The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., Part 87

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

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

no inconsiderable sums of money, the lapse of time and delays incident thereto, he completed a race, which, with occasional repairs caused by wear and tear, has continued to serve its purpose now going on thirty years.

During the summer of 1853, he began the erection of the mills proper, which were completed before winter, became associated with O. L. Foote, and began oper- ations, an overshot wheel graduating the power applied. They were operated by the founder and his successors until 1869, when J. M. Griffith, at present residing in Dubuque, undertook the management, and remained proprietor up to 1867. About that year he sold out to Joseph Schemmel, J. Klostermann and A. Rahe, who supplied the vicinity and other points with flour for many years, adding improvements as the demands of the business required, and reap- ing a fair dividend upon their investment of $18,000, the purchase price of the property. In 1876, Mr. Klostermann retired from the firm, disposing of his interest to Henry Schroeder, for $5,000, who, in conjunction with Messrs. Schemmel and Rahe, are the present owners of the reversion.

In May, 1879, these gentlemen leased the establishment to P. Gandolfo & Co., who are the present occupants of the premises, and manufacture a total of 7,500 barrels of flour every year.

Holschers' Elevator, adjoining the depot of the Illinois Central Railroad, was built in 1861 by J. B. Hawley. That gentlemen continued in possession until 1870, when the present owners purchased the enterprise of its founder for $6,000.

In 1870, increasing business required additions, which were made, and, in 1874, Holscher & Brother purchased the Limback Elevator contiguous, which augmented the capacity to 30,000 bushels of grain. The proprietors are largely engaged in shipping live stock and cereals to the Chicago market, and the investment represents a valuation estimated at from $15,000 to $20,000.

Gadsden & Carpenter's Elevator is also in close proximity to the railroad depot, and was erected in 1864, by William Dyer, at an expense of $4,000. G. & C. managed the business until 1869, when the latter sold to Mr. Car- penter for $3,000, who, in conjunction with Mr. Gadsden, at present represent the interests severally held.

The capacity of the elevator is 12,000 bushels, with a warehouse of an additional capacity of 5,000 bushels.

The investment is stated at about $10,000.

I. Summers' Wagon Factory, situated at the eastern extremity of Vic- toria street, was commenced in 1867. At first his business was confined to the painting and decoration of vehicles, but, in 1877, he began the manufacture of the same, and has so continued to the present time, placing on the market a superior quality of wagons, lumber and spring, buggies, plows, etc., employing seven hands, and turning out a large quantity of material annually.

The proprietor considers his investment worth $5,000.

Germania Brewery, at present conducted by Nicholas and Peter Esch, was established about the year 1860, by Kohl & Stackere, who were soon after succeeded by Stackere & Christoph, these gentlemen disposing of their interest sometime in 1865, to Gehringer & Nachtmann. The latter remained in control until 1869, when the present owners purchased for a consideration of $9,000.

Immediately upon obtaining possession, Esch & Brother effected important improvements, including the building of a stone brewery house in 1871, brick ice-house, malt-room, fermenting cellar, stone dry-kiln, etc., at a total cost of not less than $5,000, thereby insuring the ownership of one of the most com- płete establishments of the kind in the county. In conjunction with the

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

brewery, they are extensive stock-dealers, shipping large invoices of cattle to the Eastern markets. The average production of the brewery is 1,200 barrels of beer annually, employing the services of three men, which is sold in the immediate vicinity, as also at a distance.

The investment of the firm (including their stock shipments) is quoted at not less than $25,000; and the pay roll at $200 monthly. The brewery and appurtenances are located at the corner of Union and Victoria streets.

H. Schemmel's Brewery, at the corner of Main and Walnut streets, was founded in 1862, by the gentleman whose name it bears, and to whom, after passing through the hands of different purchasers, the establishment belongs to-day. The premises consist of a large frame building to which an addition for malting purposes was made in 1874, and, when running to their full capacity, turn out 1,000 barrels of beer yearly. At present they are not actively operated, Mr. Schemmel simply supplying a local trade of limited demand.

The investment he considers worth not less than $14,000.

