Wagner, Dr. Miller, all of whom preceded Dr. J. C. Schrader who removed
to Iowa City. Dr. J. C. Hanshay located here in 1863 and Dr. Favour in
1877. Dr. Patterson was the first doctor in Bertram, in 1857. Dr. J.
Stricklippe was an early doctor and druggist at Palo, and Dr. J. W.
Firkin was the second doctor at Vanderbilt, later known as Fairfax. His
son, Edgar Firkin, is now a popular druggist there. Dr. U. C. Roe came
to Fairfax in 1864 for the practice of medicine. He also sold drugs.
The business finally drifted into a grocery store, as it seems that the
settlers preferred sugar and prunes to pills and quinine.
Among names of note in the early history of these parts are those of
several medical doctors whose prominence came along lines outside of
their professional work. Dr. John P. Ely's name is prominently
connected with the early business enterprises and later growth of Cedar
Rapids. The doctor was called in the year he finished his medical
studies in New York to the management of commercial and manufacturing
interests in this county. The growth of these drew him gradually from
the excellent practice for which he at first found time. To the close
of his life, however, Dr. Ely kept himself well informed on the
progress of scientific medicine. Perhaps the first autopsy in this
locality was performed by Dr. Ely in the interests of both science and
sobriety, if early annals are authentic, the subject having been in
life notorious for his potations.
Dr. Eber L. Mansfield along with a large medical practice found time to
build up successful business and real estate interests on both sides of
the river at Cedar Rapids.
Dr. Seymour D. Carpenter left the practice after the Civil war and
became active and highly successful in the building and financing of
railroads in this state and further south. Dr. Carpenter is still
living in a hale old age in Chicago.
Dr. Freeman McClelland, a talented graduate of Jefferson Medical
College, won for himself enviable popularity and influence through his
editorship of the Cedar Rapids _Times_. The flavor of his writings and
rare personality are an enduring remembrance with all who knew him.
Dr. J. T. Headley, the eminent platform lecturer, at present living
retired in Philadelphia, is said to have first hung out his "shingle"
in Cedar Rapids.
Dr. G. W. Holmes, son of Dr. Magnus Holmes, of Marion, after finishing
at Bellevue, went as a medical missionary of the American Board to
Persia, where in addition to his other work he became royal physician
to the Crown Prince, afterwards Shah of Persia. Dr. Holmes passed away
in June, 1910.
Linn county sent a number of doctors to the army during the Civil war.
The following list is as nearly accurate as to men and organizations as
it was possible to make it:
Dr. H. M. Ristine, surgeon 20th Iowa Infantry.
Dr. J. F. Ely, surgeon 24th Iowa.
Dr. J. H. Camburn, surgeon 16th Iowa Infantry, also 6th Iowa Cavalry.
Dr. Freeman McClelland, surgeon 16th Iowa Infantry.
Dr. H. M. Lyons, surgeon 16th Iowa Infantry.
Dr. John F. Smith, assistant surgeon 65th Illinois Infantry.
Dr. G. L. Carhardt, surgeon 31st Iowa.
Dr. J. C. Shrader went from near Western College, this county, with the
22d Iowa Infantry as captain and later as surgeon.
Dr. Amos Witter, surgeon 7th Iowa Infantry.
Dr. T. S. Bardwell served as first assistant surgeon with the 6th Iowa
Cavalry, Col. Carskadden of Marion, notably in an expedition against
the Indians who were threatening the Nebraska and Dakota frontier, the
male portion of the settlers there being largely absent in the Union
army.
Dr. Seth Byam, of Jackson township, was surgeon in the U. S. army.
Dr. Seymour D. Carpenter, surgeon U. S. A., during the four years of
the war.
Of those who served otherwise than as surgeons, Dr. J. P. Coulter was
lieutenant colonel of the 12th Iowa Infantry. He afterwards was active
in city and county politics and held several official positions, and
distantly related to him was the late Dr. A. B. Coulter, in whose
untimely passing away the community lost one of its most promising
professional men.
Dr. G. R. Skinner, who came to Cedar Rapids in 1871, spent four years
in the Civil war, leaving the service with a captain's commission.
[Illustration: THE LATE DR. J. S. LOVE, SPRINGVILLE]
Dr. W. H. French served through the war in the 89th Illinois Infantry.
Of those men whose distinctly professional work brought them especial
esteem, space will allow for the mention of only a few.
Perhaps for no other one of their brethren did the Linn county
profession award so universal preference as to Dr. Henry Ristine.
Pioneer, patriot, and public-spirited citizen, he was first and before
all a doctor, combining in generous measure the traits and faculties
that make an eminently successful surgeon, with culture and genial
sympathies. It could be truly said of him that he adorned his
profession. His portrait hangs in St. Luke's Hospital along with that
of the late Judge Greene, whom he ably seconded in the work of founding
that institution. Jurist and surgeon alike believed in the hospital as
the workshop without which the doctor could not do his best work, and
their efforts accomplished much toward the establishment of medical and
surgical justice to the physically afflicted, a form of service that
deserves more and more public recognition in every community where
moral justice to the criminally accused is so amply facilitated by the
courts of law.
Among other well remembered physicians were Dr. J. S. Love, of
Springville, Dr. James Carson, of Mt. Vernon, Dr. D. McClenahan, of
Cedar Rapids, and Dr. G. L. Carhardt, of Marion. Beginning at an early
date and devoting themselves exclusively to their practice till
advancing age forced retirement, they all four typically exemplified in
their respective communities the life of the family physician. They
were, none of them, modern doctors, but they lived not only to see but
to rejoice in the day of modern medicine. Long after they had ceased
from practice they kept up attendance at medical society meetings,
keenly alive to the advancements of medical art and scientific research
there discussed. They were resourceful men, and they had labored
faithfully and well with the art available in their day, how often
futilely none felt more keenly than themselves. The realization that
modern methods promised control of much that had baffled them seemed to
lighten the burden of their declining years. Their abiding interest and
faith in the future things of medicine was an inspiration to their
successors.
Of medical organizations in Linn county the oldest is the Union Medical
Society, founded as the Linn County Medical Society at Mt. Vernon in
1859 by Drs. Love, Ely, Ristine, Carson, and Lyon. Dormant during the
war, it resumed in 1866 and ran till 1873, when its name was changed to
the Iowa Union and it became a district society, taking its membership
from half a dozen or more counties and centering in Linn and Johnson
counties. It still meets twice a year at Cedar Rapids, occasionally at
Iowa City for scientific work. Its officers now are: president, C. W.
Baker, Stanwood; secretary, F. G. Murray, Cedar Rapids; treasurer, C.
P. Carpenter, Cedar Rapids.
The present Linn County Society was organized in Cedar Rapids in 1903.
It holds meetings twice a year and is the unit of the State and
American Medical Associations. One of its members, Dr. G. E. Crawford,
is the outgoing president of the Iowa State Medical Society. Its
present officers are: president, Dr. A. B. Poore; secretary, Dr. H. W.
Bender; treasurer, Frank S. Skinner.
There are other local organizations at Mt. Vernon and Cedar Rapids. The
Practitioners' Club of the latter place meets once a month for
discussion and action upon medical subjects of special interest to the
members. Its officers are: Dr. H. S. Raymer, president; H. E. Pfeiffer,
secretary; G. P. Carpenter, treasurer.
St. Luke's Hospital at Cedar Rapids has already been mentioned. It was
founded in 1883. On its consulting staff are Drs. G. P. Carpenter, J.
M. Ristine, G. R. Skinner, G. E. Crawford, A. B. Poore, and A. H.
Johnson. It has an attending staff of younger men. The hospital has
seventy-five beds, having recently added a new and completely appointed
maternity department. Mercy Hospital, ninety beds, founded at Cedar
Rapids in 1902 and housed in its spacious new building in 1904, is
under the care of the Sisters of Mercy. These finely equipped
institutions serve Cedar Rapids, Marion, the railroad systems and their
contributing territory with facilities for the best of medical,
surgical and maternity work. Few realize the large amount of free
humanitarian work they accomplish every year. Together with Linn
county's own excellent infirmary north of Marion they represent in a
material and public way the present status of medical art, science, and
humanitarianism in the county. Personally and privately these are
represented by the 125 active practitioners of medicine.
It will be noted that the names of only a few of these have been
mentioned and then only incidentally. The scope of this sketch does not
allow adequate individual reference to the remainder. Nor is this the
place to record contemporary progress. The lives of all the present
members of the profession belong not to the past but to the future
history of medicine in Linn county. The attached list gives the names
of the practicing physicians in Linn county in 1910:
Adams, Ernest, Central City
Anderson, P. O., Cedar Rapids
Bailey, F. W., Cedar Rapids
Bailey, H. H., Cedar Rapids
Beardsley, D. E., Cedar Rapids
Bender, H. W., Cedar Rapids
Bliss, C. S., Cedar Rapids
Bradley, W. J., Cedar Rapids
Brown, C. T., Cedar Rapids
Burd, Edwin, Lisbon
Busta, Chas., Cedar Rapids
Byerly, A. J., Coggon
Carhart, Wm. G., Marion
Carpenter, G. P., Cedar Rapids
Carroll, Frank, Cedar Rapids
Carson, Geo. A., Mt. Vernon
Childs, Edward P., Cedar Rapids
Cogswell, C. H., Cedar Rapids
Cogswell, C. H., Jr., Cedar Rapids
Crawford, A., Mt. Vernon
Crawford, G. E., Cedar Rapids
Crawford, J. L., Cedar Rapids
Crew, Arthur E., Marion
Dando, G. A., Marion
Davis, J. L., Alburnette
Downs, J. W., Paris
Dvorak, Jos. F., Fairfax
Ebersole, F. F., Mt. Vernon
Eilers, Paul G., Alburnette
Fisher, C., Central City
Fitzgerald, Wm., Cedar Rapids
French, Chas. H., Cedar Rapids
French, W. H., Cedar Rapids
Gardner, Jno. R., Lisbon
Gearheart, G. W., Springville
Graham, J. DeWitt, Springville
Groff, H., Cedar Rapids
Gross, H. G., Cedar Rapids
Hamilton, John, Cedar Rapids
Hayes, L. C., Cedar Rapids
Hasner, C. T., Cedar Rapids
Heald, Clarence, Cedar Rapids
Hill, M. W., Mt. Vernon
Hindman, D. R., Marion
Hogle, Geo., Mt. Vernon
Hogle, Kate Mason, Mt. Vernon
Houser, Cass T., Palo
Hubbard, W. A., Cedar Rapids
Hubbell, S., Cedar Rapids
Ivins, H. M., Cedar Rapids
Jicinsky, J. Rudis, Cedar Rapids
Johnson, A. H., Cedar Rapids
Johnson, B. R., Cedar Rapids
Kegley, E. A., Cedar Rapids
Keppler, T. S., Mt. Vernon
King, W. S., Cedar Rapids
Knox, J. M., Cedar Rapids
Krause, Chas. S., Cedar Rapids
Kresja, Oldrich, Cedar Rapids
Keech, Roy K., Cedar Rapids
Ladd, F. G., Cedar Rapids
La Grange, J. W., Marion
Lee, J. A., Lisbon
Lindley, Thos. H., Cedar Rapids
Lindsey, Harry A., Walker
Lord, Richard, Cedar Rapids
Lowrey, N. J., Ely
Loy, J., Cedar Rapids
Manahan, Chas. A., Center Point
Mantz, R. L., Cedar Rapids
Martinitz, S. V., Cedar Rapids
McConkie, Jas. J., Cedar Rapids
McConkie, W. A., Cedar Rapids
Meythaler, A. J., Coggon
Miller, W. B., Center Point
Moorehead, Jas., Marion
Morrison, Wesley J., Cedar Rapids
Munden, R. E., Cedar Rapids
Muirhead, Geo. S., Marion
Murphy, Jas. J., Cedar Rapids
Murray, F. G., Cedar Rapids
Nash, E. A., Troy Mills
Neal, Emma J., Cedar Rapids
Netolicky, W. J., Cedar Rapids
Neuzil, W. J., Cedar Rapids
Newland, M. A., Center Point
Owen, W. E., Cedar Rapids
Petrovitsky, J. C., Cedar Rapids
Pfieffer, H. E., Cedar Rapids
Poore, A. B., Cedar Rapids
Raymer, H. S., Cedar Rapids
Richardson, E. F., Cedar Rapids
Richardson, J. F., Cedar Rapids
Ristine, J. M., Cedar Rapids
Robinson, J. B., Mt. Vernon
Ross, Alice I., Whittier
Ruml, W., Cedar Rapids
Safley, Agnes Isabel, Cedar Rapids
Sheldon, B. L., Cedar Rapids
Skinner, Frank S., Marion
Skinner, Geo. C., Cedar Rapids
Skinner, G. R., Cedar Rapids
Spencer, W. H., Cedar Rapids
Spicer, S. S., Cedar Rapids
Stansbury, G. W., Western, C. Rapids
Sherman, D. F., Cedar Rapids
Swab, C. C., Cedar Rapids
Swett, P. W., Cedar Rapids
Tiffany, D. E., Cedar Rapids
Van Duzer, F. H., Cedar Rapids
Walk, F. D., Walker
Walker, H. L., Cedar Rapids
Ward, J. A., Waubeek
Webb, Sula M., Cedar Rapids
Whitmore, Clara B., Cedar Rapids
Wilkinson, L. J., Prairieburg
Wolf, John M., Mt. Vernon
Wolf, Thos. L., Mt. Vernon
Woodbridge, Ward, Central City
Woodruff, L. F., Cedar Rapids
York, N. A., Lisbon
Yost, C. G., Center Point
Yost, B. B., Center Point
Yost, F. R., Center Point
CHAPTER XII
_The Material Growth of the County_
In scarcely any locality has the material growth been so fast and
substantial during the past seventy years as in Linn county. Old
residents who have returned after a period of twenty-five to thirty
years mention this fact, and what is true of the cities and towns is
perhaps much more true of the rural districts in general.
