USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren County, Iowa, from its Earliest Settlementto 1908 > Part 16
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SECTION 2246. "Visitation of poor-honse. The board shall cause the poor-house to be visited at least once a month by one of its body, who shall carefully examine the condition of the inmates and the manner in which they are fed and clothed and otherwise provided for and treated, ascertain what labor they are required to perform, inspect the books and accounts of the steward, and look into all matters pertaining to the poor-house and its inmates, and report to the board."
Owing to the different classes of persons committed to the poor-house, ranging as they do from the frantically insane to the helpless imbeciles with occassionally an intelligent and well disposed person, the position of steward is not only an important one, but is a very difficult one to fill. Warren county has been very fortunate in having first class stewards of its poor farm. It takes a peculiar type of man to govern the different classes of inmates and to furnish employment to such as are capable of performing some labor. The present steward, F. K. Stansell, is caring for the inmates and all the various interests of the farm in an acceptable manner.
OLD SETTLERS' ORGANIZATION.
It is now customary for each county to have an Old Settlers' Organization, in order to perpetuate early incidents and to keep up the memory of early associa- tions, to renew old acquaintances and to make new ones. The meetings of these organizations are usually held annually and are times of social enjoyment. There is perhaps no coming together of the people in Warren county, where all differences in politics and religion are so completely laid aside as those of the old settlers. Indeed, the visiting on these annual occasions is so hearty, so full of interest, and so thoroughly enjoyed that it is difficult to restore quiet long enough to hear the set speeches, that usually have been elaborately prepared and are delivered with such enthusiasm. It is no easy task to rise and address an audience, when a constant hum of voices is heard not only in the rear parts of the audience, but immediately around the stand, and yet, such are the cireum- stances under which orations are delivered at the old settlers' meeting. As early as 1872, the subject of an organization of this kind was privately discussed by some of the old settlers. Washington's birthday, February 22, 1872, was celebrated in Indianola and made an occasion of the reunion of old settlers. It is very graphically described in the Warren County Leader of the 29th of February, 1872. The festival came off at the National House, then under the control of Major Babb. Judging from the Leader's description it must have been a felicitous occasion. About eighty persons were said to be present, who had been residents of the county for several years. Early incidents were related by Colonel Henderson, Hon. Lewis Todhunter, Enoch Crosthwait, J. E.
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Williamson, Captain Knox, Squire Cozad and Hon. P. Gad Bryan. Years ago, it was customary throughout old settlers' meetings to indulge in jokes, puns and wittieism, but of late the public speaking has assumed a more serious character, and is usually instructive and helpful to all who hear. This meeting at Major Babb's Hotel inspired those present to have another, and they did not feel like waiting a year, so, on the following June a meeting was called for Alexander Ginder's grove, five miles east of Indianola. In the notice issued for that meeting, it was stated that the object was to renew old acquaintances, to recall events of pioneer times in this part of Iowa. The notice was circulated throughout the county and resulted in bringing together a large number of people. It was estimated that at least two thousand persons were in the assembly. The morning was not propitious, but rather threatening and indi-
cated rain. Later in the day the clouds disappeared and the people began to assemble. Colonel Henderson called the meeting to order, and Lewis Todhunter was elected chairman, and J. II. Henderson, secretary; J. J. Cozad made the invocation. A number of speeches were made on this occasion and then came the dinner, and then the jokes. There are more mirthful incidents in pioneer life or else the pioneers have better memories to retain these incidents, than later generations.
For several years after the meeting at Ginder's Grove, there is no record that the pioneers came together for the purpose of holding a reunion. It was not until 1883, that the old settlers were invited to meet at the courthouse at ten o'clock on August 25, for the purpose of permanent organization. It is not even known who issued this call but a goodly number responded. Newton Guthrie was elected president and E. W. Hartman, secretary. A committee was appointed consisting of P. P. Henderson, L. S. Spencer, James Laverty, A. J. Duncan and J. T. Lacy to make all necessary arrangements for a pienie and to give notice thereof. This committee decided upon Summerset as the place for holding the picnic and fixed upon September 29, 1883, as the time. When the people assembled at Suunnerset a permanent organization was effected by electing Colonel P. P. Henderson, president; James Laverty, John Wood, and M. A. Dashiell, vice presidents ; Jolin II. Henderson, secretary ; James Laverty, treasurer. Another committee was also appointed consisting of James Laverty, Newton Guthrie and P. P. Henderson to collect items of early history and put them into permanent form. Whether this committee ever acted as historians is not recorded. A constitution and by-laws were adopted, a part of which follows.
