USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren 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 &c > Part 47
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From this time the court-house building work was pushed rapidly along toward completion. Its entire cost was abont eighty thousand dollars, and the bonds have all been paid with the exception of a few thousand dollars, which have been funded, and have become a part of the county indebted- edness, which is now drawing seven per cent interest.
As a complete description of the court-house and a list of the contractors connected with its construction, we present the article from the Indianola Visitor of April 30, 1868, which described the new structure. It was written by Mr. Albert W. Swalm, at that time editor of the paper, and was, perhaps, among the first work of that character which he did. It gives that promise, which he has since fulfilled on the press of the State. It is as follows:
" Much has been said about our fine court-house, but a full, or even a brief description has never been published until now, and this we can
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assure all will be done in a rough and unfinished manner. This we say that the reader's expectations may not be raised to a greater height than we feel able to climb, but our intentions are to give merely a general view of the building.
" As is the general rule in describing buildings, and in many other cases where a satisfactory examination is to be made, we shall commence at the foundation and go upward. Taking a long breath and a pen full of ink, we'll 'let on' the descriptive powers of Ye Ad Interim, and tilt our lance at the huge foundation, built ont of a peculiar strata of sandstone, from the Wheeler quarry, three miles southeast of town. The walls are eight feet in height, being four feet wide at the base, tapering off to two. feet eight inches at the top. They rest upon a formation of beaten rock and cement, three feet in depth. The vaults rest upon a solid structure of masonry, 9x18. The walls are all smoothly hewn, and are built in a man- ner that gives proof of strength and solidity, to bear the enormous burden built upon them. In the basement story are found thirteen rooms which will be used as storage rooms for fnel, and the furnaces, of which it will require three to comfortably heat the building. Some of these rooms can very easily be converted into safe and commodious prison cells, by grating the windows and doors. They are strong enoughi, we warrant, to safely keep and preserve all the evil doing carcassess that may find their way into them.
"The corners of the building are ' blocked,' up to the second story, with cut stone, we should judge to be about fourteen inches thick, and thirty- six or forty inches long. The ends of these are crossed, and then cut be- tween the joints, which gives the corners a massive appearance, and adds greatly to the beauty of the structure. By ' corners' we mean the base point of the towers, making twelve corners thns 'blocked.' A belting course of cut stone, ten inches thick, runs around the entire building, at . the base of the second story.
"The length of the building is one hundred and twelve feet, with a width of sixty feet at the towers, and fifty feet between them. For the informa- tion of those unlearned, we will state that this building is located in our public square, which isn't a square at all, but an octagon in form-it is in the center and has a southern front elevation. This front is of finest cut stone, the entrances being through great stone arches, that gives the front a touch of olden time grandeur in architecture. From the vestibule, to the right and left, will run circular stairways to the second floor. On the first floor are located the offices of our county servants, and in size are 18x25, with a fifteen foot story. Attached to these rooms are two vaults, for the safe keeping of the county cash and records. Although there are ten rooms on the first floor, with two large vestibules, and a hall ten feet wide, running the whole length of the building. The windows are very large, and of the best plate glass. When our county officers are installed in these roomy, elegant quarters, they will have no canse of complaint, for they are, prospectively, the finest apartments we have ever seen dedicated to public use. And here let us say, that there is no county anywhere that is blessed with any more obliging and efficient servants than is our dear Warren! We say dear, because we like the people, because they are proverbially honest and attend to their own business, with only a few exceptions, and they in Indianola. But to come back to the subject in hand, our officers are ' hail fellows well met,' deserve the good things of life, and all that
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we ask is, that ' when it goes well with them,' they will let a thought wing its way back to the item-hunting individual that penned these lines.