William Abbe erected a bark cabin for the use of his family the first
summer, after he came here, and built a log house that fall for his
winter abode. Ed Crow, C. C. Haskins, and others also erected very
frail cabins during the first year they lived within the confines of
the county. John Henry, it is said, built a small store-building facing
the river in the squatter town of Westport in 1838. It was a frame
building about 14 x 18, scarcely high enough for any of the Oxley
Brothers (who were very tall men) to enter. He also erected a small
dwelling house near the store-building, which, if anything, was smaller
than the store-building. All the lumber in these buildings, except the
window frames and the sills, were cut in the timber adjoining the
river; even the roof was cut out of rough boards, with a broad saw. The
nails used were brought from Muscatine, as well as a few hinges, and
the windows. These buildings were torn down in 1860. The Shepherd
Tavern was also a rude log building, as was the John Young house, which
was afterwards used as a hotel, with additions added later.
G. R. Carroll, in his _Pioneer Life_, mentions the first cabin erected
by his father, Isaac Carroll, in 1839. It took about ten days to erect
an ordinary cabin. "It stood on the east side of the road near Mr.
Bower's nursery on the boulevard one and a half miles from the river.
It was a very primitive looking structure, 16 x 18 perhaps, with what
we called a cob roof, made of clapboards with logs on top to hold them
in place. It was quite an agreeable change from our tent and wagons
when we entered this new cabin, although there was not a great deal of
room to spare after our goods were unloaded and the nine members of the
family were gathered within its walls. When the table was spread there
was no passing from one side to the other, except as we got upon our
hands and knees and crawled under."
Mr. Carroll also speaks of the second house, which was erected the same
fall on the same premises. "It was, however, not to be a common kind of
a cabin, it was to be a somewhat ambitious structure for the time, in
fact it was to be the best house in Linn county, and when completed, it
enjoyed that distinction. It was said, that there was nothing in the
county that equalled it. The dimensions of this house were 14 x 16, a
story and a half high. There were in the walls of this house between
fifty and sixty white oak logs, most of them quite straight and free
from knots. The ends of the logs were cut off square and the corners
were laid up like square blocks, care being taken to cut off enough at
the ends to allow the logs to come as close together as possible so as
to leave but little space for chinking and plastering when it came to
the finishing up. The only boards about the entire building were in the
door which I think were brought with us on top of our wagon-box, which
was of extra height. The joists above and below were made of logs, the
upper ones squared with a broadax. The casings of doors and windows,
and the floors above and below, were made out of bass wood puncheons.
Slabs were spread out of the logs and then hewn out with a broad axe
and the edges were made straight by the use of the chalk line. The
gable ends were sided up with clapboard rived out of oak timber three
or four feet long, and then shaved off smooth like siding. The rafters
were made of hickory poles trimmed off straight on the upper side, and
strips three or four inches wide were nailed on the sheeting. Upon
these strips shingles made of oak eighteen inches long and nicely
shaven, were laid. The logs of the walls in the inside were hewn off
flat, and the interstices between were shingled and plastered with lime
mortar, the lime being burned by my father on Indian Creek. There were
three windows below of twelve lights each, with glass 7 x 9, and a
window in each of the gable ends of nine lights, which furnished light
for the room above. The fire place was built up of logs on the outside
and lined with stone within, and the chimney was built of sticks split
out about the size of laths and plastered with clay, both inside and
outside."
[Illustration: J. H. VOSMEK Cedar Rapids]
[Illustration: FATHER T. J. SULLIVAN Cedar Rapids]
[Illustration: DR. E. L. MANSFIELD An Early Cedar Rapids Physician]
The description of this house gives the reader an idea of one of the
most up-to-date houses built before the year 1840. During the past
sixty years many commodious farm houses have been erected, having all
the modern conveniences installed, such as heating, lighting, together
with bath privileges connected with sanitary plumbing. It is said that
the late S. C. Bever installed the first furnace in a dwelling house in
Linn county, and many people came from over the county to see such a
furnace work. Now, not only cities and towns, but farm residences have
installed furnaces and other kinds of heating plants, so that which was
a novelty fifty years ago is very ordinary today.
The farmers in Linn county early began to invest their surplus money in
farm machinery. William Ure drove an ox team to Chicago and brought
back a McCormick reaper, which was the first reaper brought into the
county, as far as is known. At least it was the first reaper used and
operated in and around Scotch Grove. The neighbors said that Ure was
foolish and it would surely break him up, but inside of one season it
paid for itself. In and around Stoney Point one of the first threshing
machines was used; a very small machine which was staked fast on the
ground, without a straw-carrier, and operated by horsepower, which was
placed on the ground loose and had to be hauled from place to place on
a truck. In Linn Grove, Brown township, Washington township, and in
other localities, many of these crude reapers and crude threshing
machines and corn shellers were seen in operation during the season.
Frequently the people who purchased these early machines lost money.
The machinery was not always recommended, and sometimes the farmers
were not mechanics skilled enough to make repairs when needed. A number
got fooled on the first wire-binders and on the check-rowers, as well
as on some of the early mowing machines, and many lost heavily in early
days on thoroughbred horses and full-blooded cattle. But after all, the
spirit of progress was abroad in the community, and in spite of
failures, it did a great thing for the people who became interested.
The advent of the reaper no doubt changed farming methods in this
country. It is said that "the struggle for bread ceased when the reaper
was put on the market." At least it placed the struggle for existence
on a higher level. Certainly when a machine was invented that could do
the work of five or six men and be depended upon, such a machine was
worth having, and it soon paid for itself.
The manufacturing of farm machinery in Linn county was not a financial
success, as is shown by the failure of the Williams Harvester Works,
the Ogden Plow Works, the Star Wagon Works, and many other enterprises,
but the spirit displayed by those who were willing to put their money
into these untried enterprises, showed the mettle and the ingenuity
that many of these early settlers had. People profited by these
failures, made a study of the subject, and in course of time these men
who lost at times on some investment or purchased machinery which was
not suitable to the country, became owners of magnificent farms and
up-to-date farmers by long experience.
The early corn cribs and granaries were generally built of rails, the
kinks filled in with straw or hay. They of course had to be rebuilt
every fall, and more or less grain was wasted. The rail corn crib was
superseded by long board cribs generally built on the ground without
any foundation. These cribs, when empty, were generally blown about the
premises and had to be hauled back and propped up before they could be
used in the fall. The farmers of Linn county frequently visited in
Illinois, and there found models for economical corn cribs. They also
read the farm journals, and it was not long until our farmers erected
the modern corn crib and granary with gasoline engines, dumps, and
elevators. These cribs were substantially built on cement foundations
with cement floors, and with a driveway large enough and wide enough to
house several wagons and three or four buggies at one time. The early
corn crib, it is true, cost little or nothing, but they were a source
of expense and annoyance, and much grain was wasted. The modern corn
crib, as now erected, is built for a life time, but at a cost of from
two thousand to three thousand dollars, which would have been a sum
impossible to raise by the early settler, who generally paid the
government price on his land by disposing of skins which he prepared
during the winter, and who went barefooted in summer for the reason
that he had no money to buy shoes and no time to make moccasins for
himself or his children.
Thus the early farmer housed his horses and cattle in straw stacks
during the winter and in the timber during the summer. Sometime a hay
thatched stable was erected for the use of the horses. He milked his
cows out on the snow in winter, and expected them to yield a fair
supply of milk on a diet of slough hay and dry corn stalks, and would
drive them to water to some creek or river once a day, using an ax with
which to cut a hole in the ice. These stables would leak in spring and
summer and had to be rebuilt nearly every fall. All hay was stacked
outside and nearly half of it would rot during the rainy season. But
hay was cheaper than lumber and for that reason a man had to figure on
putting up enough hay during the summer, and take into account the
waste. It was not till after the Civil war that many barns were built,
and then only the rich farmer could afford them. Not till the '70s and
'80s did the craze for barn building come, and now nearly every farm of
any size, and nearly every farmer of any financial standing, has a good
substantial barn, as well as machine sheds, all of which improvements
may cost from three thousand to ten thousand dollars.
In the early days many farmers were fooled or taken in on the creamery
proposition, as many of these small country creameries failed. The
people then began to study the cow and the cost of producing milk and
butter. True the first attempts were not a success, but the butter and
milk of Linn county have during the past twenty-five years made many of
the farmers wealthy. It used to be, that if the cows could keep down
the grocery bill that was well done, but now, many a farmer gets a
monthly milk check of from fifty to seventy-five dollars, which not
only pays the grocery bill, but generally the hired man as well. But
then the price of butter has increased from six cents to thirty, which
makes a difference. The butter has also gradually become a better
quality, and is really worth more. It is taken care of now, while in
the pioneer days the cream was left out doors during the hot summer and
the rancid butter was placed in a shallow slough well so as to be kept
cool. It was generally not fit to use and was traded at the store for
dried prunes, brown sugar, and dried herring. Thus, while the farmer
may not have given the merchant much, the merchant certainly did not
give the farmer anything of much value in return for his farm produce.
During the past twenty years no class of people have fared better
financially than the farmers, and no class of people have become more
enlightened on the subject in which they are engaged than the farmers.
This may be due to several reasons. The farm journals have no doubt
done much in stirring up a local pride in the vocation of farming. The
farm journal has taught the farmer not to be ashamed of his calling;
that while he may be called a "Rube" in some localities, he is an
intelligent, up-to-date, wide-awake man, who knows what is going on in
the country; is familiar with political questions and interested in the
welfare of the country and of the state in which he resides. During the
past twenty years the farmer, especially in Linn county, has traveled
much. He has attended the county and state fairs where he has seen the
latest inventions in machinery. He has attended nearly all of the
exhibitions held in the country from Chicago to Seattle, and has come
in contact with farmers from other sections of the country as well as
with financiers and men of affairs. He has traveled much on land
excursions and has learned to study and understand the nature of the
soil. While it is true, that these various journeys have taken some
time and money, yet they have made the farmer an up-to-date man,
familiar with all sides of human life, and he has discovered, after
all, that he is one of the most fortunate men in the country, and
financially better off than many a city brother who may wear broadcloth
and a boiled shirt, but whose bank account is generally depleted. The
Linn county farmer has learned during the past twenty-five years to
know himself and to understand and respect the class to which he
belongs. No one can become a successful person in any line of business
unless he is proud of the line of work in which he is engaged. The
farmer has learned this secret, and he is not ashamed to tell anyone,
that he is a Hawkeye farmer, owning his own farm and caring for his own
property. The Iowa farmer has kept up with the procession, and he
certainly is as intelligent, as wide-awake, and as shrewd and keen as
the merchant, the banker, and the professional man in his business
dealings. But he came to Iowa at the proper time, and for that reason
he had the advantage of the old settlers who came to New England or to
Jamestown. These men came ahead of their time and before things were
ripe for such settlement. The bread tools of the Virginia pioneer were
the same as those of the Indians whom they despised and wanted to drive
out. The first settlers of Iowa came with the advent of the reaper,
when a boy fifteen years of age could cut the grain with ease, which
several sturdy men had to do before with the sickle and the scythe.
We seem to think that we have had the modern inventions for ages, but
the first white settlers in Linn county, whoever they may have been,
knew nothing of matches; of stoves as we know them; of the telegraph or
the telephone or electric lights. They did not have modern corn
cultivators or stirring plows. All these so-called modern appliances
have been invented since the advent of the first settler in this
county. But it was not long after these inventions came into use, until
some enterprising individual or firm introduced them into Linn county.
It is said that it was at a Shriner meeting on the old State Fair
Ground, which is now Central Park, Cedar Rapids, that electricity was
first used in this county, and people came for many miles to watch this
peculiar light, which some thought could only be accounted for on the
ground that the operator was in close connection with the Evil One.
Barnum, with his show, also exhibited electric lights to the
consternation of the vast crowds that came to see his circus, and it
was one of the chief attractions during the first year. People came
many miles to listen and talk through a telephone, and now every
up-to-date farmer has an instrument installed in his own house.
In a material way the settlers in Linn county have succeeded beyond the
expectation of the most sanguine. Thrift and prosperity can be seen on
every hand. The various farmers' alliances, elevator companies, banking
companies, creamery companies, old settlers' unions, and all these have
brought the men over the county in closer touch with each other and the
farmers of the whole county have learned to appreciate the marvelous
benefits derived from social intercourse. It has made them broader and
more liberal minded toward one another.