The Dyersville Commercial .- Although the citizens of Dyersville are largely dependent upon the press of Dubuque, Chicago and the East, for their record of current events, they contribute materially to the support of a weekly paper, which was born on the 5th of September, 1875, N. Rose & Son being the originators of the infant and standing sponsors for its personal, commercial and political attitude. N. Rose attended to the financial, and Jerome Rose to the editorial and mechanical departments of the sheet. After a brief period of dual direction, this firm was dissolved, Jerome Rose assuming entire control and conducting the publication of the Commercial until February 4, 1880, when he decided to embark in the publication of a paper at Storm Lake, and sold out to Charles E. Alsop for $1,000.

Mr. Alsop issues a breezy folio of eight columns to the page, every Friday, independent in politics, with a leaning toward the principles of the Democratic party, and boasting a circulation of 850 copies in Dubuque and Delaware Counties. He discharges the multifarious duties of " comp," editor, " scissors," solicitor and others included in the role of a country editor, and estimates his establishment, with the appurtenances thereunto belonging, at $1,500.

Orient Lodge, No. 132 .- One of the oldest Masonic Lodges in this portion of the county, a dispensation having been granted early in 1857, though the Lodge itself was not organized until November 28 of that year, when the fol- lowing gentlemen were constituted members and elected officers : Samuel Lyons, M. W .; Luther Nichols, S. W .; R. Burgessor, J. W .; Charles Han- cock, S. D .; A. A. Holmes, J. D .; Simon A. Lee, Treasurer ; A. Hancock, Secretary ; T. Talcott, Tiler.

Meetings were first held in the Clarendon Hotel, after which in a brick house opposite that establishment, and, finally, at the present location, corner of Main and Union streets.

The present officers are : W. E. Bagley, W. M .; H. Northey, S. W .; George Walker, J. W .; Charles Blake, S. D .; C. C. Havens, J. D .; W. B. Illingsworth, Treasurer, and A. McKee, Tiler.

The present membership is stated at thirty-three, meetings are held on the Friday before the full moon of each month, and the lodge property is valued at $500.

Holman Lodge, No. 70, A. O. U. W., was organized on the 27th day of May, 1876, by the Supreme Order, with the following charter members and officers : J. D. Alsop, J. S. Collins, J. B. Albrook, David Holbrook, J. S. Smith, Hugo Koch, William Trick, E. T. Malvin, J. G. Bailey, Joseph

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

Hinkley, H. L. Everest, J. C. Hopkins, Thomas Thompson, J. A. Edwards, J. Drew, S. A. Tremain, H. Northey and D. R. Fox ; J. B. Albrook, P. M. W .; D. R. Fox, M. W .; Hugo Koch, Recorder : S. A. Tremain, Financier ; J. S. Collins, Receiver ; J. A. Edwards, Foreman, and H. Northey, Overseer.

Within the past four years, the roll of membership has been increased, until to-day it includes thirty-five names, and is officered by J. D. Alsop, P. M. W .; C. W. Pattie, M. W .; George Price, Recorder ; A. A. Anderson, Financier ; C. C. Chesterman, Receiver ; William McFadden, Inside, and David Holbrook, Outside, Sentinel.

Meetings are held on the evening of Wednesday of each week, in Masonic Hall, corner of Main and Union streets.

Legion of Honor is a recent acquisition to the secret orders of Dyersville, having been organized on the 19th of February, 1880, with thirteen members and the following officers : J. D. Alsop, President; Israel Bigelow, Vice President ; George Price, Recording, and A. A. Anderson, Financial, Secre- tary ; Herbert Northey, Chaplain ; L. J. Rumsey, Usher; W. J. Trick, Jr., Doorkeeper; G. B. Litchfield, Sentinel ; Robert Board, Amos Sandercock and Charles Illingsworth, Trustees ; J. D. Alsop, Representative to the Grand Lodge.

FARLEY.