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"Let us now go up into the court-room, which we find to be a large, grand, airy liall 50x75 feet, with a twenty-five foot story. This room will be finished in the richest and most elegant style. The wall will be bor- dered by a heavy line of stucco work-flowers, figures and flourishes en- tering into its composition. The entrances will be through large double doors at the south end. The windows are very large and have an arch at. the upper end-five of these are on each side of the building, and light the room sufficiently for law purposes. There will be a double floor in this room-one which is termed a 'deafening-floor,' two inches below the upper, the space between being filled with earth. It will make a beautiful lecture room, and the. Indianolians can reasonably expect a course of lec -. turers during next winter. Native talent we have amongst us-hence there is no need to engage foreigu talent. It don't pay! Off the track again- but we now direct the reader's attention to the lower towers, of which there are three. When completed they will be sixty-eight feet in height. The finish- ing of these towers will be decidedly beautiful. The roof over them is of half- horse-shoe sliape, and is called the Mansard pattern. On each side a dormer window will appear, that will give them an indescribably beautiful appear- ance. There will be a four foot projection over the wall, beneath which will run a line of heavy double-scroll brackets, projecting three feet, and resting on the foot-mould. In each of these towers are three rooms, which will be used as jury rooms, etc.
" This is about as near as we can describe these towers, and next in order we come to the main tower, which, when completed, will be one hundred and twenty-one feet in height, and from the pinnacle of which all of War- ren county is brought under the eye, by the aid of a good field-glass. There will be sixty feet of frame work above the walls, and the whole sur- mounted by a monster gilded ball. The plan at first was that the sur- mounting be a figure representing Justice, but the architect, with a fine taste for the grand and lottily beautiful, changed the whole plan to a com- position of the architectural orders, and when finished will present an appearance worth a day's journey to see. At the first section, immediately. under the bell-room, there is a four foot projection, with an open balustrade surrounding it. The second section is over the clock, and here will another projection appear, two and a-half feet in width. This will be the highest. point of ascension, as the lofty pinnacle rises from here, and we cannot give it a just description, but suffice it to say, that when completed, all will praise it as a triumph in architectural skill and beauty.
"The roof on the main building is of the self-supporting pattern, and is covered with first-class pine shingles. Below the eaves will run a line of brackets similar to those around the towers. In the front over the en- trances will be a balcony, five by twenty-four feet. The same will be at the rear, also. This will make an excellent rostrum, and our sons and daughters that will follow after us will listen to, and pour forth, eloquence, bright and glowing with truth and logic, and-well, we're single, and we'll drop the future, for undoubtedly it will squall itself into notice in the regions hereabout.
"In the foundation there are twelve hundred perches of stone. In the walls above them are cemented one million one hundred thousand brick.
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Of lumber it will require the enormous pile of two hundred thousand feet. These are thic actual figures.
"The floors are being laid in the first story by W. P. Judkins, a great portion of which is finished. The windows are glazed and in-friend John M. Folger having the contract to do all the painting and glazing required on the work. This insures a tip-top job in that department.
"The building is to be completed by the 15th of October next, and we confidently expect to see it in that state at that time.
"The wages paid last season were good-two dollars per day for laborers, and from five to seven dollars for brick-layers. There were about thirty men thus engaged for three or four months.
" The architect, Mr. C. A. Dunham, of Burlington, Iowa, has here proven himself an artist of acknowledged skill and ability, and needs no better commendation than a view of Indianola court-house.
"The contractor, Mr. Jacob Reichard, is a full-fledged man of business, and possesses as much energy and tact as any two men commonly have. That which he wills, he performs, whatever be the obstacles in the way to impede him. He is ever alert, and always has some designs on his trestle- board. As a contractor, he has had a long experience, and is entitled to the confidence of the people wherever he may contract to do work for them. Besides our court-house, he has under contract Simpson Centenary Col- lege, located in this place, cost about $18,000; the State Agricultural Col- lege, $100,000; Madison county court-house at Winterset, $76,000; and the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Council Bluffs, some $200,000 or $300,000. The cost of our building when completed, will range from $70,000 to $75,- 000. Seemingly he has his hands full, yet everything works smoothly and with clock-work regularity. He was ably seconded in the masonry and brick-work by good and efficient master-workmen. Mr. D. Dambrun had charge of the masonry, while Capt. Stanley 'bossed ' the brick-work. The work speaks for them, and they may feel proud of it. The master-builder is Mr. Charles Nicholas, who is an old and experienced workman, and is carrying out his part of the plan in a complete and satisfactory manner. He has under him a corps of good and careful workmen, and the work moves along at a lively pace.