The first real census of the county was made in 1840 by H. W. Gray, who
found 1,373 men, women, and children here. There were no less than 200
people who celebrated the 4th of July at Westport in 1838, but these
may not all have belonged to the county. There was a rapid influx of
people, and by 1845 it has been estimated that no less than 4,000 had
declared Linn county their permanent home. The men who came here in the
early days knew nothing of luxuries, for it is said that there were not
over twenty buggies in the county and not to exceed two pianos. The
gold excitement took many of the bright young men away, most of whom
never returned. The census of 1850 shows that there were 5,444 people
in the county, further demonstrating that the land seekers were still
coming despite the fact that many residents must have left for the gold
fields of California. By 1860 fully 19,000 residents claimed the county
as their home. At the first election in the county 39 votes were cast.
In 1875 there were more than 7,000 voters, and this number has
gradually increased till the votes cast in 1908 were 6,558 republican,
5,008 democratic, 220 prohibition, and 121 scattering, making a total
vote of 11,900. Long ago the farming districts were filled up and the
country portions have not grown in population. The demand for pioneers
has ceased, and the growth henceforth will be in the cities and towns,
and not in the country until such a time as the cities will be
compelled to expand or the people congregating therein will be enabled
to seek the country to make a living. There may also come a time when
the large farms will be divided up among members of the family and when
it will pay better to farm on a small rather than on a large scale. If
the land can be subdivided into small tracts, as in many parts of
Europe, Iowa and Linn county will be able to feed a much larger
population and at greater ease than can the exhausted lands of the old
countries.
The soil in Iowa is as rich today and will if well cared for produce
more today than it did some forty years ago. The farmers will now
devote more of their time to make the farms yield more and not in the
purchase of more lands as heretofore. What the modern farmer is now up
against is better markets, cheaper freight charges, more local
manufacturing, and increased commercial conveniences.
For many years after the lands were taken up and cultivated the farmers
were unable to get rid of their products. There were no other markets
than the local ones. Robert Ellis had tried the experiment of running
flat boats down the river and had returned without any profits. Holmes,
the Higley Brothers, Daniels, and others built flat boats at Ivanhoe
and shipped wheat in the early spring down the Cedar and made a little
money. But there was more or less risk, and much labor was expended,
and the returns were not always satisfactory. Many teamed and hauled
dressed pork, wheat, and barley to the Mississippi river, mostly to
Muscatine, but after the driver returned and figured up his expenses
and the cost of a few groceries and a calico dress for the wife, he had
little left with which to pay interest and tax on the land.
The farmer was kept busy in paying taxes and breaking up and fencing
more land. To do these things and keep his family was all he could hope
to accomplish. The business man who had come here was without funds,
and interest rates were high. He could not borrow enough to carry out
his scheme of factory building, as he had expected. Saw mills and grist
mills were erected so as to supply the local trade with enough
materials for building, and enough food to live on, but that was all.
The cost of transportation was high, and the cost of anything like
luxuries was so great that it was out of the question to purchase any.
As late as 1855 there were no markets and no means to ship anything out
except by flat boats early in the spring of the year when the water was
high. N. B. Brown started the first woolen mill as early as 1848. This
was later disposed of to the Bryan family, but the mill never was a
real success. There was no demand for the goods and the expense was too
high to ship the raw products in and the finished products out. To haul
any amount in a farm wagon a hundred miles over poor roads, subject to
all kinds of weather, is not a success to the hauler nor to the man who
hires him.
[Illustration: HON. JAMES URE A Fairfax Pioneer]
[Illustration: JUDGE JAMES H. ROTHROCK]
[Illustration: J. J. DANIELS Early Linn County Official]
[Illustration: L. J. PALDA Cedar Rapids]
Even after the railroad was brought to Cedar Rapids the people did not
realize that there was any other but a local market for any product.
During the early years of the war, from 1862-3, the people awoke to a
realization that it would pay to get in touch with a larger market, and
the Chicago prices on stuff began to be quoted. R. D. Stephens built an
elevator at Marion and began sending corn to the river. Cattle and hogs
began to go up in price, and soon the people realized that the railroad
was not built to carry passengers only, but freight as well, and that
on a large scale.
In 1866 the number of acres assessed was 452,486, and the land,
exclusive of towns and villages, amounted to $3,012,754. The assessment
for Linn county in 1878 was 449,774 acres, $5,127,133. The actual
valuation in 1855 was about three and one-half millions, while in 1900
the taxable valuation of the county was something over twelve millions.
Butter and cheese making were at one time businesses which made the
farmers much money, but not till they learned how to prepare good
butter and get a market established for it. Soon agents came to Iowa
looking over the crops, and presently few towns were without local
agents who handled stock and grain on a commission basis.
Henceforth it was the Chicago market and not the local market that
governed, and the railroads were loaded down many seasons of the year
in hauling train load after train load of corn and wheat and cattle and
hogs, the property of the Iowa farmers. Iowa became in a short time the
food producing state in the Mississippi Valley and has so remained till
this day.
It was the productiveness of the soil, the manner in which the soil was
prepared and the prices for farm products that made the land valuable.
And it was the outside market that made farm produce worth the price it
was for a local market cannot do this. The Chicago market has become
the world market on many commodities, and lucky is the person who owns
lands within a safe radius of such a market.
CHAPTER XIII
_Rural Life_
The rural life of the pioneers in Linn county was much the same as it
was in any of the adjoining counties in eastern Iowa. The settlers were
intelligent, young, active, and enthusiastic, believing in the future
of the new State. The men were able to do nearly all kinds of
mechanical work without any help or assistance, while the women were
equally dextrous in spinning, weaving, and doing all kinds of house
work. They were all clad in homespun and no false standards were
maintained by the so-called well-to-do.
Wheat was the product for many years until the pest took it, and Indian
corn was grown. It was soon found that wheat was expensive to raise, as
seed was high, the cost of harvesting expensive, and frequently a
shower or a storm when the wheat was ripe destroyed a great deal of it,
so the farmer's summer work at times would be entirely gone. It cost
less to raise corn, and in course of time a market was found for it,
although it scarcely ever sold for more than 30 cents a bushel.
"In ye olden times" master and servant had no trouble. They ate at the
same table, worked side by side during the day, and it was a sort of
partnership affair throughout the season from the early spring until
the crops were gathered in the fall. During the entire season the hired
man had handled scarcely a dollar and he had taken up at the village
store on credit in the master's name goods that would not exceed in
value ten or fifteen dollars. While it has been often stated that in
the pioneer days the men were overworked and underpaid, which might be
true in part, still during these formative years, when everything was
new, and there were no classes, all settlers were on the same
level--socially and financially. It was not long until the hired man
had worked long enough to get sufficient money to make a first payment
on a farm, and in a few years the renter became a land owner and well
fixed.
The scattered settlers during the early years of their residence in
Linn county relied on their own ingenuity for everything they needed;
thus, they were their own blacksmiths, cabinet makers, carpenters,
tanners, stone masons, and shoe makers. They would tan their own
leather, shoe their own horses and oxen, make their own crude harness,
and get along and be satisfied. While they would depend on the village
blacksmith and on the wagon maker, roads were impassable in the spring
of the year and a yoke of oxen was not the swiftest means of getting to
and from a town twenty-five or thirty miles away. Hence a farmer who
had any ingenuity at all, would rather do his own work in a crude way,
than have to go to town to get anything repaired which was broken.
Much amusement was also had in the early days in the various
communities where men and women enjoyed meeting together at social
functions. There were quilting bees, spelling schools, barn raisings,
log rolling, debating schools, singing schools, and many other
gatherings which frequently ended with a barn dance or a house warming
supper, provided by the host and hostess.
The winter season in "ye olden times" was not an easy time of it by any
means, for the pioneers went to the timber early in the morning and
would stay all day and until late at night, cutting wood, making rails
and getting big logs to the saw mills. It mattered not what was the
kind of weather, the young man would start off to the timber with the
thermometer frequently at from twenty-five to thirty below zero.
Sometimes it would be pleasant in the morning when they started out,
but frequently a severe blizzard would come up before night, and many
were the frozen hands and ears they would bring home to thaw out late
at night, having been out all day in the most severe weather. But as
soon as it was over it was forgotten, and the next day or the next week
the young man would again repeat the same performance.
While the men were strong, active, and hardworking, the women were
equally active, persevering and industrious. The girls always took care
of the milk and butter; the straining of the milk was done by the
slough well or in a dark mud cellar, with no stone in it, and which
always kept caving in until the entire house had to be put on pillars.
The wife frequently had the family washing out by sunrise and the hired
girl, if the family could afford one, would work side by side with her
mistress and would do both inside and outside work if needed. No one
was afraid to work: in fact they were all proud of what they had
accomplished.
There were not many varieties of dishes on the table in pioneer days,
and still the settlers had plenty of good, wholesome food, and were
always hungry. Salt pork, johnny cake, honey, and game were the
customary foods of the farmer in ye olden times. They scarcely ever
tasted fresh meat from spring until fall, unless some of the boys shot
a little game now and then. The settlers were companionable, good
natured, and contented. They traded cattle, horses, mules, and at times
farms, only now and then would trouble arise as one would accuse
another of smart dealings, and a lawsuit would ensue. It is related of
an itinerant preacher who purchased a yoke of oxen from one of the
deacons in the church, that while he was testing the oxen on a hot
Sunday driving to church with his family, the yoke squatted down in a
mud hole and remained there and it was impossible to move them at all.
The preacher spied the deacon coming to church and was not slow in
telling him what he thought of him as well as the oxen he had sold him.
The deacon was not at all worried but replied, "parson, you must not
forget to swear at 'em, that is the only thing they know," and drove on
as though not at all offended by the remarks of the preacher.
In the early days the farmers had no cisterns, no wind mills, no deep
wells. Rain water was gathered in barrels which dried up in summer and
froze solid in winter, so the house wife had scarcely any rain water
either summer or winter. The well was generally a ten foot shallow well
dug down by the slough, poorly planked, and frequently it caved in;
another well was dug much in the same manner as the old one, the new
well soon meeting with the same ending as the former one.
There were few, if any, barns in the olden times and straw thatched
sheds and stables were universally used. These stables were moved
frequently for the reason that the farmers failed to haul out the
manure which accumulated, finding that it was easier and cheaper to
move the stable than to haul away the manure. Nearly all of the hay was
stacked out doors and had to be cut and hauled away in order to be fed
to the cattle.
The farmers were slow and backward in many things. They possessed no
spirit of restlessness and took things coolly, relying, it seems, on
the old adage which says that "he who drives with oxen also gets
there." While they early built fairly good houses, they were slow in
erecting buildings and comfortable places for their horses and cattle,
and it was many years before they began to erect sheds and buildings
for their machinery. Wagons without spring seats sold at from $100.00
to $125.00; reapers and mowing machines were very expensive and they
were generally only a few of these in each neighborhood. The household
furniture was cheap and simple; there were no such things as furnaces
or hard coal burners. Mostly old stoves were in use for the burning of
wood, and these perhaps were second hand, or at least had seen better
days.
The young man in pioneer days generally started out in life with an ox
team, a breaking plow, and a wagon. The wages for breaking were from
$1.00 to $2.00 an acre, and when he was not breaking he would often be
running a threshing machine or working in the saw mill or in the timber
getting out logs. When ox teams were used for breaking, it took one to
drive and one to hold the plow in the ground. A person generally broke
more land than he could fence, and it was no use to sow wheat and not
fence, for in those days the law permitted cattle and horses to run at
large.
Corn was not cultivated on the new ground to any extent, except that
each one raised enough corn for his own use but no more. The corn was
generally put in by hand, plowed only once or twice with a single
shovel plow pulled by one old nag.
In the early days all the cooking was done by the open fireplace; such
an article as a stove was not much known. Corn bread and pork, with rye
coffee, formed the average bill of fare at the wayside inn and at the
farm house. The boarders actually preferred pork to venison; they got
tired of game--it was so plentiful. Many a pioneer farmer could shoot
from five to ten deer near his door before breakfast.
In ye olden times nearly everyone would attend church, especially in
summer. While many did not belong to any church, yet they were all
interested in it. They supported the churches to the best of their
ability. The influence of the country church did much in making this a
county which still shows the effect of the early training and of the
efforts of itinerant preachers and laymen who went from place to place
visiting the scattered congregations. Such preachers as Troup, Searles,
Ingham, J. Hodges, Hayden, Twing, Maxin, Dudley, Rankin, Boal,
Cunningham, Keeler, Phelps, Roberts, Jones, Elias Skinner, Father
Emmons and many of the early itinerant ministers did much to build up
churches in this county. Then there were a number of laymen in various
denominations who maintained in part some of the associations
themselves, such as Tom Lewis, Levi Lewis, Chandler Jordan, Henry
Rogers, and the Kurtzes, Runkles, Shueys, and many of the early
settlers in and around Lisbon. The community around Mt. Vernon was also
much influenced by the college atmosphere and by the itinerant
preachers who visited the scattered members in Franklin township. These
are only a few of many such communities where an interest was kept up
in the small country churches where large congregations gathered weekly
for meditation and for prayer. Many old pioneer families did much to
help the church.
One can converse with the old pioneer now, and he still loves to recall
the old times, the old haunts and the wayside places. It was by some
rail fence that a rural maiden had whispered to him as a young man,
that the pain in her heart no human touch but his own could heal. It
was here loved ones had spoken as they chattered away in childish
whispers, when he came home from ended labors, and it was here that he
took his family on Sunday to the little church where they all bowed
silently in prayer, full of the faith and the hope which made his heart
strong and his footsteps light. The simple mode of living in Linn
county in an early date made strong men and courageous women. They were
brought up to withstand the temptations of life and to despise the
false veneer of a later generation. They lived up to the ideals of
their way of thinking, and left sturdy families who grew up in the
simple ways of the pioneer, themselves dutiful sons and daughters of
the old settlers who came here in any early day to make homes for
themselves and their descendants.