Resolved that we, the early settlers now present. do form a brotherhood of pioneers of Warren county, and in furtherance of this project uow adopt the following constitution and by-laws.
Article 1. This society shall be called the Association of Early Settlers of Warren county. An Early Settlers' Register shall be kept by the secretary.
Article 2. All persons who have been residents of Warren county twenty years, together with their wives; widows and children of early settlers shall be eligible to membership and may sign the Register and be entitled to vote at the
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annual elections. The president, secretary and treasurer shall constitute the executive committee, and be empowered to make all necessary arrangements, and eall the meetings of the organization.
Subsequently, they purchased about three and one half acres at Summerset for one hundred and twenty-five dollars, which sum was obtained by subscriptions. In Angust, 1893, the organization was incorporated according to the laws of Iowa. The meetings are held annually and are regarded as times of social enjoyment, not surpassed anywhere on earth. But few of the early settlers of Warren county remain to tell the interesting stories connected with the laying of the foundations of civilized society in this beautiful country. More than half who remain give evidence of the weight of years, yet, their hearts arc thrilled by the narrations of the stirring events of pioneer life.
The younger people are glad to meet the first settlers and hear them talk of the log cabin days, the days of prairie breaking, the days of teaming to the Mississippi river ; the days of first schools, first churches and first frame houses ; but the hardships of those days were so severe that the old pioneer is entitled to all the possible joyful renniniscence of his old days. On these occasions, none ean fail to experience mingled feelings of joy and pathos. Joy because of renewed friendships and pleasing recollections; pathos, because of the marked absence of familiar faces, who in the years gone by were accustomed to be there. The people have come to look forward to these meetings with delightful anticipa- tions. They are more largely attended than any other secular gatherings in the county, and will doubtless be attended far into the future.
PRESENT OFFICERS.
Lewis Igo, president ; J. H. Henderson, first, L. S. Spencer, second, and John M. Laverty, third vice presidents; E. W. Hartman, secretary; and William Buxton Sr., treasurer. These officers are among the oldest settlers in the county, are men of honor and respectability.
RAILROADS.
The first railway passenger car ran from Stockton to Darlington, England, on the 27th day of September, 1825. The second road open for traffic was a line from Liverpool to Manchester. The first trip was made September 15, 1830. Between the years 1828 to 1833, railroading in the United States became an established means of transportation. Previons to that, many experiments had been made and much speculation indulged in regarding locomotive engines, iron rails and other items connected with railroading. Among the first roads in the United States, that were brought into successful operation were the Baltimore and Ohio, the Baltimore and Susquehanna, Camden and Amboy, the New Castle and Frenchtown, the Hudson and Mohawk, the Charleston and Augusta, the Boston and Providence, the Boston and Lowell, and in these years other roads were proposed. Up to 1833, nobody seems to have had any conception of a great connecting system of roads, or of a road extending thousands of miles. On the other hand, railroads at first were projected to supply local necessities and to meet immediate demands. Later, roads began to unite and form longer lines
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and systems, until the United States in two-thirds of a century has become a network of railroads. The Baltimore and Ohio, Mobile and Ohio were among the first through lines. As early as the middle of the last century plans were made for a great through line to cross the continent from New York to San Francisco. This necessitated passing through a vast expanse of mountain chains and deserts. The Union Pacific, the first to cross the Rocky Mountains, was considered one of the greatest feats in civil engineering. When it was found that railway ears could be drawn by a locomotive engine, railway building progressed beyond expectation, especially, throughout the west. In 1830, there were twenty-three miles of railway in the United States; five years later, one thousand and ninety-eight miles; and by 1875. seventy thousand miles. W. E. Curtis, in the Chicago Record Herald, gives the following interesting account of the first railroad in South Carolina, which was among the first in the United States.
