USA > Iowa > Wapello County > The history of Wapello County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics history of the Northwest, history of Iowa > Part 49
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Man and animal alike demand cleanliness, or disease will surely follow the violation of natural laws.
SHEEP CULTURE.
Although the culture of sheep does not properly belong to this chapter, we introduce it here in order that our prediction may be comprehensive.
This is a grand region for sheep, when the proper grades are decided upon and necessary preparations made. The flock numbered only 18,790 in 1874, but the farmers are becoming satisfied that there is money in sheep-raising. The best informed men agree with this statement. The wool elip in 1874, was 62,225 pounds.
416
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
At present, there is little or nothing done in the way of sheep, but the product will be greatly increased during the next decade. 1
A PREDICTION.
On the strength of the reasonings briefly outlined herein, we feel safe in prophesying that Wapello County is destined to become one of the richest and most profitable dairying regions in the State, and that it will become noted for the excellence and size of its flocks and herds.
That it is destined to become one of the greatest hog-raising counties of the State.
That it is destined to become one of the most noted sheep-growing regions of the State.
The county is new, and men have not determined what branches of industry to pursue ; but nature will settle the problem for them, and bear us out in our assertions. The historian who takes up our work fifty years from to- day will refer to this prediction, and admit that it was based on solid calcu- lation.
FRUIT CULTURE.
The first obstacle in the way of successful fruit-growing here is an igno- rance of the varieties which can be grown in this climate. This difficulty can be obviated only by careful and intelligent experiment.
When the pioneers first settled on the prairies of Wapello County, they gave neither thought nor labor to the planting of fruit-trees. The wild crab- apple, the wild grape and the prolific small fruits which filled wood and marsh, were sufficient to satisfy taste for variety of diet.
It was several years before trees were set out in any numbers, and then a majority of the farmers merely stuck small trees into the ground, and expected that the marvelous stories told by traveling venders would prove true, without care on the part of the farmer.
The result of such orcharding was naturally very discouraging. If the trees were not killed during the first Winter, they were so stunted by trans- planting in unsuitable soil and climate that years of patient nursing alone could save them or make them profitable. As no such attention was given them, they struggled into a blighted life and proved barren.
In 1866, there were 25,627 fruit trees in bearing, while 79,940 were un- productive. Only 13,413 pounds of grapes were gathered in all the county. This was at a time when the fruit crop should have been abundant, but the causes assigned were too powerful to be overcome by a mere desire on the part of the farmers.
In 1875, there were 53,268 apple-trees, 12,077 cherry-trees, 832 plum- trees, 1,032 pear-trees and 6,098 other varieties of fruits, all in bearing. The number of trees not in bearing aggregated only 106,321, and these included young orchards.
These figures show that fruit can be raised here. In most parts of the county, apples will eventually become an excellent crop ; but the prize can be won only by skillful management.
A farmer would not think of using an unknown variety of wheat for seed, or a new kind of corn for planting, and then expect to reap a full harvest with- out proper cultivation of the soil. Why, then, should he expect to grow fruit from unknown trees, without even watching them, to protect them in their early stages from weather and insects ?
417
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
The best orchards in the county are those which receive the best care. In five years' time, thrifty yield of fruit may be taken from trees which are three or four years old when planted, if prudent selections of varieties are made.
Let those who wish to have good orchards, first visit the fruit farms of experienced men, and from them learn what to do. Then let the instructions so received be followed to the letter-and within a decade this county will be famous for its fruits, especially for its apples.
THE ECLIPSE OF 1869.
Every inhabitant of Wapello County, save those deprived by misfortune of sight, had ample opportunity to observe the startling phenomena attending the total eclipse of the sun on the afternoon of August 7, 1869, the whole of the county being within the line of the totality, or within the belt 156 miles in breadth in which the body of the moon completely hid the sun from view. In the absence of any local description of the sublime spectacle, recourse is had to an account written by the well-known astronomer and graphic writer, E. Colbert, who was one of the observers from the station at Des Moines. Noth- ing was specially noticeable during the encroaching motion of the moon, until only a slender crescent of sunlight remained, except a diminution of light. giving a pallid cast to objects in the far horizon. When the disk of the sun was almost covered and the light began to diminish sensibly, a chilliness crept into the air, not like the coolness of a summer evening, but like the biting fingers of a winter storm. This reduction in temperature was almost awful in its swift approach. Birds and domestic fowls sought their roosts, dogs and horses manifested much uneasiness and in some instances positive terror, an : even cattle huddled together in fear at the swiftly approaching dark- ness.