Truly, the pioneers should be remembered for what they accomplished,
for well might they sing with the poet:
"Fading away like the stars of the morning,
Losing our light in the rising sun;
Thus would we pass from the earth and its toiling
Only remembered by what we have done."
[Illustration: BRIDGE AT THE PALISADES]
[Illustration: THE PALISADES OF THE CEDAR]
CHAPTER XIV
_A Hero of the Canadian Rebellion_
What promised to have been a war to death in Linn county in the early
'40s terminated because one of our old settlers, then a young man, said
what he knew to be the fact and was willing to back it up with force.
The interesting story is as follows: Political dissension had prevailed
in Canada since 1820, and an open rebellion broke out in 1837. In lower
Canada it began among the French settlers who wanted equality and their
rights as Frenchmen, while in upper Canada it was brought about by
leaders of the radical party insisting on a democratic form of
government. The rebellion was lead by Lyon Mackenzie, a native of
Scotland who had taken up journalism in Canada. The spirit of rebellion
extended also into the United States, and many so-called filibusters
joined the insurrectionists from a spirit of adventure. The papers
mentioned in lengthy articles these so-called leaders, one especially
being given much notoriety, one William Johnson, who, after the
rebellion was put down, lived on one of the Thousand Islands in the St.
Lawrence and evaded capture. His daughter, Kate, it was said, brought
him food and the soldiers were unable to locate the hiding place of
this rebel who defied the government militia.
Robert Ellis met this so-called Bill Johnson at Prairie du Chien,
Wisconsin, in 1842. Johnson asserted with a great deal of gusto that he
had escaped from the Islands and was going to make his home among the
free people out on the borders. He was accompanied by a woman he
claimed to be his daughter who received as much attention as the
valiant soldier himself. Johnson drifted into Ft. Atkinson and finally
located on a claim two miles above Quasqueton, on the north bank of the
Wapsie river. Here he became a sort of feudal lord, told exaggerated
stories about his valor, and was surrounded by a number of frontier
soldiers who claimed to have fought in the war of 1812, as well as in
the Canadian rebellion. For a time Captain Bill Johnson was idolized as
no other person in this part of Iowa, and it is certain that his
daughter Kate was laid siege to by more than one border hero under the
guise of suitor.
It was not long until the arrogant ways of Captain Bill Johnson, who
jumped a claim, offended an old settler by the name of Henry Bennett,
who resided near Quasqueton, and who was one of the first settlers in
that community. Attempted arrests were made pro and con, but the
Bennett party was successful and they drove Captain Johnson out of the
community, after a sound flogging. He drifted into Marion and put up at
the Phillips Hotel, telling stories of Bennett's abuse, how his
property had been taken, and how he had been driven out of the county
like a criminal. He wanted redress. The good people of Marion believed
these stories, and soon a company was organized and provided with
weapons of war to surround Bennett and demand restitution. A number of
the old settlers of Marion were mustered into this company, such as
George Patterson, Col. Durham, and others of the well known residents.
It was in the winter of 1843, but that did not keep any of the company
away from a forced march to Quasqueton. Bennett had friends and
admirers also, and being made aware of the proposed attack he fortified
his camp, laid in a supply of food, and had his guns ready. The
attacking party demanded restitution, but the old man shook his head
and told them to come on. The besiegers had to camp out, while
Bennett's followers were well housed and warm. Finally the attacking
army ran out of provisions, and after a council of war in which the
peace loving spirit prevailed, they decided to return to the quiet
haunts of Marion.
Johnson still kept up his abuse of Bennett and his friends, and when
that did not satisfy would resort to tales of his wonderful escapades
on the St. Lawrence and how he had evaded the British officers with the
assistance of his daughter, Kate. The good people at first entertained
him as a guest, and he was always willing to accept of their
hospitality, but stories were circulated that this so-called daughter,
Kate, was not his daughter at all. But Bill Johnson still remained,
having a number of supporters.
One night Robert Ellis entered the Phillips Hotel while Johnson was
heaping abuse on the Bennett party and on the courts of Iowa, telling
Gen. James Wilson, who was surveyor-general of the territory, the story
of his abuse. He said, that the day before he and his crowd had tracked
Bennett as far as Delhi where the party escaped, being assisted by
William Abbe, a prominent settler of Linn county. This was too much for
Ellis, and he replied as follows: "That is not true, as Wm. Abbe drove
from Ft. Atkinson with me, and we arrived in Marion today, and we were
together all of the time." Johnson was full of "wrath and cabbage." He
arose and in a much injured manner said, "You might as well call me a
liar as to say that," to which Ellis replied, "If that suits you any
better I can call you a liar, because that is what you are, if you want
us to believe what you have been saying here tonight. You have been
telling lies about my friend Abbe." Johnson pulled off his coat and was
about to strike him, when Mr. Ellis spied a hickory stick in the wood
box. With that he went after Johnson, who quietly retreated, put on his
coat, engaged in conversation with Wilson, and the matter for the time
dropped. The story leaked out that this Canadian boaster was nothing
but a coward, and there were grave doubts as to whether or not he was
the person he claimed to be. Finally so much opposition arose against
him that he left Marion--much to the satisfaction of the people of the
county for they had seen and heard things which reflected against
Johnson's relations with his so-called daughter.
In 1849 Robert Ellis drifted into the gold camps of Sacramento Valley
on the American river, and who should he find out there but the
daughter of Bill Johnson, now the wife of one of the miners. He learned
that Bill Johnson had drifted into Southern Iowa and Missouri, where he
assumed his old attitude, expecting free board and considerable
consideration, but the pioneers in that community had to be "shown" and
cared not much for what Johnson had been; the question was what he was
then. A suitor in Mahaska county came to see his alleged daughter, but
Bogus Johnson opposed and threatened him with dire disaster if he came
within shooting distance. The suitor was not at all scared, having
lived on the frontier longer than Johnson. The woman may have regretted
the double life she had been living, and perhaps with her
assistance--no one knows--Johnson was killed in a quarrel by the
suitor, it was alleged, and prosecutions followed. The suitor and Kate
after a long trial then drifted to California, and there Robert Ellis
found them and heard the story that Captain Bill Johnson, once the
terror of this part of Iowa, was a bogus Bill Johnson, and the light
haired Kate was not the Kate of story and fiction at all. If it had not
been for the obstreperous Bennett on the Wapsie and for the hickory
stick in the hands of Robert Ellis bogus Bill Johnson might have
terrorized this community much longer than he did.
Another story was also told shortly after Johnson left by one of
Johnson's henchmen, an old soldier, which shows the bad character and
disposition of Johnson. William Abbe, one of the early settlers, and at
one time a member of the legislature of Iowa, being in the employ of
the government, having a contract to deliver provisions at Ft.
Atkinson, was about to return to his home in Linn Grove, which fact was
known to Johnson. The soldier related after Johnson's hasty departure
that he and Johnson had entered into an agreement to blackmail Abbe and
get some money out of him by inviting Abbe to remain in the Johnson
cabin over night and then to threaten Abbe that he had assaulted the
daughter of Johnson while accepting of his hospitality. Johnson was to
remain in hiding while the soldier was set out on the trail to watch
for Abbe and invite him to the cabin. This was done and the soldier sat
out in the timber watching for Abbe during the afternoon and evening,
but fortunately Abbe failed to make his appearance as expected and the
deep laid plan fell through.
Bill Johnson, whatever he may have been, was certainly an expert in his
line and seemed to ingratiate himself into the good graces of many
prominent people. He obtained the assistance and help of Governor
Chambers, as well as Surveyor-General James Wilson, and many others in
the various law suits which he had with the members of the Bennett
party. General Wilson, as is well known, was a native of New Hampshire
and on account of the personal friendship of Daniel Webster had been
appointed to this office by President Harrison. Webster had intended to
slate his friend Wilson for Governor of Iowa, but Harrison had
appointed his private secretary and former aide-de camp, Colonel John
Chambers. Thus General Wilson had to accept the only vacancy left, that
of surveyor-general. On his trip over Iowa, General Wilson was
accompanied by his daughter, Mary E. Wilson, better known as Mrs. John
Sherwood, who later became one of the best known writers and society
women on two continents. It was at Marion, according to the report of
Robert Ellis, that Johnson first met General Wilson and that the
friendship sprang up between them, and it seemed as though Johnson had
known a number of Wilson's relatives and a great many of the prominent
men in New England. It is thought, of course, that Johnson imposed upon
General Wilson and no doubt used the names of parties he had known of
in some way to further his own selfish purposes.
The following may be quoted from the _History of Washington County_.
Vol. I, p. 326, as told by H. A. Burrell:
"A Mahaska county murder case of Job Peck, the murderer of
Wm. Johnson, came here on a change of venue September 9,
1843; it was a melodrama: A cultivated Canadian
revolutionist, a beautiful girl Kit claiming to be his
daughter, horsethieves, etc., being the personæ dramatis, an
elopement and kidnapping constituting the action of the
piece. The Canuck was shot in his cabin and a lover of Kit
was held for the crime. Kit was spirited to Pittsburg, Pa.,
and the lover proved an alibi; he had married Kit near
Fairfield. While in jail here he did not know his bride's
whereabouts nor for several months after, but he finally
found her with fine people. They lived near Oskaloosa for
years when they went to California. Who she was, was never
known; she denied that Johnson was her father; he may have
been her husband. After Peck's death she married again and
had a noble family and was called the Queen of the Thousand
Isles--in oil business. Johnson was the subject of state
correspondence between the United States and England. A
British subject, he revolted, turned renegade and spy in
1812, and robbed the mails to get information. Both
countries offered a reward for him and he fled to the
Isles."
How much truth there is in the above it is difficult to say. It is at
least based on hearsay. Colonel Durham knew Johnson well and was one of
his friends in the Quasqueton affair, and Robert Ellis also knew him,
as well as the members of the Abbe family. Whether Johnson was a
Canadian or a citizen of the United States or had anything to do with
the war of 1812 is uncertain. At least in Linn county he claimed to be
the Bill Johnson of Canadian fame. For that reason he introduced this
young woman as his daughter to carry out the story, as the original
Johnson did have a daughter who carried news as well as food to him in
his hiding.
To supplement the above account may be mentioned the following from the
"Early History of Dubuque," as written by L. H. Langworthy, and printed
in the _Iowa Journal of History and Politics_, July, 1910:
"In 1843 a most ludicrous affair occurred. A villainous
fellow palmed himself upon the people of Buchanan county as
the renowned patriot and celebrated hero of the Thousand
Isles, Bill Johnson. This man, with his daughter Miss Kate
Johnson, was suspected, it seems, of being any other than
the far-famed Canadian patriot, by the citizens of Buchanan
county, who thought fit to take Johnson out in the night,
tie him to a tree and whip him severely with fifty lashes on
his naked back. The offenders were arraigned before Judge
Wilson. The court house was crowded by hundreds of eager
spectators who listened with intense interest to the
proceedings: all anxious to see the laws of our country
administered faithfully. The prisoners' names were Evans,
Spencer, Parrish, and Rowley, charged with burglary and
riot. It appeared that these defendants accompanied by
several other white men and five or six Indians after
lynching Johnson, ordered him and his daughter to pack up
their goods and be off in two hours, and not to return at
the peril of their lives. Great sympathy was felt for this
Johnson and the two tender females of his household, who
were thrown out in the depth of winter and obliged to travel
twenty-five miles over a cold and bleak prairie; so cold
that it froze one of the lynchers themselves to death,
another lost his feet, and several others were severely
frozen. The citizens here declared that Johnson looked as if
he was born to command, and betokened in every action that
he was the same old Bill Johnson, the hero of the Thousand
Isles, the Canadian patriot, and the great friend of human
liberty and republican institutions; while all the young
bloods of the town declared that Miss Kate Johnson was a
very intelligent and interesting young lady, with rare
accomplishments, agreeable manners and the worthy daughter
of a gallant sire. The case was conducted on the part of the
prosecution by James Crawford and General James Wilson; on
the part of the defense by James Churchman and I. M.
Preston: the counsel on both sides in their speeches were
truly eloquent, they were fine efforts of legal talent, and
so great was the interest taken in this trial that the
ladies attended in goodly numbers until a late hour at
night, determined to hear all the proceedings and speeches
to which the occasion gave rise. Miss Kate Johnson received
great attention and unequalled admiration as the celebrated
heroine and daughter of the renowned patriot of the Thousand
Isles. The jury after being out a short time returned a
verdict of guilty; one was sentenced to the penitentiary for
two years and the others to a fine of two hundred dollars,
which imprisonment and fines however were afterwards
remitted; for lo, and behold! the next thing we hear of the
hero of the isles, is that he has grossly imposed himself
upon the citizens of the place, he being a different man
altogether from the Bill Johnson whom he represented, of a
different name and style of character, a great thief and
scoundrel. Letters were received showing these facts. The
next news received from him by our crestfallen beaux of
Dubuque, was that a Mr. Peck, a respectable man in Mahaska
county, the place to which the family had removed, fell in
love with Johnson's daughter, the heroic Kate, who returned
his love. But old Bill would not give his consent to the
marriage. So the two turtles fled to an adjoining county
where they were united in bonds matrimonial. It was some
time before the reputed father knew where his reputed
daughter had gone. But as soon as he did, he pursued her and
entered the house of Peck with pistol in hand and took her
away unmolested. But a few days afterwards while Johnson was
sitting in his own house he was shot through the heart with
a rifle ball from between the chinks of the logs. Peck was
arrested, but on trial acquitted. The lineage of the heroine
was traced back to an obscure family in Ohio, her history
and romance closing alike in contempt and infamy.