Taylor, one of the western townships of Dubuque County, is among the most flourishing also, and earliest settled. Within a short period of time sub- sequent to the apportionment of the county into townships, Taylor became the objective point of emigrants, who have contributed to the development of its resources and consequent wealth. In May, 1837, David Hogan, a native of Virginia, came to what is now Taylor Township on a prospective tour, leaving his wife and family, consisting of three sons-James M., Philip B. and Will- iam H., with their mother, at Durango, until his return. He was so favorably impressed with the appearance of the country, which, at that season of the year, presented a scene of beauty in its foliage of green and scarlet only to be observed in the wilds of the West under the most favorable auspicies, that he selected a site, and returned to escort his wife and family to their new home in the " Beautiful Land." The land was comprehended in what now is Section 8, wherein Farley was located twenty years later, and his house, a rude log hut peculiar to the times, was situated on ground now occupied by Mrs. O'Neill's domicile, one mile east of the town of Farley. Here Mr. Hogan and his fam- ily resided in solitude for the space of two years, their nearest neighbors being Joseph Hewitt, Henry Mouncey and the Whiteside boys, who were then break- ing timber in the township of New Wine, and clearing patches to put in crops. No one ever ventured as far into the wilderness as their home for settlement during that period. Their supplies were procured at Dubuque and hauled over the hills to their final destination by hand or ox teams. Letters were almost unknown, and amusements were limited to early rising, varied by hard work, and the trials and vexations of spirit, which more readily triumph in early settlements than established communities. Such was the experience of Mr. Hogan's family for many weary months, until the tide of settlement drifted in their direction to remain permanently.

Along in 1839-40, Thomas and James Hooper, who had first settled in Dubuque, where one of them married, left the Key City, and, removing further west, established themselves in the southeast portion of the township, about four miles south of Epworth. Soon after these arrivals, Joseph McGee came,

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

as did S. P. Drake, who made a farm near Epworth an abiding place for many years, and J. T. Graffort, who entered a section of land south of Epworth. These included nearly the entire number of those who first opened up Taylor Township to farmer and producer, and paved the way for succeeding genera- tions to follow after. From 1840 to 1844, it is scarcely believed that additions in large numbers were made to the population. Some adventurers came, 'tis true; but, after a brief halt for rest and recuperation, they followed the course of the sun and went further west.

On February 5, 1841, occurred the first death in the township-Mr. David Hogan, the earliest pioneer. He was the first to come, and was the first to go, dying by his own hands while laboring under a temporary aberration of mind, superinduced by hard work and constant anxieties. His body was found sus- pended in the barn on his homestead farm, but life was extinct, and though efforts were employed, the vital spark had fled beyond the hope of mortal power to recall. The remains were interred in a lot on the Hogan farm, set apart for burial purposes by Mr. Hogan in his lifetime, from which uses they have never departed, being devoted to that object still by the citizens of Farley.

Along in 1843 or 1844, William McDonald settled half a mile east of Far- ley, contributing his mite of a family to swell the population, and remaining many years. He now resides in Dodge Township.

Soon after this, settlers came more numerously and regularly, and some of these still remain to recite the hardships through which they were obliged to pass in establishing homes and providing for families. Among these were Mr. Seeley, a former resident of Michigan, who sold out there, and, removing to Iowa, pitched his tent near the present town of Epworth. He erected a log cabin there, and where now is the Baptist Church stood Seeley's residence. In 1846, Otis Briggs and family, Jefferson Garner, Aaron Van Anda, Zaccheus Kempton, John Welch and others were added to the census list. In about 1847, Joseph Smith, with his father, wife and family, also William Webster, made their appearance and their homes in the eastern part of the township. During this period Albert Osborn built a mill in the northeastern portion of the town- ship, and other improvements sprang up, including the establishment of a school on the farm now owned by S. C. Hall. From 1845 to 1850, the above may be taken as a fair statement of the condition of affairs in Taylor Township. In 1849, as has been referred to elsewhere in this book, the Californis fever created a diversion to that quarter, and all who were able to go thither refused to remain at a distance from the Mecca of their hopes. The effects of this hegira to the Pacific Coast were the same in Taylor as at other points all over the country. Nothing was done of consequence during that year but prepare outfits for the trip and traveling across the Plains. The succeeding year was devoted to attempts to balance losses entailed the year previous, and it was hardly before 1851, that a revival of farming interests occurred in the immediate vicinity. Hogans and Alonzo Williard then lived east of Farley, as it is now called ; James McGee, north ; Joshua Davis, east; Jacob Smith, southeast, and these, with Lawrence McGuigan and Nathan Simpson, were the only residents at that date within the delivery of the present Farley post office.