The corona, as viewed through an excellent glass, was remarkably different from all preconceived notions on the subject, and from all previous descriptions, both in size and shape. It has always been represented as nearly annular (ring formed), of about equal breadth all the way round the edge of the moon, and not more than one-tenth of her apparent diameter. The corona of the 7th was exceedingly irregular in its outline, and in some places projected to a distance fully half the apparent diameter of the moon, or nearly 500,000 miles. The greatest length was almost identical with the direction of the moon's path across the face of the sun, which very nearly coincided with the plane of the ecliptic. From the east side a mass of light shot out to a distance of five or six digits ; it was about thirty degrees wide at the base, and shaped nearly like the remote half of a silver-poplar leaf. Near the moon it shone with an almost uniform white light, but within a short space it broke up into brilliant rays, almost parallel with each other, and all pointing nearly toward the center. Still further out, these rays assumed more of a streaky character, seeming to lie against a darker background, and toward the summit they faded away into a more diffused and milder light, though still distinct and bright. Near the ex- tremity it appeared more like a cumulus cloud, but the central direction of the rays was plainly visible. It melted away into the azure background almost imperceptibly, but the outline was perfect, except at the very extremity of the leaf-shaped mass. On the other side of the disk was a corresponding tongue, but less regular, and extending only about two-thirds as far into the void. This portion was more brilliant near the base than its counterpart, and was sharply defined at the very extremity, the rays blending so thickly that it required a
418
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
steady gaze to separate them. The extent of this portion was about 285,000 miles. One observer saw the light reflected from the moon's edge at a distance of 54,000 miles from the sun's body, while the light was reflected from the other edge at a distance of 74,000 miles. The total width of the corona was about 1,600,000 miles.
The broadest mass of covered light was visible on the left (in the southwest quarter). This sprung from an arc of about fifty degrees on the moon's circum- ference to a height of three digits, or 234,000 miles. This mass was more dif- fused than either of the others, and separated near the extremity into narrow leaflets of light, something like the flame from a thinly spread bed of coals, only there was no red, the light being pure white, with a faint coruscation. Opposite to this, on the right, was another leaf-spread mass of four digits in height, on a basis of twenty to twenty-five degrees, and like a parabola in general outline, which was, however, broken up on the outer side into jets. Another broad sheet sprung up on the northeast, toward the zenith, nearly . rectangular in shape, and three to four digits high, the upper third part being divided irregularly into tongues of light, formned by assemblages of rays. Between these large masses the circumference of the lunar orb was filled up by radiate lines of brilliant light, extending on an average a digit and a half in height, or 125,000 miles from the sun's surface. It was noticeable that this continuous band was the narrowest on the lower left-hand side (southwest by south), averaging about two-thirds of the width elsewhere, and was badly broken on its entire outline, as if the regularity were interfered with by the action of the string of bead-like protuberances jutting up through the interior portion of its volume.
The full amount of this irregularity was not perceptible with the naked eye, but the general distribution of long and short rays was the same. To the naided vision the narrower portions of the corona were visible and bright; but the tongue-like extensions faded out into nothingness, whereas the telescope gave a definite outline all around, except at the summit of the first-named pro- trusion. The apparent color of the protuberances was a pinkish red. The instant that the last film of light had vanished, leaving the sun in utter darkness, and simultaneously with the out-flash of the corona, the line of pro- tuberances on the south limb burst into view. Soon after the western edge of the moon had advanced sufficiently to uncover the protuberances on that side, and the four largest remained distinctly visible till the last glimmer of light was visible, when they vanished with the corona, leaving the world in the deep darkness of total eclipse. A moment passed, and those occupying elevated positions could see the shadow of approaching darkness moving toward them swiftly as the ripples are raised on a placid lake by a summer breeze, but awful, intense and terrible-fearful as a procession of spirits in the lower circle of the "Inferno." A few seconds of expectancy and the light was gone. It was an interval of absolute silence and of total darkness; for the eyes of the observer had been contracted by the rays of the sun, and needed two or three seconds to dilate sufficiently to distinguish any object whatever. Nothing ter- restrial could be seen, the darkness was too great ; but by looking upward the stars could be noticed to creep out, one by one, until over a dozen could be dis- cerned with the naked eye.