[Illustration: BARNEY McSHANE CABIN Built in 1847 Near Springville]
[Illustration: CABIN IN "CRACKER SETTLEMENT" NEAR MT. VERNON]
"The young swains, and especially the editorial gallants,
who were so greatly enamored with the charms of Miss
Katherine Johnson while in our city, often rallied each
other afterwards on the subject; and some who appeared from
their newspaper eulogies to be the most moon-struck while
the romance lasted, and had written the largest amount of
very soft poetry on the lovely daughter of the hero of the
Thousand Isles, were the first to forget the object of their
adoration. Alas for the fickleness of man's affection and
the mutability of his attachments."
The above tells the story of how much trouble the various communities
in Iowa had with bogus Bill Johnson and the various interpretations of
the life and character of the outlaw and his alleged daughter. Mr.
Ellis still insists that his interpretation of the life and character
of this outlaw is as he tells it and no one perhaps knew the principal
characters better than he did. Mr. Ellis was the first one who met
Johnson in Wisconsin as he was about to emigrate into Iowa. He was one
of the actors in the occurrence at the Phillips House in Marion, he was
the old friend and companion of William Abbe and knew most of the men
in the Bennett party, such as Evans, Parrish, Rowley, and others, and
he met in California many years afterwards the heroine who had become
the wife of Peck and there had a conversation with both of them. Mr.
Ellis is of the opinion that when Johnson suddenly left Marion he went,
to Missouri and later drifted back into Mahaska county, Iowa, where he
was murdered. It was thought that Kate knew more about the murder than
she let on, but living a life as she had lived it would not be best for
her to tell all she knew of the various transactions with her so-called
father. So far as Mr. Ellis ascertained Kate had reformed and carried
herself in goodly repute among the miners of the far west where she was
then known, it is said, at times as the Queen of the Thousand Isles.
Her husband, it is stated, was a reputable person and had always stood
well in the community up to the time of the Johnson murder, and what
part, if any, he took in that no one ever knew.
Bogus Bill Johnson is said to be buried in an unknown grave in Mahaska
county and no stone has ever been found that marked his last resting
place.
Kate, Queen of the Thousand Isles, sleeps in one of the mountain
valleys of the Sierras on the Pacific slope and no one knows just when
she died or where she was buried. The dual lives of the characters in
this drama ended as all such lives do end, in infamy and disgrace.
CHAPTER XV
_The Newspapers of the County_
BY FREDERICK J. LAZELL
From the days of the early settlers until now the newspapers of Linn
county have been among the most potent factors in the upbuilding of the
community. They have been, as a rule, constructive newspapers. Their
mission has been to build up, to help their communities grow in wealth
and influence. The newspapers of the county have been noted for their
sagacity and their breadth of vision, their conservatism and their
tolerance. They have exerted a strong and a wholesome influence upon
this and adjoining counties. In the state at large their influence for
good has not been small.
The old adage that the good die young has not been true of Linn
county's newspapers. The best papers today are those which were started
in the earliest days of the various towns in this county. They have
prospered as their respective communities have prospered. Their
publishers and editors have been, for the most part, men with personal
and property interests in their respective communities. That is why
they have been builders and boosters. Linn county's proud position
among the counties of the state, commercially, intellectually, and
politically, is largely due to the fact that men of ability and
integrity have worked and written and fought for the things they knew
would be helpful to their constituents. And this is as true of the
weekly newspapers as it is of the daily press. Very few counties in the
state have had such an able corps of newspaper writers.
There were some weaklings, papers which were born and soon died. There
have been a few freak newspapers. But not many. There have also been
many able, brilliant young newspaper men who did good work in the Linn
county editorial and newspaper offices for awhile and then left for
larger fields of labor. Some of the county's ablest politicians and
some of its most prominent business men have occasionally dabbled in
newspapering, for the sake of some party or some pet project they were
anxious to push through. That was in the earlier days. There has been
very little of it in the county of late years.
In the main the newspaper men of the county have been men to the manner
born, with a knowledge of the business from the ground up, men to whom
the smell of printer's ink is as essential to their enjoyment of life
as the scent of the sea to a sailor. If, as Elbert Hubbard tells us,
art is the expression of man's joy in his work, then nine-tenths of the
newspaper men of Linn county have been real artists, for they have
stuck to their papers when they might have made heaps more money in
some other line of business. But this love of the work so
characteristic among the brethren of the Linn county press doubtless
has something to do with the fact that their readable papers are read
and quoted by the readers of other papers, from one end of the state to
the other.
No chronological list of the newspapers of Linn county has been
published, but it is interesting and instructive, and worthy of
preservation in permanent form:
1851 _The Progressive Era_, started by D. O. Finch, in Cedar
Rapids.
1852 _The Prairie Star_, started at Marion by A. Hoyt. Same
year the name was changed to the _Linn County Register_, by
J. H. and G. H. Jennison.
1854 Name of the _Progressive Era_ changed to the _Cedar
Valley Times_. J. L. Enos assumes control.
1856 _Cedar Valley Farmer_ started in Cedar Rapids by J. L.
Enos. This was a monthly agricultural paper.
_Cedar Rapids Democrat_, started at Cedar Rapids by W. W.
Perkins & Co.
1857 _The Voice of Iowa_, started at Cedar Rapids by J. L.
Enos. Later this was called the _School Journal_.
1863 _Linn County Register_ bought by A. G. Lucas, who
changes its name to the _Linn County Patriot_.
1864 _Linn County Patriot_ bought by Captain S. W. Rathbun,
who changes its name to the _Marion Register_.
1865 The _Franklin Record_, started at Mt. Vernon by J. T.
and J. S. Rice.
1866 The name of the _Franklin Record_ changed to the _Mt.
Vernon Citizen_; passes into the hands of H. S. Bradshaw.
1867 The _Cedar Rapids Atlas_, started by A. G. Lucas.
Lasted three months.
1868 _Western World_, started at Cedar Rapids. Republican in
politics. J. L. Enos, editor.
_Linn County Signal_, started in Marion by F. H. Williams.
_Cedar Valley Times_ changes its name to the _Cedar Rapids
Times_.
1869 The _Slovan-Ameriky_, started in Cedar Rapids by J. B.
Letovsky.
_Linn County Signal_ moves to Cedar Rapids.
The _Daily Observer_, started in Cedar Rapids by J. L. Enos
and T. G. Newman, father of A. H. Newman.
_Linn County Hawk-Eye_, started at Mt. Vernon by J. T. Rice.
Purchased the same year by S. H. Bauman, and its name
changed to the _Mt. Vernon Hawk-Eye_.
1870 The _Daily Observer_, which had been started as a
democratic paper, changes its name to the _Cedar Rapids
Republican_, and changes its politics to correspond.
1871 The _Linn County Pilot_, started by C. W. Kepler at Mt.
Vernon.
1872 Name of the _Cedar Rapids Republican_ changed to the
_Daily Republican_.
_Linn County Signal_ becomes the _Linn County Liberal_.
1873 The _Lotus_, started at Center Point by J. F. Wilson &
Co.
1874 The _Linn County Pilot_ moved from Mt. Vernon to Marion
by A. Beatty.
The _Linn County Liberal_ moves from Marion to Cedar Rapids
and takes the name of the _Standard_.
The _Sun_ started at Lisbon by J. W. Zeigenfus.
1876 The _Center Point Mirror_, started at Center Point by
T. J. Metcalf and S. M. Dunlap.
1879 The _Iowa Staats-Zeitung_, started at Cedar Rapids by
A. Hunt.
The _Iowa Farmer_, started at Cedar Rapids by Alex Charles.
The _Independent_, started at Springville, editions also
being printed for Prairieburg and Central City.
The _Stylus_, started at Cedar Rapids by Ralph Van Vechten.
1882 The _People_, started at Cedar Rapids by A. J. Huss.
The _New Era_, started at Springville by J. F. Butler,
passing the same year into the hands of C. S. Shanklin.
1883 The _Walker News_, started at Walker by David Brant.
The _Daily Gazette_, started in Cedar Rapids by Otis & Post.
1884 The Gazette Company organized in March and takes over
the _Daily Gazette_. In July all the stock purchased by Fred
W. Faulkes and Clarence L. Miller.
The _Saturday Evening Chat_, started in Cedar Rapids by A.
J. Huss.
The _Linn County Pilot_ becomes the _Marion Pilot_, Rev. J.
W. Chaffee, editor.
1886 The _Linn County Independent_ removes to Marion.
1888 _Kvinden og Hjemmet_, monthly illustrated magazine for
the Norwegian and Danish women in America, with a Swedish
edition, _Quinnan och Hemmet_, started at Cedar Rapids by N.
Fr. Hansen.
The _News-Letter_, started at Central City.
1889 _Town Topics_, started in Cedar Rapids by Ernest A.
Sherman.
The _Monitor_, started at Coggon.
1891 _Saturday Record_, started in Cedar Rapids by Sherman &
Hatmaker.
1894 The _Herald_, started at Lisbon by W. F. Stahl.
1893 The _Record_, started at Mt. Vernon by Lloyd
McCutcheon.
1902 _Iowa Post_ brought to Cedar Rapids from Iowa City by
Henry Gundling.
1903 The _Tribune_, established by the Cedar Rapids
Federation of Labor.
1906 The _Cedar Rapidske Liste_, Bohemian humorous weekly.
The _Optimus_, started at Cedar Rapids by E. C. Barber.
1909 _West Side Enterprise_, started December 30th by W. I.
Endicott, owner and publisher.
Much of the early history of Linn county, and more especially of Cedar
Rapids, is interwoven with the history of the _Progressive Era_, which
afterwards became the _Cedar Rapids Times_. The _Progressive Era_ was
established by D. O. Finch in 1851. It was democratic in politics and
claimed to be devoted to the interests of Cedar Rapids and Linn county.
It was a seven column, four page paper, and rather a credit to the town
at that time. Worse papers have been published since.
It was but a short time until Mr. Finch had all the newspaper
experience he wanted. Joseph Greene then purchased the paper and ran it
until 1854. During this time Ezra Van Metre, James J. Child, Esq., and
James L. Enos were successively its editors.
James L. Enos had something to do with nearly every paper that was
started during the early days of Linn county. He loved the smell of
printer's ink. The types had a fascination for him. He delighted to see
his thoughts reproduced in print. In September, 1854, he and F.
Augustus Williams purchased Mr. Greene's interest in the _Progressive
Era_. They changed the name to the _Cedar Valley Times_. They changed
the politics of the paper from democratic to the new Americanism of
that time. Then came the organization of the republican party. Like
other adherents to the American party living in the north, the editors
of the _Times_ cast in their lot with the new republican party and
warmly advocated and defended the principles on which it was founded.
One J. G. Davenport figures also in the early history of the _Times_.
He had acquired an interest in the paper, and during the campaign he
was its nominal editor, although there were not wanting those who
declared that he had not the ability to write a three line notice of a
church supper, let alone an editorial. Anyway, he made the _Times_ his
stepping stone into the postmaster's seat, and his conduct of that
office was such that an investigation of his shortages followed. His
bondsmen, one of whom was the late J. J. Snouffer, made good the loss,
and shortly afterwards Davenport, after some more operations of a minor
character and similar nature, left Cedar Rapids.
They were rare old political fighters in those days. Politics, rather
than news, was the chief end and aim of the owner of a newspaper. When
Greene, Merritt & Co. closed out Davenport, having held a bill of sale
on the _Times_ office, the Times was made the personal organ of Colonel
William H. Merritt in his campaign against Kirkwood. To do this it had
to change from republicanism to democracy, but it waged a hot fight,
Colonel Merritt being its editor. However, Kirkwood was elected and in
1862 C. M. Hollis purchased the _Times_ and he made great success of it
up to 1866 when he disposed of the paper to Ayers and McClelland.
[Illustration: UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH, LISBON]
[Illustration: MAIN STREET, MT. VERNON]
Much might be written about some of the old printers who helped to
publish those early Linn county newspapers. There has been a host of
them and they have included some notable men. One was no less a
personage than Mr. Rosewater, of the Omaha Bee, who once worked as a
journeyman printer in the office of the _Slovan-Americky_. It was when
he was on his way to the west. Some of the old printers have long since
passed away. One of the latest of them was Stephen M. Jones, who died
at Hampton four years ago. Concerning his work here in Cedar Rapids,
Captain J. O. Stewart, himself one of the veteran printers of the
state, writes interestingly as follows:
"Stephen Jones commenced to learn the trade in the
_Progressive Era_ office in this city, in the year 1851,
serving a four years' apprenticeship, at the end of which
time he went to Vinton and worked in the _Eagle_ office, at
that time conducted by Fred Layman, I believe. The office of
the _Progressive Era_ was located on the corner of First
street and Third avenue, where the Warfield-Pratt-Howell
wholesale building now stands, and was the first paper
published in Cedar Rapids. It was an old frame building
erected by the Greene brothers and formerly used as a store
room. At the time of this story the lower floor front was
used on Sundays by the Episcopal church for service, the
printing office was overhead and the back part, three
stories, including basement, was used as a store room for
dressed hogs. 'Steve,' as he was called, and your
correspondent were what was known as 'printer's devils.'