" Two large work-shops have been erected near the main building, one for the use of the carpenters, and the other contains the machinery, con- sisting of scroll-saws, teneting machines, moulding and planing machines, they being run by a six-horse power engine, a perfect little beauty. It gives the rear of the building a business ' cut,' and from the time of 'the rising to the setting of the sun,' it puffs and throbs away as steadily as rattle the tongues of some of our beloved young lady friends. This ends our story, our ' case' is 'out,' our finger-ends sore, and tipping our new five-dollar hat to the court-house folk, and all the rest of the people, we bow ourself out. Adieu!"
The building has been kept in good repair, and now eleven years after its completion and occupation, looks as well as it did the day it was built. The people of the county take pride in it, as well they may, and the officials see to it that it remains in good condition. With proper care it is a build- ing which will serve the county for generations yet, when the struggles over its construction have long been forgotten.
Joel Jacoby
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY,
POOR FARM.
Asylums for the poor, the disabled and the unfortunate, are peculiarly Christian institutions, it has been said, and they become more common with the growth of civilization. None of the heathen nations, Rome, Greece or Macedon, in their times of greatest wealth and power, ever established any public institutions for the relief of the destitute, but in this age a State, or even a county of any considerable size or prosperity, would be considered far behind in all the elements of progress unless some provision was made for the care of paupers and other unfortunates.
Warren county has been rather remarkably free from abject poverty, but nevertheless has been diligent and generous in providing a place for those too poor to have any other. Care is taken to make the institution adopted to its purpose and to keep it always in good order.
The first poor farm purchased in the county was in the James Laverty neighborhood, and contained 120 acres. It was not, however, fitted up for the reception of paupers, but they were boarded ont. It was soon found to be too small, and the Board sold it some ten years ago and bought 320 acres of land in Washington township, about five and a-half miles south- west of Indianola. The land cost about $10 per acre. We subjoin herewith an excellent account of the poor farm, its management, crops, inmates, etc., written by Mr. A. J. Graham, editor of the Herald, and published in that paper in June, 1879. We present this in preference to giving the regular annual report of the Poor Farm Committee, because it is both later and fuller of details concerning the matter in hand. The article is as follows: "Last week, in company with the ex-junior editor of this paper, we paid a visit to the county house and farm, now under charge of Mr. M. E. Young and lady. The farm consists of 320 acres of land lying five miles west and one and one-half miles south of Indianola. The soil is of good quality, being sufficiently level for cultivation.
"There are in cultivation this year, 38 acres of wheat, 23 acres of oats, 70 acres of corn, 4 acres in potatoes and 1 acre in beans and onions. There are also 50 acres in meadow and 80 acres in pasture. The crops of all kinds are good, showing that the farming has been well done.
"The productions of the farm for 1878 were 390 bushels of wheat, 600 bushels of oats, 2,900 bushels of corn, and 140 bushels of potatoes, with a considerable amount of beans and vegetables. There were sold off the farm, in 1878, 61 hogs, bringing to the county $354.00, and cattle to the amount of $406.37. The whole income last year from the sales of products of the county farmi was $1,067.12. This is to be understood as the product of the farm after furnishing all of the inmates with wheat, meat, corn, etc. The net expense to the county of the farm for 1878 was about $1,500.