In November, 1851, Joseph G. Wilson came to Iowa from Illinois to make a home, and pushed his investigations into Taylor Township. Here he found a plat of land which met his expectations, and, having entered it according to law, procured title from the Government to the southeast and southwest quarters of Section 7, and became possessed of the entire territory upon which Farley is now built.

DUBUQUE.

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HISTORY OF. DUBUQUE COUNTY.

After the satisfactory disposition of this preliminary he built a frame house on his claim, which is still standing across the railroad and southeast of the present post office. This finished, he returned to Illinois, where after remaining until the fall of 1852, he retraced his steps to the farm with his family, and settled down to creating out of the wilderness the beginning of what has since become the active interior town of Farley.

In 1856, the building of the Dubuque & Sioux City road was in progress, and, the Dubuque & South-Western being organized, land companies were formed to buy up such parcels of property as would be contiguous to the routes of either corporation. Farley, it was thought, would become an availa- ble point for business. It would become a station on the Sioux City road, the terminus of the South-Western, and probably the point at which the shops of the latter corporation would be located. These considerations exercised a final action in preparing for the future, and land companies were born, matured and reached decrepitude and forgetfulness the same day. Land speculators were as numerous as the lice in Egypt, and equally as rapacious. The out- sider, the uninitiated observer, and the owners of property adjacent to the lines of road, were made the causes of special attention, and their demesnes pur- chased at almost any price.

During the year mentioned, the Iowa Land Company was organized, and, as soon as its organization was completed, an exchange of lands was made with Mr. Wilson, who transferred to the Company's representatives an eighty-acre tract off the west side of the southwest quarter of Section 7 for property in Dodge Township. The plat was immediately subdivided into tracts, parcels and lots, and the building of a town projected. A meeting of Directors was held, at which, among other important matters disposed of, was the naming of the still embryotic town, to which the name of Farley was given, in honor of Jesse P. Farley, a resident of Dubuque, but prominently connected with both roads reaching this vicinity.

The Iowa Company accomplished their objects, or nearly so, and remained in active operation until the spring of 1857.

At this date, the Sioux City had been "tracked" to Dyersville, and, in May, a train of cars passed through Farley to that point, and, in the fall, work on the South-Western road was begun.

The Iowa Land Company survived the winter of 1856-57, but, in the spring, retired from the pursuit of speculation, and was succeeded by an organ- ization having similar objects in view, and advertised under the corporate name and style of "The Southwestern Land Company." The entire summer was devoted to arranging plans for future campaigns, and, in the fall, Mr. Wilson again enacted the role of vendor, the Company becoming purchasers of 185 acres of land adjoining that sold the Iowa Company the previous year. Upon transfer being completed, the Southwestern repeated the programme submitted by their predecessors. The entire purchase was surveyed by a Mr. Hopkins, divided, subdivided and re-subdivided into lots of all shapes and dimensions, known and unknown to mathematical rules, and, christened Farley Junction, was thrown upon the market for the admiration and purchase of men with money in their purses.

The lots were in every way desirable, the soil, being sufficiently porous to drain the surface, was invaluable for gardens. The position was high and commanding, insuring freedom from disease and affording desirable sites for building purposes-in short, little seemed to be wanting to a complete realiza- tion of the prospects contemplated by the projectors of the enterprise. The

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

price demanded for property was not exorbitant, and terms of sale charac- terized by liberality, and a desire to promote enterprise and absence of compli- cations arising out of legal technicalities.

At that date there were no houses in the immediate vicinity, except the house of Mr. Wilson, erected in 1851. But, during the fall of 1857, the inducements held out attracted patronage, and many sales were perfected. Among the purchasers were Daniel Hill, John Lehee, E. A. Irvin, John Kim- ball, Dennis O'Sullivan and others, all being accompanied by their families. Improvements attended this immigration, and many houses, comfortable but not pretentious, graced the site of the town before spring.

Mr. Hill put up the first house built in the town, at the corner of Tenth and Wood streets, since removed to give place to the store of A. C. and P. F. Walker ; O'Sullivan, a two-story frame on Eleventh, north of the Sioux City track; Irvin and C. S. Baldwin, in this locality, while Lehee, Kimball and the rest established themselves at various points south of the track.

