was thought to offer safety. Feeling the building moving from its foundations, he stripped himself naked, and, taking some money in his pocket between his teeth, he plunged into the raging waters and struck out for shore. Being an excellent swimmer, he succeeded in reaching land after a desperate struggle, and, through the pelting storm, made his way, naked as he was, to a neighbor's house, where he gave the alarm.

Lambert Kenkels was also in the saloon, in bed, when the waters struck it, but crawled out through an open window, and, floating down about fifty rods, landed on a tree, to which he clung till morning, when he was released. Mar- tin Carey and John Harker also stranded on trees, from which they were

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released after five hours' terrible suspense. Harry Adams succeeded in making the shore.

The most remarkable escape was that of the three Kapp boys-John, aged fourteen; Nicholas, eleven, and Joseph five. This family fled from their home to the hotel, and, when the house was struck, had gained the upper story. All were swept out, but floated into some hospitable treetops and were saved. Joseph was caught by Nicholas, and John floated further down stream, but within hailing distance, and so kept each other's courage up until morning, when they were rescued.

John Gleason was rescued by Mr. Munger, train-despatcher, from a tree, to which another boy clung, who was cold in death.

There were numerous incidents connected with the disaster which lack of memory and absence of record preclude detailing. Thousands visited the scene during the subsequent days, and willing hands labored incessantly to recover the bodies lost. As soon as word reached the city, details of men were assigned to the recovery of bodies, and to this fact is largely due the rescue of nearly all those lost before they drifted off with the current, to be seen no more.

THE LOCALITY.

The scene of this disaster was laid in a ravine among the bluffs west of the city, which nature has formed for a water-course. It was only within a few years that a village, or trading-post for farmers, had been established, being attracted principally by the large flouring-mill, erected in 1834, among the first in the State. The distance across the ravine, from bluff to bluff, is scarcely eighty rods, and passed by a macadamized roadway, raised ten feet above the level of the ravine. Equidistant from the bluff, was a massive stone bridge, affording free passage for all the water which usually runs, and on each side of this highway were erected the buildings destroyed. Between the mill and the dam, ran the track of the Illinois Central Railway, over a bridge about two hundred feet long, and this bridge, falling against the buildings, precipi- tated the ruin. Above the bridge was the dam, which seems to have withstood the torrent without serious damage; but the race, which leads to the mill, and which had just been constructed, was completely washed out, making the main channel of the stream contiguous to the mill. East of the mill, was another railroad bridge, which was left standing, although filled with the wreck of buildings, and some of its iron supports twisted out of shape. Along the banks were strewn terrible mementos of the devastation which had been wrought, and the sight, for a mile down the stream, was in the last degree ap- palling. The damage was estimated at thousands of dollars, and, for many months after its commission, the vicinity bore evidences of the visitation to which it had been subjected.

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The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., Part 56

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Number of Pages: 964

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical
Number of Pages: 964