The eclipse of 1878, which was about two-thirds at this point, was observed by all who were able to obtain a bit of smoked glass, but was unimportant here in a scientific sense.
419
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
EDUCATIONAL.
While the question of how to get a living was the foremost one in the minds of the pioneers, the less direct though none the less important one of how to educate their children was not overlooked. Almost cotemporaneous with their own dwellings, they began the building of such school houses as they could, crude and primitive in the extreme, for such only would their appliances admit, and put together without regard to externals.
These same pioneer schoolhouses will, in the future, be a theme for the artist-quite equal in every way to those supplied by the peasantry in the old world, with their quaint, simple fashions and unperverted lives. The eye of the connoisseur delights in those realistic representations of still life-the white- haired old grandfather, whose toil of years has only brought him his cottage and bit of land; the still hard-working " gude wife," with bent body and withered but cheerful old face ; the next generation just in the prime of labor, rough, uncouth and content to have for recreation a pipe and a mug of ale ; and the children, with rosy cheeks and stout limbs, dressed in the veritable costumes their grandmothers wore before them. And no wonder such a picture pleases and charms the jaded senses of the worn-out worldling. But even that is not more fresh and unaccustomed than this log shanty, with its one small room, a window of but few panes of glass, and possibly a dirt floor; and with rough- hewn benches ranged round the walls for seats, over which the pupil made a fine gymnastic flourish whenever he felt it necessary to reach his teacher, with his forefinger firmly planted on the knotty word or sum that puzzled him.
These are the picturesque features for the artist's pencil. And what "learn- ing " there was, must have been a "dangerous thing," for it was certainly " little ; " the grading was far from exact; the system was a kind of hit-or- miss affair ; but, nevertheless, it was " school," and from the first there was a deeply rooted prejudice among the Iowa settlers in favor of schools. School for week-days and a meeting house for Sunday ! this same little pen of a house served the two purposes. And could anything except the groves themselves- " God's first temples "-be nearer to nature as a tabernacle than was this, where some chance circuit preacher would have for his congregation every man, woman and child in the entire settlement. None of those hypercritical listeners there, you may be sure, who gauge the preacher by his " intellectuality," his " magnetism " or his "culture." It was the Word preached-welcome, pure and life-giving always-and not the preacher, which these listeners crowded to hear. If he but had the good Methodist zeal, then he was sure of devout hearers. He did not need to have "traveled," except upon his lone circuit over the prairie ; nor did he feel it necessary to use his pulpit in the interests of politics -- if he knew his Bible he was qualified; nor did his flock feel called upon to put their hands into their pockets and contribute toward sending their Pastor on a Summer vacation to the sea side or to Europe. All these improve- ments have come in with better churches and more advanced ways of thinking. That was the old way, and a direct contrast to the new.
Now, nothing which the architect's taste can devise is too good for school house or for church. Look at the plentitude of tidy, commodious buildings in every county, and not designed for double service, either, but dedicated solely to the use of the school ma'am, who hereabouts is thoroughly skilled in her profession. She has had, aside from such education as her means have en- abled her to obtain, good, practical drill in the normal institutes. She not only
420
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
knows her text books, but she knows how to teach. And then, the ingeniously devised school books, in which every point of information is adjusted to such a nicety that they are rather works of art and books of entertainment than but the dull means to a desired end.
The little flocks of children who run along the country roads in their bare feet and sun-bonnets, and chip hats, do not have to squirm and twist their uneasy legs all day over a page in the English reader which they cannot under- stand. They begin their morning's work with a chorus, which puts them all in good humor to start with. Then they come to timed classes, at the tinkle of the bell ; they are entertained and diverted as well as instructed at every step. Before there is any possibility of restlessness, they go through a five-minutes round of calisthenics which puts a wholesome quietus upon their muscles and their mischief. Wise play is so mixed with teaching that they never really dis- cover which is which until they find themselves ready to teach school them- selves in turn.