The first marriage of residents was celebrated this year, though it did not. occur in Farley. The contracting parties were Charles O'Connor and Miss Sabrina Wilson, who were united at Delhi, in Delaware County. The first birth occurred two years previous, a daughter to Joseph G. and Susan Wilson.

Of stores there were none. The enterprising merchant had not at this time been included among residents. The same must be said of lawyers and physi- cians, both of which professions were unknown quantities in the sum of happi- ness or prosperity within the limits of Farley Junction. When sick the patients summoned Dr. Warmoth, of Dyersville, and when litigation became imminent plaintiff and defendant ran the gantlet of Dubuque attorneys for advice and service.

With the departure of fall, work was suspended on improving the town, but its absence was supplied by the panic, which was sensibly felt in Farley, and created an excitement that exercised the inhabitants more effectually than the rush of business. In fact, no town in Dubuque County escaped the visitation of dull times and a stringent monetary condition of affairs during this memor- able period, recurred to in the prosperous days that have since followed, with dread lest its repetition may be unexpectedly experienced. To this one reason more than all others, do the people of towns in its wake attribute the depres- sions that have manifested themselves in landed and personal affairs at inter- vals from 1857 to the present time. Its effects have been more damaging in delaying the growth of towns in Dubuque County than could have been the effects of plague, pestilence and famine combined, and can never be entirely forgotten.

In the spring of 1858, James Richards removed from Dubuque to Farley and opened the first store in this bailiwick. It was contained in the Drake house first and then in a frame house on Wood street, south of the railroad track, that is still standing, the sign of a millinery store greeting the visitor as he or she enters through its portals. Many new-comers were counted among the arrivals this spring, and the imperfect accommodations furnished them necessi- tated the building of a hotel at the corner of Clark and Tenth streets. James McMillan and John Kimball were the gentlemen who carried the enterprise to completion, Joseph G. Wilson performing the work; when he had finished, the establishment was thrown open to the public with an appropriate welcome to- all who came, under the name of the " American Hotel," which name it still bears, yet being a house of rest and entertainment for the traveler.

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

In this year the first death in the town was announced, Cyrus Libby being the name of the victim to the grim reaper's call. He resided in a shanty near the depot, where he wasted away by consumption, leaving a wife and one child to the by-no-means tender mercies of the world. There being no undertaker in the vicinity, the duties of fashioning a coffin and preparing a grave devolved upon the citizens, who buried the deceased in Hogan's cemetery.

A carpenter-shop was opened by Mr. Wilson this year, also a blacksmith- shop by Francois King, an emigrant from Canada and an artisan. There were many new features added to the town during the same period, and farmers began to seek Farley as a shipping-point. Theschool of the district was well sustained, but there was a lack of churches and preachers. Colporteurs occasion- ally passed this way, and ministers from neighboring parishes not unfre- quently halted to sermonize, appropriating the depot, and sometimes cars on the track, to church purposes. During one of these seasons of religious revival, a man named Roe made his advent into the car used as a meeting-house, on all fours, having been precipitated from the seat of a sulky plow which he occupied, an interested listener to the means of grace, by mischievous boys removing the weight balance sustaining his avoirdupois. His entrance was accompanied by ejaculations, emphatic and profane, which disturbed the con- gregation, destroyed the equilibrium of the minister, and concluded the services.

In 1859, the South-Western Railroad was nearly completed to Cedar Rapids, and the Company determined to establish their repair-shops at Farley Junction. The buildings were accordingly commenced, and prosecuted to completion, this consummation having been attained in the following spring. The works added largely to the population, and many buildings for the residence of hands and others were put up. This year was characterized by no startling episodes, experiences or events. The people plodded on their ways in pursuit of the several objects in life to which they acknowledged allegiance; the railroad was yet worked, and the shops became the hives of busy laborers.

In 1861, the war came ; and the excitements incident thereto, divisions of sentiment it bred, and other features of fratricidal strife, were as present to the residents of Farley as to those residing nearer the scenes of battle and sudden death. The township was divided in its sympathies, and meetings were held by both parties, at which to give expression to their views. The speakers included D. A. Mahony, M. M. Hayden, William Mills and others, and party spirit ran high. Notwithstanding divergent opinions, no trouble occurred, and funds and recruits were contributed as liberally and spontaneously as by any other vicinage.

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The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., Part 87

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

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