After some years residence in Vinton Steve got about a
wheelbarrow load of material and started his paper in
Hampton and christened it the _Hampton Chronicle_, which is
still among the live, able newspapers in Iowa. He was later
appointed postmaster of Hampton, which position he held for
twelve years.
"There is one other who would rank with us if he is still
living, and he was a few years ago, on his farm near Lone
Tree in Johnson county. His name is Dan Shaffer. Dan, with a
Mr. Foster, whose first name I have forgotten, were employed
in the office doing the work on the Iowa Supreme Court
Reports by Justice George Greene, formerly of this city.
This was a book of some 600 or more pages and an edition of
500 volumes. This book can be found on the shelves of many
of the Iowa lawyers, especially the older practitioners.
This work was all done on a Washington hand press and 500
impressions was considered a good day's work. Steve's
principal business, until he was relieved by the writer, was
to ink the forms from which the impressions were made. This
was done by passing over the type forms two large rollers
made of glue and molasses, leaving and returning onto a
large wooden roller revolved by a crank at one end, which
process equally distributed the ink which was applied to the
two rollers by a still smaller one and designated the
'brayer'--old printers will recognize the article. For
nearly two years this was the principal part of the writer's
duties, interspersed with hunting up and down the banks of
the river dragging out floating slabs that got away from the
saw mills up at the dam, for fuel for the office, the
proprietors being too poor to buy cordwood at $1.75 per
cord. The paper was published by Dan O. Finch who later
became distinguished as a lawyer of high ability. The last I
knew of him, a few years ago, he was still living, making
his home with a son some place on the Pacific
coast,--Seattle, I believe. The other publisher was William
Williams, son of Chief Justice Williams of this state. The
material was owned by the Greene brothers. Some time later
the _Era_ office was moved to the building that stood on the
corner where the Rudolph store now is. The proprietors
changed hands pretty often, and finally the paper came into
the hands of Robert and LeRoy McCabe, older brothers of the
famous Chaplain Charles C. McCabe, who then clerked for
Greene Bros. in their store under the printing office. The
Masonic lodge room was in the third story of this building.
While the McCabe brothers conducted the paper your
correspondent graduated and started out as a full fledged
journeyman printer. It may be of interest to the craft of
the day to give your correspondent's salary. The first year
he was to receive $35, second $50, third $75, and the fourth
the princely sum of $100. Out of this he was supposed to
pay his board and furnish his clothing. The first job he
secured after his apprenticeship was $10 per week and pay
his own board. This was in the year 1856.
"The tramping jour. printers of those days, like Bret
Harte's Heathen Chinee, were peculiar. As a class they were
the best of workmen; bright and intelligent, knowing the
'art preservative' thoroughly, but possessed of that roving
disposition so common to all printers of that time, and many
of them given to drink. They would work for a time and get a
little ahead and then get on a 'toot' and seek newer fields.
They often resorted to peculiar methods to procure a job. I
recall an incident while I was yet the 'devil' of the _Era_
office. It was on the day we were moving the office to the
new quarters. The heavy press and material had to be skidded
from the second floor to the ground through a large door in
the front of the building. When the heavier part of the
press was partly down a rather tall, strong built,
intelligent looking man put in an appearance. He watched the
process for a short time not saying a word. Finally he took
from his pocket a slip of dirty paper and wrote on it 'don't
you need some help?' and handed it to the proprietor, Mr.
Robert McCabe. He was asked if he could talk. His reply was
simply by signs indicating that he was deaf and dumb. He
proved an excellent help and stayed for more than three
months, never indicating that he could speak. He was a
skilled printer, but cross and particular, and often we
'devils' called him hard names to his face. But his time had
come and he must have his periodical, and he did. He threw
his money to the kids on the streets and had a jolly time,
never once indicating he could speak. About the third day he
came into the office and took Mr. McCabe to the lodge room
above and wrote: 'What will they do to me if I talk?' Being
assured that he would not be harmed and to the astonishment
of the boss he reached out his hand and exclaimed, 'How are
you, Bob?' The same surprise was waiting for the rest of us,
and you may be assured we 'devils,' who had been giving him
such choice names, were looking for a chance to hide. He
soon left and I never heard of him again.
"As I have said, the publishers changed often, and for some
time after the McCabe brothers left the paper it was hard to
tell just who did manage the paper, the Greenes owning the
material. After many vicissitudes, which all the papers of
that early day had to pass through, it fell into the hands
of Joseph Davenport, a practical printer who associated with
him James L. Enos, well known and well remembered by the
earlier settlers, who changed the name of the paper and
re-christened it the _Cedar Valley Times_. Later it was
changed to the _Cedar Rapids Times_, and was, after changing
hands many times, finally owned by Dr. McClelland and L. M.
Ayers, who published it for years, when it finally died of
old age, owned and published by Dr. McClelland. The old
_Progressive Era_ was the original progenitor of your
present _Daily Times_."
Full of interest are those old files of the _Times_ which deal with the
beginning of the war period in the history of Linn county. There is the
description of a "democratic field day" in Cedar Rapids, October 10,
1860, when Stephen A. Douglas came over from Iowa City and spoke to the
multitude. Bands came from Vinton and Mt. Vernon; drum corps from
Bertram and Cedar Rapids. A local merchant bought a barrel of good
whiskey, diluted it sufficiently to accommodate the capacity of the six
thousand who made up the audience, sold all of it and counted the
meeting as the best thing which ever had happened in Cedar Rapids.
There was a parade of the "Wide-awakes" that night, and the visiting
bands remained over to furnish a part of the inspiration. There were
big posters, beginning with the couplet
"O, dinna ye hear the slogan, boys?
'Tis Douglas and his men."
That gave the editor of the _Times_ an opportunity to write the first
scare head which ever appeared in a Cedar Rapids newspaper. With the
true newspaper instinct he remembered that slogan and used it for a
sting at the end of the headline. This was the headline the week of the
election:
"ELECTION OVER
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS PRESIDENT-ELECT
Shout the Glad Tidings, Exultingly Sing; Old Abe is Elected
and Cotton Ain't King--Secession Rebuked--Popular
Sovereignty Now Here--Fusion Worse Confounded--The Bell
Tolling for the Dead--Union Preserved--Dinna Ye Hear the
Slogan."
Mr. C. M. Hollis, who was editor of the _Cedar Valley Times_ from 1862
to 1866, gives an illuminating insight into the history of Linn county
during the early days of the war:
"My office in Cedar Rapids was naturally the meeting place
of politicians. There the men who controlled or sought to
control got together and talked plainly. And the plain talk
of politicians is very different from the phrasings which
they use in public speeches. It was thus that our Linn
county leaders reasoned. 'This war is becoming something in
which the whole people have intense interest. They will
judge of men from the fact of participation or opposition.
When the struggle is over the men who control in politics
will be those who have been soldiers.' And so these men went
after commissions. They were wise and far-seeing and reaped
reward of their prudence as well as of their valor. I saw
the commission of one Linn county man made out for the
majoralty in an Iowa regiment, not only before the regiment
had been organized, but even before a single company had
been raised. I saw another for a colonelcy, fixed out ahead
in the same way, by reason of political grace and pull. Not
but what these men, and others, made good officers. I am
only explaining the reasoning which prompted some of them to
enter service, and the means which were most efficacious in
securing prominent places.
"And after a time it was considered that to get a high
commission was tantamount to drawing a big political prize.
Men were thus rewarded for their assistance given to
successful candidates, and opponents found their way to army
prominence beset with many obstacles. You know that a
movement was started in Linn county to defeat Kirkwood for
governor for the second term. This developed considerable
strength, and a ticket was nominated with William H. Merritt
of Cedar Rapids at its head. Merritt had been
lieutenant-colonel of the First Iowa, and his was known as
the 'fusion' ticket. It was an attempt to combine 'war
democrats' and some elements of the republican party.
Kirkwood was successful, and those men who had sought his
defeat were, naturally, persona non grata with the state
government. When commissions were going they were not
remembered. Seymour D. Carpenter was one of these. But he
did finally become surgeon of a regiment, because there was
crying need for surgeons. Then when he was away from
gubernatorial influence promotion was rapid, and the doctor
was given a position as medical director of a department.
Ellsworth N. Bates was another who suffered because of
participation in the anti-Kirkwood movement. Mr. Bates
persisted, however, and his merits and standing could not be
ignored. He was elected captain of a company. With his
regiment he served with more than usual credit, until he
sickened and came home to die. There were others in Cedar
Rapids and in Linn county who had similar experiences. Some
of those who are still living, if they would but give full
statements, would verify my remark that the proportion of
politics mixed with the patriotism of those times was
greater than is generally known.
"Speaking of Ellsworth N. Bates recalls to mind one whose
name deserves to be remembered in Cedar Rapids and in Linn
county. He came to the town fresh from college. He was a
real scholar and a man of rare natural abilities. He had the
art of making friends--of gaining and retaining esteem of
all who knew him. He was one of the very best public
speakers I have ever heard--quick to respond to varying
occasion, with ready thought and a phenomenal command of
language. His choice of words and use of appropriate imagery
made his addresses models of their kind. As a lawyer he met
with instant success. He represented Linn county in the
legislature, and was acknowledged as a strong man among the
law-makers. He made a splendid fight for the state
senatorship candidacy, against H. G. Angle. He was assistant
secretary of the second constitutional convention of Iowa.
When the war broke out he was one of those who did much to
rouse sentiment for support of the government. Then he
raised Company A of the Twentieth, and proved himself a real
soldier in camp and field. When he came home, near to death,
he had lost none of his old enthusiasm. He and I were
intimate friends, and to me he told his plans for the
future. Had E. N. Bates lived, I know that he would have
ranked among the real statesmen of Iowa. As it was he
accomplished more and had greater influence upon
contemporaneous affairs than many whose deeds are very
carefully preserved."
Mr. Hollis also tells us how newspapers were made in that awful period
of the nation's history:
"We were not sensationalists in those days. The events that
we had to chronicle needed no trickery of headlines or large
type to command attention. Here are the lists of dead and
wounded in an Iowa regiment at the battle of Winchester,"
and the old editor opened a file of the _Times_ for 1864-65.
"Do you think it needed a flaming poster effect to secure
reading of that column? There are the names of friends and
neighbors. To some of the readers of that paper those names
represented their dearest ones. Those who had brothers or
fathers, or sons or sweethearts in that regiment read over
the battle lists with a fearful anxiety. We were giving
weekly chronicle of facts--they have not yet been arranged
into the order of definite history. When we wrote editorials
it was not pretended that we understood all there was to the
struggle. Only when and where we caught the partial views or
grasped the immediate meaning of some development we gave
our opinions. These may have been prejudiced by our personal
sentiments or our political affiliations, but I believe, as
a rule, the editorial utterances of those years were from
the souls of the writers and had the ring of sincerity. And,
with but few exceptions, the newspapers of Iowa were loyal.
They directed or seconded loyal sentiment on all occasions.
Few of the editors of those weeklies gained wealth or
distinction, but they deserve to be remembered for a
splendid work. They, too, are among 'the forgotten
worthies.' It cost money to run even a weekly paper during
the war years. When I began as publisher of the _Times_
print paper cost $6 a bundle; before the war was over I was
paying $16 for the same quality and amount. And wages ran up
and up, as printers were more difficult to secure; until I
was paying double what I had first found necessary."
At the close of the war the newspapers of the county began to turn
their attention to other evils. A wave of temperance sentiment swept
the county, and some of the editors were foremost among the fighters.
The county was aroused by the great amount of crime. Much of it
emanated from Cedar Rapids. "Can we expect," asked one writer in Cedar
Rapids, "peace and quiet in a place of 3,000 inhabitants which supports
not fewer than nineteen liquor establishments and several houses of ill
fame and does not support a single reading room nor a public library?"
[Illustration: ALEXANDER LAURANCE Long Prominent in Cedar Rapids]
Then, as now, the newspapers were the best "boosters" of their
respective communities. They were the first to point out the advantages
in each community and to suggest ways in which natural advantages might
lead to commercial growth and civic prosperity. Thus a writer in a
Cedar Rapids paper, after enumerating and commending the progress made
by the town since its organization, dwelt upon the value of the water
power, pointed out how the woolen mills then in operation might be made
more effective. There was an abundance of timber around Cedar Rapids at
that time and he advocated the establishment of saw mills in the city.
He saw no reason why staves should be brought all the way from Michigan
to Cedar Rapids, when they might as well be manufactured here at home.
He advocated that a packing house be established in this city, instead
of shipping the hogs from Cedar Rapids to Chicago and then shipping the
meat back. "This is only one item that would keep thousands of dollars
in our town that now go out," he argued. He wanted a hub and a spoke
factory, a fanning mill factory, and as for a "paper mill there is no
better point in the state."