"The improvements on the farm consist of the main building first erected, 30x40 and four stories high. Only the lower story of this building is used by the paupers. This building has five rooms in each of the first, second and third stories, and two rooms in the fourth story. During this season tliree new buildings, one story high, have been erected at an expense of abont seven hundred dollars. These buildings are 14x40. One is situ- ated a short distance northwest of the main building. The second is about the same distance northeast, containing three rooms. Just east of the latter and in connection with it is the insane building containing four rooms.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
The other improvements on the farm are a barn 40x52 and a granary copi- ons enough to contain 400 bushels of wheat and 1,600 bushels of corn. The buildings are all in good order and everything seemed to be running smoothly.
"For the first four or five years after the opening of the county house it was under charge of Mr. R. Zarly, of Liberty township. On the first day of January, 1877, Mr. Young assumed charge and has continued in control' up to the present time. He agreeing to give all his time and furnish all the female help unless such as panpers could give, receiving for the same five hundred dollars per annum with board and honse room. The number of inmates when Mr. Young assumed charge were eleven, but since then enough have been received, had they all remained, to raise the number to fifty. The highest number of inmates at any one time since Mr. Young assumed charge was twenty-six, and the number now present is twenty, as follows: James Davis, admitted from Greenfield township March 28, 1879, aged 67 years; Mary Ann Surber, adinitted from the same township August 3, 1877, aged 34 years; Sam Johns, in the house since it was at first opened and was admitted from Washington township and is about 50 years old; Mary White, admitted from Washington township in April, 1877, aged 54 years; Rebecca Hinshaw has been in the honse about six years and was ad- mitted from Jackson township, aged 46 years; Anderson Brafford, admitted April 11, 1879, from Allen township, at the age of 45 years; Joseph Alex- ander, admitted Jannary 8, 1879, from Washington township, aged 76 years; Dora Knotts has been on the home about six years, being admitted from Virginia township, aged 26 years; Melissa Flinn and child were ad- mitted about two years ago from Washington township; Mrs. Christy and child, admitted from Union township October 16, 1879, aged 21 years; Mary Fisher, admitted February 9, 1879, from Washington township, aged 22 years; Old Mrs. Lewis has been an inmate ever since the home was opened, being admitted from Palmyra township-her age, as near as can be ascertained, is abont 60 years; Mary Ann Rogers, admitted from Rich- land township, has been in the home since the first opening, aged 27 years; Mary Lewis, admitted May 30, 1878, from Washington township, aged 23 years; Mary Wilkinson, or 'Old Mary,' as she is generally termed, was admitted at the first opening of the home, from Liberty township, age un- known; Mary Linsley was received into the home, about five years since, from Whitebreast township, over 30 years old; Sarah Wagner, admitted from Linn township March 4, 1879, at the age of 49 years; Charlie Casen, received from Union township nearly six years ago.
"Of the male inmates few are able to do anything, and several of them require much attention. Of the female inmates one is gardener and another milkmaid. The female inmates, in connection with Mr. Young's family, do all the work of the house, including their own cooking and attending of persons unable to assist themselves. A number of the inmates are wholly or partially insane, and six or seven have fits very frequently. But few of them are physically able to earn a living, and one or two of them will soon cease to be a charge to any one in this world.
" The home, with the new additions built, has a capacity for nearly double the number of present inmates. All the arrangements and plans now in operation would require little, if any, change or additional cost if the nmin- ber of inmates was largely increased.
"The county supervisors and the steward appear to be doing all they can
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
to promote the comfort and welfare of the inmates. The inmates were all well clad and had an abundance of good, plain, substantial, and well-cooked food.
" With such facilities for receiving inmates it is certainly proper that parties requiring aid from the county be removed to that place just as soon as possible, and that in all possible cases the payment of money to out door paupers should cease. There may be certain cases in which it may be proper to pay a weekly sum to an individual or family for support, but these cases are very few. This is especially the case when the county honse has facilities for accommodating a much larger number of inmates. Town- ship trustees should see that our poor fund is not depleted by such heavy payments, as in times past, to those outside of the county house. Economy demands this, and in most cases humanity also, for it cannot but be ad- mitted that persons in want or insane can be much better accommodated on a county farm than in private residences. This is a question that lies withi our township trustees and almost beyond control of our board of supervi- sors. The funds for the support of the inmates of the county house liave been exhausted largely by the heavy drafts for assistance to persons outside of the county house; but the abundant crops on the farm will do much toward sustaining the whole concern during the present year."
We have ourselves examined Mr. Young's books and find that he is keep- ing them on a scientific basis, showing cost of every item, as also revenue from each and every source itemized. This is setting a good example, one which might well be followed by many farmers on their own account, Mr. . Young has proven himself so efficient that the Board has contracted with him for another year-a very wise action and one which is a practical civil service of itself.
The above figures show that the affairs of the farm are managed with care and good judgment. "Over the hills to the poor-house" is a sad story at best, but there is one far sadder. A painting at the Centennial portrayed an aged Indian squaw left to perisli on the plains, while those of her own tribe-her own family and children even-were wending their way out of sight, followed by the despairing, worn out, deserted old woman. Such is life among those who know nothing of charity.
The following article, from the Indianola Daily Tribune of September 26th, 1879, shows that coincidences happen in the poor-house as well as in higher life:
" At a little after dark, Wednesday evening, a inan drove up to the poor- house and inquired if there was an inmate there by the name of Sam Jolins. Being answered in the affirmative, he announced himself as a brother, and said he had come to take him away. The two brothers had not met for twenty years, just the length of time that Sam had been sup- ported by this county. The stranger was allowed to see his brother, to whom he communicated his purpose. Sam was glad to see the brother, but it was not until about eight o'clock yesterday morning that he consented to accompany him to his home in Henry county. He had lived here twenty years, and during that time he had formed an attachment for the place, and the poor farm seemed as dear a home to Sam as would a palatial residence of his own to many another man. His brother said he would take care of him the balance of his life, and besides would give him fifty dollars cash in hand. The offer was accepted, and with sadness Sam Johns bade fare- well to the superintendent and family and all the inmates of the poor-
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house, to accompany his noble young brother to his home in Henry county.
"Mr. Young started with them to this city. He had come but a little way when a young man met him and inquired for the poor farm superin- tendent. He stated that his business was to take from the farm his old uncle, Father Alexander, a decrepit old gentlemen known to most of our citizens. Mr. Young went back with him, and when the old man was told of his good fortune, he fairly wept with joy. It was a touching scene, that of a helpless old gentleman being taken from the poor farm by a worthy nephew, after having been thrown in by a son who had taken from him his all. Another sad farewell was said, and Mr. Young again started for the city. The old gentleman remarked that he believed Providence was in it. ' I had been saying to myself,' said he, 'Oli, that some one would come and take me, and now I am being taken home.'
" Mr. Young bought a new overcoat for Mr. Johns, advised him to accept his brother's kindness and show his appreciation of it. As they came to town, Mr. Alexander and his nephew were met by a son of the one and uncle of the other. This gentleman had come across the country from Des Moines, while the other had gone ahead to get the old gentleman in readiness. Neither called to see their relative in west part of town, known as 'Sweet Potato Alexander.' They could not forget his cruelty in taking from his father his little wealth, and then casting him npon the county. The nephew's name is Anderson. He takes his uncle to his home near Polk City, in Polk county, and where the old man will be taken care of. While at the poor farm, he was tenderly attended to by a woman known to many of our readers as ' Mother White,' whose kindness the feeble man will long remember. It isn't often that two such examples of nobility in man are witnessed in one day."
RAILWAYS.
The importance of railways was early appreciated in Warren county, and projects of that nature have been under discussion since 1853, or about the time that their great importance to a country became manifest. As a con- sequence the county has very good railway connection with the outside world-which bids fair to increase even in the immediate future.
The first railway projected was the "Air Line " road through the State, from New Boston, on the Mississippi, to Conncil Bluffs. The agitation of the question was quite active, as is shown by the notice by P. P. Henderson, county judge, submitting the question to the people whether or not aid should be extended to this line. The following is the notice:
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