This is the case of the present compared with the labor of the past. And in this way is the generality of education secured. The ways are smoothed, the tediousness beguiled and the deprivation supplanted by an affluence of aids.
In 1854, Gov. Grimes, in his inaugural message, said: "The safety and perpetuity of our Republican institutions depend upon the diffusion of intelli- gence among the masses of the people. The statistics of the penitentiaries and alms-houses throughout the country show that education is the best preventive of crime. They show also that the prevention of these evils is much less expensive than the punishment of the one and the relief of the other."
So, with all our new-fangled methods, our ornamental, well-ventilated and well-furnished school houses, our accomplished instructors with modern notions, we are not extravagant. We are simply taking from the expenses of crime and pauperism and putting it into enduring and beautiful shape. We are helping to sustain the government by rearing up in every town and in every country neighborhood a generation of enlightened and intelligent people, cosmopolitan in the sense of schools, if not in that wider cosmopolitanism which comes alone from actual contact with the great world.
The following statement is compiled from the last annual report of the County Superintendent of Schools, C. Wood :
Number of districts in township.
8
Number of subdistricts. .
50
Number of independent districts.
49
Total number of school districts.
107
Number of ungraded schools
89
Number of graded schools
10
Average number of months taught.
7.30
Number of male teachers
103
Number of female teachers
121
Average compensation per month, to male teachers.
$47 20
Average compensation per month, to female teachers.
30 20
Number of male pupils between 5 and 21 years of age.
4,489
Number of female pupils between 5 and 21 years of age.
4,355
Number of pupils enrolled.
5,009
Total average attendance
3,061
Average cost of tuition for each pupil per month. $1 51
Number of frame schoolhouses
85
Number of brick schoolhouses.
13
Number of stone schoolhouses
1
Number of log schoolhouses.
1
Total value of school buildings
$177,930 00
Total value of apparatus.
1,499 00
Number of volumes in libraries
70
421
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
SCHOOLHOUSE FUND.
Total receipts during the year
$16,812 72
Paid for schoolhouses and school sites. 12,551 77
Paid on bonds and interest.
1,482 54
Amount on hand.
2,528 56
CONTINGENT FUND.
Total receipts during the year.
$20,170 94
Paid for repairing schoolhouses. 5,748 28
Paid for fuel.
2,474 26
Paid secretarics 405 97
323 35
Paid for records and apparatus.
415 17
Paid for various purposes.
7,844 86
Amount on hand
2,959 05
TEACHER'S FUND.
Total receipts ..
$55,042 86
Paid teachers. 37.705 35
Amount on hand ..
17,337 51
Number of teachers receiving certificates of first grade.
119
Number of teachers receiving certificates of second grade.
53
Number of teachers receiving certificates of third grade.
8
Number of certificates granted.
185
Number of applicants rejected.
15
Number of applicants examined.
192
Amount received by County Superintendent for services from October
1, 1876, to October 1, 1877.
$ 1,000 00
EARLY NEWSPAPER ITEMS.
Some casual items from the carliest newspapers are transcribed, not so much from their importance in a general way, as to bring to the mind of the old set- tler a vivid memory of the early days, and to produce for the younger readers the phases of living which a generation ago were actual every-day realities. It is the little incidents of weather and crops and meetings and projects and improve- ments that picture the life in detail, though possibly these occurrences had no vital influence upon any of the destinies involved. It is upon the same princi- ple that " straws show which way the wind blows."