"In 1827 the legislature of South Carolina authorized the formation of a company to construct a railway between Charleston and Hamburg. In May, 1828, the organization was effected, and within that year one hundred feet of track was laid along Wentworth street in Charleston. The first cars were drawn by mules. A mile of track was completed in 1830, and the cars were driven by sails. The Charleston Courier of March 20, 1830, contains the following para- graph : 'A sail was set on a car on our railroad yesterday afternoon in the presence of a large concourse of spectators. Fifteen gentlemen got on board and flew off at the rate of twelve to fifteen miles an hour. Thirteen persons and three tons of iron were hastily gotten up, and, of course, were not of the best kind, but owing to this circumstance. the experiment afforded high sport.
" "The wind blew fresh from about northeast, which, as a sailor would say, was "abeam," and would drive the car either way with equal speed. When going at the rate of about twelve miles an hour, and loaded with fifteen passengers, the mast went by the board with the sail and rigging attached, carrying with them several of the crew. The wreck was described by several friendly shipmasters, who kindly rendered assistance in rigging a jury-mast, and the car was soon again put under way. During the afternoon the wind changed so as to bring it nearly ahead when going in one direction, but this did not stop the sport.' "
In 1831 a steam locomotive was obtained which hauled regular mixed trains back and forth every day to Orangeburg, as far as the track was completed. The freight cars carried cargoes of six thousand pounds, and the passenger coaches accommodated thirteen persons. Iu 1833 the line was completed to Angusta, or rather, to Hamburg, on the opposite side of the river. and a branch to Columbia was built in 1842. The fare from Charleston to Hamburg was five cents a mile-one hundred and thirty-six miles for six dollars and seventy-five cents, with seventy-five pounds of baggage-and the trip was made between six o'clock a. m., and seven p. m. In 1839 the time was shortened four hours, and the fare was increased to ten dollars.
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The railway of one hundred and thirty-six miles cost $951,148.39. A local newspaper of that date described the method of construction as follows: "Piles were driven six feet apart in parallel lines. The heads of these piles are bound together with transverse sleepers. These are surmounted by longitudinal wooden rails about nine inches square, in various lengths from fifteen to thirty- five feet, on top of which, on the inner edge, flat iron bars are nailed. The tracks are five feet apart."
The South Carolina road has had an interesting and in some respects an exciting history, and has suffered many vicissitudes. For many years it was very prosperous, but it was oftener in trouble, until it became a part of the Southern system, and has since been put in excellent physical condition.
In the foregoing words, the origin and development of railroads has been briefly sketched. Overland transportation by railroads is the remarkable achievement of the nineteenth century. Since the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway in 1831, railroads have been inaugurated in all lands. Christendom has not reserved the right to monopolize this great enterprise, but has promoted railroad building in all lands and among all peoples. No seenlar movement has so stirred the thought power of man, and so stimulated the investment of capital as railroads. This enterprise has also exerted a powerful influence on the sciences, inventions, and stimulated the hurry of human effort. Within twenty years after railroads became an assured fact, their importance reached the few pioneer settlers in Warren county. midway between the great oceans. The pioneers felt the need of a market, and of better facilities for transportation than ox teams and horse teams, and so readily grasped the railroad idea, and began to look forward to the time when a railroad would reach Indianola. Railroad promoters were traveling over the sparsely settled portions of the west, prophesying great things for the future of this country.