History moves in ever repeating cycles and some of the things for which
this old editor fought are still needed today in Cedar Rapids and in
other towns of Linn county. But each cycle is better than the last.
Proof of this is seen in the dispute which was waged over freight rates
less than a decade after the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railway had been
built into this city. The grain rates from Cedar Rapids to Chicago were
thirty cents a hundred pounds and the noise of protest which was made
then was quite similar to the noise which is sometimes
THE NEWSPAPER GRAVEYARD
The newspaper graveyard was established very early in the history of
the county and it is still claiming its victims. Among its early
victims was the _Cedar Rapids Democrat_. It was issued by W. W. Perkins
& Co. Somehow or other, democracy never flourished greatly in the Linn
county newspaper field, and the early democratic editors had not
learned the art of switching to a "progressive" side. So their papers
died. The _Democrat_ lived a year and a half. It deserved a better
fate, for it was well edited and printed.
In 1853 a monthly agricultural paper called the _Cedar Valley Farmer_
was commenced by James L. Enos. It lived through the first volume, but
a grave was opened for it before it had reached the tender age of two
years.
The _Voice of Iowa_ was commenced in January, 1857, under the auspices
of the Iowa Teachers and Phonetic associations, James L. Enos
editor-in-chief, assisted by a board of corresponding editors. It was
continued through two volumes and was then merged with another journal.
In the autumn of 1864 A. G. Lucas & Co. commenced the publication of
the _Cedar Rapids Atlas_. In January, 1865, it was changed to a weekly.
Then it was enlarged. Its place in the newspaper graveyard was prepared
a few weeks later. The editor and publisher had gone to study the
geography of other fields, but he did not take his debts with him. The
office was sold to satisfy them. This so weakened the shoulders of the
_Atlas_ that it was not strong enough to hold up.
The _Western World_ was born into a cold and unresponsive world, and
soon it joined the ranks of the dear departed.
Then came the _Linn County Signal_ which its authors hoped would be a
signal success. But its signals became tangled and it failed to kick
over the goal of success. It kicked the bucket instead. T. G. Newman,
the father of A. H. Newman of the Cedar Rapids Candy Company, purchased
the remains. From them he made the office of the _Daily Observer_,
with J. L. Enos as editor. From the _Observer_ came the _Cedar Rapids
Republican_. This was in 1870. In 1902 there was re-born the _Cedar
Rapids Times_. The father _Republican_ and the strong and lusty son
_Times_ are both in the full vigor of their powers, and this evolution
of the two powerful dailies from the amoeba-like weakly _Signal_ is the
most conspicuous example of newspaper evolution and the survival of the
fittest on record.
The present _Cedar Rapids Times_ is not to be confounded with the
_Cedar Rapids Weekly Times_ which had such a long and prosperous growth
under the management of Editor Hollis, and later of the good Doctor
McClelland. The _Weekly Times_ lived until the death of Doctor
McClelland, and it was a power for good. Then came two gentlemen from
Milwaukee who converted it into a daily. They had a great run as long
as their cash and their credit held out. And they were good newspaper
men, too. But they drew nearer and nearer the gateway to the great and
yawning newspaper graveyard. There were many mourners in Cedar Rapids
when the _Times_ was buried. It had been purified before its death by
its conspicuous work in a great tent revival conducted by an
evangelist, M. B. Williams. This revival the other dailies refused even
to mention. The _Times_ had a great deal of broadcloth endorsement. But
the eulogies proved to be its premature obituaries. Cash came slowly.
Advertising was coy. With the fall of the leaves came the death of the
_Times_. The _Gazette_ bought up the household furnishings, the
subscription lists and the good will. But the _Times_ was buried, and
the ghost of competition which had haunted the _Gazette_ office was
laid until the owners of the present _Evening Times_ resurrected the
name amid a riot of red ink during the strenuous municipal campaign of
1902.
STANDARD HAD A LONG LIFE
The _Cedar Rapids Standard_, like the _Cedar Valley Times_, had a long
life. It was first established in Marion in 1868, as the _Linn County
Signal_, by F. H. Williams. The following year it was removed to Cedar
Rapids, and Thomas G. Newman became the owner. In 1872 the name was
changed to the _Linn County Liberal_, and the office was moved back to
Marion. In 1873 James T. Simpkins became editor. The following year the
plant made a final trip to Cedar Rapids and was changed to the
_Standard_. For a long time it flourished, having a number of owners
and editors. Among them were Thomas G. Newman, C. E. Heath, A. H.
Newman, D. H. Ogden, H. A. Cook, Frank L. Millar, and in June, 1880,
Charles H. Playter, of the Des Moines _Daily Leader_, came to town and
bought a half interest of Mr. Millar. The firm name became Millar &
Playter. This partnership continued until the fall of 1885, when Mr.
Playter bought out his partner and became the sole owner. In the fall
of 1886 Mr. Playter sold the _Standard_ to S. B. Ayers, who conducted
it through the triumphal period of Iowa democracy, when Horace Boies
sat in the gubernatorial chair. It was a strong democratic paper and
had a large patronage in Linn county at that time. Later L. S. Saner
became the editor. But the hard times came. Rightly or wrongly they
were blamed on the democratic party. Republicanism triumphed; McKinley
was elected. The _Standard_ of the democratic party was trailed in the
dust. It soon died and took its place in the Cedar Rapids journalistic
graveyard.
The _Marion Pilot_ was established in 1871 at Mt. Vernon, as the _Linn
County Pilot_, and C. W. Kepler was editor. In 1874 the office was
removed to Marion and the paper was owned by Beatty & Whittits. It
continued under this management for several years and was one of the
strong republican papers of the county. In 1884 it was purchased by the
Rev. J. W. Chaffee and its name was changed to the _Marion Pilot_. He
built up a good paper, putting it in the front rank of the weekly
papers of the state. But with his passing from the editorial chair and
the rapid rise of the daily press in Cedar Rapids and its rival county
seat newspapers its power and prestige waned. In 1906 it yielded up
the ghost and was assigned to an honored place among those that have
passed on.
_The Good Ones Which Remain_
THE DAILY REPUBLICAN AND THE EVENING TIMES
As narrated above, the _Daily Republican_ is the outgrowth of the daily
_Observer_. In 1872 the _Observer_ was transferred to the Republican
Printing Company, and the name, which at first was the _Cedar Rapids
Republican_, was changed to the _Daily Republican_, the present name of
the paper.
A daily and weekly issue was published and the paper grew rapidly. For
a time it was edited by William B. Leach. In 1877 it passed into the
hands of the Republican Printing Company, who put in a great amount of
capital and enlarged the office. There were many editors during this
period. In March, 1881, the office was leased to J. R. Sage and D. G.
Goodrich, with an option of sale within a year. During this period the
paper was changed from an evening to a morning issue and an Associated
Press franchise was secured, giving the paper full news service.
Before the lease had expired Messrs. Sage and Goodrich had exercised
their right to purchase the plant. On March 1, 1882, it was transferred
to J. R. Sage, Johnson Brigham, Fred Benzinger, and H. P. Keyes. This
quartette reorganized the old Republican Printing Company, with J. R.
Sage as president. Nearly two years later Mr. Sage transferred his
interest to Mr. Brigham, and later on Messrs. Keyes and Benzinger
transferred their interest to L. S. Merchant. Messrs. Brigham and
Merchant conducted the paper, Mr. Merchant as business manager and Mr.
Brigham as editor, until 1892, when Mr. Brigham sold his interest and
went to Des Moines to start the first Iowa literary magazine, the
_Midland Monthly_. Mr. Sage had previously gone to Des Moines to become
the director of the Iowa weather and crop service.
Mr. Brigham's interest was purchased by Luther A. Brewer, who had been
assistant business manager, W. R. Boyd, who had done some editorial
work for the paper while living at home in Cedar county, and by L. S.
Merchant. The paper was at the beginning of what seemed to be an
uninterrupted period of ownership and prosperity when death suddenly
claimed Mr. Merchant in 1894. Mrs. Merchant retained her husband's
interest and the paper went on as before and waged a fight against free
silver in the campaign of 1896 which made it nationally prominent. Mr.
Brewer in the meantime had built up a very large job printing and book
binding department.
In 1898 the entire plant was sold to H. G. McMillan, of Rock Rapids, at
that time United States district attorney, and Cyrenus Cole, who had
for many years been associate editor of the _Iowa State Register_. Mr.
Boyd became postmaster at Cedar Rapids, but Mr. Brewer remained with
the paper as its business manager for some time. An evening edition,
the _Evening Times_, was started in 1902, and made a rapid growth. It
now has the largest circulation of any daily paper in Cedar Rapids.
In 1907 Mr. Brewer left the business and opened up a big book-making
plant of his own known as The Torch Press. In July of the same year
however, The Torch Press bought out the interest of Mr. McMillan and
the _Daily Republican_ and the _Evening Times_ have since been owned
and published by Messrs. Brewer and Cole. The substantial building on
Second avenue which had been erected during the regime of Messrs.
Brigham and Merchant proved far too small and the property was sold. A
large and modern newspaper and book-making building, four stories high,
was erected at the corner of Fourth avenue and Third street, the
present home of the _Daily Republican_, the _Evening Times_, The Torch
Press Printery and Bindery, and The Torch Press Book-shop, which
latter is managed by William Harvey Miner and is the biggest and most
largely patronized book shop west of Chicago.
THE EVENING GAZETTE
There is not a great deal of "history" concerning the Cedar Rapids
_Evening Gazette_, which has been one of the conspicuous successes
among Iowa daily newspapers since it was started in 1883. On June 10 of
that year, the daily _Gazette_ was founded by Messrs. Otis and Post. A
weekly issue of the paper was started at the same time. In March, 1884,
the Gazette Company was organized, and in July of that year the entire
stock was purchased by Messrs. Fred W. Faulkes and Clarence L. Miller.
The paper has had the same ownership ever since that time. The late
editor Faulkes was a pungent and versatile writer, and under his
editorial management the _Gazette_ rapidly rose to a commanding
position in the Iowa newspaper field. It began as a republican
newspaper. But after the memorable Frank D. Jackson campaign in 1893
Editor Faulkes became estranged from Governor Jackson and some of the
other leaders of the republican party. Thereafter he was inclined to
espouse the cause of democracy and the _Gazette_ came to be regarded as
the democratic newspaper of Linn county. Still later it grew more
independent, in matters of politics.
Since the death of Fred Faulkes the _Gazette_ has been published under
the supervision of its business manager Clarence L. Miller. Like the
other dailies of the city it has abandoned the weekly field.
THE SATURDAY RECORD
The _Saturday Record_ is the outgrowth of a little amateur paper
started away back in 1879 by Ralph Van Vechten, at present
vice-president of the Continental and Commercial National Bank of
Chicago. He was then a student with a taste for printer's ink and he
started a little literary paper, known as the _Stylus_. Soon after that
he was joined by Arthur J. Huss, and the two of them ran the _Stylus_.
In the spring of 1882 Mr. Van Vechten went into his uncle's bank. The
paper passed into the hands of A. J. Mallahan, and after a little time
was temporarily discontinued. But Mr. Huss gained new courage and
perhaps new capital. September 10, 1882, he started the _Cedar Rapids
People_. It continued as a seven column folio until March, 1884, when
it was bought by Fred Benzinger and R. Baer and its name changed to the
_Saturday Evening Chat_. July 1, 1887, Fred Benzinger bought out Mr.
Baer's interest and ran the paper for a number of years until he went
to Chicago, where for a time he was one of the prominent figures on the
old Chicago _Times-Herald_. Then the paper was acquired by B. R.
Hatmaker, forever famous because of the sobriquet for Cedar Rapids
which flashed into his mind one dreamful day--"The Parlor City."
In 1889 Ernest A. Sherman came to this city and was city editor of the
morning _Republican_ for a while. In February. 1891, he started _Town
Topics_. He ran it until late in the spring of that year and then he
consolidated with Hatmaker's _Saturday Record_. He became the editor,
and Hatmaker was business manager until 1892 when Mr. Sherman bought
the whole business. Since that time the _Record_ has been a permanent
feature in Cedar Rapids, the largest and neatest of the weeklies, being
printed in quarto form on book paper with many illustrations and spicy
comment on "mentionable matters" of Cedar Rapids, with all the local
news well edited.
THE IOWA POST
The _Iowa Post_ was founded in April, 1881, at Iowa City. After passing
through the hands of several owners, it was purchased in March, 1902,
by Henry Gundling of Chicago and brought to this city. Mr. Gundling
changed the paper from a weekly to a semi-weekly and in an incredibly
short time he had trebled the number of his subscribers. Mr. Gundling
had a high school education in Germany, followed by an apprenticeship
there of three years. He had sixteen years experience in Chicago and he
has travelled extensively on three continents. He is, therefore,
thoroughly equipped as an editor and this accounts for the high
standard of his paper which is eagerly read by a very large
constituency in this and adjoining counties and especially at the
colony of Amana.
[Illustration: OLD M. E. CHURCH, MT. VERNON]
[Illustration: STREET SCENE IN LISBON]
THE WEST SIDE ENTERPRISE
The _West Side Enterprise_ is one of the latest newspapers in the Linn
county field, having been started December 30, 1909. But it is one of
the liveliest as well as one of the latest. W. I. Endicott is the owner
and publisher, and he is a whole newspaper force in himself. Every
issue of the _Enterprise_ contains something which makes somebody sit
up and take notice. It is a paper devoted to the work of booming the
west side; but it is read on both sides of the river by an ever
increasing number of readers.