In glancing over the first number of the first paper published in Wapello County-and which at that time was the farthest west of any paper between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts-the Des Moines Courier, of date August 8, 1848, one is obliged to confess to a sense of disappointment. In a new coun- try, with appliances and conveniences only of the primitive sort, and without an established exchange list, it was but natural to look for something amus- ingly crude, and to expect to find a zest of the half-civilized in its matter and make-up. But instead of that we find a paper bearing the stamp of thorough case in its fine arrangement, decided in tone, composed largely of selections, it is true, but those of the best character, and wholly lacking in the savage and unfin- ished features which often mark the products of pioneer enterprise. We are ac- customed to dwell upon the vast progress in newspapers of late years, but this would hold its own with any newspaper of its kind to day, and would not be put to the blush, cither, for being old fashioned. It begins its existence as an ad- vocate of " Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore," with "Jesse Bowen, of Johnson County ; William H. Wallace, of Henry County ; Stephen B. Shel- lady, of Mahaska County, and Fitz-Henry Warren, of Des Moines County, for Presidential Electors." It is warm in its championship, and speaks with no un- certain voice. Gen. Cass is set up as a foil to " Old Zach," and he gets a good. drubbing, very much after the fashion of to-day.
Paid treasurers ..
422
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY.
An editorial is given to " River Improvement," vigorously arguing that " a speedy completion of this work is of the most vital importance to the future growth and prosperity of this part of the State." And further, that " the toils of the producing portion of the community, as well as of all others, will be measurably in vain until this improvement is completed, affording, as it will, facilities for transporting to market the surplus, and-as things are now- the almost worthless productions of the soil and of our work-shops ; and also putting into successful operation the various kinds of manufactures among us, to employ our surplus hands at good wages, consume our grain, beef, pork, mutton, etc., and pay cash for, and consume all the raw materials produced in the country. Thus, by getting a good price for our labor, and for all we make to sell, and by making all we wear at home, and keeping our money among our- selves, we will become truly independent, prosperous and happy.
Yet it was not, after all, the river improvement, but her railroads, that were to make Ottumwa's markets for her.
" The Election " is then touched upon, and the announcement made that " the whole Whig ticket in this county is defeated by a majority of from fifty- seven to ninety ;" but the editor feels certain that it was done by unfair means, for, by examining the census returns recently taken in the county, he finds that there were a great many more votes polled in the county than there were voters in it, and concludes that these must have been "imported by the ' locos ' from other counties."
The advertisements in this first issue begin with the markets. By the list it is shown that wheat was from 50 to 55 cents per bushel ; oats, 15 to 16 cents ; corn the same ; bacon, ham and sides, 3 cents per pound ; shoulders, 2 cents ; lard, 43 to 52 cents, and butter, 7 to 10 cents. Apples were from $1.50 to $2.00 per barrel ; eggs, 6 to 7 cents per dozen ; potatoes, 15 to 20 cents per bushel ; corn meal, 25 cents, and flour $4.00 per barrel. The first business card is that of " Lane & Devin, Attorneys at Law," following which is that of " Dr. A. T. Alt," who " may always be found at the Ottumwa House, unless absent on professional business." Below this, Dr. Chas. C. Warden tenders his services professionally to the public. Then, with the picture of a coach, L. C. Nichols announces that he has established a livery stable, and is prepared " with horses and buggies to carry persons to any part of the State. He also keeps a four-horse omnibus that will carry fourteen persons, which he will run whenever occasion requires." "S. Richards, by H. P. Graves," advertises " summer goods," which comprise " dry goods, groceries, hardware, queens- ware, etc.," and under the same head are offered, "also on hand, a constant supply of military land warrants, which will be sold on the most reasonable terms." A mortar and pestle heads the announcement of F. W. Taylor, that he is " constantly receiving fresh drugs." He invites physicians to call and examine his stock of " calomel, blue mass, ipecac, opium, quinine, iodine, mor- phine and camphor "-a list that, of itself, would throw a modern disciple of Hahnemann into an ague chill. Added to these, he has in stock " indigo, putty, paints, brushes, madder, glass, oils, pure white lead, dye-stuffs, glassware, var- mishes, etc., etc." A. Mudge & Co., were the next in order to offer dry goods and groceries, which they do in a third of a column. In their comprehensive list is to be found " rectified whisky by the barrel, at only 20 cents per gallon." " The Farmer's Cheap Store " is kept by W. S. Carter & Co., where everything from sewing-silk to a tin-plate stove, or from a saw-mill saw to pepper sauce is offered to the customer. Carter & Co. add to the Farmer's Store " a large and complete stock of drugs and medicines." Hunter & Baldwin offer a stock of'
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