The first railway project that interested the people of Warren county, was an air line, proposing to cross the Mississippi at New Boston, and from thence to Council Bluffs on the Missonri river. The people not only talked about this road, but some were in favor of rendering material assistance as will be seen by the following notice: "On this 28th day of November, 1853, the petition of a large portion of the county was presented, asking that the question be submitted to a vote of the people of Warren county, Iowa, whether the county of Warren, aforesaid, will aid in the construction of the 'Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad,' by subscribing the sum of one hundred thousand dollars to the capital stock of the said road. Now, therefore, in order that the sense of the voters of said county may be taken in the premises, it is hereby ordered that a special election be held on Saturday, the 31st day of December, 1853, for the purpose of voting 'for' or 'against' the following proposition, to-wit: That the county of Warren, in the state of Iowa, will aid in the construction of said road, to-wit: the 'Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad,' by subscribing one hundred thousand dollars to the capital stock of the company of said road, provided that Indianola be made a point on said road. That county bonds be issned therefor, payable in twenty years of their date, bearing interest at a rate not to exceed six per centum per
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ammm, payable semi-annually, and that whenever said company has obtained a sufficient amount of subscription to its stock as will, in the opinion of the county jndge, seenre the completion of the road. then, that county bonds shall be issued to the company of said road. That in addition to the taxes usually levied, an annual tax, not to exceed one per cent upon the county valuation, be levied from year to year, so long as the same is required to be applied to the liquidation of the interest and principal of the bonds aforesaid. unless it is found that the interest and principal can be satisfied by the dividends arising from, or sale of stock above mentioned. That the county judge of Warren county, represent in person, or by proxy, the stock taken by said county. That the form of ballots for said elections shall be 'For the county subscription,' or 'Against the county subscription,' a majority of votes for the county subscription will be considered as adopting the above proposition entire. It is further directed that the law governing elections shall, so far as compatible. be applied to this election. "
P. P. HENDERSON, County Judge.
At the election called in the foregoing notice, five hundred and thirty-six votes were cast, a majority of thirty-six being against the proposition. Abont 1855-6. Iowa was all awake in regard to railroads. The general government had donated large bodies of land to build three lines from the Mississippi river across the state to the Missouri river. The counties vied with each other as to which could offer the greatest inducement to companies proposing to build these lines. Another proposition was presented to the people of Warren county. by a company proposing to build a railroad from St. Louis to Des Moines.
At this time St. Louis was the metropolis of the west, and continued so for several years, but the railroads centered toward Chicago, and in this way built up that city, while the growth of St. Louis has not been phenomenal. There were many other projects presented which never materialized. It was not until 1866, that a company organized under the title, the "Des Moines, Indianola & Missouri Railway." The line was surveyed from Indianola to Des Moines, and considerable grading was done during 1868-9. About this time, the enterprise was taken in hand by the "Chicago, Roek Island & Pacific." and completed from Indianola to Des Moines. The completion of the road was celebrated by an excursion of two hundred people from Indianola to Des Moines. November 2nd, 1871. This victory was achieved by the people of Warren county after eighteen years of hard struggle. Condnetor Perigo and Engineer Charley Smith, had charge of the train. The Iowa State Register speaks of this event. November 2nd, 1871, as follows :
"For many years Indianola and Des Moines have been most closely united in bonds of mutual regard, and in business ties. Their interests have been in common, and it was, therefore, with no common zest that they met, last evening in the halls and parlors of the Savory House, to congratulate each other over the completion of the iron band of railroad which now unites them. The train from Indianola arrived at eight o'clock, and consisted of three large coaches filled to overflowing with the best and most influential citizens of that city. They were two hundred in number. Among them were the representatives of
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Warren county in the General Assembly, the county officers of that county, and other officials. A large number of ladies accompanied the party, and the In- chianola Silver Cornet band furnished the music. Arriving at the depot the excursionists made their way to the Savory House, where they passed the evening in social converse, or strayed away by ones aud twos, to the theater and other places of amusement. At half-past ten o'clock they reassembled at the Savory House, the dining room doors were thrown open, and our Indianola guests were ushered into the hall, and to a table spread with every delicacy the good taste and known skill of so able a caterer as mine host Brown conld procure.
"There have been few pleasanter sights known to Des Moines than that presented at the table last evening. There were gathered the men who have made Warren county one of the very best in the state; the men who have labored so earnestly and so long for everything tending to its advancement; the men who toiled so faithfully to bring about the building of the railroad, whose completion they had come to our hearthstones to celebrate. Who could have a better, nay so good a right to be jolly over a fact so substantial to them as the welding of the last link in the chain which bound the capital of Warren county with the capital of Iowa, together."
Soon after, the Chicago, Rock Island Company commenced to build the Winterset branch from Summerset west, running along the Middle river bottom through Greenfield and Jefferson townships, in Warren county, to the Madison county line. This branch was completed sometime in the latter part of 1872. The next railroad enterprise in Warren county was the Indianola and Chariton branch, which was begun by a company who turned it over to the C. B. & Q. Company ; and was completed in the year 1878. The next was the Albia. Knoxville and Des Moines branch which crosses the northeast corner of Warren county. The fourth railroad enterprise in the county was a narrow gauge road built from Des Moines to Canesville, Missouri, afterward widened into a stand- ard gauge. It is now owned by the C. B. & Q. system. It ought to have been called by some name signifying tortuous route. It was completed about 1880. The fifth road to be built in Warren county was the Chicago Great Western. It enters the county about three miles east of the northwest corner of the county, passes in a southerly direction through Linn and Jefferson townships, crossing the northwest corner of Jackson township, where it passes out of the county. The A. K. & D. M. branch of the Q. system, has in Warren county a little less than eight miles of track, assessed at $18.416.00 per mile. The Indianola and Chariton branch has 21.439 miles of track, valued at $16,400.00 per mile. The D. M. & K. C., now belonging to the Q. system, has 27.357 miles of track, valued at $24,604.00 per mile. The Chicago Great Western has 15.720 miles of track in Warren county, valued at $24,604.00 per mile. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, has 26.23 miles of track, valued at $16.800.00 per mile. This gives Warren county 98.442 miles of railroad track, making a large item of taxes paid by the railroad companies into the county treasury. The Chicago Great West- ern has the following named stations in Warren county: Orillia, Cummings, Lida, Churchville and Conger. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy system on its three different lines in the county, maintains the following stations : Norwalk,
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Prole. Wiek, St. Marys. New Virginia, Clarkson, Ford. Indianola, Ackworth, Milo and Lacona. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific maintains in the county the following stations: Carlisle. Summerset. Indianola, Spring Hill, Lothrop and Bevington.
The inhabitants of Warren county are equally interested with other parts of the country in the disenssion of all the questions that relate to railroads. The lawsuits that have been instituted against the railroads and the recent legislation in many states, fixing the charges for freights and fares, have angered many of the railroad officials. and they have asserted what they consider to be their rights. In some cases they have ceased to make improvements ; in other cases. they have reduced the number of employees. It is estimated that at this time no less than three hundred thousand railroad employees are idle in the United States. A distinguished railroad official when asked to explain why it should require three hundred thousand less men to operate the railroads in the United States today. than it did last summer : he shrugged his shoulders and replied : "It is typical of railroad conditions, less freight. fewer passengers, less frequent trains, hostile legislation. tight money." But the man sitting on the platform, wondering where his next rent money and other current expenses will come from, he does not try to investigate this matter. He only knows that he has been dismissed. This state of railroad fomentation cannot last always; it must be settled in some way or other. either by government ownership, or by state control, or in some other way satisfactory to the parties concerned.
W. E. Curtis, in the Chicago Record Herald. says: "Georgia furnishes an illustration of government . ownership of public utilities. The Western & Atlantic Railway. one hundred and forty-eight miles. that runs between Atlanta and Chattanooga, was built by the state of Georgia, with public funds, in 1849. and has been a profitable investment. The government of North Carolina owns the North Carolina Railroad, which is leased to the Southern. and the state of Virginia owns the Richmond. Fredericksburg & Potomac, which is also leased. The Western & Atlanta of Georgia, was operated by the state for twenty or thirty years, but is now under the control of the Louisville & Nashville Railway Company, which pays an anual rental of $420.000 into the treasury. The rail- road has probably brought into the treasury at least $15,000.000 and now stands as an asset of the state worth at least $12.000,000."
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