IOWA STAATS-ZEITUNG
The _Iowa Staats-Zeitung_ was established in the year 1879 by A. Hunt,
who continued as publisher and editor for many years--until he retired
from the newspaper business. The paper was then bought by John Young
and afterwards sold to the Charles Stoudt Printing Company, who came
from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids to make their home. The company
consists of Charles Stoudt, the publisher, and E. J. Stoudt, editor.
The paper is one of the largest German weeklies in the state,
publishing from twelve to twenty-four pages each issue and going all
over the state. It guarantees to have the largest circulation of any
German paper published in Iowa.
OTHER CEDAR RAPIDS PAPERS
Several other Cedar Rapids newspapers ought to be mentioned. The _Cedar
Rapids Listy_, a Bohemian humorous paper, was established in 1906. Fr.
Hradecky is its editor and publisher. The _Optimus_ is a republican
weekly edited by E. C. Barber, and is a most uncompromising foe of
democracy in all its form. It was established in 1906. The
_Slovan-Ameriky_ is a democratic Bohemian paper, one of the oldest, for
it was established in 1869 and has held the even tenor of its way since
that time through the sunshine and storm of democracy. John B. Letovsky
& Sons are the editors and publishers, and they have been putting out a
good paper week in and week out, year after year.
The _Tribune_ is the organ of the Federation of Labor in Cedar Rapids.
It was started in 1903 and has had a remarkable success. Its first
editor was G. F. Taylor who gave the paper a great start and it is now
edited by R. G. Stewart, who fills its columns full of gingery stuff
week after week and shines best when there is a big political scrap on
hand.
THE MARION REGISTER
In 1852 one A. Hoyt came all the way from New York to blaze the way of
modern journalism on the prairies of Iowa. He established a paper
called the _Prairie Star_. But the _Star_ didn't shine long. Mr. Hoyt
found Iowa so different from old New York. Like the wise men of the
east, after he had let go of most of the treasures he brought with him
he retraced his steps to the east and the paper passed into the hands
of J. H. and G. H. Jennison. They were Whigs with a big W and they
renamed the _Star_ as the _Linn County Register_.
When the republican party was organized, the _Linn County Register_
became one of its most able and enthusiastic advocates in the county.
The late Judge N. M. Hubbard was in active politics at that time and
during that memorable campaign he conducted the _Register_. Ah, "thim
were the days." The judge was a past master in the art of "skinning" an
opponent. That was the method of political fighting in those days and
no editor ever had a sharper knife than Judge Hubbard. He used to say
in later years that it was one of the most enjoyable periods of his
whole life.
"I made the paper grow," he said. "Everybody wanted to get it to see
whose hide was put on the fence that week."
The judge lived to tell the tale, but after the fun was all over and
the battle had been won he decided that railroad law practice was more
profitable than editing a newspaper. The _Register_ passed back into
the editorship of J. H. Jennison. The next year Robert Holmes became
its editor and subsequently its proprietor. He held this position for
five years and it was five years of the most important period in the
history of the county. Mr. Holmes successfully conducted the paper
through the great struggle of the Civil war, and up till 1863 when he
sold it to A. G. Lucas. Its name was then changed to the _Linn County
Patriot_.
In September, 1864, there came from Cedar county, a young
soldier-lawyer, S. W. Rathbun. He purchased the plant and changed the
name of the paper to the _Marion Register_. He has been editor of the
_Register_ ever since that time. He has a few more gray hairs, a few
more wrinkles, and a bit more avoirdupois than he had then, but he
still wields a trenchant pen, still makes the _Register_ a readable and
interesting paper. It has been one of the most influential papers among
the weekly press of Linn county, and has always been firmly republican.
THE MARION SENTINEL
The _Marion Sentinel_ was originally called the _Springville
Independent_, being established at Springville in the year 1879 by Fred
Chamberlain, who afterwards served as county superintendent of the
schools of Linn county. It was a seven-column folio, independent in
politics, the forerunner of the independent papers of the county. It
grew rapidly, and by 1884 had increased to a twelve-page paper. An
edition was also published for Prairieburg, and one for Central City.
In 1885 it had a circulation of 1600. It met with some reverses in 1886
and on July 1 of that year it was moved to Marion and its name changed
to the _Linn County Independent_. Mr. Chamberlain made a big success of
it in Marion. The name of the paper was then changed to the _Marion
Sentinel_. Later O. M. Smith was taken into partnership. The paper then
changed from an independent to a democratic paper, and has remained
democratic until the present time, the only simon pure democratic paper
in Linn county at the present time.
In July, 1891, Mr. Smith sold the paper to Mr. J. J. Galliven, at that
time employed as train dispatcher for the Milwaukee railroad. He
conducted it for less than three months, selling it on September 19,
1891, to its present owner, T. T. Williams. During the greater part of
the time since then C. S. Shanklin, one of the ablest political writers
of the state, has been in charge of the _Sentinel's_ editorial page.
The paper is one of the brightest and newsiest in the county.
THE MT. VERNON HAWKEYE
That splendid Linn county paper, the _Mt. Vernon Hawkeye_, was
established January 1, 1869, by J. T. Rice, as the _Linn County
Hawk-Eye_. Mr. Rice was well known in the early history of the county,
and in late years was a resident of Denver, Colorado, where he died
within the past year.
The _Hawk-Eye_ was bought by S. H. Bauman on June 1, 1869, within five
months after the paper was established, and its name was changed to the
_Mount Vernon Hawk-Eye_. Mr. S. H. Bauman continued the business and
was joined in partnership by his son, A. A. Bauman, January 1, 1892. On
July 1, 1899, S. H. Bauman retired entirely, and the paper was then
conducted by his sons, A. A. and Fred A. Bauman. This partnership was
dissolved November 17, 1909, since which time the paper has been
published by A. A. Bauman.
The paper has always been republican in politics and has never been
shaken by the winds of temporary popular prejudice or passion. It has
had an abiding conviction of political honesty and integrity and it has
been conducted on a high plane. It has rendered good service in the
building up of Mt. Vernon and the county generally.
THE WALKER NEWS
The _Walker News_ was established as a seven-column folio in February,
1883, by David Brant, at present the owner and editor of the Iowa City
_Daily Republican_. He continued as owner and editor for seven years,
and then the paper passed to the hands of Charles A. Durno, Mr. Brant
going to Cedar Rapids to become city editor of the _Gazette_.
In July, 1891, Mr. Durno sold a half interest in the business to C. O.
and J. Barry, who, in January, 1892, acquired the remaining half
interest, Mr. Durno retiring. Mr. Durno was later appointed to a
position in the government printing office at Washington, D. C, and
died in that city a few years ago. The Barrys are still in possession
of the _News_, which is one of the brightest and most influential
newspapers in the county.
THE CENTER POINT JOURNAL
The _Center Point Journal_ is a republican weekly, owned and edited by
J. A. Mahuran, one of the ablest of the Linn county newspaper men. The
paper has had its ups and downs and for a time it was chiefly noted for
its ardent campaign for a fishway in the dam across the Cedar river at
Cedar Rapids. That was during the days of Editor Barber.
The Journal grew out of the _Lotus_ which was started at Center Point,
May 15, 1873, by J. F. Wilson & Co. T. J. Metcalf was its first editor,
and he filled the leaves of the _Lotus_ with spice and sweetness until
1874 when W. T. Baker took charge and subsequently committed suicide.
But that was not the fault of the _Lotus_. The office was then sold to
H. A. Cook, of Cedar Rapids.
In 1876 T. J. Metcalf and S. M. Dunlap purchased the plant and changed
the name of the paper to the _Center Point Mirror_, the first issue
appearing November 18. Then Mr. Metcalf bought out Mr. Dunlap's
interest, and afterwards G. L. Wilson became the owner, changing its
name to the _Courier-Journal_. M. A. Oxley and Charles F. Floyd
afterwards bought the paper and it finally reached the hands of its
present owner.
THE SPRINGVILLE NEW ERA
Springville is one of the best of the Linn county towns and it has one
of the best of the Linn county papers, the Springville _New Era_. Its
first issue appeared August 9, 1882. It was a six-column folio,
independent in politics, and was established by J. B. F. Butler. In
November, 1882, C. S. Shanklin became its editor. At this time it was
changed to a six-column quarto. It became a democratic paper but lately
grew towards independence in politics, a growing tendency among modern
newspapers. There were some more changes of ownership and finally the
paper was purchased by O. E. Crane, its present publisher and editor,
under whom it has risen to a popularity and prosperity never before
attained.
THE LISBON HERALD
Lisbon has one good weekly, the _Herald_. The _Sun_ was the first paper
having been started August 27, 1874, by J. W. Zeigenfus. It was not a
success at the start, or at least it did not bring in the coin of the
realm rapidly enough to suit its proprietor, and he soon sold it to C.
J. Weatherbee. He held it for a few weeks and sold it to W. T. Baker.
Baker managed it admirably for a time but he later shot himself through
the head in his office and for a time the paper was conducted by W. L.
Davis for his widow. Then the Rev. Dewalt S. Fouse became its editor
and did some good work upon it. So did A. M. Floyd, one of the best of
Linn county's newspaper men. But finally the _Sun_ went down.
The _Herald_ has been vigorous and active and prosperous since it was
established in 1894 and it was never so prosperous as now. Under the
able management of Will F. Stahl the paper has grown in size and in
circulation and every issue is filled with up-to-date news and
interesting comment. It is a paper of which Lisbon should be proud.
CENTRAL CITY NEWS-LETTER
Situated in a valley of entrancing beauty, the valley of the Wapsie
river, Central City is one of the most beautiful towns in Iowa and it
certainly is one of the most up-to-date. Much of its growth and its
prestige is due to the fact that for many years it has had a
first-class newspaper. The _Central City News-Letter_, which was
started in 1888, has had a line of able men as its editors and they
have all done their best to make the city grow. None of them ever
worked harder at it than E. S. Weatherbee, who is the owner and the
editor of the paper, the postmaster, the mayor, and an all-around
booster for his town.
THE COGGON MONITOR
Since 1889 Coggon has had a newspaper, the _Coggon Monitor_. It has had
a number of owners, but it is established on a firm basis. Clarence
Cole was the editor until April of this year, when he sold the paper to
William Crosier.
THE MT. VERNON RECORD
In 1893, the _Mount Vernon Record_ was established and it has had a
successful and gratifying growth under the management of Lloyd
McCutcheon, its publisher and editor. Advertising came slowly at
first, as it always does to a new paper, but at present the merchants
of Mt. Vernon are giving it good support. The paper has been
"progressive"--strongly progressive in its editorial policies and
there are many progressives in that neighborhood who have backed it.
[Illustration: SCHOOL, FAIRFAX]
[Illustration: METHODIST CHURCH AND PARSONAGE, FAIRFAX]
CHAPTER XVI
_The Bohemian Element in the County_
It is not the purpose of this history to note in especial manner all
the different nationalities that have entered into the making of our
cosmopolitan population. America is peopled by sturdy men and women who
have come to this land of opportunity and freedom from all the
civilized nations of the world. It is the amalgamation of these
different races and peoples that has done much to give us our sturdy
citizenship. Driven from their old homes by persecutions or the desire
to better their condition, they have come to America and have helped
populate our prairies and develope our cities. They have needed the
opportunities here given them, and we have needed them in our work of
erecting on this continent a nation that shall be an example to all the
nations.
By far the largest and most important element of foreign extraction
represented in Linn county is the Bohemian. Some of our townships are
almost entirely populated by these progressive immigrants and their
descendants, and a goodly percentage of the residents of Cedar Rapids
trace back their Slav ancestry to old Bohemia. These people have always
made good citizens. They possess the desirable faculty of adapting
themselves readily to new environments. Without destroying their own
vigorous vitality, they grasp quickly the best there is in our thought
and mode of life. They have borne nobly their share of the burdens
incident to the establishment of new centers of civilization and of
progress. They have acted their part in our civic life. They have
adapted themselves to and have adopted our institutions. They have
helped and are helping to make the county and the city centers of
growth and prosperity. Trained through the years in habits of economy,
and forced through necessity to keep up these habits, their life here
has often been an incentive to others to go and do likewise. Lovers of
the home, their ambition is to possess their own abiding place, and
that as quickly as possible. The Bohemians are not renters. They are a
class of home owners, and nothing is so potent for stability in any
community as this trait on the part of its people. They are indeed a
thrifty people, such as every state and county and city gladly welcome.
Their buildings, though many of them may be small, are substantial in
their character. The gardens and the grounds surrounding the dwellings
in the towns and cities are neatly kept and attractive to the eye.
Their farms are well tilled and as a result grow rapidly in
productiveness and value.
Our Bohemian citizens bear their part in the administration of public
affairs. And they always make good in the positions in which they are
placed. They have helped make our city councils; they have been men of
ability and of influence on our school boards. They are numbered among
our successful merchants and bankers. Indeed, there is scarce a line of
human endeavor in which they have not been represented by men of
capacity and of worth.
At the request of the editors of this history Joseph Mekota, himself a
splendid representative of a splendid people, contributes the following
sketch of the Bohemian people to this volume: